The House GOP’s engagement of rules

Presented by GE Aerospace: An evening recap of the action on Capitol Hill and preview of the day ahead

May 30, 2024 View in browser   By Jordain Carney Presented by  Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) is leading a GOP working group to brainstorm potential conference and House rules changes. | Francis Chung/POLITICO With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team BREAKING: Donald Trump has been found GUILTY on all 34 counts in his Manhattan hush money trial. Follow POLITICO’s live blog for the very latest, including up-to-the minute congressional reaction. House Speaker Mike Johnson was among several top Republicans out with an immediate statement lambasting the outcome: “Today is a shameful day in American history,” he said in part. “This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one.”   A message from GE Aerospace: Today’s missions demand more from Army aviators. They need to fly farther, carrying more weight at even higher altitudes. This summer, GE Aerospace will deliver its T901 advanced engine that will power the Black Hawk helicopter to do more today and into the future. Tell Congress to fully fund the T901 engine program so the Army can meet today’s missions.   NEW RULES, JUST RIGHT? Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s recent failed attempt to oust Johnson fueled fresh calls inside the GOP for House rules changes to defang future rebels. Now, many of those Republicans are acknowledging any changes will likely have to wait until November — but that isn’t stopping them from quietly laying the groundwork now. News on that front: The governing-minded Main Street Caucus has formed an internal working group to come up with potential changes to the Republican Conference and House rules. The group of approximately 10 members is being led by Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.). The group, LaLota told us, is looking at how to “find more order within the conference, more accountability” for those who work against the leadership agenda. It's TBD where exactly the group will end up, he said — and we'll note it's moot if Republicans lose the House in November. Historically, LaLota noted, members of the majority have voted in lockstep to adopt the special rules that allow control of the legislation that comes to the floor. And, needless to say, they’ve not threatened to remove the speaker using the so-called motion to vacate. Now those norms are routinely broken, he said, “which [has] made things chaotic.” What they’re mulling: What we’ve heard from Republicans — including, but not limited to, members of Main Street — is a desire to build into conference rules specific consequences for steps such as voting against rules or trying to oust members of leadership. Several GOP members have floated removing members from their committees, while a few have gone further and discussed potentially ejecting members from the conference. As for the House rules, many members have endorsed raising the threshold for the motion to vacate above the current single-member standard — Republicans' own conference rules for this Congress put it at the significantly higher standard of a majority of their members before then-leader Kevin McCarthy agreed to the lower bar as he sought the speakership. Why it won’t be smooth sailing: Despite the growing frustration, don’t expect changes without a bit of an internal conference fight. “I don’t think they ought to change it at all,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said about raising the motion-to-vacate threshold. Freedom Caucus members, including Norman, recently privately urged Johnson not to change it — a detail first reported by POLITICO. And talk of building specific consequences into the conference rules could face wrinkles, too. Even if a majority of the conference agreed to the change during their internal deliberations in November, opponents might still be free to leverage their January speaker votes to force their withdrawal, depending on the size of the majority and the size of the opposition. “I don’t really give a crap. You want consequences? Okay, then you are focusing on small ball. Because you’ve still got to get the votes,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas). “They are welcome to propose rules and if they want to pass those rules then they are going to have to figure out how to get a speaker elected.” Two other rules-related tidbits: Roy still seemed interested in an idea that he and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) floated back in October — requiring any speaker candidate to get 218 in the preliminary conference vote rather than the simple majority currently needed to become nominee. And we’ve heard interest from multiple GOP lawmakers in providing clearer guidance in House rules for what powers an acting speaker can wield should a future speaker be ousted. — Jordain Carney GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, May 30, where we are co-signing Kyle’s periodic reminder.   A message from GE Aerospace:   FIRST FUNDING BILL HEADS TO HOUSE FLOOR House Republicans are starting one of their toughest tasks next week: bringing the fiscal 2025 spending bills to the floor. They are starting with what has typically been an easier lift for their fraught majority: the Military Construction-VA bill. While government funding will eventually need to be bipartisan to become law, Republicans have loaded up their first spending bill with conservative priorities. And they’ll need to lean on their own members to get it to the floor given expected Democratic opposition to bringing up the bill. Republicans are betting that they’ve made enough concessions to their right flank that adopting the rule won’t be a problem. But they will also need to navigate proposed amendments that could pull the bill even further into partisan warring. Expect most of this to play out at next week’s Rules Committee meeting (assuming leadership’s current plans aren’t upended first), but here are some amendments we are watching: Rep. Andrew Clyde is proposing an amendment that would rekindle the debate over confederate monuments. The Georgia Republican has filed an amendment to provide funds to move the Confederate Memorial back to Arlington National Cemetery (it was removed in December 2023) and rename it the “Reconciliation” memorial or monument.  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has filed an amendment to strike funding for NATO’s Security Investment Program.  Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) wants to block funds from being used to ban or remove a photograph of a sailor kissing a woman he didn’t know — known as the "V-J Day in Times Square” photo. (The VA secretary already reversed an internal memo earlier this year that sought to ban the photo.)  It’s just the start of the GOP’s wrangling on government funding — a task that will only get harder as they move on to more controversial bills as they get deeper into the summer. We’re also keeping an early eye on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a sweeping policy bill that is expected to come to the floor as soon as the week of June 10. The amendment deadline for the defense bill isn’t until Friday, but Clyde has already filed a similar amendment to the appropriations measure we mentioned above. Greene has also filed several amendments, including banning any funding authorized under the bill from going to Ukraine assistance, eliminating NATO funding and authorizing border wall funding. — Jordain Carney   THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY.     THE SENATE’S SCHEDULE PROBLEM Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) might be leaving the Senate at the end of the year, but he’s sounding the alarm about a problem he warns has only gotten worse since he first got to Congress in 1987: the limited amount of time lawmakers spend in Washington. “I don't think this is a Democratic issue. This is an institutional problem,” the retiring Maryland Democrat told Inside Congress after presiding over a brief pro forma session this week. “Members go back every weekend — longer and longer weekends. It's a problem. The continuity of our work, the interchange [of ideas] is impacted by it,” he added. Cardin conceded it’s “easy for me to say” as a Marylander with a relatively short commute, but the comments come as the legislative calendar is expected to enter an election-year lull. Senators are expected to be away from Washington for major stretches this summer — gone nearly all of August and October — to campaign. — Anthony Adragna HUDDLE HOTDISH Joni Ernst told a local Iowa reporter she intends to seek a third term in 2026 — but would also be open to a job in a future Trump administration. The Rules Committee dance party, aka 1 a.m. Saturday meeting, has been pulled off the committee repository website. (Spoiler: it wasn’t really happening to begin with.) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y) weighs in on a legendary New York pizzeria. Stop trying to make Vatican Ambassador Nancy Pelosi happen.   A message from GE Aerospace: Today’s missions demand more from Army aviators. This summer, GE Aerospace will deliver its T901 advanced engine that will power the Army’s Black Hawk and Apache helicopters to do more today and into the future. The T901 engine meets modern mission demands: 50% more power, 25% better fuel efficiency, and 35% lower maintenance costs compared to the current engine. Tell Congress to fully fund the T901 engine program so Army aviators can fly farther and higher even in tougher conditions.   QUICK LINKS  Supreme Court chief justice declines meeting with Dems amid Alito ethics flap, from KTM and Anthony Manchin addresses rumors about run for WV governor, from Ty McClung at the Charleston Gazette-Mail Fetterman renounces Harvard in Yeshiva University commencement address, from Emily Jacobs in Jewish Insider Sen. Bob Menendez has enough signatures to run as an independent despite his bribery trial, from Kate Santaliz, Julie Tsirkin and Carol E. Lee in NBC News Speaker Mike Johnson promises a Republican mega-bill that would define Donald Trump’s second term, from Kadia Goba in Semafor Man who made 12,000 harassing phone calls to Congress admits threatening staffer, from Ryan J. Reilly in NBC News TRANSITIONS  Mike Howard is now a senior client manager at Amplify. He was previously communications director and campaign manager for Rep. Jake LaTurner (R-Kan.). TOMORROW IN CONGRESS The House will hold a pro forma at 9:30 a.m. The Senate will hold a pro forma at 4:30 p.m.. FRIDAY AROUND THE HILL Crickets. TRIVIA WEDNESDAY’S ANSWER: Mary Kellner was the first to correctly guess that the dog dressed up as a panda during the last Bipawtisan Howl-o-ween Parade was owned by a House Appropriations Committee staffer. TODAY’S QUESTION, from Anthony: Two children of living vice presidents have served in Congress. Name them! 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.   DON’T MISS POLITICO’S ENERGY SUMMIT: The future of energy faces a crossroads in 2024 as policymakers and industry leaders shape new rules, investments and technologies. Join POLITICO’s Energy Summit on June 5 as we convene top voices to examine the shifting global policy environment in a year of major elections in the U.S. and around the world. POLITICO will examine how governments are writing and rewriting new rules for the energy future and America’s own role as a major exporter. REGISTER HERE.       Follow us

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