| | | | |  | | By Daniella Diaz and Jordain Carney | | | With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team
|  Conservatives have pushed two big demands on Speaker Kevin McCarthy: opening an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and significant cuts to government spending. | AP | MCCARTHY’S RIGHT FLANK UNMOVED BY IMPEACHMENT GAMBIT Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s impeachment inquiry announcement didn’t help his spending problem one bit. Conservatives have pushed two big demands on McCarthy: opening an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and significant cuts to government spending. But if the speaker thought acquiescing to the first would give him wiggle room on the second, helping him avert a looming shutdown, it’s not turning out that way. “The spending fight (and impeachment) are two different issues, completely different,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said this afternoon, adding that McCarthy “did right on the impeachment inquiry. He did right on that.” But, he added, “I’m not going to vote for a CR.” Where do other conservatives stand? GOP hardliners mostly align with Norman, saying they still won’t vote for a clean stopgap bill, known as a continuing resolution or a CR, which will be necessary to keep the government’s lights on passed Sept. 30. And the House Freedom Caucus blared that message at a press conference just hours after McCarthy’s announcement. Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), another member of the group, was also blunt: "Him starting an impeachment inquiry gives him no — zero — cushion, relief, brace, as it applies to spending.” Freedom Caucus members have demanded any CR also include items like increased funding for border security. But even then, they haven’t committed to supporting such a temporary funding fix. What’s next: We wait and see. McCarthy is addressing his conference tomorrow morning in-person for the first time since July. We expect it to get testy. And there’s still open talk of booting McCarthy: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) became the latest Republican to say he is considering a motion to oust the speaker. “If Kevin McCarthy puts a continuing resolution on the floor, it’s going to be shot/chaser. Continuing resolution — motion to vacate,” Gaetz said. He dodged on whether that statement covered a CR that included demands from conservatives, such as border security funding and disaster funding. — Daniella Diaz and Jordain Carney, with an assist from Sarah Ferris
| | | | GROWING IN THE GOLDEN STATE: POLITICO California is growing, reinforcing our role as the indispensable insider source for reporting on politics, policy and power. From the corridors of power in Sacramento and Los Angeles to the players and innovation hubs in Silicon Valley, we're your go-to for navigating the political landscape across the state. Exclusive scoops, essential daily newsletters, unmatched policy reporting and insights — POLITICO California is your key to unlocking Golden State politics. LEARN MORE. | | | | | NEWS IN HUDDLE: More than 30 Democrats, led by Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), sent a letter to McCarthy asking him to figure out a bipartisan solution to prevent a shutdown when government funding runs out Sept. 30. The letter also includes Reps. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska), Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.). Garcia will discuss the letter at a 7 p.m. press conference at the House Triangle. GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, Sept. 12, where we can’t believe there are still House votes happening at 6:30 p.m. Long day! MCCARTHY’S IMPEACHMENT REVERSAL A member of congressional leadership once tweeted: “Here are the facts: (The Speaker) can't decide on impeachment unilaterally. It requires a full vote of the House of Representatives.” Guess who? That was McCarthy in 2019. Now, he’s doing the same thing, announcing Tuesday the House would move forward with a formal impeachment inquiry into Biden without any such vote. He blames former Speaker Nancy Pelosi for changing the precedent. "She changed that — this is how you do it. So, I warned her not to do it that way in the process, and that's what she did, so that's what we do,” McCarthy told reporters in the Capitol hallways today, shortly after he announced the inquiry. It’s not hard to see why he would ax plans for such a vote — Republican centrists in Biden-won districts don’t want to give their Democratic opponents an easy layup by endorsing impeachment in any form. And without those centrists, the House GOP wouldn’t have the votes to move forward. But McCarthy seems like he’s trying to have it both ways. He’s still leaving the door open to a formal vote. A Republican familiar with discussions told us today that the speaker’s announcement doesn’t preclude a vote in the future. Some Republicans hope McCarthy will make a similar case to the entire GOP conference tomorrow that his chief, Machalagh Carr, outlined to party chiefs this morning. Carr argued that the inquiry step needed to happen for legal reasons — because they'd already been stonewalled by the White House to access certain documents for long enough, according to two attendees. Reminder from senior legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney: When Democrats launched the Pelosi-approved impeachment inquiry without a formal vote, the Trump Justice Department issued an official opinion saying that the inquiry was invalid without approval from the full House. Unless Biden’s DOJ has revoked this opinion (and he almost certainly hasn't), his administration could not only treat the new inquiry as invalid, but also say it's because of Trump. On the other side: One senior Democratic aide involved in the investigations from the Democratic side told Jordain of the impeachment inquiry: “There are a lot of people yelling, ‘This is not a f–king thing. This does not mean anything.’” McCarthy isn’t the only one flipping: Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who was previously skeptical of an impeachment inquiry, told reporters Tuesday he thought McCarthy’s decision to move forward without a vote was a “good move.” He summed up where everything stood: “President Trump has said that he wants President Biden impeached. So some of my colleagues are now saying we should do an impeachment. Kevin is doing impeachment … and that's fine, but the bottom line is everything that was happening yesterday is gonna still be happening tomorrow. All three committees are still gonna investigate.” — Daniella Diaz, with assists from Sarah Ferris and Jordain Carney
| | | | A message from Citi: Generative AI is at an inflection point. With the recent announcements of AI-driven natural language processing (NLP) tools being integrated into search engines and the broader web, generative AI could be transformational in changing the business model of search and how we access content on the web. Access in-depth analysis on the potential implications in the Citi GPS Report, Generative AI. | | | SENATE SPENDING FORECAST: BLUE SKIES? With the House mired in impeachment battles and other partisan quagmires, the Senate is, comparatively, looking like a bastion of bipartisanship heading into the government shutdown fight. By and large, Senate Republicans don’t want to make funding bills outrageously difficult for Democratic leaders to pass — at least for now. Just look no further than the 85-12 vote to open debate on a spending package Tuesday afternoon. A lot of work went into that, particularly on the GOP side. The top Republican on Appropriations, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, spoke to GOP leaders Monday and the entire conference Tuesday, according to GOP senators. She was joined Tuesday by respective subcommittee ranking members for the THUD/MilCon/Ag package. Republicans are “starting to understand if we don’t want an omnibus, we’ve got to go back to regular order,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said afterward, referring to mammoth legislation that combines a dozen spending bills together — a largely unpopular practice that has become a recent norm. “I think her discussion was fairly well-received.” Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) is similarly briefing her members at lunches and party meetings. But there’s less stress on the Democratic side about the whip count. The GOP usually splits on spending bills, especially under a Democratic president. This round won’t be any different. Discussion focused on procedurally fusing the three bills together this week, which conservatives can fight if they want to, according to Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). But many Republicans want to move quickly, or as Tillis put it: “Get on the bill, fight for amendments.” Amendment votes could start as early as Wednesday if those steps go smoothly; the bill won’t pass until next week. Why go through all this if Congress will end up needing a stopgap bill anyway? It’s all about the holiday end game. And Republicans want it to be different this year. “I don’t want an omnibus. I don’t vote for omnibuses,” said Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.). “As an appropriator, I won’t vote for an omnibus. I got on the committee to do what we’re doing.” — Burgess Everett
| | | | A message from Citi:   | | | | | Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) reacts on camera to the House impeachment inquiry … and it’s pretty good. Lol. Senate’s gonna Senate. If any reporters don’t want to cover their third impeachment, or fourth if you are a seasoned journalist, here’s a job Nicholas spotted today. *eyes* QUICK LINKS Tim Scott’s girlfriend, from Ben Terris at The Washington Post ‘We Put in Air Conditionin’, Stayed Year-Round, and Ruined America’, from Nick Niedzwiadek ‘I just had another one’: How McConnell scrambled to protect his job after two freeze-ups, from Burgess Everett Young Women Voters Are More Liberal Than Young Men, Change Research Poll Finds, from Fortesa Latifi at Teen Vogue
| | | | A message from Citi: Generative AI is at an inflection point.
With the recent announcements of AI-driven natural language processing (NLP) tools being integrated into search engines and the broader web, generative AI could transform the way we search for things on the internet, use information, and communicate with each other.
By providing a conversational style response to an inquiry instead of links to suggested sites, generative AI could make the overall search and browsing experience more natural and intuitive, potentially reshaping the way we search for travel, buy goods, and research products.
Access in-depth analysis in the Citi GPS Report, Generative AI. | | | WEDNESDAY AROUND THE HILL 10 a.m. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) et al on the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop. (House Triangle) 10:45 a.m. A training course open to lawmakers and Hill staffers on how to recognize the signs of an opioid overdose and administer the opioid overdose reversal drug Naloxone. (Library of Congress, Jefferson Building, Whittall Pavilion) 11 a.m. Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee Patty Murray, Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Bernie Sanders, and House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark will host a press conference with colleagues in Congress, child care providers, parents, and advocates to introduce their Child Care Stabilization Act to extend federal child care stabilization funding, which is set to expire at the end of this month. (Senate Swamp) 2 p.m. Reps. Garret Graves (R-La.) and Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) will hold a press conference on H.R. 82, the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act, to draw attention to the broad bipartisan support for the legislation. Victims will also share personal stories about how the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset provisions have affected them. (House Triangle)
| | | | GO INSIDE THE WORLD’S BIGGEST DIPLOMATIC PLATFORM WITH UNGA PLAYBOOK: The 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly will jam some of the world's most influential leaders into four city blocks in Manhattan. POLITICO's special edition UNGA Playbook will take you inside this important gathering starting Sept. 17 — revealing newsy nuggets throughout the week and insights into the most pressing issues facing global decision-makers today. Sign up for UNGA Playbook. | | | | | | | | MONDAY’S ANSWER: Benjamin Wainer correctly answered that Raymond E. Baldwin, a former Governor, resigned his seat after serving less than three years, to become an associate justice of his state’s supreme court. He was replaced by a Senator of a different party. TODAY’S QUESTION from Benjamin: There is one G20 nation whose ambassador to the United States formerly served as head of government of that country. Name the country. Bonus points if you know the ambassador! The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to huddletrivia@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning. Follow Daniella on X at @DaniellaMicaela. | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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