Biden beckons disparate Dems for White House meetings
October 19, 2021With an assist from Andrew Desiderio.
BIDEN BOUNCES BETWEEN MEETINGS — Democrats from the moderate and progressive wings of the caucus are heading to the White House Tuesday to sit down with President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as the president continues his efforts to satisfy the warring factions of his own party.
The separate in-person meetings will be focused on trying to close the cavernous gap between each side on key provisions from Medicare expansion to prescription drug reform and climate policies. The White House and Democrats on Capitol Hill are trying to trim their signature social spending proposal down from $3.5 trillion to closer to $2 trillion and there's little agreement on what programs or timelines could end up on the cutting room floor.
Who’s headed to the White House:
Progressives (2 p.m.): Reps. Katherine Clark (Mass.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.).
Moderates (4:30 p.m.): Reps. Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Suzan DelBene (Wash.), Ami Bera (Calif.), Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) plus Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.).
Earlier Tuesday, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is expected to meet with Biden at the White House, according to the Arizona Republic’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez. That’s separate from the bicameral group of moderates heading over in the afternoon.
Monday kicked off the week with some key meetings, setting the stage for the dueling confabs Tuesday. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) spoke at length with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the 96-member House progressive bloc, who separately met with Biden at the White House. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also told reporters he met with Manchin one-on-one and that the two would continue talking. They also side-hugged it out and hammed it up for the press. (More on that relationship below.)
Leaders on Capitol Hill and Biden are trying to get things moving and speed up negotiations which, even as conversations continue, seem to mostly reveal how far apart Democrats are from consensus rather than bringing them closer to agreement.
CONTEMPLATING CONTEMPT — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol meets Tuesday night to take up a contempt report that outlines the efforts the panel took to get Steve Bannon to comply with a subpoena and his failure to do so. You can read the resolution for yourself here.
How does this work? If the report is adopted in committee, the matter is then escalated to the full House for consideration and a vote. Then, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would certify the report to the United States attorney for the District of Columbia. This certification requires, by law, that the U.S. attorney "bring the matter before the grand jury for its action," but the Justice Department will also make its own determinations for prosecuting.
RELATED: Trump sues Jan. 6 committee, National Archives, from Betsy Woodruff Swan and Kyle Cheney.
GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, October 19, where the weather is cool but talks are heating up.
BERNING MANCH FESTIVAL — “They represent fewer than 1 percent of Americans, but there’s no clearer window into Democrats’ inability to advance their domestic priorities than the ongoing rift between the socialist Vermont Independent and the conservative West Virginia Democrat,'' write Burgess and Marianne.
Don’t miss our Senate duo’s dive into the Sanders-Manchin relationship and what the dynamic means for the Democrats’ social spending plans. (And what that side-hug-and-smile photo op was about yesterday.)
COMING ATTRACTIONS — The Senate has confirmed just one of President Joe Biden’s foreign ambassador nominees, former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar as U.S. ambassador to Mexico. Today, the Foreign Relations Committee will take a huge step toward increasing that number, taking up nearly three dozen nominations, with several familiar names on the list. Former Sens. Jeff Flake and Tom Udall, Cindy McCain and Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger are the ones you know — but one of the State Department’s most coveted nominations, U.S. ambassador to NATO, is also on the docket. The nominee, Julianne Smith, will be critical for Biden’s stated desire to repair and strengthen trans-Atlantic alliances.
But Smith, along with the others, will soon run into the Ted Cruz blockade. The Texas Republican is showing no signs of letting up in his demand for roll call votes on even the most un-controversial State Department nominees. And Cruz’s posture during today’s markup will tell us a lot about his determination to keep up the fight, which has led to a huge backlog of diplomatic and national-security confirmations.
RELATED: Biden’s pick to lead Customs and Border Protection faces Senate confirmation hearing, from the Washington Post.
EMPTY (VICE) CHAIRS, EMPTY TABLES — The military's No. 2 officer is set to retire on Nov. 21, but the White House has yet to name a successor and that's stoking concern among some lawmakers on Capitol Hill. As Gen. John Hyten's retirement date inches closer by the day, key lawmakers are anxiously awaiting a nominee and eyeing the Senate's jam-packed schedule and long backlog of other Pentagon and State Department nominations. Paul McLeary and Connor O’Brien dig into what a vacancy at the vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would mean.
Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said that his panel would try to work quickly to avoid a prolonged vacancy on the Joint Chiefs, citing the vice chair's role leading the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, a panel with oversight into the development of military acquisition programs, and other top posts, report Connor and Paul.
"You don't want that now because … we've got a whole host of issues we're addressing," Reed told POLITICO.
SENATE SPENDING BILLS DOA — There’s six weeks until the current stopgap measure funding the federal government runs out and Senate Democrats released their full slate of funding proposals Monday. But they aren’t going anywhere, reports Caitlin Emma and Jennifer Scholtes. Dig into the details (and why defense dollars are the big holdup) here.
MOVE OVER, BRITNEY — Paris Hilton will be on Capitol Hill this week, advocating for changes to the “troubled teen industry” made up of lucrative therapeutic boarding schools, military-style boot camps, juvenile justice facilities and behavior modification programs.
Hilton penned an opinion piece for the Washington Post about her experience with abuse in these facilities and calling for federal reporting requirements for the industry, citing recommendations from a 2008 Government Accountability Office report that went unheeded.
Hilton will attend a press conference on the Hill Wednesday with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and other institutional abuse survivors and child welfare advocates. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) will also attend to discuss upcoming legislation to establish a bill of rights for children placed in congregate care facilities.
“INTERIOR DESIGN IS MY PASSION” — The person who did this in Dirksen, probably. Thanks Nate from Newsy for getting the word out.
QUICK LINKS
— What is Tommy Tuberville doing here? from Ben Terris of the Washington Post.
— Longtime U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett will run in the Austin area's new congressional district, from Patrick Svitek and Abby Livingston at the Texas Tribune
— House Dem retirement rush continues with 2 new departures, from Ally, Sarah and Heather
TRANSITIONS
Ashling Preston is now deputy legislative assistant for Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). She was previously with the Senate Aging Committee and is a Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) alum.
Madeleine Pike is now VP at Tai, Ginsberg & Associates. She previously was director of outreach and member services for the House Transportation Dems.
Rebecca Osmolski is now digital director for Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). She most recently was digital comms assistant for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Hanna Pritchett is now Eastern regional coordinator for the American Conservation Coalition. She previously was a legislative aide for Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.).
TODAY IN CONGRESS
The House convenes at 2 p.m. with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m.
The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. with votes scheduled for 11:30 a.m. and 2:20 p.m., with caucus lunches between.
AROUND THE HILL
11:30 a.m. Sen. Schumer holds a press conference on climate change.
Noon Senate Democrats and Republicans hold their respective caucus lunches.
Noon Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) hold a press conference on IRS reporting requirements.
2 p.m. Schumer holds a press conference after the caucus lunch, followed by a press conference with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
3 p.m. Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) and others hold a press conference on the Philippine Human Rights Act.
TRIVIA
MONDAY’S WINNER: John V. Sullivan correctly answered that Sen. Frank P. Flint (R-Calif.) was the 1000th Senator.
TODAY’S QUESTION from John: Which current Senator once spoke these words in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives? “Any tree in America would gladly give its life for the glory of a day at home plate.”
The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to [email protected]
GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning.
Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus
Source: https://www.politico.com/