House Dems stand by their man
While in northern Virginia for their annual retreat, members gave President Biden refuge amid his latest firestorm. Plus: Notes on how Dems plan to tackle urgent crises in housing, child care, AI.
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! I’m Michael Jones and this is Once Upon a Hill, your twice-weekly guide to the obvious and obscure ways congressional politics shape how you work and live.
I’m coming to you an afternoon later than usual, back in Washington from Leesburg, Virginia, where House Democrats just wrapped up their annual policy retreat.
In this edition, I’ve got a fulsome dispatch on everything you need to know from the retreat, including some intel from inside the room on Biden’s message to House Dems yesterday and his mettle in the wake of a fresh focus on his mental acuity.
But first, allow me to explain the wicked news cycle that left congressional Republicans and the White House reeling…
We’ll start with the House, where Republicans failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after party leadership miscounted the votes it needed to get it done. It was an epic embarrassment that 1) catapulted Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) into the congressional canon after he was wheeled from the hospital post-emergency-surgery in a heroic demonstration of public service to cast the deciding vote and 2) empowered top House Democrats to brag about vote-counting prowess, a skill they surely inherited from OG and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
To be sure, the impeachment resolution is expected to come back to the floor as early as next Tuesday. With the return of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) from cancer treatment, Republicans are expected to have the votes if both sides are at full strength, even though their case's substance is paltry. But we won’t know until the vote is called how absences caused by flight delays, family emergencies, or unexpected health setbacks will affect the final whip count.
Speaker Mike Johnson compounded the Mayorkas mess with another unnecessary misstep. He announced last weekend his intention to bring a bill to the House floor to provide $14 billion in aid to Israel. You may recall one of his first decisions following Kevin McCarthy’s ouster was to schedule a vote for Israel aid that Republicans offset by clawing back money Democrats passed in the Inflation Reduction Act for the IRS to pursue wealthy tax cheats.
Democrats opposed that bill back then. But Johnson counted on his colleagues on the other side of the aisle to support a version of the legislation without the IRS cuts to push it through under suspension, which would have allowed him to bypass a Rules Committee—the powerful panel McCarthy stacked with conservatives who, in this case, opposed the bill without offsets and collectively possessed the veto power to prevent the bill from coming up for a vote.
The White House announced that President Biden would veto the bill if Congress passed it, and later, House Democratic leadership declared their joint opposition to it, a double layer of political protection for rank-and-file members to vote no. Just 46 Democrats—one-fifth of the caucus—voted for the clean bill.
Who knows if House Democrats would have paid a political price for voting against Israel aid? But we’ll likely never know because the talk of the town became the failed Mayorkas impeachment vote. Johnson could have held the Israel bill to maximize the politics. He didn’t and the result has become the latest blunder in the 106 days he’s held the top gavel.
On the other side of the Capitol, Senate Republicans were discombobulated after scuttling a border deal that conservatives demanded be attached to an emergency funding request from President Biden for billions of dollars of assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan aid. With the economy signs of strength beyond macro indicators that most Americans aren’t regularly tracking and a legislative agenda unpopular with the majority of the country, border security is one of the few issues former President Donald Trump mobilized his congressional allies to tank an agreement negotiated by one of the party’s fiercest border hawks, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.).
Senate Republicans spent the balance of the week bickering with each other in search of a path ahead. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) gave them one: The opportunity to vote on Biden’s supplemental request without the border provisions. The Senate voted yesterday to start debate on the borderless bill, bringing us back to where we started last October. But instead of starting a two-week recess, senators could be in session through Tuesday to approve the final package, absent a time agreement between the two parties to speed past several cumbersome procedural votes. Not an ideal way to spend Super Bowl weekend, amirite?
It’s unclear if Johnson will put a Senate-passed supplemental on the House floor, where half his conference opposes additional aid to Ukraine. He probably has to check first with former President Trump for marching orders. But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries indicated in a statement on Thursday that he was willing to throw his weight behind a discharge petition. This wonky hail-mary-like procedural tool would ultimately circumvent Republican leadership if enough GOP members were willing to break ranks. FWIW: No Democratic-led discharge petition has received any GOP support during this Congress.
Moments before President Biden delivered his keynote on Wednesday afternoon (watch my grainy video from the press section in the back of the room to see the standing O the commander-in-chief received), a sensational report from Robert Hur the special counsel assigned to investigate the president’s handling of classified documents when he was senator and vice president was released.
Hur’s final conclusion was that no charges would be filed against the president. But that’s boring AF in the news business, so the media seized on the most sensational snippets of the 388-page document, including Hur writing that Biden was so old that he couldn’t remember when his son Beau died from cancer in 2015 or the years he was vice president from 2009 to 2017—and disseminated them with little context that the observations weren’t medical opinions or consistent with Justice Department protocol for these types of reports.
The president and his counsel put out separate statements on the report and Biden addressed it at the top of his keynote remarks to House Democrats. He was still so pissed about the Beau allegation that the White House scheduled a last-minute press conference in the Diplomatic Reception Room for him to unload on Hur and take questions from a rambunctious press corps.
Biden made news by saying Israel’s war in Gaza has gone “over the top” but he mixed up the presidents of Mexico and Egypt in one of his responses, so, of course, the latter development made more headlines.
The presser illustrated Biden World’s ultimate paradox: While the president is at his best when he demonstrates that’s empathy, outrage and kindness innate to his character, he’s a gaffe-prone politician whose blunders can shift markets, reset news cycles and serve as the focus of Republican ads.
Personally, the entire incident inspires little confidence in me that Washington's establishment media is up to the task of course-correcting after woefully underserving the electorate in 2016. But there’s more to get to, so I’ll save the rest of my thoughts on this for another day.
The purpose of the presidential keynote at a confab like a party retreat is to back-pat congressional partners for helping advance their legislation agenda and gin up enthusiasm for the campaign slogan ahead.
In other words, they’re really not designed to be news-making affairs. And aside from Biden’s comments on the special counsel’s report, his wasn’t either.
The real action happens following the public speech behind closed doors during a private Q&A, where the president, like he is at most of his fundraisers, is more candid with his thoughts.
I’m told by a House Democrat who was in the room with Biden said they experienced him as personable and alert. A senior House Democratic aide confirmed this characterization of the president as well.
The member said he outlined the policy priorities included in the Democrats’ “Finish the Job” agenda, including continued investments in small businesses, health care and climate change while protecting freedoms so people can live their lives in dignity.
What especially stood out to the member was how deeply he cares for this country and is disgusted by Trump’s vision for the country. It's clear from anyone who closely covers the president that he still mourns the loss of his son and wants to do right by his memory—the member said this was on display during the private chat.
“I really respect him,” the member added. “And I don’t think he takes Black communities for granted. I think he’s seen a lot and he’s grown a lot.”
He reportedly dropped an F-bomb while discussing his late son and the special counsel’s report. The member didn’t confirm the profanity when I asked, but added: “Good for him if he said it. You let me know if you remember everything. I sure don’t and my job is not nearly as stressful as his.”
Of course, Biden was speaking to the home team within friendly confines. But national Democrats are shown themselves to be rarely afraid to call out the president. The fact that many have stepped up to counter the special counsel’s narrative shows the party is unwilling to let Biden get Comey’d the way former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did in 2016.
This was a policy retreat and I’m a policy nerd, so of course crises like the affordable housing and child care crises and gender wage gap were top of mind for me because they’re priorities for so many of you.
Maxine Waters of California, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, led the introduction of a comprehensive legislative package that would represent the single largest and most comprehensive investment in fair and affordable housing in US history, told me her colleagues have all met young people discouraged by how out of touch the American Dream feels due to the housing crisis.
Her commitment to the issue, she told me, is due in part to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris ranking it toward the top of their list of priorities too.
Waters added that lawmakers must also look at deeper into the drivers of homelessness.
“We’ve got to deal with [mental] health problems. We’ve got to deal not-in-my-backyard. We’ve got to deal with hedge funds and private equity who buy up a lot of places, raise the rent and then do not put money back into repair,” Waters continued. “We’ve got to fix the systems rather than just talk about it. And we've got to call some people out—that includes again, our banks, hedge funds, private equity, and others who have too many friends in Congress.”
In addition to housing, the cost of or inaccessibility to child care is another factor that marginalizes young people. especially women, from fully participating in the economy.
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the number-two Democrat who, in addition to being responsible for unifying her members against the Mayorkas impeachment vote, has made reproductive freedom a focal point of her legislative portfolio—one she told me intersects with housing, child care and other kitchen-table concerns.
“Everywhere I go, I hear from people about the cost of childcare and for many families at the same time they’re dealing with caring for aging parents and are totally squeezed,” she said. “We used to call it the sandwich generation. [Now] it’s a panini. Because you are getting squeezed and it's hot and you are melting from the pressure.”
Rep. Lori Trahan of Massachusetts, the newest member of Democratic leadership, told me that although elections are fundamentally about the future, Democrats have a robust track record to run on—even if voters aren’t as familiar with it yet.
“But we have more to do and we know that. But we also have a platform that we know is popular with the American people,” Trahan added. “And I think childcare is central to that because we want women to be able to go back to work and have the peace of mind that they're that their kids are being taken care of.”
Vice President Kamala Harris is in the midst of a nationwide wide tour promoting reproductive freedom, a topic Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) raised during a closed-door moderated conversation between Harris and Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.).
Crockett asked for the vice president’s views on the issue since Harris has made it the centerpiece of her legislative agenda and what she’s hearing on the road from everyday Americans.
The first-term Congresswoman told me in a statement that Harris was a strong advocate for reproductive access who spoke about the hard conversations she’s having with people, including some who thought they were anti-choice.
“As a Texas Woman, it was important that I inquire of the VP about what she’s hearing across the country regarding reproductive access,” Crockett added. “Texas has been the poster child for the pain and torment that’s been inflicted upon women as a result of a small minority of Christo-fascists that are literally killing dreams and wishes, killing wombs, and killing women.”
A spokesperson for the Vice President did not respond to a request for comment.
Congress has yet to meaningfully regulate artificial intelligence, leaving voters susceptible to deep fakes, misinformation and disinformation from bad actors hellbent on suppressing votes from diverse communities or interfering in the general election.
The House Democrats’ campaign arm launched a new initiative a few weeks ago that features resource hubs with memes, graphics and other multimedia that people can easily share with friends, loved ones and community members on social media and private channels like WhatsApp groups to push back against false narratives and promote key House Democratic accomplishments.
Rep. Lauren Underwood of Illinois, who’s leading the House Democrats’ digital messaging strategy, told me part of combatting AI-generated incorrect or incomplete information is flooding the zone with not just the caucus’s legislative accomplishments, but basics like voter education with simplicity and repetition on all platforms.
“We have a responsibility to meet people where they are. When we don’t, that void gets filled,” she said. “If we’re going to be successful, if our democracy is going to succeed, we can no longer afford to surrender and leave some spaces just to either domestic or foreign actors and the life they might want to spread on the internet.”
I’m also clear the role Black and brown communities will play in determining the outcome of the election.
Democrats know both groups are key to their success up and down the ballot and that votes from these communities must be earned as national Republicans look to attract voters of color with Trumpist populist message.
“Hispanics are swing voters. I never take for granted Hispanics—whether they’re Republican, Independent or Democrat,” Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.), vice chair of policy for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, told reporters on Thursday. “We have to make the case every two years. Many folks are first generation. They may not be as familiar with American politics.”
Soto added that CHC members are focused on discussing issues like jobs, the environment, infrastructure and immigration with their constituents to draw a contrast with national Republicans.
“We have to make our case up until the last moment. We can’t count on folks in the Hispanic community dogmatically voting Democrat,” he said. “They will vote Democrat majority-wise because we are doing a lot to help the Hispanic community.”
Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, told me that whenever he speaks with President Biden and Vice President Harris, both of whom have visited his district in the past two weeks, he’s encouraging them to lift up the voices and sorties of the people Democrats say they are fighting for.
“Center them—the people—and not the personalities in Washington,” Horsford said. “This is not about us. It’s not about one person. It’s not even about Donald Trump. But it is about our future and how at risk it will be if Donald Trump is able to get back into the White House and if other people like him are able to continue to lead the majority in the House or [win back] the Senate.”
Another persistent frustration among young voters and people of color is the glacial pace at which legislative change often happens.
“I think it's important to remember that the impact of over 300 years of slavery and Jim Crow is not going to be wiped out overnight,” Rep. Jennifer McClellan, the first Black woman elected to Congress from Virginia, told me. “But the proof that we have made generational progress under this administration is in the backlash that we are facing.”
McClellan pointed to a 14-hour debate over whether two hours of diversity, equity and inclusion training could be included in the annual National Defense Authorization Act or the statewide attacks against teaching the complete, honest and accurate truth about American history.
“Because they know if we teach our history, and we show people where we’re coming from and how far we have come in a short amount of time,” she added. “If people know that history, then they will want us to go faster.”
Brittany Pettersen, a first-term congresswoman from Colorado, said she could relate to young people disaffected with the political process.
“As an 18 year old who is very apathetic, I didn't show up and vote for my first election. I wasn't raised talking about politics or voting. And I thought that my voice didn't matter,” she said. “And I saw the consequences in the 2000 election and how close Florida was. And I thought about how many people like me give up their power.”
Pettersen added that she learned the importance of voting for candidates who would fight for their shared values.
“That is the minimum that we can do,” sba said. “We can’t expect our change to progress if we’re not willing to show up and do the very bare minimum, which is voting in every single election.”
The war in Gaza continues to deepen the fissures within the party.
Brad Sherman, a Jewish congressman from California, said Democrats are united around a deescalation of violence in the region, the release of the hostages without conditions and a peaceful two-state solution.
“We see the humanity of all people. And we as Democrats, whether it's here at home, saying everyone should be able to have aspirations for their children that have potentiality to be achieved,” Sherman told reporters on Thursday. “And that's true in the rest of the country. I think that's where we keep the caucus together.”
Democrats concede Biden’s low job-approval numbers aren’t ideal, but Congress’s approval is at historic lows under the Republican-led House.
“The polls that we’ve seen and the polls that we’ll share with our caucus today indicate that the American public is deeply satisfied with the way in which Republicans have governed—or lack thereof—over the course of the last 13 months,“ Neguse said on Wednesday afternoon. “And it’s an important story for us to tell. We’ve got to do more in telling that story. And that’s what we’ll be doing over the course of the next eight months.”
That’s all for now! Thank you for reading Once Upon a Hill. Browse the archive for past editions of the newsletter. If you’re enjoying OUAH, feel free to recommend it to others—word of mouth is the best way to grow the community.
Give the gift of OUAH to someone whose work or life would benefit from the scoops, interviews and analysis you get twice a week. You can also invest in a group subscription for your team or organization and save $20/per person on an annual subscription.
Someone forwarded you this email? Tell them I said thank you! You can sign up to get free editions delivered straight to your inbox or upgrade to a paid subscription for the full experience.
See you Monday,
Michael