Morning Report — House Republicans head for the exits as GOP eyes Senate takeover

by Kristina Karisch - 02/21/24 6:33 AM ET

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As Senate Republicans look toward retaking the upper chamber, their House counterparts are racing for the exits.

A growing number of high-profile House Republicans will be retiring at the end of this Congress, and many are voicing a common and unsettling theme driving their decision: the toxicity of life on Capitol Hill. The Hilll’s Mike Lillis and Mychael Schnell note that message marks a nuanced but notable contrast from cycles of the past, when a wave of retirements might reflect an exodus of aging veteran lawmakers, concerns that control of the House could flip, or both.

Democrats are also exiting the lower chamber in spades; as of Feb. 14, 23 Democrats and 21 Republicans will not seek reelection in November. But the latest crop of departing Republicans has been remarkably open about their exasperation working in a Congress where internal party clashes have ground the task of legislating to a crawl while the most incendiary voices dominate the airwaves.

Notably, this year’s list of retirees features a number of younger, powerful lawmakers — a handful of them with formidable committee gavels — who could easily wait out a few terms in the minority. Instead, they say, they’re at the end of their rope.

“Electoral politics was never supposed to be a career and, trust me, Congress is no place to grow old,” said Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), the chair of the House select committee on China.

Gallagher was viewed as an up-and-comer in the Republican conference. The 39-year-old caught the eye of Senate Republican recruiters last year, who attempted to convince him to run against Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis) (The New York Times). He announced his plans to retire earlier this month.

He’s not alone in that decision, and the number of retiring committee chairs is fueling anxiety among members in both parties that the typical “brain drain” that accompanies the inevitable round of biennial retirements will be more pronounced this year — and have a greater impact on how the lower chamber functions in the next Congress.

SENATE REPUBLICANS, MEANWHILE, see their chances of regaining a majority in the upper chamber as sky-high — regardless of who wins the bid for the White House. It’s a remarkable shift from two years ago, when infighting between an out-of-power former President Trump and the GOP establishment left the conference with midterm candidates who underperformed, boosting Democrats to a bigger majority in 2023 than they enjoyed the previous year.

Last week, Republicans scored when former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) entered the state’s senate race, adding a strong GOP candidate into a contest in a deep blue state. His candidacy, regardless of a win or loss in November, will force Democrats to spend money in Maryland, rather than pumping funds into tougher races. And in Montana, the party now has a single standout candidate in Tim Sheehy, saving the GOP from a messy primary, The Hill’s Julia Mueller reports. The reshuffling has left Republican leaders largely optimistic about their chances — and growing more bullish about broadening the Senate battlefield map.

“This is a good map for Republicans,” said Dave Peterson, a political science professor at Iowa State University. “There’s a long way to go, and a lot of other primaries out there that could hurt them. But I think this is a good year for them.”

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY

▪ The Biden administration will unveil a “major sanctions package” targeted at Moscow on Friday in response to the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

▪ Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) are launching a bipartisan task force on artificial intelligence to explore how Congress can help America be a leader in AI innovation.

▪ As it prepares to issue a policy shifting the U.S. significantly toward electric vehicles, the Biden administration finds itself looking to balance labor and climate constituencies.

A GROUP OF REPUBLICAN SENATORS is putting pressure on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to back a full impeachment trial for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. In a letter sent Tuesday, the group argued it is “imperative” the Senate Republican Conference prepare to hold an impeachment trial for Mayorkas — and that McConnell urge Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to move forward.

Republicans in the Senate have been divided over the Mayorkas impeachment, with a fair number in McConnell’s conference signaling they do not want to go forward with the matter. Ultimately, the decision rests in the hands of Schumer, who said the chamber will address the matter when senators return on Feb. 26.

A dismissal of the articles of impeachment would force Democrats to vote to get rid of the charges against Mayorkas without a trial. To avoid this position for Democrats in tough Senate races, Schumer could also refer the matter to committee, effectively killing the process (The Hill).

“We view it as a stunt,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said of Senate Democrats’ outlook on the Mayorkas impeachment. “I bet the preference is going to be to spend as little time on it as possible so we can focus on [spending], the [national security aid debate] … and then I think we also want to take up the House’s bipartisan tax reform bill.”

Programming note: Morning Report’s Alexis Simendinger will be back in your inboxes Thursday.

LEADING THE DAY

POLITICS

NOT BACKING DOWN: Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley vowed Tuesday to stay in the Republican presidential primary race against Trump, telling a crowd in her home state of South Carolina that she refuses to quit.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Haley said, speaking in Greenville. “I’m not afraid to say the hard truths out loud. I feel no need to kiss the ring. I have no fear of Trump’s retribution. I’m not looking for anything from him. My own political future is of zero concern.”

Haley went on to compare her race against Trump to David and Goliath and pushed back against the notion that she is running for vice president or setting up a run for a future presidential cycle. Her comments come just days before she is set to face off against Trump in South Carolina on Saturday. The Hill’s Decision Desk HQ polling average shows Trump massively leading Haley by 31 points. Without offering any electoral strategy for her path forward, Haley described her candidacy as a battle for something “bigger than myself (The Hill and Politico).

‘CRAZY S—’: President Biden personally directed his senior campaign aides in recent days to focus more aggressively on Trump’s inflammatory comments, CNN reports. The thrust of Biden’s direction, delivered to his senior-most staff, was to significantly ramp up the campaign’s efforts to highlight the “crazy s—” that Trump says in public. The strategy is driven by widespread concern among Biden aides that too many voters appear to have forgotten about what they see as some of the more outrageous and unacceptable moments of the Trump presidency.

IMMIGRANT RIGHTS: For Maru Mora-Villalpando, the crusade to end immigration detention isn’t just about human rights — it’s about democracy itself. A political consultant in the Seattle area and a community organizer with La Resistencia, a grassroots group led by undocumented immigrants, Mora-Villalpando herself was undocumented for 25 years. She was publicly taciturn about her immigration status until 2014, when she led a protest to block the entrance to the Northwest Detention Center, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility operated by the GEO Group, a multinational private prison operator.

“Really, the story of that action was not that an undocumented person was leading the action. It was just the action in itself,” Mora-Villalpando told The Hill in a recent interview. “I wanted to say, ‘Look, I’m undocumented,’ so I could mobilize the rest of my community. That was my purpose — was two things: to put that detention center on the map, and second to call all undocumented people to do something because, you know, I thought, ‘We’re sick and tired of this. They’re coming after us, we have to do something.’”

2024 ROUNDUP

▪ Here are five things to watch out for at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which kicks off today.

▪ Republican Eric Hovde announced his Senate campaign in Wisconsin on Tuesday, setting him up for a potential general election contest against Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) as the GOP nabs one of the final pieces to their 2024 map puzzle in a key battleground state.

▪ The Conservative Partnership Institute has become a breeding ground for the next generation of Trump loyalists and an incubator for policies he might pursue. Its fast growth is raising questions.

▪ Cryptocurrency advocate John Deaton (R) launched his long-shot Senate bid Monday, challenging Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as she looks to secure her third term in the upper chamber.

WHERE AND WHEN

The House meets for a pro forma session on Friday at 11:30 a.m.

The Senate will hold a pro forma session on Friday at 3 p.m.

The president is in California. He will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10 a.m. PST before speaking in Culver City at 12:45 p.m. PST. He will then travel to San Francisco, where he will attend and speak at a campaign reception and campaign event.

Vice President Harris has no public schedule.

First lady Jill Biden will speak at an 11:30 a.m. event in Cambridge, Mass. as part of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff will participate in a fireside chat at the Jewish War Veterans National Executive Committee Conference at the Hilton Garden Inn in Washington at 11:30 a.m.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Brazil. He will meet with Embassy staff and families in Brasilia, and then meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In the afternoon, Blinken will participate in the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro, followed by an official dinner.

ZOOM IN

INTERNATIONAL

FOR THE THIRD TIME, the United States used its veto on the United Nations Security Council to kill a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Washington has proposed an alternative asking for a halt in fighting “as soon as practicable.” Humanitarian agencies, U.N. officials and other diplomats have argued that without a cease-fire, humanitarian aid at the scale that Gaza needs is not possible.

But the U.S. said that resolution would jeopardize its negotiation efforts with Qatar and Egypt to broker a deal that would release hostages from Gaza in exchange for a temporary humanitarian cease-fire. Those negotiations have stumbled, with neither Israel nor Hamas reaching a consensus on the terms for a deal (The New York Times).

“Any action the council takes right now should help not hinder these sensitive and ongoing negotiations,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. “Demanding an immediate unconditional cease-fire without an agreement requiring Hamas to release the hostages will not bring endurable peace.”

The U.N.’s World Food Program (WFP) said Tuesday it is pausing deliveries to northern Gaza due to the inability to ensure the safety and security of its staff, a move likely to compound starvation.

“The decision to pause deliveries to the north of the Gaza Strip has not been taken lightly, as we know it means the situation there will deteriorate further and more people risk dying of hunger,” a news release from the WFP reads. “WFP is deeply committed to urgently reaching desperate people across Gaza but the safety and security to deliver critical food aid — and for the people receiving it — must be ensured.”

Another United Nations agency, UNICEF, published a study this week that found 1 in 6 children younger than 2 years old in northern Gaza are malnourished (The Hill).

CNN: Israeli forces fired on a food convoy in Gaza, U.N. documents and satellite analysis reveals.

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN appears to be growing increasingly bold amid U.S. inaction over the war in Ukraine, consolidating power at home, advancing in Ukraine and acting more brazen with his nuclear ambitions. The Hill’s Brad Dress reports that Russia is making some progress on the battlefield in Ukraine as U.S. aid is in limbo, a major opposition leader to the Kremlin died last week, and Moscow may be preparing to launch a nuclear weapon into space. Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House, said Putin and Russia are “returning to a position of confidence” previously held at the start of the war.

“Because of the political hostage taking in the United States, Russia can be confident at this point that its prospects are going to improve,” he said, though he cautioned that Moscow has been overconfident in the past. “Of course, most of those are based on what’s playing out in U.S. domestic politics, which are Russia’s greatest opportunity to make gains in its war on the West and of course, ultimately, to challenge the United States.”

▪ Politico: One reason U.S. officials didn’t widely disseminate intelligence about Russia’s efforts to develop a new space weapon — they were trying to start talks to convince Russia to back off.

▪ The New York Times: The fall of Avdiivka to Russia may be more significant than it initially seemed as Ukraine struggles with morale and recruitment.

▪ The Hill: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said delays in military aid make the situation “extremely difficult” on the front lines in Ukraine’s war with Russia.

▪ The Washington Post: A man’s corpse, found riddled with bullets and run over by a vehicle in Spain last week, was identified as that of Russian military pilot Maksim Kuzminov, who flew his Mi-8 helicopter to Ukraine in a dramatic defection in August.

ELSEWHERE

COURTS

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to undo sanctions against several lawyers allied with Trump for filing a meritless lawsuit challenging Michigan’s 2020 presidential election results. Lawyers Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and others brought the lawsuit against Michigan state officials and Detroit in November 2020, one of dozens of suits filed in an attempt to prove election results were illegitimate in states where Trump had lost. The efforts failed across the board and no evidence of widespread fraud was uncovered.

The Trump lawyers were ordered to pay back attorneys’ fees accumulated by Michigan state officials and Detroit in seeking the sanctions — and to take legal education classes. U.S. District Judge Linda Parker, of the Eastern District of Michigan, also referred her decision to disciplinary authorities where each attorney is admitted for “investigation and possible suspension or disbarment.” A federal appeals panel last year upheld most of the sanctions, prompting Powell, Wood and the other remaining lawyers to seek relief from the Supreme Court (The Hill).

▪ The Hill: Five questions that reverberate from Trump’s civil fraud trial.

▪ The Hill: Trump’s New York real estate empire is in limbo after his fraud verdict.

THE SUPREME COURT WILL NOT REVIEW a challenge to the admissions system for a prestigious Northern Virginia magnet school, which administrators said opened the program to a wider socioeconomic range of students but opponents claimed discriminated against Asian American applicants. The court’s Tuesday decision not to take the case drew a sharp dissent from two conservatives — Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — and follows its ruling last term which rejected race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina and rolled back affirmative action (The Washington Post).

▪ CNN: New York’s rent stabilization laws will stand after Supreme Court declined to hear challenges.

▪ MSNBC: The Supreme Court justices’ recusal explanations fall along party lines. Democratic-appointed justices tend to explain their recusals. Republican-appointed justices do not.

OPINION

■ Alabama ushers in the theocracy, by Ruth Marcus, columnist, The Washington Post.

■ Two years on, thousands of Ukrainian children are still forcibly displaced by Russia, by Mark Temnycky, opinion contributor, The Hill.

THE CLOSER

And finally … The mystery of Charlotte, the pregnant stingray from Hendersonville, N.C., could be solved any day now. When officials at the Aquarium and Shark Lab first noticed a lump on Charlotte’s back, they presumed it was a tumor or a case of overeating at lunchtime. Charlotte hadn’t shared a tank with a male stingray in at least eight years, but an ultrasound confirmed she was indeed expecting. Complicating matters: her only male tank companions have been two sharks, Moe and Larry, which sent the internet into a frenzy. Will Charlotte give birth to shark-ray babies? Or has she taken a DIY approach to reproduction?

Experts say she almost certainly impregnated herself, a phenomenon known as parthenogenesis.

“Quite a variety of species of shark and rays are known to reproduce like that in captivity,” Demian Chapman, director of the shark and ray conservation program at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Florida, told Scientific American. “We even have evidence of one species of ray doing it in the wild.”

In any case, time will tell. Charlotte is due within the week, and then her caretakers (and the internet) will finally have a definitive answer about her mysterious offspring.

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