Senate sends Ukraine aid to Biden

GOP presses Biden to okay planes for Ukraine

Congress approves extra aid for Ukraine. Lawmakers finally finish the budget for 2022. And pork barrel spending makes a triumphant return amid better news on the federal deficit. This is “Regular Order” for March 11, 2022.

UKRAINE AID. The U.S. Senate voted 68 to 31 on Thursday night to approve $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine, sending the package of emergency humanitarian and military assistance to President Biden for his signature. "It's a very good night for this country, a good, bipartisan night," said Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer.

• BIDEN. The White House eagerly echoed that assessment. "With these resources, we will be able to deliver historic support for the Ukrainian people as they defend their country and democracy," said Press Secretary Jen Psaki. 18 Republicans joined with all Democrats to vote for the plan.

• GOP. But 31 Republicans could not stomach voting for the Ukraine aid as part of the $1.5 trillion Omnibus funding bill for the government. "While I strongly support providing Ukrainians desperately needed aid, I ultimately could not support the rest of this bloated spending bill," said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT).

RUSSIAN OIL. Senators left town for the weekend without voting on a House-passed bill to ban the import of Russian oil and gas. It was not immediately clear when the issue would come to the floor. Senate Majority Leader Schumer made no mention of it as he wrapped up work late last night.

• RUSSIA TRADE. The delay will give the Senate extra time to tackle more than just the oil import question, as key Senators have already filed a bill which would suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus. The House is also expected to tackle those trade matters as soon as next week.

POLISH PLANES. GOP Senators used a hearing with top intelligence officials on Thursday to criticize the refusal of President Biden to help Poland transfer fighter jets to Ukraine. "It is our analysts' assessment that the transfer of these airplanes could be seen as a significant escalation," said Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.

• GOP. That concern about Russia’s response did not sit well with Republicans, who argued there is no difference between sending planes or anti-tank weapons. "Ukraine needs MiG aircraft, and we should get it to them," said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT). "The U.S. cannot continue to delay," said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS).

• LETTER. Forty Republicans signed on to a letter urging the President to take Poland’s offer - but the White House and Pentagon were digging in their heels. "On the escalation ladder, that is escalatory," said Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

CHINESE INTEL. One of the more interesting nuggets related to Ukraine in this week's intelligence hearings was how the Russian attack surprised Beijing. "President Xi in particular is unsettled by what he's seen partly because his own intelligence does not appear to have told him what was going to happen," said CIA Director William Burns.

• NATO UNITY. Burns said there was one other surprise for Beijing. "President Putin has driven Americans and Europeans more closely together and strengthened the transatlantic alliance in ways that would have been a little hard to imagine before the invasion began," the CIA chief said.

OMNIBUS. As mentioned above, the Senate on Thursday sent President Biden a $1.5 trillion funding package for the federal government. The plan increases the defense budget by 5.6 percent to $782 billion. Non-defense spending goes up 6.7 percent to $730 billion. The vote came over five months into the new fiscal year.

• EARMARKS. A group of GOP Senators tried to sidetrack the Omnibus by stripping out hundreds of local projects known as "Congressionally Directed Spending." But the vote against pork barrel spending wasn't even close, as the Senate rejected the earmark amendment 64-35.

• GOP FOURTEEN. The 14 Republicans who voted keep earmarks in the Omnibus: Blunt MO, Burr NC, Capito WV, Collins ME, Graham SC, Hyde-Smith MS, Moran KS, Murkowski AK, Rounds SD, Tillis NC, Shelby AL, Sullivan AK, Wicker MS, and Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.

• VIRUS VACCINES. Republicans also tried again to block the use of a vaccine mandates by the feds related to the Coronavirus. That lost on a party-line vote of 50 to 49.

• INHOFE. The one absent Senator was Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK). The Oklahoma Republican has not voted since February 17. Inhofe plans to resign at the end of this Congress.

INFLATION. The latest numbers on inflation continue to paint a bad picture, as the Labor Department reported Thursday that consumer prices rose 0.8 percent in February. For the last 12 months, inflation is at 7.9 percent, the highest mark since 1982.

• GOP. "Inflation is a tax on all Americans," said Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA), as Republicans again hammered the White House and Democrats. "I guess as long as you don't need food, shelter, or to buy gas, everything is just perfect," said Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV).

BUDGET DEFICIT. February is a short month. But it was also an expensive one, as Uncle Sam ran up $217 billion in deficits. Still, it was much better than the $310 billion deficit in February 2021. The deficit so far in Fiscal Year 2022 stands at $475 billion, much less than the $1.05 trillion at the same point a year ago.

• NUMBERS. The trends of the past few months continued in February, with revenues going up and spending going down. Tax revenues so far in 2022 are up 27 percent, while federal spending has declined by 8 percent.

• STATE SURPLUS. I think the big improvement in the deficit will continue, especially when you look at strong budget reports in many states. It’s being driven by higher individual income tax withholding.

JANUARY 6. The first pre-trial detention hearing for Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio - arrested earlier this week in the January 6 investigation - has been delayed until March 15, to give his lawyers more time to review documents in the case. Tarrio was charged with conspiracy related to the attack.

• WHO IS IT. There's one item in the Tarrio indictment that I can’t shake. It says that one week before the Capitol Attack, 'an individual whose identity is known to the grand jury' sent Tarrio a nine-page document. It was titled "1776 Returns," and envisioned occupying House and Senate office buildings.

RegularOrder @_RegularOrder

"An individual whose identity is known to the grand jury"

MASK SUIT. A day after a federal judge tossed out their lawsuit against a mask rule on the House floor during the Coronavirus outbreak, three GOP lawmakers filed for an appeal. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) will now take their case to a federal appeals court.

• SPEECH AND DEBATE. Judge Reggie B. Walton said the mask rules were "legislative acts" because "(1) they regulate Members’ conduct in the House Chamber...and (2) they fall within the House’s authority to enact rules regarding its legislative process and to discipline Members for non-compliance."

• BOTTOM LINE. It should be no surprise that this lawsuit was rejected. The courts give great deference to Congress when it comes to lawsuits against the House and Senate over their rules of procedure.

MRS. GREENE OF GEORGIA. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) introduced a plan this week to require votes on every bill and amendment on the House floor. Greene could go to the House floor and force those votes herself each day - if she wanted to. But evidently, she’s busy. That's my column this week for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

• PROXY VOTING. Greene’s plan would also eliminate proxy voting, put in place by Democrats during the Coronavirus outbreak. While Greene and other GOP lawmakers have roundly criticized the system, just last week Greene helped Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) to vote by proxy.

• OUTFOXED. I did have to chuckle at Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) late on Wednesday night. He forced several procedural votes, because he was mad that a 4-day funding bill was approved by voice vote. Like Greene - if Roy had been on the floor, he could have asked for the vote. But he wasn’t there.

• LEGISLATIVE NERD NOTE. Speaking of that 4-day stopgap funding plan - it was approved last night in the Senate, even though it wasn’t needed because the Omnibus had been passed.

CAWTHORN. Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) has had an interesting week. First, it was revealed that he was stopped for speeding while driving with an expired license, which also came on the heels of other speeding tickets. Now, a video shows Cawthorn calling the leader of Ukraine a 'thug.'

• GOP. Asked about the comment, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) called Vladimir Putin an 'actual murderous thug.' Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also shushed Cawthorn. "When you see a member of Congress say things like this, the one thing I want you to know is there are outliers in the largest sense possible.”

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MUSE OF HISTORY. March 11, 1864. On this date, Vice President Hannibal Hamlin was otherwise occupied, and could not fulfill his duties to preside over the Senate. "I shall be absent from the city to-day," Hamlin wrote. In other words, the Veep needed a sub. That fell to the Senate's senior member, Sen. Solomon Foot of Vermont, who was often tapped as President Pro Tempore during the Civil War. "Distinguished by his white hair, massive head, and pleasant smile, Foot was regarded as the 'most senatorial of senators,'" wrote Sen. Robert C. Byrd in his History of the Senate.

LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House next has votes on Tuesday.

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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