The Hill’s Morning Report — Shutdown talk to dominate the summer

by Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch - 06/19/23 6:20 AM ET

In this June 20, 2019 photo, the Capitol is seen from the roof of the Canadian Embassy in Washington. Health care is on the agenda for Congress when lawmakers return, and it’s not another battle over the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. Instead of dealing with the uninsured, lawmakers are trying to bring down costs for people who already have coverage. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Congress is back in Washington this week, and House GOP leaders are facing an all-too-familiar problem: quelling the conservative angst that’s threatening to derail their legislative agenda heading into the summer’s major policy fights with President Biden.

Earlier this month, 11 House Freedom Caucus members shut down all floor action for almost a week to protest Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) handling of the debt ceiling talks. McCarthy was forced to host a string of closed-door meetings with the hard-liners, who want concrete assurances he’ll demand deeper spending cuts in the coming fight over government funding.

House GOP negotiators announced last week they would mark up their fiscal 2024 spending plans to levels lower than the budget caps set as part of the deal struck between Biden and McCarthy — leading Democrats to accuse them of reneging on their prior agreement.

While the detractors eventually allowed floor votes to resume, there was little sign of progress by week’s end and the hard-liners left Washington with a warning that they are prepared to shut down the floor again if the Speaker doesn’t meet their ill-defined demands, The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Mychael Schnell report.

“I haven’t been overly pleased or participatory … but I’ll just say that I don’t think we’re moving in the right direction as far as solving this massive growth in national debt,” said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), the former head of the far-right Freedom Caucus, of the McCarthy talks. “My biggest concern is, what’s the coalition that the Speaker has built? We want to know who his coalition partners are. Is it the Democrats, or is it going to be the conservative voices and the other Republicans in the conference?”

“Oh, I think it’s always on the table,” he added, asked about the possibility of conservatives once again blocking floor action. “I’m an ‘all tools’ guy.”

The threats highlight the dilemma facing McCarthy and GOP leaders as they attempt a delicate balancing act of cutting deals with Biden and the Democrats — for the sake of enacting must-pass bills like raising the debt ceiling and funding the government — without infuriating the conservative firebrands who view deficits as a greater threat than a default or a shutdown.

The Wall Street Journal: McCarthy’s next trick: Averting a government shutdown.

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, are gearing up for the spending fight with House Republicans as negotiators prepare to mark up government funding bills this week. As The Hill’s Aris Folley reports, Senate negotiators are expected to unveil funding legislation in the coming days, with plans to begin considering proposals over the next week as the annual appropriations season starts to heat up.

“It will be very difficult,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who is also an appropriator, told The Hill of challenges Congress will face in averting a shutdown this year. “We’ve got to agree to our agreements and stick with it.”

Some Republican negotiators have expressed confidence that the conference will back the partisan bills now that leaders have affirmed they’ll mark up their legislation to fiscal 2022 levels. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.), however, signaled the upper chamber will take a much different path, saying earlier this week, “In the Senate, we’re going to follow the agreement that everybody agreed to as passed and signed into law.”

▪ Roll Call: National Defense Authorization Act could address the Pentagon’s “revolving door.”

▪ Axios: Bipartisan group unveils bill to protect older workers from age discrimination.

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▪ NBC News and The Times of India: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a joint session of Congress on Thursday as he meets with leaders, including Biden, during an official state visit to Washington.

▪ Government Executive: GOP lawmakers led by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio argue Americans oppose modernist architecture for new federal buildings and prefer classical styles; seek return of Trump executive order.

▪ The Hill: FBI, airport fights put D.C.-area senators in spotlight.

▪ Politico: A simple way to regulate TikTok.

LEADING THE DAY

➤ POLITICS

Amid the 2024 presidential race, Biden is loath to dwell on Trump. The former president, however, revels in bashing Biden. And just a handful of GOP presidential primary contenders are willing to skewer the 45th president, as some Republicans suggest they should, while also taking aim at the White House incumbent.

It’s unclear what likely voters are absorbing about candidates not named Biden or Trump, especially amid U.S. economic uncertainties important to the president’s standing and the pileup of New York and federal indictments trailing Trump.

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), a Trump critic who decided against a White House or Senate bid, told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that the former president’s legal troubles “are sucking the oxygen out of the room” for Republican rivals who would like to be better known. “If you’re not going to challenge him, why challenge him?” Hogan said of GOP candidates who thus far appear reluctant to cross swords with Trump or alienate his supporters (The Hill).

▪ The Hill’s Niall Stanage reports that some of Trump’s toughest critics are former top officials and advisers who were appointed by Trump.

▪ The Hill: The government’s prosecution of the former president in the classified documents case could stretch well beyond the 2024 election.

▪ The Washington Post analysis: Trump is testing the political and legal systems together. He is again taking direct aim at the integrity of law enforcement agencies, the judicial system and, ultimately, public faith in the rule of law. Trump did this as president, and now, in the aftermath of his 37 charges in the documents case — to which he pleaded not guilty — he has escalated those attacks.

▪ The Daily Mail: Tonight, Fox News anchor Bret Baier will interview Trump. “He’s always playing to the crowd through the camera,” Baier said while describing his preparation for the program. “And he’s a bit of a showman. But he can be on his game, and you have to be able to redirect, correct, or have the information to be able to push back.”

More 2024 headlines: Biden today begins a swing through Northern California to raise campaign contributions (candidate and Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis will be in Sacramento) (The Mercury News). … The president’s reelection campaign organization is slowly taking shape (The Washington Post). … Biden may face two spoiler candidates in 2024 (New York magazine). … Federal employee unions endorsed Biden’s reelection (Government Executive). … Miami Republican Mayor Francis Suarez’s 2024 presidential bid confounds some in the GOP (The Hill). … Casey DeSantis, wife of the Florida governor, is profiled by The Washington Post.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➤ INTERNATIONAL

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing Monday, on the second and final day of a high-stakes visit to China aimed at easing tensions between the two countries (The Associated Press and The New York Times).

Xi said the two countries had made progress and reached agreements on “some specific issues” without elaborating. “This is very good,” Xi said. “I hope that through this visit, Mr. Secretary, you will make more positive contributions to stabilizing China-US relation,” Xi added.

CNBC: Blinken’s discussions in Beijing could pave the way for a November meeting between Biden and Xi.

Blinken’s trip is the first by a U.S. secretary of state since 2018 and he is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit China since Biden took office. Xi told Blinken that state-to-state interactions should be based on mutual respect, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a tweet. Hua attended Xi’s discussion with Blinken, along with other senior officials, including U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang (Bloomberg News).

Blinken and Qin on Sundayheld what both called candid and constructive talks but seemed to agree on little beyond keeping the conversation going with an eventual meeting in Washington, a modest sign of progress after months of a diplomatic freeze. The two sides have left very little to chance during Blinken’s two-day visit, keeping core disagreements away from the cameras (The Washington Post).

The Associated Press: After the first day of talks in Beijing on Sunday, the U.S. and China appeared at odds on numerous issues. The Xi-Blinken meeting took place Monday.

Elsewhere in the world, a delegation of African leaders led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg Saturday to continue their long-shot quest for peace between Russia and Ukraine. Putin reiterated that Moscow is “open to dialogue with Ukraine” while claiming that Kyiv is refusing to talk (CNN).

The mission to Ukraine, the first of its kind by African leaders, comes in the wake of other peace initiatives — such as one by China — and carries particular importance for the continent, which relies on food and fertilizer deliveries from Russia and Ukraine. Many African nations have long had close ties with Moscow dating back to the Cold War; South Africa, Senegal and Uganda have avoided censuring Russia over the war (The Associated Press).

“I do believe that Ukrainians feel that they must fight and not give up. The road to peace is very hard,” Ramaphosa said in Kyiv on Friday, adding that “there is a need to bring this conflict to an end sooner rather than later.”

▪ BBC: Putin confirms first nuclear weapons moved to Belarus.

▪ NBC News: Ukraine recaptures southeastern village as long-awaited counteroffensive rumbles on.

▪ The Washington Post: Russia aims to defeat counteroffensive with mines, artillery and aviation.

▪ The New York Times: The Kakhovka dam was designed to withstand almost any attack imaginable — from the outside. The evidence suggests Russia blew it up from within.

▪ Politico EU: After a fatal shipwreck in Greece, questions mount over the latest migrant tragedy in the Mediterranean.

▪ CBS News: Dozens killed in a rebel attack on an Ugandan school.

▪ The Guardian: The U.S. is “deeply troubled” as Israel plans to approve thousands of homes in the West Bank.

OPINION

■ Biden should toast India with Modi — and have a word about democracy, by The Washington Post editorial board.

■ The world ignores Africa at its peril, by Brook Sample, editor, Bloomberg Opinion.

WHERE AND WHEN

📲 Ask The Hill: Share a news query tied to an expert journalist’s insights: The Hill launched something new and (we hope) engaging via text with Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack. Learn more and sign up HERE.

The House will meet at noon on Tuesday.

The Senate will convene at 3 p.m. on Tuesday to resume consideration of the nomination of Julie Rikelman to be a United States Circuit Court judge for the First Circuit.

The president receives the President’s Daily Brief at 8:30 a.m. in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Biden will travel from Dover, Del., to Santa Clara County, Calif., arriving at 12:25 p.m. PDT. The president at 1:15 p.m. PDT will speak about climate change and other policies at Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center and Preserve in Palo Alto, Calif. Biden will speak at a campaign fundraiser in Los Gatos, Calif., at 3:30 p.m., and another in Atherton, Calif., at 6:15 p.m. PDT. He will remain in California overnight.

Vice President Harris will deliver remarks at CNN’s “Juneteenth: A Global Celebration for Freedom” program scheduled at 5 p.m. at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff will attend.

The secretary of state is in China. Monday morning in Beijing, he met with President Xi Jinping of China and other officials, including Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission Director Wang Yi. This afternoon, the secretary joins a roundtable with alumni of a U.S.-China exchange program, then joins U.S. employees and families working in Beijing. A roundtable with U.S. business leaders is on the schedule for the afternoon. Blinken will take questions from the press, to be live streamed by the State Department at 6:40 a.m. EDT.

ELSEWHERE

➤ HEALTH & WELLBEING

🍄 Consumption of “magic” mushrooms and other hallucinogens by young adults nearly doubled over the past three years, a new study has found, illustrating the accelerating pace of America’s “psychedelic revolution” and growing societal acceptance of mind-altering drugs. As The Hill’s Daniel de Visé reports, researchers found that 6.6 percent of adults from ages 19 to 30 used hallucinogens other than LSD, a category dominated by psilocybin, in 2021, up from 3.4 percent in 2018. LSD use by young adults rose from 3.7 percent to 4.2 percent in the same period, according to an article published this month in the journal Addiction.

Public health officials face a growing societal disconnect over the risks and rewards of recreational drugs. Both marijuana and hallucinogens registered historic highs in young-adult use in 2021, according to federal data. Most young adults who take hallucinogens are engaging in youthful experimentation, not unlike their baby-boomer forebears in the Woodstock era — and those experiments are not without risk.

“The main danger I’d be worried about is a bad trip,” said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Because a bad trip can result in suicide.”

▪ The Washington Post: Could cancer become a chronic, treatable disease? For many, it already is.

▪ The New York Times: A century ago, a well-ventilated building was considered good medicine. But by the time COVID-19 arrived, our buildings could barely breathe. How did that happen? And how do we let the fresh air back in?

▪ The Atlantic: Why are so many women being told their hormones are out of whack?

▪ The Wall Street Journal: As artificial intelligence makes its way into hospitals, the technology raises difficult questions about who makes the call in a health crisis: the human or the machine?

💉 The next round of COVID-19 vaccines will target one of the latest versions of the coronavirus, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday. The agency decision came one day after a panel of outside advisers supported the formulation change. The FDA told vaccine makers to provide protection against just one omicron strain, known as XBB.1.5 (The Associated Press).

THE CLOSER

And finally … Today is Juneteenth, the country’s newest federal holiday, which since 2021 has commemorated an order issued by Union Major General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, emancipating Black slaves in Texas. Before its recognition nationwide, Juneteenth became a holiday in the Lone Star State in 1980, later emulated by other states.

Granger arrived in Texas and read General Orders No. 3, which stated, “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”

That day came two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, during the civil war. The 13th Amendment later abolished slavery, ratified on Dec. 6, 1865.

▪ The Hill: Juneteenth, at year two, is marked by commercial, political challenges.
▪ The Hill: A long road to becoming a federal holiday.
▪ MarketWatch: The next step in California’s reparations push.

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