Rand Paul blocks vote on Ukraine aid
Democrats focus on gas pump price gouging
Ukraine will have to wait another week for more military aid from the U.S. The Jan. 6 committee sends subpoenas to five Republicans. And more records for Vice President Kamala Harris. This is “Regular Order” for May 13, 2022.
UKRAINE DELAY. Ignoring bipartisan calls for quick action, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) refused to allow a vote Thursday on a nearly $40 billion aid package for Ukraine. The move will delay final action in the Senate for as much as a week. "We cannot save Ukraine by dooming the U.S. economy," Paul said, as he single-handedly stopped the spending package.
OVERSIGHT. Paul wants to add a plan which guarantees closer oversight on how money for Ukraine is spent - much like a special review for spending on the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. Democrats offered him a vote on that amendment - but he wanted the provision added to the bill.
ENCORE. If Paul's delaying tactics sound familiar, it is because we've seen this movie before. In late March, Paul also slowed action on a Russia trade sanctions bill. This latest delay drew an immediate rebuke on the Senate floor from a red-faced Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
GRAHAM. "To my Republican colleagues who vote against this package - what is your alternative?" Graham said, predicting that if Putin is not stopped in Ukraine, he will attack other nations in Europe. "This is one of the biggest moments in the 21st century," Graham added. "Whose side are you on?"
NEXT WEEK. The delay in the aid for Ukraine left leaders in both parties aggravated. "The Ukrainians need it," Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said. "We need to do it today." But McConnell’s Kentucky colleague wasn’t letting that happen.
PARLIAMENTARY NERD NOTE. The Senate will take a procedural vote on Monday evening related to the Ukraine bill. But without breaking much of a sweat, Paul can delay a final vote until next Thursday or Friday.
JANUARY 6. The committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol took the extraordinary step on Thursday of issuing subpoenas to five Republican lawmakers who have refused to answer questions about that day. "We urge our colleagues to comply with the law, do their patriotic duty, and cooperate," said panel chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS).
THE LIST. Along with House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, the subpoenas went to Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL). The response was defiance. Perry channeled Donald Trump by calling the investigation a 'political witch hunt.' Biggs labeled it 'pure political theater.'
HISTORY. Other than an ethics investigation, I don't know of any time when a committee of Congress has issued a subpoena to a fellow member of the House or Senate. Republicans expressed outrage. "May 12th will be remembered as the day that House Democrats broke Congress," said Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN).
PROBE. Democrats were having none of that. "It's really simple," said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA). "The Capitol was attacked. And Republican members have information relevant to our investigation." But no one expects the GOP lawmakers to provide any answers.
FED CHIEF. The Senate on Thursday finally confirmed Jerome Powell for a second term as the head of the Federal Reserve. The vote was 80 to 19. Powell may be the only person to be confirmed by the Senate both under President Trump and under President Biden.
NO VOTES. Just four Republicans voted against Powell in 2018. Four years later, 13 GOP Senators voted 'No.' On the flip side, fewer Democrats opposed Powell on this second go-round. Funny how stuff works that way.
POWELL. We’ll see how popular Powell remains in the months ahead, as the Fed is expected to repeatedly increase interest rates in hopes of snuffing out high inflation.
INFLATION. As I mentioned yesterday, Democrats in the Congress have offered very few legislative answers when it comes to dealing with inflation. Instead, they are mainly jawboning Big Oil and other businesses, accusing them of using higher prices to make gigantic profits.
PRICE GOUGING. Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday that the House will vote next week on a bill to give the Federal Trade Commission more powers to punish price gouging at the gas pump. "These giant corporations only care about the bottom line," said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI).
DOMESTIC OIL. But those kinds of ideas fall short for the GOP, as Republicans would rather expand domestic oil production as a way to drive down oil prices - instead of yelling about profits. "Blaming inflation on businesses insults the American people," said Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA).
DRILLING LEASES. Republicans were furious as well over a move by the Biden Administration to cancel new oil and gas drilling permits in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. "They're doing nothing to unleash American energy," said Rep. French Hill (R-AR).
TARIFFS. Donald Trump took a lot of flak for slapping tariffs on China and Europe - and then seeing those trading partners retaliate with their own tariffs on American exports. Joe Biden has left the vast majority of those Trump tariffs in place. Some argue that's a mistake when it comes to the U.S. economy.
INFLATION. "Eliminating the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump is the biggest and most obvious policy lever that President Biden could pull to help mitigate inflation," the CATO Institute - not exactly a bastion of liberalism - said this week. But there’s no sign that’s happening.
BIG DOLLARS. Opponents of tariffs argue they are nothing more than taxes on American businesses and consumers. In April, Uncle Sam brought in $9 billion in customs duties on imports - $58 billion so far in 2022. It might hit $100 billion for this fiscal year.
INDIAN SCHOOLS. The United States doesn't exactly have the best record when it comes to the treatment of Native American tribes, and that's been exposed again in a new report from the Interior Department on Indian boarding schools. You can read the first part of the report released this week at this link.
TRAIL OF TEARS. Along with widespread mistreatment of Indian children, the report says investigators have found "at least 53 burial sites for children" located where those Federal Indian Boarding schools were operated. The report acknowledges over 500 deaths - but that is likely a low estimate.
INTERIOR. "This report confirms that the United States directly targeted American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children in the pursuit of a policy of cultural assimilation that coincided with Indian territorial dispossession," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland was told.
SENATE PAGES. Not only did Sen. Ron Paul (R-KY) block an aid bill for Ukraine, but he tried on Thursday to stop the Senate from requiring Senate Pages to have a booster shot against the Coronavirus. "There is no clinical data to say 15-16 year olds should get a booster," Paul said, as the Pages watched on the Senate floor.
MASKS. Paul also ridiculed the masks being worn by the Pages - the high school juniors who go to school early in the morning, and then work on the Senate floor the rest of the day. Paul tried to pass a resolution to drop any vaccination or mask requirements - but that went nowhere.
JUDGES. Paul on Thursday also prevented a vote on another bill, which would restrict the personal information of federal judges from getting online. The Kentucky Republican wants that extended to members of Congress.
AMERICA FIRST. We saw the seeds of growing GOP opposition to U.S. support for Ukraine in the fight against Russia's invasion. 57 House Republicans this week voted against a $40 billion aid package. That's my column this week for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
HERITAGE. The conservative Heritage Action group also denounced the plan. "Ukraine Aid Package Puts America Last," Heritage declared, saying the package 'recklessly sends our taxpayer dollars to a foreign nation without any accountability.' Don't sleep on this one. Ukraine will get more partisan.
COMPETITIVENESS. Yesterday brought the first meeting of the House-Senate conference committee tasked with hammering out a final deal on a sweeping China Competitiveness bill. It won't be the easiest negotiation, as there are 107 lawmakers on the panel.
MEETING. "Today is a historic day," said Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) who is chairing the conference. "Let's roll up our sleeves, strengthen America’s supply chains, help drive down costs for Americans, and reinvigorate manufacturing here at home."
DETAILS. The plan is headlined by $52 billion to spur domestic manufacturing of semiconductor chips. But don't be surprised if both parties try to use this bill for some last-minute items which weren't in the original House or Senate bills (like tax provisions).
SENATE NERD NOTE. It turns out the four tie-breaking votes cast by Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday made history. It was the first time that a V.P. broke four tie votes in a single day. John Adams, Elbridge Gerry, Schuyler Colfax, and James Sherman had all cast three in one day (in fact, Adams did it three times) but no one had hit for the cycle.
TIEBREAKER. Harris had one more tie-breaking vote on Thursday. That gives her 23, for third place. John Adams is second with 29. John C. Calhoun cast the most tie-breakers as Vice President, with 31.
MUSE OF HISTORY. May 13, 1862. On this date in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, a group of slaves - led by a future member of Congress - stole away in a Confederate ammunition transport ship. Spearheaded by Robert Smalls, the group picked up family members and made its way past Fort Sumter and other Confederate positions, ultimately surrendering the vessel to the Union naval blockade offshore. A Congressional report in 1883 said Smalls showed 'a degree of courage, well directed by intelligence and patriotism, of which the nation may well be proud.' Smalls ultimately was elected to Congress from his native South Carolina, and served five terms in the U.S. House after the Civil War.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House meets at 9 am.
The Senate convenes next on Monday.
President Biden’s daily schedule link.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
See the full Regular Order archive.