Wednesday, September 2 | By Joshua Feldstein and Abigail Walker
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It’s Wednesday. We have officially entered the late 2020s. Just 1,217 days until the early 2030s. Carpe decennium!
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Two Democrats save GOP - Navy Secretary nomination
- Chevron strikes deal with Venezuela
- Dollyfest in 2027
Programming note: We're Abigail Walker and Joshua Feldstein, filling in for Cate today. Please send me your tips, comments and story ideas to jfeldstein@thehill.com and awalker@thehill.com.
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Et tu, Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez? |
Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) shocked Democratic House leadership on Tuesday when they chose to join Republicans in advancing a GOP-backed rule.
"The decision by two of our colleagues to blindside the entire House Democratic Caucus and join with the Republican majority to pass a procedural rule on the brink of failing represents a significant breach of trust," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), along with Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Democratic Caucus chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), said in a joint statement.
The legislation included a messaging bill condemning socialism, a message integral to the Republican's midterm strategy.
Some Democrats want heads to roll: The Democratic leaders said the defections necessitate a “serious response” and said they asked the Committee on Caucus Rules to take this up in short order."
It’s unclear what potential punishment would be, but some Democrats are reportedly pushing for Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez to lose committee assignments.
"We have to draw a bright line here and kick some a-- or this will be the new norm," "I 'effing love it," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) told Axios.
This is not normal: Helen Huiskes and Mike Lillis: "Traditionally, the majority party votes in favor of rules, which tee up debate and final votes on bills, while the minority party votes against them, regardless of how lawmakers plan to vote on the underlying legislation."
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) summed it up succinctly: "We never had that problem,” she told reporters.
“No, no, no,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D) said after the vote. “Who are we, the Republicans?”
Golden response: Golden, who’s leaving Congress, said the GOP-backed rule included a bill, the Northeast Lobstermen Protection Act, he proposed to give lobstermen economic protections from the impact of conservation efforts for the North Atlantic right whale.
“When I first got into Congress, lobstermen were terrified at the scale of these proposed new regulations [to protect whales],” Golden said on the Substack “Out of State.” “It was unworkable to the point where there would be hard discussions in communities about which families get to keep fishing and which had to give it up.”
Gluesenkamp Perez told reporters that she “slept like a baby last night,” and is not worried about Democratic discipline following the vote.
“If that’s what they feel they need to do, it’s not going to change how I represent [my district],” she continued.
💬 Follow today’s live blog
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Maybe affordability is a real thing after all: |
President Trump in recent weeks has made numerous attempts to prove to Americans that his administration takes seriously the cost-of-living crisis.
On Monday, the Trump administration announced it secured Medicaid drug pricing deals with nine biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Trump is also pressing ahead with a move to lower ground beef prices despite a furious pushback from cattle ranchers and their allies in Congress. And he framed a major Venezuelan oil agreement as lowering costs at the pump — though it’s going to take a while.
In case anyone missed the message, a pro-Trump political group is out with a new ad highlighting his efforts to cut taxes and fight inflation.
📺 Watch it here
The group, Securing American Greatness, has booked almost $1 million, with ads starting to air on Thursday.
Too little too late? The actions come amid the president's increasingly poor approval rating. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll had the president’s approval rating hit 33 percent, a 14-point slide from the start of his second term and a 4-point slide from about a month ago.
Trump had long complained that “affordability” was invented by Democrats as an attack line, arguing the Biden administration was to blame for inflation.
Now that he’s tackling the issue head on, The Hill’s Julia Manchester asked GOP strategists if it was too late to change voter attitudes.
“Ads are really just going up on air,” on Republican operative said. “The real spending starts now, post Labor Day, and we’re going to see a ton of resources pour into these districts, and a lot is going to change over the next couple of weeks.”
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Hegseth's overhaul continues: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday removed at least six Army officers from a list of suggested promotion to two-star generals, a person familiar with the matter told The Hill.
The decision is the most recent in a series of moves Hegseth has made to reshape the military and its leadership.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who had a contentious relationship with the Defense secretary, submitted his resignation late last week. On Friday, Hegseth blocked the promotion of four Army officials.
Both Democrats and Republicans have raised their eyebrows at Hegseth's decision-making.
Sen. Mike Rounds (S.D.), a senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was “disappointed” to learn of the Driscoll’s departure. And he said Hegseth would have to answer for his other moves when the Senate returns.
“I’m hearing the same rumors everybody else is that he was frustrated with some of his top generals being released. That’s not the first time I’ve heard that. I think that points to questions that we’re going to be asking when we get back,” Rounds said.
“I’m tired of all the churn,” Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters on Tuesday, according to MS NOW. “I want to see some stability over there.”
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell on Friday told The Hill that “Military promotions are given to those who have earned them. This has always been the case under Secretary Hegseth and will not change.”
NAVY NOMINATION: President Trump has nominated acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao for the permanent role, after John Phelan stepped down from the role in April — amid friction with Hegseth.
“We need Patriots like Hung leading our Navy and Marine Corps, and I can think of no one better than him to make sure our Great Navy and Marine Corps remain the FIERCEST and BEST Force the World has ever seen,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“It’s an honor of a lifetime to lead the great warriors of the Navy and Marine Corps,” Cao said in his own post. “I’m grateful for you [Trump] leadership and support as we continue to get after shipbuilding and ensure the defense of the homeland.”
Phelan, a millionaire Trump donor, had served in the role for a little over a year before being “asked to step down,” The Hill’s Filip Timotija reported at the time.
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Chevron makes deal with Venezuela: |
Chevron announced an agreement with Venezuela Wednesday morning, which aims to double the current oil production in the South American country.
The company said that oil production in Venezuela will go up to 600,000 barrels per day, and that the effort will be done through a joint venture, according to The Hill’s Rachel Frazin.
“Chevron’s history in Venezuela spans more than a century, and our expanded position reflects our confidence in the country’s deep resource potential and its ability to compete for investment within our portfolio for decades,” Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said in a statement.
That follows another major oil deal: President Trump announced last week that the U.S. would have control over a large swath of Venezuela’s oil reserves, securing more than 65 billion barrels.
According to a press release, the Trump administration said that the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital would take 35 percent equity stake in North American Blue Energy Partners, Venezuela’s second-largest private oil producer.
North American Blue Energy Partners will now be partially owned by the U.S. and was given a 100-year concession for Venezuelan oil fields.
Trump has encouraged U.S. oil companies to operate in Venezuela. Chevron is currently the only major American oil company that still has operations there.
🔎 Read more on the deal from The Hill’s Rachel Frazin here.
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Allies under attack as Iran war heats up again: |
Iran launched missiles and drones across the Middle East Wednesday morning, targeting U.S. assets in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan and Kuwait, in a retaliatory move following expanded U.S. strikes on Tuesday.
The U.S.’s Tuesday attacks were a response to the Islamic Republic’s strikes on military bases in Jordan earlier this week, according to U.S. Central Command (Centcom). The U.S. started the tit for tat with preemptive strikes on Iranian missile launchers near the Strait of Hormuz.
Assessing the damage: Iran says the wave of U.S. strikes Tuesday night did significant damage to targets along the coast.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also released a statement that a U.S. airstrike also hit a wedding ceremony at a residential home, killing at least four people and injuring dozens.
What next? President Trump warned Iran before Tuesday’s strikes that any response by Iran would lead to them being “hit again at a much harder and higher level.”
On Tuesday, the president also questioned when the Iranian people “would rise up and fight.”
“I’m not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table, as ABC Fake News reported,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I couldn’t care less if they signed a worthless, to them, agreement.”
📝 Read more on Trump’s response here.
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— Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) will face off against Republican challenger Mike Minogue in November’s gubernatorial election. Minogue defeated Brian Shortleeve by over 30 percentage points in Tuesday’s GOP primary.
— Former Biden official Daniel Koh (D-Mass.) won the Democratic primary in Massachusetts’s 6th Congressional District, the seat left open by Rep. Seth Moulton (D). He defeated progressive State Rep. Tram Nguyen (D).
— The Dallas Police Department announced it is shutting down more than 300 Flock cameras following Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R-Texas) funding halt for the roadside camera network.
— Tiger Woods reversed his plea in connection with his latest DUI arrest, agreeing Wednesday to plead no contest to a reckless driving charge and not submitting a sobriety test. The golf legend was arrested in March after he hit a pickup truck and flipped his car in Florida.
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Associated Press: US extends ban on flights to Haiti's capital
Politico: Von der Leyen, Rutte say Russian ‘intimidation will not work’ to stop Ukraine aid
NBC News: Congo Ebola outbreak: Deaths top 3,000 as virus spreads at unprecedented speed
The New York Times: A.I. Is to Be Banned in N.Y.C. Elementary and Middle Schools
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The House is in, and the Senate is out. President Trump is in Washington (All times EDT)
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12 p.m.: House convenes
1:30 p.m.: Trump meets with travel executives
7 p.m.:Trump attends Rose Garden dinner with battleground Republicans
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🫐 Celebrate: Today is National Blueberry Popsicle Day! Perfect timing for this 90-degree September weather in the Capital region!
🎵 Dolly Parton’s estate announced a two-day festival called Dollyfest which will be held in Nashville and London across weekends in 2027.
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Because you made it this far, here are some otter pups taking their very first swim!
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