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Capitol agenda: Trump puts out another fire for Johnson

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Speaker Mike Johnson is trying again to pass landmark cryptocurrency legislation this week after Tuesday’s failed rule vote. This time, President Donald Trump says he has the votes.

After 12 hard-liners tanked the procedural vote setting up debate on three cryptocurrency bills, the president announced he flipped the holdouts after a meeting with them in the Oval Office Tuesday night.

“Johnson was at the meeting via telephone, and looks forward to taking the Vote as early as possible,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Some of the House Republicans who tanked the crypto rule were also at the Treasury Department Tuesday night talking through their concerns about a possible central bank digital currency, according to two Republicans granted anonymity.

House Freedom Caucus members were initially demanding a ban on any government sponsored digital currency be added to the GENIUS Act, the Senate-passed stablecoin bill, out of concerns over privacy and stifling private sector innovation. That language already exists in the CLARITY Act, a crypto market structure bill also slated for action this week.

“Central bank digital currency — we have to put a stake in its heart once and for all,” House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) told Blue Light News Tuesday after the failed vote. “The action under that rule wouldn’t have done it.”

It’s not clear what assurances the holdouts got. But the House is now flipping its schedule: lawmakers will vote on the GENIUS Act Wednesday after the rule vote, rather than voting first on the CLARITY Act. Trump has said he wants the Senate-passed stablecoin bill sent to his desk this week. After the party-line rule vote, all three cryptocurrency bills are expected to easily pass with some Democratic support.

Speaking of central banks: Several Republicans left the Oval Office meeting under the impression that Trump is about to move against Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) posted to X last night that an announcement is “imminent.” Powell has steadfastly insisted he will remain in his post, and firing Powell could easily backfire on Trump and cause markets to tank.

What else we’re watching:

— Vote-a-rama begins: Senate Majority Leader John Thune can let out an initial sigh of relief after Republicans cleared the first procedural hurdles Tuesday on Trump’s effort to claw back billions in funding. Senators will move forward with a vote-a-rama on amendments starting at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, when rescissions skeptics like Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) plan to take another shot at further tweaks to the bill.

— Crypto hearing: The Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee will meet Wednesday morning to discuss ways to harmonize the tax code with the other regulatory blueprints for digital assets pending votes on the chamber floor. The hearing will feature testimony from industry players including Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger and Jason Somensatto, director of policy at Coin Center.

— Epstein fallout: Most Republican members are steering clear of the Epstein turmoil, but signs of discomfort are showing. Johnson broke with Trump Tuesday to call on the Department of Justice to release all of its information on Jeffrey Epstein and for Attorney General Pam Bondi to explain her previous statement about having some sort of “client list.” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) is pushing House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) to invite Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell to testify in a public hearing before the committee.

Meredith Lee Hill, Calen Razor and Benjamin Guggenheim contributed to this report.

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Congress

Jordan talking to White House on reviving partisan immigration bill

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House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan is in touch with the White House about bringing his sweeping immigration overhaul bill up for a vote — in exactly the same form as in the previous Congress.

In an interview this week, the Ohio Republican said he wants to revive consideration of legislation that passed the House in May 2023 without any Democratic votes.

“What I’d like to do in our committee, and we’re talking to the White House about when it makes sense to do this, is look at … the language that we had last Congress,” said Jordan.

Jordan had previously signaled an openness to tweaking the bill text to include some changes to high-skilled visa rules — a policy change championed by Elon Musk, tech mogul and former head of the Department of Department Efficiency initiative.

Since that time, however, Musk left his administration posting on bad terms with Donald Trump over for the GOP’s sweeping domestic policy package, railing against the megabill and burning bridges with the president along the way.

And while Musk and Jordan had at one point been close allies, Jordan was recently one of the several high-profile Republicans who Musk unfollowed on his social media platform, X, following passage of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

Jordan’s immigration overhaul bill would significantly crack down on legal immigration in the United States through limits on asylum and parole eligibility. It also would require employers to use E-Verify, an online system where they can ascertain an individual’s eligibility to work in the U.S., while setting a new minimum of 22,000 active-duty agents for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency.

A 2023 report from the Congressional Budget Office found that the bill would lower population estimates by 2033 by 600,000 “mostly by reducing the number of unaccompanied alien children present in the country.” The nonpartisan scorekeeper also estimated that 4.4 million people would also no longer be eligible for parole or asylum.

It would come on the heels of the megabill’s allocations of tens of billions of dollars for completing the border wall and implementing new fees for applicants seeking entry into the country.

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Senate rejects Democrats’ initial attempts to trim Trump’s cutbacks

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Senate Republicans batted down Democratic attempts on Wednesday to shrink the $9 billion package of funding clawbacks the chamber is expected to pass after a “vote-a-rama” amendment spree.

Democrats are seeking to knock out pieces of President Donald Trump’s request to cancel $8.3 billion in foreign aid, along with $1.1 billion from public broadcasting. But they failed in their initial attempts Wednesday at protecting funding for international disaster relief and public broadcasting that supports public safety.

In a 50-49 vote, the chamber rejected an amendment from Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) that would retain $496 million in international disaster relief Trump wants Congress to slash in the rescissions package.

GOP Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine voted with Democrats in favor of the amendment. Those Republicans also voted earlier in the week against debating the package and knocked the White House for not providing lawmakers with account-by-account totals for what will be cut if Congress clears the bill before the Friday night deadline.

Global disaster aid doesn’t just “save lives in countries around the world,” Coons argued. “It strengthens our standing, brings us closer to our allies and helps us compete with China.”

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), who is leading the Senate GOP effort to pass the package, argued that “many foreign governments and U.N. agencies have become reliant on U.S. emergency funding, using it to avoid investing in their own disaster preparedness.”

The Senate also voted 51-48 to reject an attempt from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) to send the bill back to committee and bar public broadcasting cuts that would affect public safety efforts, including the work of first responders and law enforcement.

Cassandra Dumay and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

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Super PAC backing Bill Cassidy to reveal $2.5M haul

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Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, facing a MAGA revolt over his vote in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, is about to get a boost from a super PAC committed to the Republican’s reelection.

Louisiana Freedom Fund is set to announce that it has $2.5 million in cash on hand to support Cassidy, according to a person granted anonymity to disclose the total ahead of a formal filing. Cassidy is up against multiple GOP challengers attacking his 2021 vote to convict Trump over his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The infusion of outside funds comes after Cassidy’s campaign revealed Tuesday it already holds a massive cash advantage over his opponents. The four-term incumbent has $8.7 million banked, compared with State Sen. Blake Miguez’s $1.7 million and state treasurer John Fleming’s $2.1 million, per campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Those reports also showed that Cassidy raised $1.6 million in the second quarter, significantly more than donors gave the other top candidates, who are running largely self-funded campaigns. Miguez raised $800,000 and loaned himself an additional $1 million, while Fleming raised $121,000 and loaned his campaign $2 million.

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