Playbook: Scoop: McCarthy’s secret promise to Trump

With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

The House would vote to expunge the two impeachments against the former president, Kevin McCarthy told Donald Trump. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo

HAPPENING TODAY — “‘It makes them all look silly’: Dems prepare to scorch RFK Jr. testimony,” by Nicholas Wu and Jordain Carney

BRUTAL LINE — “[Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS] promised to run as [DONALD] TRUMP plus an attention span, and instead he is running as Trump minus jokes,” writes The Atlantic’s Helen Lewis.

SCOOP: McCARTHY’S SECRET PROMISE — After Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY suggested on national television last month that Trump may not be the GOP’s best presidential candidate in 2024, the former president was furious — and wanted the California Republican to rectify the slight immediately.

“He needs to endorse me — today!” Trump fumed on his way to a campaign event in New Hampshire, according to people familiar with what happened. McCarthy, after all, had indicated to Trump’s team that he would do so eventually. Why not clean up the mess and announce his support now?

But the House GOP leader — who has felt compelled to stay neutral during the primary so as to not box in his own members — wasn’t ready to do that. Instead, to calm Trump, McCarthy made him a promise, according to a source close to Trump and familiar with the conversation: The House would vote to expunge the two impeachments against the former president, he told Trump. And — as McCarthy would communicate through aides later that same day — they would do so before August recess.

That vow — made reflexively to save his own skin — may have bought McCarthy some time, staving off a public war with the man who almost single-handedly rehabilitated his entire career and ensured he won the gavel in January. But it has also put McCarthy in a bind — and Trump world plans to hold him to his promise.

THE BIND: Several moderate House Republicans are loath to revisit Trump’s impeachments — especially the charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. (In fact, though only 10 of their GOP colleagues voted with Democrats to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 attack, several more wanted to but were too worried about threats to their offices and families to take the plunge.)

But should McCarthy follow through, those members won’t have a choice. Given the speaker’s tenuous position with Trump allies in the House and the threat of his ouster looming over every move, McCarthy has no real option but to bow to the former president’s whims — even if it means putting vulnerable frontliners in a precarious political position.

The speaker has denied that he made such a promise to Trump at all, according to one Hill aide. From McCarthy’s point of view, he merely indicated that he would discuss the matter with his members — putting him and Trump on a collision course.

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McCarthy’s own leadership team is divided on the matter.

House GOP Conference Chair ELISE STEFANIK (R-N.Y.), who many believe is angling to be Trump’s running mate should he win the nomination, has pushed for an expungement vote. In late June, she teamed up with Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) on a resolution that would’ve cleared Trump of the impeachment charges.

But in a recent leadership meeting, moderate Republicans pushed back on the idea, arguing that any expungement vote would be poisonous to the reelections of members in JOE BIDEN-won districts — particularly given that polling suggests most Americans disapprove of Trump’s actions on Jan. 6.

ANOTHER WORRY: WHAT IF THE VOTE FAILS? It’s also unclear whether an expungement vote would pass, given the GOP’s slim five-seat majority. Two sitting Republicans — Reps. DAVID VALADAO (R-Calif.) and DAN NEWHOUSE (R-Wash.) — voted to impeach Trump and are unlikely to support expungement.

Then, beyond skittish moderates who don’t want to take the vote, there’s the clutch of constitutionally minded conservatives — who, we are told, have privately voiced skepticism that the House has the constitutional authority to erase a president’s impeachments.

Some senior Republicans — even those who back Trump — worry that an expungement vote would expose divisions in their ranks and only embarrass Trump if the effort comes up for a vote and goes down.

“I’m for Trump,” one senior GOP member tells Playbook. “The problem is: If you have an expungement, and it goes to the floor and fails — which it probably will — then the media will treat it like it’s a third impeachment, and it will show disunity among Republican ranks. It’s a huge strategic risk.”

For now, some in McCarthy’s leadership team are under the impression that a vote won’t happen, with one person calling it “too divisive.” And though McCarthy has publicly backed the push, senior Republicans speculate that his words were merely an attempt to curry favor with the former president.

“I think it’s more of a messaging thing to please Trump,” one senior GOP aide said.

Trump speaks at a campaign event in Concord, N.H., on June 27, the day that McCarthy promised to expunge the former president’s impeachments. | Steven Senne/AP Photo

TRUMP KEEPS UP THE PRESSURE: Supporters of expungement argue that despite members’ private reservations about the vote, Republicans will fall in line if McCarthy puts the resolution on the floor. It’s not a far-out theory: Most congressional Republicans will go to great lengths to avoid any stance that could be seen as a public rebuke of Trump.

Regardless of its likelihood of passage, Trump world plans to hold McCarthy to account on his promise. While the former president knows he is unable to stop the myriad indictments expected to come his way, he believes the House has the power to erase the stain of impeachment from his name.

That vote, in fact, could become even more important to him given that special counsel JACK SMITH appears ready to criminally charge Trump over his role in the Jan. 6 attack.

We’re told that Trump brings up the matter in every call he has with McCarthy, prodding the speaker about when he will bring expungement to the floor. McCarthy, however, has already pushed back the timeline. Perhaps realizing how tough such a vote will be, he recently told Trump’s team that the House will vote by the end of September.

But even that timeframe doesn’t look easy: Lawmakers are in session just 12 days that month and will be working overtime to try to clear a host of controversial spending bills that will surely split the party.

Meanwhile, in Trump’s inner circle, frustration with McCarthy is boiling. The former president and his team think the speaker should have endorsed him months ago, and are befuddled that he has not. Most recently, McCarthy told the Trump team that he can’t back Trump, because he wants to look neutral while the House clears his name on impeachment.

But Trump’s team will only buy that excuse for so long. And if McCarthy doesn’t hold the vote soon, they warn, there will be consequences.

Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

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EXPLOSIVE STORY — “Political consultant backing Tim Scott spewed the N-word during card game,” by Daniel Lippman: “ANTON CASTANEDA is the main adviser to Opportunity Matters Fund, a super PAC that is doing work in early primary states to support [Sen. TIM] SCOTT’s campaign. It has paid Castaneda’s firm more than $1.3 million in the last several years for strategy, fundraising and digital consulting and ad production.”

SCOOP: GRAHAM GETTING PRIMARIED? — South Carolina GOP Rep. RALPH NORMAN is considering a primary challenge to top Trump ally Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Graham isn’t up for reelection until 2026. But after he was booed by his own constituents at a Trump rally in South Carolina earlier this month, conservatives who have long distrusted him feel they may have an opening to take him out.

Many on the right have long viewedGraham as a centrist who embraces conservative values only when it’s politically convenient. The more isolationist wing of the party has grumbled about his steadfast support of Ukraine. And Trump allies — even Trump’s own inner circle and family — have complained that he has been disloyal at times.

Following the South Carolina rally, outside groups and constituents reached out to Norman to encourage him to run. Norman told them he would consider it, and we’ve heard he has been discussing the idea with them ever since.

That Norman is entertaining such an idea is noteworthy. He and Graham have been spotted at Palmetto State events together. And in 2019, when Graham was trying to beat back a primary threat, Norman endorsed his reelection. “No one has done more than Lindsey Graham to confirm President Trump’s conservative judges and help rebuild our military,” he said. “That’s why we need Lindsey Graham reelected to the United States Senate.”

Graham ultimately put down three primary challengers in 2020 — much as he dispensed with a primary challenge in 2014 from NANCY MACE. But those candidates were relatively unknown at the time compared to Norman.

BIDEN’S THURSDAY:

9 a.m.: The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief.

10:20 a.m.: Biden will depart the White House en route to Philadelphia.

12:05 p.m.: Biden will receive a tour of Philly Shipyard.

1 p.m.: Biden will deliver remarks on “Bidenomics.”

2:15 p.m.: Biden will depart Philadelphia to return to the White House.

Principal deputy press secretary OLIVIA DALTON will gaggle aboard Air Force One en route to Philadelphia.

VP KAMALA HARRIS’ THURSDAY:

10:20 a.m.: The VP will depart D.C. en route to Indianapolis.

1:45 p.m.: Harris will deliver keynote remarks at the Social Action Luncheon during the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. National Convention.

3:35 p.m.: Harris will depart Indianapolis to return to D.C.

THE HOUSE will meet at 9 a.m. to complete consideration of the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act, with last votes expected no later than 3 p.m. ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. will testify before the Judiciary Weaponization of the Federal Government Subcommittee at 9 a.m.

THE SENATE will meet at 10 a.m. to resume consideration of an EPA nomination and the NDAA.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, his daughter Jessica Schumer, left, and his grandson attend a congressional picnic at the White House on Wednesday, July 19. | Susan Walsh/AP Photo

CONGRESS

OVERSIGHT GOES NSFW — In a bizarre display at yesterday’s House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) brought out a sexually explicit posterboard image of HUNTER BIDEN that Democrats described as “pornographic” and which prompted immediate outrage.

Rep. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.): “Frankly, I don’t care who you are in this country: No one deserves that.”

Rep. JAMIE RASKIN (D-Md.) said after the hearing that he hoped to speak with Chair JAMES COMER (R-Ky.) about the incident, which he described as “an assault to the dignity of the committee.” More on the incident from WaPo’s Mariana Alfaro

Related read: “Credibility, ‘discretion’ and Trump: Breaking down the House GOP’s Hunter Biden whistleblowers hearing,” by Jordain Carney and Benjamin Guggenheim

TUBERVILLE UPDATE — “Schumer offers Tuberville abortion vote amid military blockade,” by Burgess Everett: “It’s unclear if [Senate Majority Leader CHUCK] SCHUMER’s offer of an amendment vote on the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act will be enough to lift the [Alabama Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE’s] hold. Democrats are also open to allowing Tuberville a standalone vote apart from the NDAA, a Democratic aide said.”

THE NEW NEWT — “The original GOP revolutionary championed health research, but the pandemic has changed even Newt Gingrich,” by Erin Schumaker: “A generation ago, [NEWT] GINGRICH led a GOP Congress that dramatically increased NIH funding, believing it would drive innovation in medicine, life-saving treatments and job-creating economic growth. But in an interview with POLITICO, the longtime health research champion applauded House appropriators for their push this year to slash the agency’s budget by $3.8 billion.”

2024 WATCH

UP FOR DEBATE — North Dakota Gov. DOUG BURGUM said in a statement yesterday that his campaign has reached the donor threshold to appear at the first RNC debate next month. Burgum recently made headlines for offering $20 gift cards to individuals who would donate $1 to his campaign — a tricky workaround that helped his effort to make the debate stage. However, he has yet to clear the polling hurdle. Read the statement

MORE POLITICS

ATTENTION ON AYOTTE — After New Hampshire Gov. CHRIS SUNUNU announced that he will not seek reelection, former Sen. KELLY AYOTTE (R-N.H.) teased a potential run for the office. “I look forward to announcing some big news in the coming days,” she said in a statement, adding that the next Granite State governor must be a “tough and tested conservative.” Read the full statement

TRUMP CARDS

STAY ON TARGET — “Potential Trump Charges Include Civil Rights Law Used in Voting Fraud Cases,” by NYT’s Maggie Haberman, Adam Goldman, Charlie Savage and Alan Feuer: “The third criminal law cited in the letter was a surprise: Section 241 of Title 18 of the United States Code, which makes it a crime for people to ‘conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person’ in the ‘free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States.’”

NO ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK — The Manhattan district attorney’s criminal case against Trump regarding hush money paid to a porn star will remain in state court instead of being moved to federal court, as the former president requested, marking another loss for Trump’s team, Erica Orden writes from New York.

But, but, but: “In his written decision Wednesday, however, U.S. District Judge ALVIN HELLERSTEIN found that ‘[t]he evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely a personal item of the President — a cover-up of an embarrassing event.’”

JUDICIARY SQUARE

ONE TO WATCH — “Ex-officer Derek Chauvin to ask U.S. Supreme Court to review his conviction in murder of George Floyd,” by AP’s Steve Karnowski

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THE WHITE HOUSE

WHITE HOUSE VISITOR LOG — Biden met with United Auto Workers head SHAWN FAIN yesterday, as contract negotiations are beginning between the powerful union and the Big Three automakers, our colleagues Zack Colman and Holly Otterbein scooped. “The meeting comes as Democratic officials and labor observers brace for a likely strike by UAW, which could have major economic and political ramifications. It also took place in the shadow of the UAW withholding its support from the president’s reelection campaign for the time being due to its concerns over his handling of the electric vehicle transition.”

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

STANDING WITH EVAN — EVAN GERSHKOVICH’s WSJ colleagues are making a powerful show of support for the journalist, who is still imprisoned in Russia: “Evan Gershkovich’s arrest was 16 weeks ago. His Journal colleagues staged a 24-hour read-a-thon of Evan’s stories that kicked off at 8 a.m. ET on Wednesday and will be finishing up Thursday morning after going all through the night at the National Press Club in D.C. and at WSJ’s overseas bureaus,” the Journal said in a statement. Watch the event on YouTube

NEW DETAILS FROM KOREA — “The U.S. soldier being held in North Korea had faced assault allegations in South Korea last year and spent nearly seven weeks in a detention facility, according to U.S. officials, as new details emerged about the legal issues faced by an American who crossed the Korean border,” report WSJ’s Dasl Yoon and Timothy Martin in Seoul.

TRANCH WARFARE — The Pentagon announced a new package of aid for Ukraine to the tune of $1.3 billion yesterday, AP’s Lolita Baldor writes.

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

IMMIGRATION FILES — “DOJ says it’s assessing the situation along the Texas-Mexico border amid ‘troubling reports’ over migrant treatment,” by CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez

ABORTION FALLOUT — “Tearfully testifying against Texas’ abortion ban, three women describe medical care delayed,” by The Texas Tribune’s Eleanor Klibanoff and Rebecca Schneid … “Doctors in the Northeast launch abortion pill pipeline into states with bans,” by WaPo’s Caroline Kitchener

MEDIAWATCH

THE BRAVE NEW WORLD — “Google Tests A.I. Tool That Is Able to Write News Articles,” by NYT’s Benjamin Mullin and Nico Grant: “The tool, known internally by the working title Genesis, can take in information — details of current events, for example — and generate news copy, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the product. One of the three people familiar with the product said that Google believed it could serve as a kind of personal assistant for journalists, automating some tasks to free up time for others.”

Mike Pence runs on Dunkin’.

Mitt Romney really likes hot dogs, apparently. (But is a hot dog a sandwich, senator?)

Donald Trump is getting on the “Sound of Freedom” hype train.

Dianne Feinstein is suing to access her late husband’s assets to help pay for her medical expenses.

Theo Baker — a student journalist at Stanford and the son of Peter Baker and Susan Glasser — helped oust the university’s president.

IN MEMORIAM — “James Reston Jr., Author With a Hand in Nixon Apology, Dies at 82,” by NYT’s Sam Roberts: “James Reston Jr., an eclectic historian and novelist who helped the British television host David Frost prod former President Richard M. Nixon into admitting his complicity in the Watergate scandal and apologizing in a wrenching broadcast interview, died on Wednesday at his home in Chevy Chase, Md. He was 82. The cause was pancreatic cancer, said his wife, Denise Leary.”

OUT AND ABOUT — The American Sugar Alliance held its Sweet Tea Summer Social yesterday evening. SPOTTED: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Reps. Brad Finstad (R-Minn.) and Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.), Collin Peterson, Hailey Borden, Noah Yantis, David Fitzsimmon, Emily Hytha, Chrissi Lee, Amanda Bihl, Clayton Stein, Ashley Smith, Clark Ogilvie, Rodney Brooks, Josh Maxwell, Jennifer Tiller, Justin Benavidez and Trevor White.

— DLA Piper hosted a policy discussion yesterday evening with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and former Sen. Richard Burr (R-Va.), who works at DLA Piper now, titled “The U.S. and China: Policymaking at a Critical Juncture.” SPOTTED: William Minor, George Salem, Tom Korologos, Jim Moran, Mike McKinley, Jim Blanchard, Charlie Dent, Steve Phillips, Vanessa Le, Ignacio Sanchez and Sarah Khan.

— Semafor hosted a Capitol Hill happy hour last night at Hawk ‘n’ Dove, with light bites and signature cocktails. SPOTTED: Benjy Sarlin, Kadia Goba, Ben Smith, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Morgan Chalfant, Matt Corridoni,Miranda Dabney, Billy Fuerst, Kaily Grabemann, Sam Jeske, Connor Joseph, Charlotte Laracy, Eliana Locke, Jacques Petit, Kate Noyes, Shea Necheles, Tim Mack and Tess Whittlesey.

HILL NEWS — Our item yesterday about the new Senate Press Secretaries Association board accidentally left out its new president: Stacey Daniels, comms director for Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), was elected to lead the bipartisan staff association for the next year.

MEDIA MOVE — Claire Atkinson is now a contributing editor at The Ankler. She most recently was chief media correspondent for Insider.

TRANSITION — Kyle Matous is now director of government relations for Advocacy Associates. He previously was senior director of U.S. government relations for Bono’s ONE Campaign.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) … Tom Friedman (7-0) … Franklin Foer … CNN’s David Chalian … Katrina Pierson … WaPo’s David Lynch … Anita Decker Breckenridge … POLITICO’s Aloise Phelps, Sydney Poindexter, Maya Melkote and Kevon Eaglin … NASA’s Patrick Kelly (3-0) … King & Spalding’s Justin Dews … Jamal Simmons … Hunter McKay of KRC Research … former Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) … Meta’s Don Seymour … Leah Grace Blackwell … Paula Cino … Ashley Morgan … Cornerstone’s Max de Vreeze … Tristan Breaux of Tyson Foods … Liam Fagan of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) office … former FCC Chair Dick Wiley … Sharon Copeland of the Herald Group … NBC News PR’s Joya Manasseh

Send Playbookers tips to [email protected] or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.

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But opponents continue to try and mislead the public about The DCA Act, spreading a false narrative that expanding options at DCA would endanger existing routes within the 1,250-mile perimeter. The only thing The DCA Act would do is give air travelers more choices at lower costs, while protecting current in-perimeter service, period. Opposition to expanding access is nothing more than an attempt to obstruct competition in the capital region market. This lack of competition is why Washington, D.C. has the highest domestic ticket prices in the country among all top metropolitan areas.

And truth be told, opponents of The DCA Act want to keep it that way. Get the facts.