Open season for amendments

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

Jan 20, 2023 View in browser   By Katherine Tully-McManus With a helping hand from Marianne LeVine and Burgess Everett House Republicans have promised to open the amendment floodgates. | Francis Chung/POLITICO PLAYING BY THE (OPEN) RULES — House Republicans pledged a more inclusive chamber under their control, where proposals from all corners are up for debate — and next week they'll put that into practice on the House floor. They're opening the door to open rules, once again. Is it a "festival of democracy," as former Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) used to say, or a Pandora's box? For the first time in nearly seven years the House will allow an amendment free-for-all on the floor, with any members allowed to offer amendments with little restriction. "Lawmaking should be open to all members, not just a select few, so that the best ideas win," Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said shortly after his election as speaker. Next week: The House is set to take up an energy bill under a "modified open rule," which allows any member to offer amendments on the floor, as long as they are submitted and printed in the Congressional Record ahead of floor debate. So there won't be proposals scrawled on scrap paper in real-time like a Senate vote-a-rama, but it will still be more freewheeling than the House has been in years. The bill would tie Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases to increased drilling on federal lands and waters. This bill is a priority for House Republicans but it isn't as high pressure as the federal spending or debt limit legislation that is coming down the pike. Wide-open debate and unlimited amendments on government funding bills is one of the key promises McCarthy's detractors extracted in his fight for the speaker's gavel (along with a commitment to move spending bills up one by one, not as large packages). Be kind, rewind: But with a narrow majority, McCarthy will try to avoid pitfalls that his conference has encountered in the past with the thrill of amendments in abundance. He's trying to wrangle a slim majority and an unruly conference. Back when McCarthy was GOP whip, he largely abided by acommitment to not whip amendments one way or another. But that good faith with his conference was tested as emboldened conservatives insisted on offering hot-button amendments that could sink major legislation, including spending bills. He warned members at a closed-door conference meeting to think long and hard before offering poison pills and threatening to engage the whip operation on amendments. It isn't far-fetched that McCarthy and his leadership team could run into the same calculation. Modified open rules, at least, give leadership lead time in case they do need to whip votes on an amendment, or even quietly exert pressure on the sponsor to not offer their proposal. It isn't yet clear if any similar agreement on whipping amendments has taken shape in the new GOP majority or how the narrow margins could change the calculation for leadership. Why they went away: When Republicans last unleashed freewheeling open rules and endless amendments on the House, Democrats, in the minority, unnerved Republicans by offering amendment after amendment on Confederate symbols at federal sites. When the GOP couldn't defeat the proposals, Republicans reigned in the rules process, moving to restrict which amendments saw floor action. Republicans lament the closed amendments that dominated former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) tenure, but she happily inherited the tightly controlled process from her GOP predecessor. Other options: Of course, House Republican leaders could also try to stave off surprises on the floor by bringing up spending measures under structured rules, which limit what amendments can be offered, or closed rules, which bar the offering of amendments entirely.   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.     GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Friday, Jan. 20, where recess is wrapping up before both chambers return next week. HUDDLE'S WEEKLY MOST CLICKED: The Bathroom Fight Fueling Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert's Break-Up, from Ursula Perano and Zachary Petrizzo at The Daily Beast. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) will make his plans known today at an event in Richmond. | Cliff Owen/AP Photo WILL HE OR WON'T HE — Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is expected to announce today at an event in Richmond whether he'll run for a third Senate term. The Virginia Democrat, who was the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee and former governor of Virginia, has kept his plans close to the vest. While it's been more than a decade since Virginia sent a Republican to the Senate, a Kaine retirement would create an open Senate seat in a state with a GOP governor, during what's expected to be a tough 2024 cycle for Democrats. "I'm doing everything that a good candidate does: I have a great team, raising a lot of money," Kaine, who won his 2018 reelection by 16 points, told POLITICO in November, after the midterms. "I'll make the final decision over the holidays."Marianne and Burgess have more (and Marianne is in Richmond today, so stay tuned.) CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF  — Rep. Greg Stanton's (D-Ariz.) Thursday decision to forgo a Senate bid opens a clear runway for Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) to launch his own upper-chamber campaign in the coming days. Stanton said plainly on Thursday that "now is not the right time for me to run." That means that Gallego, a young, progressive veteran, would have the left flank all to himself to take it to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) – if she runs for reelection. If Gallego and Sinema both end up running against a TBD Republican (Kari Lake, Blake Masters...Doug Ducey?), it would create quite the chaotic three-way race for the DSCC to navigate. A TIKTOK TICK TOCK — An analysis by Ariana Figueroa at States Newsroom reveals that at least 32 lawmakers across both houses of Congress — all Democrats and one independent — have TikTok accounts. At least half of those are either currently on or have previously served on committees that handle national security issues. Meanwhile, some of their colleagues, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), have called for a nationwide ban on the app. 2024 RUMBLES TO LIFE — The Senate has been a snooze the last few weeks, unless you've been paying attention to action off of Capitol Hill, where jockeying for 2024 is well underway. And there are advantages for candidates who jump into the fray early when those open seats become clear (or before they become clear, as was the case with Rep. Katie Porter's (D-Calif.) move to announce her run before incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announces her reelection or retirement plans.) Democrats will be on the defensive, trying to protect incumbents in five states where President Joe Biden won narrowly: Nevada, Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Plus, there are the three most vulnerable Dems in the field: Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, Montana Sen. Jon Tester and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. Of those three, only Brown has committed to running again. Burgess breaks down who's in, who's out, who's waiting in the wings and who we're waiting to hear from. QUICK LINKS  Ruben Gallego Set to Launch Senate Campaign Against Kyrsten Sinema, from Adrian Carrasquillo at Newsweek After Roe, Republicans Wrestle With What It Means to Be 'Pro-Life', from Lisa Lerer and Katie Glueck at The New York Times Months Before a Potential Crisis, Both Parties Kick Off a Fiscal Blame Game, from Carl Hulse at The New York Times TRANSITIONS  Marian Currinder is joining Freedom House as the new director for U.S. democracy. She was most recently a professional staff member on the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Michael Holloman is joining BerlinRosen as an account director in the strategic campaigns practice. He most recently was comms director for Stacey Abrams' Georgia gubernatorial campaign. Mike Hamilton is now senior director on the federal government affairs team at the American Chemistry Council. He previously was chief of staff for Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.). Lawrence Bell will join Cornerstone Government Affairs. He currently is deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). Nick Wyatt is joining the Senate Budget Committee as a professional staff member, working as the budget analyst for transportation, community and regional development, and general government. He previously was an investigator for the Senate Judiciary GOP. Mark Hamilton is now executive scheduler for Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio). He most recently was congressional constituent liaison for former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).   DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don't miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID.     TODAY IN CONGRESS The House convenes at noon for a pro forma session. The Senate convenes at 1 p.m. for a pro forma session. AROUND THE HILL Quiet until both chambers return next week. TRIVIA TUESDAY'S WINNER: Rich Luchette correctly answered that George Miller owned the house on Capitol Hill where Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) lived for decades along with a rotating cast of other congressional roommates. TODAY'S QUESTION from Rich: Which pro football quarterback led the Buffalo Bills to two consecutive American Football League titles before later embarking on a successful political career that culminated in his nomination as the Republican candidate for vice president? 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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