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--> A midday take on what's happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.*
*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha--breaks down crying hysterically.
The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Supreme Court’s blow to Trump | Declines to shield Trump from handing over financial records | Taxes, other records to be given to prosecutors | Merrick Garland
Merrick GarlandAirline groups ask DOJ to help crack down on violent passengers House Judiciary asks DOJ to disclose remaining gag orders The Hill's Morning Report - After high-stakes Biden-Putin summit, what now? MORE testifies | Biden to hold moment of silence for 500K COVID deaths | Romney, Collins oppose Neera Tanden
Neera TandenBiden's no-drama White House chief Manchin isn't ready to support Democrats passing infrastructure on their own Republicans target Trump critic's role at DOJ MORE’s nomination | Newsmax guest mocks Biden’s dogs as ‘dirty’ | National Margarita Day deals
NEWS THIS MORNING
After five years, prosecutors will get Trump’s financial records:
Via The New York Times’s Adam Liptak “The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a last-ditch attempt by former President Donald J. Trump to shield his financial records, issuing a brief, unsigned order requiring Mr. Trump’s accountants to turn over his tax and other records to prosecutors in New York.” https://nyti.ms/3keDNNe
Why this development is important: “The court’s order was a decisive defeat for Mr. Trump, who had gone to extraordinary lengths to keep his tax returns and related documents secret.”
KEEP IN MIND — TRUMP’S FIRST PUBLIC SPEAKING APPEARANCE SINCE LEAVING OFFICE IS COMING UP:
Via CNN’s Jim Acosta
James (Jim) AcostaPalm Beach prosecutor says DeSantis could delay hypothetical Trump extradition Jen Psaki says the quiet part out loud about Joe Biden Harry Reid reacts to Boehner book excerpt: 'We didn't mince words' MORE and Pamela Brown, “Former President Donald Trump
Donald TrumpWhat blue wave? A close look at Texas today tells of a different story Democrats go down to the wire with Manchin Trump's former bodyguard investigated in NY prosectors' probe: report MORE will speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, next Sunday, according to a source familiar with the matter, while former Vice President Mike Pence
Michael (Mike) Richard PenceIf you care about the US, root for China to score a win in space Pence heckled with calls of 'traitor' at conservative conference The Hill's Morning Report - ObamaCare here to stay MORE declined an invitation to speak at the conference, two sources told CNN.” https://cnn.it/3dOvqXV
It’s Monday and a happy National Margarita Day to you, friends! Keep reading for ways to celebrate ;) 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.
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It's time to update internet regulations
The internet has changed a lot in 25 years. But the last time comprehensive internet regulations were passed was in 1996.
We want updated internet regulations to set clear guidelines for addressing today's toughest challenges.
HAPPENING TODAY
Five years later and Merrick can finally use his Senate confirmation hearing notes:
Merrick Garland, President Biden
Joe BidenMilitary must better understand sexual assaults to combat them The Hill's Equilibrium — Presented by NextEra Energy — Tasmanian devil wipes out penguin population On The Money: Democrats make full-court press on expanded child tax credit | White House confident Congress will raise debt ceiling MORE’s pick for attorney general, will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. https://bit.ly/3qKwEHd
Why this is big: Garland, who was nominated to the Supreme Court by former President Obama in 2016, was never given a confirmation hearing.
TUNE IN — HERE’S THE LIVESTREAM:
The morning session: https://bit.ly/3bqpt0s And the afternoon session: https://bit.ly/3ukbCRP
FOR CONTEXT — BIDEN HITS HIS ONE-MONTH MARK AND STILL HAS LESS THAN HALF OF A CABINET:
Via The Hill’s Brett Samuels: https://bit.ly/3ka5JSJ
Susan says ‘nah dog’:
Sen. Susan Collins
Susan Margaret CollinsPortman: Republicans are 'absolutely' committed to bipartisan infrastructure bill Democratic clamor grows for select committee on Jan. 6 attack Centrists gain foothold in infrastructure talks; cyber attacks at center of Biden-Putin meeting MORE (R-Maine) announced this morning that she will vote against Neera Tanden, President Biden’s choice to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). https://bit.ly/3pMPax3
Why: “Congress has to be able to trust the OMB director to make countless decisions in an impartial manner, carrying out the letter of the law and congressional intent … Neera Tanden has neither the experience nor the temperament to lead this critical agency. Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend.”
Tanden’s deleted tweets also didn’t help: Collins slammed Tanden’s "decision to delete more than a thousand tweets in the days before her nomination was announced raises concerns about her commitment to transparency.”
For context: Collins is the second moderate senator to oppose Tanden’s nomination. Sen. Joe Manchin
Joe ManchinSinema defends filibuster ahead of Senate voting rights showdown The Hill's Equilibrium — Presented by NextEra Energy — Tasmanian devil wipes out penguin population Democrats go down to the wire with Manchin MORE (D-W.V.) is the first, also citing her tweets as the reason.
How this could play out for Tanden: https://bit.ly/3pMPax3
^ And now, so does Mitt:
Moderate Sen. Mitt Romney
Willard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyOvernight Defense: Senate panel delays Iraq war powers repeal | Study IDs Fort Hood as least-safe base for female soldiers | Pentagon loosens some COVID-19 restrictions Senate panel delays war authorization repeal after GOP push Eliminate family and child poverty: Richard Nixon may help in today's debate MORE (R-Utah) will also oppose Tanden’s nomination. https://bit.ly/2ZBnukm
His office released a statement: “Senator Romney has been critical of extreme rhetoric from prior nominees, and this is consistent with that position. He believes it’s hard to return to comity and respect with a nominee who has issued a thousand mean tweets.”
LATEST WITH THE COVID RELIEF PACKAGE
This bill is up for a rousing game of congressional hopscotch!:
House Democrats are planning to vote on the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill this week, hoping to send the measure to the Senate for a vote as soon as next week. https://bit.ly/3suk3sf
The time pressure: Democrats want to have this bill signed by March 14 when enhanced unemployment benefits expire.
Timing in the House: Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Nancy PelosiDemocrats make full-court press on expanded child tax credit Maria Bartiromo defends reporting: 'Keep trashing me, I'll keep telling the truth' Democratic clamor grows for select committee on Jan. 6 attack MORE (D-Calif.) is hoping to have the bill on the floor by Friday, but it must first go through the Budget Committee and the Rules Committee.
Happening today — budget!: “The Budget Committee is scheduled to meet on Monday, where it will condense the various pieces of the package into one bill. The panel is expected to need to tweak the package, which is currently estimated to cost more than the $1.889 trillion allowed under a budget resolution that included the instructions for crafting the coronavirus bill.”
What about the Rules Committee?: “The House Rules Committee hasn’t yet said when it will take up the coronavirus bill. It already has a meeting scheduled for Tuesday to set up for the debate for two other unrelated bills on the House floor this week.”
Assuming it passes in the House — the Senate is a bigger challenge: Democrats are skirting around with 60-vote minimum by using reconciliation to pass the package with a simple majority. Because of the tight margins in the 50-50 Senate, Democrats would need all 50 members on board — or to convince as many Republicans needed to reach the 50-vote threshold.
What to expect, via The Hill’s Jordain Carney and Juliegrace Brufke: https://bit.ly/3suk3sf
THE BILL IS POPULAR WITH AMERICANS, BUT REPUBLICANS DON’T SEEM WORRIED ABOUT VOTING ‘NO’:
The GOP’s reasoning, via The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda: https://bit.ly/2NxvDUl
WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING IN CONGRESS THIS WEEK:
Jan. 6 attack: “The Senate Rules and Homeland Security committees will have their first public hearing as part of their probe into the January 6 attack on Tuesday.” Who will testify: Paul Irving, the former House sergeant at arms, Steven Sund, the former Capitol Police chief, and Michael Stenger, the former Senate sergeant at arms.
Nominations — other than Merrick Garland: Including Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Linda Thomas-GreenfieldNikki Haley warns Republicans on China: 'If they take Taiwan, it's all over' US ambassador to UN to travel to Syria border town amid debate over humanitarian aid Harris, Hispanic Caucus meet on Central America MORE’s nomination to be U.N. ambassador on Monday night, Neera Tanden to be OMB director, Rep. Deb Haaland
Deb HaalandSenate confirms Biden pick for No. 2 role at Interior Sanders opposes Biden Interior nominee in procedural vote OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Judge halts Biden pause on new public lands oil leasing | Democrat presses Haaland on oil and gas review | EPA puts additional delay on Trump lead and copper in drinking water rule MORE (D-N.M.) to be Interior secretary, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra
Xavier BecerraCDC can't regulate cruises: judge Sanders 'delighted' DeSantis asked White House to import Canadian prescription drugs Feehery: It's for the children MORE to be secretary of Health and Human Services and William Burns
William Burns30-year CIA veteran to run espionage operations 'Havana Syndrome' and other escalations mark a sinister turn in the spy game Intel community: Competing COVID-19 origin theories not 'more likely than the other' MORE for CIA director.
Equality Act: “The House is slated to take up the Equality Act — led by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) — which aims to extend federal discrimination protections for LGBTQ people.”
Context and details for each: https://bit.ly/2NT7s2r
Internet regulations need an update
It's been 25 years since comprehensive internet regulations were passed.
But a lot has changed since 1996. We support updated regulations to set clear guidelines for protecting people's privacy, enabling safe and easy data portability between platforms and more.
LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS
Interesting read — Israel will a good test for the world:
Via The Wall Street Journal’s Felicia Schwartz, “Israel lifted restrictions on most commerce and public activity, opening malls, markets and museums—and requiring the use of a pass to document vaccination status for some activities.” https://on.wsj.com/3dHPFGF
Why we’re closely watching Israel: “Sunday’s moves illustrate how Israel, which rolled out the world’s fastest Covid-19 vaccination campaign, is combining incentives and threats to get the rest of its population vaccinated—and how it learned from missteps.”
CASE NUMBERS:
Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 28,138,103
U.S. death toll: 499,075
Breakdown of the numbers: https://cnn.it/2UAgW3y
Tidbit — what a weird time capsule:
In October, The Washington Post’s Dave Jorgenson tweeted a photo, “Just a yellowed newspaper someone left on their desk seven months ago.” Photo of the yellowed newspaper from March: https://bit.ly/2Ntf4ZQ
That newspaper’s headline reads, “Virus cases top 500 in U.S.”
And then last night: Jorgenson compared that headline to the latest Post headline, “U.S. COVID DEATH TOLL NEARS 500,000.” It’s pretty striking to see the headlines side-by-side — the first in a yellowed newspaper before quarantining began: https://bit.ly/2Nkmpeh
VACCINATION NUMBERS:
Total number of vaccinations administered in the U.S.: 63.1 million shots have been given.
Seven-day average of doses administered: An average of 1.33 million doses
For context: The U.S. population is roughly 331 million.
Breakdown of the numbers: https://bloom.bg/3iVTPLH
NOTABLE TWEETS:
Hahahahaha:
Hyperlink https://bit.ly/3bpXn5e
Well, is there!?
Over the weekend — how terrifying!:
This video has nearly 13 million views.
Watch: https://bit.ly/3umL4Q4
Back story: Shortly after takeoff from Denver International Airport, United Airlines Flight 328’s engine exploded midair. Debris hit the ground and miraculously, no one was hurt. The full story is pretty wild, via CNN: https://cnn.it/3aK1ev3
A car’s dash cam footage of the engine explosion: Watch: https://bit.ly/2ZFepHe
And a photo of the debris landing in a residential yard: https://bit.ly/37Bwquv
WHAT, Biden’s dogs are perfect. All dogs are perfect, SIR.:
That is low.
Watch: https://bit.ly/37CvWE9
ON TAP:
The Senate is back today. The House is out until tomorrow. President Biden is in Washington, D.C. and Vice President Harris is returning today from California.
Today: Vice President Harris returns from Los Angeles.
9:45 a.m. EST: President Biden received the President’s Daily Brief.
3 p.m. EST: The Senate meets.
5:30 p.m. EST: The Senate holds a cloture vote on Biden’s nominee to be the representative to the United Nations. The Senate’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/3aFwgE4
WHAT TO WATCH:
12:05 p.m. EST: President Biden makes an announcement related to small businesses. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3sgHSU3
12:30 p.m. EST: White House press secretary Jen Psaki
Jen PsakiTaliban seize key Afghan district The Hill's Equilibrium — Presented by NextEra Energy — Tasmanian devil wipes out penguin population Democrats go down to the wire with Manchin MORE holds a press briefing. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3upuCyf
3 p.m. EST: The White House COVID-19 Response Team holds a press briefing. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3simg9M
6 p.m. EST: President Biden delivers remarks on the lives lost to the coronavirus. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3slVoGb
6:15 p.m. EST: President Biden holds a moment of silence for the lives lost to COVID-19. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3s9wRE6
NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF...:
Today is National Margarita Day! To celebrate, here’s a list of margarita deals across the country today: https://bit.ly/2NSs1fm
And to brighten your Monday, here are two golden retrievers enjoying a spa day: https://bit.ly/3sf0ioc
