Weekly House Cleaning
A DCCC News Roundup
Ted Cruz and Donald Trump’s emergence as frontrunners from the Iowa Caucuses kicked off a bad week for Speaker Paul Ryan.
We have long said that no matter who Republicans nominate, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump have already hurt House Republicans by driving the presidential narrative further and further out of the mainstream, dragging the rest of the party with them to the far right.
But certainly, Ted Cruz would be a true nightmare for down-ballot Republicans, and Paul Ryan is keenly aware. The NRCC’s pollster told Republican leadership earlier this month that Ted Cruz would have the biggest drag on House Republicans and their reelection efforts.
After Cruz magnified that with his Iowa win on Monday night, Paul Ryan embarked on a futile mission to pick up the pieces of the Republican Party. Speaking at the Heritage Action Conservative Policy Summit on Wednesday, Ryan resorted to a Braveheart reference to urge that the conservatives in the room get their act together, pleading “we need to unite the clans.” Maybe not the best metaphor, as many people pointed out: William Wallace’s untimely demise.
But try as he might – the voters in Iowa told a different story of extreme politics and a fractured Republican Party that is certain to breed continued division in the Republican party.
That Heritage speech was sandwiched by multiple budget meetings between Paul Ryan and the House Freedom Caucus, who are more empowered than ever by Ted Cruz’ emergence as the Republican frontrunner. In several reportedly tenuous meetings, it became clear that Paul Ryan’s House Freedom Caucus honeymoon is over.
Try as he might, Paul Ryan has failed to convince the 25 member group to support the 2017 spending bill, putting the budget document in doubt. Yet again, Ryan will likely suffer an embarrassing division within House Republicans, and will have to come crawling over to Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats to get the spending bill passed.
And let’s not forget the hot water that Paul Ryan got in with the Congressional Black Caucus and their pursuit of an updated voting rights bill. Once again, the House Freedom Caucus is rearing its ugly head, this time to hinder progress towards enhanced voting protections for people across the country. Claiming that he supported their legislation, Paul Ryan made clear that there’s not a damn thing he can (shorter: wants to) do about it.
Blaming the House Freedom Caucus-dictated changes to the committee process, Paul Ryan said that the voting rights bill must move by the “bottoms-up” committee process, thus putting the nail in the coffin.
All of this is to say: same old, same old from the shiny new Speaker Paul Ryan.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: The Hill: “Republicans slam brakes on voting rights bill.” [The Hill, 8/1/15]
“House Republican leaders are slamming the brakes on voting rights legislation, insisting that any movement on the issue go through a key Republican committee chairman who opposes the proposal. House Democrats are pressing hard on GOP leaders to bring the new voter protections directly to the floor. That would sidestep consideration in the House Judiciary Committee, where Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) has rejected a bipartisan proposal to update the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) in the wake of a 2013 Supreme Court decision that gutted a central provision of that law.”
And to top it off, the DCCC’s best fundraising topic this year has been surrounding the reconciliation votes that Paul Ryan and congressional Republicans have foolishly pursued. Surrounding the three reconciliation votes that would repeal the Affordable Care Act, the DCCC has raised over $626,000 in three 2-day campaigns, with an average gift of only $20. Democrats across the country have a clear message for Speaker Ryan: spend your time on solving real problems, not on repeatedly voting for something that attacks a popular, effective law, and that Republicans know can’t pass.
Read more from today’s Roll Call: Obamacare repeal votes motivate Democratic donors
THE DIRT FROM THE DISTRICTS
AZ-01: Drip… drip… even more information came to light this week in the scandal surrounding Republican frontrunner Paul Babeu. The disturbing revelation that Sheriff Babeu oversaw and even touted “ritualistic child abuse” continues to garner widespread coverage. This week, a former student spoke out against Babeu calling him a liar and stating that the investigation done by ABC 15 validates her horrific experience. Additionally, Congresswoman Katherine Clark, the lead attorney in the investigation, revealed Babeu not only lied about his knowledge of the abuse but he actively stonewalled investigators. Rep. Clark said the discoveries made during the investigation into DeSisto School still haunt her.
NH-01: No sooner did Frank Guinta announce his intention to seek reelection than the NH Union-Leader greeted him with a scathing editorial urging Granite Staters to have a “fresh start” with a “more trustworthy representative in Congress.” Hardly surprising from the publication that called Guinta a “damned liar” earlier this year.
UT-04: The latest fallout in Mia Love’s (widely covered and damaging) misuse of taxpayer dollars is an official ethics complaint outlining multiple potential violations of House ethics rules. Interestingly, her inability to manage a budget and practice fiscal discipline doesn’t stop there. Love managed to spend almost as money as she took in during the last quarter – with nothing to show for it.
CA-25: While Rep. Steve Knight is still slow to respond to the Porter Ranch Gas Leak, candidate Bryan Caforio released his NO LEAK Act to assist local agencies responding to the crisis and ensure access to justice for victims.
WI-08: The dysfunctional House Republican Caucus has forced another of its members into retirement, with Reid Ribble’s retirement sending National Republicans on high-alert to “scramble” for his seat, per the Journal Sentinel.
NY-01: Newsday notes that Lee Zeldin’s far right wing positions and preference for talking tough on TV over doing his job were hot topics at a spirited Democratic forum Wednesday night.
MI-07: In response to Gretchen Driskell’s calling on House Oversight Committee member Tim Walberg to demand that Governor Rick Snyder appear at the committee’s hearing on the devastating crisis in Flint, Walberg said that “nothing” was standing in the way of the committee getting Snyder to testify in Washington. Walberg then went on to hint as to why he might not be trying too hard to convince his colleague the committee Chairman to bring Snyder in – because Walberg’s “philosophy is that the federal government takes care of itself first.”
AZ-02: Another quarter, another half-hearted pledge by Martha McSally’s campaign to address the bizarre and troubling inaccuracies in her FEC reports. As the Arizona Republic reported, McSally is finally saying she will return over $40,000 in inappropriate donations. In August, McSally’s repeated filing errors prompted an FEC complaint.
TX-23: The Fort Stockton Pioneer breaks down the negative impact that Donald Trump’s candidacy is having on Will Hurd’s race for reelection against Pete Gallego.
NE-02: BURNED BACON. After highlighting in this newsletter a poll showing Don Bacon getting dominated in the primary, we now know that foreshadowed a complete implosion. After back to back embarrassing fundraising quarters, Bacon raised a meager $40,000 – throwing a wrench in his plans to buy the primary.