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Presented by The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network: An evening recap of the action on Capitol Hill and preview of the day ahead | | | | |  | | By Anthony Adragna | | | With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team
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Lankford (R-Okla.) spent months negotiating the bipartisan border deal — a demand from his own party that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asked him to helm. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | BLOW TO SENATE DEALMAKING Saying Republicans hung Sen. James Lankford out to dry on his bipartisan border agreement would be an understatement. And it’s further snuffing out the Senate’s dealmaking wing. “I have a difficult time understanding again how anyone else in the future is going to want to be on that negotiating team. On anything,” Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a GOP moderate, said in an interview. Lankford (R-Okla.) spent months negotiating the bipartisan border deal — a demand from his own party that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asked him to helm. Conservatives decried the agreement before language was even finalized, and within 48 hours of publishing bill text GOP senators declared it dead. On Thursday, Republicans helped advance foreign aid legislation sans any border provisions. Lankford himself suffered heavy criticism from his own party, though many Republican lawmakers have defended him. “He absolutely has been treated unfairly by a lot of people out there and it's just not right,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.). Congressional bipartisanship has become a rarer commodity, but it’s lasted a bit longer in the Senate, where it’s necessary to reach across the aisle to overcome a filibuster. But Republicans and Democrats alike were disturbed by Lankford’s treatment, a sign that GOP senators especially might hesitate — or refuse — if they’re tapped to find a bipartisan compromise, particularly on immigration and border issues. “They cut him off and let him hang,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), a top GOP target this cycle. “What they did to Lankford — unforgivable, really.” Lankford, a conservative Republican, has acknowledged the personal havoc that the negotiations unleashed, saying on the floor that a “prominent commentator” threatened to “destroy” his career over his willingness to negotiate with Democrats during a presidential election year. “By the way, they have been faithful to their promise and have done everything they can to destroy me in the past several weeks,” he added. And remember: At least two aisle-crossers, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah), plan to retire at the end of the year. And leading dealmaker and fellow border negotiator, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), would have an uphill battle if she does run for reelection. Not just the Senate: Some House Republicans also acknowledged the Senate’s treatment of Lankford would only make it more difficult to negotiate bipartisan agreements on major issues. “I have battle scars, and it's very hard to land because it's never going to be perfect,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas). When asked if Lankford’s experience would incentivize others to work on bipartisan compromises, McCaul replied: “No, absolutely not.” — Anthony Adragna
| | A message from The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network: New U.S. cancer diagnoses are expected to exceed 2 million for the first time in 2024. But by investing in the research of today, Congress can help prevent, detect and treat many of the cancers of tomorrow. Invest in cancer research at the NIH at no less than $47.7 billion, fund the NCI at least at $7.38 billion and increase funding for CDC cancer prevention programs to make time for precious moments. Learn more. | | | GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, Feb. 8, where we are rescheduling our weekend plans thanks to the Senate. WWJD — WHAT WILL JOHNSON DO, PART TWO? Speaker Mike Johnson hasn’t officially said if he will hold a vote next week on a controversial spy powers bill, but the possibility — scooped by us yesterday — has already created a mess behind the scenes. Though Johnson tapped Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) to oversee an expanded GOP working group tasked with bridging the conference’s divides on reauthorizing Section 702, four people we’ve chatted with over the past two days say that the push to try to bring up a bill next week is being driven by the speaker’s office. The spy authority is meant to target foreigners abroad, but has sparked controversy because of its ability to sweep in Americans’ information. As of Thursday afternoon, there’s no finalized bill text, no agreement on amendment votes and lots of private jockeying and mixed signals. It’s all raising the prospect that everything unravels without ever coming to the floor next week. What’s going on behind the scenes: There are still active negotiations about what the base bill would even be, according to four people familiar with the negotiations. One noted that what is in the bill, or what has been agreed to, appears to be changing in real time. That could result in some sort of mishmash between proposals from intelligence community allies and privacy hawks, though it’s far from clear. Reminder: Johnson had initially planned to bring dualing bills to reauthorize Section 702 to the floor late last year, allowing members to decide which would advance, only to punt with a short-term extension after vehement opposition within his own ranks scuttled his plans. His handling of the bills sparked complaints from his conference that he was being indecisive — criticism his allies countered by noting that the spy powers fight put the newly elected speaker in the middle of two opposing sides of his conference. There are few signs that the dynamic has changed. One congressional aide, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said as of Thursday there wasn’t an agreement on a base bill, adding: “There’s nobody making a decision. The speaker won’t make a decision.” Privacy advocates and their allies are already predicting that they could block anything that doesn’t ultimately include or get them a vote on their top priorities, including a warrant requirement for Americans’ information and preventing brokers from selling consumer data to law enforcement. — Jordain Carney
| | | | GROWING IN THE GOLDEN STATE: POLITICO California is growing, reinforcing our role as the indispensable insider source for reporting on politics, policy and power. From the corridors of power in Sacramento and Los Angeles to the players and innovation hubs in Silicon Valley, we're your go-to for navigating the political landscape across the state. Exclusive scoops, essential daily newsletters, unmatched policy reporting and insights — POLITICO California is your key to unlocking Golden State politics. LEARN MORE. | | | | | SUPER SENATE SUNDAY The foreign aid supplemental spending package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan now stands between the Senate and a two-week recess. And weekend work — anathema to the Senate — seems likely. Sure, the Senate managed to get more than 60 votes to start debate on the $95 billion aid package. But there are multiple procedural hurdles and hefty time commitments ahead, which will likely delay senators’ plans for codels and other trips, possibly into Super Bowl Sunday. The Senate would need all 100 lawmakers to agree to speed things up, but Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) repeatedly said Thursday he won’t let that happen. He says he’ll go “as long as we can possibly draw this out to draw attention to the fact that the majority of the U.S. Senate cares more about the border of Ukraine than the borders of the United States.” “Shortly before hell freezes over is when I am going to relent,” Paul added. The Senate’s next vote could be around 7 p.m. on Friday night. That’s when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will likely file cloture on a substitute amendment to trigger the end of debate on the bill. But still more time must run off the clock after that. Again, opponents of the bill will have a choice: Agree to speed things up and maybe allow some votes on GOP amendments, or force their colleagues to wait hours and hours until the next one. If the latter happens, we could be looking at a series of votes on Sunday, though likely before the big game starts. — Katherine Tully-McManus and Burgess Everett
| | | | A message from The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network:   | | | | | If you work on Capitol Hill,check out this collaborative workspace. The Senate is gonna Senate.
| | A message from The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network: Cancer takes away many things, but the most devastating is time. And while policies and federal research investment have helped avert 4 million cancer deaths since 1991, the fight against the country’s second most common cause of death is far from over. With over 611,000 deaths and 2 million diagnoses expected this year, there is still work to do in the fight against cancer. And that is where you come in.
When Congress prioritizes ending cancer as we know it, for everyone, you literally make time for patients, loved ones, caregivers and everybody else affected by the 200 diseases known as cancer. By investing in the research of today, you’re helping prevent, detect and treat many of the cancers of tomorrow, creating countless moments for cancer patients and their loved ones in the process.
Fight Cancer. Make Time. | | | QUICK LINKS Raskin Dips Out of Democratic Retreat to Hear Trump Ballot Case, from Suzanne Monyak at Bloomberg Law How Mark Meadows Became the Least Trusted Man in Washington, from Robert Draper at The New York Times Rep. Jamaal Bowman Featured Black Revolutionary Convicted Of Murder On Middle School’s ‘Wall Of Honor’, from Daniel Marans at The Huffington Post House GOP had lowest win rate on ‘party unity’ votes since 1982, from Niels Lesniewski and Ryan Kelly at CQ Roll Call
| | | | YOUR GUIDE TO EMPIRE STATE POLITICS: From the newsroom that doesn’t sleep, POLITICO's New York Playbook is the ultimate guide for power players navigating the intricate landscape of Empire State politics. Stay ahead of the curve with the latest and most important stories from Albany, New York City and around the state, with in-depth, original reporting to stay ahead of policy trends and political developments. Subscribe now to keep up with the daily hustle and bustle of NY politics. | | | | | TRANSITIONS Alexandra Teitz is now deputy general counsel for energy efficiency and clean energy demonstration at DOE. She previously was chief counsel and senior climate adviser for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Madeline Peltzer is now the deputy press secretary for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). She was previously the press secretary for Rep. John James (R-Mich.). TOMORROW IN CONGRESS The House is in for a pro forma session at 10 a.m. The Senate is ??? FRIDAY AROUND THE HILL Crickets.
| | WEDNESDAY’S ANSWER: Kent Watkins correctly answered that the College of William & Mary, which educated four presidents, is the only U.S. college or university with a coat of arms from the College of Heralds in London. TODAY’S QUESTION, from Kent: What political dynasty family had three members running for the Senate at the same time? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com. GET INSIDE CONGRESS emailed to your phone each evening. Follow Daniella on X at @DaniellaMicaela. | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
