Insider trading is Johnson's next Epstein
Speaker Mike Johnson's September to-do list is getting tougher by the day.
As Meredith scooped Tuesday, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna is planning to file a discharge petition to force a floor vote on banning stock trading by members of Congress. Like the parallel push for a vote on releasing the Epstein files, it's poised to pit Johnson against rank-and-file Republicans who are thirsty to challenge elite corruption – whether their leadership likes it or not.
Luna's move puts Johnson in a bind.
Johnson has signaled that he's personally supportive of restricting stock trading by lawmakers. But allowing a vote to happen would trigger backlash from many fellow Republicans — and for what? The bill probably wouldn't go anywhere in the Senate.
Yet if Johnson stands in the way, he risks fueling a narrative triggered by the Epstein fight that he's protecting the rich and powerful and against transparency.
Luna has a ways to go before she gets the 218 signatures needed to force a vote. But she has some political momentum on her side. The House Ethics Committee said Friday that Rep. Mike Kelly's wife bought shares in steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs after Kelly's office learned that a Commerce Department action could benefit the company. Kelly has said he and his family 'look forward to putting this distraction behind us.'
Johnson's saving grace might be a GOP division over the right approach to executing a crackdown. Lawmakers have been meeting for months to try to hammer out a consensus bill, with some members concerned the process isn't going anywhere. Luna wants to force a vote just on a bill from Rep. Tim Burchett. Senate Homeland Security will mark up its own stock trading restrictions today, Chair Rand Paul tells Hailey Fuchs.
Rep. Chip Roy, who could play a pivotal role in any effort to derail Luna's push as a member of the Rules Committee, is among those leading bipartisan talks on a potential compromise around a broader bill.
'Since I introduced the first bill on this subject, we've built a coalition in support of a comprehensive and strong solution to end stock trading for members of Congress,' Roy tells Meredith. 'We're working over August to merge various ideas and get Republican leadership to move on it. We gave them time to finish the [megabill] — that time is passed.'
Rep. Seth Magaziner, the Rhode Island Democrat co-leading legislation with Roy, tells us he believes they are 'quite close' on a consensus bill coming together — possibly in August. But it would be for 'Congress only,' and not extend any stock trading ban to the president and vice president, as some Democrats are pushing.
Lawmakers involved in the talks are also aiming for legislative branch enforcement, which is missing from the Burchett bill that relies on Justice Department enforcement. Burchett's legislation also doesn't address when lawmakers who currently own stocks would have to pay taxes after divesting.
'Where you'll start losing Democrats is if the bill doesn't have teeth,' says Magaziner, who argues that the Burchett bill alone will have problems drawing enough support from both sides of the aisle.
EPSTEIN NEWS AT NOON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Senate Democrats plan to hold a press conference on a new effort to get the 'full Epstein files.' It's unclear what they'll announce, though Sen. Ruben Gallego tells Mia that Democrats have been discussing potentially forcing votes on Epstein amendments during floor consideration of the government funding package this week.
GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, where your newsletter authors are enviously watching Nancy Pelosi enjoy her recess at the Lady Gaga tour. Email us at meredithlee@politico.com, mmccarthy@politico.com, crazor@politico.com and bguggenheim@politico.com. Follow our live coverage at politico.com/congress.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHINGWith help from Alec Snyder
The House is out. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will talk redistricting with Democrats in Texas.
The Senate will vote to advance the nomination of Thomas Gaiser to be assistant attorney general at 11:30 a.m. Later in the day, there will be further votes on Gaiser, Joseph Kent to be director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Tyler Clarkson to be USDA general counsel and Gadyaces Serralta to be director of the U.S. Marshals Service.
— Senate Energy will advance nominees including Lanny Erdos to be director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement at 9:30 a.m.
— Senate Commerce will mark up four bills and advance nine nominations, including Neil Jacobs to be the NOAA administrator at 10 a.m.
— Senate Homeland Security will mark up bills including the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act.
The rest of the week: The Senate will consider government funding bills and the president's nominations. The House will meet on Friday for a pro forma session at 10 a.m.
Pro subscribers receive this newsletter with a full congressional schedule and can browse our comprehensive calendar of markups, hearings and other notable events around Washington. Sign up for a demo.
THE LEADERSHIP SUITE
Thune, Schumer in Trump nom staredown
Senate GOP leaders are threatening to rewrite the chamber's rulebook if Democrats don't agree to expedite dozens of President Donald Trump's nominees before August recess.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune tells Jordain Carney that Republicans could revisit steps they took in 2019 to shorten debate time between nominees.
'Our members are frustrated,' Thune says.
Getting Democrats to fully cooperate might be a tall order, though. Schumer is seeing some new glimmers of fight among his members as he faces GOP pressure to go along with Trump's personnel picks, with Sen. Cory Booker on Tuesday scolding fellow Democrats for not having enough 'backbone' to buck Trump.
'There's a lot of us in this caucus that want to fucking fight,' Booker said to reporters. 'And what's bothering me right now is we don't see enough fight in this caucus.'
One thing to watch today is word from Senate Democrats on how big of an appropriations 'minibus' package that they'll agree to help advance before recess — another sign of whether the party is prepared for play hardball with Republicans to get their way on government funding priorities.
POLICY RUNDOWN
TILLIS SIGNALS FED CHAIR FIGHT — Sen. Thom Tillis is warning that he and Trump may be at odds over the president's potential replacement for Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term at the helm of the central bank ends next year. Tillis is a key Senate Banking vote on any Fed nominee.
'This may be where we're at cross purposes,' Tillis tells Calen about the qualities he and Trump are seeking in a new Fed chair. 'Because I want someone who is clearly independent.'
Tillis says Trump 'has some names on the current bench of Fed members that I hope he considers.' POLITICO has reported that Fed board member Christopher Waller is among the people being considered as Powell's replacement.
'I don't know a time in modern history where the president wasn't annoyed with a Fed chair,' Tillis adds. 'That's the sort of tension and the whole reason why it obviates the need for independence.'
DEMS THINK GOP WILL CEDE ON EXTENDING ACA CREDITS — Democrats want Republicans to agree to extend tax credits for Affordable Care Act insurance premiums that are set to expire at the end of the year — and they privately believe that time will work in their favor to get that deal.
Part of their thinking — according to one person close to Senate Democratic leadership — is that there is a perfect storm of pressure swirling around major health programs.
Insurers are experiencing a squeeze on their Medicaid businesses from new work requirements and other policy changes implemented by the GOP megabill. Health care plans are also already proposing higher insurance premium rates in anticipation that Congress won't be able to agree to extend the ACA credits, which have largely made out-of-pocket insurance costs much more affordable.
'Democrats are going to prioritize an extension of those tax credits and are ready to negotiate on them anytime,' the person tells Benjamin. 'However, they expect that the pressure on this issue on Republicans will continue to mount in the coming months, as more plans file their massive premium increases.'
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who sits on the Finance Committee, says she believes Republicans could be convinced to cooperate but that 'it will take a lot more questions from people back home' to sway them.
CRUZ CONFIDENT IN TSA FACIAL RECOGITION BILL — Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz tells Benjamin that he's 'confident' his committee will approve legislation this morning that would put new guardrails on facial recognition technology used by the TSA.
Travel lobbyists are raising concerns that the bill would make it more difficult to ensure airline passengers' safety.
'This bill is just going to walk us backwards and make it more and more difficult to handle the continued increased volume that we're seeing,' says Ryan Propis, vice president of security and facilitation at the U.S. Travel Association.
Propis says he and his colleagues have heard 'concerns from a number of senators on both ends of the aisle.'
COMMITTEE EYES FLIGHT SAFETY VOTE — Senate Commerce Republicans are optimistic they will take up new flight safety legislation in September aimed at preventing airline collisions, according to a committee aide granted anonymity to share the panel's preliminary scheduling plans.
Cruz introduced the bill Tuesday in response to the fatal mid-air collision involving a commercial airliner and a Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in mid-January. Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell is keeping her options open, saying in a statement she's 'committed to working with Chairman Cruz to ensure we get this right and honor the memory of those we lost.'
Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E:
THE BEST OF THE REST
'Why I Was So Cagey': Mark Green Reveals Why He Left Congress, from Reese Gorman at NOTUS
Republicans split over the hunger crisis in Gaza as Trump says he'll push for aid, from Melanie Zanona and Julie Tsirkin at NBC News
CAMPAIGN STOP
FIRST IN INSIDE CONGRESS: NORTH CAROLINA SENATE RACE SEEN AS MOST EXPENSIVE YET — Roy Cooper raised $3.4 million in the first 24 hours of his Senate campaign, breaking a record for Senate Democratic candidates and signaling a giant wave of cash to come.
The North Carolina Senate race is expected to be one of the most expensive statewide contests in history, Elena Schneiderand Jordain report. Private estimates described by national and in-state strategists in both parties predict the race — likely between Cooper and Trump-endorsed RNC chair Michael Whatley — will top out at $650 million to $800 million.
FIRST IN POLITICO: AG GROUPS BACK CORNYN — A dozen key agricultural groups are supporting Sen. John Cornyn as he faces a primary challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to an announcement first shared with Grace Yarrow for Morning Agriculture. The endorsing organizations have 535,000 members in the state.
MTG SKIPS GOV RACE — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she will not run for Georgia governor next year. She's ruled out a Senate campaign, too.
'If I was running for governor the entire world would know it because I would be all over the state of Georgia campaigning, I would have ads running, I would be raising scary amounts of money, and I would literally clear the field,' Greene said Tuesday in a post on X.
JOB BOARD
Vanessa Valdivia is now SVP at Original Strategies. She most recently was senior adviser to Sen. Alex Padilla and is a Jill Biden alum.
Hilary Borris is now senior political strategist and partnerships lead at Compete, heading its expansion in D.C. She previously was regional political director at House Majority PAC and is a DCCC alum.
Amy Hasenberg-Elliott is now a director at FGS Global. She most recently was comms director for Sen. Katie Britt and is a Jim Risch and Pat Toomey alum
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Rep. Nikema Williams … former Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney, Quico Canseco and Wendell Bailey … The Atlantic's Shane Harris … Suzanne Nossel … Dave Kochel … NYT's Jim Rutenberg … Michael Glassner … Mario Lopez of the Hispanic Leadership Fund … POLITICO's Teresa Wiltz, Jeff Coltin and Tyler Weyant … Jonathan Kanter … Heidi Crebo-Rediker … Jonathan Spalter of USTelecom … Bob Bissen of the National Head Start Association … Candace Randle Person … Kana Smith … Anita Hill … former CFTC Chair Tim Massad … Garry Malphrus … Eleanor Smeal … Herald Group's Cameron Smith … Maryland GOP Vice Chair Dwight Patel
TRIVIA
TUESDAY'S ANSWER: Jackson Snellman correctly answered that Kay Hagan was the last Democrat to represent North Carolina. She left the Senate in 2015 after losing to Tillis.
TODAY'S QUESTION, from Jackson: Upon which president's death did the sitting vice president exclaim, 'Death had to take [president's name] sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight'?
The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com.
CORRECTION: Yesterday's issue has been updated to note that the bipartisan TSA facial recognition bill was co-sponsored by several Republicans off of Senate Commerce.
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