SCOOP: HERITAGE BACKS CR DEAL — The agreement brokered by leaders of the House GOP’s Main Street Caucus and House Freedom Caucus got a substantial backer today when the Heritage Foundation, a leading conservative think tank, announced its support for the CR deal. “The proposal cuts spending and seeks to end a worsening, self-inflicted border crisis,†reads the statement, shared first with Playbook. “On the spending front, the proposal temporarily reduces non-defense, non-veterans, and non-disaster relief spending by more than 8% from fiscal year (FY) 2023 levels. By maintaining current FY 2023 funding levels for defense and veterans, it marks a nearly 1% cut from FY 2023 spending levels overall. More needs to be done to rein in out-of-control government spending, but this is a start. … “The conservatives in the House of Representatives who crafted this deal are to be commended for taking seriously the two crises facing our nation. The House must continue to fight to secure the border and for more, permanent spending cuts to reduce our ruinous deficit and debt, curb inflation that is hurting American families, and rein in the woke and weaponized government.†(More on the deal — and its long odds of passing — below.) WEXTON PASSES ON REELECTION — Rep. JENNIFER WEXTON (D-Va.) announced this morning that she will not seek reelection in 2024 after finishing her term in Congress due to worsening health concerns. The 55-year-old, who flipped her competitive northern Virginia district in 2018, disclosed in April that she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Today, she announced that further testing modified that diagnosis to “Progressive Supra-nuclear Palsy — a kind of ‘Parkinson’s on steroids.’†“The rare neurological disorder — often mistaken for Parkinson’s because the early symptoms are similar — typically progresses more rapidly, does not respond as well to treatment and has no cure,†WaPo’s Jenna Portnoy writes. In a moving 90-minute sit-down with Wexton in her Leesburg home, Portnoy writes the congresswoman “spoke with difficulty, her words garbled and running together, about her career and plans with help from two staffers, often letting the tears flow. … “Last week she asked [Rep. ABIGAIL] SPANBERGER [D-Va.] and freshman Rep. JENNIFER McCLELLAN (D-Va.) to enter that office through a side door, a sign the meeting would be serious. ‘I’m running for governor in 2025,’ Wexton deadpanned. Both on the shortlist for governor, the women didn’t make a sound. Then Wexton laughed, and they all cried.†A closing gut punch: “She tries to focus on what’s working. Fixing her gaze on her chief of staff and longtime confidante, ABIGAIL CARTER, their eyes red, Wexton said she is determined to tell her story on her own terms. ‘It’s okay,’ Wexton assured Carter, before allowing herself to say how it really is. ‘It’s not okay. It’s not okay at all … I’m going to die, which isn’t fair.’†BIDEN SUES IRS — In a twist worthy of the midseason finale of a prestige legal drama, HUNTER BIDEN filed suit today against the federal government helmed by his father, President JOE BIDEN, alleging that the IRS violated his privacy rights by improperly disclosing facts of his federal tax investigation to Congress and media outlets. Hunter Biden’s legal team focused their 27-page lawsuit on two agents, GARY SHAPLEY and JOSEPH ZIEGLER, claiming that "while Mr. Biden has previously been the victim of various leaks regarding the IRS investigation," the two agents and their attorneys recently "raised the stakes" with recent public appearances, and engaged "in a campaign to publicly smear Mr. Biden." Although Hunter is the president’s son, “[h]e has all the same responsibilities as any other American citizen, and the IRS can and should make certain that he abides by those responsibilities,†Biden’s lawyers wrote. “Similarly, Mr. Biden has no fewer or lesser rights than any other American citizen, and no government agency or government agent has free reign to violate his rights simply because of who he is.†The filing comes less than a week after the younger Biden was indicted on federal firearms charges in Delaware, and just days after House Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY formally opened an impeachment investigation into President Biden that is focused on his family’s financial dealings. THE McCARTHY REBELLION GROWS — Even as a slew of conservative lawmakers have shot down the short-term spending deal brokered by the GOP’s moderate and conservative wings, McCarthy hasn’t yet given up hope on the effort to avoid the government shutdown looming just 13 days from now. "Let’s let them understand what it is and see where they are,†McCarthy told CNN’s Morgan Rimmer on the GOP hardliners opposing the bill. It’s all pretty personal for McCarthy, whose leadership has continuously been called into question by some in his party as the spending debate rages on. In a scalding statement on X this morning, Rep. VICTORIA SPARTZ (R-Ind.) called McCarthy “a weak speaker.†“Unfortunately, real leadership takes courage and willingness to fight for the country, not for power and a picture on the wall,†she wrote. And just as a measure of how much some members are pushing back against the latest proposal, Rep. ANNA PAULINA LUNA (R-Fla.), who is still recovering after giving birth — and is currently on the mend from a fever and infection — has said she would still come to D.C. to vote no on the bill, The Hills’ Emily Brooks reports. “If I'm needed, I’m coming,†she said, vowing to “fly to vote no because I know how important this is.’†Even if McCarthy can salvage enough support for the continuing resolution, a highly partisan bill is almost guaranteed to be blocked by the Senate. Yet when asked about the bill’s obstacles in the upper chamber, McCarthy struck an optimistic note: “It’s a good thing I love a challenge, because every day will be a challenge.†Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line: [email protected].
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