Presented by Contraceptive Access Initiative — It’s a Festivus for the…Freedom Caucus. The conservative House GOP group is listing demands as part of the spending fight.
The Freedom Caucus released what it called a “Policy Festivus” on Friday, saying its members are “prepared to use all available leverage to change the status quo” amid multiple legislative fights playing out on Capitol Hill.
“We will not simply vote ‘no’ on bad legislation and go home for Christmas,” the group warned.
It’s tougher talk from the caucus following a more conciliatory tone in the wake of House Speaker Mike Johnson‘s (R-La.) election to lead the chamber in late October.
The group’s “Festivus,” which harkens back to a made-up holiday from “Seinfeld” centered on airing grievances, includes demands around:
Government funding — “The appropriations topline level must significantly reduce total programmatic spending year-over-year without side deals, gimmicks, or any other mechanism designed to hide the true number”
Ukraine aid — The caucus said supplemental aid for Ukraine and other nations, except what the House already approved for Israel, is off the table “unless America’s own border is fully secured with significant and verifiable improvement and the cost is entirely offset”
Border security — The hardline conservative group said any border security deal must include “all the critical policy provisions” of Republican-backed H.R. 2.
FISA — The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requires reauthorization at the end of the year. Reupping the controversial government surveillance program should not be considered as part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act, the caucus said, after Johnson moved to include a short-term FISA extension in the bill.
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An appeals court upheld and refined parts of a gag order in the federal case into 2020 election interference, barring former President Trump from any statements “made with the intent to materially interfere with, or to cause others to materially interfere with” the course of the case.
The court removed special counsel Jack Smith from the list of court staff protected under the gag order, broadening Trump’s ability to criticize the prosecutor.
CLIMATE
COP28 fossil fuel phase-out draft lacks timelines
A draft global stocktake from the COP28 climate summit lists four options for an international fossil fuel phase-out with no concrete timelines, falling short of what environmental advocates hoped for. More on that here.
HEALTH
More infectious mpox strain found in DRC
A more infectious mpox virus strain was found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), U.S. health officials announced.
The strain hasn’t been detected in the U.S., but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a travel health notice to those traveling to the DRC.
The CDC said people who traveled there should seek medical care and avoid contact with others if they develop a “new, unexplained skin rash (lesions on any part of the body), with or without fever and chills[.]”
📊 FRIDAY FIGURES
Trump leading challengers on key issues: poll
A NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll released this week showed former President Trump with large leads over his GOP challengers on big topics such as handling the economy and foreign policy.
Support for Trump on those two topics was slightly higher among GOP voters than his overall support in the poll — indicating that even some Republicans who don’t back him think he’s stronger on those issues.
Republican respondents on who would do the best job handling the U.S. economy:
64 percent said Trump
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy eachgot between 6 and 8 percent
And on who woulddo the best job handling foreign policy:
61 percent said Trump
13 percent said Haley
8 percent said DeSantis
Overall, 60 percent of Republican respondents said they’d vote for Trump if the primary was held today. DeSantis had support from 11 percent and Haley, 10 percent.
The poll was conducted Nov. 26-27 among registered voters. Margins of error were below 2 percentage points for the full sample.
Reddit moderators, Yelp warn SCOTUS about content moderation laws
Yelp and moderators from Reddit were among those who filed briefs with the Supreme Court opposing laws backed by Texas and Florida Republicans that restrict social media platforms’ ability to moderate content. Justices are set to decide the constitutionality of the laws in 2024.
Latest jobs report outperforms expectations
The Labor Department‘s November jobs report showed the U.S. economy added 199,000 jobs (more than expected) and the unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent (lower than expected).
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