POLICY CORNER IMMIGRATION FILES — "Daily border crossings have stayed near record highs, and the end of a Covid ban this month could mean a new surge," by NBC's Julia Ainsley: "As of Oct. 24, just days after the policy was enacted, there was an 80% drop in Venezuelans crossing the border. According to new numbers that have not yet been made public, however, the policy did not depress the overall daily total of migrants crossing. New nationalities, including Mexicans and Central Americans, took the place of the Venezuelans. "CBP agents and officers are now apprehending migrants 7,500 to 8,000 times a day, the sources familiar with the data said, which is at or close to the record levels before Venezuelans became subject to Title 42. The sources said estimates of the extra number of migrants who might cross daily when Title 42 ends approach 2,500, meaning daily apprehension totals might hit 10,000." HIDE AND LEAK — "DOJ Tried to Hide Report Warning That Private Border Wall in Texas Could Collapse," by ProPublica's Perla Trevizo and Jeremy Schwartz: "A private border wall built along the Rio Grande in South Texas could collapse during extreme flooding, according to a federally commissioned inspection report that the government sought to keep secret for more than a year. "The 404-page report, produced by the global engineering firm Arcadis, confirms previous reporting from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. It also shows for the first time that the federal government independently found structural problems with the border fencing before reaching a settlement agreement with the builder, Fisher Industries, in May." CONGRESS *EYES EMOJI* — Rep. BEN CLINE (R-Va.) appeared on the "John Fredericks Show" today and threw some more cold water on KEVIN McCARTHY's bid to become speaker. "We have to ask what's going to be different, and if it's not anything substantive, then why should we be voting for Speaker McCarthy?" Cline said. Most interesting, though, was the alternative that Cline appeared to be pushing: "This is the LEE ZELDIN majority. Because Zeldin has delivered these New York seats for Republicans in Biden districts." "Zeldin would be a great leader whatever role he plays," Cline said. "That's what we need. We need somebody articulating that positive agenda for conservatives, standing up and being a fighter, and Lee Zeldin can do that as well as anybody." Listen to Cline's interview — More troublemaking from @RepMattGaetz on Thursday: "Tonight Kevin McCarthy had dinner with HUNTER BIDEN at a state dinner with [French President EMMANUEL] MACRON to rally support for more US aid to Ukraine. He should not be Speaker." — And then there's this … @MickMulvaney : "Am hearing that the 'mystery candidate' that the Gaetz/Meadows team want as Speaker is...JIM BRIDENSTINE. Jim's a good guy. And he'd get about 10 votes. It's time to stop this nonsense, elect McCarthy, and get on with providing the check on Biden that the voters asked for." WATERS UNDER THE BRIDGE — "'We want him here': Maxine Waters urges Bankman-Fried to testify," by Declan Harty and Zachary Warmbrodt: "House Financial Services Chair MAXINE WATERS (D-Calif.) on Friday said she has invited FTX founder SAM BANKMAN-FRIED to testify at the panel's Dec. 13 hearing on the cryptocurrency exchange's collapse. "'We want him here,' Waters told POLITICO. 'If he's talking and giving interviews, we'd like for him to be just as candid with us.' Bankman-Fried has not yet responded to the invitation, Waters said. She is open to letting him appear via video, like he did at this week's New York Times DealBook Summit." RUNNING ON JET FUMES — "Boeing Races to Win Congressional Reprieve for New 737 MAX Models," by WSJ's Andrew Tangel: "The plane maker's executives and lobbyists are racing to persuade federal lawmakers to lift a Dec. 27 deadline set by Congress two years ago as part of a law aimed at making future airplanes safer. The law, enacted in the wake of two deadly crashes of Boeing's 737 MAX, requires new aircraft to feature modern cockpit-alerting systems to help pilots resolve emergencies." GOOD READ — "House Democrats Can Release Trump's Tax Returns. But Should They?" by Lawfare's Daniel J. Hemel BEYOND THE BELTWAY ALEX JONES LATEST — "Alex Jones files for bankruptcy, owing nearly $1.5B to Sandy Hook families," by WaPo's Justine McDaniel: "Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the southern district of Texas, Jones said his assets were worth between $1 million and $10 million and that his debts were between $1 billion and $10 billion. He said his debts were primarily business debts and estimated that he owed between 50 and 99 creditors." COMING TO OUR CENSUS — "Same-Sex Couple Households in U.S. Surpass One Million," by NYT's Remy Tumin: "According to the American Community Survey, a companion to the decennial census that is produced every year, there were about 1.2 million same-sex couple households in 2021. About 710,000 of them — nearly 60 percent — were married and about 500,000 were unmarried." DEVASTATING READ — "Drugs killed 8 friends, one by one, in a tragedy seen across the U.S.," by WaPo's Lenny Bernstein and Jordan-Marie Smith in Greenville, N.C.: "In a nation that suffered more than 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2021 alone, there are many Greenvilles — places where the powerful opioid fentanyl and other drugs have produced clusters of overdose deaths, or picked off victims one at a time. Here, drugs worked their way inexorably through a group of friends, year after year, for nearly a decade. In one family, loss piled upon tragic loss until almost no one was left."
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WAR IN UKRAINE THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW — "Russia rejects pullout from Ukraine as condition for talks," by AP's Jamey Keaten THE NEW BATTLEFIELD — "Russia and Ukraine are fighting the first full-scale drone war," by WaPo's Isabelle Khurshudyan, Mary Ilyushina and Kostiantyn Khudov in Kharkiv, Ukraine AMERICA AND THE WORLD DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS — "Chinese Solar Manufacturers Dodged U.S. Tariffs, Probe Finds," by WSJ's Yuka Hayashi: "Four leading Chinese solar-cell manufacturers circumvented U.S. tariffs by routing some of their operations through Southeast Asia, a Commerce Department investigation found, according to people familiar with it. The preliminary findings from the closely watched probe — expected to be unveiled Friday — are likely to accelerate importers' race to find alternative sources either domestically or from other places abroad to meet soaring demand for solar panels." THE LATEST IN CHINA — "As Officials Ease Covid Restrictions, China Faces New Pandemic Risks," by NYT's Benjamin Mueller and Alexandra Stevenson THE BRAVE NEW WORLD — "How China's Police Used Phones and Faces to Track Protesters," by NYT's Paul Mozur, Claire Fu and Amy Chang Chien PLAYBOOKERS MEDIA MOVE — Brendan Buck has joined MSNBC as a political analyst. He currently is a partner at Seven Letter and is a Paul Ryan and John Boehner alum. His announcement TRANSITIONS — Adam Jentleson will be chief of staff to Sen.-elect John Fetterman, as Huddle first reported . He is currently serving as a Fetterman transition adviser and is a former deputy chief of staff for Sen. Harry Reid. He is also the author of 2021's "Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy." … Kristina Baum is now SVP at strategic comms firm Vision360 Partners. She most recently was VP at Qorvis Communications and is a Trump OSTP alum. … Michael Fitzpatrick is joining the Brunswick Group as a partner. He previously was director of global strategy and innovation and global affairs at Google. OUT AND ABOUT — The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition hosted its 2022 Tribute Celebration on World AIDS Day on Thursday night at the Ritz-Carlton in D.C.The event honored former President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush with its Global Leadership Award and also presented awards to USAID Administrator Samantha Power, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). SPOTTED: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Reps. Colin Allred (D-Texas), Jim Baird (R-Ind.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Mike Garcia (R-Calif.), Kay Granger (R-Texas), French Hill (R-Ark.), Young Kim (R-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Blake Moore (R-Utah), Mary Scanlon (D-Mass.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), Mike Turner (R-Ohio), Norm Coleman, Tom Daschle, Bill Frist, Bob Corker, Ed Royce, OMB Director Shalanda Young, Elaine Chao, John Nkengasong, Isobel Coleman, Atul Gawande, Reta Jo Lewis, Enoh Ebong, Deborah Birx and Raj Shah. — SPOTTED at a 59th birthday party for Moses Mercado at Paraiso on Capitol Hill on Thursday night: Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Marc Gonzales, Lin Whitehouse, Karissa Willhite, Gordon Taylor, Dean Aguillen, Leo Munoz, Jose Borjon, Carlos Paz, Jake Hocgberg, Rob Kelly, Edgar Rivas, Clarissa Robles, ND Ubezonu and Rishi Sahgal. — SPOTTED at the Cigar Association of America's Mark Twain birthday party Wednesday night: Josh Dawsey, Molly Ball and David Kihara, Christine Lanza, Marie Cocco, Alexandra Wich, Steve Danon, Guy Bentley, Mark Hyman, Patrick Rooney, Phil Bell, Ken Kies, Kevin Kosar, Tucker Anderson, Cliff May, Richard Williams, Angela Greiling Keane, Jeff Earle, Danny Al-Faruque, Bob Royer, Lindsay Stroud, David Ozgo, Frank Coleman, Dan Cotter, Scott Adams and Leonora Cravotta. — SPOTTED Wednesday evening at a reception for recently elected pro-life members hosted by ACLJ Action and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America at the American Center for Law and Justice offices on Capitol Hill: Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Rep.-elects Eric Burlison (R-Miss.), Brandon Williams (R-N.Y) and Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Pompeo, Jordan Sekulow, Jay Sekulow, Stephanie Williams, Tim Jones, Karen Navarro, James Rockas, Eric Schmitz, Autumn Christensen, Nichole Wilson, Stephen Replogle, Zach Lowry, Susan Occhipinti, Stephen Boyd, Eric Philipkosky, Robert Burkett and Carlyle Gregory. — Bracewell's Policy Resolution Group hosted the Senate Black Legislative Staff Caucus' 45th Anniversary Awards on Wednesday night at their D.C. office honoring senior Hill staff and community leaders. Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced a resolution commemorating the 45th anniversary of SBLSC. SPOTTED: Taylor Ware, Yasmin Nelson, Spencer Overton, Reggie Love, Kamau Marshall, Mischa Thompson, Trudy Perkins, Jasmine Dickerson, Alysa James, Ariel Marshall, Josh Delaney, Xavier Underwood, Tiffany Smith, Leah Hill, Yemisi Egbewole, Andy Vargas, Aya Ibrahim, Rody Damis, Samuel Negatu and Carissa Smith. Pic … Another pic BONUS BIRTHDAYS: DJ Sigworth and Alex Short |
