On The Money — McConnell touts elements of omnibus
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See why Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is already celebrating the year-end deal on an omnibus spending package as a prize for his party.
We’ll also look at some of the latest chatter around a potential cryptocurrency ban, the latest drama at Twitter, and more.
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McConnell: Bill boosts defense, cuts nondefense
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday touted the year-end deal on an omnibus spending package as a victory for Republicans because it will boost defense spending above the rate of inflation and increase nondefense spending at a lower rate than inflation, effectively resulting in a cut.
McConnell cast the result as the mirror image of what President Biden requested when he sent his budget request to Congress.
McConnell said the bill “provides a substantial real-dollar increase to the defense baseline and a substantial real-dollar cut to the nondefense, non-veterans baseline.”
Republican sources say the boost in defense-related spending compared to what they’re calling the “real-dollar cut” to nondefense spending is more dramatic when the generous increase in spending on military veterans, which is classified on the nondefense side of the spending ledger, is factored in.
McConnell also highlighted the fact that the omnibus is expected to exclude what he called “left-wing goodies,” such as the Safe Banking Act, which would prohibit federal regulators from penalizing financial institutions that do business with legitimate cannabis-related businesses.
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) expressed disappointment on Monday afternoon that nondefense social spending programs will receive a smaller increase than defense programs, but he noted that Democrats didn’t have much leverage to insist on parity.
“I don’t like it but we’re in a pretty desperate situation,” Durbin added, referring to the Democrats’ loss of the House majority in the midterm elections.
Democrats were eager to strike a deal with McConnell and Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, before Republicans take control of the House in January.
The Hill’s Alex Bolton has more here.
Banking chair says ‘maybe’ to cryptocurrency ban
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) on Sunday said federal agencies need to address the cryptocurrency market and “maybe” ban it after the high-profile collapse of cryptocurrency market FTX last month.
Brown, the chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd that the Treasury Department and “all the different agencies” need to get together and assess any possible action related to the cryptocurrency market.
His remarks come as the U.S. seeks to extradite FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried after the collapse of his leading cryptocurrency exchange in November.
Lawmakers are far more skeptical about crypto following the high-profile failure, which is the latest in a series of crypto bankruptcies.
The Hill’s Brad Dress has more here.
Twitter majority: Musk should step down as CEO
A majority of respondents said Elon Musk should step down as head of Twitter in a poll he posted on the platform.
Musk published the 12-hour poll on his account on Sunday evening, and with 17.5 million total votes cast, 57.5 percent said Musk should step down while 42.5 percent said he should not do so.
“I will abide by the results of this poll,” Musk said in his Sunday tweet before the results came in.
Musk alluded to the company’s struggles under his management, tweeting about the difficulty of “finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive.”
The poll comes as Tesla shareholders blame Musk for the company’s dropping stock price and critics lambast Musk’s decision to ban journalists who criticized him.
The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld has more here.
NEW PLAN
Biden eyes 25 percent reduction in homelessness in three years
The Biden administration on Monday released a government-wide plan aimed at cutting homelessness in the country by 25 percent by 2025.
The plan, called All In, focuses on finding housing for people without it and providing resources to keep them housed.
Among the key suggestions were to address the basic needs of people who are homeless, expand the supply of affordable housing and address root causes that lead people to lose their homes in the first place.
The administration’s All In strategy is based on efforts during the Obama administration that led to a drop in homelessness between 2010 and 2016, though the White House said there has been an uptick in homelessness in the years since.
Brett Samuels has more here.
Good to Know
Epic Games, the developer behind the hit video game “Fortnite,” will pay $520 million to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to resolve allegations the company violated child privacy protection laws and duped consumers into paying for products they didn’t ask for.
In a Monday release, the FTC said Epic Games will pay a $275 million financial penalty for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and another $245 million for tricking players into paying for unwanted services and letting children “rack up” unauthorized charges without parental consent.
Something else we’re keeping an eye on:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has sent a letter to the chairman of Tesla’s board raising concerns that CEO Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter is hurting shareholders and creating serious conflicts of interest that may violate the law.
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hill’s Finance page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.
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