With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team

IT'S MATING SEASON

With Democrats largely united around Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential nomination candidacy, lawmakers have shifted to discussing the rest of the ticket — and some are talking directly to her campaign.

Among House Democrats, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro are getting the most chatter, based on interviews with a dozen lawmakers. But they are generally giving the vice president a wide berth to make her own choice, with few drawing any red lines for the pick.

Aside from Kelly and Shapiro, other names floating among Hill Democrats largely track with those that have been publicly reported to be on Harris’ shortlist, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Whether Harris’ team actually takes the advice of Hill Democrats remains to be seen, but many lawmakers want to make their preferences known publicly and privately. Harris won’t have long to decide on a running mate, with the DNC pushing to complete the nomination process by Aug. 7 through a virtual roll call.

The view from the left: Leading liberals aren’t weighing in any specific candidates yet. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the Progressive Caucus chair, said that she wanted “somebody that is a good progressive with strong labor union credentials — somebody that comes from some of the Midwestern states that we need to make sure we win.”

And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said that what was most important was remaining “a strong unified party and making sure that we have a vice presidential pick that remains and helps maintain that.”

We’ll note that a potential roadblock for Kelly on the left was resolved Wednesday when he backed a key piece of pro-union legislation.

The “tri-caucus” weighs in: The three affinity caucuses — the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus — generally tend to push for diversity on any ticket. In this case, the chairs each said they are good with whomever Harris picks.

“The fact that she is the first Black Asian woman nominee for president is enormous,” CAPAC Chair Judy Chu (D-Calif.) said when asked about the predominantly male VP shortlist. “And so I think my eye is on the prize, making sure that she gets elected.”

“I trust the vice president to make that decision,” said CHC Chair Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.).

And CBC Chair Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) said he wants to see “someone who will help us win in November.”

The favorite sons: Many showed a home-state bias when weighing in on Harris’ shortlist. North Carolinians have been pushing Cooper, whom Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) praised as a “very popular governor in a swing state where he’s won it twice at the same time as Trump — not many can say that.”

“I think it would be good for the country and good for the state particularly,” said Rep. Deborah Ross (D-N.C.).

Some Pennsylvanians are strongly advocating for Shapiro, whom swing-district Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) praised for his potential appeal across the “blue wall” states.

“We've got to win Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, as well,” he said. “And you could do a lot worse than Gov. Shapiro.”

But Midwesterners have their own potential sleeper candidates. Some members of the Illinois delegation are talking up their governor, JB Pritzker. “He would be a great choice,” said Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.).

Meanwhile, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), a former high school teacher and House member who has piqued the interest of some progressives, is being pushed hard by his home-state delegation.

“He would be just a great, great addition to a ticket,” said Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), who said she’d advocated directly to Harris’ campaign. “He can supervise a lunch room. He was a master sergeant. He was well respected and beloved here in the House. And he's been a fabulous governor.”

— Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz 

GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, July. 24, where Jordain (and only Jordain) is happy the House will be in session on Thursday.

DEMOCRATS GRUMBLE ABOUT NETANYAHU SPEECH 

There has been plenty of attention on the dozens of congressional Democrats who boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress Wednesday. But among those Democrats who attended, it was hard to find unalloyed praise for the controversial leader afterward.

Netanyahu hailed President Joe Biden on several occasions, prompting bipartisan applause. But he also praised former President Donald Trump and appeared to jab at Biden administration policies on several occasions. He also sharply criticized American protesters who have targeted the war in Gaza and his own administration.

One House Democrat who attended the address, California Rep. Jimmy Gomez, called for Netanyahu to resign moments after the speech wrapped.

“Netanyahu’s speech to Congress falls short, as have his actions since taking office, and I’m calling on him to resign immediately,” Gomez said in a statement. “I met with families of hostages today and they overwhelmingly were critical of Netanyahu and believe he’s not doing enough in service to their families and families across the region — I stand with them.”

“I went because I respect the relationship between the United States and Israel, but my opinions are unchanged,” said Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), who called Netanyahu “bad for Israelis and bad for Palestinians” and said he should step aside.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in postings to X that the speech was “as I expected, a setback for both the U.S.-Israel relationship and the fight against Hamas.”

“Netanyahu would have been better [off] spending this time finalizing a deal to bring the hostages home and end the war, instead of coming here to comment on U.S. politics,” he said.

Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), generally a pro-Israel member, said “it’s their choice” when asked about members who refused to shake Netanyahu’s hand.

“I’m a big believer in being in the room so you can problem-solve and you can make things better, and you make things better by participating,” Landsman said. “It doesn’t mean you always agree. I’ve had my moments with the prime minister where we’ve disagreed, or we have talked through in a very heated way, any number of things related to this war, and I’ve received nothing but respect from him.”

Republicans, no doubt, had a less nuanced view. Speaker Mike Johnson called the speech “a home run” in a Fox Business interview afterward. “I thought he did a very good job of tying it all together,” he said.

— Daniella Diaz and Nicholas Wu, with an assist from Katherine Tully-McManus 

PRE-RECESS SPENDING PUSH CRUMBLES

House Republicans are still planning to vote on their funding bill for the Interior Department and EPA late tonight, but prospects for floor passage look extra shaky after a brutal few weeks of spending setbacks.

A refresher on those failures: Republicans’ $7 billion Legislative Branch bill unexpectedly died on the floor earlier this month. And GOP leaders were forced to abruptly pull three more of their fiscal 2025 measures this week — Agriculture-FDA, Financial Services and Energy-Water — as warring between conservatives and swing-district Republicans, plus other parochial issues, led to serious whipping problems.

The Interior-Environment bill could very well suffer the same fate, getting yanked from the floor before it comes up for a passage vote, with conservatives emboldened to reject the legislation as many of their amendments continue to fail.

Two GOP lawmakers, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told us that the expectation is that the bill will fail if it doesn’t get pulled first. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) acknowledged late Wednesday afternoon that they were still working the votes. He told Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) this week that he’d prefer not to call a vote on a bill that is not going to pass.

“I don’t like putting people on the record that I can still persuade later,” Cole told POLITICO. “The majority leader was kind enough to ask me last night what my judgment was. I said, ‘Well, look, whatever you want to do, but I wouldn’t bring it up if you don’t have the votes.’”

No matter what happens, it’s safe to say that Republicans’ push to pass all 12 appropriations bills before August recess is officially kaput. Three of the most divisive bills for House Republicans — Labor-HHS-Education, Transportation-HUD and Commerce-Justice-Science — are no longer on deck for floor action after GOP leaders canceled next week's votes. Those measures are unlikely to pass the House in their current form, even after recess.

On that front, Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio), a GOP appropriator, acknowledged what all of Washington knows: When the House returns in September, lawmakers' focus will be on negotiating a short-term funding bill to avoid an Oct. 1 shutdown.

— Caitlin Emma and Jordain Carney 

HUDDLE HOTDISH

FUN FACT: It is a small world for Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), after all. He belongs to the same Catholic parish in Cincinnati as JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate. He also went to the same high school as Vivek Ramaswamy, albeit not in the same year.

That’s some good multitasking on the House floor.

Chuck Schumer volunteered to run interference for Jon Tester.

QUICK LINKS 

Bill Pascrell remains hospitalized after setback, from Joey Fox and David Wildstein at New Jersey Globe

Opinion: The Balance of Powers Demands a Strong Congressional Research Service, from Daniel Schuman in Washington Monthly

No end to the war in Gaza yet, Netanyahu tells Congress, from Matt Berg, Anthony Adragna and Nahal Toosi

Kelly will support pro-labor legislation amid VP speculation, from Nicholas and Daniella

TRANSITIONS 

Sophie Mittelstaedt is now comms director for the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She previously was comms director for Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).

Rebecca Kern is now a public affairs officer at the FTC, working on privacy and technology issues. She most recently was a tech policy reporter at POLITICO.

TOMORROW IN CONGRESS

The House and Senate are in session.

THURSDAY AROUND THE HILL

9:00 a.m. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and others hold a news conference on the Health Equity Act. (House Triangle)

10:15 a.m.  Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Reps. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) and Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas) hold a news conference marking World IVF Day. (House Triangle)

10 a.m. Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting to consider two U.S. Circuit Court nominations, three U.S. District Court nominations, and S.1306, the COPS Reauthorization Act. (G50 Dirksen)

10 a.m. Senate HELP Committee business meeting to authorize an investigation into Steward Health Care’s bankruptcy and to authorize a subpoena for testimony from Steward Health Care Chair and CEO Ralph de la Torre. (562 Dirksen)

TRIVIA

TUESDAY’S ANSWER: Albert Wolf was the first person to correctly answer that Dwight Eisenhower was the future president who was injured in a football game while tackling an Olympic athlete, Jim Thorpe.

TODAY’S QUESTION, from Jordain: Who was the last vice president to oversee their Electoral College win?

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to [email protected].

GET INSIDE CONGRESS emailed to your phone each evening.

CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this newsletter did not provide enough context on Rep. Greg Landsman's comments about protests in the chamber.