Jeffries’ jam-packed border trip

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

Feb 21, 2023 View in browser   By Sarah Ferris A nighttime border visit. A Black Hawk helicopter tour. Meet-ups with sheriffs and local nuns. It was a busy weekend for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) in the border city of Laredo, Texas. We caught up with Jeffries’ tour guide, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), who had planned the trip down to the minute to ensure the newly crowned party leader got more than a typical politician border trip. “Usually Democrats go to NGOs and hug the migrants and then they leave. Republicans go over, they hang around with border patrol. They don't talk to anybody,” Cuellar told us after the whirlwind trip. But the life-long South Texan said he made clear to his Brooklynite leader before their visit: “I want to do a very balanced approach.” First up, the duo took off with the DHS pilots to see the nation’s largest inland port — where the daily flow of around 17,000 tractor trailers means that plenty of local inspections fall short. Then came a whole lot more meetings, from the World Trade Bridge, to a local migrant processing center, to sheriffs and mayors to NGOs and Catholic charities. (One thing Cuellar learned on the trip — Jeffries’ Spanish is good!) By Saturday night, Cuellar and Jeffries embarked on a night tour along the Rio Grande River (a rarity for Democrats) where they watched border patrol officers, both in trucks and on horseback, use high-tech ways to detect smuggling. “In those images, you can see — someone’s trying to cross over here, there’s a raft right here,” Cuellar recalled. It’s all part of an effort by Cuellar and other border members — including Republicans — to play a bigger role in a political fight in their own backyards. (As he puts it: “Nobody’s listening to the border communities.”) As the top Democrat of the Homeland Security appropriations panel, Cuellar could have some serious sway. He and DHS subcommittee chair Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) are already in talks about their focus for this year’s funding bill, including more support for border agents and personnel and better technology. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries visits Laredo, Texas with Rep. Henry Cuellar for a multi-day tour of the U.S.-Mexico border. | Photo courtesy Rep. Henry Cuellar's office What a difference a year makes: The trip is a big deal for another reason — Cuellar’s own politics. Jeffries came to town for one of the biggest events of the year: the massive George Washington birthday parade that’s previously drawn national Democrats like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). A year ago, Cuellar skipped this same parade for the first time ever under the glare of a recent FBI raid and facing a high-profile primary challenge in an increasingly purple district. But Cuellar proved to be a political survivor — besting his progressive challenger, easily beating his much-hyped GOP opponent in November, and coasting to his 10th term. The King of Laredo still reigns.   JOIN POLITICO ON 3/1 TO DISCUSS AMERICAN PRIVACY LAWS: Americans have fewer privacy rights than Europeans, and companies continue to face a minefield of competing state and foreign legislation. There is strong bipartisan support for a federal privacy bill, but it has yet to materialize. Join POLITICO on 3/1 to discuss what it will take to get a federal privacy law on the books, potential designs for how this type of legislation could protect consumers and innovators, and more. REGISTER HERE.     GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, Feb. 21, where Washington can expect a wild week of recess weather. 80 degrees on Thursday?! THAT OTHER BIG WEEKEND TRIP — President Joe Biden’s secret trip to Ukraine has stirred backlash from the GOP’s right wing. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) tweeted on Monday: “We don’t pay taxes to fund foreign country’s wars who aren’t even NATO ally’s [sic]” — after again calling for a “national divorce.” (Greene’s calls for a “national divorce” — suggesting secession — triggered some GOP backlash of their own. ) She was not alone in her critique of the clandestine trip: Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) all ripped Biden’s visit. And most made clear they would object to more U.S. aid to Ukraine — the opposite approach of two top Republicans, House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner and Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, who made the Sunday show rounds this weekend praising the trip. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), for his part, urged Biden to officially designate Russia as a sponsor of terrorism — while stepping up training for Ukrainians. “We need to start training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 now,” Graham said on ABC’s “This Week.” Conservatives like Biggs, though, reiterated on Monday “no more blank checks.” Biggs and Gaetz cited other issues at home, like the fallout from a toxic train derailment in Ohio. And Gaetz used the trip to re-up his list of nearly a dozen GOP supporters of his so-called “Ukraine Fatigue Resolution.” McCarthy’s headache: That persistent GOP opposition — with 11 Republicans signing onto Gaetz’s resolution — would be enough to kill a partisan measure in the House. But it almost certainly wouldn’t keep Congress from passing Ukraine aid altogether, since Democrats would help carry it over the finish line despite the tight margins. OFF-YEAR RECESS MEANS ... EVEN MORE TRIPS!  — “Congress delegation visits Taiwan in tense US-China moment” by the AP’s Huizhong Wu — McConnell-Led Republican Delegation to Meet With UAE President by Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs and Akayla Gardner — “Schumer in India stresses economic ties as ‘crucial counterweight’ to China” by The Hill’s Julia Mueller — “United front in Congress on Ukraine, at least in Munich” by WaPo’s Paul Kane. FOX GETS THE FOOTAGE — Democrats are livid that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has reportedly handed over 41,000 hours of Capitol security camera footage to Fox News host — and noted Jan. 6 insurrection skeptic — Tucker Carlson. Axios first reported Monday that Carlson’s team was granted access to the footage — which “includes multiple camera angles from all over Capitol grounds” — and plans to air its own excerpts in the coming weeks. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who chaired last Congress’s Jan. 6 select committee, put it this way: “It’s hard to overstate the potential security risks if this material were to be used irresponsibly.” ‘Astounding ethical collapse’ — An enraged Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on House Oversight, suggested the tapes could become “a roadmap for 2024 insurrection” and called it an “astounding ethical collapse” by McCarthy. HISTORIC SPECIAL ELECTION IN VIRGINIA — Voters in the Virginia will elect a new member to fill the seat of the late Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.). State Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan (D-Richmond) is expected to win in this deep blue, Richmond-area seat – it’s a Biden +36 district – and would become the first Black woman ever elected by Virginia to Congress. She’s up against Republican pastor Leon Benjamin, who is also Black. More from WaPo’s Meagan Flynn.    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.     QUICK LINKS  “Drama of McCarthy’s election may open House to more cameras” from the AP’s David Bauder “Lawmakers push Norfolk Southern for more recovery help after Ohio train derailment” by NBC News’ Liz Brown-Kaiser “Biden archives pick languishes in Senate as records agency under fire” by USA Today’s Erin Mansfield and Rachel Looker “Justices will consider whether tech giants can be sued for allegedly aiding ISIS terrorism” by SCOTUS Blog’s Amy Howe. “Timothy J. Heaphy Led the House Jan. 6 Investigation. Here’s What He Learned,” by NYT’s Luke Broadwater TODAY IN CONGRESS The House gavels in for a pro forma at noon. The Senate has its own pro forma at 11 a.m. AROUND THE HILL Lots of Longworth Dunkin coffees Trivia FRIDAY’s WINNER: Emery Real Bird was the first person to correctly guess that a rank-and-file senator made a salary of $42,500 between 1969 and 1975. TODAY’S QUESTION: Two future presidents have only ever been pitted against each other once in a congressional race — when the political rivals were drawn into the same district. Who were the two men? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to sferris@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning. Follow Sarah on Twitter @sarahnferris   Follow us

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