🎯 Axios PM: Elon's "hardcore" edict

Plus: McConnell wins again | Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Constellation   Axios PM By Mike Allen · Nov 16, 2022 Good afternoon: Today's PM — edited by Sam Baker — is 429 words, a 2-minute read.     1 big thing: Musk's marching orders Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   Elon Musk is bringing a '90s mentality to Twitter's decidedly 2022 problems, Axios tech managing editor Scott Rosenberg writes. Driving the news: Musk sent the company's workers a memo early this morning asking them to commit to a new, "extremely hardcore" work environment. They were given one day to either click a button signaling that they were on board or leave the company. The catch: The outside engineers he brought in to Twitter reportedly may have evaluated programmers by counting how many lines of code they'd written. But many of the best programmers maintain that their most important work involves deleting things, knowing what to leave out in the first place, or rewriting overly complex code into briefer commands. Twitter's biggest problems — including the wave of pranks and fraud that forced Musk to pull back his revamped subscription plan — have to do with human behavior, not program code. Go deeper.     2. Women gain ground in the Senate Data: Axios Research; Note: Senators who did not serve for the full term are included in the analysis. Senators named Johnson, Jon, Jonathan, Jim, Bill, Will or Willie were counted as being named John, James or William. Chart: Nicki Camberg/Axios Women will make up about a quarter of the Senate once the next session of Congress begins. That's a major reversal from historical norms in which there were not only more men than women in the Senate, but more men named John than women. By the numbers: Men with a handful of especially common names, particularly John or Jon, outnumbered women until pretty recently. And though the tables have turned, the John caucus is still strong — 75% of senators are men, including 10% who are men named John or Jon. Nobody ever said the Senate moves fast.     A message from Constellation Constellation is the #1 producer of clean energy     While others just talk about clean energy, Constellation is the #1 producer. The proof: We generate enough clean energy to power 15 million homes, producing 50% more carbon-free power than any other company in America. Learn how we're working to create a clean energy future for every American.     3. Catch up quick Sen. Joni Ernst looks on as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell smiles after today's vote to re-elect him the Senate Republican leader for the new Congress. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Senate Republicans re-elected Mitch McConnell to be their leader, easily quashing a mini-mutiny from the right. Go deeper. The House passed a bill to limit the use of nondisclosure agreements in workplace sexual misconduct cases. It now goes to President Biden for his signature. Go deeper. NATO agreed that Tuesday's missile strikes in Poland were likely an accident — easing fears of an escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. (AP) Here's how former President Trump's 2024 announcement was covered on the front of his beloved New York Post — a Rupert Murdoch property Trump spent decades leaking to ... Photo: Screenshot via New York Post     4. Launch party Photo: Keegan Barber/NASA via Getty Images Spectators watched in awe this morning as NASA's Artemis I mission launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The unmanned rocket will circle the moon and come back to Earth later this year, hoping to pave the way for new manned missions to the moon in 2025. Go deeper: Why going back to the moon matters     A message from Constellation Constellation is the #1 producer of clean energy     While others just talk about clean energy, Constellation is the #1 producer. The proof: We generate enough clean energy to power 15 million homes, producing 50% more carbon-free power than any other company in America. Learn how we're working to create a clean energy future for every American.   Thanks to Sheryl Miller for copy editing today's PM. Are you a fan of this email format? Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: