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Will Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA) be the new Speaker of the House? That’s what the DC rumor mill is churning. According to Congressman Mark Amodei (R-NV), current House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) is getting ready to resign in the next 30 to 60 days. Ryan, who has yet to declare whether he will seek re-election, denies the rumors. In more musical chairs scuttlebutt, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin may need to update his LinkedIn. During Monday’s White House press briefing, Raj Shah refused to say whether Shulkin’s job was safe, after sources said Donald Trump is planning to oust the embattled Secretary this week. Shah also doubled down on the president’s denials about his alleged affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels, aka Stephanie Clifford, whose 60 Minutes interview drew 21.3 million viewers. It was the most-watched episode since Steve Kroft’s interview with Barack and Michelle Obama in November 2008, shortly after 44 was elected president. Meanwhile, a pair of veteran white-collar lawyers have responded to Donald Trump's offer to help lead his defense in the Russia probe with this: nah. The law firm Winston & Strawn said Monday night that two of its partners -- former federal prosecutors Tom Buchanan and Dan Webb -- were approached by Trump but declined the job 'due to business conflicts.' In other news, a toxicology report from Prince's autopsy shows he had what multiple experts called an "exceedingly high" concentration of fentanyl in his body when he died. Last week, the lead prosecutor in the county where the 57-year-old artist died said in a statement that he was reviewing law enforcement reports and would make a decision on whether to charge anyone "in the near future." Speaking of pressing charges, which actress was comedian Tiffany Haddish referencing when she recounted a story about the woman who reportedly bit Beyoncé? The Beyhive is in hot pursuit to find out who had Yoncé all on her mouth like liquor. We’re kicking off the second day of recess with this...
- Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) pushes for POC to lead New York Fed.
- Former President Obama pens letter to parents of Parkland school shooting victim.
- Indian American Impact Fund makes two key endorsements.
- Meet the new producer in CNN’s Washington bureau.
- The Atlantic has new contributors. Read about them below.
- Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke apparently is not a fan of diversity.
- California Democratic Congresswomen Lucille Roybal-Allard and Norma Torres want to keep immigrant families together.
- Commerce Dept. to add a citizenship question to 2020 Census, and the CA AG is suing.
- Former CNN reporter to host The Takeaway.
- Barack Obama lands in Hawaii after his trip to Asia.
- Linda Brown was a third grader when her father started a class-action lawsuit that led to the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were inherently unequal. Ms. Brown has died at 75. More in Blogs.
- Join Tiffany D. Cross as she co-hosts Keepin' It Real with Rev. Al Sharpton today at 1:20P. Tune in!
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|  | Tamron Hall on Saturday night in NYC with singer Brandy. | |  | Telemundo and NBC News anchor José Díaz-Balart on Monday undergoing a colonscopy. He says everything turned out just fine. | |
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Cory Booker Weighs in on Pro-Diversity Uproar Over Rumored Pick to Lead the Fed
According to reports, the Board of Directors of the New York Federal Reserve Bank appears to have settled on San Francisco Fed President John Williams to be its next President. This is despite pressure to find a woman or a candidate of color -- and one with deep expertise in financial regulation. Many observers see that choice as a disappointing end to a process that has passed over several well-credentialed candidates, including Peter Blair Henry, Dean Emeritus of NYU's Leonard N. Stern School of Business, who is Black. New York Fed President William Dudley is stepping down this summer. The news also comes at a time when Donald Trump's administration has reportedly settled on Richard Clarida, another white male, as the front-runner to fill the open Vice Chairman role on the White House-nominated Fed Board. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) weighed in with an opinion piece in Bloomberg, writing, “The New York Fed has never had a woman or a person of color at its helm, and the Federal Reserve Bank only just last year added its first black regional bank president. If we’re serious about creating an inclusive and sustainable economy, no one should be left on the sidelines. Study after study shows that organizations and companies with diverse leadership perform better and are more innovative than entities with homogeneous leadership.” Booker goes on to emphasize the importance of the role at this particular time. “Although the recession hit the entire middle class hard, not all have recovered equally and at the same pace; today, black Americans are the only racial group making less today than they were in 2000. In my home state of New Jersey, black and Hispanic women have higher unemployment rates than before the Great Recession, and the unemployment rate for black men sits persistently at 9 percent,” Booker writes. Read the full piece here.
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Lucille Roybal-Allard and Norma Torres Want to Help Keep Immigrant Families Together
California Democratic Congresswomen Lucille Roybal-Allard and Norma Torres have teamed up to keep children of detained or deported parents united with their families. The Help Separated Families Act would help ensure that children in the child welfare system who have detained or deported parents will be able to reunify with their parents or live in the permanent care of other relatives, as well as providing states with the ability to focus on preventing permanent separation. “The Trump Administration’s heartless anti-immigrant policies are tearing children from the loving arms of their undocumented parents,” said Roybal-Allard. “It is time for our government to affirm that your immigration status should not prohibit you from being a parent.” Roybal-Allard first introduced the Help Separated Families Act in 2012. More here.
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|  | Idaho gubernatorial candidate Paulette Jordan with friends and supporters at the 24th Annual Frank & Bethine Church Gala in Boise. | |  | Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA) last week showing off her "F" rating pin from the NRA. | |
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Citizenship Question Added to 2020 Census; Pushback Begins Immediately
The Department of Commerce last night announced that they would be reinstating a question about citizenship status to the 2020 decennial Census, despite calls from many Democratic members of Congress and civil rights groups against it. In a release, Commerce stated that this was done in order to have appropriate citizenship data in order to “permit more effective enforcement of the [Voting Rights Act], and Secretary Ross determined that obtaining complete and accurate information to meet this legitimate government purpose outweighed the limited potential adverse impacts.” Almost immediately following the announcement, the office of CA AG Xavier Becerra said that the state will be suing the administration. Becerra and CA Secretary of State Alex Padilla had previously written a piece stating that a citizenship question would be 'illegal.' Civil rights leaders including Vanita Gupta, President and CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Arturo Vargas, Executive Director, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund; and John C. Yang, President and Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC will host a telephone press briefing today to discuss the decision. Many have expressed serious concerns that it could lower participation among immigrants and cause a population undercount. More here.
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Interior Secretary Says Diversity Doesn’t Matter
Three high-ranking officials from three different divisions at the Interior Department said that Secretary Ryan Zinke has made several comments with a similar theme, commenting that "diversity isn't important," or "I don't care about diversity," or "I don't really think that's important anymore." Each time, Zinke is reported to have followed with something along the lines of, "what's important is having the right person for the right job," or "I care about excellence, and I'm going to get the best people, and you'll find we have the most diverse group anyone's ever had." Last June, the Department unexpectedly reassigned 33 senior executive staffers, of which 15 were people of color, according to the lawyer of one of the staffers who was moved. Some of those who were reassigned have filed complaints with the U.S. Merit Systems Board. The Interior Department has about 68,000 employees, of which more than 70% are white. Only 28% of the 235 senior leaders at Interior self-report as minorities, but more than 40% of the 33 people who were moved in June without warning were non-white. Diversity has been a long-standing challenge at Interior. Seven of the 12 divisions have no minority leaders at the senior executive staff level. More here.
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|  The Constitutional Accountability Center, a think tank, law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of our Constitution, seeks a Policy Counsel to help us amplify our message and develop relationships further on the Hill and among coalition partners.
Click here to learn more and apply! | | 
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a champion for working families, is looking for talented video editors to join our digital team’s 2018 re-election campaign. You’ll help tell the story of our campaign for millions of people across Massachusetts and around the country -- and motivate people to join this fight.
Click here to learn more and apply! | |
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Obama Lands in Hawaii
Former President Barack Obama is back in Hawaii following his Asia-Pacific trip that included stops in Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia. He’s in Oahu where he was spotted at the Mid-Pacific Country Club. He also enjoyed a custom dinner set at Piggy Smalls in Ward Village. It's not clear how long the former president will be back in town. With all the globetrotting, he hasn’t missed March Madness. Obama sent out a tweet in support of Loyola-Chicago, the Michigan Wolverines' surprise opponent in San Antonio on Saturday. “Incredible to have a Chicago team in the Final Four. I’ll take that over an intact bracket any day! Congratulations to everybody @LoyolaChicago - let’s keep it going!” POTUS44 had picked Michigan State to win it all. That didn't go so well. We’ll keep you posted if we hear Obama will pop up at the game. More here.
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Barack Obama Penned Letter to Parents of Parkland Shooting Victim
Former President Barack Obama penned a handwritten letter to the parents of a Parkland, FL teacher who was killed protecting his students during the Feb. 14th school shooting. Michael Schulman and Linda Beigel Schulman received the letter from Obama earlier this month. Their son, 35-year-old Scott Beigel, was a geography teacher and cross country coach at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and was one of 17 people killed on Valentine's Day. “Your son seemed like an extraordinary young man, and Michelle and I grieve alongside you,” the letter read. “We can only imagine the hardship you are going through; hopefully all the wonderful memories can help ease the pain. We’ll get the details about your fund in his honor. In the meantime, you are in our thoughts and prayers.” More here.
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|  | Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) last week with Jordan Klepper of Comedy Central to discuss gun safety. | |  | Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA) with CNN's Van Jones on Sunday for a taping of The Van Jones Show. | |
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Former CNN Reporter to Host The Takeaway
Tanzina Vega will be the new host of The Takeaway, the nationally syndicated radio show from WNYC and PRI. She was most recently a CNN Reporter focusing on inequality and race. Prior to that, Vega was a National Correspondent for the NYT where she created and covered a beat on race and ethnicity for the national desk and reported for the business desk and metro section. She is also the author of the forthcoming book Uppity, about the barriers faced by American women of color. She was also named an Eisner fellow at The Nation Institute last year and served as a Ferris professor of journalism at Princeton University. The State University of New York at Stony Brook graduate, who went on to earn her MA in Journalism from CUNY, replaces John Hockenberry, who was accused last year of sexual harassment. “I have a responsibility and part of what I am grateful for in my work is that I’m not only able to write about race but we talk about it a lot. And talking about it means talking about things like media diversity, inclusion and what we need to do to make sure that our news and media coverage reflects the world that we live in and the country that we live in,” Vega said recently in an interview. “I really believe in the fact that we as individuals have a lot of power. We as media consumers have a lot of power. We’re not powerless. We just have to think about how to harness it.” Congrats, Tanzina! More about her here.
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The Atlantic Names New Contributors
The Atlantic has named Alex Wagner and Ibram X. Kendi contributors to its forthcoming section for ideas, opinion, and commentary at TheAtlantic.com. Wagner will continue her political reporting and analysis for Atlantic audiences. She also hosts the Radio Atlantic podcast, is a correspondent for CBS, and co-host of The Circus on Showtime. She is also the author of Futureface, an exploration into American identity, which will be released by One World/Random House on April 17th. Before joining The Atlantic in 2016, Wagner was the host of the Emmy-nominated NOW with Alex Wagner on MSNBC, was a reporter for HuffPost, the White House correspondent for Politics Daily, and Editor-in-Chief of The Fader magazine. On top of that, Wagner and her husband Sam Kass -- former White House chef for the Obamas -- have an 8-month-old baby at home. Kendi is the first new ideas columnist, and he is a professor of history and international relations and the founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University. From a stint as a reporter at The Virginian-Pilot, Kendi headed back to graduate school and emerged as one of the country’s most innovative scholars on race. His second book -- Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America -- made him the youngest-ever winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction. Wagner and Kendi will be joined by The Atlantic’s Annie Lowrey and another new hire, Kevin D. Williamson. Politics Editor Yoni Appelbaum will lead the section as its first Editor. More here.
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CNN Brings NYC Talent to DC Bureau
CNN’s Early Start and New Day Producer Verónica Bautista has been named a Producer at CNN‘s Washington bureau. Prior to joining CNN, she was a Producer for Jorge Ramos at Fusion for three years. While there, she produced a one-hour documentary licensed to HBO about the rise of white nationalism and hate crimes during the 2016 presidential election campaign. Bautista also served as an Associate Producer for The Huffington Post, helping to launch their streaming video network, which consisted of 12 hours of live programming tailored to millennials. The UPenn grad got her start in television at Fox News, where she worked as a Production Assistant. She left the Big Apple and started in her new position in the Beltway earlier this month. Congrats, Verónica! More about her here.
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|  | Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) with constituents young Sophie and her mom at the March for Our Lives in Orlando. | |  | Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and Press Secretary Michele Pérez Exner last week with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. | |
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Indian American Impact Fund Announces Two Endorsements
The Indian American Impact Fund announced endorsements for two candidates for Congress. One is Sri Kulkarni, who is running in Texas’ 22nd Congressional District. The majority-minority district includes the Houston suburb of Sugar Land, which is home to a large Indian American community. After finishing first in the Democratic primary with nearly 32% of the vote, Kulkarni will have to face fellow Democrat Letitia Plummer in the May 22nd runoff to earn the right to take on incumbent Congressman Pete Olson (R-TX). Kulkarni is a former Defense advisor to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) as well as a Foreign Service Officer who served tours in Taiwan, Russia, Iraq, Israel, and Jamaica. The Impact Fund also endorsed Dr. Hiral Tipirneni in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. Having recently decisively won her primary with 60% of the vote, Tipirneni now moves on to face GOP candidate Debbie Lesko in a special election on April 24th to replace former Congressman Trent Franks. Tipirneni is an emergency room physician and cancer research advocate. “In an incredibly competitive year for Congressional candidates, Sri and Hiral have demonstrated the passion, tenacity, and drive it takes to run, win, and lead,” said Raj Goyle, co-founder of Impact and a former member of the Kansas House of Representatives. Impact Fund works with experienced operatives, campaign strategists, and donors to endorse candidates based on their viability and commitment to advocating for the needs and values of the Indian American community. More here.
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|  | TX congressional candidate Colin Allred marching with students at the March for Our Lives in Dallas. | |  | Actress Asia Kate Dillon on Friday speaking with MSNBC contributor and Sirius XM's Zerlina Maxwell. | |
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| FOMO Today, 8:30A: Congressmen Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Joaquín Castro (D-TX), and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) hold a policy roundtable discussion on immigration, including a legislative overview on DACA. Hispanic Federation, 55 Exchange Place, 6th Floor, Room 602, New York City. RSVP to RSVP.Espaillat@mail.house.gov.
Today, 12P: Civil rights leaders including Vanita Gupta, President and CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Arturo Vargas, Executive Director, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund; and John C. Yang, President and Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC host a telephone press briefing to discuss the administration’s decision to add a question on citizenship to the 2020 Census. RSVP to Hernandez@civilrights.org.
Thursday, March 29th, 8P: Jazz, hip hop, and soul combine in August Greene, the newly formed supergroup featuring emcee Common, pianist and composer Robert Glasper, and percussionist and producer Karriem Riggins. Kennedy Center. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.
Thursday, March 29th, 5:30P: The Congressional Hispanic Staff Association hosts a happy hour to say goodbye to the outgoing board members and to welcome the new ones. 201 Bar, 201 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E. Click here for more information and to RSVP.
Tuesday, April 3rd, 9A: The National Civil Rights Museum's MLK 50 Symposium. Scholars, historians, and thought leaders from across the country will present on the state of civil and human rights issues including Moving Memphis Forward, Economic Equity & Justice for All, and The Promise of Education. Moderated by former NPR Host Michele Norris. Rose Theatre, University of Memphis, 470 University, Memphis, TN. Free. Click here to register.
Wednesday, April 4th, 5:45P: The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) hosts its 2018 Latino State of the Union. Time Warner Center, One Time Warner Center, 10th Floor, The Screening Room, New York City. To RSVP, contact Heaven Ocampo hocampo@maldef.org or 213.629.2512 ext. 143.
Tuesday, April 17th, 8A: The Hill Latino hosts "Latinos in College: Closing the Graduation Gap." The program will feature lawmakers, university presidents, education officials, and students in a series of conversations exploring strategies to boost Hispanic college completion rates. The event is sponsored by Excelencia in Education and Gallup. 901 F Street, N.W. RSVP to events@thehill.com.
Wednesday, April 18th, 6P: The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) 2018 Gala and Awards. Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. To purchase tickets, contact Heaven Ocampo, hocampo@maldef.org or 213.629.2512 ext. 143.
Wednesday, April 18th - Saturday, April 21st: The National Action Network hosts its annual conference, this year commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Sheraton Times Square, NYC. Click here for more information.
Thursday, April 19th: The University of North Dakota sponsors a conference on the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Standing Rock protests. Click here for more information.
Wednesday, April 25th - Friday, April 27th: The African American Mayor Association 2018 Annual Conference. DoubleTree Hotel, 300 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, VA. Click here to purchase tickets.
Wednesday, May 2nd, 6P: The Latino Victory Fund hosts Latino Talks 2018, on how Latinos are changing America. Special guests include former Univisión anchor María Elena Salinas. Click here to purchase tickets.
Friday, May 11th, 9A: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights holds a public briefing on hate crimes and bias-related incidents. The Commission will examine best practices for local law enforcement on collecting and reporting data, and the role of the Education and Justice Departments in prevention and prosecution. USCCR, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 1150. RSVP to publicaffairs@usccr.gov. Click here to watch a livestream of the briefing.
Thursday, June 21st - Sunday, June 24th: The Black Millennial Political Convention, which aims to increase engagement of Black millennials in the political sphere and shed a light on policy issues impacting black communities. This year’s theme is The Advocacy of Policy, Pipeline and Power for the People. Hyatt Regency, Crystal City, VA. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.
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