Spiegel Stuff: The Hill's 12:30 Report: Negotiations crawl as government funding deadline nears

IN CONGRESS

With government funding expiring on Feb. 18, negotiators are still working on a deal to keep the federal government open.

What needs to happen: The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that “lawmakers in both parties say it’s time for Congress’s top four leaders to meet face to face to negotiate a yearlong spending deal … ” https://bit.ly/34tMaRH

^ The big four: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)

Why that’s easier said than done: Generally speaking, the four don’t have the ~best~ working relationships.

^ OK, give me the tea: “[McConnell and Schumer] rarely meet in person, and their relationship took another beating last month when Schumer made an all-out push to change the Senate’s filibuster rule. [Pelosi’s] relationship with fellow Californian [McCarthy] is even worse. And even McConnell’s relationship with McCarthy is not what colleagues would call chummy.”

But negotiators say that’s part of the reason there still isn’t a funding deal: Negotiators on the Appropriations committees have “had to shuttle between the negotiating room and their party leaders to get signoff on major concessions, say senators familiar with the talks.”

What still needs to happen: https://bit.ly/34tMaRH

It’s Tuesday. 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.

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NEWS THIS MORNING

Oh yay, the glossary of movies I should see if I haven’t already:

The 2022 Oscar nominations have been released (!)

Here’s the full list of nominees: https://cnn.it/3uB8zYc

A highlight of the nominations: “ ‘The Power of the Dog’ led among nominated films with 12 nods.” More from CNN’s Lisa Respers France: https://cnn.it/3uB8zYc

Super Bowl betting is up:

“A record number of Americans plan to spend more than $7.6 billion on this weekend’s Super Bowl as states across the nation race to legalize — and profit from — sports betting.” More from The Hill’s Reid Wilson: https://bit.ly/3GxaWNP

IN THE GOP

Please, look over here. At me! Eye on the prize, team.:

Via The Hill’s Tal Axelrod, “Republicans are growing increasingly frustrated by former President Trump’s renewed focus on the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on Capitol Hill, worried that it could throw a wrench into their midterm plans as they seek to retake Congress.” https://bit.ly/3JdGcTW

Just a few weeks ago: “Trump was talking up his administration’s success with the coronavirus vaccines … Trump earned rare plaudits from GOP critics, the media and even some Democrats about a month ago when he focused on touting the coronavirus vaccines.”

But now: Trump is back to talking about the 2020 presidential election and how former Vice President Mike Pence could have “overturned” the results. His base may like hearing this, but it’s making Republicans *uncomfy*.

More on how Trump’s shift in strategy could affect the midterms: https://bit.ly/3JdGcTW

It’s a cold civil war, if you will:

Via The Hill’s Brett Samuels, “Former President Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence have avoided an all-out war even as they break forcefully over whether Pence had the power to overturn last year’s election.” https://bit.ly/3ryKgYI

Pence had some sharp words for Trump last week: “Pence’s speech on Friday rebuking Trump for un-American comments about overturning President Biden's win represented his sharpest criticism to date of his former boss.”

Pence’s allies “were bracing for a verbal assault from Trump, who typically goes scorched-earth against any allies who criticize him.”

But Trump didn’t slam Pence nearly as hard as most expected: “The former president did not insult Pence and reserved his toughest comments for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other ‘RINOs’ who went unnamed.”

Why: Well, neither would likely benefit from attacking each other, particularly if both are interested in running for president in 2024.

More on the back and forth: https://bit.ly/3ryKgYI

LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS

OK, I’m going to tell you something, but you shouldn’t panic:

Via The New York Times’s Ron DePasquale, “A subvariant that scientists believe is even more contagious than the most common form of Omicron is spreading rapidly in parts of Asia and Europe and is now dominant in Denmark, where nearly all Covid restrictions were lifted last week.” https://nyti.ms/3GC8FB9

Why we shouldn’t worry too much yet — it likely won’t change the big picture: “For now, scientists are not expecting the subvariant, known as BA.2, to do significantly more damage than the version of Omicron that remains dominant in the rest of the world, BA.1.”

What we know about the Omicron subvariant: https://nyti.ms/3GC8FB9

CASE NUMBERS:

Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 76,855,298

U.S. death toll: 905,568

Breakdown of the numbers: https://cnn.it/2UAgW3y

VACCINATION NUMBERS:

Total number of vaccinations administered in the U.S.: 544 million shots have been given.

Seven-day average of doses administered: An average of 270,055 doses

For context: The U.S. population is roughly 331 million.

Breakdown of the numbers: https://bloom.bg/3iVTPLH

NOTABLE TWEETS:

The White House briefings are back to full capacity:

CBS News’s Ed O’Keefe tweeted a picture of the new seating chart for news organizations. Photo: https://bit.ly/3ewEBbX

The Hill’s Alex Gangitano posted a photo from the full-capacity briefing. “it’s very full,” she tweeted. Photo from the room: https://bit.ly/3LuNZyL

‘Brandon’ is in Beijing, apparently:

Roll Call’s Niels Lesniewski noticed, “So, yes, there was a ‘let's go Brandon’ cheer in the empty arena in Beijing before [American figure skaters Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier] skated.” https://bit.ly/3rBS8so

Getting traction — this tweet has struck a nerve with DC:

NBC News’s Sahil Kapur tweeted:

“How to pitch a reporter

DO: Email

IF THEY ALLOW IT: DM on Twitter

TIME-SENSITIVE: Text message

DO NOT: Cold call

FIREABLE OFFENSE: LinkedIn message” https://bit.ly/3Gublkc

CBS News’s Kathryn Watson responded: “If you send me a message on LinkedIn, I'll see it two years later” https://bit.ly/3rBMI0w

The New York Times’s Shane Goldmacher disagreed: “If you have something genuinely good, there is really no bad way to contact me.” https://bit.ly/3rzJmez

Lol, Mike Inacay, Sen. Brian Schatz’s (D-Hawaii) communications director, chimed in: “My absolute favorite thing is when reporters cold call *policy staff* knowing that they should go through the press shop. STOP DOING THAT.” https://bit.ly/34K46qX

More reactions to the tweet: https://bit.ly/3gymDt2

ON TAP:

The House and Senate are in. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C.

10:15 a.m. EST: President Biden and Vice President Harris received the President’s Daily Brief.

Noon: President Biden and Vice President Harris have lunch together.

1:30 – 2:30 p.m. EST: First votes in the House. The House’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/3gNwNq5

2:45 p.m. EST: President Biden and Vice President Harris receive their weekly economic briefing.

4:45 – 7:15 p.m. EST: Last votes in the House.

6 p.m. EST: Vice President Harris delivers remarks to a Democratic National Committee virtual fundraiser.

WHAT TO WATCH:

9:30 a.m. EST: Vice President Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen delivered remarks on tax credits. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3Gz91Zi

1:45 p.m. EST: President Biden delivers remarks on rebuilding manufacturing in the U.S. to create more jobs and lower energy costs for Americans. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3HRgnsF

2 p.m. EST: White House press secretary Jen Psaki holds a press briefing. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3GAJKh9

IN LIGHTER NEWS:

Today is National Molasses Bar Day.

I have so many follow-up questions:

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Serena Dai tweeted, “A man who loves avocados so much, he eats three a day, bringing them on flights and cutting them with credit cards” The full story: https://bit.ly/3ryZw80

And to make you smile, here’s a husky who is hiding his snowballs. Please nobody tell him there is anything wrong with his hiding place: https://bit.ly/3B5qSpv