Menendez won’t run as a Democrat for Senate
GOP fractures again over latest spending deal
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for March 21, 2024:
House and Senate try to avoid weekend shutdown
Republicans take flak over Social Security budget plans.
“Our Republican majority is a complete failure."
MENENDEZ. Facing almost certain defeat in a June Democratic primary race, embattled Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) said Thursday that he would first deal with criminal charges lodged against him, and possibly run for reelection as an independent in November. "I am hopeful that my exoneration will take place this summer," Menendez said in a video message to New Jersey voters.
SENATOR GOLD BARS. "I know many of you are hurt and disappointed in me with the accusations I'm facing," said Menendez, who faces 16 federal charges, featuring bribery and corruption. "Believe me, I am disappointed at the false accusations. And all I can ask of you is to withhold judgment."
SUPPORT. It's the second time the New Jersey Democrat has been indicted by the feds. Menendez survived a previous federal bribery trial on a hung jury. The voters forgave him - but this time, his support has cratered.
POLLS. The early favorite in the Democratic race seems to be Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), who has held leads in several polls over Tammy Murphy - the wife of the New Jersey Governor. “I will win in November even if I have to beat Menendez and a Republican simultaneously,” Kim said yesterday.
SENATE DEMS. About the only Democrat actively calling for Menendez to take a long walk off a short pier has been Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) - and the Pennsylvania Democrat did not disappoint yesterday. "Dibs on your parking space," Fetterman tweeted soon after the Menendez announcement.
MINIBUS. The House is expected to vote this morning on a package of six government funding bills, as the Congress finally seems ready to wrap up its budget work for 2024 - almost six months behind schedule. But once again, there is GOP drama over the details. “Our Republican majority is a complete failure,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) declared last night.
FINE PRINT. Before we get to the never-ending battle among House Republicans, let’s give you the highlights of this funding package. At $1.2 trillion, it is big - about 70 percent of the discretionary budget approved by Congress. But over two-thirds of this money will end up in one place - at the Pentagon.
FUNDING. Here is the breakdown of this second funding minibus:
Pentagon - $825 billion
Labor, health, education - $222 billion
Homeland Security - $62 billion
State Department, Foreign Operations - $58 billion
Financial Services, General Government - $27 billion
Congress & Legislative Branch - $6.75 billion (not a typo)
SPEAKER. GOP leaders acknowledged it wasn’t what they wanted. “Because of divided government, it's not a perfect piece of legislation,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on CNBC. “It's not the one we would draft and pass if Republicans had control of the House, the Senate and the White House.”
GOP FURY. But conservatives just seemed to get more angry as the day wore on. "This bill does not include one single policy necessary to secure the border," said Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX). "No wonder this monstrosity of a spending bill was released at two o'clock in the morning," said Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO).
ONE DAY. Instead of waiting 72 hours to vote - which was what Republicans voted to do last year - GOP leaders set the vote for late this morning, so members could leave on a two-week Easter break. "Congress is given one day to review 1012 pages," fumed Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA).
BLAME GAME. Key Republicans pointed the finger back at the Freedom Caucus for undercutting GOP leaders over the past six months. "Our hand was significantly weakened at the negotiating table," said Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH).
DEADLINE. The shutdown deadline is midnight tonight. The House should pass this package by late in the morning. One Senator could keep the Senate in session and prevent a final vote until maybe on Tuesday, which would mean a partial shutdown at the Pentagon and various agencies. I'm not sure that happens - but stay tuned.
SHUTDOWN. "Under no circumstances can we tolerate a government shutdown, which will hurt the American people," said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
VACATE. Will there be GOP reprisals for Speaker Johnson over this deal? Probably not right now - but there definitely is a lot of grumbling among Republicans about what’s happened over the past five months since Kevin McCarthy was ousted. “Mike Johnson blew it,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX).
GOP MAJORITY. When the first minibus was voted on, the final margin was much larger than expected. Does that get repeated today? What happens to Speaker Johnson if a majority of Republicans vote against this plan?
TAR HEEL. "I'm concerned for him, whether his speakership will be able to deliver change," Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) said of Johnson. "Everything that he has done to this point indicates that it will perpetuate the status quo."
GAETZ. Asked if he would try to oust Johnson, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) - who spearheaded the push against Kevin McCarthy - said no. “If we vacated this Speaker, we would end up with a Democrat,” Gaetz told reporters.
UNITY. The biggest problem for House Republicans is that they can’t stay unified. You can’t negotiate big legislative wins if your party won’t stick together to pass spending bills. And the GOP sure isn’t unified today.
WASTE OF TIME. Think about it. Six months ago right now, the Freedom Caucus was really starting to cause trouble for Speaker McCarthy over the 2024 funding bills. Was this extended GOP squabble really worth it?
EARMARKS. One thing that’s easy to grasp about the government funding package going before the House and Senate today is how much local stuff gets added in. You might call it pork barrel spending. Lawmakers label those items as 'Community Project Funding’ or ‘Congressionally Directed Spending.’
LOCAL PROJECTS. After battling with my spreadsheets on Thursday, I came up with a total of 1,469 local projects in this second minibus. Here are some links so you can look through these items yourself.
PROJECTS. Remember, one person's needed local project is someone else's waste of money. Does the University of Louisiana at Lafayette need $2 million for a biomedical innovation center? Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) thought so. Does a high school in Arizona need $1.4 million for a box culvert project? Arizona's Senators thought so.
RED STATES. Most Republicans in Congress swear off earmarks. But some GOP Senators were happy to bring home the bacon, like in Mississippi. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) had her name on 41 projects, many of them shared with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS). Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had 25 projects for South Carolina.
SIZE. Here are the largest earmarks that I found in this package:
$17.5 million - Eisenhower Presidential Library (Sen. Moran R-KS)
$15 million - Neurological care/facilities (Manchin/Capito D/R-WV)
$15 million - Community housing facilities (Sen. Collins R-ME)
$15 million - Health facilities, Lyon College (Sen. Boozman R-AR)
$15 million - Health facilities, Marshall University (Manchin/Capito)
$15 million - Health facilities, Univ. Arkansas Pine Bluff (Boozman)
SENATORS. If you look at the earmarks in today's package, it's like Oprah Winfrey showed up during the Labor-HHS talks and started handing out money to Senators. "YOU GET AN EARMARK! AND YOU GET AN EARMARK!" Start here on page 36 - and you'll notice it is almost all earmarks requested by Senators of both parties. And it goes on for 103 pages.
UKRAINE. Congress is ready to go on yet another break without any action by the House on aid for Ukraine. It's been over a month since the Senate voted 70-29 to pass a military aid package for Ukraine and Israel - but Speaker Mike Johnson has not moved to hold a vote of any kind on assistance for Ukraine. And the GOP has not unveiled any alternative.
DISCHARGE. Three more lawmakers signed the House discharge petition to force a vote on that Senate bill, but backers still need 30 signatures. One of those signing was Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), who will resign from the House today. Under the rules, his signature stays valid until his successor is elected in late June.
PETITION. Buck also signed the petition of a bipartisan group, which wants to have a vote on a bill that combines aid for Ukraine with extra border security measures at home. That only has 16 signatures.
DEMS. "Sooner or later, Speaker Johnson is going to have to actually act with some courage and bring a robust Ukraine aid bill to the floor," said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA). "We cannot abandon the Ukrainian people now."
DON'T WAIT. Democrats also continue to echo the old Fram oil filter commercial. "If you think supporting our allies is expensive, wait until you see the cost after abandoning them," said Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-IL).
USEFUL IDIOT. Speaking of Ukraine, I was a bit surprised to see Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) tweeting out a story attacking Ukraine - which came from the Kremlin-backed RT news site. Yep. GOP members of Congress who oppose more aid to Ukraine are sending out links to straight up Russian propaganda. Burchett later deleted that post.
SOCIAL SECURITY. I told you yesterday to expect Democrats to demagogue a new budget plan from the House Republican Study Group, which called for an increase in the retirement age for Social Security. They did on Thursday - but it wasn't just Democrats voicing their opposition to that plan.
BIG LOU. One influential conservative media voice immediately attacked, labeling it "The Never Trump Republican Study Group," criticizing GOP lawmakers for even raising the issue of Social Security changes in an election year. "They're trying to defeat Trump," said Lou Dobbs.
BIDEN. The White House and Democrats were more than happy to pile on as well. "This extreme budget will cut Medicare, Social Security, and the Affordable Care Act," President Biden said in a written statement. "It endorses a national abortion ban."
DEETS. That last line is a reminder that the RSC budget was jammed with all sorts of conservative policy items, offering Democrats a veritable cornucopia of attack lines. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called it ‘a wish list for Donald Trump and the MAGA hard-right.'
HUNTER BIDEN. I told you yesterday about the latest dud of an impeachment hearing this week from House Republicans. What was really notable on Thursday was how quiet most GOP lawmakers were about the impeachment investigation as a whole. But don't take my word for it. Listen to the words of House Republicans.
GOP. "I have yet to see any evidence that would warrant, or rise, to impeachment," Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) told MSNBC on Thursday. "We’re not going to have the votes," Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) said when asked if the impeachment effort is over. "I don’t think we ever did.”
DEMS. "They haven't found any evidence that Joe Biden did anything wrong," said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL). "They still haven't presented a shred of evidence," added Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
SIT ROOM. Again, just read the room right now. There is absolutely no sense of momentum among House Republicans about the Biden investigation. And even when you tune in to conservative media programs, the questions are often downbeat about what's next.
ТОВАРИЩ. If anything, more questions need to be asked about the involvement of Moscow. "The impeachment proceedings that bring us here now are predicated on a bunch of false information that is being spread by the Kremlin," Lev Parnas testified this week. He should know - Parnas was with Rudy Giuliani in Ukraine when the effort to dig up dirt on the Bidens began.
FIRST AMENDMENT. I was reminded of the GOP struggles on impeachment while listening to arguments this week in a big case before the Supreme Court. Why? Because it reminded me of how Republicans often make eye-catching claims - and then can’t back it up with details that stick.
FIZZLE. For example, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) called the Murthy vs. Missouri case, 'the most consequential free speech case in U.S. history.' But it sure didn’t sound like it - as the arguments about the feds pressuring social media firms landed with a big thud at the High Court. Read why in my column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
HOMESTEAD. Thursday on Capitol Hill, I felt like I was out in Wyoming and Montana visiting my relatives. I haven't seen so many cowboy hats in a long time. At first, I thought it was just a lot of people in town for Spring Break. And then I realized it was probably the news of the day in the Senate.
FOOT-AND-MOUTH. Usually when Congress uses a special process to try to repeal a federal rule, it's a tight vote. Not this time - as the Senate voted 70-25 to stop the feds from lifting a ban on imported beef from Paraguay. That ban had been in place for 25 years over concerns about foot-and-mouth disease.
CATTLEMEN. "Thank you to the strong bipartisan group of senators who voted to overturn the harmful decision to allow Paraguay beef imports into the United States,” said Wyoming rancher Mark Eisele, the head of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. The plan now goes to the House.
RAP SHEET. A Colorado man was found guilty this week of assaulting police on Jan. 6 at the Capitol. Patrick Montgomery scuffled with one officer and tried to take his baton. Montgomery and two others then confronted police just off the Senate floor. All three will be sentenced on July 2.
CENTENNIAL. Another Colorado man has been sentenced to over five years in prison for his actions on Jan. 6. Jeffrey Sabol helped drag a D.C. police officer down the stairs and into the mob of rioters on the west front of the Capitol. Sabol later tried to flee the country, but was arrested in New York.
MUSE OF HISTORY. March 22, 1892. The U.S. Capitol has long been plagued by complaints about ventilation, especially in the Senate. "As constructed now, it is evident to every Senator that it is a box without any access to the outside atmosphere," Sen. George Vest of Missouri said of the Senate chamber on this date. Vest complained that a recently built tunnel was bringing air into the Capitol which was filled with 'decaying vegetable matter.'
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House meets at 9 am.
The Senate convenes 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.
So the decaying vegetable matter was more offensive than the piles of bull plop from the Senate Chamber?
I’m going to miss the “Bucked” section titles