Congress
Capitol agenda: Nervous GOP weighs options on ballroom
Republicans uneasy about the political risk of sending taxpayer dollars toward the new White House ballroom are hoping the Senate’s rule keeper will make the decision for them as soon as Friday.
Lawmakers in both parties are watching closely for Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to decide whether Republicans’ latest party-line bill can include a $1 billion Secret Service provision that could fund parts of President Donald Trump’s ballroom project.
Bipartisan staff will meet with MacDonough Friday on that provision and the rest of the Judiciary Committee’s section of the bill, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose private scheduling. She demonstrated just how quickly she can upend the GOP’s plans Thursday when she ruled against another portion of the bill funding immigration enforcement (more on that below).
Even ahead of the ruling, Senate Republicans are discussing making changes to the billion-dollar item — including reducing its amount — due to concerns from their own members about the money.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Blue Light News the discussions are centered on “how to get 50 votes in the Senate” on the security funding.
On the other side of the Capitol, House Republicans are keeping mostly quiet until they know whether the provision will survive MacDonough’s interpretations of the “Byrd rule,” the restrictions governing what is permissible in a filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation bill
“We want to see what the Senate does,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said. “Right now, I don’t think people are passing judgment because they don’t know what the final product is going to look like coming from the Senate.”
Scalise, asked about the alarm from some of his GOP members about the political optics of public funding for the ballroom, replied, “There’s a lot of meetings going on.”
Several House and Senate Republicans have said they want a more detailed accounting of how the Secret Service will use funding related to the East Wing project.
“I haven’t committed one way or another until we get more of a further breakdown as to how it’s going to be allocated,” Rep. Rob Bresnahan told Blue Light News Thursday.
The White House is working to get Republicans on board, with officials from the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security making the case for the funding as its fate wobbles. The pressure campaign is making some headway, according to six people involved in the conversations.
Rep. Don Bacon initially voiced apprehension about the funding Tuesday, saying, “I don’t think it’s wise.” Hours later, after meeting with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Bacon softened his views, arguing it wasn’t “as much money” for the ballroom project as he thought.
Still, he argued the lack of details in the initial White House request represented a “botched delivery.”
— GOP TO TRY AGAIN ON HOMELAND PROVISIONS: Republicans will have to rewrite other portions of the bill funding immigration enforcement following MacDonough’s ruling Thursday.
The parliamentarian found four parts of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs panel’s portion of the package will need to be reworked following a Democratic challenge if Republicans want to pass them at a simple-majority margin.
They will need to work quickly if they are going to meet the June 1 deadline Trump has set for clearing the legislation.
What else we’re watching:
— WHITE HOUSE, SENATE PUSH HOUSE ON HOUSING BILL — Thune and the White House Thursday again pressured House lawmakers to pass the Senate’s version of a housing bill and abandon their own tweaks. The clearest path to getting housing legislation to Trump’s desk is for the House to pass the Senate’s bill, Thune said, adding his chamber’s version “was carefully constructed to get at what the president wanted to address.”
— CRYPTO BILL MOVES TO SENATE FLOOR — Senators on the Banking panel Thursday advanced a landmark cryptocurrency bill that would overhaul how digital assets are regulated, sending the measure to the floor with bipartisan backing.
Jordain Carney, Meredith Lee Hill, Jennifer Scholtes, Katherine Hapgood and Jasper Goodman contributed to this report.
Multiple Senate Republicans joined Sen. Bernie Moreno in calling for Rep. Max Miller to step down from office Monday amid domestic abuse allegations from the Ohio senator’s daughter.
Bernie Moreno — father of Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno — said in a statement Sunday that Miller should not serve in the House soon after the House Republican did a livestream video attempting to defend himself from abuse accusations.
Many of Bernie Moreno’s GOP colleagues were quick to back him following the statement.
“I don’t know [Miller]. I haven’t read a whole lot about him, but if [Moreno] thinks he ought to resign, I’m supportive of that,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said in an interview.
Miller has denied the allegations, which include pouring hot water on his ex-wife and holding a gun to her head. He has also denied accusations from his ex-wife that he broke his daughter’s collarbone.
Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas condemned Miller, adding, “He should resign. He should quit.”
“I don’t know Mr. Miller’s story, but I trust Bernie so much as a good friend, and his family has such high values,” Marshall said in an interview. “I couldn’t imagine them wanting this out in public. So to go through with this, it makes me think that they’re telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
The surge of support from Bernie Moreno’s Senate colleagues marks the first significant crack in a wall of GOP silence regarding the allegations against Miller. The skepticism from Miller’s own party will almost certainly weigh down the congressman’s already floundering campaign as he battles Democratic candidate Brian Poindexter to keep his Cleveland-area House seat.
Miller has until Wednesday to withdraw from the ballot and allow a crash primary to select a replacement.
Some Republican lawmakers stopped short of calling on Miller to withdraw or resign while expressing grave concern about the allegations.
“The accusations are very serious, and if there is truth to them, I am one who says that our elected officials need to be held to high standards,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said. “And certainly, when it comes to allegations of domestic abuse, child abuse, that’s not what we want in our lawmakers.”
A spokesperson for Miller did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In response to Moreno’s statement, Miller said on Sunday, “If my daughter said the same thing to me, I personally wouldn’t wait two years before holding him accountable.”
“You know this isn’t true and the only reason you are speaking out now is to hide from your own media circus,” he added in the post on X.
Notably still silent was GOP Sen. Jon Husted, Ohio’s other senator, who while leaving the Capitol Monday did not respond to reporters’ questions about whether Miller should resign.
Other Republicans in the Ohio House delegation are also staying quiet for now. Almost every House Republican from the state either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment on Moreno’s statement.
The exception was Rep. Jim Jordan, who brushed off questions in a Thursday CNN interview about Miller but noted he was “a good man” and was recently campaigning for him.
Asked Monday if Miller should still serve in Congress following Bernie Moreno’s statement, spokesperson for Jordan Stefanie Farrell said, “As Mr. Jordan has said, it’s up to the voters of Ohio’s 7th District.”
Back in the Senate, other Republicans who were unaware of the situation declined to weigh in on the incident.
“I am not aware of the situation, so I don’t have a comment right now,” said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who has been a leading GOP voice on domestic violence issues within the military.
But a steady drip of Republican senators said Monday evening they trusted Bernie Moreno.“It would surprise me if Bernie were being untruthful,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming said. “I guess I was surprised that it bubbled up to the public sphere, but I suspect that Bernie has got a beat on the situation.”
Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia said he was unaware of the details of the allegations but that “Bernie’s a pretty level-headed guy.”
“I don’t know enough about the allegations, but like Bernie said, it sounds like he thinks he needs psychological help,” Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said, adding, “I trust Bernie.”
Chris Marquette contributed to this report.
Senate Budget Committee Republicans will meet Tuesday morning to talk about advancing a fiscal blueprint for a new party-line spending bill.
Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) declined to say , in an interview Monday if he plans to introduce a resolution this week, noting that he was “working with leadership” and that the “first priority” is to pass a stopgap spending bill. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a panel member, said he didn’t expect the Senate to take up a budget resolution this week because “I don’t think my leadership wants to do it.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune hasn’t ruled out taking up a budget resolution but has been frank about the challenges it faces among GOP senators.
The Senate’s stopgap funding bill to avert a shutdown on Oct. 1 has cleared the first procedural hurdle, putting it on track for passage before lawmakers leave for the August recess.
Senators voted 89-4 to advance the measure, which would fund federal agencies through Dec. 11 at current levels, with some exceptions.
In order for a passage vote to happen ahead of the summer break, Senate leaders will need to strike a bipartisan time agreement to fast-track the measure to a final vote.
“It is a strong bipartisan piece of legislation, and I hope it will receive overwhelming support from both parties in the Senate,” Majority Leader John Thune said in a Monday floor speech.
Senate passage would up a potential battle with the House, because the stopgap measure the House passed two weeks ago has key differences from the Senate version. Identical versions must be passed to actually avert a shutdown at the end of the fiscal year.
The Senate measure includes language to bar the Trump administration from putting into action a plan to make political appointees in charge of approving grants, a prohibition that would last for the length of the stopgap. It also has language sought by Democrats to ensure Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement don’t get any new funding under the patch.
“The bill allows us to continue negotiating a budget that won’t leave working families behind,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday.
The White House did not respond to multiple requests for comment about if President Donald Trump supports the Senate measure. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), an appropriator and administration ally, said Monday he had spoken to Trump earlier in the day and believed the president is “comfortable” with the Senate bill.
Jordain Carney and Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
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