Playbook PM: How McCarthy survived

From: POLITICO Playbook - Wednesday Apr 27,2022 05:59 pm

Apr 27, 2022

After this week, Kevin McCarthy’s ability to put down a possible rebellion will be seen as a key and promising moment in his quest for the speakership. | Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP Photo

THE NINE LIVES OF KEVIN MCCARTHY — House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY emerged from the House GOP conference this morning unscathed, buoyed by his rank-and-file members at a time when he has been incredibly vulnerable.

For those of us who have covered McCarthy’s fraught relationship with the far-right for years, this moment — particularly the slack Trump allies have decided to cut him when he’s weakest — has been quite a turnabout. A few years ago, the sorts of revelations he’s faced in recent days — as audio tapes revealed him criticizing DONALD TRUMP and his own members in the wake of Jan. 6 — would have ended his career, souring his relationship with conservatives in a way that he could never recover.

Not so, we’re learning today. McCarthy got a standing ovation after he told the room that the clips of the tapes were taken out of context, and implored them not to let the headlines divide the GOP before the midterms.

And it wasn’t just McCarthy allies downplaying everything, but actual members who could cause real headaches for him if they wanted.

Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) blamed the media for the brouhaha, and encouraged members not to go after each other.

Rep. JIM JORDAN (R-Ohio), who almost single-handedly helped deny McCarthy the speakership in 2015, continues to say McCarthy will be the next speaker of the House.

Other members McCarthy had singled out as dangerous on the tapes told the room they wanted to move on.

SO HOW DID HE DO IT? The reaction from his members is a real testament to the fact that McCarthy’s strategy for winning over the right is working — as odious as it may seem to some observers. Since he was denied the speakership in 2015, McCarthy has made a conscious effort to make inroads with the people who kept him from his dream job. Here are some of the tactics he’s used:

1. Not castigating his members in public. How many times has the media blasted McCarthy for refusing to publicly censure Republican members who have said incendiary things or even attended, for example, white supremacist events? He’s made it a habit of rebuking his members in private only — if he does at all. And that clearly won him chits with these types.

2. Bringing the far-right into the fold. McCarthy has extended a hand to members like Jordan, who are now considered a part of the GOP team instead of outside agitators. Jordan has been a ranking member for a while now, and will likely be chairman of the House Judiciary Committee next year if Republicans flip the House. McCarthy has also made a point of inviting members like Greene to private meetings to make them feel like they’re part of the team.

3. Don’t forget the money. McCarthy is raising a record amount of money and doling it out to Republican members and candidates. Lawmakers remember this sort of thing — favors that McCarthy can cash in on in moments like this.

4. Taking advantage of a weakened House Freedom Caucus. This isn’t McCarthy’s doing, per se. But he has clearly benefited from what House Republicans say is a weaker and more disorganized group of rabble-rousers. We’ve heard quite a few members say that “the Freedom Caucus Greats” as they’ve been called — MARK MEADOWS and Jordan, who as the group’s first two chairmen, made McCarthy’s life hell for a long time — are gone or have been won over. Those who remain are more unpredictable, yes, but Republicans on the Hill say they're not as skilled at using every bit of leverage they can over the soon-to-be GOP speaker. (As we’re seeing in this very moment.)

TO BE FAIR, all of this would have looked quite different had Trump decided to turn on McCarthy. Instead, Trump’s early approval after the first of the audio recordings was released was perhaps the biggest factor in McCarthy’s salvation.

The GOP leader also clearly benefited from the fact that many Republicans weren’t surprised that he denied unflattering-but-factual reporting. (As we’ve previously reported, even among his members, McCarthy has a reputation for having a slippery relationship with the truth.) Moreover, what the audio revealed — his concerns both with Trump and the inflammatory remarks some of his members were making on Twitter after Jan. 6 — weren’t exactly unique to him: many of his members shared these concerns privately and never voiced them.

But there’s no denying that after this week, McCarthy’s ability to put down a possible rebellion will be seen as a key and promising moment in his quest for the speakership. McCarthy has demonstrated a surprising amount of control over both his rank-and-file and members of the far-right — and shown that he’s closer to winning the gavel than perhaps anyone thought.

Good Wednesday afternoon.

REMEMBERING MADELEINE ALBRIGHT — A large crowd of official Washington gathered at the Washington National Cathedral this morning to honor the life of MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, the first female secretary of State, who died on March 23. President JOE BIDEN, former President BILL CLINTON and former Secretary of State HILLARY CLINTON all delivered remarks and shared stories of their working and personal relationships with Albright.

Biden: “I think part of the reason why Madeleine was such a successful diplomat was that she understood something I've always believed … all politics, especially national politics, was personal. … She could go toe-to-toe with the toughest dictators, then turn around and literally teach a fellow ambassador how to do the macarena on the floor of the U.N. Security Council. You all think I’m kidding. I’m not kidding. She thought it was too difficult to teach me how to dance, though. She was right.”

Bill Clinton: “She had a full, hopeful life because she knew what she believed in. She knew what she was for. She knew what she was against. And she wanted other people to feel the same way and then to talk about it instead of kill each other over it.”

Hillary Clinton: “She didn't just help other women. She spent her entire life counseling and cajoling, inspiring and lifting up so many of us who are here today. So the angels better be wearing their best pins and putting on their dancing shoes, because if, as Madeleine believed, there's a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women, they haven’t seen anyone like her yet.”

Among the attendees, per the White House pool: children ANNE, ALICE and KATHARINE ALBRIGHT, sister KATHY SILVA, brother JOHN KORBEL, former President BILL CLINTON and HILLARY CLINTON, former President BARACK OBAMA and MICHELLE OBAMA, former VP AL GORE, Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN, Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN, VA Secretary DENIS MCDONOUGH, Speaker NANCY PELOSI, House Majority Leader STENY HOYER, Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL.

THE WHITE HOUSE

HIT THE ROAD, JOE — Biden will travel to Alabama next week to visit a Lockheed Martin facility, AL.com’s William Thornton reports. The facility manufactures “weapon systems such as Javelin anti-tank missiles,” which are “among aid being provided to Ukraine as a defense measure since the Russian invasion.”

JOIN US ON 4/29 FOR A WOMEN RULE DISCUSSION ON WOMEN IN TECH : Women, particularly women of color and women from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, have historically been locked out of the tech world. But this new tech revolution could be an opportunity for women to get in on the ground floor of a new chapter. Join POLITICO for an in-depth panel discussion on the future of women in tech and how to make sure women are both participating in this fast-moving era and have access to all it offers. REGISTER HERE.

THE PANDEMIC

THE WHCD HEADACHE — As Washington prepares to go all-out for the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner this weekend, organizers have assured attendees that they are taking precautions to be as Covid-safe as possible. “Yet some White House officials and experts worry those measures are insufficient and this weekend’s events may become another high-profile superspreader event, said three administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue. Behind the scenes, one prominent covid expert is scrapping with organizers hesitant to install devices that disinfect the air using ultraviolet light, with party planners worried the devices would interfere with the program,” WaPo’s Dan Diamond and Paul Farhi report.

“DON MILTON, a University of Maryland environmental scientist who has advised the White House and others on airborne transmission, said his offer to have a company install the devices at no charge was rebuffed by both the correspondents association and the Washington Hilton, which is hosting the event. … But WHCA officials said the conversations with Milton and Far UV came too late in their planning, and that they feared the lights might irritate the eyes of attendees, interfere with servers trying to navigate the ballroom — and even make someone like Biden look blue when addressing the crowd.”

WHERE THINGS STAND — ANTHONY FAUCI told WaPo that the worst days of the pandemic appear to be over. “We’re really in a transitional phase, from a deceleration of the numbers into hopefully a more controlled phase and endemicity,” he said.

“‘Right now we’re at a low enough level that I believe that we’re transitioning into endemicity. … We’re not in the full-blown explosive pandemic phase. That does not mean that the pandemic is over,’ Fauci said. ‘A pandemic means widespread infection throughout the world. … In our country we’re transitioning into more of a controlled endemicity,’” writes WaPo’s Bryan Pietsch and Joel Achenbach. “Fauci’s comments are likely to fuel debate about how the country should handle this moment.”

— Despite Fauci’s declaration, he still made the decision to skip the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner this weekend over Covid concerns. But the plan as of now is for Biden to go forward in attending — and it sounds like he has the experts on his side for the most part: “In interviews, public health experts were largely, though not entirely, supportive of Mr. Biden’s choice. The organizers of the dinner are taking precautions, including requiring all attendees to be vaccinated and to provide proof of a negative Covid test taken that day. With vaccines and antiviral drugs available, some experts said, the time for shunning large gatherings is in the past, at least for most healthy people,” NYT’s Sheryl Gay Stolberg writes.

As for the propriety of the glitzy event itself, some aren’t so sure about that: “‘Well, there is a question of whether it’s EVER appropriate to engage in an exercise in gaudy, celebrity-drenched self-adulation,’ DAVID AXELROD , a Democratic strategist who served as a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, wrote in an email, ‘but that’s a separate question.’”

THE REAL-WORLD EFFECT —“‘It's insanity’: Providers end Covid care for uninsured in the wake of congressional inaction,” by Megan Messerly and Krista Mahr

JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH

HEADS UP — Former Rep. DENVER RIGGLEMAN (R-Va.) is “stepping down from his role as a senior technical adviser on the [Jan. 6] committee to take a position with a non-profit in Ukraine,” CNN’s Ryan Nobles and Jamie Gangel report.

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

U.S. SECURES A HOMECOMING — “TREVOR REED , a former Marine from Texas who had been held in a Russian prison, has been released as part of an international prisoner exchange, according to statements from the White House and Russia's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday,” ABC’s Patrick Reevell Kevin Shalvey and Guy Davies report. “Reed was exchanged for Russian pilot KONSTANTIN YAROSHENKO, a convicted drug trafficker, Russian officials said.”

ALL POLITICS

BIG REDISTRICTING READ — Most of the House lines for 2022 are set, a few major court cases in key states notwithstanding. But a number of redistricting challenges are already pitching forward into 2024 and beyond. In other words: Buckle up , because the quarreling over every inch of the electoral map isn’t ending anytime soon. “The long-term legal activity means that while both parties are preparing to fight on the House battlefield drawn for this year, they are also getting ready for the conflict over political lines to extend far beyond the normal redistricting period that follows each decennial Census — with the potential to change the House map significantly over the next decade,” Zach Montellaro reports.

THE NEW VOTING POWERS — A new report released today finds that roughly 1.1 million Muslim voters cast a ballot in the 2020 election, “turning out in numbers large enough to swing the presidential race in key battleground states,” Holly Otterbein writes. The analysis from Emgage

CONGRESS

WARREN’S PIECE — Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.) is a very strategic thinker by nature. But lately, the progressive has been conspicuously sticking her neck out in the caucus — from penning op-eds to sitting for podcast interviews to blitzing the Sunday shows. Why? She sees the writing on the midterm wall, and she doesn’t like what it says, Burgess Everett writes.

“‘We’ve got nearly 200 days. If we don’t deliver, if we don’t get up off our rear ends and make it happen, we’re in real trouble,’ the Massachusetts Democrat said in an interview in her office on Tuesday. ‘But if we do deliver, if we can get some tangible results that touch people’s lives, then we can go to the polls in November with our heads held high.’ … Summing up her role in the fractious Democratic Party at the moment, Warren said: ‘My job right now is to light the fire of urgency. We can’t waste a single day.’”

DON'T MISS ANYTHING FROM THE 2022 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO is excited to partner with the Milken Institute to produce a special edition "Global Insider" newsletter featuring exclusive coverage and insights from the 25th annual Global Conference. This year's event, May 1-4, brings together more than 3,000 of the world’s most influential leaders, including 700+ speakers representing more than 80 countries. "Celebrating the Power of Connection" is this year's theme, setting the stage to connect influencers with the resources to change the world with leading experts and thinkers whose insight and creativity can implement that change. Whether you're attending in person or following along from somewhere else in the world, keep up with this year's conference with POLITICO’s special edition “Global Insider” so you don't miss a beat. Subscribe today.

TRUMP CARDS

AS THE TRUMPWORLD TURNS — CNN’s Gabby Orr has a report on the soured relationship between Trump and the Club For Growth, and what it means for the new GOP. “Not since ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI was fired a mere 10 days into his White House gig has someone fallen out of Donald Trump's favor as quickly as DAVID MCINTOSH. At an April 9 rally in North Carolina, the former president appeared delighted with the Club for Growth chief. … But the duo's partnership came to a screeching halt last week after the Club for Growth refused to end its negative ad campaign against Ohio Senate candidate J.D. VANCE. …

“[F]our people familiar with the situation said the Club for Growth is grappling with frustrated board members and donors, who worry its influence will plunge if it doesn't quickly patch things up with Trump. It’s the latest episode in the former president’s quest for singular influence over the GOP, further underscoring Trump's expectation that allies either bend to his will or get out of his way. But even if the Club acquiesced to regain its foothold in Trump's post-presidency operation, some of his allies plan to urge the former President to keep the group at arm’s length.”

PLAYBOOKERS

OUT AND ABOUT — The Motion Picture Association hosted a private screening of Just Vision’s new documentary, “Boycott,” on Tuesday night. The film chronicles three Americans who, when forced to choose between their jobs and their political beliefs, launch legal battles that expose an attack on freedom of speech across 33 states. SPOTTED: director Julia Bacha, producer Suhad Babaa, protagonists Alan Leveritt and Brian Hauss, moderator Rebecca Abou-Chedid, Emily Lenzner, Matthew Duss, Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Shamil Idriss, Alencia Johnson, Reggie Love, Tom Perriello, Gerald Sprayregen, Kimball Stroud, Liz Sizer, Héctor Sánchez Barba, Pia Carusone and Edward Ayoob.

— SPOTTED at a reception in honor of Polish Ambassador Marek Magierowski at Cosmos Club on Tuesday night: David and Adele Malpass, Georgette Mosbacher, Melinda Haring, Patricia Harrison, Vivian Salama and Steve Clemons.

— SPOTTED at an event celebrating the launch of Paul Mango’s new book, “Operation Warp Speed: Inside the Operation that Beat Covid, the Critics, and the Odds” ($24.95), on Tuesday night at the Monocle, where Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and former HHS Secretary Alex Azar delivered remarks: Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), Matt Hepburn, Robert Kadlec, Moncef Slaoui, Paul Ostrowski, David Urban, Bryan Shuy, John O’Brien, Judy Stecker, Brian Blase, Michael Pratt, Robert Charrow, Brian Morgenstern, Pete Sloane, Shannon Penberthy, Al Regnery and Nina Schaefer.

MEDIA MOVE — Blake Jones is joining POLITICO as a California education reporter. He previously was a reporter for the Idaho Education News.

TRANSITION — Anthony Rapa is now a partner and national security team lead at Blank Rome’s Washington D.C. office. He previously was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

Follow us on Twitter