The Hill’s Morning Report — Voters send Democrats stern warnings on crime

by Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch - 03/02/23 6:25 AM ET

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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s defeat on Tuesday reinforced voters’ message to Democrats that leaders must tackle crime and improve public safety. After four years in office, the mayor failed to make it into an April 4 runoff.

It was a message voters sent to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and to Democrats running for House seats in the Empire State last fall. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told The New York Times that Hochul’s late-cycle attention to crime issues contributed to Republicans’ success in flipping four House seats in New York, the most in any state in the midterms.

The Hill’s Niall Stanage writes that the trend is clear: Fed-up voters in June opted to recall progressive former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, while Democratic attitudes about crime nationwide are adding to party challenges among working class and Latino voters, according to analysts.

The New York Times: Chicago’s choice points to a Democratic divide the GOP hopes to exploit.

President Biden — who juggles judicial and racial equity, gun control and backing for police and law enforcement — may run headlong into a new District of Columbia law opposed in Congress. It would relax sentences for many crimes in Washington and was initially vetoed by Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) before the D.C. City Council unanimously overruled her.

Senate Republicans are trying to put the squeeze on Democrats ahead of an expected vote on that legislation next week, reports The Hill’s Al Weaver. The measure would eliminate most mandatory sentences, lower penalties for some violent offenses, including carjackings and robberies, and expand the requirement for jury trials in most misdemeanor cases. The vote will be close.

Biden could veto a resolution of disapproval and argue an infringement of D.C. home rule, but the GOP would continue to attack the White House and Democratic candidates as soft on crime all the way to November 2024.

“Why the D.C. City Council against the wishes of the mayor in the same party would be downgrading certain offenses — it just defies common sense,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) told The Hill. “I think it will be difficult for anybody [to vote against the resolution] and I think it will be difficult for the president to veto it.”

The Hill: Biden is effectively running for a second term in advance of officially announcing his decision. Just ask first lady Jill Biden (The Washington Post).

Meanwhile, Republicans are not without divisions and drama. The Hill’s Brett Samuels returns to the theme of personality vs. policy among GOP presidential hopefuls. So far, there are two widely known candidates in the 2024 race, and one of them, former President Trump, may have reclaimed his supporters’ enthusiasm enough to send Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis a pointed message.

DeSantis, who is expected to decide this spring whether he’ll mount a 2024 primary challenge to Trump, has fallen below the former president, 47 percent to the governor’s 39 percent, in a Yahoo News/YouGov hypothetical head-to-head survey of Republicans, completed on Monday.

“Outwardly, little has transpired over the past three weeks to predict such a rapid shift in Trump’s standing,” Yahoo News reported. “Whatever the cause, Trump’s February comeback signals that going forward, many, if not most, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents will have no problem returning to their former standard bearer in the absence of some compelling, countervailing force — such as a sharp GOP challenge or a criminal conviction.”

▪ Salon: Former Gov. Chris Christie (R), who is considering a White House run, predicts to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that Trump could be indicted in New York before the 2024 primary. Christie says the former president lacks “intellectual curiosity. And you know, you can’t have a lack of intellectual curiosity, in my view, and be everything you should be as president of the United States.”

▪ Politico: Trump ties Republicans in knots over Medicare and Social Security.

▪ The Wall Street Journal: DeSantis and other Florida officials said on Tuesday that a federal lawsuit over migrants flown last year from Texas to Massachusetts on DeSantis’s orders should be dismissed.

▪ The Washington Post: Last year, ahead of a raid at Mar-a-Lago to remove classified documents under subpoena, the FBI and federal prosecutors argued over Trump.

Related Articles

▪ The Hill: Five things to watch at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

▪ Politico: Trump is poised for a CPAC love fest or face plant. There is no in between.

▪ The Hill: Former Vice President Pence disagrees with presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s call for mental competency tests for politicians 75 and older: “The American people can sort that out.”

▪ The Hill: Why Michigan Republicans are fretting about 2024.

▪ The Hill: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), citing risks of “political violence,” on Wednesday asked Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch to stop Fox News hosts from lying about the 2020 election.

▪ Career shifts: Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), the “homeless Republican,” launched an ad campaign against extremism (Politico). Call her Professor Liz Cheney: The former Wyoming Republican lawmaker is joining the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics (The Hill).

▪ Politico: Dark money and special deals: How conservative lawyer Leonard Leo and his friends benefited from his judicial activism.

LEADING THE DAY

➤ ADMINISTRATION

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday spoke before senior Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he was grilled about the nation’s fentanyl crisis, the flow of drugs and migrants over the U.S.-Mexico border and the Justice Department’s stance on mandatory minimum sentences.

The hearing grew heated when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) accused the Justice Department of showing little urgency in protecting Supreme Court justices from protesters after a decision last summer overturning Roe v. Wade. The exchange was one of the few times Garland raised his voice during the hearing, noting the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision prompted the first time in history that U.S. Marshals were asked to provide 24/7 security at the homes of Supreme Court justices. It was up to agents themselves, however, whether to arrest anyone who approached justices’ homes (The Hill).

“Senator, you asked me whether I sat on my hands and [it was] quite the opposite. I sent 70 United States Marshals to defend [their homes],” Garland said before being cut off by Cruz. “The marshals on scene — they do make the decision over whether to make an arrest.”

▪ CNN: Takeaways from Garland’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

▪ Politico: Garland promises free rein for prosecutors probing Hunter Biden.

“Havana syndrome,” the mysterious ailment befalling U.S. personnel abroad, did not result from the actions of a foreign adversary, according to an intelligence report first detailed by The Washington Post. Its conclusion shatters a long-disputed theory that hundreds of U.S. personnel were targeted by and fell ill due to a clandestine enemy wielding energy waves as a weapon.

The new assessment caps a years-long effort by the CIA and several other intelligence agencies to explain why many serving in U.S. missions around the world experienced what they described as strange and painful acoustic sensations — some so severe they cut short careers. But some are questioning the findings. Mark Zaid, an attorney representing roughly two dozen people experiencing symptoms, dismissed the report, arguing that “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” (The Hill).

“Until the shrouds of secrecy are lifted and the analysis that led to today’s assertions are available and subject to proper challenge, the alleged conclusions are substantially worthless,” he said in a statement. “But the damage it has caused to the morale of the victims, particularly by deflecting from the governments’ failure to evaluate all the evidence, is real and must be condemned.”

▪ Bloomberg Businessweek: Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo becomes a China player in a job where her predecessor used to take a nap.

▪ The Hill: Biden administration unveils long-awaited national cyber strategy.

▪ ABC News: Biden begins push for funding for pandemic fraud measures.

➤ CONGRESS

The Senate, in a rebuke to the Biden administration on Wednesday, voted 50 to 46 to disapprove an environmental, social and corporate-governance (ESG) regulation covering retirement funds (The Hill and The Wall Street Journal). The measure, approved Tuesday by the Republican-controlled House by a vote of 216-204, now goes to Biden’s desk where it is expected to be vetoed, which would be a first for the president. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Jon Tester (Mont.), who are both up for re-election, voted with Republicans to overturn the Biden regulation, while newly-Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) voted no.

The Senate agreed with the House to roll back a Labor Department rule that allows retirement fund managers to take into consideration factors such as climate change when investing in retirement accounts. Lawmakers objected that the rule would politicize investor and free market decision making (Reuters).

A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday proposed legislation to mandate that the Transportation Department tighten safety rules for freight rail, marking the first bipartisan activity on the issue since the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last month. The measure, introduced by Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown (D) and J.D. Vance (R) would increase fines for safety violations by rail carriers, authorize $27 million for research on safety improvements, and strengthen notification and inspection requirements for trains carrying hazardous materials. The bill’s bipartisan nature indicates it may be able to get traction in the Senate, though its future in the Republican-majority House is up in the air (The New York Times).

“It shouldn’t take a massive railroad disaster for elected officials to put partisanship aside and work together for the people we serve — not corporations like Norfolk Southern,” Brown said in a statement. “Rail lobbyists have fought for years to protect their profits at the expense of communities like East Palestine and Steubenville and Sandusky.”

The Washington Post: Biden aides weigh economic aid for East Palestine after derailment.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has invited the director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, Phillip Swagel, in for a full House briefing next Wednesday to discuss its recently released annual budget outlook. The move comes after a slow start to negotiations between McCarthy and President Biden over Republican demands for spending reductions as a condition of raising the debt ceiling (The Hill).

In an interview with The Washington Post, McCarthy said he wants to treat the event with the seriousness of a classified briefing. It will be held in the congressional auditorium, which is used for actual classified briefings and rare events.

“I thought we usually only use the auditorium for really special things like classified briefings on issues that are so big,” he said. “I think this issue is so big.”

McCarthy said he chose Swagel, whose office put out a new debt projection last month, because he’s a nonpartisan figure. As the U.S. heads toward a possible default on its debt in June, Republicans said they’re willing to risk a default if Democrats don’t agree to spending cuts in exchange for raising the government’s borrowing limit. Democrats and the White House, meanwhile, say they won’t negotiate over the debt ceiling.

▪ The Hill: More Americans disapprove of McCarthy sharing Jan. 6 footage with Fox News host Tucker Carlson than approve, poll says.

▪ CBS News: Senior McCarthy aide, House Oversight chairman each met with mother of Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt.

▪ The Hill: Democrats brace for Carlson Jan. 6 footage.

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, made comments during a podcast on Monday criticizing a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for not prosecuting the president’s late son, Beau Biden, when he was alive. The White House slammed the notion as “despicable” (The Washington Post).

▪ Vox: For now, the one thing Congress seems to agree on is China.

▪ CNBC: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) calls for a vote on a possible subpoena for Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz over allegations of union-busting.

▪ USA Today: With COVID-19 on the wane, Congress is back to global travel, on your dime.

▪ The Hill: Joni Mitchell honored with Library of Congress’s Gershwin Prize.

Truth & Consequences? Embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) is back in the headlines.

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (N.Y.) — who was the first House Republican to call on Santos to resign amid questions about his biography and finances — is eyeing legislation that would prevent Santos from profiting off his fabrications if he is convicted of an offense involving financial or campaign finance fraud, intensifying his opposition to Santos amid the lawmaker’s growing controversy (The Hill). Meanwhile, D’Esposito and Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) on Tuesday came out in favor of expulsion.

“His dishonesty is so extensive, and with so many ongoing investigations, he has eroded his ability to serve,” Molinaro told Bloomberg News. “That he doesn’t see this or seemingly understand or care about the damage he’s doing to the institution, his constituents and himself — is so troubling there’s nothing less that should happen. His dishonesty is fundamentally destructive.”

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➤ INTERNATIONAL

Ukraine has sent reinforcements to Bakhmut, according to a senior official, signaling the intensity of fighting in a city that has become a crucible in the east of the country as Russian forces gradually tighten their grip. Ukrainian soldiers have held out in Bakhmut for months, and the death toll has been staggering on both sides. As Russian forces have been rushed to the front line in the east, Ukrainian forces have inflicted thousands of casualties, even at a high cost to their own fighters.

But Alexander Rodnyansky, an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Wednesday that his country’s military “would retreat, or they would give up strategically Bakhmut if they believed the costs of holding Bakhmut outweighed the benefits” (The New York Times and USA Today).

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Wednesday said Moscow would not review its suspension of the New START nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. until Washington changed its policy on Ukraine, Interfax reported (Yahoo News).

▪ The New York Times: In an epic battle of tanks, Russia was routed, repeating earlier mistakes.

▪ Reuters: Soils of war: The toxic legacy for Ukraine’s breadbasket.

▪ The Washington Post: One Kyiv apartment building coping with power outages shows the day-to-day toll of war in Ukraine away from the front line.

A key autocratic ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in China for a state visit this week amid warnings from U.S. officials that Beijing may be considering aiding Moscow in its assault on Ukraine.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will stay in China until Thursday and meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss a range of issues. His trip comes after the two leaders agreed to upgrade their countries’ ties to an “all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership” during a September meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.

China and Belarus called for a cease-fire and negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine Wednesday, essentially endorsing the 12-point plan for settling the conflict that China revealed last week (The Hill and CNN).

Reuters: U.S. seeks allies’ backing for possible China sanctions over Ukraine war.

▪ The Guardian: King Charles III hosting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was “not unusual,” insists minister.

▪ Politico EU: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has his Brexit deal. Now he has to wait for the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland to give its verdict.

▪ The Washington Post: Why Greta Thunberg is protesting wind farms in Norway.

▪ Bloomberg News: Greek infrastructure and transportation minister resigns after deadly train crash on Tuesday.

▪ The New York Times: How an Israeli raid on a safe house ended with civilians killed.

A Nigerian opposition party has said it will launch a legal challenge after Bola Ahmed Tinubu was on Wednesday declared the winner of the country’s controversial presidential elections. Tinubu represents the same party as outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, who Tinubu said he helped propel to the top seat in 2015.

After decades spent behind the scenes, Tinubu launched his campaign for the presidency with the motto: “It’s my turn.” His opponents have called for the election to be held again after long delays at polling stations and allegations of vote rigging (CNN).

Time magazine: Nigeria’s disputed presidential election results, explained.

Here are the world’s most, and least, democratic countries in 2022 (The Economist).

OPINION

■ Is the Chicago Teachers Union the new machine? by The Chicago Tribune editorial board. https://bit.ly/3Zcf00a

■ Biden is pretty good at being president. He should run again, by Dylan Matthews, senior correspondent, Vox. https://bit.ly/3Yd1Yyf

WHERE AND WHEN

📲 Ask The Hill: Share a news query tied to an expert journalist’s insights: The Hill launched something new and (we hope) engaging via text with Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack. Learn more and sign up HERE.

The House will convene on Friday at 9 a.m.

The Senate meets at 10 a.m.

The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 9:30 a.m. Biden will travel to the Capitol to speak at 1 p.m. to a closed Senate Democratic Caucus lunch and return to the White House.

Vice President Harris will join a House Democratic Caucus retreat in Baltimore at 10 a.m. to participate in a moderated conversation, which will be closed to the press.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken today is in New Delhi, India, to participate in the Group of 20 foreign ministers’ meeting. He will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from India, Brazil, the Netherlands and Indonesia. Blinken will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 5:45 p.m. local time, after which the secretary will hold a press conference.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is scheduled to meet this morning with European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis to discuss energy supplies, Ukraine and Russia.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra will visit Moravia Park Elementary School in Baltimore, Md., today for a roundtable discussion at 9 a.m. about maternal mental health. Joining him will be Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D).

Economic indicator: The Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. will report on claims for unemployment benefits filed in the week ending Feb. 25.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff will be in Seattle to speak at a Democratic finance event at 12:45 p.m. PT.

The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 2:30 p.m.

ELSEWHERE

➤ ECONOMY

Don’t worry about that weird extra form you got from the IRS — for now. If you got a new kind of form from the IRS this year that you’ve never seen before and aren’t sure what to do with it, it may be a 1099-K. As The Hill’s Tobias Burns reports, it’s for selling stuff on Venmo, Paypal, Cashapp, Ticketmaster and similar third-party cash transfer apps, and due to some last-minute rule changes by the IRS, it’s generating a lot of confusion among taxpayers and tax professionals — and even within the IRS itself.

Meanwhile, cities across the country are struggling with revenue — in part as downtown areas with high percentages of office buildings never reached pre-pandemic utility levels. In Washington, D.C., a massive budget shortfall will likely put free Metrobus rides and other programs on hold, and the mayor says some government jobs could be at risk. According to revenue estimates released Tuesday, the District faces an $81 million shortfall in fiscal 2024, which begins this October. The city blames a deteriorating real property market for the loss in tax revenue, mostly due to empty storefronts and office buildings downtown.

“I have to say they’re not unexpected,” D.C.’s mayor said of the budget estimates (NBC 4 Washington).

In other parts of the country, transit agencies are budgeting the last of their pandemic-era federal relief and looking ahead to big, ongoing deficits. In California, the Bay Area Rapid Transit is facing $300 million budget deficits every year after pandemic-era federal relief dries up due to lost ridership.

Other transit agencies around the country are facing similar budget shortfalls and a dearth of easy solutions as they expect ridership to recover slowly (Governing). In New York, the governor’s budget proposal includes a multiyear plan to help bail out New York City’s ailing subway system, which is facing a nearly $3 billion budget gap (The New York Times).

Forbes: New York City is losing out on $12 billion annually because of remote work.

➤ HEALTH & PANDEMIC

In a breakthrough that will help millions of Americans afford the drug insulin, drug maker Eli Lilly announced on Wednesday that it will cap the monthly out-of-pocket cost of its insulin products at $35. More than 30 million Americans live with diabetes and more than 7 million of them are dependent on insulin medication (The New York Times). The company said it will drop some list prices for its most common insulin products by 70 percent by late this year, lowering some costs to $25 (Reuters).

▪ Vox: We don’t need to know how this pandemic started to stop the next one.

▪ CNN: COVID-19 vaccine maker Novavax says it may not survive.

▪ The Washington Post: FDA to restrict imports of “tranq,” animal sedative tied to drug overdoses.

▪ The New York Times: This revolutionary stroke treatment will save millions of lives. Eventually.

More than half of all LGBTQ adults in America identify as bisexual, according to a new Gallup poll, a finding that may reshape the national conversation on how human sexuality works. As The Hill’s Daniel de Visé reports, young Americans, and young women in particular, have embraced the notion of sexuality as fluid. Fifteen percent of young adults now identify as bisexual, and bisexual women outnumber bisexual men three to one.

The Washington Post: New state bills restrict transgender health care — for adults.

Information about the availability of COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots can be found at Vaccines.gov.

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported as of this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all vary slightly): 1,120,848. Current U.S. COVID-19 deaths are 2,407 for the week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (The CDC shifted its tally of available data from daily to weekly, now reported on Fridays.)

THE CLOSER

Take Our Morning Report Quiz

And finally … 🍀 It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for this week’s Morning Report Quiz! Inspired by the green good luck of March and the magic of spring, we’re eager for some smart guesses about mythical creatures flitting through headlines, past and present.

Be sure to email your responses to asimendinger@digital-release.thehill.com and kkarisch@digital-release.thehill.com — please add “Quiz” to your subject line. Winners who submit correct answers will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday.

This week in Congress, Democrats and Republicans resumed debating tax cuts and anxieties about deficit spending. Which former U.S. president said, “The great economic expansion our country has enjoyed has had more to do with low tax rates, deregulation and responsible federal policies than with leprechauns. In fact, the only people who still seem to believe in … leprechauns are those who’ve tried to tell us that if we only raise taxes, the budget deficit will disappear.”

Richard Nixon
Ronald Reagan
Gerald R. Ford
Donald Trump

This week in Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed to have photographic “proof” of a creature from Mayan folklore known as ________.

An alux
Loco
Andres
Itzamna

In headlines this week about Musketeers, what is the ELF?

Elfin Lore Federation
Empire Lunge Force
Executive Leadership Foundation
European League of Football

In recent news coverage, “PIXY” referred to ______ ?

A K-pop girl group
Stock symbol for a human resources platform company
A drone
All of the above

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