Monday, August 8, 2022

The Hill's Morning Report — Biden hails Democrats’ big Senate win; House next

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MORNING REPORT

Monday, August 8

by Alexis Simendinger

Biden hails Democrats' big Senate win; House next

Get ready for Democratic campaign ads, triumphant White House bill signings and town hall events with voters that will paint Republicans as beholden to drug companies and big corporations while Democrats will say they delivered prescription drug and insurance savings, imposed a minimum tax on some of the richest companies and made history to battle climate change.

And get ready for campaign ads where GOP candidates will say patient access to drugs will be limited, inflation will increase and higher taxes will hurt the economy.

With a Sunday vote of 51-50 just 92 days before Election Day, Democrats clinched a massive Senate victory despite hard-fought wrangling over President Biden's original $4 trillion Build Back Better plan, which was reworked and passed as a trimmer, $740 billion measure renamed the Inflation Reduction Act (The Hill). Whether provisions in the 755-page bill can substantially ease current inflationary pressures is a question mark, although support for health coverage costs as well as prescription drug savings under Medicare are expected to benefit millions of Americans.

House lawmakers are expected to return to Washington from their summer recess to vote on Friday to send the measure to the president's desk (CNN, The Associated Press and The New York Times).

The Associated Press: A look at what is (and is not) included in the bill.
The Hill: Winners and losers from the Democratic tax, health care and climate change bill.

Cheers erupted in the Senate on Sunday after Vice President Harris broke a party-line tie to clear the budget reconciliation package, which many lawmakers until days ago had assumed was dead. Senate passage overcame 18 months of infighting among Democratic centrists and liberals, staunch opposition from the minority, doubts since the spring about a changing U.S. economic and energy landscape, jitters about the president's leadership and second-guessing about Majority Leader Charles Schumer's (D-N.Y.) deal-making skills.

Biden — who is trying to navigate through a pileup of challenges (including his just-ended quarantine with COVID-19) and abysmal poll numbers — called the Senate cloakroom during the roll-call vote to thank staff members on speakerphone for their hard work. Through the White House press office, the president had a pointed reaction at the ready as he voiced his eagerness to sign the compromise (The Hill).

Today, Senate Democrats sided with American families over special interests," the president said. "I ran for President promising to make government work for working families again, and that is what this bill does — period. … This bill tackles inflation by lowering the deficit and lowering costs for regular families."

Harris, while turning aside a question about the potential effect on the midterms, told reporters the bill's passage demonstrated to Americans that they're being heard. "And one of the things that they want is that their leaders get things done, fix the problems, offer solutions," she said. "What happened today is tremendous in terms of the solutions that are being offered."

Schumer this month pulled a secret, negotiated deal into the spotlight with help from foot-dragging Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Then the pair reached a separate agreement with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on Thursday, giving Democrats their 50th vote and paving the way for victory, despite Sinema's lone vote on Sunday from her side of the aisle to back a GOP tax amendment.

Before his colleagues voted on final passage, Schumer predicted the changes achieved would "endure as one of the defining legislative measures of the 21st century," adding it had "been a long, tough and winding road, but at last, at last we have arrived."

Many Democrats are hopeful that young voters in particular will reward the party this fall for pushing into law incentives that tackle climate change. Those provisions provide $369 billion in energy security and climate investments, the largest-ever federal effort, including $4,000 and $7,500 tax credits for purchasing used and new electric vehicles, respectively. The credits cannot go towards vehicles that have batteries made from minerals processed in China.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) grew emotional on Sunday as he described his personal pride. "This is the biggest climate action that any country has ever taken, and now I can look my kids in the eye and say we're really doing something about climate," he told reporters (The Hill).

The New York Times's Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman report that it took five decades for Congress to act on climate change. The legislative branch learned over time to steer clear of taxes in favor of incentives to curb climate pollution.

The Hill's Max Greenwood reports why Democrats, measuring polls and Kansans' recent vote against stripping abortion rights from the state constitution, appear more upbeat about their chances in midterm contests. The Hill's Emily Brooks adds that the Kansas vote on abortion has grabbed the GOP's attention.

The Hill's Niall Stanage, in his latest Memo, writes that Biden's hot streak with legislation and this month's successful U.S. missile strikes against al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, while applauded by many voters, are unlikely to mute Democrats' worries about November.

The Associated Press: Biden steps out of the room and finds legacy-defining wins.
The New York Times: In a victory for the fossil fuel and pipeline industries, Manchin's donors include pipeline giants that benefit from his climate deal. An official in Schumer's office said the pipeline compromise "was only included at the insistence of Sen. Manchin as part of any agreement related to this reconciliation bill."
The Washington Post: Republicans blocked a proposed $35 cap on insulin costs for millions of patients by stripping it from the Senate-passed bill.
The Hill: For members of Congress, a stock trading ban becomes a hot-button campaign issue.

Leading the Day

➤ POLITICS

If Biden seeks reelection, as he says he will do if his health is good, analysts suggest he needs to widen his viewfinder beyond the much-investigated former President Trump as his GOP opponent and weigh a race against Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

"To me, DeSantis is the scarier prospect," one Democratic strategist said. "He's a smarter version of Trump, he's way more strategic, and he doesn't have a hundred lawsuits at his feet. If Trump goes bust, and he very well may, he's the main guy I'd be watching," the strategist tells The Hill's Amie Parnes.

The Hill: DeSantis, a former House member elected governor in 2018, stokes the culture wars as his 2024 profile grows.
The Associated Press: Florida prosecutor vows to fight his suspension by DeSantis.
Politico: DeSantis is cementing power as governor in ways that are unprecedented in his state. He has used his suspension powers to knock out a Hillsborough County state attorney based in Tampa, a school superintendent, the Palm Beach elections supervisor and the Broward County sheriff.

Jonathan Martin, The New York Times: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is ready to lose, but she's not ready to quit. "If the cost of standing up for the Constitution is losing the House seat, then that's a price I'm willing to pay," she repeated during an interview last week.
Fox News: Cheney, during that New York Times interview, would not commit to supporting the Florida governor if he's the GOP presidential nominee in 2024. "I think that Ron DeSantis has lined himself up almost entirely with Donald Trump, and I think that's very dangerous," she said.
The Hill: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) scored a political victory last week with a resolution supporting the expansion of NATO, an international bloc often criticized by Trump.
Josh Kraushaar, Axios: Celebrity candidates threaten the GOP's hopes of a Senate majority: "McConnell is concerned that this crop of GOP Senate nominees is reminiscent of flawed Tea Party-aligned candidates like Christine O'Donnell and Todd Akin, who lost winnable races in 2010 and 2012."

🗳On Tuesday, Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin hold primaries. Check out House races in play, as dissected by the Cook Political Report's David Wasserman; a look at Connecticut's contests with WSHU public radio and the Hartford Courant; the battle for a Vermont House seat, reported by News4Jax; and Wisconsin's GOP primary race for governor (PBS Wisconsin and The Associated Press). In Minnesota, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press has a preview and MinnPost explains how voters on Tuesday in the state's 1st Congressional District may be handed one of the most confusing ballots they've encountered.

The Associated Press: In Wisconsin and Minnesota, GOP seeks power over elections.

In Focus / Sharp Takes

➤ ADMINISTRATION & PUBLIC HEALTH

Frustrated advocates from the LGBTQ community say they need more help from the White House to deal with the monkeypox virus (The Hill). State and local governments want to raise public awareness about vaccinations, precautions and treatments tied to the virus without stoking stigmas associated with the population most at risk for contracting the virus, primarily gay and bisexual men who have skin-to-skin contact during sex with a partner who is infected.

Former Food and Drug Administration Administrator Scott Gottlieb told CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that U.S. public health officials must boost monkeypox testing "substantially" to gain control over spread of the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention early this month reported cases of monkeypox in all but two states. The transmission has been rapid following the earliest confirmed U.S. cases in mid-May and prompted several cities to declare public health emergencies before the Biden administration followed suit last week. The CDC estimates that a U.S. population of 1.6 million to 1.7 million people are considered at high risk of contracting the virus.

Partly due to short-sighted planning, the U.S. faces a scarcity of monkeypox vaccine doses compared with the increasingly large population of those at risk of contracting the virus. To stretch what's available, scientists are debating a technique called intradermal injection, which involves carefully guiding a needle carrying a vaccine, in this case Jynneos, into skin layers, a thin space that has immune cells. This technique, which is not easy to do successfully without training and practice, could theoretically stretch supply to offer monkeypox shots to five times as many people. The downsides: the vaccine could be incorrectly administered, thus failing to benefit patients, and scarce doses of effective medication could be wasted (The New York Times).

Biden tested negative twice for COVID-19 over the weekend and opted, in consultation with his doctor, to end his isolation at the White House on Sunday to travel to Delaware to be reunited with first lady Jill Biden, who has been in their home state since her husband contracted COVID-19 last month (The Hill).

🌏 In Hong Kong, required hotel quarantine time for all visitors is now shortened from seven to three days as a continued, but somewhat relaxed COVID-19 precaution (Reuters).

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported as of this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all vary slightly): 1,033,556. Current average U.S. COVID-19 daily deaths are 393, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of today, 77.8 percent of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 66.4 percent is "fully vaccinated," according to the Bloomberg News global vaccine tracker and the government's definition. The percentage of Americans who have received third or booster doses is 31.8.

The Department of Veterans Affairs will soon implement the PACT Act to benefit veterans exposed to toxic chemicals and burn pits, approved by Congress after weeks of public demonstrations and some last-minute legislative drama. Biden will sign the bill during a South Lawn ceremony on Wednesday. The Hill's Jordan Williams reports the VA will be closely watched because of its poor track record managing medical and hospital benefits for veterans.

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Opinion

Senate Democrats strike a blow against cynicism — and hopelessness, by E.J. Dionne Jr., columnist, The Washington Post. https://wapo.st/3JCefGy
Democrats vote to raise drug prices (price controls for Medicare mean higher costs for everyone else), by The Wall Street Journal editorial board. https://on.wsj.com/3P5L9AH

Where and When

The House will meet at 1 p.m. on Tuesday for a pro forma session while in recess. Members are expected to reconvene on Friday to vote on the Senate-passed Inflation Reduction Act.

The Senate convenes at 9 a.m. for a pro forma session during its summer recess, which ends Sept. 6.

The president begins his day at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., before flying with the first lady to Chavies, Ky., to join Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) and the state's first lady, Britainy Beshear, to survey the impact of recent flooding that killed at least 37 people, plus discuss response efforts and meet with affected families at 2 p.m. The Bidens return to the White House this evening. The Associated Press previews Biden's visit HERE.

The vice president will convene university and college presidents to discuss access to reproductive health care, with opening remarks scheduled at 3:15 p.m. in Harris's ceremonial White House office.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Pretoria, South Africa, where he meets Monday at 10 a.m. local time with Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor before co-hosting the U.S.-South Africa Strategic Dialogue. Blinken will join a working lunch with his counterpart before holding a joint afternoon press conference with Pandor before he gives an afternoon speech about the U.S. strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa. He meets in the late afternoon with employees and families from the U.S. Mission in South Africa.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Agriculture Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh will visit the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington at 12:30 p.m. for a roundtable discussion with community partners and food bank staff members about addressing hunger in U.S. communities.

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Elsewhere

➤ INTERNATIONAL

Chinese and Taiwanese warships shadowed one another on Sunday as Beijing's four days of military exercises were supposed to end, part of China's protests against the recent visit to Taiwan by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) (Reuters). China on Monday said its drills, which have involved missile strikes, warplanes and ship movements across the midline of the Taiwan Straits, will continue (The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal).

Ukraine said on Sunday that renewed Russian shelling damaged three radiation sensors and hurt a worker at the Zaporizhzhia power plant, in the second hit in consecutive days on Europe's largest nuclear facility. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has assailed Moscow's tactics as "nuclear terror" (Reuters).

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called today for international inspectors to be given access to the dangerously embattled nuclear plant (Reuters).

Great Britain's Defense Ministry said in an intelligence analysis over the weekend that the Russian invasion that started Feb. 24 "is about to enter a new phase" in which the fighting would shift to a roughly 217-mile front line extending from near the city of Zaporizhzhia to Russian-occupied Kherson (The Associated Press).

Six more ships carrying agricultural cargo held up by the war in Ukraine received authorization Sunday to leave the country's Black Sea coast as analysts warned that Russia was moving troops and equipment in the direction of the southern port cities to stave off a Ukrainian counteroffensive (The Associated Press).

A fragile cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants that took effect late Sunday was holding into Monday morning (The Associated Press). It's a bid to end days of violence that killed dozens of Palestinians and disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis. The flare-up was the worst fighting between Israel and Gaza militant groups since Israel and Hamas fought an 11-day war last year (The Associated Press). Biden, in a White House statement Sunday night, said he supports the cease fire.

➤ COURTS

Military service academies and colleges and universities that consider race in admissions help the U.S. military achieve a diverse officer corps, which benefits the military branches and U.S. overseas operations, retired military heavyweights advised the Supreme Court, The Hill's John Kruzel reports. Justices on Oct. 31 will hear oral arguments in a legal challenge to race-conscious admissions policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard University (Bloomberg News).

The Closer

And finally … This week's hunters in the Florida Everglades may outnumber their prey while trudging through muck, underbrush and summer heat in search of invasive Burmese pythons.

A contest that has attracted 800 participants from at least 32 states and Canada offers thousands of dollars in prize money to those who bag and present the highest number of dead pythons by the time the event ends a week from today. The state adds bonus cash for the longest serpent in each contest category, and disqualifications occur if hunters try to slither past the rules (snake extermination must be humane and cannot involve native species).

Bounty hunting is Florida's way of removing a hazardous interloper. Burmese pythons — a foreign occupier in the 1.5 million-acre wetlands preserve and national park — prey on birds, mammals and other reptiles. A female python can lay as many as 100 eggs a year and the best way to find those females, the savviest hunters say, is to let the male pythons lead them to the targets.

"Every python removed is one less invasive species preying on our native birds, mammals and reptiles," said Florida first lady Casey DeSantis (The Associated Press and CNN).