Dems hoping it's sunny in Philadelphia

Presented by Better Medicare Alliance: A play-by-play preview of the day's congressional news

Mar 10, 2022 View in browser   By Katherine Tully-McManus Presented by With help from Marianne LeVine SEEKING: BROTHERLY LOVE— When House Democrats stepped onto the streets of Philadelphia in the wee hours this morning, it was just like The Boss sings: bruised and battered, unrecognizable to themselves after two days and nights of legislative drama and delay. But with the $1.5 trillion spending compromise and Ukraine aid out the door and billions of dollars of pandemic funding on the cutting room floor … House Dems pivot today to focus on Democratic priorities and midterm prospects at their caucus policy retreat. Long before any lawmakers arrived in Philadelphia, Capitol Police vehicles and personnel surrounding the host hotel gave the illusion on Thursday that there was a major congressional event. But instead buses sat stalled on Capitol Hill and reporters and a handful of aides lay in wait for lawmakers to arrive. 'THIS RETREAT IS CURSED' — House Democrats will spend the next two days behind closed doors, attempting to solidify a message that can carry them through the midterms. They hope to fight off the typical battering the president's party faces during most midterm election cycles. Also on the agenda is something they've been struggling with for months: party unity. For freshmen (and others) the retreat is one of the first tastes of a classic congressional tradition. The pandemic and long government shutdowns canceled multiple retreats in previous years. Among those most disappointed in the retreat's delay was de facto hometown host Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), who just wanted to show off his city. "I'm really disappointed about what's going on but anxious to get to Philly," he told Nicholas Wednesday night. Scrapped Wednesday sessions included "understanding the challenges of the She-cession," and a performance by storied drag queen Lady Bunny. The schedule scramble had Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) declaring the conference "cursed" but we'll see how it goes. Still ahead: President Joe Biden and DJ Jazzy Jeff.   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.     GOOD MORNING FROM PHILADELPHIA!  Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, March 10, where if Dems come away from Philly without whipping batteries at each other the caucus can mark it as a win. HOW WEDNESDAY WENT DOWN — "Everything is going according to plan," House Rules Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) quipped Wednesday. "A messed up plan." Wednesday started with a 1:30 a.m. House Rules meeting on the omnibus and ended with a floor vote after 10 p.m… Sarah, Nicholas and Jennifer followed every twist and turn (and division of the question) that played out. Catch up: House Dems clear $1.5T spending deal after stripping Covid aid FED UP — The Senate Banking Committee is locked in a standoff over President Joe Biden's Federal Reserve picks and it is fraying the odd-couple relationship between the panel's top two lawmakers. Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and ranking member Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) "might as well be from different planets, yet they've surprisingly found a way to work together on everything from Covid to public transit. Their collegiality has run dry when it comes to the Federal Reserve," writes Burgess and Kate Davidson. Toomey led a GOP boycott of a committee vote on Fed nominees last month, unsatisfied with Sarah Bloom Raskin's views on how to shape economies facing climate change. Brown and Toomey have different philosophies about the role of the Fed. The friction has attracted looky loos from across the Senate, waiting to see what happens next. The Banking Committee rules require a majority of members to be present for votes on business, including nominees. That means that Toomey can hold up Raskin's nomination - along with the rest - indefinitely on the evenly divided panel. More from Burgess and Kate: Fed up: Inside the Senate's banking brawl KBJ DAILY MEETING UPDATE— Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is back at it today with in-person meetings. Jackson is scheduled to meet with more Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, including Chris Coons of Delaware, Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Alex Padilla of California. In addition, she will meet with Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a Republican member of the Judiciary Committee. Jackson met with several senators Wednesday, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Manchin supported her nomination to the D.C. Circuit last year and described the meeting with Jackson as "positive and productive." He indicated he'll watch her hearings before making a decision.   A message from Better Medicare Alliance: A record-setting 409 bipartisan members of the U.S. House and Senate — over 75% of Congress – sent letters to the Biden administration supporting Medicare Advantage coverage. Why? Because Medicare Advantage is delivering high-satisfaction, lower costs, and better outcomes for the over 28 million seniors it serves. Medicare Advantage – it's working.   NO SUNLIGHT ON WINDOW SECURITY— One notoriously opaque entity that oversees the Capitol Police is refusing to disclose key information to another notoriously opaque entity that oversees the Capitol Police. A tale as old as time. Sarah D. Wire from the Los Angeles Times reports that the Capitol Police Board is refusing to provide the USCP inspector general with information about vulnerabilities and improvements made to windows throughout the Capitol following the Jan. 6 attack. LINE OF DUTY — "The widow of Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith has won a months-long fight to have her husband's death declared in the line of duty, following his suicide days after the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol," reports CNN. SENATE'S GOT BEEF…WITH BEEF — Congress is inching closer to mandating more competition in the American beef industry, but the effort to rein in meatpacking conglomerates is setting Republicans against each other. Meredith Lee has this meaty story: Inside Senate Republicans' battle over the future of big beef   SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today.     GIVE LEG BRANCH SOME LOVE— Your Huddle host dug into the best omnibus title: Legislative Branch, baby. Here are some things we found: "Motorized micro mobility" — Capitol Police, Sergeants at Arms and the Architect of the Capitol are directed to engage with DC DOT and e-scooter companies to explore installation of docking points on campus. Jet setting— Report language directs more robust cyber training for lawmakers and staff traveling abroad, including security for their personal devices.  Intern cash — On average, each Senate office will be allocated around $70,000 for intern compensation House compensation study— House Chief Administrative Office is directed to explore ways to increase survey participation and options to mandate participation in the compensation study.  Senate Daycare — The Senate "encourages all stakeholders to continue working towards selecting a preferred site option for site expansion"... keep an eye on the most cutthroat waitlist in town. Fitness test— Committees are asking USCP for a comparison report on the department's annual physical fitness testing requirements versus those of other law enforcement agencies. USCP has testified in recent years that there is not an annual fitness test for officers.  Mountains and Clouds — "The Senate Committee directs the [Architect of the Capitol] to continue working with outside partners on the restoration of the Calder Mountain and Clouds sculpture." (The clouds, which gently rotated, were deemed structurally unsound and taken down in 2014.)  LIKE CLOCKWORK — Next week's time change means one less hour of precious time preparing Huddle (or sleeping). But it also means the biannual  fight over daylight saving time is raging once again on Capitol Hill. QUICK LINKS  The Arizona Republican Trying to Say 'No' To Trump — Gently, from Hank Stephenson in POLITICO Magazine Congress eyes return of tourists with eagerness, anxiety, from Jim Saksa and Chris Cioffi at CQ Roll Call Capito eyes Senate GOP leadership bid, from Jordain Carney at The Hill TRANSITIONS  Katelynn Vogt is joining the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as comms director. She previously was deputy chief of staff for Rep. David Price (D-N.C.).   A message from Better Medicare Alliance:   TODAY IN CONGRESS The House is out. The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. AROUND THE HILL 10 a.m. CIA Director William Burns, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, NSA Director Gen, Paul Nakasone, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee (216 Hart). 11 a.m. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) holds a press conference on inflation (Senate TV Studio). TRIVIA WEDNESDAY'S WINNER: David Carle correctly answered that the 1993 movie 'Dave' featured cameos by journalist Eleanor Clift, Senator Tom Harkin, and longtime GOP leadership staffer Bill Pitts. Carle notes the film also included a cameo from his old boss the late Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.). TODAY'S QUESTION: Who are Pennsylvania's longest-serving senators? 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 Better Medicare Alliance: Bipartisan consensus can sometimes seem elusive in Washington, but 409 members of the U.S. House and Senate proved it's still possible – coming together in record-setting numbers to declare bipartisan support for seniors' Medicare Advantage coverage. It's not hard to see why. More than 28 million beneficiaries choose Medicare Advantage today, giving it a 94% satisfaction rate, and 89% say it saves them money compared to other coverage options. With ongoing bipartisan support in Washington, Medicare Advantage will continue delivering lower costs and better outcomes to seniors today and in the future. Medicare Advantage – it's working.     Follow us

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