The Hill’s Morning Report — Presented by Meta — Senate agenda on hold as clock winds down

To paraphrase The Rolling Stones, time is not on the side of Senate Democrats as their lengthy pre-August agenda outweighs the dwindling time remaining before senators break for recess and COVID-19 continues to toss a wrench in proceedings.

The upper chamber has only nine legislative days left on the calendar before recess kicks off, forcing leaders to prioritize a number of items and leave others on the shelf until after Labor Day. Topping the to-do list this week is passing the long-delayed $280 billion bill to boost funding of the domestic production of computer chips, also known as the CHIPS Act.

However, Mother Nature decided not to cooperate. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) was forced to postpone Monday’s vote to end debate on the CHIPS legislation after a number of lawmakers had their flights to Washington delayed or canceled, pushing the tally until today. That means final passage on the bill will not take place until Wednesday, further compressing the schedule (The Hill).

The bill in question would give $52 billion to the domestic semiconductor industry and $81 billion to the National Science Foundation. The House is expected to pass it shortly after, and President Biden will sign it into law.

The president, who is still recovering from a COVID-19 infection, huddled virtually with CEOs and labor leaders on Monday to promote the package.

“Congress must pass this bill as soon as possible,” Biden said. “There is an economic imperative. … This bill is going to supercharge efforts to make semiconductors”(Reuters).

As The Hill’s Alexander Bolton notes, lawmakers later this week are also expected to consider one of two items: a resolution welcoming Sweden and Finland into NATO or a House-passed bill codifying same-sex marriage.

The complications facing the Senate were also on full display as two more senators — Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of those infected in the upper chamber to three (The Hill). Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) announced last week that he contracted the coronavirus, while Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) has reportedly ended her quarantine, according to Punchbowl News.

The temporary loss of those Democrats — as well as Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who is recovering from hip replacement surgery — puts the party in a bind as it pushes to pass a scaled-down budget reconciliation bill by the end of next week. The package, which will require only a simple majority of members, is aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs and would greenlight a two-year extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies to keep premiums from increasing.

Many Democrats and progressives had hoped the bill would include climate-related provisions, but Manchin’s opposition kept them out of a final blueprint.

▪ NBC News: Congress sprints to address drug pricing, same-sex marriage and more before recess.

▪ New York magazine: COVID-19 outbreak hits Senate at worst possible time.

Looking ahead to September, Democrats will also be tasked with passing the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual must-pass bill, and a government funding resolution.

As The Hill’s Aris Folley writes, Senate Democrats are expected to unveil their government spending package in the coming days with the goal of keeping the lights on for fiscal 2023 and avoiding a shutdown. Negotiators are already playing down chances of passage for the chamber’s annual appropriations bills before a September deadline to avoid a shutdown.

© Associated Press / Jacquelyn Martin | Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) in March.

Related Articles

▪ The New York Times: The administration is quietly trying to dissuade Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from making her planned trip to Taiwan in August, wary of China provocation.

▪ The Washington Post: Biden poised for big wins in Congress.

▪ The Hill: Senate panel turns to kids’ online safety.

LEADING THE DAY

➤  ADMINISTRATION

Five days after testing positive for COVID-19, the president on Monday corroborated a statement from his doctor saying his mild symptoms are rapidly ebbing while he’s working in isolation during a regimen that included antiviral Paxlovid pills and basic medications many patients would take for colds and flu (The Associated Press).

“I think I’m on my way to total recovery,” the president told reporters. He said he hopes to return to his office with staff members by the end of the week and still plans to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping by the end of July (The Hill).

On Monday, Biden participated in two virtual events, one promoting pending legislation to manufacture semiconductor chips in the U.S., and another in which he accused GOP officials he identified as not being pro-law-enforcement because they oppose banning assault weapons (The Hill).

The president also tweeted a photo of himself working the phone from the Truman Balcony accompanied by his German shepherd, Commander (“man’s best co-worker”), panting in the shade on an outdoor sofa.

E&E News and The Hill: The White House promises more climate action this week focused on preparing for wildfires and extreme heat. … And the Agriculture Department on Monday pledged to plant 1 billion trees as part of a reforestation project (The Hill).

The Justice Department on Monday sued some of the largest U.S. poultry producers together with a proposed settlement seeking to end what it claims have been deceptive and abusive practices for workers. The suit, filed in federal court in Maryland, names Cargill, Sanderson Farms and Wayne Farms along with a data consulting company known as Webber, Meng, Sahl and Co. and its president. In its lawsuit, the government alleges the companies have been engaged in a multiyear conspiracy to exchange information about the wages and benefits of workers at poultry processing plants to drive down employee competition in the marketplace (The Associated Press).

The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday announced a proposed rule to strengthen transgender rights under the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age and disability in certain health programs and activities. The law’s ban on sex discrimination includes sexual orientation and gender identity, according to the administration, and the proposed rulemaking would solidify protections consistent with the Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination because they are gay or transgender (The Hill).

The Commerce Department on Thursday will release a closely watched report on U.S. gross domestic product, which is expected by many to indicate slower economic growth between April and July, the second consecutive quarter of contraction. The report will fuel new debate about whether the economy is technically already in recession, an assessment Biden and Democrats want to rebut using other, more favorable economic data amid a tough midterm election environment. Their reasoning: This year’s period of weak output is not accompanied by rising unemployment, which history would suggest has been a key factor during past recessions (The Hill).

Biden is downplaying various dire projections. For example, economist Nouriel Roubini, while being interviewed on Bloomberg TV on Monday about ideas he expressed this summer in a MarketWatch column, called “delusional” predictions that a U.S. recession will be short and shallow, estimating instead “a severe recession and a severe debt and financial crisis.” (News anchors called him “Dr. Doom.”)

Speaking to reporters on Monday, the president said the unemployment rate “is still one of the lowest we’ve had in history. … I don’t think we’re going to — God willing, I don’t think we’re going to see a recession” (The Hill).

The Food and Drug Administration said on Monday that Enjoy Life Natural Brands has issued a wider recall for additional baked goods after an internal investigation uncovered contamination with hard plastic pieces (Nexstar).

The Department of Veterans Affairs could soon provide benefits to hundreds of thousands of veterans exposed to toxins during their military service if Congress approves pending legislation that would expand care to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits in the post-9/11 era and veterans exposed to the toxic herbicide Agent Orange, which was widely used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam war from 1961 to 1971 (The Hill).

© Associated Press / Department of Defense | In 1966, a U.S. Air Force C-123 flew above a South Vietnamese highway to apply defoliating herbicides.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➤ POLITICS

Former President Trump scratched out words from a Jan. 7, 2021, address, including a condemnation of rioters who entered the Capitol one day earlier.

An initial draft of the speech as marked up by the former commander in chief includes additional evidence not shown by the panel during Thursday’s hearing. It was released on Monday morning by Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), a member of the committee.

The draft shows Trump used a Sharpie pen to cross out a line saying, “I want to be very clear. You do not represent me. You do not represent our movement.” As part of the video released by Luria, a number of top White House aides said they opposed the changes and were not sure why Trump felt the need to make them.

“That needed to be stated forcefully,” then-White House counsel Pat Cipollone said in an interview with investigators.

Outtakes shown during Thursday’s hearing also showed Trump refusing to include language that the “election is now over” and wanting instead to just say that Congress had certified the results (The Hill).

The Jan. 6-related news did not end there on Monday as Marc Short, the former chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, appeared last week before a federal grand jury probing the Jan. 6 attack.

According to ABC News, Short was at the D.C. District Court to respond to a subpoena.

▪ The Hill: Biden on Monday assailed Trump for lacking “courage to act” on Jan. 6.

▪ The Associated Press: Trump today is in Washington to deliver a policy-focused speech at a think tank conference, his first return engagement since departing the White House.

On the 2022 scene, the race to nab the Kansas governor’s mansion is hitting a crucial stretch, as Republicans view the contest as the best chance to flip a gubernatorial seat in the November elections.

Next week’s primary will likely cement a general election contest between incumbent Gov. Laura Kelly (D) and state Attorney General Derek Schmidt (R), a prospect that has brought in heavy investment by GOP outside groups. According to The Hill’s Julia Manchester, Republicans point to the national mood threatening Democrats and what they say is Kelly’s weakness as a candidate.

The Republican Governors Association has run a number of ads hitting Kelly, while various groups that endorsed her or stayed neutral in 2018 have gotten behind Schmidt. Kelly won her first term by defeating Kris Kobach, a far-right figure in the state.

Democrats argue that Kelly will be a tougher out than the GOP believes due to her status as an incumbent and growing voter frustration over the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

▪ Politico: ​​Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) drops to third place in Senate GOP primary after domestic abuse allegations.

▪ The Associated Press: Amid demonstrations for and against an abortion bill in Indiana, Vice President Harris on Monday in Indianapolis met with Democratic legislators and said Indiana’s proposed abortion ban reflects a health care crisis in the country.

▪ Niall Stanage: The Memo: Democrats see signs for hope in key midterm races.

▪ The Associated Press: Poll: 2 in 3 in U.S. favor term limits for Supreme Court justices.

▪ The Hill: GOP civil war on Ukraine builds between MAGA, Reagan Republicans.

📝 Introducing NotedDC, The Hill’s curated commentary on the beat of the Beltway. Click here to subscribe to our latest newsletter.

OPINION

■ Money alone won’t buy U.S. tech superiority, by Farah Stockman, The New York Times editorial board member. https://nyti.ms/3SbKzUS

■ Could genetics be the key to never getting COVID-19? by Katherine J. Wu, staff writer, The Atlantic. https://bit.ly/3b5xKdW

WHERE AND WHEN

The House will meet at noon with votes occurring after 6:30 p.m.

The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. to resume consideration of the Honoring Our PACT Act, which supports veterans’ health care, and plans a cloture vote, delayed from Monday, on a semiconductor bill.

The president will virtually receive the President’s Daily Brief at 9:30 a.m. Biden will meet virtually at 2 p.m. with Chey Tae-won, chairman and principal owner of SK Group, a South Korea conglomerate, to discuss U.S. manufacturing and jobs. At 5 p.m., the president will virtually participate in the House Bipartisan Disabilities Caucus’ celebration of the 32nd Anniversary of the American Disabilities Act.

The vice president will meet with disability rights leaders at 1:15 p.m. Harris will also deliver remarks to commemorate the Americans with Disabilities Act at 6:45 p.m.

The White House daily briefing is scheduled at 3:15 p.m. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will be joined at the podium by National Economic Council director Brian Deese.

🖥  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  

➤ INTERNATIONAL

Ukraine is staging a major offensive to retake the southern city of Kherson from Russian forces. “You could compare it to waves,” said a senior Ukrainian military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military planning. “Right now we’re making small waves and creating conditions to make bigger ones” (The New York Times).

Russia, through energy company Gazprom, is tightening natural gas exports to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, reducing supplies to Germany to 20 percent of capacity and sending shivers through European capitals (Reuters).

European Union governments today neared an agreement to ration natural gas this winter to protect against any further supply cuts by Russia (The Associated Press).

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Mondaypresented a blunt rationale for the ongoing war with Kyiv, saying that the goal is to free Ukraine from what it deems an “unacceptable regime.” The top Moscow diplomat told envoys at an Arab League summit in Cairo that Ukraine and its allies are ensuring that the former Soviet state will become “the eternal enemy of Russia” (The Associated Press).

Today in Russia, the trial of WNBA star Brittney Griner resumes in court. She has pleaded guilty to drug possession charges and if convicted could face a sentence of 10 years (The Associated Press). The Russian Foreign Ministry maintains her arrest and detention in February were justified; the State Department asserts the opposite. The Senate last week approved a resolution condemning Griner’s arrest and calling for her immediate release.

▪ Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic: A Russian defeat in Ukraine could save Taiwan.

▪ The New York Times: Kyiv nightlife comes back amid urge for contact. “This Is the cure.”

In Canada on Monday, Pope Francis issued a significant apology for the Catholic Church’s cooperation with Canada’s “catastrophic” policy of Indigenous residential schools, saying the forced assimilation and abuse of Native peoples destroyed their cultures, severed families and marginalized generations in ways still being felt today. “I am deeply sorry,” Francis said, to applause from school survivors and Indigenous community members gathered at a former residential school south of Edmonton, Alberta, the first event of Francis’s weeklong “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada. More than 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The Canadian government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant at the schools (The Associated Press).

© Associated Press / Eric Gay | Pope Francis in Alberta, Canada, on Monday joined Indigenous peoples at Maskwaci, the former Ermineskin Residential School.

➤ POX & PANDEMIC

Two months after the first confirmed U.S. case of monkeypox, the White House is searching for a czar to coordinate the federal response to the outbreak, according to CNN. The number of U.S. cases of the virus has risen to 2,900. … The New York Times reports that the administration adopted a “watch and wait” response to monkeypox as cases spread at a time when 300,000 vaccine doses owned by the United States were stored in Denmark. The doses arrived in July shipments. “The federal response to monkeypox, including the limited testing capacity, has echoes of how public health authorities initially mismanaged COVID-19,” according to the Times.

The White House will host a meeting today with experts and stakeholders about the future of coronavirus vaccines (STAT News).

On Monday, Kentucky’s Jefferson County Public School District, the state’s largest, began requiring masks on school property because of high COVID-19 transmission in the community. Classes resume in two weeks. Regardless of vaccination status, anyone on district property or on school buses will be required to wear masks while the community’s COVID-19 transmission rate is designated “red.” When cases drop, face coverings will be optional (The Associated Press).

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported as of this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all vary slightly): 1,027,369. Current average U.S. COVID-19 daily deaths are 365, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

➤ COURTS & INVESTIGATIONS

Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis, who is leading a criminal investigation of efforts in her state to overturn the 2020 election to benefit Trump, was disqualified by a judge on Monday from investigating state Sen. Burt Jones, one of 16 Republicans who served on a phony slate of pro-Trump electors in 2020 (The Hill). A judge said Willis hosted a fundraiser last month for a Democratic candidate who went on to win his party’s nomination and will now face off against Jones, a situation the judge described as an “actual and untenable” conflict for Willis and her office.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday charged former Rep. Stephen Buyer (R-Ind.) with insider trading, alleging that he purchased stocks after receiving nonpublic information in at least two instances. The SEC is seeking to force Buyer to disgorge profits he made from the alleged schemes. Buyer served in Congress from 1993 to 2011 (The Hill). … Ghislaine Maxwell was reportedly moved to a low-security federal prison in Florida to serve out her 20-year sentence for her part in Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse and trafficking of underage girls (The Hill).

➤ NEWS MEDIA

NewsNation’s Dan Abrams talks with Chris Cuomo tonight, the first interview since the former CNN anchor was fired last year after privately advising his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned after being accused of sexually harassing female aides and other women (Next TV).

▪ The Associated Press: How AP reporter Jean Heller broke the Tuskegee syphilis story 50 years ago, revealing that the government for four decades denied hundreds of poor, Black men treatment for syphilis so researchers could study its ravages on the human body. “I thought, ‘It couldn’t be,’” Heller recalls. “The ghastliness of this.”

THE CLOSER

© Associated Press / Andy Newman, Florida Keys News Bureau | Florida attorney Jon Auvil (center) won this year’s Hemingway Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Key West, Fla., on Saturday.

And finally … During this year’s Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest at Sloppy Joe’s Bar in the Florida Keys, attorney Jon Auvil, dressed in a cream-colored fisherman’s sweater, caught the judges’ eyes and walked off as the winner on Saturday.

The wacky contest is part of Key West’s annual Hemingway Days celebration, which ended on Sunday and included a short-fiction contest, some marlin fishing, a “running of the bulls” street fair and plenty of guys who resemble Santa Claus.

Auvil, who lives in Dade City, Fla., northeast of Tampa, said he shares Hemingway’s passion for fishing, has written some fiction and would like to do more writing. “Every man wants to write like Hemingway,” he added (The Associated Press).

The prize? A bust of Hemingway and fun photos HERE and HERE.

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