Morning Consult Washington Presented by NCTA: U.S. Moves to Prevent Banking Crisis
 

Washington

Essential U.S. political news & intel to start your day.
March 13, 2023
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The Voter Demographics of Major TV Networks

Roughly 2 in 5 voters who watch CNN and MSNBC — and even larger shares of the major broadcast networks’ audiences — are not Democrats, meaning there is a chunk of both the GOP’s base and persuadable voters that Republicans who confine themselves to friendly airwaves miss. It’s one reason Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wants to expand outreach to TV networks beyond Fox News as she helps craft the party’s 2024 debate calendar. Read more from my interview with her here: The Voters Republicans Miss by Sticking to Fox News.

 

Today’s Top News

  • The Treasury Department, Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced a backstop for depositors at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and said depositors at SVB will have access to all of their money today after the tech industry-focused firm failed last week. The moves by the Biden administration sought to contain concerns about spillover effects elsewhere in the financial industry, especially for small and mid-sized banks. (Politico)
  • President Joe Biden is set today to approve ConocoPhillips’s Willow drilling project in Alaska, according to sources familiar with the decision, allowing for one of the largest ever oil developments on federal land. Ahead of the expected announcement, his administration said it will ban oil and gas leasing in the Arctic Ocean and propose new regulations to protect nearly 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. (The Washington Post)
  • Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to file cloture tomorrow on a bipartisan measure that would repeal the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for the use of military force in Iraq, setting up final passage as soon as next week around the 20th anniversary of President George W. Bush’s invasion. It’s unclear if or when the legislation would come up in the House for a vote, though it appears to have the necessary support to pass that chamber as well. (Punchbowl News)

Happening today (all in ET):

 

 

Chart Review

 
 

What Else You Need To Know

White House & Administration
 

US, Allies Prepare Mega Submarine Deal Under Aukus Agreement
Peter Martin et al., Bloomberg

The leaders of the US, Australia and the UK will announce plans for a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines Monday as they deepen the Aukus defense partnership aimed at countering China in the Pacific. Upgrading Australia’s aging sub fleet is a lynchpin of that effort.

 

Vice President Harris to visit Africa in latest US outreach
Chris Megerian, The Associated Press

Vice President Kamala Harris will spend a week in Africa at the end of March as the United States deepens its outreach to the continent amid global competition, notably with China.

 

Border authorities in El Paso fend off large groups of migrants after unruly standoff
Michelle Acevedo and Dennis Romero, NBC News

Much of the boundary along the southern end of El Paso was back to normal Sunday night, Customs and Border Protection officials said.

 

U.S. not negotiating new Venezuela prisoner swap despite appeal, say U.S. officials
Jonathan Landay and Vivian Sequera, Reuters

The United States is not discussing a prisoner exchange as described in a letter and video appeal addressed to President Joe Biden by an American detained in Venezuela, according to two U.S. officials.

 

Kimpson leaving South Carolina Senate to join Biden admin
Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press

State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, a South Carolina lawmaker and early backer of President Joe Biden, is leaving his legislative post more than a year early to take an appointment in the Biden administration.

 
Congress
 

Congress eyes next steps after dual bank failures
Andrew Solender, Axios

The second and third largest bank collapses in U.S. history — coming in rapid succession — are prompting a reckoning within Congress about the state of the U.S. financial system.

 

GOP lawmaker says US should consider raising retirement age for future Social Security beneficiaries
Paul LeBlanc and Tami Luhby, CNN

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina said Sunday that raising the retirement age for future Social Security beneficiaries should be “on the table” as long as it doesn’t affect “anybody that’s heading into retirement right now.”

 

Comer stymies probe into Trump tax records, House Democrats say
Jacqueline Alemany, The Washington Post

House Democrats are accusing House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) of coordinating with lawyers for Donald Trump to stop the former president’s longtime accounting firm Mazars from producing evidence related to Trump’s tax dealings.

 

House Oversight Chair Comer quietly subpoenas bank records for Hunter Biden business associates
Zachary Cohen et al., CNN

House Oversight Chairman James Comer has quietly subpoenaed Bank of America asking for records relating to three of Hunter Biden’s business associates, the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin, disclosed in a letter sent to Comer on Sunday.

 

McCarthy and Jeffries want the House to work. So they started with each other.
Leigh Ann Caldwell and Marianna Sotomayor, The Washington Post

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is known for his calm demeanor, using his words rather than a booming voice to land a rhetorical punch. But at a news conference last month, his voice rose, uncharacteristically, as he condemned House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for supporting the removal of three Democrats from their committees.

 

McCarthy: January 6 tapes to be ‘slowly’ rolled out to networks besides Fox News
Martin Pengelly, The Guardian

The Republican speaker of the US House, Kevin McCarthy, said on Sunday he would “slowly roll out” to networks other than Fox News more than 40,000 hours of security footage from the January 6 attack on Congress.

 

Feinstein, Fetterman absences leave Democrats with fragile majority
Al Weaver, The Hill

Absences in the Senate are becoming an issue for Democrats, leaving them with a fragile majority.

 

House Republicans’ attempt to block staffer unions may have missed mark
Jim Saksa, Roll Call

A report from a congressional watchdog argues that Republicans’ attempt to nix staffer unions in the House rules package isn’t valid, and recent testimony from the agency that oversees Hill worker protections seems to confirm that analysis.

 
General
 

Ex-Trump aide at Fox wrestled with election lies, network’s interests
Rosalind S. Helderman and Josh Dawsey, The Washington Post

Documents show Fox Vice President Raj Shah privately derided the White House’s narrative of a stolen election. But he also pushed back on efforts to dispute the claims.

 

Prosecuting Trump for Stormy Daniels money would include hurdles, experts say
Shayna Jacobs, The New York Times

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into Donald Trump’s payment to an alleged mistress in 2016 appears to be wrapping up, but legal experts say it remains unclear what a criminal case against the former president would look like.

 

Judge in Abortion Pill Case Set Hearing but Sought to Delay Telling the Public
Katie Benner and Pam Belluck, The New York Times

Saying he wanted safe and orderly proceedings, Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk asked lawyers not to disclose the hearing and planned to add it to the public case file only the evening before.

 

DGA alum brings West Coast political firm to D.C.
Alexi McCammond, Axios

Marshall Cohen, who most recently led the Democratic Governors Association as political director, is joining KMM Strategies as a partner and opening its first D.C. office.

 

A third former House GOP candidate alerted to unapproved military records request
Olivia Beavers, Politico

Five Republicans have confirmed what the Air Force calls an unauthorized disclosure of personnel files. Colin Schmitt’s case indicates that the pursuit of records extended to the Army National Guard.

 
Campaigns
 

Republicans release top targets of Democratic-held House seats in 2024
Brittany Gibson, Politico

The National Republican Congressional Committee is eyeing 37 seats next cycle in an attempt to expand the GOP’s razor-thin majority.

 

Inside Pence world’s decision to go hard at Trump at the Gridiron
Adam Wren, Politico

The former VP has been simmering about Jan. 6 for some time. But he wanted to take advantage of his speech before a room full of top political journalists.

 

Biden makes moves foreshadowing campaign to come, angering some liberals
Toluse Olorunnipa and Marianna Sotomayor, The Washington Post

The president is highlighting popular Democratic stances on social programs while also riling progressives on crime and immigration.

 

Trump will campaign in Iowa as decision on criminal charges against him looms
Kate Sullivan and Kristen Holmes, CNN

Former President Donald Trump will travel to Iowa on Monday for the first time since announcing his third White House bid as Manhattan prosecutors near a decision on whether to charge him over his alleged role in a hush money scheme and cover-up.

 

As Trump embarks on 2024 journey, some longtime allies go their own way
Alayna Treene, CNN

As Donald Trump’s onetime campaign manager and a New Hampshire resident, Corey Lewandowski has been by the former president’s side for many of his trips to the Granite State. But when Trump traveled to the state in late January, Lewandowski declined an invitation to appear at the event, a source with direct knowledge told CNN.

 

David McCormick allies hope to avoid a GOP Senate primary fight in Pa.
Colby Itkowitz, The Washington Post

Republican Party officials and strategists have told Pennsylvania businessman David McCormick that if he runs for the Senate again, the party will coalesce around him to avoid the bruising primary battles that elevated flawed candidates in the 2022 midterms.

 

Senate GOP’s 2024 landmines
Josh Kraushaar, Axios

Senate Republicans have been gifted a historically favorable map for 2024, but they are again facing the risk of problematic candidates emerging in must-win races.

 

How Democrats disarmed a brewing Senate battle in Michigan
Nicholas Wu and Burgess Everett, Politico

Debbie Stabenow is headed toward retirement with a concerted plan that’s falling very much into place, with Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) all but clearing the field so far.

 
States
 

California Poised for More Storm Battering on Monday
Jacob Gershman and Ginger Adams Otis, The Washington Post

Californians are bracing for more heavy rain and snow starting Monday evening through Wednesday as residents throughout the state on Sunday contended with overflowing rivers, impassible highways and flooded homes.

 

Florida surgeon general’s Covid vaccine claims harm public, health agencies say
The Associated Press

US health agencies have sent a letter to the surgeon general of Florida, warning that his claims about Covid-19 vaccine risks are harmful to the public.

 

Gun bills coming in Michigan after 2nd school mass shooting
Joey Cappelletti, The Associated Press

Armed with two handguns and dozens of rounds of ammunition, 43-year-old Anthony McRae open fired on the Michigan State University campus on the night of Feb. 13, killing three students and wounding five more.

 
Advocacy
 

Banks fought to fend off tougher regulation. Then the meltdown came.
Zachary Warmbrodt, Politico

Bank lobbyists believe the Fed may now be encouraged to press ahead with tougher rules that it was just beginning to discuss before SVB’s meltdown.

 

Can the United Farm Workers Rise Again?
Kurtis Lee and Liliana Michelena, The New York Times

Decades after Cesar Chavez made the union a power in California fields, it has lost much of its clout. Membership dropped precipitously, from 60,000 to 5,500. It hopes a new law will turn the tide.

 
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
 

Why Fox’s Call on Arizona, Which Was Right, Was Still Wrong
Nate Cohn, The New York Times

It was more a risky guess than a sound decision, and easily could have led to a missed call.

 

You’re Going to Miss Mitch McConnell When He’s Gone
Matt Lewis, The Daily Beast

Whether you’re a Democrat or a non-MAGA Republican, we should be very concerned about who’s going to replace the 81-year-old Republican Senate leader.

 

We Can Prevent More Bank Failures
Elizabeth Warren, The New York Times

No one should be mistaken about what unfolded over the past few days in the U.S. banking system: These recent bank failures are the direct result of leaders in Washington weakening the financial rules.

 

SVB Doesn’t Deserve a Taxpayer Bailout
Vivek Ramaswamy, The Wall Street Journal

Ignore Silicon Valley fear-mongering about bank runs. This is a simple case of bad risk management.

 
Morning Consult