A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily by Matt Kiser and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
Day 995: "Less likely than ever."
Today in one sentence: Republicans nominated Steve Scalise to be the next speaker, but then the House recessed without voting; federal prosecutors charged George Santos with 10 additional counts in a superseding indictment; the Biden administration plans to ask Congress to approve a funding package for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and U.S. border security; the North Carolina Republicans overrode the Democratic governor’s veto of two election bills and enacted vote-count restrictions and weakened the governor's ability to oversee elections; and the world is "less likely than ever" to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C.
1/ Republicans nominated Steve Scalise to be the next speaker, but then the House recessed without voting. Although a majority of the 221 Republicans nominated Scalise for speaker, too many Republicans still plan to vote for Kevin McCarthy, which makes it unlikely that Scalise can win the 217 votes he needs on the House floor to win the speakership. If the House does elect Scalise, the chamber will then be able to restart legislative work – which stalled after McCarthy’s removal – including aid for Israel and funding measures to keep the government open after Nov. 17. (New York Times / Washington Post / The Hill / ABC News / NBC News / CNN / CNBC / Axios / Bloomberg)
2/ Federal prosecutors charged George Santos with 10 additional counts in a superseding indictment, accusing him of stealing the identities of donors and then fraudulently charging their credit cards to spend thousands of dollars. The new charges also include allegations that Santos embezzled money and conspired to falsify donation totals in order to hit fundraising targets set by national Republicans. Santos now faces 23 charges in the case, including the 13 filed against him earlier this year for wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and lying to Congress. Santos vowed not to resign or pursue a plea bargain. A group of House Republicans from New York, meanwhile, plan to introduce a resolution to expel Santos from Congress. (ABC News / Axios / CBS News / NBC News / Washington Post / NPR / Politico / NPR / CNN / Associated Press)
3/ The Biden administration plans to ask Congress to approve a funding package for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and U.S. border security. Lawmakers in both parties have pledged to send funding to Israel, but additional help for Ukraine will likely come down to a far-right group of conservatives in the House, despite bipartisan support in both chambers. Two weeks ago, House Republicans opposed $300 million for Ukraine. Since then, numerous House Republicans have said they’re skeptical of the idea of linking the aid to Israel and Ukraine in a single package. (NBC News / Politico)
4/ North Carolina Republicans overrode the Democratic governor’s veto of two election bills and enacted vote-count restrictions and weakened the governor’s ability to oversee elections. One law eliminates Gov. Roy Cooper’s power to appoint the State Board of Elections. Now, Republican legislators, who hold supermajorities in the state’s House and Senate, will appoint boards with equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans. The legislation, however, doesn’t spell out how the boards will resolve most deadlocks. The other law ends a three-day grace period to receive and count absentee ballots as long as they are postmarked by Election Day. (NPR / Washington Post / Politico / CNN / Axios / NBC News)
5/ The world is “less likely than ever” to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C, according to DNV’s annual Energy Transition Outlook. The report finds that between 2017 and 2022, renewables met 51% of new energy demand, but fossil-fuel usage continued growing in absolute terms. To limit warming to 1.5°C by 2050, CO2 emissions would need to halve by 2030. DNV’s “most likely” forecast sees temperature rise of 2.2°C by 2100. ExxonMobil, meanwhile, is buying its oil and gas rival for $59.5 billion, betting that the transition away from fossil fuels will play out at a much slower pace. (Axios / Bloomberg)
A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily by Matt Kiser and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
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