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Share this -Link copiedConservatives opposed to McCarthy seen huddling in chamber during third vote During the third ballot vote for speaker, several House Republicans who have opposed McCarthy to be speaker were seen huddling in the back of the chamber. McCarthy lost twice earlier in the day, with 19 conservatives casting their ballots for Rep. Jim Jordan, of Ohio, in the second round. Share this -Link copiedDemocrats mock Republicans over inability to elect House speaker Now in the minority, House Democrats appeared to enjoy the GOP divisions over electing a speaker Tuesday. Share this -Link copiedPelosi reacts to Republicans' struggling to elect GOP speaker As House Republicans struggled to elect their own speaker now that they have the majority, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested the GOP is ruining Congress as an institution. Pelosi stepped down as the Democratic leader after serving as House speaker twice.

Democrats will wield an expanded 51-seat Senate majority and control the presidency. We need to be cutting spending,” McCarthy told reporters after a meeting with Senate Republicans on Dec. 21. There’s so much discombobulation and disunity on different sides of the Republican caucus,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters before the holiday recess. Conservative lawmakers say a GOP House should block a debt limit increase without major policy changes to rein in spending. Some House Republicans are already calling to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his department's handling of immigration policy.

Lawmakers and staffers must delete TikTok from any House-issued mobile phones and are prohibited from downloading the popular app on those devices, according to an internal memo obtained by NBC News. "House staff are NOT allowed to download the TikTok app on any House mobile devices," the memo said. "If you have the TikTok app on your House mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it." The move comes after a measure banning TikTok on some government devices was included in the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill passed by Congress last week. FBI Director Christopher Wray warned members of Congress after the midterm election that the Chinese government could use TikTok to control users’ devices, for influence or espionage purposes.

He voted against the Puerto Rico Status Act on the floor last week, calling for "letting a full and robust legislative process take place." One of the bill’s main negotiators, Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress, is confident about more congressional hearings on Puerto Rico's territorial status in the new year. That’s intentional, said Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, a Republican nonvoting member of Congress representing Puerto Rico who favors statehood and helped negotiate the Puerto Rico Status Act. What’s next for Puerto Rico’s territorial status? Excluding Puerto Rico’s territorial status also gives Wicker and others pause.

The lawmakers are co-sponsors of the National Development Strategy and Coordination Act. That's why we've joined forces to jumpstart a national project to restore American manufacturing leadership. This committee would be charged with developing a National Development Strategy, recommending investments to improve national security, strengthen domestic manufacturing, create good-paying jobs and develop new technologies. Second, our proposal — the National Development Strategy and Coordination Act — would give this committee the authority to direct the Department of Treasury's Federal Financing Bank to achieve its goals. This would bring overdue strategic coordination to our federal loan system and inject much-needed long-term capital into critical industries.

The bill would "protect Americans by blocking and prohibiting all transactions from any social media company in, or under the influence of, China, Russia, and several other foreign countries of concern," the lawmakers said in a news release. The lawmakers said the bill aims to protect Americans from foreign adversaries who might use certain social media to surveil Americans, learn sensitive data about them, and spread influence campaigns or propaganda. In June, BuzzFeed News reported that China-based employees of ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, had accessed nonpublic data about U.S. users. TikTok denied turning over any U.S. data to Chinese officials and said it never would, though it acknowledged that Chinese employees have some access to it. In a statement responding to Maryland's ban, a TikTok spokesperson said, “We believe the concerns driving these bans are largely fueled by misinformation about our company.

☆ Lawmakers unveil bipartisan bill that aims to ban TikTok in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has raised fears in the U.S. that Chinese government officials could gain access to U.S. user data under Chinese law that could compel the company to hand over information. TikTok has insisted U.S. user data is safely stored outside of China, which it says should keep it out of reach of government officials. A new bill from a bipartisan group of lawmakers, if passed, would ban TikTok in the U.S. after years of broad concern across the Trump and Biden administrations about potential Chinese government influence on the company. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress recently that he's "extremely concerned" about the Chinese government's potential influence through TikTok on U.S. users. "It is troubling that rather than encouraging the Administration to conclude its national security review of TikTok, some members of Congress have decided to push for a politically-motivated ban that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States," a TikTok spokesperson said.

"Grateful for the long-overdue release of Brittney Griner today from Russian custody. "Thank you to every single person that kept Brittney Griner’s name alive #WEAREBG," tweeted one of her Phoenix Mercury teammates, Brianna Turner. The Biden administration wasn't able to secure Whelan's release because the Russian government is treating his case differently than Griner's, Biden said. “While we celebrate Brittney’s release, Paul Whelan and his family continue to suffer needlessly,” Blinken said. Share this -Link copiedWho is Viktor Bout, Russian arms dealer that the U.S. exchanged for Brittney Griner?

But first: The results from five counties will help tell us if Democrat Raphael Warnock is on track to win tonight’s Senate runoff in Georgia. Warnock got 56.9% of the vote in Cobb when he won the Jan. 2021 runoff, and he got just under that last November (56.8%). And in Gwinnett, Warnock got 60.6% of the vote in the 2021 runoff, compared with 58.9% last month against Walker. In rural Chattooga — one of NBC News’ “County to County” counties — Warnock got just 20.5% when he won the 2021 runoff, and he got less than that in the November general election (19.8%). Data Download: The number of the day is … $7.79 billionThat’s how much money was spent on political television, radio and digital ads this entire cycle (starting the day after the 2021 Georgia Senate runoff through today’s runoff), per AdImpact.

☆ Biden condemns antisemitism as Ye praises Hitler days after dinner with Trump, white nationalist Fuentes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

President Joe Biden denounced antisemitism and took a veiled jab at Donald Trump days after the former president dined with rapper Ye, who has made a string of recent antisemitic comments, and white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Trump, the presumptive frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, had dinner last week with Ye and Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago club, sparking widespread condemnation. "I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis," Ye told Jones on the show, also praising what he considered Hitler's contributions to society. Trump has not yet condemned the men he had dinner with at Mar-a-Lago, and he claimed not to know who the white nationalist Fuentes was. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told Politico he hopes Trump will condemn Fuentes "because I know [Trump's] not an antisemite.

WASHINGTON — House lawmakers are poised to pass legislation Wednesday to avert a catastrophic rail strike that President Joe Biden warned could threaten the U.S. economy just weeks before Christmas. “At a time of record profits in the rail industry, it’s unacceptable that rail workers have ZERO guaranteed paid sick days,” Sanders tweeted. “It’s my intention to block consideration of the rail legislation until a roll call vote occurs on guaranteeing 7 paid sick days to rail workers in America.”Other progressives also wouldn’t commit to back the rail proposal. But the House will also vote separately on a bill that would add seven days of paid sick leave to the deal. Biden "is confident that we will not have a rail strike.

WASHINGTON — The Senate is scheduled to vote Tuesday afternoon on legislation to codify federal protections for marriages between same-sex and interracial couples. A lengthy procedural vote was held open by Schumer on Monday as Democrats sought to cut a deal with GOP senators who threatened to drag out the process unless they received votes on amendments. Then the bill would proceed to a final vote later Tuesday, requiring 60 senators to pass. Most Republicans are expected to oppose the legislation, but Monday's procedural vote suggests the bill will have enough GOP support to pass. Proponents want to pass it in the lame-duck session before Republicans take control of the House on Jan. 3.

That’s all I have to say about that,” said Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a member of Senate Republican leadership. I don’t think he should be the nominee of our party in 2024,” he said. And I don’t think it’ll matter in terms of his political future, but I do believe we need to watch who we meet with. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., the outgoing NRSC chair, said, “There’s no room in the Republican Party for white supremacist antisemitism — so it’s wrong.”Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said: “Antisemitism is wrong, and white supremacy is wrong, and that’s all there is to it. Writing on Truth Social, Trump called Ye a “seriously troubled man” and said he had no idea who Fuentes was.

☆ After winning the Senate, Democrats' campaign chief warns GOP: Trump will continue to drag you down
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Sahil-Kapur-Headshot.Jpg | Sahil Kapur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON — Days after denying Republicans the Senate majority they fought for in the midterm elections, the Democrats' campaign chief warned the GOP: If former President Donald Trump continues to be your leader, voters will continue to punish you. “There’s no question that Donald Trump is a motivating factor for turnout when it comes to Democratic voters,” Sen. Gary Peters, of Michigan, said in an interview at Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters. If the party continues to be following the Trump model and is Trumpian and doesn’t go back to their more conservative roots of the traditional Republican Party, I will say, definitely that’ll be a problem,” he said. The GOP's failure to recapture the Senate has led to recriminations and a dispute about whether Trump was to blame for their underperformance. Warnock, sensing an opportunity to mobilize his party’s base, cut that video into a campaign ad and displayed “Stop Donald Trump.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who is eyeing the speaker's job after his party captured the majority, was nowhere to be seen. Asked why he skipped her speech, McCarthy said: “I had meetings. Among the few Republicans in the chamber were Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa.“She’s got quite a legacy, that’s for sure," he said afterward. A few hours after the speech, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky had not yet commented. Pelosi ended her speech with an appeal to patriotism and the perseverance of American democracy.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., meets with reporters Wednesday after he fended off a challenge by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and was re-elected as Republican leader. And we turned off a lot of these centrist voters," McConnell said Wednesday. “Much criticism is being placed on the fact that the Republican Party should have done better. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks after he was nominated to be House speaker on Tuesday. “What I hope we learned from this is you can’t win the general election merely because of your base vote.

WASHINGTON — House Republicans' majority will be smaller than expected, but they're eager to use their new oversight powers and pass a spate of bills to draw contrasts with Democrats and give the Biden administration heartburn. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., joined by Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., left, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in Washington on July 21, 2021. A growing number of Republicans say they have their sights set on impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, bashing his handling of the border surge. LegislationDemocrats still occupy the White House, so any legislation Republicans pass on a partisan basis won’t be signed into law by Biden. But House Republicans say they will waste no time showing the parties’ stark differences as they battle for control of the White House in 2024.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., on Tuesday announced a challenge to Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for the top Republican leadership job in the Senate. That’s why I’m running to be the Senate Republican Leader." Senate Republicans are scheduled to hold their leadership vote on Wednesday, but some Republicans had been urging McConnell to delay the elections until after the Georgia Senate runoff in December. "I think it’s pretty obvious we may or may not be voting [for Senate leadership] tomorrow," he said. “I don’t have any comments,” said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., when asked about Scott’s challenge and whether he plans to support McConnell.

WASHINGTON — Conservative lawmakers sent a strong message to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday, telling him he doesn't have the votes to be the next speaker. Drew Angerer / Getty Images“We expect there will be a contest tomorrow, that there will be another candidate, and I don’t think anybody’s going to get 218 votes tomorrow,” said Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., who is opposing McCarthy for speaker. Good has said that a number of Republicans will be interested in jumping into the race once they realize McCarthy can’t secure 218 votes on his own. Jordan, the founding chairman of the caucus who unsuccessfully challenged McCarthy for minority leader in 2018, also is backing McCarthy. Period.”Inside the candidates forum on Monday, McCarthy was pressed by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a frequent McCarthy critic, on whether he would work with Democrats to secure 218 votes for speaker.

More than 60 prominent conservatives, including former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and activist Ginni Thomas, are calling on House and Senate GOP leadership elections to be delayed until after the Dec. 6 Georgia Senate runoff. The open letter to GOP lawmakers released Monday comes just a day before House Republicans are set to hold their closed-door election to pick their leaders for the new Congress. Senate Republicans plan to hold their own internal elections on Wednesday. There should be no rushed leadership elections,” the conservative group wrote in their letter. “Conservative Members of the House and Senate have called for the leadership elections to be delayed.

WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is facing a brewing challenge to his position as the top Republican in the Senate. Going into the midterm elections Tuesday, McConnell appeared to have a firm grasp on the leader's job and Republicans appeared poised to take control of the Senate. Asked in January what his agenda would be if Republicans took control of the Senate, McConnell deflected. Don’t disenfranchise @HerschelWalker.”A Rubio adviser said the senator is concerned McConnell has not laid out a vision for the future. “The Senate Republican Conference must change the way it operates — regardless of the outcome of the still-pending elections," the letter states.

In Arizona Senate, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly is ahead of Republican Blake Masters by 115,000 votes with 80% in. On Dobbs, the national exit poll showed 27% of voters picking abortion as their No. And remember that our final NBC News poll found Trump as one of the most unpopular political figures we measured, especially compared with President Biden. In each state, those Democratic secretaries of state nominees were running against Republicans who cast doubt on the 2020 election result. Two of those five feature Democrat vs. Democrat contests, thanks to the state’s Top 2 primary, so those will stay in the Democratic column.

☆ Permanent daylight saving time? Sleep experts vote no—'That idea is terrible for our bodies'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Daylight saving time is when time jumps forward by an hour. And though we "lose" an hour of sleep temporarily, we gain an hour of sunlight until the fall. ET, time went back and we "gained" an hour of sleep, but lost an hour of sunlight. While permanent daylight saving time might sound like the perfect solution, the bill was stalled recently by the House of Representatives — it was unanimously passed by the Senate in March. And the opinions of sleep experts like Shelby Harris, a licensed clinical psychologist and director of sleep health at Sleepopolis, just might have had something to do with the delay.

☆ Midterm elections live updates: Pennsylvania races, New Hampshire Senate race too early to call
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Brandy Zadrozny | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Sahil-Kapur-Headshot.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +109 min

Share this -Link copiedWisconsin Senate and governor's races too early to call It is too early to call the Senate and gubernatorial races in Wisconsin, according to NBC News. Share this -Link copiedNew Hampshire Senate race too early to call The Senate race in New Hampshire is too early to call, according to NBC News. Share this -Link copiedPennsylvania Senate and governor races are too early to call After polls closed at 8 p.m. While Maricopa County election officials initially categorized the problem as a “hiccup,” it took hours before a solution was identified early Tuesday afternoon. In Columbus County, election officials allegedly were harassed by an “observer following one-stop workers” and photographing or filming the workers, it said.

☆ Twitch streamers want to be the political pundits for the next generation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Morgan Sung | Morgan Sung Is A Trends Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

I think politics is boring or controversial. —Hasan Piker, Twitch streamerThe news and politics genre, while growing, remains dwarfed by the gaming content that dominates Twitch. Discouraged by the conflicting messaging around Covid safety, she “picked up a health communication certification” and started streaming about public health. And then I sneak that public health in so it kind of gets their gears turning and they’re coming back for more,” she said. And you’re never going to establish that when you’re constantly fighting.”People are increasingly turning to social media for news.

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