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PRESENTED BY

BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN
WITH MAX COHEN AND CHRISTIAN HALL

THE TOP

The Sept. 11 terror attacks were 20 years ago tomorrow, and let’s state the obvious for a moment — Congress and Washington are vastly different than they were two decades ago.

The post-Sept. 11 period was the last real sustained bout of bipartisanship against a common enemy — global terrorism — that our country has experienced. As the United States mourned and counted its dead, President George W. Bush soared to a spectacular 90 percent approval rating. Within a week, Congress gave Bush the authority to use military force against “those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001,” a blank check that Bush and his successors have stretched to unimaginable lengths. The Afghanistan war that began following the 9/11 attack just ended in an ignominious U.S. withdrawal, a sad final chapter for both a superpower that mistakenly believed it could change everything and the poor country that appears to be marching backward.

Think of the other crises Congress has been through since 9/11: the interminable Iraq and Afghanistan wars; the 2008 financial meltdown; the 2011 debt ceiling showdown; multiple congressional shootings; multiple government shutdowns; a big chunk of Donald Trump’s presidency; multiple presidential impeachments; and a global pandemic. All of which was topped off by an ugly partisan fight over who won the presidency in 2020, a dispute that’s still reverberating throughout the country. And that’s not even factoring in the eternal struggle over taxes, health care or federal regulations. 

Sure, we’ve seen spurts of bipartisanship, with the response to the Covid-19 pandemic being the most obvious example. In fact, it’s a quasi miracle that Congress was able to come together in that crisis considering what occurred after the November elections. And even more ominously, during the bloody Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Here’s one statistic that may surprise you: Just 87 lawmakers, or roughly 16 percent of Congress, who were in office on 9/11 are still serving now. Thirty senators and 57 House members. The firsthand memories of that horrible time, the fear, anger and uncertainty, are slowly receding from Capitol Hill, although they’ve been replaced by other painful lessons.

Not a single member of the current House Republican leadership was even in Congress. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was a district director for former Rep. Bill Thomas (Calif.), while Minority Whip Steve Scalise was serving in the Louisiana legislature. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) was a teenager. The rising generation of House Democratic leaders, such as Reps. Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, were more than a decade from winning their seats.

Twenty years ago, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer were locked in a fight for House minority whip, a contest that Pelosi would win just a month after 9/11. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) had been chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, but he hadn’t made it into leadership yet. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — not yet the Democratic boogeyman — was serving as NRSC chair. 

For Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, whose home city was attacked, 9/11 was a searing, life-changing moment, both personally and politically. Schumer threw himself into the efforts to rebuild New York, lobbying endlessly for federal help for its recovery. These efforts are still ongoing, as first responders and workers who toiled at the World Trade Center site now suffer from exposure to asbestos and other hazardous materials two decades later.

Bush gave permission for Schumer and then-Sen. Hillary Clinton to fly back to New York City on Sept. 12, 2001. Theirs was the only plane in the air except for the fighter aircraft escort accompanying them.

“We landed, we went down to the site,” Schumer recalled in a Senate floor speech two years ago. “The smell of death and burnt flesh was in the air. And a scene I will never forget. A thousand people lined up — no one knew who had lived and who had died — with little signs. ‘Have you seen my mother Mary?’ ‘Have you seen my son Bill?’ That stays with you.”

Schumer noted that he’s worn an American flag in his lapel every day since 9/11. “I think of those who were lost, and I think of the valor of New Yorkers,” Schumer said.

The coverage: 

→ “From 9/11’s ashes, a new world took shape. It did not last,” by Calvin Woodward, Ellen Knickmeyer and David Rising

IMMIGRATION

SEIU launches ad campaign backing immigration push for reconciliation package

The Service Employees International Union is launching a $1 million national TV and digital ad campaign in D.C. and key battleground states to urge Congress to pass immigration reform as part of the reconciliation package. The effort comes as GOP and Democratic staffers are set to meet today with Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to make the case for and against including a pathway to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of Dreamers, TPS holders, migrant farm workers and other undocumented immigrants as part of the $3.5 trillion legislation. 

MacDonough will decide whether these immigration provisions comply with the “Byrd Rule,” a complex series of tests that govern consideration of reconciliation legislation. If she rules they don’t comply, then the provisions would be classified as a “extraneous matter” and a 60-vote point of order will be raised against them. Democrats aren’t likely to win that kind of vote, so the stakes here are huge.

The ad “Our Moment” focuses on the support for immigration reform and in particular a pathway to citizenship for essential workers, farm workers and Dreamers. The ad will run in D.C., Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Arizona and West Virginia. Sources familiar with the effort said this initial buy could grow depending on what happens in the Senate.

STATE OF THE ART

Pence calls 2020 a "contested takeover" in NRSC fundraising email

If you ever got the sense that fundraising emails weren’t on the level, here’s another data point for you. 

The NRSC sent out a fundraising email Thursday “from” former Vice President Mike Pence in which he said President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020 was a “contested takeover.”

This didn’t sound like Pence, since the then-VP has made it clear that he thought it was his duty to certify the 2020 election. In June, Pence said he was “proud” to do so in the early hours of Jan. 7 following the bloody Capitol attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump, some of whom were looking to do harm to Pence.

It turns out Pence didn’t write this, say this or have anything to do with this email.

Here’s the NRSC’s Chris Hartline:

“We appreciate Vice President Pence’s support in helping us win back the Senate. Our team made a mistake and a vendor sent the wrong version of an email. It was not approved by Vice President Pence’s team and we regret the error.” 

So next time you read a fundraising appeal, remember this. They could be completely bogus money-making schemes disconnected from the principal they purport to represent.

MCCARTHY V. PELOSI

McCarthy takes proxy voting lawsuit to Supreme Court

We’ve written time and again that the relationship between House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the worst we’ve seen among congressional leaders in recent years. Like historically bad. And getting even worse. 

Still, it was a little surprising that McCarthy — who could be the next speaker — decided to go to the Supreme Court in an effort to overturn the House proxy voting rules instituted during the Covid-19 pandemic. Especially since so many Republicans have used this process to cast floor votes themselves. 

McCarthy has lost his case at the district and appeals court level, but he feels strongly about this issue, so he’s pressing ahead anyway.

WaPo’s Amy B. Wang has the details: 

In a statement Thursday, McCarthy blasted proxy voting as a “power grab” and “a raw abuse of power” by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who along with many Democrats pushed for the historic rule change at the beginning of the pandemic. The House adopted the new protocols in May 2020 in a 217-189 vote along party lines.

“Although the Constitution allows Congress to write its own rules, those rules cannot violate the Constitution itself, including the requirement to actually assemble in person,” McCarthy said. “Since its adoption 14 months ago, proxy voting has shattered 231 years of legislative precedent and shielded the majority from substantive policy debates and questions, effectively silencing the voices of millions of Americans."

FRONT PAGES

"America doesn’t forget." Check out USA Today’s front page marking the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11.

MOMENTS

9 a.m.: President Joe Biden receives the daily brief. 

9:30 a.m.: Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona tour a school in Washington, D.C.

10:00 a.m.: Vice President Kamala Harris travels to Hampton, Va.

10:20 a.m.: Biden and the first lady deliver remarks about keeping students safe.

11:30 a.m.: The White House Covid-19 Response Team will hold a press briefing with health officials.

1 p.m.: Jen Psaki will brief.

8:15 p.m.: Biden will depart for Joint Base Andrews for Queens, N.Y.

CLIP FILE

NYT

→ News Analysis: “Biden’s New Vaccine Push Is a Fight for the U.S. Economy,” by Jim Tankersley

→ “Why $46 Billion Couldn’t Prevent an Eviction Crisis,” by Glenn Thrush and Conor Dougherty

WaPo

→ “Justice Department sues Texas to block six-week abortion ban,” by Devlin Barrett and Ann E. Marimow

→ “Republican governors threaten to sue over Biden’s sweeping vaccine mandates,” by Annabelle Timsit and Bryan Pietsch

WSJ

→ “U.S. Airlines Warn of Dimming Outlook Amid Delta Variant,” by Alison Sider

→ WSJ Editorial Board: “Transforming America in 17 Days”

AP

→“Analysis: Biden’s war on virus becomes war on unvaccinated,” by Zeke Miller

→ “Biden calls Xi as US-China relationship grows more fraught,” by Aamer Madhani and Joe McDonald

Politico

→ “Hundreds of law enforcement officials were prepped early for potential Jan. 6 violence,” by Betsy Woodruff Swan

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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images