This week: Sessions in the hot seat

by Cristina Marcos and Jordain Carney - 06/12/17 6:00 AM ET

Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be in the hot seat before Congress this week following ousted FBI Director James Comey’s blockbuster testimony alleging President Trump tried to interfere in a federal investigation.

Sessions has offered to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, but it’s still unclear whether it will be in an open session like Comey’s.

If he testifies, it’ll be the first time Sessions has appeared before Congress since President Trump abruptly fired Comey last month.

He was originally scheduled to testify at House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees hearings to discuss the Justice Department’s budget for the next fiscal year.

But after it became clear Appropriations committee members would ask him about his role in Comey’s firing, Sessions announced over the weekend he would be willing to testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee instead.

Sessions said in a statement that “it is important that I have an opportunity to address these maters in the appropriate forum.”

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is slated to testify in front of the Appropriations committees on Tuesday in place of Sessions.

After President Trump allegedly pressured Comey to end an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, the former FBI director said he told Sessions to never leave him alone again with the president.

Sessions did not offer a response, according to Comey. But the Justice Department pushed back against the characterization, saying the attorney general “responded to this comment by saying that the FBI and Department of Justice needed to be careful about following appropriate policies regarding contacts with the White House.”

Sessions was previously set to speak before the two Appropriations committees last month, but then rescheduled for Tuesday.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, expressed frustration that Sessions was canceling for a second time.

“Now, twice in 2 [months], AG Sessions cancels an Approps [hearing] in which I could [question] him about his false testimony and half-hearted Russia recusal,” Leahy tweeted.

House lawmakers would not get a chance to question Sessions, either.

Comey reportedly told senators in a closed-door meeting after his public testimony last Thursday that Sessions may have had a third undisclosed interaction with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

Sessions recused himself from overseeing the federal investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Moscow during its election meddling efforts, following reports that Sessions had failed to inform Congress about meetings with the Russian ambassador.

Some Democrats have accused Sessions of perjury and even called for him to resign as attorney general.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who had asked the original question at Sessions’s Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing that led to the statement that he “did not have communications with the Russians,” said in a Friday MSNBC interview that he thinks Sessions lied to Congress.

Comey testified publicly that the FBI had expected Sessions to recuse himself, but declined to discuss details because they were classified.

The Justice Department said after Comey’s testimony that Sessions recused himself solely because of his participation in Trump’s campaign.

Sessions’s testimony comes as four congressional committees are investigating Russia’s election interference.

Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) are also expected to meet this week with former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who was named as special counsel for the federal investigation.

Burr also noted that they will hold closed-door meetings with NSA Director Mike Rogers and Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, though those meetings haven’t been scheduled.

Russia sanctions

Senators are debating imposing new penalties on Russia this week, including potentially reining in Trump’s ability to lift sanctions without congressional approval.

Leadership, as well as lawmakers in both parties, have been locked in negotiations since last week over slapping new financial penalties on Moscow as part of an Iran sanctions bill currently on the Senate floor.

Democrats have threatened to block the Iran legislation, which has broad bipartisan support, if they don’t get a deal on Russia, but Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) appeared confident late last week that they would get an agreement.

“We will have a Russia amendment, period,” he told reporters. “I’m all for a strong, strong Russia amendment.”

A senior aide to Sen. Ben Cardin also said late last week that the Maryland Democrat wouldn’t move forward on Iran without a deal on Russia, but hours later Cardin downplayed the chances of not getting an agreement.

“I really do believe there will be an opportunity for a Russia sanction vote on this bill. We’re working to see if we can’t have a bill that’s agreeable to the major players,” he told reporters.

The push for new sanctions comes after months of top Republicans holding off from supporting new penalties arguing the Trump administration needed time to see if it could improve U.S.-Russia relations, which soured under the Obama administration.

But Corker told reporters last week that progress between the U.S. and Russia, particularly in Syria, remains “slow.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has also endorsed the negotiations to pass new Russia sanctions.

The scope of what will be added into the Iran sanctions bill remains unclear. Corker told reporters late last week that they were reviewing a handful of proposals that have been introduced by senators so far this year.

A bill by Cardin and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would impose financial penalties on Russia for its election interference, as well as ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. It would also codify sanctions implemented under the Obama administration by executive order.

Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) also outlined a Russia sanctions deal earlier this month that would “codify and strengthen” existing sanctions from former President Barack Obama’s executive orders.

Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has introduced legislation that would give Congress the chance to block Trump from lifting Russia sanctions unilaterally.

Corker indicated last week that lawmakers were interested in bolstering congressional oversight, though he stressed that it needed to be done in a “workable” manner.

“Any administration obviously would not let that to be the case,” he told reporters. “[But] congressional review is something that I’m very, very open to. …I would be in favor of Congress playing an appropriate role.”

Health care

Senate Republicans are trying to overcome key hurdles as they continue their negotiations to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

Senators are pointing to divisions over Medicaid as well as a surprise objection from the Senate parliamentarian as two of largest remaining obstacles to finishing their bill.

A group of moderate Republicans, led by GOP Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio), are coalescing around a proposal to extend the phase out of ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion. The GOP senators are proposing a seven-year phase out, starting in 2020, of the expansion, compared to the House proposal which ends the expansion by 2023.

Republicans from states that expanded Medicaid have raised concerns that transitioning away from the ObamaCare proposal too quickly could result in their constituents losing coverage.

Meanwhile, conservative senators want to make even deeper cuts and are raising red flags that they would oppose a longer phase out of the Medicaid expansion. Senate Republicans are also leaning toward keeping a requirement that individuals with pre-existing conditions can’t be charged more, which conservatives want waived.

Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, has also warned that language that bars people from using new refundable tax credits for private insurance plans that cover abortion doesn’t comply with Senate rules.

If Republicans have to strip the Hyde Amendment language from the legislation, which essentially bars federal funds from being used to pay for abortions except to save the life of a mother or in cases of rape and incest, conservative senators could balk and vote against the bill.

Republicans have a narrow path for clearing legislation through the Senate. They have 52 seats and can only afford to lose two GOP senators and still let Vice President Pence break a tie.

McConnell told reporters that he expected the Senate would move healthcare soon — and paved the way for a vote by setting up the House bill late last week. But he has sidestepped whether Republicans will ultimately be able to pass a bill.

The House, meanwhile, is slated to consider four bills as part of its “third phase” to repeal and replace the healthcare law.

Two would clarify rules regarding health care tax credits used by veterans and COBRA continuation coverage users. Another would ensure immigrants in the country illegally couldn’t have access to health insurance premium tax credits by requiring recipients to provide Social Security numbers.

The fourth measure on tap for consideration this week, authored by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), would establish limits on medical malpractice lawsuits. It would cap noneconomic damages – like emotional suffering – to $250,000 and subject the statute of limitations to three years after an injury or one year after discovery of an injury.

Veterans Affairs reform

The House is expected to vote Tuesday to send legislation to President Trump’s desk that would make it easier to fire Department of Veterans Affairs employees.

It passed the Senate last week by voice vote, after the House approved a similar measure in March largely along party lines.

The bill would streamline the process for firing VA employees for poor performance or misconduct and allow the agency to rescind bonuses if a worker is convicted of a felony stemming from behavior done on the job.

“One of the first things that must change to better serve our veterans is the culture at the VA. This bill gives the VA Secretary – a man I know is wholly committed to reforming the VA – the ability to set a new culture and deliver the top-of-the-line service our veterans deserve,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in a statement announcing Tuesday’s vote.