Kendrick Lamar was the perfect distraction from a kinda sleepy week on Capitol Hill
Juneteenth’s spot in the middle of the week made for a wacky Senate week. But the holiday also provided a the backdrop for a legendary performance by one of the music’s greatest rappers of all time.
First Things First
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! I’m a Dallas native, so I’m used to the unbearable heat that Texas summers are known for. But I’ve got to tell you: The sweltering temperatures on the East Coast this week were almost too much for your boy. I’m one of 100 million Americans who were under heat advisories as thermometer dials from the lower midwest to northern New England shot up to 90-plus degrees to mark the official start of summer. And based on the forecast for the nation’s capital, there looks to be little relief in sight. Woe is us.
The House was out this week, but the Senate had a wacky schedule. The chamber was in on Monday and Tuesday, out on Wednesday due to the Juneteenth holiday and back on Thursday to wrap things up before a two-week recess through the Fourth of July.
Unsurprisingly, attendance was an issue for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) as he had to pull a confirmation vote on a judicial nominee unanimously opposed by Senate Republicans because of too many truants in his own ranks. Yesterday’s vote was even worse as most senators skipped town on Wednesday: 29 missed the vote, of which 22 were Republicans.
Speaking of Juneteenth, wasn’t Ken and Friends the cultural reset we needed? And as iconic as the back-to-back-to-back-to-back encores of “Not Like Us” were, I would have watched five more additional performances if it meant more clips of NBA star Russell Westbrook vibing on stage.
I’m poppin’ out on the campaign trail this weekend as duty calls ahead of the New York primaries before I head back to Washington to cover the life and times of the topsy-turvy House of Representatives. More from me soon—so stay tuned and talk soon.
ICYMI
I wrote about the executive order President Biden signed this week to provide anti-deportation protections to undocumented spouses of US citizens and streamline the process for qualified DACA recipients to obtain work visas. Bidenworld believes rhe president’s action on Tuesday, combined with an asylum-focused executive order Biden signed earlier this month, hits the sweet spot between keeping mixed-status families together and deterring irregular migration at the southern border at a time when immigration remains a political liability for him.
For COURIER ahead of the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, I wrote about seven Democratic women in Congress leading the fight to generate enough electoral power to restore federal protections to abortion care.
Make me smarter. Did I miss something this week? Is there something the public should know? Drop me a line at michael@onceuponahill.com or send me a message below to get in touch.
In the Know
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced he and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) are still working to resolve the remaining holds on the Kids Online Safety Act, preventing the Senate from quickly passing the sweeping youth digital privacy legislation by unanimous consent. The bill passed unanimously out of the Commerce Committee and has 70 cosponsors—more than enough to overcome a filibuster. But with just three legislative weeks in the Senate before the August recess, Schumer and Blumenthal would prefer to reconcile the holds before spending precious floor time on the bill. KOSA would require tech companies to identify and mitigate harms kids are exposed to on their social apps, give parents better reporting tools, and turn children’s privacy protections to the highest settings by default. The ACLU describes the bill as an “internet censorship bill that will harm the very communities it claims to protect.”
RELATED: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to enact legislation that would require tech companies to place warning labels on their social apps of the risks they pose to kids’ mental health. “There is no seatbelt for parents to click, no helmet to snap in place, no assurance that trusted experts have investigated and ensured that these platforms are safe for our kids,” Murthy wrote for the New York Times. “There are just parents and their children, trying to figure it out on their own, pitted against some of the best product engineers and most well-resourced companies in the world.“
RELATED: Social media influencers will be required to disclose paid political advertisements in Texas under a new rule approved by the Texas Ethics Commission. The action comes after payments to influencers to defend impeached Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton were made public last year.
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) blocked a request for unanimous consent from Sen. Heinrich to pass a federal ban on bump stocks, which turn semiautomatic weapons into a fully automatic firearm that fires bullets more rapidly. The Supreme Court overturned last week a regulation of the devices the Trump-era established in 2018 after a 64-year-old gunman killed more than 60 people and wounded at least 413 from the 32nd floor of his Las Vegas hotel a year earlier with guns outfitted with bump stocks. The high court ruled the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms exceeded its legal authority by classifying a bump stock as a machine gun.
President Biden approved a major disaster declaration to unlock federal resources to support New Mexico’s response to two devastating wildfires. Sen. Heinrich, the dean of the state’s congressional delegation, led a letter to Biden this week urging for swift approval of the declaration. A White House official said federal firefighting personnel and equipment from the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs were immediately surged to help support the State and Mescalero Apache Tribe and over 800 federal personnel are on the ground helping fight these fires. FEMA approved two Fire Management Assistance Grants earlier this week to further support those efforts and the Forest Service has assumed operational command to ensure full coordination of all firefighting assets.
Sen. Dick Durbin led nearly 70 members in a letter asking the Biden administration to consider refugee status for certain Palestinians fleeing Gaza. “Without pathways for Americans to petition for their relatives in Gaza, countless families with strong ties to our nation remain stranded in life-threatening conditions,” the lawmakers wrote.
A group of congressional Democrats introduced a bill that would nearly double the Pell Grant maximum award and index the maximum award for inflation at a time when soaring tuition is threatening to push higher education beyond the reach of working-class Americans. The bill is a part of the Roadmap to College Student Success, House Democrats’ campaign to reform America’s higher education system for students and families. President Biden signed a bill in late 2022 that increased the maximum award by $500 to $7,395.
The Government Accountability Office released a new report that found college athletes face unique barriers to reporting sexual harassment and violence, highlighting the need for increased protection and support for student athletes. The congressional watchdog produced the report at the request of Reps. Bobby Scott (Va.) and Suzanne Bonamici (Ore.)—the top Democrats on the respective House Education and Workforce Committee and Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee.
The Congressional Budget Office adjusted its projection of the 2024 federal budget deficit to $1.9 trillion, an increase of $400 billion from its previous forecast released in February. The agency also projected the US’s publicly held debt will increase from 99 percent of the US economy to 122 percent by the end of this year—the highest ever recorded. This will leave lawmakers with some tough fiscal decisions in the immediate and long-term future.
Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee announced that national average wages and salaries have grown by nearly $16,700 since 2021, outpacing inflation by almost $4,000 during that period. New calculations show that wage growth outpaced price growth in nearly every state through the end of 2023.
Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) commemorated the one-year anniversary of her Senate campaign on Tuesday by officially filing to replace the retiring Tom Carper in Congress’s upper chamber. Following the candidacy filing, Blunt Rochester had lunch with supporters, visited several local small businesses and attended a late-afternoon cookout. The four-term congresswoman is the runaway favorite to win the seat and would be the first woman and person of color to represent Delaware in the Senate if elected.
Sarah McBride earned endorsements from House Democratic leadership and Sen. Carper in her bid to replace Blunt Rochester in the House. The Democratic state senator is the first openly transgender state senator in the country, the highest-ranking transgender elected official in US history and, if elected, the first openly transgender member of Congress.
Vice President Harris launched a new initiative backed by a $10-million investment from the State Department to support justice for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence by promoting accountability for crimes punishable under international law. The announcement and the administration’s ongoing work to prevent CRSV and gender-based violence is guided by the 2023 U.S. Strategy and National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security and the 2022 U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally.
Vice President Harris hosted TV personality Chrissy Teigen at the White House to discuss the impact of statewide abortion bans and the administration’s work to protect reproductive freedom. Dr. Jaqueline Walters, Dr. Simone Walters and Dr. Heavenly Kimes from Bravo’s Married to Medicine were among the patients, providers and advocates who joined the discussion.
Read All About It
“The first three months” by Anthony Fauci: “What I saw inside the government’s response to COVID-19.”
”This junior congressman thinks he knows how Biden can win. Will anyone listen?” by Nitish Pahwa: “He has other ideas for fixing the Democratic Party, too.”
“The perverse zealotry of the anti-IVF movement” by David Von Drehle: “If they knew what patients endured, antiabortion extremists might learn more about caring for unborn babies.”
“The climate is the economy” by Nitish Pahwa: “Intensifying hurricanes, floods and heat waves are wreaking havoc across the country—and on all of our banks accounts.”
“How did Republican women end up like this?” by Rebecca Traister: “The baffling, contradictory demands of being a woman in the party of Donald Trump.”
“Trump has changed what it means to be an evangelical” by Shadi Hamid: “As other denominations have dwindled since 2016, the number of evangelicals has grown.”
“The motivated ignorance of Trump supporters” by Peter Wehner: “They can’t claim they didn’t know.”
”Trump isn’t choosing a running mate. He’s casting a co-star” by Ramon Setooden: “Everything Donald Trump knows about picking a running mate in 2024 he learned while hosting The Apprentice.”
“The biggest myth about the 1994 crime bill still haunts Joe Biden. It shouldn’t” by John Pfaff: “The law is routinely blamed for a very real problem it had nothing to do with.”
”Why activists keep failing the causes that fire them up” by Sarah Isgur: “They need to stop accepting short-term victories.”
”Banks, law and consulting firms are watering down their diversity recruiting programs” by Kailyn Rhone: “Minority students worry about the impact on their job searches.”
“First, they tried to ‘cure’ gayness. Now, they’re fixated on ‘healing’ trans people” by Madison Pauly with Henry Carnell: “Inside the movement to resurrect conversion therapy.”
”People are coming out younger and younger. Then there are people like me” by Charles M. Blow: “A collection of stories on the challenges and joys of coming out later in life.”
”What is Stonewall in 2024?” by Brooke Colyar: “A touristy dive bar, an unfinished liberation movement, and now a visitor center for the National Park Service.”
“Christian nationalists are opening private schools. Taxpayers are funding them.” by Kiera Butler: “Trump’s favorite Arizona megachurch has one.”
”The Anderson Cooper of Black Twitter believes journalism can survive influencers” by Jason Parham: “Editor and news aggregator Phil Lewis isn’t afraid of YouTubers or TikTokkers. He says the real threat is misinformation.”
**“Why New York City real estate brokers are losing their minds”** by Alexander Sammon: “At a recent street protest, I asked some why they’re so angry.”
”It shouldn’t be so hard to live near your friends” by Zoë Bernard: “Americans are more socially isolated than ever. Here’s how we reconnect.”
”How to save money on summer travel” by Charlotte Cowles: “It’s expensive out there! But you can still take a trip without paying for it all year.”
”How to care for houseplants during a heat wave” by Frances Vinall: “Expert advice on how to protect your houseplants as temperatures soar. Water frequently, keep them out of sunny windows, and maybe consider a cactus.”
“Sick of scams? Stop answering your phone” by Heather Kelly: “Experts and family members are begging you: Send any unknown call to voicemail.”
“It’s time to stop inviting plus-ones to weddings” by Faith Hill: “Extra guests are expensive. What if we did away with them.”
”In defense of calling everything an aesthetic” by Erin Schwartz: “Constantly naming new trends—coastal grandma! Clowncore! Mob wife!—is an annoying verbal tic. Or … is it a better way of understanding the world?”
”Exposing the designer behind the curtain” by Vanessa Friedman: “Dior, Chanel, Lagerfeld—a rash of new streaming biopics have tried to humanize fashion’s most famous names. Is that a good thing?”