| | | | |  | | By Daniella Diaz | | | With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team | 
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) has been making the argument this week that a shutdown isn’t necessarily bad for Republicans. | AP | THE SHUTDOWN THREAT LOOMING OVER CONGRESS They're at the center of the spending fight that will define the next few weeks (or months?) on Capitol Hill — but do you really know them? The group of several dozen members on the right flank of the House Republican Conference frequently get short-handed in media coverage as the "Freedom Caucus" or "conservative hard-liners." But that tends to smooth over some pretty significant texture within that group — not all, for instance, are actually in the House Freedom Caucus — and certain voices tend to get outsized attention. In this shutdown fight, for instance, Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Bob Good (R-Va.) have been at the tip of the conservatives' spear — always ready with a sharp quote or eye-opening ultimatum to fuel the tensions between the faction and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Roy has made the argument this week that a shutdown isn’t necessarily bad for Republicans – pointing to the GOP's 2014 midterm gains after his then-boss, Sen. Ted Cruz, forced a 2013 shutdown over the Affordable Care Act. “We’re going to hold the line and say we’ve got to get changes out of the Senate and the president,” Roy said on the Mark Levin Show yesterday. The fact is, with a five-seat GOP majority (more on that below), every vote matters as the spending showdown escalates. But there's a wider array of hard-liners who matter. Here’s who else we’re watching …
- THE CHAIRMAN: Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) — As chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, he appears to be preserving room to maneuver, speaking more carefully than some others in the group about the prospects for a shutdown or a challenge to McCarthy’s gavel. Yesterday, for instance, he told Jordain that the outlines of a potential CR deal gave "reasons for optimism."
- THE CANDIDATE: Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) — Bishop is among the more independent and aggressive hard-liners, openly discussing targeting McCarthy and speaking more pessimistically about emerging CR talks. He’s also retiring to run for state attorney general, giving him good reason to tack right as he faces a competitive primary next year.
- THE EMISSARY: Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) — Donalds has played a key role in the recent spending talks, engaging with members of the moderate Main Street Caucus to find a way to unite Republicans behind some sort of stopgap. He frequently represents the Freedom Caucus in “five families” meetings of the various GOP factions, and, much like Perry, he’s kept his powder relatively dry in his recent public comments.
- THE HARD CASES: Reps. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) — They were among the last to fold during McCarthy’s January fight for the speakership, and they were the among those most vocally aggrieved after McCarthy cut a deal with President Joe Biden in May to raise the debt ceiling. They’re now the least likely to give McCarthy the benefit of the doubt as he tries to find a way out of the shutdown pickle.
- THE GODFATHER: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) — His name was once synonymous with hardball legislative tactics, but he’s now the biggest McCarthy ally in the Freedom Caucus ranks. As a co-founder of the group and the Judiciary Committee chair, he still has major clout, but he’s no longer the Pied Piper of the right flank
— Daniella Diaz, with assists from Jordain Carney, Sarah Ferris and Olivia Beavers
| | | | 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. | | | | | GOOD AFTERNOON! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Friday, Sept. 15, where we wish you the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month! YOUR BICAMERAL APPROPS UPDATE In the House … We’re keeping a close eye on the emerging deal that Olivia, Sarah and Jordain scooped Thursday aimed at uniting the GOP behind a stopgap funding bill that would add provisions of the party's border security bill and subtract some nondefense spending. A Republican familiar with the discussions tells Olivia that Freedom Caucus members generally believe they can exact more cuts beyond the levels discussed yesterday with the Main Street Caucus, which some feel hew too closely to the bipartisan toplines agreed to in the debt limit deal that they detested. Others in the Freedom Caucus think what’s already on offer isn’t a bad deal. The split was evident as the group’s members left a pre-fly-out meeting yesterday, and we’ll see what happens over the weekend. As for the full-year spending bills that GOP leaders hoped to move this week, there’s still no clarity on what’s next. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), who leads the Appropriations Defense subcommittee, told reporters today that the “intent” is to vote on the bill next week but made no guarantees. The ongoing talks would open the door to the Defense bill only if a deal is reached on a CR, and “I don't think there's been any decision made about how they're going to package these bills,” Calvert said. Remember: None of these internal GOP moves assures that they can actually work with Dems to prevent a shutdown come Oct. 1. In the Senate … Leaders in the other chamber are dealing with a conservative standoff of their own, and no one quite knows how it will end, except that it might take 67 votes. It only takes one member to object to the leadership’s minibus plan, which would add the Agriculture-FDA and Transportation-HUD bills to the Military Construction-VA bill on the floor, and that's what Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is doing at the moment. He wants a standalone MilCon-VA bill. To override Johnson’s move, senators could suspend the rules with 67 votes, but that will take a lot of GOP support, and it's not clear where the votes are. In the past, the applicable Senate rule was waived by unanimous consent, but this time conservatives are using their procedural leverage to try and force a different outcome. Expect more chatter about this in party meetings early next week. — Burgess Everett and Daniella Diaz, with assists from Olivia Beavers and Sarah Ferris
| | | | 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. | | | THE MEMBERS WHO ARE PICKETING WITH AUTO WORKERS Several Democrats are joining the striking members of the United Auto Workers, who walked off the job at three plants at midnight Friday after its existing contracts expired without a new deal. The politics: The typical red-blue divide on labor relations has been somewhat scrambled this time around, due to tensions between the UAW and President Joe Biden over his support for an electric vehicle transition that, the union claims, threatens to leave workers behind. His administration has stepped carefully around the actual auto negotiations but remained engaged throughout the summer. Who is joining? Sen. Gary Peters and Rep. Rashida Tlaib shared photos from the picket line in Wayne, Mich., where Ford assembles the Bronco and Ranger trucks. Reps. Debbie Dingell and Elissa Slotkin also said they planned to join striking workers there. Sen. Sherrod Brown, meanwhile, traveled to Toledo, where he joined picketers who walked off the Jeep assembly lines. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has also said he plans to rally with UAW President Shawn Fain in Detroit this evening. We’re not aware of any Republicans who have joined the striking workers, but they did get a decidedly partisan message of support from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.): “Auto workers deserve a raise — and they deserve to have their jobs protected from Joe Biden’s stupid climate mandates that are destroying the US auto industry and making China rich.” Did we miss anyone? Let me know: ddiaz@politico.com. — Daniella Diaz
| | | | 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. | | | | | ONE MEMBER OF CONGRESS IS FIGHTING FOR DACA A federal judge ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is illegal on Wednesday, and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) told us that the decision is “a reminder that we still haven't done anything.” The program remains intact for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children, but Ramirez said a future ruling could change that, and she plans to keep fighting to protect the program. She currently leads a bipartisan bill that would provide a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients. The court decision hits especially close to home for Ramirez, whose husband has DACA status. “It's a reminder why I'm here,” Ramirez said. “I'm not just the first Latina from the Midwest, I am the only member of Congress with a mixed-status family, and I have an honor and a responsibility to work” on the issue. — Daniella Diaz
| | | | A message from Citi:   | | | | | Speaking of Hispanic Heritage Month … You have to check out Blue Dog Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s Spotify playlist in honor of the month celebrating Latinidad in the United States. “One of the reasons I put the playlist together was because four out of the 10 members of Blue Dogs are in the [Congressional Hispanic Caucus],” she told us. “And I keep getting these questions about, like, ‘Isn't it just a bunch of old white men?’ And I think the whitewashing and the homogenization of a pretty diverse group is pretty frustrating for me.” On her music selections: “I really am curious about this concept of place-based politics and how a lot of our cultural heritage is directly — you can draw a line straight to our policy positions.” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) graced us with a reprise of his most disturbing tweet. We must ask Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.): Is a ”majority martini” made with vodka or gin? QUICK LINKS Congress is in crisis. There’s no clear escape, from Burgess Everett and Sarah Ferris The House Oversight Committee is launching its own probe into the Biden administration's response to the Maui wildfires, from Anthony Adragna The Ken Paxton saga is exposing the limits of Trump’s coattails, from Adam Wren and Meridith McGraw Inside the Controversy Over the National Museum of the American Latino, from Olivia B. Waxman at Time
| | | | 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. | | | TRANSITIONS Some changes in the Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) office …. Lydia Denis is leaving her position as legislative director to be a professional staff member at the T&I Water Subcommittee. Will Mascaro has been promoted to senior legislative assistant for the congressman. He was most recently legislative assistant. Matthew Stubeck has been promoted to legislative director for the congressman. He was most recently senior legislative assistant. Andrea Porwoll, who is currently the communications director for the House Administration Committee, will become communications director for Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Grace White is now the House Administration Committee’s communications director. MONDAY IN CONGRESS The House convenes at noon for morning hour debate and 2 p.m. for legislative business. The Senate convenes at 3 p.m. with a 5:30 p.m. vote. MONDAY AROUND THE HILL Nothing so far, but stay tuned!
| | THURSDAY’S ANSWER: Rep. William “Bill” Hendon (R-N.C.) became the first Republican since Reconstruction to win his western North Carolina district by campaigning across his district in a covered wagon. He served two nonconsecutive terms, from 1981 to 1983 and from 1985 to 1987. TODAY’S QUESTION: At the time of Lincoln’s assassination, only one state allowed defendants to testify in their own defense. What was that state? 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 afternoon. Follow Daniella on X at @DaniellaMicaela. | | | | Follow us | | | | |
Comments
Post a Comment