What does Alabama mean for the GOP?

WASHINGTON—Alabama voters elected a Democrat to represent them in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday and Republicans are OK with that.

The stunning special election concluded this week with Alabamians sending a Democrat to the U.S. Senate for the first time in 25 years. Doug Jones’ victory marked the end of a tumultuous season for Republicans struggling to respond to Roy Moore, a candidate accused of pursuing sexual relationships with teenaged girls while in his 30s.

Moore continues to deny any wrongdoing, and he still hasn’t conceded defeat in the race. But Republican senators are happy to put the Alabama race behind them.

“I know we’re supposed to cheer for our side of the aisle, if you will,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who’s set to retire next year and often brawls with his fellow Republicans. “But I’m really, really happy with what happened for all of us in our nation, for people serving in the Senate, to not have to deal with what we were likely going to have to deal with should the outcome have been the other way.”

Some Republican senators vowed to try to expel Moore from the Senate if he won, and most said they would at least approve an immediate ethics investigation. That’s not how the GOP wanted to begin 2018, and its willing to accept a 51-49 majority if it means avoiding the drama.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he wasn’t surprised Jones won even in deep-red Alabama: “It’s not a new lesson, it’s an old one. Flawed candidates can’t win general elections.” When asked what message Alabama voters sent Tuesday night, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., didn’t mince words: “Alabamians didn’t want somebody who dated 14-year-old girls.”

Republicans entered 2017 with control of the House, Senate, and White House. But early on they showed majority doesn’t always equal unity. Republican leaders hope they can get their tax reform package across the finish line this month to celebrate their first major legislative accomplishment of the year.

The morning after Jones won, Democrats started a campaign to pump the brakes on the GOP tax bill until after the new senator can join the upper chamber. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Alabama voters didn’t elect Jones because they didn’t like Moore, they elected a Democrat because voters dislike the GOP agenda.

“The lesson of this election is that the Republican policies are all wrong,” Schumer said during a Wednesday news conference. He called the Alabama election a “referendum” and said he hoped Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would “do the right thing” and delay tax reform until Jones get seated in January.

There’s no chance of that happening, but some Republicans are ready for less partisanship going forward. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told reporters Wednesday she hopes leaders will focus on bipartisan efforts in 2018, including an infrastructure package, now that Republicans have less room for defections.

With the slimmest possible 51-49 majority, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., suggested Republicans might find it easier to govern because they only have one person to leverage on close votes.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told me it’s disappointing to have a reduced majority for 2018 but insisted Republicans would have had just as many headaches trying to work with Moore. He said the message from Alabama is that having quality candidates is critical.

I asked Rounds if Schumer is right about the election being a repudiation of the GOP agenda. He laughed.

“Absolutely not,” Rounds said. “The overriding factor here was capabilities, competencies of the individuals who were the candidates in the election.”

Dreaming of a DACA fix for Christmas

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are hopeful about finalizing a deal to rescue young immigrants under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program before the end of this year.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday on the Senate floor that Democrats are in the process of negotiating with Republicans on an investment in border security in exchange for a DACA solution. When asked for more details on the nature of the agreement, Schumer said he would not negotiate in public.

Other lawmakers I spoke with this week also declined to confirm details but expressed optimism that Congress could coalesce around an immigration deal soon. The government runs out of funding on Dec. 22, creating the biggest point of leverage for lawmakers to force a vote on immigration reform.

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who has applied some of the strongest GOP pressure to pass a bill to protect DACA recipients, said lawmakers are still working but are “very close” to an agreement.

President Donald Trump announced in September the DACA program would end on March 5 and called on Congress to legislate a solution. Lawmakers have proposed several bills pairing border security reforms with permanent legal status for the nearly 800,000 DACA recipients but without much success.

This week, several DACA recipients traveled to Washington to push for a quick legislative solution. Elisa Gonzalez came to the United States with her mother and brother when she was 8 months old: “All I remember is America.”

She’s now a sophomore at Converse College in Spartanburg, S.C., with DACA providing the only reason she’s able to attend. Gonzalez didn’t even know she was undocumented until her older brother started to apply for college in 2012. Without action from Congress, Gonzalez’s DACA program benefits will expire before the end of this school year.

“It’s really hard to study and to keep good grades knowing that in March all of that could be taken away from me,” she said. —E.W.

A presidential investigation?

During the 2016 presidential campaign, 17 women accused President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. Trump called all the women liars. A year later, women across the country are speaking out against powerful abusers, and elected officials are paying consequences. Encouraged by the new political climate, three of Trump’s accusers revived their claims this week and asked Congress to investigate the president’s conduct. A letter from House Democrats asked House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., to open an investigation. In a written response, Gowdy claimed such a probe falls outside his jurisdiction because sexual assault is a crime. He referred the request to the Justice Department. “Those alleging sexual assault or criminal sexual conduct deserve to be interviewed by law enforcement professionals, and charging decisions should be made by prosecutors based on the quantum and quality of the admissible and provable evidence,” he wrote. Gowdy copied Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the reply but noted some of the accusations cite violations of state law. —E.W.

Crying wolf

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reported a fake sexual harassment complaint to U.S. Capitol Police Tuesday. An unidentified source shopped to Axios and other media outlets a 13-page document that appeared to be a 2012 federal lawsuit filed by a former Schumer staffer against her boss. Axios asked Schumer about it and the senator called the cops. The woman named in the document told Axios she never filed the lawsuit and someone forged her signature. “It was false from start to finish, and we are pursuing every legal path,” Schumer said at a news conference Wednesday, adding he wants to see the person responsible prosecuted. Three lawmakers have already resigned this month amid ethics probes after women accused them of misconduct. —E.W.

God works in mysterious ways

Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., announced Wednesday he has prostate cancer. Brooks ran for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ U.S. Senate seat in Alabama but finished third in the GOP primary behind Luther Strange and Roy Moore. He said losing might have saved his life. “Yes, God does work in mysterious ways,” Brooks said on the House floor. “Had I won, I would not have had time for my physical and [Prostate-Specific Antigen] test.” The lawmaker discovered the cancer on Halloween after getting results from a routine checkup. A prostate biopsy revealed he has “high risk” prostate cancer and needs immediate treatment. Brooks will undergo surgery Friday and does not expect to return to Congress until January. —E.W.