Nearly a dozen current and former staffers of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) told Gothamist/WNYC that the governor Cuomo “has cultivated an intense work culture that was brutal for some, traumatic for others.”
“We are withholding all of their names… because they fear professional or personal retaliation from the governor and his senior staff. Many still reside in New York where Cuomo’s reach extends far and wide.”
For members: Cuomo Tries Northam’s Hold Your Ground Strategy
“Senate Democrats are confident they can pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill well before the official March 14 deadline. But Republicans are setting up a grueling debate that appears likely to carry the partisan battle into the weekend,” Politico reports.
“Republicans are planning to make life as excruciating as possible.”
“Fresh internal documents from the Department of Health and Human Services show how quickly the number of child migrants crossing the border is overwhelming the administration’s stretched resources,” Axios reports.
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball rates Virginia’s open-seat gubernatorial race starts as Leans Democratic, with former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) holding a significant edge to be his party’s nominee.
New Jersey’s gubernatorial race starts as Likely Democratic with Gov. Phil Murphy (D) heavily favored to win re-election.
Amy Walter: “Democrats controlled the House for 40 straight years from 1954 until 1994. Democratic control of the Senate lasted uninterrupted for 25 years—from 1955 to 1980. From 1952 until 1988, Republicans won 7 of 10 presidential elections. This is the era in which many of my peers (and those who mentored me) were raised.”
“Since 1994, however, the House has flipped control three times (2006, 2010, 2018). Control of the Senate has changed political hands five times since 1994. In other words, when I came to Washington in 1991, most Republicans who worked in politics had never been in the House majority, and few Democrats had much experience working in a White House.”
“Today, most of those who work in politics don’t know of a time when control of the House, Senate and/or White House wasn’t up for grabs.”
“Wyoming state Rep. Chuck Gray (R) will run against Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) in the 2022 Republican primary, becoming the latest challenger looking to unseat the powerful congresswoman following her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
“Gray is not the only hardline conservative to run against Wyoming’s incumbent. State Sen. Anthony Bouchard announced his candidacy in January.”
The man known as the “QAnon Shaman,” who was seen shirtless and wearing bull horns in the U.S. Capitol during the deadly rioting on Jan. 6, told 60 Minutes+ from jail that he was “wounded” that former President Trump did not try to help him.
Said Jacob Chansley: “I honestly believed and still believe that he cares about the Constitution, that he cares about the American people, and that’s also why and you know it wounded me so deeply and why it disappointed me so greatly that I and others did not get a pardon.”
“I’ve had four calls from the president since my reelection. We go back a long way. I think highly of him. I want him to be successful, and the best way for him to be successful is to resist the pull to the left.”
— Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), quoted by The Atlantic.
“New York Times columnist David Brooks is drawing a second salary for his work on an Aspen Institute project funded by Facebook and other large donors — a fact he has not disclosed in his columns,” Buzzfeed News reports.
“Brooks has published multiple columns that promote (the Aspen Institute project) Weave, in addition to writing pieces that mention Facebook, its founder Mark Zuckerberg, and the company’s products without disclosing his financial ties to the social networking giant.”
Former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) made a $250,000 campaign contribution to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) last week after seniors in the uber-wealthy Florida Keys enclave where Rauner owns a home were among the first in the state to receive COVID-19 vaccinations in January, the Chicago Tribune reports.
“You’d better be spending a lot more time developing an economic agenda that benefits working people than re-litigating a lost presidential election. The question is, how long will it take the Republicans to figure out that driving out heretics rather than winning new converts is a losing strategy right now?”
— GOP pollster Whit Ayres, quoted by the New York Times.
“A number of former Trump political appointees have still not received their lump-sum vacation payouts and required forms that are necessary to file for unemployment benefits as they face a tough job market in a Democratic Washington,” Politico reports.
Said one former Commerce appointee: “I’m sitting here going, how do I pay my rent? How do I pay my cellphone bill?”
“As Donald Trump plotted his Conservative Political Action Conference appearance last week, and a broader, more-robust plan to return to politics as an omnipresent disruptor, one person was conspicuously absent from the confab,” CNN reports.
“Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, was notably not on the list of advisers assisting the former President.”
Said one adviser: “Right now, he’s just checked out of politics.”
“The U.S. may be on the verge of another surge in coronavirus cases, despite weeks of good news,” Axios reports.
“Nationwide, progress against the virus has stalled. And some states are ditching their most important public safety measures even as their outbreaks are getting worse.”
“The U.S. averaged just under 65,000 new cases per day over the past week. That’s essentially unchanged from the week before, ending a six-week streak of double-digit improvements. Although the U.S. has been moving in the right direction, 65,000 cases per day is not a number that indicates the virus is under control. It’s the same caseload the U.S. was seeing last July, at the height of the summer surge in cases and deaths.”
“President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress are jamming their agenda forward with a sense of urgency, an unapologetically partisan approach based on the calculation that it’s better to advance the giant COVID-19 rescue package and other priorities than waste time courting Republicans who may never compromise,” the AP reports.
“The coronavirus pandemic is driving the crush of legislative action, but so are the still-raw emotions from the U.S. Capitol siege and the hard lessons of the last time Democrats had the sweep of party control of Washington. Republicans are mounting blockades of Biden’s agenda just as they did during the devastating 2009 financial crisis with Barack Obama.”
Three of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) four coronavirus medical advisers told the Texas Tribune they weren’t directly consulted prior to lifting mask mandate.
The fourth said he couldn’t say whether the move was a good idea.
“The House late Wednesday night passed expansive legislation to create uniform national voting standards, overhaul campaign finance laws and outlaw partisan redistricting, advancing a centerpiece of the Democratic voting rights agenda amid fierce Republican attacks that threaten to stop it cold in the Senate,” the Washington Post reports.
“The bill’s voting provisions would guarantee no-excuse mail voting and at least 15 days of early voting for federal elections; require states to use their existing government records to automatically register citizens to vote; restore voting rights to felons who have completed their prison sentences; and mandate the use of paper ballots.”
“Other provisions would create new disclosure requirements for ‘dark money’ donations to political groups; require states to appoint independent commissions to draw congressional districts; and create new federal standards for election equipment vendors.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.