| The House on Tuesday voted to hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt, headlining a busy day on Capitol Hill that included action to raise the debt ceiling and questions about whether Democrats are making any progress to win Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) vote for the Build Back Better agenda. Lawmakers voted to hold Meadows, a former conservative member from North Carolina, in criminal contempt for noncompliance with a subpoena and failure to provide some information to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Members voted largely along party lines, 222-208, with Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who are members of the panel, breaking party ranks (The Hill). The vote took place after the committee released a second batch of text messages from allies begging Meadows on Jan. 6 to try to persuade former President Trump to quell the rioters. “The President needs to stop this asap,” one unidentified GOP lawmaker wrote to Meadows. On Tuesday, Cheney read aloud a number of explosive text messages Meadows received amid the Capitol attack from Donald Trump Jr. and a number of Fox News hosts making similar pleas of Trump via Meadows. The former chief of staff asserted this week that messages he had turned over to the panel were “selectively leaked” to the public. “We've tried very hard, in [a] very transparent and accommodating way, to share non-privileged information,” Meadows told Newsmax’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight.” “And what we found out tonight is that not only did that just get disregarded, but then they tried to weaponize text messages, selectively leaked them, to put out a narrative, quite frankly, that the president didn't act. … And I can tell you this: The president did act” (Daily Beast). As The Hill’s Niall Stanage writes in his latest Memo, the disclosed messages help make the case for defenders of the committee who believe the more information that comes to light about the worst attack on the Capitol in more than two centuries, the better. The Hill: Meadows falsely claims that Trump “acted quickly” to stop the Jan. 6 riot. The New York Times: Cheney embraces role in Jan. 6 inquiry, holding up an unsparing mirror to the GOP. The Hill: Congress passes bill allowing for easier National Guard defense of Capitol after Jan. 6. On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has laid the blame for the Capitol attack squarely at the feet of Trump, told reporters that he is keeping an eye on the committee’s work and is intrigued with what it will unearth. ”It will be interesting to reveal all the participants who were involved,” McConnell said in the Capitol (Politico). HuffPost: A QAnon believer who threatened to shoot Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was sentenced to 28 months in prison. The Washington Post: The D.C. attorney general sues the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers over the Jan. 6 attack. The Wall Street Journal: Trump loses bid to shield tax returns from Congress. 
© Associated Press/J. Scott Applewhite Meanwhile, Congress moved early today to raise the debt limit by a deadline described by the Treasury Department and provided lawmakers a breather in the debt battle until after next year’s midterm elections. Senate Democrats, acting without GOP support, voted 50-49 to increase the limit by $2.5 trillion to a cap of $31.4 trillion (The Hill and Reuters). The House followed early today by a vote of 221-209 (The Hill). President Biden will sign the measure. “As I have said repeatedly, this is about paying debt accumulated by both parties, so I’m pleased we came together to facilitate a process that has made addressing the debt ceiling possible,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said before the upper chamber voted. The Associated Press: Senate votes to raise debt limit by $2.5 trillion, avoiding U.S. default. However, Senate Democrats are staring down trouble on the legislative front because White House and Democratic leaders can’t nail down Manchin’s support for the party’s nearly $2 trillion social spending and climate package. Manchin on Tuesday indicated that talks on Monday and Tuesday with Biden have not allayed his reservations, putting into further peril Schumer’s goal of passing the Build Back Better Act by Christmas. “I wouldn’t say that,” Manchin told CNN when asked if Biden is moving him closer to voting for the bill. The West Virginia centrist has differences with the administration over the child tax credit, the scope and projected 10-year costs of the legislation. According to The Hill’s Alexander Bolton, the situation has created a divide among Democrats over how hard to push Manchin. Progressives, including Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), both members of leadership, favor an aggressive approach. However, moderate members counsel patience and maintain that a vote before Christmas is unnecessary and that time is needed to get the bill done. “I don’t know that that’s absolutely essential,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), adding that it’s “fine” if the bill is postponed until 2022. “I think what’s more important is what’s in it rather than the time frame.” However, unless the measure is signed into law before the new year, the government’s monthly child tax credit payments, supported by most Democratic lawmakers, will expire (CNBC). Schumer on Tuesday did not promise a vote on the mammoth blueprint next week. Jordain Carney, The Hill: Democrats push Manchin on the “nuclear option” for voting rights. 
© Associated Press/J. Scott Applewhite | 
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