It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy.

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Photo by Josh Morgan/USA Today

THIS CONGRESS AND ABORTION
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews ([link removed])
Correspondent

For about 49 years and five months, the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade established legal abortion as a national right.

It is now seven months since the Roberts Court reversed that decision and consequently transformed the political landscape around abortion.

Last week, the anti-abortion March for Life centered its cry for change in Washington on the U.S. Capitol, signaling a shift in the movement’s focus: away from the high court ([link removed]) and toward lawmakers ([link removed]) .

So we thought we’d take a quick look at where Congress is on the issue of abortion.

The Senate

Today, Senate Democrats focused one of their first news conferences of the year ([link removed]) on abortion.

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Watch the Senate Democrats’ news conference in the player above.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and new President Pro Tem Patty Murray, D-Wash., gathered abortion rights advocates and others in front of the Capitol, vowing that abortion policy will again be a priority in the chamber.

It is not yet certain that Senate Democrats will hold a vote on a measure to codify Roe versus Wade. Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told me and other reporters today that the idea is “open to discussion.”

Overall some important dynamics have not changed:
* Sources familiar with the matter tell the PBS NewsHour that Democrats are still focused on the Women’s Health Protection Act ([link removed]) , the bill that got 49 votes last year, well short of the 60 needed to move forward under usual Senate procedure.
* That bill, which sought to codify abortion protections ([link removed]) , is on one end of a tug-of-war between opposing groups of abortion-rights advocates in the Senate.
* The Democrats’ bill would not just codify Roe; it would also block some state restrictions that had been allowed under Roe. In other words, it is an expansion of protections for people seeking abortions.
* This is in contrast to the Reproductive Rights Act, a bill introduced last session by Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Both senators, who voted no ([link removed]) on the Women’s Health Protection Act, said their legislation more precisely mirrors the protections that were provided by Roe and also allows for religious objections to abortion, so that health care workers could not be forced to participate in the procedure if it is against their faith.
* The bottom line: Democrats believe they have 50 votes for their preferred bill to codify abortion rights. That is 10 votes short. But Democrats are not yet willing to discuss compromises with Senate Republicans, whose help would be necessary in getting to 60. And it is not yet clear if and when the Senate might vote on this.

And all of that leaves out the biggest change in Congress: The House of Representatives is now under Republican control ([link removed]) .

The House of Representatives

As Senate Democrats aim to dismantle the Dobbs decision, House Republicans are moving the other way.

On Friday, Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan and dozens of other key Republicans re-introduced a bill to affirm and support the Dobbs ruling.

And earlier this month, in their first week of legislative work, House Republicans passed two anti-abortion bills ([link removed]) .
* TheBorn-Alive Survivors Protection Act, ([link removed]) would make it federal law that health care staff must provide the same lifesaving treatment of an infant who is born alive following an attempted abortion. Some Democrats have argued the bill is redundant and that such births are already protected under federal law. Fact checkers have ([link removed]) noted ([link removed]) that it’s extremely rare for a baby to be born alive after an attempted abortion, and that it would already be illegal to not provide medical care in the rare cases in which that happens.
* House Republicans, joined by three Democrats, passed a resolution ([link removed]) , to condemn attacks on pregnancy resource centers, churches and other facilities who oppose or want to sharply restrict legal abortion.

What comes next

On both sides of the Capitol, committees are still forming and have not yet fully begun their work.

Watch the House and Senate Judiciary Committees in particular for any movement on legislation, as well as any hearings on the effect of the Dobbs decision and the future of abortion in Congress and the courts.
More on politics from our coverage:
* Watch: What we know about the classified items found at President Joe Biden’s residence ([link removed]) .
* One Big Question: Speaking on the classified documents probe, Biden said last week, “There’s no there there.” New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart weigh in on the White House’s messaging ([link removed]) in this case.
* A Closer Look: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defends blocking an African American studies course ([link removed]) in the state’s public schools.
* Perspectives: Can gun safety laws make an impact on the frequency of mass shootings? Adam Winkler, a professor at the UCLA School of Law, explains why, when it comes to mass shootings, the means sometimes matters more than the motive ([link removed]) .

WHO IS JEFF ZIENTS, BIDEN’S NEXT CHIEF OF STAFF?
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Watch the segment in the player above.
By Kenichi Serino, @KenichiSerino ([link removed])
Deputy News Editor, Digital

President Joe Biden is expected to name Jeff Zients, a businessman and former COVID-19 response coordinator, as his new chief of staff, sources confirmed to the NewsHour.

Biden’s current top aide, Ron Klain, is expected to step down in the coming weeks. The change within Biden’s circle of close advisers comes as the administration prepares for a reelection campaign and braces for House Republicans’ promised investigations into the White House and the president’s family members.

Here’s a brief rundown of Zients’ background.

Zients has a history of assisting Democratic administrations.

Zients served the Obama administration in multiple capacities ([link removed]) . The entrepreneur and management consultant:
* Addressed the backlog in former President Barack Obama’s “Cash for Clunkers” program in 2009. The now-halted program offered rebates ([link removed]) for old cars so their owners could buy more fuel-efficient vehicles.
* Led the effort to repair HealthCare.gov after the website’s botched rollout in 2013.
* Was named the Office of Management and Budget’s first-ever “chief performance officer,” ([link removed]) a position intended to help streamline government.
* Also served as the deputy director and then acting director of the OMB.
* Served on the National Economic Council for about four years.

Zients first joined the Biden team as the vice chairman of Biden’s 2020 presidential transition team. He was also widely credited for Biden’s COVID-19 programs, including the oversight of the early stages of the vaccine rollout. However, he was also criticized for rosy predictions ([link removed]) of a COVID-free summer in 2021 as the delta variant took hold in other cities around the world, and for rapid-test shortages in December 2021 as the omicron wave swept through the United States.

Health care adviser Andy Slavitt, who worked with Zients on the White House COVID Response Team, told the NewsHour ([link removed]) that the Biden administration trusts Zients, who’s seen as a problem-solver who immerses himself in the day-to-day details of governance.

Critics are focusing on Zients’ corporate background and role in COVID response.

Zients’ impending appointment, which hasn’t been formally announced yet, has already been met with scrutiny.

Jeff Hauser, founder and executive director of the progressive group Revolving Door Project, said in a statement ([link removed]) that Zients’ private-sector background involves the sorts of corporate practices that the Biden administration ought to actively discourage. Hauser flagged Zients’ two-year stint on Facebook’s board of directors and his oversight of health care companies that paid millions to settle Medicare and Medicaid fraud allegations.

Public Citizen, a consumers’ rights advocacy group, criticized the Biden administration and Zients for failing to make vaccines more accessible for the rest of the world, specifically countries that could not afford them ([link removed]) .

“The United States and [other] rich countries refused to share vaccine technology with developing countries and failed to deliver sufficient vaccines,” the group wrote in April 2022 ([link removed]) when Zients left his role as COVID-19 response coordinator.

“Jeff Zients failed and the world paid the price,” the statement said.


#POLITICSTRIVIA
Serena Golden, @SerenaEGolden ([link removed])
Senior Editor, Digital

Jeff Zients' lengthy resume makes him a familiar figure in political Washington.

But to some D.C. residents, Zients is better known for a role having nothing to do with the White House. Between his stints in the Obama and Biden administrations, Zients invested in a popular local eatery.

Zients, however, divested from that business when he joined the Biden administration.

Our question: What food does the eatery specialize in?

Send your answers to [email protected] or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: The U.S. government defaulted on some federal debt following which war?

The answer: The War of 1812 ([link removed]) . About two years after the start of the War of 1812, British troops set fire to several D.C. landmarks, including the White House and the U.S. Capitol. So the U.S. wasn’t able to fulfill its financial obligations shortly after that. Another instance happened in 1979. At the time, technical problems at the Treasury amounted to a “mini-default,” ([link removed]) or a delay in payments.

Congratulations to our winners: Barry Weinstein and Margaret Huebner!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
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