Republicans derail spending work in House and Senate

McCarthy basically dares critics to try to oust him

Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for September 15, 2023:

• McCarthy rips his own GOP members over spending impasse.

• A wasted week makes a shutdown look more likely.

• The two parties try to lobby the press on Hunter Biden.

---

SPENDING. Facing a September 30 shutdown deadline, the House and Senate left town on Thursday with both chambers in disarray on spending for next year. House Republicans were unable to vote on any funding bills this week - with GOP lawmakers still at odds. Meanwhile, the Senate hit the brakes on a bipartisan spending package when Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) blocked work on the floor. Right now, it’s hard to imagine Congress avoiding a government shutdown.

---

HOUSE. With Republican rebels blocking work on a Pentagon spending bill, Speaker Kevin McCarthy tore into his critics at a closed door GOP meeting on Thursday. He ripped their refusal to act on spending bills and their threats to force a shutdown. "Nobody wins in a government shutdown," McCarthy said.

• REPORTER'S NOTE. McCarthy is absolutely right. The three big GOP-led shutdowns in 1995-96, 2013, and 2018-19 were all failures. But now McCarthy finds himself maybe looking at a 2023 repeat - and it’s clearly not his first choice. That's my column this week for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

• GOP. "I think the Speaker is rightfully irritated," said Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who criticized Freedom Caucus members for blocking action on the 12 government funding bills for next year. "It's holding up the progress of the House and undermines our party."

• VOTE. "The American people sent us here to work, but it sure doesn’t feel like we’re doing much of that right now," groused Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA). "It’s time to start voting."

• WHAT'S NEXT. No spending bills are on the schedule next week in the House. Instead, there is talk about voting on a temporary funding plan to avoid a shutdown - and maybe adding a major GOP border security bill to that measure. "Everything is being discussed," said Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD). "Be patient. We still have a little ways to go til September 30."

---

SPEAKER. McCarthy was not only trying to move forward on spending, but also dealing with basically an open rebellion against him from the Freedom Caucus. In the GOP meeting yesterday, the Speaker pretty much dared his critics to try to oust him. Along with dropping some F-bombs, McCarthy allies said his message was, "Bring it on."

• VACATE. McCarthy critics weren't ruling out the possibility of a showdown. "It depends on how he conducts himself over the next couple of weeks," said Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT). "I'm very unhappy with him on spending," added Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC). (I still don’t believe they have many votes - right now.)

• MCCARTHY. If the Speaker was worried about how the vote would turn out, he wasn't showing it. "I don't walk away from a battle," McCarthy said. The problem for the GOP Speaker is that members of his own party are defying him on legislation and threatening a shutdown. Who is in charge?

---

SENATE. What looked like a good week of work on a bipartisan three-bill Senate spending package was suddenly incinerated by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) on Thursday afternoon - as he objected to votes on a series of amendments from each party. The move derailed work on government funding, and left a key Republican fuming on the Senate floor.

• COLLINS. "If we cannot proceed to consider this bill," said Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), "then the Senate is broken once again." Collins accused Johnson of steering the Congress towards two unpleasant budget choices. "He is setting us up for either an omnibus bill or a government shutdown," Collins said.

• ISSUES. Johnson's move not only halted work on the Senate floor, but prevented Republicans from putting Democrats on the record on hot button issues. For example, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) wanted a vote to prevent all COVID mask mandates. But now that’s been blocked by a fellow GOP Senator.

• MURRAY. Democrats were also furious, after spending several months negotiating 12 different funding bills. "If we all want regular order to be part of this," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), "we can't have Senators obstructing the process needlessly."

• WHAT'S NEXT. Democrats are ready to move on to judicial nominations if they can’t get this bill back on track. They’ll be able to easily point the finger of blame at the GOP in both the House and Senate and say, "they won't let us work on the business of the American people."

---

REGULAR ORDER. I think I heard the phrase ‘regular order’ every day this week in the House and Senate. It was a good choice. Take a minute to help me spread the word about this newsletter, which offers a unique inside view from Capitol Hill. Support independent journalism by signing up, giving someone a gift subscription, or you can always just buy me a drink.

---

HUNTER BIDEN. The legal troubles expanded yesterday for President Biden's son, as the feds filed formal charges against Hunter Biden. The case centers around when Biden filled out paperwork to buy a gun, as Hunter denied that he was an unlawful user of illegal drugs. He was also charged with possessing a gun while using illegal drugs.

• DEMS. On Capitol Hill, Democrats took a familiar tack - saying if Hunter Biden broke the law, he should be held accountable. "We have to have a rule of law when people commit crimes," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who noted Democrats won't claim this is 'weaponization' of government.

• GOP. Many Republicans celebrated the charges but demanded more. "Where are the charges on human sex trafficking, FARA (foreign agent) charges, money laundering, tax evasion?" said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). "I think there should be a lot more coming."

IMPEACH. The charges came as some Republicans continued to express public doubts about the GOP case for the impeachment of the President - related to Hunter Biden's influence peddling. "There's not much evidence of links from Joe Biden to Hunter Biden," said Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO). "That's what they're looking for."

• ISSA. To me, the most interesting comments came from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who is no GOP slouch when it comes to attacking Democrats. Issa acknowledged to reporters that so far Republicans have not found any 'participation' by Joe Biden in Hunter Biden's big money foreign exploits.

---

COVERAGE. I did have to chuckle at both parties this week as they openly tried to lobby the Washington press corps on how to report about the Biden investigations in Congress. There is one thing to know about most reporters - if you tell us how to do our jobs, the chances are we’ll tell you to pound sand.

• HUNTER BIDEN. The White House all but demanded that the press undermine GOP claims. "It’s time for the media to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies," the White House wrote in an unusual memo for news organizations.

• WHITE HOUSE. I don't have a problem with either side telling us what they believe. But don’t tell me what I should report and how I should report it. That is processed by my ears like the sound of an adult talking in Peanuts.

NOTEBOOK. One thing I’ve seen GOP lawmakers do more of late is when reporters ask them a question that they don’t like - they ask you a question back, instead of answering. That happened yesterday when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was asked about Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

• Q: "What is your response to McCarthy this morning saying, 'bring it on?'"

• Greene: "What is you all's response to Hunter Biden being charged with three felony charges?”

• QUESTIONS. McCarthy did the same thing when asked about Republicans who did not think the evidence was there for impeachment. He then fired off questions about Hunter Biden to the reporter . "Do you have any concerns? Have you asked the White House any questions?" "Yes or no?" he prodded.

• YOUTUBE. "Speaker Kevin McCarthy Forces Reporter to Admit Evidence in Impeachment Inquiry," bellowed the headline on the video put out by the Speaker's office.

• OLD DAYS. Many years ago, there was a network TV technician at the White House who made some money on the side by selling news-related t-shirts. I bought a good one - "LIFE IN NEWS," it read on the front before delivering the reply on the back. "BLAME IT ON THE MEDIA."

---

JANUARY 6. A House panel has scheduled a hearing next week with Steven Sund, who was the Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police on Jan. 6. "I look forward to hearing the Chief’s testimony and his assessment of the security failures on January 6," said Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA).

• INTEL. Sund has publicly criticized the lack of warnings about intelligence gathered by the FBI and Homeland Security which pointed at possible violence on Jan. 6. Sund also complained about a lackluster response by the military, which did not quickly deliver National Guard forces to help that day.

• TAPES. Sund will testify before the Committee on House Administration, which is allowing reporters to view the security tapes from Jan. 6. I've spent 6 hours now poring over the internal videos - which show rioters relentlessly attacking police inside and outside the Capitol.

• GAETZ. Last night, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) went over to the gathering point for supporters of Jan. 6 defendants. Gaetz again called for his party to publicly release all of those tapes. From what I’ve seen, that would probably lead to a lot more rioters being identified, and a lot more prosecutions.

---

RAP SHEET. A Tennessee man has been sentenced to 78 months in prison for his actions on Jan. 6. After calling cops 'traitors,' Jose Padilla assaulted two police officers, hitting one in the head with a flagpole. "It's not a rally anymore it's a revolution," he texted that day.

• PRIVATE IDAHO. Hours after getting 30 months in jail for her actions on Jan. 6, Yvonne St. Cyr was defiant. "I am very proud of what I did and that pissed the judge off because I showed no remorse," the Idaho woman said.

• LAND OF LINCOLN. An Illinois man has pleaded guilty to interfering with police on Jan. 6. Tyng Yang was among rioters who entered through the Upper West Terrace Door. Once in the Rotunda, he grabbed an officer's baton as police tried to push rioters out.

---

MUSE OF HISTORY.  September 15, 1972.  On this date, a federal grand jury in Washington indicted the five Watergate burglars, along with E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy - two former aides to President Nixon.  While the Nixon Justice Department declared that the Watergate investigation was over, the FBI was still working on 'numerous investigative matters.'  Democrats in Congress also wanted more answers.  The Senate would launch its own investigation five months later. 

---

LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House is back on Monday.

The Senate returns on Monday.

Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.

Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com

If you want to say ‘thanks’ - you can buy me a beer - or a cup of coffee.