by Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch
SENATE REPUBLICANS hoping to win full control of Congress and the White House are crafting an ambitious legislative package that would go far beyond extending Trump’s tax cuts. The bills, being drafted for reconciliation rules that would sidestep a Senate filibuster, would need to win the support of all elected Republicans to become law. That could be a difficult prospect, The Hill’s Al Weaver reports. Both parties, when they’ve had control of the House, Senate and White House, have had difficulty unifying all their members around mammoth packages. As recently as earlier in Biden’s first term, Democrats had to lower their goals when centrist Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) balked at their ambitious plans. But GOP leaders are undaunted.
“You have to be realistic about what you can get,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), one of two Republicans hoping to be Senate majority leader next year. “But I do think you want the bill to be as robust as possible and to accomplish as much as you can in terms of the agenda.”
Meanwhile, House Republicans on Tuesday unveiled a bill to fund the departments of Commerce and Justice, as well as science agencies, for fiscal 2025, legislation poised to be at the center of one of the most contentious spending battles this year. Conservative Republicans in the lower chamber have zeroed in on a bill to go after the Justice Department in the wake of Trump’s conviction in his Manhattan hush money trial and as his three other prosecutions proceed. Notably, the 160-page bill does not mention special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading investigations into Trump, or seek to limit the powers of a special counsel more broadly (The Hill).
Politico: Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) is pushing a spending amendment that declares in vitro fertilization (IVF) “morally wrong.” His effort complicates many Republicans’ attempts to reassure voters they support the practice.
THE JOCKEYING FOR LEADERSHIP posts in the Senate GOP after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) retirement as leader later this year has sparked a battle between moderate and mainstream Republicans who fear their conference could transform into its dysfunctional counterpart in the House.
Now some are calling to decentralize or break up the powerful fundraising network aligned with McConnell, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports, which has given him an enormous amount of influence even though the GOP leader does not legally control the outside groups that are pivotal in Senate battleground states.
“I think the idea that a leader would use outside money, much of it dark money, to try and intimidate or threaten members of the caucus is frankly corrupt. And I think it’s a corrupt practice that has gone on for far too long, and it needs to end,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said of McConnell’s affiliation with the Senate Leadership Fund, which is run by his former chief of staff, Steven Law.
The Hill: It would be up to Congress to heed a call from U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to mandate warning labels on social media platforms. But his advocacy last week for minors under 18 has largely been met with a shrug.
