Trump again hits effort to force sale of TikTok

McConnell to Speaker on Ukraine aid: "Finish the job"

Mar 15, 2024

Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for March 15, 2024:

Johnson says GOP won’t act on IVF protections.
Schumer stirs hornet’s nest with Israel criticism.
An update on ‘Missing Bills’ in the House.

TIKTOK. Ignoring a strong bipartisan House vote this week to force the sale of TikTok over its ties to China, former President Donald Trump continued Thursday to criticize a bill which could lead to a ban of the popular social media app in the U.S. In a post on his own website yesterday, Trump again downplayed the threat from TikTok - which he once promised to ban.

TRUTH SOCIAL. "TIKTOK IS LESS OF A DANGER TO THE USA THAN META (FACEBOOK!), WHICH IS A TRUE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE," Trump wrote. "FACEBOOK IS A GREAT THREAT TO DEMOCRACY, AND IT WILL ONLY GET BIGGER AND STRONGER IF TIKTOK IS TAKEN OUT."
FOUR YEARS AGO. It was a bit different on July 31, 2020, when Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One. "As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States," Trump declared then.
FLIP FLOP. What's changed for Trump? Well, there have been reports that Trump met recently with a very wealthy conservative donor - who happens to own a bunch of ByteDance, the Chinese-affiliated company that owns TikTok.

GOP. On TikTok, Trump finds himself at odds with most Republicans in Congress - which is highly unusual, as a lot of GOP lawmakers take great pains to never cross Trump. “The Chinese Communist Party shouldn’t be in control of Americans’ data or the information we see online,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-OK).

SENATE SAUCER. Despite the strong vote this week, there doesn’t seem to be any plan for the Senate to swiftly vote on the House-passed TikTok bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer didn’t mention it yesterday, and there was absolutely no sense in the hallways that action is imminent.

UKRAINE. House Republicans will leave a policy retreat in West Virginia today still trying to forge a plan on how to deal with aid for Ukraine - as pressure continues to build on Speaker Mike Johnson to act. Another blunt message was delivered on Thursday by Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, in a speech on the Senate floor.

AID. "It's time for the House to take up the Senate-passed national security supplemental and finish the job," McConnell said, again warning Speaker Johnson against further delay. "Putin is not playing for a tie," McConnell said. "He will not stop at Ukraine. He's told us and he's shown us."
HOUSE. Republicans in the House have been trying to cobble together some kind of alternative aid plan - like a 'loan' package for Ukraine, and plans to seize frozen Russian assets in U.S. banks. But nothing has been finalized by the Speaker, as the rank and file itch for action.

GOP. "We can't afford to let Putin roll over Ukraine and take over Moldova and Georgia and threaten the Baltics," Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) told reporters on Thursday when asked about aid to Ukraine. "It's dire. We need to pass it soon."

POLITICAL ROOM. "I know how urgent it is, but I also want to give Speaker Johnson the room as a new Speaker,” said Rep. French Hill (R-AR), “to deliver an approach that he likes.”
SPEAKER. Johnson has indicated that the House won’t act on Ukraine until after the final six 2024 government funding bills are finished. But that might not happen until the end of next week. And after that, the House is out until the week of April 8.

DISCHARGE UPDATE. With no legislative business in the House on Thursday, there was no change in the number of lawmakers who have signed special petitions to force a vote on Ukraine aid. 14 members have signed up to support a bipartisan plan; 177 Democrats have signed on to back a Senate-passed aid package. 218 signatures are needed.

BIEN SUR. How difficult is the situation right now for Ukraine? French President Emmanuel Macron last night - in a nationally televised TV interview - would not rule out the idea of sending French troops into Ukraine. "To have peace in Ukraine, we must not be weak," Macron said.

USA. Macron's comments come as European leaders remain stunned by Speaker Johnson's refusal to act on aid for Ukraine. Earlier this week, Poland's Prime Minister publicly criticized the Speaker, saying U.S. delays were endangering Ukrainian lives - and helping the Russians.
KREMLIN. For those who want negotiations to begin between Kyiv and Moscow, what does Russia want from Ukraine? Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev - still a top deputy to Vladimir Putin - outlined these demands on Thursday:
- "Complete and unconditional surrender" by Ukraine.
- All of Ukraine’s territory under Russian control.
- "Forced denazification of all government bodies."
- Parliament will be dissolved.

ISRAEL. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stirred international tensions between the U.S. and Israel on Thursday, as Schumer used a floor speech to call for the replacement of Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister of Israel - basically saying Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace efforts in the Middle East.

SCHUMER. "At this critical juncture, I believe a new election in Israel is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel," said Schumer. "Netanyahu lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence."
REBUKE. Inside the Capitol, the Schumer speech set off a storm of criticism from Republicans. "To have Senate Majority Leader Schumer attacking the democratically-elected leadership of Israel is disgraceful," said Speaker Mike Johnson.
MCCONNELL. "This is unprecedented," fumed Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, who rebuked Schumer on the Senate floor. "It is grotesque and hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of a democratically elected leader of Israel."

BOTTOM LINE. What's this all about? While Democrats certainly believe Israel has the right to respond to the Hamas attacks last October, many feel Netanyahu is going too far - and that too many innocents are dying in Gaza. Democrats are trying to thread a political needle here - look for Republicans to cast themselves as the only true defenders of Israel.

REGULAR ORDER. What a time to be covering the Congress! Please help spread the word about this newsletter and support independent journalism on Capitol Hill. And if you want to say ‘thanks’ - you can buy me a beer.

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IVF. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday that he is not in favor of federal legislation to protect access to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatments, which help couples overcome fertility issues in order to have children. "It's not my belief that Congress needs to play a role here," Johnson said Thursday.

YELLOWHAMMER. The issue surfaced in recent weeks when the Alabama Supreme Court made a ruling which raised legal questions about IVF. That decision resulted in IVF clinics temporarily shutting down operations in Alabama. "It's something that we should protect access to," the Speaker added - but he said that's not the job of Congress.
DEMS. "Their refusal to act speaks volumes," said Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), as Democrats continue to pressure GOP lawmakers about IVF. "Speaker Johnson could call a vote any time to protect IVF nationally, he just doesn’t want to," said Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI)

PARTY LINE. While a number of Republicans have expressed their support for IVF - only one GOP lawmaker has taken the next step and actually endorsed a bill in Congress to achieve that. "I will support and fight to protect all women and families who choose IVF," said Rep. Mark Molinaro (R-NY).

FUNDING. Lawmakers headed home for the weekend not quite sure what next week will bring, as Congress faces a partial government shutdown deadline a week from today, on March 22. It's expected that the fine print of six more funding bills will be unveiled no later than Sunday, with pressure for a quick vote in the House and Senate.

DEADLINE. The biggest chunk of spending that lawmakers must still deal with is for the Pentagon - but the most controversial piece covers the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for the Border Patrol and other efforts to combat illegal immigration.
BORDER. If the two parties can’t agree on how to change policies to deal with a surge of migrants, how are they going to agree on how much money DHS needs to operate?
SPRING BREAK. If Congress lets DHS go into shutdown, then you will have Americans flying through airports where TSA workers aren’t getting paid. That doesn’t sound like the best Easter break PR for Republicans.
STOPGAP. I wonder if five of the bills will get done, and the DHS bill will stay on a temporary funding extension. To quote Bob Schieffer of CBS, my neighbor for many years in the press gallery, “Time will tell.”

TUESDAY. Both the House and Senate seem to be planning for a late work week, as neither chamber will return for votes until next Tuesday. Stay tuned.

MISSING BILLS. At their party retreat in West Virginia this week, GOP leaders repeatedly mentioned how the House approved a major energy bill, H.R. 1 - their party’s top legislative priority. And yet - as I have pointed out repeatedly - House Republicans still haven’t sent that bill to the Senate. It’s not the only bill gathering dust in the House.

118TH CONGRESS. When I think about the dysfunction of the House in the current Congress, I start with the GOP decision to pass bills and not send them to the Senate. Not only have Republicans held back bills like H.R. 1, but they have then criticized the Senate for not voting on those same bills. (!)
MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE. Here is the updated list of measures (with the date of the vote) which have been approved by the House - but not sent over to the Senate. For those who don’t understand - THIS IS NOT NORMAL.
- H.R. 1 - Lower Costs Energy Act (3/30/23)
- H.R. 589 - Sanctions against Iran (9/12/23)
- H.R. 1163 - COVID unemployment fraud (5/11/23)
- H.R. 3799 - Small business health plans (6/21/23)
- H.R. 4367 - Homeland Security funding (9/28/23)
- H.R. 5378 - Health care price transparency (12/11/23)
- H. Res. 863 - Mayorkas impeachment (2/13/24)

ENERGY. Republicans announced yesterday that next week will be 'Energy Week' in the House, as Speaker Johnson and Majority Leader Scalise both talked about how the House passed H.R. 1 - their top legislative priority - on energy. How can you brag about passing a bill, but never send it to the Senate? That just makes no sense.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY. Even though the House is out of session, Speaker Mike Johnson will be at the Capitol today to host an annual 'Friends of Ireland' lunch with President Biden and the Prime Minister of Ireland, known as the Taoiseach.

PINT OF HARP. The tradition of this gathering began back in 1983, when Speaker Tip O'Neill and President Ronald Reagan came together. Capitol Hill legend has it that the lunch was more about getting those two to work together - rather than about Ireland and foreign policy.
REAGAN. "When I see my old friend, Tip O'Neill," Reagan said at the 1987 lunch, "I can't help but feel that we're living testimony to the notion that Irishmen love a good scrap. Some of us have been in a few of them in our day, and before we leave Washington, I'm certain we'll be in a few more."

JAN. 6. Republicans this week rolled out their biggest push yet in the GOP effort to run interference for Donald Trump over Jan. 6 - and the conservative media machine did its level best to spread that far and wide. But the new GOP report was little more than an airing of grievances about the Jan. 6 committee.

GEORGIA. Trump publicly praised the efforts of Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), who has been working for more than a year to poke holes in the Jan. 6 committee findings. But his report changes little about what happened that day - we all saw how Trump supporters attacked police and forced lawmakers to flee. More in my column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

RAP SHEET. A federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment yesterday against two Georgia brothers for their actions on Jan. 6. Video from the Capitol Rotunda that day shows Seth and Cepane Sarty skirmishing with police officers who were trying to flush rioters out of the building. They were arrested in February.

MUSE OF HISTORY. March 15, 1869. On this date, Rep. John Shanks of Indiana tried to bring up a plan to force states to vote on constitutional amendments which had been approved by Congress. It required state legislatures - at 12 noon on the 'sixth day of a regular session' to proceed to such tasks. The idea didn't get far. "I call for the regular order," said Rep. Ebon Ingersoll of Illinois.

LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House next has votes on Tuesday.

The Senate has votes on Tuesday.

Check President Biden’s schedule.

Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.

Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com

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