Morning Report — Election-messaging bills dominate Capitol Hill agenda

It’s all about the messaging.

Five months out from Election Day, that sentiment is clear on both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill. Congressional leaders in both parties are sending strong signals with upcoming votes in the House and Senate, tying legislation to election year priorities.

IN THE SENATE, Republicans on Wednesday blocked consideration of legislation that would create a federal right to birth control, after they argued the bill was unnecessary and overly broad. The bill was part of an election year push for reproductive rights by Democrats, who want to get Republicans on the record opposing those efforts, especially as the GOP struggles with how to message its stance on reproductive rights in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade (The Hill).

“We’re gonna have Contraception Day here in the United States Senate, and everyone’s going to be put on record,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said at a press conference ahead of the vote. “And if they say it’s not under threat, then they should just vote yes, in order to reaffirm that right.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday he has also begun the process of moving forward on a package that would establish protections for receiving and providing in vitro fertilization services (Roll Call).

Senate Republicans are also increasing calls for Schumer to grant a floor vote to the House GOP bill that would sanction the International Criminal Court over its arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which Democrats are highly unlikely to agree to (The Hill).

Politico: At least 128 members of Congress were targeted by an Israeli-linked operation to spread pro-Israel military content amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

IN THE HOUSE, election year probes abound. House Republicans have called university administrators, Cabinet officials and heads of federal agencies before panels. In a bow to the right of his party, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) named former Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) to serve on the prestigious House Intelligence Committee, where spots have typically been given to lawmakers with backgrounds in national security and a bipartisan track record. The committee’s chair, Mike Turner (R-Ohio), found out about Johnson’s changes from news accounts.

The selection of two close Trump allies comes as Johnson has signaled his willingness to use the full force of the House to aid former President Trump’s bid to reclaim the Oval Office (The Hill and ABC News). Some Republicans worry that agencies will balk at cooperating with the committee because of its new members and that Perry will leak sensitive information to contacts outside the panel (Politico).

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LEADING THE DAY

POLITICS

Trump has said he’ll unveil his choice to be vice president close to or during the Republican National Convention, which begins July 15 in Milwaukee. With little more than a month to go (and with a criminal sentencing scheduled in Manhattan on July 11), the presumptive nominee’s search for a running mate entered a new phase with a short list of prospects and campaign outreach to some, NBC News reports.

Traditionally, selecting a running mate is a “do-no-harm” campaign choice. Voters historically do not vote for presidential candidates based on vice presidential picks. But the selection carries more weight for Trump, who will be 78 next week. And if he wins, he would be constitutionally barred from seeking another term.

One of those who has received a request for vetting details is North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum, according to NBC. Burgum, described as a Trump loyalist unlikely to overshadow the former president, did not comment.

NBC sources also place Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Ohio Sen. JD Vance on a shortlist, albeit one written in pencil. Others mentioned this year as possibilities: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Byron Donalds of Florida, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

What has Trump said about the names mentioned? “Gov. Burgum from North Dakota has been incredible. Marco Rubio has been great.” Noem? “I like her a lot.” Picking a woman? “I like the concept, but we’re going to pick the best person.” Donalds? “A superstar with a tremendous future.” Scott? “He has been much better for me than he was for himself. I watched his campaign, and he doesn’t like talking about himself. But boy does he talk about Trump.”

One caveat for Florida lawmakers such as Rubio and Donalds, if paired with Sunshine State resident Trump, is that candidates on a ticket from the same state could make things uncomfortable for the electoral system in the event of a close result Nov. 5, thanks to the 12th Amendment to the Constitution (Tampa Bay Times).

“LOCK HIM UP?” NOT OUT LOUD: Democratic lawmakers balk at saying whether Trump should be jailed after his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records (some members of Congress privately wonder why he wasn’t jailed after repeatedly violating a gag order during the Manhattan hush money trial). Democrats want to avoid any appearance they are trying to publicly influence the trial judge, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton and Mychael Schnell report. “Do I think he’s done enough to deserve to go to prison? Yeah, absolutely,” said one Democratic senator who requested anonymity and recalled the attack on the Capitol Jan. 6, 2021. “I have PTSD for almost a year walking down the hallway and envisioning what was happening in the rotunda.”

TRUMP’S STANDING WITH VOTERS: Did Trump’s conviction change voters’ minds? Early on, the answer appears to be an equivocal “yes.” In interviews with nearly 2,000 voters who previously took New York Times/Siena College surveys, Biden appeared to gain slightly, the Times reports.

An Emerson College Poll found Trump’s lead over Biden ebbing from 3 points in April to 1 point this week, suggesting a possible improvement for the president. A survey released Thursday showed support for the former president nationwide among registered voters at 46 percent, unchanged since the survey in April. 

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ZOOM IN

COURTS

A Georgia appeals court Wednesday agreed to pause the Fulton County prosecutor’s election interference racketeering case against Trump to weigh his appeal seeking to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis (D) (The Hill). Trump and his legal team are challenging Willis after her admission of a romance with another prosecutor she brought into her office to lead the case against Trump and co-defendants. The election interference case is not expected to move to trial before Election Day.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) on Wednesday opposed Trump’s request to lift a gag order now that his trial for criminal falsification of company expense records ended last week with his conviction (ABC News).

In Florida, federal Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over the Justice Department’s criminal case against Trump for retention of classified documents, on Wednesday reshuffled her schedule of hearings on various unresolved issues in the case. It’s another example of a criminal prosecution of Trump that is not expected to go to trial anytime soon (The New York Times).

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Louisiana sided with industry groups and struck down the Securities and Exchange Commission’s pro-investor rule about private funds and investment advisers. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a senior member of the Banking Committee, called the court’s ruling “a real blow to consumers.” The rules would have required private equity funds and hedge funds to undergo annual audits, disclose all fees and expenses to investors, use realistic performance metrics, and disclose any sweetheart deals they give to preferential investors.

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

SCHOOL BULLYING: Students are quickly learning the ease with which artificial intelligence (AI) can create nefarious content — from deepfake sexual images to sham voice recordings — opening a new world of bullying that neither schools nor the law are fully prepared for (The Hill).

“We have to try to get ahead of that challenge because I think it’s really undermined kids’ mental wellbeing, and I see very few organizations or people that are really focusing in on that,” said Alex Kotran, co-founder and CEO of the AI Education Project. “I just worry that this is no longer a future state, but very much a clear and present danger that needs to be sort of taken ahead of.”

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ELSEWHERE

INTERNATIONAL

THE U.S. IS CONTINUING TO PUSH Hamas to agree to the cease-fire proposal Biden outlined Friday, saying the militant group’s stated opposition to the deal has yet to be officially transmitted. The White House has said it has “every expectation” that Israel will, if Hamas does, accept the U.S.-backed cease-fire plan, negotiated with mediators Qatar and Egypt.

“The ball is in Hamas’s court,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC News on Wednesday. “Israel has accepted the proposal. The world has endorsed the proposal. Now it’s time for Hamas to say yes to it.”

The plan has been described as a proposal supported by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, yet everything he has subsequently said about it has been a mixed signal. Agreeing to it risks a revolt by ultranationalists who could topple his government’s ruling coalition, and, crucially, the plan does not contain a solution to a key impasse between Israel and Hamas: whether the truce would be permanent and involve a complete withdrawal of Israel’s military from Gaza (USA Today). In an effort to revive the stalled talks, CIA Director William Burns is in Doha, while White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk arrived in Cairo on Wednesday. Arab mediators said that Biden has pressured Middle Eastern leaders to reach a deal by next week (The Wall Street Journal).

Ukrainian officials are pressing the U.S. and other countries to ramp up their F-16 pilot training, saying the current pipeline isn’t producing enough aviators to fly the jets that will be soon donated to Kyiv (Politico).

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THE CLOSER

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