with help from Sarah Ferris
BLAME GAME — Congress is on track to let the beefed up unemployment benefits expire at the end of this week — and the preemptive finger-pointing on Capitol Hill has already begun. Heading into the weekend, Democratic leaders hammered Republicans for waiting until this month to start negotiating — compared to Democrats, who passed a bill back in May — and pointed out that the GOP still hasn’t released its own proposal, which has delayed bipartisan talks from taking place.
The joint statement from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer: “We had expected to be working throughout this weekend to find common ground on the next COVID response package. It is simply unacceptable that Republicans have had this entire time to reach consensus among themselves and continue to flail.”
But Republicans are now pushing a new strategy: breaking up the coronavirus package and voting on more narrow chunks, giving them more time to hammer out a broader deal. Democrats, however, have already rejected that piecemeal strategy, setting up a potential showdown — and blame game — if the GOP follows through. “There’s no reason for [Pelosi] to object to holding up unemployment insurance just because of a personal negotiating preference,” White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters in the Capitol. All the latest from Marianne and Nolan D. McCaskill: https://politi.co/2WZrU3x.
The posturing comes not only as unemployment benefits are set to expire — the final checks were set to be processed over the weekend — but also as the federal moratorium on evictions and the pause of federal student loan payments are poised to end soon — which could be a real mess with less than 100 days before the November election. But when pressed on the issue, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that there’s a plan in the works to lengthen the eviction moratorium. More from Juan Perez Jr.: https://politi.co/30RZIR5.
AS FAR AS TIMING … Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made a rare weekend trip to Capitol Hill to work with GOP leaders on ironing out the remaining sticking points. And Mnuchin confirmed that the GOP proposal was finally finished and would likely be released today. On the unemployment issue, Mnuchin said Republicans agreed to “an approximately 70% wage replacement,” per pool reporters.
But a quick reality check: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) acknowledged Friday that a deal with Democrats could take several weeks, while Pelosi said Congress can’t leave for August recess without passing a bill. Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had this dose of reality (and one that is not going to be helpful for bipartisan negotiations): “Half the Republicans are going to vote no to any Phase 4 package,” he said on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures. “That’s just a fact.”
Related read: “Congress Was Already Broken. The Coronavirus Could Make It Worse,” by NYT’s Carl Hulse: https://nyti.ms/2P0E7k9.
HELP WANTED — As House Republicans get outraised, GOP leaders have been pleading with the Republican National Committee and Trump campaign for some financial help. But so far, senior adviser Jared Kushner has rebuffed numerous requests from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to cut a check to the House GOP, reports WaPo.
It’s just the latest sign that there’s little optimism in the GOP and White House about winning back the House majority this fall. Instead, they’re more focused on retaining the White House and Senate. “The campaign just wants the money. . . . They don’t care about the House — it’s not their concern,” one official close with the Trump campaign told WaPo. The deets from Rachael Bade, Josh Dawsey and Michelle Ye Hee Lee: https://wapo.st/39tCmW9.
AND SPEAKING of House GOP fundraising … the guest list for the NRCC’s Battleground Dinner — which is being combined with the NRCC’s Spring Dinner after it was postponed numerous times due to the coronavirus — has been scaled back to members and their plus ones only, your Huddle host has learned. The fundraising fete is slated to take place in Union Station on Sept. 15, with Trump featured as the keynote speaker, according to a copy of the invite.
Donors had already bought tickets and tables to the high-profile event, and it’s unclear if anyone will be asking for refunds. But there’s a growing feeling on Capitol Hill that the dinner and reception are going to get scrapped altogether, especially given the new Covid-19 restrictions in the D.C. area and the fact that the Republican National Convention was just cancelled. The dinner is usually a massive affair that brings in piles of checks for the GOP: past events have had as many as 2,000 attendees, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Related read: “Republicans face worsening outlook in battle for House,” via The Hill’s Julia Manchester: https://bit.ly/2P0bPpK.
LAYING LEWIS TO REST — The late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol today and tomorrow. His casket is scheduled to arrive around 1 p.m., followed by a lying in state ceremony in the Capitol rotunda. Then the public viewing portion will begin on the East Front Plaza at around 6 p.m. Former vice president Joe Biden is expected to travel to D.C. to pay respects to Lewis at the Capitol.
Meanwhile … House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn plans to introduce a resolution Monday to rename the Democrats’ sweeping voting rights bill, HR 4, in honor of Lewis, per Sarah. The name change is expected to be made by unanimous consent. The Hill’s Cristina Marcos has a preview on how lawmakers are planning to bid Lewis farewell: https://bit.ly/2CUhbk7.
Related read: “A nation John Lewis helped unite salutes him on his final journey across Selma bridge,” by the Montgomery Advertiser’s Adam Tamburin: https://bit.ly/3f1ptUo.
HAPPY MONDAY! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this July 27, where your host thinks no one is working harder during this pandemic than Phillie Phanati (see here and here).
FRIDAY’S MOST CLICKED: The Montgomery Advertiser’s story on Rep. John Lewis’s funeral service plans in Alabama brought home the most clicks.
MORE YOHO FALLOUT — Rep. Ted Yoho’s ugly confrontation with AOC is actually having some consequences. More from HuffPo’s Hayley Miller: “Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) resigned Friday from the board of a prominent Christian advocacy organization after the group asked him to step down in response to his verbal attack on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) earlier in the week.
“Bread for the World, a nonpartisan group that seeks to alleviate hunger and poverty through public policy initiatives, announced Yoho’s departure in a statement on Saturday. ‘We believe that Rep. Ted Yoho’s recent actions and words as reported in the media are not reflective of the ethical standards expected of members of our Board of Directors,’ the group said in its statement. … Yoho’s office did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.” More: https://bit.ly/30OsVfP.
Related read: “From Donald Trump to Ted Yoho, Republicans are losing with women voters,” from CNN’s Maeve Reston: https://cnn.it/39yujXP.
REGRETS, I’VE HAD A FEW — Sen. Lindsey Graham has vowed to haul in former special counsel Robert Mueller to testify — something Democrats have also pushed for. But could such a blockbuster hearing, especially before the November election, backfire for either party? Andrew explores: “[H]auling Mueller back to the Capitol won’t be easy. And some doubt it will even happen so close to the election, in part because of the political land mines such an event would create for both Republicans and Democrats. …
“Despite the public bipartisan agreement, there are real obstacles and risks to securing Mueller’s testimony. For Republicans, a strong defense by Mueller could shed unwelcome light on President Donald Trump’s previous statements and conduct in the final stretch of the election. For Democrats, another halting performance by the ex-FBI chief could give Trump and his allies more ammunition for their attacks on the investigations that have dogged Trump and his associates for years.” More: https://politi.co/3g4sbtj.
BATTLE FOR THE SENATE — NYT’s Jonathan Martin has a dispatch on the Montana Senate race, reporting from on the ground in Bozeman: “Democratic hopes for gaining a clear Senate majority depend in part on winning in conservative-leaning states where Mr. Trump may also prevail, even as he sags in the polls. In states like Alaska, Iowa, Georgia and here in Montana, Democrats are hoping their Senate candidates can outperform Joseph R. Biden Jr., their presumptive nominee.
“That’s the dynamic Gov. Steve Bullock is counting on in Montana, where ticket-splitting is as much a way of life as fly-fishing. Montanans have supported Republican presidential candidates, with one exception, for over a half-century. In that same period, though, they have elected a series of Democratic governors and senators. Senator Steve Daines, whom Mr. Bullock is challenging, was the first Republican elected to the Senate seat that he holds in over a century.” More: https://nyti.ms/303MuS9.
Related read: “As pandemic limits scrutiny, GOP fears lesser-known Democratic candidates will steamroll to Senate majority,” by WaPo’s Paul Kane: https://wapo.st/39AwTg3.
NEW SCOTUS STANDARD — GOP Sen. Josh Hawley is laying down a new marker for what he needs to see from a Supreme Court nominee. WaPo’s Robert Costa with the story: “Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Sunday that he would not support any nominee for the Supreme Court unless they had publicly stated before their nomination that Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established federal protection for abortion, was ‘wrongly decided.’ …
“Hawley’s new marker comes as Republicans are preparing for the possibility that President Trump could name a third member of the court later this year, should there be a vacancy. And it comes as conservatives nationally are pushing to overhaul the court’s jurisprudence supporting the right of a woman to choose the procedure. But they have recently been disappointed by the court’s rulings on this front — and particularly by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.” More: https://wapo.st/30RBgPP.
Related read: “‘We will not be betrayed again’: Trump’s SCOTUS list hits a new roadblock,” from Gabby Orr: https://politi.co/32ZcgJa.
SAY WHAT? — Sen. Tom Cotton is facing some criticism for an interview with the Arkansas Democrat Gazette in which the Republican lawmaker said the Founding Fathers viewed slavery as a “necessary evil.” Cotton was discussing school curriculums and The New York Times’s 1619 Project.
The story from Frank E. Lockwood: “In the interview, Cotton said the role of slavery can’t be overlooked. ‘We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country. As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction,’ he said.” More: https://bit.ly/2CSySAn.
Related read: “Sen. Tom Cotton tries to clarify slavery comment, calls out ‘fake news,” via Fox News’ Edmund DeMarche: https://fxn.ws/2EoZwBt.
The Senate meets at 4 p.m. to resume consideration of the nomination of William Scott Hardy to be U.S. district judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania. At 5:30 p.m., the Senate will vote on confirmation of the Hardy nomination.
The House gavels in at 9 a.m., with first and last votes expected between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. Today’s agenda: https://bit.ly/3f0c7Yf.
The arrival ceremony honoring the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) starts at 1 p.m. on the East Front Plaza. The lying in state ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m. in the Capitol rotunda. The public viewing begins at 6 p.m. on the East Front Steps.
FRIDAY’S WINNER: James Casto was the first person to guess that President Andrew Johnson gave federal government workers time off to watch a baseball game on the White Lot — the former baseball field on the White House grounds in the area now known as the Ellipse.
TODAY’S QUESTION: From James: John D. “Jay” Rockefeller was serving as governor of West Virginia when he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984. Prior to that, what other state elected offices did he hold? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess to [email protected].
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