Big bipartisan House vote for crypto regulations

Both parties message before Memorial Day break

Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for May 23, 2024:

• Democrat ruled out of order for detailing Trump’s trials.

• Major defense policy bill takes first step.

• Senate hits milestone for Biden judges.

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CRYPTO. In a strong bipartisan vote, the House on Wednesday easily approved a GOP bill to establish a federal regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and digital assets. 71 Democrats broke with the White House to support the bill, which was approved on a vote of 279-136, a veto-proof majority. The plan now goes to an uncertain future in the Senate.

• SUCCESS. "The American people deserve legislation to ensure consumer protection and allow innovation to thrive in this country," said Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), who led the charge on this bill. Currently there is no comprehensive rule structure to govern digital assets.

• PELOSI. 19 of the 71 Democrats who voted for this bill were from California, giving a big bat signal from Silicon Valley. "The digital asset industry needs clearer rules of the road," said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Many jobs in my Bay Area community are dependent on this industry."

• WHITE HOUSE. That was a much different message than the one offered by the White House, which said the bill 'lacks sufficient protections for consumers and investors.'

• SENATE. With 279 votes for this bill in the House- that might give this bill a chance to make progress later this year in the Senate. "There is a bipartisan majority in both chambers of Congress in favor of crypto," said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY). Stay tuned.

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DUELING MESSAGES. Lawmakers in Congress will head home today for a break week with much different messages for the voters. Senate Democrats will accuse the GOP of blocking legislative action on border security, while House Republicans will say that Democrats want illegal immigrants to vote in elections. It's all part of Campaign 2024.

• SENATE. "Three months ago, Donald Trump told his Republican allies to block the strongest bipartisan border bill Congress has seen in a generation," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, as Democrats will point the finger of blame at the GOP for inaction on the border.

• GOP. As one might expect, Republicans see things a little differently. "Chuck Schumer’s “bipartisan” border deal does nothing to secure the border," said Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who called it 'a complete joke.'

HOUSE. Over in the House, Republicans are ready to approve a bill which reverses a law in the District of Columbia which lets non-citizens - who live in D.C. - vote in local elections (they are not eligible to vote in federal elections).

• SPEAKER. "Congress will not support such lawless behavior," said House Speaker Mike Johnson. "We're not going to let Russian spies and criminal aliens decide who runs our nation's capital."

• DEMS. There may be a number of Democrats who vote for this GOP bill to overturn the D.C. voting law - simply because they don't want to be tarred and feathered with the issue during the campaign.

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NIKKI HALEY. Over two months after giving up her bid for the White House, Nikki Haley came to Washington on Wednesday and said she would vote for Donald Trump in November. "Trump has not been perfect," she said in remarks at the Hudson Institute. "But Biden has been a catastrophe. So, I will be voting for Trump."

• BIRDBRAIN. There was no immediate comment from Trump, who had repeatedly ridiculed Haley. Trump called her 'Birdbrain.' He made fun of her clothes. He even threatened her campaign donors.

• UNHINGED. On the trail, Haley questioned whether Trump was 'mentally fit.' She called him 'unhinged.' "Rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him," Haley said in New Hampshire. "Trump would be smart to reach out to the millions of people who voted for me," Haley said yesterday.

• COMING HOME. We've seen a lot of people vote for Haley in April and May in GOP primaries. How many of them will follow Haley home for Trump and the Republican Party? That's the big unknown right now. It could be a key to a Trump victory.

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HOUSE FLOOR. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, was ruled out of order on the House floor yesterday - his words stricken from the Congressional Record - after he gave an accurate description of the criminal charges lodged against former President Donald Trump. What’s up with that?

• ENGAGING IN PERSONALITIES. "We have a presumptive nominee for President facing 88 felony counts, and we're being prevented from even acknowledging it,” McGovern said. “These are not alternative facts.”

• WORDS TAKEN DOWN. Republicans challenged McGovern’s statement, which you can read at this link - and the Chair ruled for the GOP. McGovern’s words were erased, and he was barred from speaking again on Wednesday.

• HOUSE STEPS. McGovern drew a crowd of reporters outside as he protested the rebuke. “Republicans just banned me from speaking on the House Floor for the rest of the day because I listed Trump's trials,” McGovern said. “I didn't say he was guilty, I just stated the fact that they exist—and for that I was silenced.”

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NERD NOTE. If you think this is something new - of course it isn't. Wednesday's dustup came almost eight years to the day that Republicans cracked down on attacks against Trump on the House floor back in 2016. Yes, I covered it back then - read my story at this link.

• PRECEDENTS. "Personal abuse, innuendo, or ridicule of the President is not permitted," §370 states in the House rules. You can’t even discuss charges 'leveled at the President' - which is pretty much what McGovern did.

• TRIVIA NOTE. The limits on what can be said about candidates for President were established during the 1992 campaign by Democrats - in part to protect Bill Clinton from attacks on the House floor.

• BAD WORDS. You can't call the President a 'loathsome human' or a 'little bugger.' You can't say the President is 'paranoid,' 'mentally unwell,' or a 'drama queen.' (Really!) The good stuff starts on page 2.

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SPENDING. Before going home until June, the House Appropriations Committee is expected today to approve the first of 12 government funding bills for 2025. That measure funds the VA and military construction and is expected to come up for a full House vote the week of June 3.

• SCHEDULE. GOP leaders have set out a plan to finish all twelve funding bills by August 1. That can certainly happen - if House Republicans stick together. But if they fight with each other like last year, then their plan will go nowhere.

• MESSAGE. This should be SO SIMPLE for the GOP. Pass all 12 funding bills as fast as possible - and then yell about how Senate Democrats aren't doing that as the October 1 deadline approaches. (The Freedom Caucus doesn't understand this.)

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ALITO FLAG. Last week, we learned about the upside down American flag flown outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito after Jan. 6. Now comes word - and you can find it on Google Street View - that the Alitos flew a flag at their New Jersey beach house which was frequently seen at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

• APPEAL TO HEAVEN. I had never heard of the 'Appeal to Heaven' flag - but it's a familiar pine tree symbol. It only took me about two minutes to find several of them when rioters pushed past police to mob the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. It’s become a symbol for some on the political right in recent years.

• REACTION. The news aggravated Democrats. "You have got to be kidding me," said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA). "Alito clearly cannot be impartial," said Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA). "It’s yet another demonstration of his clear bias," added Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), as Democrats called for Alito to recuse himself from cases on Jan. 6 and the 2020 election.

• DEFENSE. Republican defenders of Alito laughed out loud. "This is paranoid fantasy," said Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT). "Their obsession with the Alitos and their flags is laughable nonsense."

FLAG FLAP. But let’s be honest, what has happened with Alito over the past few weeks is not a good look for him. Everyone knows that the Justices have personal beliefs. But for someone on the Supreme Court to advertise those publicly - especially as related to Jan. 6 - is not helpful.

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NDAA. The House Armed Services Committee last night voted 57-1 to approve an $850 billion defense policy bill for 2025. "This is an incredible piece of legislation," said Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), the Chair of the House Armed Services Committee. The only 'No' vote came from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA). A full House vote is expected in June.

• BIPARTISAN. Trying to steer clear of poison pill amendments, Republicans kept the defense bill mainly focused on defense policy, and not on the grievances of social conservatives. The plan is focused on improving quality of life for service members - issues like pay, childcare, health care, and housing.

• PAY HIKE. The biggest item in this bill may be a significant pay hike of 19.5 percent for junior enlisted service members - the biggest headline of those quality of life measures. "These issues have an immeasurable impact on our recruitment and retention efforts, as well as our readiness," said Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ).

FARM BILL. One thing is for sure - the bipartisan tenor of the committee markup of the National Defense Authorization Act is unlikely to be repeated today in the House Agriculture Committee, as members work on a five-year GOP rewrite of the Farm Bill. It's likely to be approved with a fairly sharp partisan divide.

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JUDGES. The modern Senate no longer legislates on a regular basis. Instead, each day is filled with procedural votes on endless numbers of federal judges and executive nominations from a President. It takes time under the rules, as Democrats hit a milestone on Wednesday, approving the 200th judge nominated by President Biden.

• ARIZONA. Number 200 was Angela Martinez, who will be a district judge in Arizona. "Who sits on our nation's courts matters for so many reasons, including — as we’ve seen — our reproductive rights," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA).

• DIVERSITY. Biden’s goal has been to put more than just white men on the federal bench. 127 of the 200 confirmed so far by the Senate are women. 58 judges are Black, and 36 are Hispanic.

• NEXT UP. Democrats wasted no time celebrating, as the Senate immediately turned to a procedural vote to force a final vote on a federal judge from California. Donald Trump had 234 judges confirmed in his four years.

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GOP LEADER. The race to replace Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell has a third person in the race, as Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) told his colleagues on Wednesday that he will run for the post. Scott tried but failed (badly) to unseat McConnell after the 2022 elections.

• RICK SCOTT. "I believe now is a moment we need dramatic change," Scott wrote in a letter to his colleagues. "I believe that our voters want us to use this leadership election to make a choice to upend the status quo in Washington."

• RACE. Already running are Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). Right now, I would have to make Thune the favorite, but he still doesn't seem 'Trumpy' enough to me for that spot. At the same time, I'm not sure Rick Scott is the likely answer either. It's only May.

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RAP SHEET. A Maryland man faces charges of repeatedly attacking police on Jan. 6, thanks to citizen sleuths and a lot of FBI leg work. Thomas Kelly wore a black hood and large ski goggles that day. He was part of a group of rioters who repeatedly overwhelmed police outside the Capitol.

• POLE. One of the most common weapons turned against officers on Jan. 6 was a flagpole. Kelly took it one step further, using a metal pole with metal screws protruding at the end. He used that to repeatedly strike police. Read his case file. It’s very detailed.

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MUSE OF HISTORY.  May 23, 1836.  On this date, the House was debating a bill to strengthen coastal fortifications.  "No commercial country can rely for defence upon anything but a well-regulated navy," said Rep. Frances Pickens of South Carolina.  Pickens proposed five major navy bases and navy yards at Boston, New York, Norfolk, Charleston, and Pensacola, arguing the navy was the nation's main defense.

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LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House meets at 10 am.

The Senate convenes at 10 am.

Check President Biden’s schedule.

Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.

Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com

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