Daily Archives: February 14, 2021

Nikki Haley enjoyed the MAGA glow while avoiding Trump's brash brand of politics. But in the aftermath of the Capitol insurrection, that position is becoming less and less tenable.

When Vice President Kamala Harris appeared in Manchins home state on TV pushing the coronavirus relief bill, Manchin retorted: Thats not a way of working together. Sinema was similarly unhappy, according to people that spoke with her afterward.

She decided to deal with it privately. She explained that people in her state don't really want me to spend my time weighing in on controversies or palace intrigue. They don't care about that. And attempts at trying to force Sinemas hand will not go anywhere, she insists.

Its not effective to pressure me on anything. Because I am a thoughtful person who takes a lot of time, deliberatively, to make decisions, Sinema said. Once I've made a decision, I feel very comfortable with it. And it doesn't matter what other people think.

Already there are progressive groups itching to send her a primary challenger in 2024, citing her reluctance to gut the filibuster and for voting with Republicans on things like fossil-fuel regulations, barring stimulus checks to undocumented immigrants and approving some of Trumps nominees. But Sinema also voted to remove Trump last year and last week helped advance party-line budget reconciliation efforts despite her laser focus on bringing in Republican support.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) has known Sinema since she was a state legislator. He isnt surprised at the way she wields her influence as a U.S. senator given how hard she had to fight to be relevant in an Arizona legislature where Democrats werent in the minority, they were in the super-minority.

She knows her own mind. And I think shes someone who has an understandably self-confident assessment of her state and her place in it, her states place in our country and her role in her caucus, Coons said.

As one of a handful of moderates in a caucus that may need lockstep unity to move Bidens agenda, theres plenty of political pressure on Sinema even if she chooses to ignore it. She and Manchin may have to be the deciding votes on Neera Tanden, Bidens nominee to be White House budget chief and perhaps the toughest confirmation the new president will have to steer through the Senate in his first 100 days.

Tanden has little GOP support after her Twitter attacks on Republicans. But Sinema questioned her on policy during her hearing and has not yet done anything to indicate she might tank Tanden's nomination. She said shed also spoken to Tanden privately but declined to divulge where she is leaning: I dont preview where I am on votes. Ever.

Colleagues chalk that up to Sinemas contemplative nature. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), another GOP ally of Sinemas thats worked with her on family leave policy, said he learned a lot about her in late December as Congress struggled to clinch its last coronavirus bill. When Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) sparred over Toomeys effort to restrict some of the Federal Reserves lending programs, Kyrsten is sitting there listening, just listening, Cassidy recalled.

And finally she says: Theyre talking past each other but theyre saying the same thing, Cassidy said. She almost brokered that by just listening.

True to form, Sinema seems more interested in listening than opining at length on the issues of the day. She shuts down a question about how her views play with fellow Democrats: Popularity is not my concern.

During her Senate run, Sinema was a skeptic of Schumers leadership style, but shes not delivering a verdict on his stewardship of the caucus: You should ask Schumer how hes doing as majority leader. Even an innocuous question about her partys direction is met with a brick wall: I know this isnt going to surprise you. I just don't talk about internal stuff publicly.

And thats just fine with Democrats these days, who sense that Sinema is a team player regardless of her unique views. Just listen to her talk about passing coronavirus relief on what may be a party-line vote, and she sounds a bit like Biden: disappointed that Republicans arent yet on board, but confident its the right thing to do.

Bipartisanship is always my first choice, she said. I also want to make sure that we're getting stuff done for Arizonans. They need help and I don't want to see a process that gets bogged down in petty partisanship, like you did last year for much of the year.

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The most influential Democrat you never hear from - POLITICO

Do you think that the D.N.C. should have devoted more attention and resources to down-ballot contests given the results in state legislative and congressional races?

The thing about this election cycle that is really regrettable is that we had record turnout. And we should be celebrating that on a bipartisan basis, because we did really well. We won the presidency. We have the House. We have the Senate. And Republicans won in a number of critical races. Thats undeniable. They won a number of Senate seats. They won a number of congressional seats. And they won because a lot of their people turned out. And instead, what Donald Trump and the far right chose to do is to invest in this fiction that there was some sort of massive voter fraud, which is inaccurate.

The reality is we won a series of really important races. And they won a number of down-ballot races. Those are the facts of 2020. And thats why were absolutely drilling down deeper to answer the question of how did we do well for Mark Kelly and Joe Biden in Arizona and not so well in some of the State House and State Senate races. Really important question. It certainly wasnt for lack of investment. And thats why were looking to understand what else do we have to do.

Why was Latino support for Democrats so much softer in 2020 after four years of Trump than it was in 2016 and elections before that?

Do we need to do more with Latino voters? Absolutely. And I am very committed to that. We did more than the party has ever done. But again, every cycle, we need to build on what we did before. And thats exactly what we will do. The misinformation campaigns in South Florida were very real. And they involved both domestic and foreign actors.

And the appeals to socialism in South Florida were more successful. They made those same socialism arguments in Arizona. But they fell flat. And they fell flat, in no small measure, because we had a really aggressive and longstanding organizing infrastructure in Arizona that enabled us to counteract that.

Will the 2022 and 2024 elections be a referendum on President Bidens handling of the pandemic and the economy?

What voters are going to ask themselves is the same question they always ask. Am I better off than I was two years ago? Am I seeing results that are improving my life? As they are able to return to normalcy, whatever normalcy is going to look like post-Covid, I think that they will appreciate that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris led during this crisis.

Should Iowa and New Hampshire keep going first in the presidential nominating process?

That will be up to the D.N.C.s Rules and Bylaws Committee.

Im aware. But what does the private citizen Tom Perez think?

A diverse state or states need to be first. The difference between going first and going third is really important. We know the importance of momentum in Democratic primaries.

Ill try one more time. Could you make a case for defending Iowa and New Hampshire going first?

The status quo is clearly unacceptable. To simply say, Lets just continue doing this because this is how weve always done it, well, Iowa started going as an early caucus state, I believe, in 1972. The world has changed a lot since 1972 to 2020 and 2024. And so the notion that we need to do it because this is how weve always done it is a woefully insufficient justification for going first again.

This is the Democratic Party of 2020. Its different from the Democratic Party in how we were in 1972. And we need to reflect that change. And so I am confident that the status quo is not going to survive.

How far down the road are you in thinking about running for governor of Maryland?

Im seriously considering a run for governor in Maryland.

We need a governor who can really build strong relationships with the Biden administration, will build strong relationships with every one of the jurisdictions in Maryland.

Marylanders are just like everybody else. We want an end to this pandemic. We want to put kids back to school. We want to put people back to work. The pandemic has disproportionately touched women and communities of color in Maryland. And Ive had the fortune of working in local government, and with the nonprofit faith communities and state government there.

So Im currently listening. Im on a listening tour in Maryland. And I think we need leadership, really, with a bold vision of inclusion and opportunity because ZIP code should never determine destiny in any community across America.

Has Larry Hogan been a good governor for Maryland?

I appreciate the fact that Larry Hogan has said critical things about Donald Trump. I appreciate that. What we really need, I think, in Maryland is leaders who will sweat the details of governance. The pandemic rollout, the vaccination process has been nothing less than chaotic in Maryland. Weve had an unemployment insurance crisis, people waiting months and months to get their unemployment benefits. Thats just a failure of leadership at a state level.

I didnt hear a yes or no on Hogan.

I applaud that he tried to get some tests from South Korea. But then it turned out that the tests didnt work. And he covered it up. And theres always going to be moments where mistakes are made. And good leaders fess up to those mistakes. But he tried to sweep it under the rug.

Again, its great to see a governor who criticizes Donald Trump. But we need governors who do a hell of a lot more than just criticize.

What would you be doing differently to accelerate vaccine distribution and reopen schools faster?

I would be on the phone every day with county executives making sure: What do you need? What do you not have? What do you have? What can we do? I would be relentlessly reaching out to our colleagues in the federal government to say: Heres what we need. Heres whats going on. I would have a war room set up and, again, every single day, say: You value what you measure. You measure what you value. What are we doing?

Donald Trump is partly to blame for this. He was a disaster. But you look at other states other states have been able to work around that and are doing better. Our vaccination rates do not compare well. Were the richest state in the United States Maryland but we have way too many people who are on the outside looking in.

You said good leaders admit their mistakes. What were the biggest mistakes you made at the D.N.C.?

I wish that we could have won more elections. And so Im looking back at what we did and some of the races we didnt win. I was really frustrated in January and early February of 2017, because Donald Trump was in power and he was issuing all sorts of executive actions that were turning life upside down for so many people. That was in the middle of the D.N.C. race because the election wasnt set until the end of February. So we got a late start. And I think that was a mistake.

It was frustrating to see Feb. 27, a month into the administration, and Im just showing up at work for the first time. So I think we have to be very mindful. And if there are periods of time in the future where were in a similar situation, where weve lost the White House, we better make sure we start early because I had to play a lot of catch-up. And that was a mistake.

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Tom Perez on Democrats Mistakes and Why Iowa Shouldnt Go First - The New York Times

It is important that we find out some of the things that the former president may have been involved in that really hurt our country, said Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), who served as an impeachment manager during Trump's first trial and wants to continue active oversight of his departed administration. Were trying to set America up for success.

The debate comes as Trump continues to hold a tight grip on the GOP base. And theres no issue that brings Democrats together faster than criticizing him. But with the second impeachment trial coming to an end, Democrats acknowledge they have few options left at their disposal to sanction Trump. Top Democrats all but ruled out a censure resolution against the former president on Saturday, keenly aware that it would be highly unlikely to clear a 60-vote threshold in the Senate after 43 GOP senators voted to acquit.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi explicitly ruled out censure during a post-acquittal news conference Saturday, saying it would let "cowardly senators" who didn't vote to convict "off the hook."

"Censure is a slap in the face of the Constitution," Pelosi said. We censure people for using stationary for the wrong purpose. We dont censure people for inciting an insurrection that kills people in the Capitol.

And there so far appears to be little appetite among Senate Democrats to look at further punishments or probes.

"We dont put presidents in jail, ex-presidents. We just dont do that, said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). We never have in the past. I dont know why wed start now.

House Democratic leaders dont yet have a road map to deal with Trump after the trial, according to several people familiar with the discussions. But some Democrats made their intentions clear after the vote. House Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) tweeted that she would "keep working to investigate Jan 6 especially on the question of WHO FINANCED IT," but did not offer details of that probe.

The debate comes as Trump continues to hold a tight grip on the GOP base. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO

The current legal proceedings already underway including an effort to obtain Trumps financial records will continue, according to senior Democrats. And theres been some talk among members about revoking his post-presidential privileges and strengthening Congresss powers to ensure that future presidents are forced to abide by stricter rules for responding to subpoenas, divesting from businesses and not hiring family members.

Some of those measures are already part of a sprawling government accountability bill that Democrats passed last Congress, designated H.R. 1. That bill is expected to come to the floor as early as March, according to a senior Democratic aide.

Senior Democrats also drafted a bill last year that would address a slew of what the party saw as Trumps abuses of power, proposing stronger subpoena powers for Congress and a suspended statute of limitations for federal offenses conducted by a sitting president. The bill did not come to the floor last Congress, but it could this time around if there is broad enough interest in the caucus.

But right now, the sentiment of many House Democrats is that Trump needs to become an afterthought.

Weve gotta get beyond Trump as best we can, as quickly as we can, Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) said, noting that he would support some restoration of Congress powers, as long as its not a distraction.

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, argue that an acquittal in the impeachment trial doesn't mean the exercise was worthless as a way to hold Trump accountable. In the end, seven Republicans voted to convict, more than originally expected.

And Trump still faces the real possibility of legal punishment, even without Congress. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who voted to acquit, suggested to his caucus Saturday that criminal prosecution for Trump could be appropriate in response to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

State legal authorities are also looking into Trump. Just hours before the Senate voted, news broke that New York prosecutors are investigating financial details of Trump-owned properties a reminder of the expansive web of ongoing investigations outside Washington. And Georgia prosecutors recently opened an investigation into Trump's call to pressure Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger into overturning his loss.

With the trial over, congressional Democrats are now moving forward with crafting a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package the partys most urgent priority. An ambitious legislative agenda will follow that, likely starting with infrastructure and immigration.

I dont think people are interested in looking backwards at Trump," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).

Still, some in the party argue that deciding whether to keep focusing on making Trump pay or to concentrate on Democratic priorities is a false choice.

I dont think its an either/or," said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Democrats campaign arm. I dont think it makes any sense for us to be consumed with Donald Trump. But it doesnt mean we shouldnt demand accountability from both President Trump and his enablers, because the truth matters.

But right now, the sentiment of many House Democrats is that Trump needs to become an afterthought. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo

But Democrats are also aware of a key reality: Trump is not going to simply disappear. While hes lost his biggest megaphone his Twitter account the former president is planning to weigh in on GOP primaries and mulling a 2024 run.

Trumps expected return to politics poses further risks for the Democratic Party, which has long struggled with whether to ignore or engage him. In the 2018 midterms, House Democrats successfully neutered Trumps ability to swallow up the national news cycle by running a tightly scripted campaign on health care, ignoring his taunts on contentious issues.

But even after Democrats retook the House, Trump and his Twitter feed commandeered every narrative on a daily basis until the platform finally banned the former president after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

"Its my hope that having seen these shocking and clear videos about his intent" on that day, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said of Trump, "that they will no longer support him."

With Trump's electoral future murky, Democrats are under intense pressure to deliver on their agenda ahead of the 2022 midterms when many lawmakers privately believe the House majority could again flip.

Many Democrats say that agenda should include proposals to reassert congressional authority after watching Trump trample on the legislative branch for years. But they say even that shouldnt be marketed as a response to Trump.

"If there was a Democratic president who was exceeding the normal traditional authorities of the presidency, Republicans would want that curbed as well, Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said. Its for everybody. Its not just a punishment."

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Democrats wrestle with how to quit an acquitted Trump - POLITICO

WASHINGTON The House Republicans campaign arm on Wednesday revealed the list of 47 House Democrats it will target in the 2022 midterm elections, whose results are likely to be determined largely by the popularity of President Biden.

The National Republican Congressional Committees list includes 25 Democrats who were first elected in the Democrats 2018 wave election and six incumbents who represent districts that voted for former President Donald J. Trump in November. It includes a wide array of moderate Democrats, including Representatives Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania, who have publicly sparred with the partys more liberal wing in recent months.

The target list comes three months after House Republicans outperformed pre-election polling and flipped 15 Democratic-held seats in last years elections. The party out of power typically does well in midterm elections: Since World War II, the presidents party has lost an average of 27 House seats in midterm elections.

The 2022 elections have the potential to carry a dynamic unseen in previous midterm contests a referendum on a previous presidents actions. Democrats have already signaled they aim to tie House Republicans to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol by a crowd incited by Mr. Trump.

Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the N.R.C.C. chairman, forcefully condemned the rioters during a Wednesday video conference with reporters but also welcomed campaign assistance from Mr. Trump. He said that his committee would continue to embrace the former president and would maintain its policy of not taking sides in primaries even to help incumbent members who voted to impeach the former president.

President Trump and his administration implemented some amazing policies for this country, right? Mr. Emmer said. The economic policies that they advanced, his energy policy, putting Americans and America first, that policy, it was all good. It brought in a ton of new voters to our party. I think Republicans need to celebrate those policies, I think we need to continue to embrace them.

The Republicans list is speculative, given that it will be months before states are able to begin drawing new congressional district lines. The Census Bureau is already late in delivering reapportionment and redistricting data to states, delaying until at least late summer a process that typically begins in February or March.

The tardiness of the census data has left both parties congressional campaign committees in limbo as they seek to recruit candidates for presumptive districts. Sun Belt states like Texas and Florida are expected to add multiple new House districts, while Northern states including Illinois, Ohio and New York are likely to lose at least one seat each.

Mr. Emmer said Republicans would win redistricting and maximize our opportunities.

What Im talking about is fair and transparent, and that the districts make sense and that they reflect not only the geography of the state and that they are a fair representation of the demography of the state, he said.

Seven House Democrats who represent districts Mr. Trump carried in November are on the N.R.C.C. list: Representatives Cindy Axne of Iowa, Cheri Bustos of Illinois, Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania, Jared Golden of Maine, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Andy Kim of New Jersey and Ron Kind of Wisconsin.

Ms. Bustos, who led the House Democrats campaign arm in 2020, had margins of victory that shrunk from 24 percentage points in 2018 to four points in 2020. But with Illinois certain to lose at least one seat, her gerrymandered district, which snakes around to include Democratic-leaning sections of Peoria and Rockford along with the Illinois portion of the Quad Cities, will change before she faces voters again.

The N.R.C.C. also believes a handful of Democrats who underperformed Mr. Biden may be vulnerable against better-funded challengers. Those Democrats include Representatives Katie Porter and Mike Levin of California, who both had significantly less support than Mr. Biden in November.

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House Republicans Announce 47 Democrats They Hope to Unseat - The New York Times

We want to make sure that the bills that come out of our committee are bipartisan," said state Rep. Victoria Neave, D-Dallas, on Sunday's Inside Texas Politics.

DALLAS State Representative Victoria Neave, a Dallas Democrat in her third term, was appointed to a coveted committee chair position in the Texas House.

As we strive for equity and put a spotlight on issues that affect women in Texas, Im just really thrilled that the speaker had the faith and trust in me to lead on these really important issues for Texas women and children, said Rep. Neave on Sundays Inside Texas Politics.

She will chair the Texas House Committee on Juvenile Justice and Family Issues. Neave is one of five women that Speaker Dade Phelan selected for a leadership position.

One of the other deep dives that were going to be doing is looking at the school to prison pipeline, for example, the disproportionate impact on students of color, Neave added.

Committee chairs have significant influence on what legislation advances to the full House for consideration. Considering that, Neave said shes already considering legislation resulting from the pandemic.

We saw during the pandemic, a significant increase in domestic violence right here in Dallas and all across different parts of Texas. That is something we really want to prioritize, she explained. We want to make sure our rape crisis centers and our family violence centers that have been providing such necessary resources to individuals trying to escape abuse that they have the tools they need to be able to continue to serve our community.

In a nod to the bipartisanship that the Texas House has become known for, Neave said We want to make sure that the bills that come out of our committee are bipartisan, that they really accomplish something meaningful for the state of Texas.

The Dallas Democrat said she is also planning to strengthen The Lavinia Masters Act, which she got passed into law last session. The law completely transformed the justice system for rape survivors.

The bill required law enforcement agencies to prioritize and test rape kits rather than leave them sitting on evidence shelves for months or even years. The Lavinia Masters Act was designed to eliminate the states backlog of sexual assault forensic exams.

It was named in honor of Lavinia Masters, a Dallas woman who was raped at age 13 but had to wait 20 years for Dallas police to finally test her evidence and identify the perpetrator. By that time, though, the statute of limitations in her case had expired and Ms. Masters could not pursue charges against her rapist.

I just met with the [Texas Department of Public Safety], Neave told the television program. Were thrilled about the progress of the legislation. Well be rolling out very soon our legislative package to address additional issues so that we make sure not one rape kit goes untested and the survivors get the justice that they deserve.

The first Latina to chair a committee in the Texas House was the late Irma Rangel. In 1995, she was appointed chair of the Texas House Committee on Higher Education.

Currently, of the 34 standing committees in the Texas House, 21 chairs are Republicans and 13 are Democrats, the Texas Tribune reported.

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A Dallas Democrat becomes only the sixth Latina to chair a committee in the Texas House - WFAA.com

Within the Democratic caucus, Mr. Bidens team has avoided other pitfalls he witnessed during the Obama administration, when White House spokesmen dismissed activists as the professional left and banished intraparty critics from the administrations circles of influence. Instead, Mr. Bidens White House has welcomed many such critics to virtual meetings, and the chief of staff, Ron Klain, has encouraged progressive criticism on his Twitter feed.

Feb. 14, 2021, 11:59 a.m. ET

Melissa Byrne, a progressive activist, discovered as much when she wanted to prod Mr. Biden to focus on forgiving student loan debt. To complement her steady stream of tweets, Ms. Byrne bought full-page ads in The News Journal, a newspaper that was delivered to Mr. Bidens Delaware house daily during the presidential transition.

Ms. Byrne expected some bristling from Mr. Bidens team over her public protests. Instead, her efforts were encouraged. Mr. Klain told her to keep up the pressure, inviting her to more Zoom meetings with the transition team.

We just kept being able to have people at the table, she said. That showed me that we could do cool things like sit-ins and banner drops, but we could also be warm and fuzzy.

The singular focus on the pandemic has enabled Mr. Biden to align the central promise of his campaign a more effective government response with the priorities of party officials in battleground states, who say that voters expect Mr. Biden to deliver a competent vaccine distribution along with direct economic relief. Already, there is widespread agreement within the party that Democrats will be judged in the 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential contest by their handling of the twin crises.

Needles and checks thats got to be the focus, said Thomas Nelson, the executive of Wisconsins Outagamie County. Mr. Nelson was a Sanders delegate in 2020 and is running in the 2022 election for the seat held by Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican. People in my county, we need those checks.

Mr. Biden has also paid attention to other policy matters. He has signed about 45 executive orders, memorandums or proclamations enacting or at least initiating major shifts on issues including racial justice, immigration, climate change and transgender rights.

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How Biden United a Fractious Democratic Party Under One Tent - The New York Times