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This is what we call a consolation prize: |
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© Giphy Via The Hill’s Alexander Bolton, “The Senate is expected to vote as soon as Wednesday to nullify President Biden’s vaccine mandate for large employers, giving Republicans a big symbolic victory.” https://bit.ly/3y82TEB Do Republicans have enough votes?: Yes, every Republican senator will vote for the bill — plus Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) Then what?: It goes to the House. “Republicans plan to circulate a discharge petition to force Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to schedule a vote on the resolution.” Let’s say the bill makes it through the House: President Biden will veto it. Republicans don’t have enough votes to override the veto, so it ends there. I.e.: Symbolic win for Republicans, but not a tangible law. |
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| It’s Wednesday. Happy National Brownie Day! Keep reading for an unusual way some are celebrating today. 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. Did someone forward this to you? Want your own copy? Sign up here to receive The Hill's 12:30 Report in your inbox daily: http://bit.ly/2UoupvN Can we please collectively pretend we didn’t see this: 
© Twitter ^ This tweet has more than 233,000 likes so far. |
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Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations, including Section 230 |
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Aaron is one of 40,000 people working on safety and security issues at Facebook. Hear more from Aaron on why Facebook supports updating regulations on the internet’s most pressing challenges, including reforming Section 230 to set clear guidelines for all large tech companies. |
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Good news, gas prices are expected to drop: |
| Via CNN Business’s Matt Egan, “Prices at the pump have finally started to creep lower, and that trend should significantly accelerate in the coming months, according to new government forecasts.” https://cnn.it/3pHVng5 The numbers: “The US Energy Information Administration said Tuesday the national average for regular gasoline will probably drop to $3.01 a gallon in January. For 2022, gas prices are expected to average $2.88.” |
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The UK is jumping onto the Olympic boycott bandwagon: |
| British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this morning that the U.K. will join the U.S. in a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. https://bit.ly/3lLrVEw Basically, that means: No government officials will attend the games, but the athletes can still compete. The full story from The Associated Press: https://bit.ly/3lLrVEw |
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Step one in raising the debt limit — check!: |
| Via The Hill’s Cristina Marcos and Mike Lillis, “The House late Tuesday passed legislation that paves the way for Congress to raise the debt limit in the coming days — and prevent an unprecedented federal default — by allowing Democrats to circumvent a GOP filibuster in the Senate.” https://bit.ly/31HNMWB What this means: Democrats will be able to pass a debt limit increase without a single Republican vote. And this means Republicans won’t help, but also won’t be contributing to a major government default. What next: “It’s not quite a done deal yet … as the bill will still be subject to a Senate filibuster, requiring 60 votes to proceed. McConnell expressed confidence on Tuesday that his party will deliver at least 10 votes when the bill comes to the Senate floor later this week. But it’s not yet clear how many GOP senators will agree to back the compromise negotiated by McConnell.” So, stay tuned! |
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Manchin is more concerned about inflation than Biden’s agenda: |
| Via The Hill’s Jordain Carney, “Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on Tuesday that he is concerned about inflation and warned his party against rushing President Biden's climate and social spending bill.” https://bit.ly/3pGIa79 In Manchin’s words: "We've got to make sure we get this right. We can't afford to continue to flood the market as we've done.” Where Manchin made these comments: At a Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit. |
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It’s a daunting time to be a newbie Republican: |
| Via The Hill’s Scott Wong, “Former President Trump’s war with his staunch GOP critics on Capitol Hill is seeping into every corner of the 2022 campaign trail.” https://bit.ly/3lLFx2R How so — here’s an example from GOP sources of the weird tension: “Texas GOP congressional candidate Morgan Luttrell recently called Trump foe Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), asking [for a donation]; Kinzinger did so, sending Luttrell a donation from his anti-Trump Country First political action committee. But Luttrell … faced so much backlash from Trump loyalists, he was forced to quickly send back the donation to Kinzinger.” Why this anecdote is worth mentioning: “The strange episode highlights just how cautious inexperienced Republican congressional candidates need to be as they navigate a perilous campaign cycle where Trump … is vowing to destroy any fellow Republican who opposes him or anyone who aligns with their cause.” The full story is pretty interesting: https://bit.ly/3lLFx2R |
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| LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS | |
I picture Pfizer as a video game protagonist taking down omicron spikes: |
| Pfizer and BioNTech announced this morning that their COVID-19 vaccine significantly protects against the omicron variant when a booster shot is given after the first two doses. https://bit.ly/3y6iF2J |
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| CASE NUMBERS: |
| Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 49,400,510 U.S. death toll: 791,613 Breakdown of the numbers: https://cnn.it/2UAgW3y |
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| VACCINATION NUMBERS: |
| Total number of vaccinations administered in the U.S.: 462 million shots have been given. Seven-day average of doses administered: An average of 745,169 doses For context: The U.S. population is roughly 331 million. Breakdown of the numbers: https://bloom.bg/3iVTPLH |
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Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations, including Section 230 |
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Aaron is one of 40,000 people working on safety and security issues at Facebook. Hear more from Aaron on why Facebook supports updating regulations on the internet’s most pressing challenges, including reforming Section 230 to set clear guidelines for all large tech companies. |
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This took me a minute to understand — well done: |
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© Twitter |
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Omg, noooo!: |
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© Twitter Watch: https://bit.ly/3lLRWn4 Overhead photo of the fire: https://bit.ly/3lKZoz3 What happened?: We don’t know yet, but according to NBC New York, police apprehended a suspect. https://bit.ly/3lIhktV |
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| The House and Senate are in. President Biden is in Missouri this afternoon. 9:30 a.m. EST: President Biden received the President’s Daily Brief. 10:50 a.m. EST: President Biden left for Missouri. 11:30 a.m. EST: A cloture vote in the Senate. The Senate’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/3y6qPIy 2:15 p.m. EST: A confirmation vote and a cloture vote in the Senate. 2:30 p.m. EST: First votes in the House. The House’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/3oym3Ad 3 p.m. EST: President Biden visits Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. 5:15 p.m. EST: A confirmation vote in the Senate. 7:15 p.m. EST: President Biden returns to the White House. |
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| 12:15 p.m. EST: White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3Iykoms 3:30 p.m. EST: President Biden delivers remarks in Kansas City, Mo., on the bipartisan infrastructure law. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3pG6ndx |
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| Today is National Brownie Day! |
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^ Well, that’s one way of celebrating: |
| Via Fox 13 Seattle’s Catherine Stoddard, “World’s largest pot brownie unveiled ahead of National Brownie Day.” https://bit.ly/3rJWzlt "The confection measures 3 feet wide by 3 feet long and 15 inches tall, weighs a whopping 850 pounds," according to the company. Photo of the enormous brownie: https://bit.ly/3rJWzlt |
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The best thing I’ve seen this morning: |
| Via The New York Times’s Maria Cramer, the animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex at The Natural History Museum in London is wearing a custom Christmas sweater. Photos, because I know that’s why you’re still reading: https://nyti.ms/3rN43nO |
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| And because you made it this far, here’s a dog looking for fun ways to kill time: https://bit.ly/3rR6VQD |
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