| | | | |  | | By Katherine Tully-McManus | | | With an assist from Nancy Vu SENATE MAGIC — That special something that gets the Senate to move at lightning speed to avoid a Friday session was on display last night. The chamber cranked through amendment and final-passage votes on the one-week federal funding patch, a whole day before the deadline. The new date to avoid a holiday season government shutdown is next Friday, Dec. 23. The Senate tanked an amendment from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) that would extend the shutdown deadline into early next year and another from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) to strip tens of billions of dollars in mandatory IRS funding. One week: Top appropriators doled out final committee-level spending allocations for the roughly $1.7 trillion package that will fund the government through September. With those numbers settled, lawmakers will work through the weekend to piece together the broader package. The full bill is expected to be released Monday. Add-ons: An attached emergency funding package is expected to include aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia and funding for communities hit by natural disasters. Other ride-alongs could include a bipartisan bill to overhaul how Congress counts electoral votes and certifies the results of a presidential election and and cannabis banking legislation, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is giving a last-minute push, Natalie Fertig reports. Timeline: The Senate will go first on the omnibus and leave the House to take it across the finish line. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he's eyeing Dec. 22 as the hard stop for Senate action. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer warns that the House could push right up to the Friday deadline. "We all understand Christmas is Sunday and none of us want to be here, but all of us have a responsibility, obviously, as you complete the business of funding the government of the United States of America," Hoyer said on the floor Thursday. "So we will be here."
| | | | A message from AT&T: Connection does more than bring people together – it opens a world of possibilities. AT&T has invested more than $100 billion in American infrastructure from 2017 to 2021, including U.S. capital investment and acquisitions of wireless spectrum, to connect Americans to a brighter future. AT&T is working to expand high-speed fiber access, enhance 5G connectivity and strengthen communications for first responders. Learn more about how AT&T is expanding broadband access and investing in America's future. | | | GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Friday, Dec. 16, where we'll do it all again next week. HUDDLE'S WEEKLY MOST CLICKED: You were eager to see Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) in a top hat and sash after his surprise going-away party, as snapped by Olivia. But a close runner-up was this one: Mark Meadows Exchanged Texts With 34 Members Of Congress About Plans To Overturn The 2020 Election, from Talking Points Memo
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ascends on an escalator on his way to a vote at the U.S. Capitol Dec. 15, 2022. (Francis Chung/POLITICO) | Francis Chung/POLITICO | BERNIE WASN'T BORN YESTERDAY ― Burgess sat down with incoming Senate HELP Committee chair Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to talk about his vision for the panel under his leadership. "The gruff 81-year-old is planning to be a chair who can do both: embrace his activist roots while also working across the aisle on incremental gains that could actually become law," writes Burgess.
- "I'm going to be walking a tightrope," Sanders said in the interview. "I want to work with Republicans on issues where we can make progress. In other areas, they're not going to support me. And I'm not gonna give up on those issues."
- Sanders is "not gonna spend my whole time, by any means ... having hearings which I know will not result in any concrete legislation. On the other hand, I'm not going to ignore these issues."
THE STREAK IS ALIVE ― The massive annual defense policy bill that sets the Pentagon's course for the next year is headed to President Joe Biden's desk. Within a month, the Defense Department's requirement that troops get the Covid vaccine will be history. For the second straight year Congress has tossed Biden's Pentagon budget aside and boosted planned military spending. The bill authorizes $45 billion more than Biden sought, including $19 billion just to keep up with inflation. But that's not the streak we're talking about. This will mark the 62nd consecutive year that Congress has passed the Pentagon policy bill. Connor O'Brien has the whole story on last night's scramble for passage.
| | | | POLITICO APP USERS: UPGRADE YOUR APP BY DECEMBER 19! We recently upgraded the POLITICO app with a fresh look and improved features for easier access to POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Starting December 19, users will no longer have access to the previous version of the app. Update your app today to stay on top of essential political news, insights, and analysis from the best journalists in the business. UPDATE iOS APP – UPDATE ANDROID APP. | | | | | MANCHIN'S PLAN FALLS SHORT ― Months after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Schumer struck a deal to put an energy permitting bill on the floor, the Senate dealt the agreement a final blow on Thursday night: Put on the floor as an NDAA amendment, the proposal aimed at streamlining rules that are holding up clean energy and fossil fuel infrastructure projects fell on a 47-47 vote, short of the 60 votes it needed to be adopted. Republicans, who have been vocal about the need for permitting reform in recent years, opposed the measure in part because of Manchin's support earlier this year of the Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act, which included billions in funding for climate and clean energy initiatives. Manchin said Thursday that the GOP voting down the permitting proposal because of his previous votes and the fact that he's up for reelection in 2024 is "the politics that's basically destroying our country." The amendment did get seven GOP votes: Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio, Mitt Romney of Utah, Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. THE LONE LOBBYIST ― Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) set up a one-man lobby shop in the Senate Thursday night, long after his own chamber had gaveled out for the week, to personally appeal to Senate GOP leadership. Newhouse was camped outside the Senate chamber to "[gauge] their support" for the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. He'd like to see it hitch a ride on the end-of-the-year government funding bill that is still coming together. The farm worker bill ― which would make it easier for migrant farm workers to become lawful residents and make changes to the H-2A temporary worker program ― passed the House earlier last year but has yet to make it to the Senate floor. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) was seen helping with the effort. "A group of senators here have been working on it for a time, but the clock is running down and we're seeing if there's anything that we can do to get things across the finish line," Newhouse told Nancy.
| | | | A message from AT&T:   | | | TRICKLE-DOWN GAVEL FIGHT ― There are unintended consequences of the drawn-out fight for the speakership in the new Congress: House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has already made the decision to punt decisions on contested committee gavels into the new year, and that also freezes those panels' abilities to schedule hearings, hire staff or prepare legislation. Olivia, Jordain and Sarah dig into what the delays mean for the House, from giving up subpoena power to staff going unpaid. FIRST IN HUDDLE: LETTER TO FIFA ― More than two dozen lawmakers are calling for FIFA to stand by its previous commitments to nondiscrimination and reevaluate how it engages with World Cup host country governments ahead of the World Cup final on Sunday. The letter, led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), calls on the international soccer body to commit to "consistent future policies" on uniforms, fan apparel and signs demonstrating support for marginalized groups. As of late Thursday, all chairs and co-chairs of the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus and out members of Congress had signed on to the letter. "If FIFA believes itself to be an inclusive organization that supports causes like the OneLove movement, then its erasure of the movement's armbands and other LGBTQ+ symbols and apparel in support of its own campaign runs counter to its public attestations about the values it espouses," write lawmakers. Read the letter.
| | | | A NEW POLITICO PODCAST: POLITICO Tech is an authoritative insider briefing on the politics and policy of technology. From crypto and the metaverse to cybersecurity and AI, we explore the who, what and how of policy shaping future industries. We're kicking off with a series exploring darknet marketplaces, the virtual platforms that enable actors from all corners of the online world to traffic illicit goods. As malware and cybercrime attacks become increasingly frequent, regulators and law enforcement agencies work different angles to shut these platforms down, but new, often more unassailable marketplaces pop up. SUBSCRIBE AND START LISTENING TODAY. | | | | | | | | Marketplace maven? … Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) has a thriving side hustle selling secondhand clothes, shoes and other items on Facebook Marketplace. It was first sussed out by Slate's Christina Cauterucci, who bought some heels from the Arizona lawmaker. And then local news came to the rescue: The Arizona Mirror's Jim Small, who's Facebook friends with Sinema, confirmed that the prolific FB Marketplace maven is the senator. The POLITICO Congress team has our own Facebook Marketplace and BuyNothing queen, Sarah Ferris, who even made a pickup in yesterday's freezing rain before heading to the Capitol. Flashback Friday: Remember when then-Rep. Sinema used to teach spin classes at Biker Barre? Murkowski makes it festive … wearing an elf costume at votes on Thursday night. QUICK LINKS A moderate in a 'toxic' place, Fred Upton says goodbye to Congress, by Mike Magner at CQ Roll Call Tag along for one of Sen. Patrick Leahy's final days in Congress, by Elodie Reed at Vermont Public Gary Peters on How Democrats Held and Expanded Their Senate Majority, by Carl Hulse at The New York Times Mitt Romney on Charlie Baker's move to the NCAA: 'Into the fire,' by Tal Kopan at The Boston Globe TODAY IN CONGRESS The House meets at 9:30 a.m. for a pro forma session. The Senate is out. AROUND THE HILL Not much.
| | | THURSDAY'S WINNER: Kelli Montoto correctly answered that the first Farm Bill was enacted in 1933 as part of the New Deal. The Library of Congress has a great interactive if you want to learn more. TODAY'S QUESTION: Who administers the oath of office to new members of the House? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to ktm@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning. Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus
| | | | A message from AT&T: One year ago, one-third of the population in unincorporated Vanderburgh County, Indiana did not have access to fixed broadband solutions. But thanks to a $39 million public-private partnership, AT&T has started to connect more than 20,000 households and businesses in the county.
In communities across the country, AT&T has invested more than $100 billion in American infrastructure over the past five years to connect Americans to a brighter future. This includes U.S capital investment and acquisitions of wireless spectrum from 2017-2021. And now, thanks to the unprecedented federal broadband funds made available, communities across the country are also able to collaborate with companies like AT&T to expand broadband availability to residents and businesses at a lower cost. Expanding broadband access and investing in America's future opens a bridge to possibility for all. Learn more at att.com/infrastructure. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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