TEXT of the national security supplemental aid bill is here: appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/… Here's the summary.

And a section-by-section is HERE: appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…

Protesters have occupied the office of @SenSanders calling on him to call for a ceasefire in Gaza: Protesters calling for a ceasefire also occupied @SenWarren’s office:

BREAKING: Rep Jamaal Bowman has been criminally charged with one misdemeanor count of falsely pulling a fire alarm for the September 30th incident in the Cannon Office Building, according to court documents, @dnlbrns & I report. CAPITOL POLICE: "We finished our investigation. Our agents gathered all the evidence, packaged it up, and sent the entire case with charges to prosecutors for their consideration.”

Flag: McConnell just stopped abruptly during his opening statement during the gop leadership presser and appeared to be unable to restart talking. He then stepped away and walked away with Barrasso: https://t.co/f1kFUjggzmtwitter.com/i/web/status/1…

UPDATE: McConnell is back at the presser.

SCOOP: Senate security officials have taken new steps to protect the secrecy of senators’ weekly closed-door lunches after a contract employee was arrested for allegedly recording audio of a GOP lunch in early March, via @JulieNBCNews, @GarrettHaake & I -> nbcnews.com/politics/congr… @JulieNBCNews @GarrettHaake According to court documents the employee told police that he had been recording the meeting “for multiple hours.” He also claimed that he was married to the VP of Liberia and “wanted to provide his ‘wife’ the VP of Liberia with American political information.”

Super excited to share a piece six-months in the making:

FACES OF THE INVESTIGATION - a photo essay on the House Jan 6th Committee's work, the members who conducted the investigation, and those who step forward to tell their stories.

LINK HERE: nbcnews.com/specials/jan-6… The piece is culled from hundreds of negatives, with portraits shot with a large-format film camera of over a dozen people involved in the Jan 6 Ctme's investigation on large-format film.

LINK: nbcnews.com/specials/jan-6…

Senate Minority Whip THUNE on the Fuentes/Trump dinner: “Well, that's just a bad idea on every level. I don't know who is—who's advising him on his staff, but I hope that whoever that person was got fired.” BLUNT: “Well, I wouldn't want to have dinner with either one of those guys.” (Kanye or Fuentes)

NRSC Chair DAINES: “We cannot tolerate antisemitism, period.”

Senate voting NOW on the key procedural hurdle to move forward with the Respect for Marriage Act. This needs 60 votes to pass, and is just the first vote that would lead to Senate passage of the bill.

If the Senate (eventually) passes the bill it would then go to the House. Vote is ongoing but there are four GOP YESes at the moment:
Collins
Lummis
Portman
Tillis

Senate Republicans are filing into the old senate chamber now for their leadership elections.

“Oh, I think it's fine, but it's not gonna go anywhere,” Romney said of McConnell’s challenge. Sen-elect Mullin comes out of the Senate GOP leadership elections to take a call.

Q: How’s it going in there?

Mullin: “It’s interesting.”

A joint resolution to terminate the national emergency concerning COVID-19 has PASSED in the Senate, 62-36, needing only a simple majority.

It now goes the House, which can simply choose to not bring it up. But this kind of resolution is a perfect example of what a Republican majority in the House will be able to take up and put on Pres Biden's desk.

Biden can veto them, but Republicans can force these votes in the Senate even w/ a Dem majority.

NEWS: Sen Rick Scott (R-FL) is announcing a challenge to McConnell for the Leader position during their closed-door lunch, which is ongoing, per a spox for Scott.

Confirming @burgessev’s scoop. This is the first time McConnell will have faced a challenger in a race for the Leader position, McConnell’s office says.

JHeads up: Both Schumer and McConnell appear ready to speak on the Senate floor. Schumer introducing a unanimous consent motion on behalf of himself AND McConnell regarding the Ukraine aid package.

THUNE says they're still working on a couple GOP holds on the House-passed Ukraine aid bill, particularly one from Sen Rand Paul and another from Sen Kennedy.

"I think we should get there today but I don't know that for sure yet," he says. And @RandPaul is on the floor now!.............discussing how the pages are wearing masks.

The Senate is voting NOW on the key procedural vote to bypass a GOP filibuster of the Dem bill to codify federal protections for abortion nationwide. The motion needs 60 votes to bypass the Republican filibuster and is expected to fail in the face of unanimous GOP opposition. VP Harris is in the chair presiding over the vote.

Sen Manchin is expected to be the sole Democratic NO vote on the motion.

NEW: President Biden has asked congressional leadership to decouple a Ukraine aid package from COVID relief money in an attempt to pass the aid for Ukraine without having to deal with thorny partisan opposition to the COVID relief funds, a Congressional source tells NBC News. Two aides tell @JulieNBCNews & me the Ukraine aid package that Democrats hope to pass is a total of $39.8 billion, with increases above the president’s request of $3.4 billion more for food aid, and $3.4 billion more for additional draw down authority for military equipment.

Sen Cramer says if SCOTUS does away w/ Roe, “I think you could expect that pro-life activists would would push for federal protections. Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't take that off the table.”

“It opens it up for not just state by state but community by community, and federal reps…” Sen Cramer mentioned someone crossing ND state lines to get an abortion: “I don't find a lot of solace in that just because it didn't happen in my state. So yeah, it's I think you could expect that pro-life activists would would push for federal protections.”

MURKOWKSI on if she felt that SCOTUS nominees misled her during the confirmation process: "My confidence in the court has been rocked. " More MURKOWSKI: “If the decision is going the way that the draft that has been revealed is actually the case, it was not—it was not the direction that I believed that the court would take based on statements that have been made about Roe being settled and being precedent.”

SAD NEWS on the Capitol Hill fox beat, per DC Health: "The fox responsible for 9 confirmed bites on Capitol Hill yesterday was captured and humanely euthanized so that rabies testing may be done. The fox was an adult female and her kits were found and captured this morning." DC Health says "At this time, officials are working to determine next steps for the fox kits. No other foxes were found on the Capitol Hill grounds, but it would not be uncommon to see more as there are many present throughout the District."

Top GOPer on Senate Judiciary Cmte, @ChuckGrassley now warns Democrats about the timeline Durbin proposed for confirming Judge Jackson.

There were 13 days between when Trump nominated Justice Barrett to when she got a hearing.

Dems are doing 24.

https://twitter.com/SenJudiciaryGOP/status/1500900753984086019

@ChuckGrassley When Durbin announced the March 21 start of confirmation hearings for Judge Jackson, Grassley told me his concern was making sure all Republicans who wanted a meeting with Judge Jackson could get one:

https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/1499086175272935430

If GOP Sens object to speedy passage of a CR to avoid a shutdown that happens when funding expires at the end of Dec 3rd, here's the Senate process that would need to be completed:

- House passes CR
- Wait 2 calendar days before they can file cloture on motion to proceed
(1/3) Process to pass CR w/o consent cont.:
- File cloture on Motion to proceed to the bill
- Intervening day
- Cloture vote on MTP 1 hour after they convene the day after the intervening day
- Up to 30 hours of debate
- MTP vote
- 12 hours of debate
- file cloture on CR
(2/3)

Schumer on GOP blocking NDAA: "To say that we're being unfair, to say that we're not giving enough amendments is poppycock, and they know it." Schumer also says of govt funding: "As soon as tomorrow, the House is expected to take action to pass a C.R that will fund the government into next year. Senate Democrats are ready to pass this legislation and get it done as quickly as possible."