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From http://www.thehill.com

Tipsheet for June 17, 2005

GOP action on Bolton stalls

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), facing unified Democratic opposition, has postponed until Monday a vote to cut off a filibuster of the nomination of John Bolton to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Frist said that if negotiations with Democrats progressed over the weekend, he may not move on Bolton’s nomination until later next week. Republicans had expected Frist to attempt to end debate on Bolton today.

Senate Foreign Relations chairman Richard Luger (R-Ind.) said, Frist indicated there might be a cloture vote on Bolton today, but added that the leader had “discretion.”

Meanwhile, Democrats are holding firm in their opposition. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said that Democrats have the votes to extend the Bolton filibuster. Republicans lost ground on that front earlier this week when Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), who had previously voted to move to an up-or-down vote on Bolton, said he might change his mind and join his fellow Democrats in blocking Bolton.

Ford moves first

Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn,), running for the seat being vacated by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), yesterday became the first Senate contender of the election cycle to run television ads.

His message, broadcast across Tennessee, focuses on the Iraq war and Ford’s recent trip to visit troops in Baghdad. After returning from Iraq, Ford issued a letter to President Bush calling for greater support for U.S. troops. The candidate is all but certain to pick up his party’s Senate nomination. At least three Republicans have announced they will run for the seat.

McCain bides his time on lobbying reform

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will wait until he holds his last hearing this summer on Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff before deciding whether to draft or sign on to a bill overhauling lobbying laws. He told The Hill the purpose of his hearings are to “follow the Indian money and where it went,” and he was not targeting those who benefited from the large payments to Abramoff, including conservative strategists Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist. He said he wanted to wait to see what comes out of the hearings before his Indian Affairs Committee. But Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), who is already committed to reform legislation, is confident of getting McCain on board, saying, “Whether he joins now or joins later, we will be together.” Feingold is preparing to introduce his own version of a bill revamping lobbying laws and Reps. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) and Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) have introduced a bill in the House.

Hillary vs. Condi?

With Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) drawing the most interest from Democratic insiders in the early run-up to the 2008 elections, Republicans continue to talk about putting up a woman as their party candidate. “We may see two women on the presidential ticket - and wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing,” Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) said at Good Housekeeping Magazine’s women in government awards, presented this week at the Library of Congress. Pryce, the GOP Conference chair, is the top-ranking Republican in the House. Presumably, she was referring to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has drawn talk show chatter as a GOP dream candidate. But Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), a former cabinet secretary and wife of former GOP nominee Bob Dole, also is occasionally mentioned as possible future contender.

Tentative discussions on Social Security

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), vice chairman of the Republican Conference, convened a bipartisan gathering of House members in his Capitol hideout yesterday to discuss Social Security reform, the second such meeting this year. Kingston, along with Republican Reps. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) and Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), met with Democratic Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.), who has co-sponsored Kolbe’s reform bill, and Robert Pozen, the investment manager whose plan to reform Social Security is widely seen as the White House model for reform.

The meeting was an open discussion at which reporters could ask questions of the participants, none of whom were prepared to predict where the debate would head during the summer or beyond. Boyd was reluctant to offer strategies to lure other Democrats to the table. Each agreed, though, that the debate had strayed too far from the issue of solvency. They concurred in saying Congress will have one shot at reform, whether it happens this year or beyond. “We’re only going to get one bite at this apple,” Conaway said.

RSC grumbles over housing finance

With the House Financial Services Committee sending its housing finance reform bill to the House floor, a growing chorus of conservatives could scuttle the legislation over a provision creating a new affordable housing fund.In a letter to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), members of the conservative Republican Study Committee say the provision - which would require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to devote 5 percent of their after-tax income to promoting affordable housing - should be removed before the bill hits the floor or they may vote against it. They say the fund stands against free-market principles and could be “used to finance third party advocacy groups” antagonistic to free markets.