Full steam ahead (mostly) on a rail bill

Nov 29, 2022

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After their meeting with President Joe Biden, congressional leaders sounded ready to push forward with legislation to impose a railroad labor deal and avoid a strike. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE RAILROAD — Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.), who could be an obstacle to Congress imposing a railroad worker deal in time to avert a major strike, told CNN's Manu Raju this morning that "we will have more to say about that later." But Sanders raised concerns about the paid sick leave provisions, which he called "outrageous."

"If your question is: Will I demand a vote to make sure that workers in the rail industry have what tens of millions of Americans have … guaranteed paid sick leave? The answer is yes," Sanders added later, per Burgess Everett .

And Sanders might have backup from an unexpected source: Sen. MARCO RUBIO (R-Fla.) tweeted that he wouldn't vote for a deal that lacked worker support. He said both sides should return to the negotiating table, rather than put the issue to Congress, and get an agreement that works for "not just the union bosses." (Rubio has staked out territory as one of the more pro-union Republicans in the chamber of late.)

Other Senate Republicans stayed in wait-and-see mode , with some telling reporters that they'd rather not step into the matter but they didn't want to see economic disaster.

But emerging from a meeting with President JOE BIDEN, congressional leaders sounded ready to push forward with the legislation: Speaker NANCY PELOSI said the House would pass the bill Wednesday morning, Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL said Congress needed to pass a bill, and Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER said he and McConnell agreed to pass it quickly — ideally well before the Dec. 9 deadline, since railroads may stop shipments in anticipation of a strike as soon as this weekend.

House GOP Leader KEVIN McCARTHY was a bit less enthusiastic, saying he expected the bill to pass but criticizing the rush and the Biden administration.

Biden said at the top of his meeting with the "Big Four" congressional leaders that intervening in the matter wasn't "an easy call, but I think we have to do it. The economy's at risk." The president added that he's "confident" the U.S. could stave off a massive economic disruption.

All aboard the omnibus: The congressional leaders emerged from the meeting in agreement that they wanted to get to an omnibus spending package rather than rely on a yearlong continuing resolution. Schumer said a meeting with appropriations leaders could happen as soon as Wednesday.

But McConnell warned that "sticking points," including Covid funding, remain. McCarthy said Democrats "didn't do their job" on government funding and he wouldn't "sit by and let some bill pass in the middle of the night." Though he said he wants a government funding bill, McCarthy added, "The outgoing majority — if they don't want to work with us, we can get this work done in January as well." More from Caitlin Emma and Burgess Everett

More from McCarthy: The possible next speaker of the House said, regarding aid to Ukraine, that he's "not for a blank check for anything." He defended ELON MUSK. And responding to DONALD TRUMP's dinner with white supremacist NICK FUENTES, McCarthy condemned Fuentes but defended the former president by saying he didn't know who Fuentes was.

WHAT BRINGS US TOGETHER — On the Senate floor today, Schumer previewed the chamber's vote this afternoon to enshrine same-sex and interracial marriage rights into law. Becoming emotional, Schumer said his daughter and her wife are expecting a baby in the spring. "I want them to raise their child with all the love and security that every child deserves," he said. "After this bill passes, they will be the very first people I call."

Good Tuesday afternoon, and thanks for reading Playbook PM. The White House is rooting for the U.S. in today's politically fraught, must-win World Cup match against Iran. Drop me a line with your predictions for the final score: eokun@politico.com .

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Kroger has a long track record of supporting its associates. Since 2018, Kroger has invested $1.2 billion in associate wages, resulting in a 25.9% increase in average hourly compensation since 2017. We are committed to extending this track record following our merger with Albertsons Cos. to unlock new and exciting opportunities for the 710,000+ associates nationwide that enable the success of the two organizations.

THE WHITE HOUSE

STICKING TO HIS GUNS — Biden's aggressive new calls for an assault weapons ban — which has little chance of passing Congress — point to a new approach as Republicans prepare to stymie him in the House majority: use the GOP as a foil, WaPo's Toluse Olorunnipa reports . On social issues where the White House thinks the public is with them, Biden wants to put Republicans on the defensive and rally his base, with serious legislative progress off the table.

ALL POLITICS

2024 WATCH — Republican MOORE CAPITO, the somewhat confusingly named son of Sen. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-W.Va.), is jumping into the West Virginia gubernatorial race, he announced on Hoppy Kercheval's radio show. A 40-year-old state delegate, Capito is running to succeed Gov. JIM JUSTICE — and follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, former Gov. ARCH MOORE JR. The only other declared Republican in the race so far is another political son: businessman CHRIS MILLER, whose mom is Rep. CAROL MILLER. More from Fox News

MIDTERMS POST-MORTEM — Republican TIM MICHELS, who lost the Wisconsin gubernatorial election, said on Jay Weber's talk show that he thinks Gov. TONY EVERS won because of anger over the Dobbs ruling. Michels recounted Trump, TOMMY THOMPSON, REINCE PRIEBUS and PAUL RYAN all telling him he'd win in the last days of the campaign — and Trump saying he didn't need to campaign with Michels because he was looking strong. Michels also said Wisconsin Republicans' campaign model needs a "complete revamping" and the party has to get better at turnout.

CONGRESS

WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT — A cybercriminal stole more than $186,000 from Rep. DIANA HARSHBARGER's (R-Tenn.) campaign this summer, though the congresswoman was able to get it back from the bank, Insider's Dave Levinthal reports . The operation constituted "a sophisticated effort with the thief ultimately depositing the Harshbarger campaign's money in a Wells Fargo bank account." Harshbarger's campaign was just the latest of many political committees that have been struck by cyberthieves or embezzlement.

TOP-ED — "Washington liars will not stop us from rescuing America," by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) for the Washington Examiner's Restoring America: "Earlier this year, I released a plan with more than 100 ideas for how Republicans can govern … The Democrats immediately lost their minds. … I originally wrote this op-ed to respond to some of those criticisms directly, several of which have been published recently in the Washington Post. Sadly, the Washington Post refused to accept this piece. The Washington establishment, in both Congress and the media, is so committed to the status quo that it will do whatever it takes to silence anyone who thinks differently. So much for 'democracy dies in darkness,' right?"

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WAR IN UKRAINE

FROM 30,000 FEET — The war in Ukraine poses a singular economic threat to Biden's presidency, dangling the prospect of recession over the world, NYT's Jim Tankersley writes in a big-picture analysis. The best thing Biden could do to avert catastrophe would be helping to bring the war to an end. Absent that, his administration sees Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN's efforts to negotiate a price cap on Russian oil as the centerpiece of an international strategy to blunt the conflict's effects. Oil markets, for now, think it may work. But Biden "has few domestic options if those plans fail."

Striking stat: "Ukraine did not make the list of the top 60 topics of campaign advertisements nationwide in the midterm election cycle."

POLICY CORNER

FED UP — "Yield Curve Inversion Reaches New Extremes," by WSJ's Sam Goldfarb: "Yields on longer-term U.S. Treasurys have fallen further below those on short-term bonds than at any time in decades, a sign that investors think the Federal Reserve is close to winning its inflation battle regardless of the cost to economic activity."

CLIMATE FILES — Big electric utilities, until recently frequent impediments to the clean energy transition, have made a big shift to sources like solar and wind, NYT's Eric Lipton reports . It's a matter of economics, as the Inflation Reduction Act's big investments incentivize clean energy with massive subsidies for the industry. Lipton writes that the utilities' change of tune reflects the advantages and scale of Biden's industrial policy, which constitutes partnership with the private sector on a scale not seen since World War II. But he also finds that the companies secured more than just a clean energy transition in their lobbying on the IRA: There are also provisions to help enlarge their profits — and a lack of requirements to cut pollution.

ABORTION FALLOUT

AFTERNOON READ — "Was She Ready to Be a Mother? A Judge Got to Decide," by Lizzie Presser in the NYT Magazine: "As abortion access dwindles, America's 'parental involvement' laws weigh even more heavily on teenagers — who may need a court's permission to end their pregnancies."

LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today .

PLAYBOOKERS

MEDIA MOVES — Katie Wadington is joining The Hill as deputy managing editor. She previously was breaking news editor and planner for USA Today's Washington bureau. … Lauren Weber is joining WaPo as an accountability reporter covering disinformation on the health and science team. She previously was Midwest correspondent for Kaiser Health News. Announcement

TRANSITIONS — Clay Armentrout is now chief of staff for Sen.-elect Katie Britt (R-Ala.). He most recently was legislative director and counsel for Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). … Ian O'Keefe is now comms director for Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.). He previously was deputy comms director for Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.). … Brendan McPhillips and Jane Slusser are now partners at Hilltop Public Solutions, launching a new office in Pennsylvania. McPhillips previously was campaign manager for John Fetterman's Pennsylvania Senate campaign, and is a Biden and Pete Buttigeg campaign alum. Slusser previously was a program manager at Power the Polls. …

… R.C. Hammond is now managing director at Mercury. He most recently was VP at CounterPoint Strategies and is a State alum. … Ven Neralla has joined Federal Street Strategies. He was most recently chief of staff to Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) and is an Obama alum. … Claire Ainsley is now director of the Progressive Policy Institute Project on Center-Left Renewal, a new U.K.-U.S. partnership that will look at how center-left parties can build majorities. She previously was executive director of policy for the British Labour Party's leader of the official opposition, Keir Starmer.

ENGAGED — Sierra Kelley-Chung, senior policy adviser for Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), and Emanuel Riley, director of multifamily investments for the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, got engaged on Thanksgiving in NYC. They met as students at the University of Maryland, where he was her statistics tutor, and have dated for seven years. Pic

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Benjamin Tomchik, VP and deputy chief of staff at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and an Obama White House alum, and Nancy Tomchik, director of operations at Teak & Twine, welcomed Eleanor on Nov. 7. Pic

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