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Finger pointing on the right and gloating on the left kicks off another busy week in the Beltway. The certainty is this -- Obamacare will remain the law of the land for the foreseeable future. Up next on Trump’s agenda? Tax reform. All of this while Russia continues to be a dark cloud over anything coming out of this WH. The House meets at 12P with votes at 6:30P and the Senate meets at 3P. Meanwhile, Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) has a new staffer starting today, Malia hangs out while a WH reporter trolls her, the Governor of Puerto Rico has a message for the mainland, and get ready for some SlayTV! Here’s your Monday morning read…
No Love for Univisión from GOP
Republicans appear unwilling to appear on Univisión. Enrique Acevedo, the anchor spearheading Univisión’s coverage of the Trump administration, said GOP MoCs have been avoiding the network, the nation's largest Spanish-language platform, since inauguration day. He cited his attempts to get Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John McCain (R-AZ), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) on the air. “If we get an answer, which is an exception, the answer is: 'It’s a busy week, they’re not doing media,' and then we see them on Fox or CNN.” More here.
Trump’s Use of Special Law to Undue Obama Regs
Since Trump entered the WH two months ago, the House has passed 14 resolutions disapproving of Obama-era regulations under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to do away with regulations through an expedited legislative process that prevents the minority from using the Senate’s filibuster. The Senate has approved ten resolutions, and Trump has signed three measures into law. The WH has indicated that Trump intends to sign all of the measures approved by Congress with the use of the CRA. The deadline for Trump to sign these repeals is May 9th. Click here to see what Trump and Congress have done so far.
DHS Chief to Northern Border
DHS Secretary John Kelly will be in Detroit today to observe operations at the U.S.-Canada border and meet with local immigration stakeholders and members of the Arab American community. The Detroit suburb of Dearborn has the country's largest percentage of Arab Americans, at just over 40 percent. More here.
Post-Racial Soul Food
Can the racial divide be bridged with a meal? That's what Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and James Lankford (R-OK) aim to do with "Solution Sundays." The duo issued a challenge to their constituents -- invite a family of another race over to your home for a meal on Sunday. Scott says he has already gotten very positive feedback from constituents who have given the idea a shot. More here.
Mindy and Cory Sitting in a Tree…
A recent episode of The Mindy Project featured Mindy Kaling's character saying this, "Cory Booker? I can't believe he came. I guess anything to get out of Newark, huh?" Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) tweeted the actress and told her he does not agree with her portrayal of the city he once served as mayor, but he said he loves her work nevertheless. After a Twitter exchange, Booker invited Kaling to dinner in NJ and offered to send a Lyft to escort her. She said yes! More here.
Uber CEO Meets with Jesse Jackson, Vows to Release Demo Data
Speaking of ride sharing, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick vowed to make diversity and inclusion a top priority at his company during a sit down with Jesse Jackson during a one-hour meeting at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters in Chicago on Thursday. Kalanick reaffirmed Uber would release demographic data next week on its workforce that it had repeatedly refused to disclose publicly. A company-wide investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, and sexism being conducted by former AG Eric Holder is expected to conclude by the end of April and will also be made public. More here.
Broderick Johnson Rejoins Bryan Cave
My Brother’s Keeper Alliance Board Chair Broderick Johnson is rejoining Bryan Cave starting on April 3rd. He was there previously from 2007 to 2011 before leaving to start the Collins Johnson Group (now known as theGROUP) with Art Collins. Johnson worked on former President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign and later served in the WH as Cabinet Secretary and Assistant to the President. His lobbying clients during his earlier stint at Bryan Cave included Comcast, FedEx, Microsoft, Pearson Education, and TransCanada. More here.
Obama Lawyer Heads to Google
Albert Sanders, Jr., former Associate Counsel to President Barack Obama, is leaving the beltway to return to the West Coast. The Morehouse College graduate will be the Public Policy and Government Affairs Counsel for Google Cloud. Working with teams in Africa, Europe, and Asia, the LA native will be based in San Francisco. His policy chops will now span the globe as he navigates Google’s growing cloud technology and global policy. More about Albert here.
Sen. Scott Gets New Staffer
Saat Alety joins the office of Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) today serving as his Legislative Assistant on Banking issues. He previously worked for Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA). The Georgetown graduate has also done stints with the Financial Services Roundtable, and Romney for President. More about Alety here.
Puerto Rico Warns Congress Its Health Crisis Will Impact U.S. States
Puerto Rico is warning state and federal officials it is about to run out of Medicaid money, which will plunge it into a major health crisis, while Puerto Ricans in the mainland U.S. have planned protests in several cities against an ordered austerity plan. Officials from the U.S. territory planned to pay visits to Congress on Wednesday to get action on its looming medical crisis and hold a news conference on the Capitol grounds featuring several Puerto Rican legislators, the U.S. territory's governor, its Secretary of Health, and the head of its health insurance administration. More here.
Ramos Talks PR with Gov. Rosselló
The governor talked policy with Jorge Ramos on Sunday. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló, appeared on Univisión to discuss the upcoming referendum on statehood, the deficit, and how he plans to retain talent at home. This week’s show focused a great deal on human rights violations, in Mexico, Venezuela, and President Trump´s credibility. More here.
Olabanji Heads to NYC
Jummy Olabanji is leaving ABC’s DC affiliate WJLA to join the NBC New York flagship station WNBC next month. Olabanji, who joined WJLA and NewsChannel 8 in 2011, currently co-anchors the morning and noon news. For WNBC, she’ll anchor the weekend newscasts. Her fiancée, BuzzFeed’s political reporter Darren Sands, will presumably get very familiar with the Acela. More here.
Two Months Out of Office, Barack Obama is Having a Post-Presidency Like No Other
Last month, POTUS44 Barack Obama hosted a cocktail party at his new office digs that was as casual as his post-presidency life. Not only are the Obamas still young and unusually popular for a post-White House couple, their decision to stay in Washington while their younger daughter finishes high school has combined with the compulsion of the new Trump administration to keep pulling them back into the spotlight. WaPo captures more here.
ING Divests from Pipeline
Financial giant ING has sold its stake in its financing of the Dakota Access Pipeline, as a result of a divestment campaign to stop the $3.8 billion pipeline from going ahead, marking a victory for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters. The Dutch company is one of 17 banks funding the $2.5 billion loan for the Energy Transfer Partners pipeline. It sold its $120 million in shares from its loan last Tuesday, making it the first bank to do so. More here.
Joint Center Meets with Black Foundation Executives & CBC Members
On Thursday, the Joint Center and ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities organized a breakfast for CBC Members and Black foundation executives. The meeting included Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-SC), CBC Chair Cedric Richmond (D-LA), Congressmen GK Butterfield (D-NC), Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and a host of foundation executives. More here.
Menéndez Moving Full Speed Ahead Towards Reelection Campaign Despite Pending Trial
Senator Bob Menéndez (D-NJ) has an ongoing corruption case that could upend his re-election bid in 2018, with the longtime politician scheduled to go to court this fall. The trial is scheduled to begin about a year before the midterm elections. In April 2015, federal prosecutors charged Menéndez with 14 criminal counts, including conspiracy to commit bribery. The senator plead not guilty. Menéndez and his team insist that he will be vindicated in his trial and are going full steam ahead on his reelection race with unwavering support from New Jersey Democrats. More here.
Slay TV!
Sean Torrington started his career as a Goldman Sachs project manager. After getting laid off in 2010, he took the opportunity to follow his passion for filmmaking and began creating web series on YouTube that centered on LGBTQ people of color. That’s how we now have SlayTV -- a new global media network for LGBTQ people of color. It’s the brainchild of Torrington and his husband, Terry. He said it gives a platform to storytellers whose voices mainstream media often ignores. It also allows them to make money so they can "keep on creating the dope content they create," he explained. More here.
Fox News Fires Exec for Racist Comments
Fox News has fired veteran Comptroller Judy Slater after she was accused of demeaning her African American colleagues. In one instance Slater asked a black employee if all three of her children had the same father. In yet another incident, she called a black woman “sista” and complained openly about the way they pronounced words. At one point, she even wrote down words like, “sister,” “mother,” and “father” and asked the African American employees to say these words out loud. More here.
WH Reporter Has Weird Encounter with Malia Obama
Apparently Malia Obama, who is an adult now, likes to go out at night with her friends. (Shock! Horror!) The Beat struggles to see how this is political news for a WH reporter (maybe even gossip??), but whatever, this guy tweeted all over it. We're committed to letting you know what's happening, so judge for yourself. Read here.
Ford Foundation President Darren Walker: Creative Expression is a Public Good
Ford Foundation President Darren Walker responds to Trump’s budget, which would cut funding for the arts, pointing out how the arts are a vital part of America’s economy. He writes in The Hill, “As of 2014, the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates, our nation’s creative sector contributes nearly $730 billion to our GDP -- a larger share than 44 states. It supports 4.8 million jobs, from schools to galleries, theaters, and beyond. And it supplies an enormous trade surplus that continues to grow year after year; America’s culture remains among our proudest exports.” Read the entire piece here.
Don’t Hold Your Breath for Shorter Lines at the Blacksonian
If you think you can wait a few months to avoid the long lines and crowded galleries at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, you’ll need a new strategy. Those lines are not disappearing anytime soon. In its first six months, the museum welcomed 1,211,563 visitors, placing it among the four most-popular Smithsonian museums. The peak seasons of spring break and summer are still ahead. And that means crowds will grow, Founding Director Lonnie Bunch said. More here.
Obama Alumnus Jumps in the Shark Tank
Obama alumnus Joshua Dubois’ company, Values Partnerships (VP), is leading a nationwide casting tour for ABC’s Shark Tank focused on bringing more diverse ideas and voices to the show. VP also provides pitch prep, entrepreneurship resources, and access to capital discussions to entrepreneurs around the country with the goal of every entrepreneur leaving the events better than they came. VP’s Brandon Andrews speaks with some of the entrepreneurs from the trail. Click here to read.
CAPAC Blasts CO Lawmaker
The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) responded to a Colorado lawmaker on Thursday, who some say appeared to defend the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans while debating a bill to make Colorado a sanctuary state. Republican state Representative Phil Covarrubias spoke about The Ralph Carr Freedom Defense Act in the state's General Assembly. The bill, introduced by Democrats, seeks to protect Coloradans from what it calls federal government overreach based on race, ethnicity, national origin, or immigration status. More here.
Stonewalled When Trying to Get Diversity Info from Newsrooms
Journalists and Harvard Fellow Farai Chideya is exploring the important question of who reported on the 2016 election, and whether the race and gender diversity of political teams had any impact on newsrooms. The most important data point for this project -- numbers from newsrooms on their 2016 political team staffing -- has been the hardest to collect because very few managers or business-side staff are willing to disclose their data. The Beat has highlighted the lack of diversity among political teams as well. The silence Chideya is experiencing from newsrooms is likely because the numbers are dismal. She writes more about her research here.
Blue Lives Matter Law Signed in MS
On Friday, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant (R) signed House Bill 645, the "Back the Badge Act," meant as a response to the killings of police officers last year in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Mississippi is the third state, after Louisiana and Kentucky, to enact such a "Blue Lives Matter" law. More here.
NC Bathroom Law Costing Billions
North Carolina's "bathroom bill" will cost the state more than $3.76 billion in lost business over a dozen years. The NAACP initiated a national economic boycott. The state suffered financial hits including a scuttled plans for a PayPal facility that would have added an estimated $2.66 billion to the state's economy. NC could also lose hundreds of millions more. The NCAA is set to announce sites for various championships through 2022, and NC won't be among them as long as the law is on the books. More here.
Latinx on Display at Anacostia Community Museum
“Gateways/Portales” is a new exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum. The exhibition surveys the Latino surge in DC and Baltimore. The galleries are packed with art and artifacts, photos and video, sociology and journalism, as well as lots of text, all of it bilingual. Amid the profusion, the show does simplify one thing by employing a recently coined term: “Latinx.” It’s gender neutral and also suggests the diversity of heritages in a region that stretches from the Caribbean to nearly the Antarctica, and includes people of indigenous, African and European descent. More here.
HBCU President Swap
Central Missouri’s Lincoln University President Kevin Rome will be named to the same position at Fisk University in Tennessee. The Morehouse College alumnus leaves Lincoln while Missouri faces significant challenges with cuts to public higher education. More here.
Stroke of Philanthropy
Mark Moore, 56, is a retired African American business owner. He made his millions selling global IP services to the Department of Defense. However, after he suffered two strokes, he and his wife, Brenda, became full-time philanthropists. They have two children and live in McLean, VA. Moore’s book, “A Stroke of Faith,” details his transition. Check out the profile here.
CA Honors First U.S. Korean Settlement
A California city honored the first organized Korean settlement in the United States as a "point of cultural interest" Thursday. The settlement, Pachappa Camp, was founded in 1905 by Korean independence activist Ahn Chang Ho and established in Riverside, a city 55 miles east of Los Angeles. The city installed a sign at the former encampment, which is now an operations base for a gas company. More here.
Spotted
Only in DC can you become a recognizable face after a C-SPAN debut. The Beat spotted Trump appointee Mary Elizabeth Taylor in Logan Circle on 14th & R on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Taylor sparked a lot of questions about who she was as she was seated directly being SCOTUS nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch during his confirmation hearings.
Spotted...Omarosa at Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA on Sunday.
Spotted…The Congressional Black Associates on Thursday night in an intense game of spades. There was a full menu on deck, music in the background, and someone (we don’t know who), plastered the room with “subscribe to The Beat” signs.
Spotted...On Friday, everyone came out to the Capitol Hill Staff Association Fair. It was like a staff rush. Meeting potential members were the Congressional Asian Pacific American Staff Association, Congressional Black Associates, Senate Black Legislative Staff Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Staff Association, associations for Muslim, South Asian-American, vegetarian, and LGBT staffers, and many others.
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Videos of the Day
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| Congressman Vicente González (D-TX) delivers the CHC message of the week focusing on the work being done to protect U.S. military veterans from deportation.
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| MSNBC's Joy-Ann Reid gives her take on where the GOP went wrong with the ACA replacement bill on Sunday's MTP.
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| Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) speaks on the House floor during debate on the American Health Care Act.
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| Since the beginning of 2017, Republicans in over 18 states have proposed bills that would criminalize certain protest tactics. In Missouri, lawmakers want to make it illegal to wear masks, and in Tennessee, lawmakers want to give legal protections to drivers who hit demonstrators with their cars. Vice News explores here.
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| Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and James Lankford (R-OK) aim to heal race relations with "Solution Sundays." The duo issued a challenge to their constituents -- invite a family of another race over to your home for a meal on Sunday. Last week, they hosted a dinner together with CNN. They first discussed the idea on MSNBC late last year.
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| CA Governor Jerry Brown (D), whose state is widely considered to lead the resistance at the state level, speaks with MTP's Chuck Todd on healthcare and budget plans, the impact of immigrants, and the role that free trade plays in California.
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| On Friday night, basketball fans in several Republican-adjacent TV markets enjoyed a series of ads, prematurely bought by the American Action Network PAC, inviting viewers to call their representatives to thank them for repealing Obamacare. The above video thanks Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-VA) who came out against the bill. Big Fail.
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| DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) appears on MSNBC to give the real story behind DC's missing girls headlines.
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| Once upon a time not long ago, children's books were not penned by rappers. But now, Slick Rick’s classic song Children’s Story is being turned into an actual children’s book. See more in Blah Blah Blog. But in the meantime, enjoy this classic.
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Pics of the Day
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| Congressman Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) answering calls from constituents on Friday before the GOP pulled the ACA replacement vote.
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| Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL) stops to pay homage to a protrait of former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) in the halls of Congress after the GOP pulled their ACA replacement bill on Friday.
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| DNC Chair Tom Pérez fist bumps with Little Miss Flint on Friday in Flint, MI.
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| CHC Chair Congresswoman Michelle Luján Grisham (D-NM) at the highly attended Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirrors exhibit at the Hirshhorn Museum. They had to snap that photo quickly. You literally only get 30 seconds in each exhibit.
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| Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and James Lankford (R-OK) host a "Solution Sundays" dinner with CNN last week. The duo issued a challenge to their constituents -- invite a family of another race over to your home for a meal on Sunday.
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| Uber CEO Travis Kalanick vowed to make diversity and inclusion a top priority at his company in a sit down with civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. The two met for one hour at Jackson's Rainbow Push office in Chicago on Thursday.
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| Deputy DNC Chair Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) found some time to catch up with relatives in Detroit during the DNC Turnaround Tour kickoff on Friday.
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| Congresswoman Nanette D. Barragán (D-CA) addresses the AIPAC Hispanic Leadership Dinner at the Mexican Cultural Institute in DC.
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| Former Hill CoS turned West Coast healthcare policy guru Brandon Garrett enjoys a toast with Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) in Savannah, GA on Friday at a mutual friend's wedding. Cheers!
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Today, 5P: The U.S.-Japan Caucus and the Embassy of Japan are having a reception to honor the House freshman class. Rayburn Foyer.
Tuesday, March 28th, 6P: HLA hosts a welcome reception for new MoCs. RSVP here.
Wednesday, March 29th, 1PM: The Latina Maternal and Child Health Project will be hosting a Congressional Staff Briefing in Cannon Room 122. It will be held in cooperation with the Congressional Caucus on Maternity Care. RSVP here.
March 31st, 6:30P: A Celebration of Women with Johnnetta B. Cole as she prepares to retire from the National Museum of African Art. DJ Sabine Blaizin, Afro-fusion band Eme and Heteru, and vocalist Loide Jorge turn up the volume for an evening of African music, dance, and art. Click here for more info.
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