1/ Talks between Biden and Joe Manchin reportedly soured over the size and scope of the $1.75 trillion climate and social safety net legislation. Manchin continued to push for spending reductions, including eliminating the measure’s expanded child tax credit – a federal program that sends monthly tax credit checks to roughly 35 million families with young children. The final child tax credit payments went out today and the program is set to expire at the end of this year, unless lawmakers reauthorize it as part of the Build Back Better Act. Manchin, however, denied that his resistance to the bill was related to the inclusion of the child tax credits, telling reporters: “I’m not negotiating with any of you all, okay? […] This is bulls—. You’re bulls—. Okay. I’m done, I’m done!” Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, hasn’t said he’ll delay work on the bill, but the unresolved disputes with Manchin make it increasingly likely that Democrats will miss their self-imposed deadline to pass BBB before the end of the year. (Washington Post / Associated Press / Politico / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / CNBC / NBC News / The Hill)

2/ The House voted to hold Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress over his refusal to cooperate with the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The former White House chief of staff initially provided numerous documents to the committee before he abruptly stopped cooperating with the panel a day before his scheduled Dec. 8 deposition, claiming executive privilege. The matter now goes to the Justice Department, which will decide whether to pursue criminal charges. Before the vote, lawmakers shared a series of text messages – from Fox News personalities, Trump Jr., and unnamed lawmakers – sent to Meadows as a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, urging him to get Trump to end the violence. At least half a dozen people, including Rep. Jim Jordan, reached out during the riot to Meadows to get Trump to intervene. (NBC News / Washington Post / New York Times / NPR / ABC News /

1/ Joe Manchin signaled concerns about inflation and the cost and structure of the Democrats’ $1.7 trillion climate and social spending bill ahead of a phone call with Biden on the bill. Manchin, objecting to the way the entire bill is constructed, indicated that he’s concerned that the Build Back Better legislation relies on temporary spending that will likely become permanent, which – he says – hides the true costs over 10 years. “Inflation is real, it’s not transitory,” Manchin said. “It’s alarming. It’s going up, not down. And I think that should be something we’re concerned about.” Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, is pressing for the Senate to adopt the bill by Christmas. Manchin, however, hasn’t committed to the timeline. (Politico / The Hill / CNN / Bloomberg / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)

2/ The U.S. surpassed 800,000 Covid-19 deaths – more than any other nation. About 600,000 of the 800,000 who have died so far have been 65 or older, and one in 100 older Americans has died from the coronavirus. For people younger than 65, the ratio is closer to 1 in 1,400. The total number of known coronavirus cases in the U.S. has surpassed 50 million. (New York Times / NBC News)

3/ The Supreme Court denied an emergency request to block New York’s coronavirus vaccine mandate for health care workers, doctors, and nurses. The legal challenge was filed by a group of 20 doctors and nurses who argued that the vaccine mandate violated the First Amendment because it allowed for medical objections exemptions but not for people with religious objections. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas dissented, with Gorsuch criticizing New York Governor Kathy Hochul for saying in September that unvaccinated people “aren’t listening to God and what God wants” while defending the lack of a religious exemption. (CNBC / CNN / Bloomberg)

4/ Mark Meadows turned over a PowerPoint presentation suggesting that Trump could declare a national security emergency in order to delay the certification of the 2020 election to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. A version of the PowerPoint, which spanned 38 pages and was titled “Election fraud, Foreign Interference and Options for 6 JAN,” was sent to Meadows on Jan. 5, and recommended that Trump declare a national emergency, seize paper ballots, and for all electronic voting to be rendered invalid, citing foreign “control” of electronic voting systems. Phil Waldron, a retired U.S. Army colonel who worked with Trump’s outside lawyers and circulated the proposals to ...

1/ The Supreme Court allowed abortion providers in Texas to challenge the new state law that essentially bans abortions after about six weeks. The law – the most restrictive in the country – remains in place while abortion providers challenge the law in federal court. But at the same time, the court limited which state officials could be sued by abortion providers to four licensing officials who are involved with enforcement of SB8. Separately, the court also dismissed a challenge to the law brought by the Justice Department. White House press secretary Jen Psaki, meanwhile, said Biden was “very concerned” about the ruling, which is “a reminder of how much these rights are at risk.” (NPR / CNN / New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / NBC News / ABC News / CBS News / USA Today / Associated Press)

2/ A federal appeals court rejected Trump’s effort to stop the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol from obtaining his White House records. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously denied Trump’s request to block the National Archives from releasing roughly 800 pages of Trump documents, saying Biden’s decision not to invoke executive privilege over the material outweighed Trump’s residual secrecy powers. The court said Congress had a “uniquely vital interest” in studying the events of Jan. 6 and that Biden had made a “carefully reasoned” decision that the documents were in the public interest when he declined to assert executive privilege. “On the record before us, former President Trump has provided no basis for this court to override President Biden’s judgment and the agreement and accommodations worked out between the Political Branches over these documents,” the panel concluded. The court, however, paused its ruling for two weeks so that Trump could seek a Supreme Court intervention. (Associated Press / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / NBC News / Politico /

1/ Preliminary laboratory tests suggest that three doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine offer significant protection against the Omicron variant. The early data, which has not been peer reviewed or published, found that a third dose increased antibodies 25-fold compared with two doses against Omicron. The lab findings also indicate that the two-dose regimen “may not be sufficient” to protect against infection with Omicron, but may still protect against severe disease. Dr. Anthony Fauci, meanwhile, added that the emerging evidence suggests Omicron may be more transmissible than previous variants but cause less severe illness. (New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / CNN / Politico)

2/ A U.S. District Court judge temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s mandate for federal contractors to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Judge Stan Baker of the Southern District of Georgia said Biden likely exceeded his authority under the Procurement Act when he issued the Sept. 9 mandate, which applies to roughly a quarter of the U.S. workforce. The White House originally gave contractors until Dec. 8 to comply but later pushed back the deadline until Jan. 4. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, are expected to invoke and pass the Congressional Review Act to force a vote on a potential repeal of Biden’s employer vaccine mandate. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Jon Tester have said they support the legislation. The bill would still have to pass the House and overcome a presidential veto. Nancy Pelosi, however, has said she does not plan to schedule a vote on the repeal in the House. (Bloomberg / CNBC / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / The Hill)

3/ The House approved legislation to create a one-time pathway for Senate Democrats to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling without Republican support, who have refused to drop their blockade against legislation to raise the borrowing cap long-term in protest of Biden’s economic agenda. The House took the first step to implement the plan by passing the measure 222-212, which allows Democrats to raise the debt ceiling once using a simple majority in the Senate rather than the 60 votes needed for most legislation. At least 10 Republicans in the Senate now need to support that bill in order to set up the process for Democrats to then increase the debt ceiling by a simple majority vote. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the d...

1/ The Biden administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, citing China’s “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses.” American athletes, however, are free to participate in the games. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, as well as human rights advocates, have called on the Biden administration to pressure Beijing over abuses against the Uyghur community (which has been declared a genocide both by Biden and the Trump administration), a crackdown on pro-democracy free speech protests in Hong Kong, China’s recent aggression toward Taiwan, pursuit of hypersonic weapons, and its secrecy surrounding the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House is looking to send a “clear message” that the human rights abuses in China mean there cannot be “business as usual.” (New York Times / Politico / NBC News / Washington Post / Bloomberg / CNN / CNBC)

2/ The Justice Department sued Texas over its plan to redraw congressional and state legislative voting districts, alleging that the Republican-led legislature’s redistricting plans disenfranchise minorities in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Texas’ redistricting plan “denies Black and Latino voters the equal opportunity to participate in the election process,” and was created “with discriminatory intent,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said. The suit claims Texas is “refusing to recognize the State’s growing minority electorate” and asks the court to stop the state from holding elections under the new maps and to redraw Texas’s congressional and state House districts for 2022. The Justice Department previously sued Texas, as well as Georgia, over laws limiting ballot access. (Politico / NBC News / Washington Post / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / USA Today / CNBC)

3/ The metadata in a draft letter written by a Trump Justice Department official “indicates some involvement with the White House” in Trump’s failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election. In Dec. 2020, Jeffrey Clark drafted a letter to the Georgia governor and legislative leadership urging them to convene a special session of the le...

1/ Biden signed legislation to keep the government funded through Feb. 18 after Republicans dropped a threat to force a shutdown over the administration’s vaccine mandates. The House passed the measure 221-212, sending it to the Senate, where a handful of Republican senators threatened to hold up the measure over the Biden administration’s vaccine-or-test mandate on private employers. Senators, however, voted down an amendment on the issue on a 48-to-50 vote, with two Republicans absent. The Senate then voted 69-28 to approve the spending bill. “Funding the government isn’t a great achievement,” Biden said. “It’s a bare minimum of what we need to get done.” Democrats and Republicans will now turn to several must-pass items in the coming weeks, which include increasing the debt limit and passing the annual National Defense Authorization Act. Chuck Schumer has also promised a vote before Christmas on Biden’s roughly $2 trillion Build Back Better legislation. (NPR / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / ABC News / Washington Post / CNBC)

2/ The U.S. added 210,000 jobs to the economy in in November – the smallest gain since December 2020 – while the unemployment rate fell to 4.2% from 4.6% – a new pandemic-era low. Economists had expected more than half a million new jobs in November. So far the U.S. has recovered about 82% of the jobs lost during the pandemic. “Simply put, America, America is back to work,” Biden said. “Because of the extraordinary strides we’ve made, we can look forward to a brighter, happier New Year, in my view.” (CNBC / NBC News / CNN / Politico / NPR / New York Times / CBS News / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / Bloomberg)

3/ New research indicates that the Omicron variant is spreading more than twice as quickly as Delta, which was previously the most contagious form of the coronavirus. Researchers concluded that the Omicron mutation has a “substantial ability to evade immunity from prior infection” and that the variant is at least three times more likely to cause reinfection than previous variants, such as Beta and Delta. In the U.S., Omicron has been detected in five states. The CDC also reported that nearly 2.2 million vaccine doses were administered over a 24-hour period ending Thursday – the largest single-day total ...

1/ The Supreme Court appeared likely to uphold a Mississippi law that bans almost all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. At issue is Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, a 2018 Mississippi law that banned abortions for women roughly two months earlier than current Supreme Court precedent allows. It is the most direct challenge to Roe v. Wade in nearly three decades. Lower courts have blocked the law, ruling that it violated the Supreme Court’s decisions in 1973’s Roe v. Wade, as well as 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Those rulings held that women have a fundamental right to an abortion, states cannot ban abortion before the point of fetal viability — roughly between 22 and 24 weeks — and that laws restricting abortion should not pose an “undue burden.” Mississippi, however, appealed the decision to the Supreme Court and asked the justices to reverse all its prior abortion decisions outright and return the abortion question to the states. During arguments, the court’s six-member conservative majority appeared divided about whether to stop at 15 weeks or whether to overrule Roe entirely, allowing states to ban abortions. The court’s liberal justices, meanwhile, said overturning Roe would make the court appear political and that its reputation would be irreparably damaged if it cast aside decades of precedent because of new justices. “It is particularly important to show that what we do in overturning a case is grounded in principle and not social pressure,” Justice Stephen Breyer warned. Justice Sonia Sotomayor added: “Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts? I don’t see how it’s possible.” Should 50 years of legal precedent be overturned, at least 20 states will immediately make almost all abortions unlawful: a dozen states have trigger laws that would automatically end most abortions and nine more have pre-Roe bans on the books. A decision is not expected until late June or early July. Last month, the justices heard arguments over a Texas law that bans abortion after about six weeks and allows enforcement by private citizens. The court has not yet issued a decision in the Texas case. (NBC News / NPR / New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / CNN / CNBC / Bloomberg)

2/ The first confirmed U.S. case of the coronavirus omicron variant was detected in California. The CDC said the fully vaccinated traveler, who returned to California from South Africa on Nov. 22, has mild Covid-19 symptoms that are improving. Since the new variant was first reported in South Africa last week, it has been identified in at least 24 countries. The World Health Organization has warned that the global risk of the omicron variant is “very high.” Federal judges in Kentucky and Louisiana,

1/ Biden called the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus “a cause for concern, not a cause for panic,” urging Americans to get vaccinated, obtain booster shots, and to wear masks in indoor public places. Biden added that he didn’t believe there would be a need for lockdowns, saying “We’re throwing everything we have at this virus, tracking it from every angle; I’m sparing no effort, removing all roadblocks to keep the American people safe.” While administration officials believe the current vaccines likely provide protection against the new variant, it’ll be a few weeks until scientists know how effective they are against Omicron. Drugmakers, however, cautioned that existing vaccines could be less effective and the CDC now recommends that all adults “should” get a booster shot. The new Covid-19 variant has been detected in more than a dozen countries, though not yet in the U.S. Biden, meanwhile, announced travel bans on South Africa and seven other countries, warning that it’s “almost inevitable” that the variant will turn up in the U.S. “at some point.” (NPR / New York Times / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / NBC News / Politico / ABC News / CNBC)

2/ The White House told federal agencies they can delay punishing the roughly 3.5% of federal workers who failed to comply with Biden’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate, which took effect last week. Agencies instead will pursue “education and counseling […] as the first step in an enforcement process” and take no further actions beyond letters of reprimand for unvaccinated employees until Jan. 1, 2022. As of last week, 92% of the roughly 3.5 million people in the federal workforce and the military had received at least one shot, while an additional 4.5% had requested exemptions. (Bloomberg / Washington Post / Reuters)

3/ Trump argued that the pursuit of his White House records by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack could permanently damage the presidency. “The [committee’s] clear disdain for President Trump is leading them to a course of action that will result in permanent damage to the institution of the presidency,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in a brief filed in federal court. Trump has asserted executive privilege over his White House records, which Biden has refused to grant. Earlier this month, Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled against Trump, saying that he had no power to override the current administration’s decisions. A federal appeals court will hear oral arguments on Nove...

1/ The Biden administration will require all foreign travelers crossing U.S. borders to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 22. The administration previously announced that fully vaccinated nonessential foreign travelers could enter the U.S. beginning Nov. 8. The White House, however, delayed the requirement for essential foreign travelers, such as truck drivers and government officials, to allow more time to get vaccinated and not disrupt trade. The Biden administration also asked a federal appeals court to reinstate its workplace rule requiring employees at larger companies to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or face weekly testing. Republican-led states, private employers, and conservative groups challenged the requirement, arguing that OSHA lacked the authority to mandate vaccines. The Justice Department said in its filing that the federal government should be permitted to address “the grave danger of Covid-19 in the workplace.” (NBC News / Washington Post / Associated Press)

2/ Weekly unemployment claims totaled 199,000 last week – the lowest total in 52 years. The four-week average of initial jobless claims also dropped by 21,000 to about 252,000 – the lowest since mid-March 2020. (Politico / Washington Post / CNBC / Wall Street Journal)

3/ Biden authorized the release of 50 million barrels of crude from its strategic reserves to help offset a surge in gasoline prices. Biden called it the “largest-ever release,” which was done in concert with China, Japan, India, South Korea, and the U.K. “We’ve made historic progress over the last 10 months,” Biden said, pointing to the jobs added to the economy since taking office. But “disruptions related to the pandemic have caused challenges in our supply chain, which have sparked concern about shortages and contributed to higher prices.” He also vowed to continue “taking action.” (ABC News / Bloomberg)

4/ Biden will nominate Shalanda Young to serve as the administration’s budget director. Young, currently the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, would be the first Black woman to hold the post on a permanent basis. The administration withdrew its initial selection of Neera Tanden for budget director after bipartisan criticism about her past social media attacks on lawmakers. (New York Times / Washington Post)

5/ A federal appeals court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Nov. 30 about whether Congress can receive Trump’s White House records related to the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol. Earlier this month, Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered the National Archives to hand over th...

1/ The number of U.S. Covid-19 deaths in 2021 surpassed the 2020 death toll. The total number of reported deaths linked to Covid-19 topped 770,800 on Saturday, according to federal data and Johns Hopkins University. New cases, meanwhile, are increasing with the seven-day rolling average ticking up to more than 90,000 cases a day after it dropped to about 70,000 last month. More than 30 states are seeing sustained upticks in infections. (Wall Street Journal / New York Times)

2/ More than 95% of the 3.5 million federal workers are in compliance with the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate. About 90% of workers have received at least one shot and the other 5% have requested a medical or religious exemption that has been either approved or is pending. Workers who are not in compliance will receive “education and counseling” with the goal of getting more federal workers fully vaccinated. Workers who don’t get vaccinated or secure an approved exception could ultimately be terminated. (Reuters / Associated Press / NPR / CNN)

3/ Biden nominated Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman. Powell, a Republican, was originally appointed to the Fed’s governing board by Obama and was later elevated to the chairman’s post by Trump. Under Powell’s stewardship, the Fed set aside its practice of raising rates to pre-empt inflation and instead has kept interest rates near zero to stimulate a faster recovery following downturns, like from the Covid-19 pandemic. Inflation, meanwhile, has reached a three-decade high with the Labor Department reporting that prices in October were 6.2% higher than a year ago. Biden nominated current Fed governor Lael Brainard – seen as a leading contender to eventually replace Powell – to serve as vice chair. (NPR / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal)

4/ Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson publicly urged the Republican-controlled state Legislature to take over the running of federal elections and direct local officials to ignore election guidance issued by the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission. Johnson, a Republican, claimed that Republican control of Wisconsin elections was necessary despite previously acknowledging that there was “nothing obviously skewed about the results” of the 2020 presidential election. Johnson baselessly accused Democrats of cheating. Last month, a report on the 2020 results that was ordered by Republican state legislators found no evidence of voter fraud. Johnson’s push comes after a Republican member of the State Assembly formally proposed decertifying Wisconsin’s election results, and a Republican sheriff in Racine County called for five members of the state’s six-member election commission to be ...