Political Wire

Some GOP Senators Will Ignore Party’s Earmark Ban

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“Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), the top-ranking Republican on the appropriations committee, said after Wednesday’s meeting that GOP senators ‘absolutely’ could ask for earmarks now, despite the ban technically remaining in place as part of the conference rules,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Shelby: “If you don’t want to earmark, don’t ask for one. Even if you ask for one you might not get one because the old earmark days, they’re gone.”

Others that will ignore the ban: Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD).

Virus Surges In Japan Ahead of Olympics

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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga “wants to make a decision as soon as this week on whether to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo, Osaka and other areas, and ramp up restrictions to contain a surge in coronavirus cases just three months before the start of the delayed Olympics,” the Japan Times reports.

Rand Paul Wants Biden to Burn a Mask on TV

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Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to Fox News: “If you want more people to get vaccinated, Joe Biden should go on national TV, take his mask off and burn it.”

He added: “Light a torch to it and burn his mask and say, ‘I’ve had the vaccine, I am now safe from this plague. If you get the vaccine, you can be safe, too.'”

It’s worth noting that Rand Paul has refused to get vaccinated himself.

Black Democrats Push Targeted Voting Rights Bill

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“Democrats have spent months touting an expansive proposal that would reshape U.S. elections. But with the bill’s Senate prospects growing more dire, key members of the Congressional Black Caucus are pushing to narrow their strategy,” Politico reports.

“The massive election reform measure known as H.R. 1 passed the House last month, but it has yet to win unified support from the 50-member Senate Democratic caucus amid a fierce GOP pushback effort that casts it as an aggressive consolidation of political power. With that Senate logjam in mind, a group of Black Democrats is pressing to elevate a more targeted voting rights bill — named for and championed by the late Rep. John Lewis — that they believe could be a more successful sell on Capitol Hill.”

Chair Resigns from National GOP Attorneys General Group

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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) has stepped down as chairman of a national group that advocates for Republican attorneys general, citing a “significant difference of opinion” in the organization’s direction following a robocall that urged people to march to the U.S. Capitol and “stop the steal” ahead of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

It’s not clear why Carr took three months for this decision.

Quote of the Day

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“You look up into the stands and see your girlfriend on the opposition’s side — that’s one hell of a tough thing to swallow.”

— Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), quoted by the New York Times, on Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) supporting the impeachment of Donald Trump.

Pentagon Suspects Russian ‘Directed-Energy’ Attacks

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Politico: “The Pentagon has briefed top lawmakers on intelligence surrounding suspected directed-energy attacks against U.S. troops, and officials identified Russia as a likely culprit… The Defense Department had been investigating the incidents, including those targeting its personnel around the world, since last year, according to four former national security officials directly involved in the probe.”

“Pentagon officials informed at least two key groups of lawmakers earlier this year, in written form and in-person, about the investigation… The briefings included information about injuries sustained by U.S. troops in Syria.”

U.S. Sees Unprecedented Drop In Vaccinations

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Washington Post: “About 3 million Americans are getting vaccinated daily, an 11 percent decrease in the seven-day average of daily shots administered over the past week. The unprecedented drop is rivaled only by a brief falloff that occurred in February, when winter storms forced the closure of vaccination sites and delayed shipments nationwide.”

Senate GOP Seeks Showdown Over Debt Ceiling

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“Senate Republicans on Wednesday signaled they might oppose any future increase to the debt ceiling unless Congress also couples it with comparable federal spending cuts, raising the specter of a political showdown between GOP leaders and the White House this summer,” the Washington Post reports.

“Republican lawmakers staked their position after a private gathering to consider the conference’s operating rules this session, issuing what GOP leaders described later as an important yet symbolic statement in response to the large-scale spending increases proposed by President Biden in recent months.”

It’s almost like Republicans are daring Democrats to abolish the filibuster.

How the White House Hopes to Get Skeptics Vaccinated

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Time: “Officials have said that when it comes to persuasion, they have to make sure their efforts won’t exacerbate skepticism. Their strategy largely hinges on channelling talking points and funding to community leaders who they hope will have more sway with many Americans than the federal government.”

Said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki: “We recognize that the President, that all of us, may not be exactly the right messengers for some of these audiences.”

Capitol Police Ordered to Lay Off Pro-Trump Protesters

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“A Capitol Police official radioed units outside of the building on the morning of Jan. 6 and told them only to scout for anti-Trump troublemakers — not pro-Trump protesters, according to the findings of an internal investigation revealed at a public hearing by Rep. Zoe Lofgren,” Politico reports.

This would probably need to be an official senior enough to send out this kind of a communication to officers in the field.

An Asterisk on Those Huge GOP Fundraising Reports

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ProPublica: “Two of the leading Republican firebrands in Congress touted big fundraising hauls as a show of grassroots support for their high-profile stands against accepting the 2020 election results.”

“But new financial disclosures show that Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) relied on an email marketing vendor that takes as much as 80 cents on the dollar. That means their headline-grabbing numbers were more the product of expensively soliciting hardcore Republicans than an organic groundswell of far-reaching support.”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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