The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Biden to address formula shortage
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–> 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.
NEWS THIS MORNING
Um, this needs to be fixed. Stat.:
Via The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant, President Biden is holding meetings to address the baby formula shortage.
From a White House official: “This afternoon, President Biden will speak with retailers and infant formula manufacturers to receive an update on efforts to make infant formula supply more available.”
➤ ‘THE NATIONWIDE SHORTAGE OF BABY FORMULA IS A MAJOR STRESSOR FOR PARENTS’:
Via NPR’s Joe Hernandez: https://n.pr/39cf230
‘WHAT’S BEHIND AMERICA’S SHOCKING BABY-FORMULA SHORTAGE?’:
Via The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson: https://bit.ly/3ssHHI0
The gist: “Bacteria, a virus, [and] trade policy”
IT’S THURSDAY. I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.
The latest with Roe
Democrats swung and they missed.:
Following the leaked draft Supreme Court opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade, Senate Democrats forced a vote to codify federal abortion rights Wednesday.
The vote unsurprisingly failed: Democrats would have needed at least 60 votes to pass the measure. Senate Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) voted no. What happens now
Watch Manchin announce his ‘no’ vote to reporters: Via CBS News’s Alan He
Tidbit from House Democratic women: “House Democratic women walking to Senate ahead of the abortion vote, yelling ‘My decision, my body.’” Video from The Huffington Post’s Igor Bobic
DC Republicans may be a bit sheepish, but state Republicans are loud and proud:
Via The Hill’s Reid Wilson, “If Republicans in Congress have any qualms about announcing new abortion restrictions in the event Roe v. Wade is overturned, they are not shared by their state-level counterparts.”
How so — they are hitting the gas on abortion restrictions: “GOP governors and state legislators are planning to hold special legislative sessions later this spring and summer to consider new measures to remove or restrict abortion rights, after the Supreme Court’s conservative majority is expected to reverse the landmark decision half a century ago guaranteeing those rights.” How this could play out
In the White House
Joe Biden’s getting sassy:
Yesterday, President Biden sarcastically labeled former President Trump the “great MAGA king.”
Biden said at an event in Chicago: “Under my predecessor — the great MAGA king — the deficit increased every single year he was president. The first year of my presidency, the first year, I reduced the deficit, literally reduced the deficit by $350 billion, first year.” More of Biden’s comments toward Republicans
🐘 In the GOP
The instigator in chief. Responsibilities include: poking and prodding:
Via The Hill’s Jordain Carney, “Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is embracing his newfound role as one of President Biden’s chief GOP antagonists.”
How so: “Scott, who has a reputation in the Senate as somewhat of a loner, is widely seen as having White House ambitions if former President Trump doesn’t run for office. And he’s not shying away from his push for Biden to debate him over inflation — a setup that, if the president accepted it, would likely draw comparisons to presidential election debates.” How Scott has embraced his new role as chief instigator
➤A GENERATIONAL BATTLE WITHIN THE GOP CAUCUS:
What’s going on in the race to be the next leader of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), via The Hill’s Emily Brooks
➤TIDBIT — MIKE PENCE IS GETTING INVOLVED:
Via Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman, “[Former Vice President Mike Pence] will come to Capitol Hill June 21 to meet with the Republican Study Committee. Pence is a former chair of the RSC. The caucus’ chair is [Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.)].” https://bit.ly/3M3phVT
🌸 In Washington, D.C.
The ink was barely dry before the signage came down:
The Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., has been sold to CGI Merchant Group for $375 million.
What will the hotel become: A Waldorf Astoria hotel, according to The Washington Post’s Jonathan O’Connell.
Here’s a primer on the controversies surrounding this property.
That was fast — workers immediately took down the Trump sign: Here’s video of the sign being removed last night, via ABC News’s Oren Oppenheim.
^ More photos of the sign removal last night, via Axios’s Cuneyt Dil
Throwback: The Washington Post’s Dave Jorgenson tweeted a photo of a “coming soon” sign that he took in 2015.
🦠 Latest on COVID
One million Americans have died from COVID-19. That’s hard to process:
President Biden called for flags to fly at half-staff to honor the nearly 1 million Americans who have died from COVID-19.
Also happening today: Biden is holding his second global COVID-19 summit. Livestream
Keep in mind about the numbers: “Various COVID-19 trackers have different totals for the number of Americans who have died from the coronavirus. NBC News has compiled data showing more than 1 million Americans have already been lost to COVID-19, while Johns Hopkins University’s tracker has the number at slightly above 998,000.”
➤ BY THE NUMBERS
Cases to date: 81.9 million
Death toll: 995,747
Current hospitalizations: 14,720
Shots administered: 580 million
Fully vaccinated: 66.3 percent of Americans
🐥Notable tweets
Ah, incredible:
The Department of Labor’s chief of staff, Dan Koh, tweeted a photo of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh posing outside of a Dunkin’ in South Korea. “Korea has a way of making
@SecMartyWalsh feel right at home,” Koh tweeted. Photo
Space is wild:
The Smithsonian tweeted, “This is the first-ever image of the black hole at the heart of our galaxy. At 27,000 light-years away, Sagittarius A* would look from Earth to be the size of a donut on the Moon. A global network of telescopes and 300 researchers, many from @CenterForAstro, captured this image.” Actual photo of the black hole
⏱On tap
The House and Senate are in. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C.
10:15 a.m. EDT: Biden and Harris received the Presidents’ Daily Brief.
2 – 4 p.m. EDT: First and last votes in the House. The House’s agenda
5:30 p.m. EDT: Biden welcomes leaders of the ASEAN countries to the White House and hosts a dinner.
📺What to watch
10:45 a.m. EDT: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) held a press conference. Livestream
2:30 p.m. EDT: White House press secretary Jen Psaki holds a press briefing. Livestream
🍫 In lighter news
Today is National Nutty Fudge Day.
A fun tidbit:
In an appearance on “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” actress and comedian Ali Wentworth, who is married to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, described what it was like growing up surrounded by Washington, D.C., politics. It’s pretty entertaining.
And because you read this far, here’s another dog getting itself into another pickle.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
