In one of their final leadership rodeos, Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) successfully passed a clean, temporary spending measure to avert a government shutdown — at least until December.
Why it matters: A majority of Republicans joined the chamber’s Democrats in supporting the legislation, despite former President Trump’s demands for election security measures.
- The vote was 78-18.
- It passed the House earlier Wednesday, 341-82, with 209 Democrats and 132 Republicans voting for it.
What to watch: Congress will not be back in session until after the Nov. 5 election.
- Then, the harder fight to fully fund the government will begin without the election year concerns around a shutdown.
- Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has already promised not to allow a December omnibus — nor minibuses, which will make the lame duck task even more difficult.
U.S., France and key allies call for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon
The U.S., France and key allies issued a joint statement on Wednesday calling on Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a 21-day ceasefire during which negotiations could take place on a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Why it matters: The statement — released after 10 days of intense fighting that has killed more than 700 people in Lebanon — is aimed at stopping the escalation and particularly at preventing a possible Israeli ground invasion of southern Lebanon to push Hezbollah militants away from the border.
- The joint statement was issued by the U.S., France, Australia, Canada, European Union, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
- A senior U.S. official told reporters that the countries that signed the statement hope that during the 21 days of the ceasefire in Lebanon, the negotiations between Israel and Hamas on a hostage-release and ceasefire in Gaza deal will also begin again.
- The U.S. official said the wording of the joint statement and a separate one from President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron was coordinated with the Israeli and Lebanese governments. In the opinion of the countries that signed the statement, 21 days is a sufficient period of time to reach a diplomatic settlement on the border between Israel and Lebanon, the official said.
- In their statement, Biden and Macron called “for broad endorsement and for the immediate support of the Governments of Israel and Lebanon.”
Driving the news: On Wednesday, Axios reported the Biden administration was working with France and several other countries on a new diplomatic initiative for a “pause” in the fighting in Lebanon and a resumption of negotiations on a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
- Biden and Macron met on Wednesday in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and discussed the diplomatic initiative.
What they’re saying: “It is time for a settlement on the Israel-Lebanon border that ensures safety and security to enable civilians to return to their homes,” the statement from Biden and Macron said.
- “The exchange of fire since October 7th, and in particular over the past two weeks, threatens a much broader conflict, and harm to civilians,” it continued.
- “We therefore have worked together in recent days on a joint call for a temporary ceasefire to give diplomacy a chance to succeed and avoid further escalations across the border.”
Behind the scenes: Discussions of the new initiative started after a phone call on Monday between White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, U.S. and Israeli officials said.
- Over the last two days, the U.S. has been discussing the idea with France, Israel, Lebanon and several other Arab countries, a U.S. official and a European diplomat said.
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke several times over the last 48 hours with his French counterpart and the two exchanged drafts of a possible statement calling for a ceasefire, U.S. officials said.
- At the same time Biden’s advisers Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk worked with Macron’s team, U.S. officials said.
- A U.S. official said that on Wednesday morning Blinken met with the foreign ministers of the Gulf countries and discussed the situation in Lebanon.
- After the meeting, Blinken pulled the Saudi and the Qatari foreign ministers aside for separate one-on-one meetings and got them to support the U.S.-French initiative, the U.S. official said.
Democrats fume at GOP’s barrage against Zelensky
House Democrats are pushing back hard against House Republicans’ harsh scrutiny of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to a munitions plant in Pennsylvania earlier this week.
Why it matters: The trip has touched off a House Oversight Committee investigation and even a call from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for Zelensky to fire his ambassador to the U.S. for organizing the trip.
State of play: Zelensky traveled to Scranton, Pa. to tour the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, which is making ammunition for the Ukrainian army.
- He and his U.S. ambassador, Oksana Markarova, met there with Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, as well as Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.), who represents Scranton.
- Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) opened a probe into the trip, criticizing Zelensky’s critical comments about the GOP presidential ticket and the use of a U.S. Air Force jet to transport the Ukrainian president.
- Johnson sent Zelensky a letter saying “no Republicans were invited” and that GOP lawmakers have lost trust in Markarova “to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country” as a result.
What they’re saying: “No other members were invited, including me, a Democratic member from an adjacent district,” Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), a staunch supporter of Ukraine, told Axios.
- Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called Johnson’s singling out of Markarova as “highly unusual,” telling Axios, “For all the years I have been here, I have welcomed heads of state who have been brought … by their ambassador.”
- Both lawmakers also noted that Ukraine’s demand for ammunition from the plant has been an economic boon to Scranton.
Zoom out: Zelensky and former President Trump are engaged in an increasingly heated war of words, and Trump’s allies are not jumping to his defense.
- Zelensky told the New Yorker that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Trump’s running mate, is “too radical” in his opposition to U.S. aid to Ukraine and that Trump doesn’t know how to end the war with Russia.
- Trump has criticized Zelensky for “refusing to make a deal” with Russia and fighting to retake captured territory and spoken negatively about U.S. aid to Ukraine.
Zoom in: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member of the Oversight Committee, called Comer’s probe “as absurd and futile and embarrassing as their impeachment investigation against Joe Biden.”
- “Ukraine is a democratic ally of the United States … so it’s disappointing that Speaker Johnson, who had really begun to make some progress in terms of defending democracy and freedom against Russian aggression, has now made himself party to the pro-Putin bloc again,” he added.
- Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), the co-chair of the Ukraine Caucus, said the Republican backlash against Zelensky’s trip “emphasizes why November matters … for democracy in Eastern Europe.”
The other side: Johnson told reporters Markarova “crossed the line,” saying she and Zelensky “made a campaign stop on behalf of the Democratic Party and effectively have given a tacit endorsement to Kamala Harris.”
- “That’s not what we need our allies doing, or any foreign nation. I think it’s election interference and I think it’s an unforgivable trespass,” he added.
- Johnson’s office did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
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