Happy hour drama on Capitol Hill - POLITICO

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With a hand from Sarah Ferris, Olivia Beavers, Nicholas Wu and Andrew Desiderio

WHAT NOW? — Democrats on Capitol Hill are looking ahead to what priorities they can pass, following two bruising defeats on voting rights and the collapse of their signature social spending and climate bill. But Democrats are not united on the path forward.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has promised to bring up a revamped version of the spending and climate measure that is the centerpiece of President Joe Biden’s domestic economic agenda. But with the razor thin majority, Democrats will have to keep massaging the measure until centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) can get on board. But they won’t be building on previous benchmarks, because Manchin said this week that his previous negotiations with Biden are now null.

“Senate Democrats are still holding out hope that Manchin will sign on to a narrower version of the social spending bill that addresses child care, climate change or prescription drug prices. But they acknowledge a deal isn’t exactly imminent and, at this point, Democrats will take what they can pass,” write Burgess and Marianne in this morning’s examination of Democratic ambitions.

Some Democrats are clinging to a possible revival of their signature Child Tax Credit plan, despite suggestions from the White House this week that the plan could be dead. Brian Faler has more.

What about chunks? As Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said at her Thursday press conference: "This is a reconciliation bill. When people say, ‘let's divide it up,’ they don't understand the process.”

But first, recess.

GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Friday, January 21, where the recess bells are ringing.

BIG TROUBLE … AND BIG BACKUP … FOR BIG BOARD: Republican aides on Capitol Hill are rallying behind a watering hole that is publicly defying D.C.’s vaccination mandate for indoor dining. The Big Board on H Street NE didn’t previously have a reputation as a GOP hangout — but when The Daily Caller’s Henry Rodgers started a GoFundMe to offset the $1,000 fine the bar recently received for not checking vaccine cards and having unmasked employees, Republican staffers stepped up.

Miranda Dabney, communications director for Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), donated $100 and made sure to be there every night this week to support the bartenders and owners, whom she got to know during the pandemic. Dabney told Huddle she is “so proud to have spent so much of my time and money there the last 2 years. There’s strength in numbers, so I’d love to see more businesses follow their lead.”

Rep. Chip Roy’s (R-Texas) chief of staff, Jason Rogers, is listed as donating $25 and he shared the GoFundMe effort on Twitter, as did Roy. Philip Letsou, communications director for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), was the very first to donate and more than 120 donors followed. The fundraiser has raked in more than $5,600 so far.

Other GOP aides who talked to Huddle about the pro-Big Board effort stressed that they are not anti-vaccine and even said they themselves are vaccinated, but that they oppose the city’s requirement for businesses to check the vaccine status of all patrons. They said there are some other hangouts that aren’t actively following the mandate, but have signs up about vaccines and masks and aren’t looking to attract the attention that Big Board has for openly violating it.

Under the mandate, which went into effect last weekend, bars and restaurants that don’t enforce mask or vaccine rules get two warnings from the city — the first verbal and the second written. On the third violation, businesses face a $1,000 fine, followed by a $2,000 fine for additional infractions. A fifth violation will send establishments before the DC liquor board, which has the authority to revoke or suspend licenses to serve alcohol.

DCCC’S RECRUITMENT SURPRISE IN MACOMB — The House Dems’ campaign arm is deep in talks with potential candidates for a critical Michigan battleground district. One of them has come as a shock to other Michigan Dems: He’s a formerly GOP mayor who voted for Donald Trump in 2016.

Michael Taylor — the mayor of Michigan’s fourth-largest city and a Biden-supporter as of 2020 — is seriously mulling running for the open 10th congressional seat, which he’s discussed with DCCC officials and multiple other Dem lawmakers, including Sen. Gary Peters.

It gets more interesting: If he runs, Taylor would likely face GOP star recruit John James — who Taylor himself endorsed for a GOP Senate bid nearly four years ago, before changing course and endorsing Peters in the 2020 race.

Some Dems see Taylor — and his “political evolution,” in the words of Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) — as a huge asset in a Trump+1 district. But the idea of Taylor on the ballot has flummoxed, and in some cases, infuriated local liberals.

“That's just a bridge too far,” said Chris Harthen, a former political director of the UFCW Local 876. David Hecker, president of AFT Michigan added: “It wouldn't be our choice at all. Ally Mutnick and Sarah have the story.

COVID ON CAPITOL HILL — Reps. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) all announced in recent days that they have tested positive for Covid-19. Both Grijalva and Massie have had covid before, in 2020. Massie posted that he is not vaccinated or boosted.

YOUR LIFE AS A MOVIE — There’s going to be a feature film about the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Writer and director Billy Ray plans to shop his script for the movie, titled J6, soon, according to Deadline. Former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone “consulted on the screenplay throughout the process,” Deadline reports.

ARREST – Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) was arrested Thursday along with other protesters outside the Capitol as part of a protest over stalled progress on voting rights legislation. “Today, Congressman Jamaal Bowman joined a voting rights non-violent direct action at the North Barricade of the U.S. Capitol Building and was arrested by the U.S. Capitol Police,” his spokesperson Marcus Frias said in a statement. The Capitol Police declined to comment on Bowman’s arrest but said on Twitter they made 28 total arrests.

DIGGING DEEPER — As Capitol attack investigators are digging into efforts by state-level Republicans to send Congress “alternative” slates of 2020 presidential electors, they’re also zeroing in on the involvement of Donald Trump's White House and campaign operations, Kyle and Nicholas report.

Now the Jan. 6 select panel is looking deeper at the Trump network's role in the electoral vote strategy, which Democrats increasingly say may have amounted to a crime. “We want to look at the fraudulent activity that was contained in the preparation of these fake Electoral College certificates,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the Capitol riot committee. “And then we want to look to see to what extent this was part of a comprehensive plan to overthrow the 2020 election.”

HAVANA SYNDROME — The CIA’s interim assessment on Havana Syndrome is not going over well on Capitol Hill. Top senators on the Intelligence and Foreign Relations committees are downplaying, dismissing and questioning the timing of the agency’s disclosure this week, in what Andrew writes is “the latest salvo in a years-long battle for transparency between Capitol Hill and the intelligence agencies.” The interim report examined a very specific question — whether a foreign adversary was behind a sustained global campaign to harm hundreds of U.S. diplomats posted overseas.

The answer to that question, the CIA says, is “unlikely.” But the agency explicitly left open the possibility that a foreign actor or sophisticated weapon is the culprit in a double-digit number of cases that remain unresolved. Senate Intelligence Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) revealed that the intelligence community is expected to wrap up its work on a broader review in the coming days, and said “it might have been better to have this simultaneously released” with the IC product. Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) went even further: “If you have an inconclusive determination, which isn’t a determination, why do you feel compelled to issue an interim report that is inconclusive? So the timing, I don’t quite get it.”

QUICK LINKS

House of Representatives to launch new digital service team, from FedScoop

Rep. Lauren Boebert Asked A Group Of Jewish Capitol Visitors If They Were Doing "Reconnaissance", from Kadia Goba at BuzzFeed

Rep. Madison Cawthorn Cleans Gun During Veterans Hearing, from The Daily Beast

House Republicans slam government purchase of 'made in China' KN95 masks for members of Congress, from Fox News

TRANSITIONS

Maddie Carlos, who is Rep. Deborah Ross’ (D-N.C.) Communications Director and was a member of former Sen. Joe Donnelly’s (D-Ind.) press team, starts today as Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) Press Secretary.

William “Billy” Fuerst starts today as communications director for Rep. Randy Feenstra (R- Iowa). He was previously communications director for Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich).

TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House convenes at 9 a.m. for a pro forma session.

The Senate is not in session.

AROUND THE HILL

March for Life is on the Hill today. Besides that, pretty quiet.

THURSDAY’S WINNER: John D. Jones correctly answered that following ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788, Pennsylvania was first in electing their two United States Senators: William Maclay and Robert Morris.

TODAY’S QUESTION from John: The Biden Administration and USDA have communicated a commitment to promoting the increase of using cover crops in American agriculture. Planting cover crops is no new practice to reduce soil erosion, as demonstrated by their use on the farm of this former U.S. President and Virginia Senator.

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to [email protected]

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Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus