Spiegel Stuff: The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations

The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations

IN CONGRESS

What do we want? Less! When do we want it? Now!:

In a letter to colleagues, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that House members “overwhelmingly” prefer to do “fewer things well” to pass the social spending bill. https://bit.ly/3iQXlrS

From Pelosi’s letter: "Overwhelmingly, the guidance I am receiving from Members is to do fewer things well so that we can still have a transformative impact on families in the workplace and responsibly address the climate crisis: a Build Back Better agenda for jobs and the planet For The Children!"

HOW THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL SPENDING BILL IS GETTING TRIMMED:

Via The New York Times’s Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Jim Tankersley: https://nyti.ms/3FIbAc0

Happening today — making the debt ceiling a holiday problem:

Via CNN’s Clare Foran, the House is returning during its recess for a quick vote to extend the nation’s debt limit through early December. https://cnn.it/2YIZG0M

Is it expected to pass?: Yes.

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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A MESSAGE FROM THE CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS

NEWS THIS MORNING

Bringing in the big guns:

Ahead of next month’s toss-up gubernatorial election in Virginia, former President Obama will campaign with Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe in Richmond, Va. https://bit.ly/3mJcuMV

When: Oct. 23

Keep in mind: First lady Jill Biden and former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams are also campaigning with McAuliffe. https://bit.ly/3mOuLrZ

WHY THE VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL RACE IS SO IMPORTANT:

Via CNN’s Stephen Collinson: “If Republican Glenn Youngkin triumphs in a margin-of-error tussle in the commonwealth, already alarmed Democrats would tip into full-on panic about next year's midterms, when their party faces a historical disadvantage as the party in the White House.” The full primer: https://cnn.it/3oVDz1W

IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Easier said than done, I suppose:

Via The Hill’s Amie Parnes and Morgan Chalfant, “President Biden is struggling to make good on a campaign promise to unite the country as his administration runs up against an increasingly divided Washington and polarization among the broader electorate.” https://bit.ly/3DsYxJE

The promise: “Throughout the 2020 campaign, Biden spoke of bringing the country together and ‘breaking the fever’ with Republicans.”

How that’s going: “[L]ittle has changed inside the Beltway as Biden approaches the nine-month mark without a major piece of bipartisan legislation signed into law … Outside Washington, the country remains deeply divided on social and cultural issues including wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

What this means for Biden — and his agenda: https://bit.ly/3DsYxJE

LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS

Never enough! Never, never. Never enough! Never, never.:

Via Politico’s David Lim, “The Biden administration plans to triple the nation’s supply of at-home Covid-19 tests by early November, but public health experts say that welcome increase likely won’t be enough to meet surging demand.” https://politi.co/3mMevIb

The goal: “The White House announced last week that it would spend $1 billion to increase access to the home tests, with the ultimate goal of making 200 million available each month by the end of the year.”

Why it may not be enough: “Demand for at-home tests is expected to soar this fall and winter as the Biden administration finalizes regulations that would require companies with more than 100 workers to ensure any unvaccinated employees undergo testing at least weekly. Increased travel for the holidays, more school screening and the expected return of the flu are also set to pump up demand for at-home tests.”

IN NEW JERSEY — ‘GOVERNOR’S RACE PUTS MASK AND VACCINE MANDATES TO A POLITICAL TEST’:

Via The New York Times’s Tracey Tully: https://nyti.ms/3FHMnyr

CASE NUMBERS:

Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 44,461,752

U.S. death toll: 714,242

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

VACCINATION NUMBERS:

Total number of vaccinations administered in the U.S.: 402 million shots have been given.

Seven-day average of doses administered: An average of 1.03 million doses

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

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

A MESSAGE FROM THE CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS

IN THE GOP

It’s his party. We’re all just attending it:

Via The Hill’s Alexander Bolton, “Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) enthusiastic appearance at a Trump event in Iowa over the weekend shows that the former president has further strengthened his grip on the GOP following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.” https://bit.ly/3FPeNa2

‘Twas a bit of a wakeup call: “The Iowa senator’s eagerness to stand next to former President Trump at a boisterous rally in Des Moines only days after Trump repeatedly trashed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — a friend and ally of Grassley's — served as a wakeup call to some Republicans that Trump is back and very much in charge of the party.”

IN OTHER NEWS

This is quite possibly the best campaign ad I’ve ever seen:

Watch: https://bit.ly/3oX4Jpk

New research — most of the world’s population has been affected by climate change:

Via The Washington Post’s Annabelle Timsit and Sarah Kaplan, “At least 85 percent of the global population has experienced weather events made worse by climate change, according to research published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.” https://wapo.st/3BBvS4K

The study: “After using machine learning to analyze and map more than 100,000 studies of events that could be linked to global warming, researchers paired the analysis with a well-established data set of temperature and precipitation shifts caused by fossil fuel use and other sources of carbon emissions. These combined findings — which focused on events such as crop failures, floods and heat waves — allowed scientists to make a solid link between escalating extremes and human activities. They concluded that global warming has affected 80 percent of the world’s land area.”

See for yourself — here’s the research: https://go.nature.com/2YJasnL

NOTABLE TWEETS:

This is a striking image:

Amazing:

Watch: https://bit.ly/3BGJTyc

Hahaha.

Would you say Boston is on … cloud nine … after last night?:

ON TAP:

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

8:45 a.m. EDT: President Biden virtually met with Group of 20 (G20) leaders to discuss Afghanistan.

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

3:45 p.m. EDT: Vice President Harris meets with Israeli Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid.

5 – 6 p.m. EDT: First and last votes in the House. The House’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/3iQ3iVF

WHAT TO WATCH:

11:30 a.m. EDT: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) held a press briefing. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3iP174X

11:35 a.m. EDT: Vice President Harris delivered remarks at the National Congress of American Indians 78th Annual Convention. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3iWU6ir

2 p.m. EDT: White House press secretary Jen Psaki holds a press briefing. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3DwP7wP

3 p.m. EDT: The House meets. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3iQ3iVF

IN LIGHTER NEWS:

Today is National Gumbo Day.

WOW.: