Evening Report — House passes foreign aid bill with help from Dems (2024)

The GOP-controlled House advanced an expansive foreign aid package Friday after months of debate and infighting amongst Republicans.

The package, approved in a 316-94 vote with the (unusual) help of Democrats, OKs aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as humanitarian assistance for global war zones like Gaza.

According to The Hill’s Mychael Schnell and Mike Lillis, “The advancement brings Speaker Mike Johnson(R-La.) one step closer to passing an explosive foreign aid package that has been the subject of intense debate within the Capitol — and his conference — for months amid dire warnings from lawmakers, U.S. officials and foreign figures that Kyiv’s beleaguered forces need more U.S. assistance.”

All four measures are scheduled to come to the floor in separate votes on Saturday.

But Johnson is in a sticky spot with his Republican colleagues, who have not only criticized the package for excluding border security and including billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine, but also the Speaker himself for working with Democrats on its passage.

The House GOP has pressed leadership to focus more on Republican priorities instead of collaborating with Democrats — which was what led to the ousting of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in October.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a Trump ally and part of the far-right arm of the House GOP, filed a motion last month to oust Johnson for working with Democrats, but she has not yet called for a vote.

While Greene’s push has largely been decried by her conference, two other House Republicans, Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.), have backed the motion in recent days.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told his Senate colleagues they’d likely have to stay over the weekend to work on passing the foreign aid package, as well as finalize the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s warrantless surveillance program, which expires at 11:59 p.m. Friday.

Related coverage:

• Jeffries: Biden not weighing in on whether Democrats should save Johnson
• Baltic parliament leaders issue support for Johnson ahead of high-stakes Ukraine vote
• Gingrich: ‘It would be totally stupid’ to move forward with motion to oust Johnson

• With three federally elected Latina officials from the Pacific Northwest prepare for their first reelection campaigns, the region is becoming a political hot spot for Latina representation. The Hill’s Rafael Bernal has more here.
  
  

• Tesla is recalling its Cybertrucks over a malfunction with the accelerator pedal.

• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced plans to fight rapidly rising cases of congenital syphilis in the state.

In Day 4 of jury selection in former President Trump‘s hush money case, all 12 jurors and six alternates have been selected.

Trump is accused of falsifying business record to pay adult film actor Stormy Daniels hush money during the 2016 election to keep quiet after she alleged they had an affair in 2006.

Nearly 200 prospective jurors were questioned over the span of four days, with roughly 150 excused for not being able to be impartial and others for expressing fear or anxiety over serving as a juror on the high-profile case.

Trump’s controversial reputation complicated the selection process, as did his coverage in the media and personal ties to New York City.

The finalized jury is “a melting pot of Manhattanites, with residents from Harlem to Chelsea, physical therapists to investment bankers and immigrants to lifelong New Yorkers,” report The Hill’s Ella Lee and Zach Schonfeld.

Opening remarks are scheduled to begin Monday.

(The Hill)

Related coverage:

• Man sets himself on fire outside Trump trial courthouse
• CNN analyst: Alternate hush money jurors will be needed in case others are ‘freaked out’

In an attempt to appeal to union workers and solidify his pro-union stances, President Biden on Friday bashed former President Trump over his inherited wealth

Speaking at a Washington, D.C., conference for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, a labor group that has endorsed the president’s reelection bid, Biden took aim at Trump’s upbringing.

“Some folks learn very different lessons growing up than you and I did,” Biden said. “They learn, and my opponent learned, the best way to get rich is inherit it. I can’t argue much with them but, eh—”

Trump started his business empire with a $1 million loan from his father, who would end up giving his son more than $400 million altogether.

“Folks, where we come from, it matters. That’s why when I look at the economy, I don’t see it through the eyes of Mar-a-Lago, I literally see it through the eyes of Scranton, where I grew up and my grandpop’s kitchen table,” the president said. “I see it through the eyes of working people like you and the basic values that you represent — honesty, decency, hard work, faith. It matters.”

Biden, who calls himself the most pro-union president in the history of the United States, is largely popular with unions and has earned endorsem*nts from the United Steelworkers, United Auto Workers, United Farm Workers unions, among others.

(The Hill)

The American Parents Coalition, a parents’ rights group, will launch an ad Friday warning of the harm TikTok can pose to children. The ad, titled “TikTok Nightmare,” comes ahead of a potential House vote regarding the app.

The ad highlights the dangers of the app’s algorithm, including videos on subjects like eating disorders and self-harm, as “every parent’s nightmare.”

“TikTok’s algorithm is every parent’s worst nightmare. The Chinese-owned app pushes content promoting suicide, eating disorders, and other harmful trends,” Alleigh Marré, executive director of the American Parents Coalition, said in a statement.

The ad comes as the House eyes a possible vote on legislation that could ban TikTok in the U.S. if ByteDance, its China-based owner, doesn’t divest.

The group spent $500,000 on television and digital ads in states where an incumbent Democratic senator is running for reelection: Pennsylvania, Ohio and Montana, as well as the territory of Washington, D.C.

The details of the ad buy were shared first with The Hill.

(The Hill)

The Democratic Party of Michigan has reserved $10.5 million in ads to support its candidates in November the state’s House elections.

The ad reservation comes after Democrats in the state House won back the majority Tuesday and now have full control of the state government.

The party will spend:

• $2.5 million in Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Detroit
• $1 million will be spent in Marquette
• $700,000 will be allocated to ads in Traverse City and South Bend
• $900,000 will be spent in Flint.

The eight-digit reservation adds to the the $8 million spent by the Michigan House Democrats.

Michigan is considered a swing state in this year’s presidential election, and according to the Hill’s Decision Desk HQ polling average, former President Trump leads President Biden 46.7 percent to 43.4 percent in the state.

(The Hill)

“Playing a shell game on aid to Ukraine,” writes Kevin Roberts, the president of The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action for America.

“We’re paying off medical debt wrong,” writes Raymond Kluender, assistant professor of business administration at Harvard Business School; Neale Mahoney, professor of Economics at Stanford University and incoming director at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research; and Francis Wong, associate professor of economics at the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich.

199 days until the 2024 general election.

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