Hot dish 5.7.24

Save the date. Trump's coming to town

By Sydney Kashiwagi

Hello Minnesota! I'm Sydney, the Strib's new Washington Correspondent. For those of you wondering, no, I'm not from Minnesota. I'm Hawaiian. Born and raised in Hawaii. Up until my most recent visit to the Twin Cities the other week to meet with our great newsroom, I had only been to Minnesota once before as a kid, when I visited the Mall of America with my grandma, who was a flight attendant for Northwest Airlines at the time and often traveled to the Twin Cities for work. I have really fond memories of seeing my first snowfall there and having Camp Snoopy virtually all to myself and waiting in no lines to get on the rides back to back!

I've covered local government and politics throughout my career, which is what drew me to this job, in addition to getting the latest news about Minnesota from this very newsletter. Before I joined the Strib, I covered New York City Hall and the administration of former Mayor Bill de Blasio for the Staten Island Advance. More recently, I worked at CNN, where I had the opportunity to write about Minnesota's efforts to legalize recreational marijuana, restoring voting rights to ex-felons and enshrining the right to abortion and gender affirming care into law. And I just wrapped covering U.S. Senate races for National Journal.

I will be anchoring the newsletter every Tuesday — call it the DC dish — where you can read about campaign news and everything that's happened in DC over the last week and what's to come.

That's enough about me. Now to the news!

TRUMP: Former President Donald Trump is coming out to the North Star State on May 17 to make his case to party leaders and activists that he can flip Minnesota when they gather for the state Republican Party's Lincoln Reagan annual dinner. It's Trump's first visit to Minnesota this year.

No Republican presidential candidate has won the state since 1972, but recent polling from KSTP showed Biden and Trump in a statistical dead heat this cycle, with Biden's lead over the former president falling within the poll's margin of error.

Trump's senior advisers also doubled down to donors at the Republican National Committee retreat this past weekend, saying they believe they can flip not only Minnesota but Virginia too, come November.

Majority Whip Tom Emmer, Trump's state campaign chair, is co-hosting the dinner with the former president. Emmer helped Republicans take back the majority when he oversaw the National Republican Congressional Committee's for two cycles, so all eyes will be on him to see if he can help flip the state for Trump.

MITCHELL: My colleagues Ryan Faircloth and Rochelle Olseon report that a bipartisan Senate Ethics Subcommittee will convene this afternoon for a rare session to consider a complaint against DFL Sen. Nicole Mitchell, who's facing first-degree burglary charges.

The ethics panel has a range of options, from doing nothing to dismissal to a determination of probable cause for further investigation. The panel is evenly split with two Democrats and two Republicans. To take action, at least three committee members must agree, meaning the vote must be bipartisan.

But it's unclear whether the panel will take action against Mitchell, who returned to the Senate floor last week, just a week after her arrest and has since been voting on bills despite objections from Republicans.

Also on the agenda: a year-old complaint against Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe, which said he violated the norms of the Senate by emailing to the DFL Senate listserv "videos documenting mutilating transgender surgeries on minor children."

UBER AND LYFT: Legislators announced a tentative agreement on pay for Uber and Lyft drivers Monday. But it's lower than the Minneapolis rate proposal and the companies aren't thrilled by the deal, my colleague Josie Albertson-Grove reports.

The two ride sharing companies say they weren't included in negotiations between legislators and council members and that the proposal would push them out of Minnesota.

Lyft says: "[S]hould these statewide rates pass, we would be forced to shut down across all of Minnesota, not just Minneapolis."

Uber says: The company still sees room for negotiation but wants to be part of the discussions.

For now, House Majority Leader Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis, thinks the companies are bluffing. But we'll know more about what's going on after the House Labor committee discusses the Uber/Lyft bill this morning.

SPEAKER: Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's plot to potentially oust House Speaker Mike Johnson remains in the balance. She introduced a motion last month to remove Johnson from his leadership position and said last week she'd call for a vote on her motion sometime this week.

But after a two hour meeting with Johnson on Monday, Greene did not have much new to report and would not say if she still plans to move forward with her motion. Instead, Greene told reporters she plans to meet with Johnson again today.

Republicans in and out of Minnesota appear to be skeptical and not supportive of her plans. A source familiar with Emmer's plans said last week that the majority whip doesn't support her motion. GOP Rep. Pete Stauber's office also echoed Emmer's position last week.

As one GOP source put it: "If Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene goes forward with a motion to vacate, it is expected to fail."

House Democratic leaders said last week they would vote to table Green's motion if it's brought forward. And two Democrats from Minnesota's delegation, Reps. Angie Craig and Betty McCollum, have both said they plan to table Green's motion.

FARM BILL: Leaders from the House and Senate Agriculture committees released their draft proposals of the Farm Bill last week. House Agriculture Chair GOP Rep. Glenn Thompson said that every title of the bill "reflects a commitment to the American farmer and viable pathways to funding those commitments, and is equally responsive to the politics of the 118th Congress." The House committee will mark up the bill on May 23. Senate Agriculture Chair Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow said her draft is one that "incorporates more than 100 bipartisan bills and the work of Senators on and off the Committee." It hasn't been determined when the Senate markup will begin, CQ Roll Call reports.

Following the release of the draft, Senate Agriculture Committee member Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in a statement that it includes provisions "that make investments in the farm safety net, protect against animal disease, promote export opportunities, invest in biofuels and biomanufacturing, and support conservation and nutrition programs." Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith also serves on the committee.

House Agriculture member Craig said in a statement that she's "encouraged to see the farm safety net strengthened for young and beginning farmers in the Senate draft without making significant cuts to other critical programs." GOP Rep. Brad Finstad also serves on House ag.

ISRAEL: Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar called a looming Israeli ground invasion of Rafah "catastrophic" for Palestinians who live there and said the offense should be a "red line" in the conflict. Omar doubled down on her calls for a ceasefire and urged the Biden administration to "use its most potent leverage and restrict military aid to Israel."

Across the aisle, Emmer said on Monday that House Republicans would firmly stand behind Israel and would support the country "in the necessary response to end Hamas."

Israel's looming military operation coincided with Holocaust Remembrance Day.

And just last week, the House voted 320-91 on a bill that broadens the definition of antisemitism for the Department of Education to use to enforce anti-discrimination laws, amid the rise of student-led protests across the country calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war. The legislation received bipartisan support from Minnesota's congressional delegation with the exceptions of Omar and McCollum, who voted against the bill.

WHERE'S WALZ:

Gov. Tim Walz will give remarks at the CLEANPOWER 2024 Conference & Exhibition at 8:40 a.m. Later this morning, he will meet with Del Shea Perry at 10 a.m. and the Minnesota Farm Bureau leadership at 10:45 a.m. Walz will sign a bill into law that strengths consumer protections for online ticket buyers at 11:20 a.m. and will speak at the 2024 MN-FISH Reception at 5:30 p.m.

READING LIST