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Hello, sharks! We looked at the $1.9 trillion package and thought, *gestures widely* ‘there’s gotta be a better way!’
Well, sharks, we cut that price tag into a third. Introducing … our $618 billion proposal!: |
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© Getty Images President Biden is meeting with a group of ten GOP senators to pitch their own slimmed-down coronavirus relief package in response to the White House’s plan. https://bit.ly/3j6JCfe Which Republican senators: Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Bill Cassidy (La.), Mitt Romney (Utah), Rob Portman (Ohio), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Todd Young (Ind), Jerry Moran (Kan.), Mike Rounds (S.D.) and Thom Tillis (N.C.). But here’s the thing — Democrats don’t have to compromise if they can convince just one person: That person is Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) Democrats appear ready to pass the coronavirus relief package without any Republican support through a budget process called “reconciliation. Basically, they could pass it with a simple majority of 51 in the Senate. Democrats would need all 50 senators on board — with Vice President Harris breaking the tie — but red state Democrat Manchin could single-handedly block that effort. |
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| TIDBIT — HOW CUTE!: |
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© Twitter ^ Good point about the carrot… |
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| Happy February! I’m not sure if you know this, but it snowed in Washington, D.C.! ;) 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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Released this morning — now if you will please direct your attention to our presentation: |
| The group of 10 Republican senators released an estimated $618 coronavirus relief counter proposal ahead of their meeting with President Biden. https://bit.ly/3crjGK5 For context: The $618 billion plan is roughly a third of the $1.9 trillion plan that Democrats want. The gist of the proposal: “The GOP proposal includes $160 billion in pandemic response funding including protective equipment and more money for vaccine distribution. It also includes a $300 per week federal unemployment benefit through June 30, a $1,000 direct payment and additional funding for small business aid, schools, nutritional assistance and childcare.” |
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| TIDBIT — JOE MANCHIN IS NOT HAPPY WITH THE WHITE HOUSE RIGHT NOW: |
| “West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D), a key swing vote in the Senate, expressed frustration on Friday about an interview Vice President Harris gave to a TV station in the state and said the White House had not notified him beforehand.” Details https://bit.ly/36w3weE |
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Who should be eligible for direct payments? That’s a big debate right now: |
| Via The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda, “President Biden’s push for more direct payments is sparking a debate over what the income thresholds should be for the stimulus checks.” https://bit.ly/3alxxik How so — one side of the argument: “Many Republicans and some centrist Democrats say any additional payments need to be more targeted toward lower-income households, arguing they are most in need of relief and are more likely to spend the money quickly, providing a boost to the economy.” The other side of the argument: “Progressives, meanwhile, insist that broad eligibility would ensure the money gets out the door swiftly, while providing help to people whose income has dropped during the coronavirus-induced recession.” How this could play out: https://bit.ly/3alxxik |
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On Saturday — Trump’s entire legal team left: |
| Via CNN’s Gloria Borger, Kaitlan Collins, Jeff Zeleny and Ashley Semler, “Former President Donald Trump's five impeachment defense attorneys have left a little more than a week before his trial is set to begin.” https://cnn.it/3thJ4Ig Why: “One point of friction with his previous team was Trump wanted the attorneys to focus on his election fraud claims rather than the constitutionality of convicting a former president.” |
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On Sunday — Meet the new squad: |
| President Trump announced his new legal defense team Sunday for his Senate impeachment trial.https://bit.ly/2YwsKFp Who will lead the defense team: “Lawyers David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor Jr. will lead Trump's defense against the accusations that he incited the riot at the Capitol building on Jan. 6, the former president announced.” How you may know Schoen’s name: “Schoen, who has made Fox News appearances, represented Mr. Trump's associate Roger Stone and told the Atlanta Jewish Times he spoke to Jeffrey Epstein days before his death.” Via CBS News, here is more on Schoen, including the mobster figures he represented: https://cbsn.ws/3je6l9q |
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For the history books — here’s what happened in the 77 days that Trump tried to overturn the election: |
| Via The New York Times’s Jim Rutenberg, Jo Becker, Eric Lipton, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Martin, Matthew Rosenberg and Michael S. Schmidt, “Hours after the United States voted, the president declared the election a fraud — a lie that unleashed a movement that would shatter democratic norms and upend the peaceful transfer of power.” The full story: https://nyti.ms/3tgpCLW |
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| LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS | |
We’ve been focused on the bad news, but there is some very good news!: |
| Via The New York Times’s David Leonhardt, “Here’s the key fact: All five vaccines with public results have eliminated Covid-19 deaths. They have also drastically reduced hospitalizations.” https://nyti.ms/2NQleTv “Many people are instead focusing on relatively minor differences among the vaccine results and wrongly assuming that those differences mean that some vaccines won’t prevent serious illnesses. It’s still too early to be sure, because a few of the vaccine makers have released only a small amount of data. But the available data is very encouraging — including about the vaccines’ effect on the virus’s variants.” The full story is worth reading: https://nyti.ms/2NQleTv |
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Snow days are a little less fun when they shut down the vaccination clinics: |
| Via The Hill’s John Bowden, “A winter mix of snow and ice across the northeastern U.S. is hampering the region's efforts to manage the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine and other public health efforts.” https://bit.ly/2MNjCcA For example: In Maryland, hundreds of vaccination appointments were postponed. “New Jersey closed all six of its state-run vaccination mega clinics on Monday in response to the storm … In Philadelphia, snowy conditions forced the closure of city-run COVID-19 testing sites on Monday…” How the storm is affecting vaccinations in each state effected: https://bit.ly/2MNjCcA What sites are closed in the D.C.-area: Via WUSA9: https://bit.ly/2L6jfcK |
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| TIDBIT AT A DC GROCERY STORE: |
| Via Popville, the Safeway at 5th and K Streets NW put up a sign that reads, “Please do not form line before 3pm for leftovers vaccine.” Photo of the sign in the grocery store: https://bit.ly/2L6O4xZ Update from a local, Gabe Garbowit: “Spoke to the pharmacist about this. She says that usually by 3 pm there are 20 people lined up and there are usually only either zero or one unused doses.” https://bit.ly/3pF4kWb |
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| CASE NUMBERS: |
| Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 26,189,384 U.S. death toll: 441,367 Breakdown of the numbers: https://cnn.it/2UAgW3y |
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| VACCINATION NUMBERS: |
| Total number of vaccinations administered in the U.S.: 31.8 million shots have been given Seven-day average of doses administered: An average of 1.35 million doses. For context: The U.S. population is roughly 331 million Breakdown of the numbers: https://bloom.bg/3iVTPLH |
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LOL: |
| Keep in mind, Sen. Kelly is a former military and NASA pilot. 
© Twitter |
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Getting traction — wow, these photos are pretty cool: |
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© Twitter Click this link and scroll to see what older presidents might have looked like today: https://bit.ly/2MKaNjM |
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| The House and Senate meet this afternoon. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C. 10 a.m. EST: President Biden and Vice President Harris received the President’s Daily Brief. 3 p.m. EST: The Senate meets. The Senate’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/2LckffE 5 p.m. EST: President Biden and Vice President Harris meet with Republican senators to negotiate the coronavirus relief package. |
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| 11 a.m. EST: The White House’s COVID response team held a press briefing. Livestream: https://bit.ly/39EFUXj 12:30 p.m. EST: White House press secretary Jen Psaki holds a press briefing. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3pCUV17 |
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| NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF...: | |
| Today is National Baked Alaska Day. |
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You mix a year of pent-up aggression with some snow and a weekend day — here's what you get!: |
| Via WUSA9’s Jess Arnold, The Washington D.C. Snowball Fight Association -- yes, that's a real thing -- organized a massive snowball fight on the National Mall Sunday afternoon, with, they estimate, upwards of 500 people showing up during the two-hour battle.” Video of the massive snowball fight: https://bit.ly/3aomyVl |
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| And to make you smile, here are pandas enjoying the snow. I do love snow, but I don’t think I love it even half as much as they do: 
© Twitter |
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