Will he run for US Senate? Brian Kemp mulls his next move

Georgia politicos had expected that the end to this year’s legislative session would unleash a flood of announcements on campaigns for Georgia’s 2026 statewide elections. But the announcement most are waiting for is Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision on whether he’ll challenge U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff next year. And it isn’t coming right away.

Kemp was at the governor’s mansion Wednesday cutting the ribbon on a new Georgia State Patrol post when he told us he still hasn’t decided whether he will run. Top Washington Republicans have made it known that Kemp, who can’t seek a third term for governor, is their first choice to take on the freshman Democrat.

“Obviously I have people reaching out to me,” Kemp said. After spending this week visiting with leaders on business development projects, he said, “I’m going to try to get a little bit of downtime where I can think through things, do some due diligence, and then we’ll keep people posted.”

Kemp’s decision will trigger a political chain reaction, influencing whether others, including several GOP members of Congress and a few statewide officials, leave their current roles to take on Ossoff.

In the meantime, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones hasn’t announced his expected bid for governor either, but the race to replace him is already taking shape.

State Sen. Blake Tillery, the chair of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee, filed paperwork this week to seek Georgia’s No. 2 job. The Vidalia Republican is the first of many who could jump into the race if Jones announces he’s giving it up, including several from his own chamber.

Senate President Pro Tem John F. Kennedy of Macon, Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch of Dahlonega and state Sen. Greg Dolezal of Cumming all could enter on the GOP side. We are also watching Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper — a former Republican state senator — as a potential contender.

Things to know

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Good morning! We’re 34 days away from Gov. Brian Kemp’s deadline to sign or veto bills passed by the state Legislature this year. Here are three things to know for today:

Roundup battle

Credit: Haven Daley/AP

Credit: Haven Daley/AP

As Gov. Brian Kemp mulls whether to wade into the fight over the popular weed killer Roundup, the company that makes the product is trying to go over his head.

Bayer, the German biotechnology giant, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop lawsuits that accuse the company breaking various state laws by not warning people their product could cause cancer. Roundup contains glyphosate, which some studies have linked to cancer.

The federal government doesn’t require Bayer to warn people about that. That’s why the company says state laws can’t compel it to warn people, either.

At the same time, Bayer is trying to convince several states to shield them from these lawsuits. That includes Georgia. The Legislature approved Senate Bill 144 last month and delivered it to the governor earlier this week. Kemp has until May 14 to decide what to do about it.

The bill would shield Bayer from state lawsuits if it displays a label approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It contains an exception for companies that knowingly withhold information about health risks.

It’s an interesting decision for Kemp, who used his political might this year to pass legislation he said would limit civil lawsuits while preserving people’s access to the courts. The Roundup bill passed with bipartisan support in Georgia. Lawmakers worry that without it, Bayer could pull Roundup from the market, which they say would hurt the state’s crop yields.

Pushback?

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Most Republicans have avoided pushing back on President Donald Trump’s policies during the first 100 days of his administration. But former Gov. Sonny Perdue came close during a speech to the Rotary Club of Macon on Monday.

Perdue, now the chancellor of the University System of Georgia, confirmed state universities have had research funding withheld as part of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative. But he stopped short of calling them cuts, according to a report from the Macon Telegraph’s Lucinda Warnke.

“I just hope they recognize that, while education is the responsibility of the states, you can’t starve them,” Perdue said.

Tariff relief

Credit: Tatan Syuflana/AP

Credit: Tatan Syuflana/AP

The big national news Wednesday was President Donald Trump’s decision to pause his day-old tariffs on dozens of trading partners around the world, while increasing tariffs on imported Chinese goods to 125%.

The move came as a relief to Gov. Brian Kemp, who said China “has been ripping us off in a lot of different ways.” Kemp has made boosting international trade for Georgia businesses a top priority.

“I don’t really know exactly what the strategy is at the White House, but I thought what they did today was a good move to focus and square up on China,” Kemp said. “I’m not saying we don’t need to trade with them again, but we also need to send a message that we can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing. … We cannot be dependent on one foreign entity for things like pharma.”

This morning, world markets soared in early trading.

Foster parents

Since the start of the pandemic, the number of children in Georgia’s foster care system has pretty much stayed the same. But the number of foster parents willing to take them in has dropped by about 14%.

The trend has puzzled members of the Georgia Human Services Board, who on Wednesday questioned an official from Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration about why it was happening.

Part of the problem is that Georgia is seeing a lot more older teenagers with tough behavioral problems enter the system, according to Lon Roberts, deputy commissioner of child welfare for the Georgia Department of Human Services.

“It’s a different challenge,” he said. “It’s not as appealing to some people.”

Board Chair Randall Smith, a former Chick-fil-A executive, didn’t like that answer. He pressed for specifics about what the administration was doing to “fix the problem.” He and other board members requested state data on why people stop being foster parents “so that we can determine what is the biggest problem.”

“Not just the stats, I would like to know what the stats are and what that’s telling you, and what are you doing about it,” Smith said.

Listen up

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Today on “Politically Georgia,” AJC education reporter Martha Dalton joins Patricia Murphy to break down a school safety plan and a cellphone ban for K-8 students.

Have a question or comment for the show? Give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode. You can listen and subscribe to the show for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hold the vote

Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson canceled a vote Wednesday on a budget framework aimed at carrying out President Donald Trump’s biggest priorities. Georgia Reps. Andrew Clyde and Rich McCormick might have had something to do with it.

Clyde and McCormick, two of the biggest conservative critics of the bill, were among the Republicans summoned into a closed-door meeting just before the scheduled vote. They emerged tight-lipped as lawmakers were sent home for the evening. We still don’t know much about what happened in that meeting, although there are reports that President Donald Trump was on the phone.

It is clear that opponents like Clyde, who represents northeast Georgia and said he will not vote for the Senate bill without major changes, was unmoved. McCormick, R-Suwanee, has said all along the bill can’t pass in its current form and encouraged Johnson to negotiate a new agreement.

That could be what the speaker ultimately decides, but for now the bill is back on the agenda with a rescheduled vote this morning.

The biggest rub for the hardliners is that the Senate bill only requires $4 billion in cuts to federal spending, compared to the version passed in the House that sets the floor at $1.5 trillion. Johnson has argued that the Senate bill is just a starting point for negotiations, but the members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus say they don’t trust that will happen unless the framework for those negotiations requires it.

Water heater rule

The U.S. Senate is expected to sign off today on a bill that rolls back a federal clean energy rule to the benefit of a Georgia-based water heater manufacturer.

The rule, which took effect in the final days of President Joe Biden’s tenure, made a specific kind of gas-powered water heater illegal. The Rinnai America Corporation’s factory in Griffin is the only place that makes those water heaters. The Japanese company’s leaders have said they might have to shut down the plant if the rule is allowed to stand.

The U.S. House passed a resolution last month to repeal the water heater rule, and it had bipartisan support although none of the five Georgia Democrats voted for it. Georgia U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were the only Democrats who joined Republicans in a procedural vote Wednesday to advance the bill.

Today in Washington

Moving forward

Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC

Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to advance the nomination of former Georgia U.S. Sen. David Perdue to the floor for a final vote.

With Congress scheduled for a two-week recess, it is likely that Perdue’s confirmation vote to become ambassador to China will happen in May.

Perdue received bipartisan support from the panel, despite many of President Donald Trump’s nominees facing opposition from Democrats as a protest of the administration’s policies along with concerns about how they would do the job.

Perdue received a friendly reception during his nomination hearing last week, an indication his former colleagues from both sides of the aisle were inclined to support him.

Shoutouts

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Today’s birthdays:

Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that! Click here to submit the shoutouts. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.

Before you go

Credit: Susan Walsh/AP

Credit: Susan Walsh/AP

Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster was surprised last month when he got a phone call from President Donald Trump, who has publicly insulted him many times. CBS News reports the call was a mistake. Trump had meant to call Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster.

That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.