The Hill’s Morning Report — The latest on gun negotiations

Congress returns to Washington on Monday, and a bipartisan group of senators this week continues exploring legislation in response to recent mass shootings, now including at a grocery store, an elementary school and a hospital.

A group of nine senators met virtually Wednesday to discuss possible legislation to respond to mass shootings that have gripped the nation in recent weeks as they attempt to thread the needle to win approval in the upper chamber.

Taking part in the discussions were Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine),  Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).

According to NBC News, the nine-member group has broken into smaller working groups to nail down specific portions of what would comprise the ultimate package. Under discussion: bolstering mental health services and school security; expanding background checks; and incentives for states to grant to courts “red flag” authority to temporarily confiscate firearms from owners considered risks to themselves or others. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have adopted red flag laws (Stateline).

“I do think there is a different kind of reaction to the cataclysm of Uvalde. I think there are Republicans who are emotionally moved. … Maybe we won’t succeed, but I’ve never seen more Republicans at the table willing to talk about changes to our gun laws than I do today,” Murphy told MSNBC, pointing to the pair of hour-long meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday, along with numerous side meetings. “There’s something different happening right now.”

The talks follow an in-person sit-down by the group last week before lawmakers left Washington and a separate meeting that included Murphy and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who has been tasked with discussions by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Cornyn described it as a “very constructive conversation about the best response to the horrific events in Uvalde last week.”

As lawmakers weighed responses to mass shootings on Wednesday, another took place, this time in Tulsa. A gunman with a pistol and a rifle killed four people and apparently took his own life inside Oklahoma’s St. Francis Hospital, according to authorities, who said the shooting victims did not appear to be random. President Biden was briefed shortly after the event (NBC News and CNN).

■ CNN: Florida’s red flag law, championed by Republicans, is taking guns from thousands of people.

■ The Hill: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says House will move on assault weapons ban.

Although red flag laws are considered the prime item for inclusion, pro-Second Amendment groups are expected to make a hard push to keep them out.

As The Hill’s Emily Brooks notes, a number of House Republicans faced intense pressure and calls to their offices from pro-gun advocates last year when a verison of the annual defense bill included a red flag provision.

A push by progressives and other Democrats to take aim at assault weapons ban is not echoed by some Senate hopefuls. Only a handful of Democratic Senate candidates in Pennsylvania, Arizona and elsewhere have called for reinstating the long-expired federal ban on so-called assault weapons.

Instead, according to The Hill’s Max Greenwood, most candidates have instead thrown their weight behind beefed-up background checks and red flag laws.

■ The Hill: Haunted Democrats fear gun control measures could cost them in midterms.

■ Niall Stanage: TV’s Dr. Phil McGraw backs gun reforms after Uvalde and Buffalo massacres.

Related Articles

▪ The Washington Post: Baltimore is suing Polymer80 Inc., one of the country’s largest manufacturers of “ghost guns,” and is seeking damages for allegedly “flooding” the city with illegal weapons. Baltimore’s ban on ghost guns went into effect on Wednesday.

▪ The Associated Press: Gridlock could delay COVID funds until fall — or longer. 

▪ The Dallas Morning News: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) wants random school security checks after the Uvalde shooting.

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LEADING THE DAY

➤  POLITICS

The Supreme Court on Tuesday paused the counting of some undated mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania in a dispute that could affect the GOP’s Senate primary contest that is in the midst of a recount.

The order, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that instructed election officials in the Keystone State to count mail-in ballots that arrived on time but lacked a handwritten date. Alito’s order effectively gave the court additional time to consider more formal action and put a halt to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3ird Circuit’s decision to count the undated mail-in ballots.

The campaign for David McCormick, who trails Mehmet Oz by less than 1,000 votes, has been pushing for those ballots to be counted in order to make up the difference in the recount, which started on Wednesday and is expected to be completed on Tuesday (The Hill).

Politico: Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) will have an announcement “soon” on return to the campaign trail.

© Associated Press / Keith Srakocic | Election workers in Mercer County, Pa., count ballots, May 18.

Elsewhere on the Senate map, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is dealing with a new batch of negative headlines back home as he battles for a third term in the upper chamber in November.

As The Hill’s Julia Manchester points out, the Wisconsin Republican raised eyebrows last week by suggesting that “wokeness” was the cause of recent mass shootings. He also found himself on his heels after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that he has been using tax dollars to travel between Washington and a Florida vacation home, labeling the story a “fully coordinated attack.”

While Democrats hope the stories help their years-long push to boot him from office, Johnson is well versed in overcoming these types of stories in his two previous campaigns.

■ Politico: “It’s going to be an army”: Tapes reveal GOP plans to contest elections in Michigan and other swing states. Some analysts believe the strategy is designed to create enough disputes to justify intervention by GOP-controlled state legislatures.

■ Axios: Jan. 6 committee set to tap J. Michael Luttig as witness for public hearings.

■ The New York Times: Michael Sussmann acquittal raises question: What Is John Durham actually trying to do?

■ The Hill: New York state is on the brink of a major voting rights act.

➤ ADMINISTRATION  

🏫 Vice President Harris today plans to deliver widespread relief for up to 560,000 former Corinthian Colleges Inc. students, according to The Hill and the Los Angeles Times, a move that progressives see as inching toward a goal of broader student loan debt forgiveness. Corinthian Colleges, based in California, was the largest for-profit secondary education company in North America before filing for bankruptcy and shuttering in 2015 after being accused of predatory and illegal practices at a time when Harris served as California’s attorney general. She will speak at the Education Department today to announce that ​​the government will absorb the estimated $5.8 billion cost of the federal outstanding loans. The debt forgiveness will not apply to private loans.

The Hill: Biden faces pressure to help Black borrowers with heavy student loan debt.

© Associated Press / Susan Walsh | President Biden on Wednesday.

🍼 The president on Wednesday said months went by before he was advised of the mounting U.S. shortage of infant formula following the closure and product recall ordered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) affecting an Abbott Laboratories plant in Michigan in mid-February. He said he was not aware of the problem until early April, although other manufacturing companies said they reacted immediately to Abbott’s contamination troubles with anticipation that U.S. consumers would see supply shortages (The Associated Press).

Neither the FDA nor the White House has fully explained why Bidenwas not made aware for weeks of the scarcity, which has continued despite administration efforts beginning last month to fly shipments of baby formula to the United States from Europe, to get the Abbott plant back open and to use the Defense Procurement Act to speed up the production and distribution of ingredients used in infant formula.

Biden, who is now keenly aware that parents and their infants are seriously affected by the empty baby formula shelves in stores nationwide, spoke virtually with CEOs of formula manufacturing companies on Wednesday, although Abbott Nutrition did not participate.

The New York Times “The Daily” podcast: What really caused the baby formula shortage?

White House: As U.S. gasoline prices soar, Biden is weighing a visit to Saudi Arabia and a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a trip that would also include a meeting of the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates) as well as Egypt, Iraq and Jordan (The Associated Press).

🦠 Interior Secretary Deb Haaland tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday after experiencing mild symptoms of infection and is working remotely. She tested negative on Monday at the White House and was not in close contact with Biden at that time, the department said (The Hill).

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➤  UKRAINE CRISIS  

With some caution, Biden says he is beefing up U.S. support for Ukraine with a $700 million weapons and aid package that for the first time will deliver high mobility artillery rocket systems to Ukraine with a medium range, an apparent bow to the West’s worries about provoking a broader war with the Kremlin (The Hill).

The rounds for the high mobility artillery rocket systems provided will give Ukraine a range of about 43 miles, farther than its current artillery can strike, according to the Pentagon (Defense One).

Germany will also provide to Ukraine some advanced weapons, specifically anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems (The Associated Press and Reuters). Great Britain, in coordination with allies and Kyiv, today said it will send to Ukraine U.S.-made medium-range rocket systems, specifically an unspecified number of M270 launchers, which can propel precision-guided rockets up to 50 miles (The Associated Press).

As expected, Russia was highly critical of the decisions, saying the United States is “pouring fuel on the fire” (Reuters).

Reuters also reports that the United States will soon sell four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be armed with Hellfire missiles for battlefield use against Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered assurances during interviews this week that Ukraine’s forces have no intention of attacking inside Russia using the advanced weapons supplied by the West.

“I know some of the people in the United States are saying, or people in the White House are saying we might be using them to attack Russia: Look, we’re not planning to attack Russia,” he said. “We’re not interested in the Russian Federation. We’re not fighting on their territory. We have the war on our territory. They came to our country. We want to de-block our cities. For that purpose, we need ammo that can reach as far as 100 kilometers.”

The war in Ukraine has prompted reminders from Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Biden about nuclear risks. The New York Times, in an analysis, reports that rhetoric and actions by China, North Korea, Iran and Russia present “a looming era of disorder unlike any since the beginning of the atomic age.”

Meanwhile, Russia is getting closer to capturing the prize — the Donbas region — it seeks. On Wednesday, Russian forces reached the center of Sievierodonetsk (Reuters).

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OPINION

■ The Federal Reserve’s mild inflation forecasts need explaining, by Bill Dudley, contributor, Bloomberg Opinion. https://bloom.bg/3M7Ubf6

■ Western support for Ukraine has peaked, by Andrew Exum, contributing writer, The Atlantic. https://bit.ly/3N4A82l

WHERE AND WHEN

The House meets on Friday at 1 p.m. for a pro forma session. Lawmakers will return to work on Tuesday.

The Senate convenes on Friday at 4:30 p.m. for a pro forma session. Senators return to Washington on Monday. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) this evening delivers a “Time for Choosing” speech at the Reagan Library.

The president and the vice president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10:15 a.m. Biden will join an 11:15 a.m. meeting in the Roosevelt Room with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan to discuss the NATO Summit in Madrid later this month, plus other issues. The president will depart for his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., at 5:30 p.m.

The vice president will make the Corinthian Colleges announcement at 1:20 p.m.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet today in Washington with Stoltenberg.

Economic indicator: The Labor Department will report on claims for unemployment benefits filed in the week ending May 28.

The White House daily briefing is scheduled at 3 p.m. and will include White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha.

🖥  Hill.TV’s “Rising” program features news and interviews at http://thehill.com/hilltv, on YouTube and on Facebook at 10:30 a.m. ET. Also, check out the “Rising” podcast here.

ELSEWHERE  

➤ TECH

Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer at Meta for 14 years, announced on Wednesday that she will leave the company she joined when it was Facebook in order to explore philanthropic and other pursuits and to join Meta’s board of directors. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg praised Sandberg, who in turn praised her longtime boss, who was 23 when he hired her following her work at Google and in the White House. Zuckerberg announced a series of corporate promotions, including naming Javier Olivan to succeed Sandberg as COO (Axios). Over the years, Zuckerberg and Sandberg attracted considerable controversy based on their collaborations at the helm of one of the most powerful technology companies in the world.

Media Matters for America President Angelo Carusone, for example, pointed to Zuckerberg’s Wednesday Facebook post to users asserting that Meta’s team in charge of “AI-based content recommendation systems” for Facebook and Instagram will “train” systems “to help you discover the most interesting, relevant, and personalized content.” Carusone said Zuckerberg’s statement contradicts the company’s public assurances that it would reduce disinformation and extreme content from news feeds by prioritizing “organic content” from FB friends.

➤  STATE WATCH

On Wednesday, a California task force released the first report in the nation about reparations for those descended from free and enslaved African Americans, a groundbreaking effort to detail the harms perpetuated by the state and with recommended steps to address those wrongs (The Associated Press). … The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily blocked a Texas law that would bar social media companies from taking action against hate speech and disinformation, leading up to a broad First Amendment test for the justices in the internet age. The Hill’s Rebecca Klar has five things to watch as the high court deliberates. … The New York Times Magazine reports that the Empire State’s “weed rush” is here, with entrepreneurs eager to sell a lot of cannabis.

➤  HURRICANE SEASON 

🌀 In Mexico, Hurricane Agatha killed at least 11 people before dissipating on Monday. The U.S. hurricane season officially began on Wednesday with warnings about plenty of named storms ahead, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Meteorologists said there is already some risk that a tropical rainstorm, which would be named Alex once it hits 39 mph maximum sustained winds, could cross Florida at the end of this week and then the northern Bahamas this weekend. The budding tropical system is near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula this morning (AccuWeather). With the high costs of hurricane destruction in mind, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the White House on Wednesday during a briefing at the National Hurricane Center in Miami promoted the idea of modernizing building codes to better withstand coastal storm damage (Orlando Sentinel).

© Associated Press / NOAA via AP | Hurricane Agatha on Monday.

THE CLOSER

© Associated Press / Eric Gay | The NBA Finals logo, 2014.

And finally … 🏀 It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for this week’s Morning Report Quiz! Inspired by tonight’s start of the NBA Finals, we’re eager for some smart guesses about the history of the yearly battle for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Email your responses to asimendinger@thehill.com and/or aweaver@thehill.com, and please add “Quiz” to subject lines. Winners who submit correct answers will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday.

The Boston Celtics are making their 22nd appearance in the NBA Finals (including 17 championships). Outside the Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers (32 appearances, 17 championships), which franchise has made the most NBA Finals appearances?  

1. Philadelphia 76ers

2. Golden State Warriors

3. New York Knicks

4. Chicago Bulls

Which franchise has the longest current championship drought in the NBA? 

1. Sacramento Kings

2. Phoenix Suns

3. Atlanta Hawks

4. Los Angeles Clippers

Who is the only NBA player to win the Finals MVP award for a team that lost the championship series?

1. LeBron James

2. Magic Johnson

3. Jerry West

4. Tim Duncan

Excluding those who played for the Boston Celtics in the 1950s-1960s (11 championships in 13 seasons), who won the most NBA championships?  

1. Dennis Rodman

2. Robert Horry

3. Steve Kerr

4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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