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John:
Hello from Capitol Hill.
Welcome back from another eventful weekend on Capitol Hill. This is the final week of session before Congress breaks for the Memorial Day recess – an exceptionally consequential date for Congress this year. Last week, the Budget committee failed to stitch together the full budget resolution by four votes, tanking plans to move the bill and creating procedural hurdles for leadership. In response, Speaker Mike Johnson and Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington scheduled a follow up markup on Sunday night (an indicator of leadership’s feelings about how the first markup went down). After lengthy negotiations and some changes to the bill, leadership was able to talk the four “nays” into voting present, clearing the way for the bill to head to the floor. While the House Freedom Caucus stated that the bill “does not yet meet the moment,” the House Rules committee is set to mark up the bill on Wednesday… at 1am. President Trump joined the House Republican Conference meeting this morning where he advocated for Republican unity on the bill and its swift passage. Speaker Johnson is doubling down on his deadline of Memorial Day for passage of the House’s budget resolution bill, warning that members will be held here for votes until the House passes the bill.
In more somber news, former President Joe Biden was diagnosed with Stage 4, incurable prostate cancer that has metastasized into his bone. Support, well wishes, and prayers flowed in from across the political spectrum, including President Trump. This unfortunate news came just days before Jake Tapper’s new book “Original Sin,” detailing President Biden’s physical and mental decline while in office. While virtually all pundits expressed sympathy to Biden, many on the right argued that such an advanced cancer, especially for a President under constant medical supervision, does not appear without symptoms in just six months. Zeke Emmanuel, an oncologist and brother to the once mayor of Chicago Rahm, theorized that Biden likely had prostate cancer at the beginning of his presidency in 2021. In conjunction with the signs of advanced aging observed during the following years and open investigations regarding the degree to which staff effectuated the office of the Presidency, many citizens are at best left with concerns that the Biden presidency was not everything they were told it was. At worst, they see a conspiracy against the American people.
President Trump returns from his widely covered tour of the Middle Eastern gulf states, returning with a reported $2 trillion in economic investment for the United States. Not finished with his overseas engagements, on Monday, Trump participated in a two-hour long call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia in effort to create a ceasefire and eventual end to the war with Ukraine. Both the White House and Kremlin described the call as productive: President Trump said that Russia and Ukraine will immediately begin negotiating a ceasefire, and that both were offered trade deals and American investment to incentivize the end of the war. Finally, President Trump signed the Take It Down Act, a law to criminalize spreading intimate, revenge porn, or similar images of people without their consent (including AI generated images). This is considered a major win for First Lady Melania Trump, who has championed the legislation as part of her Be Best campaign.
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Sincerely,
Jake Chebowski
Government Relations
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