There’s a fascinating peek into one aspect of the sausage production process in tonight’s Politico Influence, their newsletter about the lobbying world. The headline says it all: “Lobbyists’ frustration with BIF uncertainty spills out into the open.” The account is chock full of the heads of the big industry lobbies tossing WTFs at the House Progressive caucus. But the fascinating part is a bit more than that. They’re pissed at the Progressive Caucus. No mystery there. What’s clear – and this matches what I’ve been hearing nonstop – is that the big business and manufacturing lobbies want the BIF really, really bad. What also galls them though is that House Republicans won’t save it for them.
Continue reading “Top Biz Lobbyists Sing Song of WTFs and Woe Over BIF In the Balance!”Idaho’s Secretary of State Physically Recounted The Vote To Prove Mike Lindell Wrong. Lindell’s Still Not Convinced.
Mike Lindell, the pillow magnate who’s sunk months and millions of dollars into pushing the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, is now officially a thorn in the side of multiple Republican secretaries of state.
Continue reading “Idaho’s Secretary of State Physically Recounted The Vote To Prove Mike Lindell Wrong. Lindell’s Still Not Convinced.”Reconciliation Negotiations Resurrected As Manchin Finally Talks Specifics
The reconciliation package is risen.
The package has died and come back to life multiple times, amid growing anger at Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) for seemingly objecting to the bill without naming what exactly about it they don’t like.
A Thursday Politico report showed that while the press corps and much of Manchin’s Democratic cohort were in the dark, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had received a short memo of Manchin’s requirements back in late July. They involved a $1.5 trillion topline and a demand not to begin debate on the reconciliation bill before October 1.
Both men signed the bottom, though Schumer also appeals to have scrawled “I will try to dissuade Joe on many of these” underneath his signature.
Manchin confirmed today, surrounded by dozens of reporters, that $1.5 trillion continues to be his starting point in the negotiations.
While that’s much too low for progressives — Sen. Rich Blumenthal (D-CT) called it “problematic” — at least it’s a number for the caucus to work with.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) said after the news of what he called the “secret communication” broke that Manchin’s figure “will be changed.”
Not to be upstaged, Sinema blasted out a statement asserting that she too has shared her specific demands with Schumer and the White House, though she did not detail them publicly.
Over on the House side, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has already discussed Manchin’s new position with her worried progressive members.
“The Speaker has committed to us that nothing will be agreed to, because she knows we have to sign off on it,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), spokesperson for the progressive caucus, told reporters. “There’re just too many of us that have been very clear that we are going to deliver on the entirety of the President’s agenda.”
For days, the reconciliation process has stalled out amid Manchin and Sinema’s tight-lipped refusal to say what topline price tag they’d accept. Meanwhile, House moderates had eked a concession out of Pelosi to hold a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure plan, initially slated for Monday and now still tentatively planned for Thursday. That date rushed closer as the reconciliation package spun its wheels in the mud.
Those conditions set up the showdown now forming around the bipartisan infrastructure vote. If it does happen today as scheduled, it seems unlikely to pass — Jayapal told reporters that at least half of the 96-member House progressive caucus plans to vote it down, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said that his whipping had not revealed enough Republican defectors to make up for that deficit.
But Manchin’s numbers have injected new life into the reconciliation negotiations. House progressives have long said that as soon as the Senate passes a reconciliation package, they will happily also vote for the bipartisan infrastructure plan, maintaining the two-track scheme that Democratic leadership has long seen as the surest path to both bills passing.
“All kinds of things could happen very quickly,” Jayapal said. “All I can say is we said that we’re gonna stay here all weekend if we need to to see if we can get to a deal, but if we can’t, then we’ll have to continue to work on it until we do.”
Apocalypse Now?
A new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast is live! This week, Josh and Kate discuss the current congressional morass and announce the winner of the JMP theme song competition!
Watch below and email us your questions for next week’s episode.
You can listen to the new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast here.
Protesters Shouting Threats Shut Down Meeting With New Hampshire Guv And Top Officials
New Hampshire protesters shut down a high-level state meeting Wednesday by shouting threats until state employees started leaving out of fear.
Continue reading “Protesters Shouting Threats Shut Down Meeting With New Hampshire Guv And Top Officials”We-Have-No-Idea-What’s-Gonna-Happen-Either Bloggin’
Maybe you haven’t noticed, but things have gotten quite chaotic with Democrats’ infrastructure push and, you know, keeping the government running.
Democratic leaders are left with few options after Republican senators shot down their government funding bill that would avoid the looming shutdown on Friday and raise the national debt limit. Failing to do the later would lead to an economic disaster next month, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned.
Meanwhile, Democrats are still wrestling over infrastructure legislation after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) effectively de-linked the bipartisan bill from the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill that moderates have kicked up a storm over. Pelosi has scheduled a vote on the bipartisan legislation for tomorrow, and progressive Democrats have threatened to sink it if the reconciliation bill isn’t ready for a vote at the same time, per the initial agreement within the caucus.
Follow our live coverage below:
TrumpFellas
You’ve probably seen the news that Corey Lewandowski, the much-fired Trump soldier, was canned as the head of the MAGA Action Trump PAC. This came after he was accused of groping, harassing and stalking a Trump donor at an event in Las Vegas on Sunday night. Given Lewandowski’s reputation and rap sheet this is a highly, highly plausible accusation. But it also came simultaneously with charges from a pro-Trump publication a day before that Lewandowski was having an affair with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. Was this latter claim – which comes from a conservative website and offers little if any corroboration – somehow intended to distract from the assault claim? Noem was also at the Sunday night dinner.
Continue reading “TrumpFellas”Manch
Yesterday a friend said maybe I was over-interpreting Joe Manchin’s comments from yesterday, the ones I mentioned below. I think he may be right. It’s entirely in character for Manchin to release a statement decrying Democrats tax and spend ways and inflation and tearing the country apart and turn around and finally make a deal. Indeed, he seems to have come back immediately from his scalding statement and said, “okay, so let’s get down to negotiating.” I feel like I failed my own test of never taking anything Joe Manchin says seriously until everything is actually totally, finally done. So who knows?
In any case, Kyrsten Sinema still seems like the biggest problem. And they’ve got 99 problems.
Manchin Walks Away From Deal But Pretends There Was No Deal
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
The Duality Of Manchin
A two-track path for bipartisan infrastructure legislation and reconciliation? Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has no earthly idea what you’re talking about.
- “I never knew about that. Never heard of that,” the senator told reporters yesterday, shaking his head. “Why do you think we’re trying to separate them? They’re different subject matters.”
Flashback to June 24:
- “The only strategy we have is two tracks. I think we’re going to do, hopefully … the bipartisan agreement…see if we can get that done and then move to the other one,” Manchin said.
Shutdown Crisis Averted
It seems like Democrats can take a much-needed breath for a minute amid the tug-o-war over infrastructure: Congress is now slated to pass a government funding measure today to stave off a shutdown tomorrow.
- Senators came to an agreement on a funding measure last night that would keep the government running through Dec. 3, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced. The chamber will kick off the process of passing it at 10:30 a.m. ET before it gets kicked over to the House later in the afternoon.
- The measure is a “clean” bill that won’t suspend the debt ceiling after GOP senators shot down Democrats’ previous attempt to combine the funding bill with suspension, triggering a crisis over the U.S. potentially defaulting on its loans come Oct. 18.
- The House passed a separate bill to suspend the debt ceiling largely along party lines yesterday, but it’s utterly doomed in the Senate thanks to the filibuster. Stay tuned.
There’s No Governing In Baseball
Despite the chaos on the Hill, lawmakers hit the pause button for the annual charity bipartisan congressional baseball game last night. Let’s just say it was odd having the timing of the game dominate the day’s congressional schedule.
- House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) told reporters earlier on Tuesday that he had “no idea” if the bipartisan infrastructure vote would be delayed amid fierce backlash from progressives over the derailment of the two-track plan, but said he’d “find out at the baseball game.”
- Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) signaled that the Senate’s timetable for passing a crucial government funding bill was shaped by the game.
- Biden was at the game, though as you can see, it seemed like he might’ve been busy.
- Same with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA):
- Republicans won the game:
If You Like Subpoena Coladas
The House Jan. 6 select committee has subpoenaed the organizers of the “Stop the Steal” rally that led up to the Capitol insurrection.
Lewandowski Axed From Trump SuperPAC
The move came after a Trump donor accused Corey Lewandowski of repeatedly touching her and following her around on Sunday during a charity event.
- “He repeatedly touched me inappropriately, said vile and disgusting things to me, stalked me, and made me feel violated and fearful,” the donor, Trashelle Odom, told Politico.
- Lewandowski was removed as the leader of Make America Great Again Action and “will no longer be associated with Trump World,” Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich told the New York Times.
- Lewandowski’s lawyer: “Accusations and rumors appear to be morphing by the minute and we will not dignify them with a further response.”
- Lewandowski was arrested for alleged misdemeanor battery in 2016 after he roughly grabbed then-Breitbart writer Michelle Fields by the arm. He was Trump’s campaign manager at the time. A Florida prosecutor declined to pursue charges.
One Kicker Says It All
“Kyrsten Sinema Is at the Center of It All. Some Arizonans Wish She Weren’t.” – The New York Times
“I appreciate that she’s not way left-leaning like the rest of them,” said Pat Odell, a retired court clerk and conservative. Ms. Odell said she wanted to see a total closure of the southwestern border and wanted Ms. Sinema to reject the $3.5 trillion Democratic social-spending bill outright.
But even if that happened, would Ms. Odell actually vote for Ms. Sinema or anyone with a D beside their name?
Probably not, she said.
Apropos Of Nothing, There’s A Clown Shortage In Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland’s struggling with recruiting new clowns due to an exodus caused by the pandemic.
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Jan. 6 Panel Subpoenas Stop The Steal Organizers For Their Communications With White House
In its latest round of witness subpoenas, the Jan. 6 Committee is focusing on the organizers of the Stop the Steal rally that took place on the White House ellipse.
The panel issued subpoenas on Wednesday to twelve different people, including multiple organizers of the rally.
The event later morphed into the assault on the Capitol, after former President Trump urged attendees to “fight.” Groups of rally attendees walked down the street to the Capitol building itself. Some stormed the building and briefly delayed the formalization of Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
The rally was organized by a group called Women for America First, helmed by Amy Kremer — a former Tea Party activist who figures first on the panel’s list. The panel wants information from her regarding how the rally was organized, and about potential communications with White House officials. The subpoena names former President Trump and then-chief of staff Mark Meadows.
“According to press reports, you, and others working with you and WFAF to organize the January 6th rally, collectively communicated with President Trump, White House officials including Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and others about the rally and other events planned to coincide with the certification of the 2020 Electoral College results,” a letter to Kremer from the committee reads. “Accordingly, the Select Committee seeks both documents and your deposition testimony regarding these and other matters that are within the scope of the Select Committee’s inquiry.”
Women for America First filed permits to hold the rally, which appear to include many of the same names targeted by the Committee.
The Committee also wants to speak with Caroline Wren, a former Trump campaign fundraiser who helped organize the rally, and with Cindy Chafian, another right-wing activist who told TPM last month that she made it to the Capitol steps.
“The Capitol police then popped the CS gas and we all left peacefully,” Chafian wrote to TPM. “I wasn’t there directing anyone.”
Chafian helped to organize the Stop the Steal rally before being sidelined by Wren and others, and also organized another rally on Jan. 5.
Others subpoenaed include Justin Caporale — a former aide to Melania Trump who went on to work for a production company that helped stage the event at the Ellipse — and Katrina Pierson, a spokesperson for Trump’s 2016 campaign. Maggie Mulvaney, a niece of former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney who, according to the AP, worked for the Trump campaign and who was cited on the permit for the event, also received a subpoena. The panel said it wants to know about her role in organizing the rally.
The list of those subpoenaed are below: