A Bakersfield dozen?

A play-by-play preview of the day's congressional news

Jan 06, 2023 View in browser   By Katherine Tully-McManus With help from Marianne LeVine and Kyle Cheney Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has eleven failed speaker votes under his belt heading into Friday, but allies are also claiming progress. | Francis Chung/POLITICO WEAKER BY THE DOZEN? — The House returns today at noon for more action on the speaker election, with a 12th ballot expected after 11 consecutive humiliating defeats for Kevin McCarthy. Conference call: House Republicans are expected to hold a call — not an in-person conference meeting — today. Tuesday's full conference meeting got heated and conference calls are generally seen as easier to steer and control. Discussion is likely to include the very tentative "deal" (we're using that term loosely) brokered between McCarthy's (R-Calif.) camp and some of his opponents. The proposal, which was on paper Thursday night and under review by conservatives, could get McCarthy closer to the votes he needs, but will not be enough on its own to bring him across the finish line. "The entire conference is going to have to learn how to work together, so it's better that we go through this process right now," McCarthy said as he left the House Thursday night. "If this takes a little longer, and it doesn't meet your deadline, that's okay. Because it's not how you start, it's how you finish." Never Kevins: Among the 20 McCarthy naysayers there is a group of hardliners that are "hard nos" and seen as unwinnable, according to leadership aides: Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Bob Good (Va.) and Matt Rosendale (Mont.). But McCarthy can only lose four GOP votes and still win the speakership, assuming full attendance. But there won't be full attendance, at least closing out this week. Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) missed the ninth, tenth and eleventh ballots after traveling back to his home state for a "planned non-emergency medical procedure," a spokesperson told POLITICO. Buck's office said the lawmaker would be out the rest of Thursday and most of Friday. The so-called "deal" would include a vote on term limits for members, more Freedom Caucus seats on the House Rules Committee and a single member vote on the motion to vacate. "A lot of good work has been done today. There's still a lot of work to be done," Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said. One unresolved element of the "deal" that has some Republicans (and likely Dems) fuming is Rep. Andy Harris' (R-Md.) push to lead the spending subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (which you'll hear called "Labor-H" around the Hill). Negotiations on that appropriations panel are delicate, especially around abortion issues. It has been shepherded in recent years by senior appropriators attuned to both the political sensitivities and a commitment to moving a bill that can attract broad support. Harris does not have a reputation for finesse. "Not a good idea. That would be rejected," appropriator Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) told Sarah Thursday night. The move to seat Harris would upset centrists and even some mainstream conservatives, who are likely to argue that McCarthy is rewarding the rebels for their behavior. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) had a wide-lens view of the speaker fight: "The whole institution is quite shambolic and it is in the nature of the institution, and specifically this day and this week," the McCarthy ally told reporters Thursday. McCarthy fails on 11th ballot amid hopes for tentative deal with conservatives, from Olivia, Sarah, Jordain and Rachael Bade  Dems bask in the speaker schadenfreude, from Nicholas and Sarah  REMEMBERING JAN 6 — House Democrats are planning a "short and solemn" ceremony on the East Front steps of the Capitol this morning to commemorate the heroic efforts and sacrifice of the Capitol Police and other officers who defended the Capitol against the violent siege of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The event is billed as bipartisan, but there is not an expectation of high turnout of Republican lawmakers. At the White House, President Joe Biden will present twelve individuals with the Presidential Citizens Medal — the nation's second-highest civilian honor — which is given to individuals who have "performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens." Among those honored will be members of the Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, including the late Brian Sicknick, who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 and later died. ENABLERS AND DEFECTORS — Of the group of Republican defectors who are voting against Kevin McCarthy's speakership, fourteen voted against certification of the electoral college count on Jan. 6 in the aftermath of the violence. The defectors also include four election-denying freshmen. But a smaller group of the election deniers are now back in the spotlight. "At every stage of former President Donald Trump's bid to overturn the 2020 election results, a phalanx of hardline GOP lawmakers were egging him on," write Kyle and Nicholas this morning, on the two year anniversary of the attack. "And several conservatives currently standing against Kevin McCarthy's bid for the top gavel, including House Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), were among the handful of true believers in Trump's efforts." GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Friday, Jan. 6, where there's not that jubilant TGIF feeling. CASEWORK CONUNDRUM  — Staff and lawmakers across the House were getting mixed messages this week on what they can or can't help constituents with in this strange period before members-elect are sworn-in. Staff received responses to casework questions from the IRS stating that the agency could not engage until a speaker is elected and members are sworn in, a source shared with Olivia. Rep.-elect Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) wrote to President Joe Biden to get clarity on the situation. Democrats received a memo stating that "Offices CANNOT except [sic] casework at this time because Members have not been sworn in." But that was reversed in a follow-up message from Jamie Fleet, a top Democratic aide: "I wanted to clarify prior guidance related to casework. Our position is Member offices should continue to serve their constituents by supporting casework. We regret any miscommunication to this effect," he wrote. ABC News reported Thursday night that the IRS is now telling House offices they can work on both existing and new casework, even before a speaker is elected and members are sworn in. But they're barred from communicating "taxpayer-specific information" to Hill offices before then. RETREAT IN RETREAT — The freshman retreat that was scheduled to be in Pennsylvania this weekend has been postponed, Rep.-elect Robert Garcia (R-Calif.) lamented on Thursday. "The freshman congressional retreat planned for this weekend has now been postponed. The retreat included important trainings and policy discussions that will not be happening. And we have yet to be sworn-in. Total chaos," he wrote. Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) is the guy in the center. | Francis Chung/POLITICO NEVER KEVIN OR NEW KEVIN? — There was a new Kevin in the ring for speaker, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.). Hern, who was first elected in 2018 and sits on Ways and Means, is set to chair the Republican Study Committee this Congress. That group includes about 170 GOP members who work to build and support what they call "consensus policy positions." Before Congress, he owned 24 McDonald's restaurants. "His favorite McDonald's food item is a McGriddle, and his spokeswoman said the ice-cream machines always worked in his restaurants," reports Natalie Andrews of The Wall Street Journal. STABE-NO TO 2024 — Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) shocked her fellow Democrats Thursday, when she announced she would not seek re-election. Her departure creates an opening in a key battleground state as well as a vacancy in Senate Democratic leadership, where she is currently the No. 3 Democrat and helms the party's messaging arm. She is the first battleground state Democrat to announce a retirement, an early setback as the party braces for a tough 2024 Senate map. In an interview with POLITICO, Stabenow said she made her decision over "the last few weeks" and cited Democrats' electoral success in Michigan this past November as one of her reasons for leaving. ""When it was so clear that we did so well and we had such wonderful new leaders coming in, I felt confident that I could seriously think about it," she said. "For me, it's important to pass the torch at the right time, and I really feel this is the right time." As chair of the Senate Agriculture committee, Stabenow will shepherd the next farm bill, which expires this year. More here from Meredith Lee Hill, Burgess and Marianne. There's no shortage of Democrats already lining up to replace Stabenow. Reps. Elissa Slotkin and Debbie Dingell are considering a run, while Rep. Haley Stevens is also expected to take a look. Meanwhile, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said they were not planning to run for Stabenow's seat. Elena Schneider, Adam Wren and Heidi Przybyla have the latest. COVER GUY — Strike a pose. Teen Vogue gave freshman Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), the first member of Gen Z elected to Congress, the cover guy treatment with a deep dive into his political inspirations (Obama, Sanders, Raskin, Warren) and legislative ambitions. And of course there's a full fashion photo shoot. FUN FACT — Clerk of the House Cheryl Johnson has been in the spotlight, conducting the speaker votes and keeping the House in order. But we learned from Joe Lowry that if Johnson is unavailable, House Sergeant at Arms William Walker would have to take over and assume the chair. Walker is no procedural expert, but he could probably keep folks in line as a former Army major general. HUDDLE HOTDISH Rep.-elect Nancy Mace (D-S.C.) and her furry friend. | Getty Images Dog days in the House… Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) brought her dog to the floor of the House on Thursday, despite protest from the Sergeant-at-Arms employees who oversee the chamber. Mace cited the lack of House Rules during this liminal period. Chip Somodevilla from Getty Images captured it. QUICK LINKS  Gaetz wasn't always against leadership. Just look at his time in Tallahassee, by Matt Dixon in Tallahassee Meet Cheryl Johnson, the Woman Directing Congress Through Historic Chaos, from Bloomberg's Ryan Teague Beckwith and Zach Cohen Possible Senate rivals split over McCarthy, by Ally Mutnick Twitter said it fixed 'verification.' So I impersonated a senator (again), column from Geoffrey A. Fowler at The Washington Post The Wild Eviction Drama George Santos Can't Seem to Explain, by Roger Sollenberger, William Bredderman and Justin Rohrlich at The Daily Beast TRANSITIONS  Jeremy Adler is joining Adam Mendelsohn's firm Upland Workshop. He was most recently senior communications aide to former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and with the Jan. 6 committee. John D. Lee is now legislative director for Rep.-elect Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.) and previously served as Rep. Sean Casten's (D-Ill.) senior policy advisor. Connor Torossian is now legislative director for Rep.-elect Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.). He previously was a legislative assistant for Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) and is a Morgan Griffith alum. Alyssa Leigh Richardson is launching Palmetto Community Developers, a firm focused on affordable housing in South Carolina. She previously was deputy chief of staff and state director for Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). Rep. Mike Collins' (R-Ga.) office has added DJ Griffin as comms director and Andrew Eisenberger as deputy chief of staff. Griffin was previously associate research director at the RNC and is a Claudia Tenney alum. Eisenberger was previously a State Party Strategies team member at the RNC and is a Mike Kelly and Dana Rohrabacher alum. Katherine Ambrose will be professional staff for the Senate Commerce Surface Transportation, Maritime, Freight and Ports Subcommittee. She previously was director of Pacific Northwest policy for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and professional staff for its Railroads Subcommittee. Marcus Brubaker is now deputy chief of staff for Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.). He most recently was client services adviser for Excellence in Giving and is a Doug Lamborn and Bill Posey alum. Joshua Bradley is now chief of staff for Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas). He most recently was deputy chief of staff for Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) and is a Trump DHS alum. Zeldin Alums, assemble: Katie Vincentz is now comms director for Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Jacob Murphy is deputy comms director at House Transportation and Infrastructure. Sarah Talmage is deputy chief of staff and legislative director for Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-N.Y.). Jaide Barja is D'Esposito's legislative assistant. Mary Hrinkevich is now legislative director for Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.). Andrea Grace is Rep. Mike Lawler's (R-N.Y.) chief of staff, James McNamee is Lawler's legislative director and Ashley Brown is director of operations. Will Comer is now press assistant for the House GOP conference. TODAY IN CONGRESS The House convenes at noon. The Senate convenes at 1:05 p.m. for a pro forma session. AROUND THE HILL 9:30 a.m. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and other House Democrats honor the anniversary of Jan. 6th and highlight "Electoral Count Reform" law. (House Triangle) 10 a.m. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other members-elect hold a bipartisan remembrance ceremony recognizing two years since the January 6 attack on the Capitol. (Capitol East Front Steps) TRIVIA THURSDAY'S WINNER: Aria Austin correctly answered that COBRA stands for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 and it passed in 1986. TODAY'S QUESTION from Aria: Where did the Democratic and Republican parties get their mascots from? 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   Follow us

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