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Total U.S. coronavirus deaths each morning this week: Monday, 763,092; Tuesday, 764,365; Wednesday, 765,913; Thursday, 767,435; Friday, 768,697.
Happy birthday (on Saturday), Mr. President!
House Democrats were forced to push their planned Thursday evening vote on the party’s Build Back Better agenda until this morning after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R) unexpectedly took control of the House floor, speaking for nearly nine hours to derail the vote.
McCarthy, who bested Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 2018 floor speech record, began talking shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday and did not finish until after 5 a.m., wrapping it up after 8 hours and 32 minutes. The House will reconvene to vote at 8 a.m.
Throughout the early hours of his remarks, McCarthy was noisily heckled by his colleagues from across the aisle. At one point, the Speaker’s office asked in the subject line of a press release: “Is Kevin McCarthy OK?”
“He’s trying to whittle down our 3-vote majority by getting some of us to jump off a roof just so we don’t have to listen to his droning on anymore,” Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) joked to the Morning Report roughly 100 minutes into his speech.
As The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Cristina Marcos report, the freewheeling performance, seen by some as a filibuster-style delaying tactic and by others as McCarthy’s pitch to GOP colleagues to become a future Speaker, became a marathon monologue that touched on topics including COVID-19, inflation, immigration, the Gettysburg Address, Elon Musk, President George Washington crossing the Delaware and U.S. policy toward China and hypersonic weapons. McCarthy’s central theme: Voters should give Republicans control of Congress.
McCarthy also sought to smooth some recent rocky moments for himself and for his party, including pressure he’s received to punish 13 House Republicans for their votes in support of the recently enacted $1 trillion infrastructure law, and Rep. Paul Gosar’s (R-Ariz.) censure by Democrats this week.
“This is a historical moment for Kevin, for sure,” said Rep. Greg Pence (R-Ind.), who sat behind the minority leader for part of the speech. “He’s been at it a long time.”
Unlike rank-and-file members, the House majority leader and minority leader are granted what’s called a “magic minute,” meaning as a courtesy they can be recognized to speak for an unlimited time.
Politico: McCarthy derails Dem plans to vote on social spending bill Thursday.
The Washington Post: McCarthy’s late night speech punctuates a week where the two party’s disdain for each other was on full display.
Democrats will vote on the bill later this morning shortly after Pelosi delivers planned remarks, and will break for the Thanksgiving recess immediately afterwards. The majority party can only lose three votes and still pass the $1.75 trillion social spending proposal. Rep. Jared Golden (R-Maine), who represents a competitive district and also opposed his party’s COVID-19 relief measure in the spring, is the lone House Democrat to say they will vote against it.
With McCarthy bullish about his party’s chances next year to retake the chamber, President Biden and Democrats are hoping that the multi trillion-dollar social spending and climate package helps them out with voters next year, with Biden badly in need of a political win and an approval rating booster. Democrats are plotting the foreseeable future about the 2100-page bill, having planned at least 1,000 events to sell the benefits of the bill to voters.
The impending vote follows Thursday’s release of a Congressional Budget Office estimate that the mammoth package would increase the deficit by $367 billion over the next decade. However, that figure does not take into account $207 billion in potential revenue that nonpartisan scorekeeper believes would be raised by providing the IRS more money for enforcement (The Hill).
For weeks, a group of House moderates have pressed for the budget office analysis before any vote by the lower chamber on the proposal, which includes spending and tax cuts in areas such as health care, climate and education.
Republicans, who universally oppose the bill, have panned the blueprint and used the CBO’s analysis as more ammo. In a statement, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) labeled the bill a “craptacular mess” that will lead to “a million more annual IRS audits.”
After the long-awaited passage, the ball is now in the court of Senate Democrats, who hope to vote on the measure by Christmas. As The Hill’s Jordain Carney writes, Senate Democrats are growing increasingly bullish that they will be able to do just that despite stumbling blocks that have plagued the bill for months.
However, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) remains the wild card within the majority party. The centrist Democrat has signaled in recent days that he is fine with the timeline laid out by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), but remains a holdout and in negotiations with party leaders on the package. But Democrats at this point are undeterred.
“The timeline is to get it done this year. That is clearly Sen. Schumer’s desire and I think quite frankly if there’s a path forward we stay here until we get it done, regardless of what that date is,” said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
The New York Times: A proposed minimum tax would hit Amazon, Facebook and others, a report shows.
> Debt drama (or lack thereof): Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) met again on Thursday as the two leaders search for a deal to increase the debt limit before the mid-December deadline in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the nasty battle that enveloped last month.
“We had a good discussion about several different issues that are all extant as we move toward the end of the session,” McConnell told reporters. “We agreed to kind of keep talking, working together to try to get somewhere.”
Before a short-term debt increase was agreed to in October, the two leaders engaged in a bitter back-and-forth on the issue. However, both sides are looking to sidestep it entirely. Senate Republicans are offering to expedite Democrats raising the debt ceiling on their own under the budget reconciliation process and allow them to pass it with a simple majority.
“My Democratic colleagues don’t need a single Republican to raise the debt ceiling,” said Sen. Pat Toomey (Pa.), the ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee (The Hill).
Alexander Bolton, The Hill: McConnell looks for way out of debt-ceiling box.
Politico: Schumer, McConnell turn down the heat on debt limit fight.
More in Congress: Members of the Senate Banking Committee defended Biden’s embattled nominee to head the Office of Comptroller of the Currency during a combative confirmation hearing on Thursday (The Hill). … McCarthy vowed to undo Democrats’ punishment of two GOP lawmakers if Republicans take control in 2023 (The Hill). … Maryland Democrats are contemplating a gerrymandered map that would impact the congressional district represented by Republican Rep. Andy Harris (The Hill).
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LEADING THE DAY
ADMINISTRATION: A day ahead of his 79th birthday, Biden today will travel to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for what White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted will be a “routine physical.” Reporters for weeks have asked when the president would undergo a medical examination, common each year for most modern presidents.
On Thursday, Biden and his counterparts from Canada and Mexico stressed unity and conviviality rather than specific resolutions to disagreements over trade and migration following a White House summit. The leaders of the North American nations, conferring after a five-year hiatus, agreed to form a working group on regional supply chain issues. The United States released a statement following the meeting that describes aspirational goals in broad strokes dealing with the pandemic, economic competition, migration and climate change (The New York Times).
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Andrés Manuel López Obrado joined Biden in a show of strategic and economic solidarity amid a rise in competition from Asia and Europe. Breaking with precedent and tradition, the trio skipped a joint press conference, declining to answer any press questions. The meeting took place as the United States tries to smooth supply chain bottlenecks and is dealing with mass movements of migrants across the Americas, raising the stakes for cooperation among North American neighbors.
“This is one of the easiest relationships that we have,” Biden said during a meeting with Trudeau. Biden described the U.S. and Mexico as equals while conferring with Obrador.
U.S. officials told journalists in advance that the leaders would not discuss policies that have become flash points for immigration activists, including a program that forces some asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are pending in the United States.
> Asked by reporters if the U.S. will opt to declare a diplomatic boycott of the winter Olympic Games in Beijing in February to protest China’s human rights abuses, Biden said “it’s something we’re considering.” A diplomatic boycott would not affect the participation of U.S. athletes but would preclude attendance by senior U.S. officials (The Hill). Secretary of State Antony Blinken has hinted that the United States might seek allies to join such a move, which would make a point while stealing some of China’s thunder as host of the games (CNN).
> Governments from some of the world’s biggest economies including China said on Thursday they were looking into releasing oil from their strategic petroleum reserves, following a rare request from the United States for a coordinated move to cool global energy prices and ahead of a meeting of major oil producing countries (Reuters).
> The Biden administration is weighing whether to send some of the Afghan refugees who fled their country in August, and are housed at a U.S. military base in Kosovo, back to Afghanistan if they cannot clear a security vetting process to enter the U.S., CNN reported. It’s one option being evaluated pending an overall plan for how to handle resettlement questions for some Afghans who assisted the United States over decades but cannot satisfy the clearance hurdles. Republican lawmakers have been vocal in accusing the administration of skipping steps in the vetting process for Afghan refugees, potentially creating risks in the homeland (The Hill and The Wall Street Journal).
> Some lawmakers believe the administration is not doing enough to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin over ransomware attacks linked to Russia-based hackers. As the administration tries to communicate the importance of cybersecurity, Capitol Hill criticism grows louder (The Hill).
> Vice President Harris, during an ABC “Good Morning America” interview that aired on Thursday, defended her work in support of Biden’s policy goals and her own White House staff, which has been the target of much anonymous but public second-guessing (The Associated Press). … Harris’s communications director, Ashley Etienne, who formerly worked for Pelosi as well as Biden, is leaving the administration in December (Vanity Fair and The Hill).
IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES
CORONAVIRUS: The Biden administration announced Thursday that it has reached a deal to purchase 10 million courses of Pfizer’s oral COVID-19 antiviral treatment, in a move that officials hope will help hasten the end of the pandemic.
The agreement, worth $5.3 billion, provides for initial deliveries by the end of the year. The order will conclude at the end of 2022.
The pill, known as Paxlovid, has shown promise in trials, reducing the risk of hospitalization or death by 89 percent. Once the treatment is readily available, experts believe that coupled with vaccines, it will help put an end to the crisis phase of the pandemic. The prescription medication is most effective when taken shortly after the onset of symptoms or positive results after tests for COVID-19.
“This promising treatment could help accelerate our path out of this pandemic by offering another life-saving tool for people who get sick with COVID-19,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra (The Hill).
The Hill: Los Angeles schools offering gift cards, “Hamilton” tickets for student vaccinations.
> Restrictions: German lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill to allow only vaccinated individuals, those who have recovered from a COVID-19 infection or tested negative recently to conduct in-person work or use the nation’s public transit. The legislation also would order employers to allow workers to work remotely if possible.
The new proposal comes as Germany reported 65,000 new cases on Wednesday, marking a 60 percent increase from figures two weeks beforehand. The leaders of all 16 German states must approve the orders for them to take effect, which is expected today (The New York Times).
> Legal: The House select subcommittee on the pandemic issued a subpoena for Peter Navarro, a senior adviser to former President Trump, to provide documents and be deposed as part of its probe into political interference from the former administration.
Subcommittee chairman Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) alleges Navarro prioritized politics and the lie that the 2020 election was stolen instead of the U.S. COVID-19 response. He also accuses Navarro of steering millions of dollars in contracts for pandemic supplies to unprepared or politically connected companies.
The subpoena compels Navarro to produce all documents and information by Dec. 8, with the deposition slated for Dec. 15. Clyburn added that Navarro has refused to voluntarily comply with repeated requests for documents since he was first contacted on Sept. 14 (The Hill).
The Morning Report is created by journalists Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver. We want to hear from you! Email: asimendinger@digital-staging.thehill.com and aweaver@digital-staging.thehill.com. We invite you to share The Hill’s reporting and newsletters, and encourage others to SUBSCRIBE!
OPINION
How Democrats got trapped in a SALT box, by Jonathan Bernstein, columnist, Bloomberg Opinion. https://bloom.bg/3cp6DaL
Quit lying to yourself. Real happiness starts with telling yourself the truth, even when it hurts, by Arthur C. Brooks, columnist, The Atlantic. https://bit.ly/3Fo3Via
WHERE AND WHEN
The House meets at 8 a.m. Following recess for the Thanksgiving holiday, lawmakers are scheduled to resume work in Washington on Nov. 30.
The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. to resume consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act. Following the chamber’s Thanksgiving recess, senators will return to the nation’s capital on Nov. 29.
The president today will undergo a “routine physical” at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The president at 3:15 p.m. will pardon the National Thanksgiving Turkey in a ceremony in the Rose Garden. The gobbler and an alternate brought to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. were raised near Jasper, Ind. Biden is expected to depart at 6:30 p.m. to spend his birthday weekend at his home in Wilmington, Del.
The vice president will fly to Columbus, Ohio, this afternoon and tour Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 189 at 2:50 p.m. along with Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. Harris will speak about the recently enacted infrastructure law at 3:20 p.m. The vice president will leave Ohio two hours later to return to Washington.
The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 1 p.m.
→ French Ambassador Philippe Etienne’s residence became the latest site of a D.C. soiree last night, which hosted a black-tie event with 250 guests, including Sens. Manchin, Chris Coons (D-Del.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Reps. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.) and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), along with NBA legend Isiah Thomas, restaurateur Wolfgang Puck and E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg.
Hill.TV’s “Rising” program features news and interviews at http://digital-staging.thehill.com/hilltv or on YouTube at 10:30 a.m. ET at Rising on YouTube.
ELSEWHERE
➔ JUSTICE: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) on Thursday commuted death row inmate Julius Jones’s sentence to life imprisonment without parole. The governor was under intense pressure to do so only hours before Jones’s execution, which was set for today. Jones (seen below) was convicted of first-degree murder in 1999 for killing businessman Paul Howell. Jones has maintained his innocence, alleging that racism by a juror affected his trial and that another man, once a friend, committed the murder (The Hill).
➔ INTERNATIONAL: The Belarusian government on Thursday cleared migrant encampments at the main border crossing into Poland from Belarus, removing a major flashpoint that provoked tensions in Europe and international news coverage, The New York Times reported. … Iraqi migrants who had been part of the encampments in an effort to make their way into the European Union with aspirations for better lives were flown home to Iraq, bringing with them accounts of misery and mistreatment while huddled outside Poland’s border (The New York Times and The Washington Post).
➔ RETAIL SHIFT: CVS announced on Thursday it will close 900 stores during the next three years, representing 10 percent of locations. “The company has been evaluating changes in population, consumer buying patterns and future health needs to ensure it has the right kinds of stores in the right locations for consumers and for the business,” the company said in a statement (The Wall Street Journal).
THE CLOSER
And finally … It’s time for all of our Morning Report Quiz mavens to give themselves a big Friday pat on the back for their knowledge of musical current events, especially with two of the industry’s biggest stars — Taylor Swift and Adele — in the news.
Morning Report is here to sing praises for these puzzle winners: Lou Tisler, Patrick Kavanagh, Gary Sensenig, Zoe Walker, Joan Domingues, Michel Romage, Jaina Mehta, Pam Manges, Candi Cee, Mary Anne McEnery, Len Jones, Jonathan Scheff, Steve James, John Donato, Lesa Davis and Valerie Buvat de Virginy.
They knew that Adele’s 2015 hit, “Hello,” was the first song in the U.S. to sell more than 1 million digital copies within the first week of release.
In “All Too Well,” a gold-plated hit in Swift’s catalog, the female character misplaces a scarf, which finds its way into a boyfriend’s drawer.
Peter Jackson, the famed director of the “Lord of the Rings” movies, is releasing a three-part documentary about The Beatles next week.
Finally, Adele told Vogue recently that her 9-year-old son’s “jaw dropped” while at a Taylor Swift concert, prompting her to retort that she, too, is a music star.
