Congress
Top House Democrats slam Jen Kiggans over radio host’s ‘vile and racist language’
Democrats are hammering Rep. Jen Kiggans after the vulnerable Virginia Republican concurred with a Richmond radio host saying Hakeem Jeffries should get his “cotton-picking hands” off Virginia politics.
“Ditto, yes, yes to that,” Kiggans responded.
Christie Stephenson, a spokesperson for Jeffries, called the moment a “stunning failure of judgement for a so-called moderate Member of Congress representing a large, vibrant African American community in Virginia.”
“Extremists who endorse disgusting, vile and racist language are pathetic,” she said in a Tuesday statement. “Jen Kiggans has no interest in our nation’s progress toward a multi-racial democracy and apparently craves a return to the days of Jim Crow racial oppression in the South. That’s why MAGA Republicans in legislatures and courts across America have launched a full-scale assault on Black representation.”
Minority Whip Katherine Clark, the No. 2 Democratic leader, called it “brazenly racist language” and said Kiggans should resign. No. 3 leader Pete Aguilar said she should “apologize then get the hell out of the House.” The Congressional Black Caucus also called on Kiggans to resign.
Kiggans did not apologize, suggesting Democrats were only trying to distract from their loss in the state’s court. She said, however, the host “should not have used that language and I do not -and did not – condone it.”
Kiggans is one of the House’s most vulnerable Republicans. Democrats attempted to redraw her district in their favor, but the Virginia Supreme Court struck down the map Friday, giving Kiggans’ reelection campaign new life. Now Democrats are making clear that they will use her comments to campaign against her as they battle to beat her on Election Day.
Jeffries has yet to address Kiggans directly, but he reposted Clark’s statement calling for her resignation on X Monday.
“The voters of Virginia will hold her accountable at the ballot box in November,” Stephenson said.
Congress
Colby to RSC lunch
Top Pentagon policy official Elbridge Colby is set to meet with the Republican Study Committee Wednesday, according to a person granted anonymity to describe the plans.
Colby is likely to address a massive new military funding request with the sprawling group of conservative lawmakers — a day after his boss, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, testified before appropriators on the $1.5 trillion ask.
Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) is also set to attend the lunch, the person said.
Congress
Security funding lobbying blitz
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and White House legislative affairs director James Braid will meet Wednesday with a key group of House Republicans as GOP concerns rise about a $1 billion administration request for Secret Service security funding that could help fund President Donald Trump’s ballroom project.
Mullin and Braid will attend a lunch of the centrist Republican Governance Group, two people granted anonymity to discuss the plans said, and the Secret Service funding is expected to come up. The visit is raising some eyebrows among some Republicans, with some having recent trouble getting Mullin on the phone, according to a GOP lawmaker.
Congress
Capitol agenda: Trump officials pitch GOP on ballroom funds
Administration officials are trying to win Hill Republicans’ blessing for $1 billion in security funding that could go towards parts of President Donald Trump’s ballroom project.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran is meeting Tuesday with Senate Republicans. He’ll face several senators who aren’t convinced or are outright opposed to green-lighting the money.
Expect Curran and GOP leaders to pitch the funding as necessary for White House security improvements and helping the Secret Service keep up broadly with growing threats.
The funds are part of a larger party-line spending package that would mainly support immigration enforcement. Trump has given lawmakers until June 1 to clear the legislation.
Things aren’t looking easier over in the House, where a growing number of Republicans are complaining its inclusion sends a tone-deaf message as voters struggle with higher gas and grocery prices.
“It’s a bad look. It’s bad timing. It’s bad all around,” said one House Republican, granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Some House GOP leaders privately doubt the measure has the votes to pass, according to four people granted anonymity to describe behind-the-scenes discussions, but they’re hoping it gets stripped out in the Senate first.
As we scooped, conversations with the Senate parliamentarian are already under way and bipartisan meetings — known as a Byrd bath — are expected later this week. Sen. Rand Paul, who said Monday he opposed the ballroom security funding measure, predicted it’s possible that provision gets stripped out during the review.
Coming up next week: The Senate Homeland Security panel will vote on its portion of the party-line bill, which does not have the ballroom language in it. The Judiciary Committee, which does, postponed its planned markup — with Chair Chuck Grassley pointing to the panel’s drawn out rules as the reason.
The Senate Budget Committee will also need to hold a meeting next week to compile the full bill. Notably, panel member Sen. John Kennedy declined multiple times to discuss the ballroom project Monday night. The Louisiana Republican has previously tried to expand the scope of the bill beyond immigration enforcement.
Senate Republicans are aiming to begin floor consideration of the bill next Wednesday to pass it and send it to the House by Friday. That timeline has House GOP leadership already discussing the likelihood they will need to remain in session for at least part of Memorial Day weekend to finish their work.
What else we’re watching:
— DEMS GRASP FOR REDISTRICTING SILVER LINING: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — left with few alternatives for action — is hoping voters punish Republicans in the midterms for aggressively redrawing maps to help them hold onto the House in November. Jeffries guaranteed his party would win control of the chamber this fall in a letter Monday, part of a flurry of statements by Democrats trying to find a silver lining to recent court blows in the parties’ gerrymandering wars.
— TRUMP’S GAS TAX HOLIDAY FACES HEADWINDS: Bipartisan interest in a gasoline tax holiday urged by Trump is growing on Capitol Hill, but the proposal is facing pushback from key Republicans. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday he has not “been a fan of that idea” in the past, adding he’d hear out colleagues who think it’s a good plan as the Iran war continues to jeopardize global oil supplies.
Andrew Howard, Pavan Acharya and Amelia Davidson contributed to this report.
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