What to Know in Washington: Left Scores Wins in Pennsylvania

Progressives won an early victory, the hard-right faces a new test, and a critical Senate race took shape in yesterday’s Pennsylvania primary.

The results set the stage for key races in one of the country’s most competitive swing states — one that will be a crucial for deciding control of the White House, Senate, and House.

Photographer: Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg

Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) departs the Capitol on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023.

Democratic Rep. Summer Lee’s win could resonate beyond her Pittsburgh-based district. Her primary against Bhavini Patel was an early test of whether progressives could withstand challenges from more middle-of-the-road Democrats, especially as left-wing lawmakers like Lee have taken increasingly critical stances on Israel.

Plus, the state’s critical Senate race, underway for months, is now official. Sen. Bob Casey (D) will square off against Republican David McCormick. Both were unopposed in their primaries.

Democrats are trying to define McCormick early by pointing to his recent residency in Connecticut, job cuts while he was a business executive, and the investments in China made by his former hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates. However, Republicans argue that Casey has never taken a real punch. They’ll aim to paint him as a creature of Washington who needs to go after so many years in office. Jonathan Tamari has more on the broader impacts of last night’s results. Read More

More From the Pennsylvania Primaries:

• Incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick won the Republican primary for his House seat in the Philadelphia suburbs, AP said. Read More
• Former local television journalist Janelle Stelson won the Democratic primary for the 10th district House seat, AP projected. Read More

In Maryland, Baltimore has taken on a pivotal role in choosing not just who will represent Maryland and its Washington commuters for years to come — but control of the narrowly-divide Senate itself, Zach C. Cohen reports. Read More

BIDEN’S AGENDA

• President Joe Biden will deliver remarks around 12:30 p.m. at the North America’s Building Trade Union National Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C..
• Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will hold a briefing around 1:30 p.m.

CONGRESS’ SCHEDULE

• The House and Senate are out.

Join BGOV senior reporter Kate Ackley today at 11 a.m. for a webinar on how lobbyists are changing their structures and strategies. Register Here

Happening on the Hill

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Supporters of Ukraine rally outside the Capitol after the Senate passed a foreign aid bill last night.

The Senate passed a long-delayed $95 BILLION FOREIGN AID PACKAGE for Ukraine and other US allies. Read More

• President Joe Biden will sign the bill into law today and plans to start sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week, according to a White House statement. Read More
• The package also included a vote to ban TikTok’s ownership by Chinese parent ByteDance, setting the stage for a constitutional clash over whether the prohibition deprives users of their First Amendment right to free speech. Read More
• The bill also would broaden sanctions on Iran to include foreign ports, vessels, and refineries that knowingly process or ship Iranian crude in violation of existing US sanctions. Read More

The White House is set to announce $1 BILLION in fresh military aid to Ukraine, including 155mm artillery shells and air-defense munitions, two administration officials said. Read More

Former Rep. KEVIN BRADY (R-Texas) is making a return to Capitol Hill representing business interests aiming to protect tax breaks gained in the 2017 tax law, which he helped author. The former House Ways and Means chair spoke exclusively to Bloomberg Tax about his future plans. Read More

The HOUSE-PASSED TAX BILL helped drive millions in spending on federal lobbying in the first quarter of 2024 as businesses sought to advance the now-stalled legislation aimed at restoring expired tax breaks and boosting the child tax credit. Read More

People, Power, and Politics

Photo by Curtis Means-Pool/Getty Images

Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears outside the courtroom during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday.

The SUPREME COURT is poised to reckon with what constitutes an official presidential act in weighing former President Donald Trump’s claim that he’s immune from being criminally prosecuted for trying to overturn the 2020 election. Read More

BIDEN urged voters to punish TRUMP in November for a wave of abortion restrictions, assailing a six-week ban set to take effect in his rival’s home state of Florida. Read More

• The Supreme Court will also consider just how far states can go in prohibiting abortion today as it weighs whether emergency room doctors nationwide can perform the procedure when a pregnant person’s health is at serious risk. Read More

Biden’s recent polling bump in key BATTLEGROUND STATES has mostly evaporated as economic pessimism hurts his standing with voters. The April Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll found Biden is ahead in just one of the seven states most likely to determine the outcome of his match-up with Trump, leading Michigan by 2 percentage points. Read More

Talks to resolve a standoff at COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and officials were extended by two days after a midnight deadline passed in a dispute that has drawn a national spotlight to campus politics over the Middle East. The extension came after “significant progress” in discussions, the university’s student newspaper reported. Read More

What Else We’re Watching

Photographer: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun on Capitol Hill on Jan. 24.

A pair of top BOEING bosses who announced their departures as the company faced scrutiny over near-catastrophic manufacturing flaws in its 737 series jets are still poised to collect a combined $45 million in compensation based on the most recent company disclosures. Read More

• DOJ officials will meet today with families of Boeing 737 Max crash victims even as they investigate the company’s operations in the wake of the recent near-catastrophic blowout of a fuselage panel mid-flight. Read More

AIRLINES will now have to provide AUTOMATIC REFUNDS to travelers if their flights are canceled or significantly altered under new Transportation Department rules. Read More

The Biden administration’s push to improve NURSING HOME care through better staffing—and the industry’s insistence that it needs more workers and funding to make it happen—could set the stage for intervention by Congress or the courts. Read More

An overwhelming 77% of voters in seven SWING STATES like the idea of a billionaires tax to bolster Social Security shortfalls, a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll found. Read More

The Biden administration is taking steps to jump-start the fledgling OFFSHORE WIND sector, outlining a five-year leasing plan that would include turbines in the far reaches of the Pacific. Read More

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeannie Baumann in Washington at jbaumann@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kayla Sharpe at ksharpe@bloombergindustry.com