Just Don’t Call It Ice

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The Latest

Welcome to your snow emergency. The Capital Weather Gang now expects “less pure snow, more sleet,” with maybe an inch or three of ice on top of the powder. Fun.

• FEMA so abruptly paused terminating disaster-response employees that 30 people who were terminated early Thursday were un-terminated by the end of the day.

• DHS told FEMA officials not to use the word “ice.” “Officials told staff they worry that certain phrasing — like ‘“watch out for ice’ — could be misinterpreted or quickly turned into internet fodder,” CNN reports.

• The White House is promising a “whole-of-government” response to the storm. The president cited the cold as proof that global warming is fake.

New on NOTUS: Lobbyists are cashing in on crime. Taylor Giorno reports that lobbyists took in more than $2 million last year “from criminals and other legally imperiled people” looking for a pardon or clemency from Donald Trump.

The Hill

Senators will get a snow day, with Monday’s votes postponed until Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. The House was going to be out anyway.

NOTUS’ Avani Kalra reports on a quandary for Democrats: What do you do when Trump agrees with you?

The Administration

JD Vance told anti-abortion activists to chill out. As NOTUS’ Oriana González reported this morning, some advocates are frustrated that Trump hasn’t done more on abortion.

• Vance pushed back with Scripture at today’s March for Life: “I think all of us have to remember that we are commanded to let not our hearts be troubled, because I look at this crowd and I see young people for whom Dobbs is the only world they’ve ever known.”

A federal judge said he’ll block the deportation of scholars in retaliation for expressing pro-Palestinian views. Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, said the decision will be overturned on appeal because “there is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers.”

The Brits are steaming over Trump’s claim that NATO troops “stayed a little back, a little off the front lines” in Afghanistan. Noting that 457 British soldiers were killed there, Keir Starmer said, “If I had misspoken that way, or said those words, I would certainly apologize.”

A bodyguard for Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer was put on leave “as officials investigate an alleged romantic relationship between them,” Bloomberg reports.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is proposing an IndyCar race around the National Mall. The starting line would be at the Supreme Court, pit row would be near the Reflecting Pool, and there’s no word on whether Maryland drivers would be invited.

But Will It Protect Him From Frozen Water?

NOTUS’ Emily Kennard ran into CNN’s Scott Jennings, who showed off his new “Golden Age” threads.

Scott Jennings Emily Kennard/NOTUS

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Matt Berman, Christopher T. Fong and Andrew Burton. If you liked it, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please subscribe — it’s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at finalnotus@notus.com.