GOP presses for votes and talks on debt limit

Democrats ask Chief Justice to testify on ethics

Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for April 21, 2023:

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• Immigration bill expected in May from Republicans.

• Feinstein votes - by proxy - on judges.

• Don’t discount the Trump personal touch.

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DEBT LIMIT. The House is not back in session until Tuesday, giving GOP leaders a few extra days to try to wrangle votes for a bill that would temporarily extend the debt limit, while also cutting over $100 billion in domestic spending. "As of today, I have not decided how I am voting on this plan yet," said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).

• MARGINS. With a slim majority, Republicans can only afford to lose four votes on the debt limit. Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has already raised the chance of voting against it - and there are certainly others who don't like the details. But let's not proclaim an early death.

• MCCARTHY. GOP leaders know that passing almost anything will strengthen their hand in talks with the White House. "I want you to write stories like I'm teetering," Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters. "And then I want you to write a story after it passes - would the President sit down and negotiate just like we've done every time before?"

• DEMS. McCarthy and his staff did all they could yesterday to highlight Democrats urging President Biden to start talks with Republicans. "For the sake of the country, I urge President Biden to come to the table, propose a plan for real and substantive spending cuts," said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).

• COMPROMISE. Logically, a budget deal would include some spending cuts, some tax increases, and lower annual budget growth. You can't cut your way to a balanced budget. But Republicans don't want more taxes. Democrats don't want spending cuts. That’s why we’ve seen the two parties waste three months by playing Legislative Chicken.

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IMMIGRATION. Speaker Kevin McCarthy says Thursday his goal is to bring a GOP immigration and border security bill to the House floor in May. "We've got to take actions," McCarthy told reporters outside the Capitol, a day after the House Judiciary Committee approved a first immigration plan on a party line vote.

• NEXT WEEK. The Homeland Security Committee will take another step next week, as the panel is expected to produce a policy bill focusing on border security measures. That bill will be combined with the Judiciary bill in May - and then we'll see if Republicans can muster 218 votes.

• ASYLUM. The biggest stumbling block remains proposed GOP changes on asylum. "The asylum process is a beacon of hope for millions around the world," said Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA). But there are GOP lawmakers who worry these bills might deny asylum to people fleeing Communist regimes.

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IMPEACHMENT. It became very apparent in hearings this week that Republicans are trying to create a case to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by charging that he has been lying about conditions at the border - specifically when he said the U.S. has 'operational control' of the border.

• MAYORKAS. "That is a false statement because you admitted in the Senate that no has has ever achieved that," said Rep. Mark Green (R-TN). "Not only have you lied under oath, you just admitted your own incompetence," Green added.

• PERJURY. I get what Republicans are trying to do, but the idea of charging Mayorkas with lying to Congress - when testifying about the border - seems like pretty weak tea. Just because you have a policy difference or think someone is incompetent doesn't mean that's a high crime and misdemeanor.

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SUPREME COURT. Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have invited Chief Justice John Roberts to testify on the need for tighter ethics rules for the Justices on the Supreme Court. The call comes in the wake of revelations about Justice Clarence Thomas accepting worldwide vacations and other gifts from a Texas billionaire.

• DURBIN. "The time has come for a new public conversation on ways to restore confidence in the Court’s ethical standards," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote to Roberts in a letter. "The status quo is no longer tenable."

• CHIEF. Roberts has long resisted calls from Congress for tougher ethics and income disclosure rules for the Justices, indicating that would violate separation of powers. But that seems like a lame excuse, when you consider that Congress has legislated all sorts of ethics rules for the Executive Branch.

• TESTIMONY. No, I don't expect Roberts to come across the street and testify. But, you never know. I will repeat what I've written before - the nine Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have the weakest ethics and gift rules of any top officials in the entire federal government. It makes no sense.

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REGULAR ORDER. Since I can’t do it all by myself, help me spread the word about my newsletter. You can give a gift subscription to someone you know - and support independent journalism along the way on Capitol Hill. And you can also just buy me a drink after another wild week of news.

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FLORIDA. Former President Donald Trump hosted a group of U.S. House members from Florida last night at Mar-a-Lago, capping off a week in which he clearly outshined Gov. Ron DeSantis when it comes to not only getting support from the Florida Congressional delegation - but applying the personal touch as well.

• TRUMP. "Our support is almost universal in Florida and throughout the USA," Trump wrote on his fake Twitter site, celebrating his endorsement advantage. The latest to back Trump was Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL). Trump has the backing of 11 Florida Republicans in Congress. DeSantis only has one.

• PERSONAL. Even if you don’t like Trump, there is one thing you cannot deny - he has a personal touch with people. He courts them. He calls them. He invites them to Mar-a-Lago. I covered DeSantis in Congress - and he's not really that kind of guy. And this week it showed.

• MAR-A-LAGO. I remember going to Mar-a-Lago in 2016 for a Trump press conference. What struck me was how Trump played the role of host. Stay for drinks and food outside, he told us. He was the super rich guy who said he was happy that you came to see him - whether he really thought that or not.

• 2024. At this point, Trump remains the GOP favorite in the next race for President. DeSantis still has time to demonstrate that he’s a real contender - but he hasn’t been showing that in recent weeks. Things could still change for Trump, especially on the legal front.

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JUDGES. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a series of judicial nominations on Thursday - with the vote of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) - even though she continues to recover at home from a case of shingles. "The committee can operate," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). "Sometimes we just can't agree."

• PROXY. Feinstein voted on various nominations by proxy - which is no longer allowed in the House, but is still allowed in Senate committees. "Aye by proxy," was heard multiple times when her name was called. So, why is there so much hand wringing about her absence? Shouldn't that work on every judge?

• RULES. This is where we get into the rules. Yes, Feinstein can vote on every nomination before the Judiciary Committee. But it happened only because Republicans allowed final votes on nominations with bipartisan support. It was the first time since early March that the panel had approved any nominations.

• DI FI. "I hope Sen. Feinstein returns quickly," said Graham. "We hope she will be back in the Senate very soon," added panel chair Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). Even if Feinstein resigns, Republicans have threatened to block a new Senator from being seated on the panel.

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SPORTS. On a party line vote, the House passed a GOP bill on Thursday that says schools getting federal aid cannot allow someone born as a male to participate in women's sports. "Biological men have no place in women’s sports," said Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL). "Democrats want men beating down women and girls," added Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene R-GA.

• VOTING NO. Democrats denounced the move. "Their bill isn't about protecting girls' sports, it's about their cruel culture war," said Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-HI). "They're passing a creepy, mean spirited bill," added Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA).

• FOCUS. "They're not focused on the economy, not focused on jobs, not focused on health care, not focused on inflation," said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. "That's the extreme MAGA Republican agenda."

• TRANS. But popular opinion runs against Democrats on this subject, as polls consistently show more Americans oppose allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls sports. We've been through this before - just look up Renee Richards. But back then, it didn't spur a Congressional response.

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BRAGG. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has set a hearing for next week on whether a former prosecutor in the Manhattan D.A.'s office has to answer questions from the House Judiciary Committee. The court granted a temporary stay on a subpoena for Mark Pomerantz, who was supposed to sit for an interview yesterday.

• JUDGE. The appeals court acted after a federal district judge had refused to block the subpoena from Rep. Jim Jordan's panel, which wants to ask Pomerantz about his work investigating Donald Trump.

• NEW YORK. Pomerantz quit his job under D.A. Alvin Bragg - because Bragg initially refused to prosecute Trump, who Pomerantz once described as a 'malignant narcissist.'

• IRONIC. We can't forget the irony involved in Jordan pressing a subpoena for testimony - since the Ohio Republican ignored a Congressional subpoena in the last Congress for his testimony about Donald Trump’s actions related to the January 6 attack.

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BLUE CHECKS. Friday was a big day in the Twitter ecosystem, as billionaire owner Elon Musk took away the 'verified' blue checks of accounts which had not paid him $8 per month. That let us see which members of Congress had forked over cash to Musk for their personal or campaign accounts on Twitter.

• BAKER'S DOZEN. I counted 13 lawmakers who decided to pay for the blue check - 10 Republicans and 3 Democrats. The one Senator was Mike Lee (R-UT). The Democrats were Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), and Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-NC).

• GOP NINE. The nine Republicans House members who still have blue checks on Twitter are Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Kat Cammack, Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Wesley Hunt (R-TX), Kevin Kiley (R-CA), Brandon Williams (R-NY), and Anthony D'Esposito (R-NY).

  

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MILESTONE. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) joined an elite group on Thursday, as she cast her 10,000th vote in the U.S. Senate - the first woman ever to achieve that mark. Only 32 other Senators have hit 10,000 votes. Murray only needs 62 more votes to pass her state's legendary Senator Henry 'Scoop' Jackson.

• PRO TEMPORE. Lost in all of the controversy over the illness of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is that a healthy Feinstein would have been the President Pro Tempore of the Senate - third in line to the White House. Instead, Murray took that spot, the first woman ever to hold that position.

• TRIVIA. The record for most votes cast in the Senate is held by the legendary Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) with 18,689. The active leader is Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) with 14,491. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell has 12,790.

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RAP SHEET. It's been a bad last ten days for one Texas man. On April 11, Nathan Pelham was charged with four misdemeanor counts stemming from the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump. Pelham - a previously convicted felon - was told by the feds to surrender on the next Monday. But things then went sideways.

• WELFARE CHECK. Police were called to Pelham's house that night by a relative. Pelham had a gun. He shot repeatedly at local sheriff's deputies. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Pelham now could face up to 15 years in prison on felony gun charges.

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MUSE OF HISTORY.  April 21, 1974.  On this date, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) was in Moscow, on a trip which sparked talk of a possible bid for President.  Kennedy met with Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev, pressed for the release of Jewish dissidents, and was greeted by adoring crowds.  "The Senator plunged into crowds of applauding, clapping people to grab hands as women clawed at his raincoat," UPI reported about Kennedy's visit to Tbilisi.

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LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House next has votes on Tuesday.

The Senate returns on Monday.

President Biden’s daily schedule link.

Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com

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