46 min listen
Rep. Tom Cole’s cigar diplomacy to secure Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan aid
Rep. Tom Cole’s cigar diplomacy to secure Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan aid
ratings:
Length:
50 minutes
Released:
Apr 19, 2024
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
After months of delay, this week House Speaker Mike Johnson advanced his
much awaited version of the Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan foreign aid
package.
Standing between that legislation and the House floor: two very powerful
committees.
First, the House Appropriations Committee, which controls about a third
of federal spending. And second, the Rules Committee, which controls
access to the House floor, and which has become a problem for GOP
leaders in this Congress.
Johnson needed to pick the lock on both of these committees. And there
is one Member of Congress who has chaired them both. Not just in the
past year — but in the past month: Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole.
Deep Dive host and Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza caught up with Cole on
Thursday afternoon after he’d just testified in support of the foreign
aid bill in front of his old committee.
They got deep into the weeds of why the Rules Committee has been such a
trouble spot for recent GOP speakers; and they discussed Johnson’s
tenure so far and whether Cole thinks the Speaker can hang on as members
threaten to oust him.
Cole also previewed how he will run the Appropriations Committee,
including how he’ll handle the controversial earmarks process. And Cole
answered some prying questions from some of his favorite historians on
the subject of Donald Trump.
Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO.
Tom Cole is the chair of the House Appropriations committee.
Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio.
Alex Keeney is a senior producer for POLITICO audio.
much awaited version of the Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan foreign aid
package.
Standing between that legislation and the House floor: two very powerful
committees.
First, the House Appropriations Committee, which controls about a third
of federal spending. And second, the Rules Committee, which controls
access to the House floor, and which has become a problem for GOP
leaders in this Congress.
Johnson needed to pick the lock on both of these committees. And there
is one Member of Congress who has chaired them both. Not just in the
past year — but in the past month: Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole.
Deep Dive host and Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza caught up with Cole on
Thursday afternoon after he’d just testified in support of the foreign
aid bill in front of his old committee.
They got deep into the weeds of why the Rules Committee has been such a
trouble spot for recent GOP speakers; and they discussed Johnson’s
tenure so far and whether Cole thinks the Speaker can hang on as members
threaten to oust him.
Cole also previewed how he will run the Appropriations Committee,
including how he’ll handle the controversial earmarks process. And Cole
answered some prying questions from some of his favorite historians on
the subject of Donald Trump.
Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO.
Tom Cole is the chair of the House Appropriations committee.
Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio.
Alex Keeney is a senior producer for POLITICO audio.
Released:
Apr 19, 2024
Format:
Podcast episode
More Episodes from Playbook Deep Dive
Rep. Jerry Nadler opposed the House antisemitism bill. Here's why: Rep. Jerry Nadler, who has represented a big piece of Manhattan since 1992, is one of the longest-serving Jewish members of the House. He’s also a Columbia University alumnus: he was on campus in 1968 when police cleared Hamilton Hall of anti-Vietnam war protesters. Nadler is a close observer of the Middle East and the politics of Israel in the U.S. And he’s the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, where he’s long seen himself as a champion of civil liberties. All of this background helped put Nadler at the center of a swirl of events this week as pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia were ejected from Hamilton Hall, as President Biden made his first public remarks about campus protests, as a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel seemed tantalizingly close and as the House passed, by an overwhelming majority of 320 to 91, the Antisemitism Awareness Act — a bill against which Nadler led the oppositio by Playbook Deep Dive