POLICY RUNDOWN
RFK HITS THE HOT SEAT — Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee will try to hit Kennedy hard today, but expect softballs from Republicans, our Daniel Payne reports. Whether he will win the panel’s approval and advance to a floor vote remains an open question, as any one Republican could complicate his confirmation hopes if Democrats are united in opposition. DEMS’ LUTNICK STRATEGY — Democrats have a plan for going after Trump’s Commerce secretary nominee: Draw suspicions over his massive personal wealth, our Ben Leonard and Ari Hawkins report. It almost certainly won’t do anything to derail Lutnick, but it fits into the party’s larger attempts to win back voters by demonizing the Trump administration’s Cabinet roster of billionaires. MORE SUBPOENA POWER — Before the Lutnick confirmation hearing gets underway, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will vote on a rules package giving Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) unilateral subpoena authority — a shift from previous rules that required sign-offs from the ranking member or a vote by the full panel. MEANWHILE, IN DORAL — House Republicans on Tuesday danced around setting specific details for their budget reconciliation resolution, increasing angst in the conference as the clock ticks. House Freedom Caucus members, like Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), are getting particularly impatient as they push for detailed plans around spending cuts. Freedom Caucus member Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) told Meredith it’s a question of: "How hard do you push?" MORE IG FALLOUT — Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sent a letter requesting further information on Trump’s decision to fire 18 inspectors general, as well as the names of officials who will act in their places, our Hailey Fuchs reports. AGE LIMITS ON SOCIAL MEDIA — Cruz and a senior Democrat on Senate Commerce, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, reintroduced their bill Tuesday to ban children under 13 from having social media accounts, our Ruth Reader reports. Congress came closer than ever to passing legislation last year to regulate social media, but the effort died due to Johnson’s concerns it would violate free speech rights. Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E:
THE BEST OF THE REST Republicans eye backup plan to confirm Gabbard, from Burgess Everett at Semafor Johnson Joins the Trump Entourage, Shrinking the Role of House Speaker, from Annie Karni at NYT Intel officials spent years battling Kash Patel. Now he’s poised to take over a key agency, from Zachary Cohen, Jeremy Herb, Evan Perez and Natasha Bertrand at CNN CAPITOL HILL INFLUENCE Former Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) is now a senior adviser at NumbersUSA. Jennifer Belair is joining Atlas Crossing as SVP of government affairs. She most recently was staff director for the House Rules Committee. JOB BOARD Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) is looking for a part-time research associate. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) and Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.) … former Speaker Paul Ryan … House Energy & Commerce’s Gavin Proffitt … POLITICO’s Annie Connell-Bryan … Laura Rosenberger … former Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) … Gaby Hurt of Sen. John Barrasso’s (R-Wyo.) office … Maureen “Mo” Elinzano of Rep. Doris Matsui’s (D-Calif.) office … Sam Conchuratt … Michael Duga … Alexis Torres of Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s (D-Texas) office … Nathan Janda of Feldman Strategies TRIVIA TUESDAY’S ANSWER: Dean Mitchell correctly answered that John Quincy Adams was the first president to be inaugurated wearing long trousers. TODAY’S QUESTION, from Dean: Which U.S. president delivered the shortest inaugural address in history, and how long was it? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com.
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