Hot Dish 06.18.24

By Sydney Kashiwagi

Good morning and welcome back to D.C. Dish. House members are back in their districts all this week but the U.S. Senate is charging ahead with a full agenda.

First, Senate Democrats are moving forward with another reproductive rights-focused bill ahead of the two-year anniversary of the U.S Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

ABORTION: Democrats have been attempting unsuccessfully to move reproductive rights bills in the Senate before the June 24 anniversary of the Dobbs decision. It’s also an attempt to contrast their party with Republicans before the November elections. But so far, Republicans have blocked Democrats’ attempts. Last week, Republicans blocked their effort to create nationwide protections on in-vitro fertilization (IVF), and they blocked another attempt the week before to protect contraception access.

Republican Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama and Ted Cruz of Texas introduced their own version of an IVF protections bill that would have barred states from receiving Medicaid funding if they banned access to IVF, which Democrats blocked last week.

This week, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced he is moving the Reproductive Freedom for Women Act forward. It’s a bill that would enshrine the right to an abortion into federal law. The bill is co-sponsored by Minnesota’s Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, who also backed the last two recent reproductive rights bills.

Back in Minnesota, Rep. Ilhan Omar plans to hold a press conference on reproductive rights today in Minneapolis with state lawmakers and advocates ahead of the Dobbs anniversary.

“Republicans were supportive of banning bump stocks when the Trump administration took this step after the shooting in Las Vegas—the deadliest in American history,” Schumer posted. “They should support it when I bring the bill to the Senate floor.”

CD5: The rematch between Omar and Don Samuels is racheting up ahead of the August primary. Omar released her first ad of the cycle last week, paying homage to the state that welcomed her as a refugee and taught her how to organize. Her supporters touted the policies she’s backed in the 55-second spot, which included defending abortion rights, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, cancelling student debt and calling for a permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza.

On Monday, Samuels announced he was endorsed by the United Steelworkers and the International Union of Operating Engineers. USW District 11 includes all of Minnesota and the surrounding states, while the International Union of Operating Engineers has at least 14,000 members across Minnesota and the Dakotas, according to Samuels’ campaign.

Operating Engineers’ Local 49 business manager Jason George cited Omar voting against President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill as one of the main reasons the union decided to back Samuels. “It sent a clear message to our members that it was time for new leadership in the Fifth District,” George said of Omar’s vote.

EXPENSE WATCH: Omar was among the top expensers in Congress, an analysis from the Washington Post found, which looked at a new program that allows House members to be reimbursed for expenses they incur to offset the cost of living between DC and their home districts.

“Congresswoman Omar’s reimbursements reflect the steep cost of working and living in Washington D.C. and are approved by the House Administration,” a spokeswoman for the congresswoman said, according to a MinnPost report. “Unlike some of her colleagues, and similar to most Americans, the congresswoman is not a millionaire and is raising a family while maintaining a residence in both Minneapolis and D.C., which are among the most expensive housing markets in the country.”

The Post notes that the reimbursement program approved in 2022 is “shrouded in secrecy, and its lack of a receipt requirement means it essentially operates on the honor system.” The administrators of the program decided to not have members provide receipts so that the public could not discover where members live in DC and because it would have required hiring more staffers for the program to process receipts. The money to hire staffers also would have required Congressional approval, according to the Washington Post.

NDAA: The House narrowly passed the massive $895 billion National Defense Authorization Act Friday largely along party lines in a 217-199 vote. All four Minnesota Democrats in Congress opposed the bill, while the state’s four Republicans supported it.

Democrats objected to a number of amendments, including one that prevent the Secretary of Defense from paying for or reimbursing abortion related expenses. Another would prevent the military’s healthcare program Tricare from covering gender transition surgeries and gender hormone treatments for transgender members of the military. The bill also included a provision to impose a permanent hiring freeze on DEI jobs in the Department of Defense.

“Our country’s national security is not the place for political grandstanding – and I am extremely disappointed that House Republicans are using our national defense bill to advance a partisan agenda. Our servicemembers deserve a defense bill that reflects our shared bipartisan priorities and protects the safety and well-being of the United States, not culture war nonsense,” Craig said in a statement explaining her vote against the bill.

Stauber added an amendment that would require the Defense Department to work with other federal agencies on critical mineral projects related to national security. On the heels of Stauber’s recent bill that would reinstate mineral leases that the Biden administration withdrew totaling more than 225,000 acres in the Superior National Forest, the environmental rights group Save the Boundary Waters slammed the congressman’s amendment. Boundary Waters Action Fund Director Alex Falconer said Stauber’s amendment was an attempt “on opening up the headwaters of the Boundary Waters to toxic mining.”

IMMIGRATION: The Biden administration announced today that it will allow certain spouses of U.S. citizens who do not have legal status to apply for permanent residency and citizenship later on. It’s a move that could have an impact on as many as half a million immigrants, the administration said.

WHERE’S WALZ:

The governor will speak at the George Modular Solutions groundbreaking ceremony at 10:30 a.m. He will speak with Department of Defense leadership and governors from the Council of Governors over the phone at 1 p.m., hold a call with Renewal by Andersen leadership at 2:30 p.m., hold a call with All Flex Solutions leadership at 2:35 p.m. and hold a call with Medtronic leadership at 2:45 p.m.

READING LIST

Lino Lakes panel backs 1-year delay on mosque housing development

Documentary highlighting climate change’s impact on food is latest creation from chef Andrew Zimmern

Meet the St. Paul women empowering women to battle blazes

Keep us posted at hotdish@startribune.com.