Post Politics Now: Democrats accuse McCarthy of ‘political vengeance’

© Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) addresses the media outside his office at the Capitol on Tuesday.

Today, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is pursuing “political vengeance” by blocking him and Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) from serving on the Intelligence Committee. At a news conference, Schiff accused McCarthy of doing the bidding of “his master at Mar-a-Lago,” a reference to former president Donald Trump. Schiff was a key player in Trump’s first impeachment. McCarthy has also vowed to block Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee, a move that would require a vote of the full House. Omar accused McCarthy of a “political stunt.”

At the White House, President Biden has detailed plans to send 31 of the United States’ premier battle tanks to Ukraine to aid in the fight against Russian aggression. Vice President Harris is heading to Monterey Park, Calif., to mourn the victims of the mass shooting that left 11 dead over the weekend.

7:38 PM: On our radar: Biden to tout economic progress in Virginia

Eric Sham visits a makeshift memorial on Tuesday for those shot in a mass killing at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, Calif. (Sarah Reingewirtz/Orange County Register/AP)

Vice President Harris is in Monterey Park, Calif., where she will meet Wednesday night with the families of the 11 people killed by a mass shooter on Saturday. Her visit comes as the nation experiences a surge in gun violence, and as Democrats in Congress and the White House demand that Republicans join them to ban assault weapons. Here’s what we’ll be watching on Thursday:

• President Biden will deliver remarks on the nation’s economic progress in Springfield, Va. His speech comes as House Republicans are threatening to not raise the debt ceiling unless the his administration agrees to spending cuts — a demand they didn’t make to the previous president.
• In the evening, Biden and the first lady hold a Lunar New Year Reception. The event will be held in the East Room of the White House.
• The House will debate a measure that would ban the Energy Department from withdrawing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve unless it develops a plan to increase the number of federal lands that can be used for oil production. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has already said Biden will veto the measure if it makes it through Congress.
• The Senate will consider a resolution to encourage the prevention of stalking. The measure would designate January 2023 as “National Stalking Awareness Month.”
• The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on efforts to counter Russian aggression. Officials from the State and Defense departments are expected to testify.

7:05 PM: The latest: Elaine Chao responds to Trump’s racist attacks on her Asian American heritage

Former transportation secretary Elaine Chao issued a rare public comment about former president Donald Trump — whose Cabinet she served in — and criticized his string of racist attacks aimed at her and other Asian Americans.

As Azi Paybarah reports, the most recent missive from the former president attempted to link Chao and her husband, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), to the classified documents found in President Biden’s office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington.

“Does Coco Chow have anything to do with Joe Biden’s Classified Documents being sent and stored in Chinatown?” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday. “Her husband, the Old Broken Crow, is VERY close to Biden, the Democrats, and, of course, China,” the former president added.

In a statement, Chao said, “When I was young, some people deliberately misspelled or mispronounced my name. Asian Americans have worked hard to change that experience for the next generation. He doesn’t seem to understand that, which says a whole lot more about him than it will ever say about Asian Americans.” ...

Wednesday’s statement is the latest rupture between Trump, who has announced his third bid for the presidency in November, and a key insider in the Republican Party.

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung, who did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment, told Politico, “People should stop feigning outrage and engaging in controversies that exist only in their heads.”

Chao served as transportation secretary for all four years of Trump’s presidency before announcing her resignation following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters.

While Trump has posted racist comments on Chao before, she has largely avoided responding to him, urging journalists not to quote his inflammatory rhetoric, making her Wednesday response even more significant.

The “media continuously repeats his racist taunt,” Chao told CNN in December 2022. “And so, he’s trying to get a rise out of us. He says all sorts of outrageous things, and I don’t make a point of answering any one of them.”

Read more on her response to Trump here.

7:02 PM: Noted: Jill Biden’s inauguration dresses get their place in history

© Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images First lady Jill Biden presented her dresses and matching face masks to the Smithsonian on Wednesday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

The two ensembles installed in the first ladies exhibition Wednesday afternoon, one in shimmering ocean blue and the other in ethereal ivory, reflect an American history that’s both heartbreaking and reassuring. First lady Jill Biden wore the dresses, with their matching coats, on Inauguration Day in 2021, which was a day that seemed only to have happened by a combination of luck, tenacity and the grace of God.

As Robin Givhan writes, it wasn’t a peaceful transfer of power, but the country managed to begin a new chapter nonetheless.

On that historic Inauguration Day, the first lady wore blue. Specifically, it was a dress decorated with pearls and crystals along with a matching velvet-trimmed coat by Alexandra O’Neill, the founder and designer of Markarian — a young label established in New York in 2017.

“Her designs seemed both timeless and new,” Biden said during the ceremony at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. “And that was exactly what I was hoping to find. Because young people showed up and voted for Joe in historic numbers. And I wanted to reflect their passion, creativity and hope that day.”

The color signified optimism. This was no small thing. It wasn’t a useless dash of poetry intended to inflate a mere dress into something more significant. The hue was a symbol at a time when the country was in need of grace. Americans needed a sign that even if democracy felt like it was falling apart, there remained the possibility that it could be put back together. ...

Gabriela Hearst designed Biden’s evening ensemble and it, too, was made in New York. The ivory, mid-calf dress with its accompanying coat was embroidered with the flowers of each state and territory. “My focus on Inauguration Day was being a first lady for all Americans — doing my part to bring our country back together,” Biden said. The dress expresses that desire for unity, hints at a new beginning and offers a nod of respect to the American garment industry.

Hearst created this ensemble in lieu of a ball gown, something that was unnecessary because there were no inaugural balls, no traditional photograph of the president and his spouse embraced in a dance...

Each is also accompanied by its matching mask. “They’re just small pieces of cloth, but they represent the enormity of what we faced at the time: A pandemic that changed our world forever."

Read more on the first lady’s ensembles and their meaning here.

6:50 PM: Analysis: The GOP gives the Freedom Caucus the keys to the car

© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) and the Freedom Caucus are playing a larger role in the House in the 118th Congress. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

We still don’t know precisely what Kevin McCarthy promised the far-right House Freedom Caucus to salvage his bid to become speaker earlier this month, because McCarthy has declined to offer details.

But whatever that deal might have included, it’s become abundantly clear that over the next two years, the caucus will play an outsize role on the most powerful, and likely to be the most prominent, committees.

As Aaron Blake writes, the new GOP committee assignments have empowered the far right to guide the ship on both fronts. These positions have also given the Freedom Caucus and its allies plenty of power to prevent even more-moderate Republicans from taking hold of the wheel.

While there is no official list of House Freedom Caucus members, they compose about one-fifth of the GOP conference of 222 members.

Read more on these assignments, and what they might mean for the impact of the caucus, here.

5:28 PM: This just in: Meta restores Trump’s social media megaphone after 2-year ban

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, reinstated former president Donald Trump’s accounts on its social media platforms Wednesday after a two-year suspension over his encouragement of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

As Naomi Nix reports, Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg wrote in a blog post that the former president will face “heightened penalties” if he continues to break the social media giant’s content rules.

“The public should be able to hear what their politicians are saying — the good, the bad and the ugly — so that they can make informed choices at the ballot box,” Clegg wrote. “But that does not mean there are no limits to what people can say on our platform.”

Meta’s reinstatement — along with Twitter’s decision in November to lift a permanent ban against Trump — means the former president once again has the ability to reclaim the spotlight using two of the most pivotal social media platforms in the world ahead of a presidential election in which he is a declared candidate.

Read more on this decision here.

5:14 PM: Analysis: Trump shows how ‘just asking questions’ backstops conspiracy theories

On Wednesday, former president Donald Trump introduced the latest consumable element of his policy video collection, a call for the newly created House select committee to answer specific questions about the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. In the abstract, the video seems instantaneously redundant, given that the select committee is entirely predicated on digging around as broadly as possible in an effort to suggest that something nefarious happened to Trump and, by extension, the political right. But in the particulars, Trump’s bullet-point list of queries shows something else: how he — and so many people — use the guise of “just asking questions” to bolster unfounded or debunked conspiracy theories.

As Philip Bump writes, the video, shared by aide Liz Harrington, offers up several questions that Trump hopes the committee will answer. Despite several of them having already been answered and despite all of them being rooted entirely in insinuation rather than specific concerns.

Is there any evidence that there was something being hidden in the first place, something that necessitated the wiping of a device? There is not. There is a sense among Trump and his allies that the Mueller team was up to no good and the “wiping” was used as evidence only of that sense. Trump’s question serves the same desired outcome: insinuating wrongdoing that he and his followers already assume must have happened, despite the lack of evidence for it.

Read more on Trump’s use of “questions” here.

4:34 PM: The latest: Woman pleads guilty to mailing ricin to President Trump in 2020

A French Canadian woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to sending ricin-laced letters with threats to President Donald Trump at the White House and eight Texas law enforcement officials in September 2020, the Justice Department announced.

As Spencer S. Hsu reports, Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, 55, admitted making the ricin at her home in Quebec and mailing the potentially deadly poison from Canada to the recipients, before driving to the Peace Bridge Border Crossing into the United States in Buffalo, where she was arrested on weapons charges on Sept. 20, 2020.

Per Spencer:

“I found a new name for you: ‘The Ugly Tyrant Clown’,” Ferrier wrote in her letter to Trump. The letter was received at an off-site facility near Washington where mail addressed to the White House is prescreened and tested for dangerous substances, according to the FBI.

Ferrier, a computer programmer, admitted in plea papers that she instructed Trump to “[g]ive up and remove [his] application for this election,” after writing on Twitter earlier that month “#killTrump” and proposing that someone should “please shoot [T]rump in the face.” ...

Ferrier has been held pending trial since her arrest in Buffalo, where Border Patrol officials found her carrying a loaded firearm in her waistband, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and other weapons.

Read more on this case here.

4:17 PM: This just in: Biden bans logging roads in much of America’s largest national forest

© Salwan Georges/The Washington Post A truck carrying old-growth trees drives through the Tongass National Forest.

The Biden administration on Wednesday restored protections for more than half of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, safeguarding one of the world’s largest intact temperate rainforests from new roads and logging.

As Timothy Puko reports, the Tongass is a relatively pristine expanse in the state’s southeast that has been the focus of a long fight between environmentalists and Alaskan timber interests. State leaders had persuaded the Trump administration in 2020 to open it up to new roads and logging, reversing protections dating to the Clinton era, in a bid to boost economic development.

Biden administration officials said Wednesday the forest is too important to wildlife habitat — especially fish — and to fighting climate change to go without protections. Its decision, through the Agriculture Department, will repeal the 2020 Alaska Roadless Rule, now making it illegal again for logging companies to build roads and cut and remove timber throughout more than 9.3 million acres of forest.

The rule is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Friday and goes into effect immediately.

Read more on this order here.

3:47 PM: The latest: Archives weighs asking past presidents, VPs to look for classified items

The National Archives is weighing whether to ask living former presidents and vice presidents to review their personal records to verify that no classified materials are inadvertently outstanding, according to two people familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail private conversations.

As Jacqueline Alemany reports, the deliberation comes after the discovery and return of a limited number of records bearing classified markings in recent weeks at President Biden’s home and a think tank bearing his name, as well as at the home of former vice president Mike Pence.

Per Jacqueline, the list of former presidents and vice presidents could include former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and former vice presidents Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle.

An adviser to former president Barack Obama’s office, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record, told The Washington Post on Tuesday that all classified records from his time in the White House had been submitted to the National Archives upon leaving office and that the agency continues to assume physical and legal custody of Obama’s materials.

The FBI’s search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate turned up more than 100 classified documents, capping a nearly year-long quest to retrieve documents from the former president. The search came after two batches of more than 200 classified documents had been turned over to the Archives and the Justice Department.

A spokesman for Clinton told The Washington Post that all of Clinton’s classified materials were turned over to the National Archives in accordance with the Presidential Records Act.

Read more from Jacqueline here.

3:44 PM: Analysis: 2023 is experiencing mass shootings at a record pace

© Ashley Landis/AP A man holds a sign during a vigil outside Monterey Park City Hall, blocks from the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, late Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, in Monterey Park, Calif. A gunman killed multiple people at the ballroom dance studio late Saturday amid Lunar New Year's celebrations in the predominantly Asian American community. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Every mass shooting incident happens under circumstances that someone, somewhere would have considered inconceivable. For Philip Bump, for example, the idea of a mass killing in California’s Half Moon Bay was hard to fathom. How did gun violence erupt in this misty, Pacific town?

The answer, of course, is that gun violence accompanies guns, and guns are everywhere. But there’s also a second circular answer: It happened there because such incidents are soaring in 2023 — particularly in California.

As Philip writes:

The definition of “mass shooting” is subjective. Many observers have centered around the definition used by the Gun Violence Archive, which has been documenting mass-shooting incidents since 2014. That definition holds that a “mass shooting” is one in which four or more people, excluding the shooter, are shot or killed in a single incident.

By that standard, the country had seen an average of 22 mass-shooting incidents by the end of January from 2014 to 2019. In 2020, the figure was 25 — but shootings soared that spring in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic restrictions. In 2021 and 2022, the end-of-January average was 33 incidents. (The Post, it should be noted, uses the term “mass killing” in those incidents in which four or more people, not including the shooter, have been killed by gunfire.)

On Tuesday, the Gun Violence Archive had already tallied 40 incidents so far in 2023 — 21 percent higher than the average in the previous two years.

If we only look at the number of fatalities each year, the pattern is similar. From 2014 to 2020, the average number of deaths in mass-shooting incidents by the end of January was 31. In 2021 and 2022, it was 37. So far this year, 73 people have been killed in such incidents.

That’s in large part because of the 27 deaths in California so far this year. From 2014 to 2022, the state averaged about three mass-shooting deaths by the end of January. This year, there have already been 27.

But even without that surge in California, the United States would be ahead of its recent pace on mass shooting incidents. Take out California’s incident count and death toll and the country is still 50 percent ahead of the average pace in 2021 and 2022.

Read more on this rise here.

3:19 PM: The latest: Democrats hammer GOP plan to impose national sales tax, abolish IRS

Democrats are seizing on a Republican proposal to impose a national sales tax and abolish the Internal Revenue Service as a cudgel against the GOP, even though the bill has few fans even among Republican lawmakers.

As Amy B Wang reports, the Fair Tax Act, sponsored by Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-Ga.) and introduced earlier this month, would do away with income, payroll, estate and gift taxes, and instead impose a 23 percent national sales tax. It would also eliminate funding for the IRS after fiscal year 2027.

Carter told “Fox Business” on Tuesday that people would “much rather have a consumption tax” when given a choice.

“You would actually get to see … what you’re actually earning every week in your paycheck,” Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Ga.), another supporter of the bill, said this month.

But other Republicans are not so keen on these ideas. As Amy writes:

On Tuesday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) appeared to respond to a question about whether he supported the Fair Tax Act by telling reporters, simply, “No.” Representatives for Carter and McCarthy did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

In an op-ed for the Atlantic this week, anti-tax conservative Grover Norquist criticized the reintroduction of the Fair Tax Act as “a free gift to Democrats” and warned the GOP against allowing a small minority of House Republicans to force a vote on it.

Norquist also expressed concern that such a national sales tax, and its accompanying monthly sales tax rebates for U.S. citizens, would essentially create a universal basic income.

And Democrats are already using this plan against the GOP, in the form of lines of attack:

In a joint news conference Wednesday, Senate Majority Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) blasted the Fair Tax Act, saying that it would result in dramatic tax hikes for almost every American, create a particular burden for seniors and “detonate” Social Security. … Jeffries pointed out that older Americans who had already throughout their lives paid into the system through income taxes would be “double and triple taxed” by a national sales tax. … Schumer said such a “doozy” of a plan would never pass the Senate, as long as he was majority leader in the chamber. He also defended Democrats’ ardent and early warnings — even though the bill is almost certain to die — saying that it remained a possibility that the plan could gain traction within the GOP with the support of hard-right Republicans.

Read more on this plan here.

2:50 PM: Analysis: How timing and scale varied in the classified document discoveries

There are now three current or former members of the executive branch who have been found to have had documents with classification markings at their private residences: former president Donald Trump, President Biden and former vice president Mike Pence, who this week reported turning over documents found in his Indiana house to the government, Philip Bump writes.

The similarities between the three situations might lead a casual observer to consider them broadly equivalent, that this is something everyone does, perhaps, and therefore that none of these situations is much worse or better than the others. Instead, the Pence revelation makes clear the ways in which the Trump situation was so obviously an outlier in both scale and intent.

The best way to compare the three situations is by developing a timeline. This is necessarily incomplete; we don’t yet know details about what sorts of documents were recovered from Biden and Pence. But even without that, we can get a good sense of the distinctions between the three scenarios:

Read more on this timeline here.

2:28 PM: This just in: Senate GOP rejects Schmitt’s plea for a seat on Judiciary

Vice President Harris participates in a ceremonial swearing-in of Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), with his wife Jaime Schmitt, center, in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 3. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Senate Republicans rejected a freshman senator’s unusual request for a special waiver to serve on the Judiciary Committee, a move that would have required a more senior lawmaker be booted off the panel.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), a former state attorney general, called for an internal vote of Senate Republicans on Wednesday that would have allowed him to serve on Judiciary despite another lawmaker from Missouri, Sen. Josh Hawley, already serving on the panel.

Fourteen senators voted in favor of and 33 against the move, according to Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who declined to share how he voted.

Schmitt had asked Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) to remove themselves from the committee to make room for him, Politico reported. Blackburn is the committee’s only female Republican.

The GOP had faced criticism in 2018 for its all-male lineup on the Judiciary Committee during confirmation hearings for Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.

“I think we’ve got a system that’s worked pretty well,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said shortly after leaving Wednesday’s meeting.

“I’m looking forward to serving on all those committees that I get selected for,” Schmitt said after the vote.

By: Liz Goodwin

2:00 PM: Analysis from Mariana Alfaro, Reporter on the breaking political news team

President Biden approved sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine, a move that White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said is meant to “help Ukraine fight effectively on open terrain, to defend their sovereignty in their territory and to win back territory that the Russians have taken.”

He added that the tanks don’t represent an offensive threat to Russia.

1:52 PM: Analysis: The plot thickens on George Santos’s biggest problem

© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) is approached by reporters as he leaves a House Republican conference meeting on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

In George Santos’s quest to stay in Congress, the problem that’s loomed largest has been his potential financial improprieties.

The Post’s Aaron Blake says lying about your personal and professional background is unequivocally bad, but things could become untenable for Santos, and for GOP leaders, is if there is credible evidence that he committed a crime. Per Aaron:

That seems to be the red line for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), anyway.

And at the very top of the list of Santos’s legal liabilities are the questions surrounding how a guy who clearly had financial struggles as recently as during his failed 2020 campaign apparently could suddenly pump $700,000 of his own money into his successful 2022 congressional bid.

Santos has changed his story on that front, albeit only slightly and perhaps unintentionally. But it still doesn’t make much sense or track with his previous explanations.

The change came on Tuesday night when Santos’s campaign amended the congressman’s campaign finance filings. The most notable change: He unchecked a box that stated loans of $500,000 and $125,000 were “personal funds of the candidate."

You can read the full analysis here.

1:27 PM: On our radar: Everything you need to know about the heated RNC chair election

Republican disputes over the future of the party will culminate in Dana Point, Calif., on Friday, when Republican National Committee members will select the organization’s next leader.

The Post’s Dylan Wells reports that third-term chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is seeking another two-year term, but some members are pushing for a change in direction after disappointing election results under her leadership. That includes the recent midterms, in which Republicans failed to regain control of the Senate and won a narrower House majority than many GOP leaders had hoped to see. Per Dylan:

Her top competitor in the race is Harmeet Dhillon, a Republican lawyer and the RNC Committeewoman from California. Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO who has spread false claims about the 2020 election and the coronavirus pandemic, is also running.

So why has the race generated so much interest in the party? And how will the election work?

You can read Dylan’s full piece, where she offers answers to those and other questions, here.

1:20 PM: Take a look: Jill Biden donates inauguration ensembles, including face masks, to Smithsonian

First lady Jill Biden on Wednesday donated two ensembles worn on Inauguration Day in 2021 to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, adding to its existing “First Ladies Collection.”

Biden, during her remarks at the event, noted that her ensembles included something that those of past first ladies did not: matching face masks.

“As you know, they’re just pieces of small cloth, but they represent the enormity of what we all faced at the time: a pandemic that has changed our world forever,” she said.

Biden also spoke more broadly about how her fashion received heightened attention when she took on her new role as first lady.

“When I became first lady, I knew that people would start to care a lot more about what I wore,” she said. “And there have been times when I welcomed that spotlight, because I knew that my clothes could help me say something important. Like when I wore my ‘Vote’ boots on Election Day, and my ‘Love’ jacket during our first trip overseas. And then the more mundane times when I wore a scrunchy to the bakery and it ended up on the nightly news.”

You can watch her remarks above.

12:58 PM: Noted: Democrats barred from Intelligence Committee make a Santos comparison

The two California Democrats — Reps. Adam B. Schiff and Eric Swalwell — whom House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) kept from serving on the House Intelligence Committee told reporters Wednesday they were being treated unfairly, and contrasted their situation with that of Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who has admitted to fabricating much of his biography and is the subject of several legal inquiries.

McCarthy allowed Santos to be seated on two committees, focusing on small businesses and science.

Schiff said the speaker is seating “a human fraud” and “a serial fabricator about every part of his existence.” He added that McCarthy seems “perfectly comfortable with it. He needs George Santos’s vote.”

Swalwell said the speaker’s blocking of his and Schiff’s assignment to the Intelligence Committee comes a day after Santos amended his filing to the Federal Election Commission, trying to explain the source of hundreds of thousands of dollars he claimed to have lent to his campaign.

“It’s too rich,” Swalwell said, “that the day that he [Santos] admits that he lied to a federal agency, that the ranking member of the intel committee is pulled off the committee.”

McCarthy argued that Schiff and Swalwell are unfit to serve, saying Schiff “openly lied to the American people” and cited his work on President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. The speaker cited Swalwell’s alleged ties to a Chinese intelligence officer as the reason to keep him off the committee — despite there being no evidence of wrongdoing in relation to the allegation against Swalwell.

By: Azi Paybarah

12:39 PM: The latest: Schiff, Swalwell, Omar assail McCarthy’s ‘political vengeance’

© Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), center, with Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), left, and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Washington. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of N.Y., has nominated the two California lawmakers for the Intelligence Committee in open defiance of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's vow to block them. Jeffries asked that Schiff and Swalwell be reappointed to the Intelligence panel.

Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) criticized House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Wednesday for blocking him and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from serving on the House Intelligence Committee.

McCarthy made the move as retribution for the Democratic-led House stripping two Republicans of their committee assignments. McCarthy, who vowed to act when Republicans won the majority, has said he made the decision based on national security.

“This kind of political plaything doesn’t show the strength of his speakership. Indeed, it shows the weakness of his speakership that he is so beholden to the most extreme elements of his conference,” said Schiff during a Wednesday news conference.

The Democrats said McCarthy was beholden to former president Donald Trump, calling him the “master at Mar-a-Lago” and describing McCarthy’s actions as “political vengeance.”

Both Schiff and Swalwell were removed from the House Intelligence Committee as McCarthy, as speaker, has unilateral power to choose members for select committees.

McCarthy has also said that he wants to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

During the news conference, Omar called McCarthy’s actions a “political stunt.” She added that it is “a blow to the integrity of our democratic institution and [threatens] our national security.”

Removing Omar from the committee would require a vote by the full House, and it was unclear Wednesday whether McCarthy had the votes, because at least two Republicans have said they would oppose such a step.

By: Camila DeChalus

12:37 PM: Analysis: What the Senate Ticketmaster hearing tells us about young voters

© Drew Angerer/Getty Images Penny Harrison and her son Parker Harrison rally against the live entertainment ticket industry outside the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.

Want an example of the power of young voters and of politicians’ eagerness to court them? Look no further than the hearing the Senate Judiciary Committee held Tuesday on whether Ticketmaster has become too powerful.

Writing in The Daily 202, The Post’s Caroline Anders says it began with “the Great Taylor Swift Ticketmaster Fiasco” of November. Demand was colossal, and as millions of her fans swarmed to grab seats for the star’s first tour in nearly five years, the platform suffered a meltdown. Per Caroline:

Outrage ensued, and the Swifties sprang to action. Fan social media accounts morphed into political lobbying tools, demanding that lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) figure out what went wrong. And it worked — at least in the sense that it got bipartisan attention.

On Tuesday, executives from Ticketmaster and its parent company testified as the Senate Judiciary Committee tried to determine whether the platform’s domination of its industry (it controls more than 70 percent of the market for ticketing and live events) is a problem and whether it can be addressed.

Amid all of the hearing’s playful references to Swift’s lyrics, of which there was no shortage, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) distilled the essence of the day: “I think Swifties have figured something out. They’re very good at getting their message across.”

You can read the full analysis here.

12:29 PM: The latest: Biden says U.S. tanks are not an ‘offensive threat to Russia’

© Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post President Biden delivers remarks on continued support for Ukraine in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Wednesday.

President Biden said Wednesday that his decision to send 31 of the United States’ premier battle tanks to Ukraine is not meant as an “offensive threat to Russia” but rather part of an ongoing commitment to help Ukraine defend itself from “the truly brutal aggression by Russia.”

“There is no offensive threat to Russia,” Biden said in remarks at the White House. “If Russian troops return to Russia, they’ll be there, just where they belong. This war would be over today.”

Biden was flanked by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he announced plans to send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, a move that he said would require some time and training for the Ukrainians. Biden said the tanks — which he called “the most capable of tanks in the world” — are the equivalent of one Ukrainian battalion.

“To liberate their land, they need to be able to counter Russia’s evolving tactics and strategy on the battlefield in the very near term,” Biden said of the Ukrainians.

He cast the decision as a measure of U.S. resolve to help Ukraine defend itself, and praised U.S. allies who are also aiding in Ukraine’s defense.

You can read more about Biden’s decision here from The Post’s Loveday Morris, Emily Rauhala, Karen DeYoung and Dan Lamothe.

11:37 AM: The latest: Biden touts record on Affordable Care Act enrollment

President Biden on Wednesday touted a report showing that a record-breaking 16.3 million people selected an Affordable Care Act Marketplace health plan during the latest open enrollment period that ended Jan. 15.

The figure eclipsed all other open enrollment periods since the marketplace was launched 10 years ago after passage of the Affordable Care Act, a signature achievement of former president Barack Obama during an administration in which Biden served as vice president.

“I promised to lower costs for families and ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care,” Biden said in a statement. “Today, we received further proof that our efforts are delivering record-breaking results.”

Lower rates in the marketplace were made available with passage of sweeping legislation aimed at shoring up the nation’s economy during the coronavirus pandemic. Those rates were extended in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law.

11:28 AM: The latest: Aguilar says it’s ‘ridiculous’ for McCarthy to block Democrats from intelligence panel

© Sarah Silbiger/For The Washington Post Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 30.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Democratic caucus, said Wednesday that it was “ridiculous” for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to block Reps. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from serving on the House Intelligence Committee.

“I think it’s ridiculous that the speaker would kick two good members who know a lot about the intelligence world off of the committee, while at the same time seating George Santos and giving him two committee assignments,” Aguilar said, referring to the New York Republican who has acknowledged fabricating key parts of his background but declined calls to resign from Congress.

Aguilar said Schiff and Swalwell “were advanced by the Democratic caucus and our leader to serve in this … capacity.”

“It’s unfortunate,” Aguilar said, “but it is the speaker’s prerogative, just like it’s his prerogative to seat George Santos on two committees in Congress while we are completely uncertain as to what aspects of his life he’s ever told the truth on.”

As speaker, McCarthy has the final say as to who sits on select committees, including the intelligence panel. McCarthy has also vowed to keep Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) off the Foreign Affairs Committee, a move that would require a vote of the full House.

Aguilar said the Democratic caucus stands ready to oppose such an attempt if McCarthy moves forward.

“The Democratic caucus is supportive of her serving in this capacity,” he said.

11:10 AM: The latest: Harris tells House Democrats, ‘Let’s take back the flag’

© Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Vice President Harris, center, walks with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), front right, and House Democratic Whip Katherine M. Clark (D-Mass.), front left, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday.

Vice President Harris was like a coach trying to rally her team during her first visit this year with House Democrats on Wednesday morning.

Harris was at the Capitol to energize the Democratic caucus and emphasize that they can still wield influence in the minority if they stick together.

“For some of you, welcome to the minority,” Harris said. “It’s going to be different.”

Multiple people in the room said Harris stressed spending time away from Washington and reminding voters often of what a Democratic majority in Congress was able to achieve, specifically highlighting the infrastructure law, the sweeping health, climate change and inflation reduction act, and the law focused on boosting domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

What resonated most with some swing-state Democrats was Harris’s reminder to the group that they should not let Republicans dominate the political debate with the claim that they are the party that loves America.

“Let’s take back the flag. Democrats love our country, and we have to message that,” Harris said.

Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) said she was struck by that line and did feel motivated to stress to her swing-district constituents that Democrats “are as patriotic as they are.”

“It was like a coach’s motivational speech,” Wild said. “If a football team is down, like as we’re in the minority, don’t let that dictate how you play this game.”

By: Marianna Sotomayor

10:44 AM: On our radar: Biden, Harris heading to Pennsylvania on Feb. 3

© Caroline Gutman/For The Washington Post President Biden speaks at a Democratic rally at Temple University in Philadelphia on Nov. 5, ahead of the midterm elections.

President Biden and Vice President Harris are planning to travel to the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania on Feb. 3, days ahead of the president’s State of the Union address, the White House announced.

The trip to Philadelphia is official White House travel but could provide a preview of what we’ll hear on the campaign trail in 2024.

According to the White House, Biden and Harris will speak about “the progress we have made and their work implementing the Biden-Harris economic agenda that continues to deliver results for the American people.” No additional details were provided.

Biden will deliver the State of the Union address on Feb. 7.

Biden carried Pennsylvania over Donald Trump in 2020 after Trump narrowly prevailed in the Keystone State in 2016 over Hillary Clinton.

Both Biden and Harris campaigned during the 2022 midterm elections in Pennsylvania, where Democrats won key races for Senate and governor.

10:17 AM: Noted: Dead whales and tough economics bedevil Biden’s wind energy push

© Rachel Wisniewski/Reuters People stand next to a dead humpback whale that washed up on the beach in Brigantine, N.J., on Jan. 13.

The school-bus-size humpback whale that washed ashore on a narrow beach in Brigantine, N.J., this month weighed in at 12 tons and took a heavy emotional toll on coastal towns helplessly witnessing a spate of such deaths.

The humpback was one of nine large whales to get stranded over six weeks on or near beaches in the Northeast, not far from where developers of hundreds of offshore wind turbines are engaged in a flurry of preconstruction activity. The deaths have prompted pushback against the projects even though government scientists say they are unrelated, The Post’s Evan Halper, Timothy Puko and Dino Grandoni report. Per our colleagues:

It’s the latest in a string of threats to a fledgling offshore wind industry that climate advocates say is central to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Surging costs from inflation and labor shortages have developers saying their projects may not be profitable.

A raft of lawsuits and pending federal restrictions to protect sensitive wildlife could further add to costs. The uncertainty has clouded bright expectations for massive growth in U.S. offshore wind, which the Biden administration and several state governments have bet big on in their climate plans.

You can read the full story here.

9:55 AM: Analysis: Sen. Manchin doubles down on electric car subsidies, despite Europe’s wrath

© Sarah Silbiger/For The Washington Post Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) at the Capitol. (Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post)

Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) unveiled a bill Wednesday to halt tax credits for electric vehicles that don’t satisfy the battery sourcing requirements in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Writing in The Climate 202, The Post’s Maxine Joselow says the measure could increase tensions in Europe, where leaders already worry that America’s climate law will unfairly disadvantage their clean-energy industries, and in Washington, where the Biden administration is still racing to implement the landmark law. Per Maxine:

The legislation, dubbed the American Vehicle Security Act, would direct the Treasury Department to stop issuing tax credits for EVs that don’t comply with the climate law’s battery sourcing provisions.

The law provides buyers of EVs a credit of up to $7,500 — but only if the vehicle’s battery components were made in North America.

To qualify for the full credit, the vehicle’s battery also must contain at least 40 percent critical minerals from the United States or a country with which the United States has a free-trade agreement.

You can read the full analysis here.

9:29 AM: Noted: More people think Trump acted illegally on documents than Biden

© Carolyn Kaster/AP The access road to President Biden's home in Wilmington, Del., is seen from a media van on Jan. 13, 2023.

More Americans believe former president Donald Trump acted illegally by retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate than President Biden did by retaining some at his Delaware home and in a former office in Washington used after his vice presidency, a new CNN poll finds.

In the poll, 52 percent think Trump has done something illegal, while 32 percent think he has done something unethical but not illegal, and 15 percent think he has done nothing wrong.

By contrast, 37 percent think Biden has done something illegal, while 44 percent think he has done something unethical but illegal, and 18 percent think he has done nothing wrong.

The poll was conducted before news that classified documents were found at the Indiana home of former vice president Mike Pence.

There are large differences based on party affiliation in how Americans view the controversy over Biden’s retention of documents, the CNN poll finds.

For example, most Democrats say Biden’s actions were unethical but not illegal (55 percent), while most Republicans say he’s acted illegally (64 percent).

Meanwhile, Democrats (74 percent) largely approve of how Biden’s administration has handled the discovery of classified documents, while most Republicans (85 percent) disapprove.

9:04 AM: This just in: Biden to speak on support for Ukraine

© Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post President Biden makes his way to the Oval Office of the White House on Monday.

President Biden plans Wednesday to deliver remarks on the continuing U.S. support for Ukraine, the White House announced.

The appearance, scheduled for noon Eastern time, comes as the Biden administration is expected to announce that it will send the main U.S. battle tank, the M1 Abrams, to Ukraine for the first time.

A senior U.S. official with knowledge of the situation said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, that Washington is expected to send at least 30 tanks, though probably not until at least the fall, The Post’s Loveday Morris, Emily Rauhala, Karen DeYoung and Dan Lamothe report.

You can read more from our colleagues here.

8:42 AM: Analysis: Republicans are hardly unified on wanting to cut Medicare

© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post President Donald Trump participates in a debate on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville, on Oct. 22, 2020.

Looming spending battles have reignited a politically treacherous debate.

Some House Republicans have started weighing a series of legislative proposals targeting Social Security and Medicare, which are often considered the third rail in American politics. The effort is part of a broader pledge to slash federal spending.

Writing in The Health 202, The Post’s Rachel Roubein says that any notion of cuts to the programs will hit resistance from the White House and congressional Democrats. And it’s not clear that all House Republicans would be on board or what exactly such a plan would look like. Per Rachel:

It could face pushback from some in the party ahead of the 2024 elections, such as populist Republicans, with former president Donald Trump already issuing a warning to his party to avoid cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

Republicans have pledged to balance the budget over the next 10 years, and have also indicated that they plan to extract major concessions from the fight over the debt ceiling, where Congress must pass legislation that raises or suspends the amount the government can borrow.

You can read the full analysis here.

8:23 AM: Noted: State fiscal leaders urge McCarthy to move ahead on debt ceiling

© Erin Cox/The Washington Post Maryland Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman (D), shown speaking in Annapolis, Md., on Monday, is among the state fiscal leaders urging an increase in the nation's debt ceiling.

Treasurers and comptrollers in a dozen states and New York City are urging House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to “honor the Constitution” and allow a vote on legislation raising the nation’s debt ceiling without insisting on spending reductions in return.

“We are concerned that the United States Government will be forced to default on its debt which would have severe consequences for the states and municipalities we serve, the U.S. economy and the day-to-day lives of the American people,” wrote the officials from largely Democratic-leaning states in a letter to McCarthy dated Tuesday.

House Republicans are insisting on yet-unspecified spending cuts in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling — a posture they didn’t take during the tenure of former president Donald Trump, when the limit was raised three times.

The treasurers and comptrollers warn of grave consequences if the United States defaults on its debt.

“Mortgage rates would increase, putting home ownership and mortgage refinancing further out of reach of many Americans,” the letter says. “Automobile loan rates and car payments would increase, increasing the monthly expenses of Americans who want to buy new cars or need to replace aging cars right at the moment that inflation is subsiding. The cost of personal loans would increase, hurting any American who needs access to finance to manage a health shock. The cost of credit card debt would increase crushing the millions of Americans who depend on access to affordable finance to manage their liquidity from paycheck to paycheck.”

The officials represent Maryland, Oregon, Nevada, Massachusetts, Vermont, Illinois, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maine, Colorado, Washington state, Connecticut and New York City.

House GOP eyes Social Security, Medicare amid spending battle

8:05 AM: Analysis: Budget school is in session as House GOP seeks to educate members about debt ceiling

© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) departs a House Republican Steering Committee meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 11.

As Washington prepares for a drawn-out clash over raising the debt limit, House Republican leaders are embarking on an education campaign to make sure their members understand how the debt limit works, the consequences of failing to raise the ceiling, and the difference between a garden-variety government shutdown and a potential debt default.

Writing in The Early 202, The Post’s Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer report that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) will speak Wednesday at the weekly lunch of the Republican Study Committee, the largest group of House Republicans. Per our colleagues:

“Some of it will be [about] the proper messaging, making sure that people that are less informed about the process don’t go out and make statements that alarms people on both sides of the aisle,” said one conservative House Republican who will attend the meeting and who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

House Republicans have been united in demanding concessions on spending cuts from President Biden and Democrats in exchange for lifting the nation’s borrowing limit, which the Treasury Department said must be done no later than June to avoid a potential default.

But some GOP members have made statements on social media or in interviews that show a lack of understanding about the policy details regarding the legal limit on how much the government can borrow and what could happen if that cap isn’t increased in time.

You can read the full analysis here.

7:44 AM: The latest: How George Santos wooed investors for alleged Ponzi scheme

© Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) looks for the exit as reporters trail hiim following a vote at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.

George Santos, the 34-year-old freshman Republican congressman from New York, has lied brazenly about key aspects of his biography, drawing the scrutiny of the House Ethics Committee and multiple other entities.

Our colleagues Jonathan O’Connell, Isaac Stanley-Becker, Emma Brown and Samuel Oakford have more on what Santos was up to before the election. Their story focuses on Santos’s role at Harbor City Capital, the Florida-based investment firm where he worked, before the Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit in April 2021.

The suit alleges that the firm defrauded investors of millions of dollars in a “classic Ponzi scheme.” Santos has said he was unaware of any fraud. The piece opens with a scene that one participant compared to “a mafia movie.” Per our colleagues:

Santos graciously welcomed his three guests to Il Bacco Ristorante in Queens. Restaurant staff took their coats at the door and escorted them to a private dining room upstairs. Santos had with him business cards from Harbor City Capital.

He was ready to make his pitch.

With him that night in November 2020 was Christian Lopez, who two years prior was badly injured when a drunk driver smashed into his parked car near where he lived in Queens. His injuries required four surgeries. Lopez had been awarded $2 million in insurance money two months earlier — a fact that Lopez’s attorney said she had shared with Santos, a longtime acquaintance.

“I felt like we were in ‘Goodfellas,’ like we were in a mafia movie,” Lopez, 35, told The Washington Post. “They were like, ‘Hello, I see you are here with George, right this way.’ Bringing us to this fancy restaurant and doing all this, I felt like he was doing it to capture us.”

You can read the full story here.

7:22 AM: Analysis: Will Republicans move against Rep. Omar?

© Salwan Georges/The Washington Post Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) speaks at an event outside the Capitol in Washington on July 20, 2020.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced Tuesday night that he is going to remove Reps. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from the House Intelligence Committee for the “misuse” of the committee during the last two Congresses. This has long been expected and something McCarthy has the power to do unilaterally.

Writing in The Early 202, The Post’s Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer note that McCarthy did not mention Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) during remarks to reporters on Tuesday or in a letter to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). McCarthy previously said she should be denied a spot on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Per our colleagues:

Because the Foreign Affairs Committee is not a select committee, the full House would need to vote to eject Omar from it. And McCarthy might not have the votes.

McCarthy and other Republicans have called for Omar’s removal from the panel over past comments that members from both parties have criticized as antisemitic. Omar apologized and has accused Republicans of ginning up “fear and hate against Somali Americans and anyone who shares my identity” in their effort to remove her from the foreign affairs panel.

Two House Republicans — Reps. Victoria Spartz (Ind.) and Nancy Mace (S.C.) — said they wouldn’t vote to remove Omar. Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio) appeared reluctant, telling us last week that it’s a “bad precedent” and creates a “retaliatory issue.”

You can read The Early 202 in full here.

7:00 AM: On our radar: Harris to visit Monterey Park, Calif., shooting site

© Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images The names of the 11 people killed by a gunman were written on crosses at a vigil in front of Monterey Park's City Hall on Tuesday.

Vice President Harris will visit Monterey Park, Calif., on Wednesday to mourn the victims of the shooting that left 11 dead over the weekend.

While President Biden has not said whether he will visit Monterey Park or Half Moon Bay, Calif. — the site of another massacre that occurred Monday night — he noted Tuesday that Harris would be returning to her home state to visit affected communities.

“As we grieve Saturday’s mass shooting in California, we already face two more this week alone in Half Moon Bay and Oakland,” Harris said on Twitter on Tuesday. “Tomorrow I will visit Monterey Park to stand and mourn with the community.”

Harris is scheduled to lay a wreath at a memorial in honor of the 11 people killed by a gunman at a dance studio amid Lunar New Year celebrations on Saturday night. She also plans to meet with families of victims and with Brandon Tsay, the worker who disarmed the gunman at a second dance club.

6:50 AM: The latest: White House unveils new tenant protections amid soaring rental costs

© Joe Raedle/Getty Images An “Apartments for Rent” sign hangs in front of a building in Miami Beach in December.

Under pressure to address the nation’s soaring housing costs, the Biden administration on Wednesday announced significant new actions to protect tenants and make renting more affordable.

The Post’s Rachel Siegel reports that the announcement involves multiple federal agencies that will gather information on unfair housing practices. It also includes a “Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights” that, while not binding, sets clear guidelines to help renters stay in affordable housing. Per Rachel:

The White House is also launching a call to action, dubbed the “Resident-Centered Housing Challenge,” that aims to get housing providers as well as state and local governments to strengthen policies in their own markets.

After months of deliberation, the moves come as the housing market continues to pose a serious problem for people who don’t own their homes — and for the economy overall.

While inflation has fallen for the past six months, average rental prices have continued to increase rapidly, disproportionately hurting vulnerable households that spend the bulk of their budgets on rent. Meanwhile, the country is stuck in a massive housing shortfall, complicating efforts to lower costs or simply find enough places for the 44 million American renter households to go.

You can read Rachel’s full story here.

6:49 AM: On our radar: Possible retirements before 2024 have Senate Democrats on edge

© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Sen. Joe Manchin III’s office said new federal legislation aims to advance a variety of technologies that can curb emissions.

Senate Democrats returned to Washington to wield their newly expanded majority this week, but the specter of potential retirements in their ranks is already raising anxiety about their prospects in the next election.

The Post’s Liz Goodwin reports that Democrats will be defending a sprawling map of 23 Senate seats in 2024, and three of their incumbents are in states that President Donald Trump won in 2020 — Ohio, West Virginia and Montana. They are also defending seats in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan. Per Liz:

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) plans to run for reelection, he says, but Democrats are holding their breath waiting for Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) to decide whether they will stick around for reelection battles in red states where they’ve shown surprising staying power.

The suspense comes as national Democrats face questions about whether they will back newly independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema should she run for reelection in Arizona or throw their support behind her likely Democratic challenger, Rep. Ruben Gallego, who announced his run earlier this week.

You can read Liz’s full story here.

6:47 AM: On our radar: White House zeroes in on its next top economist

© Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post Lael Brainard, vice chair of the Federal Reserve, is being considered as the next leader of the National Economic Council.

President Biden is close to naming the next head of the National Economic Council, the top economic position in the White House, and Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard has emerged as a top contender, according to three people familiar with the deliberations.

The choice of Brainard, 61, would be welcomed by liberals, given her support for strict regulation of Wall Street and her attention to the effects of climate change on the financial world, The Post’s Tyler Pager, Jeff Stein and Rachel Siegel report. Per our colleagues:

If selected, she would assume the influential position after the current NEC director, Brian Deese, leaves the White House, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

Deese, who helped guide the White House through the turbulent recovery from the covid-driven economic downturn, is expected to leave soon, though he has not set an official departure date.

In addition to Brainard, Biden is also considering Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo; Wally Adeyemo, the deputy treasury secretary; Gene Sperling, a senior adviser to Biden who ran the NEC under President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama; Sylvia Burwell, the former secretary of Health and Human Services and current president of American University; and Bharat Ramamurti, the deputy NEC director.

You can read the full story here.

6:44 AM: The latest: McCarthy blocks Democrats Schiff, Swalwell from Intelligence Committee

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday he will block Reps. Adam B. Schiff and Eric Swalwell from serving on the House Intelligence Committee, days after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) formally recommended that the California Democrats be reappointed to the panel.

The Post’s Mariana Alfaro and Marianna Sotomayor report that McCarthy has argued that both Schiff and Swalwell are unfit to serve on the committee, citing Schiff’s work conducting the first impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump and Swalwell’s alleged ties to a Chinese intelligence operative. There has been no evidence of wrongdoing in relation to the allegation against Swalwell. Per our colleagues:

“This is not anything political. This is not similar to what the Democrats did,” McCarthy told reporters Tuesday evening. “Those members will have other committees, but the Intel committee, the Intel committee’s responsibility is a national security. … I respect Hakeem Jeffries’s support of his conference and his people. But integrity matters.”

Unlike most committees, where party leaders control their appointees, the speaker has final say over who sits on the Intelligence panel.

McCarthy declined to answer multiple questions on whether he will try to keep Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from serving on the Foreign Affairs committee — a move that would require a majority vote in the full House.

You can read the full story from Mariana and Marianna here.

6:42 AM: Noted: A leader in gun-control efforts, California confronts its limits

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), left, and state Assemblyman Phil Ting (D) during a Tuesday news conference in response to the mass killing in Half Moon Bay, Calif. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle/AP)

California’s efforts to reduce gun violence have long been a point of pride among the state’s liberal lawmakers. But a sense of futility and despair infused the response of many political leaders Tuesday in the bitter aftermath of three mass shootings in as many days.

The Post’s Scott Wilson, Mark Berman and Reis Thebault report that at least 19 people have been fatally shot in mass attacks since Saturday evening, when a 72-year-old gunman in Monterey Park, Calif., opened fire inside a dance studio popular with the elderly Asian American community. Eleven people died in this city on the edge of Los Angeles, and then on Monday, two shootings in the Bay Area killed eight others. Per our colleagues:

State lawmakers have imposed mandatory waiting periods on the purchase of firearms. They have banned military-style assault rifles, one of only eights states along with D.C., to do so. The state has a “red flag” law that allows guns to be seized from people believed to be a threat. And California voters overwhelmingly approved a limit on the number of bullets allowed in a gun’s magazine, a measure caught up for years in the courts.

But the consensus among many lawmakers Tuesday was that there are simply too many firearms in the country and too many ways to get hold of them without a national effort to pass stricter gun measures.

You can read the full story here.