Spiegel Stuff: The Hill's 12:30 Report - Congress’ September laundry list grows

IN CONGRESS

This feels like Congress’ ‘Sunday night of the year’ when they start thinking about all the upcoming stresses:

Via The Hill’s Jordain Carney, “Democrats are staring down a nightmare September, a month jam-packed with deadlines and bruising fights over their top priorities.” https://bit.ly/3n9kvMU

The laundry list of things that Congress will return to: “Averting a government shutdown in a matter of days with Democrats' self-imposed deadline for advancing an infrastructure and spending package that is at the center of President Biden’s economic and legislative agenda and sparking high-profile divisions.”

Plus: “That’s on top of a looming decision about the debt ceiling, a voting rights clash set to come to the Senate floor in mid-September, lingering Afghanistan fallout and, in the wake of a controversial Supreme Court decision, a heated fight over abortion.”

When the Senate returns: Monday, though they will only be in for three days because of Yom Kippur.

When the Senate returns: Sept. 20

What to expect: https://bit.ly/3n9kvMU

‘WITH BULK OF THEIR AGENDA ON THE LINE, DEMOCRATS GIRD FOR BATTLE OVER $3.5 TRILLION BUDGET PACKAGE’:

Via The Washington Post’s Tony Romm, “The next few days could prove daunting for top lawmakers in the party tasked with assembling a bill that can satisfy their past promises to remake broad swaths of the American economy.”

Starting on Thursday: “The work is set to unfold primarily in the House beginning Thursday, when the chamber has scheduled a series of grueling marathon legislative sessions to toil over the finer details of its plans.” https://wapo.st/3DTHMZ4

It’s Tuesday — welcome back! 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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I feel the same way about bluebird September days:

NEWS THIS MORNING

The Taliban said they’re doing things differently this time:

Via Axios’s Zachary Basu, “The Taliban announced the first members of a caretaker Afghan government on Tuesday, naming Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund as acting prime minister and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar as acting deputy prime minister.” https://bit.ly/3jPAuO8

Because those names probably don’t mean anything to you — here’s the gist: “The temporary Cabinet is dominated by senior, old-guard Taliban officials, including the leader of the Haqqani network — a faction of the militant group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S.”

Keep in mind: “The Taliban have offered vague assurances that they have changed since the days of their totalitarian, oppressive rule of the 1990s.”

Yes, but…: “No women or non-Taliban figures were named to the caretaker government on Tuesday … Their rhetoric has also been undermined in many cases by the actions of Taliban fighters on the ground, with countless reports of revenge killings and women being blocked from work or school over the past several weeks.”

More context — and everything we know: https://bit.ly/3jPAuO8

THE LATEST WITH AFGHANISTAN

Happening on Sept. 13 — We are all ears, Antony:

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday, Sept. 13 to answer questions on his department’s role in the Afghanistan evacuation. https://bit.ly/3h9VddS

Keep in mind: “The State Department has yet to release a number of details about its planning for the withdrawal or offer a full accounting of the 124,000 people the U.S. evacuated.”

Op-ed: https://bit.ly/3zQV867

Getting traction — what it was like for American diplomats in Kabul:

Via The Washington Post’s Joe Davidson, “With insurgent forces closing in quickly, Foreign Service officers John Johnson and Evan Davis fled their Kabul apartments so urgently that they left some possessions behind … Johnson and Davis were among the last U.S. personnel to flee Kabul after it fell to the Taliban.” https://wapo.st/3nc3GRw

‘American diplomats recall 20-hour days, sleeping in Kabul airport while helping those desperate to flee’: https://wapo.st/3nc3GRw

I am in awe of Clarissa Ward:

Via The New York Times’s Katie Robertson, “[Clarissa] Ward, CNN’s chief international correspondent, was a center-stage broadcast reporter as she delivered her accounts, often with gunfire ringing in the background, on what it was like in Kabul in the often chaotic final days of America’s longest war. Along with her crew, she subsisted on eggs, cookies and Clif Bars while covering the U.S. withdrawal and the Taliban’s sudden return to power. At times, she couldn’t help showing emotion on the air.” https://nyti.ms/3kUDFTS

Ward told the Times: “I can’t go and sit with an Afghan woman crying her heart out that her daughters are going to have to grow up in Taliban-led Afghanistan and be just unmoved by it. And I don’t think it makes me a lesser reporter that I am moved by it.”

More from Ward’s perspective having covered the war: https://nyti.ms/3kUDFTS

REMEMBER THIS CLIP?:

Clarissa Ward interviewed Taliban fighters amid the chaotic evacuation. Watch: https://cnn.it/3lirh0v

LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS

All together now: ‘Joe the builder. Can he fix it?’

Now just the Democrats in the room: ‘Joe the builder, yes he can!’:

Via The Hill’s Peter Sullivan, “Lawmakers are pushing for billions in federal funding to boost global COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing in Democrats' coming $3.5 trillion package, arguing that the Biden administration needs to do more to fight the pandemic worldwide and prevent dangerous new variants from forming.” https://bit.ly/3C3e4PV

Which lawmakers are pushing for the boost in vaccine aid globally?: More than half of House Democrats. A group of 116 Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter. Read the letter: https://bit.ly/2Yq83Oq

How much money are we talking?: $34 billion

Keep in mind: Some countries only have a small percentage of its citizens vaccinated. That is potentially fertile breeding ground for future variants that could threaten the world.

How this could play out: https://bit.ly/3C3e4PV

NEW POLL — 2 OF 3 PARENTS SUPPORT MASK MANDATES AND SCHOOL STAFF TO BE VACCINATED:

More from the USA TODAY/Ipsos poll: https://bit.ly/3zUo3pP

Greaaaat…:

The U.S. has hit 40 million reported COVID-19 cases.

For context: “In the last month alone, there have been 4 million new cases recorded in the U.S., along with more than 32,000 new deaths. The seven-day average case count last week was as high as it's been since January.” https://bit.ly/2WWsjqq

CASE NUMBERS:

Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 40,022,522

U.S. death toll: 649,198

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

VACCINATION NUMBERS:

Total number of vaccinations administered in the U.S.: 374 million shots have been given.

Seven-day average of doses administered: An average of 982,320 doses

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

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

THE JAN. 6 INVESTIGATION

Kevin McCarthy, the face of the opposition:

Via The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Scott Wong, “The public spotlight around the investigation into the Capitol attack of Jan. 6 has shifted squarely onto Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), the GOP leader who has emerged as the face of defiant opposition to the congressional probe into the deadly riot.” https://bit.ly/3nb9T0e

In the past week: “The focus on his role … has only intensified over the past week, when McCarthy took the remarkable step of threatening the nation's tech and telecom giants with unnamed repercussions if they comply with the investigators’ request to retain the phone and social media records of GOP lawmakers who actively supported the effort to block President Biden's electoral victory.”

What this means for McCarthy — and for the investigation: https://bit.ly/3nb9T0e

NOTABLE TWEETS:

Ahh, congratulations!!!:

I’m sorry, what?:

Watch: https://bit.ly/2YAud0H

ON TAP:

The House and Senate meeting for pro forma sessions today. President Biden is in New York and New Jersey today.

8:30 a.m. EDT: President Biden received the President’s Daily Brief.

9:50 a.m. EDT: President Biden left for Hillsborough Township, N.J. Video of Biden’s departure: https://bit.ly/3nbz6Yo

2:10 p.m. EDT: President Biden tours a neighborhood in Manville, N.J.

4 p.m. EDT: President Biden tours a neighborhood in Queens, N.Y.

7:15 p.m. EDT: President Biden returns to Washington, D.C.

WHAT TO WATCH:

10:45 a.m. EDT: White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3E4GdYC

12:15 p.m. EDT: Local leaders in Hillsborough Township, N.J., brief President Biden on the impact of Hurricane Ida. Livestream: https://bit.ly/2Yo6UXF

4:40 p.m. EDT: President Biden delivers remarks on his administration’s response to Hurricane Ida. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3l5fv9x

IN LIGHTER NEWS:

Today is National Salami Day.

And to keep the last little bits of summer going, here’s a dog living its best life: https://bit.ly/3nbI5J4