Tipsheet — With Build Back Better, Dems aim to correct messaging missteps

View in your browser     With Build Back Better, Dems aim to correct messaging missteps By Scott Wong and Mike Lillis   House Democrats acknowledge they weren't very effective at selling their $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan to the general public. Now, they're hoping to improve on those mistakes with their mammoth climate and social spending package. While President Biden's Build Back Better Act still has a tough road in the Senate, House Democrats have already begun holding a series of roundtable discussions, site visits, in-person and virtual town halls and news conferences across the country highlighting individual pieces of the roughly $2 trillion package. Read the full story here     GOP eyes booting Democrats from seats if House flips By Cristina Marcos   Multiple House Democrats who are frequent top targets of the far right face the prospect of losing their committee assignments if Republicans win back the chamber next year. Read the full story here     Republicans struggle to save funding for Trump's border wall By Aris Folley   Senate Republicans are struggling to save funding for construction of former President Trump’s long-sought wall on the U.S.-Mexico border as Democrats press forward with plans to rescind nearly $2 billion in funding for his signature project. Read the full story here     Lobbyists turn to infrastructure law's implementation By Karl Evers-Hillstrom   The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill is enshrined into law, but the lobbying over its implementation is just getting started. The spending package, which aims to rebuild roads, bridges and rail and expand broadband and clean drinking water, gives federal agencies broad powers to craft key policies. That opens up an opportunity for industry lobbyists to fight provisions they unsuccessfully urged Congress to strip from the final bill — as well as scramble over how and where billions of federal dollars will be spent. Read the full story here       NY governor declares state of emergency to prepare for omicron By Lexi Lonas   New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) declared a state of emergency to prepare for a new coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa.  Hochul’s declaration on Friday is one of the first emergency steps taken by a state in the U.S. against the new variant, known as omicron, whose discovery was announced Thursday.  Read the full story here     Israel to close borders to all foreigners due to omicron variant By Caroline Vakil   Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement that the country's borders would be closed to all foreigners due to concerns about the omicron variant and that Israeli citizens coming into the country would have to quarantine, regardless of their vaccination status. Read the full story here     States spent record amount in pandemic year By Reid Wilson   State governments spent more money in the last fiscal year than ever before, bolstered by federal funds meant to help avert an economic catastrophe as businesses shuttered to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Read the full story here     Biden faces new pressure from climate groups after Powell pick By Sylvan Lane and Saul Elbein   President Biden is under fresh pressure from climate activists after rejecting their push to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.  Read the full story here     Advocates see pilot program to address inequalities from highways as crucial first step By Caroline Vakil   Advocates across the country say the recently signed $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law does not include enough money to address inequalities made worse by previous highway construction, but they see it as something they can build on. Read the full story here     Biden administration resists tougher Russia sanctions in Congress By Alexander Bolton   The Biden administration, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, is pushing back on Congress passing tougher sanctions against a Russian energy project even as President Biden is coming under pressure to get tougher on Moscow. Read the full story here     How a biased filibuster hurts Democrats more than Republicans By Jonathan Gould and David Pozen   OPINION | Democrats are divided over what to do with the filibuster. Proponents of reform emphasize that the Senate cloture rule is frustrating the party’s ambitions on voting rights, climate change and more. Opponents worry that eliminating the filibuster will come back to bite when Republicans regain control of the Senate and, more generally, that it will further degrade congressional norms of cooperation and forbearance.  The standard case against filibuster reform has some force — Democrats paid a price during the Trump administration for their Obama-era decision to abolish the filibuster for lower-court judgeships — but it misses an important asymmetry between the two major political parties. Read the full story here     Democrats want to rescue union pensions from the party's failed bailout plan By Aharon Friedman   OPINION | Democrats now assert their bailout of multiemployer union pension plans in March’s American Rescue Plan Act was deeply flawed and are demanding the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) rescue multiemployer union pension plans from the act’s botched rescue. Democrats’ admission this bailout will cost much more than advertised should raise concerns about the real costs of the third massive bill they are rushing to enact this year with new social spending schemes.    Read the full story here     The New York Times: Democrats struggle to energize their base as frustrations mount By Lisa Lerer, Astead W. Herndon, Nike Corasaniti and Jennifer Medina   Even as President Biden achieves some significant victories, Democrats are warning that many of their most loyal supporters see inaction and broken campaign promises. Read the full story here     The Associated Press: High inflation? Low polling? White House blames the pandemic By Zeke Miller   Inflation is soaring, businesses are struggling to hire and President Joe Biden’s poll numbers have been in free fall. The White House sees a common culprit for it all: COVID-19. Read the full story here     The Washington Post: As variant is detected around world, travel bans may be too late, experts say By Rachel Pannett, Dan Diamond, María Luisa Paúl and Jennifer Hassan   Governments are scrambling to close their borders to travelers from southern Africa, where a potentially dangerous new variant was first found. Read the full story here     The Wall Street Journal: Omicron COVID-19 cases detected in UK, Australia and Italy By James Marson, Gabriele Steinhauser and Benjamin Katz   Other countries probe suspected cases of a coronavirus strain the WHO says could be more transmissible. Read the full story here     Reuters: Low expectations on nuclear talks as Iran creates facts on the ground By John Irish and Francois Murphy, Parisa Hafezi   World powers and Iran return to Vienna on Monday for a last ditch effort to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal, but few expect a breakthrough as Tehran's atomic activities rumble on in an apparent bid to gain leverage against the West. Read the full story here         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for The Hill Tipsheet       Forward this Tipsheet   You Might Like       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©1998 - 2021 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.

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