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| Almost ready to send to the 'Sugar King'! http://bit.ly/2iBkwtY |
 | | Just face-swap a few Congressional Republicans and this is exactly how I imagine this afternoon’s Republican tax-cut celebration going down. Credit: Twitter / @realdonaldtrump | |
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| The House is about to re-vote on the Republican tax plan after a few technical changes were made to the bill in the Senate. Should Republicans be nervous?: Nah, House Republicans easily passed it 227-203 yesterday and we're not expecting a different outcome on this re-vote. Late last night: The Senate passed the tax-cut bill 51-48 along party lines. What's next: The passed bill goes to President Trump's desk to be signed. I.e. --> http://bit.ly/2kQHbzT Livestream of the debate in the House right now: http://cs.pn/2BI1siQ What's next -- 3 p.m. EST: Congressional Republicans celebrate at the White House. Tidbit from the Senate floor: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was on the Senate floor during last night's vote. Several GOP senators went up to talk with him and shake his hand. Oh...: Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) this morning said that he has not read "every word" of the House tax bill. When asked if he read the bill: "So I have read -- I can't say every word -- I've read wide swaths of it and summaries on others," Duffy said. http://bit.ly/2CKFafR Lol, OK Rosie: Rosie O'Donnell offered to give GOP senators $2 million each in exchange for voting against the tax bill. "Today in Rosie O'Donnell totally-illegal-to-make-such-an-offer news..." (Tweet from The Hill's Joe Concha) http://bit.ly/2CJntxh |
| HOW SOON THE BILL WOULD AFFECT YOUR TAXES: |
| USA Today's Herb Jackson breaks down when each tax change would take effect. The gist: Not much will change on the 2017 taxes you file in April, but you might not have to wait until April 2019 to get a tax break. Keep in mind about your paycheck: "The IRS has said new tables could be available as early as February, meaning people could see their take-home pay increase before the winter ends." https://usat.ly/2BI0sM1 |
| FASCINATING BACK STORY -- HOW THE TAX PLAN WAS DEVISED 'OVER GOLF AND AN AIRPORT CHAT': |
| Via The Wall Street Journal's Peter Nicholas, Richard Rubin and Siobhan Hughes, "Over rounds of golf at President Donald Trump's club in northern Virginia in October, Sen. Lindsey Graham offered a warning: If the tax plan fails, the Republicans are 'dead' as a party ... the message stuck. ... Congressional leaders set weekly deadlines and hit nearly all of them in a seven-week rush from introducing a bill to finishing it. They kept Mr. Trump and his aides involved, but at a distance." Full story on how this went down: http://bit.ly/2kPoOuZ |
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Ryan: 'Now get me a bottle of your finest Trump SP Reserve!' http://bit.ly/2ksIiWQ: |
| Notice that Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) gets so excited, the gavel actually falls off the lectern. Watch --> http://bit.ly/2kQnYhJ |
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| What Ryan's gavel should be replaced with --> http://bit.ly/2kOhmjZ ;) |
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It's Wednesday -- Christmas is in five days! 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@thehill.com, @CateMartel and on Facebook. |
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| To view the 12:30 Report online --> http://bit.ly/2z4GGHv |
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| NEW DEVELOPMENT -- T-MINUS 3 DAYS | |
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'Stop playing games with me,' said the chicken: |
| House Republican leaders have ditched their current government funding plan with less than 72 hours to go until the government shuts down. The original plan: It would fund the government through Jan. 19, but fund defense spending for a full year, and it would include funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program and disaster aid. Why they ditched it: Some conservatives didn't like that it didn't offset costs through spending cuts. And the defense boost was dead on arrival with the Senate. The new strategy: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ http://bit.ly/2kNeAvc |
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Was it? *looks to the left* Was it, now? *looks to the right* We're talking about 2017?: |
| In an interview The Hill's Alexander Bolton, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is hailing 2017 as a year of major Republican accomplishments, dismissing the unpopularity of the Republican tax bill as the influence of "left of center" press coverage. His reasoning: "If you look at 12 circuit judges, a new Supreme Court justice, the regulatory relief and now comprehensive tax reform for the first time in three decades, by any objective standard it's been one heck of a good year for us," McConnell said. Full interview: http://bit.ly/2DdON7I |
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DACA -- That's a tomorrow problem: |
| Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Congress will not pass a fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program this year despite demands from Democrats and outside groups. That's for 2018: "No, we'll not be doing DACA this week. That's a matter to be discussed next year. The president has given us until March to address that issue. We have plenty of time to do that." http://bit.ly/2kquKeM |
| UPDATE ON TIMING: |
| Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) just said that he has secured a promise from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to bring up a legislative fix for DACA next month. http://bit.ly/2B5IIc9 |
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Just another Wednesday...: |
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| The House and Senate are in. 11:30 a.m. EST: President Trump held a Cabinet meeting. 3 p.m. EST: Congressional leaders celebrate their tax-cut victory at the White House. Op-ed: Former Democratic Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.) has an op-ed on the GOP tax plan and why it's risky. http://bit.ly/2kshcPA 6 p.m. EST: Last votes in the House. 8 a.m. EST Thursday: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) speak at an Axios event. |
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| 4 p.m. EST: The House Rules Committee takes up an extension to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Livestream: http://cs.pn/2Bmh5jc |
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| Today is National Sangria Day! |
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I'm on Season 7 right now, so if they could prepare this revival before I finish, that would be great ;) |
| Via The Hollywood Reporter's Lesley Goldberg, NBC is considering a revival of the popular show "The Office." However: Steve Carell would not return so a new regional manager would need to be cast. All the details: http://bit.ly/2BQIUQc |
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Today in weird stories I couldn't resist clicking: |
| You can invite llamas that are dressed in formal attire to a wedding. Video evidence: http://bit.ly/2oYb9am |
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| And because it's close to Christmas, here's a viral video of children performing a nativity scene. Well, I've never seen this ending before: http://bit.ly/2BEuBvo |
