| | | | |  | | By Daniella Diaz and Nicholas Wu | Presented by the League of United Latin American Citizens | With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team
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Speaker Mike Johnson is aiming to put his foreign aid package on the House floor by Saturday. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | FOREIGN AID STILL TAXIING ON RULES COMMITTEE RUNWAY Wondering where the rule text is? We are too. The future of Speaker Mike Johnson’s four-part foreign aid package is hanging in the balance, as House conservatives revolt against the key procedural hurdle. It’s also going to need Democratic support to advance. Johnson is aiming to put his foreign aid package on the House floor by Saturday — even after conservatives in his conference repeatedly said Johnson will face repercussions for moving the bills that would help Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and also include border security and TikTok components. The Democratic element: Democrats are waiting to see how Johnson will move with the procedural hurdles that Republicans need to overcome before stepping in to help if they need to. The message from Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to his caucus Thursday morning was to stay united and frosty, should they need to step in to move the legislation. “Let me just put it this way. Democrats will not be responsible for this bill failing,” said top Democratic appropriator Rep. Rosa DeLauro. For their part, rank-and-file Republicans want to support the legislation and expect support from Democrats, depending on what the text of the rule ends up looking like. “If you go by what people are saying, I think it’s going to be a bipartisan rule,” Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), who sits on the House Rules Committee, said Thursday. But Democrats have repeatedly said Johnson hasn’t asked for their help to move the legislation across the floor — yet. “I think he's too afraid to talk to us publicly — taking the lesson from what happened to the previous speaker,” Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) said. Meanwhile, party leaders are quietly negotiating how to bypass a conservative blockade in the Rules Committee, according to four people familiar with the situation. Democrats are hoping they’ll be able to extract concessions from the other side as the impasse drags on, though it’s not clear what, if anything, they’ll be able to get. Johnson took changes to the motion to vacate off the table in a Thursday post on X. At the same time, House centrists, who are inclined to support advancing the package, are eagerly waiting for the Rules Committee to wrap up its work to see what even comes up on the House floor. “We're watching the committee closely to see what comes out and how that's handled. But obviously, the business is important,” said purple-district Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.). “This has been waiting for months, and most of us are really eager to see the legislation passed.” Hold your horses: There’s still a lot of time between now and Saturday. And as we know, a lot can change between now and then. “Right now, the importance is that we have an opportunity to vote on this,” Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said. “But as Leader Jeffries has said, we're not ruling anything out. We want this, we want this aid to be delivered.” — Daniella Diaz and Nicholas Wu
| | | | A message from the League of United Latin American Citizens: The U.S. Dept. of Transportation is considering severing a partnership between Delta Air Lines and Aeroméxico that Latino families rely on. Get the facts and find out the true impact this decision would have on travelers, our economy, and commerce with the U.S.’ top trading partner. | | | GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, April 18, where you know things are bad when Voldemort comes to Congress. HOUSE SCRAMBLES ON SCHEDULE The House is gonna House. Republican leadership has officially noticed there could be votes on Friday and Saturday, forcing lawmakers (as well as aides and reporters) to rearrange their schedules to be prepared for a vote on the four-part foreign aid package. Lawmakers in both chambers are scheduled for a week-long Passover recess starting next week, with some having scheduled CODELs that were supposed to start Thursday evening, people familiar told POLITICO. (There's some irony in a foreign aid package scrambling lawmakers' foreign trips.) The change in the voting schedule has thrown a wrench in some of those plans, considering the urgency of the foreign aid with renewed pressure following the attack on Israel from Iran. Knowing the House, there is a chance that negotiations for the foreign aid bill could fall apart before the weekend and lawmakers could get sent home. Anything is possible in this Congress, as we’ve learned time and time again. — Daniella Diaz and Katherine Tully McManus SENATE ON STANDBY As the Senate deals with reauthorizing a key provision of FISA, everyone is also closely watching the House to see if it can pass the funding package. If the other chamber can pull it off, expect some senators to push for the Senate to cut short next week’s recess and take up the foreign aid package. Of course, it’s too early to make that call. The House hasn’t passed anything yet and it’s a chamber known for a little bit of dysfunction these days. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he will “continue to monitor closely what our House colleagues do in the coming days.” And his deputy, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said in an interview “We’ve got to do it as quickly as possible, they are struggling to survive” in Ukraine. With a planned recess next week, senators have a ton of CODELs scheduled, which means Schumer will have to do careful “nose counting” to make sure he has the votes to pass anything, said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). There would probably be several days’ notice before a vote: Due to opposition from conservatives, Schumer will almost certainly have to set up votes to get over a filibuster, which takes a couple of days. “It’s urgent, our allies need our support,” said Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). “If we’re needed back, we’ll be back.” Galaxy brain: Counterintuitively, it might benefit opponents of Ukraine aid to cut a quicker deal on FISA. That would allow the Senate to finish its business before the House's Ukraine vote and force Democrats to map out a potential floor schedule for consideration of the House bill. Alas, as of this afternoon, there is no inkling of a deal for votes on Thursday evening and Senate Minority Whip John Thune said action is likely on Friday. — Burgess Everett
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | | | | | Think you’re the s—t? You’re not even the FART. This Congress is a member calling another member “tubby.” Burgess x Burgess We could all use an emotional support beverage. Beware — mice are everywhere. This was funny. Tony P. spotting in Rayburn!
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. POLITICO Pro dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | QUICK LINKS TikTok doubles ad buy to fight potential U.S. ban as Congress moves to fast-track legislation, from Brian Schwartz at CNBC Republican LaTurner won't seek reelection to Kansas House seat, from Anthony Adragna House GOP erupts into name-calling and fresh threats to Johnson over effort to pass aid, from Melanie Zanona, Manu Raju, Annie Grayer and Lauren Fox at CNN Senators restart Ukraine lend-lease push amid foreign aid debate, from Connor O’Brien
| | | | A message from the League of United Latin American Citizens:   | | | TRANSITIONS Sam Hattrup has joined ClearPath as government affairs director. He was formerly legislative director for Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio). Leah Courtney will be a senior media manager at the National Federation for Independent Business. She currently is comms director for Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.).
| | | | A message from the League of United Latin American Citizens: The potential termination of the partnership between Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico by the U.S. Department of Transportation is a decision that could have significant negative implications for travelers, including millions of Latino families.
This partnership serves as a crucial link for trade, tourism, and business operations.
A February 2024 survey, conducted by Global Strategy Group, found that 65% of U.S. voters oppose canceling this partnership. Over 80% of U.S. voters say putting thousands of jobs at risk would be harmful. 70% of Mexican-American voters oppose canceling the agreement.
Let’s ensure continued connectivity between the U.S. and Mexico. Let’s say no to terminating the Delta-Aeroméxico partnership. Learn more. | | | TOMORROW IN CONGRESS The House is in session. The Senate is out. FRIDAY AROUND THE HILL Crickets for now.
| | THURSDAY’S ANSWER: This one stumped y’all. There were nine Presidents who were left-handed. They were James A. Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. TODAY’S QUESTION, from the Hill team: How many Senators at the start of the 118th Congress had previous service in the House? 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 us | | | | |
