Congress: The Senate & The House

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🥊 Inside Rick Scott's power play

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is betting that a backlash against the chamber's current GOP leadership will translate into a groundswell of support for his long-shot bid to be Mitch McConnell's successor.

• In an interview with Axios, Scott said his push to become the next Senate Republican leader is centered on big changes to the GOP conference's rules.
• "We haven't been fighting to get better stuff done. ... Republicans in D.C. don't have a plan," Scott said.
• He's pushing six-year term limits for party leaders in the chamber and telling colleagues he'd seek to give rank-and-file members more say over what legislation reaches the floor.

That would be a dramatic contrast to McConnell (R-Ky.), 82, who's stepping aside as the GOP's powerful maestro in the Senate after more than 17 years as leader.

• It also could separate Scott from the other two candidates in the leadership race — Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), both viewed as McConnell allies.
• "If you don't want big change, no one should elect me," Scott told Axios.

Scott criticized how McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have run the chamber, pointing to the Senate's passage of foreign aid this year.

• He claimed McConnell and Schumer had a "backroom deal" to pair support for Israel with billions in support for Ukraine. That angered many conservatives.

Read more

ps:Didn't he try this before? How did that work out for you Mr Scott?? I guess he figures now that Mitch has decided to call it quits he has a chance, but if I remember correctly, most of the GOP Senators didn't want anything to do with him???

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House Speaker Johnson opposes radiation compensation for Missouri, New Mexico

Offering compensation to thousands of Americans across nine states exposed to radiation from the nation’s nuclear weapons program would be too expensive, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office said Wednesday.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/05/29/house-speaker-johnson-opposes-radiation-compensation-for-missouri-new-mexico/?

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🏛️ Lawmakers fear violence

Screenshot: Fox News Members of Congress in both parties said they're worried the guilty verdict could touch off unrest or attempts at political reprisals, Axios' Andrew Solender writes. Why it matters: It's a concern that has lingered since the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and often resurfaces in the aftermath of major legal developments in the ex-president's criminal cases. Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who's running for Senate, urged "all Americans to respect the verdict." Hogan's comments drew a rebuke from Trump campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita: "Your campaign is over." ps:Is that all these people can do?? Is plot revenge on anyone that wants nothing to do with the cult leader and his cult?????

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🎯 Scoop: NRCC targets Cuellar

The hits keep comin' for Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas): Now House Republicans' campaign arm is adding him to the list of Democrats it plans to invest in defeating, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Republicans initially wrote off the Democrat-leaning South Texas seat, but his indictment on bribery charges last month has put it in play.

• The National Republican Congressional Committee also is targeting seats being vacated by retiring Reps. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) and Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), bringing its total number of targeted seats to 40, according to a list first shared with Axios.
• Cuellar and Kuster's districts voted for Biden in 2020 by 7 and 9 percentage points, respectively, while Manning's district was redrawn this cycle to lean more Republican.
• "South Texas voters couldn't care less who is or isn't an NRCC target," Cuellar said. "My constituents just want results."

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🏛️ 1 big thing — Behind the Curtain: Speaker's secret muse

Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photos: Shannon Finney and Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

It turns out House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had a quiet mentor who helped pull off the biggest accomplishment of his rocky seven months with the gavel — defying his right wing to pass a vital aid package for Israel and Ukraine, Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei write. John Boehner — an establishment Republican who was speaker a decade ago chronologically, but an eon ago in the GOP's radical evolution — has become a surprising tutor to the novice, full-MAGA speaker. Why it matters: The two men have bridged generational, ideological and stylistic gulfs to form an extremely rare connection between today's hard-right Republicans and the pre-Trump party of Bush, McCain and Romney. Boehner, 74 — with his smoker's cough, but undiminished love of the game — used his roguish touch to help talk Johnson, 52, toward a win on what the speaker called those "really important obligations" on foreign aid. In our column on Johnson's historic road to backing Ukraine aid, we told you how the speaker defied the loudest, most threatening GOP personalities, dug deep into government intelligence, and shifted his position on the most vital foreign policy legislation in years. Johnson had to defy a majority of his party, and risk his speakership. He not only survived, but now has a good shot at remaining Republican leader (whether in the majority or minority) in 2025 — which once looked unlikely. 👀 Behind the scenes: "For a guy who doesn't drink, smoke, or cuss," Johnson's "really an affable guy," Boehner, who does all those things (although he pivoted years ago from his trademark merlot to cabernet sauvignon), told us by phone from his home in suburban Cincinnati. "He's got to do this Kabuki dance every day to keep some of his more — I don't even want to call them conservatives," Boehner said. "I don't know what you — I think that's the wrong word for them. He's got to go through this dance every day to try to appease his caucus. But at the end of the day, he knows what has to get done, and he finds a way to get it done." Column continues below. 💬 Part 2: "I just don't see it" Speaker Johnson with John Boehner at a fundraiser in Cincinnati last week. Photo: @OhSchnitt Last week, the two had a coming-out, with John Boehner headlining a fundraising reception in Cincinnati for Speaker Mike Johnson's Grow the Majority fundraising committee. Johnson called Boehner a "living legend." A recent New Yorker profile called the speaker "MAGA Mike ... [o]utwardly deferential but privately ambitious." "His members respect him, even those that may disagree with him," Boehner said. "I think it harbors a pretty bright future for him." "This guy knows who he is," the Ohioan added. "He's not searching for a meaning in life." 🖼️ The big picture: Asked how common it is for a top political leader to know who they are, Boehner called it "a 50/50 proposition, based on my experience." "I never thought about it before. But half of the people in those jobs know who they are, and the other half are still trying to figure it out." On the epic foreign-aid package, Boehner said Johnson "may not have been thrilled with the Ukraine stuff early on. But once you become speaker, one, you learn a few more things; and two, the gravity of the issues you're dealing with change as well." "All of a sudden, you have not just a responsibility to your district or to yourself. ... And I think he rose to the occasion." 🔮 What's next: House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio is among the GOP leaders working behind the scenes to position themselves if the party has an opening for speaker or minority leader come January. Asked if he thinks Johnson will hang on, Boehner told us he's "read all these stories about his upcoming funeral. I just don't see it. ... I think he's got himself in as good a spot as he can put himself, given the situation he's dealing with."

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"Young" Senate Dems eye leadership

By Stephen Neukam and Stef W. Kight

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

"Younger" Senate Democrats — and by that we mean those under 65 — are eyeing Sen. Debbie Stabenow's (D-Mich.) retirement next year as a rare chance to inject fresh talent into a leadership team that's had a decades-long grip on power. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) have been in leadership since before the chamber's youngest Democrat — 37-year-old Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) — was eligible to vote. Whoever snags Stabenow's No. 3 spot would have an edge in future battles to move up the chain of command. At 73, Schumer is the youngest of the Senate's top three Democrats. Durbin is 79; Stabenow 74. All are significantly older than the two Democratic senators viewed as most likely to replace Stabenow: Cory Booker (New Jersey), 55, and Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), 64. What we're hearing: Younger Senate Democrats told Axios they look forward to 2025 bringing new opportunities to lead committees and the caucus. Booker, vice chair of the policy and communications committee, said he "would hope" there will be space for new faces to join the upper echelons of Senate Democratic leadership. "It's nice to be here long enough to finally start seeing not just Gen X, but millennials coming into the United States Senate," added Booker, a former Newark mayor who's been in the Senate since 2013. "Young" is a relative concept in the Senate, where the median age is about 65. Overall, the Senate has gotten older in recent years, while the House (median age about 58) has gotten younger. There are five senators in their 80s; the oldest member, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), is 90. Zoom in: Schumer and Durbin, who declined to comment, show no signs of abandoning their leadership posts anytime soon. But retirements will free up the top Democratic spots on the Agriculture, Environment and Public Works and Foreign Relations committees. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, vice chair of the Democrats' policy and communications committee and head of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has said he's not running for re-election, potentially opening up those two posts. But Manchin's decision Friday to leave the Democratic Party could give him the flexibility to run as an independent. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said Democrats should be "intentional about having a pipeline on leadership." Warnock, 54, joked it was "very kind" of us to consider him "young" in the Senate. The other side: The early jockeying over Senate Democratic leadership is nowhere near as fractured or bitter as on the Republican side, where a battle over replacing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is underway. Go deeper.

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🔥 Fauci hearing gets heated

By Andrew Solender

Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on June 3. Photo: Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A House Oversight subcommittee hearing with Dr. Anthony Fauci today descended into the type of dramatic, attention-grabbing partisan infighting that has come to define this GOP-led House. Why it matters: It's a dynamic that's leading many of the House's low-key workhorses to head for the exits — and the ranks of more bombastic lawmakers to grow. Driving the news: Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified Monday morning before the House's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. It was Fauci's first appearance on Capitol Hill since 2022, when he ended a decades-long government career that saw him emerge as the public face of the federal government's efforts to combat COVID. Fauci clashed bitterly with many of the Republicans on the panel, but the testiness of those exchanges paled in comparison to the hostility he faced from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Greene refused to address Fauci with the honorific "doctor," instead referring to him as "Mr. Fauci." "Mr. Fauci — because you're not 'doctor,' you're Mr. Fauci in my few minutes," Greene said. "That man does not deserve to have a license. As a matter of fact, it should be revoked, and he belongs in prison," she added. The other side: Democrats, who largely praised and defended Fauci, pushed back. Rep. Jamie Raskin (R-Md.), the ranking member of the Oversight Committee, asked: "In terms of the rules of decorum, are we allowed to deny that a doctor is a doctor just because we don't want him to be a doctor?" One House Republican, asked if the outbursts were indicative of why many lawmakers are retiring, told Axios: "Yes." Read more. Covid-19   Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified about the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic in a contentious House hearing on Monday. Fauci fended off attacks from Republicans who sought to undermine his credibility and criticize the basis for public health recommendations. He testified about possible origins of the virus that caused Covid-19 and said the US still needs to be better prepared for the next pandemic. He also clarified that the 6-foot guidance for social distancing did not come from him but from the CDC. Additionally, Fauci detailed the threats he received during his tenure, which have continued since his retirement from government service in 2022.

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🎤 About that Netanyahu speech ...

• 🇮🇱 House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress, but after some confusion it's unclear when that might happen.
• 📰 Several media outlets reported today the speech would be June 13, but Netanyahu's office told Axios' Barak Ravid that no date was set — and that it won't be the 13th because that's during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.
• 🍨 GOP Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) is making some plans anyway: He's calling on congressional leaders to invite the families of U.S. hostages in Gaza to the speech, Axios' Stef Kight scoops.

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Congressman’s son steals the show on the House floor by hamming it up for the cameras

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. John Rose may never give a more memorable speech on the House floor.

https://apnews.com/article/congress-kid-making-faces-social-media-f7274028cb42fb8fd8725d886dcd2517?

🤪 1 fun thing: Youngest House star

The son of Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) makes faces in the House chamber yesterday. Screenshot: C-SPAN For once, members of Congress weren't the ones acting out on the House floor. Guy Rose — 6-year-old son of Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) — spotted a C-SPAN camera and stole the show as his father spoke yesterday. Watch the video.

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Trump's Capitol Hill protectors

💥 House conservatives are pressuring Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for a vote on legislation aimed at showing their allegiance to former President Trump after his historic criminal conviction, Axios' Stephen Neukam has learned.

• Conservatives want a floor vote on a bill that would allow current or former presidents to move any state case brought against them to federal court, multiple House GOP sources say.
• That would apply to cases such as the one in New York that resulted in Trump's conviction.

It's part of an aggressive defense of Trump by House Republicans that could include going after the Justice Department — a move that could put the GOP's vulnerable members in a tough spot.

• Johnson told Republicans in a conference meeting today that the House GOP will target DOJ through attempts at increased oversight, funding cuts and other means, a source in the room told Axios.

There's more:

• House Judiciary chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Monday floated cutting federal funding for state prosecutors investigating Trump and defunding the federal investigations into the former president.
• More than one Democrat noted the irony of that plan, given Republicans' past accusations that Democrats wanted to "defund" police.
• Johnson last week called for the U.S. Supreme Court to "step in" to overturn the guilty verdict.
• A group of conservative Republican senators also have signed onto a pledge to seek to block floor action in response to the conviction.

Read more.

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⚜️ Louisiana delegation dustup

Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) — once one of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's top lieutenants — is increasingly persona non grata in the GOP for threatening to challenge other Louisiana Republicans in the November elections, Axios' Juliegrace Brufke writes.

• Graves is the latest McCarthy confidante to lose influence or retire after McCarthy's ouster last October.
• Frustrations with Graves are growing within the Louisiana delegation — which includes Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise — over Graves' threats to take on his incumbent colleagues.
• Tension stems in part from a court-ordered redrawing of the state's House districts. Graves' Baton Rouge-based district, which he easily won in 2022, is now projected to favor Democrats.

📈 Johnson and Scalise have been ramping up pressure for Graves to seek re-election in his current district.

• But Graves has been toying with the notion of challenging Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) or Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) in their neighboring, more GOP-friendly districts.
• Graves told reporters he'll decide soon" on where to seek re-election.
• He has until mid-July to make moves.

Read more.

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⚡️ "Unprecedented ... unfounded"

That's how Attorney General Merrick Garland described GOP attacks on his Justice Department, particularly when it comes to Republicans' allegations that DOJ has been "weaponized" against them, Axios' Erin Doherty writes.

• 💪 "I will not be intimidated, and the Justice Department will not be intimidated," said Garland, who's staring down an effort by the House GOP to hold him in contempt for not turning over audio from a special counsel's interview with President Biden.

House Republicans, as noted above, are focused on punishing a range of targets over Trump's historic conviction on 34 felony counts last week.

• Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) accused Garland of "dispatching" Matthew Colangelo, a former Justice Department official, to work on Trump's prosecution in a state court in Manhattan.
• "That is false," Garland shot back. "I had nothing to do with it."
• "We do not control the Manhattan district attorney."

🤺 House Judiciary chair Jim Jordan, a staunch defender of Trump, set the tone during his opening remarks:

• "Justice is no longer blind in America," he said. "Today it's driven by politics. Example #1 is President Trump."

🥊 Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) counterpunched later:

• "The problem of all my Republican colleagues right now and that is they're about to nominate a convicted felon and they don't know how to cope with that," Schiff said.
• "They don't know how to cope with the justice system that in fact treats Donald Trump the same as it would any other citizen. And so, they have to push these conspiracy theories that they know are patently false."

Read more.

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💥 Dems attack GOP on abortion

The Democratic National Committee flies a banner over Palm Beach, Fla. Photo: John Parra/Getty Images for DNC

💣 The ammunition for abortion messaging wars that will be fought ahead of November's elections is being made this week on Capitol Hill — and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and fellow Democrats are in attack mode. Polls indicate protecting reproductive rights could be a major factor driving Democratic turnout on Election Day. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and colleagues are trying to spin the legislative process to their advantage by making Republicans take a series of uncomfortable votes. Today that meant leading Senate Republicans to block a bill that would guarantee access to birth control measures and protect health care providers' ability to offer them, Axios' Stef W. Kight reports. 🗳️ Just two of the chamber's 49 Republicans voted to advance the measure, notching a messaging win for Schumer, who has timed his effort around the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's rejection of abortion rights under Roe v. Wade on June 24. 🍨 The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is also part of the effort, launching a month-long advertising and social media blitz on reproductive rights that targets Republicans in battleground states, Axios' Stephen Neukam scoops. Senate Republican candidates, meanwhile, are trying to defuse the Democratic offensive by highlighting their support for a GOP bill that aims to increase the availability of birth control options. But some Senate Republicans also are demanding a new strategy: Voting yes on future messaging bills, then insisting on amendment votes that reflect their own political priorities. In the House, Democrats on Tuesday launched a long-shot effort aimed at forcing a vote on legislation to protect access to contraception. That came as the Washington Post reported that Democrats' House Majority PAC unveiled a $100 million campaign that will focus on abortion rights in swing districts. In a signal of how challenging the issue can get for the GOP, swing-district House Republicans on Wednesday backed their party's spending bill, even though it would roll back a Biden-era rule providing abortion counseling services to veterans and their families. The bottom line: Democrats are wagering that the longer they keep Republicans playing defense on abortion, the less attention voters will pay to issues on which President Biden is more vulnerable — such as the border and the economy.

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🥊 Jeffries, Donalds clash over Jim Crow

Trump VP contender Byron Donalds' claim that Black families were more "together" during Jim Crow-era racial segregation than they are now drew an incendiary response today from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who called the remarks "outlandish" and "outrageous," Axios' Andrew Solender reports.

• "We were not better off when people could be systematically lynched without consequence," Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said on the House floor.
• "How dare you make such an ignorant observation. You better check yourself before you wreck yourself."

🔥 The flap began Tuesday, when the Philadelphia Inquirer quoted Donalds (R-Fla.) — one of former President Trump's most active surrogates on the campaign trail — saying that "during Jim Crow, the Black family was together."

• "During Jim Crow, more Black people were not just conservative — Black people have always been conservative-minded — but more Black people voted conservatively," Donalds said.
• "And then [the now-defunct Department of Health, Education and Welfare], Lyndon Johnson — you go down that road, and now we are where we are," he added, referring to welfare policies instituted during the 1960s.

Donalds later posted a video on social media saying Democrats are "trying to say I said Black people were doing better under Jim Crow. I never said that. They are lying."

Read more.

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Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz wants Congress to OK killing rare whale

Of all the movies ever made in Florida — “Body Heat,” “Cocoon,” and “Spring Breakers,” to name a few — the one with the oddest concept was “The Truman Show.”

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/06/06/florida-congressman-matt-gaetz-wants-congress-to-ok-killing-rare-whale/?

ps:Of course he would!!!

U.S. Senate GOP prevents contraception access bill from moving ahead

WASHINGTON — An attempt to reinforce Americans’ access to contraception failed Wednesday when U.S. Senate Republicans blocked a bill from advancing toward final passage.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/06/05/u-s-senate-gop-prevents-contraception-access-bill-from-moving-ahead/?

Rick Scott airs new ad declaring that his support for IVF is ‘personal’ to him

Rick Scott’s Senate campaign unveiled a seven-figure, statewide TV and digital platform ad Wednesday that shows him expressing support for access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments.

https://floridaphoenix.com/briefs/rick-scott-airs-new-ad-declaring-that-his-support-for-ivf-is-personal-to-him/?

U.S. House GOP spotlights immigration effects on schools as Biden issues asylum order

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans are making a case that migrants coming from the southern border and into K-12 schools have strained resources and teacher-student ratios while leaving a “staggering” financial impact throughout the United States.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/06/05/u-s-house-gop-spotlights-immigration-effects-on-schools-as-biden-issues-asylum-order/?

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Florida Sen. Rick Scott says he’ll vote against recreational pot after brother’s death

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida says he’ll be voting in November against a ballot amendment to legalize recreational marijuana in his state, a deeply personal decision based on his brother’s long history of addiction.

https://apnews.com/article/rick-scott-florida-marijuana-8ad253289a95f1127f9a7bf771349355?

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👀 Targeting Project 2025

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

A group of House Democrats is launching a task force to take on Project 2025, conservatives' sprawling policy planning for a second Trump administration, Axios' Andrew Solender writes. Why it matters: The task force is part of Democrats' strategy of tying all Republicans to former President Trump's most audacious second-term goals. 👓 Between the lines: Project 2025 proposes overhauling or eliminating a swath of federal agencies including the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and FBI, as well as making it easier to fire civil servants.

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House Democrats step up to try to stop Project 2025 plans for a Trump White House

WASHINGTON (AP) — Warning about the far-right Project 2025 agenda for a Donald Trump White House, a group of House Democrats has launched a task force to start fighting the proposal and stop it from taking hold if the Republican former president returns to power.

https://apnews.com/article/project-2025-trump-biden-election-congress-6899a1167a4522b1c8be371f7abe7ee9?

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Rick Scott, Elizabeth Warren excoriate Federal Reserve Board’s ethics policy as ‘farce’

Florida GOP U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren are chastising Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell, telling him in a letter that the central bank’s recently announced policy to address illicit trading by Federal Reserve Bank officials is simply “a farce.”

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/06/11/rick-scott-elizabeth-warren-excoriate-federal-reserve-boards-ethics-policy-as-farce/?

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House incumbents strike back

💪 House incumbents are showing surprising strength in contested primaries, two years after a historic bloodbath in which 14 members were ousted, Axios' Andrew Solender reports.

• 🥊 Pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian Democrats, the Freedom Caucus, the Republican leaders and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have all tried to knock off incumbents this year, with little success.

Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and William Timmons (R-S.C.) both beat back well-funded primary challengers Tuesday. Mace easily dispatched former state official Catherine Templeton.

• 🎯 Mace became a target for McCarthy and his allies for joining House Freedom Caucus members in voting to oust him as speaker last year. Mace also got unwanted attention from reports of chaos in her office.
• Timmons was targeted by right-wing hardliners eager to unseat establishment colleagues.
• Former President Trump endorsed Mace and Timmons.

Other credible primary challenges to incumbents also failed this cycle:

• Pennsylvania: Progressive Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) easily defeated Bhavini Patel, who was backed by the well-funded Moderate PAC and went after Lee's criticism of Israel.
• Texas: Establishment-backed Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) was forced into a runoff with Brandon Herrera, a pro-gun YouTuber endorsed by a half-dozen Freedom Caucus members. Gonzales won, but by less than 2 points.
• New Jersey: Rep. Rob Menendez Jr. (D-N.J.) defeated Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla after his father, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), was indicted on federal bribery charges.
• Arkansas: Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), who's loyal to the House GOP leadership, defeated state Sen. Clint Penzo by 8 points.
• Indiana: Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), who, like Mace, has been criticized for confusing public positions and staff chaos, defeated a crowded GOP primary field after reversing her plans to retire.
• Illinois: Small Business Committee chair Mike Bost (R-Ill.) narrowly defeated challenger Darren Bailey, who was backed by right-wing Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Mary Miller (R-Ill.).
• Also in Illinois, Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), 82, easily dispatched two younger primary challengers, including community organizer Kina Collins, who came within 6 percentage points of defeating Davis in 2022.

The exception to the trend: Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Ala.) was defeated by fellow Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) after the two were drawn into the same district by a court-ordered redistricting.

A few other incumbents appear under threat in upcoming primaries.

• Polls show "Squad" Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) trailing more moderate, pro-Israel primary challengers by double-digits.
• In Virginia's June 18 primary, Rep. Bob Good (R) is facing a strong challenge from state Sen. John McGuire, who is backed by many of Good's GOP colleagues and Trump.

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GOP ad jumps on Garland contempt vote

That was fast.

• Just after House Republicans voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress, the GOP's campaign arm was prepping an ad bashing Democrats for defending him, Andrew reported.

🏆 The ad is likely to be the Republicans' most tangible trophy from the effort to drag Garland over his refusal to release the audio from President Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur.

• Garland's Justice Department, which has released a transcript of the interview, has already made clear it will not act on the contempt referral.

📄 In his report to Congress on Biden's handling of classified documents, Hur claimed that Biden, 81, had repeated memory lapses during the interview — an allegation the White House has denied.

• Republicans wanted the audio largely to use it against Biden in the presidential campaign.
• All Democrats present voted against the measure, which passed 216-207 and was a win for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
• Republicans hope the vote will strengthen their attempt to subpoena the audio recording, which Biden has asserted executive privilege to shield.

State of play: In a digital spot first shared with Axios, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) accuses Democrats of putting "party loyalty before the country" by voting against contempt.

• "Extreme House Democrats voted to block Americans from hearing secret audio filings showing the truth about Biden's mental fitness," the ad says.
• It includes footage of several House Democrats praising Biden and shrugging off concerns about his age.

The other side: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spokesperson Viet Shelton slammed swing-district Republicans for backing the contempt measure.

• "The so-called moderate House Republicans continue to fail to deliver for hardworking American families," Shelton said in a statement.

Read more.

House votes to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for withholding Biden audio

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over audio of President Joe Biden’s interview in his classified documents case, Republicans’ latest and strongest rebuke of the Justice Department as partisan conflict over the rule of law animates the 2024 presidential campaign.

https://apnews.com/article/garland-contempt-congress-vote-biden-classified-documents-20f5e8f48cfd8390eb695d13079ca306?

U.S. House GOP votes to hold attorney general in contempt in dispute over audio recording

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for his refusal to release audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interviews with Department of Justice officials.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/06/12/u-s-house-gop-votes-to-hold-attorney-general-in-contempt-in-dispute-over-audio-recording/?

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Bill to Fund Stillbirth Prevention and Research Passes Congress

The Senate on Tuesday passed legislation that, for the first time, expressly permits states to spend millions of federal dollars on stillbirth prevention.

https://www.propublica.org/article/maternal-child-health-stillbirth-prevention-act-congress-passes?

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Pair of U.S. House Dems add to chorus calling for Alito, Thomas recusals

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Democrats echoed Senate colleagues Tuesday in calling for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito to recuse themselves from Jan. 6 cases, and for congressional Republicans to support passing an enforceable ethics code for the entire bench.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/06/12/pair-of-u-s-house-dems-add-to-chorus-calling-for-alito-thomas-recusals/?

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Cheers, cake and a fist-bump from GOP as Trump returns to Capitol Hill in a first since Jan. 6 riot

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump made a triumphant return to Capitol Hill on Thursday, his first with lawmakers since the Jan.6, 2021 attacks, embraced by energized House and Senate Republicans who find themselves reinvigorated by his bid to retake the White House.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-capitol-republicans-jan-6-ef6a2dc69ee8cd3e11479d095f2bfd1d?

Trump talks grievances, policy in return to D.C.

Former President Donald Trump boasted about his polling in blue states and showered praise on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) during his first visit to Capitol Hill since his supporters stormed the halls of Congress to protest his election defeat 3½ years ago.

https://www.axios.com/2024/06/13/trump-pumps-himself-up-in-session-with-house-gop?

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💪 Trump's D.C. flex

First, let's dispense with the idea that former President Trump's meetings with GOP lawmakers today were deep discussions about policy or election strategy.

• More than anything, Trump's rambling chats with House and Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill were a flex.
• They showed that despite it all — the ugly end to his presidency symbolized by Jan. 6, his recent felony conviction — Trump is solidly in control of the GOP.

That was hard to imagine 1,254 days ago, when Trump was denounced by many GOP leaders after his supporters rioted at the Capitol.

💥 Here are five takeaways from Trump's sessions with the lawmakers, based on reporting by Axios' Juliegrace Brufke, Andrew Solender and Stef W. Kight.

1. Trump emphasized party unity ...

• He expressed support for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and had a tension-breaking moment with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (see Item 2).
• Trump also spoke warmly of both GOP caucuses: "We had great relations with just about everyone here, and if it's not fantastic, it gets worked out," he said after meeting with Republican senators.

2. ... But his grievances aren't going anywhere.

• Trump, who's vowed revenge against his political and legal enemies, railed against the Department of Justice, calling the DOJ "no good, dirty bastards," according to media reports.
• He also noted that nearly all the Republicans who voted in favor of impeaching him are retired or lost bids for re-election.

3. Trump really doesn't want the election to be about abortion rights.

• He has bragged about appointing three conservative Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, but Trump is mostly washing his hands of the issue in his campaign, saying abortion restrictions should be left to the states.
• He urged House Republicans to talk about abortion "correctly" and emphasize exceptions to any restrictions, sources in that meeting said.

4. Democrats got a news peg to remind voters of Jan. 6.

• "He should be returning to the Hill to apologize to the nearly 150 officers who were injured and wounded by the attack that he unleashed against us," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), whose comments were echoed by several other Democrats and a new ad from Biden's campaign.

5. Sorry, Milwaukee.

• Republicans shrewdly chose Milwaukee to host their upcoming national convention in part because Wisconsin is one of a half-dozen crucial swing states that could decide the presidential election.
• Trump seemed to take some of the shine off of that choice, telling House Republicans that Milwaukee is a "horrible" city, a GOP lawmaker told Axios.
• Trump previously criticized crime rates in Democrat-run cities and has alleged — without evidence — that Milwaukee was a hub of voter fraud in 2020.
• Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a tweet that Trump's comments were "falsely characterized," and that "he was talking about how terrible crime and voter fraud are."

 

McConnell, Trump break the ice

🤝 After going years without speaking to Trump, McConnell joined fellow Republicans in meeting with the ex-president — and they shared a handshake and a fist bump.

• The two GOP leaders hadn't spoken since December 2020 — just before a mob of Trump supporters crashed into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's presidential election victory.
• In the aftermath of the riot, McConnell said on the Senate floor that Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events" of Jan. 6.

Thursday, the ice between the two melted, at least a little.

• We did notice, however, that McConnell didn't stand behind Trump to be in photos as the ex-president spoke to reporters.

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