| | | | |  | | By Katherine Tully-McManus | Presented by Panasonic | CRIME, BOY, I DON’T KNOW — The Senate is readying a vote this week on a GOP-led resolution to roll back a new D.C. law that overhauls the city’s criminal code, which President Joe Biden has promised that he will sign. That left House Democrats fuming, since 173 Democrats voted against it after the White House put out a statement saying the president opposed it. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) lamented that the House didn’t get “a heads up” from the White House about the flip toward supporting the GOP measure. More than a few Democrats are expected to vote with Republicans and the president to overrule the D.C. Council for the first time since 1991. Late last week Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said she’d vote for repeal of the crime bill, joining colleagues Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.). With Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) out, that’s plenty for the measure to hit the simple majority it needs to head to the president’s desk. Murray is hardly a centrist and her backing is largely seen as a signal that more Democrats could line up for repeal. Democratic support for the measure will allow Biden to avoid a veto fight on one of the most charged issues. Republicans are sure to frame Democrats as “soft on crime” anyways, but this could weaken their ammunition. FIRST IN HUDDLE: SCHUMER LETTER TO YELLEN — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is writing to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen today to get her department to allow communities “build capacity” using the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program to give them a better shot at competitive federal funding opportunities. “Many smaller localities, rural areas, and distressed communities often lack the resources and capacity to compete for and fully realize the benefits of this funding, especially given the significant number of opportunities coming all at once as the many bills are implemented,” writes Schumer. Schumer’s focus is on implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, CHIPS and Science Act, Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and Inflation Reduction Act and says that allowing funds for capacity building would cut “through red tape, maximizing the impact of taxpayer dollars, and getting funding quickly out the door.” Read the full letter.
| | | | A message from Panasonic: Deepening our commitment to sustainability. Learn more about Panasonic’s green impact. | | | GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Monday, March 6, where a rewatch of Crip Camp is recommended, after the death of civil rights activist Judy Heumann this weekend. BACK TO THE (DEBT LIMIT) FUTURE — If it feels like talking about the impending debt limit standoff puts everyone on Capitol Hill on an emotional hair trigger, that’s because there’s a whole lot of baggage. Caitlin Emma and Jen Scholtes expertly break down the three shared truths that emerge from looking at the last 10 debt limit deadlines Congress has faced in the last 13 years. (Yeah, they’re unpacking the baggage. How does that make you feel?) The first: House Republicans, even with hearty majorities, have always needed votes from Democrats to act on the debt limit. Second: Any time House conservatives tried to unite around fiscal demands, they failed. And finally: When Democrats refused to negotiate up front, Senate Republicans came to their rescue with a bipartisan fix in the end. Don’t miss this trip down memory lane that is certain to inform the future. HOUSE GOP BETS ON ENERGY SPARK — House Republicans are readying a 20-plus bill package of energy legislation that covers the greatest hits of GOP energy pitches in the last decade, from easing environmental reviews and boosting fossil fuel production to nixing Biden’s block on the Keystone XL pipeline. It is also the House GOP’s opening bid for a conversation on energy permitting, a policy area both parties see potential for cooperation on, report Sarah Ferris and Josh Siegel. There are still questions about how to tackle the bill on the floor, given conservatives’ demands for unlimited amendments and the narrow majority that could prove fragile if certain amendments turn allies sour. “Everybody will have a little different perspective. But when you want to attack inflation in this country, it starts with an all-of-the-above energy policy, and I think that will be the more unifying thing,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said.
| | | | 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. | | | | | MARK KELLY IN MONTANA — Kelly spoke at the Montana State Democratic Party dinner last night, giving a lot of love to Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who’s up for reelection, as well as a bit about himself. We doubt that Kelly will be the last Democrat making the trip to Montana to talk up Tester as he faces another tough election cycle. Some highlights from Kelly’s speech:
- “Now, out of the two of us, you’d think that I was the one who had the dangerous job outside of the Senate. But I gotta say, Jon, I came back from space four times and I came back from flying 39 combat missions with all of my fingers.”
- “It didn’t take me long to find Jon Tester. First of all, you can’t miss him, and if you do, you’ll hear him. But more than that, he is the same type of no nonsense kind of guy that I think I am.”
- He highlighted Democratic legislative victories, including caps on insulin costs, Tester’s bill benefiting veterans with toxic exposure and infrastructure.
Tester also got some laughs with his story about driving with Kelly: “He’s got a car. I’m not gonna tell you what kind of car it is. But it’s electric and it is crazy fast. Him being a Navy combat pilot, he took me out for a ride in his car and he scared the hell out of me on the streets of Washington, D.C. I’m just gonna be straight up. He had every nerve ending from the tip of my toes to the top of my head firing.” WARRANTLESS WARNER — Senate Intelligence Committee chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) is juggling a mess of competing priorities for a high-stakes warrantless monitoring program. But it isn’t the first time. “One of the things the community’s got to do a better job of is explaining, in practical non-classified terms, how valuable this tool is,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) said in a recent brief interview. “And they’ve not done that as well as they should.” Jordain and Marianne have much more on the fight to reauthorize the warrantless surveillance program, known as Section 702, by the end-of-year deadline. Speaking of surveillance… “For years, the Department of Homeland Security has run a virtually unknown program gathering domestic intelligence, one of many revelations in a wide-ranging tranche of internal documents reviewed by POLITICO.” Betsy Woodruff Swan has a full report this morning on employees in DHS’s intelligence office raising concerns that the work they are doing could be illegal.
| | | | A message from Panasonic:   | | | GONZALES CENSURED IN TEXAS — The state Republican Party of Texas voted over the weekend to censure Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) over recent House votes where he split with his conference. The votes under scrutiny were his vote in favor of a measure protecting same-sex marriage, against the new GOP majority’s rules package and in favor of a gun safety measure passed in response to the Uvalde school shooting, which was in his district. The State Republican Executive Committee passed the censure resolution 57-5, with one member abstaining. It needed a three-fifths majority to pass. The action means that the state party, which is typically required to stay neutral in primaries, can get involved in a challenge against Gonzales in 2024. More details from Andrea Drusch from the San Antonio Report. BALLOONING COMMITTEE BUDGETS — “Determined to take their message directly to voters at a time when they are hard-pressed to get anything concrete done on Capitol Hill, House Republicans are increasing the budgets of their congressional committees and going out on the road, planning a busy schedule of field hearings in all corners of the country aimed at promoting their agenda outside the Beltway,” write Annie Karni and Catie Edmondson at The New York Times. ICYMI: TERM LIMITS WHO? Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) is seeking a sixth term in office, breaking a pledge he made during his first campaign to serve only five terms. His district, WI-06, is solidly Republican.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | | Ice cold… Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) delivers with drip (but isn’t frozen drip an icicle?) How This Rookie Congressman Got TikTok Famous, from Jake Lahut at The Daily Beast QUICK LINKS How the Rail Lobby Won in Washington and Rail Safety Lost in America, by The Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger Tim Scott says he’s getting ‘tremendous feedback’ so far on his 2024 listening tour, by Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser A life in Congress: Lauren Underwood learns what it costs, from Ruby Cramer at The Washington Post Is Byron Donalds the next Florida GOP superstar? by the Washington Examiner’s Virginia Aabram Democratic socialists swept out of power in Nevada, from Natasha Korecki at NBC News ICYMI: Analysis | Nancy Pelosi untethered: The former speaker revels in newfound freedom from Paul Kane at The Washington Post TRANSITIONS Sophia Slacik is now speechwriter for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). She most recently was a digital production assistant for politics at Fox News. Annie Tutor is now with Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) office handling the Commerce Committee and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee portfolios. She previously was a legislative assistant for Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). Jeff Naft is now communications director for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence under Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio.) He was previously communications advisor for then-House Republican Whip and current House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.). TODAY IN CONGRESS The House is out. The Senate convenes at 3 p.m. to resume consideration of Robert Stewart Ballou’s nomination to be a U.S. District judge for the Western District of Virginia. At 5:30 p.m., the Senate will vote on a motion to invoke cloture on Ballou’s nomination. AROUND THE HILL Pretty quiet.
| | | FRIDAY’S WINNER: Steve Crittenden correctly answered that Richard Nixon loved the movie “Patton.” TODAY’S QUESTION from Steve: Which senator was in charge of President Ronald Reagan’s first inauguration? 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
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