The Hill’s Morning Report – Pelosi’s challenge: Getting Dems back on same page

by Jonathan Easley and Alexis Simendinger - 03/07/19 6:23 AM ET

Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. Happy Thursday! Our newsletter gets you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Co-creators are Jonathan Easley and Alexis Simendinger (CLICK HERE to subscribe!). On Twitter, you can find us at @joneasley and @asimendinger.

****

That didn’t take long.

Two months into their majority in the House, tensions within the diverse Democratic caucus have spilled into the open, dividing the party along generational, racial and ideological lines.

After weeks of enjoying positive press coverage about her grip on the party, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is suddenly struggling to keep a young band of rebels in line. Freshman Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) figure to be a thorn in the side of leadership going forward.

Ocasio-Cortez has a massive following on social media and has irked her centrist colleagues for her propensity to publicly battle those who don’t share her leftist leanings.

Tlaib joined a rally to impeach President Trump on Wednesday and will introduce her own articles of impeachment later this month, despite Pelosi’s eagerness to keep a lid on the impeachment chatter.

And Omar, who was born in Somalia and is one of the few Muslim lawmakers in Congress, is accused of using anti-Semitic tropes to make the case that U.S. foreign policy is too beholden to Israel.

The Hill: New cracks emerge in Dem unity.

The Hill: Dem frustrations boil over on both sides.

Omar has been publicly reprimanded by Democratic leaders, who planned a floor vote on a general resolution rebuking anti-Semitism.

Democrats were not counting on full-scale revolt from the left wing of the party, which feels Omar has been unfairly singled out.

Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib have rallied behind Omar, and the Congressional Black Caucus’s defense of the Minnesota Democrat has added a racial component to the intra-party divisions.

Democrats scrambled to water-down any anti-Semitism resolution by adding language to rebuke all forms of racism and bigotry. But the liberal rebellion took on a life of its own and the vote, scheduled for today, has been postponed.

The Hill: Dems under fire put brakes on Omar resolution.

The New York Times: “We have to get past all of this, and quickly,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said.

The Democratic divisions pit young lawmakers against old, liberals against centrists and white Jews against black Muslims.

Here is some color from a brutal and embarrassing day of infighting:

> At a Democratic caucus meeting, Pelosi became frustrated and said, “Well if you’re not going to listen to me, I’m done talking.” She then dropped the microphone and stormed off (Politico).

> Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) expressed frustration with Ocasio-Cortez’s tweets. “Everyone stop tweeting!” Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), the subject of one Ocasio-Cortez tweet, said Ocasio-Cortez “could have come down the hall and asked me what my opinion is” (The Washington Post).

> The fight reached new heights when some lawmakers, such as Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), warned that Omar’s critics were putting her safety at risk. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus shielded Omar from reporters after a meeting on Wednesday.

Perspectives and Analysis

“I think it’s inappropriate to just focus on one person. I absolutely do.” — Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

“I disagree with what [Omar] said. And I think there should be an apology.” — Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), a freshman who represents a swing district.

Noah Rothman: The anti-Semitism monster Democrats can no longer control.

Glenn Greenwald: House Dem effort to rebuke Omar is a total fraud.

Batya Ungar-Sargon: The left is making Jews choose between ourselves and our progressive values.

LEADING THE DAY

CONGRESS: In the GOP-controlled Senate, Republicans are anxious to bolster Trump on border security while parting company when it comes to his decision to make an end-run around appropriators for a border wall funded by executive fiat. Trying to accomplish both goals is not going smoothly, becoming the latest distraction for the Senate GOP in what is proving to be a distracting year (The Hill).

Vice President Pence, issuing a second warning to senators in as many days, said, “A vote against the president’s emergency declaration is a vote against border security. A vote against the president’s emergency declaration is a vote to deny the real humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border.”

The president also turned up the heat.

Meanwhile, lawmakers dissected Trump’s immigration policies on Wednesday during a rollicking hearing that gave Republicans an opening to back the president’s belief that conditions at the southern border are an emergency, while Democrats asserted that Trump’s policies have made border conditions worse.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen defended the president’s declaration that conditions are a national security emergency (The Hill).

Testy exchanges between Nielsen and members of the House Homeland Security Committee included differences over barriers, asylum laws and separation of migrant children from their parents and families (The Hill)

Across the Capitol in the Senate, Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) sent a letter to the administration seeking an investigation of public allegations of sexual abuse of minor migrants held in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services (The Hill).

At the same time, freshman Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) surprised her colleagues and created news headlines on Wednesday with an emotional speech saying she was raped by a military superior while serving in the Air Force.

“I am also a military sexual assault survivor,” McSally said during a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing about sexual assault in the military. She is a former colonel and served in the Air Force from 1988 to 2010. Because of her fear of reprisals, she said she never reported the rape to authorities (The Hill).

On Wednesday, the senator taped an interview with Norah O’Donnell, to be broadcast today on “CBS This Morning.”

Last year, she disclosed that a high school track coach pressured her into unwanted sex when she was 17 (The Washington Post).

McSally, who faces Arizona voters in 2020 in a bid to keep her appointed Senate seat, disclosed a few weeks ago that she returned or dispatched to charity campaign donations she received from supporters who subsequently became publicly embroiled in sexual misconduct and sexual assault allegations (The Washington Post).

Retired astronaut Mark Kelly last month launched a campaign as a Democrat to defeat McSally (Arizona Republic).

> In the House on Wednesday, Democrats continue their investigatory zeal aimed at the president on all fronts.

Trump’s tax returns? House Democrats appear closer to making a formal request to the Treasury Department for the president’s filings (The Hill).

Trump’s business practices and associates? The House Intelligence Committee met on Wednesday for the fourth time with former New York “fixer” Michael Cohen.

He reportedly produced documents to bolster his assertion that Trump lawyers conferred with him to create erroneous earlier testimony designed to protect the president. But contrary to his testimony a week ago, it now appears Cohen directed his attorney at the time last spring to inquire about a possible presidential pardon with Trump’s lawyers (The Wall Street Journal).

Cohen will report in May to federal prison to serve a three-year sentence on criminal counts that include lying to Congress (The New York Times).

Lobbying: K Street ramped up its opposition to an ethics reform bill at the center of the House Democrats’ agenda. Any House-passed measure cannot clear the GOP-controlled Senate, but lobbyists want to scuttle changes they perceive as threats to the advocacy business (The Hill). … At a white-collar crime conference in New Orleans on Wednesday, Justice Department officials unveiled more energetic pursuit of foreign influence operations with the appointment of a prosecutor to go after unregistered foreign agents. That prosecutor? Brandon Van Grack, who worked until recently on special counsel Mueller’s team (CNN).

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

POLITICS: Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) will formally launch his presidential campaign today from Denver, replete with a music performance from local folk artist Nathaniel Rateliff and a “who’s who” of Colorado bigwigs, including Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.

Hickenlooper will have a tough time breaking through in the crowded Democratic field, but he raised an eye-popping $1 million in the 48 hours since announcing his plans to enter the race, making him one of only four candidates to reach that benchmark so quickly.

In a Wednesday interview in Denver, Hickenlooper laid out his strategy, telling KDVR that if he doesn’t win the Iowa caucuses and finish in the top two in New Hampshire, it could mean the end of his campaign.

Meanwhile, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is running as an independent, is staffing up with aides and consultants from both parties. Democrats were already angry with Schultz for running, fearing that he’ll play spoiler and help get Trump reelected. Now Republicans are angry that some GOP operatives would join a campaign for a man who is looking to oust Trump. One thing is certain: the new Schultz hires are being well compensated (The Hill).

Finally, former President Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, Jim Messina, gave an insightful interview to Bloomberg Radio on Wednesday about the Democratic primary.

A few takeaways…

> It’s still about the economy. Messina said the majority of presidential elections in the modern era have been won on that issue and that if Trump is seen as steering a strong economy, it could very well get him reelected.

> The Democratic presidential field may reach 20 candidates, but Messina said the party shouldn’t fret about a potentially chaotic primary. He said Democrats should instead celebrate their deepest and most diverse field ever.

> Ignore the chatter about what “lane” a candidate occupies. The nominee will be the candidate who builds the broadest coalition of support and makes the most persuasive argument on the economy.

> Expect the field to narrow by the fall of this year, long before the first primary ballots are cast.

> Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) and former Vice President Joe Biden are under no pressure to get into the race at this point. As fundraising juggernauts, they can take their time before entering the race.

“Democrats believe they made a mistake in 2016 by all jumping on the Hillary bandwagon too early, and not having her go through a really tough primary to get ready for a general election. So, I think people are going to wait and see who’s out there, and see who performs in the early debates. And I think that’s really healthy. What we don’t need is an ugly Democratic primary where everyone is smashing one another in March of the off year. We ought to take some time and let the candidates make their decisions and then get into the fall and get ready for Iowa and New Hampshire.” — Messina

More from campaigns and politics … The Democratic National Committee will not allow Fox News to host a presidential primary debate (The Hill) … Trump responded by threatening to block networks from hosting debates (The Hill).

The Morning Report is created by journalists Jonathan Easley & Alexis Simendinger. We want to hear from you! @jeasley@digital-stage.thehill.com and @asimendinger@digital-stage.thehill.com. We invite you to share The Hill’s reporting and newsletters, and encourage others to SUBSCRIBE!

OPINION

It’s not about collusion; it’s about obstruction and impeachment, by Andrew McCarthy, opinion contributor, The Hill. http://bit.ly/2NQaUqM

Trump should not underestimate House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), by former Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), opinion contributor, The Hill. http://bit.ly/2TjlpZJ

WHERE AND WHEN

The House meets at 10 a.m. Pelosi will hold a press conference at 10:45 a.m.

The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m. and resumes consideration of the nomination of Eric E. Murphy to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.

The president meets with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at 11 a.m., then has lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump welcomes Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and his wife, Monika Babišová, to the White House for bilateral meetings scheduled to last an hour. Trump will meet with Defense Acting Secretary Patrick Shanahan at 4 p.m, joined by the vice president. He’ll host a photo opportunity with participants in the 2019 Senate Youth Program in the East Room at 5 p.m. Pence also attends.

Attorney General William Barr and senior law enforcement officials will hold a press conference at the Justice Department at 11 a.m. to announce law enforcement actions tied to elder fraud.

Pompeo hosts the annual International Women of Courage Awards at 10 a.m. at the State Department with guest Melania Trump.

Economic reports today: U.S. jobless claims at 8:30 a.m.; U.S. labor productivity for the fourth quarter at 8:30 a.m.; U.S. consumer credit for January at 3 p.m.

You’re invited today to The Hill’s History Makers: Women and the 116th Congress, 8-10 a.m., at the Gallup downtown Washington offices. Editor-in-chief Bob Cusack and national political reporter Cate Martel lead the discussion about policy and politics ahead of International Women’s Day joined by freshman and veteran lawmakers, including Reps. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Carol Miller (R-W.Va.), Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Del. Jenniffer González-Colón (R-Puerto Rico). RSVP HERE. http://bit.ly/2XapEEW

ELSEWHERE

➔ In the courts: Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, 69, is scheduled to be sentenced this afternoon in a Virginia federal court under criminal indictments brought as a result of Mueller’s Russia probe. It’s one of two sentences Manafort faces, and he could spend the rest of his life in prison (The Hill). His second court appearance is scheduled next week (NBC News) … On Wednesday, a second federal judge blocked a citizenship question from appearing on the 2020 census, ruling that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross “ignored” federal law when he “insisted upon adding the citizenship question” (The Hill).

➔ China: The world’s second-largest economy is contracting, and China’s time as an emerging markets outperformer is ending, analysts say (CNBC) … The U.S. trade deficit hit a 10-year high on record imports from China, despite Trump’s tariffs. The trade gap in merchandise is the highest in U.S. history (Reuters). The president calls the imbalances in goods and services “unsustainable” (The Washington Post).

➔ Political advertising: Google, one of the world’s largest digital-advertising companies, decided to block political advertising on its platforms in Canada ahead of elections in response to new transparency restrictions. The company’s solution attracted criticism (The Globe and Mail) … Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg says the company is moving toward a “privacy-focused communications platform” (BuzzFeed).

➔ Cherry blossoms! The National Park Service on Wednesday projected peak viewing opportunities for Washington’s cherry blossoms (weather permitting): April 3-6. Plan accordingly! (WTOP)

THE CLOSER

And finally … It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for this week’s Morning Report Quiz! Inspired by the World Wide Web’s 30th birthday, we’re eager for some smart guesses about the internet.

Email your responses to jeasley@digital-stage.thehill.com or asimendinger@digital-stage.thehill.com, and please add “Quiz” to subject lines. Winners who submit correct answers will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday.

This month marks three decades since the creation of the World Wide Web, which is widely viewed as having taken its current form back in 1989. Let’s test your knowledge!

Who is credited with inventing the World Wide Web?