News: House Majority Whip Tom Emmer raised $500,000 for his leadership PAC last night at DelFrisco’s Double Eagle.
The dinner included more than 75 guests. House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain, Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), House Republican Policy Chair Kevin Hern (Okla.), House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) attended.
Qatar plane news: A group of Senate Democrats is asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to explain the steps the Pentagon is taking to mitigate national security risks associated with President Donald Trump’s acceptance of a luxury jet from Qatar.
In a letter to Hegseth and Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and 11 other Democratic senators said Trump’s plan to use the plane as Air Force One poses “operational security and counterintelligence risks.” And they asked for cost estimates for retrofitting the plane with the necessary equipment for presidential travel.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Whip Dick Durbin also signed the letter.
Tax news: Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) are introducing a bill that would undo a piece of the Republican reconciliation package. The senators’ bill reinstates a full tax deduction that ensures victims of natural disasters, robberies and scams don’t have to pay taxes on lost assets.
The House Ways and Means Committee’s tax package extends the 2017 tax cuts, including that law’s limit on these deductions. The bipartisan effort is a further sign of how the Senate is prepping to make plenty of changes to the House’s reconciliation bill.
