What to Know in Washington: Biden, Top Lawmakers to Meet Tuesday

By Brandon Lee, Jeannie Baumann and Kayla Sharpe

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President Joe Biden will meet with Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the White House tomorrow in a bid to unlock billions of dollars in emergency aid to allies, including Ukraine, and avert a government shutdown.

Biden “will discuss the urgency of passing the bipartisan national security supplemental and keeping the government open,” the White House said in the president’s weekly schedule. Read more from Jennifer Jacobs and Erik Wasson.

Photographer: Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg
President Joe Biden, center right, shakes hands with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-la.) during the National Prayer Breakfast at the US Capitol on Feb. 1.

Schumer (D-N.Y.) said congressional efforts to put together a spending package fell short over the weekend, lamenting the slow pace of negotiations in a letter to colleagues yesterday evening. “While we had hoped to have legislation ready this weekend that would give ample time for members to review the text, it is clear now that House Republicans need more time to sort themselves out,” his letter said.

Lawmakers face a March 1 deadline on four of the 12 annual government-funding bills and a March 8 deadline on the other eight. Agencies are staring down the threat of shutdowns if lawmakers miss those deadlines, Jack Fitzpatrick reports in BGOV’s Budget Brief.

A deal on appropriations bills would create political headaches for Republican leaders among conservatives who have demanded the threat of a shutdown be used to force Biden to change border and immigration policies. GOP congressional leaders have instead chosen to hold up emergency funding for Ukraine to try to force the president’s hand.

At the same time, Johnson (R-La.) has repeatedly signaled that he opposes a shutdown, thinks it’s bad politics and is willing to compromise to get a spending deal. Read more from Wasson and Jacobs.

BIDEN’S AGENDA

  • Biden travels to New York City to attend a campaign reception shortly before 3 p.m. He’ll arrive back at the White House shortly after 8 p.m.

CONGRESS’ SCHEDULE

  • The House returns Wednesday.
  • Senators reconvene tomorrow.
  • For more details about this week’s agenda, read BGOV’s Congress Tracker.

Also Happening on the Hill

Lauren Turenchalk/Bloomberg Government

WITH HOUSE GOP LEADERS declining to bring up a Senate-backed Ukraine aid package, some lawmakers are plotting an end-run around Johnson that would rely on an obscure legislative process to force a vote. Read more.

FAA AUTHORITIES would be extended until May 10 under bill text posted Friday — which, if passed, would mark the third consecutive stopgap measure for the agency. Read more.

JAPAN’S PRIME MINISTER Fumio Kishida will deliver a speech to both houses of the Congress on April 11, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. The speech will be the first by a Japanese prime minister to Congress since Shinzo Abe spoke in 2015. Read more.

HOUSE LAWMAKERS paid out a total of $170,000 in settlements to staffers for claims of workplace intimidation and discrimination last year, according to the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights. They include two Democrats and one Republican. Read more.

From the Campaign Trail

Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images
Republican Presidential hopeful and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign rally in Troy, Mich. yesterday.

NIKKI HALEY vowed to stay in the Republican presidential contest, despite her primary loss on Saturday to Donald Trump in her home state of South Carolina. Read more.

  • The former president led Haley by more than 20 percentage points with about 60% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press. Trump’s victory, called immediately after polls closed, solidifies his path to the Republican nomination. Read more.

THE CHARLES KOCH-backed Americans for Prosperity Action will cut off funding for Haley’s presidential campaign. Read more.

  • The Republican donor class is limited to exerting their clout only through state-level races, lest they be forced to bankroll Trump’s comeback bid. Read more.

TRUMP and his allies see the primary as effectively over, positioning the him as the party’s presumptive 2024 nominee. In a speech to conservative activists Saturday, Trump focused on a general election rematch with Biden, making virtually no mention of Haley, even as South Carolina Republicans were still casting primary ballots. Read more.

  • Trump should tap South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem or former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy as his running mate ahead, according to attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference. Noem and Ramaswamy tied with 15% support among CPAC attendees in a straw poll. Read more.

JOHN THUNE, the Senate’s second-ranking Republican, will throw his support behind Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. Thune (S.D.) spoke by phone with Trump after his South Carolina primary win. Read more.

RNC CHAIR RONNA MCDANIEL is leaving the party’s top leadership role after weeks of pressure from Trump. She has come under scrutiny in recent months for a slew of losses in recent elections and lackluster fundraising figures.

  • Her departure allows Trump to install a loyalist in the position as he tightens control over the Republican party. Read more.

BIDEN’s pro-Israel stance is drawing concerns from Michigan Democrats it will alienate voters, in a state he won narrowly in 2020 that’s home to a large Arab-American population. Read more.

  • “I’m not sure what we’re going to see on Tuesday, to tell you the truth,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) told CNN’s “State of the Union”.
  • Rep. Debbie Dingell (D) said Michigan’s Arab American community “is pretty angry right now” and said Biden should come out and meet with community members himself. Read more.

Defense & Foreign Affairs

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER JAKE SULLIVAN pressed House Republicans to unlock assistance to Ukraine and acknowledged that Russia’s wartime economy has shown resilience.

  • “We need money to be able to provide the weapons to Ukraine. We don’t have the money,” Sullivan said yesterday on NBC’s “Meet the Press”.
  • Russia is gaining momentum, exploiting Kyiv’s deficit of ammunition, shortage of troops, and delays in receiving military aid. Read more.
  • Zelenskiy said his country has lost 31,000 soldiers since Russia’s full-scale invasion started two years ago as he stressed that a decision from Congress on $60 billion in aid was needed within a month. Read more.

ANTONY BLINKEN said Israeli settlements are “inconsistent with international law,” putting new pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reversing a Trump administration argument that construction in Palestinian territory could go ahead. Read more.

  • Israel has stopped renewing visas and work permits for scores of aid workers who provide vital support for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Read more.

AN ACTIVE DUTY AIR FORCE member set himself ablaze yesterday outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., while declaring that he “will no longer be complicit in genocide,” a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Read more.

THE US and ALLIES struck multiple targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Saturday, responding to increased attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea region by the Iran-backed militant group.

  • The strikes on 18 Houthi sites at eight locations were the broadest announced since Feb. 3, providing new evidence that the Yemen-based militants are engaging the US and its allies in an extended battle. Read more.

What Else We’re Watching

A SUPREME COURT BATTLE over medication abortion threatens to undercut reproductive rights services in states led by Democrats, running up against staffing shortages and a surge of patients from states from GOP-led states. Read more.

SUPREME COURT will hear challenges today on the constitutionality of two laws from Florida and Texas that aim to prevent social media platforms from “censoring” posts. The cases have united organizations on the left and right who are pressing the justices to be careful in regulating social media. Read more.

FEDERAL REGULATORS are in an all-out sprint, racing to finalize Biden administration climate initiatives. Anything that’s not completed by late spring could be easier for Congress to repeal or for Republican foes to undo if Biden loses reelection in November. Read more.

AS THE WHITE HOUSE pushes stronger guidance on environmental justice, courtroom fights over air toxics and civil rights are tightening the bounds of legal recourse for communities overburdened with air pollution. Read more.

REGULATORS are closely monitoring the potential fallout of struggling commercial real estate markets. The Financial Stability Oversight Council received a briefing from a key banking regulator about the situation on Friday. Read more.

To contact the reporters on this story: Brandon Lee in Washington at blee@bgov.com; Jeannie Baumann in Washington at jbaumann@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kayla Sharpe at ksharpe@bloombergindustry.com; Giuseppe Macri at gmacri@bgov.com

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