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MORNING REPORT

Friday, July 7

by Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch

Greene out as Freedom Caucus regroups

The House is in recess but members of the Freedom Caucus are dominating the headlines after confirming they voted in July to oust Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from their ranks.

Members confirmed Thursday that the decision occurred weeks ago, marking yet another sign of internal House Republican upheaval that could serve to undermine their political trajectory or governing agenda while the White House and Senate are under Democratic control (Politico).

The ouster occurred two days after Greene, known for attracting headlines with her conservative activism, got into a verbal floor spat with colleague Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) during which she called the Freedom Caucus member a "little bitch."

I think the straw that broke the camel's back was publicly saying things about another member in terms that no one should," Freedom Caucus board member Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) told Politico and CNN.

It's the first time the conservative caucus ejected a member and reflects the group's increasing level of frustration with Greene. She has emerged this year as a close ally of embattled Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who has faced internal opposition from some of his far-right colleagues. McCarthy has struggled to keep his narrow four-seat majority in line, most recently having to diffuse a week-long standstill on the House floor orchestrated by Freedom Caucus members (The Hill and CNN).

Greene, however, stood up for McCarthy against many Freedom Caucus members during his 15-ballot marathon to win the speakership and again when he cut a deal with President Biden to lift the debt ceiling in exchange for two years of spending caps. The firebrands to McCarthy's right have questioned the wisdom of cutting deals with the White House and were unhappy with McCarthy's concessions, which the Speaker described as "a start" on GOP goals for budgetary restraint.

Amid chatter that Greene may not be the only Freedom Caucus member who gets purged from a group that's invitation-only, a Freedom Caucus spokesperson declined to comment Thursday about Greene's status, noting that the group doesn't discuss internal business. It is unclear if the process of ejecting Greene is officially complete as members are still out of town and the rules for kicking out a member of the Freedom Caucus are tightly held.

Greene did not address her membership status directly, instead saying in a statement that she will "never change" her character, and that, "in Congress, I serve Northwest Georgia first, and serve no group in Washington."

Since the June 23 Freedom Caucus vote to boot Greene, Chairman Scott Perry (R-Pa.), and Greene have had multiple conservations, NBC News reports, but a Republican source familiar with those conversations said Perry has not directly notified Greene that she has been kicked out, with another source adding Perry has not brought up the subject because he wants to sit down and talk to Greene about it in person, likely next week.

Axios: Greene drama looms over House GOP's return next week.

Democrats, meanwhile, are likely eyeing the fractious Republican conference as they consider their 2024 strategy. As The Hill's Caroline Vakil and Al Weaver report, the party needs to pick up five seats in the House next year to secure the majority — more than a dozen of which are held by Republicans in Biden-won districts.

Democrats see a clear path to victory in the House even as they worry about losing the party's narrow majority in the Senate, where they are defending 23 Senate seats, including three in states won easily in 2020 by former President Trump. If Biden wins a second term, the party believes it will win back the House and likely elect Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) as the first Black Speaker in the nation's history.

The Hill and USA Today: Biden, who is headed for Greene's district, trolls the Georgia lawmaker to make his Bidenomics case: "I'll be there for the groundbreaking."
The Atlantic: Proportional representation — a radical idea for fixing polarization.
Roll Call: Being a lawmaker is the latest leap for career-hopping Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.). The former helicopter pilot and nurse won in the top swing district in the country.
Reuters: Inside the subsea cable firm secretly helping America take on China.

Leading the Day

➤ POLITICS

What needs to change in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's campaign to add momentum at this stage of the GOP presidential primary? The New York Times reports that the first-time national candidate by most measures has had an underwhelming start, as reflected in polls, and is struggling to make his case against former President Trump. He's been dogged by missteps ranging from a glitchy campaign launch on Twitter Spaces, a schedule that irritated a GOP women's group in New Hampshire, and an anti-LGBTQ campaign video that takes aim at Trump, but required a public defense from the governor as "totally fair game."

DeSantis on Thursday reported raising $20 million since launching his presidential campaign May 24 (Trump reported raising $35 million in the second quarter) (The Hill).

The Hill's Julia Manchester adds that some Republicans are sounding the alarm over the Florida governor's sagging presidential bid.

2024 roundup: Trump and DeSantis must sign a loyalty pledge to support the eventual GOP presidential nominee if they want to get on Florida's primary ballot, according to the state party, which is acting in lockstep with the Republican National Committee's similar requirement attached to its August debate in Milwaukee (The Hill). … As expected, Trump's personal aide, Walt Nauta, pleaded not guilty Thursday in a federal court in Florida to criminal charges that he obstructed a Justice Department investigation to retrieve classified White House documents stored at Mar-a-Lago (The Hill). … Biden touted manufacturing job growth Thursday during an official event at a plant in South Carolina. He bashed some Republican lawmakers for opposing laws now on the books while simultaneously hailing key infrastructure improvements and other provisions that benefit their districts (The Hill). Accompanying the president: Palmetto State political influencer Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.). … The reelection campaign behind Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), a top GOP target next year, raised $5 million in the first quarter (The Hill). … Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson continues to lose campaign staff (Politico).

👉 Former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter celebrate their 77th wedding anniversary today in Plains, Ga. The 39th president is 98 and has been in home hospice care since February. The former first lady is 95 and has dementia (The Associated Press).

➤ INTERNATIONAL

Biden approved providing cluster munitions, widely banned weapons known to cause grievous injury to civilians, especially children, to Ukraine. It's a step that sharply separates him from many of his closest allies who have signed an international treaty banning their use, stockpiling or transfer. The weapons are iffy and error-prone, and Biden would bypass Congress and a 1 percent limit it placed on cluster munition dud rates, The Washington Post reports, drawing down the munitions from existing defense stocks under a rarely used provision of the Foreign Assistance Act, which allows the president to provide aid, regardless of appropriations or arms export restrictions, as long as he determines that it is in the vital U.S. national security interest.

The move comes amid concerns about Kyiv's lagging counteroffensive against entrenched Russian troops and dwindling Western stocks of conventional artillery. Biden has come under steady pressure from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who argues that the munitions are the best way to fight the Russians who are dug into trenches and blocking Ukraine's counteroffensive to retake territory. One American official told The New York Times Thursday that it was now clear that the weapons are "100 percent necessary" to meet the current battlefield needs.

Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia are stoking fears of a massive disaster at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — the largest in Europe — even as independent experts at the site say there is no evidence of an impending attack. Still, as The Hill's Brad Dress reports, worries are compounded by the similarities with the dam breach in Ukraine last month, when both Kyiv and Moscow accused each other of planning attacks before its collapse. Even if neither side attacks the plant deliberately, the Russian-occupied power plant could be caught in the crossfire as Ukraine pushes forward in its counteroffensive across the eastern front.

Wagner Group mercenary Yevgeniy Prigozhin returned to Russia Thursday for cash and guns, according to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and a St. Petersburg businessman in an interview. The Wagner chief's movements raised further questions about the murky agreement under which Prigozhin avoided insurgency charges for a failed rebellion that posed a brazen challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin's authority. Lukashenko said Prigozhin had been back in his home city of St. Petersburg and may have flown to Moscow Thursday morning. Lukashenko said a final deal for relocation of Prigozhin and his fighters to Belarus was not settled (The Washington Post).

Reuters: Russia and Ukraine announce prisoner exchange.
Politico EU: Zelensky mauls Bulgarian president Rumen Radev over his opposition to arming Ukraine.
The Washington Post: Russia to close Finnish Consulate in St. Petersburg, expels diplomats.
Al Jazeera: Analyst: "Uneasy ceasefire" between Wagner, Russia after mutiny.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in Beijing for high-level talks, said Friday she is "concerned" about the export controls China announced this week. Beijing's Ministry of Commerce announced Monday that starting Aug. 1, companies in China that want to export two metals used in semiconductor manufacturing would need to apply for licenses (Reuters).

"I am also concerned about new export controls recently announced by China on two critical minerals used in technologies like semiconductors," Yellen said in prepared remarks for a meeting with U.S. businesses. "We are still evaluating the impact of these actions, but they remind us of the importance of building resilient and diversified supply chains."

Her comments underscored the challenges that the world's two largest economies face as they struggle to reconcile their deep differences. Yellen's trip follows Secretary of State Antony Blinken's high-stakes Beijing visit last month, and comes as China's economic growth has slowed. The secretary met with Premier Li Qiang and in prepared remarks, she defended American actions to protect its national security. Among several measures, the U.S. in October announced sweeping export controls that restrict the ability of Chinese businesses to develop advanced semiconductors.

"The United States will, in certain circumstances, need to pursue targeted actions to protect its national security," Yellen said Friday. "And we may disagree in these instances."

Yellen is not scheduled to meet with President Xi Jinping (CNBC and The New York Times).

Bloomberg News: Climate change envoy John Kerry to visit China in a bid for progress in climate crisis talks.
Bloomberg News: China's Li said Thursday, without offering specifics, that his country's recovery is at a critical stage and he vowed speedy measures.
The Wall Street Journal: Israel shells southern Lebanon amid fears of a multifront escalation.
The New York Times: An Israeli court acquits a police officer who killed an autistic Palestinian man. The shooting of Iyad al-Hallaq, who was killed in May 2020, around the same time as George Floyd, casts a light on police violence.

In Focus / Sharp Takes

➤ ADMINISTRATION

Millions of Alzheimer's patients and their physicians learned Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration approved Leqembi, granting full regulatory blessing to a new drug that may slow the progression of the disease, albeit amid debate about the medication's efficacy, safety and costs. Other available drugs target the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (NBC News).

Medicare says it will cover most of the drug's high costs.

Leqembi, from Japanese drugmaker Eisai and U.S.-based drugmaker Biogen, targets a type of protein in the brain called beta-amyloid, long thought by scientists to be one of the underlying causes of Alzheimer's. In a phase 3 clinical trial of 1,795 patients with mild cognitive impairment or early-stage disease, progression of the illness was slowed by 27 percent during an 18-month period.

Ronald Petersen, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., told NBC in an email that Leqembi is not a cure, nor does it stop the disease. "It's a first step for hopefully more therapeutics in the future," he said.

Alberto Espay, a neurologist at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, said the 27-percent slowing in the progression of the illness falls below the threshold of what would be "noticeable" to a patient.

"The odds for brain swelling and hemorrhage are far higher than any actual improvement," said Espay, who launched a petition in June raising concerns about full approval of Leqembi by the FDA.

About 12.6 percent of patients who received the drug in the trial developed brain swelling, compared with 1.7 percent of those in a placebo group. About 17 percent of the Leqembi group experienced brain bleeds, compared with 9 percent in the placebo group.

The side effect is also seen with another Alzheimer's drug, Biogen's Aduhelm, which also works by targeting amyloid in the brain, NBC reported. Three deaths were also linked to the drug in the clinical trials.

The Hill: FDA approved an Alzheimer's therapy that cannot fix cognitive damage or halt the disease but slowed cognitive decline in some patients during clinical trials.
The New York Times: The FDA added a black-box labeling advisory to Leqembi, warning of safety risks.
The Hill: Alzheimer's drug approval unlikely to ease tension over coverage.

Opinion

Furor over the Supreme Court could be the key to Biden's reelection, by Austin Sarat, opinion contributor, The Hill.
Ron DeSantis is running one freaky campaign, by Frank Bruni, columnist, The New York Times.
Here's the inside story of how Congress failed to rein in Big Tech, by Steven Pearlstein, columnist, The Washington Post.

Where and When

📲 Ask The Hill: Share a news query tied to an expert journalist's insights: The Hill launched something new and (we hope) engaging via text with Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack. Learn more and sign up HERE.

The House will meet at 2:30 p.m. for a pro forma session on July 10. Lawmakers return July 11 to the Capitol.

The Senate will convene Monday at 3 p.m. and resume consideration of the nomination of Xochitl Torres Small to be deputy secretary of Agriculture.

The president will receive the President's Daily Brief at 10 a.m. Biden will deliver remarks at 3:30 p.m. about administration efforts to combat "junk insurance," reduce the problem of medical debt and lower some prescription drug costs for consumers. He'll depart the White House at 6 p.m. for his home at Rehoboth Beach, Del.

Vice President Harris is in Washington and has no public events scheduled.

Treasury Secretary Yellen is in Beijing Friday. She met with Vice Premier Liu He. She also met with leading representatives of the American business community, hosted by AmCham China. She participated in a bilateral meeting Friday with Premier Li Qiang. She attended a dinner (it was morning, Washington time) with leading Chinese economists hosted by the think tank CF40, to discuss the economic outlook for the United States and China.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra will travel to Brighton, Mich., to the Brighton Center for Specialty Care to speak to a group and then meet with the news media at 11:05 a.m. ET to discuss lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) will participate. The secretary will travel to Detroit for an afternoon roundtable event at the Detroit Health Department with elected state officials, providers and advocates who support access to reproductive health care. The secretary will meet with the press at 1 p.m. ET.

Economic indicator: The Labor Department is scheduled to release the June employment report at 8:30 a.m. (The Wall Street Journal).

The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 1 p.m.

Elsewhere

➤ UNIONS

The Teamsters' representation on behalf of UPS Inc. workers is in the spotlight because its actions are seen as a possible warm up to take on Amazon, The Hill's Aris Folley reports. The company and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ended talks this week without agreement (CNN).

Over the weekend, UPS had agreed to end a dual-wage system for delivery drivers, make the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday a paid leave day plus other changes to end what the union calls "forced overtime on drivers' days off" (Yahoo News).

The current contract ends July 31. The stakes are high for UPS's union workers, who say they want better wages and work conditions. Experts say the pressure is on the Teamsters, which could put tech behemoth Amazon in its sights after UPS.

Fortune: UPS drivers move closer to a strike after negotiations break down at 4 a.m. amid finger-pointing fracas.
Reuters: UPS, Teamsters accuse each other of walking away from contract talks.
Memphis Commercial Appeal: What would a UPS strike mean for FedEx? What the experts say.

Meanwhile, workers are concerned major automakers are using the transition to electric vehicles to undercut labor conditions, writes The Hill's Rachel Frazin, complicating the politics of an issue that is emerging as a point of contention in the 2024 election.

The powerful United Auto Workers union, which has historically supported Democrats and backed Biden in 2020, has so far withheld an endorsement from the president in his ongoing reelection bid, saying they want more backing from the White House before they can support him.

CNN: White House takes steps to avoid damaging auto strike.
Politico: The upcoming contract talks between the Big Three automakers and a newly energized United Auto Workers union threatens to pose a political threat to Biden's reelection campaign.

The Closer

And finally … 👏👏👏 Kudos to triumphant readers who dove into this week's Morning Report Quiz about 🦈 sharks.

Here's who made a splash in the winner's circle: Lynn Gardner, Anita Bales, Catherine Hicks, Robert Bradley, Timothy Bolden, Luke Charpentier, Kathleen Kovalik, Pam Manges, Harry Strulovici, Randall Patrick, Bill Grieshober, Lou Tisler, Stanley Wasser, Mary Anne McEnery, Patrick Kavanagh, Paul Harris, Terry Pflaumer, Steve James, Luther Berg, Mark Roeddiger, J.A. Ramos and Jaina Mehta.

They knew that Long Island parks department employees said they used aerial drones Tuesday to spot sharks before reopening a beach to swimmers following the season's first shark bites.

The odds of dying in a shark attack are estimated to be 1 in 3.7 million.

The late author Peter Benchley wrote the novel "Jaws" when he was 27 and soon became a millionaire. Before that career bonanza, he worked as a newspaper stringer, a speechwriter for former President Lyndon Johnson and was in the Marine Corps Reserves, so the best answer was "all of the above."

Sharks do have predators among marine animals, including orcas or killer whales, so the answer is "false."