| Good morning, Early Birds. To our readers in Texas, Britain and elsewhere experiencing brutal heat waves: Stay cool out there. Tips: earlytips@washpost.com. Thanks for waking up with us. In today's edition … Mike Pence endorses in Arizona governor's race, putting him at odds with Donald Trump … Jury selection for Steve Bannon contempt trial is set to begin today … What we're watching: Vice President Harris keynotes the NAACP convention … Texas House report on Uvalde shooting blames all agencies at the scene… but first … An update on unionization: Congressional staffers will file petitions with the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights today to form unions in eight House offices, a member of the Congressional Workers Union told the Early on the condition of anonymity. The move paves the way for Hill staffers to begin negotiating salary, promotion policies and paid and sick leave with Democratic Reps. Andy Levin (Mich.), Ro Khanna (Calif.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Cori Bush (Mo.), Melanie Ann Stansbury (N.M.), Ted Lieu (Calif.) and Chuy Garcia (Ill.). The House paved the way for individual offices to unionizing in a vote on the House floor earlier this year after the effort gained momentum when staffers anonymously complained about their bosses and working conditions through a viral Instagram account. | | |  | On the Hill | | The constantly shrinking Democratic agenda | | Democrats have repeatedly gone through four of the five stages of grief over and over again: denial, anger, bargaining and depression. Now, less than 24 hours after Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) torpedoed the last remaining remnants of Democrats' once-expansive Build Back Better Act and said he would only support a bill designed to lower drug prices and provide health care subsidies, they are finally approaching the last stage: acceptance. President Biden interrupted his Middle East trip Friday to urge Democrats to take the deal. "The Senate should move forward, pass it before the August recess, and get it to my desk so I can sign it," he said in statement. It was the opposite of the approach Biden took last year when Manchin offered to support an up to $1.8 trillion version of the bill that contained many more Democratic priorities. The White House tried to squeeze more out of him, only for Manchin to walk away from negotiations in December. | | | | | | | | GE is innovating to lower the aviation industry's carbon footprint. Our innovative developments, from SAF engines to hybrid-electric propulsion, are vital to the solutions. | | | | | | | | But with the midterms less than four months away, Democrats, who hold slim the slimmest of majorities, are moderating their ambitions as they face losing the unified control of government. "I am absolutely furious about what just happened but that's no reason to punish people who need cheaper prescription drugs," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) told the Early. "Let's quickly pass what can be passed with moral and political clarity." "Clearly we have to accomplish as much as we can in the time we have to do it," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said in an interview. Democrats have had to scale back their grand ambitions repeatedly in the 18 months they have controlled the House, Senate and the White House. The most ambitious version of their agenda is dead and now they must decide what minor parts can be salvaged. Prescription drugs instead of a cradle-to-grave expansion of social and economic programs. Tweaks to the Electoral College Act instead of sweeping new voting laws. And a scaled-back computer chips bill rather than a bigger industrial policy proposal aimed at China. Here's where things stand as Democrats enter a crucial week for what's left of their agenda. | | The original estimate for a sweeping social safety net, climate change and tax reform bill was about $4 trillion. It was dramatically scaled back when Manchin told Schumer last summer he could support less than half of that. After painful negotiations Manchin walked away from that deal just before Christmas. Now, a bill that would raise about $1 trillion for climate initiatives, deficit reduction and reducing the cost of prescription drugs has been scaled back again. Status update: Senate Democrats are preparing to move forward with the prescription drug component and bring it to the Senate parliamentarian Thursday to ensure that it meets the Senate budget reconciliation rules that allow the Senate to pass legislation with a simple majority. Still, Democrats must decide if they are going to accept the whittled down version. They will discuss the issue at a caucus meeting this week and decide on a path forward. | | Democrats are preparing to abort bicameral negotiations to pass a bill to shore up supply chains and help the U.S. compete with China. Instead, Democrats will attempt to move the pieces of the bill with the most support, including subsidies for domestic microchip manufacturing and tax credits for the construction or improvement of semiconductor factories. | | Status update: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will attempt to move the process forward on the Senate floor as early as Tuesday, forcing Republicans to decide if they'll back the proposal. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), a close ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), tweeted on Sunday afternoon, that Manchin's refusal to vote for the climate provisions and tax hikes included in Build Back Better "will green light proceeding this week to shore up the dangerous vulnerability of US supply chain for advanced semiconductors." | | A bipartisan group of senators is preparing to unveil legislation soon to clarify the Electoral College Act — the 1887 law that governs the certification of presidential election results. Former president Donald Trump and his allies tried to exploit ambiguities in the law after the 2020 election to allow him to remain in power. The compromise legislation from a bipartisan group led by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Manchin is a far cry from Democrats' expansive voting rights bill that would have increased access to the polls, overhauled campaign finance laws and included other policies to make it easier to vote. But that bill was blocked by Senate Republicans in January. Some Democrats are ready to move ahead with the scaled back policies after having negotiations end in disappointment so many times over the past year. It's better to campaign on something rather than nothing the theory goes. "I personally think we need to just put wins on the board, regardless of how big or incremental it is," one moderate House Democrat told The Early on Sunday. Still, many Democrats are furious that their plans for big policy changes have been thwarted again. Many blame Manchin for derailing Build Back Better and refusing to change the Senate filibuster rules — anger that is also directed sometimes at fellow moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) "If you check the record, six months ago I made it clear that you have people like Manchin, Sinema to a lesser degree, who are intentionally sabotaging the president's agenda, what the American people, what a majority of us in the Democratic caucus want. Nothing new about this," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday. | Also this week: a continued focus on gun violence | | As we went to bed Sunday night, news of another shooting in a public place where multiple people were killed. This time it was three people, not including the gunman, at a mall in Indiana. | | Despite Congress passing significant, yet incremental, gun legislation last month, the House and Senate are holding a number of hearings as Democrats want to go much further. The House Judiciary Committee will mark up an assault weapons ban on Wednesday, as we reported on Friday, setting up a potential vote on the floor later this month. Three gun manufacturer executives have been invited to testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, including Marty Daniel, the CEO of Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the weapon used in the Uvalde shooting, which has come under intense criticism for the company's marketing tactics. The committee is looking into the profits and business of gun manufacturers. The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the July 4 shooting in Highland Park, Ill., which the committee's chairman, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), represents. And the bicameral Joint Economic Committee will hold a hearing on the economic toll of gun violence. | | |  | The campaign | | Pence endorses in Arizona governor's race, splits from Trump-backed candidate |  Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the "Latter-day Saints for Trump" Coalition launch event on Aug. 11, 2020, in Mesa, Ariz. (Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo) | | | Seeing red: "Former vice president Mike Pence is endorsing Arizona gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson, a developer who has long been involved in Republican politics, instead of former president Donald Trump's chosen candidate, Kari Lake, a former TV anchor who continues to falsely claim that the 2020 election was 'stolen.'" our colleagues Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Hannah Knowles report. | - "The endorsement illustrates the division in the party between Trump supporters who value loyalty to him over all else and those who want to move on from endlessly litigating the 2020 election, including those who are grateful that Pence and other Republicans blocked Trump's attempts to overturn the results."
- "Trump and Pence, who are each thinking about running for president in 2024, both plan to be in Arizona on Friday to campaign for their chosen candidates ahead of an Aug. 2 primary."
| | |  | From the courts | | Jury selection for Steve Bannon begins today |  Stephen K. Bannon talks to reporters after appearing in federal court in November. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) | | | Happening today: "Jury selection is set to begin [this] morning in the federal trial of Stephen K. Bannon, the former Trump adviser and right-wing podcaster charged with two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with an order from the House Jan. 6 committee to turn over records and testify about his actions ahead of the attack on the U.S. Capitol," our colleague Spencer Hsu reports. | - "The trial is likely to be brief," our colleague Devlin Barrett and Spencer wrote over the weekend. "Prosecutors say their case will take a day, and given the judge's limitations on which witnesses Bannon can call and what issues he can raise, it's unclear how long Bannon's own case may take, or if he will testify."
| | |  | What we're watching | | | Vice President Harris will deliver remarks at the 113th NAACP national convention in Atlantic City, N.J. She'll host a roundtable with New Jersey state lawmakers about abortion rights following her keynote address. | | |  | The Media | | | |  | Viral | | | 20 years later 💍 |  | | | | | | AM/PM | | Looking for more analysis in the afternoon? | | | | Weekday newsletter, PM |  | | | | | | |
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