| | | | |  | | By Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz | | Presented by |  | | | With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team
|  Some House Democrats argue Benjamin Netanyahu should not be invited to Capitol Hill amid Speaker Mike Johnson’s refusal to bring the Senate-passed foreign aid package up for a vote. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP | DEMS CRINGE AT BIBI SPEECH PLAN With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerging as a frenemy of sorts for House Democrats, Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to invite him to speak to Congress is splitting their ranks. Some argue the conservative Israeli leader should not be invited amid Johnson’s refusal to bring the Senate-passed foreign aid package up for a vote. Others in the party are open to listening to him. And some others are wishing Netanyahu just won't show. “I would hope he would not come. I think it would not be helpful for Israel's interests,” Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), a longtime advocate for Israel, said in a brief interview Thursday. Johnson’s invitation comes amid a political firestorm over Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s speech last week calling for new elections in Israel and criticizing Netanyahu’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Schumer, having made his point, said in a statement he’d “always welcome the opportunity for the Prime Minister of Israel to speak to Congress in a bipartisan way” after denying Netanyahu’s request to remotely address Senate Democrats earlier this week. Democratic frustrations with Netanyahu and his conservative Israeli governments are nothing new. His fiery 2015 address to a joint meeting of Congress, delivered amid an intense debate over the Iran nuclear deal brokered by then-president Barack Obama, irritated many in the party. Dozens skipped the speech. But tensions are now at an all-time high as Israel continues its war in Gaza and insists it will press forward with an invasion of Rafah, where more than 1 million refugees are huddled. More recently, a handful of progressive lawmakers skipped a speech from Israeli President Isaac Herzog — a much less divisive figure than the PM — and are likely to skip Netanyahu’s speech, too. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who was among those who boycotted Herzog, called Johnson’s new invitation “heartless and disgusting.” “It's a disaster. It goes against our values,” she said. “It goes against the values of humanity. It goes against everything we should hold dear” Still, most in the party still stress their support for the U.S. ally, if not specifically for its leader. Top House Democratic leaders, for instance, largely refrained from commenting while they waited for more details on the invitation. “Speaker Mike Johnson has not raised this issue with me, so there's nothing really to talk about until we actually have a formal conversation about his intentions,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said. House Minority Whip Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said members “will make their own evaluation” about a Netanyahu visit Thursday: “You can invite whomever you like to come and address Congress, but do the work that needs to be done. … Our message is: Bring the national security supplement[al] to the floor.” A few pro-Israel Democrats made a more affirmative case for the visit, arguing that tending the U.S.-Israel relationship is paramount. “I'm never going to say a leader of a democratic country shouldn’t come,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), while Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) said, “I hope whatever he does now or any Israeli official does, it is done with the intent of strengthening that bipartisan support for Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship.” — Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz
| | | | A message from Coinbase: It’s estimated over 50 million people in the US and 400 million people globally own crypto. As its use has grown, so has its utility. 87% of Americans feel the current financial system needs an update, as they see the current system clogged with middlemen, high fees, delays, and other inefficiencies that make the system hard to access and unfair. The future of money is more open, free, and efficient, and it’s powered by crypto. | | | GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, March 21, where we are starting to smell the jet fumes. And the Easter candy. But mostly the jet fumes. SHUT DOWN THE SHOWDOWN? It’s finally happening: The text of the second and final fiscal 2024 minibus is out, and the House is expecting to vote on the massive six-bill, $1.2 trillion package Friday morning. The Senate, however, is a big TBD. With a midnight Friday deadline looming, fast passage depends on whether all 100 senators can commit to a time agreement. Angry Senate conservatives — any one of which could slow down passage — have voiced displeasure but haven’t yet made any real threats to force what would likely be only a brief shutdown. Most lawmakers are eager to start their two-week Easter recess and don’t want to get stuck voting over the weekend — let alone be party to a shutdown, however short it might be. Amendment votes could help speed a deal along, but Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hasn’t publicly laid out what he’s willing to entertain. He said Thursday morning that “some folks here in the Capitol are past the point of exhaustion.” You got that right, brother. — Daniella Diaz, with assist from Ursula Perano
| | | | GROWING IN THE GOLDEN STATE: POLITICO California is growing, reinforcing our role as the indispensable insider source for reporting on politics, policy and power. From the corridors of power in Sacramento and Los Angeles to the players and innovation hubs in Silicon Valley, we're your go-to for navigating the political landscape across the state. Exclusive scoops, essential daily newsletters, unmatched policy reporting and insights — POLITICO California is your key to unlocking Golden State politics. LEARN MORE. | | | | | EXCLUSIVE: SURPRISE! HERITAGE DOESN’T LIKE THE MINIBUS Heritage Action doesn’t like the latest spending deal — not terribly surprising for the conservative group. But it is another arrow in the quiver for those on the right trying to rally Republicans to vote against it. “Lawmakers are using arbitrary deadlines and shutdown politics to extort the American people and force lawmakers to vote for a bill they don’t have time to read,” Heritage Action President Kevin Roberts said in a statement first shared with Inside Congress. “The text may have been dropped under the cover of darkness, but nothing can hide the bill’s unbelievable abuse of taxpayer dollars and continuation of Biden’s dangerous border crisis.” This comes as conservatives on the Hill are blasting the details embedded in the bills, arguing they’re not going far enough to cut spending. The House Freedom Caucus has already said in a statement the group plans to vote no. — Ursula Perano and Daniella Diaz
| | | | A message from Coinbase:   | | | SCHUMER’S RESOLUTE ON ‘JUDGE SHOPPING’ Schumer wants the federal judiciary’s policymaking body to stand strong amid attacks on a policy change that would limit a practice known as “judge shopping,” in which litigants seek to file their lawsuits before a particular judge they expect to be sympathetic to their arguments. Without naming him, Schumer highlighted an Amarillo, Texas, based federal judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, who has issued sweeping national decisions on a host of issues in recent years. “Judge shopping is a key part of the far-right toolkit,” he said on the floor Thursday. He added that Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee confirmed by the Senate in June 2019, has issued “outlandishly fringe opinions on everything from birth control to affordable healthcare to LGBTQ discrimination. … Conservatives go to this one judge because they know he’s on their side ideologically.” On Thursday, Schumer sent a letter to the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, where Kacsmaryk sits, urging him to implement the new policy from the Judicial Conference as quickly as possible. The Judicial Conference policy has prompted a fierce backlash from Senate Republicans, including Leader Mitch McConnell, who devoted a lengthy floor speech to the decision last week. He also joined more than a dozen other GOP senators in writing the judicial body to call the policy “deeply troubling.” McConnell’s office did not immediately comment on Schumer’s remarks. — Anthony Adragna
| | | | YOUR GUIDE TO EMPIRE STATE POLITICS: From the newsroom that doesn’t sleep, POLITICO's New York Playbook is the ultimate guide for power players navigating the intricate landscape of Empire State politics. Stay ahead of the curve with the latest and most important stories from Albany, New York City and around the state, with in-depth, original reporting to stay ahead of policy trends and political developments. Subscribe now to keep up with the daily hustle and bustle of NY politics. | | | | | KELLY KEEP$ CRANKING Sen. Mark Kelly already dove into Senate fundraising in the battle for majority — and now he’s spreading the love to the House. The Arizona Democrat hosted a fundraiser through his leadership PAC on Wednesday night for frontline House Democrats, raising more than $100,000 and giving each frontliner a contribution. The event included newly minted Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse, End Citizens United, VoteVets and Moms Fed Up, a group run by former Arizona Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick. — Burgess Everett
| | The POLITICO Congress team doesn’t think this bird looks good. (Except Ursula.) Former Rep. Chris Stewart has no regrets about leaving the Hill. We hear Rep. Dan Goldman’s office is gearing up for another Bagel Caucus meeting tomorrow morning, with provisions from Brooklyn Bagel and Coffee Company, Murray’s Bagels and Terrace Bagels QUICK LINKS Years after abandoned lab animals debacle, Michigan congressman gets Humane Society award, from Melissa Nann Burke at The Detroit News Is This GOP Rep Linked to a Mary Poppins Themed Burner Account? from Riley Rogerson at the Daily Beast Trump’s VP prospect Tim Scott sets summer wedding date after GOP convention, from Michael Scherer at the Washington Post The Burden of Being Senator Bob Menendez’s Famous Children, from Katherine Rosman and Tracey Tully at The New York Times TRANSITIONS Stephanie Gadbois is joining Capitol 6 Advisors as VP of government affairs. She most recently was staff director and majority clerk for the House Appropriations Commerce subcommittee.
| | | | A message from Coinbase: For the last 5+ years, the crypto industry has been hard at work building the infrastructure to update our financial system and expand the utility of crypto. The use cases are no longer future promises; they are here today. For example, you can now send USDC in one second, anywhere in the world, for about one cent. Dollar backed stablecoins transactions are approaching $9 trillion in annual volume (more than Mastercard, American Express, and Discover combined).
Crypto is the most important technology we have to update our global financial system, and it can move money, and America, forward. In fact, it's critical to ensuring the US dollar's future status as a reserve currency, and America's status as a technology and financial hub.
Find out more from Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong here. | | | TOMORROW IN CONGRESS The House and Senate are in session. FRIDAY AROUND THE HILL 9 a.m. The House Freedom Caucus holds a news conference on the six appropriations bills. (HVC Studio A)
| | WEDNESDAY’S ANSWER: Andrew Jay Schwartzman was the first to correctly guess that Thomas U. Walter was the architect of the Capitol who began his career designing a number of buildings in the downtown of West Chester, Pennsylvania, giving it the nickname “the Athens of Pennsylvania.” TODAY’S QUESTION, from Andrew: In 1974, the Democrats took 49 seats in the House and five in the Senate. Who was the last of these “Watergate Babies” to retire? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com. GET INSIDE CONGRESS emailed to your phone each evening. Follow Daniella on X at @DaniellaMicaela. | | | | Follow us | | | | |
