The Full Belmonte, October 1, 2023
No shutdown! 32 minutes to spare
Speaker Kevin McCarthy celebrates after meeting with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
“After entering the weekend without a clear path to avoid a government shutdown, Speaker Kevin McCarthy sided with his party's moderates and Democrats to keep the government open, Axios' Juliegrace Brufke reports.
Why it matters: McCarthy dared his party's conservative flank to challenge his leadership. ‘If somebody wants to make a motion against me, bring it. There has to be an adult in the room,’ he said after the vote.
McCarthy didn't name Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). But Gaetz had said he would attempt to oust the California Republican if McCarthy brought a clean stopgap funding bill to the floor.
The House quickly went to recess until tomorrow — leaving conservative challengers stewing over any potential recriminations or attempts to remove McCarthy.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer walks to the chamber. Photo: Nathan Howard/Getty Images
The intrigue: Two senior Democratic sources said it's unlikely members across the aisle save McCarthy if Gaetz moves forward with a motion to vacate, which can remove the speaker with a majority vote.
What's next: The government is funded at current levels for 45 days. So we get to do this again just before Thanksgiving.
At 11:28 p.m., the White House posted a photo of President Biden signing the bill keeping the government open.” [Axios]
October 1, 2023
By Carl Hulse and Catie Edmondson
Good morning. Congress narrowly averted a government shutdown.
Senator Chuck SchumerHaiyun Jiang for The New York Times
A compromise in Congress
“A government shutdown seemed all but certain. Millions of federal workers and members of the military braced for late paychecks. National parks planned to close.
Then came a stunning reversal. Last night, Congress approved a stopgap plan to keep the federal government open until mid-November, avoiding a shutdown just hours before the midnight deadline.
A coalition of House Democrats and Republicans voted to pass a plan that would keep money flowing to government agencies and provide billions of dollars for disaster recovery efforts. The bill does not include money for Ukraine, despite a push for it by the White House. The Senate approved it late last night, and President Biden signed it.
Below, we explain how Congress compromised and what battles over federal spending remain in the weeks ahead.
Reaching a deal
For weeks, Speaker Kevin McCarthy had brushed off demands to work with Democrats on a spending solution. Yesterday morning, though, McCarthy changed course. He informed House Republicans of the compromise plan, then rushed to get it to the floor, where he wasn’t sure it would pass.
‘I like to gamble,’ he said.
Democrats initially complained that McCarthy had sprung the plan on them without much time to scrutinize it. But they didn’t want to be accused of putting aid for Ukraine ahead of keeping the government open. Ultimately, they supported the bill, which passed 335 to 91. Ninety Republicans and one Democrat voted against it. (See how each member voted.)
Hard-right Republicans refused to support the stopgap bill because it essentially maintained funding at levels set when Congress was under Democratic control last year. Some had threatened to oust McCarthy from the speakership if he made a deal with the Democrats.
McCarthy recognized that the legislation might spark a challenge to his job, but said he was willing to risk it to keep the government open. ‘If someone wants to make a motion against me, bring it,’ he said at a news conference after the House passed the bill. ‘There has to be an adult in the room.’
Battles ahead
Members of both parties said they believed they could win money for Ukraine in the weeks ahead. But the decision to leave it out of the spending bill was a disappointment for the Biden administration. It was also a sign of Republicans’ waning support for funding the war.
Representative Mike Quigley, the only Democrat to vote against the bill, said he did so because it did not include aid to Ukraine. He called it ‘a victory for Putin and Putin sympathizers everywhere.’
Still, Democrats voted for the spending bill by a wide margin, and the party’s leadership celebrated its passage.
‘The American people can breathe a sigh of relief: There will be no government shutdown,’ said Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader. ‘After trying to take our government hostage, MAGA Republicans won nothing.’
Despite the intense effort involved, the stopgap bill is only a temporary solution. The House and Senate are both struggling to approve yearlong spending bills, and the gulf between the two parties remains vast.
For more
‘It was like riding a mechanical bull all week,’ one Republican representative said. Read more about the path to the deal.
McCarthy opted to keep the government open the only way he could — by partnering with Democrats.
His plan was an abrupt shift from his previous attempts to placate all corners of his party, including hard-liners, Politico reports.
Ukraine’s government said it was confident that the U.S. would continue to support its war against Russia.
Americans seemed largely disinterested in the impending government shutdown. They have come to expect chaos in the capital, Peter Baker reports.
The standoff over spending will continue well past this weekend, Dan Balz writes in The Washington Post.” [New York Times]
Dem congressman pulls alarm
Photo: U.S. Capitol Police via Jake Sherman
“Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) faces a GOP-led expulsion effort after he was caught on camera pulling a fire alarm in Cannon House Office Building at 12:05 p.m. yesterday, while members scrambled to avert a shutdown, Axios' Andrew Solender reports.
Bowman told reporters he ‘thought the alarm would open the door’ because ‘the door that's usually open wasn't open.’
The U.S. Capitol Police and House Administration Committee announced investigations.
Bowman press secretary Emma Simon told Axios: ‘Congressman Bowman did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion.’
Speaker McCarthy told reporters: ‘This should not go without punishment ... This is an embarrassment.’
Bowman said McCarthy is ‘trying to weaponize a mistake of me ... rushing to get to a vote as something nefarious when it wasn't.’” [Axios]
Gun rights. Herring fishermen. An ethics hangover. The Supreme Court gets back to work.
Guns, social media, and thorny government regulations are all on the docket. Abortion -- which some thought was a settled issue -- also could make a return this term.
USA TODAY
“WASHINGTON − The Supreme Court kicks off a nine-month term Monday that will thrust the justices into partisan quagmires over guns, social media and the Biden administration's power to make decisions without Congress.
But as the justices step into the ornate courtroom to hear oral arguments for the first time in months, they'll be confronting more than the usual docket full of controversies: They'll also be wrestling with persistent questions about ethics and foreign travel that polls show have undermined Americans' faith in the institution.
Less than half of Americans say they have confidence in the Supreme Court, according to a Gallup poll Friday.
‘I hope we can make progress,’ Justice Elena Kagan said during a recent speech at Notre Dame Law School, adding that she thought it would be ‘a good thing’ if the justices agreed to adopt a code of conduct. ‘It would, I think, go far in persuading other people that we were adhering to the highest standards of conduct.’
Fierce ethics debate looms in the background
Ethics won't come up in court or in opinions, but the issue could nevertheless hover over much of the term.
The Supreme Court has long faced questions over how justices police themselves off the bench. But a series of reports by ProPublica this year documenting lavish travel Justice Clarence Thomas accepted from GOP donor Harlan Crow added fuel to the debate and sparked an effort by Democrats to impose a code of ethics on the court.
Ethics: Not just Clarence Thomas: Lower courts facing scrutiny over ethics, disclosures, too
Four justices have spoken or written publicly about ethics in recent months, with three − Kagan, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh − indicating that talks are underway about how to address the issue. Those remarks have been made as left-leaning outside groups and Democratic politicians have called on Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito to recuse themselves from taking part in several high-profile cases this term.
‘The justices don't seem very interested in policing themselves in any serious way,’ University of Chicago Law School Professor Geoffrey Stone said recently during a panel discussion about the upcoming term. ‘I don't think there's any principled reason why the justices on the Supreme Court should not be held to the same types of regulations as other federal judges.’
Gun case puts court's conservatives in a jam
One of the more compelling cases on deck this year questions whether Americans who are subject to domestic violence restraining orders can be barred from owning guns under the Second Amendment. If the court decides the answer to that question is "yes," then the 6-3 conservative majority will have to find some way to square that with a landmark opinion it handed down just last year that undermined many gun regulations.
In an opinion invalidating a New York gun licensing law, a majority of the court ruled last year that gun regulations must be ‘consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation’ to survive court challenges. A federal appeals court in New Orleans said this year that the law prohibiting gun ownership for people who are the subject of a restraining order is an ‘outlier that our ancestors would never have accepted.’
Put another way, the case is an opportunity for the court to clarify how its new Second Amendment theory should work in practice.
Later this month, the court may decide whether to hear an appeal over the Trump administration's ban on bump stocks, a device that uses the kickback of a semi-automatic firearm to mimic automatic firing. The owner of a Texas gun shop filed the lawsuit in 2019 after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives banned the devices.
Herring fishermen hope to reel in government power
The court is juggling three cases that could severely limit the power of federal agencies.
The first was filed by four East Coast fishing businesses who object to a federal rule requiring them to pay for monitors on their boat to record their catches. It's not clear whether the law allows the Commerce Department to impose that requirement. And the herring fishermen essentially argue that if Congress wasn't clear when it passed the law, then the government is out of luck.
If the Supreme Court embraces that argument, it could have sweeping implications for federal agencies by limiting their ability to regulate the environment, guns and health care.
Another case, up for oral argument Tuesday, challenges the funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A ruling against the government could undermine other independent agencies, such as the Federal Reserve. A third appeal challenges the constitutionality of in-house judges at the Securities and Exchange Commission, which decide cases involving securities fraud that used to be handled by the judicial branch.
Can Ron DeSantis tell Facebook which posts to keep?
The nation's highest court is jumping into a deeply partisan fight over social media this term that could change the way Americans − and American politicians − interact on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and X.
On Friday, the court took up a pair of challenges to laws in Texas and Florida that would limit the ability of social media platforms to moderate content. Those laws were approved by the conservative states in response to allegations by former President Donald Trump and others that social media was throttling conservative viewpoints.
Several experts predict the states will lose, particularly in light of a decision last year by the Supreme Court in 303 Creative v. Elenis. In that case, the court ruled that the government could not compel a Colorado designer to make wedding websites for same-sex couples.
Social media:How the Supreme Court could alter the way Americans interact on the internet
‘After 303, I don't know how the Texas and Florida people even have an argument,’ Lisa Blatt, a veteran Supreme Court attorney, said during a recent panel hosted by Georgetown Law. ‘Unless you believe that YouTube or Facebook are somehow the government, it's just a blatant First Amendment violation.’
The Supreme Court will also hear oral arguments Oct. 31 in a pair of cases dealing with whether elected officials may block voters on the sites. A similar case involving Trump made its way to the Supreme Court in 2020 but was dismissed after he left office months later.
Is that all there is? Abortion could make a return
The Supreme Court is starting its term, but it hasn't yet fully defined it.
Several major cases are moving their way through the docket and could be granted later this year. Among the most closely watched on that list: The months-long legal battle over the abortion pill mifepristone. The justices could decided whether federal courts in Texas went too far by limiting access to the drug this year.
The court could also decide later this year whether to hear arguments in the case of a prominent Virginia high school that changed its admissions policy to accept 1.5% of the eighth-grade class at each of the district’s middle schools. Though the policy was race neutral it had the effect of increasing Black and Hispanic enrollment. A group of parents have sued, alleging the policy violates the 14th Amendment.
If added to the lineup, it would likely be decided a year after the Supreme Court ended the use of affirmative action in college admissions.” [USA Today]
”A Kansas police chief was suspended after he ordered raids on a local newspaper.” [New York Times]
I.R.S. Contractor Charged With Leaking Tax Returns
The federal charges are said to involve disclosure of tax information from Donald Trump and other wealthy taxpayers.
By Glenn Thrush and Alan Rappeport
Sept. 29, 2023
“A contractor for the Internal Revenue Service has been charged with leaking tax return information from a senior government official and wealthy taxpayers to two news organizations, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Washington on Friday.
Charles Edward Littlejohn, who worked as a contractor for the tax agency from 2017 to 2021, was accused of stealing tax returns and other information of a ‘Public Official A and thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people,’ according to a three-page indictment signed by prosecutors with the Justice Department’s public integrity division.
The indictment did not name the official, the other taxpayers or the news organizations. The public official is former President Donald J. Trump, and the two outlets identified in the indictment as ‘News Organization 1’ and ‘News Organization 2’ are The New York Times and ProPublica, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Prosecutors said that Mr. Littlejohn, 38, stole tax information ‘dating back more than 15 years,’ the indictment said. He retrieved the returns between 2018 and 2020, when he was working for a company contracted by the I.R.S. He then provided the tax information to the news organizations, the indictment said….” Read more at New York Times
81 years in the deep
Photo: Ocean Exploration Trust/NOAA via AP
“Footage from deep in the Pacific Ocean has given the first detailed look at three World War II aircraft carriers that sank in 1942 in the pivotal Battle of Midway, which marked a shift in control of the Pacific theater from Japanese to U.S. forces, AP reports.
Remote submersibles, operating 3 miles below the surface, conducted archeological surveys of the U.S.S. Yorktown (25 years after it was first located) + the Akagi and Kaga, two of the four Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carriers destroyed in the battle.
Above: The Yorktown's aircraft crane still stands at the aft end of the ship's island.
The exploration is in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, about 1,300 miles northwest of Honolulu.” [Axios]
”Lives Lived: Lori Teresa Yearwood was a journalist who returned to reporting after two years of homelessness and became a prominent voice for the unhoused in articles for outlets like The Washington Post and The Times. She was 57.” [New York Times]
“President Biden signed into law the stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown passed by Congress just hours ahead of a critical midnight deadline when funding for federal agencies was set to run out. The measure will keep the government open through November 17. Follow live updates.
A grand jury indicted Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis on charges of murder with use of a deadly weapon in connection with the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, Las Vegas authorities announced. Shakur was shot and killed while leaving a boxing match on the Las Vegas Strip.
One of Donald Trump’s co-defendants pleaded guilty to five counts in the 2020 election subversion case in Georgia. Bail bondsman Scott Hall, 59, is the first defendant in the case to take a plea agreement with prosecutors.
In an impassioned speech, departing Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley defiantly proclaimed that the US military does not swear an oath to a ‘wannabe dictator.’ It was a pointed swipe at Donald Trump, who has accused Milley of ‘treason.’
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose three decades on Capitol Hill made her the longest-serving female senator in history, died at age 90. Feinstein was a fixture of California politics for decades and was first elected to the Senate in 1992 after a historic political career in San Francisco.” [CNN]
MONDAY
“Talks are set to resume between striking actors and studio representatives, two-and-a-half months after the more than 160,000 members of the SAG-AFTRA union went on strike and one week after the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached a tentative contract agreement. SAG-AFTRA and the WGA have both sought contract changes related to streaming residuals and artificial intelligence. Actors are also asking for better relocation expenses for actors working out of state or country and limited long breaks between television seasons in order to give actors more stability while under contract. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike since July 14.
It’s the beginning of Nobel Prize week. The 2023 Nobel Prizes for Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Literature will be announced Monday through Thursday, respectively, ending with the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize In Economic Sciences, created in memory of Alfred Nobel, will be announced the following week.
TUESDAY
President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is set to be arraigned on three criminal charges stemming from a gun he purchased in 2018. Hunter Biden had sought to appear virtually for his first court hearing, but a judge denied his request last month. It’s the first time in US history that the Justice Department has charged the child of a sitting president.
October 3 is also “Mean Girls” Day — a nod to the 2004 cult classic comedy. Why October 3? Find out here.
WEDNESDAY
Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers are preparing to walk off the job in what would be the largest strike of health care workers in history. More than 75,000 employees who work at hundreds of Kaiser Permanente facilities across California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Virginia and Washington, DC, plan to strike Wednesday through Saturday. The union representing the workers is demanding better pay, adequate staffing levels and guaranteed performance bonuses.
Be prepared for your mobile phone to go off when FEMA and the FCC conduct a nationwide test of the Wireless Emergency Alert System at about 2:20 p.m. ET. And if you happen to also be watching TV or listening to the radio at that time, you'll get a double dose of alerts. Basically, don't schedule any meetings for that time.
Finally, it's National Vodka Day — which is terrific timing, as you might need a stiff drink after all those alerts go off simultaneously.
FRIDAY
The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the monthly employment report for September. In the prior month, the economy added 187,000 jobs — roughly in line with the monthly average seen from 2010-2019 and a figure that was considerably below the white-hot job gains that marked the pandemic recovery. August’s somewhat better-than-expected total marked the 32nd consecutive month of job growth.
SATURDAY
As proof that there is indeed a day for everything (see above), October 7 is National LED Light Day. Why? In 2014, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three researchers who had invented a new energy-efficient and environment-friendly light source — the blue light-emitting diode (LED) — which enabled the development of bright and energy-saving white light LED lamps that last far longer than traditional light bulbs.” [CNN]
THE WEEK AHEAD
What to Watch For
“Jimmy Carter turns 99 today.
The trial begins tomorrow in the New York lawsuit accusing the Trump Organization of inflating property values.
The Supreme Court’s new term starts tomorrow.
The Major League Baseball playoffs begin Tuesday.
Hunter Biden will appear in court Wednesday, where he is expected to plead not guilty to gun charges.
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner will be announced Friday. Other Nobel winners will also be announced throughout the week.” [New York Times]