The Hill’s Morning Report — McCarthy’s never-ending shutdown saga

by Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch - 09/22/23 6:31 AM ET

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., walks to his office after a resolution to debate the defense bill failed 212-214, as five Republicans bucked the party to sink it, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. House Republican leaders have still been unable to pass next year’s appropriations bills on the floor due to GOP infighting. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Congress seemed stuck in an endless loop this week as Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) introduced new plans to avert a shutdown in October, only to watch them crumble hours later.

After House Republicans on Thursday failed for the second time to clear a rule that would take up the Pentagon funding bill, McCarthy threw up his hands and sent lawmakers home for the weekend. They’ll return to work Tuesday with just four days left to pass the appropriations bills (The Hill and NBC News).

“This is painful. It gives me a headache. This is a very difficult series of missteps by our conference,” Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) told Politico of Thursday’s jockeying. “If you can’t do [the defense bill], what can you do?”

In a regular Congress, votes to move bills from the Rules Committee to the floor are procedural; it’s practically unheard of for members of the majority party to vote against their fellow conference members’ legislation. But this Congress — with its ultra-slim Republican majority — is defying expectations as a small group of hard-line conservatives launch objections to just about every plan GOP leadership has proposed.

McCarthy, whose grip on his conference has appeared tenuous, to put it mildly, has nothing in hand for negotiations with the Senate if the House cannot pass legislation to either temporarily avert a shutdown, or even better, to reach accords on appropriations measures.

“This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down,” McCarthy told reporters on Thursday. “It doesn’t work.”

Now, the Speaker plans to bring up several full-year appropriations bills for fiscal year 2024 in the coming days — capitulating to the demands of dug-in conservatives. If those bills can pass the House, McCarthy and his allies believe it could buy them some goodwill and possibly convince the holdouts to approve a GOP-only stopgap measure.

Even if the House passes a partisan bill, the Senate and the White House are certain to reject it, leaving Congress no closer to a resolution. As The Hill’s reporters pressed on the point that nothing House Republicans are expected to work on over the coming days will keep the lights on in Washington, Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) responded: “I think that’s generally correct.”

▪ Politico: Here’s a look back at every plan McCarthy has hatched this week.

▪ The Washington Post: The federal budget math at the heart of the government shutdown fight.

FACED WITH THE HOUSE STALEMATE, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday set up a path for the upper chamber to move first on a government funding measure, filing cloture on a motion to proceed to the House-passed bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. Senate aides told The Hill’s Alexander Bolton the FAA authorization bill will likely be used as a vehicle to move a clean stopgap legislation that would fund the federal government for a few weeks but likely not include money for the war in Ukraine or disaster relief.

As congressional leaders hash out more spending package plans, alarm bells are ringing across Washington as shutdown preparations begin. The Hill’s Aris Folley reports that with no deal in sight for a temporary funding patch to buy time for talks, some lawmakers are getting proactive. A handful of lawmakers say their offices have begun whipping out contingency plans and some say they’re providing pay bonuses to staff in advance in event of pay disruptions due to a long-term funding lapse (Axios).

PIVOTING TO 2024: The Biden campaign is pointing fingers as the shutdown nears — at former President Trump, who urged fellow Republicans in Congress to shut down the government in an attempt to thwart the federal prosecutions against him.

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY

▪ The Office of Management and Budget today will begin to prepare agencies and departments for a possible lapse in federal funding after Sept. 30, an OMB official told Morning Report, explaining that agency senior officials will be instructed to “review and update orderly shutdown plans.”

▪ Schumer stirs a hornet’s nest with a dress code change.

▪ The Senate on Thursday confirmed Gen. Randy George to officially become Army chief of staff, filling a Senate-confirmed vacancy that has been open due to Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) hold on more than 300 military promotions.

LEADING THE DAY

ZELENSKY IN WASHINGTON

While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Thursday visit to Washington was filled with plenty of pomp and circumstance, meetings with U.S. leaders in the White House and on Capitol Hill couldn’t mask the new reality that Ukraine’s war with Russia is proving a tougher sell to his Western backers (The Hill and The Wall Street Journal).

“Mr. President, we’re with you, we’re staying with you,” President Biden told Zelensky at the White House.

Zelensky thanked Biden for a new $325 million military aid package of weaponry and air defenses, saying “it has exactly what our soldiers need now.”

Congress to date has approved about $13 billion in aid to Ukraine, with Biden making the argument on the world stage that Russia’s invasion is a threat to democracy globally, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin would look to invade another country if it takes or carves up Ukraine. McCarthy has said that he would like to see the $24 billion supplemental request for Ukraine be brought to a vote as a stand-alone bill, as opposed to attaching it to additional government funding. But a minority of Republicans in Congress and some leading presidential candidates, including Trump, have pushed back on continued funding for Ukraine, arguing it is not in the U.S.’s interest to be sending money (Reuters).

While Zelensky didn’t get McCarthy’s approval to address Congress, he did deliver a speech Thursday at the National Archives. Democratic lawmakers outnumbered Republican legislators in attendance, though the crowd was bipartisan. In an interview with a small group of journalists from U.S. media on Thursday evening, Zeleansky was positive about his meeting with the Speaker earlier in the day, describing it as good and noting that they understand each other (The Hill).

“There’s not a single Ukrainian who doesn’t feel gratitude for America,” Zelensky told the crowd. “America has saved Ukrainian lives.”

Members spotted included Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) as well as Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas).

▪ The Hill: Biden says the first U.S. Abrams tanks will arrive in Ukraine next week.

▪ CNN analysis: Zelensky’s mixed reception in Washington may be a taste of the political storm to come.

▪ Roll Call: Lawmakers welcome Zelensky but don’t have a path to Ukraine aid.

ADMINISTRATION

Biden today will announce the creation of a White House office devoted to gun violence prevention, seen by some Democrats as prominent executive action amid long-stalled legislation in Congress, and a chance to hit themes that contrast with Republican policies (The Washington Post). He will make the office part of Vice President Harris’s portfolio (Politico).

DEFENSE INTO OFFENSE: The Biden-Harris push for a ban on assault weapons and cheerleading for other gun safety measures along with support for law enforcement and increased mental health programs is viewed in the Democratic Party as a counterweight to GOP attacks painting the left as all-in for “defund the police,” sanctuary cities and cashless bail.

AWKWARD: Complicating the president’s narrative is Hunter Biden’s felony indictment on a gun charge, for which the younger Biden will be arraigned next month. The president backs stricter background checks; his son is accused of lying about his drug use when he bought a firearm in 2018.

Democratic candidates are gathering advice about how to win over voters, or at least hold their own against Republican opponents on these issues. Crime and gun violence are viewed as a serious problem by most Americans and especially by Black women, an important voting bloc, according to a new survey conducted by GQR for Vera Action, a group that seeks to end “mass incarceration” (The Hill).

Anna Greenberg, GQR pollster and senior partner, said this week that Democrats can effectively talk to voters about a blended approach to crime that calls for addressing guns, prevention, violence, improved policing and law enforcement accountability.

“IT IS A GUARANTEE that the prime narrative for the Republicans in 2024 will be, certainly, ‘defund,’ but certainly [it] will include immigration and fentanyl,” Greenberg told Morning Report, “because of the dynamics of both attacking Biden on his border policies [and] the busing of immigrants to different cities, different places around the country.”

GOP campaign communications that associate immigration, fentanyl, cities, disorder and violent crime tap into voter attitudes that are “deeply about race,” she added.

It’s a message Biden and Harris will deliver in the Rose Garden today.

IMMIGRATION: The administration’s decision to grant work permits to more than 400,000 Venezuelans responded to pressure from Democrats and immigrant advocates. It is expected to change dynamics on the trek toward the U.S.-Mexico border, with hundreds of thousands of migrants already traveling north, The Hill’s Rafael Bernal reports.

▪ The Wall Street Journal: Migrants overwhelm the Texas city of Eagle Pass.

▪ The Texas Tribune: Texas border cities scramble to shelter thousands of newly-arrived migrants.

▪ NBC News: Whistleblowers say U.S. government’s poor oversight may have led to migrant kids working in unsafe and illegal jobs.

WHERE AND WHEN

The House convenes for a pro forma session at 9 a.m.

The Senate will meet for a pro forma session at 10 a.m.

The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10 a.m. Biden and the vice president will speak at 2:45 p.m. in the Rose Garden about preventing gun violence.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet in New York City at 8 a.m. with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, and Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko. The secretary will speak at 9 a.m.at a meeting about security in Haiti. At 10:30 a.m., he will meet with West African partners about the situation in Niger. Blinken will meet at noon with Yoko and Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo. At 2 p.m., the secretary will meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. An hour later, Blinken will hold a press conference. He’ll host the Partners in the Blue Pacific ministerial meeting at 4 p.m.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will chair a meeting in Washington at 9:30 a.m. of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

First lady Jill Biden is in Seattle where she will visit the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center at 2:20 p.m. local time to promote the administration’s focus on cancer research, treatment and patient care. She will headline fundraisers near Seattle, one at 4 p.m. and another at 6 p.m. She will travel to Los Angeles and San Diego on Saturday for political fundraising events.

The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. and will include Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), an advocate for gun control policy.

ZOOM IN

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

SUCCESSION: In the political and business worlds, the decision by Rupert Murdoch, 92, to turn over Fox Corp. and News Corp. to son Lachlan Murdoch, 52, was major news Thursday. The elder Murdoch said he will step down as chairman in November to become chairman emeritus as his offspring takes over a conservative media conglomerate that includes The Wall Street Journal and New York Post (The Hill).

▪ The Hill’s Niall Stanage, The Memo: How Murdoch changed American politics.

▪ CNN: Who is Lachlan Murdoch?

▪ Reuters: What will happen to Fox?

▪ Variety analysis: Fox News was set on a new path before Rupert Murdoch stepped back.

2024 ROUNDUP

▪ Trump is ramping up his appearances on the trail with at least seven events in the next two weeks, including in Iowa, South Carolina and Michigan.

▪ The former president says he always had union workers’ backs while in office. Union leaders say his record says otherwise.

▪ Nevada Republicans brace for confusion as the party eyes election rules that may favor Trump.

▪ Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday if he’s president in 2025, he will revoke federal funding for COVID-19 vaccines, arguing “they” have not “demonstrated the benefit of the boosters,” referring to updated shots to protect against severe illness from new variants of the coronavirus. The Food and Drug Administration approved updated jabs developed by two pharmaceutical giants, Pfizer and Moderna.

▪ The Biden-Harris campaign has a new ad in English and Spanish targeting Latino voters, especially in battleground Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

▪ Republican David McCormick, who lives in a house in Connecticut, on Thursday launched a campaign to challenge Sen. Bob Casey (D) to represent Pennsylvania. McCormick’s residency, and where he owns property, are now a story.

▪ In Virginia today, early voting begins ahead of the Nov. 7 legislative elections.

ELSEWHERE

STRIKES

Striking United Auto Workers members and General Motors, Ford and Stellantis remain far apart as a noon deadline looms for what the union says will be an expansion of its strategy to maintain targeted walkouts at all three companies simultaneously if there is no “serious progress” to meet demands that pit compensation against record car company profits (CNBC).

So far in the labor dispute, the UAW has been holding back its most powerful weapon — shutting down pickup truck production. Striking these plants would have a devastating impact on the companies (Axios).

THE SEVEN-DAY STANDOFF is fueling worries about prolonged industrial action that could disrupt production, ripple through the supply chain and dent U.S. economic growth (Reuters).

“We’re going to keep hitting the company where we need to, when we need to, and we’re not going to keep waiting around forever while they drag this out,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a video message to members. “If we don’t make serious progress by noon on Friday … more locals will be called on to stand up and join the strike.”

In Missouri, Michigan and Ohio, close to 13,000 auto workers — less than a tenth of the UAW’s 146,000 workers employed at GM, Ford and Stellantis — are on strike at factories that build small pickup trucks and SUVs.

▪ NPR: UAW strike may be pivotal to raise workers’ living standards, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) says.

▪ Reuters: Americans broadly support auto and Hollywood strikes, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

There’s progress in the 142-day-old strike by 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America, after CEOs of Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and NBCUniversal’s studios stepped in to avert a stalemate and held meetings with the union Wednesday and Thursday. Negotiators are back at the table today (USA Today and Deadline).

INTERNATIONAL

BETWEEN TWO ALLIES: India on Thursday suspended all visa services for Canadians and ordered a reduction of diplomatic staffing — a dramatic escalation of tensions between the two countries since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau levied accusations of Indian involvement in an assassination of a Canadian citizen on its soil (The Hill). The increasingly tense situation puts the United States in a diplomatic tough spot: Does it stand by longtime ally Canada, or remain neutral on the issue as Washington courts New Delhi in an effort to pivot away from China? (Vox).

▪ Al Jazeera: Why Canada lacks allies’ support on claim India killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

▪ The Associated Press: Surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada led to allegations around the Sikh killing, official says.

Russian missiles and artillery pounded cities across Ukraine early Thursday, sparking fires, killing at least three and trapping others under the rubble of destroyed buildings, authorities said. The early-morning wave of missile strikes on what’s known as the International Day of Peace was Russia’s largest in over a month, and came as world leaders met at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In a speech there, Zelensky denounced Russia as “a terrorist state” (The Associated Press).

▪ CNN: Poland will stop providing weapons to Ukraine as dispute over grain imports deepens.

▪ Politico EU: Warsaw makes a risky political bet in attacking Ukraine.

OPINION

■ The senator’s shorts and America’s decline, by Peggy Noonan, columnist, The Wall Street Journal.

■ Settle the auto strike before it crashes the EV revolution, by The Washington Post editorial board.

■ More labor strife is coming to the U.S. economy, by Betsey Stevenson, columnist, Bloomberg Opinion.

THE CLOSER

And finally … 👏👏👏 Congratulations to this week’s Morning Report Quiz winners! We asked about strikes and readers went to work!

Here’s who demonstrated some gifted guessing and Googling to go 4/4: Lynn Gardner, Mark Roeddiger, Steve Delano, Robert Bradley, Pam Manges, John Sullivan, Laura Rettaliata, Paul Quillen, Luther Berg, Randall S. Patrick, David T. Johnson, William Bennett, David Bond, Tim Burrack, Gary Kalian, Tom Chabot, William Chittam, Bart Schoenfeld, Patrick Kavanagh, Jeremy Serwer, Stan Wasser, Peter Sprofera, Harry Strulovici, Lou Tisler, Ki Harvey, Richard E. Baznik, Jack Barshay, Terry Pflaumer and Jeanne Kosch.

They knew that U.S. labor strikes contributed to the advent of the 40-hour workweek, worker’s compensation laws, workplace safety regulations and a minimum wage. The answer we were looking for was “all of the above.”

More than 14 million U.S. wage and salary workers in 2022 belonged to unions, according to the Labor Department.

President Reagan in 1981 fired more than 11,000 striking air traffic controllers represented by PATCO, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, arguing, “They are violating the law.”

In December, Biden signed legislation preventing a nationwide railroad strike.

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Tags Chuck Schumer Joe Biden Kevin McCarthy Scott Perry Steve Womack