Andrew Desiderio contributed to this report.

GOP VENN DIAGRAM: Republicans in the House and Senate may be of the same breed, but they are certainly showing they have different spots. Here are some key differences and similarities.

DIFFERENCES: Republican senators seem much more capable of staying on message against President Joe Biden and Democrats, keeping their internal battles from blowing up on the national level. House Republicans are roiled with intra-party drama, drawing them away from the messages they said will help them win them the House back in 2022.

While a majority of senators on both sides are vaccinated and doing away with their masks, Republicans in the House are in open rebellion about mask rules. Your Huddle host saw multiple members again leaving the House floor without any masks and some of those Republicans even gathered after the vote series to discuss how the fine process would work.

It isn’t just some of the well known firebrands who are opting not to wear their masks. It’s also more moderate members like Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), a doctor, who wants the vaccines and the removal of masks to be an incentive for the country to get the shot against the virus. Wearing them on the House floor, she warns, sends the opposite signal. (More than 50 percent of House Republicans have not said if they are vaccinated, per a CNN survey.)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) may have far fewer members to oversee, but his rank-and-file are taking cues from him. On the other side of the Capitol, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) faces sniping from within his own conference on his handling of the vote on the Jan. 6 commission, which Mel, Nick and yours truly detail here: https://politi.co/3frIZLU

COMMONALITIES: But yesterday’s vote shows House and Senate Republicans share some similarities, too. Both Republican party leaders and a majority of their rank-and-file members oppose the Jan. 6 commission that Donald Trump detests.

A strong showing -- 175 Republicans -- in the House voted against it. But 35 GOP members joined Democrats in supporting the formation of an independent body that would probe the deadly attack. The nearly three dozen votes is a rebuke to McCarthy, who privately carried out an informal effort to get his rank-and-file members to oppose the bill. Who knows what the number would’ve been if McCarthy hadn’t put his thumbs on the scale, but Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) told me after the vote: “I’m just very pleased at the number of people that support it...We’re pleased that people got to agree with our arguments.”

The resolution now heads to the split Senate, where it faces heavy resistance. A majority of Republicans are expected to oppose the commission. Democrats need at least 10 Republicans to get it passed, no easy feat after McConnell announced yesterday that he opposes the legislation. The vote could come as early as next week. Marianne and Burgess have the full story on this: https://politi.co/3bDiAcS

Another thing Republicans have in common? They agree on disagreeing with everything President Joe Biden and other Democrats have done: Big spending. Talk of raising taxes and getting rid of the Trump tax cut. The Biden administration’s Covid relief bill, particularly its trillion dollar price tag. And they certainly aren’t on board with Biden’s other multi-trillion dollar infrastructure and jobs package or his American Families Plan.

Senate Republicans have had an easier time hammering Democrats than the House GOP so far, particularly following the latter’s ouster of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from leadership and the back-and-forth over the Jan. 6 commission. We’ll see if that changes as the midterm election draws closer.

Related: Why Republicans still have the upper hand for 2022, Rich Lowry writes in POLITICO Mag: https://politi.co/3oyFPdt | Policing deal remains out of reach on Capitol Hill as the anniversary of George Floyd’s death approaches, by WaPo’s Mike Debonis: https://wapo.st/2SVEHom

ON GILLI-BRAND: Kirsten Gillibrand may be the name you associate with ousting former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) — though she was the first by just minutes, with dozens of other senators following suit in pushing for him to resign amid multiple misconduct allegations. Or you may know her from her presidential bid in 2020, which fizzled after five months.

But 2021 may be her breakout year, with the potential to put both those identifiers behind her, according to Burgess, who profiled the New York progessive. She is throwing herself into a campaign to overhaul military sex crime prosecutions by wresting control of military sexual assault investigations from commanders -- and they say they have the votes to get it passed.

She has a whiteboard in her office where she ticks through a list of her colleagues that she hopes will support her push. And Gillibrand has been relentless, so much so that some senators privately said they were borderline exhausted with how many times she has contacted them on the matter. And she has a prominent new ally this year helping with the push: Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). They hope to have 75 votes.

It is a landmark issue that she has spent years trying to tackle. And she says she feels more “energized” than ever to be a senator -- and wants to make another run for president someday.

A great read from Burgess: https://politi.co/3wpDq7J

Related: Biden’s old Senate colleagues don’t recognize his current economics. They’re cool with that, our Laura Barrón-López reports: https://politi.co/3bCjfva | An ‘army of 16-year-olds’ takes on the Democrats, by NYT’s Ellen Barry:https://nyti.ms/2T62yC0

ON TAP: The House will vote today on the Capitol security supplemental spending bill, which would provide a total of $1.9 billion for security improvements and costs incurred during the Jan. 6 attack. Meanwhile, the Senate will have two amendment votes on the Schumer-Young U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, the new name for the Endless Frontier Act.

HAPPY THURSDAY! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill on this May 20, where some embark on missions that have no chance of succeeding, including this one...

WEDNESDAY’S MOST CLICKED: WaPo’s story on how Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) -- who compared Jan. 6 attack to normal tourist visits -- was seen screaming and barricading the House floor that day was the big winner.

ANOTHER NAME OUT OF THE GAETZ: A grand jury subpoena has revealed the name of another person in the federal probe that is engulfing Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) -- Joe Ellicott, a close friend to former Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg.

Our Marc Caputo with the scoop: “The Dec. 28, 2020 subpoena states that the grand jury is investigating alleged crimes ‘involving commercial sex acts with adult and minor women, as well as obstruction of justice’ and seeks any communications, documents, recordings and payments the individual had with Ellicott, Gaetz and Greenberg from January 2016 until now. Two sources familiar with the investigation say Ellicott is also being scrutinized for alleged sex trafficking of a minor.”

Marc has the details: https://politi.co/2SWusAc

Related: GOP pollster Frank Luntz claimed to be impartial — but was paid by Ted Cruz during 2018 Texas race, by Salon’s Zachary Petrizzo: https://bit.ly/3fAzzxC

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Rep. Jamie Raskin’s (D-Md.) office shared a letter written on official Capitol Police letterhead to congressional offices just two hours ahead of the commission vote, in which a group of officers anonymously offered a rare public rebuke of top Republicans yesterday for opposing the proposed Jan. 6 commission.

The letter was not issued by the department, which distanced itself from the statement, noting that it “has no way of confirming it was even authored by USCP personnel. The U.S. Capitol Police does NOT take positions on legislation.”

It isn’t clear how many officers were represented by the letter. CNN spoke to the officer who wrote the letter, who claimed it represented the view of 40 to 50 other officers, though the news outlet couldn’t independently verify this. “It needed to be out there. It needed to be done,” the officer said.

After the bill passed the House, your Huddle host and other reporters caught up with Raskin, who represents a district in Maryland that borders D.C., who said the letter was dropped off at his office by some officers. “I’ve met with a bunch of them who are my constituents, which is originally how the officers approached me,” he said, noting that they’ve “been extremely upset.”

The former lead impeachment manager argued that these officers need a voice, but aren’t supposed to wade into politics. “They are not allowed to speak on behalf of the whole department, which they didn’t purport to do, but they are allowed to have their views as citizens and to express themselves in off hours.”

Raskin, however, acknowledged with a laugh: “They should not have used the letterhead, obviously,” he said before adding: “Their offense is barely a comma in the encyclopedia of crimes on Jan. 6. So I don’t think too many of my colleagues should be that upset about the fact that they used their official department letterhead.”

He isn’t the only one who has heard from Capitol Police officers. “A lot of them said, ‘thank you.’ It was very gratifying,” Katko told me after the vote when asked if officers have similarly contacted him about the commission.

More here from yours truly and Sarah: https://politi.co/3oxEmUz

THEY WERE (M)ASKIN’ FOR IT: Efforts by Republicans to abolish the rule that requires vaccinated members to wear masks on the House floor failed in a party-line vote yesterday, with 218-210 voting to table th resolution, which would have nudged the chamber to ease up on its mask rules on the floor and in committee meeting spaces.

McCarthy and the GOP Doctors Caucus spearheaded the effort one day after a group of House Republicans staged a maskless rebellion on the floor in protest of the rules, leading some to face hefty fines. And some are keeping up the mask fight. “Yup,” Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) told me when I asked if he was again going on the floor without one... not that it wasn’t obvious when looking at him.

More here from Mel and Nick: https://politi.co/3hEznQP

RIOT REPORT COMING SOON: A pair of Senate panels -- the Senate Rules Committee and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee -- are planning to release their report focused on the Jan. 6 attack on June 7 or 8, The Hill’s Jordain Carney scooped. The story: https://bit.ly/3ouPG3Q

PROGRESSIVES’ FOREIGN POLICY PUSHES: House progressives are diving into two key foreign policy debates: China and Israel.

First, China: Some left-leaning Democrats and activists are calling for a softer approach to China, arguing that efforts by the Biden administration and congressional leaders to take a hard stance on Beijing will fan racism against Asian Americans and lead to an unending escalation with China akin to a new Cold War. More than 60 activist groups and at least four prominent lawmakers are growing louder in their criticisms ahead of the Senate pushing a package of bipartisan anti-China bills.

“We need to distinguish between justified criticisms of the Chinese government’s human rights record and a Cold War mentality that uses China as a scapegoat for our own domestic problems and demonizes Chinese Americans,” said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

More here from Gavin Bade: https://politi.co/3eZNoqr

On Israel: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is leading a group of other progressives in an effort to block the sale of precision-guided weapons to Israel, per a draft resolution my colleagues obtained.

Others including Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), and Omar are also on board, which comes as Biden is turning up the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to de-escalate the increasingly deadly conflict in Gaza.

This also comes as the back-and-forth on Capitol Hill over U.S.-Israel relations escalated significantly, “from predictably sharp rhetoric to lawmakers accusing each other of supporting terrorists as both parties asserted their support for Israel’s right to self-defense,” Andrew, Lara Seligman and Nahal Toosi report.

More here: https://politi.co/3yiKWmq

Meanwhile: Republicans who have offices near AOC have posted pro-Israel signs throughout the hallway so she has to walk by them and see them.

Related: GOP Sen. Todd Young backpedals on call for Gaza cease-fire, by Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod: https://bit.ly/2S4Qpg6 | Biden’s warning to Israel shakes up diplomacy — and politics, by WaPo’s Anne Gearan and Sean Sullivan:https://wapo.st/3f0xPyA

HELP ON THE WAY: A big bipartisan group of House members and senators introduced legislation this week that would boost financial support for victims of directed-energy attacks. The renewed effort comes on the heels of reporting by POLITICO about the increasing threat of such attacks targeting U.S. personnel on American soil and abroad.

The HAVANA Act — a reference to “Havana syndrome,” the name for the mysterious illness that impacted U.S. diplomats in Cuba in 2016 — would empower the CIA director and the secretary of state to approve funding for medical treatment. As we previously reported, some suspected victims of the directed-energy attacks have faced bureaucratic hurdles, prompting lawmakers to demand a more sufficient response by the federal government. More here from Andrew: https://politi.co/3ypSQuj

QUICK CLICKS: Congressional freshmen who co-sponsor the most bipartisan bills, by Axios’ Alayna Treene:https://bit.ly/3ypJI96 | Sherrod Brown presses Biden bank cop to take harder line on cryptocurrency, our Victoria Guida reports: https://politi.co/3fuOV6N

CORRECTION: Yesterday’s newsletter initially said the last time the Capitol Police Board went before a congressional committee was 76 years ago -- it was actually in 2000 — over 20 years ago.

TRANSITIONS

Former Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.) is joining the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) as the new bipartisan co-chair of their Indiana Advisory Committee, which she will lead alongside former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.).

TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House meets at 9 a.m. Votes are expected between 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

The Senate meets at 10:30 a.m.

AROUND THE HILL

10 a.m. The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee has a virtual hearing on infrastructure investments. HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg testify.

10:45 a.m.: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) holds her weekly press conference.

11:30 a.m.: McCarthy and other Republicans hold a press conference marking Cuban Independence Day.

2 p.m.: Biden is expected to sign the Covid hate crime bill into law.

3 p.m.: Pelosi will have a photo-opp with South Korean President Moon Jae-In.

TRIVIA

WEDNESDAY’S WINNER: Max Baker was our trivia winner yesterday on the question about the political leanings of Fortune 500 CEOs. There are various different studies on this, it turns out. Fortune 500 CEOs, when asked about their political party registrations in a Fortune Magazine poll, responded: GOP at 30 percent, Democrats at 12 percent, and independents at 47 percent. A Harvard Law study found GOP was at 58 percent, Democrats at 18 percent, and independents at 24 percent.

TODAY’S QUESTION: From Max: Who were the last two nominees for president who came directly from the House?

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answer to [email protected].

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