“The Biden administration is set to release a federal strategy Monday to implement an ambitious plan to build 500,000 charging stations for electric vehicles across the country and ultimately transform the U.S. auto industry,” the AP reports.
1 of Every 100 Older Americans Has Perished
New York Times: “As the coronavirus pandemic approaches the end of a second year, the United States stands on the cusp of surpassing 800,000 deaths from the virus, and no group has suffered more than older Americans. All along, older people have been known to be more vulnerable, but the scale of loss is only now coming into full view.”
“Seventy-five percent of people who have died of the virus in the United States — or about 600,000 of the nearly 800,000 who have perished so far — have been 65 or older. One in 100 older Americans has died from the virus. For people younger than 65, that ratio is closer to 1 in 1,400.”
First Known Death from Omicron Variant Recorded
“At least one person has died from the omicron variant, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday as he urged Britons to increase their protection with a booster shot,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Johnson: “I think the idea that this is somehow a milder version of the virus, I think that’s something we need to set on one side and just recognize the sheer pace at which it accelerates through the population.”
The New York Times quotes Johnson: “No one should be in any doubt: There is a tidal wave of Omicron coming.”
Harris to Announce New Northern Triangle Investments
“Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday announced $1.2 billion in commitments from international businesses to support the economies and social infrastructure of Central American nations, as she works to address what the White House terms the ‘root causes’ of migration to the United States,” the AP reports.
“Harris was tapped in March by President Joe Biden to work to counter the social, economic and political forces that drive migrants and asylum seekers to the U.S., including many who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.”
GOP Senator Says His Election Was ‘Fair and Square’
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) baselessly cast doubt on the integrity of the 2020 election in a Meet the Press interview, though he insisted that his own victory last year was earned “fair and square.”
But he wouldn’t say if Joe Biden was elected fairly: “You know, Joe Biden was sworn into office. I called him Mr. President since the day he was … sworn in. I still remain concerned about election integrity.”
What Joe Manchin Is Reading This Morning
A new poll shows that nearly two-thirds of West Virginia voters think BBB will make inflation worse and a slightly larger share think Congress “should slow down and get the Build Back Better Act right.”
Child Tax Credit Cliff Looms
“Democrats are hoping a year-end cliff with 35 million families on the line can finally shake a deal loose on President Joe Biden’s marquee bill,” Politico reports.
“Preserving the party’s expanded child tax credit, which delivers monthly checks to most families with children, has been a central tenet of Biden’s social safety net bill from the start. But months of grueling negotiations have forced Democrats right up against the Dec. 31 deadline that could blot out one of their biggest political wins this year.”
Can Schumer Deliver Manchin’s Vote?
“Chuck Schumer leapt over the trap doors of a potential government shutdown and debt default. Now he has to stick the landing on one of the largest spending bills in American history,” Politico reports.
“As the Senate majority leader checks off his chamber’s list of must-pass bills, he’s turning to the urgent task of passing President Joe Biden’s $1.7 trillion social safety net bill before the long holiday break. Just a few obstacles lie in his way: Joe Manchin’s concern over rising inflation, the need for total party unity and only a few days left to meet his goal of final passage by Christmas. Oh, yeah, and the final deal isn’t finished yet.”
Playbook: “Schumer has been adamant that his chamber will clear the party’s $1.7 trillion social spending package before senators leave for the holidays. Yet everyone knows that won’t happen without the stubborn West Virginia Democrat — and Democrats are looking for some presidential arm-twisting to get him there.”
Punchbowl News: “Biden and Manchin will speak about the BBB as early as today, a discussion that will go a long way toward deciding whether the $1.7 trillion package — the president’s top legislative priority — can be finished before Christmas or will slide into 2022.”
Many Lawmakers Are Violating Conflict of Interest Laws
Insider rated every member of Congress on their financial conflicts and transparency.
Pelosi Will Stay Around to Lead House Democrats
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi will stay until at least after the midterm elections, extending her nearly 20-year run as the House’s top Democrat after she turns 82 and, perhaps, beyond,” CNN reports.
“She is planning to file and run for reelection in her San Francisco district next year — at least for now — in keeping with her pattern of deciding about staying in Congress after the elections, when she likely will have won an 18th full term.”
“And sources familiar with Pelosi’s thinking say she isn’t ruling out the possibility of trying to stay in leadership after 2022, despite her original vow to leave as the top House Democrat.”
Graham Slams McConnell Over Debt Ceiling
Sen. Lindsey Graham “continued his criticisms of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for adopting a bipartisan deal that allowed Democrats to raise the debt ceiling,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Graham: “What I’m worried about is that for four months the Republican Senate said we would not lift a finger to help the Democrats raise the debt ceiling. We would make them use reconciliation.”
He added: “At the end, we did not make them use reconciliation, which changed the rules of the Senate in a House bill. I don’t like that a lot… What we did is promised one thing and delivered another.”
U.K. Raises Pandemic Alert
The U.K. government raised its official coronavirus alert level, citing an increase in cases largely driven by the Omicron variant, Axios reports.
Clyburn Sees Senate Democrats Bypassing Filibuster
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) told Axios he expects Senate Democrats will find a way to get around the filibuster to pass federal voting rights legislation.
Said Clyburn: “It may require some jiu-jitsu, but that’s not beyond the Senate to do that.”
He added: “They’ll come up with some way to get around it. We had better come up with some way to get around it, because this democracy is teetering on collapse.”
Graham Says Democrats Lying About Spending Bill
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Democrats must “quit lying” about the cost of the Build Back Better Act and called for the House to revote on the massive social spending package, The Hill reports.
Trump Tour Kicks Off With Many Empty Seats
“Despite a Saturday evening statement promising ‘big crowds,’ the first date of ex-president Donald Trump and Bill O’Reilly’s joint speaking tour seemingly failed to draw any such thing,” the Daily Beast reports.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “Many seats remained empty in the cavernous arena. The top-level was closed, and ticket buyers were ‘upgraded’ to the lower bowl.”
Chris Wallace Joins CNN
Chris Wallace, who unexpectedly announced he was leaving Fox News, will anchor a new show on the network’s upcoming streaming service, CNN+.
Former GOP Chief Warns Republic Is at Risk
Former RNC Chairman and Montana Gov. Marc Racicot (R) “warned that fidelity is in jeopardy in America, not only in regard to the state and national constitutions, but to the country’s spirit as well,” the Helena Independent Record reports.
“He also said there are serious warning signs that the U.S. Constitution and republic are at risk.”
Said Racicot: “The most probable way for our republic to vanish is through a lack of honor and fidelity. Not surprisingly that is precisely what is required by our constitutional oath of office.”
He added: “I don’t want to preach, so I am hopeful that I won’t appear pretentious, but with all that has dramatically changed with the political and social fabric of our lives in this last decade and a half – much for the worse – in my judgment, I would confess that I sometimes feel like I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe.”
Quote of the Day
“There is nothing about this job that is supposed to be easy. If something is coming to me, it’s because it needs to be addressed and because, by definition, it’s not going to be easy. If it was easy, it would have been handled before it comes to me.”
— Vice President Kamala Harris, quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle.
