Tipsheet: Blame game ramps up as shutdown nears

View in your browser     Blame game ramps up as shutdown nears By Alexander Bolton and Jordain Carney   Lawmakers drifted closer to a shutdown of the federal government late Thursday after the House approved a funding bill on a largely party-line vote, with Democrats in the Senate vowing to defeat the measure. Read the full story here     Listen: Promises and distrust push Washington closer to a budget brink By Alexis Simendinger   As Washington looks to see if Senate negotiators can come up with a deal before 11:59 p.m. Friday and avoid a shutdown, The Hill's AM View talks to American Enterprise Institute’s Norm Ornstein about how tribal thinking in Congress and at the White House complicated events this week. Listen to The Hill's podcast here     What happens if the government shuts down By Timothy Cama and Lydia Wheeler Federal agencies are bracing for a government shutdown, as Congress fights to reach a short-term spending deal before funding runs out at midnight on Friday. Here’s how some federal agencies plan to weather a shutdown. Read the full story here     The Trump Presidency: Year One By The Hill Staff One year ago Saturday, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, kicking off an unpredictable year. It was a year of highs and lows for the president. Here's a look back at Trump's unprecedented first year in office. Read the full story here       Trump faces pivotal decision on tariffs By Timothy Cama President Trump is days away from deciding whether to impose trade tariffs or quotas on imported solar panels. His decision will close a major chapter in a dispute that puts tens of thousands of jobs on the line and has tested longstanding alliances. Read the full story here     Trump scheduled to depart Friday afternoon for Mar-a-Lago By John Bowden  President Trump is scheduled to depart Washington, D.C., on Friday afternoon for his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida amid Congress' ongoing negotiations to fund the government past midnight on Friday. Read the full story here     Dem shutdown strategy: Force McConnell to deal By Alexander Bolton  Senate Democrats say they have the votes to block a government funding stopgap measure that is expected to pass the House on Thursday evening, but they’re hoping to avoid a government shutdown that could inflict political damage on their vulnerable incumbents.  Read the full story here     California feels targeted by Trump By Reid Wilson SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In the wake of President Trump’s election, hundreds of thousands of protesters turned out in cities across California to rally against a man they abhorred. Some went so far as to propose ceding from the country altogether.  Read the full story here     Trump appointee Carl Higbie resigns By Brett Samuels Trump administration appointee Carl Higbie resigned Thursday after CNN reported on his past use of racist, sexist, anti-Muslim language on the radio. Read the full story here     Ex-Comey aide grilled by House panel for over seven hours By Katie Bo Williams and Morgan Chalfant  Two House panels on Thursday questioned former FBI Director James Comey’s former chief of staff during a closed-door interview that lasted more than seven hours. Read the full story here     Congress doesn’t need the president’s permission By William O’Keefe OPINION | For too long, an imperial presidency has been tolerated and too many members of Congress spend their time posturing and promoting their own self-interest instead of the nation’s. There could be no better time than now for Congress to reassert its role as a co-equal branch of government. Read the full story here     Bring civility back to politics in 2018 By Carolyn Lukensmeyer OPINION | Let’s make a New Year’s resolution, as a country, to work together to revive civility in our political system. Let’s agree that we will let our political leaders know we expect them to live up to our expectations of civility and respect for our country, their constituents and our institutions, and we will hold them accountable when they do not. Read the full story here     The Wall Street Journal: Trump administration accelerating Israeli Embassy move By Felicia Schwartz and Jess Bravin The Trump administration is accelerating efforts to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and has decided to modify an existing property to accommodate the new mission that will open next year, U.S. officials said. Read the full story here     The Associated Press: Pence has long pushed for Trump policies on Israel By Ken Thomas and Tom LoBianco Since his days in Congress a decade ago, Pence has played a role in pushing both for the shift in U.S. policy related to the capital and for placing limits on funding for Palestinian causes long criticized by Israel. Read the full story here     The Washington Post: Short-term budget would give Trump authority to change intel spending, lawmakers say By Karoun Demirjian and Shane Harris   The budget extension lawmakers must vote on by Friday evening to avoid a government shutdown will, as written, give President Trump greater ability to reshuffle money the administration spends on intelligence priorities for the next month, according to congressional sources raising concerns about the text. Read the full story here     Reuters: China looks to call bluff on Trump trade action By Michael Martina and Kevin Yao    As influential voices within the U.S. business community warn China that U.S. President Donald Trump is serious about tough action over Beijing’s trade practices, there is little sense of a crisis in the Chinese capital, where officials think he is bluffing. Read the full story here     The New York Times: The chaos president vs. his iron-fisted chief of staff By Maggie Haberman and Julie Hirschfeld Davis The one thing sure to make President Trump angry, as anyone who has ever worked closely with him knows, is any suggestion that his staff is managing him. Read the full story here         Did a friend forward you this email? 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DAILY DOSE: Longing for Spring

ב"ה

Daily Dose

Print · Read Online Longing for Spring By Tzvi Freeman Cultivate the soul with hope; teach it to await the break of dawn. Through its ordeals, the earth is softened to absorb the rains. Yet it still must hope—for this is a Spring that comes for those that long for it. And so the sages say, "In the merit of hope, our parents were redeemed from Egypt." 7 Cheshvan, 5746. By Tzvi Freeman From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. Subscribe and get your dose daily. Or order Rabbi Freeman's book, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here. Print Page   ·   Read Online   ·   Discuss   ·   Share on Facebook This email was sent to: tweatsho.email004@blogger.com Change email address · Manage Subscriptions · Going on Vacation? · Unsubscribe Tip: To ensure that our emails continue to be delivered to your inbox, add subscriptions@chabad.org to your address book or "whitelist" it in any filters or anti-spam programs you may have. © Copyright Chabad.org, all rights reserved. Privacy Policy Chabad.org · Ask the Rabbi · Contact Us · Donate

Breaking News: Senate pushes shutdown drama into Friday

View in your browser     Senate pushes shutdown drama into Friday The Senate adjourned Thursday night without resolving the fate of a House-passed funding bill, extending the drama about a possible government shutdown until the last possible day. Government funding will expire after 11:59 p.m. on Friday and Senate leaders will only have 13 hours to negotiate a solution after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) adjourned the Senate without a deciding vote. Read the full story here         SPONSORED CONTENT   Healthcare Leadership Council    Seniors Need the Senate to Finish the Job. Urge Your Senator to Repeal the IPAB Today. Protectmedicarenow.org             Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Breaking News     Forward Breaking News       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Overnight Tech: Senate extends NSA spy program | Apple to allow customers to disable phone slowdowns | Amazon down to 20 HQ2 finalists | Facebook gets first black board member

View in your browser     SENATE VOTES TO EXTEND NSA SURVEILLANCE: The Senate on Thursday passed an extension of a government surveillance program, sending the bill to President Trump's desk. Senators voted 65-34 on the bill, which includes a six-year extension with minimal changes to the National Security Agency (NSA) program. The vote comes after a tension-filled hour on the Senate floor earlier this week. Opponents tried, but failed, to mount a filibuster to force additional debate on the legislation, with both sides spotted lobbying key holdouts. And opponents rallied against the bill ahead of Thursday's vote, arguing the legislation is being rushed through. "The American people deserve better than the legislation before us. ... The American people deserve better than warrantless wiretapping," said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). But the legislation, which also cleared the House last week, appeared likely to pass. Supporters only needed 51 votes on Thursday, giving them more breathing room, compared to the 60 votes needed on Tuesday's procedural hurdle. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) urged his colleagues to back extending the program ahead of Thursday's vote, calling it "one of the most important tools" for national security officials. Read more here.   Please send your tips, comments and compliments to Ali Breland (abreland@thehill.com) and Harper Neidig (hneidig@thehill.com) and follow us on Twitter: @alibreland and @hneidig. We're also on Signal and WhatsApp. Email or DM us for our numbers.   AMAZON UNVEILS HQ2 FINALISTS: Amazon has narrowed the list of cities it will consider for its mammoth new second headquarters to 20, after nearly 240 communities submitted bids to host the internet giant's new facilities. Among the finalists for the HQ2 project are three Washington-area localities: Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, and Montgomery County, Md. All three put in separate bids to host Amazon. The New York region is the only other area with multiple finalists. Amazon said early Thursday that both New York City and Newark, N.J., are still in the running. Other finalists include front-runners like Atlanta, Boston, Toronto, and Austin, Texas; growing tech hubs like Los Angeles and Denver; and some surprising contenders in the Midwest and the South, like Nashville, Tenn., Raleigh, N.C., and Columbus, Ohio. Dallas, Indianapolis, Miami, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh also made the finalist list. Read more here.   FACEBOOK NAMES FIRST BLACK BOARD MEMBER: Facebook announced on Thursday that it will bring Kenneth Chenault, the CEO of American Express, onto its board. Chenault will become the first African-American board member at the social media giant. His hiring follows a contentious meeting between Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in October, in which Sandberg promised that the company was in the process of appointing a black individual to the board. Read more here.   HOUSE DEMS PROPOSE BILL ON MUNICIPAL BROADBAND: A group of House Democrats introduced a bill on Thursday that would give local communities the right to build their own broadband networks and compete with established providers like Comcast and Verizon. The group, led by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), say that protecting the right to build community broadband networks would help expand internet access to underserved communities and benefit consumers who already have access by promoting competition. "Broadband Internet is the most vital tool of the 21st Century economy," Eshoo said in a statement. "Unfortunately, millions of Americans are still acutely impacted by a complete lack of or an inferior broadband connection. The Community Broadband Act is an important step in bridging the digital divide and will help local governments enable connectivity, increase economic growth and create jobs." Read more here.   APPLE TO ALLOW IPHONE USERS TO DISABLE BATTERY SLOWDOWNS: Apple CEO Tim Cook said Wednesday that iPhone owners will be able to shut down a software feature that lowers the performance of older phones to save battery power. Cook told ABC News the feature would be introduced in a developer version of an iOS update next month and become available to the public soon after. Apple has been under fire after it was revealed the company slowed down older iPhones to let their batteries last longer. Read more here.   SENATE COMMERCE APPROVES FULL TERM FOR FCC COMMISSIONER: The Senate Commerce Committee voted to confirm Commissioner Brendan Carr for a full five-year term at the Federal Communications Commission. The panel advanced the nomination in a 14-13 party-line vote on Thursday. Carr, a Republican, was nominated and confirmed in August to a partial term that was set to expire later this year. "If reconfirmed, I look forward to continuing [to] advance policies that will create jobs, spur investment, and grow the economy for the benefit of all Americans," Carr wrote on Twitter. Read more here.   EX-UBER CEO NETS $1.4B IN DEAL: Travis Kalanick, the former Uber CEO who resigned last year, is walking away with $1.4 billion after the company finalized a new deal, CNBC reported Thursday. Japanese company SoftBank reached an arrangement with Uber, according to the report, making them Uber's largest investor and valuing the ride hailing company at $48 billion. "We're proud to have SoftBank, Dragoneer and the entire consortium in the Uber family. This is a great outcome for our shareholders, employees and customers," a spokesperson for Uber said in a statement reported by CNBC. Bloomberg estimates that Kalanick, a co-founder of the transportation company, is worth $4.74 billion.  Read more here.   YOUTUBE REMOVES VIDEOS OF PEOPLE EATING TIDE PODS: YouTube and Facebook are taking down clips of people eating Tide Pods detergent, an attempt to stop a dangerous new internet challenge among teenagers. The social media platforms announced they will remove clips of users showing themselves eating the laundry packets due to health and safety concerns, CNN reported Thursday. "YouTube's Community Guidelines prohibit content that's intended to encourage dangerous activities that have an inherent risk of physical harm," said a spokesperson for Google, YouTube's parent company.  The trend of eating the laundry detergent packets, known online as the #TidePodChallenge, has led to numerous calls to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. Read more here.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: TechCrunch: Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) pens op-ed to urge more congressional attention on artificial intelligence Bloomberg: The fall of Travis Kalanick was a lot weirder and darker than you thought BuzzFeed: Here's how scammers are using fake news to screw with bitcoin investors Bloomberg: A solar firm that targets low-income homes its rivals won't The Hill op-ed: Bitcoin's real story is its untold potential The Hill op-ed: Congress must reinvent retirement savings for the gig-economy         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Technology Newsletters     Forward Technology Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.