| | | | |  | | By Anthony Adragna | | | With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team
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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) walks into his office at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 2, 2023. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS The reviews are in and Speaker Mike Johnson’s first week is a hit among his Republican colleagues in the House. “He's done an outstanding job,” said Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus. “The optimism is through the roof.” “I think he's been great,” said moderate Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.). “He's got a good vision.” “Pitch perfect,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the Rules Committee chair. Not only are Republicans across the ideological spectrum praising Johnson after a month of chaos for his low-drama debut, but Johnson notched some clear victories this week. He passed two appropriations bills. He cleared an Israel aid package. And he beat back a GOP-led effort to boot Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), which would have further trimmed his slim four-vote margin. But — of course there’s a “but” — the most contentious spending and policy fights lie ahead. The Senate has already rebuffed the Israel aid package, which partially reverses Democrats’ IRS big plus-up. The Santos saga could reemerge later this month, when the House Ethics Committee is expected to deliver a report on his many alleged misdeeds. And, in a sign of the spending struggles looming just over the horizon, Johnson had to pull one of three appropriations bills from the floor agenda this week. Democrats who have been closely watching the floor this week say that Johnson’s honeymoon is obscuring some persistent divides — both between the two parties and inside the Republican conference. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, wouldn’t grade the speaker but said his handling of the Israel funding bill “portends very poorly for us going forward.” Johnson has signaled his intention to move Ukraine funding separately in the coming weeks while also moving forward on the five remaining fiscal 2024 appropriations bills ahead of the rapidly approaching Nov. 17 spending deadline. But many of those bills, which were written to topline numbers opposed by Democrats, are going to be tough to pass. Here’s why:
- Transportation-HUD: The House pushed pause this week on advancing this measure amid attendance issues and pushback from some GOP lawmakers from the Northeast who won’t back the bill’s billion-dollar-plus cut to Amtrak.
- Agriculture-FDA: This bill already went to the floor in September, and it tanked due to a nationwide ban on the mail delivery of abortion pills as well as its steep cuts to farm programs. The measure’s author, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), told us today he doesn’t expect a do-over. “On the floor? I don’t see a reason to,” he said, suggesting that the House would instead seek a conference with the Senate without first passing the bill.
- Commerce-Justice-Science: The bill is so controversial House Republicans haven’t even been able to approve it in committee. It would cut the budgets of the FBI and Justice Department, nix efforts to prevent gun violence and a defund federal effort to help universities respond to sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking. There are likely to be attempts from the right flank to go after the salaries of Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and special counsel Jack Smith.
- Labor-HHS-Education: The heftiest of the non-defense funding measures also hasn’t made it out of committee, thanks to such perennial issues as funding for family planning agencies and research on gun violence. The GOP’s tighter toplines have added a new element of drama, resulting in a nearly $15 billion cut in Title I school assistance and about a $14 billion cut to the Department of Health and Human Services.
- Financial Services: Another bill with deep funding cuts, this one would reduce the Treasury Department’s budget by about 8 percent and IRS funding by roughly 9 percent. A Democratic amendment that would let undocumented immigrants work for federal agencies if they qualify under the DACA program already tripped the bill up in committee, and the issue could very well come up again on the floor.
— Anthony Adragna with assistance from Jennifer Scholtes, Katherine Tully-McManus, Nicholas Wu and Jordain Carney GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Friday, Nov. 3, where we sincerely wish Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and certainly no one else a happy birthday. | | | | A message from Electronic Payments Coalition: Don’t Buy What Mega-Retailers Are Selling About Durbin 2.0: Superstores like Walmart, Target, and Home Depot are pushing for legislation that's essentially corporate welfare at the expense of consumers. They're seeking new government mandates on credit card routing, which may appear harmless but would jeopardize YOUR data security and fraud protection, rewards for everyday purchases, and the convenience of using credit cards. Congress: reject the Durbin credit card interchange bill. Click HERE to get the facts. | | |
SCOOP: HOUSE GOP’S SURVEILLANCE SPLIT
Republicans on the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees met behind closed doors Friday as part of their negotiations to reform and reauthorize Section 702, a surveillance program set to expire at the end of the year. The working group — which POLITICO first reported the existence of back in July — has made progress on several issues, four members involved told us. That includes an agreement on penalties for abusing the broader surveillance law; requirements for reporting, compliance and auditing; and reducing the number of FBI analysts who have access to 702 collected data, according to Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). But the two sides remain divided over what exactly it should take for government agencies to search 702-collected data for Americans’ information. (702 is meant to target non-U.S. persons abroad but has the ability to sweep in the communications of Americans.) The deets: Judiciary members are pushing for a warrant requirement for all searches of Americans’ data, while Intelligence Committee Republicans are proposing a warrant requirement for some, but not all searches of that kind. (Intel Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) didn’t weigh in on the talks when we caught him in the halls.) “That’s something we’re going to have to work out,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), an Intel member who predicted “there will be a warrant requirement for some of it.” Another ongoing debate surrounds whether any warrants under the law should be handled by the standard federal courts or a special surveillance court — the former being the preference of Judiciary. What’s next: Jordan told our Jordain on Friday that Judiciary and Intel will likely now mark up their own surveillance reform bills, which will have large areas of overlap but diverge over warrant requirements, leaving Speaker Johnson to navigate how to handle the competing proposals where the divides have not neatly followed partisan or ideological lines. — Jordain Carney | | | | 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. | | | | | THE OTHER WAR ON CHRISTMAS Every year for the past decade, Congress has faced a government shutdown cliff in December — and sometimes several, including last year, when lawmakers punted to Dec. 16 and then Dec. 23. Not this year, many Republicans are insisting. Hardliners in both chambers have long pushed to avoid “Christmas tree” omnibus spending bills, and this year, they’ve got an ally in Speaker Johnson, who has floated a Jan. 15 stopgap deadline for the next continuing resolution. While Johnson’s precise strategy remains fuzzy, particularly after teasing a new “laddered CR” approach Thursday, any plan that keeps the government funded through the holidays has fans inside the GOP. “Given the fact that the Senate is going to try to screw America with another omni, we have to get through Christmas,” Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) said. The risk: Pushing the next shutdown cliff into 2024 means getting closer to the 1 percent across-the-board cuts slated to begin at the end of April under the bipartisan debt limit deal signed into law this summer. Some Senate appropriators are especially reluctant to skip a December deadline this year. “All of us want to be out by Christmas, but we should try to do the country’s business on time,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (R-Md.) told us. “Folks on the Senate Appropriations Committee really want to wrap it up by the end of the year.” — Jennifer Scholtes
| | | | A message from Electronic Payments Coalition:   | | | | | Mike Gallagher said the Republican cloakroom doesn’t have good snacks yet under Speaker Johnson. So he grabbed some pretzels from the Democratic one. Tom Cole has no regrets he isn’t speaker: “I’m extraordinarily happy. The only person happier is my wife.” Kirsten Gillibrand used her turn of hosting a bipartisan women senators’ dinner to take them to a…. cemetery. We all, even speakers, make typos. The Blue Dogs are tweeting through it Rep. Thomas Massie gave Rep. Harriet Hageman a debt badge | | | | A message from Electronic Payments Coalition: Don’t Buy What Mega-Retailers Are Selling About Durbin 2.0:
FACT: The So-Called Small Bank Exemption Is Meaningless
Community banks and credit unions would be hurt by proposed credit routing mandates — just as they were by the debit routing mandates they were allegedly “exempted” from. Data from the Federal Reserve shows that community banks and credit unions have seen debit interchange losses between 10%-30% from 2011 to 2019. That is why every single credit union and community bank across the United States strongly opposes Durbin 2.0.
Congress: reject the Durbin credit card interchange bill. Click HERE to get the facts. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK IS GOING GLOBAL! We’re excited to introduce Global Playbook, POLITICO’s premier newsletter that brings you inside the most important conversations at the most influential events in the world. From the buzzy echoes emanating from the snowy peaks at the WEF in Davos to the discussions and personalities at Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to the heart of diplomacy at UNGA in New York City – author Suzanne Lynch brings it all to your fingertips. Experience the elite. Witness the influential. And never miss a global beat. BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | QUICK LINKS John Fetterman unleashed: ‘I’ve already been dead once’, from Liz Goodwin at The Washington Post U.S. Rep. Max Miller donates 25 percent of salary to Medina County Career Center, from The Medina County Gazette. Is Tommy Tuberville the Most Ignorant Man in D.C.? from Cameron Joseph at Rolling Stone Where does Speaker Mike Johnson sleep when he's in DC? Most likely in his Capitol Hill office, from Bryan Metzger and Jack Newsham at Insider Politics AOC’s Departing Chief of Staff Reflects on Life in the Pressure Cooker, from Pablo Manríquez for The New Republic Lawmakers to Watch as Speaker Johnson Builds His Inner Circle, from Maeve Sheehey at BGov MONDAY AROUND THE HILL The House Rules Committee meets at 4 p.m. on H.R. 4664, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act.
| | THURSDAY’S ANSWER: Benjamin Wainer correctly answered that the Texas Rangers were the only team to vote against the MLB playoff expansion in 1993, with future president George W. Bush serving as the team’s managing partner at the time. TODAY’S QUESTION from Benjamin: Before Gavin Newsom in 2023, who was the most recent governor to have appointed both of his state’s then-current senators, under nearly the same circumstances? 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 Anthony on X at @AnthonyAdragna
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