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Here's what we're talking about:
- Kamalaworld is worried about a difficult, messy Democratic primary if it's Harris versus Pete Buttigieg in 2024
- Senators worry about who else an unnamed senator may have sexually abused
- Biden releases slimmed-down $1.75 trillion spending plan
With Phil Rosen.
Win McNamee/Getty Images; AP Photo/Evan Vucci
1. 2024 VISION: The KHive is expecting a messy 2024 primary if President Joe Biden opts against running for reelection. People in Vice President Kamala Harris' orbit have taken note of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's rise, especially as Buttigieg supporters begin to plot their own 2024 plans.
Here's what else former Harris staffers, fundraisers, and Democratic insiders are saying about 2024:
"I don't know if Secretary Buttigieg wants that smoke": Democratic strategists and Harris supporters are issuing a brushback pitch to Buttigieg after Insider reported that some of his top fundraisers were musing that he'd be a better presidential candidate than Harris. People close to Buttigieg stress that he has nothing to do with the 2024 talk. People close to him and the vice president also stress that the two have become friendly colleagues.
- The full quote: "It would be messy, and honestly I don't know if Secretary Buttigieg wants that smoke, given what ultimately limited his campaign in 2020 - that it was viewed to be not diverse, not representative of a changing country, that it was essentially viewed as a way station for disaffected white liberals," a Democratic strategist who has worked on presidential campaigns told my colleagues.
Many don't think Harris would clear the field: "I don't think she's got a stranglehold on the party," a former Harris staffer told my colleagues. "I don't think it's like Al Gore for Bill Clinton."
- Others to look out for: Insiders also think the 2020 hopefuls Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren could run again if Biden bows out. (Biden has said he intends to run again.) Terry McAuliffe is also mentioned, but he's engaged in a tight battle to reclaim his old job as Virginia governor.
2. Democrats have a framework for their massive spending plan: The White House unveiled a $1.75 trillion social-spending plan, dramatically curtailing Biden's economic ambitions in an effort to appease centrist holdouts like Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. There's still no final bill text. Some Democrats have also pledged to push for changes after the outline confirmed major areas like paid family leave and lowering prescription-drug prices were not included, making it unclear how much longer talks will continue. Here's a look at what else made the cut.
- A historic climate investment: Biden's plan calls for $555 billion in spending to address the climate crisis by incentivizing Americans to install solar panels and buy electric vehicles, spurring the creation of green energy jobs, and building a new Civilian Climate Corps that'd seek to provide more than 300,000 union jobs. Per The Washington Post, it'd be the biggest clean-energy investment in US history. | The details.
3. Biden's infrastructure plan remains stalled: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi once again pulled a vote after progressives threatened to torpedo the $1 trillion bipartisan proposal over concerns about the much-larger budget deal. Biden delayed his foreign trip to visit with House Democrats directly and told them, "I don't think it's hyperbole to say that the House and Senate majorities and my presidency will be determined by what happens in the next week." Here's where things stand.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
4. Senators worry about who else an unnamed senator may have sexually abused: Sitting senators are concerned after the longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin wrote in a book that an unnamed senator forcibly kissed her in 2005. Abedin did not disclose the senator's party or whether he's still serving in the chamber. More on senators' reactions to the bombshell allegation.
5. Biden administration considers $450,000 settlements to families separated at the border under Trump: The sums under discussion are $1 million payouts per family, or $450,000 per individual, potentially totaling $1 billion, but the figures are subject to change, The Wall Street Journal reports. Lawyers representing the families are requesting at least $3.4 million a family. Most of the lawsuits allege that the children separated from their parents suffered both short-term and long-term trauma from their experiences. More on what the Biden administration is considering after Trump's widely panned zero-tolerance immigration policy.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
6. Feds are still investigating a GOP lawmaker over possible insider trading: Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina's dumping of more than $1.6 million in stock just a week before the market tanked in February 2020 amid coronavirus fears continues to draw the interest of federal regulators, ProPublica reports. The Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that Burr called his brother-in-law, Gerald Fauth, after unloading his own stocks. Fauth then quickly sold off up to $280,000 worth of stock. The SEC says Burr had access to nonpublic information about how the coronavirus would affect the economy because of his status at the time as the leader of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Here's what else the feds are revealing about their lengthy investigation.
7. Facebook rebrands as Meta: "From now on, we'll be metaverse first, not Facebook first," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at a company event. Zuckerberg later scoffed at the notion that Facebook was changing its name because of the increased federal scrutiny and litany of bad press stemming from a whistleblower's revelations about the social network. More on the future of Facebook and why Zuckerberg is so focused on the metaverse.
8. New York is bracing for staffing issues over its vaccine mandates: City officials are making contingency plans while bracing for the possibility that thousands of city workers could be placed on unpaid leave starting Monday once the first phase of the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate takes effect, The New York Times reports. As of Thursday morning, a third of the workers in the fire and sanitation departments - and a fourth of the police force - had not yet shown proof of their vaccination. More on New York City's mandate and the defiant streak some workers are taking.
9. Andrew Cuomo faces a criminal charge over groping allegation: A criminal complaint has been filed against the former New York governor over an allegation of forcible touching at the governor's mansion, The Times reports. Cuomo resigned in August in the wake of a state attorney general's report that documented scores of claims of sexual harassment by Cuomo. Cuomo has repeatedly denied forcibly touching anyone. Everything else we know about the charge Cuomo is facing.
10. Take a look at how Halloween costumes have changed over the years: Classic getups like clown costumes used to look friendly but are now terrifying. People used to wear actual nurse outfits when dressing up for Halloween, but now equivalent costumes are skimpy and scandalous. Here's how 10 classic costumes have changed.
Today's trivia question: Who was the first US president to fly on a plane specially designed for the commander in chief? Email your answer and a suggested question to me at [email protected].
- Yesterday's answer: Then-Sen. Barack Obama made his first - and so far only - "SNL" appearance during a cold-open sketch in which he wore a mask of himself to a Halloween party hosted by the Clintons. "I'm not going to change who I am just because it's Halloween," Obama joked.
That's all for this week. Happy Halloween!