Thune's pre-recess game plan

Politico

6 days ago

IN TODAY'S EDITION:— Thune's 'minibus' dream for this week— Grassley's willing to cancel August recess— GOP blames Hamas as conditions in Gaza worsen
Senators are racing the clock to make a dent in both the government funding process and President Donald Trump's backlog of nominees before heading home for August recess.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is hoping to get the first appropriations package through the chamber by the end of this week, with lawmakers on the hook for landing a deal to avoid a shutdown come Sept. 30. To that end, GOP leaders are negotiating with members of their conference over a 'minibus' of three bills that would, collectively, fund the departments of Commerce, Justice, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs, as well as key military construction projects and the FDA. Sen. John Kennedy's opposition to including legislation that would fund congressional operations will likely force leadership to postpone debating a fourth bill at this time.
The pending package will require senators to run out two, 30-hour debate clocks; the ability to move faster will require buy-in from all 100 senators. It will also take time for lawmakers of both parties to agree on amendments and then hold votes, and Democrats are still deliberating their strategy, a person granted anonymity to share private negotiations tells Jordain. Republican leadership still believes it can pass the mini-bus before leaving town, according to a second person granted anonymity. But one potential fallback option, according to two people granted anonymity, could be for the Senate to schedule a final passage vote before they leave town for the first week back in September.
Senate Republicans are also under pressure from Trump to confirm more of his nominees before heading home for recess. Thune has warned his members to prepare to vote at least through this weekend after the president urged senators to stay in Washington through August to wrap up the work, though many lawmakers aren't pleased with that idea. They're eager, instead, to get back to their home states, especially as they look to counter Democratic messaging against the freshly-passed GOP megabill.
Other Senate Republicans say they're ready to give Trump what he's after. Over the weekend, Sen. Mike Lee repeatedly urged his colleagues to either work through August to advance nominations or cancel all pro-forma sessions over the next month to allow Trump to make recess appointments. 'The Senate can't have it both ways,' Lee said in a post on X.
Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley also said he's on board with the president's call for the Senate to stick around to vote on nominations through August, writing on X, 'Trump needs his administration in place.'
Republicans have typically been unenthused by the idea of recess appointments, though, and it's unlikely they'd go along with that plan. And while Thune is threatening to keep the Senate in session deeper into August, many lawmakers view it as just that: a threat to get Democrats to cut a deals on nominations to get out of town.
'I think it's fair to say that we're going keep the pressure on the Democrats to, you know, stay here until either they cooperate or we're just going to grind it out and do it the old fashioned way,' Thune told Jordain.
GOOD MONDAY MORNING. Email us at [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail] and [e-mail]. Follow our live coverage at politico.com/congress.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHINGWith help from Jordan Williams
The House will meet for a pro forma session at 2 p.m.
The Senate is in session and will vote to move forward with David Wright's nomination to be a Nuclear Regulatory Commission member at 5:30 p.m. Lawmakers will vote to confirm Wright and move forward with Earl Matthews' nomination to be DOD general counsel at 8 p.m.
— Senate Agriculture will consider the nominations of Brian Quintenz to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Michael Boren to be under secretary of agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment at 5:30 p.m.
The rest of the week: The Senate will continue marking up government funding bills and confirming the president's nominations.
Pro subscribers receive this newsletter with a full congressional schedule and can browse our comprehensive calendar of markups, hearings and other notable events around Washington. Sign up for a demo.
THE LEADERSHIP SUITE
Johnson pans bipartisan push for a vote to release Epstein files
Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday criticized an ongoing effort from Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna that would force a House floor vote to compel the release of more files related to the charges against the deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The bipartisan duo's proposal is 'reckless,' Johnson said on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' arguing it would force the DOJ and FBI to release information 'that was not even credible enough to be entered into the court proceedings.' He also said it wouldn't do enough to protect Epstein's victims.
'These are minors in many cases who were subjected to unspeakable crimes, abject evil,' Johnson said. 'They've already suffered great harm. We do not need their names being unmasked. The Massie and the Khanna [bill] ... does not have adequate protections.'
Asked whether Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell would be deserving of a pardon — something Trump has yet to rule out — Johnson said: 'I think 20 years was a pittance. I think she should have a life sentence at least ... I have great pause about that as any reasonable person would.' Johnson last week suggested the House Oversight effort to subpoena testimony from Maxwell might be a waste of time since she could not be counted upon to serve as a 'credible witness.'
Massie and Khanna, in a separate, joint interview on the same program Sunday, rejected the argument that their bill would put Epstein and Maxwell's victims at risk.
'That's a straw man,' Massie said. 'Ro and I carefully crafted this legislation so that the victims' names will be redacted and that no child pornography will be released. So [leadership is] hiding behind that. But we're trying to get justice for the victims.'
Khanna argued that many of the victims 'do want these files released for closure and for healing.'
The two lawmakers predict they will easily collect the 218 signatures required to circumvent leadership and force a floor vote on the matter upon the House's return from recess in September.
Republicans blame Hamas as starvation conditions in Gaza worsen
As the U.S. pulls out of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens, GOP leaders say Hamas' inability to cooperate is damaging any hopes of progress in the region.
Last week, a U.N. World Food Programme official said about a quarter of the population in Gaza is facing famine-like conditions. Yet as global condemnation sharpens against the Israeli military's limit on aid routes, Trump and Republican leaders continue to insist Hamas is to blame for the fact that civilians, including children, are dying of hunger.
'People are stealing the food, they're stealing the money,' Trump told reporters Sunday. 'They're stealing weapons. That whole place is a mess… the Gaza Strip.'
Johnson echoed those talking points on NBC: 'Israel, since this war began, has supplied over 94,000 truckloads full of food,' he said Sunday. 'But Hamas has stolen the food, a huge amount.' (The New York Times reported Saturday that the Israeli military has not found proof that Hamas has systematically stolen aid from the U.N.)
The Israeli military on Sunday paused fighting in various population centers across Gaza to increase the delivery of humanitarian aid. Airdrops of aid have resumed.
Still, some congressional Democratic leaders who have typically been mindful not to appear unsupportive of a longtime U.S. ally are sending dire warnings to Israel about the starvation crisis — and telling Trump his administration needs to take urgent action.
'The starvation and death of Palestinian children and civilians in an ongoing war zone is unacceptable,' House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement late Friday. 'The Trump administration has the ability to bring an end to this humanitarian crisis. ... It is imperative that humanitarian aid be surged into Gaza immediately, the remaining Israeli hostages be released and the ceasefire negotiated by the Biden administration restored.'
POLICY RUNDOWN
SMITH ENDORSES ROLLBACK OF GAMBLING DEDUCTION CHANGES — House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith said Friday he supports reversing a new policy that got shoehorned into the GOP megabill that will curtail tax deductions for gambling losses.
'The version of the one big, beautiful bill that passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee did not make any changes to the tax treatment of gambling losses,' Smith said at a field hearing in Las Vegas, the tax-writing panel's first stop in a recess campaign to sell the sweeping domestic policy package.
The provision, which has caused an uproar in the gambling community, will reduce the amount of gambling losses that taxpayers can deduct — from 100 percent to 90 percent — beginning in 2026. It would effectively mean that an individual could still owe taxes on their gambling activities even if they break even.
Smith blamed Senate Republicans for inserting the provision, adding that 'many members on both sides of the aisle are open to working to address it before it goes into effect on January 1.'
Rep. Dina Titus, who has introduced legislation in the House that would reverse the policy change, made a guest appearance at the committee event in her home state and thanked Smith for his support. She noted that Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, along with the Resorts Association and the American Gambling Association, all came out in support of reversing the new tax rules.
RSC LAUNCHES TASK FORCE FOR SECOND MEGABILL — Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger on Friday announced the creation of the 'RSC Reconciliation 2.0 Working Group,' which will focus on crafting a policy framework for the next legislative package Republicans want to pass through the party-line budget reconciliation process. Pfluger touted the conservative coalition's role in driving down the deficit impact of the final version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
GOP leaders and committee chairs in both chambers have indicated over the past month there is ample opportunity to legislate further in the arenas of tax, trade and particularly health care. But it's not yet clear what the broader political appetite will be to pursue a second partisan package after the intraparty strains the process put on Republicans the first time around this year.
JIM JORDAN IN EUROPE — House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan will meet with the European Commission's executive vice president for tech policy, Henna Virkkunen, today after leading a bipartisan congressional delegation to London and Brussels over the weekend, Anthony Adragna reports.
That sit-down will come as Jordan has used his gavel to condemn European tech laws, which he has accused of censorship against American social media companies. He's also expected to tout a Judiciary committee staff report that was released this past Friday, which knocks the European Union's Digital Services Act as a 'foreign censorship threat' and alleges that 'overzealous European bureaucrats' are being 'empowered' to 'impose global censorship standards,' including on the U.S.
BIPARTISAN SCRUTINY ON USDA SHAKEUP — Democrats and Republicans on Senate Agriculture have serious questions about the USDA's recent shakeup that would shift most of its Washington-area staff among five regional hubs around the country. The top committee Democrat, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, called the relocation plan 'half-baked,' while Chair John Boozman expressed disappointment he wasn't consulted on the plan.
Bipartisan scrutiny of the proposed agency reorganization will come to a head during a committee hearing Wednesday, where lawmakers will hear from Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden.
Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E:
CAMPAIGN STOP
THE GOP'S MASTRIANO PROBLEM — Trump's advisers privately fear far-right firebrand Doug Mastriano could make Republicans lose the Pennsylvania governor's seat and drag down the GOP ticket in the midterms if he wins the nomination, Holly Otterbein reports.
Republicans blame Mastriano for costing the party a Senate contest, multiple House seats and a state legislative chamber in 2022 when he lost the gubernatorial race by 15 points. Trump initially endorsed him in the primary at that time but came to regret the decision as Mastriano raised little money and aired almost no TV ads.
Now, as he teases a comeback bid against Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, people close to Trump's political operation tell Holly the president's team thinks Mastriano 'could jeopardize multiple down-ballot congressional races.'
NORMAN MAKES IT OFFICIAL — Rep. Ralph Norman is entering the race for South Carolina governor, setting up a competitive Republican primary in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Henry McMaster, Jacob Wendler reports.
Norman, a House Freedom Caucus stalwart who has represented South Carolina's 5th District since 2017, has already changed his X handle to 'Ralph Norman for Governor' and launched his campaign website. He's poised to primary Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Attorney General Alan Wilson, the son of S.C. GOP Rep. Joe Wilson. Rep. Nancy Mace has previously said she is 'seriously considering' entering the race as well.
COOPER MAKES IT (SORT OF) OFFICIAL — Former Gov. Roy Cooper seemingly announced his bid for Senate in North Carolina this past weekend at a Democratic state party dinner.
'Everybody who is planning to run for office next year, please stand up!' Cooper told the crowd on Saturday night — then added, to enthusiastic cheers from the audience, 'Hey, I'm not sitting down. Am I?'
Democrats, who see North Carolina as one of the party's best opportunities in an otherwise challenging Senate midterm map, have been eagerly awaiting Cooper's decision about whether to run for the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis.
Trump has endorsed RNC chair Michael Whatley on the Republican side.
THE BEST OF THE REST
Democrats Get More Vocal About 'Horrors Upon Horrors' in Gaza, from Brett Bachman at NOTUS
Democratic candidates are posting weightlifting videos in search of a midterm lift, from David Wright at CNN
JOB BOARD
Joel Valdez is now acting deputy press secretary for the Pentagon. He most recently was comms director and senior adviser for Rep. Lauren Boebert and previously worked for former Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Devyn Shea is now press secretary for Sen. Dan Sullivan. He most recently was press secretary for Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Rep. Gabe Evans … former Rep. Liz Cheney … former Sen. Bill Bradley … NBC's Courtney Kube … Mark Meadows … Richard Haass … Kathy Dedrick (5-0) … Josh Bell of Rep. Ron Estes' office … Abigail Kane … Patrick Boland … Tanya Snyder … Stacy McBride of HB Strategies … Michael Herald of Sen. Todd Young's office
TRIVIA
FRIDAY'S ANSWER: Dale Marsico correctly answered that George Washington did not visit Rhode Island during a congressional recess in 1789 because the state had not ratified the constitution yet.
TODAY'S QUESTION, from Dale: What occupation did Franklin Delano Roosevelt claim when he voted, even while serving as president?
The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to [e-mail].