Mike Johnson on the cusp of megabill victory
IN TODAY'S EDITION:— House poised to pass megabill this morning— Thune's next big fiscal challenge— Guthrie tries again on failed AI moratorium
Speaker Mike Johnson is potentially just a couple of hours away from sending Donald Trump his 'big, beautiful bill,' defying expectations that he could meet the president's arbitrary but unwavering deadline.
After it appeared to be derailed late Wednesday by hard-right holdouts, Republicans advanced the bill around 3:30 a.m. and are set to vote on final passage around 6 a.m.
During the all-nighter, GOP leaders kept the procedural vote open for almost six hours as they worked to flip 12 votes. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick was the lone Republican to vote 'no' at the end.
Things looked dire until around the 2 a.m. hour, when Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise returned to the House floor saying they had the votes. Not long after, the speaker was seen talking, laughing and what appeared to be praying with some of the House Freedom Caucus holdouts.
How did they get there? Per Meredith Lee Hill, holdouts say they've secured commitments from the White House on a variety of topics, especially on how the megabill is implemented. But House Republicans described the hours of talks as more of a venting session for the hard-liners.
'It was more just expression of concerns and priorities that are shared by the administration,' said one person granted anonymity to relay the conversations.
The holdouts said earlier Wednesday they were discussing future legislative opportunities, including a second reconciliation package, and the possibility of executive branch moves to address aspects of the bill they don't think go far enough.
There was some tough love, too. Several MAGA-world figures including long-time Trump aide Jason Miller and Trump's 2024 co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita threatened the Republican holdouts on social media. Trump, who'd been privately helping Johnson press them all day, piled on pressure in a series of increasingly irritated missives. 'RIDICULOUS!!!' he fired off at 12:45 a.m. as the bill was in limbo.
The mood among House Republicans is that they're likely to pass the bill later this morning.
'I do so deeply desire to have just [a] normal Congress, but it doesn't happen anymore,' Johnson said around 1:30 a.m. 'I don't want to make history, but we're forced into these situations.'
GOOD THURSDAY MORNING. Follow our live coverage at politico.com/congress. Email us at mmccarthy@politico.com, lkashinsky@politico.com, bguggenheim@politico.com and crazor@politico.com.
Our thoughts are with the family of Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, an intern for Rep. Ron Estes, who was shot and killed in D.C. Monday night.
THE SKED
The House will vote on final passage of the GOP megabill this morning around 6 a.m.
The Senate is out.
The rest of the week: The House and Senate plan to recess for July 4.
THE LEADERSHIP SUITE
Thune's rescissions decision
Senate Majority Leader John Thune's next big fiscal challenge is deciding how to take up the White House's $9.4 billion rescissions package. Thune has just eight in-session days left before the July 18 deadline to approve the president's cuts to congressionally approved funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid, or else the White House is required to spend the money.
Appropriations Chair Susan Collins reiterated to Lisa early Monday that she's leaving it up to Thune whether to hold a markup and bring the package to the floor. Asked by Lisa before the Senate left town, Thune didn't indicate his plans.
Thune can lose three GOP senators on the simple-majority vote. Collins, who skewered the package in a hearing last month over cuts to a popular international AIDS-prevention program, indicated she still has concerns. 'We had a very extensive, long, three-hour hearing [on the package] so I think that helps shine a lot on a lot of the issues with it,' she said.
Race for Homeland Security gavel heats up
Rep. Carlos Gimenez has entered the race to lead the House Homeland Security Committee, our Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco scooped. After Rep. Mark Green announced his retirement, Gimenez sent a letter to the GOP Steering Committee on Tuesday notifying his intent to run for the seat.
'The reason why he's served for 25 years and hasn't lost an election is because he's a straight shooter, people trust him,' a Gimenez spokesperson said.
Gimenez argued in the letter that his background prepared him for the position. 'These roles were not theoretical, they were boots-on-the-ground, real world experiences,' he wrote. Gimenez, a Cuban immigrant, has toured ICE detention centers across South Florida in recent weeks and touted the investment in DHS enforcement that the megabill would provide.
POLICY RUNDOWN
E&C HEALTH SUCCESSION — Rep. Morgan Griffith is in line to be announced today as the next chair of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, three people granted anonymity to discuss the plan told our David Lim.
'There's a good possibility,' E&C Chair Brett Guthrie said Wednesday when asked if Griffith would get the post. 'We're announcing tomorrow though.'
Rep. Buddy Carter said Wednesday he would step down as the top Republican on the subcommittee in order to focus on his Senate campaign in Georgia.
GUTHRIE TRIES AGAIN ON AI — Guthrie said Wednesday that Republicans will look for another way to freeze enforcement of state and artificial intelligence laws after a decade-long moratorium was stripped from the Senate megabill, our Anthony Adragna reports. Only one senator, Thom Tillis, voted to keep it.
'We need to have a federal standard for AI, so I was hoping that this would give the opportunity to do that,' Guthrie said in an interview. 'We're not exempting 50 state policies or preempting for nothing. We're attempting for a reasonable federal policy.'
Guthrie added he wasn't sure how his committee will try again, whether as standalone legislation or as part of a bigger package. Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz has also said he'll try to advance a moratorium as part of standalone AI legislation he's developing.
GOP DUNKS ON TRUMP UKRAINE FREEZE — Republican lawmakers are slamming the Trump administration's decision to halt some U.S. missile and munitions shipments to Ukraine, our Joe Gould and Connor O'Brien report. The lawmakers warn the move risks helping Russia at a pivotal point in the conflict.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, said he would be 'aggressively looking into this matter' following the White House's acknowledgment that the Pentagon froze deliveries of critical air defense weapons due to concerns over shrinking U.S. stockpiles. The Pennsylvania Republican also requested an emergency meeting.
Rep. Michael McCaul said he is looking 'very intensely' at whether the Pentagon's freeze is a breach of Ukraine aid legislation that Congress passed in 2024, adding that the pause is coming 'at the wrong time.'
HOUSE TEES UP CRYPTO VOTE — Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson expects the House to vote on landmark cryptocurrency legislation the week of July 14, our Jasper Goodman reports.
House Republicans have three crypto targets: creating a regulatory framework for dollar-pegged stablecoins, banning central bank digital currencies and divvying up oversight of digital assets between market regulators.
But it's not clear how the bills will be put on the floor. Trump and Senate Republicans want the House to pass a 'clean' version of the Senate's stablecoin bill. But some House Republicans prefer the measure to be reconciled with similar House legislation. Thompson declined to say how the House would approach the measures.
'I've got my hit list of members I've been talking with and giving them information,' he told Jasper. 'We've done a good job of communicating with the conference, but I don't take anything for granted when we're preparing to move a bill.'
Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E:
CAMPAIGN STOP
GRAHAM GETS A GOP CHALLENGER — Former South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer is challenging Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham from the right. Bauer is touting his MAGA credentials as he looks to unseat the Trump-endorsed Graham, who just this week brought on former Trump 2024 campaign co-chair Chris LaCivita as a senior adviser.
THE BEST OF THE REST
Fannie, Freddie chief urges Congress to investigate Powell, from Sylvan Lane at The Hill
Biden, in Rare Remarks Since Presidency, Warns His Accomplishments Are Coming Undone, from Lindsay Ellis at Wall Street Journal
JOB BOARD
Davis Bunn is now legislative director for Rep. Barry Moore. He previously was military legislative assistant for Rep. Gary Palmer.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Rep. Glenn Grothman (7-0) … former Sen. Lamar Alexander … Peter Sherman of DDC Public Affairs … POLITICO's Heidi Vogt and Will McCarthy … Rina Shah … Adam Goldberg … Giffords' Mary Yatrousis … Gloria Allred … Barbara Lee (8-0) … Don 'Stew' Stewart
TRIVIA
WEDNESDAY'S ANSWER: Kary Jones correctly answered that Rep. Dan Crenshaw completed a five-day, 100-mile run through his district to raise money for Hurricane Harvey relief while campaigning for Congress.
TODAY'S QUESTION, from Kary: Which president changed the name of the presidential mountain retreat Shangri-La to Camp David, after his grandson?
The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com.
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