By Scott Wong (swong@politico.com or @scottwongDC)
DINGELL, ‘BABE RUTH’ OF LEGISLATORS,’ HANGS UP HIS CLEATS – Our own David Nather looks back at the dean of the House’s record 59 years on Capitol Hill: “Congress is losing a lot of policy heavyweights this year, but there’s only one whose career spans from the creation of Medicare to the passage of the Affordable Care Act. In his nearly six decades in Congress, John Dingell has played a central role in more issues than most ordinary lawmakers ever get to touch — everything from health care to energy, environmental laws, food safety and telecommunications policy, and an aggressive oversight approach that cut across even more issues that affect Americans daily. He’s worked on just about every environmental law on the books, from the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act to the National Environmental Policy Act — the law that requires agencies to write environmental impact statements about their upcoming actions. He also played a crucial role in the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990, the biggest rewrite of that law.
– “And Dingell is the Democrat who introduced a universal health care bill in every new session of Congress, keeping the cause alive until the passage of President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement in 2010. He rallied Democrats to keep going, urging them not to let another health care reform effort end in failure. And at the signing ceremony, it was Dingell who sat next to Obama, grinning broadly as his cause became the law of the land. When Dingell announced his retirement Monday, his colleagues didn’t dwell on whether all of his legislative accomplishments will stand the test of time — especially with the ongoing fights over Obamacare. Instead, they mourned the loss of someone who had mastered both politics and policy as thoroughly as Dingell had.”
– “… [W]orking on legislation with Dingell was ‘like playing baseball with Babe Ruth,’” said former Rep. Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat who served with Dingell for many years on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “‘He’s the most accomplished legislator that the House has seen in the latter half of the 20th century and the first part of the 21st century,’ said Boucher, who now runs the government strategies group at the Sidley Austin lobbying firm. …
– “He had plenty of clashes along the way, especially with environmentalists who thought he weakened too many laws to protect Detroit’s auto industry — one of the conflicts that led to his ouster as chairman by Rep. Henry Waxman of California in 2009. And his oversight style sometimes struck critics as too heavy-handed — especially in the case of a 1980s investigation into allegations of scientific fraud that damaged careers, including that of a scientist who was later exonerated. But his legislative skills, and his sheer virtuosity in the range of subjects he took on, won him the respect of his colleagues and even some of his opponents.” http://politi.co/1c3UTrU
IN HIS OWN WORDS – Dingell tells the Detroit News: “I’m not going to be carried out feet first. I don’t want people to say I stayed too long. … I find serving in the House to be obnoxious. It’s become very hard because of the acrimony and bitterness, both in Congress and in the streets.” http://bit.ly/1k46pTC
DAVID MARANISS in the Washington Post: “One could say that Dingell outlasted the two institutions he loved most, Congress and Detroit. Which went bankrupt first is as much a theological question as a political or economic one, as is the question of which might have the better chance of returning to past glory, but there is no question about Dingell’s place in congressional history.” http://wapo.st/NtRabG
Detroit News, A1, “Dingell, Levin departures will shift Michigan’s clout: Lawmakers are longtime allies to carmakers, had key Capitol Hill roles,” By David Shepardson: http://bit.ly/1esA6c4
** Republicans and Democrats finally agree! Congress has bipartisan legislation to repeal Medicare’s broken funding formula. But not if Congress gives up before the March 31 deadline. SGR is the problem; H.R. 4015 and S. 2000 are the solution. FixMedicareNow.org Speaker Boehner and President Obama will meet at 11:30 today in the Oval Office to discuss a “broad set of topics.” Roll Call: http://bit.ly/1foAXAA CHAIRMAN PATRICK LEAHY has set a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for March 26 to explore the impacts of the proposed merger of Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. Reuters: http://reut.rs/1cKWnp3
GOP FRETS OVER TAX REFORM – POLITICO’s Jake Sherman and Lauren French report: “It should be a moment of uncontrolled glee for House Republicans: The chamber’s top tax writer Wednesday will release his vision for reforming the antiquated 4,000-page code. Instead, many of them are fretting. From moderates to conservatives, senior Republican aides to rank-and-file legislative hands, there are serious concerns about Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp’s plans to unveil politically sensitive plans to restructure the Tax Code just a touch more than eight months before Election Day. …[P]ut bluntly, Republicans think they will expand their majority in the House — and perhaps take the Senate — by spending the remainder of 2014 concentrating on a still struggling-economy, cutting a raft of regulations and Obamacare’s woes. Many senior figures see no need to open up a new policy discussion in February of an election year without a partner in the Senate and White House.” http://politi.co/1eeHVqh
– WaPo’s Lori Montgomery has the nuts and bolts: “The long-awaited simplification of the tax code being drafted by House Republicans would slash the top income tax rate to 25 percent from 39.6 percent and impose a surtax on some of the nation’s wealthiest households. Under the proposal, set for release Wednesday, the vast majority of taxpayers would see little change in the ultimate size of their tax bills, according to a nonpartisan congressional analysis of the legislation. But the tax system would be dramatically simpler, with seven existing brackets collapsed into just two, set at 10 percent and 25 percent.” http://wapo.st/1fQ05eu
McCAIN, FLAKE TELL BREWER: VETO ANTI-GAY BILL – Catalina Camia writes for USA Today: “Arizona’s two U.S. senators want Gov. Jan Brewer to veto a bill that would allow business owners with strongly held religious beliefs to refuse service to gays and lesbians. Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, both Republicans like Brewer, sent out similar tweets days apart urging the governor’s action. … Brewer, who is in Washington attending the National Governors Association meeting, is getting pressure from conservative groups to sign the bill, while the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry is seeking a veto.” http://usat.ly/1dqioWY
PENTAGON PLANS TO SHRINK ARMY TO PRE-WWII LEVEL – Thomas Shanker and Helene Cooper write on A1 of the New York Times: “Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel plans to shrink the United States Army to its smallest force since before the World War II buildup and eliminate an entire class of Air Force attack jets in a new spending proposal that officials describe as the first Pentagon budget to aggressively push the military off the war footing adopted after the terror attacks of 2001. The proposal, released on Monday, takes into account the fiscal reality of government austerity and the political reality of a president who pledged to end two costly and exhausting land wars. A result, the officials argue, will be a military capable of defeating any adversary, but too small for protracted foreign occupations.” http://nyti.ms/MSmsJ8
GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, FEB. 25, 2014, and welcome to The Huddle, your-play-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to swong@politico.com. If you don’t already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.
My new followers include @BrandieReiner and @ethanpollack.
TODAY IN CONGRESS – The Senate is in at 10 a.m. and at 11:15 a.m. will vote on the nominations of several judges. After votes, the Senate will recess until 2:15 p.m. for weekly party caucus luncheons. At 3:15 p.m. the Senate will hold a procedural vote on the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act.
The House is back in session at 2 p.m. today with votes expected at 6:30 p.m. on bills considered under suspension of the rules, including the FOIA Oversight and Implementation Act, Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act and a bill making it easier for people to switch cell phone providers.
AROUND THE HILL – Reps. Doug Collins and Hakeem Jeffries speak on intellectual property songwriters legislation at 10 a.m. at the House Triangle. Rep. Michael Michaud and Veterans’ Affairs Committee Democrats speak on veterans legislation at noon at the House Triangle. Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer holds a pen and pad session with reporters at noon at H-144. Sen. Marco Rubio gives a speech on U.S. policy toward Russia at 12:30 p.m. at the Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Reps. Raul Grijalva and Jan Schakowsky speak on the Keystone XL pipeline at 1 p.m. at the House Triangle. Rep. Tim Griffith and the Cong. Friends of Wales Caucus host a welcoming reception First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones at 5:30 p.m. in Rayburn 2168.
Sens. Tim Scott and Cory Booker and former Sens. Carol Moseley Braun, Roland Burris and William “Mo” Cowan mark Black History Month with a panel titled “Honoring our Past and Celebrating our Future: Discussing Personal Journeys and a Nation’s Progress with America’s Black Senators,” at 2 p.m. at the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. At 3:30 p.m. Tim Scott speaks to Howard University students about his Opportunity Agenda and America’s bright future tomorrow in the Howard School of Business Auditorium.
TRANSITIONS – KAT SKILES has been named vice president of marketing and communications for NGP VAN, a leading technology provider to Obama for America and many Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations. She formerly served as the press secretary and director of online strategy for the House Democratic Caucus.
– CHRIS HARRIS, former communications director and senior adviser at American Bridge 21st Century, has moved to Denver to serve as communications director of Sen. Mark Udall’s reelection campaign.
– BETSY SCHMID has joined the Aerospace Industries Association as vice president for national security and acquisition policy, POLITICO’s Jonathan Topaz reports. Schmid had been staff director for the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Earlier, she worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense on defense strategy and the Quadrennial Defense Review.
TEA PARTY TAKES ON BOEHNER, GOP LEADERS – The NYT’s Jeremy W. Peters reports from Dallas: “There is the Tea Party Patriots ‘Fire the Speaker’ petition, which is not to be confused with the FreedomWorks ‘Fire the Speaker’ petition, or the websites variously urging people to ‘Fire John Boehner’ and ‘Pledge to Fire Boehner.’ A new one, ‘Replace the Speaker,’ appeared after Speaker John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, allowed a vote on raising the country’s debt ceiling to move forward. Katrina Pierson would sign them all, but she hardly needs to put her name on a petition to validate her anti-Boehner credentials. Ms. Pierson, a local Tea Party leader here who has never sought public office, is aggressively campaigning to unseat one of the speaker’s top lieutenants in the House, Representative Pete Sessions, a nine-term Republican who is chairman of the influential Rules Committee. … — “Primary campaigns against party leaders are often more of a nuisance than a serious threat, token challenges waged by local gadflies. But what is startling to Republicans this year is the sheer number of candidates who are willing to take on the party’s most powerful players in Washington, and the backing they are receiving from third-party groups.” http://nyti.ms/OxDtJK Wall Street Journal, A1 below the fold, “Tea Party Faces Test Of Its Clout In Primaries,” By Janet Hook: http://on.wsj.com/1lirn4w CLUB FOR GROWTH GIVES CRUZ, PAUL, LEE PERFECT SCORE – Michael R. Crittenden writes for the WSJ: “Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky were among the top Republicans receiving high ratings from the influential antitax Club for Growth, which released its annual scorecard of House and Senate lawmakers on Monday. Mr. Cruz , along with Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) and Rep. Matt Salmon (R., Ariz.), make up a select group of lawmakers from either the House and Senate who can boast of a perfect 2013 and lifetime score from the group. Those three, along with Reps. Trent Franks (R., Ariz.), Tom McClintock (R., Calif.) and David Schweikert (R., Ariz.) were the only lawmakers to receive a perfect 100% score for 2013, according to the group.” http://on.wsj.com/1cjlP1w JOLLY ACKNOWLEDGES FATAL 1989 CRASH – Alex Isenstadt writes for POLITICO: “Florida congressional candidate David Jolly acknowledged Monday that as a 16-year-old driver, he struck and killed a pedestrian. Jolly, who is now 41, discussed the 1989 accident in a Monday interview with 10 News Tampa, saying: ‘It took several years for me to get to a place of peace, but not something anybody would ever get over.’ The disclosure comes a little more two weeks before the high-profile March 11 special election between Jolly and his Democratic opponent, former state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. Jolly, a Republican, is a former Washington lobbyist. The race, for the House seat of the late GOP Rep. Bill Young, has drawn extensive national attention. … The report also said that Jolly was not cited by police in the incident, and Jolly said in the interview that he was ‘exonerated of any culpability.’ He also said he rushed to get emergency help and then returned to the scene.” http://politi.co/1eeDQCB
WHY AL FRANKEN HAS ALREADY SPENT $ 15 MILLION – Michael Catalini reports for National Journal: “A handful of scary political possibilities worry Minnesota Democrats. They fret that the base won’t turn out this year, that conservative groups will blanket the state in negative ads, and that the Affordable Care Act will weigh down the ticket. But Sen. Al Franken is not taking chances, pouring millions of dollars into his reelection campaign even though his seat is widely considered safe and a formidable Republican opponent has yet to emerge. Franken’s campaign has spent more than $ 15 million so far, making the Minnesota race one of the most expensive contests this cycle, ahead of closely watched campaigns in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and North Carolina, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In fact, Franken has already spent 46 percent more than the average amount that it cost to win a Senate seat in 2012—and the election is still more than half a year away.” http://bit.ly/1cKYmJK
MONDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Ross Kapilian was first to correctly answer that Joan Whitney Payson, the granddaughter of presidential aide-turned-secretary of State John Hay, became the owner of the New York Mets.
CORRECTION TO FRIDAY’S TRIVIA – Huddle reader Jonathan Priest points out that there is a second Cabinet member with a degree from Boston College: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Secretary of State John Kerry was the other.
TODAY’S TRIVIA – John Dingell’s retirement means that another Michigan Democrat, Rep. John Conyers, will become the most senior member and the next dean of the House. But who is the most senior woman serving in the House? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.
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** After years of saying “wait until next year,” Congress finally has bipartisan legislation to repeal Medicare’s broken funding formula. This is the news seniors have been waiting for. But we’re not over the finish line yet. Congress must act by March 31st to avoid another costly temporary patch. Let’s pass H.R. 4015/S. 2000, scrap the broken SGR formula and fix Medicare once and for all! FixMedicareNow.org
