Morning Headlines - Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023

U.S. and World Headlines

House Conservatives Give Speaker Johnson A ‘Mulligan’ In Funding Fight — For Now

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is getting a free pass from hard-line Republicans who are upset with his approach on keeping the government open with a “clean” funding extension, but are holding him to a different standard than former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — for now.

“Everybody gets a mulligan,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who voted against the continuing resolution (CR).

Weeks ago, Gaetz led a group of eight Republicans who joined with Democrats to oust McCarthy from the Speakership in part because of how he pushed through a CR with the help of Democrats.

Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig Seeks "Accountability" For Attacker Ahead Of His Sentencing

Rep. Angie Craig, Democrat of Minnesota, has asked a federal judge to impose punishment that holds "accountable" the man who admits he assaulted her in the elevator of her Washington, D.C., apartment complex in February.

Kendrid Hamlin, a man with a long record of prior arrests, was charged with punching, trapping and injuring Craig. He faces sentencing Thursday.

In a victim-impact statement submitted ahead of the hearing, Craig writes that the assault "had a lasting impact on my family." Craig said her family members "continue to be concerned for my safety."

Americans’ Trust In Scientists, Positive Views Of Science Continue To Decline

A new Pew Research Center survey finds the share of Americans who say science has had a mostly positive effect on society has fallen and there’s been a continued decline in public trust in scientists.

Overall, 57% of Americans say science has had a mostly positive effect on society. This share is down 8 percentage points since November 2021 and down 16 points since before the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

About a third (34%) now say the impact of science on society has been equally positive as negative. A small share (8%) think science has had a mostly negative impact on society.

Why Tim Scott's Presidential Campaign Failed

And then there were seven (major Republican candidates for president).

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott surprised everyone — including, reportedly, some of his own staffers — by dropping out of the race for president. It was an anti-climactic end for a campaign that, on paper, looked like it had a lot of potential. But the debates really took a toll on Scott's campaign, and rather than prolong the inevitable, he left the race early enough to keep his options open for the future.

Microsoft Releases Patch Updates For 5 New Zero-Day Vulnerabilities

Microsoft has released fixes to address 63 security bugs in its software for the month of November 2023, including three vulnerabilities that have come under active exploitation in the wild.

Of the 63 flaws, three are rated Critical, 56 are rated Important, and four are rated Moderate in severity. Two of them have been listed as publicly known at the time of the release.

The updates are in addition to more than 35 security shortcomings addressed in its Chromium-based Edge browser since the release of Patch Tuesday updates for October 2023.

The five zero-days that are of note are as follows:

Wisconsin Headlines

Wisconsin Senate Approves Bill To Create Grants, Limit Enforcement On PFAS Pollution

Wisconsin municipalities and landowners could apply for tens of millions of dollars in state grants to combat PFAS pollution under a bill the state Senate approved on Nov. 14.

The chamber passed the Republican-authored bill by a 23-10 vote. The legislation goes next to the state Assembly. Passage there would send it Gov. Tony Evers, but the governor has said he doesn’t support the bill because it would limit the state Department of Natural Resources’ ability to order landowners to clean up contamination.

Senate Passes Brewers Bills On Bipartisan Vote, Assembly Agrees To Changes

The state Senate today cobbled together a bipartisan coalition to pass legislation funding maintenance at the Milwaukee Brewers stadium after adding a new amendment to increase a ticket tax on non-baseball events to help drive down the state’s contribution.

AB 438 and AB 439, which include the funding and the policy provisions on the package, passed on identical 19-14 votes and were sent to the Assembly. That chamber passed the bills 72-26, sending the measures to Gov. Tony Evers’s desk.

Immediately after the Assembly signed off on the revisions, Evers said he would sign the legislation.

Leaders Of 2 Wisconsin Tribes Accuse Lawmakers Of Discrimination After Excluding Them From Grant Awards

Leaders of the Lac du Flambeau and Bad River Bands of Lake Superior Chippewa say the Legislature’s budget-writing committee discriminated against them after lawmakers voted to withhold tribal grants for the two tribes.

The 2023-25 budget reserved $11 million in tribal gaming revenues as supplemental funds that could be awarded by the Republican-controlled Joint Committee on Finance. The budget created an annual appropriation for tribal grants under the Department of Administration. In September the agency requested that the $11 million be transferred through grants awarded to each of Wisconsin's 11 tribes.

Wisconsin Legislature Passes Liquor Law Overhauls Opposed By Private Wedding Venues

The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature passed a bipartisan measure on Tuesday to overhaul the state's liquor laws and create new regulations for wedding barns.

Senate Republican Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu introduced the proposal in a surprise, last-minute amendment that gutted a bill to set standards for alcohol and tobacco retailers and replaced it with lengthy liquor law overhauls nearly identical to those passed by the state Assembly in June.

Wisconsin Republicans Pass $2B Tax Cut Heading For A Veto By Gov. Tony Evers

The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature gave final approval on Tuesday to a $2 billion income tax cut that's part of a package also aimed at lowering child care costs, which Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is expected to veto.

Republicans gutted a $1 billion Evers proposal to invest in child care he called on the Legislature to pass in a special session in September and instead offered a tax cut last month that Evers has already vetoed. The governor's spokesperson called the move a “completely unserious proposal.”