| | | | |  | | By Katherine Tully-McManus | Presented by Sallie Mae® | BILLS, BILLS, BILLS — The third time will not be the charm. The House is set to take up a third stopgap spending bill since the fiscal year started back in October. This aims to tide the nation over for three weeks starting Feb. 18, when the current short-term spending deal ends. The measure, released Monday, would kick the shutdown threat to March 11, giving top appropriators three more weeks to try for a fiscal 2022 omnibus. Mind the (stop) gap: Included in the short term spending measure are a few "anomalies" including $350 million for the military's Red Hill water contamination crisis in Hawaii, funding for nuclear submarines, and for the Interior Department's cybersecurity safeguards. Eyes on the prize: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters Monday she is "confident enough" that both sides can get a topline agreement on a final fiscal 2022 spending deal. Asked what the holdup is on that, Majority Leader Steny Hyer (D-Md.) said; "the agreement." Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said progress was made on the principles of a deal and "we'll see what happens next." | | | | HAPPENING THURSDAY – A LONG GAME CONVERSATION ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS : Join POLITICO for back-to-back conversations on climate and sustainability action, starting with a panel led by Global Insider author Ryan Heath focused on insights gleaned from our POLITICO/Morning Consult Global Sustainability Poll of citizens from 13 countries on five continents about how their governments should respond to climate change. Following the panel, join a discussion with POLITICO White House Correspondent Laura BarrĆ³n-LĆ³pez and Gina McCarthy, White House national climate advisor, about the Biden administration's climate and sustainability agenda. REGISTER HERE. | | | | |
GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, February 8, where no one is mailing it in, even with a postal bill on the House floor.
BRAGGADOCIO OR INSIDER THREAT — The House Sergeant-at-Arms is exploring the launch of a program to tackle (or deter) internal threats, including through "behavioral monitoring," according to a draft document reviewed by POLITICO. Betsy Woodruff Swan reviewed the draft report titled "Sergeant at Arms Insider Threat Risks," dated Dec. 30, 2021, and produced by the House's Office of the Inspector General. Sergeant-at-Arms William Walker told POLITICO that he does not plan any new surveillance, but instead is rolling out voluntary training for House staff regarding security. "The House Sergeant at Arms has no plans, intentions, or interests in conducting any surveillance or monitoring of people who work on the Hill as part of its effort to prevent an insider threat from materializing," he added. Read the full story from Betsy: House watchdog weighs 'behavioral monitoring' to deter internal security threats Name drop: In a letter accompanying the report, Walker says the goal is to train Hill staff to "make them aware of the potential costs associated with talking about Member and or staff scheduling, travel, meetings, etcetera" with people who might not need that information. (Best of luck in a workplace where staff barely breathe without name dropping, flexing insider knowledge is a way of life and basic infosec is abysmal...) SENATE SKEPTICISM OF RNC — The Republican National Committee is supposed to be a force that unifies the party, but this week it might be dividing instead. The RNC's passage of a resolution to censure Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) for working on the House's investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, is reopening divisions between the party's pro-Trump wing, the smaller anti-Trump corner and the rest of the party just trying to forge a majority in the midterms. RNC chair Ronna McDaniel got calls from Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and her uncle, Mitt Romney (R-Utah), was in her texts, criticizing the move to say Cheney and Kinzinger are involved in "persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse." Marianne, Burgess and Olivia talked to lots of Senate Republicans on this prickly situation: Senate GOP backlash smacks RNC after Cheney-Kinzinger censure | | A message from Sallie Mae®: What's the difference between student lending and responsible student lending? For Sallie Mae, the difference is helping students and families borrow responsibly by approving loans they can afford. In fact, fewer than 2% of our loans in repayment default annually. But before we do that, we help students maximize scholarships, grants, and federal financial aid. See how Sallie Mae makes sense of paying for college. | | |
ASSEMBLE THE SUBGROUPS— Senators involved in discussions on changes to the Electoral Count Act met Monday night, fueled by CAVA bowls and an interest in bolstering confidence in the legitimacy of American elections. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters that there was discussion of clarifying that the vice president has no role in a challenge of electoral college outcomes. "We'll be talking about what the threshold should be for bringing a challenge and sustaining a challenge," she said.
Romney said one subgroup is looking at the proposal from Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Angus King (I-Maine) focused on state officials going rogue: "We're making progress, but it's a very complex issue and the place that we really need more information is what happens if there's a partisan certifying officer at the state level? How do we make sure that that person follows the vote of the people of that state?" READ RECEIPTS (WHAT I'M READING)— The House's Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds' annual report for 2021 . (House and Senate aides are not covered by federal whistleblower protections that shield other federal employees. The Office of the Whistleblower Ombudsman was created to train House offices to receive whistleblower information. It is not designed to protect staff themselves if they chose to come forward as a whistleblower.) | | | | DON'T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE. | | | | |
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Union bug is biting… The so-called Congressional Workers Union (which is not yet recognized or codified) voiced support for a not-yet-introduced resolution extending protections for staff organizing to House and Senate staff. According to a tracker from Demand Progress, at least 75 House members and 11 senators have also voiced support.
QUICK LINKS Documents detail U.S. military's frustration with White House, diplomats over Afghanistan evacuation, from Dan Lamothe and Alex Horton at The Washington Post The budget impasse is squeezing the Pentagon, despite its riches, from John M. Donnelly at CQ Roll Call Kurt Schrader represents Oregon in Congress. But does he live there? From Austin Ahlman at The Intercept TRANSITIONS Katie Jordan has joined Corteva as a federal government affairs associate. She was most recently financial disclosure program manager for the Senate Ethics Committee. William Pratt is now a policy adviser for the Treasury Department. He previously was a legislative aide for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Dylan Jones is now comms director for Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.). He previously was comms director for College to Congress. Mary Wentworth is now a legislative assistant for Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.). She previously was a legislative aide for Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). | | | | A message from Sallie Mae®:   | | |
TODAY IN CONGRESS
The House convenes at 10 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. with votes at 11:45 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. with additional votes expected. The chamber will recess from noon-2:15 p.m. for caucus lunches. AROUND THE HILL 10 a.m. GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) hold a post-meeting press conference (Studio A). 10:30 a.m. House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Vice Chair Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), plus Reps. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), hold a news conference after the Democratic caucus meeting (Studio A). 11 a.m. Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) hold a press conference on the expanded Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit (S-325). 1 p.m. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) holds a press conference to introduce the Protect Children Through Safe Gun Ownership Act (House Triangle). 2 p.m. Senate Republican and Senate Democratic leaders will hold separate media availabilities after caucus lunches. | | |
MONDAY'S WINNER:Kyle Stewart correctly answered that Congress convened in Philadelphia in 1987 to commemorate the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. And in 2002, Congress met in New York City to mark the anniversary of 9/11.
TODAY'S QUESTION: Congressman Nathaniel Hazard of Rhode Island kicked off what somber House tradition in 1820? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to ktm@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning. Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus | | A message from Sallie Mae®: Not all student lending is the same. At Sallie Mae, we help students maximize scholarships, grants, and federal financial aid before considering a private student loan. Next, we take the right steps to help ensure students don't overborrow and only approve loans we think they can effectively manage and afford. See how Sallie Mae makes sense of paying for college. | | |
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