House Dems shrug off a Squad loss

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

Jun 26, 2024 View in browser   By Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz Presented by Wells Fargo With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team Some House Democrat said Jamaal Bowman’s lopsided loss shouldn’t be a reflection on other Democrats. | Yuki Iwamura/AP BYE BYE BOWMAN Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s big loss on Tuesday to Westchester County Executive George Latimer was greeted inside the House Democratic Caucus, by and large, with a big shrug. While much of the media coverage of the race focused on the central role of AIPAC, the pro-Israel group that financed a $15 million effort to elect Latimer over Bowman’s pro-Palestinian stances, many of his fellow lawmakers instead pointed to his other problems as a candidate. Those included alienating many of his voters in a heavily Jewish area directly north of New York City, the resurfacing of past controversial comments and his illegal triggering of a Capitol Hill fire alarm last year — all of which made him vulnerable to a challenge. One House Democrat who spoke on condition of anonymity said Bowman’s situation shouldn’t be a reflection on other Democrats — such as fellow Squad member Cori Bush of Missouri, who is facing her own, so-far-maller barrage of AIPAC spending ahead of her Aug. 6 primary. “I don't think this primary should be used for anything other than a demonstration that someone who does not pay attention to their district is in trouble,” the member said. “I really believe that he invited his own woes.” Left vs. center: Still, Democrats who were already at ideological odds with Bowman didn’t mind twisting the knife Wednesday. "I think he crossed the line with his Jew-hating comments," said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), the only sitting member of Congress to have endorsed Latimer before the primary, who also accused Bowman of “putting other Democrats at risk and the re-election of the president at risk.” (Bowman has strenuously denied allegations of antisemitism.) Meanwhile, a top progressive, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), played down the ideological implications of Bowman’s loss. “I don't think it's so much on the spectrum of where politics are,” he said. “It's the fact that if you have $20 million of outside money in a primary where the dollars are significantly smaller than the general election, you're going to have a distorted influence.” “I'm hoping that our leadership can talk to the AIPAC folks and say: Stay out of our damn races,” Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal said. When asked whether Democratic leadership would actually do that: “I don’t know, we’ll see.” Progressive leaders held multiple meetings with leadership last year to nudge them to keep AIPAC out of Democratic primaries. They were unsuccessful. The CBC’s role: There were similarly mixed feelings inside the Congressional Black Caucus, which will be losing a member with Bowman’s departure in January. Four years ago, the CBC’s political arm backed then-Rep. Eliot Engel, who is white, over Bowman, observing a tradition of protecting incumbents. This time, Bowman got their nod despite sometimes being at odds with the institutional-minded members of the bloc. Gregory Meeks, the chair of the CBC’s PAC and a major player in New York politics, said he was ready to move on after Bowman’s loss. “The people of the 16th Congressional District decided that they were going to elect someone else, just as it took place in 2020,” Meeks said. “My focus right now is to make sure that Hakeem Jeffries becomes the next speaker.” Bowman’s outreach to the bloc’s top members appeared to be somewhat haphazard ahead of the primary. Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.), a member of the group’s leadership, said Bowman hadn’t reached out for help before the primary but said “wherever possible, we should try to support each other.” Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) said Bowman did reach out for her support, and she donated: “I don’t know what he did with everybody else.” And Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), the former CBC chair and longtime progressive voice, said, “I helped him and I’m very proud of it.” — Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz, with an assist from Mia McCarthy    A message from Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo is proud of the role we play for our customers, communities and the U.S. economy. We serve 1 in 3 U.S. households and more than 10% of small businesses in the nation. We serve customers digitally and in-person, with 4,000 locations across the country, operating in 24 of the 30 largest markets. We cover more rural markets than many large banks, and nearly 30% of our branches are in low- or moderate-income census tracts. See how.   GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, June 26, where GOP AGHAST AT WOMEN IN THE DRAFT A proposal in the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act requiring women to register for the Selective Service is going down like a glass of sour milk among Republicans. Some, like the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, are already spitting it back out. “I don't think we're the least bit likely to re-implement a draft anytime soon,” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who opposed the measure’s inclusion and called it an “unneeded distraction” from his quest to return defense spending to 5 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Others aren’t outright saying they’re against it, but they certainly aren’t warm on the idea. “I'm a daughter-dad and granddaughters and everything else, so these are issues that obviously take on personal relevance,” said Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.). “There are a lot of women who want to serve, and I think that that's available to them today. … It's an issue related to the bill that I'm going to take a hard look at.” Democrats, meanwhile, aren’t as dismayed: “It was not a hard vote for me,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), calling the provision “an even-handed set of rules applying to everyone.” The House-passed version of NDAA does not include any language to include women in the draft; currently only male U.S. citizens and permanent residents between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register. Conservative House Republicans are already drawing a hard red line on the Senate provision, with Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) saying women would be required to register “over my dead body.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hasn’t yet announced when the NDAA will be coming to the floor, and it’s unclear whether opposition among Republicans is strong enough to sustain a filibuster threat that might force Democrats to back off the provision. In any case, the strong opposition from conservatives in the House and Senate raises the likelihood that it gets dropped out of the bill during interbranch negotiations later this year. — Ursula Perano and Jordain Carney   A message from Wells Fargo:   BOEBERT’S SEAT WARMER Greg Lopez, the Republican who won Tuesday’s special election to serve the remainder of Rep. Ken Buck’s (R-Colo.) term, is like Ryan Howard from The Office: He’s a temp who has had some clashes with the law. Lopez is not running for a full term in Colorado’s heavily GOP-friendly 4th Congressional District; he’s likely to be replaced in January by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who won Tuesday’s concurrent primary after switching from the much swingier 3rd District. Here are three things you should know about the incoming short-timer: The good: He has political experience: A Latino and a veteran, Lopez formerly served as mayor of Parker, Colorado. He also unsuccessfully sought the GOP gubernatorial nomination in both 2018 and 2022. The bad: He’s had run-ins with law enforcement. When asked in a 2018 Denver Post interview about a drunk-driving arrest, Lopez said he was charged with “a DUI and I think everybody knows that.”  The really ugly: Lopez and his wife, Lisa, were both charged with domestic violence in 1993, with both pleading guilty to a single harassment charge. The incident unfolded when Lisa Lopez was six months pregnant. According to reports, she allegedly hit him on the head and then he shoved her. When she was on the floor, he allegedly proceeded to kick her. During his 2018 gubernatorial bid, Lopez and his wife released a campaign video addressing the domestic violence episode: “We were both charged, and we were both held accountable for our actions that night. But we did it together,” Lopez says in the video. “It’s been 30 years of a great marriage with some bumps.” — Olivia Beavers   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.     HUDDLE HOTDISH Bill Cassidy’s interns made a Friends intro spoof. John Fetterman met with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (yes, in a hoodie). Abby Livingston has a good name for some deeply unserious behavior that is rampant on Capitol Hill. Paris Hilton wants to know where Rep. Claudia Tenney got her sparkly jacket. Joe Crowley was back.   SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, our newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW.     QUICK LINKS  Inside the numbers from new study on Senate staff diversity, from KTM GOP leaders back Steve Bannon’s fight against conviction for defying Jan. 6 panel, from Olivia, Jordain, Betsy and Kyle   A message from Wells Fargo: Beyond serving our own customers, Wells Fargo’s goal is to be prepared for the unknowns, which means being financially strong, strategically well positioned, and having the operational and management capabilities to not just survive, but to be a source of strength. It’s what enabled us to lend support to a smaller bank in a time of need in 2023, which helped stabilize the banking system, ease consumer concerns, and keep a challenge from becoming a much broader crisis. Wells Fargo is proud of the important role we play for our customers, for our communities, and in the U.S. economy. What we say, we do. See how.   TRANSITIONS  Brian Phillips Jr. is now deputy director of the Office of Media Relations at the FCC. He previously was comms director for Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) and is a Joe Kennedy alum. TOMORROW IN CONGRESS The House is in session. The Senate is out. THURSDAY AROUND THE HILL 10 a.m. Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) and others hold a news conference on the launch of the Slow Fashion Caucus to curb fast fashion pollution. (House Triangle) 12 p.m. Reps. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Kamlager-Dove hold a news conference on the launch of a Congressional Caucus on Global Migration. (House Triangle) TRIVIA TUESDAY’S ANSWER: Mike Radway was the first to correctly guess that Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Ore.) is the House member who represents the location of the ongoing track and field Olympic trials for Team USA. TODAY’S QUESTION, from former Rep. Charlie Dent: What member of Congress speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival owns a boat named “Almost Heaven?” 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 us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://login.politico.com/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings This email was sent to rouf@idiot.cloudns.cc by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service