The latest on Congress as GOP tensions rise

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters he doesn’t think former President Trump would come testify at the Senate impeachment trial next week.

He added: “It’s just a nightmare for the country to do this... it’s just a political, show boat move. They didn’t call him in the House.”

The South Carolina Republican also said he spoke to Trump a few days ago, and that he’s in “pretty good spirits... trying to get adjusted to his new life” and that he’s “very focused on 2022” to help the GOP retake the House and/or Senate.

Sen. Jim Risch, a Republican from Idaho, is offering a budget amendment opposing a $15 federal minimum wage. It's designed to highlight divisions in the Democratic party over the issue since moderate Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin have already voiced opposition to the $15 increase.

The move comes as President Biden is pushing to include a $15 an hour hike – a long sought agenda item for Democrats – in the Covid-19 relief package, but is already facing resistance from some in the party on the dollar amount

Earlier this week, Manchin told reporters “no” he doesn’t support a $15 increase, and argued it’s more reasonable for his home state of West Virginia to instead raise it to something in the ballpark of $11 an hour. 

Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana and another moderate, similarly told reporters while he supports an increase, he’d prefer a lower number that would also make more sense based on the cost of living in his state.  

Every single Democratic senator’s vote will be needed in order to pass Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief package, if Democrats choose to go through the budget reconciliation process to bypass GOP support.

Senate Republicans weighed in on the announcement that House impeachment managers are requesting former President Trump to testify at his upcoming Senate impeachment trial.

Some said they need to think about it, others like Republican Sen. Ted Cruz were quick to shut it down, arguing Democrats just “want a ridiculous show trial.”  

GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski told reporters: “I’ll think about it.”

The Alaska Republican added that she hadn’t even “considered that as a possibility,” when asked if she thinks there’s any value in Trump testifying at the trial.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy also said he has to think about it, but said he’s a “little frustrated” that the House didn’t gather evidence before sending it over to the Senate. 

“Why did they not take the time to gather the evidence on the House side?” the Louisiana Republican asked. Adding, “It’s unfair to the process, it lowers the bar to what we’re doing. So let me think if we want to enable it."

In his first visit to the State Department as President, Biden gave employees a clear message: "America is back. Diplomacy is back."

Biden is set to announce a series of significant changes to US foreign policy, including measures on Yemen and LBGTQ rights, during a speech at the State Department, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday.

Indicating that, Biden added:

"We're going to rebuild our alliances. We're going to re-engage the world and take on the enormous challenge we face dealing with the pandemic, dealing with global warming, and again, standing up for democracy and human rights around the world."

He emphasized that employees will be "trusted and empowered" to do their job and asked everyone to follow some core tenets — integrity, transparency and accountability — while working in the service of American people.

The House impeachment managers just requested former President Donald Trump testify at his upcoming Senate impeachment trial. It's a dramatic move to try to get the former President on the record about his conduct surrounding the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin sent a letter to Trump's attorney Thursday requesting that Trump testify before or during the upcoming impeachment trial, which begins on Tuesday, arguing that his testimony was needed after he disputed the House's allegations that he incited the insurrection at the Capitol.

Raskin asks Trump to testify "as early as Monday, February 8, 2021, and not later than Thursday, February 11, 2021. We would be pleased to arrange such testimony at a mutually convenient time and place.”

The House's letter did not threaten to subpoena Trump if he does not appear voluntarily, though Raskin suggested the managers would use his refusal against him.

“If you decline this invitation, we reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong adverse inference regarding your actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021,” Raskin continues.

Some Senate Democrats have said they are open to issuing a subpoena to Trump if House managers want to go that route.

"If the House managers are insistent that a subpoena for him is necessary, their view is entitled to a lot of weight," Sen. Richard Blumenthal told CNN.

Some context: In a 14-page response to the House's impeachment effort on Tuesday, Trump's lawyers argued that the Senate cannot vote to impeach Trump when he no longer holds office as well as that Trump's speech about the election and before the Jan. 6 riots did not cause the riots and was protected by the First Amendment.

The House impeachment managers, in their brief filed Tuesday, pushed back directly on that point, which Senate Republicans have coalesced around as a reason to acquit Trump, arguing there is ample history and precedent to hold a trial and convict Trump, who was impeached by the House while still in office.

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke from the House floor as the chamber prepares to vote on a resolution to strip her from her committee assignments due to extreme comments she made before winning her seat.

Greene went on to say that she believes shootings are "absolutely real" and that 9/11 "absolutely happened." She did not apologize for her past comments.

Some context: Outrage over Greene, who has in the past embraced the dangerous and debunked QAnon conspiracy theory, grew more intense in Congress in the wake of a report from CNN's KFile that she repeatedly indicated support for executing prominent Democratic politicians in 2018 and 2019 before being elected to Congress.

The Georgia Republican has also faced backlash over recently resurfaced comments about the 2018 Parkland school shooting.

The House will vote today on a measure to remove Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee assignments, a decisive step that comes in the wake of recently unearthed incendiary and violent past statements from the congresswoman that have triggered widespread backlash from Democrats and divided congressional Republicans.

Below is some guidance on what to expect this afternoon in the House:

Note: Timing can always shift, but this is what we expect. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated President Biden’s belief that the US minimum wage needs to be increased. Asked if it's something the President would be willing to drop in Covid relief bill negotiations, Psaki declined to say if it's a measure that's being included in the Democrat's budget reconciliation process. 

Pushed further, Psaki reiterated her remarks and added, “there's obviously a process that's ongoing, the reconciliation process, that will make some determinations about what can and cannot be in the bill, based on rules.”

What is reconciliation? As Biden pursues a bipartisan Covid-19 relief deal, Senate Democrats are laying the groundwork for passing relief without any Republican votes using a procedural shortcut known as budget reconciliation.

Reconciliation could allow Democrats to fast track key aspects of Biden's agenda, from Covid-19 relief to infrastructure, but the process comes with a strict set of rules attached.

You can read more about this process here.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he and Sen. Elizabeth Warren had a 45-minute conversation with President Biden and his advisors “a few weeks ago” to discuss taking an executive action to cancel up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt. 

Warren noted that the action would cost an estimated $650 billion.

“There is very little that the President could do with the flick of a pen that would boost our economy more than canceling $50,000 in student debt, it will be a huge push into our economy,” Schumer said Thursday.  

The New York Democrat made the remarks at a news conference calling on the President to take executive action to cancel up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt, alongside Warren and Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Alma Adams (D-NC), Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Mondaire Jones (D-NY).

Schumer argued that while he believes Biden has taken some steps in the direction of alleviating student debt, “he has to go much further.”

“They have been extremely open to listening to us Senator Warren and I had a 45 minute conversation with the president and his advisers just a few weeks ago… we believe the American people are strongly behind us on this issue overwhelmingly,” he said. Adding that if the American people and lawmakers keep pressuring the administration: “This is gonna happen.”