•The death toll from COVID-19 has breached another sad milestone. The Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center says U.S. deaths have reached 800,473. The carillons at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., will ring 800 times tonight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now predicts there could be a surge of infections in January, WaPo says.
•The House of Representatives voted 221-209, along party lines, to send the $2.5 trillion debt-ceiling bill to President Biden’s desk in time to avoid a federal government shutdown. The issue now puts the government debt in good standing until 2023, when the post-midterm Congress must again deal with it.
•The child tax credit expires today unless Congress grants an extension, or the Senate quickly passes President Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better plan, WaPo says. The latter is unlikely, of course, before the end of the year.
Disappointing November Retail Sales – November’s retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% to $639.8 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday morning. The modest increase compares with a 1.8% increase in October retail sales, to $638.2 billion, which indicates consumers started their Christmas shopping earlier than usual.
House Votes to Hold Meadows in Contempt of Congress – The House voted 222-208 to hold former President Trump’s last of four chiefs of staff and author of the recent book, Chief of Chiefs, Mark Meadows, in contempt of Congress over his refusal to appear before the select committee investigating 1/6. Meadows rescinded an earlier agreement to appear after an apparent Trump backlash against his book.
Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), the only two Republican members of the select committee were the only two Republicans to vote with 220 Democrats in favor of the contempt charges, Roll Call reports. It is now up to Attorney General Merrick Garland to indict Meadows, who has countered with a lawsuit against the select committee and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
“He’s willing to talk about it in his book,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), one of nine members of the select committee said. “He’s willing to talk about it in public, but he is unwilling to undergo the questioning of our committee despite having been subpoenaed to do so in deposition.”
“He tried to cooperate, but the select committee didn’t care,” said Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN). There’s your point-counterpoint on Meadows, who claims executive privilege, as Trump has always expected of witnesses to the January 6 Capitol insurrection.
Note: Thanks largely to his book and his lawsuit, Meadows’ contempt of Congress charges seem to be overshadowing Steve Bannon’s. The select committee already has a lot of Meadows’ correspondence, but still doesn’t have his 38-page, January 5 PowerPoint laying out Trump’s bid for turning around the presidential election. This contempt case could end up at the Supreme Court, where the loyalty of Trump’s three justice appointees – who late last year ruled against him on “election fraud” claims – could be tested.
Bonus note: Politico reminds us that the two GOP votes to charge Meadows with contempt in the House is seven Republicans fewer than those who voted for contempt of Congress charges against Bannon.
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Hannity and Ingraham Explain it All – From Politico, which appears to have given up on trying to watch Fox News, as its piece on “personalities” Sean Hannity’s and Laura Ingraham’s explanations of their January 6 texts to Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, directs to CNN’s coverage …
Hannity: I have always been consistent on January 6, and on all riots. All riots are bad … ALL OF THEM. And, on this program, we strongly condemn the riots of January 6 …
Ingraham: Both publicly and privately, I’ve said what I believe. That the breach on the Capitol on January 6 was a terrible thing. Crimes were committed, some people were unfairly hounded, and persecuted and prosecuted, but it was NOT an insurrection.
Note: It was an insurrection.
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About Abortion — As the abortion issue continues to roil the courts — even though Justice Brett Kavanaugh said Roe v. Wadewas stare decisis, until he didn’t — a Morning Consult survey shows that getting an abortion in the U.S. isn’t as easy as one might think. The survey, taken among 2,200 adults, shows that only 30% say it is “easy” to access abortion care in their area. Not entirely surprising, while 35% of men think it is easy, only 25% of women do.
Note: Requiring licensed physicians perform abortions is one thing Democrats and Republicans agree on by 76% and 70%, respectively. One might argue that is what abortion rights activists want to have occur, rather than laws that will put women at the mercy of someone who hasn’t made it through the front door of a medical school.
--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Nic Woods