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The conservative movement is keeping its mask off. Photo: Tom Brenner/REUTERS Less than two months after inciting an insurrection against the U.S. Congress, Donald Trump will reportedly declare himself the Republican Party’s “ presumptive 2024 nominee ” at this weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). And he won’t be wrong. Losing an election is typically enough to sour a party’s voters on its defeated standard-bearer. Fumbling a half-assed coup attempt is, in most countries, enough to get an ex-president imprisoned or even killed. But red America’s consummate “winner” has emerged from electoral and insurrectionary defeat with his grip on the GOP faithful intact. Last week, a Politico-Morning Consult poll found that 59 percent of Republican voters would like Trump to “play a major role” in their party going forward — up 18 points since January 7, the day after the Capitol Hill riot. The survey also found that a large plurality of GOP voters … [Read more...] about Trump’s Reconquest of the GOP May Have an Upside for Democracy

Children’s hospitals and pediatricians are calling on the Biden administration to prioritize children’s mental, emotional and behavioral health in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. The Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) launched an awareness campaign on Wednesday to ask the administration and lawmakers to provide more funds to programs to address the escalating crisis among children and youth. The group is seeking increased funding for existing mental and behavioral health programs, through the Department of Health and Human Services’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Health Resources and Services Administration. ADVERTISEMENT They also think Congress should provide new funding for activities at the state and local level to support children, like telehealth, training for crisis response and school-based services. The digital advertising campaign is expected to run for several weeks with an … [Read more...] about Children’s hospitals, pediatricians urge Biden to prioritize youth mental health

Sen. Bob Menendez Robert (Bob) Menendez Senate confirms Thomas-Greenfield as UN ambassador The Memo: Biden bets big on immigration Biden pushes expanded pathways to citizenship as immigration bill lands in Congress MORE (D-N.J.) on Tuesday reintroduced legislation that would require public companies to disclose the racial, ethnic, gender and veteran composition of their corporate boards and senior management. The bill, the Improving Corporate Governance Through Diversity Act, aims to address shortcomings in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) diversity disclosure rule. “For too long corporate America has fallen short in racial, ethnic and gender diversity. Without greater diversity in top corporate positions, the U.S. will fail to compete with other leading economies and stall our nation’s progress towards full inclusivity,” said Menendez, the highest-ranking Latino in Congress. ADVERTISEMENT The House passed the legislation in 2019, … [Read more...] about Menendez reintroduces corporate diversity bill

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Tom Vilsack Tom Vilsack USDA: Farm-to-school programs help schools serve healthier meals OVERNIGHT MONEY: House poised to pass debt-ceiling bill MORE to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the second time. The Senate voted 92-7 to confirm Vilsack. He is the 32nd Agriculture secretary and the ninth member of President Biden Joe Biden Hoyer: House will vote on COVID-19 relief bill Friday Pence huddles with senior members of Republican Study Committee Powell pushes back on GOP inflation fears MORE ’s Cabinet to be confirmed by the Senate. Vilsack previously served for eight years as head of USDA under former President Obama. Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders Sanders has right goal, wrong target in fight to help low-wage workers Democrats in standoff over minimum wage Sanders votes against Biden USDA nominee Vilsack MORE (I-Vt.), voted against Vilsack’s nomination, … [Read more...] about Senate confirms Vilsack as Agriculture secretary

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy has a fresh spring in his step after the Republicans defied the odds and professional political prognosticators by picking up 15 seats in the 2020 congressional elections. McCarthy, who has his eyes on the majority in November 2022, approached the 2020 congressional elections differently than Republicans in recent history have traditionally targeted congressional electoral efforts, and his moves paid off—and not only infuriated but befuddled the beltway pundit class. For the first time since 1994, in 2020 no GOP incumbent running for reelection lost. Meanwhile, McCarthy blew away fundraising records previously set by former House Speaker Paul Ryan—astonishing since he did it from the minority. Usually, House political leaders do better raising money from the majority. That’s not to mention the most significant development which is a freshman class entering Congress in 2021 that represents perhaps the most diverse in party history with the most … [Read more...] about Exclusive: After 2020 Gains, Kevin McCarthy Eyes House GOP Majority, Speaker’s Gavel in Midterms