Tipsheet: Democrats, Cruz set for showdown over Russian pipeline

View in your browser     Democrats, Cruz set for showdown over Russian pipeline BY JORDAIN CARNEY   Democrats are headed for a showdown with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) over his bid to force the Biden administration’s hand over a Russian gas pipeline.  As part of a deal reached by Cruz and Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Senate will vote next week on legislation from the conservative firebrand to put sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will carry gas from Moscow to Germany.  Cruz needs help from 10 Democrats to get the bill through the Senate, and said he thinks his prospects for hitting that threshold are “good.” But Democrats are raising red flags over the bill, even though they’ve previously supported similar sanctions.  Read the full story here     Perplexing jobs report raises concerns about absent workers BY SYLVAN LANE   The perplexing December jobs report is raising concerns about how many Americans may have permanently left the labor force because of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Read the full story here     US sees image tarnished abroad post-Jan. 6 BY REBECCA BEITSCH AND LAURA KELLY   A United States still deeply divided over Jan. 6 has hurt its standing overseas, tarnishing the reputation of a country that has long promoted democracy efforts abroad.  Read the full story here     Far-right extremists shift online strategies BY REBECCA KLAR   Domestic extremists are adapting their online strategies to push disinformation and conspiracies despite a crackdown by social media platforms in the year since the attack by a pro-Trump mob on the Capitol. Read the full story here       Biden addresses Coloradans after wildfires: 'Incredible courage and resolve' BY ALEX GANGITANO   President Biden on Friday praised neighbors for helping one another in Colorado after surveying the damage from the devastating wildfires in the Boulder area last week.  Read the full story here     Jan. 6 chair says panel will move this month to ask Pence to testify BY REBECCA BEITSCH   Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, said the panel plans to ask former Vice President Mike Pence to voluntarily appear before the committee. Read the full story here     CDC reports record number of child COVID-19 hospitalizations BY NATHANIEL WEIXEL   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky reported Friday that there have been a record number of pediatric hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and announced new isolation guidelines for students, staff and teachers to preserve in-person learning in schools.    Read the full story here     Schumer makes plea for voting bill, filibuster reform in rare Friday session BY JORDAIN CARNEY   Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) used a rare Friday session to make a lengthy plea for voting rights legislation and urge his own party to support changing the rules in order to pass it without GOP support.   Read the full story here     Conservative justices seem skeptical of Biden vaccine mandates BY JOHN KRUZEL   Conservative members of the Supreme Court on Friday appeared skeptical of Biden administration policies that impose a COVID-19 vaccine-or-test requirement on broad swathes of the U.S. workforce. Read the full story here     Meadows asks Supreme Court for 'prompt' answer on Trump Jan. 6 lawsuit BY LEXI LONAS   Former President Trump’s ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows asked the Supreme Court in a filing Friday for a “prompt” answer regarding Trump’s lawsuit against the House Jan. 6 committee that is seeking documents from the former president and allies.  Read the full story here     Like it or not, all roads forward for Democrats go through Joe Manchin BY BRAD BANNON   OPINION | It’s too much to ask progressives to learn to love Manchin or even like him. But we need to learn to live with him. He’s a force to be reckoned, he’ll be around for the for the immediate future and he could do a lot more damage to Democrats than he’s already done. Read the full story here     No, Jan. 6 wasn't worse than 9/11, nor is democracy at risk: Here's why BY JOE CONCHA   OPINION | As evidenced after the 2020 presidential election, our democracy has never been stronger. That election – despite multiple lawsuits and audits from the Trump legal team – was upheld. The vote was certified on Jan. 6 and presided over by then-Vice President Pence despite sustained pressure from then-President Trump not to do so. And as for the "insurrection" argument, it is noteworthy that not one person has been charged with insurrection amid the 725 charges against people from across the country.   Read the full story here     NYT: How Biden and Boris Johnson Reached the Same Place on Virus Policy BY MARK LANDLER   On the evening of Dec. 21, Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared from 10 Downing Street to tell anxious Britons they could “go ahead with their Christmas plans,” despite a surge in new coronavirus cases. At nearly the same moment, President Biden took to a White House podium to give Americans a similar greenlight. Read the full story here     CNN: Officials are warning the public about fake Covid-19 testing kits. Here's how to spot them BY ALAA ELASSAR   Covid-19 cases continue to rise dramatically, leading to brutally long lines at testing sites and empty shelves at stores where at-home rapid test kits were once in stock. Read the full story here     NBC News: Many tech workers in San Francisco have a new side hustle: Local politics BY DAVID INGRAM   SAN FRANCISCO — Like a lot of tech workers who arrive in San Francisco, Siva Raj considered himself apolitical when it came to local matters — at least for a while. Read the full story here     Reuters: Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine protects children against rare COVID-19 complication - CDC BY MANOJNA MADDIPATLA   Two doses of the Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE) COVID-19 vaccine are highly protective against a rare but often serious condition in children that causes organ inflammation weeks after COVID-19 infections, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report said on Friday. Read the full story here     WaPo: Sidney Poitier changed the Oscars in 1964. The academy is still grappling with the promise of that moment. BY HELENA ANDREWS-DYER   At the height of the civil rights movement in 1964, Sidney Poitier became the first Black man to win an Oscar for best actor. The Hollywood moment did not just make history but intrinsically tied together two cultural institutions: the venerable Poitier and the Academy Awards. 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 - 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.

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