Boehner Wants Debt Limit Talks With Obama

Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, said Thursday that the White House should be prepared to negotiate with House Republicans on the debt limit – despite President Barack Obama’s insistence that he wants to extend it later this summer without strings attached.

“It’s easy to make a statement to that effect,” Boehner said of Obama at his Thursday morning news conference ,”but it’s just not reality.”

Of course, Boehner himself does not appear to have settled on exactly what he would be negotiating for, considering House GOP members emerged from Wednesday’s debt limit brainstorming session without a consensus on what to fight for.

Still, Boehner indicated that House Republicans would likely be seeking deeper spending cuts. “The fact is, that if the Treasury Department needs to pay the bills, the debt limit has to be dealt with, and should be dealt with in a responsible way,” he said. “[Obama] can’t continue to increase the debt limit without doing something about what’s driving the increase in the debt limit, and that is out of control spending.”

Boehner also took the opportunity to tout the House’s vote, set for later in the day, on a bill that would fully repeal Obamacare, the third of its kind since the GOP gained control of the chamber in 2011.

Standing beside the now-infamous, seven-foot “Red Tape Tower,” he gestured to the thousands of pages stacked on top of the other, tied with a red ribbon and balanced on a red hand-cart.

“These are the thousands and thousands of health care regulations,” Boehner explained. “And if we want jobs, we need to get rid of this, because this is getting in the way of employers hiring workers around the country.”

Boehner’s news conference also included mention of the two major scandals that have wreaked havoc on the Obama administration this week, namely revelations that the IRS inappropriately targeted conservative nonprofits seeking tax-exempt status and that the Justice Department seized records from Associated Press phone lines.

“Nothing dissolves the bonds between people and their government like the arrogance of power here in Washington,” Boehner said. “And that’s what the American people are seeing today from the Obama administration: remarkable arrogance.

“This house will stop at nothing to get to the American people the answers that they expect,” he continued. “But the best way to repair this damage is for the Obama administration to come forward with the truth — the whole truth — so that the American people will have all the facts.”

Reinvigorated Tea Party Bands Together Against IRS

Tea party leaders banded together Thursday morning to sound a rallying cry for the first time since news broke last week that the IRS disproportionately scrutinized conservative nonprofits applying for tax-exempt status.

Convened by Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., former presidential candidate and chairwoman of the House Tea Party Caucus, the news conference outside the Capitol included tea party allies in the House and Senate, national leaders and representatives from local groups around the country.

Their rhetoric left little room to wonder how they feel about the recent developments.

Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, called for an audit of the IRS, which she described as “thuggish.” Adam Brandon, the executive vice president of FreedomWorks, said the government was operating more like “a third world junta than a constitutional republic.”

“It’s an abuse of power, potentially by this administration, to advance their own political ends,” Bachmann told a crowd of reporters afterward. “And story after story after story leads one to the conclusion, based upon the presumptive evidence, that the administration was willing to misuse and abuse government power to advance its own re-election chances in the next election. That’s wrong.”

Lawmakers and political organizers pledged one after another that this is an issue that won’t temper a roaring boil anytime soon, and that they would continue to speak out until they had answers.

They were also joined by pro bono attorneys on Thursday, a clear signal that the voices of those targeted by the IRS will only grow louder.

“They lost funding, they lost donors,” said Jordan Sekulow, the executive director for the American Center for Law and Justice. “We have a group out of Tennessee that lost a $3,000 donation because they weren’t approved.

“There are monetary damages here. Events had to be canceled. Attorney fees before they hired us … groups hired local attorneys and were not allowed to even operate once they got approved,” Sekulow said.

Though revelations about IRS misconduct became public May 10, conservative organizations have been voicing concerns beginning around February 2012, at which point 27 of them became clients of Sekulow’s group.

Issa Schedules IRS Hearing

The Oversight and Government Reform Committee has scheduled a hearing for next week on allegations of misconduct within the IRS, the panel’s chairman, Darrell Issa, confirmed Wednesday.

The California Republican announced the May 22 hearing date to a small group of reporters following a weekly meeting of the House GOP Conference.

It will come just days after the hearing the Ways and Means Committee has set for this Friday.

However, Issa stressed that the two panels would ultimately be seeking answers to different questions relating to charges that the IRS disproportionately targeted the applications of conservative groups with certain signifiers, such as “tea party,” in their names.

“There are a number of various ways in which Ways and Means has unique jurisdiction,” Issa explained of the committee responsible for overseeing the nation’s tax policies, among other things, “but I think for the American people, they want the facts of transparency.

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Bachmann to Lead Tea Party’s Response to IRS Matter

Since news broke of allegations that the IRS improperly targeted applications for conservative tax-exempt organizations, members of Congress of all stripes have been eager to go on the record condemning these revelations.

On Tuesday, however, lawmakers who are actual stakeholders in the controversy continued to move the ball forward in responding to the charges and holding the agency accountable.

The Congressional Tea Party Caucus, which just last month relaunched after a period of dormancy, will hold a press conference Thursday morning.

Caucus chairwoman and former federal tax attorney Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and “Tea Party leaders” will “tell their stories of IRS intimidation and demand further investigation,” according to a Tuesday press release.

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Blast From the IRS’ Scandal Past

Way back in March 2012, Roll Call published a story about how tea party types were pretty irate over the amount of info they were being asked to provide to the IRS in order to get nonprofit status.

“In the past two months, dozens of tea party groups … say they have received lengthy and intrusive questionnaires, some of which request the names of donors and volunteers,” staff writer Janie Lorber wrote. Full story

Conservatives Expect Immigration Bill to Move Right

Conservatives exiting a private meeting with Sen. Marco Rubio to discuss immigration reform predicted that legislation pending before Congress would move significantly to the right as it proceeds toward President Barack Obama’s desk.

The Florida Republican, a key architect of the Senate bill, called the gathering to update conservative supporters and skeptics of a comprehensive immigration overhaul. Rubio also invited feedback and recommendations to strengthen the package in his bid to build support among the conservative grass roots and GOP lawmakers.

More than one who attended the meeting said changes are probably needed to strengthen the border security measures — and to counter conservative fears that neither this White House, nor future administrations, will follow through on the legislation’s security directives.

“Whatever bill makes it to the president’s desk will be different than the one that we see now, and I think it will move significantly to the right,” said Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration policy analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute and one of 30 who attended the late Tuesday afternoon meeting.

An individual present at the meeting described the hour-plus exchange as mostly positive, adding that about 30 people attended, including representatives of tea party groups. When asked if Rubio’s staff provided any refreshments, a few who were present said that plenty of water bottles were provided, a sly reference to the senator’s State of the Union rebuttal, when he paused mid-speech to a big gulp of bottled water. A partial list of those who were present is included after the jump.

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GOP Pro-Immigration Group Boosts Ad Buy

A Republican group that backs an immigration overhaul is shifting its advertising strategy as it prepares for the Senate to take up the debate when it returns from recess this week.

The American Action Network, an issue-advocacy organization aligned with a super PAC and a Hispanic outreach arm, increased its current cable television ad buy from $300,000 to $500,000, the group confirmed to CQ Roll Call. The additional investment will be plowed into a national buy on prime-time cable television, targeting programs with high percentages of conservative viewers. The AAN also planned to run its spot Sunday morning during the Fox network broadcast of the public affairs show “Fox News Sunday.”

The ad is scheduled to run through May 9, when the Senate Judiciary Committee is due to begin marking up the Senate’s “gang of eight” immigration overhaul bill.

Exclusive: GOP Launches iPhone-Like, High-Tech Data Operation

Priebus is seeking to retool how the party collects and shares data. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

National Republicans are building a new data-sharing platform as the party moves to close a digital divide with Democrats that became glaringly apparent in the aftermath of the 2012 presidential election.

Per a sneak peek provided to CQ Roll Call, the Republican National Committee is set to announce a partnership with two third-party entities designed to facilitate unprecedented data generation and sharing across all GOP party committees, consultants, vendors and the conservative outside groups that have become increasingly active in political campaigns. The effort, which could cost up to $20 million, stems from recommendations made by the Growth and Opportunity Project, the RNC’s internal autopsy of what went wrong last year commissioned by Chairman Reince Priebus.

“One of the biggest priorities identified by the Growth and Opportunity Project was the need to improve our data as a party, but also to increase access to data,” RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said.

Last cycle, the RNC engaged in voter-file list exchanges with other party committees, including the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. To guard against the potential for illegal coordination with these committees, Data Trust, a separate entity whose chairman of the board is former RNC Chairman Mike Duncan, facilitated this list sharing. Full story

DeMint Defends Heritage’s Immigration Report

Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint, the former senator from South Carolina, is defending the conservative think tank’s research into the fiscal effects of an immigration overhaul.

Earlier this month, supporters of the Senate bill pre-emptively attacked Heritage Senior Research Fellow Robert Rector for what they contend was a “flawed” a 2007 study examining the cost of providing a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. The Cato Institute and Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform have charged that Rector’s latest study on the subject, which has yet to be released, will probably be similarly flawed and does not represent conservatives.

Heritage opposes an immigration overhaul and DeMint, in a lengthy blog post published Monday, criticized the path to citizenship component of the Senate immigration bill written by the “gang of eight.” In the post, DeMint devoted a paragraph to defending Rector and the Heritage Foundation’s research.

“The Heritage Foundation is one of the only organizations looking at this cost to taxpayers. Our expert, Robert Rector, is one of the nation’s leading authorities on government social programs, and he is currently calculating what amnesty will cost taxpayers over the long term. It is based on a methodology also used by the National Academy of Sciences,” he wrote.

Rector’s previous study examining the cost of legalizing the millions of illegal residents is blamed by pro-reform forces for helping dissuade Republicans from supporting the failed 2007 effort to rewrite U.S. immigration law.

Zero Pressure on House After Senate Gun Bill Disintegrates

The failure of a background check amendment Wednesday in the Senate immediately deflated any mounting political pressure on the Republican majority in the House to embrace new gun control regulations.

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Boehner Violates Hastert Rule Again

The House approved a bill Tuesday without the support of a majority of the Republican Conference, about one month after Speaker John A. Boehner sought to assure his conference that he intended to observe the “Hastert rule.”

The bill, which expands the government’s ability to buy land to protect historical battlefields at a projected cost of $50 million, passed under suspension of the rules, 283-122, with 101 Republicans supporting the bill and 122 voting against it. The Hastert rule, named for former Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., calls for GOP leadership to only allow bills to pass that have secured “a majority of the majority” of the House Republican conference.

Dan Holler, a spokesman for Heritage Action for America, which issued a “key vote” against the bill, said, “Americans of all political stripes agree something has to change, and that Republicans can lead that change if they are willing to reject status quo in Washington. Violating the Hastert Rule to pass $46 million in battlefield pork won’t get the job done, though,” he said. “Last night’s vote was a missed opportunity.”

Although the top members of House GOP leadership voted for the bill, including Budget Chairman Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, several of the lower tier members of leadership, including Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman, and Oklahoma Rep. James Lankford, the Policy Committee chairman, voted “no.”

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Norquist Group Joins Cato, Attacks Heritage on Immigration

Norquist’s group joined in the think tank fray over immigration on Monday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Americans for Tax Reform on Monday joined the Cato Institute in launching a pre-emptive strike against The Heritage Foundation.

The conservative advocacy organization, which enforces the Taxpayer Protection Pledge against raising taxes and is led by Grover Norquist, supports a comprehensive immigration overhaul and is moving to neuter Heritage’s influence as the legislative battle heats up on Capitol Hill. As I reported earlier Monday, Cato last week released a study aimed at discrediting the Heritage analysis that the libertarian think tank expects its conservative counterpart to unveil after the first congressional bill drops.

On Monday, ATR sent a copy of Cato’s pre-emptive study and a memo to Republican congressional offices, warning them that the expected Heritage study, purportedly being conducted and written by Senior Research Fellow Robert Rector, “does not speak for the conservative movement; in fact, it does not even speak for the Heritage Foundation.” (In my conversation with Heritage spokesman Mike Gonzalez on Sunday, there was no suggestion that Rector’s study won’t speak for the influential conservative think tank.)

Norquist over the years has wielded immense power over congressional Republicans on fiscal matters, as most GOP lawmakers have signed his pledge not to support any legislation that would raise taxes. Heritage has been equally influential, if not more so, and is blamed by the pro-immigration overhaul forces with helping to derail the 2007 effort at a comprehensive rewrite. Their claim: that Rector’s 2007 study helped convince wobbly congressional Republican to abandon support for the comprehensive immigration overhaul being debated at that time.

The ATR memo attacking Heritage follows after the jump:

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Club for Growth and FreedomWorks to Sit Out Immigration Fight

Moving an immigration overhaul through the House will be difficult enough for the Republicans without opposition from Washington’s most influential conservative advocacy groups, so it might be welcome news to GOP leaders that that’s one hurdle they might not have to contend with.

On contentious fiscal matters that have come before the House since the Republicans assumed the majority in 2011, the Club for Growth, FreedomWorks and Heritage Action for America have been successful in shaping the opinion of House conservatives and in some instances, blocking undesirable legislation over the objection of GOP leaders. But two of these groups have signaled to CQ Roll Call that they intend to sit out the immigration fight.

Philosophically, it’s not surprising that libertarian, free-market oriented organizations such as the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks confirmed to me late Monday that they have no position on the immigration policies currently being debated in the House and Senate, nor do they intend to be active either supporting or opposing the legislation that is expected to emerge. But given how much influence these groups have had over congressional Republicans in recent months, their inaction could prove significant.

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Fix The Debt Packs Its Bags

Fix The Debt, the nonpartisan organization dedicated to addressing the country’s massive $16 trillion debt, has shifted its focus from Washington, D.C., to the states in an effort to gain traction for agenda.

Rather than spend all of its time attempting to influence lawmakers Inside the Beltway, the group has launched a new campaign aimed at building support for its campaign to push Congress to tame the federal debt by attempting to sway voters where members serve.

The effort began last week with a Nashville, Tenn., event headlined by Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn. On Wednesday, Fix The Debt hosted an Indianapolis event that was joined by Rep. Susan W. Brooks, R-Ind. Rather than targeting members, Fix The Debt plans to host events in conjunction with them as it seeks to assemble grass-roots support for a bipartisan approach to debt reduction and structural changes to budgeting that would prevent future flareups.

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CPAC Activists Concerned About Candidate Recruiting

(Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Think the Republican establishment is alone in obsessing about candidate recruitment and the quality of GOP nominees? Think again.

The Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday held a panel discussion to examine disagreements between grass-roots activists and the party establishment over candidate viability that cost the GOP enough Senate races in 2010 and 2012 to constitute a majority. What was clear from the panelists and the activists that participated in the question-and-answer session was that conservatives are just as concerned as the establishment with the failure of Republican nominees to win general elections.

Charlie Gerow, a Pennsylvanian who serves on the board of the American Conservative Union, which sponsors CPAC, suggested that conservatives are frustrated with the GOP’s failure in the 1990s and 2000s to deliver on the promises Republicans ran on to cut spending and to rein in government. Gerow indicated that the grass roots have run out of patience, leading many in recent years to ignore candidate viability and competence and to reflexively oppose those backed by the establishment.

However, Gerow argued that recruiting conservatives to run for office who are also capable politicians should be a top priority of grass-roots activists who are interested in seeing a Washington, D.C., that reflects their values.

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