| |  | | Presented by Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l | | | Good morning, Early Birds. Frank O'Hara died 57 years ago today. He was only 40. Carve out a minute today to read his perfect poem about Lana Turner collapsing. Tips: earlytips@washpost.com. Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here. Thanks for waking up with us. In today's edition … First two government funding bills at risk in the House … What we're watching: Designation of national monument honoring Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley … Burgum gets some air support … Liberal group argues its investment in state legislative races paid off … but first … | | |  | On the Hill | | NEWS: Democrats move to censure Marjorie Taylor Greene |  It comes a week after Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) filed a similar resolution targeting Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.). (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg) | | | House Democrats are preparing to file a censure resolution targeting a Republican lawmaker for the second week in a row, this time against far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), our colleague Marianna Sotomayor reports. Freshman Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) is expected to introduce the censure this afternoon, which would condemn Greene for fanning "the flames of racism, antisemitism, LGBTQ hate speech, Islamophobia, anti-Asian hate, xenophobia and other forms of hatred." The four-page resolution, obtained exclusively by The Washington Post, reads more like a charging document as it lists roughly 40 examples of Greene espousing such views, including unhinged conspiracy theories, calls for violence, sympathetic views toward insurrectionists, and recent offensive behavior like showing graphic images of Hunter Biden during a congressional hearing last week. "For me, censuring Rep. Taylor Greene is about the health of our democracy and faith in government. Her antisemitic, racist, transphobic rhetoric has no place in the House of Representatives," Balint said in a statement. "Unserious elected officials like Taylor Greene make a mockery of our democratic institutions and derail us from the urgent work we've been tasked with." The resolution is not being introduced under privilege, which means there is no time limit on when it is brought up on the floor. | | | | | | | Passenger safety is at stake. Don't compromise safety by raising the mandatory pilot retirement age and weakening strong pilot training rules in the FAA reauthorization bill. Learn more. | | | | | | | | But aides say that House Democrats could deem it privileged at any time if the Republican majority fails to reprimand Greene and force Republicans to vote on the punishment. Democrats kicked Greene off her committees in the last Congress for antisemitic and violent remarks but did not censure her. Republicans censured Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) last month for his role in the investigation into alleged Russian collusion by President Donald Trump. Just last week, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) similarly filed a resolution against Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), which would censure him for myriad falsehoods he's told about his career, family, and education. It could also be moved under privilege if the House Ethics Committee does not release a report on Santos this week, a key ask by fellow New York Republicans who supported an investigation to be completed within 60 days over expelling Santos in May. Several of Santos's Republican colleagues have since said they would vote in support of the resolution if Democrats forced a vote on it to the floor. | First two government funding bills at risk in the House |  The bills are the latest test for House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) | | | The House is facing another major test this week — this time on funding bills. The chamber is scheduled to take up two appropriations bills that are supposed to be the easiest of the 12 to pass, but it is unclear whether Republican leaders have the votes to pass them. The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies bill could get hung up over an abortion provision if centrist Republicans reject it. | | The votes for the Agriculture, Rural Development and Food and Drug Administration funding bill are even more precarious, because a group of far-right members are demanding further spending cuts. It also includes a restrictive abortion measure. Republicans in battleground districts are privately fretting over having to vote on abortion (again) and on more cuts that could make it tougher for them to win reelection. Democratic leadership is whipping against both bills, probably forcing Republicans to find 218 votes from among the chamber's 222 Republicans. Democrats have also offered amendments to strip the abortion provisions, potentially putting vulnerable Republicans in a difficult spot if those amendments receive votes. | | This is the latest challenge for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as he works to address the demands of different factions of his party. There is growing worry that McCarthy is siding too often with the far right, which many see as him trying to protect his speakership and potentially jeopardizing the majority if Republicans in swing districts are forced to vote on contentious issues or cuts that affect constituents. The challenge is especially acute for McCarthy as he tries to keep members of the House Freedom Caucus — who rarely vote for government funding bills — from sinking the bills after they already received major concessions. But some Republicans are also concerned that the Freedom Caucus's demands could amount to the goal posts being moved. McCarthy made a major concession to House Freedom Caucus members after a previous standoff, directing the House Appropriations Committee to mark up bills at fiscal year 2022 levels, $130 billion below the agreement he made with President Biden to raise the debt limit. | Agriculture appropriations | | Members of the House Freedom Caucus are pushing for deeper spending cuts in the $25.3 billion agriculture appropriations bill, which funds food security programs, farm subsidies and the Food and Drug Administration. The bill is already set at funding levels 2 percent below the current fiscal year's spending, but the members want fiscal year spending levels at $25.1 billion. | | The far-right bloc says that rescissions — clawing back unspent money — included in the bill don't count as spending cuts. The Freedom Caucus is holding a news conference today to outline its demands. Activists with the small-government group Freedom Works will attend in support. More than 160 amendments have been filed in the House Rules Committee, which is expected to take them up Wednesday. Many of the amendments are by far-right members, which cut food aid programs, increase work requirements for food assistance, reduce farm subsidies and cut the Food for Peace program, an international food assistance program. The agriculture funding bill also includes an abortion-related amendment that would make it more difficult to access the abortion pill mifepristone. | | After Democrats successfully attacked Republicans for being vague on their stance on veterans cuts in their effort to slash domestic spending, Republicans fully funded Biden's request for veterans health care. But included in the bill are measures to cut diversity and equality programs, and a measure that would restrict the Department of Veterans Affairs from providing access to abortion counseling and direct access to abortion, including the abortion pill mifepristone, when the life of a pregnant veteran is in danger or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. When the Rules Committee takes up the measure today, even more culture-war amendments could be added. But it's the one related to abortion that could cause problems if centrist Republicans who are worried about taking antiabortion votes decide to protest. They protested during the annual defense bill but voted for it anyway. Advocates of the measure say this is a similar situation to the one concerning the Defense Department policy, and that the abortion measure would just return the VA abortion policy to the way it was before Biden implemented a rule to increase access to abortion. | | Meanwhile, the Appropriations Committee has postponed marking up the Labor, Health and Human Services funding bill and the Commerce, Justice and Science bill until after the August recess, multiple people familiar with the matter said. These are the two most difficult funding bills in a conference divided on what and how much to cut when it comes to federal law enforcement funding, veteran housing and more. Big thanks to our colleague Marianna Sotomayor for help reporting. | | |  | Programming Note | | | Washington Post Live has two big events this week. Rep. Katherine M. Clark (D-Mass.), minority whip and the second highest-ranking Democrat in the House, will speak with Leigh Ann on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Eastern. Watch here. Melinda French Gates, a philanthropist, business executive and longtime advocate for gender equality, will speak with Leigh Ann on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. Watch here. | | |  | What we're watching | | | Biden today will announce the designation of a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. The murder of Till, 14, helped launch the civil rights movement. Today would have been his 82nd birthday. The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument will be established at these three sites: | - The Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Till's funeral was held.
- The Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner, Miss., where Till's killers were acquitted by an all-White jury.
- Graball Landing, believed to be the location where his body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River.
| | The Senate is expected to vote on amendments to the annual defense policy bill today — including a long-debated proposal to screen U.S. companies' investments in China and other countries that pose potential national security threats. Sens. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) and John Cornyn (R-Tex.) introduced the legislation in 2021 as a way to defend against Chinese threats and tried without success last year to attach it to a bill bolstering domestic semiconductor manufacturing. They're more confident this time around. "I would say that we are cautiously optimistic about passage" today, a Casey spokeswoman, Mairéad Lynn, wrote in an email to The Early. Even if the amendment passes, though, its fate is far from certain. The Senate and the House will need to reconcile their competing version of the defense bill, and business interests have expressed concerns about the legislation. Suzanne Clark, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's president and chief executive, said in May that the Chamber "supports targeted and responsible steps to restrict Chinese access to sensitive technologies that could be used to undermine America's national security, including export controls, technology restrictions, and scrutiny of outbound investment." But the Chamber is pressing for any bill to be narrower in scope — and the trade group would prefer for lawmakers to hold off until the White House finalizes an executive order that's expected to cover some of the same ground, according to a Chamber spokesman. | | We're watching to see whether Rep. Matthew M. Rosendale (R-Mont.) decides to run for Senate in Montana. Senate Republicans have rallied around another candidate, Tim Sheehy, and the Club for Growth indicated to reporters Monday that the group liked Sheehy too, the Hill reported. The Club was expected to back Rosendale should he jump in the race, leaving Rosendale with an uphill path to win the Republican nomination to run against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester next year. | | The Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day July policy meeting today. The Fed is poised to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point for the 11th time in 16 months, per our colleague Rachel Siegel. "In addition to this week's expected hike, Fed leaders have already signaled they plan to raise rates one more time this year," Rachel writes. "Yet that decision hinges on what happens with jobs, consumer spending and wages." | | |  | The campaign | | | Burgum gets some air support |  Burgum is the governor of North Dakota. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) | | | A super PAC backing North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum's long shot presidential campaign is turning to the airwaves. Best of America PAC has reserved more than $5.5 million in TV and radio ads set to start running on Wednesday, according to the super PAC. That's a substantial buy, but it's not as much as several other super PACs backing Burgum's rivals for the Republican nomination have booked less than six months before the Iowa caucuses. Trust in the Mission PAC, which is supporting Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), said last week that it would reserve $40 million in ads. The super PAC has made nearly $33 million in reservations to date, according to AdImpact data. MAGA Inc., a super PAC backing former president Donald Trump, has made nearly $20 million in reservations, and Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has booked more than $16 million, according to AdImpact. In addition to the super PAC, Burgum's campaign has made nearly $4 million in reservations. Liberal group argues its investment in state legislative races paid off A liberal group that invested $60 million in state legislative races last year has produced a new analysis that it says shows its spending was effective in helping to elect Democrats in states such as Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, where the party flipped chambers. The group, the States Project, asked another group to analyze its record "by comparing Democratic vote margin in districts where TSP-funded programming was deployed with matched control districts in the same states." The analysis projected that Democratic vote share was likely about 6 points higher in districts in which the group invested than it would have been otherwise. The States Project declined to name the group publicly but shared its identity and data with us so we could evaluate its methodology. "It turns out that when we bring dollars, data, and doorknocking to the state legislative campaigns that have so often been overlooked, we can change outcomes," Adam Pritzker, a Democratic donor and a founder of the States Project, said in a statement. | | |  | The Media | | | |  | Viral | | | This is so X-tra |  | | | | | | AM/PM | | Looking for more analysis in the afternoon? | | | | Weekday newsletter, PM |  | | A lunchtime newsletter featuring political analysis and a global perspective on the stories driving the day. | | | | | | | | | | |
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