Can Congress get a spending deal this weekend?

Presented by Electronic Payments Coalition: An evening recap of the action on Capitol Hill and preview of the day ahead

Mar 13, 2024 View in browser   By Caitlin Emma Presented by With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team “The sooner we get the text out there, the more quickly I think people can begin to prepare amendments to offer,” Senate GOP Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said. | Jonah Elkowitz for POLITICO THE LATEST ON SPENDING PROBLEMS Congressional leaders have a seemingly simple goal on spending: Release text for the remaining six bills this weekend, giving the House and Senate enough time to process the massive package before most of the federal government runs out of money after March 22. But it’s no secret that the last six bills — including the fiscal 2024 budgets for the Pentagon, major health programs, the Department of Homeland Security and more — present a much more challenging lift than the last six Congress just cleared last week. Even if lawmakers manage to tie up all the loose ends in the coming days, moving the measures through both chambers will almost certainly prove a tough lift. That’s especially true in the Senate, where leaders will need consent from all 100 senators to hasten a final passage vote and thwart a partial shutdown, likely right up against the deadline. A tough time agreement: If you’ll recall, the Senate spent hours last Friday trying to lock in an agreement on GOP amendment votes to speed up passage of the first funding package. Some of those Republican demands — spanning tricky immigration issues, earmarks, money for ships that navigate the Arctic and more — are spilling over into the second, much larger funding bundle, clouding prospects for swift final approval. “The sooner we get the text out there, the more quickly I think people can begin to prepare amendments to offer,” Senate GOP Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said earlier this week. “There are some things in the last bill that we tried to push into this one. So those things will be things that we now have an opportunity to address.” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), one of the conservatives who held up the first package with demands for amendment votes, said: “I can't imagine it will be any easier this time than the last time. I'd be surprised if it's not more difficult to get to a time agreement.” Defense dealmaker: It’s worth noting that any attempts to significantly delay or derail the next tranche of bills endangers money for the military. Many members can’t risk that kind of backlash back home. The defense bill is “going to be the engine that pulls this cargo,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), a senior appropriator. “And most of us realize that this particular engine needs to pass because it means so much to the national security of our country.” Where the last six stand: The defense measure is done, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. Other bills, like Homeland Security, Labor-HHS-Education and State-Foreign Operations, have a ways to go. As we’ve said before, Homeland Security remains the toughest to close out, although people familiar with discussions insist that talks are progressing. The bill has been made more complicated by House Republicans’ immigration demands. With little extra money to go around, tough decisions have to be made about how to spread around dollars for both personnel, border security and humanitarian needs. Still, appropriators are determined to avoid yet another stopgap funding bill. “It ain't over till it’s over,” said Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio), who oversees the troubled bill. His Democratic counterpart, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), said a stopgap is “always a possibility. We don’t want a CR. We’re trying to get it done.” Little GOP leverage: Womack, who oversees the Financial Services bill, said he’s still wrestling with several open issues in his measure, including hundreds of millions of dollars for the General Services Administration for a new FBI headquarters in Maryland. The Senate version of the bill included $375 million for that headquarters, while some House Republicans want to zero that out amid ongoing complaints about the politicization of the FBI. “I wish I could say that it’s been good faith negotiations, but I really can’t say that, because it’s obvious that we don’t have a strong playing hand because [Republicans don’t control] the Senate and we don’t have the White House,” Womack said. — Caitlin Emma, with an assist from Jennifer Scholtes    A message from Electronic Payments Coalition: CONVENIENCE STORES ARE RAISING COSTS FOR CONSUMERS: Corporate convenience store chains and their special interest allies are trying to trick Congress into believing that interchange rates on credit card transactions are increasing. The truth: it’s exactly the opposite. Over the last decade, mega-convenience stores have received billions of dollars due to the Durbin Amendment—but haven’t lowered prices for consumers as they promised. Learn more.   GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, March 13, where Jordain and Olivia want to thank the GOP retreat police escort that blocked both lanes of traffic on the way to the Greenbrier. WE’RE AT THE GOP RETREAT (UNLIKE A LOT OF REPUBLICANS) It’s Speaker Mike Johnson’s first time leading a House GOP retreat — not that most members will be there to see it. House Republicans’ attendance at the Greenbrier in West Virginia likely won’t even meet one of their favorite units of measurement — a majority of the majority. Fewer than 100 GOP lawmakers are expected to make the trek, according to three people familiar with the matter. “Why would any of us want to go to a place — where we see all of us, nonstop, every single week— and then spend our own money, right … to go out there to hang out with people I already see six days a week, when I should be at home in my district,” said Rep. Max Miller (R–Ohio). They’ve got several reasons for skipping: Some, like Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Mike Bost (R-Ill.), cited their competitive primaries for why they wanted to head back to their districts instead. Others said the time (roughly a day and a half) would be better spent attending fundraisers or getting face time with their families. But a sizable portion of members expressed little interest in packing themselves onto a bus with colleagues at the center of intra-party clashes for a four-plus hour drive. Some noted it’s a less-preferred location compared to the past two years in Florida. There’s also a general lack of concern about any blowback from Johnson. In comparison, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy drummed up roughly 160 members, or two-thirds of the conference, for other recent GOP retreats. Others predicted as few as 70 members would attend the retreat. “The last time we went to the Greenbrier, someone died,” quipped one Republican, referring to an incident in 2018 where an Amtrak train carrying lawmakers struck a garbage truck, killing the driver. Even Republicans who are attending — noting leadership generally asks them to — aren’t thrilled. “They told me it was a $1,000 bill, and I’m like: ‘Are you shitting me?’” one told us, granted anonymity to speak candidly. It’s not just members that Republicans are losing: Adding to the rocky kickstart, GOP leadership lost their keynote speaker, Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow. But there were a series of other speakers lined up as well, first reported by POLITICO, including key anti-abortion voices like Susan B. Anthony President Marjorie Dannenfelser and March for Life’s Jeanne Mancini. How leadership is looking at it: Johnson told our friends over at E&E that his plan for the retreat is to "lay out the vision for the future.” Expect that to include the general plan going into November, like hammering Biden over the economy and laying out their strategy for trying to keep the House majority. — Olivia Beavers and 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.     WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE TIKTOK BILL? Sorry, TikTok critics. The House might’ve passed a bill that could eventually lead to blocking the social media platform from app stores, but it’s looking unlikely that the Senate will clear any partner legislation soon. No one has said anything definitive, of course, but there are a few signs the effort is off the fast track. For one, there’s the latest statement from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, which only says: “The Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the House.” Hardly an urgent call to action. For another, no one seems to agree on how the Senate should retool the legislation. The House version of the bill would require that a business found to be controlled by a foreign adversary must be divested within 180 days — specifically singling out Beijing-based ByteDance, which owns TikTok. Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) told Inside Congress earlier this week that she’s interested in passing a separate competing bill to address the social media platform, but in a statement after the House vote she included no guidance on what that will look like. “These are national security threats and it is good that members in both chambers are taking them seriously,” she said. Notably, the two top members in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence — Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) — urged leadership to act on the bill after it passed the House Wednesday morning. “We are united in our concern about the national security threat posed by TikTok — a platform with enormous power to influence and divide Americans whose parent company ByteDance remains legally required to do the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party,” they said. What House leaders think: It’s hard for House GOP leaders to vehemently argue right now that the overwhelming bipartisan vote means the Senate needs to act immediately. That would open them up to the same criticism about the Senate-passed foreign aid bill, which Johnson has delayed. When asked Wednesday if the Senate should hold the bill until the House passes that supplemental funding package that includes Ukraine aid, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries responded: “Who am I to tell the Senate what to do in terms of its own agenda?” He added: “The ball is now in the court of the senators.” A top House Republican leadership aide told Inside Congress they believe the Senate should pass the legislation. — Daniella Diaz, with assist from Nicholas Wu and Ursula Perano   A message from Electronic Payments Coalition:   HUDDLE HOTDISH Jeff Jackson, who is widely known as the most prominent member of Congress on TikTok, voted for the House bill that would … ban TikTok. “This bill is only the beginning of what we should be doing to reduce the harm of social media and to protect our kids online. We need new data privacy laws that will cover all social media platforms,” he said in a statement after his vote. Nancy Pelosi wants TikTok to be Tic-Tac-Toe. We finally hear from Katie Britt on what she thought of that SNL performance. Mike Gallagher got a cookie cake from GOP leadership for his bill. (We want some) Congratulations to Rep. Josh Harder who welcomed a baby girl.   YOUR GUIDE TO EMPIRE STATE POLITICS: From the newsroom that doesn’t sleep, POLITICO's New York Playbook is the ultimate guide for power players navigating the intricate landscape of Empire State politics. Stay ahead of the curve with the latest and most important stories from Albany, New York City and around the state, with in-depth, original reporting to stay ahead of policy trends and political developments. Subscribe now to keep up with the daily hustle and bustle of NY politics.      QUICK LINKS  MTG and AOC, united? Inside the House's highly unusual TikTok vote, from Anthony Adragna Boebert will not run in special election to replace Buck, from Madison Fernandez TRANSITIONS  Blake Kernen is now press secretary for Larry Hogan’s Maryland Senate campaign. She previously was press secretary for the House Budget Committee.   A message from Electronic Payments Coalition: CONGRESS: OPPOSE THE DURBIN-MARSHALL CREDIT CARD BILL: Despite vigorous lobbying attempts from corporate convenience store chains and their allies, the Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill is deeply unpopular—among both Democrats and Republicans. Credit card routing mandates hurt small businesses by increasing costs, weakening payment security, harming small financial institutions, reducing access to credit for those who need it the most, and ending popular credit card rewards programs. THE CHOICE IS CLEAR: CONGRESS MUST OPPOSE THE DURBIN-MARSHALL CREDIT CARD BILL Learn more.   TOMORROW IN CONGRESS The House is out. The Senate is in. THURSDAY AROUND THE HILL Crickets. TRIVIA TUESDAY’S ANSWER: Charles Horowitz correctly answered that the geologist in the Senate is Sen. John Hickenlooper. TODAY’S QUESTION, from Charles: Which current senator previously served their state as a lottery commissioner? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com. GET INSIDE CONGRESS emailed to your phone each evening. Follow Daniella on X at @DaniellaMicaela.   Follow us

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