House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul said “I talked to Blinken two days ago, and he is traveling with his counterpart from the UK to Kyiv to basically tell them that they will allow them [to hit Russia with ATACMS]” during an interview with me at #TribFest24 on Friday.
Four lawmakers told me that they were assured a bill linking Israel and Ukraine funding would not be blocked on the floor.
A Jordan spokesperson denied that the speaker nominee made promises, telling Axios that Jordan's conversations were about working to find the right approach, rather than specific promises.
NEWS: Per four GOP sources Jordan offered to nominate Scalise on the floor on the condition that he nominate the Ohio Republican if he didn’t win first ballot. Story to come.
"He tried to extort Steve and Steve said no. 'I will nominate and vote for you in first round and if you don't win you have to support me in second round,' He's a f***ing snake and disgraceful," one lawmaker said. "There's zero chance Jim Jordan is speaker after the last 30 hours."
"The Freedom Caucus plan is wagging the conference dog," one House Republican told me.
“A lot of undecided….members/staff still sorting through it. Midwestern states furious about cutting ethanol subsidies, people are angry about the shortened length, etc. They’ll probably get there… with some tweaks,” another member said.