A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things
Let’s Get Down To Business
After hours of negotiations with progressive and centrist Democrats on Thursday that dragged on late into the night, House Democratic leadership ultimately decided to pull the plug on the planned vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill (which was always an arbitrary deadline).
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters there’ll be a vote on BIF today, which … I mean don’t hold your breath. Progressives made it crystal clear yesterday that they’re holding the line and voting against BIF unless the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill gets passed in tandem (a timetable that was originally agreed to by all factions of the Democratic caucus), and their resolve paid off.
- Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) gave a shout out to her colleagues. “I have never seen our caucus so strong,” she told CNN.
- The New York Times is framing this as a huge blow for Biden, but how is that the case? Yesterday was an arbitrary deadline for BIF (as was Monday before Pelosi pushed it back), and sticking to it risked killing both that legislation and the President’s much more expansive social benefits plan–an infinitely bigger disaster for Biden’s agenda.
- Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has finally given Biden and Democratic leaders something to work with after only vague announcements about how he doesn’t like the $3.5 trillion price tag for reconciliation. The West Virginia Democrat said yesterday that his top line is at $1.5 trillion.
- Problem Solvers Caucus co-chair Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NY), who predicted that he and his fellow moderates would be “drinking a nice glass of champagne” yesterday, seemed less sunny late last night after he left a meeting with Pelosi.
Congresswomen Open Up About Their Abortions During A Hearing
Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Cori Bush (D-MO) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) gave striking testimonies in front of the Oversight Committee on Thursday on their experiences of getting an abortion as red states, most notoriously Texas, wage war on Roe v Wade.
- Each congresswoman shared different circumstances for their procedures, particularly as women of color. Jayapal spoke on having health problems that made her abortion a medical necessity. Bush revealed that she had been raped. Lee described how she had to obtain a back alley abortion in Mexico because Roe hadn’t been established at the time she needed the procedure.
- Bush closed her testimony with a powerful message: “To all the Black women and girls who have had or will have abortions — know this: we have nothing to be ashamed of. We live in a society that has failed to legislate love and justice for us. But we deserve better. We demand better. We are worthy of better.”
You can read Jayapal and Bush’s speeches in full and listen to Lee’s testimony.
Lewandowski‘s Fall From Grace Continues
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), a potential 2024 contender, has ditched Trump foot soldier Corey Lewandowski as one of her top advisers after he was accused of repeatedly touching a Trump donor without consent and following her around during a charity event on Sunday.
- Lewandowski was “never paid a dime” and “will not be advising” Noem, said the governor’s spokesperson, Ian Fury.
- The dump comes after Lewandowski was unceremoniously kicked out as the chair of Trump’s superPAC, Make America Great Again Action, on Wednesday.
Must-Read
“He Ran Over BLM Protesters—but Apparently That’s Not a Crime” – The Daily Beast
17,000 Police Killings Over The Last 40 Years Were Uncounted
A new study by researchers at the University of Washington found that about 55 percent of police killings between 1980 and 2018 were mislabeled.
Slightly Out Of His Element
During a Senate hearing with Facebook head of safety Antigone Davis, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) demanded to know if she would “commit to ending Finsta.”
- The bemused Facebook official tried to explain that a finsta is slang for a “fake Instagram” account where a user posts content that they don’t want to share on their regular account, not an actual product that Facebook (which owns Instagram) provides.
- Blumenthal still didn’t follow. “Will you end that type of account?” the senator asked sternly.
Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!
