House and Senate sing different tunes on foreign aid

Dec 06, 2023

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By Daniella Diaz

Presented by

With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team

House Speaker Mike Johnson wears U.S. flag pin.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR UKRAINE AID IN THE HOUSE

While Senate leaders keep projecting hope for passing a foreign aid package, despite a failed vote this afternoon, the House GOP isn’t feeling too optimistic.

Republicans have repeatedly signaled they don’t want to put additional Ukraine funding on the House floor unless it includes major border policy changes — and possibly not even then. That would be the case even if a funding package with border money and Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan aid had passed the Senate on Wednesday.

A sign of where things stand: Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told POLITICO he had a meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson Wednesday on Ukraine, where the Louisiana Republican said they had “leverage” to get more on border security, but senators “need to act.”

“I think his position is look, they gotta get serious about the border and then we'll talk,” McCaul told us. “What they voted on today, it was a joke.” When asked if there’s a chance the Senate does pass a bipartisan funding package, McCaul added: “I can't answer that.”

Time is of the essence: Ukrainian officials have made clear to the Biden administration they’re almost out of money. With the failed vote to advance the $110.5 billion supplemental funding package, Senate Democrats are skeptical they can try to pass a bill before the end of the year. Republicans have made clear they’ll continue to block it without significant changes to border policy, and Senate negotiations on that are basically on life support right now (more on that in a bit).

Where’s Johnson? The Louisiana Republican ignored questions from reporters about the future of Ukraine aid in the House on Wednesday during an appearance with British Foreign Minister David Cameron at the Capitol. In a letter to Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young this week, Johnson said he won’t put Ukraine aid on the House floor without border security measures — mimicking Senate Republicans’ stance.

House Democrats, who are supportive of additional foreign aid, aren’t sounding too optimistic. When asked about what the path forward was on Ukraine aid, former Democratic whip Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) responded: “Well, I have no idea.”

And Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) suggested that all his party can do right now is continue to urge Republicans to take action.

“House Democrats have been imploring our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to do the right thing and join us in that effort (to support Ukraine),” he said in an interview Wednesday.

In the Senate: Democrats in the upper chamber said Wednesday they haven’t given up on border negotiations, which is their only hope to revive Ukraine and Israel aid. There aren’t a lot of encouraging signs on that front, however.

“We're gonna stay at the table. we're gonna get this done,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said in an interview Wednesday.

“If I gotta be here on fucking Christmas Day I will, because Ukraine funding needs to be done. I’m willing to stay here 24/7 to get it done,” echoed Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).

— Daniella Diaz, with assist from Nicholas Wu and Anthony Adragna

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GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, Dec. 6, where our advice to you, reader, is don’t feed the squirrels please!

MCCARTHY’S GREATEST MOMENTS

Kevin McCarthy announced Wednesday he’s calling it quits in Congress, two months after Olivia originally reported on his plans to leave (which he publicly denied at the time, insisting he was running for reelection).

McCarthy is coming away from his time on Capitol Hill with plenty of odd stories to tell, well before he was booted from the speakership on Oct. 3. Let’s look back at some iconic moments from the California Republican:

“I never quit”: McCarthy repeatedly told reporters, for the nine months he was speaker, that he would never stop fighting his critics and implied he wouldn’t leave Congress. He even posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, an exchange he had with CNN’s Manu Raju pushing back on the idea he’d leave.
“My Kevin”: Our own Mike DeBonis reported for the Washington Post about Donald Trump’s way of referring to the former speaker as “My Kevin,” which went viral and became a talking point for Democrats who wanted to link McCarthy to the former president.
Trump’s candy habit: McCarthy told the Washington Post back in 2018 he observed that Trump picked and ate only two flavors of Starbursts: cherry and strawberry. So he bought a supply of Starbursts, had a staffer sort through the pile to pick only the strawberry and cherry flavors, and then had a jar of them delivered to a “grinning” Trump.
“Never give up”: In the spirit of McCarthy saying repeatedly he would “never quit,” his office made challenge coins that read “never give up” just days before he was ousted as speaker.
McCarthy gets physical: Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) recently accused McCarthy of elbowing him in a Capitol hallway — an allegation the former speaker denies. Burchett was one of the eight Republican members who voted to boot McCarthy as speaker. McCarthy told CNN: “I didn’t shove or elbow him, it’s a tight hallway.”
O.K.: When McCarthy was trying to make his case for speaker last year – knowing at the time he didn’t have enough support — he handed out pins that said O.K., which stood for “Only Kevin.” His critics privately poked fun at that motto choice.

— Daniella Diaz

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SWIFTIES ASSEMBLE

They’re not necessarily fans of her politics, but even conservative Republicans don’t have a problem with Taylor Swift being named TIME Magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2023.

“Listen, you got to give it to the lady,” said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas). “My wife and three kids went to one of her concerts — I didn't go — but by the time you pay for those four tickets, it's a damn house payment.”

“I'm actually less of a fan of [her boyfriend] Travis Kelce in his support for Pfizer than I am of her comments being a Democrat,” said Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), who is a longtime critic of Covid-19 vaccine mandates. “But I'm a fan no matter what. My daughters love Taylor Swift.”

“Every time I see Marsha Blackburn I say: ‘You're the one person that Taylor Swift doesn't have any influence over,’” said Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), referring to Swift’s support of Blackburn’s Democratic opponent in 2018. “I’d bet on Marsha Blackburn over Taylor Swift.”

Not everyone pays much mind to Swift, however.

“That’s not something I worry about, honestly,” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer told POLITICO.

— Anthony Adragna, resident Swiftie on POLITICO’s Congress team

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HUDDLE HOTDISH

Paging Dan Goldman: Where’s your rent?

Well, now all the Young Guns are .. gone.

Hot demand for free plants in Longworth.

Mike Collins with an epic meme responding to Kevin McCarthy’s resignation announcement.

QUICK LINKS

Architect of Capitol calls its watchdog back to the office, from Chris Marquette at Roll Call

Exclusive: House Ethics Committee requests interview with witness in Gaetz probe, from Paula Reid and Annie Grayer at CNN

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TRANSITIONS

Will Mascaro is now a legislative assistant for Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). He previously was Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Health legislative assistant for Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio).

Evan Viau, a professional staff member working on telecom issues for the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee, will leave his post early next year “to pursue a new opportunity,” Chair Bob Latta (R-Ohio) announced during a markup Tuesday.

TOMORROW IN CONGRESS

The House is in session.

The Senate is in session.

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THURSDAY AROUND THE HILL

*crickets*

TRIVIA

TUESDAY’S ANSWER: Ben Howard correctly answered that John Dingell, first elected in 1955 at age 29, started out as the youngest member in that Congress. He served so long he eventually became the oldest member, the "dean" of the House.

TODAY’S QUESTION from Ben: Which sitting member holds the record for longest House Floor speech and what was the bill being debated? Bonus: How long was it and what was the procedural tool used to allow the member to continue speaking beyond the allotted time?

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to huddletrivia@politico.com.

GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each evening.

Follow Daniella on X at @DaniellaMicaela.