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Friday, January 19, 2024

1/19 WAKE-UP CALL: House OKs Government Funding


The House passed legislation extending government funding into March. The 314-108 vote sends the measure to President Biden’s desk before the weekend deadline, after the Senate overwhelmingly passed the measure earlier in the day. In a replay of recent votes, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) relied heavily on Democrats; more than 100 Republicans declined to back it. The measure ensures federal workers will remain on the job but does nothing to alleviate underlying political pressures stemming from high U.S. debt levels, record crossings at the southern border and an enduring war in Ukraine. The government has been running on short-term spending laws since Oct. 1, after then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) put a surprise continuing resolution on the floor, only to lose his job when a bloc of Republicans engineered his ouster, in part over that decision.

➤GOP REBELS DRAW REBUKE: A push to punish a handful of the most conservative lawmakers in the House reignited in a closed-door meeting as some Republicans lashed out over their colleagues' disruption of the lower chamber and GOP leaders’ agenda. In a weekly Republican meeting Wednesday, Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, specifically called out the House Freedom Caucus during the meeting’s open mic session. The Freedom Caucus is a group of ultraconservative lawmakers who have often been a roadblock to spending agreements, foreign aid packages and other urgent legislation. House Republicans as a group need “discipline and structure,” Miller said after the meeting, calling for Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., chair of the group, and other right-wing conservatives to be punished for rebelling. The Ohio lawmaker suggested removing them from their committee assignments or cutting off access to campaign fundraising.

➤ISRAEL, U-S RIFT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it crystal clear Thursday he has no interest in the proposals by the United States, his country’s strongest supporter, for either paring down the Gaza offensive nor the future after the war. In a nationally televised news conference that exposed his growing rift with the Biden administration, Netanyahu seemed to dismiss the notion of a Palestinian state, a condition other Middle East nations have set for normalizing relations. “In the future the state of Israel has to control the entire area from the river to the sea,’’ Netanyahu said, referring partly to territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea that Palestinians envision as their future home.

➤PAKISTAN STRIKES IN IRAN:  The first reported airstrike on Iranian territory in decades shows Tehran’s projection of power has limits. Pakistan strikes against what it said were Pakistani separatists in a border village were a response to an Iranian missile attack—Tehran’s first direct attacks in a neighboring country since the Israel-Hamas war started in October. Iran-backed militant groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels have attacked Israel and U.S. interests in the Middle East since the Gaza conflict began. After a U.S.-led force struck the Houthis, Iran attacked what it said were Israeli spies in Iraq and terrorists in Pakistan and Syria. The latest blows to the White House plan for a postwar Middle East are the persistent Houthi attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea—a show of Arab support for Palestinian militants in Gaza against Israel.

➤TUCKER FOR VEEP: Donald Trump Jr said former Fox News host Tucker Carlson agrees with Donald Trump on everything and would 'certainly be a contender' to be picked as the vice-presidential candidate. 'Don, is your dad serious about Tucker Carlson? Are those rumors serious?' anchor Rob Finnerty asked on Newsmax's Wake Up America on Thursday morning. 'That clearly would be on the table, right? I mean they're very friendly, I think they agree on virtually all of these things,' Don Jr. said. 'I would love to see that happen. That would certainly be a contender,' the former president's eldest son said, adding that Trump and Carlson agree on 'stopping the never-ending war.'

➤TRUMP DOMINATES POLLS: Trump continues to show dominance in hypothetical matchups with Biden, with a poll showing him leading Biden head-to-head by four points and three points if third party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are included. Heading into the New Hampshire primary, he also leads in the polls over Republican rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis. According to those close to Trump, he's flying high despite his legal troubles and his friends at Mar-a-Lago are prepared for a November win.

➤TRUMP LAWYERS WARN OF ‘CHAOS’ IF HE’S REMOVED FROM BALLOT: Lawyers for Donald Trump argue that his exclusion from the election ballot in some states would “unleash chaos and bedlam” at election time. The warning is contained in a brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is considering whether to uphold the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling that Trump is ineligible to run in 2024 because the 14th Amendment bans insurrectionists from holding office. Trump’s lawyers also argue that the amendment doesn’t apply because a president is not an officer of the United States. And in any case, they assert, he did not engage in insurrection.

➤UVALDE MASSACRE MADE WORSE BY CRITICAL FAILURES: A fatal delay in the emergency police response to the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting greatly worsened the outcome of the tragedy, according to a report from the U.S. Justice Department. The investigation indicates that 77 minutes passed between the time that the teenage shooter walked into the school and when he was stopped. Nineteen children and two teachers were killed. Three local police officials were singled out for failing to initiate an effective response to an active shooting situation. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that the state has “already adopted and implemented some of the recommendations proposed” in the report.


➤TELSA SEES HYUNDAI AND KIA IN REARVIEW MIRROR: The carmakers, both part of the Hyundai Motor Group conglomerate, were second in U.S. electric-vehicle sales last year; Tesla still holds a commanding lead. The South Korean pair is now poised to cement or advance their lead over non-Tesla rivals with fresh EV models and aggressive pricing. Hyundai and Kia’s growth last year outpaced both Tesla and the broader EV market. Today, their battery technology allows for fast charging speeds and their EV lineup—broader than many rivals’, including Tesla’s—ranges from a large, family-hauling SUV to cheaper, battery-powered crossovers and sedans.

➤LAYOFFS AT MACY'S: Macy’s is laying off more than 2,300 employees and closing five stores, the department store chain announced Thursday. bThe retailer has roughly 94,500 employees and 507 stores, with the cuts representing around 3.5% of its workforce and about 1% of its brick-and-mortar locations. The job cuts will come from both its corporate office and stores. “As we prepare to deploy a new strategy to meet the needs of an ever-changing consumer and marketplace, we made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce by 3.5% to become a more streamlined company,” Macy’s said in a statement.

⛄BUFFALO FANS GET OUT THEIR SHOVELS: The Buffalo Bills are getting a little help from their fans. With snow piled high at Highmark Stadium and the playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs scheduled for Sunday, the Bills put out a call to fans to help shovel. It wasn’t the first time this week they’ve needed help, but western New York gets a lot of snow. The shovelers were at it all yesterday afternoon and into the evening. Luckily, the local forecast calls for cloudy skies but no more snow through Sunday’s game.

🏈OHIO STATE TO HIRE BILL O’BRIEN: Ohio State is expected to hire Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator, according to ESPN. O’Brien has seven years’ experience as an NFL coach, most recently for the New England Patriots, and earlier took on Penn State after Joe Paterno’s departure in 2012.

➤FRIDAY'S WEATHER MAP:





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