The Hill’s Morning Report — Speaker deal slowly coming together

by Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch - 01/06/23 6:20 AM ET

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The House heads into a fourth day in search of a Speaker after Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California on Thursday lost a historic 11th ballot as some 20 hard-line conservatives continued to block his path.

McCarthy and his allies offered new concessions to the Republicans who have effectively deadlocked the chamber. Supporters and defectors spent hours huddled in the Capitol trying to finalize a deal that would include key rules changes to secure their support. Critics, including some moderate Republicans, worried such a pact could weaken the role of the Speaker and render the House ungovernable.

“No,” McCarthy said when asked if he thinks he undercuts the Speaker’s sway with changes he’s accepted.

“It’s not that one side is going to get more than another,” McCarthy continued while taking questions from reporters about whether concessions he’s made to conservative Republicans complicate support he’s counting on from more moderate GOP colleagues. “The entire conference is going to have to learn to work together” with a five-seat majority, he added. “It’s better to go through this process right now.”

“I’m not putting any timeline on it — I just think we’ve got some progress going on,” McCarthy told reporters Thursday when asked how long it would take to finalize the deal. “We got members talking, I think we’ve got a little movement and we’ll see.”

Conservatives say they still need to study evolving details, some placed in writing, but the overall discussions were interpreted as forward momentum for McCarthy after three painfully humiliating days. He has yet to turn any of his opponents into supporters during ballot votes that began on Tuesday.

It’s unclear whether McCarthy’s concessions could cost him votes within his conference; he consistently remains more than a dozen votes short. McCarthy needs to secure the support of enough of the 20 holdouts without alienating his base, which started out on Tuesday with a count of 203 (The Hill, Roll Call and Politico).

“It’s [House] changes that we wanted,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), one of the 20 Republicans consistently voting against McCarthy, said of the offers coming from the McCarthy camp. “Now, we got a lot more we got to get to. But this round one, it’s on paper, which is a good thing.”

Some GOP holdouts have said flatly there is nothing McCarthy could do or offer that would get their backing. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) responded “no” on Wednesday when asked that question.

▪ Vox: What McCarthy’s concessions to right-wingers would mean for a functioning Congress.

▪ Politico: Dems bask in the speaker schadenfreude.

▪ The Washington Post: The anti-McCarthy block in the House has long been anti-McCarthy.

When the House reconvenes at noon, it will place a new footnote in its history books as lawmakers head toward a 12th ballot, marking more rounds of voting than any Speaker election since the Civil War (CBS News).

Some lawmakers are fuming about their inability to get to work. The Speaker limbo means they cannot get the clearances to be briefed on national security matters, write The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch and Aris Folley. Incoming chairs for the House intelligence, Armed Services, and Foreign Affairs committees complained the delay hobbles their ambitions to quickly begin investigations of the administration — a top priority for the House GOP.

“There is no oversight of the White House, State Department, Department of Defense, or the intelligence community. We cannot let personal politics place the safety and security of the United States at risk,” GOP Reps. Michael Turner (Ohio), Mike Rogers (Ala.) and Michael McCaul (Texas) said in a statement.

The State Department on Thursday said the lack of a Speaker is likely to compound concerns on Capitol Hill over the ability of lawmakers to carry out their duties related to national security and foreign policy (The Hill). And if no Speaker is elected and no rules package is adopted by Jan. 13, it could impact the pay of House committee staffers (Politico).

CNBC: Here’s how the Speaker debacle is paralyzing Congress.

Heading into the Speaker election, Americans said they were divided about whether it should be McCarthy, according to a Rasmussen poll of likely voters conducted early this week. About 35 percent thought he should get the job while 41 percent said Republicans should not elect the California lawmaker.

Now, heading into the fourth day of votes, lawmakers will be on the floor during the second anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol. On that violent day, a mob tried to halt the work of Congress. Two years later, a group of 20 conservative Republicans succeeded in freezing official House business for days.

Related Articles

▪ The New Republic: Who is Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.)? More on McCarthy defectors’ newest nominee for House Speaker.

▪ The Hill’s Memo by Niall Stanage: Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) gets his moment.

▪ CNN: Cheryl Johnson, the House clerk presiding during the Speaker vote, is no stranger to turbulent times in the chamber.

▪ The New York Times ballot and House vote tracker is HERE.

▪ New York magazine: A House without rules makes for C-SPAN gone wild.

LEADING THE DAY

➤ ADMINISTRATION

President Biden will make his first visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday, traveling to El Paso, Texas, following two years of political pressure to demonstrate his focus on immigration problems and border enforcement.

The president announced on Thursday that his administration will use a Trump-era policy it once decried, known as Title 42, currently under Supreme Court review, to block more Nicaraguan, Cuban and Haitian migrants at U.S. borders, sending them back into Mexico while admitting 30,000 asylum-seekers from those countries to live and work in the United States for two years (NBC News).

“Today, my administration is taking several steps to stiffen enforcement for those who try to come without a legal right to stay,” Biden said at the White House ahead of a hemispheric summit in Mexico City next week. It was the most assertive administration policy effort – separate from its periodic rhetorical warnings – intended to discourage migrants from entering the United States (The New York Times).

The Los Angeles Times: Biden announces major border strategy shift, expands Trump policy.

The president’s remarks sparked criticism from human rights groups at a time when pro-immigration advocates say they’re skeptical that Congress will tackle legislative reforms and while a conservative majority of justices on the Supreme Court temporarily approved the continuation of expedited expulsion of asylum-seekers from the United States through Mexico.

Biden said his approach was different from Trump’s and said he would announce new funding to help communities deal with the effects of the migrant surge.

“I know that migration is putting a real strain on the borders and border communities,” the president said, adding that “our problems at the border didn’t arise overnight, and they are not going to be solved overnight. It’s a difficult problem.”

Many Republicans who hold the House majority argue that migrants bring drugs, weapons and criminal activity into the U.S. and tap public resources while they await immigration and asylum court hearings.

The president begins the new year with job approval of 43.4 percent, his highest approval in a year, according to an aggregation of polls published on Thursday by FiveThirtyEight. Expected within weeks to announce a bid for reelection, Biden is mapping out political and policy appeals to voters.

On Friday, the president will mark the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, appealing to Americans to oppose attacks on democracy and referencing his view that his election represented a “battle for the soul of the nation” (The Hill).

Separately, Jan. 6 is a reminder of the just-completed House select committee investigation (The Hill) and ongoing federal prosecutions and criminal and civil investigations involving the accused Jan. 6 attackers and suspected instigators (The Hill).

The Justice Department tracks prosecutions of more than 950 people arrested from all 50 states and accused of crimes tied to the Capitol attacks.

More than 295 defendants have been charged with corruptly obstructing, influencing or impeding an official proceeding or attempting to do so, the department reported on Wednesday. Approximately 50 defendants have been charged with conspiracy, including charges of seditious conspiracy. About 192 federal defendants have received prison sentences.

Roll Call: In a Supreme Court filing, the administration makes its case for the legality of Biden’s student debt forgiveness program, now challenged in court.

➤ POLITICS

A potential wave of retirements in key battleground and Republican-leaning states are complicating Senate Democrats’ hope of keeping their majority in 2024, writes The Hill’s Alexander Bolton. Thursday’s announcement that Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), a member of the Democratic leadership, won’t run for reelection is a sign of the challenges facing Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who now has to convince Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Jon Tester (Mont.), as well as newly-Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), to run for reelection in states that Republicans have a good chance of winning.

Schumer must also worry about Wisconsin, where Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) hasn’t yet revealed her 2024 plans. The majority leader scored a win when Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) announced his plans to run for another term, but other Democrats may be eyeing the exits, given their party’s loss of the House — and the prospect of legislative gridlock for the foreseeable future.

Stabenow’s retirement in Michigan is creating a pickup opportunity in 2024 for Republicans (The Hill). Democratic Reps. Debbie Dingell and Elissa Slotkin on Thursday were reported to be considering runs for the seat in 2024. Several other Michigan House members could also take a look at it, including Reps. Dan Kildee and Haley Stevens, Politico reports.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), whose term is up in 2024, on Thursday announced a prostate cancer diagnosis. He said he expects to have surgery “soon” (The Hill).

On the other side of the aisle, former President Trump’s political clout took another hit this week as lawmakers opposed to McCarthy’s Speakership bid ignored his calls to back the California Republican, writes The Hill’s Julia Manchester. It’s just the latest sign that Trump’s once-iron grip on his party is weakening, a reality that raises questions about his 2024 presidential bid while making rivals more confident in defeating him in a primary.

▪ The New York Times: In House Speaker fight, Trump struggles to play kingmaker.

▪ Politico: Trump’s worst fear is coming true: he’s being ignored.

The list of potential GOP rivals for Trump is growing, as New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) is leaving the door open to a 2024 presidential run, acknowledging that he’s having conversations about a bid for the White House.

“It’s incredibly flattering,” Sununu said in a Fox News interview of the speculation that he could mount a presidential bid. “A lot of folks are coming to me, a lot of folks want me to run. It’s definitely conversations that we’re having, of course.”

Sununu, who was reelected to a fourth term in the New Hampshire governor’s mansion last year after passing on a bid for the U.S. Senate, has repeatedly been mentioned as a possible candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, especially by critics of Trump (The Hill).

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➤ INTERNATIONAL

Fighting continued unabated in Ukraine today after Kiyv on Thursday rejected an announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin of a 36-hour cease-fire to mark Orthodox Christmas, saying there will be no truce until Moscow removes its invading forces from occupied land (Reuters).

The Kremlin said Putin had ordered his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, to introduce a temporary cease-fire along the entire line of contact in Ukraine from midday today to midnight on Saturday to mark the holiday. Many Orthodox Christians, including those in Russia and Ukraine, traditionally celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6 and 7, according to the Julian calendar. Since the war started, however, some Ukrainians have chosen to celebrate Christmas in December, according to the Gregorian calendar. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the cease-fire announcement, saying the Kremlin had only made the announcement to halt Kyiv’s advances in the eastern Donbas region.

“They now want to use Christmas as a cover, albeit briefly, to stop the advances of our boys in Donbas and bring equipment, ammunitions and mobilized troops closer to our positions,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address (The Guardian and The Hill).

Biden said Thursday that Putin’s call for a cease-fire is an effort to “find some oxygen,” dismissing that the Kremlin is serious about finding an off-ramp for its assault against Ukraine (The Hill).

▪ Newsweek: Rumors of Putin’s ill-health persist amid intelligence updates.

▪ The New York Times: “Fear still remains”: Ukraine finds sexual crimes where Russian troops ruled.

The U.S. and Germany, meanwhile, will supply Ukraine with additional fighting vehicles, a decision that could mean Kyiv will get more powerful Western tanks. The deal, which was cemented after a Wednesday conversation between Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, means Washington will send the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and Berlin intends to provide Ukraine with Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles, according to a Thursday White House announcement (The Hill).

The Biden administration is expected to announce a new round of military assistance today that will include equipment the U.S. has not previously provided and total nearly $3 billion (NBC News).

▪ The Washington Post: What is the Temple Mount in Israel, and why did National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s visit stoke tension?

▪ Reuters: Mexico arrested accused drug cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, son of jailed “El Chapo.”

OPINION

■ GOP House Speaker boondoggle: A decade in the making, by B.J. Rudell, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/3QfGyOA

■ Biden needs allies to keep China and Russia in check. Here’s how to do it, by Sebastian Mallaby, contributing columnist, The Washington Post. https://wapo.st/3WR5puo

■ Biden’s blue collar bet, analysis by Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic. https://bit.ly/3Z8mJwJ

WHERE AND WHEN

👉 The Hill: Share a news query tied to an expert journalist’s insights: The Hill launched something new and (we hope) engaging via text with Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack. Learn more and sign up HERE.

The House will meet at noon for legislative business on the fourth day of the 118th Congress.

The Senate will hold a pro forma session at 1:05 p.m.

The president will mark the two-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol during an East Room event. Biden will host Vice President Harris for lunch in the White House private dining room. Biden will travel to Wilmington, Del., for the weekend.

The vice president at 11 a.m. will ceremonially swear in Bijan Sabet as U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic. She will join Biden for lunch at 12:45 p.m. The vice president and second gentleman Doug Emhoff at 2 p.m. will attend the East Room event recalling the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attacks.

Economic indicator: The Bureau of Labor Statistics at 8:30 a.m. will report on U.S. employment in December, which is data scrutinized at the Federal Reserve.

The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 12:45 p.m.

ELSEWHERE

➤ STATE WATCH

Damaging winds and heavy rains from a powerful “atmospheric river” pounded California Thursday, knocking out power to tens of thousands of residents, causing flash flooding and contributing to the deaths of at least two people, including a child whose home was hit by a falling tree.

As the storm barreled into the state on Wednesday, officials ordered evacuations in a high-risk coastal area where mudslides killed 23 people in 2018. Authorities warned residents to hunker down. The storm marks the latest in a rapid series of atmospheric rivers — long plumes of moisture stretching far over the Pacific — to hit California. This one was a “Pineapple Express” that originated near Hawaii and was pulled toward the west coast by a rotating area of rapidly falling air pressure known as a “bomb cyclone” (The Guardian).

The New York Times: California could see rain and high winds for days. Here is a day-by-day look at what to expect.

Abortion: In South Carolina, the state Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the state’s ban on abortion six weeks into a pregnancy, ruling the restriction violates the state constitution’s right to privacy. The 3-2 ruling comes nearly two years after Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed the measure into law. The court’s voiding of the so-called “heartbeat” bill means South Carolina’s previous ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy will remain in place (CNN).

“The state unquestionably has the authority to limit the right of privacy that protects women from state interference with her decision, but any such limitation must be reasonable and it must be meaningful in that the time frames imposed must afford a woman sufficient time to determine she is pregnant and to take reasonable steps to terminate that pregnancy,” Justice Kaye Hearn wrote in the majority opinion.

Risky work: Meanwhile, firefighters who work for federal agencies and respond to emergencies on public lands or military installations will for the first time qualify for medical benefits when they get diagnosed with cancer, writes The Hill’s Brad Dress. A provision to award firefighters presumptive benefits when stricken with cancer was quietly included in the National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress last year.

Federal firefighters are prone to exposure to cancer-causing PFAS, known as “forever chemicals,” that have been linked to military bases. Up to 100 firefighters file a cancer-related claim annually, but 80 percent of those claims are denied. The International Association of Fire Fighters General President Edward Kelly called the NDAA provision a “game-changer.”

Energy: Solar power could be a useful tool to help curb climate change while creating a more sustainable power system, writes The Hill’s Amy Thompson, but the amount of power generated is often limited due to things such as cloud cover. For decades, researchers have floated the notion of putting solar panels in space to boost power here on Earth; however, that dream has been plagued by technological limitations as well as high launch costs. Thanks to a donation and a team of engineers at Caltech, a solar-powered prototype launched into space this week as part of a mission to evaluate the possibility of space-based solar power.

➤ BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Southwest Airlines is slated to undergo another round of federal scrutiny after the airline experienced a holiday meltdown that caused the cancellation of over 70 percent of its flights in the days after Christmas. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, announced Wednesday night that the panel will hold hearings on Southwest’s “massive operational and customer service failures” as a part of discussions concerning the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration. The announcement adds another layer of scrutiny to a Transportation Department probe promised during the holiday flight chaos (Roll Call).

“Southwest’s customers are rightfully dissatisfied and deserve better,” Cantwell said in a statement. “These consumers need refunds and reimbursements for their expenses.”

▪ NBC News: Southwest pilots union writes scathing letter to airline executives after holiday travel fiasco.

▪ The Washington Post: Frustrated Southwest passengers are still waiting for bags.

▪ CNN: Southwest giving passengers affected by meltdown 25,000 frequent flier points.

The surge in COVID-19 cases in China is impacting the completion of manufacturing orders, according to CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map data. Logistics managers are warning clients that factories are unable to complete orders because of the spike in infections — even as U.S. manufacturing orders from China are already down 40 percent due to an unrelenting demand collapse.

➤ HEALTH & PANDEMIC

Two major pharmacy chains — CVS and Walgreens — will apply to sell abortion pills under a new Food and Drug Administration regulation that will allow the medication to be offered by retail pharmacies for the first time. The companies said they planned to seek certification to sell the pill, mifepristone, the first pill used in the two-drug medication abortion regimen. Patients will still need a prescription for the drug, but the new federal action could significantly expand access to medication abortion because it allows any pharmacy that agrees to accept those prescriptions and abide by certain other criteria to dispense the pills in its stores and by mail order (The New York Times).

A new COVID-19 variant that was first detected last year has quickly become the dominant strain in the US — and picked up the creepy “kraken variant” moniker along the way. The World Health Organization’s senior epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said XBB.1.5 is the most transmissible omicron sub-variant that has been detected so far. It spreads rapidly because of the mutations it contains, allowing it to adhere to cells and replicate easily.

XBB and XBB.1.5 were estimated to account for 44.1 percent of COVID-19 cases in the country in the week of Dec. 31, up from 25.9 percent in the previous week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Bloomberg News and Reuters).

CNBC: Here’s what people with long COVID-19 need to know about navigating health insurance.

Information about COVID-19 vaccine and booster shot availability can be found at Vaccines.gov.

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported as of this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all vary slightly): 1,096,147. Current U.S. COVID-19 deaths are 2,731 for the week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (The CDC shifted its tally of available data from daily to weekly, now reported on Fridays.)

THE CLOSER

And finally … 👏👏👏 Congratulations to the winners of this week’s Morning Report Quiz!

While Republicans in Congress are embroiled in a messy Speaker sweepstakes, we explored some recent House and Senate trivia to see if readers were paying attention.

They were. Here we present the masterful puzzlers (and Googlers) who went 4/4: Patrick Kavanagh, Paul Harris, Amanda Fisher, Cheryl Geyerman, Kathleen Kovalik, Cliff Grulke, Harry Strulovici, Terry Pflaumer, Pam Manges, Gretchen O’Brien, Candi Cee, Jonathan Berck, Richard Baznik, Luther Berg, Ken Stevens, Robert Bradley, Randall S. Patrick, JA Ramos, Steve James and Lou Tisler.

They knew that Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.), whose parents were born in Brazil, attracted recent attention in that country because Brazilian law enforcement officials said they will reinstate fraud charges against Santos related to stolen checks in 2008.

Some metal detectors outside the House floor disappeared this week under the new Republican majority, journalists reported.

Rep.-elect Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), 25, the youngest House member, this week told ABC News he was struggling to rent an apartment in Washington, D.C., before starting his new job because rental housing is expensive in the nation’s capital, his credit rating is poor and he was turned down after applying for some apartments. The correct answer was “all of the above.”

The Congressional Black Caucus in the 118th Congress is the largest in history with 58 members, a trend its members celebrated this week, along with the ascent of 52-year-old Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) as a nominee to be Speaker.

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