Happening soon: the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony honoring U.S. Capitol Police, Metropolitan Police and law enforcement who protected the Capitol on 1/6. There will be four gold medals: for the Capitol, for the Smithsonian, for MPD and for USCP. Congressional leaders present gold medals honoring the officers who "stood bravely in the breach" on 1/6.

Warnock arrives at his canvass launch. Says that he started his campaign three years ago, and "I haven't let up." Warnock says he returns to preach at church every Sunday because "the last thing I want to do is spend all my time talking to politicians."

"I'm committed to public service. I tolerate politics," Warnock says.

At a rally for Georgia GOP statewide candidates (except for Herschel Walker, who's holding his own rally literally one mile away), Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says that it is "easy to vote, and hard to cheat" alluding to the restrictive voting measure passed in 2021. Now onstage: Governor Brian Kemp. Begins by touting how Georgia was one of the first states to reopen early in the pandemic.

"We've been doing good in our state because we've been saying no to Stacey Abrams," Kemp says.

Ahead of the Alaska Senate debate tonight, Lisa Murkowski supporters are braving the cold outside of the Alaska Public Media headquarters. (I've been told they probably don't think it's too cold, but it's cold to me.) Murkowski at the Alaska debate: "I do support codification of Roe vs. Wade...I also recognize that abortion should not be without limitation."

Highlights bipartisan bill she has with Kaine, Sinema and Collins.

Live from the room where reporters are stationed with a slightly opaque window, it's the Alaska House debate! Mary Peltola is wearing Don Young's bolo tie at the debate tonight, which his daughters gifted to her at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention last weekend.

Senate chamber ~vibe check~
The senators are tired, but not yet at the point where they sit numbly in their seats & knock the final votes out. Still, there's lots of yawning, & they have punchiness that comes with lack of sleep. Several look like they've slept in their clothes. Warren is wearing a turquoise blazer...over a navy hoodie. Many are wearing the same clothes they wore yesterday and look distinctly rumpled. There looks to be orange juice and snacks in the GOP cloakroom.

Romney is out with the Family Security Act 2.0 today, a new version of his child allowance proposal. This proposal has the support of Burr and Daines, two other Republicans. The biggest change that I see is a new earnings requirement of $10k per year.
romney.senate.gov/wp-content/upl… Romney's previous iteration of the FSA did not have any GOP co-sponsors, nor did it have earnings requirements, although it did attempt to include work incentives by slowing benefit cliffs.
romney.senate.gov/wp-content/upl…

Today's 1/6 hearing is already including more video of previous interviews with witnesses: Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Bill Stepien, Jason Miller, Rudy Giuliani. Stepien, who did not attend today, recalls in earlier testimony Giuliani coming to the White House on election night. Miller says that Giuliani had too much to drink on election night.

"The mayor was definitely intoxicated," Miller says, but adds he didn't know Giuliani's level of intoxication when talking to the president.

Cancel your Disney vacation and support *checks notes* proud queer icon and longtime supporter of LGBTQ rights Dolly Parton She was literally nominated for several awards for writing a song about acceptance and love for a movie about a trans woman *in 2006*

Time for a very special ~SENATE CHAMBER VIBE CHECK~ for the confirmation vote of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court The Senate chamber was packed - definitely the fullest I've seen it in a while. There were dozens of people in the visitors gallery. The edges of the chamber were lined with a few dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus. There was an air of contained excitement.

Some of the biggest advocates of the child tax credit in Congress are holding a press conference on the child tax credit, which Bennet calls "the most successful and progressive social policies that have been passed by Congress in generations." DeLauro tells parents to file their taxes so they can get the second half of their expanded CTC for 2021 - the first half was distributed on a monthly basis from July-December. She also tells parents who had a baby last year congratulations, and they can claim the credit.

Since we're talking about the child tax credit - I did a deep dive in September. It's expected to cut child poverty by 40%. One study also found that it would boost consumer spending, while another showed it contributing to a decrease in food insecurity.
newrepublic.com/article/163643… Manchin had previously suggested that the child tax credit should be tied to further means testing or work requirements. But studies show that a child benefit has little to no effect on parents' employment.
newrepublic.com/article/163785…

A few senators and advocates are holding a press call on the child tax credit. It is unclear whether Ds will pass BBB in time for the next monthly payment on Jan 15. "To me it is unconscionable that we would rip away this lifeline in the dead of winter," @MichaelBennet says. Without naming names, @SenSherrodBrown calls out Manchin for suggesting that the child tax credit should be tied to work requirements. "What a stupid thing," he says, adding that "parenting is work."

Kevin Brady: "Ask yourself: under Joe Biden, is my life really built back better?"

Multiple Democrats shout "yes," and then there is applause on that side of the aisle. When Brady then pointed out Biden's poor polling, Republicans applauded. It's quite punchy on the House floor. After Steve Scalise spoke, many Democrats booed and one shouted "Five pinocchios!" (I did not see who yelled it.)

The Department of Homeland Security was literally created in response to 9/11

https://twitter.com/MZanona/status/1460725629402427394

Ah, New York, famously known for having no relevance to homeland security

Manchin called a press conference to call on progressives to vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill in the House, while reiterating his concerns about a large social spending bill without addressing the national debt. This will not make progressives happy. Manchin decries "shell games" and "budget gimmicks" to make the $1.75 trillion bill seem smaller than it is. (This is a problem with expanding many programs only temporarily with the assumption it would be expanded permanently.)

Schumer condemns Republicans for not wanting to vote to raise the debt ceiling, say it is "reckless, irresponsible, and will harm every single American." Remember, if Congress doesn't vote to raise/suspend the debt ceiling, it would plunge the economy into unprecedented crisis. Schumer: "This is not about greenlighting future spending. This is about paying debt from past spending, which was incurred during the Trump administration."

Schumer says "it doesn't matter who's president," Congress should raise the limit, like they did during Trump admin.

"The verbal assaults and disrespect we endured from the rioters was bad enough," Officer Gonell says, adding that the rioters called him "a traitor" and said he should be executed. "Some of the rioters had the audacity to say it's nothing personal." Gonell says "it appeared that many of the attackers had law enforcement or military experience." A visibly emotional Gonell talks about how he tried to pull fellow police officers back to the line, saying that rioters attacked him when he fell.

Today is my last day @CBSNews. I'm proud of the work I've done over the past three years, and so thankful to have been part of the incredible CBS News team. With that in mind, I'm going to share some of my favorite articles I've written during my time there. 🧵 Remember the 2020 Democratic primaries? I don't really, but I wrote about them a lot.

Elizabeth Warren bets big on policy to break through crowded Democratic field
cbsnews.com/news/elizabeth…

Six months ago today, a violent mob of Trump supporters overran the Capitol in a deadly attack, spurred by a lie that continues to be repeated. They sought to overturn election results and harm lawmakers.

The attack changed politics. It changed the country. It changed me. When I'm at the Capitol, memories of 1/6 overlap the present like tracing paper. I don't just see a stairwell, I see Officer Goodman redirecting rioters. I hear echoes of shouts, ghosts of broken glass. I don't just see the rotunda, I see screaming rioters violating that space.

Kevin McCarthy is using his debate time on a bill to remove Confederate statues from the Capitol to condemn critical race theory He also pointed out that all of the statues were of Democrats, which is not exactly news.