The Hill’s Morning Report: Frustration mounts as Republicans blow up tax message

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Republicans face brutal electoral conditions in 2018 and a new foe: Themselves.

Over the past 48 hours, key figures in the party have uttered head-scratching statements about the tax-cuts bill that will be millstones for those Republicans fighting for their political lives in the midterm elections.

President Trump’s former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, forced to resign last year after racking up $400,000 in travel bills, said that repealing ObamaCare’s individual mandate — an act the GOP achieved in its December tax bill — “drives up the cost for others in the market.”

“We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.” – Matt House, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

“Price just exposed every single GOP Senate candidate.” – Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Communications Director Lauren Passalacqua.

A day earlier, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said there’s “no evidence whatsoever” that the GOP’s corporate tax cuts are helping workers, undermining the cornerstone of the party’s electoral strategy this cycle.   

            “It’s disappointing to see Marco Rubio echo some of the false rhetoric of tax reform opponents and we hope he clarifies his remarks.” – Brent Gardner of Americans for Prosperity, which is spending tens of millions of dollars to sell the tax-reform plan and protect the Republicans who supported it.

Polls show the public has been slow to warm to the tax cuts bill. The comments from Price and Rubio — and previous remarks from retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) — make the sales campaign more difficult.

The landscape was already bad for Republicans. Democrats have the advantage in essentially every metric, from grass-roots energy to the generic ballot. Republicans increasingly concede privately that their House majority seems a lost cause.

There were plenty of intraparty fissures within the GOP before the messaging fiasco of the last few days but until recently, all Republicans agreed they should stake their electoral hopes on the benefits of tax reform for the economy. Now?

“If Republicans can’t unify behind tax cuts, what can they unify behind?,” said Andy Surabian, a former special assistant to the president and deputy White House strategist. “Republicans have to laser focus on the benefits of the tax bill every day between now and Election Day, especially the long-term effects of the bill, since most of the positive impact hasn’t been felt yet.”

One celebratory GOP pitch to conservative voters … Senate Republicans are on pace to confirm more of Trump’s appeals court nominees than any other recent president in his first two years. (The Hill)

LEADING THE DAY

INVESTIGATIONS: The Washington Post reported late Tuesday that special counsel Robert Mueller threatened to subpoena the president to appear before a grand jury if Trump refused to talk to his team voluntarily.

That story dropped as Washington was still trying to wrap its collective mind around The New York Times bombshell report detailing the dozens of questions Trump’s representatives anticipate he could be asked.

Trump’s allies are seething.

    “Robert Mueller’s merry band of Trump-hating Democratic sycophants are completely and totally desperate to find anything, something on President Trump … If any of these [leaked] questions are true, be warned – Mueller is laying a huge perjury trap.” – Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity.

The Memo: Leak fuels new Mueller intrigue.

MORE:

CNN: Mueller has asked for a delay in sentencing former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pled guilty to lying to investigators and is cooperating with the government.

The Hill: GOP committee chairmen press Justice Department for information on Comey friend who leaked personal memos.

The Hill: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the special counsel, says he won’t be “extorted” by lawmakers trying to impeach him.

OPINION:

Jonathan Turley: The gravest danger to Trump lies in sneaky questions from Mueller.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas): We must get to the bottom of Russian efforts to interfere in the election.

Mark Penn: A few questions for Mueller.

POLITICS: A trio of Republicans seeking the GOP nomination for Senate in West Virginia faced off in a wild debate on Tuesday night that was broadcast live in prime time on Fox News Channel.

National Republicans are hopeful that either Rep. Evan Jenkins or West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey wins the nomination. But former coal executive Don Blankenship walked away with most of the headlines on Tuesday night, which is not great for the GOP.

Ahead of the debate, Blankenship explained a campaign ad called “Cocaine Mitch,” in which he alleges that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) father-in-law, a shipping magnate, profited from the cocaine trade.

During the debate, Blankenship defended referring to McConnell’s father-in-law, who was born outside Shanghai, as a “Chinaperson.” And he blamed the government for a 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners in West Virginia. Blankenship spent a year in prison for his role in the disaster.

For many Republicans, he cannot leave the midterm stage fast enough.

More from the Senate:

• One-time GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who has been critical of Trump, is praising the president’s first term in office as he seeks to be the next senator from Utah. (the Washington Examiner)
• Dean Heller (R-Nev.), who is among the most vulnerable Republicans up for reelection in the Senate, is at odds with the Trump administration over a nuclear waste repository in his home state. (The Hill)
• Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who suddenly finds himself in a tough reelection race, has a decision to make. Cruz’s Democratic opponent, Rep. Beto O’Rourke (Texas), has challenged him to six debates, including two in Spanish. Cruz has acknowledged that his Spanish is “lousy.” (The Texas Tribune)
• Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), facing a primary challenge, backs legal weed in California. (McClatchy)
• Indiana mystery man upends bloody GOP primary in Indiana. (Politico)

From the House:

• House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.): “We will win. I will run for Speaker.” (The Boston Globe)
• Voters in 12 states will choose nominees in critical primary races across the country this month. (The Hill)
• Robert Pittenger (R-N.C.) is facing a familiar primary opponent next week: Pastor Mark Harris, who came within 134 votes of knocking off the incumbent when they faced off in 2016. (The Hill)
• Liberal firebrand Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) is making a comeback, seeking to reclaim the House seat he lost when he ran for Senate in 2016. (The Hill).
• Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) is fighting for his political life in a district that is 40 percent Hispanic and that Hillary Clinton won by 3 points in 2016. Denham is betting that his efforts to move immigration reform will convince his constituents to send him back to Washington for a fifth term. (The Hill)
• Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci is fundraising for former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), who spent eight months in prison for a federal tax fraud conviction. Grimm is looking to win back his old seat from Rep. Dan Donovan (R-N.Y.). (New York Daily News)
• A federal judge rules that Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) can be on the ballot after the Colorado Supreme Court said he should be kicked off because some of the signatures his campaign gathered are from out of state. (ABC 7 Denver)

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➔ POLICY: The Hill: Drug makers are on defense about high drug prices as President Trump prepares to take aim at the issue, likely in a speech next week.

The Hill: FDA, Federal Trade Commission crack down on e-cigarette liquid sold in kid-friendly packaging.

The Hill: NASA cancels the lunar rover despite Trump’s vow to return astronauts to the moon.

The Hill: Congress is expected to act soon on an administration-backed plan to enlarge the jurisdiction of the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) to add additional national security analyses to reviews of foreign acquisitions of U.S. businesses or other investments, particularly involving China.

The Hill: Anti-abortion groups urge the Trump administration to jettison Planned Parenthood from federal family planning grants, a shift that could reinstate a regulation put in place by President Reagan.

The Hill: California, 16 states and the District of Columbia join forces to sue the Trump administration over its decision to roll back vehicle fuel efficiency standards.

➔ ADMINISTRATION: Trump is “very happy” with chief of staff John Kelly, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders assured reporters Tuesday, one day after Kelly denied an NBC News report that he referred to his boss as “an idiot” (The Hill).

Why it matters: Some West Wing staffers want the retired Marine general gone, and the question remains whether the president’s second chief of staff is around to see his one-year White House anniversary in July. Sanders said locating another Cabinet post for Kelly is not Trump’s aim. … Finding the next nominee for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is taking time.

Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is still turning slowly on several investigatory spits:

• A longtime friend and lobbyist helped Pruitt arrange a pricey trip last year to Morocco, accompanied the administrator, and later won a lucrative contract with the Moroccan government (The Washington Post). Lawmakers and EPA’s inspector general are investigating.

• The Hill: Democrats on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee are probing Pruitt’s effort to build a new EPA office in Tulsa, Okla., his hometown, at taxpayer expense.

• Another top Pruitt aide at EPA is exiting: Albert Kelly, whose agency portfolio was toxic waste cleanups, decided to resign from the agency following a spate of negative publicity about his former career in banking, Axios reports. Also gone: senior Pruitt security aide Pasquale Perrotta (The Hill).

Dr. Ronny Jackson, who withdrew as Trump’s nominee to lead the VA following misconduct allegations he denied, is no longer the president’s personal White House physician (The Hill). And he’s under investigation by the Pentagon’s inspector general, reports The Wall Street Journal.

CNN added to the Jackson puzzle with a report that the retired rear admiral clashed last year with Vice President Pence’s physician, in part over Karen Pence’s medical privacy. The complaints, documented in memos, reportedly went up the ladder to John Kelly. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said CNN’s reporting “corroborates” information obtained by his panel.

Separately, the White House defended its confiscation of Trump’s personal medical records from his former physician, Harold Bornstein, in New York early last year. And to add to the intrigue, Bornstein told CNN that Trump, during the 2016 campaign, dictated the laudatory wording of the doctor’s publicly released letter attesting to the candidate’s health.

A group of Democratic senators is calling on the Office of Special Counsel to investigate Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney following his comments to bankers last week appearing to link government access to campaign donations (The Hill). Mulvaney is a former congressman from South Carolina.

OPINION

Trump will leave but his damage will endure, Richard Cohen, The Washington Post. https://bit.ly/2Kp23dv

 

The resistance is cracking, Conrad Black, The National Review. https://bit.ly/2w9srFg

WHERE AND WHEN

The House and Senate are out this week.

 

President Trump visits the State Department for the first time and will be part of a swearing-in ceremony for Secretary Mike Pompeo (who was confirmed by the Senate and formally sworn in last week). He’s having lunch with the vice president and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. In the afternoon, Trump speaks at a reception for the National Teacher of the Year.

 

Vice President Pence hosts a swearing-in ceremony this afternoon for Carlos Trujillo, U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States.

ELSEWHERE

> China urges all sides to uphold Iran nuclear pact; says IAEA affirms Iran’s compliance (Reuters).

 

> Dollar gains ahead of Fed meeting and rate-hike rumors (The Street).

 

> Next step for immigration caravan will take place out of public view (AP).

 

>  Trump trade chief wants to open China, not change its economic system. (Reuters)

THE CLOSER

If you’re in the Washington, D.C., area today, expect summer-like temperatures (89 degrees) and again tomorrow (90 degrees), but without summer’s hot-blanket humidity. Live large: allergy meds + al fresco drinks and dining!

 

 

 

 

And finally… if Facebook can keep the world in touch with its friends, how about steering the world to new friends and new intimates? Think life partner, soulmate, the love that lasts beyond Friday night. … CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a Facebook dating service on Tuesday (Recode). (Answers about privacy protections and functionality remain a little foggy).

Correction: Yesterday’s alert readers noted that mention of Sen. Cory Gardner, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, should have referenced his home state, Colorado.