The Hill's Morning Report — Presented by Delta Air Lines — When will a bipartisan spending deal happen?

View Online  MORNING REPORT PRESENTED BY Thursday, September 21  by Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch Thursday, September 21  by Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch ©  The Associated Press / J. Scott Applewhite | The Capitol in 2021. When will a bipartisan spending deal happen? Congress is barreling toward a government shutdown, and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has neither the clock nor math on his side.     House Republicans reported progress charting a path forward on a partisan spending bill and a Department of Defense funding bill — two measures that suffered public setbacks just a day before — after McCarthy hashed out a new framework for a GOP-only stopgap proposal in a Wednesday meeting. Republicans now plan to move forward on the Pentagon appropriations bill today after two of the five members who blocked the bill on Tuesday by voting against the rule said they changed their position.    It is not clear, however, whether Republicans have the votes to move forward on the latest plan (The Hill).    Former President Trump last night weighed in on the funding plan, saying in a Truth Social post that "Republicans can and must defund all aspects" of the government. Some House Freedom Caucus members are taking Trump's criticism as encouragement to "hold the line" against a deal.   McCarthy, who has spent the past few weeks trying to appease the most right-wing members of his conference, may soon be forced to reach out to House Democrats.     SMALL GROUPS OF MODERATE DEMOCRATS are holding private talks with some McCarthy allies about a last-ditch deal to fund the government, Politico reports. Right-wing firebrands who support triggering a shutdown as a bargaining strategy face pushback from members of their own party as well as Democrats.  These five or 10 people, they failed us. And I'll say that publicly," moderate Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told The Hill Wednesday morning. "They failed us, they failed the conservative cause."  Former GOP Deputy Whip Drew Ferguson (Ga.) put it even more bluntly at a Politico event Tuesday, calling the spending fight "nothing more than puberty for grownups."     Senate Democrats say McCarthy will need to reach out to their counterparts in the House, reports the Hill's Alexander Bolton, but they predict the Speaker won't make the move until the last possible moment.  The New York Times: Here are the five Republicans who have defied McCarthy on spending. Politico: "Weak," "Lying like a dead dog": McCarthy faces Republican attacks amid looming shutdown. DEFENDING THE DOJ: Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday vigorously defended his department and the handling of a high-profile investigation into Hunter Biden that has become central to the GOP's impeachment inquiry. Garland's first appearance before the House Judiciary Committee since the GOP takeover showed an attorney general eager to defend the DOJ against claims of politicization that Republicans have placed front and center. In a brief remark to a question from a lawmaker over whether the GOP "rhetoric regarding the Biden case has any basis in reality," Garland broadly denied the investigation into the younger Biden was stalled or limited due to political considerations (The Hill and The New York Times).     "We will not be intimidated," Garland said during the hearing. "We will do our jobs free from outside influence. And we will not back down from defending our democracy."       CONFIRMATION FIGHTS: The Senate on Wednesday night sidestepped a hold by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who has for seven months used a Senate floor blockade to protest an abortion travel reimbursement policy at the Pentagon. The Senate voted 83 to 11 to confirm Gen. Charles "C.Q." Brown to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Outgoing chairman Gen. Mark Milley concludes his term Oct. 1 (The Hill).      The Senate on Wednesday advanced the nomination of Gen. Randy George to be chief of staff of the Army, teeing up a final vote this week. Gen. Eric Smith, selected to become the next commandant of the Marine Corps, also may clear the upper chamber (The Hill and The Washington Post).    Tuberville claimed a version of Senate procedural victory, arguing during a Fox News interview that his hold on nominations at the Defense Department will remain until the Pentagon changes its travel reimbursement policy.  3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who will meet with senators today, is returning to a chillier, more chaotic Congress. As Zelensky returns to Washington in a bid to shore up American support for his embattled country, a group of Republican lawmakers is warning the White House they vow to oppose another aid package.  A new COVID-19 vaccine campaign is off to a bumpy start. Content from our sponsor: Delta Air Lines Delta has been voted the No. 1 airline with the best staff At Delta we take pride in our products and our world-class service, but it's our 90,000 people that set us apart. For the second year in a row Delta was named the No. 1 airline with the best staff in North America according to Skytrax survey. Learn more.   Leading the Day Administration President Biden, during a New York meeting Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, finally proffered the diplomatic gem that had for months been conspicuously absent amid a period of frosty relations: an invitation to the nation's capital and presumably the Oval Office (The Washington Post).     A visit to Washington before the end of the year, which Netanyahu wanted, was paired with Biden's repeated expressions of concern about the prime minister's controversial changes to Israel's judicial system. The two leaders, who have known each other for decades, met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Their discussion occurred against the backdrop of mass protests in Israel over the judiciary changes as well as near-nightly West Bank military raids against Palestinians.       The Hill: Biden and Netanyahu discussed what the president called "checks and balances" amid sparring over judicial reform.     "Even where we have some differences, my commitment to Israel, you know, is ironclad," Biden said. "I think without Israel, there's not a Jew in the world that's secure. I think Israel is essential" (CNN).     Before their meeting, the president pushed Netanyahu to preserve the possibility of creating a Palestinian state, implicitly criticizing several recent moves by Netanyahu's government to entrench Israeli control of the West Bank. But the emphasis Wednesday was on shared international goals, including preventing Iran from acquiring and using a nuclear weapon, and establishing formal relations for the first time between Israel and Saudi Arabia (The New York Times).  ©  The Associated Press / Susan Walsh | President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on Wednesday. The Hill: Biden will meet at the White House today with Zelensky, who arrived in the U.S. to speak at the U.N. General Assembly this week and plans to meet with lawmakers to deliver an update on the war with Russia and to lobby for additional U.S. assistance sought by the administration but opposed by some Republicans on Capitol Hill.    "RAHMBO": Rahm Emanuel was outspoken as a West Wing adviser to former President Clinton, then as an elected member of House leadership, then as White House chief of staff to former President Obama, as Chicago mayor and now as U.S. ambassador to Japan. There's a reason he was nicknamed "Rahmbo" back in the day. But his taunting of Chinese President Xi Jinping on social media became a bit too much for the Biden White House team, and the president's aides told Emanuel through his staff to put a sock in the sarcastic tweets (NBC News).      LEGAL STATUS: The Biden administration on Wednesday offered nearly half a million Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. legal status and work permits following demands from strained cities (CBS News). In a victory for congressional Democrats and leaders in large cities dealing with a surge of asylum seekers, the Department of Homeland Security expanded, or redesignated, the Temporary Protected Status program for Venezuelan migrants, allowing recent arrivals to apply for the deportation protections and work permits offered by the policy.  ECONOMY It's a pause that assesses.     THE FEDERAL RESERVE on Wednesday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged, as predicted, while signaling it may not be quite done in pursuit of its goal of price stability at 2 percent (The Hill).     "We have the ability to proceed carefully," Fed Chair Jerome Powell told journalists. "We're fairly close, we think, to where we need to get."     Analysts are anticipating one more hike before the end of the year and fewer cuts than previously indicated next year (CNBC). Expectations are for a higher-for-longer posture at the central bank.     THE FUNDS RATE will stay in its current target range of 5.25 percent to 5.5 percent, the Fed's highest level since the early part of the 21st century.  ©  The Associated Press / Jacquelyn Martin | Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at a news conference on Wednesday. 👉 Meanwhile, here's a business and legal trend to watch: A collection of well known authors and creators sued ChatGPT maker OpenAI for copyright infringement, calling the ChatGPT program a "massive commercial enterprise" that is reliant upon "systematic theft on a mass scale." The lawsuit is organized by the Authors Guild (The Associated Press).    Where and When The House will convene at 9 a.m.    The Senate will meet at 11 a.m.     The president will receive the President's Daily Brief at 9 a.m. Biden will welcome Zelensky to the White House at 3 p.m., along with first lady Jill Biden. Biden and Zelensky will meet in the Oval Office. Biden and Vice President Harris will hold an expanded bilateral meeting with Zelensky in the East Room at 4 p.m. Biden will travel from the White House to the Washington Convention Center to speak at 8:45 p.m. at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute 46th Annual Gala. He'll return to the White House.                                     The vice president at 3 p.m. will discuss medical debt with reporters by phone.      Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in New York City.    Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will attend an investor summit hosted by the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment along with the secretary of State and World Bank President Ajay Banga at 9:15 a.m. in New York.    The first lady will welcome Zelensky and Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska to the White House and meet with Zelenska at 3:20 p.m. Jill Biden will depart for Seattle, arriving at 7:20 p.m.    Economic indicator: The Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. will report on claims for unemployment benefits filed during the week ending Sept. 16.    The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 1 p.m. and will include national security adviser Jake Sullivan.    YOU'RE INVITED: Making the Grade: Solving the U.S. Math Problem Sept. 26, 3:30-5:30 p.m. ET A recent study by NWEA found that middle and elementary school students' math progress stagnated last year. Join The Hill as we convene lawmakers, math advocates and educators to discuss the state of U.S. math education and why it's no longer acceptable to laugh off being "bad at math." Speakers include: Rep. Jim Baird (R-Ind.), co-sponsor of Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), member of the House Financial Services Committee Rebecka Peterson, 2023 National Teacher of the Year Tim Hudson, Chief Learning Officer at Dreambox Josh Recio, Course Program Specialist, Secondary Mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin; and more. RSVP Now Zoom In On The Campaign Trail The 2024 Arizona Senate race turned a new corner on Wednesday with the reported imminent entry, likely next month, of Republican Kari Lake, a Trump supporter who was defeated in the governor's race last year and refused to concede. Her interest in the Senate seat held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) froze the GOP field. Republican Blake Masters, the state's 2022 Senate nominee, appears to be lingering on the sidelines after preparing to enter the race in September (Politico and The Hill).     Meanwhile, a case goes to trial starting today in which Lake is seeking access to the about 1.3 million envelopes used by Maricopa County voters in 2022 (AZCentral).  ©  The Associated Press / Jose Luis Magana | Former Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is expected to announce a Senate bid next month. 2024 ROUNDUP Republican donors grapple with Trump's staying power ahead of a second GOP presidential debate next week. (Here are the criteria to qualify for the debate in California.)  Trump urged his backers in Iowa to support exceptions to the state's six-week abortion ban. Trump and Biden are separately wooing working-class voters ahead of the 2024 election. Progressives warn the president to take seriously Trump's traction with that voting bloc, including rank-and-file union members, ahead of what could be a general election competition that could turn on just tens of thousands of votes in key battleground states. Trump already appears to be campaigning beyond the GOP primary toward a rematch with Biden. Worth noting: Support for the UAW strike among voters in the Midwest, home of the Big 3 automakers, is just 43 percent, according to a new Emerson College poll. A majority of Democrats support the auto workers' strike, while Republicans are split. Independents lean closer to the union than the automakers. The same Emerson poll of U.S. voters finds Trump stretching out his lead (47 percent!) in the GOP primary against his closest competitors.  In Pennsylvania this evening, Republican David McCormick is expected to enter the Senate race for what would be his second bid for the office, this time to take on Democratic Sen. Bob Casey after losing in last year's crowded Republican primary.  House GOP Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a Trump ally, together with a coalition of Republican organizations, on Wednesday sued New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) over New York absentee and mail-in ballots the lawsuit alleges are unconstitutional, but which the governor endorsed as an expansion of early voting.  Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) on Wednesday warned that voters could punish Republicans politically because of the House GOP impeachment inquiry of Biden and Hunter Biden. "If we get too far ahead of the evidence, then yeah, I think the American people will penalize us," Vance said.   GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been pummeled for comments that some call racially charged. In Texas, impeachment-acquitted Attorney General Ken Paxton suggested he might challenge Republican Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) in a 2026 primary.    California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is a passionate Biden defender after fending off speculation that he might challenge the president in the 2024 primary.   Content from our sponsor: Delta Air Lines Delta has been voted the No. 1 airline with the best staff At Delta we take pride in our products and our world-class service, but it's our 90,000 people that set us apart. For the second year in a row Delta was named the No. 1 airline with the best staff in North America according to Skytrax survey. Learn more. Elsewhere STRIKE FAR APART: Talks continued in Detroit Wednesday between union representatives and auto company management during the sixth day of the United Auto Workers strike. The UAW has set a Friday noon deadline after which it says its "stand up" strike strategy will expand.     General Motors idled an assembly plant in Kansas because of a shortage of parts due to the strike. About 2,000 of its workers were laid off Wednesday. GM said because of the strike, the workers laid off will not be eligible for the supplemental unemployment benefits it normally pays. Stellantis also laid off about 370 workers at three parts factories that supply its Jeep plant in Toledo, where the United Auto Workers went on strike last week (CNBC). Detroit-based LM Manufacturing, a joint venture between LAN Manufacturing and Magna said Wednesday it temporarily furloughed 650 workers that produce seats for the Ford Bronco because of the impact of the assembly plant closure (Reuters).    GM President Mark Reuss said in a Detroit Free Press op-ed piece on Wednesday that "the UAW's demands can be described in one word — untenable."  Reuters: UAW workers began a strike Wednesday at ZF, in Tuscaloosa, Ala., which is a plant that supplies axles for Mercedes.     Yahoo Finance: Ford late on Tuesday opted to head off a walkout with a last-minute, three-year deal with Unifor, which represents 5,600 auto workers in Canada. INTERNATIONAL Zelensky called for reforming the United Nations Security Council during an address to the body Wednesday, urging it to suspend the veto power Russia has used to deadlock the council in responding to the Kremlin's war against Ukraine. Veto power applies to the five permanent members of the Security Council, including Russia. Moscow's U.N. ambassador has used the power to reject any resolution that seeks to condemn Russia or impose costs for its invasion of Ukraine.    He told the council that he would not have come if he did not have a proposal to end the war, starting with adherence to the charter that ensures the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all 193 U.N. member nations, and stressed that restoration of all Ukrainian territory is the key to peace.     "We should recognize that the U.N. finds itself in a deadlock on the matters of aggression. Humankind no longer pins its hopes on the U.N.," Zelensky said in a speech at the Security Council. "Ukrainian soldiers now are doing at the expense of their blood what the U.N. Security Council should do by its voting; they're stopping Russia and upholding the principles of the U.N."    THE STARE-DOWN THAT WASN'T: Zelensky and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov avoided a confrontation Wednesday across the U.N. Security Council's famous horseshoe-shaped table. Zelensky left right after his speech — before Lavrov arrived (The Associated Press).  The New York Times: Ukraine has gained control during its counteroffensive — but it has much further to go. The Hill: Poland's president: Ukraine is like "drowning person clinging to anything available." Canada's recent announcement that India might be behind the killing of a Sikh separatist was a bombshell to much of the world, but for many in India the death was about Canada's tolerance of Indian separatists. Monday's allegations by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau brought the tense relations between the two countries to a new low; India has objected to the existence of a vocal Sikh separatist minority in Canada (The Washington Post). India on Wednesday urged its nationals in Canada to exercise "utmost caution" as each nation expelled one of the other's diplomats (Reuters).    Opinion The Federal Reserve's dotted line on interest rates, by The Wall Street Journal editorial board. Democrats keep winning special elections in battleground states, by Dennis Aftergut, opinion contributor, The Hill.  The Closer ©  The Associated Press / Paul Sancya | Striking United Auto Workers members at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich., on Monday. Take Our Morning Report Quiz   And finally … 🧩 It's Thursday, which means it's time for this week's Morning Report Quiz! With workforce trends in mind, we're eager for some smart guesses about strikes.    Be sure to email your responses to asimendinger@thehill.com and kkarisch@thehill.com — please add "Quiz" to your subject line. Puzzle masters will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday.    In U.S. history, what advancement for workers evolved from labor strikes?  40-hour workweek  Worker's compensation laws  Workplace safety regulations  Minimum wage  All of the above    How many U.S. wage and salary workers in 2022 belonged to unions, according to the Labor Department? Hint: The unionization rate of 10.1 percent last year was the lowest on record, according to the government.  One million  Five million  More than 14 million  More than 60 million    What justification did former President Reagan cite in 1981 when he fired more than 11,000 striking air traffic controllers represented by PATCO, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization?  The union did not endorse his candidacy for president  "They are violating the law"  He was an experienced former union boss  He said his predecessor had already increased the pay for federal air traffic controllers via executive action    In December, Biden signed legislation preventing what type of strike?  Amazon employee walkout  Nationwide railroad strike  Oakland, Calif., teachers strike  Writers Guild of America strike  Stay Engaged We want to hear from you! Email: Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch. 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