Before turning power over to Democrats, lame duck House Republicans committee chairs are preparing to subpoena former FBI Director James Comey and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, The Associated Press reports.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) reportedly told colleagues he would subpoena Comey for a “closed-door deposition” on Nov. 29, and Lynch for one on Dec. 5.
“Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), the hard-charging Marine who served four tours of duty in Iraq is leading the challenge to Rep. Nancy Pelosi and her bid for speaker — and is suddenly taking incoming fire from all quarters,” the Washington Post reports.
“Prominent liberal activists are openly floating a primary challenge to the two-term Massachusetts congressman, the instigator of the nearly 20 Democratic foes to Pelosi and one who helped recruit several of the incoming freshmen opposing her.”
“Inside the House, Moulton’s ambition and sharp elbows have long been a subject of his colleagues’ grumbling, and his latest fusillade at Pelosi — this time, after a sweeping electoral win — has angered even some of his admirers.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) huddled Friday with a potential rival for Speaker, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), The Hill reports.
“Neither Pelosi nor Fudge disclosed details of their 45-minute conversation, which took place in Pelosi’s office in the Capitol. The meeting was brokered by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), among the most powerful figures in the Congressional Black Caucus and a strong supporter of Pelosi.”
Playbook: “There are 48 days until Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to face a floor vote for the speakership, and she is facing resistance like never before. If you talk to Pelosi and her staff, she’ll be the speaker. If you talk to the rebels — the 20 or so Democrats who want her out — they say they will take their opposition to the floor and block her from returning to the speakership.”
“But here is how Pelosi could hang on: Most everyone says she would win handily if she just simply says when she’d leave. Pelosi has said she wants a “transitional” speakership, but if she gave a date certain — ‘I intend to serve until ____’ — she’d win without much hassle, according to supporters and opponents. Of course, that would be close to a last resort. And there certainly are other ways she could win. But several ‘NeverPelosi’ers’ say it would be hard to oppose her if she says she’d leave at a date certain in the next two years.”
NBC News: “While Pelosi is remains the heavy favorite to be her party’s choice when House Democrats hold their leadership elections in less than two weeks, the hurdles for her are higher than many expected.”
“An unbowed Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi insisted on Thursday that she has the votes to become the next House speaker despite the emergence of a possible challenger who claimed party dissidents can block her historic bid,” the Washington Post reports.
“In a flurry of one-on-one meetings, Pelosi courted wavering lawmakers, paying particular attention to the incoming, majority-making class of freshmen. She appeared to make headway as leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus described their session with her as a ‘productive and successful conversation’ that they would share with their 70-plus membership.”
“A fight broke out in a closed-door meeting of House Democrats over climate change as a powerful veteran lawmaker fought with freshman star Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and other members-elect over the creation of a special panel for the issue,” Politico reports.
“Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), incoming chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee — backed by a number of other committee members — slammed the creation of the new climate panel… Pallone argued that his committee and other existing panels within the House could take on the issue aggressively.”
Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) told the Washington Post that she has been “overwhelmed” by the support from many of her colleagues for her possible entry into the race for House speaker, becoming the first Democrat to publicly acknowledge a challenge to longtime party leader Nancy Pelosi.
Said Fudge: “Over the last 12 hours, I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of support I’ve received.”
She added that there are “probably closer to 30” Democrats who have privately signaled that they are willing to oppose Pelosi.
Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) tells the Cleveland Plain Dealer that she’s considering challenging Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for House Speaker.
Said Fudge: “People are asking me to do it, and I am thinking about it. I need to give it some thought and see if I have an interest. I am at the very beginning of this process. It is just in discussion at this point.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “swiped at her critics, vowing in no uncertain terms to vanquish her opponents and become speaker in the next Congress,” Politico reports.
“The California Democrat brushed aside Rep. Seth Moulton’s suggestion Tuesday night that he is ‘100 percent confident‘ that she does not have the votes to be speaker.”
Said Pelosi: “I’m a busy person, but I will be the speaker of the House no matter what he said.”
First Read: “By the way, for Pelosi, there are some ways around the current Dem opposition to her regaining the speakership. For one thing, some new and old members might vote against Pelosi in the closed-door caucus meeting on November 28 – where she needs only a simple majority from her own party – and still vote for her on the floor on January 3, when she needs a majority of ALL members to become speaker.”
“Also on January 3, Pelosi opponents could vote ‘present,’ reducing the magic number she needs to capture a majority.”
“House Republican leaders must decide how much to embrace President Donald Trump going into the 2020 election — a dilemma that will fall most heavily to Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) as she joins the party’s upper echelon,” Bloomberg reports.
“The Wyoming congresswoman and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney is poised to become the third-ranking House Republican in closed-door leadership elections to be held Wednesday. Her main task as House GOP conference chairwoman would be to craft a marketing strategy to help Republican lawmakers retake the House and propel Trump to a second term.”
“On the eve of Kevin McCarthy’s long-awaited defeat of his nemesis, Rep. Jim Jordan, President Trump is jumping into the fray to play peacemaker,” Politico reports.
“Trump has privately urged the House majority leader to strike a dealwith the conservative Freedom Caucus founder, who is challenging McCarthy for the minority leader post next Congress, multiple lawmakers and aides said. It remains unclear what exactly the deal would entail.”
“The discussions between the president and McCarthy about Jordan, which took place last week, set off a round of speculation among lawmakers inside the Capitol that Trump may try to push Jordan to become the top Republican lawmaker on the House Judiciary Committee, a panel expected to launch an array of Democratic investigations against the president — and possibly even an impeachment probe.”
Playbook: “The Freedom Caucus is all but dead at this point, and McCarthy is going to easily put away Jordan in this leadership race. But they are now viewing how McCarthy treats Jordan as a litmus test.”
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), “one of the leaders of a small Democratic contingent opposing Nancy Pelosi’s bid for speaker, said he is ‘100 percent confident’ the group has enough commitments to block the California Democrat from being elected speaker on the floor,” Roll Call reports.
“The anti-Pelosi group has been gathering signatures from new and returning members on a letter that calls for new Democratic leadership. It also notes that the signatories will not back Pelosi during the January floor vote for speaker.”
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signaled she’s lost her patience with Rep. Steve King (R-IA), “who won a ninth term in the U.S. House last week despite a firestorm of criticism for aligning himself with far-right European politicians and repeatedly making remarks critics have deemed racist,” the Des Moines Register reports.
Said Reynolds: “I think that Steve King needs to make a decision if he wants to represent the people and the values of the 4th District or do something else, and I think he needs to take a look at that.”
“None of us is indispensable, but some of us are just better at our jobs than others.”
— Rep. Nancy Pelosi, in a CNN interview.
According to a Washington Post analysis of statements made during the campaign by the 52 Democrats who won election to the House this year, only 11 — or 21% — have said they want to immediately move to impeach President Trump.
“Thirteen Democratic freshmen outright oppose impeachment and the largest number — 17 Democrats or 33 percent — said they wanted to see Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump officials had links to the Kremlin before deciding whether to move ahead on impeaching the president.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Wonk Wire, Political Job Hunt 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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