Congress returns to more drama

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Apr 04, 2024 View in browser   By Mia McCarthy House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks on his phone as he departs a press conference at the U.S. Capitol March 20, 2024. | Francis Chung/POLITICO NOT SO EMPTY THREAT — Congress is coming back next week from a two week recess with a new headache: Speaker Mike Johnson could lose his job. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) filed a motion to vacate Johnson from the speakership just before Congress left town, the first step in ousting the Speaker of the House. While stripping Johnson of the gavel seems an unlikely scenario, it’s not an empty threat. The same device was used in October to dump Johnson’s predecessor, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. How did the House get here? It’s a bit of a complicated story, stretching back to the start of the current legislative session — when it took McCarthy 15 rounds of voting to get elected. At the time, McCarthy struck a deal with hardline Republicans that allowed a single member to file a motion that would propose a vote to knock off a sitting Speaker. And while McCarthy is now gone in part thanks to that very deal, Johnson is stuck with that same problem — a single aggrieved member can propose a vote to oust him. When Johnson became speaker in October, he inherited the volatile combination of a razor-thin majority and a large right flank eager for spending changes — just before the annual spending bills needed to be passed. When Johnson finally passed the final 2024 spending bills about two weeks ago, resistance from his fellow Republicans was so widespread that he needed Democratic votes to get it done. Now, with Congress back in town, he’s dealing with some of the blowback — namely the prospect of Greene moving forward on her threat. At the moment, few Republicans have the appetite for another speaker fight. No one else is publicly backing her effort yet, though Greene claims there are members who are silently frustrated with Johnson who are on board with her. The eight who voted to oust McCarthy aren’t among them — they appear to have no appetite for another embarrassing spectacle of a speakerless House, the last one of which lasted three weeks. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the lead architect behind McCarthy’s fall, said before the recent congressional recess that Johnson’s job was safe for fear a Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries would get elected as his replacement. “You can only vacate the speaker if you know that the party leadership won’t change hands,” Gaetz said the day before Greene filed her motion. “I knew that with certainty last time. I don’t know with certainty this time.” Of course, it wouldn’t take many defections to oust Johnson if Greene moves forward. Johnson’s GOP majority is so thin due to recent departures from the House that if she was joined by just a handful of her colleagues he’d lose his speakership — assuming, of course, that Democrats don’t throw him a lifeline. It’s not lost on Greene’s colleagues that she was singing a different tune last year. A McCarthy ally, the Georgia congresswoman opposed other hardliners and defended the former speaker when his job was dangling by a thread. Back during the October speakership fight, she urged her fellow Republicans to “stop the absurd drama” and “stop fighting each other,” in a thread of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I don’t agree that a motion to vacate will effectively create the changes needed to solve the intentional systemic failure that create the annual never ending CR’s and Christmas omnibus mega spending packages,” Greene posted the day before McCarthy was vacated. “A [motion to vacate] of our Speaker gives the upper hand to the Democrats.” “Republicans need to get off the power trips,” she added. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at mmccarthy@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @Reporter_Mia.   SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, the newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world, including WEF in Davos, Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to UNGA in NYC and many more. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW.     What'd I Miss? — Biden moves to defang political assaults on federal workforce: The Biden administration put the finishing touches today on a plan to restrict presidents from unilaterally nixing civil service protections from large swaths of the federal workforce, as former President Donald Trump renews his vow to uproot a perceived “deep state” if he is returned to the White House. While a future president could take steps to squelch the new directive, it reflects a larger effort by the Biden administration to put a protective wall around its policies. — Stefanik raised more than $7 million in first quarter, after grilling colleges on antisemitism: House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik raked in more than $7 million during the first quarter of the year, fueled by her support from prominent Jewish Republicans in the wake of her grilling of university presidents over campus antisemitism. The figure is the most that Stefanik, the fourth-ranking House Republican, has ever raised in a single quarter across her political operation, including her campaign and leadership PAC. The New York lawmaker’s campaign itself drew contributions from 70,000 donors giving an average donation of $21, according to a person familiar with the totals and granted anonymity to speak freely. (Some donors gave more than once.) By comparison, Stefanik raised $5 million during the fourth quarter of 2023 and $3 million the quarter before that. — Judge rejects Trump’s effort to dismiss Georgia charges on First Amendment grounds: The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s criminal case in Georgia denied his bid to throw out the case on First Amendment grounds, rejecting the former president’s longshot argument that the entire case is an attempt to criminalize his political speech. “The State has alleged more than mere expressions of a political nature,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote in a 14-page ruling today. — Judge denies, for now, a Trump bid to dismiss charges that he hoarded classified documents: The judge overseeing the case against Donald Trump on charges that he amassed classified documents at his Florida estate has rejected, for now, his bid to throw out the bulk of the case based on the argument that he had the right to keep those documents under a federal law governing presidential records. However, the three-page ruling today by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon left open the possibility for Trump to continue raising that argument if a trial takes place in the case. Nightly Road to 2024 NO TO NO LABELS — The centrist group No Labels is ending its attempt to put forth a third-party presidential ticket after failing to find candidates to lead it. “Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run and hungrier for unifying national leadership than ever before,” the group said in a statement. “But No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House. No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.” THE BANK OF TRUMP — Donald Trump left the White House facing a cash crunch and a tattered reputation after his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, threatening the viability of his business empire. Soon, though, a new source stepped forward to provide a financial lifeline when many longtime lenders refused, reports the Associated Press. Over the past two years, Axos Bank, as well as its largest individual shareholder, California billionaire Don Hankey, have collectively extended more than $500 million in financing that has benefited Trump, records show. The cash influx has helped Trump to pay off debts and pocket a tidy profit while escaping from a lease on his money-losing former hotel in Washington. It also covered a $175 million down payment he made this week on an eye-popping civil fraud penalty. Axos Bank officials as well as Hankey have said that the deals offer them a financial upside. NEBRASKA NUDGE — Far-right conservatives loyal to former President Donald Trump aren’t slowing their push for the Republican-led Nebraska Legislature to adopt a “winner-take-all” system of awarding Electoral College votes, despite having almost no viable avenue to do so with only five days left in this year’s legislative session. The Associated Press reports that the Nebraska Republican Party, currently led by Trump loyalists, will hold a rally Tuesday in Omaha featuring conservative activist Charlie Kirk to target the state’s atypical system of splitting its five presidential electoral votes based on the popular vote within its congressional districts. Maine is the only other state to split its electoral votes. AROUND THE WORLD President Joe Biden meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Oct. 18, 2023. | Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images TOUGH TALK — President Joe Biden today spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time since an airstrike killed seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza. During the call, the White House said Biden warned that U.S. policy toward the crisis will be determined by Israel’s immediate efforts to address civilian harm and the security of aid workers. “President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable,” a White House readout of the call said. “He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.” The readout resembled a sharp warning from a president who has grown increasingly frustrated by his Israeli counterpart but unwilling, as of now, to dramatically change the U.S. approach to the war in Gaza. It is as close as Biden has come to saying he would condition aid to Israel since the war began. And it also left the impression that the White House views Netanyahu individually as an obstacle to a ceasefire. The statement said Biden urged the Israeli prime minister to “empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay.” During a NATO press conference this afternoon, Secretary of State Antony Blinken similarly adopted a much harsher tone on Israel, saying that the strike on World Central Kitchen “must be the last” attack on aid workers. He insisted that Israel’s approach needs to change if it hopes to retain U.S. support. EUROPE’S ‘NEW PROBLEM CHILD’ — As the crucial April 6 second round of presidential elections approaches in Slovakia, statements by its Moscow-sympathizing prime minister, Robert Fico, are confirming his government’s reputation as Europe’s new problem child. During a visit today to the Ministry of Justice in Bratislava, Fico made a thinly-veiled threat against judges on the country’s Supreme Court who have in the past ruled against Fico’s political colleagues and allies in criminal cases.   Access New York bill updates and Congressional activity in areas that matter to you, and use our exclusive insights to see what’s on the Albany agenda. Learn more.     Nightly Number $20 billion The amount that is going to eight nonprofit recipients from the Inflation Reduction Act, who will in turn distribute the cash for solar installations, electric delivery vans and multifamily housing weatherization, the Biden administration announced today. RADAR SWEEP HOOP NIGHTMARES — What does it take to bring a famously reclusive former NBA all star back into the spotlight? For John Stockton, it was Covid and vaccine conspiracy theories. Since the beginning of the pandemic and the vaccines that have followed, he’s insisted that a growing number of athletes have died from taking the vaccine — he now numbers it at over 1,000. He’s burned bridges with his alma mater Gonzaga, losing relationships and season tickets, and he’s deeply skeptical of public health officials and the medical community, arguing that medical schools are often not the best places to find information about health. And many of his views were informed by hours on the phone with his friend and now presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. For Deseret News, Samuel Benson profiles Stockton and why he’s back to speaking in public right now. Parting Image On this date in 2006: An Iraqi man reads a newspaper featuring a picture of Saddam Hussein on the front page in Baghdad. The Iraq tribunal announced new criminal charges against Saddam Hussein and six others for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity in 1980s crackdown against the Kurds. | Samir Mizban/AP Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh   Follow us

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