Good afternoon, and welcome back to Press Pass. Congress is back in session, and the midterm election cycle is well underway. Today as ever, I am doing my best to bring you the most valuable insights into the customs and practices of this decaying institution. Support my work and that of my colleagues at this truly independent media outlet by upgrading your subscription to a Bulwark+ membership. We’d love for you to join our community as the midterms get closer and the news gets wilder. Today’s edition poses a familiar question to Republican lawmakers: If you thought something was bad when Joe Biden did it, do you still think it’s bad if Trump wants to do the same thing? An Eagle Scout couldn’t tie as many knots with a piece of cord as quickly as the senators I spoke to triple-knotted themselves in their attempts to answer. The bad thing in question was the idea of a national gas-tax holiday to ease the pain at the pump being caused by the president’s war with Iran. In addition, the $1 billion in taxpayer money that Senate Republicans are proposing for “security” enhancements in and around the White House ballroom will be going to a vote soon. Some Republicans are noncommittal about it, while others are energetically defending it. Lastly, read about what it was like when the measles vaccine first started being given at scale, from the perspective of someone who remembers what life was like in the before times. All that and more, below. Republicans Take Inspiration From Joe Biden for Gas Price ReliefThey’ve suddenly embraced eliminating the gasoline tax.
The holidayPresident Donald Trump is floating a national gas-tax holiday to give some relief from the brutal prices at the pump he has helped to keep high through his war with Iran. Trump rarely credits former President Joe Biden for anything, so it’s no surprise that he has refused to acknowledge that his predecessor floated a similar idea in response to similarly war-fueled price pressures. Biden didn’t get credit for it back then, either: Democrats and Republicans alike panned the proposal. But this time around, for some reason, Senate Republicans have really taken a shine to it. “Well, I know that [Trump] is working multiple avenues to find ways to lower the price of gas. The best answer is to bring the Iran conflict to an end and open up the Strait of Hormuz,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) told me. “Then we’ll see oil prices drop and gas prices drop. I know the president is suggesting also a possible gas holiday. I think that ought to be an option on the table.” When I asked if he liked the concept of a gas-tax holiday when Biden was president, Daines said, “If we can find ways to reduce taxes, that’s not a bad short-term option.” But Daines did not support Biden’s plan in 2022. Instead, he called that earlier proposal “more gimmicks and bandaid solutions to his manufactured energy crisis.” The most blatant reversal came from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who called the Biden plan “treacherous” in a 2022 Fox News interview. “We still have to pay for the upkeep and the maintenance of our interstate transportation network,” Lee said at the time. But when faced with an open-ended proposal of the same policy under Trump, Lee decided it was worth it to rework it—to put his thing down, flip it, and reverse it:
Some Republicans I spoke to did oppose the plan right away on Monday, citing the critical tax revenue that comes from the gasoline tax, as well as the administration’s ability to lower prices through other means. “We don’t have a demand problem, we got a supply problem, and I think the president can take a lap on that one by saying what he has done to increase discovery, and getting as much energy out of the ground as he can,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told me. “I would not [support a gas-tax holiday] right now,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) told reporters. “We obviously have to watch the debt and deficit as well as a country. Those are also things we got to be able to take care of.” Senate Republicans are in a bind once again. While they historically have opposed taxes of any kind, they also feel it necessary to oppose tax relief when it comes from Democratic presidents. Combine those psychological pressures with their ultimate political duty—never publicly disagree with Trump—and you can easily see why your elected officials end up in such extraordinary contortions on TV. Just announced! San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and our own MAGA culture expert, Will Sommer, will join the gang on stage at Bulwark Live: San Diego on May 20 at the Balboa Theatre. On May 21 at Bulwark Live: LA our friends Jane Coaston, Jon Favreau, Erin Ryan from Crooked Media, the Ringer’s Van Lathan, and progressive commentator Brian Tyler Cohen will join Sarah, Tim, and Sam on stage at the Novo. Grab your seats today at TheBulwark.com/Events. All the king’s menThe Senate returned to Washington on Monday, and they got right to work solemnly deliberating over several agenda items. Among the most important is deciding whether to agree to provide $1 billion in taxpayer funding for “security” enhancements for the new White House ballroom, which is currently being built over the ruins of the former East Wing. Despite the bill text having been public for a week, most Republicans weren’t keen on discussing it. “I have not seen the final proposal on that,” Lankford told me. “I’ve heard numbers thrown around, but I have yet to see, ‘Here’s an actual proposal. Here’s what’s needed.’ So we’ll see what that is.”¹ Apart from Lankford, quite a few had seen the bill slotted for Republicans’ next reconciliation package, which would allow them to pass it without Democratic votes as long as the parliamentarian gives each item a green light. “My understanding is it’s supposed to be paid for by private donations,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters in her classic noncommital style. “That’s what the president has said. We’re going to be hearing from the head of the Secret Service on what the enhanced security needs for the White House and others are in this heightened environment of political violence.” “I think most of our members, as they are getting briefed on what the money’s going to be used for, are probably going to be in a good place,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday. “I think everybody has an understanding of what [the $1 billion is] going to be used for. As I said earlier, it’s to secure the building. And not just the ballroom—the entire East Wing.” “There’s a lot of subterranean things that are classified that are part of the project,” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) told me. “It’s not for the ballroom. The ballroom just happens to sit on top of that.” When I noted that the bill specifically aims to allocate money for the East Wing Modernization Project, which the National Capital Planning Commission describes as the establishment of “a permanent, secure event space that provides increased capacity for official state functions,” otherwise known as a ballroom, Moreno briskly walked away and said, “No,” adding, “No, no, no, no.” Providing such a large sum of taxpayer money for the ballroom, whether for aesthetic purposes or not, forces each senator to go on the record with their support for or opposition to the unpopular project. Vulnerable incumbents in battleground states don’t get a special exemption. But the parliamentarian could always bail them out by not allowing the ballroom security-boost money to be included in the final package. ContagionMeasles is on the rise again in the United States, which means that more American children are dying needlessly, and their schools are becoming less safe. These ghastly developments are happening thanks to a surge in anti-vaccine beliefs, something for which the secretary of health and human services—a conspiracy theorist who happily engages vaccine doubters, deniers, and denigrators—bears a large measure of responsibility. Things never had to be this way, a fact that registers with real pain for those who remember what life was like before we had the life-saving inoculation. Fran Moreland Johns recounts in the Atlantic the pride and hope he and other Americans felt when the measles vaccine finally became a reality:
1
Amazing how quickly concerns about the deficit vanish when the subject changes. Also, Lankford said this immediately after the previous quote about the necessity of addressing the debt and deficit. You’re a free subscriber to The Bulwark—the largest pro-democracy news and analysis bundle on Substack. For unfettered access to all our newsletters and to access ad-free and member-only shows, become a paying subscriber.We’re going to send you a lot of content—newsletters and alerts for shows so you can read and watch on your schedule. Don’t care for so much email? You can update your personal email preferences as often as you like. To update the list of newsletters or alerts you received from The Bulwark, click here. Having trouble with something related to your account? Check out our constantly-updated FAQ, which likely has an answer for you.
|
