Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for April 17, 2024:
Senate expected to reject Mayorkas impeachment today.
Menendez may throw his wife under the bus.
Vote no but praise the dough repeat.
SOAP OPERA. House Republicans on Tuesday were back doing what they do best - attacking each other, with some calling for a new Speaker of the House. The GOP dysfunction appeared at a most inopportune time for Speaker Mike Johnson, just as GOP leaders were trying to hash out the details of a plan to send aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan.
SASSY. The trouble started in a closed-door GOP meeting as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) told Johnson that he would support an effort by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to boot the Speaker out of his post. "I asked him to resign," Massie told reporters, as he predicted there would soon be a move to oust Johnson on the House floor.
SPEAKER. Asked about the latest internal GOP troubles, Johnson was blunt. "I am not resigning," he told reporters at a news conference, creating an instant and unwelcome political headline. "It is not helpful to the cause, it is not helpful to the country," the Speaker added.
MEETINGS. Johnson took only one question at his news conference and then spent much of the day meeting with various GOP factions about what should go in his foreign aid package. (I have to say that it is telling the Speaker didn't have a concrete plan that was ready to go.)
LONG DISTANCE. From outside the Beltway, national Republicans frowned on the latest episode of this never-ending House GOP infighting. "Instead of bickering amongst themselves," said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, "Republicans should do their damn job and vote on the important issues facing our nation."
HALEY. "We need votes on the border, Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and TikTok," said Nikki Haley, who challenged Donald Trump for the GOP nomination for President. "Americans want action but all they get from Congress is chaos. Stop the peacocking and do your job."
TRUMP. Maybe the most ominous statement was a quick answer from former President Donald Trump, when he was asked about Speaker Johnson's fate. "We'll see what happens with that," Trump said, not exactly a vote of confidence.
BORDER. I have to say that it was pretty crazy to listen to all sorts of House Republicans say on Tuesday that Speaker Johnson should include border security provisions as part of any foreign aid package - especially since Democrats agreed to do exactly that earlier this year, and Republicans refused to go along.
SECURITY. Remember earlier this year in the Senate, when negotiators worked out a bipartisan border security deal? It didn't go anywhere, because the GOP rejected that Senate agreement - at the urging of Donald Trump. And yet, here were Republicans complaining about the lack of border provisions.
COMPLAINTS. "Speaker Johnson failed to incorporate any border security into any of the four bills he's going to ram down our throats," said Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), as Johnson critics blasted plans to vote on aid for Israel and Ukraine. "I don't even know why we're bringing them up," added Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX).
DETAILS. For all of the talk, we still don't know exactly what the Speaker will put in this foreign aid package. When lawmakers went to bed last night, no legislative text had yet been released. "I'm withholding judgment until I see text," said Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX).
VACATE. As for the effort to push out Johnson, I still don’t sense from talking to GOP lawmakers that there is a desire to get rid of him. But I don’t think the attacks from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) are helping him in the long term, either. And what happens with Ukraine funding may also play a role.
MAYORKAS. Senate Democrats are expected to move quickly today to reject impeachment charges leveled by the U.S. House against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. The Senate will convene as a court of impeachment at 1 pm to officially begin the trial, as Senators will be sworn in as jurors.
FULL TRIAL. Republicans continued on Tuesday to demand that the Senate hear arguments and evidence against Mayorkas. "The Senate must do its Constitutional duty and hold a full trial," said Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY). "It’s the Senate’s Constitutional duty to hold a trial," added Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA).
ARGUMENTS. There were rumblings yesterday that the two sides might agree to a couple hours of arguments and procedural votes - before Democrats swoop in to end the trial. But nothing had been agreed to by the time the Senate adjourned last night.
DISMISS. Again, when you hear Republicans say the Senate has never voted to immediately dismiss a trial - don’t believe that argument. GOP Senators tried to do exactly that in the second Donald Trump impeachment trial in 2021. They just didn’t have enough votes to win.
MADAM PRESIDENT. Sometimes, lawmakers make some dumb flubs. But this one was a whopper on Capitol Hill. When Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) read the impeachment charges against Mayorkas on the Senate floor yesterday, he started his remarks by addressing the chair as, 'Mr. President.' Except that wasn't a man presiding over the Senate.
TENNIS SHOES. Instead, that was the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who is next in line for the presidency right after the Speaker of the House. When Green concluded, he again said, "Mr. President." Murray did not miss a beat.
IN THE RECORD. "That would be Madam President," Murray said somewhat sternly. The verbal miscue aggravated Senate Democrats. "She’s earned the right to be addressed correctly," said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who said Green’s remarks showed ‘major disrespect.’
CONGRESS. I’m sure some of you are like, yeah, whatever. But there is one thing to remember: the House and Senate are natural enemies. So when one House member comes in and does something like that - TWICE - to the Senate’s most senior Democrat, it’s not well received to say the least.
FISA. We've talked a lot in this Congress about how Republicans have undermined their own leadership in the House. But more liberal Senators had their day in the sun on Tuesday, almost derailing a simple procedural move to start work on a House-passed bill dealing with foreign intelligence surveillance laws, known as FISA.
MOTION. With Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) forcing procedural votes to express his anger about the lack of a full impeachment trial for the DHS Secretary, the Senate had to vote on whether to go into legislative session for that work. Normally, it's done by unanimous consent.
REBELS. Short on votes because of defections by Democrats, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was saved by a half dozen GOP Senators in a 50-49 vote. Those six Republicans were Graham SC, Lankford OK, Murkowski AK, Romney UT, Rounds SD, and Rubio FL. Rubio cast the final vote in favor.
DEMS. Schumer lost the support of six Democrats on this procedural vote - Baldwin WI, Markey MA, Merkley OR, Tester MT, Warren MA, Wyden OR, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). As in the House, this FISA bill will have a unifying effect on very liberal and very conservative Senators.
TIMING. A vote to shut off debate on this FISA measure is expected on Thursday. The Senate needs to take action by Friday - when certain intelligence authorities expire under FISA.
CHIPS ACT. Yet another Republican in Congress has fallen victim to the ole game of praising new investments in their state - even though they voted against the plan in Congress. The latest comes from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), as he applauded a big new investment in semiconductor production in Texas.
CRUZIN. "Today’s announcement confirms Texas remains the single best location for companies to grow and thrive," Cruz said in a press release, which touted his actions on 'CHIPS' legislation - but did not mention that he was one of 33 Senators who voted against the CHIPS law.
REPEAT. It would be one thing if this happened just a few times. But it keeps happening over and over again on CHIPS, infrastructure, and more. Republicans vote against the money and then celebrate it.
MENENDEZ. Last month, the defense team for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) filed some documents in his bribery and corruption case which had certain passages redacted. News media groups sued to find out what was in there, and the judge ordered the material released this week. And it had a bit of a surprise.
STRATEGY. The legal brief basically says that Menendez may claim that his wife 'withheld information' from the New Jersey Senator - who had no idea there was anything illegal going on involving his wife. Lawyers for Menendez will be in court this morning in New York for a status conference. His trial is currently scheduled to start in early May.
BEHIND THE SCENES. I did something on Tuesday that I've never done before in my many years in the Capitol. I took some extra time to stand up in the balcony of the Old Hall of the House to watch the official procession of the Mayorkas impeachment articles. The area was opened up to photographers and reporters to record that historic moment.
BALCONY. This is a spot where the general public would have been seated for House proceedings between 1807-1857. That would include such momentous debates as those on the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850.
ROOM. Statuary Hall is a fantastic room. But I have to say it was much more impressive from that higher vantage point. The photo below right is taken from behind the statue of Clio, the Muse of History, which was unveiled in 1819.
BOB GRAHAM. Word came from Florida last night of the death of former Governor and Senator Bob Graham (D-FL), one of the most popular elected officials in Florida history. I first interviewed Graham in 1984 when I was in college, and then covered him for his three terms in the U.S. Senate.
SUNSHINE. It was readily apparent when you met Graham that he was a different kind of politician - mainly he was a nice guy, not a partisan hack. He grew up outside Miami on a cattle ranch and proudly wore nothing but ties featuring an outline of the state of Florida.
NOTEBOOKS. On Capitol Hill, one thing I noticed right away was how Graham jotted things down in small notebooks that he carried with him, as he detailed his daily interactions. He did that for several decades - and I'm sure my name is in a few of those daily diaries, now held by the University of Florida.
INVITE. Back in 2016, Graham invited me to speak at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida. Unfortunately, that was just when my voice gave out. One of my biggest regrets is that I never regained the ability to talk, and did not get the chance to make that visit.
RAP SHEET. A man who deleted his social media accounts the day after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has agreed to plead guilty. Eric Staples - who left Wyoming and was finally tracked down last month in Alaska - climbed into the Capitol through a broken window on Jan. 6. In his interview with the FBI, Staples initially said he couldn't remember if he went inside. (Narrator: Of course he did.)
MUSE OF HISTORY. April 17, 1834. On this date, the Senate placed in the record a letter of protest from President Andrew Jackson, in which he denounced the Senate for censuring him for moving federal deposits out of the Bank of the United States. Jackson argued the censure 'was in substance an impeachment of the President; and in its passage, amounts to a declaration, by a majority of the Senate, that he is guilty of an impeachable offense.'
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House convenes at 10 am.
The Senate meets at 11 am.
Check President Biden’s schedule.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.
Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
If you want to say ‘thanks’ - you can buy me a cup of coffee.
“Graham… was a different kind of politician… He… proudly wore nothing but ties featuring an outline of the state of Florida.”
Until one day he was told to put some darn clothes on. :)
He was such a good man, it is appalling that garbage like Rick Scott and Deathsantis have sullied the office.
Nice read this morning, Jamie