The Hill's 12:30 Report — Ukraine funding cuts into Senate recess; Super Bowl recap

Presented by the Association of American Railroads — Plus: Deep dive into the Biden, Trump documents cases

View Online  12:30 REPORT PRESENTED BY It's Monday. Anyone else feel sluggish and less productive than usual this morning? I blame the Super Bowl being on a Sunday instead of a Saturday. 😩 Here's what's happening today: The Senate worked all weekend on a slimmed-down bill to fund Ukraine and Israel. While this year's Super Bowl wasn't the most thrilling game of the season, it got a lot of attention, including the Nickelodeon broadcast, an RFK Jr. ad, Temu ads and, of course, Taylor Swift content. Keep reading for those highlights. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin returned to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Sunday for a medical issue. The White House was notified this time.   I'm Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what's coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.   🔵 In Congress Personally, I can't think of a better way to spend a Super Bowl Sunday: ©  GIPHY/Rosanna Pansino Senators, who have delayed their recess to advance the Ukraine and Israel funding bill, spent their Sunday afternoon in the chamber, voting to move the foreign aid bill along.   So, did it pass?: Not yet. Sunday's vote was just a step in the process of eventually passing it. The final vote to pass the bill is expected later this week.   What to know about this bill: The bill had included foreign aid in exchange for border security measures. The border portion became controversial and tanked the bill last week, so senators axed that part in hopes to at least fund Ukraine and Israel.   What's in the bill?: This bill includes $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion in security assistance for Israel, as well as humanitarian assistance in Gaza and support for allies in the Indo-Pacific. (The Hill)   📸 Photo of a television wheeled through the Senate Sunday afternoon ➤  THE BORDER UNDER BIDEN VS. TRUMP: The New York Times published 12 charts that compare U.S. border security under the Biden and Trump administrations.  ➤  HAPPENING TUESDAY — TAKE TWO!: House Republicans are redoing their impeachment vote of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after failing to impeach him last week in an embarrassing and stunning fashion.   Why this vote will probably be successful: Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) is back from cancer treatment this week. If Scalise votes to impeach Mayorkas — and all other members vote the same as they did last week — the resolution will pass. (The Hill) ➤  SPEAKING OF STEVE SCALISE: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced this morning that Scalise is in remission from cancer! 📸 Johnson and Scalise with their fists up 🏥 Other News Lloyd Austin is back in the hospital: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin returned to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Sunday for a medical issue. He transferred his duties to his deputy Defense secretary. (The Hill)   Why?: "An emergent bladder issue," Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement.   Keep in mind: The deputy Defense secretary, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the White House and Congress were notified. Austin took a lot of heat in January for a hospitalization that he did not disclose to the White House. This sparked a controversy among lawmakers.   🏈 Super Bowl Highlights ©  GIPHY/NFL 🎉  Who won?: The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime, making them the back-to-back Super Bowl champs.   📺  If, like me, you're programmed to ignore commercials: The Hill's Nick Robertson compiled a list of the five best Super Bowl ads Sunday. They're my favorite part of the game, but I habitually ignore commercials, so I kept forgetting to pay attention! Does anyone else have that problem? 📺 The five best Super Bowl commercials   ⏱️  Rewatch the game in 21 minutes: Aside from going into overtime, Sunday's game wasn't exactly the most thrilling of the season. The NFL's game highlight reel   💋 This sure helped the ratings: Here are photos of Taylor Swift celebrating boyfriend Travis Kelce's Super Bowl win. (People)   🖥️  Notice all the Temu ads? What is it?: It's an e-commerce site with low-priced products. It's also a "sister company" of a massive Chinese firm. (WGN explainer)   📺  RFK Jr. ruffled some feathers: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running an independent presidential bid, apologized to his family members after a super PAC ad that ran during the Super Bowl heavily relied on imagery from former President John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign. (The Hill)   🍻 Chug, chug, chug: Watch Taylor Swift chug her drink on the jumbotron.   🧽  The Nickelodeon broadcast was unmatched: Nickelodeon showed a kid-friendly broadcast of the Super Bowl, with commentary from SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star, explainers from Dora the Explorer and celebrity fish. This woman's explainer of the Nickelodeon broadcast had me in tears: "It's a good time. We're having a good time," she says. 📺 Watch And so did this man's description of the celebrity attendees: 📺 Watch Some of the celebs: Herring Styles, LePrawn James, Fin Diesel and Billie Eelish — 📺 See the celebrity fish SpongeBob posted a behind-the-scenes look at the commentary: Watch the TikTok footage of the person behind Patrick Star's commentary. Watch the Nickelodeon halftime show 🎢  This made me laugh: X user @alexachorn photoshopped Jason Kelce, Taylor Swift and others into a Disney World action shot. 😃 The photo   👋  Hi, Jeff!: X user @Romi_Bean posted a video of actor Jeff Goldblum appearing on the jumbotron. "Jeff Goldblum looks like a fan who's on the big screen for the first time in his life."   🏆  So, you follow a football team and then they win the Super Bowl?: Sounds easy! "Swifties really started watching football in October. And they already won the Super Bowl," @jackmacbarstool said on TikTok. "This is not how this works," he said, speaking as a New York Jets fan. Watch Content from our sponsor: The Association of American Railroads Freight rail reinvests $23 billion in the network each year  Mainline rail accident rates have decreased by 48% since 2000. And America's railroads are committed to making freight transportation even safer. Learn how freight rail works. 📃 On The Campaign Trail Two similar cases. Two very different strategies: ©  GIPHY/South Park President Biden and former President Trump both mishandled classified documents but have had very different approaches — and fates — on their cases.   Biden's case: Biden held onto roughly 50 classified documents. Biden's team alerted authorities when the documents were discovered and cooperated with the investigation.   Trump's case: Trump held onto roughly 300 classified records. He repeatedly rebuffed Archives and Justice Department officials who tried recovering them — and even failed to comply with a subpoena to return them. Trump also allegedly concealed records in an effort to hide them.   How it was received: "Republicans see Hur, who was appointed by Trump to serve as U.S. attorney of Maryland, as displaying partisanship in determining no charges were warranted … But to Democrats, the report laid bare the strategic error made by Trump by not simply just returning the documents when asked."   More of Republicans' complaints of a double-standard, via The Hill's Rebecca Beitsch ➤  Q&A EXPLAINER OF THE TWO CASES: From The New York Times's Charlie Savage Another day, another political firestorm:  During a campaign rally in South Carolina this weekend, former President Trump warned NATO allies that he "would encourage" Russia "to do whatever the hell they want" to nations that are "delinquent."   Trump's quote: "'You didn't pay? You're delinquent?'" Trump recounted saying. "'No I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.'"   This quote has gotten a lot of attention.    President Biden called Trump's remarks "appalling and dangerous." GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley warned against taking "the side of a thug."    How NATO reacted to the comment: "Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the U.S., and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement. ➤   HEADLINES ON THE CONTROVERSY:   'G.O.P. Officials, Once Critical, Stand by Trump After NATO Comments': The New York Times 'Trump's NATO comments prompt Europe to reexamine Russia threat': NBC News   'Trump's incendiary NATO remarks send very real shudders through Europe': CNN   'Donald Trump and NATO Deterrence: His latest comments about the alliance will please Vladimir Putin.': From The Wall Street Journal's editorial board   'Republicans blast Trump over threat to abandon NATO allies': Reuters 🐝 Internet Buzz 🏈 Celebrate: Today is National Football Hangover Day. Lol, aptly named.   📱 I'm on what the kids call 'TikTok': President Biden posted his first TikTok video Sunday. 📹 Watch Biden's 'this-or-that' TikTok video   🌨️ Heads up for the Northeast: A nor'easter is expected to pummel the Northeast with snow and flooding. (The Hill) 🗓 On The Agenda The Senate is in. The House is out. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C. Harris has no public events. (all times Eastern) 12:30 p.m.: State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller briefs reporters. 💻 Livestream 1 p.m.: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefs reporters. 💻 Livestream 2:30 p.m.: Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcome Jordan's King Abdullah II and Queen Rania to the White House. 4 p.m.: Biden and King Abdullah II deliver remarks. 💻 Livestream 👋 And Finally… To leave you in a good mood, watch this new (and extremely effective) burger ad. Stay Engaged Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@thehill.com. A friend forward this to you? Subscribe here.   View past issues of 12:30 Report here and check out other newsletters from The Hill here. See you next time! Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  Sign Up for Other Newsletters 1625 K Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20006 © 1998 - 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.