DC Wrap: Johnson says House debt ceiling increase must come with spending cut promise

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Quotes of the week

Exactly. This is why parents should make the choices about their children’s medical care in consultation with their doctors. No need for extreme MAGA Republicans to intervene and limit our freedoms.
-U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, in a tweet responding to Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy saying “parents voices matter.”

Biden’s DOJ labeled parents at school board meetings as “domestic terrorists.” Parents should be the first people to have a say in their child’s education. It’s time to give power back to parents and families.
-U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, criticizing the Department of Justice addressing threats of violence and harassment against school board members. Republicans have argued the department attempted to infringe on free speech.

This week’s news

— U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson says House Republicans will need to promise spending cuts and fiscal controls to get Senate Republicans to okay a debt ceiling increase.

The Oshkosh Republican in a news conference alongside five of his GOP colleagues wouldn’t say exactly what those cuts need to be. But they would be working with House Republicans to figure out where spending should be reduced. He likened the federal government to a business, saying those in charge of government agencies would need to decide how best to reduce their budgets.

“We’re the board of directors, okay,” he said. “You don’t go to the manager and say ‘this is specifically where you’re going to cut.’ You go to them and say, ‘cut your budget 10 percent,’ and then you have those managers do it.”

He wouldn’t say who in the House they are talking with.

Johnson spoke alongside GOP U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, of-Texas, Rick Scott, R-Fla., Rand Paul, of-Kent., Mike Braun, of-Ind., and Mike Lee, of-Utah.

The Senate Budget Committee member also again defended his proposals to turn Social Security, Medicare and other government programs into discretionary spending instead of mandatory spending.

“If we’re going to get ourselves out of the debt hole, we’re going to have to look at everything every year,” he said. “And you can’t just wall off 70 percent of the budget and say ‘we’re not going to look at it, it’s just on automatic pilot.”

He added mandatory spending “is driving us into this debt crisis right now.”

House Appropriations Committee member U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan in a tweet blasted Republican proposals to change entitle programs.

“Social Security and Medicare are EARNED benefits. Working Americans already paid for them,” he said. “House Republicans are trying to back out of commitments we already made. Holding the full faith & credit of the government hostage to hurt Americans is just political theater.”

House Ways and Means Committee member U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore in a tweet blasted Republican proposals to change entitlement programs.

“Social Security & Medicare are Critical to the Security and Health of MILLIONS,” the Milwaukee Dem said. “Americans have paid into these earned benefits for years. GOP proposals for benefit and eligibility cuts could wreck the financial security of America’s seniors.”

The Senate Ukraine Caucus vice-chair also signaled he’s not certain the decision this week to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks from the U.S. military to Ukraine was the right move.

“The question I had is, how are they going to change the dynamics on the field? So I certainly support the people of Ukraine,” he said. “But at some point in time, we’re going to have to start recognizing what the reality on the ground is.”

Watch the news conference.

See Pocan’s tweet.

— Johnson also this week sent a letter to the Secret Service asking for a list of President Biden’s visitors who could have been in the same areas as secret documents while he was vice president.

The ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, signed the letter. FBI agents last week found more classified documents in Biden’s Delaware home, marking the fourth time secret documents have been found there over the last two months. Johnson in a statement blasted the former Dem senator.

“After decades in Washington, Joe Biden certainly knows how classified information should be handled, but he arrogantly doesn’t believe the rules and laws apply to him,” Johnson said. “The public deserves a full accounting of individuals that may have had access to these classified records.”

Johnson’s spokesperson told WisPolitics.com the White House has not yet responded. But the White House has said it is fully cooperating with the National Archives and Department of Justice to ensure any secret documents found are safely transferred to the proper authorities.

See Johnson’s release.

— Johnson also sent a related letter to the National Archives asking for info about its involvement and role in the discovery of the classified documents linked to his vice presidency.

The letter, also signed by Grassley, demands the archives provide a timeline of its interactions with the White House, DOJ, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Biden’s attorneys and others related to discovering the classified documents. The senators wrote they have raised concerns about Biden’s compliance with federal records laws since July 30. Biden’s personal attorneys on Nov. 2 notified the National Archives after finding Obama-Biden administration documents at the Penn Biden Center.

The senators also ask if the archives requested the White House provide documents that include Biden’s pseudonyms and email addresses used during his time in the Obama administration.

Those pseudonyms and emails are:
*RobinWare456 @gmail.com;
*Robert.L.Peters @pci.gov;
*JRB Ware; and
*67stingray.

See the release.

— U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher is again voicing concerns about TikTok policies he says the Chinese-owned company could use to control news Americans consume.

The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party chair in a statement said the social media app’s “heating” policy could allow the CCP to manipulate algorithms to make any video go viral. Gallagher in December demanded Gov. Tony Evers ban TikTok from all state issued devices, which the Dem governor did on Jan. 6. The Allouez Republican also called for a national ban and referred to the “heating” issue as “a national security imperative.”

“This isn’t simply an issue of TikTok promoting one dance video over another, but of a hostile foreign adversary’s ability to control the news that Americans consume,” he said. “Congress should take immediate action to ban TikTok in the United States so long as it remains under CCP control, and in the meantime get to the bottom of how TikTok has used its heating policy.”

See the release.

— U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil this week reintroduced legislation aiming to implement restrictions on proxy advisory firms, which advise institutional investors about shareholder votes.

The Janesville Republican in a statement said the bill would stop the “woke attack on American capitalism.”

“Washington’s reckless spending has already harmed American’s retirements, we don’t need woke political actors harming Americans’ financial futures,” Steil said. “We need to empower investors, restore transparency and accountability, and enhance competition.”

See the release.

— U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has reintroduced a bill to make permanent enhanced tax credits for the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

First enacted through the American Rescue Plan Act, the premium tax credit expansion was extended for another three years by the Inflation Reduction Act, according to a release from Baldwin’s office. The Improving Health Insurance Affordability Act would make this a permanent change.

The enhanced tax credits boost financial help for enrollees with income between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level, and expand eligibility for premium tax credits to those with income above 400 percent of that level, the release shows.

Under the bill, the second-lowest-cost Gold plan would be the benchmark for calculating premium tax credits, which would “substantially reduce deductible and out-of-pocket costs” across all income levels, per the release. And it would expand cost-sharing value and eligibility for certain income ranges.

“We need to protect and expand access to affordable health insurance,” the Madison Dem said. “By making these tax credits permanent, millions of Americans can rest assured they can continue to find the quality health care coverage they need, at a price they can afford.”

See Baldwin’s release.

— Ronna McDaniel is touting the support of all three Wisconsin members of the Republican National Committee ahead of the voter later this week on her re-election bid as party chair.

In an email sent yesterday, McDaniel listed the support of new state Chair Brian Schimming along with RNC members Tom Schreibel and Maripat Krueger.

The email, shared with WisPolitics.com, quotes Schimming calling McDaniel the “best person for the job.”

McDaniel is seeking a fourth two-year term when RNC members meet in California later this week. She’s being challenged by attorney Harmeet Dhillon.

See the email.