The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Twitter users panic amid new resignations
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The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Twitter users panic amid new resignations
TALK OF THE MORNING
Things are fine. Great, even. There’s nothing to see here:
Elon Musk gave Twitter employees an ultimatum on Wednesday to either commit to the new “hardcore” Twitter 2.0 or leave and receive three months of severance.
The catch of staying, according to Elon: “In an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hard core. This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”
The deadline for employees to take the offer: 5 p.m. EST Thursday — as in, it already passed.
The New York Times’s Kate Conger explains the ultimatum and caveats
Keep in mind: This is after mass layoffs at the company.
Lots of employees said, ‘peace out’:
Hundreds of Twitter employees did not agree to Musk’s terms for staying at Twitter 2.0, The Verge reports.
For context — how many employees Twitter has bled: When Musk took over Twitter a few weeks ago, the company had roughly 7,500 employees. After layoffs and Musk’s firing of some employees, roughly 2,900 employees remained. Then yesterday’s ultimatum happened for the remaining employees, so it’s unclear how many are left.
Why Twitter users are extremely worried: “Multiple ‘critical’ teams inside Twitter have now either completely or near-completely resigned, said other employees who requested anonymity to speak without Musk’s permission. That includes Twitter’s traffic and front end teams that route engineering requests to the correct backend services. The team that maintains Twitter’s core system libraries that every engineer at the company uses is also gone. ‘You cannot run Twitter without this team,’ a departing employee said.”
The Verge’s Alex Heath and Mia Sato explain the situation after yesterday’s 5 p.m. deadline
‘INSIDE TWITTER AS “MASS EXODUS” OF STAFFERS THROWS PLATFORM’S FUTURE INTO UNCERTAINTY’:
From CNN Business’s Oliver Darcy
Which leads us to #RIPTwitter, which has been trending on Twitter:
Following reports of mass resignations of key teams at the social media company, #RIPTwitter began trending.
Just in case the website ever crashes: Here’s how you can download your Twitter archive. I’ve seen several tweets advising users to do this. I guess it can’t hurt (?)
NBC News’s Ben Collins is trying to calm everyone down: Collins tweeted, “For what it’s worth, I don’t think there will be a big, apocalyptic Day After Tomorrow-style moment where Twitter ends…” Read what he thinks could happen
It’s Friday! 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.
⚽️ Starting on Sunday
It’s World Cup time!!:
The 2022 FIFA World Cup kicks off this weekend, running from Nov. 20 through Dec. 18 in Qatar.
Did the U.S. make it this year?: Yes! The United States is in Group B.
More logistical details from Reuters
When will the U.S. play?: Monday, Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. EST; Friday, Nov. 25 at 2 p.m. EST; and Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. EST.
‘READY OR NOT, A YOUNG U.S. TEAM’S MOMENT ARRIVES’:
The United States men’s soccer team is the second youngest squad of the World Cup with the average age being 25 years old.
What this means for the U.S. team and its chances, via The New York Times’s Andrew Keh
IF YOU’RE IN THE WASHINGTON, D.C.-AREA:
Eater DC’s Evan Caplan and Tierney Plumb have a helpful list of where to find “all-day happy hours, food specials, sunrise watch parties, and booze flowing for 22 hours a day” during the World Cup. The list of DC World Cup specials
REVERSE, REVERSE:
The New York Times reports that “Qatar abruptly reversed its beer policy for the World Cup, and will sell only a nonalcoholic option at stadiums, an official familiar with the plan said. The move will complicate FIFA’s $75 million sponsorship agreement with Budweiser.” The full story
🗳 2024
Don’t let your calendar, your intuition, a gut feeling or knowledge of time itself fool you — it’s actually 2024:
A race for the Republican presidential nomination is already forming between former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
The Hill’s Niall Stanage breaks down how the two match up in a potential primary.
For example, popularity: DeSantis has been capitalizing on Trump’s recent negative headlines (think: midterms).
What about fundraising?: “When it comes to the money race, only one thing seems clear — both Trump and DeSantis will have all the cash they need to be competitive.”
How Trump and DeSantis differ on policy
‘HERE’S WHERE THREE CRIMINAL PROBES STAND AS TRUMP ENTERS 2024 RACE’:
In Congress
THINGS ARE A BIT TENSE BETWEEN MITCH MCCONNELL AND LINDSEY GRAHAM:
‘FIVE TAKEAWAYS AS THE PELOSI ERA ENDS’:
From The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Mychael Schnell
MEET THE NEWBIES:
“Meet the newcomers in Congress, including 12 elected officials who have no government experience.”
Here’s a visual guide to the next Congress’s freshmen, via The Washington Post’s Derek Hawkins, Shikha Subramaniam and Garland Potts
🦠 Latest with COVID
‘Will Covid Boosters Prevent Another Wave? Scientists Aren’t So Sure.’:
The New York Times’s Apoorva Mandavilli writes that “the shots may help older, pregnant and immunocompromised Americans dodge serious illness or death. But the doses are not likely to prevent infections in any group, recent studies suggest.”
➤ THE COVID-19 NUMBERS
Cases to date: 98.1 million
Death toll: 1,073,115
Current hospitalizations: 21,208
Shots administered: 650 million
Fully vaccinated: 68.7 percent of Americans
🐥Notable tweets
A light tidbit in Congress:
The Hill’s Mychael Schnell tweeted, “Some color from the House floor as Congress awaits Pelosi’s announcement on her future: [Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.)] is in the second row with his daughter who is drawing with crayons. She dropped one on the floor and [Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)] picked it up for her.”
⏱On tap
The House and Senate are out. President Biden is in Washington, D.C. Vice President Harris is in Thailand.
- 6:45 a.m.: Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff attended an audience with King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua and Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana in Thailand.
- 10:15 a.m.: Biden received his daily briefing.
- Nov. 28: The Senate returns. The Senate’s agenda
All times Eastern.
📺What to watch
- 1:30 p.m.: Biden delivers remarks and meets with business leaders. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also attends. Livestream
- 2:45 p.m.: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds a press briefing. Livestream
🍎 In lighter news
Today is National Apple Cider Day!
It’s the holiday season, the holiday season!:
Popville reports that the annual Downtown Holiday Market is opening today in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
How long it will run: Through Dec. 23
And to kick off your weekend, here’s a litter of tiny mermaids. 😉
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