The ‘bipartisan coalition’ that wasn’t

Presented by the Brennan Center for Justice: An evening recap of the action on Capitol Hill and preview of the day ahead

Oct 06, 2023 View in browser   By Sarah Ferris, Olivia Beavers and Daniella Diaz Presented by With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team Republicans in the Problem Solvers Caucus believed Democrats decided to watch the GOP descend into chaos in the hopes that it would help them reclaim the majority. | Getty Images JUST IN: Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he plans to remain in Congress and seek reelection: "I’m not resigning. I’m staying, so don’t worry," he told a group of reporters. More from Olivia and Burgess ANOTHER UNSOLVED PROBLEM House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries raised eyebrows today by laying out a path to a “bipartisan coalition” to govern the House. “The House should be restructured to promote governance by consensus and facilitate up-or-down votes on bills that have strong bipartisan support,” he wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. That’s easier said than done, as a band of centrist Republicans and Democrats has already discovered. In the hours and days before former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s fall, members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus feverishly argued over how to prevent the first-ever successful vote to boot a House leader. The debate came to a head at a contentious sit-down Tuesday, just hours before the fateful vote. At issue were potential changes to the House rules — including making it more difficult to oust a sitting speaker and putting an equal number of Democrats on the powerful Rules Committee — which would be granted in return for Democratic votes to bail out McCarthy. The negotiations were described by two people involved, who were granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations. Sticking points: Ultimately, things didn’t work out: The roughly 30 Democrats in the Problem Solvers stuck with Jeffries Tuesday and voted to oust McCarthy. To some members, it wasn’t clear how serious the discussions were. McCarthy and Jeffries never had a direct conversation about the proposal, according to one person familiar with the talks. Yet others point out that the bipartisan group’s two chairs, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), are each tight with their party's respective leaders and could implicitly negotiate a workable deal. The Democrats in the group wanted McCarthy to postpone the voting for a day to allow for further negotiations, as well as a clearer promise that he would be willing to actually work across the aisle. Republicans, meanwhile, believed Democrats were not negotiating in good faith and had already decided to oust the House GOP’s most prolific fundraiser and watch the party descend into chaos in the hopes that it would help them reclaim the majority next year. Fitzpatrick said on Fox & Friends Friday morning that he had asked the group’s Democrats to vote present on a procedural vote, allowing Republicans to temporarily kill Rep. Matt Gaetz’s move against McCarthy. Gaetz (R-Fla.) would surely have tried again, he noted. “That's all we were asking for, was time,” he said. “That's why so many Republicans in our group are very, very upset — and add me to that list.” The fallout: Tuesday’s events have left a lingering bitterness among some in the Problem Solvers, spurring talk about restructuring the group in order to save it from total collapse. A caucus meeting is planned for next week to discuss a way forward. The idea of rules reform, meanwhile, lives on. The Democratic half of the Problem Solvers Caucus met Friday morning to discuss what changes they could demand in future negotiations. The group’s Republicans have their own meeting planned for next week. But the sharp words and eroded trust left over from this week’s 11th-hour push could make it even more difficult to try again. A path forward, Democrats believe, could arise if no Republican speaker candidate is able to secure a majority on the floor. Given the choice between incessant GOP infighting and a bipartisan coalition, they posit, the 18 Republicans sitting in districts won by President Joe Biden (including Fitzpatrick) might just be willing to deal. — Sarah Ferris and Olivia Beavers   A message from the Brennan Center for Justice: The current power of the Supreme Court would have been unimaginable in the founding era. Ethics scandals and extreme rulings have exposed a broken system in which justices wield tremendous power with little accountability. Justices now serve more than a decade longer on average than they used to. No one should have power for this long. It’s time for Congress to shore up the Supreme Court’s legitimacy by instituting term limits. Learn more: https://www.brennancenter.org/term-limits   GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Friday, Oct. 6, where we hope you have a peaceful three-day weekend. SEE YOU NEXT WEEK: Huddle will not publish Monday, in honor of Indigenous Peoples' Day. We’ll return to your inboxes on Tuesday, Oct. 10.   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.     GOP FLOATS CHANGING SPEAKER NOMINATION RULES More than 90 House Republicans from different factions of the conference, led by Fitzpatrick and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), are calling for a special meeting to consider an amendment to raise the threshold needed to elect a speaker. Read the letter to Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry and GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik What it means: Right now, only a majority is needed to choose a speaker within the GOP conference. This amendment would raise that threshold so a majority of the whole House — the same threshold as the final floor vote — would be needed to nominate a speaker. A person familiar with the amendment said the goal would be so Republicans elect a speaker “as a family” so that they don’t have to go multiple rounds on the House floor as happened with McCarthy’s speaker’s race in January. More from Olivia — Daniella Diaz CAPITOL POLICE STILL SPARRING OVER JAN. 6 FOOTAGE In the month since House Republicans invited media to access — and in some cases publish — Jan. 6 surveillance footage, disagreements between GOP lawmakers and U.S. Capitol Police leadership have flared, according to interviews, court filings and correspondence reviewed by POLITICO. What’s happening: Capitol Police have long warned against a wide release of Jan. 6 footage over concerns that it would threaten the security of the Capitol complex and allow bad actors to exploit vulnerabilities. Those concerns have persisted since the House Administration Committee began giving journalists, Jan. 6 defendants and others permission to access footage from the day of the attack, with a list of restrictions and guidelines. On Sept. 18, USCP Chief Thomas Manger sent a letter to House Administration Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), Ranking Member Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), saying the department was “concerned about further exposure of the Capitol Complex’s security posture” as well as protecting ongoing investigations, according to a copy of the previously unreported letter. Loudermilk, who has been the GOP’s point man on the Jan. 6 footage, said Republicans are reviewing the decision but characterized it as an attempt by the Capitol Police to try to restrict the media’s ability to publish footage from the day that a pro-Trump mob breached the building and caused a delay in the counting of the Electoral College vote. “What they’re trying to do — they can’t stop us from accessing it — what they’re trying to do is prohibit us from allowing you guys to release it,” Loudermilk told Jordain. Asked if he thought the Capitol Police had the ability to do that, Loudermilk said he didn’t believe so and “we’re just going to keep pressing on.” It’s unclear how many journalists have already reviewed footage or how many clips have been approved for release but several news outlets and reporters have indicated they have taken advantage of the access. USCP split-screen: The Capitol Police, in a statement, characterized differences with the committee as minimal and said the restrictions that Loudermilk’s panel imposed were “reasonable.” “We have a very good relationship with the Committee, which has done a lot to support and improve our Department. We appreciate the fact that they worked through our concerns around this sensitive subject,” the department said in a statement. “Although, for security reasons we would have preferred not to publicize the many ways we protect the Capitol Complex, the viewing procedures the Committee set forth are reasonable and we respect the fact that Congress has a right to obtain and distribute the video.” But in recent court filings, the department has been more direct about their concerns about the potential impact of the GOP’s access plan. Thomas DiBiase, USCP’s general counsel, said in a filing late last week that Capitol Police alerted the committee “of its security concerns with making this amount of footage available to the broader public.” In another filing, the Capitol Police said the committee implemented its plans “over the concerns” of the police. A scoopy backstory: The Capitol Police appealed over the summer to its leaders — the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms, and the architect of the Capitol — to formally designate the entire collection of Jan. 6 footage “security information,” a legal designation that restricts its dissemination. The board appeared to be leaning in that direction at least as of late July. A previously unreported draft decision paper, reviewed by POLITICO, to designate all Jan. 6 footage as “security information” garnered the signatures on July 20 of both Senate Sergeant at Arms Karen Gibson and Acting Architect of Capitol Chere Rexroat. But, based on court filings, it appears the plan has been shelved, so the USCP has instead opted to treat the footage as “security information” without the explicit backing of the board. Neither the Senate SAA or the Architect of the Capitol responded to a request for comment. — Jordain Carney and Kyle Cheney   A message from the Brennan Center for Justice:   HUDDLE HOTDISH Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) meets Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and it’s … awkward to say the least.  QUICK LINKS  The next speaker’s big challenge: Avoiding McCarthy’s fate, from Sarah Ferris, Anthony Adragna and Nicholas Wu How Trump was talked into — and out of — a run for speaker, from Ryan Lizza and Rachael Bade Speaker contenders are dropping out of the planned Fox News TV event, from Daniella Diaz and Sarah Ferris   A message from the Brennan Center for Justice: The current power of the Supreme Court would have been unimaginable in the founding era. Ethics scandals and extreme rulings have exposed a broken system in which justices wield tremendous power with little accountability. They now serve more than a decade longer on average than they used to. In a democracy, no one should have power for life. More than two-thirds of Americans favor term limits for justices. And 49 states already impose limits on their supreme court justices. Staggered 18-year terms would bring regular turnover to the bench and result in a Court that better reflects the will of the people. It’s time for Congress to shore up the legitimacy of the Supreme Court by instituting term limits. Learn more: https://www.brennancenter.org/term-limits   MONDAY IN CONGRESS The House is out. The Senate is out. MONDAY AROUND THE HILL *crickets*   GO INSIDE THE CAPITOL DOME: From the outset, POLITICO has been your eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, providing the most thorough Congress coverage — from political characters and emerging leaders to leadership squabbles and policy nuggets during committee markups and hearings. We're stepping up our game to ensure you’re fully informed on every key detail inside the Capitol Dome, all day, every day. Start your day with Playbook AM, refuel at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report and enrich your evening discussions with Huddle. Plus, stay updated with real-time buzz all day through our brand new Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here.     TRIVIA THURSDAY’S ANSWER: Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige was the first American cabinet secretary to meet with Mikhail Gorbachev. TODAY’S QUESTION: This person was both the daughter of a president and the wife of a House speaker. Who was she? 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 evening. Follow Daniella on X at @DaniellaMicaela.   Follow us

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