12:30 Report

The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Biden’s goals for tonight’s State of the Union address

by Cate Martel - 02/07/23 12:30 PM ET

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*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Biden’s goals for tonight’s State of the Union address

TALK OF THE MORNING

Golf clap, golf clap:

President Biden is delivering his State of the Union address tonight to a new Congress and a new House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), sitting behind him.

What Biden will likely tout: The economy and his legislative achievements last year.

Because, oh what timing!: This is a likely launching pad for Biden’s reelection campaign announcement in the coming weeks.

Another factor heading into tonight — Biden’s polling isn’t great: Biden’s approval rating has been hovering in the low 40s, according to a FiveThirtyEight polling average. And a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that 62 percent of Americans think Biden has accomplished “not very much” or “little or nothing” since taking office.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT BIDEN’S ADDRESS:
He plans to ask Congress to crack down on fentanyl: Biden is expected to call on Congress to make fentanyl permanently a Schedule I drug, according to Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Cancer: Biden will ask Congress to reauthorize the National Cancer Act.

Preventing veteran suicide: Biden is expected to announce a $10 million program to reduce veteran suicide.

For mental health: Biden will ask Congress to ban targeted advertising for children and look into online safety.

More on the action items to expect tonight, via The Hill’s Alex Gangitano

LOGISTICS FOR TONIGHT:

What time does it start?: 9 p.m. EST

How to watch: Here’s the White House livestream

And here is C-SPAN’s coverage of the event

Just show me the important highlights and snippets: Here is The Hill’s live blog of the important news made from the speech

Who is delivering the GOP response to Biden’s address?: Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. What to expect

It’s Tuesday. I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.

INTERESTING READ — HOW BIDEN IS PREPPING:
The New York Times’s Katie Rogers reports President Biden’s process for practicing his State of the Union address last weekend at Camp David.

The gist: “No acronyms and tricks to conquer a stutter.”

More on the behind-the-scenes process of drafting and practicing the address

‘HOUSE GOP LOOKS TO GET AHEAD OF BIDEN ADDRESS WITH DEBT LIMIT DEMANDS AND BALLOON CRITICISM’:
How Republicans are focusing their counter-messaging ahead of Biden’s address, via The Hill’s Emily Brooks

TIDBIT:
Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) invited Democrat Michael Weinstock, a former firefighter who helped at the World Trade Center on 9/11, as his guest to the State of the Union address on Tuesday. What we know

Why this is worth mentioning: “Santos has faced widespread controversy over revelations that many of the claims he has made about his personal, educational and professional background were false. These include a claim that his mother was in one of the World Trade Center buildings on 9/11, though immigration records reportedly show she was not in the country in 2001.”

In Congress

A sitting senator got the boot from Twitter:

Twitter suspended Sen. Steve Daines’s(R-Mont.) account, claiming he violated its media policy.

Uhhh, why?: The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) alleges that Daines was suspended over his hunting profile photo. Axios’s Josh Kraushaar posted a screenshot of the header photo

^ Keep in mind: Daines is the chairman of the NRSC.

House Republicans are using the s-word to their advantage:

“As House Republicans aim to use their majority to divide Democrats on toxic political issues, they found early success this month making new hay out of an old idea: the ‘horrors’ of socialism.”

How so?: “House GOP leaders staged a vote Thursday on a resolution condemning socialism as a fundamental threat to American prosperity and independence — a proposal that split Democrats and provided a potentially potent new attack line for GOP candidates heading into the 2024 elections.”

^ How the vote went: “While a majority of Democrats voted in favor of the measure, 100 of the 212-member caucus declined to endorse it. And GOP leaders wasted no time pouncing when the tally was in.”

🎈 The China balloon

It ain’t the balloon’s first birthday party:

CNN’s Zachary Cohen reports that “a US military intelligence report from last year that focused on China’s use of high-altitude balloons mentioned sightings in Hawaii and Florida during the Trump presidency, according to an excerpt of the report reviewed by CNN.”

What we know about an incident in 2019: “The April 2022 report, titled ‘People’s Republic of China High-Altitude Balloon,’ found a Chinese spy balloon ‘circumnavigated the globe’ in 2019 – while Donald Trump was president – at an altitude of roughly 65,000 feet, and ‘drifted past Hawaii and across Florida before continuing its journey,’ the US Air Force document states.”

The full reporting

HMMM:

“A top U.S. general said that the Pentagon did not detect previous Chinese spy balloons as they were in the air, after former President Trump and members of his administration vehemently denied a claim from defense officials that such balloons had flown over the U.S. at least three times during his presidency.”

Gen. Glen VanHerck, the head of U.S. Northern Command, told reporters: “We did not detect those threats. The intel community after the fact — I believe as has been briefed already — assessed those threats from additional means of collection and made us aware of those balloons that were previously approaching North America or transited North America.”

‘CHINA TRIES TO PLAY DOWN BALLOON DISPUTE WITH CENSORSHIP AND MEMES’:

“Chinese propaganda also appears to be walking a fine line: looking tough for the crowd at home, without further derailing relations with the United States.” More from The New York Times’s Vivian Wang and Joy Dong

OP-ED — ‘CHINA’S SPY BALLOON: A NEW COLD WAR UNFOLDS BEFORE OUR EYES’

From the Hoover Institution’s Matt Turpin

HAPPENING ON THURSDAY:
Senators will be briefed on the situation with the Chinese balloon.

🦠 The COVID-19 numbers

Cases to date: 102.4 million

Death toll: 1,106,824

Current hospitalizations: 14,190

Shots administered: 669 million

Fully vaccinated: 69.2 percent of Americans

CDC data here.

🐥Notable tweets

This new HBO show is very well done, but it. Stresses. Me. Out.:

The Associated Press’s Seung Min Kim tweeted a screenshot of a CNN chyron that reads, “HBO’S ‘LAST OF US’ PROMPTS FEARS OVER ZOMBIE FUNGUS.” Photo

She added: “THANKS CNN SOMETHING NEW TO WORRY ABOUT.”

Watch the “CNN This Morning” segment

This is wild:

The Star Tribune’s Ashley Miller resurfaced a memo that former President George H.W. Bush sent to staff in 1992, instructing them not to feed his overweight dog. Read the memo

Back story on the memo

⏱On tap

The House and Senate are in. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C. — SOTU day!

9 a.m.: Biden received his daily briefing.

1:30 p.m.: First and last House votes. Today’s House agenda

3 p.m.: The Senate meets.

5:30 p.m.: The Senate holds a cloture vote on a judicial nomination. Today’s Senate agenda

8:25 p.m.: Biden leaves the White House en route to the U.S. Capitol.

10:40 p.m.: Biden returns to the White House.

Wednesday: Biden travels to Wisconsin to discuss the economy.

All times Eastern.

📺What to watch