What to Know in Washington: Winners, Losers Emerge from CR Vote

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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) looks like he’ll come through his first major showdown with a victory. His opposite number, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is probably pleased as well.

Congress’ powerful appropriators are less happy with the deal to avert a government shutdown on Saturday, and Ukraine and its supporters have again been left in the cold.

As Congress moves to approve another short-term spending bill, here are the winners and losers from the deal on track to approval this week.

Winners

Johnson: The new speaker pitched a two-tiered funding plan that was quickly accepted by Democrats, even if they didn’t love it. Johnson threw a bone to the GOP’s hard-right by separating the expiration dates for various parts of the government funding, but otherwise spurned hard-liners’ demands for spending cuts and right-wing policy riders.

“He’s largely unknown by Democratic leadership and the White House, they can now see he’s a serious and thoughtful legislator, not the caricature they tried to make him,” said Ryan Carney, a former House Republican chief of staff who now works as a government affairs adviser at K&L Gates.

President Joe Biden: The White House would argue that any shutdown would have been Republicans’ fault. But the political reality is that no president would escape blame for a shutdown ahead of Thanksgiving, or potential disruption to the economy. He might not love the details of the deal, but it’s far better than a shutdown.

Holiday plans: For once there won’t be a major deadline looming over the winter holidays for lobbyists, staffers, journalists and anyone else who makes their living at the Capitol. Go ahead and book those travel plans.

Losers

Ukraine: Internationalists who support Ukraine were frustrated when aid was cut from September’s spending stopgap, but hoped that would be quickly addressed. Now another deadline has come and gone without a package for Kyiv. Aid for Israel is also going unaddressed, but that’s a less contentious issue for House Republicans and will likely get done.

There might still be a path forward on Ukraine, especially if aid is paired with border security, but deadlines usually force action in Congress, and the next big one is now a couple months away.

House conservatives: The hard-right Freedom Caucus came out against the plan, railing against a bill that continues existing spending levels approved last year by Democratic majorities. It’s the same complaint they raised when they unseated former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last month. But even though they got a speaker more to their liking, the outcome was just the same.

Lobbyists: Congress’ typical end-of-year, all-encompassing spending bill gets dubbed a “Christmas tree” for a reason: It’s a vast platform for attaching policy riders as lawmakers rush home for the holidays. That deadline benefits lobbyists angling to push client interests onto a must-pass bill.

Johnson’s plan purposefully changes that timeline. Some parts of government would be funded through mid-January, and others through early February, with Republicans aiming to avoid the end-of-year, holiday-pressured omnibus they loathe. That puts lobbyists who regularly bank on that package at a disadvantage. Jonathan Tamari, Kate Ackley, and Maeve Sheehey have the full list of winners and losers.

HOUSE LAWMAKERS overcame partisan animosity to pass the temporary government funding bill 336-95, greatly lowering the risk of a shutdown even as it delays fights over Ukraine aid, border policies and deep cuts to federal programs. Read more.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-N.Y.) says he will now work with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to pass the bipartisan extension of funding “as soon as possible, ” according to an emailed statement. Read more.

BIDEN’S AGENDA

Biden will greet Chinese President Xi Jinping around 1:45 p.m. before the pair hold a bilateral meeting.
Biden will hold a press conference around 7:15 p.m.
The president and First Lady Jill Biden host a welcome reception for APEC leaders at 10:30 p.m. Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will also attend.

CONGRESS’ SCHEDULE

The House is in at 9 a.m. to vote on amendments to two spending bills.
Senators return at 10 a.m. and may vote on the stopgap measure. The Senate will vote around 2:30 p.m. on a resolution to block the Biden administration’s changes to income-driven repayment plans for student loans.
For more details on the full agenda read BGOV’s Congress Tracker.

Also Happening on the Hill

UNITED AUTO WORKERS will target foreign car plants in the South following record-making contracts with the Big Three Detroit automakers, President Shawn Fain told the Senate HELP Committee yesterday. Fain indicated the UAW will move to organize workers in non-unionized companies soon, hinting the group is coming for Nissan, Volkswagen, Toyota, and Tesla

Fain also slammed Stellantis buyouts as auto workers vote on a deal. Read more.
Two big plants voted down the tentative agreement between UAW and General Motors meaning just a slim majority of workers have agreed to a pact that includes record 25% pay raises. Read more.

Global Leaders Converge

BIDEN and XI meet today at the Filoli estate south of San Francisco for a much-anticipated sitdown on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

The leaders are expected to discuss a US request for resuming military-to-military communication in hopes of avoiding confrontations in Pacific skies and seas, as well as a comprehensive Chinese law enforcement effort to crack down on fentanyl manufacturing and distribution networks. Other topics of conversation may include AI, the status of Taiwan, and conflicts involving Ukraine and Israel.
Chinese officials are likely to seek the rollback of export controls, tariffs, and restrictions on investment in the US. Read more.

THE COP28 CLIMATE SUMMIT in Dubai later this month is perhaps the last chance for the world to change course and start cutting emissions this decade. The US and China, the world’s biggest polluters, vowed to step up joint action to tackle climate change in a revival of collaboration that will be crucial for a successful COP. Read more.

SRETTHA THAVISIN has discussed with a number of US technology companies, including Microsoft and Google, possible investments in Thailand during his trip to APEC, the Thai government said in a statement.

The prime minister has asked Walmart to consider setting up a regional head office and distribution center in Thailand and Google is considering the country as a potential location to set up data center. Read more.

People, Power, and Politics

SEN. KATIE BRITT (R-ALA.), the youngest Republican woman to ever serve in the Senate, is building her national profile and balancing demands of a deeply conservative state with her job negotiating compromise bills on politically-charged issues like border security. Read more.

TAMMY MURPHY announced this morning that she is running for Sen. Robert Menendez’s (D-N.J.) senate seat, the New York Times reports. A first-time candidate, she is also the wife of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D).

A MICHIGAN JUDGE rejected an effort to keep Donald Trump off ballots in the state’s 2024 Republican presidential primary, but declined to rule on his inclusion for the general election. Read more.

BIDEN lambasted TRUMP for comparing his political enemies to “vermin,” saying the language evoked that of Nazi Germany. Read more.

CITADEL FOUNDER KEN GRIFFIN says he is close to making a decision about financially backing Nikki Haley’s presidential bid, a move that would give her campaign a boost two months out from the Iowa caucuses. Read more.

CONSERVATIVE DONOR FUND DONORSTRUST has slashed support for legal activist Leonard Leo. Read more.

Latest from Gaza and Israel

ISRAELI TROOPS entered Gaza’s Shifa hospital compound as part of a “precise and targeted operation” against Hamas that runs the risk of intensifying international ire if it causes more civilian casualties. The Israeli military said it’s bringing supplies into the facility, which houses hundreds of patients, medical personnel, and displaced civilians.

Very limited information appeared to be coming out of the area early today and people in the vicinity weren’t contactable by phone. Read more.
The US has intelligence confirming Israel’s assertion that Hamas and other Iran-backed militant groups are using hospitals, including the central Al-Shifa facility in Gaza, to conceal and support their military operations, the Biden administration said. Read more.

THE PENTAGON has quietly ramped up military aid to Israel, delivering on requests that include more laser-guided missiles for its Apache gunship fleet, as well as 155mm shells, night-vision devices, bunker-buster munitions, and new army vehicles, according to an internal Defense Department list. Read more.

THE WHITE HOUSE is getting increasingly frustrated with Israel’s conduct of the war against Hamas as the civilian death toll mounts and the administration’s calls go unheeded, widening a rift between the close allies. Read more.

What Else We’re Watching

Whales, Energy, and Boat Interests Colliding on Land and Sea

The Biden administration’s efforts to augment protections for endangered whales in the North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico have angered the offshore drilling and recreation fishing industries, spawning legislation to scale back proposed speed restrictions on boats and nix a possible critical habitat expansion.

Larger Employers Fund Worker Obamacare Option as Costs Spike

Larger employers than before are increasingly funding their workers’ purchases of Obamacare plans during open enrollment instead of providing pricier group health plans, taking a cue from small companies that have used this option.

Carried Interest Tax Break Targeted in Bill Revived by Democrats

Senate Democrats on Wednesday are reintroducing legislation to end the carried interest tax break that benefits investment fund managers, furthering their push to take aim at tax avoidance by the wealthy.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kayla Sharpe at ksharpe@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeannie Baumann at jbaumann@bloombergindustry.com; Giuseppe Macri at gmacri@bgov.com

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