The House's bipartisan tax break

Plus Europe's Orbán dilemma and Zuckerberg's apology [View this email in your browser]( [Brand Logo]( Hope for the House, deciphering Orbán and Zuckerberg says sorry   Good morning, If someone mentions this historically dysfunctional 118th Congress, you probably first think of the House. But in a surprising twist, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sidestepped his restive right flank and got a bipartisan tax bill approved on a very lopsided vote. And this time, the Senate is the obstacle to functional government. The Senate isn't doing nothing — it's stewing over the fate of a bipartisan immigration-Ukraine aid deal that Johnson has preemptively declared "dead" in the House. And senators spent Wednesday hurling invectives at social media CEOs. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg even apologized. So, sorry doesn't seem to be the hardest word in Congress this year. If anything, it's probably "yes." Peter Weber The Week Digital     Today's POLITICS story House sends bipartisan tax bill to Senate What happened? The House passed a $78 billion tax-cut bill Wednesday night on a 357-70 vote, notching a rare win for bipartisan legislating. The bill expands tax breaks for businesses and child tax credit refunds for low-income families through 2025. Who said what? This "pro-growth, pro-jobs and pro-America" bill provides "urgent tax relief for working families and small businesses," said House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.). Senators need to "pass it as it is." Enacting tax legislation that makes President Joe Biden "look good" means "he could be reelected, and then we won't extend the 2017 tax cuts," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told reporters. The commentary This is a "rare breakthrough" for "a House that has struggled to get bills of consequence over the finish line," The Associated Press reported. The deal gelled "because of substantial bipartisan support" for both the child tax credits and business provisions, Jeff Stein wrote at The Washington Post. But now Senate Republicans "don't want to pass a tax cut for families because it's an election year?" said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). "This isn't how we should be governing." What next? Senators won't take up the bill before late February, The Wall Street Journal reported. Then they'll face a ton of "outside pressure" to pass it, an optimistic GOP lobbyist told Semafor. Senate Republicans "won't be the final obstacle to a bill that clears a Republican House with 300+ votes."   Advertisement by Betterment [Betterment is the automated investing app that puts your money to work](   Today's INTERnational story How does EU solve a problem like Viktor Orbán? What happened?European Union leaders are meeting Thursday to approve $54 billion for Ukraine as it battles Russia's invading army — and to figure out what to do if Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán blocks the aid (again). Who said what? The European Council will find a way to support Ukraine "one way or another," said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, "with or without Orbán." Does Orbán just want EU money? said Sander Tordoir at the Center for European Reform. "Or does he have bigger political goals to disrupt the EU, for example to please [Russian President Vladimir] Putin?" The commentary Orbán has long been a thorn in the EU's side, but his Ukraine aid blockade and "personal alliance" with Putin are now considered an intolerable "security threat to Europe," The New York Times reported. "He is obviously trying to blackmail" the EU, said Jacob Kirkegaard of the German Marshall Fund. But the EU is saying "we can blackmail too, and we have a bigger gun." What next? European leaders will consider sidestepping Orbán by stripping Budapest's EU voting rights or leveraging funds he needs to keep Hungary's economy afloat.   Sponsored by Wise Bread [Pay No Interest Until 2025 and Earn $200+ Bonuses](   Today's TECH Story Zuckerberg apologizes to social media victims What happened? Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, during an intense Senate hearing Wednesday, apologized to families who say their children were harmed by Facebook, Instagram and other social media. Who said what? "I'm sorry for everything you have all been through," Zuckerberg said, standing and facing the hearing's audience. "No one should go through the things that your families have suffered." Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told Zuckerberg "your product is killing people." The commentary The apology was "a stunning moment," said The Guardian. Lawmakers guiding the congressional hearing on online child safety were often "irate," the Financial Times said, repeatedly asking the heads of five social media companies whether they had done enough to protect younger users from child predators, pornography and other harmful content. What next? Despite Zuckerberg's mea culpa and repeated invitations from senators, executives from Meta, Discord and TikTok declined to endorse a handful of bills introduced to address the problems. "If you're waiting on these guys to solve the problem, we're going to die waiting," groused Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).     On this day February 1, 2003 The space shuttle Columbia disintegrates while reentering Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard. The accident was attributed to damage on one of the shuttle’s wings that compromised the vehicle’s heat shield. The seven deaths on Columbia leave it tied with the 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster as the deadliest incident in NASA history.     TODAY’S newspaperS ['Blood on your hands']( Thursday's newspapers lead with the congressional grilling of social media chief executives. "You have blood on your hands," senators told the CEOs at a hearing on online child safety, The Wall Street Journal highlights. The standout moment of Wednesday's "fiery hearing" was when Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg apologized to the families of social media victims, The Washington Post adds. "Sorry isn't good enough," the New York Post responds in a front-page editorial. ► [See the newspaper front pages](     It's not all bad After her wedding ring slipped off her finger and into a public recycling bin, Melanie Harper of Greenville, South Carolina, thought she would never see the band again. She sent an email to the Greenville Public Works Department on Monday and was astonished when she learned that a determined crew spent hours sifting through the bin's contents. The band was found by Travis Golden, who "struck gold," the department said in a social media post.     Under the radar [The US faces a groundwater crisis]( Water is one thing people cannot live without. Yet in the United States, access to water is slowly becoming scarcer. Much of the U.S.'s development over the last few centuries was enabled by the country's bountiful supply of groundwater aquifers. Warigia Bowman, a law professor and water expert at the University of Tulsa, told The New York Times that the depletion of these aquifers is a "crisis," and "there will be parts of the U.S. that run out of drinking water." Groundwater depletion can lead to a number of environmental consequences, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Water wells can dry up over time; the level of water in streams and lakes can be reduced; land subsistence, which is when the soil collapses, compacts and drops because water is removed, can become more common; and water quality can deteriorate. Minimal federal regulation coupled with the ongoing climate crisis is deepening the issue. "Water scarcity and water quality issues will reach crisis levels in localities all over America in the next several decades," predicted Steve Cohen in an essay for State of the Planet by Columbia University's Climate School. The good news is there are actions that can lessen the strain on aquifers. Rainfall and snowpack are crucial to replenishing aquifers, but the U.S. must get better at collecting these water resources. "The future of America's water supply is an open question," Cohen remarked. "The need for an adequate water supply is not open to question."     Tall tale Sweet lemon … When life gives you lemons, take them to the auction house and see how much you can get. That's what a family in England did after discovering an old lemon in the back of an inherited 19th century cabinet. The fruit was inscribed with a message: "Given By Mr P Lu Franchini Nov 4 1739 to Miss E Baxter." Both the lemon and cabinet sold at auction, with the lemon going for a whopping $1,780, UPI reported. The cabinet only fetched $40.     Later today "Love is a battlefield," Pat Benatar tells us. At the time, she was singing about a couple's emotional warfare and potential surrender. But now more people are writing about throuples. Yes, polyamory is having a moment, as you can read about in today's Evening Review. We will also advise on what films to watch (and avoid) in February. Thanks for reading, Peter     Morning Report was written and edited by Catherine Garcia, Justin Klawans, Harold Maass and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek. Image credits, from top: Samuel Corum / Getty Images; Miguel Medina / AFP via Getty Images; Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images   © Future US, Inc • [theweek.com]( [Unsubscribe from this newsletter]( [Privacy Policy]( The Week is published by Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10036.