Morning Wire XX
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[6] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[7] It's Wednesday, December 21st, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
[8] The Biden administration announced Tuesday it is sending $1 .85 billion in military aid to Ukraine, $1 billion in military equipment and $850 million in funding.
[9] The announcement came just hours before Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, landed in Washington, D .C., where he met with President Joe Biden and held a White House press conference.
[10] This evening, Zelensky will address congressional members on Capitol Hill, reportedly set to ask for more weapons.
[11] Ukrainian people continue to inspire the world with their courage and how they have shows the resilience and resolve for their future.
[12] And the American people have stood proudly with them, Democrats and Republicans, together with our allies in Europe, Japan, and other places, to make sure you have the financial, humanitarian, and security assistance that is needed, we're going to talk about that today.
[13] And we're going to continue to strengthen Ukraine's ability to defend itself, particularly air defense.
[14] And that's why we're going to be provided.
[15] Ukraine with Patriot missile batter.
[16] The Senate on Tuesday advanced a massive 4 ,000 -page spending package, totaling nearly $1 .7 trillion on Tuesday evening by a 70 to 25 vote, with 21 Republicans lending their support.
[17] Conservative critics claim the bill is loaded with pork and doesn't properly address America's most pressing issues.
[18] The House Ways and Means Committee voted along party lines on Tuesday to release years of former President Donald Trump's tax returns.
[19] The Drug Enforcement Administration announced that it seized enough fentanyl so far this year to kill every single American citizen.
[20] The total seized was comprised of 50 .6 million fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl, along with more than 10 ,000 pounds of fentanyl powder.
[21] And there are still two weeks left in the calendar year, 2022.
[22] That amounts to more than 375 million lethal doses of fentanyl.
[23] Elon Musk announced Tuesday that he will be stepping away as the head of Twitter.
[24] On Tuesday night, he tweeted, quote, I will resign a CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job.
[25] After that, I'll just run the software and servers teams.
[26] Consumer confidence rose again in December to an eight -month high, even while fears of a recession continue to plague Americans who say they're holding off on making big -ticket purchases.
[27] The positive news caused the Dow Jones average to rise more than 500 points.
[28] In other economic news, sales of previously built homes fell again for the 10th month in a row, the longest stretch since 1999.
[29] Two deaths and 12 injuries have been reported in association with the 6 .4 magnitude earthquake in Northern California yesterday.
[30] More than 14 ,000 families are still without power in Humboldt County.
[31] And today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.
[32] From here on now, the days are going to start getting longer and brighter.
[33] Well, those are your drive home updates this afternoon.
[34] To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire .com.
[35] And for more in -depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.