Fearing retaliation, Pelosi urges Olympians not to protest in China
RNC rebukes Cheney & Kinzinger over Trump criticism
The Olympics start with a warning from the U.S. Congress. Kinzinger and Cheney stand their ground against Trump. And one NFL owner has a very bad day on Capitol Hill. This is “Regular Order” for February 4, 2022.
OLYMPICS. On the eve of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, lawmakers in Congress denounced the Beijing regime and raised concerns about the possible safety of U.S. athletes competing in the games. “The International Olympic Committee should never have awarded the 2022 Winter Olympic Games to Beijing,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT).
CHINA. Lawmakers warned Americans not to fall for the sanitized version of China. "The Chinese government will once again attempt to distract the world from a decades-long campaign of abuse and repression," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "But, the United States and the international community know the truth."
SPONSORS. There was also criticism for the U.S. companies who will be advertising during NBC's coverage. "Today we witness the complicity of many in corporate America — funding and enabling a cruel dictatorship as it puts a façade of legitimacy," said Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) at a D.C. rally.
WARNING. Speaker Pelosi also had an interesting public warning for U.S. athletes - telling them not to use their Olympic platform to criticize the Chinese government, because it might bring retaliation. "I would say to our athletes, ‘You're there to compete. Do not risk incurring the anger of the Chinese government, because they are ruthless.'"
GOP. Some Republicans objected, basically arguing Pelosi was trying to suck up to Beijing. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) said the Speaker "won’t stand up for U.S. Olympic athletes speaking out against China."
HEADLINES. But, think about how you view the Olympics. It was a cool thing to watch as a kid. So, this isn't the kind of headline you would normally expect before the Olympics begin: "Republicans promise sanctions for IOC if any U.S. athletes go missing during Beijing games."
CHINA COMPETITIVENESS. The House is expected to give final approval this morning to a sweeping bill designed to improve U.S. business competitiveness with China. The plan features over $50 billion in funding to spur domestic production of semiconductor chips, in order to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign sources.
BACKERS. For Democrats, the bill does exactly what the doctor has ordered. "We have to get serious about the risk that Chinese government-backed companies pose to our economic competitiveness and national security," said Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ).
CRITICS. But House Republicans have argued all week that this bill doesn't do enough - and is silent on one major issue. "If Democrats were serious about holding China accountable, they’d start by calling for a full and transparent investigation into the origins of COVID," said Rep. Fred Keller (R-PA).
CONFERENCE. Even after approval by the House, lawmakers will still have to settle differences with a bill already passed by the Senate.
CENSURE. The national Republican Party is ready to censure Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) over their criticism of Donald Trump about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Both lawmakers said they made the right call. "I have no regrets about my decision to uphold my oath of office and defend the Constitution," Kinzinger said.
CHENEY. Still running for re-election, Cheney wasn't backing down because of any party rebuke. "I’m a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump," Cheney said. "History will be their judge."
TRUMP. Yesterday was just another day where Donald Trump made another one of his false claims of election fraud from 2020. In a statement, Trump denounced what he says was a 'massive ballot harvesting operation' in Georgia and other states. But no wrongdoing has ever been demonstrated.
JANUARY 6. Donald Trump has been talking so much in the last week about the 2020 election - that it actually might help Congress reform a law which was part of Trump’s back door scheme to overturn the election. That’s my column this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
WASHINGTON NFL. A day after announcing his team's new name, Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder had a very bad day on Capitol Hill. Former employees of the Redskins / Washington Football Team told head-shaking stories of sexual harassment and boorish behavior by the team owner, as they called for details of an internal NFL investigation to be made public.
PERSONAL FOUL. Ex-cheerleader Tiffani Johnston told of how Snyder put his hand on her thigh under the table at a work dinner. It got worse later when he tried to push her into his limo outside the restaurant, describing it as 'constant workplace sexual harassment.’ Snyder labeled the charges 'outright lies.'
NFL. While Snyder was in the spotlight, this event was directed more at the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell, trying to force the league to reveal details of their investigation of the team. The NFL has steadfastly refused to do that - even as the number of sordid stories grows each year.
BLACK COACHES. That’s not the only trouble spot for the NFL in Congress. A lawsuit filed by the ousted coach of the Miami Dolphins was also gaining attention. "The lack of diversity among NFL coaches is not a coincidence," said Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), "it is bold-faced racism."
HEARINGS. Rush called for hearings on the matter by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, 'to shine a bright light on these allegations and to thoroughly investigate these concerns.'
WHY? One of my friends emailed yesterday calling the Congressional interest in sports a ‘waste of time.’ I reminded him that critics said the same thing about hearings on steroids in baseball. Instead, I might argue those shamed steroid users and forced change in the big leagues.
OMNIBUS. The week comes to a close with no agreement (surprise, surprise) on funding bills for the federal government. This work was supposed to be finished by October 1 of last year - but over four months later, there is still no deal. A temporary funding plan is slated to run out on February 18.
STOPGAP. With the House ducking out of town next Wednesday until the end of the month, that means Congress will have to approve a short-term funding plan next week to give more time for negotiations.
BROKEN RECORD. The appropriations process in Congress is broken. But I would observe that it wasn’t exactly working smoothly in the late 1950's when my father came to Congress as a staffer. It’s a feature, not a bug.
POSTAL SERVICE. The White House and its allies in Congress are furious about new plans from the Postmaster General, who wants to buy thousands of new gas-powered delivery vehicles. Democrats want those vehicles to be electric, as part of a big push on climate change.
DEMS. "Spending billions on polluting USPS vehicles is a massive mistake," said Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-CA). "This plan cannot move forward." The White House wanted to give the Postal Service $6 billion to help buy new electric vehicles - but that's stuck in the Build Back Better package.
USPS. The Postal Service signed a $482 million deal to produce up to 165,000 delivery vehicles. White House officials sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Wednesday, joining the EPA in expressing 'grave concerns' with the current plans.
HALLWAYS. One of the great things about covering Capitol Hill is that you can buttonhole Senators and House members in any hallway. Sometimes lawmakers are eager to stop - sometimes they aren't. On Thursday, one Senator really didn't like a question.
INDIANA. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) had been in a briefing about the U.S. operation against ISIS, and was asked by reporter Rebecca Kheel for a comment. She works for a publication called military.com - Young told her no one reads that back in his home state.
APOLOGY. That got some play on social media from other reporters. "Sen. Young just called to apologize, which I appreciate," Kheel tweeted on Thursday afternoon. "And thank you to so many of my colleagues in the press corps who stuck up for me."
FAUX PAS. Republicans had fun tweeting out the words of Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer on Thursday, who claimed in a speech that only white men had been on the Supreme Court until 1981, when Sandra Day O'Connor was nominated by President Reagan. But Schumer forgot about Justice Thurgood Marshall.
CORRECTION. "Sorry that I misspoke earlier today," Schumer tweeted out on Thursday afternoon. Marshall - nominated in 1967 by LBJ - was the first Black ever to serve on the Supreme Court.
LBJ. Since Marshall joined the Court in 1967, only four other justices nominated by Democrats have followed him. Ginsburg and Breyer were nominated by President Clinton - Kagan and Sotomayor by President Obama.
MUSE OF HISTORY. February 4, 1864. On this date, the Senate was debating a plan to equalize the pay of black troops serving in the Civil War. Black soldiers were paid $10 per month, while white soldiers received $13 per month. "We can right the errors of the past, and I hope we shall do it promptly," said Sen. Henry Wilson of Massachusetts. But there was opposition to giving back pay to black soldiers, because of the cost. The issue was ultimately solved in a familiar way for Congress - pay for black soldiers was boosted in June by adding legislative language to a must-pass appropriations bill, but made retroactive only until January 1, 1864.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House meets at 9 am.
The Senate meets on Monday.
President Biden’s daily schedule link.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
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