Category: Dean Phillips

Trump undercuts GOP, calls for bigger COVID-19 relief package

The Hill logo

President Trump on Wednesday shook up the high-stakes debate over coronavirus relief, undercutting the Republicans’ long-held position by urging GOP leaders to go big.  

Senate Republicans had initially offered a $1.1 trillion emergency aid package, but subsequently voted on a proposal providing just $650 billion — only $350 billion of it in new funding. 

Democrats have howled at the GOP’s “emaciated” offer, arguing that it falls far short of the funding needed to address the dual health and economic crises caused by the deadly coronavirus.  Continue reading.

Bipartisan House group unveils $1.5 trillion coronavirus relief plan

Problem Solvers Caucus offers compromise on unemployment, state and local aid sticking points, but leaders may not embrace

The 50-member, bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus on Tuesday released a $1.5 trillion COVID-19 aid package that they hope will help push congressional leaders and the White House toward a similar compromise.

The measure also gives the caucus members, many of whom are considered vulnerable for reelection this cycle, an opportunity to tell voters they offered a compromise and deflect blame for potential inaction on a new aid bill before the elections.

In arriving at $1.5 trillion, the Problem Solvers plan is almost exactly halfway between the $3.4 trillion bill the House passed in May and a $300 billion proposal Senate Republicans offered on the floor last week. Their proposal, however, includes automatic triggers based on hospitalization rates and progress towards vaccine development that could increase the cost by as much as $400 billion or reduce it by up to $200 billion. Continue reading.

Phillips-led bipartisan group offers COVID framework to break impasse

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus – 25 Democrats and 25 Republicans – unveiled its “March To Common Ground” framework to help break the gridlock on the latest COVID-19 relief package and encourage negotiators to get back to the table. 

The 50-member bipartisan Caucus, led by policy working group leaders Reps. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD) along with Problem Solvers Caucus members Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), and Co-Chairs Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Tom Reed (R-NY), came together to develop the framework after extensive listening to constituents and outreach to stakeholders over the past six weeks.

The package addresses key areas of need, including COVID-19 testing, unemployment insurance, direct stimulus, worker and liability protection, small business and non-profit support, food security, schools and child care, housing, election support, and state and local aid.

Continue reading “Phillips-led bipartisan group offers COVID framework to break impasse”

Rep. Phillips introduces a bill to ban political use of White House grounds

WASHINGTON, DC— Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) has introduced a bill banning the use of White House grounds for political purposes – the Our Lawn Act.  

For nearly a century, the Hatch Act has existed to provide a clear distinction between public servants and electoral candidates. Both parties have observed and respected this law for decades and have condemned apparent Hatch Act violations.

Unfortunately, this administration has shown, through providing the White House and other federal property as a staging area for the Republican National Convention, that we must continue to work to ensure that officials are not misusing public property and the prestige of office for their own political gain.  These actions misappropriated public resources for the private benefit of the Republican Party and put federal employees in a position where their employers were ordering them to violate the law.

Continue reading “Rep. Phillips introduces a bill to ban political use of White House grounds”

Is Minnesota really in play?

No Republican has carried Minnesota since 1972. But Trump’s team is increasingly confident about his chances in the state — even more so than in Wisconsin — and they’re dwarfing Biden’s television advertising budget there over the coming weeks.

We recently spoke to first-term Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, who tells us Democrats should be taking very seriously the possibility of losing his state’s 10 electoral votes — the same number Wisconsin offers. He also called on Biden to visit his suburban Minneapolis district as soon as possible.

If there’s anywhere Trump’s “law and order” message resonates, it could be Minnesota, an overwhelmingly white state where daily protests continue more than 100 days after George Floyd’s death. History suggests Trump has an uphill climb there for sure, but it’s worth remembering that he only lost the state by 45,000 votes four years ago. Continue reading.

Trump set to spend more on ads in Minnesota than Michigan or Wisconsin in 2020 homestretch

President Donald Trump’s campaign is currently planning to spend more money on advertising in Minnesota than in either Wisconsin or Michigan during the final stretch of the 2020 race, a significant shift in strategy as its path to 270 electoral votes narrows.

Trump’s campaign is slated to pour more than $14 million into Minnesota between the beginning of September through Election Day, compared to $12.6 million in Michigan and $8.3 million in Wisconsin, according to Advertising Analytics, a media tracking firm. The sums include ads booked to run on TV, radio and online.

It’s a reversal from the previous three months, when the president’s campaign had devoted more money to Michigan and Wisconsin, two Upper Midwest battlegrounds that Trump surprisingly carried in 2016, but where he has seen his standing slip. The Trump campaign still has more ad money reserved, about $15 million, in another key swing state they took from the Democratic column in 2016, Pennsylvania. Continue reading.

Chamber of Commerce backs freshmen House Dems, marking shift

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has decided to endorse 23 freshmen House Democrats in this fall’s elections, a bipartisan move by an organization that has long leaned strongly toward Republicans.

The country’s largest business group is also endorsing 29 freshmen House Republicans, said a person familiar with the organization’s decision who described the actions. Even so, the decision has prompted internal divisions, with some state chamber officials criticizing the national group’s decision to back freshmen Democrats in their areas.

The House freshmen the chamber is endorsing include several who face tough reelections, such as Reps. Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne of Iowa, Andy Kim of New Jersey, Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico, Anthony Brindisi of New York, Kendra Horn of Oklahoma, Joe Cunningham of South Carolina and Elaine Luria and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia. Continue reading.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Endorses Dean Phillips for Re-Election

Chamber lauds Phillips as a “friend of business” 

MINNETONKA, MINNESOTA – Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce officially endorsed Dean Phillips (D, MN-03) for re-election. A business leader and entrepreneur before running for office in 2018, Phillips refuses all campaign contributions from special interests, PACs, and federal lobbyists, and has emerged as a pragmatic, independent-minded leader on small business issues and government reform in Congress. Recognizing Phillips for his strong support of small business and economic growth, and his commitment to working across the aisle on issues of national importance, the nation’s largest business organization took the rare step of endorsing a freshman Democrat. 

“As one of the few entrepreneurs in Congress, I’m especially grateful to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for their endorsement,” said Phillips. “My thirty years of experience creating, leading, and growing businesses in Minnesota brings a unique perspective to policy-making and illuminates my mission to inspire a new era of collaboration in Congress. I’m grateful to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for recognizing and supporting the need for bipartisanship as we pave the path to prosperity for all Americans.” 

Continue reading “U.S. Chamber of Commerce Endorses Dean Phillips for Re-Election”

Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips says Minnetonka campaign office burglarized

A Minnesota congressman says his Minnetonka campaign office was burglarized overnight.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips tweeted the news of the break-in on Sunday, along with a photo of a shattered glass door.

“To the thieves stealing campaign signs from my supporters’ lawns across the district and the criminals who broke into our Minnetonka campaign office overnight, the irony isn’t lost on me,” Phillips wrote. “Your disregard for law and stoking of fear and disorder, only increases my resolve.” Continue reading.

New Bill Seeks to Bring Lobbying Out of the Shadows

The Lobbying Disclosure Reform Act of 2020 would add “strategic lobbying services” to the influence-seeking activities that would have to be publicly reported, among other provisions aimed at strengthening disclosure.

Lobbyists who work to influence the federal government report spending, combined, about $3 billion per year for their efforts. But that figure is just a fraction of what corporations and other interests spend on their lobbying. 

Besides making calls to congressional offices and holding briefings for staffers, lobbying organizations often employ “soft power” tactics to get information favorable to their causes in front of policymakers and influencers. For example, trade groups often plant op-eds built around their talking points on websites like The Hill that are read almost exclusively by D.C. insiders. It’s also common for groups to form astroturf coalitions and call on their audiences to lobby policymakers on their behalf. 

To increase transparency of these activities, freshman Reps. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and Ben Cline (R-Va.) last week introduced a bill—the Lobbying Disclosure Reform Act of 2020—that would require companies, trade groups and other entities that employ lobbyists to begin disclosing information about the “strategic lobbying services” they employ in support of their lobbyists. The bill would require reporting of individuals employed in strategic planning, earned media and press strategy, polling, production of public communications, and encouraging people to take action to support or oppose a legislative or regulatory action through the formation of formal or informal coalitions. Continue reading.