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| LATEST WITH THE BIDEN TRANSITION | |
Normally, Biden would have his pick of the litter on Capitol Hill, but the Senate battle is complicating it: |
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© Getty Images Via The Hill’s Jordain Carney and Julia Manchester, “A razor-tight Senate margin is complicating President-elect Joe Biden's strategy for filling his Cabinet by making it more difficult to pick sitting lawmakers for plum posts.” https://bit.ly/3piJTP7 Normally: “Members of Congress would be at the top of the list for an incoming administration looking to poach talent from the party's ranks on Capitol Hill.” Yes, but this is 2020. Nothing is normal in 2020: “With Biden wanting to move fast and control of the Senate in limbo until early next year, he’ll have to think twice before tapping congressional Democrats — a move that could open up a seat for Republicans to try to flip or tip the scales in a closely divided Congress.” What House and Senate Democrats are thinking: “Democrats in both the House and Senate are looking at thin margins that could make it difficult to justify picking a member of Congress for a Cabinet position if it risks depleting the party’s ranks or setting up a special election in a red or purple state.” |
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Joe Biden chose his chief of staff — and it’s not a surprise at all: |
| President-elect Biden has selected Ron Klain as his chief of staff. https://bit.ly/2UizQez What to know about Klain: Klain, 59, has worked with Biden for years and served as his chief of staff when Biden was vice president. “Klain first began working for Biden in 1989 when Biden was a senator from Delaware. He also worked for the president-elect's 1988 and 2008 presidential campaigns before joining the Obama administration.” |
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| It’s Thursday. I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@thehill.com — and follow along on Twitter @CateMartel and Facebook. Did someone forward this to you? Want your own copy? Sign up here to receive The Hill's 12:30 Report in your inbox daily: http://bit.ly/2kjMNnn |
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| GETTING TRACTION THIS MORNING | |
Bahahaha: |
| White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany appeared on “Fox & Friends” this morning for an interview as a campaign adviser, instead of her official White House role. https://bit.ly/35prSq9 McEnany was asked whether President Trump has considered allowing President-elect Biden to receive the daily intelligence briefing. McEnany’s response: "I haven’t spoken to the president about that. That would be a question more for the White House, but I will say that all laws are being followed with regard to an expected transition, though we expect to continue on as the Trump administration. We will see how our litigation goes." Watch the clip: 
© Twitter Watch: https://bit.ly/3eWqE9g This Pixar short is all I can picture: 
© Tenor |
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Experts are worried about the damage Trump’s election pushback is causing: |
| Via The Hill’s Niall Stanage, “President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election result are damaging the nation’s fabric even if they are ultimately unlikely to succeed, experts say.” https://bit.ly/3ngors3 This part is worrisome: “The fact that most congressional Republicans have not pushed back with any vigor on the president’s efforts is sharpening worries among Trump critics as to what could come next.” Trump’s orbit pushes back: “Sources in Trump’s orbit who have spoken with The Hill insist there is no real damage wrought by allowing the legal process to play out. They say the process could in fact ultimately reassure Trump voters that the result is valid.” |
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Mitch McConnell, the tightrope-walking extraordinaire: |
| Via The Hill’s Alexander Bolton, “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is walking a fine line with his handling of President Trump’s refusal to concede the election.” https://bit.ly/2UmU0Eg McConnell is supporting Trump’s claims: “The GOP leader is defending Trump’s right to challenge the vote counts in several key battleground states, arguing the courts are meant to handle disputed election results and that ‘wealthy media corporations’ should not project the winner.” Yes, but McConnell is wording it carefully: “McConnell is also keeping his distance from the president’s claims of voter fraud that his campaign has yet to back up with any hard evidence … Asked if there were any signs of fraud in his own reelection race in Kentucky or any Senate races, McConnell responded: ‘I don’t know — at the risk of bragging, it wasn’t very close.’” Keep in mind: McConnell wants to keep Trump and his base happy for the two Senate runoff elections in Georgia. |
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| STACEY ABRAMS PUTS MUSCLE INTO GEORGIA RUNOFFS: |
| https://bit.ly/3nv1tOb |
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It’s ice breaker day in DC!: |
| New House members-elect are arriving in Washington, D.C., today for new member orientation. Via C-SPAN’s Craig Caplan, here are photos of members-elect with their luggage at the check-in desk. Photos: https://bit.ly/2Ui3qke |
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| TIDBIT ABOUT THE ORIENTATION: |
| E&E News’s Emma Dumain tweeted, “I loved covering new member orientation. You saw soon-to-be congresspeople at their most joyful and excited and unguarded. The office lottery was so silly and fun. Days like these I miss my pre-pandemic Hill reporter life so much.” https://bit.ly/2IkZ4GR |
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| WHAT TO EXPECT: |
| Via Roll Call’s Katherine Tully-McManus: https://bit.ly/2K25Vp3 |
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| LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS | |
I could cry happy tears if this is true, Tony: |
| Yesterday, Anthony Fauci said the coronavirus pandemic will not last “a lot longer” because of the vaccines in development. https://bit.ly/38DrTZQ Fauci said during a Chatham House event: "Certainly it's not going to be pandemic for a lot longer because I believe the vaccines are going to turn that around.” Fauci did also say though: "Putting it to rest doesn't mean eradicating it. I doubt we're going to eradicate this, I think we need to plan that this is something we may need to maintain control over chronically, it may be something that becomes endemic that we have to just be careful about." |
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| THE LATEST NUMBERS: |
| Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 10,415,779 U.S. death toll: 241,907 Breakdown of the numbers: https://cnn.it/2UAgW3y Op-ed: https://bit.ly/36rhmOI |
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Nope, nope, nope, nope, NOOOPE!: |
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© Twitter The full size photos — nope: https://bit.ly/2H04aYo Now I have the Jurassic Park theme song stuck in my head. |
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This feels like a throwback from 5-10 years ago: |
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© Twitter |
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It’s worth zooming in on these political cartoons to see all the little details: |
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© Twitter There’s a lot going on here — full size photo: https://bit.ly/36rGnJq |
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| The Senate is in. The House is out. President Trump and Vice President Pence are in Washington, D.C. Noon: A cloture vote in the Senate. The Senate’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/35msc96 12:30 p.m. EST: President Trump and Vice President Pence have lunch together. 4 p.m. EST: President Trump meets with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in the Oval Office. Friday: The deadline for submitting nominations to The Hill’s Top Lobbyists. https://bit.ly/37GQRqu Nov. 19: The Hill is hosting a virtual event, “The Hill's Diversity & Inclusion Summit.” Details and how to RSVP: https://bit.ly/35q97mo |
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| 10:15 a.m. EST: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) held a news conference. Livestream: https://cs.pn/38AbOUH |
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| NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF...: | |
| Today is National French Dip Day. |
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This is BY FAR the craziest golf shot I have ever seen: |
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© Twitter Watch: https://bit.ly/3lrbf2X By the way, The 2020 Masters kicks off today: https://bit.ly/2UkCVe1 |
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| And to brighten your Thursday afternoon, meet Bunny the dog who uses buttons to talk to his owners: https://bit.ly/35opcJk I’m so impressed, Bunny! Here are more videos of Bunny communicating: https://bit.ly/2InVD2a |
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