Newsletter: Today: The Senate’s Last-Minute Tax Rush

Ready or not, Senate Republicans plan to vote on a tax overhaul plan today.

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The Senate’s Last-Minute Tax Rush

Republicans in the Senate have been working furiously to get their tax overhaul bill into shape before a self-imposed deadline of voting on it today. Tense negotiations here and backroom tweaks there have moved the plan ever so slowly toward passage, the prospects of which helped propel the Dow Jones industrial average past 24,000 Thursday for the first time. But a new congressional analysis left some GOP holdouts concerned. It estimates that, even with economic growth spurred by the tax cuts, the GOP bill would increase the deficit by $1 trillion. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department’s inspector general is investigating whether the department hid its analysis of the bill, or even did one at all after Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin indicated it would provide one.

‘Rexit,’ Stage Left?

Speculation has been building for months that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is on his way out, only to see him stay in the position despite other shakeups in the administration and his public clashes with President Trump. (Remember “moron”-gate?) Multiple media reports say Trump is considering replacing Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo; a source told The Times the switch would come by Jan. 20 and that Sen. Tom Cotton would replace Pompeo at the CIA. Asked about Tillerson in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said only, “He’s here. Rex is here.”

More Politics

-- Trump is preparing to formally declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel and order a review of the best way to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv, two officials said.

-- Democratic pressure on Rep. John Conyers Jr. to resign over sexual harassment allegations is growing. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is among those calling for him to step down.

-- Trump’s anti-Muslim retweets have dramatically strained the United States’ “special relationship” with Britain.

-- Columnist Michael Hiltzik says Sen. Marco Rubio let the cat out of the bag: After giving a tax cut to the rich, the GOP plans to cut Social Security and Medicare.

A Verdict in the Steinle Case Rekindles Debate

When Kathryn Steinle was shot in July 2015 on San Francisco’s Pier 14, her death became a flashpoint in the debate over people in the U.S. illegally and “sanctuary city” laws. The acquittal of a Mexican national on murder and manslaughter charges in the case is reigniting that debate. After a jury convicted Jose Ines Garcia Zarate on just a single count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, Trump called it “a disgraceful verdict.” Federal officials plan to take custody of Garcia Zarate, a seven-time felon who’d been deported five times and freed under sanctuary laws before the shooting.

Amid Allegations, Russell Simmons Steps Down From His Empire

To some, Russell Simmons is the godfather of hip-hop. To others, he’s been a mentor known as “Uncle Rush.” Now, allegations of sexual assault are leading him to step away from his various entertainment and clothing ventures. This week, screenwriter Jenny Lumet published an essay in the Hollywood Reporter accusing him of forcing her to have sex with him in 1991. It comes after a November L.A. Times story in which former fashion model Keri Claussen Khalighi accused Simmons of sexually assaulting her, also in 1991.

Where’s the Money Going to Help Those on L.A.’s Streets?

In the fight against homelessness, Los Angeles is spending money on a number of strategies, including an ambitious housing construction program. In the meantime, it’s set aside millions of dollars for services for people living on the streets, such as mobile showers, storage facilities and homeless parking lots. Yet of the $7.5 million budgeted for that purpose in 2016-17, more than $2 million was returned to city coffers and nearly $2 million was diverted to pay for homeless encampment sweeps.

Pursuing the Mexican Dream

After decades of mass migration to the United States, stricter immigration enforcement and new opportunities south of the border have led many Mexicans to return to towns like Malinalco, a rural community southwest of Mexico City. Foreign correspondent Kate Linthicum looks at three families who have coped with coming back under different circumstances — some hopeful, some uneasy, some tragic.

Gloria and German Almanza eat dinner in Malinalco, Mexico. They worked for years in the U.S. so they could build a nice family home in Mexico. Their U.S.-born children had other ideas.

(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times )

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

Santa Claus’ traditional mode of transportation is a sleigh pulled by tiny reindeer, but eight decades ago, he arrived in Southern California by United Airlines aircraft. Back in the 1920s and ’30s, the L.A. Times sponsored several Santa arrival promotions, in which the paper “dispatched” a correspondent and photographer to the North Pole and persuaded St. Nick to come to L.A.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- Angelina Jolie discusses directing the movie “First They Killed My Father,” about the fear and trauma of wartime 1975 Cambodia from the perspective of a young girl.

-- For Jordan Peele, “Get Out” became about black representation in horror.

-- Film critic Justin Chang says “The Disaster Artist” is a hilarious, heartening celebration of failure.

CALIFORNIA

-- A Los Angeles police captain is on paid leave as the department investigates whether he is involved with an alleged marijuana warehouse in Sun Valley.

-- California billionaire Tom Steyer has gathered more than 3 million signatures to impeach Trump. So why are Democrats so annoyed?

YOUR WEEKEND

-- Our Holiday Books Gift Guide includes something new: The best books of the year in fiction and nonfiction.

-- Heading to the L.A. Auto Show this weekend, or want to avoid the crowds? Either way, there are lots of vehicles to check out.

-- How to build an interconnected smart home on a budget for less than $100 per device.

-- Comfort food alert: 11 of our favorite meatloaf recipes.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Saoirse Ronan, a leading best actress contender for the Oscars, talks about the great relationship she has with her mother, unlike her character in the film “Lady Bird.”

-- Will Hollywood lawyer Martin Singer’s pitbull tactics still work in a post-Harvey Weinstein era?

-- U2’s new album, “Songs of Experience,” has a very optimistic outlook.

-- Jim Nabors has died at age 87. Andy Griffith once discovered him in a small Santa Monica nightclub, and two weeks later he got a call to audition for the role of Gomer Pyle.

NATION-WORLD

-- A federal judge expressed exasperation at the U.S. government’s secret detention of an American citizen in Iraq for more than two months. The man is alleged to have fought for Islamic State in Syria and surrendered.

-- The Nevada Gaming Control Board says the Las Vegas Strip saw a decline in revenue of more than 6% in October compared with the same period in 2016 after the mass shooting that left 58 people dead and hundreds wounded.

-- With cries of “fraud!” and clashes with soldiers, Hondurans are still waiting for the results of Sunday’s presidential election.

-- Two San Diego men with an Instagram account called “Traveling Butts” could theoretically spend up to seven years in prison after being arrested in Thailand for baring their rears at a Buddhist temple.

BUSINESS

-- The Matt Lauer scandal is adding to a long list of woes for NBC News.

-- The LA Weekly’s new owners are still a mystery, and some people are demanding to know who they are.

SPORTS

-- For USC, tonight’s Pac-12 championship game against Stanford offers a chance for a title and a case for calm.

-- During the weightlifting World Championships this week at the Anaheim Convention Center, the sport’s integrity is on the line, writes columnist Helene Elliott.

OPINION

-- North Korea’s ICBM is unlikely to cause a war, but it will damage the United States’ standing in the world thanks to poor leadership in Washington.

-- Stanford can take Junipero Serra’s name off its buildings, but it can’t purge him from its history.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- At home with Pakistan’s version of Martha Stewart. (Roads & Kingdoms)

-- Here’s how the supermoon this Sunday works. (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

-- Why do some bad movies become cult classics? (The Cut)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

Did you miss Black Friday or Cyber Monday? Don’t worry. You can still save $5.5 million on Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi’s Montecito estate, which is now listed for $39.5 million. That’s about 12% less than it was originally. And their weekend retreat isn’t the only celebrity home with a year-end discount.

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