Politico
A play-by-play preview of the day's congressional news
By Nolan D. McCaskill (nmccaskill@politico.com or @NolanDMcCaskill)
CONGRESS MAY PUNT ON DACA -- At this rate, Congress may miss its deadline to codify permanent protections for immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, despite Trump telling lawmakers in September that they had until early March to find a legislative solution. “As lawmakers grasp for a solution for the young undocumented immigrants, one option is a temporary extension -- perhaps one year -- of their legal protections paired with a little bit of cash for border security,” Seung Min reports this morning. “Some senators are already deriding a year-long patch as ‘misguided,’ a ‘Plan Z,’ and a proposal that will keep immigrants ‘in fear.’ But lawmakers only have until March 5.”
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While a recent court ruling may make the March 5 date less firm, some lawmakers say a short-term fix may be inevitable, Seung Min reports. “That may be where we’re headed because, you know, Congress is pretty dysfunctional,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of the few to publicly acknowledge the possibility of a temporary fix. “That’d be a real loss. But that’s probably where we’re headed, OK?” More: http://politi.co/2EGRD6h
GOVERNMENT FUNDING RUNS OUT THIS WEEK -- Congress ostensibly has until Thursday to strike a deal on a short-term patch to keep the government open. But House Democrats plan to leave early this week for their annual retreat, which kicks off Wednesday in Cambridge, Maryland. The House could vote tomorrow to keep the government funded, with the Senate expected to pass the measure soon after. Republicans want to raise spending caps on defense spending in a long-term deal, but an audit obtained by POLITICO in a new report published this morning “raises new questions about whether the Defense Department can responsibly manage its $700 billion annual budget.”
MORE MEMOS? -- With President Donald Trump’s approval, Congress on Friday released a controversial memo drafted by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee alleging misconduct by senior FBI officials investigating Trump’s 2016 campaign. Lawmakers are still sparring over the memo’s release, with Democrats pushing for the release of their version in a vote that could come today. Republicans on the intelligence panel voted against releasing the Democratic rebuttal last week, but House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and others have since expressed support for such transparency, as long as sensitive national security information is redacted. If the motion passes, Trump has five days to potentially block it.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a Sunday letter to Trump that refusing to release the Democratic document “will confirm the American people’s worst fears,” that the GOP memo’s intent was to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Trump claimed over the weekend that the Republican memo “totally vindicates” him. Four committee Republicans, however, insisted the memo has no bearing on the Russia probe. As many as five additional memos or reports of alleged wrongdoing could be released without having to be declassified, according to Axios.
Related reads: “Carter Page Touted Kremlin Contacts in 2013 Letter,” from TIME: http://ti.me/2nIdTos; and “Comey memos will remain secret for now, judge rules,” from Brent. D. Griffiths: http://politi.co/2FNi5L7
Lawmakers also want answers from the FBI on a different controversy: why it “took more than five years to arrest former CIA China hand Jerry Chun Shing Lee after it first became suspicious of him.” More: http://politi.co/2EFUWe2
THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES UPSET THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Monday, Feb. 5.
FRIDAY’S MOST CLICKED: The latest on Mitt Romney’s yet-to-be-announced Senate run was the winner.
DE-TWEETED, DELETED -- Democrats blasted Paul Ryan over the weekend after the House speaker’s campaign account deleted a tweet touting that the GOP tax law increased a secretary’s take-home by $1.50 per week, enough to pay for her Costco membership. “It's unclear why Ryan (R-Wis.) decided to delete the tweet,” Brent. D. Griffiths writes, but “Democrats and liberals on Twitter immediately bashed the message.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the tweet “embarrassing,” while Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) argued that the tweet wasn’t a communications error but rather “what they think.” More: http://politi.co/2nDJHvz
MCCAIN, COONS PUSH NARROWER DACA DEAL -- Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) plan to unveil an immigration plan that offers Dreamers a path to citizenship and mandates a comprehensive study be conducted to determine what border-security measures are necessary. “But the bill stops well short of almost all of the president’s demands--including immediate funding for the wall along the southern border--and is likely to meet a chilly reception from conservative Republicans,” Kristina Peterson and Laura Meckler report for The Wall Street Journal.
“Still, Mr. McCain, who was diagnosed with brain cancer last summer and has been working from Arizona since late 2017, retains powerful sway among his GOP colleagues,” they write. “His bill with Mr. Coons could also benefit from good timing, as the March 5 deadline draws closer and lawmakers grapple with the political consequences of failing to reach any agreement.” The proposal is nearly identical to a bipartisan bill in the House crafted by Reps. Will Hurd (R-Texas) and Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.). Aides said the McCain-Coons bill would provide legal status and a path to citizenship for Dreamers who have lived in the U.S. since Dec. 31, 2013. More: http://on.wsj.com/2GMXNCR
DEMOCRATIC SENATORS WARN TRUMP HE NEEDS APPROVAL TO ATTACK NORTH KOREA -- Trump lacks the “legal authority” to carry out a preemptive strike against North Korea, nearly 20 Democrats say in a letter to the president to be delivered today. Eighteen senators express deep concern “about the potential consequences” of such an attack and write that “without congressional authority, a preventative or preemptive U.S. military strike would lack either a constitutional basis or legal authority.” “Congressional aides said the letter was prompted by the circumstances surrounding the sudden derailment of the White House’s original choice for ambassador to South Korea, a post that has remained vacant since Trump took office,” David Nakamura reports for The Washington Post. More: http://wapo.st/2E4i4C9
RUBIO TEAMS UP WITH IVANKA -- Sen. Marco Rubio is seeking to capitalize on President Donald Trump’s endorsement of paid family leave in his State of the Union address, working with Ivanka Trump to win over Republicans on a traditionally Democratic issue. “Rubio is trying to marshal Republicans behind a plan that would neither impose a mandate on employers nor raise taxes to pay for it -- two hurdles that have long halted the GOP from embracing paid family leave,” Seung Min reports.
“Rubio has barely started crafting a paid leave bill, much less a broader legislative strategy. But he envisions an idea that has recently gained traction in conservative circles: allowing people to draw Social Security benefits when they want to take time off for a new baby or other family-related matters, and then delay their checks when they hit retirement age,” Seung Min says. Paid family leave, however, has a murky legislative future on Capitol Hill this year. More: http://politi.co/2EGKKlJ
GOP CONSIDERING ROMNEY AS NEW NRSC CHAIR -- Mitt Romney is still 10 days away from announcing whether he will run for Utah’s Senate seat, but Senate Republican leaders have already expressed interest in having the former GOP presidential nominee succeed Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) as chairman of the NRSC. “The role involves leading the Senate GOP’s fundraising arm and helping recruit and vet prospective GOP candidates for the upper chamber,” Elaina Plott and McKay Coppins explain for The Atlantic. “While the entire Senate GOP conference votes for leadership positions after election day, it’s widely known that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell effectively dictates the results.” McConnell reportedly assured Romney last year that he would have more influence than a typical junior senator, should he run. Much more: http://theatln.tc/2E2Yeal
FUNDRAISING FREAKOUT -- More than 40 House Republicans were outraised by Democratic opponents in the final quarter of 2017, according to the latest batch of fundraising data. “For the GOP, here’s the really disturbing part: The trendline is getting worse, not better,” Elena Schneider reports. “Despite the myriad advantages of incumbency and control of Congress, there are more House members with less cash on hand than their Democratic challengers than the quarter before.” More than 80 Democrats in Republican-held districts had at least $250,000 in cash on hand by the end of 2017, “a sign,” Elena says, “that the House battlefield may be wider than previously thought.” More: http://politi.co/2FLlv0U
Related: “Nunes challenger seizes on FBI memo uproar,” via Carla Marinucci and David Siders: http://politi.co/2EGui4Z; and “Holocaust denier running for Congress has no opponents in Republican primary,” by The Washington Post’s Amy B. Wang: http://wapo.st/2GLUGuK
MOVING ON -- Margaret Atkinson, who previously served as communications director for the majority staff on the Senate HELP Committee, has been hired at FedEx as a senior communications specialist.
Emily Schillinger, who previously served as communications director for the majority staff on the House Ways and Means Committee, has been hired as the American Investment Council’s vice president for public affairs.
TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The House gavels in at 12 p.m. with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m. Today’s agenda: http://bit.ly/2EsSWEM The Senate meets at 3 p.m. to consider Andrei Iancu’s nomination to be under secretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The chamber will vote to confirm Iancu’s nomination at 5:30 p.m.
AROUND THE HILL -- Reps. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and others will hold a briefing on addiction and its impact on individuals at 4 p.m. in CVC-217.
Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) will host his annual Dominican Heritage Month Celebration to recognize the contributions Dominicans and individuals of Dominican heritage make to communities around the country at 5:30 p.m. in 2200 Rayburn.
FRIDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER -- Joseph Radigan was first to correctly guess that future president and then-Rep. Andrew Johnson (D-Tenn.) voted in favor of a war resolution against Mexico in 1846. The U.S. signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the Mexican-American War on Feb. 2, 1848. It was ratified by the Senate the following month.
TODAY’S TRIVIA -- Joseph with today’s question: Andrew Johnson served as a U.S. representative, U.S. senator, governor, vice president and president. Name the other president who was also a vice president, governor, senator and congressman. The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.
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