The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Fallout from Musk’s Twitter suspensions

To view past editions of The Hill’s 12:30 Report, click here: http://bit.ly/1M1mIfw

To receive The Hill’s 12:30 Report in your inbox, please sign up here: http://bit.ly/1Tt4hqN

–> A midday take on what’s happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.*

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

TALK OF THE MORNING

Don’t upset the boss, part 2:

The suspension of several journalists from Twitter on Thursday night is causing a stir in Washington, with congressional lawmakers and media figures decrying owner Elon Musk for banning accounts that allegedly posted about his location.

Wait… what happened? “Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not,” Musk wrote on Twitter at 9:20 p.m. eastern time Thursday night.

Who was suspended: CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell, The New York Times’ Ryan Mac,Mashable’s Matt Binder, The Intercept’s Micah Lee, Voice of America’s Steve Herman, former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann and independent journalists Tony Webster and Aaron Rupar.

The backstory: The suspensions came one day after Twitter updated its policy to “prohibit sharing someone else’s live location in most cases.” The platform also suspended the @ElonJet account, which was tracking the movement of Musk’s private jet — even though the new owner last month said he would not ban the account.

How’s Washington reacting?

Democrats aren’t too happy…

• Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.): “[Rupar] should not be suspended. If we stand for free speech, we need to stand for free speech for everyone.”
• Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.): “So much for this being about ‘free speech.’”
• Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.): “Hey @ElonMusk, why did you suspend journalist Aaron Rupar? How is that consistent with your stated commitment to free speech?”

Folks directly involved are concerned, too:

Donie O’Sullivan told the network on Friday morning “I do think this is very important about the potential chilling impact this can have for freelance journalists, independent journalists around the world, particularly journalists who cover Elon Musk’s other companies like Tesla and SpaceX. I think this can have a real chilling factor.”

More on the suspensions from The Washington Post.

Oh, and while we’re on the topic of Twitter:

House Republicans are rallying around Musk’s “Twitter Files” to charge their claims of anti-conservative censorship, as the GOP readies to take the majority next month.

As The Hill’s Rebecca Klar and Emily Brooks report, Republicans poised to chair key House committees have pledged to call in former Twitter staff to testify at hearings, and they’ve also vowed to investigate the company’s content moderation decisions.

The full story on what’s to come.

Happy Friday! I’m Mychael Schnell, filling in for Cate today with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Hill’s 12:30 Report is taking a holiday break! We will return on Tuesday, Jan. 3. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year! 🎅🎄🕎🍾

Spending bill

Government shutdown *almost* averted … We’re just waiting for pen to hit the paper:

Sometime on Friday, President Biden will sign a short-term funding measure to keep the government running for another week, which will avert a shutdown and give Congress seven more days to strike a deal on spending for fiscal year 2023.

Just in the nick of time: The Senate approved the continuing resolution in a bipartisan 71-19 vote shortly before 10 p.m. on Thursday… or, in other words, about 26 hours before the shutdown deadline.

The stopgap measure freezes funding levels through Dec. 23, the new deadline lawmakers are now staring down. More from The Hill’s Aris Folley.

What’s next? Lawmakers in both parties and chambers are now tasked with passing another funding bill by the new Dec. 23 deadline to avert another potential shutdown.

Top appropriators have been working towards passing an omnibus spending package, which would fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2023. On Tuesday night, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the chair of the Appropriations Committee, said negotiators “reached a bipartisan, bicameral framework” for an omnibus bill.

Some Republicans, however, are pushing for a measure that would kick the deadline into next year, which would have the incoming House GOP majority more say in how the government should be funded for the rest of the year.

Get up to speed on where things stand, via Bloomberg.

But it’s not just government funding:

Some lawmakers are pushing for other bills to be included in the omnibus spending package, including legislation to overhaul the 1887 Electoral Count Act and funding for Ukraine. There’s also a battle brewing among Senate Republicans over marijuana banking reform, which will likely be excluded from the omnibus.

As The Hill’s Al Weaver reports, the dreams of top Democrats and a number of Republicans were dashed last week when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) crushed the plans, likely leaving the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act on the cutting room floor this year.

And it’s putting Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), the lead Republican on the bill, in a tricky position, and making proponents of the legislation upset.

Also on Thursday night, the Senate approved the annual defense authorization bill in a bipartisan 83-11 vote, sending the $858 billion measure to Biden’s desk for his signature. The Hill

But, but, but… progressive lawmakers are not letting the NDAA be enacted without making some noise about the behemoth bill, which has a topline figure that is $85 billion more than what the Biden administration first requested.

“I think the Pentagon’s budget is so big and overblown even Dr. Strangelove would be impressed,” House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) told The Hill.

More from The Hill’s Ellen Mitchell.

In Congress

McCarthy’s hunt for the Speaker’s gavel continues

With just 18 days until the Jan. 3 floor vote for Speaker, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is still struggling to shore up enough support to win the gavel for the next Congress.

As the vote inches closer, “Only Kevin” Republicans are ramping up their support: Donning buttons around the Capitol that say “O.K.” — which stands for “only Kevin” — more centrist members of the Republican Governance Group are signaling that they will only vote for McCarthy when his nomination hits the floor next month.

Wait, wait, wait… yes, the buttons are real, and the slogan is actually “O.K.” See for yourself from NBC News’ Sahil Kapur.

Members of the group appear to be standing firm. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said “we definitely are doubling down on our support for Kevin McCarthy and we’re making it very clear that we’re going to support him through and through no matter how many ballots it takes.”

And some are preparing to play hardball. A number of Republicans have floated deploying hardball tactics to counter the continent of GOP lawmakers opposed to McCarthyserving as Speaker, according to CNN.

What’s under consideration? Kicking McCarthy holdouts off committee assignments, opposing a rules package if it includes the motion to vacate, and even teaming up with Democrats to pick a Speaker if the vote goes to multiple ballots.

“Teams win. Fractured teams lose,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told the network. “We can’t let a handful hold the conference hostage.”

ICYMI: The Hill’s Emily Brooks and Mike Lillis have a piece on the seven scenarios for next month’s Speakership vote, ranked from least to most likely. It’s worth a read.

Prisoner swap

Brittney Griner is home:

Eight days after being freed from Russian detainment in a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington, WNBA star Brittney Griner is back home.

“It feels so good to be home!” Griner wrote on Instagram on Friday morning. “The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn. I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help.”

Once arriving back in the U.S., Griner was brought to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for a week to undergo routine evaluation, according to CNN. She left the facility this morning.

Smiles and hugs: Check out the Instagram post, which includes two photos, here.

Griner was detained in Moscow in February for bringing vape cartridges with hashish oil into the country. She was released last week in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is nicknamed the “Merchant of Death.”

Griner also pledged to help Biden secure the release of Paul Whelan: “President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too,” she wrote on Instagram. “I will use my platform to do whatever I can to help you. I also encourage everyone that played a part in bringing me home to continue their efforts to bring all Americans home. Every family deserves to be whole.”

The statement comes after the Biden administration was unable to secure the release of Whelan, who has been detained in Russia since 2018 on spying charges he denies. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

More from The Hill’s Brett Samuels.

One more thing: Griner says she’s ready for tip-off this season

“I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Pheonix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon,” she wrote on Instagram.

🦠 The COVID-19 numbers

Cases to date: 99.7 million

Death toll: 1,083,279

Current hospitalizations: 31,811

Shots administered: 660 million

Fully vaccinated: 68.9 percent of Americans

CDC data here.

🐥Notable tweets

Pelosi and Schumer talk politics over dumplings:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) sat down for their first-ever joint interview with CNN on Thursday to talk politics while munching on Chinese food at one of their go-to Chinese restaurants.

Come for the politics (they both said Biden should run again in 2024), but stay for the tasty spread of dumplings, peking duck and more. CNN

Trump announces digital card collection with a video:

Former President Trump announced a line of digital trading cards on Thursday that he said “feature amazing ART of my Life & Career!”

Check out the announcement video, via HuffPost’s Graeme Demianyk.

⏱On tap

The House and Senate are out. President Biden is in Delaware. Vice President Harris is in Washington, D.C.

• 9:30 a.m.: Biden received his Presidential Daily Briefing.
• 12:55 p.m.: Biden will depart New Castle, Delaware for the White House
• 8:55 p.m.: Biden and first lady Jill Biden will depart the White House for Delaware

All times Eastern.

📺What to watch

• 9:30 a.m.: House Pro Forma Session. Watch
• 10:45 a.m.: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen hosted a meeting with the Financial Stability Oversight Council at the Treasury Department. Watch
• 12: p.m.: Biden participated in a town hall with veterans to discuss benefits and services from the PACT Act. Watch

🍫 In lighter news

Today is National Chocolate Covered Anything Day.

According to Euro News, on this joyous occasion “you’re supposed to dunk, cover, coat, schmear, drizzle and generally indulge your favorite foods in all kinds of chocolatey goodness.”

That being said, I’ll be celebrating with some chocolate covered pretzels.

And to leave you on a festive note, here’s a corgi crew in holiday sweaters.