Washington

Essential U.S. political news & intel to start your day.
April 22, 2021
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D.C. Statehood’s Lukewarm Public Support

The House is set to vote today to make the District of Columbia the 51st state for the second time in as many years, but outside the confines of the House Democratic Caucus, polling shows public support for doing so is tepid.

 

Our new survey with Politico found 40 percent of voters support D.C. statehood and 32 percent oppose it, with 28 percent undecided. More voters back bringing Puerto Rico into the union, including 1 in 4 opponents of D.C. statehood. More on this debate here, including potential messages that could move voters’ minds.

 

Top Stories

  • The Biden administration has reportedly signaled its openness to easing sanctions against Iran’s oil and finance sectors in a bid to narrow differences over reviving the 2015 nuclear accord, many of which were imposed by the Trump administration. The United States’ indirect talks with Tehran, facilitated by other world powers, are set to resume in Vienna next week. (The Wall Street Journal)
  • In a nonbinding vote, Senate Republicans chose to preserve a ban on earmarks, a stance that Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and other GOP colleagues have already said they plan to ignore. The caucus also adopted an internal rule that will demand spending cuts as a condition for raising the debt ceiling, a move Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) called “aspirational.” (Politico)
  • President Joe Biden on Saturday is set to declare the Ottoman Empire’s killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenian civilians that began 106 years ago an act of genocide, according to officials. No American president has made such a declaration over fears of fraying the U.S. alliance with Turkey. (The New York Times)
  • Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a sweeping Justice Department probe into the practices of the Minneapolis Police Department a day after former officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd. The probe will come on top of another investigation into whether Minneapolis officers violated Floyd’s civil rights to examine whether there is a practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing at the department. (The Associated Press)
 

Chart Review

 
 

Events Calendar (All Times Local)

 

What Else You Need To Know

White House & Administration
 

Biden Touts Tax Credit to Prod Businesses on Workers’ Shots
Josh Wingrove and Nancy Cook, Bloomberg

President Joe Biden called on employers to use a tax credit to provide paid time off to workers to get vaccinated and for businesses to do more to boost the inoculation effort as the U.S. seeks to get shots in more arms.

 

Federal Inspectors Say More Vaccines at Troubled Plant May Be Contaminated
Sharon LaFraniere et al., The New York Times

Federal regulators have found serious flaws at the Baltimore plant that had to throw out up to 15 million possibly contaminated doses of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine — casting doubt on further production in the United States of a vaccine that the government once viewed as essential in fighting the pandemic.

 

Harris meets Guatemalan president Monday, travels in June
Stef W. Kight, Axios

Vice President Kamala Harris will meet virtually Monday with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei to discuss solutions to the surge of migration, and she’ll visit the region in June, a senior White House official told Axios.

 

Pentagon Seeks Carrier Deployment as It Exits Afghanistan, in Sign It’s Readying for a Fight
Helene Cooper et al., The New York Times

Military commanders are seeking to deploy an aircraft carrier specifically to help protect NATO troops in Afghanistan as they withdraw, the clearest sign yet that the Pentagon is preparing for a fight as it closes the books on America’s longest war.

 

Biden administration lifts Trump-era restrictions stalling Puerto Rico hurricane aid
Nicole Acevedo, NBC News

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development removed restrictions unique to Puerto Rico that had been limiting the island’s ability to access certain recovery funds following the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017, the agency announced Monday.

 

Pentagon investigated suspected Russian directed-energy attacks on U.S. troops
Betsy Woodruff Swan et al., Politico

The Pentagon has briefed top lawmakers on intelligence surrounding suspected directed-energy attacks against U.S. troops, and officials identified Russia as a likely culprit, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

 
Congress
 

Liz Cheney vs. MAGA
Robert Draper, The New York Times

The regular conference meetings of the Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives, held most weeks behind closed doors in the Capitol Visitor Center, tend to be predictable and thus irregularly attended affairs.

 

Biden’s associate attorney general nominee Vanita Gupta confirmed after GOP senator breaks ranks
Jeremy Herb, CNN

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Vanita Gupta to be associate attorney general in a narrow 51-49 vote after Sen. Lisa Murkowski joined with Democrats in support of President Joe Biden’s Justice Department nominee.

 

Pelosi floats new proposal for bipartisan Jan. 6 commission
Mary Clare Jalonick, The Associated Press

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is renewing her push for a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, floating a new proposal to Republicans that would evenly split the panel’s membership between the two parties.

 

Black Democrats urge party to shift its voting rights push
Sarah Ferris et al., Politico

Democrats have spent months touting an expansive proposal that would reshape U.S. elections. But with the bill’s Senate prospects growing more dire, key members of the Congressional Black Caucus are pushing to narrow their strategy.

 

Apple, Google Come Under Fire at Senate Antitrust Hearing
John D. McKinnon, The Wall Street Journal

Lawmakers and mobile app companies took aim at Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google in a hearing Thursday focused on competition concerns about the companies’ power over their smartphone ecosystems.

 

House Votes to Restrict Future Travel Bans, Moving to Undo Trump’s Legacy
Luke Broadwater, The New York Times

Pamela Raghebi of Seattle blames President Donald J. Trump’s travel ban for keeping her separated from her husband, Afshin, a native of Iran, for three frustrating years.

 

House votes to limit arms sales to Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi killing
Maria Carrasco, Politico

The House on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to restrict arms sales to Saudi Arabia over its killing of the U.S.-based dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

 

Tim Scott hopes to reintroduce version of GOP police reform bill
Shawna Chen, Axios

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) told reporters Wednesday he plans to reintroduce his police reform bill or a similar proposal in the coming weeks and that he has discussed a potential compromise with Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

 

Lawmakers reveal — and dispute — FBI conclusion about 2017 baseball field shooting
Kyle Cheney and Martin Matishak, Politico

A congressman who was on the baseball field during the 2017 shooting that nearly killed GOP Whip Steve Scalise says the FBI privately informed lawmakers it ruled the attack a “suicide by cop,” a designation he said downplayed the shooter’s apparently political motivation.

 

Capitol Police chief: Threats against lawmakers up nearly 65 percent since last year
Cristina Marcos, The Hill

Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said Wednesday that threats against members of Congress have increased nearly 65 percent in the first four months of this year compared with the same period in 2020.

 

Clyburn facing potential $5,000 metal detector fine
Olivia Beavers and Rachael Bade, Politico

House Majority Whip James Clyburn is facing a possible $5,000 fine for evading the metal detectors off the House floor, which are part of the security protocols House Speaker Nancy Pelosi enacted after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

 
General
 

U.S. sees unprecedented drop in vaccinations over past week
Dan Keating et al., The Washington Post

Daily coronavirus vaccinations have slowed significantly for the first time since February, a sign that demand is slipping even though every American adult is now eligible for the shots.

 

World leaders brace for historic Trump Facebook ban decision
Sara Fischer and Jonathan Swan, Axios

The upcoming decision from Facebook’s independent Oversight Board on whether to uphold or reverse Facebook’s indefinite suspension of former President Trump’s profiles has policymakers on edge.

 

Investigation suppressed by Trump administration reveals obstacles to hurricane aid for Puerto Rico
Tracy Jan and Lisa Rein, The Washington Post

The Trump administration put up bureaucratic obstacles that stalled approximately $20 billion in hurricane relief for Puerto Rico and then obstructed an investigation into the holdup, according to an inspector general report obtained by The Washington Post.

 

China behind another hack as U.S. cybersecurity issues mount
Kevin Collier, NBC News

China is behind a newly discovered series of hacks against key targets in the U.S. government, private companies and the country’s critical infrastructure, cybersecurity firm Mandiant said Wednesday.

 

Simon & Schuster Says Mike Pence Book Will Proceed, Despite Employee Petitions
Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, The Wall Street Journal

Simon & Schuster Chief Executive Jonathan Karp said Tuesday the publisher would proceed with a book by former Vice President Mike Pence despite objections from some of its employees, saying he wants to preserve a culture that presents different perspectives.

 
Campaigns
 

Mike Pompeo strategy to ‘stay relevant’ for 2024 takes shape
David M. Drucker, The Washington Examiner

Mike Pompeo is leveraging relationships with House Republicans to stay front and center with GOP voters as the former secretary of state mulls a 2024 presidential bid.

 

Andrew Giuliani to meet with Trump as he preps NY gubernatorial bid
Gabby Orr, CNN

Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a former public liaison official inside the Trump White House, will meet with the former President at Mar-a-Lago next week as he finalizes his plans to launch a campaign for New York governor.

 

Subtle differences separate Democrats seeking open House seat in Louisiana
Stephanie Akin, Roll Call

As Democratic colleagues in the Republican-led Louisiana Senate, Karen Carter Peterson and Troy Carter frequently found themselves on the same side of issues popular on the left, from raising the minimum wage to opposing limits on legal abortions.

 
States
 

Governor vetoes North Dakota transgender sports bill
Jack Dura, The Bismarck Tribune

Gov. Doug Burgum on Wednesday vetoed a bill restricting transgender girls in K-12 sports. The bill had passed the House 69-25 and the Senate 27-20 after conference committee amendments.

 

‘Gentle Steering of the Ship’: How Keith Ellison Led the Prosecution of Chauvin
Tim Arango, The New York Times

As a young civil rights lawyer almost 20 years ago, Keith Ellison took on a client who accused two Minneapolis police officers of sodomizing him with a toilet plunger.

 

Arizona Governor Vetoes Bill Restricting L.G.B.T.Q. Education
Bryan Pietsch, The New York Times

Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona on Tuesday vetoed legislation that would have imposed some of the country’s most restrictive rules regarding L.G.B.T.Q. education, calling the bill “overly broad and vague.”

 

Carr steps down from Republican AGs group under fire for robocall
Greg Bluestein, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Chris Carr has stepped down as chairman of a national group that advocates for Republican attorneys general, citing a “significant difference of opinion” in the organization’s direction following a robocall that urged people to march to the U.S. Capitol and “stop the steal” ahead of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.

 

California Gov. Newsom declares drought emergency in two counties
Ivana Saric, Axios

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared an emergency executive order for two counties Wednesday, in order to accelerate the response to drought conditions affecting the northern part of the state.

 
Advocacy
 

Chauvin trial prosecution worked with strategic communications firm
Margaret Talev, Axios

For most of the past year, a strategic communications firm with deep Washington ties has played an integral role for the prosecution in the State of Minnesota v. Derek Chauvin — operating without pay and so under-the-radar that most of its own staff had no idea.

 

NRA launches $2 million campaign to oppose Biden gun-control agenda
Tom Hamburger, The Washington Post

Even as National Rifle Association leaders are called to testify in the second week of a bankruptcy trial, the gun rights organization is launching plans to lobby Congress against gun-control measures backed by President Biden and leading Democrats.

 

Chevron Lobbies to Head Off New Sanctions on Myanmar
Kenneth P. Vogel and Lara Jakes, The New York Times

The Myanmar military’s coup and brutal crackdown on dissent has left it with few allies in the West. But one of the most sophisticated corporate lobbying operations in Washington has mobilized to head off intensifying pressure on the Biden administration to impose broad sanctions against the state-owned oil and gas company helping to finance the junta

 
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
 

For my brother George Floyd, this is what justice feels like
Philonise Floyd, The Washington Post

This is what justice feels like: gut-wrenching relief, exhaustion. It’s not sweet or satisfying.

 
Morning Consult