Acting Capitol police chief Yogananda Pittman told a congressional hearing there are 35 officers under investigation for the January 6 insurrection “and we do have six police officers that have been suspended with their police powers being revoked, so those investigations are ongoing at this time.”
Sununu Would Be Strongest Against Hassan
A new University of New Hampshire poll finds Gov. Chris Sununu (R) just ahead of Sen. Maggie Hassan (D) in a possible U.S. Senate match up, 48% to 46%.
In another match up, Hassan leads former Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R), 48% to 43%.
A side note: Sununu blamed Donald Trump for the January 6 Capitol riots and could be denied the GOP nomination if Trump forces mobilize to block him.
The Republican Party Is Now in Its End Stages
Tom Nichols: “We are living in a time of bad metaphors. Everything is fascism, or socialism; Hitler’s Germany, or Stalin’s Soviet Union. Republicans, especially, want their followers to believe that America is on the verge of a dramatic time, a moment of great conflict such as 1968—or perhaps, even worse, 1860. (The drama is the point, of course. No one ever says, ‘We’re living through 1955.’)”
“Ironically, the GOP is indeed replicating another political party in another time, but not as the heroes they imagine themselves to be. The Republican Party has become, in form if not in content, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union of the late 1970s.”
Senate Waits for Ruling From Parliamentarian
“Capitol Hill waited Thursday for the Senate parliamentarian to weigh in on whether the chamber’s rules would permit Democrats to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour as part of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The decision by Elizabeth MacDonough, the chief Senate parliamentarian, will set the stage for an intense debate among Democrats about how to proceed on the contentious provision. Democrats, who cannot afford to lose a single vote among their own ranks to pass the bill in an evenly divided Senate, have split over the push to raise the federal minimum wage, which would boost it to $15 an hour over four years.”
The Growing Problem of E-Waste
Green That Life: “When you think of the main culprit in our global waste crisis, do you think of plastic? I do, but a fierce contender is now e-waste. As we grapple with the environmental issues related to handling humans’ ability to generate ever-increasing quantities of waste, we’ll need to add electrically-powered devices to the list.”
Are Democrats Winning or Losing on Taxes?
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Becerra Looks Headed for Confirmation
“California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra appeared headed toward confirmation as the nation’s first Latino secretary of Health and Human Services after a pivotal hearing passed Wednesday with few fireworks and no serious blows inflicted by Republicans hoping to derail him,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Democrats Will Allow Earmarks for Infrastructure Bill
Punchbowl News: “We already knew that House Democrats were going to bring back earmarks for the 12 annual spending bills. But here’s something new: Democrats are moving toward allowing earmarks on the large-scale infrastructure bill they’re planning for this spring.”
“Allowing earmarks could make it easier to pass this bill. It could give lawmakers a chance to list the projects in their district that need federal cash, and give them more political buy in to the package. It will also push appropriations lobbying into overdrive. If you’re a state, municipality or local government and you need an infrastructure project funded, it’s time to get a lobbyist. Just like the old days in D.C.”
Neera Tanden’s Nomination Was Troubled From the Start
Wall Street Journal: “Sen. Bernie Sanders never got a heads up. There was no campaign to pressure Sen. Joe Manchin to change his mind. And the phones didn’t immediately ring in the offices of key Senate Republicans when it became clear the White House needed them…”
“Over the weekend, once it became obvious that Ms. Tanden’s nomination was in serious trouble, lawmakers and aides say they saw scant evidence of an intensive campaign to salvage the pick from a team that promised to bring Capitol Hill savvy back to the West Wing.”
How Biden’s Senate Confirmations Compare
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Prosecutors Now Have Trump’s Tax Records
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has now obtained former President Donald Trump’s tax returns and related records, CNN reports.
The records include “millions of pages of documents.”
Ex-Girlfriend Turned In Capitol Rioter After Rude Text
“Standing on the Capitol steps on Jan. 6, Richard Michetti allegedly took a break from the rioting to argue with his ex-girlfriend over text message. After sending photos and videos of the mob and boasting how he had avoided tear gas, Michetti parroted Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud,” the Washington Post reports.
Texted Michetti: “If you can’t see the election was stolen you’re a moron.”
“The next day, the woman he had insulted promptly told the FBI that her ex was at the Capitol, handing over to law enforcement the string of texts, photos and videos he had sent to her.”
Making No Friends on Capitol Hill
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) placed a sign outside her office Wednesday mocking Rep. Marie Newman (D-IL), whose office sits across the hall, after Newman hung a transgender pride flag next to her door in protest over Greene’s opposition to a LGBTQ rights bill, NBC News reports.
Newman’s daughter is transgender.
From Outcast to King of CPAC
“Just five years ago, Donald Trump pulled out of speaking at the annual CPAC conference,” First Read notes.
“That decision came during the throes of the 2016 GOP nominating contest, when fellow Republicans were questioning Trump’s conservative credentials and when there was talk about a possible walk-out to protest Trump’s scheduled speech.”
“Now? Not only is Trump the featured Sunday speaker at this year’s upcoming CPAC conference in Orlando — coming after his defeat, after the GOP lost the Senate and after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol — he’s reshaped CPAC and the conservative movement in his image.”
Assessing the Impact of Absentee Voting
Alan Abramowitz finds that eased absentee voting rules in last year’s presidential election contributed to higher voter participation rates, but Joe Biden’s performance still tracked closely with Hillary Clinton’s state-by-state results in 2016 — he just performed slightly better across the board.
His conclusion: “All told, the sharp increase in absentee voting in 2020 wasn’t disproportionately beneficial to either presidential candidate.”
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If you’re on Clubhouse, the new audio social network, follow me @politicalwire — the same as my Twitter handle.
730,000 Americans Filed New Jobless Claims Last Week
NBC News: “While the latest figure snaps the six-week streak of first-time claims above 800,000, it is still the 49th week that the number has been higher than at any time during the Great Recession.”
What Terrible Things Did Neera Tanden Tweet?
Dana Millbank: “Can you believe that Neera Tanden called Hillary Clinton the ‘anti-Christ’ and the ‘real enemy’? Oh, wait. It was Ryan Zinke who said those things. Fifty-one Republican senators (and several Democrats, including Joe Manchin) confirmed him as secretary of the interior in 2017.”
“And how about the times Tanden allegedly called the NAACP a ‘pinko organization’ that ‘hates white people’ and used racial epithets? My bad. That was Jeff Sessions. Again, 51 Republican senators (and one Democrat, Manchin) voted to confirm him as attorney general in 2017.”
“Surely Tanden went beyond the pale when she “liked” a tweet calling then-Secretary of State John F. Kerry a ‘traitor’ and ‘Vietnam’s worst export,’ and when she suggested Clinton supporters leave the country. Except Mike Pompeo was the one who did those things. He won confirmation as secretary of state in 2018 with the votes of 50 Republicans and six Democrats, including Manchin.”
