The prodigal Minnesotan gets the cold shoulder

Mar 07, 2024

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With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team

Dean Phillips gestures while addressing a gathering.

Rep. Dean Phillips’ party brethren have seethed for months as he pursued his run against President Joe Biden. | Charles Krupa/AP

MINNESOTA NOT-SO-NICE

Yesterday Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) ended his longshot presidential bid. Today he was back at the Capitol — and he didn’t exactly receive the warmest welcome from his Democratic colleagues.

Phillips’ party brethren have seethed for months as he pursued his run against President Joe Biden. Not only were they annoyed at his repeated attacks on Biden’s age and fitness for office, many were frustrated by his routine absences as Republicans struggled with their razor-thin majority. Some erupted as well after he removed language on diversity, equity and inclusion programs from his campaign website as a top donor crusaded on the issue.

“There's a lot of negative sentiment about his statements,” said Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.). “Look, anybody can run. But a lot of the things he said I don't think were helpful to re-electing President Biden, which I think is in the best interest of this country.”

Phillips’ bid had particularly riled members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who have firmly stood behind Biden. Some members said they remained sore about Phillips’ criticism but said they were willing to extend him some grace given that he immediately endorsed Biden upon dropping out, saying he would “do everything humanly possible” to re-elect him.

“Hopefully he’ll go out and work for him,” Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said.

Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.) called Phillips’ run a “misstep” and a “miscalculation” but added, “because I think he's a good and decent man, I hope that he's able to recover.”

Former Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said much the same: “It's questionable whether he made his point, but … endorsing Biden, I think, was the right thing to do.”

Phillips, for his part, told reporters that he hadn’t felt any cold shoulders himself: “No vinegar yet, lots of honey.”

“It's been a beautiful homecoming and celebratory and very welcome, which is what I would have expected,” he added.

Among the friendly faces was Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), who said he counts Phillips as a “very good friend” and spoke up in defense of his quixotic five-month run.

“There's certainly no bad blood with me,” Himes said in a brief interview. “He did something he had a right to do. I think he articulated some anxiety that exists within the Democratic Party. I think he did it gracefully. I'm just glad to have him back.”

Back for at least a few months, anyway: Phillips announced yesterday that he does not intend to seek re-election to the seat in the Minneapolis suburbs he’s held since 2018 (though he has until June 4 to change his mind).

That fact has tempered some of the anger, Wild said: “He's leaving Congress anyway. It's not like he's going to be working on any bills going forward. So that kind of is going to take care of the problem.”

— Daniella Diaz and Nicholas Wu

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GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, March 7, where tonight is the night: SOTU time!

NOTABLE SOTU GUESTS

As lawmakers start filing onto the House floor later this evening to hear Biden’s address, so will their guests file into the House gallery to watch. Most of the attention tends to focus on the presidential guests, who sit next to the first lady and often are called out from the rostrum during the speech.

But lawmakers, too, bring guests to make a point — including Speaker Mike Johnson, who this year invited relatives of military members killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan as well as family members of hostages taken by Hamas. He is also bringing the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia for 11 months.

Some other notable faces in the gallery:

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) is bringing Intimaa Salama, a Palestinian dentist and graduate student from St. Louis University;
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) is bringing Larry Mayer, a Billings Gazette photographer who was the first to photograph a Chinese spy balloon last year;
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is bringing Elizabeth Carr, the first person born from IVF.
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) is bringing Amanda Zurawski, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Texas abortion restrictions.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is bringing Dawn Chapman, an advocate for people exposed to nuclear contamination; and
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is bringing a relative of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who is currently facing extradition to the U.S. to face espionage charges.

— Daniella Diaz and Nicholas Wu

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SENATE SET TO VOTE ON MINIBUS … SOON?

This was supposed to be a rare fly-out State of the Union address for the Senate: It’s the first Thursday SOTU since 2000 (h/t NBC’s Frank Thorp).

But, thanks to the pending appropriations legislation, senators won’t be able to watch the speech and jet. They’ve got to vote first.

The Senate has been trying to cut a amendment deal to vote on the six-bill minibus spending package, potentially after the State of the Union, but it's unclear as of this afternoon whether that will happen.

The chamber could also come in on Friday to finish its work before the midnight shutdown deadline, but some senators would rather finish up in the middle of the night, allowing them to go home on Friday morning.

As always, follow Inside Congress Live for the very latest!

— Burgess Everett and Daniella Diaz

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NOTABLE DEM LAWMAKERS SUPPORT LAKEN RILEY ACT

Thirty-seven Democratic lawmakers joined Republicans Thursday to support the Laken Riley Act — legislation named after a slain Georgia college student that would require the detention of undocumented migrants charged with theft or burglary.

Many of those Democrats, it so happens, are running for higher office this year. They include Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Colin Allred (D-Texas), who are running for Senate, and Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-N.C.), who is seeking to be attorney general of his state.

Two other House Democratic Senate hopefuls — Reps. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — did not vote. Meanwhile, Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and David Trone (D-Md.) — both running for Senate in traditionally blue states — voted in favor.

The majority of the other House Democrats who helped pass the legislation Thursday are lawmakers facing tough re-election campaigns — and likely barrages of GOP attack ads — in swing districts.

— Daniella Diaz

HUDDLE HOTDISH

The POLITICO Congress team agrees with this take.

Ashley Hinson has taken the middle-schoolers calling her office into her own hands.

Scott Perry railed against Madeline Albright during the House Oversight markup of a bill naming a Purcellville, Virginia, post office after the late first female secretary of State. He cited her support for “unscientific, illogical climate policies.”

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QUICK LINKS

Americans Want the Immigration Bill Congress Won’t Pass, WSJ Poll Shows, from Michelle Hackman and Aaron Zitner at The Wall Street Journal

Why Election Day could decide McConnell’s successor, from Burgess Everett

‘No one likes to think about that stuff’: Kilmer introduces continuity plan ahead of SOTU, from Justin Papp at Roll Call

This man has 50 years of Capitol Hill history in his reservation book, from Petula Dvorak at the Washington Post

TRANSITIONS

Samuel Murray is now the economic policy legislative correspondent for Sen. Angus King (I-ME). He was previously a legislative analyst for Bloomberg Government.

TOMORROW IN CONGRESS

The House is in.

The Senate is ???

FRIDAY AROUND THE HILL

Quiet.

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TRIVIA

WEDNESDAY’S ANSWER: Kyle Stewart correctly answered that Theodore Medad Pomeroy

TODAY’S QUESTION, from Kyle: In honor of the SOTU tonight: All but two presidents have fulfilled their responsibility to give the State of the Union, either in person or in writing. Who were those two and why?

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.