Morning Report — The GOP’s leadership limbo

by Kristina Karisch - 10/06/23 6:22 AM ET

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Congressional Republicans are facing a leadership vacuum as the search for a Speaker heats up and the next government funding deadline draws near.

With just over 40 days to fund the government, jockeying to be the next Speaker of the House is in full swing after Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) shocking ouster earlier this week. The two declared candidates — Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) — are speaking to GOP members and lawmakers have started to pick sides in what is expected to be an intense race.

Endorsements are rolling in for each of the candidates, The Hill’s Emily Brooks and Mychael Schnell report, and both are making the rounds to various groups within the GOP conference to earn support. But a clear frontrunner has yet to emerge, and some lawmakers are wondering if any candidate will be able to garner enough support to win the gavel.

“From having gone through the Speaker fight in January, I don’t think there was a path for Scalise to get the votes then and talking to colleagues I don’t think there will be a path now. And right now it’s not clear that Jim has a path either,” Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), who endorsed Jordan, told The Hill on Thursday.

That could give way to a dark horse third option like Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), the chairman of the Republican Study Committee and a newcomer in Congress compared with the other two.

“WE’VE SEEN A TRUMP RALLY AT THE CAPITOL ALREADY”: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) weighed in on the possibility of former President Trump’s candidacy for the Speaker’s gavel on Thursday with a reference to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. According to House rules, the Speaker does not have to be a member of the chamber. Some House Republicans have suggested the former president fill the seat — and Trump said Thursday he would only consider stepping into the position temporarily (Politico and Bloomberg News).

“They have asked me if I would take it for a short period of time for the party, until they come to a conclusion — I’m not doing it because I want to — I will do it if necessary, should they not be able to make their decision,” the former president told Fox News Digital on Thursday, but declined to name who he talked to. He said that he would take the role for a “30, 60, or 90-day period” if the party could not come to a consensus.

A BOOST FOR JORDAN: Instead, Trump threw his support behind Jordan late Thursday, giving the conservative firebrand a boost in his effort to win the gavel.

TICK TOCK: The chaos in the House is eating into the time necessary to forge a bipartisan funding agreement as the temporary spending patch passed over the weekend runs out. But with the House and Senate both in recess, and the GOP’s Speakership elections expected to carry into next week, the number of days lawmakers have to work is reduced. It takes six weeks to bring an appropriations bill to the House floor, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, told The Washington Post.

The House is running out of time to complete that process, a situation that worsens with each day that passes without a Speaker — meaning Congress could be forced to take up another stopgap funding bill and wade through the same fights that nearly caused a shutdown over the weekend.

“Every day, we lose our ability to get something done by November 17,” DeLauro told The Post. “In which case, we will be looking at the same madness.”

FLEXING HIS MUSCLES: The Senate’s No. 2 Republican, Whip John Thune (S.D.), who’s providing an audition to colleagues for why he’s ready to step up to the role of GOP leader whenever Mitch McConnell (Ky.) retires. Though Thune has a reputation for being polite and amiable with colleagues, he’s become increasingly assertive as the Senate GOP’s floor leader, playing a key role in getting the Senate GOP conference to agree to defer to the House on the latest stopgap spending bill (The Hill).

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY

▪ Some House Republicans are demanding a rule change to prevent another Speaker ouster — a reversal of the rule change McCarthy implemented in January to lower the threshold for a motion to vacate.

▪ The largest health care strike in US history is now in its third day after more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers began walking off the job on Wednesday.

▪ A monthly U.S. jobs report due today may be the last to show solid hiring before a sharp slowdown, experts predict.

Morning Report’s Alexis Simendinger is on leave.

LEADING THE DAY

President Biden on Thursday defended plans for his administration to add to the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border while at the same time insisting that the wall is not an effective immigration tool. His remarks came just hours after the administration announced late Wednesday it had waived roughly two dozen federal laws to allow for border wall construction in Starr County, Texas, where roughly 245,000 migrants have crossed the border this fiscal year. The wall will be built using funds appropriated by Congress in 2019, before Biden took office.

“The money was appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get them to reappropriate, to redirect that money. They didn’t. They wouldn’t,” he said. “In the meantime, there’s nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated for. I can’t stop that.”

Biden, and Democrats more broadly, have been outspoken opponents of the border wall, which was a signature campaign promise made by Trump during the 2016 campaign and has been adopted by Republicans as a cornerstone of their immigration policy. As a presidential candidate, Biden was adamantly opposed to the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border during the Trump administration (The Hill and CNN).

Still, as The Hill’s Rafael Bernal reports, Biden’s decision has shocked allies and immigration advocates. The stunning reversal came just days after administration officials participated in an immigration roundtable at the Capitol featuring Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) members and immigration advocates, which drew praise from CHC members. Administration officials did not mention plans to restart border wall construction at the time. CHC leaders on Thursday called the decision “disappointing.”

“While this border wall funding was signed into law by President Trump under Republican leadership, this decision is not in line with the current Administration’s commitments to end border wall construction,” CHC Chairwoman Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) said in a statement. “Republicans remain committed to building border walls that are ineffective, a poor use of taxpayer funds, and a strain on the local environment, endangering families and children who are fleeing from dangerous conditions and that seek legal asylum in the United States.”

As The Hill’s Niall Stanage writes in The Memo, the choice marks the latest controversy as the president grapples with how to curb high migration levels while also not alienating liberal voters or playing into the GOP’s hands.

▪ Axios: Trump taunts Biden on border wall reversal amid immigration surge.

▪ NPR: The U.S. will resume deportation flights to Venezuela even as thousands flee that country.

SOUTHERN NEIGHBOR: Biden’s top cabinet officials and their Mexican counterparts met Thursday as both countries sought a united front on drug and gun trafficking and managing record levels of migration. The U.S. officials — Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland — are particularly focused on bolstering efforts with Mexico to curtail the stream of deadly fentanyl wreaking havoc in communities throughout the United States, but made a point to highlight the significance of the current state of migration at the border (The New York Times).

“It is unquestionable that we have made real progress,” Blinken said on Thursday. “We may have to make sure that our progress not only keeps up with the challenges, but actually gets ahead of them.”

WHERE AND WHEN

The House convenes at 10 a.m.

The Senate is adjourned until Monday, Oct. 16 at 3 p.m.

The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief. He will speak about the September jobs report and National Manufacturing Day at 11:30 a.m. At 4:05 p.m., he will meet with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the White House to commemorate German-American Day.

The vice president will travel to St. Louis with second gentleman Doug Emhoff. She will participate in a Democratic National Committee discussion and campaign events. The vice president and second gentleman will then travel to Washington.

First lady Jill Biden will travel to New York state, where she will participate in the opening of a new advanced manufacturing lab at Dutchess Community College in Fishkill. She will then visit the DAY ONE Early Learning Community in Poughkeepsie and meet with local educators.

ZOOM IN

The late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was honored Thursday by Biden and other high-profile Democrats at a private funeral service in San Francisco. Feinstein, the longest-serving female senator, died Friday at the age of 90. Biden delivered a tribute to Feinstein by audio message, while the other Democratic leaders — Vice President Harris, Schumer and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — made remarks in person.

Harris recalled how after she was sworn in as the junior senator from California in 2017, Feinstein pulled her into a private hideaway off the Senate floor. There, Feinstein handed her a glass of California chardonnay and a binder full of draft bills — marking the start of a partnership on behalf of their state (NBC News and The New York Times).

“Dianne, the women of America have come a long way,” Harris said. “Our country has come a long way. You helped move the ball forward, and our nation salutes you, Dianne.”

A rowdy and crowded primary could be in store for New Jersey Democrats as much of the party has come out against the now-indicted Sen. Robert Menendez (D). After Menendez was arraigned on charges of bribery last month, many of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate and New Jersey Democratic Party leaders called on him to resign. But The Hill’s Jared Gans reports that Menendez has asserted his innocence and has given no indication that he would step down or choose to not run for reelection for another term in 2024. That has led at least one House Democrat — Rep. Andy Kim — to mount a primary challenge to unseat him and could yield more challengers in the coming months.

“I think we’re in a state of three-dimensional chess, because not only is there the federal elections going on in ‘24, you have state Senate and state Assembly races happening right now, and then in ‘25 you have the governor’s race,” said Brian Doory, a Democratic strategist and the managing director of public affairs firm Firehouse Strategies.

2024 ROUNDUP

▪ The lives of staff at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo may have been put in jeopardy by Menendez’s alleged sharing of sensitive personnel information with the Egyptian government.

▪ Trump and other GOP hopefuls are demonizing the shift to electric vehicles as part of an effort to win over disaffected workers in Michigan. At the same time, Biden is making the case that the transition can go hand in hand with jobs — but experts say the reality is grayer than either side would have you believe.

▪ Democrats have relied on NGP VAN’s tools to power their campaigns. The company is now facing a possible collapse.

▪ Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s predicted party switch from Democrat to independent has the potential to reshape the 2024 presidential election — it’s just unclear for which side.

▪ GOP primary candidates are weaponizing McCarthy’s endorsements. Where the former Speaker’s endorsement was a blessing, some now see it as a curse.

▪ A panel of three federal judges on Thursday chose a new Alabama congressional map that maintains a Black-majority district in the state and establishes another near-Black-majority district that could flip a seat for Democrats in 2024.

ELSEWHERE

TRUMP WORLD

Trump was not in New York Thursday as his fraud trial wrapped up its fourth day. The former president did not appear in court after abruptly departing the courthouse during a break Wednesday and flying back to Florida. New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) quipped, “The Donald Trump show is over.”

The day began with the continued cross-examination of a former accountant, which Trump’s defense team had dragged on since Monday until the judge imposed a time limit. The first defendant in the case then took the stand before the day ended with details from the attorney general’s office about the reported inflated value of the former president’s Trump Tower penthouse — located in the same 5th Avenue building where he filmed “The Apprentice” (NBC News).

▪ The Hill: Trump on Wednesday asked a judge to dismiss the whole of the government’s election interference case against him, arguing all his actions leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol are protected by presidential immunity.

▪ The New York Times: Trump’s lawyers said his trial on charges of mishandling classified information should be delayed from its planned start in May because of problems gaining access to all the evidence.

▪ ABC News: Months after leaving the White House, Trump allegedly discussed potentially sensitive information about U.S. nuclear submarines with an Australian billionaire and member of his Mar-a-Lago Club.

INTERNATIONAL

A Russian missile slammed into a cafe and grocery store in a village in northeastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing 51 people during a gathering to mourn a fallen Ukrainian soldier. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the incident was a deliberate attack on civilians and “no blind strike.” Large piles of bricks, shattered metal and building materials remained where the cafe and shop were hit early in the afternoon in Hroza village in the Kharkiv region (Reuters).

Zelensky’s first term as president is almost up, but no one is certain about what happens next. Under normal circumstances, Ukraine’s president would face voters next spring. While analysts say a wartime election is unlikely, the prospect is causing some anxiety in Kyiv (The New York Times).

▪ The Atlantic: The West armed Ukraine for a caricature of modern war. An outdated view of warfare helps explain why the U.S. was slow to supply long-range missiles.

▪ The Washington Post: As U.S. support for Ukraine wobbles, the European Union takes up the membership question.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Thursday that his country has successfully tested an experimental nuclear-powered missile and warned that Moscow may revoke a ban on atomic bomb testing. Putin has repeatedly threatened Western allies with nuclear weapons; he moved tactical nuclear bombs to ally Belarus over the summer. Earlier this year, he paused a strategic treaty with the U.S. that placed limits on the number of bombs both countries can have and ensured Washington and Moscow shared details about testing (The Hill).

▪ Vox: Why Kenya is sending U.N.-backed police officers into Haiti.

▪ The Wall Street Journal: A U.S. fighter jet shot down a Turkish drone Thursday after it was deemed a threat to U.S. forces in northeast Syria.

OPINION

■ A bigger Republican coalition would make the extremes less powerful, by Ramesh Ponnuru, contributing columnist, The Washington Post.

■ A House (GOP) divided against itself cannot stand, by Sheldon H. Jacobson, opinion contributor, The Hill.

THE CLOSER

And finally … 👏👏👏 Congratulations to this week’s Morning Report Quiz winners! We asked about Speakers of the House and readers stepped up to the gavel!

Here’s who guessed and Googled their way to a perfect 4/4: Ki Harvey, Richard Baznik, William Chittam, Lynn Gardner, Randall S. Patrick, Jaina Mehta Buck, Harry Strulovici, David Letostak, Pam Manges, Patrick Kavanagh, Mark Roeddiger, Anita Bales, Phil Kirstein, Terry Pflaumer and Steve James.

They knew that Nathaniel P. Banks of Massachusetts holds the record for the longest Speakership election. In 1856, it took him 133 rounds of voting to secure the gavel.

In history, seven Speakers have served nonconsecutive terms.

With a tenure of 17 years and 53 days, Texas Democrat Sam Rayburn holds the record as the longest-serving Speaker.

There’s something in the water in Massachusetts, the home state of a record eight Speakers.

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