The Hill’s 12:30 Report

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The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Carson, Warren clash | Power outage hits confirmation hearing | Giuliani to help Trump on cyber | Graham sorry he joked about Cruz’s murder | Trump tells public to buy L.L. Bean | Ryan town hall tonight

NEWS THIS A.M. — OH, SO GIULIANI WILL BE INVOLVED IN THE ADMINISTRATION: President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to assist on cybersecurity issues in the new administration. But it’s not an “official role”: As Giuliani explained on Fox News this morning, he will be helping to coordinate cybersecurity meetings between the private sector and the new administration. This setup is nothing new: Public-private partnerships on cybersecurity have long been a bipartisan solution — the Obama administration has worked to boost public-private information sharing, and Congress passed a major bill last year designed to facilitate threat-sharing between government and business. http://bit.ly/2jboEiI

It’s Thursday and the weather along the East Coast is eerily warm. But 65-degree weather in D.C. in January? I’ll take it. 😉 I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@digital-release.thehill.com, @CateMartel and on Facebook.

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DAY 3 OF HEARINGS — GIVE ME AN R! U! S! S! I! A! WHAT DOES THAT SPELL? “HEADACHES”!: Hearings today: Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) for CIA chief, retired Marine Gen. James Mattis for Defense secretary and Ben Carson for secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Notably missing: Wilbur Ross, President-elect Donald Trump’s Commerce pick, was expected to testify today, but a delay in his ethics filings led to a postponement. What to look for: Mostly friendly faces for Mattis and aggressive questioning for Carson from Democrats. http://bit.ly/2jnhDsC 

JUST NOW — WAHHREN GOT ALL BAWSTON ON CAHSON: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) grilled Ben Carson at his Thursday confirmation hearing to lead the Housing and Urban Development Department. Why: The two went back-and-forth over whether Carson would commit at HUD to not allowing any real estate companies linked to President-elect Donald Trump from contracting with the federal government to build low-income homes. The heated exchange: http://bit.ly/2jbMMlA 

ALSO HAPPENING IN THE CARSON HEARING — ROLL IT BACK: Ben Carson, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), signaled Thursday that he might roll back an Obama administration regulation aimed at reducing housing discrimination in cities. http://bit.ly/2jnuECe

“MAD DOG” IS A PRETTY BADASS NICKNAME, TBH: The hearing getting the most attention this morning is for retired Marine Gen. James Mattis. Live blog with updates from The Hill’s Kristina Wong and Rebecca Kheel: http://bit.ly/2jbtc8n

New nickname?: “Former Sen. Bill Cohen says ‘Mad Dog’ is a misnomer, and his nickname should be ‘Braveheart’ because what really characterizes him is his courage.” http://bit.ly/2jHXznY

Buuuuurn: “And can I pay special recognition to Sen. [Angus] King?” former Sen. Bill Cohen asked. “No,” McCain jokingly cut him off, prompting laughs from the crowd. Cohen continued that he wanted to honor him as a Maine native. McCain jumped in again, “He represents the geriatric part of this committee.” As everyone continued to laugh, a woman’s voice can be heard saying to McCain, “And led by…?” Watch the exchange: http://cs.pn/2io6dGk

OOOOOOPS — THIS FEELS LIKE THE START TO A POLITICAL HORROR FILM (WELL, IF THEY EXIST. CALL ME, HOLLYWOOD): The hearing for Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) abruptly recessed because the hearing room lost power. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) continued his remarks — without a microphone — as lawmakers, reporters, protesters and Pompeo sat in darkness. Photos: http://bit.ly/2iLfg29

Note about the room: “The room in Hart where they lost power during Pompeo’s hearing has had issues over the years. Once the sprinkler system went off amid a big hearing.” (From Fox’s Chad Pergram) http://bit.ly/2jIbz1l

Tweet From The Hill’s Katie Bo Williams: “Here’s Bob Dole, sitting in the dark, while everyone else mills around.” http://bit.ly/2igQ6MC

 

IN OTHER NEWS…:

NEW — GREAT, JUST GREAT. GET READY FOR THE NEXT “BEAN BOOT SHORTAGE CRISIS”: President-elect Donald Trump this morning encouraged people to buy merchandise from L.L. Bean, after a company leader spoke out in support of Trump on TV. If this feels extremely random to you — Lol, I get it. Here’s the back-story: Linda Bean, the heiress to L.L. Bean contributed $60,000 to a pro-Trump PAC. Contributions are legally limited to $5,000, so the groups is facing scrutiny from the Federal Election Commission and is looking to register as a super PAC. http://bit.ly/2jbwmtk

Side note: Oh and by the way, I wasn’t kidding about there being another L.L. Bean Boot shortage. It’s happened plenty of times before: http://bit.ly/2ioas4I

LATE-NIGHT SCHEMING ON O-CARE: The Senate took a first step toward repealing ObamaCare late last night — after 1 a.m.! Senators voted 51-48 to pass a budget resolution that is being used as a vehicle for rolling back the Affordable Care Act, with the House expected to vote on Friday. Specifics: http://bit.ly/2inw0i6

ANNOUNCED THIS MORNING — SIGN. ME. UP.: Five-term former Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) has been named a professor of public policy at Johns Hopkins University. She will also serve as an adviser to the university’s president. http://bit.ly/2io5UeF

Tweet from Journalist Matt Laslo: “I bet every student gets an F.” http://bit.ly/2jnjf5x

FORMER BRITISH SPY CAUGHT UP IN THE RUSSIA DOSSIER — PEACE. OUT.: Via The Telegraph, the former British intelligence officer behind an unverified dossier about President-elect Donald Trump fears for his safety. Christopher Steele, 52, fled his home in Surrey, England, Wednesday as his identify became public. An unidentified source close to Steele said the former spy was “horrified.” http://bit.ly/2jbo04X

A YEAR LATER — WE CAN JOKE ABOUT THE MURDER COMMENTS NOW, RIGHT?!: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) apologized to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Thursday for joking that it was possible to get away with murdering the Texas senator if it happened in the Senate. He said whaaa?: It was during the GOP primaries. Make more sense now? http://bit.ly/2jnIB33

FUN READ — ENJOY HAVING EVERY MOVE WATCHED THROUGH A MAGNIFYING LENS!: Time’s Merrill Fabry interviewed White House staffers about the lessons they learned working there. http://ti.me/2igBb4S

“Rahm Emanuel, former Chief of Staff: If you ever drive into the gates of the White House and you still don’t have a tingle in your spine of how special this is, it’s time to leave.” 

WATERGATE WAS ON FIRE — AND NO, WE’RE NOT BEING METAPHORICAL HERE: A fire broke out on the 13th floor of the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Video: http://bit.ly/2io2dG7

 

NOTABLE TWEETS:

Todd Zwillich
For those of you Hamilton fans watching the Intel CIA Dir hearing, Sen. Richard Burr is a Burr. Yes, that Burr. http://bit.ly/2igW93t 

The Hill’s Timothy Cama (Lol ouch.)
Sen. Corker slips, calls Rex Tillerson a senator. ‘You don’t want to be demoted to that’ http://bit.ly/2ioegTK

ExxonMobil
Let’s be clear: we engage with lawmakers to discuss sanction impacts, not whether or not sanctions should be imposed http://bit.ly/2jzD9cR

The Hill’s Megan R. Wilson retweeted, adding: Lobbying: “That’s a nice bill you got there. Would be a shame if something happened to it.” http://bit.ly/2jzrRW6

The Hill’s Scott Wong (Don’t worry, Clay. True artists only get recognized many years after their time.)
On radio, Speaker Ryan calls Lacy Clay’s pig painting “disgusting” and “not befitting the Capitol” http://bit.ly/2jnveQJ

 

ON TAP:

The House and Senate are in. President Obama is in Washington. President-elect Donald Trump is at Trump Tower in New York.

Noon: The CATO Institute is holding an event on the new agenda for the 115th Congress. http://bit.ly/2jv40GN

12:30 p.m. EST: White House press secretary Josh Earnest gives the daily press briefing.

4–5 p.m. EST: First and last votes in the House. Their schedule: http://bit.ly/2jzDYSW

7 p.m. EST: Former CIA spokesman Nick Shapiro chats about Rep. Mike Pompeo’s (R-Kan.) confirmation hearing on the Sidewire app.

 

WHAT TO WATCH:

9 p.m. EST: CNN’s Jake Tapper sits down with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) for a town hall at George Washington University.

7 p.m. EST Sunday: President Obama will sit down with Steve Kroft for an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

 

CONFIRMATION HEARING SCHEDULE:

Happening now: Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis for Defense secretary. Live-stream: http://cs.pn/2jHQHah

Happening now: Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) for CIA director. Note: The hearing was originally scheduled for Wednesday. Live-stream: http://cs.pn/2ijRFEB

Happening now: Ben Carson for secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Live-stream: http://cs.pn/2iKUGyx

 

NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF…:

Today is National Curried Chicken Day.

#THANKSOBAMA: On “The Tonight Show” last night, first lady Michelle Obama joined Jimmy Fallon‘s famous “Thank You Notes” segment. It’s pretty funny. http://bit.ly/2jI5oKy

And because you read this far, here are two dogs having a grand ol’ time chasing each other around in a tunnel: http://bit.ly/2iokByh

 

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