Evening Report — House, Senate try to work it out on Ukraine

by Elizabeth Crisp - 03/14/24 5:33 PM ET

Evening Report

Johnson signals return to Ukraine

House Speaker Johnson (R) is trying to pass a Ukraine and border aid package, but GOP lawmakers are pushing back.

Johnson told senators this week that the House will send a Ukraine plan to the Senate soon, but he also floated the idea of the foreign assistance being more of a loan or lend-lease program so taxpayers would not be footing the bill without any guardrails.

But Johnson did not say whether a Ukraine aid package would include tough border security reforms. He told Republican senators the House would send legislation to help Ukraine, but it won’t match the $95 billion foreign aid package the Senate passed last month. (The Hill)

Meanwhile, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) continues to press Johnson on the Senate-passed national security spending package.

“Finish the job,” he said on the floor Thursday.

Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Liz Crisp, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here.

CATCH UP QUICK

🌩️ La Niña is happening: How will weather be impacted? (Nexstar)
🗓️ Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) unveiled a plan for a four-day workweek without a reduction in pay. Republicans aren’t in favor of it.
🏦 Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s has some thoughts about coming bank failures in the real estate sector.

NEW THIS AFTERNOON

Schumer: Netanyahu has ‘lost his way’

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a “major address” Thursday called for an election in Israel to replace Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu due to his handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

Schumer, the highest ranking Jewish elected official in American history and a top advocate for Israel, has largely kept quiet on his thoughts surrounding the war. But his Thursday message was clear: Netanyahu has let “his political survival to take the precedence over the best interests of Israel” by being “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza,” which is tanking global support for Israel.

“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer said, referring to Hamas’s attack on Israel where more than 1,100 people were killed and about 250 hostages were taken into Hamas custody.

Schumer didn’t go so far as to push for a permanent ceasefire, but instead echoed President Biden‘s calls for a temporary ceasefire.

Republican leaders lambasted Schumer’s remarks:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called them “grotesque” and “hypotcritical.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said they were “shocking” and “plain wrong.”
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said the comments were “unprecedented and very dangerous.”

(The Hill)

The White House

Harris visits Planned Parenthood: ‘We have to be a nation that trusts women’

Vice President Harris visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota on Thursday to advocate for reproductive rights for women after the Supreme Court’s upheaval of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Harris is the first sitting vice president to publicly visit a facility that provides abortion care.

“I am here at this health care clinic to uplift the work that is happening in Minnesota as an example of what true leadership looks like,” she said after a tour. “Which is to understand it is only right and fair that people have access to the health care they need, and that they have access to health care in an environment where they are treated with dignity and respect.” (The Hill)

TRUMP WORLD

Jordan threatens Fani Willis with contempt over subpoena on federal grants

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) says Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) could face contempt hearings over a subpoena requesting information about her use of federal funds.

Willis’s office has replied with documents for a February subpoena, but the Republican lawmaker argues she didn’t turn over everything related to allegations from a former employee who flagged a potential attempt to misuse federal grant money.

“We appreciate that you have produced a narrow set of documents in response to the subpoena, but your compliance with the subpoena to date is deficient,” Jordan wrote in the letter.

“If you fail to do so, the Committee will consider taking further action, such as the invocation of contempt of Congress proceedings.”

It’s not clear that the federal funds in question were ultimately spent inappropriately. (The Hill)

IN OTHER NEWS

TikToking time bomb? Investors weigh options as lawmakers consider restrictions

Former Treasury Secretary in the Trump administration Steven Mnuchin says he is trying to wrangle a group that could buy viral video platform TikTok as lawmakers consider a bill that would require the app’s China-based parent company to divest or face a ban.

“I think it should be sold,” Mnuchin said in an interview on CNBC Wednesday. “It’s a great business, and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok.”

SpaceX’s latest launch falters

SpaceX almost completed an hourlong test flight of a mega rocket, but then it lost its spacecraft near the flight’s end as it crashed back down to Earth.

The company said it lost contact with Starship as it neared its goal, a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Until then, most everything had gone according to plans from the liftoff in Texas near the Mexican border. (The Hill)