Spiegel Stuff: The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - Dems approach infrastructure vote with lots of uncertainty

Presented by Facebook

IN CONGRESS

We are a day away from the scheduled House vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the bill’s fate is still *very uncertain.*

Dems are burning the midnight oil: “With the reality setting in that the long-touted figure of $3.5 trillion is not going to be the top line — a blow to progressives who already viewed it as a compromise — Democratic leadership and the White House are now actively trying to figure out what their competing factions can live with.” https://bit.ly/2XXFTKH

The unofficial deadline — Thursday: Democrats are hoping to agree to a topline number by Thursday when the House is scheduled to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. If a deal is not reached by then, progressives are likely to tank the bipartisan bill because their social spending package may not be obtainable.

More on what needs to happen, via The Hill’s Jordain Carney: https://bit.ly/2XXFTKH

Progressives are totally down to tank everything:

Via The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Scott Wong, “Liberals on Tuesday fired a shot across the bow at Democratic leaders by warning that a bipartisan infrastructure bill cannot pass the House as long as Senate centrists remain noncommittal on the larger social benefits package at the heart of President Biden's agenda.” https://bit.ly/2WlVenE

THE KEY TO FINALIZING THE PUZZLE — YOU CAN GUESS ‘EM!:

Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) do not support spending $3.5 trillion on the social spending plan, but so far they haven’t indicated the number they would support. That’s holding everything up.

Why Sinema and Manchin won’t give that figure: Let’s say their figure is so low that progressives will never agree to it. Progressives would then be agreeing to the bipartisan bill without the supplemental reconciliation package.

THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE DEAL’S LAST HOPE MAY BE WITH REPUBLICANS:

Via The New York Times’s Jonathan Weisman, “Business groups and some Senate Republicans — working at cross-purposes with Republican leaders in the House — have mounted an all-out drive to secure G.O.P. votes for a bipartisan infrastructure bill ahead of a final vote on Thursday.” https://nyti.ms/3zQjGv9

It’s Wednesday. 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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LATEST WITH THE DEBT CEILING

So, there’s some wiggle room? That’s what I’m hearing??:

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said this morning that the debt ceiling will not be included in Democrats’ sweeping social spending bill. https://bit.ly/3umUUla

Why that would be an option: 60 Senate votes are needed to suspend the debt limit. Republicans are not on board, and Democrats are working on their 51-vote reconciliation bill anyway. Some argue the debt limit could be snuck into that package.

Schumer’s reasoning: "Now in solving this crisis, this body cannot and will not go through a drawn-out unpredictable process sought by the minority leader. ... To do this through reconciliation requires ping-ponging separate bills back from the Senate and the House … It's uncharted waters.”

FROM THE AFGHANISTAN HEARING

What a mess:

The Senate Armed Services Committee grilled top Pentagon officials yesterday on the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Who testified: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and U.S. Central Command head Gen. Frank McKenzie

The biggest revelation we learned: President Biden said last month that top generals did not advise him to keep any troops in Afghanistan. But McKenzie and Milley both testified that they recommended leaving 2,500 troops in the country.

Other takeaways:

“Officials predicted Afghanistan would collapse, but not that fast”
“US might put troops on the ground again”

Other takeaways — and details for each: https://bit.ly/3kSmkMG

THE SAME TRIO IS TESTIFYING AGAIN TODAY:

Here’s the C-SPAN livestream: https://bit.ly/2WqCIe0

LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS

In the misquoted words of Eleanor Shellstrop, ya banned!:

Via The Hill’s Chris Mills Rodrigo, “YouTube announced Wednesday that it will ban several prominent accounts that spread false information about vaccines, a move that is part of an expansion of its medical misinformation policies.” https://bit.ly/2ZCfVgp

The banned accounts: “The accounts of Robert F. Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense Fund, alternative medicine influencer Joseph Mercola and vaccine critic and physician Sherri Tenpenny will all be removed.”

The NBA’s press team is having quite the time:

Via The Hill’s Karl Evers-Hillstrom and Olafimihan Oshin, The NBA is struggling with some of the league’s stars refusing to get the vaccine — and being very vocal about it. https://bit.ly/2Y1e8AU

What percentage of the NBA players are fully vaccinated: Around 90 percent

Is there a mandate?: “The NBA sought to require all players to get vaccinated for the upcoming season, but that sparked strong pushback from the National Basketball Players Association, which called a vaccine mandate a ‘non-starter.’ ”

‘IVERMECTIN DISINFORMATION LEADS TO NEW KINDS OF CHAOS’:

Via The Hill’s Justine Coleman: https://bit.ly/3EZtPcK

CASE NUMBERS:

Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 43,243,904

U.S. death toll: 693,261

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

VACCINATION NUMBERS:

Total number of vaccinations administered in the U.S.: 391 million shots have been given.

Seven-day average of doses administered: An average of 701,422 doses

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

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

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Facebook’s safety teams protect billions of people every month.

We’ve more than quadrupled our safety and security teams to 40,000 in the last 5 years to stop bad actors and remove illicit content.

It’s working: In just the past few months, we took down 1.7 billion fake accounts & 7.1 million terrorism-related posts.

But our work to reduce harmful and illicit content on our platforms is never done. Learn more about how we're working to help you connect safely.

IN DC NEWS

Whooooa, Post Pub reopened!!:

Via Popville, the popular D.C. pub that closed in June 2020 after 43 years, is reopening in a few days under new ownership. What we know: https://bit.ly/3B7tXop

NOTABLE TWEETS:

Wow, yikes:

^Also, that would be quite the expensive switcheroo.

Lol — *Covers eyes*:

This is pretty cool:

Watch: https://bit.ly/39Ql6Lu

ON TAP:

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

The House’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/3omBb47

9:30 a.m. EDT: President Biden received the President’s Daily Brief.

Noon: President Biden attends the memorial of former Indiana first lady Susan Bayh at Washington National Cathedral.

2 p.m. EDT: Vice President Harris meets with small business owners to discuss the infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better agenda.

WHAT TO WATCH:

2 p.m. EDT: White House press secretary Jen Psaki briefs. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3D13ZDv

7:05 p.m. EDT: The Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3AYdwKQ

IN LIGHTER NEWS:

Today is National Coffee Day!!

Cel-e-brate good times, come on!:

Via USA Today, here’s a list of where to get free coffee today to celebrate. Starbucks and Dunkin’ even have free coffee today. The list of coffee deals: https://bit.ly/3CYdvXM

You know how Maine has ‘watch out for moose’ signs on their highways? Should Maryland get zebra signs…?:

DCist’s Rachel Kurzius gives an in-depth analysis to the question, “Could The Escaped Zebras Survive Roaming Around Prince George’s County Forever?” https://bit.ly/3ulnoMi

And because you read this far, here’s a bunny having a relaxing day: https://bit.ly/3kTk4oE