Good morning! ☕ Native American congresswoman Deb Haaland is Joe Biden's "leading candidate" to be interior secretary.

It's a BFD deal if this happens.

It would be historic.
It's who tribes overwhelmingly want.
House Dems + Republicans support her.
huffpost.com/entry/deb-haal…
Anyone following the interior sec selection process knows it's taking forever. Why?

At present, Pelosi/Hoyer want to keep her in the House.

“There is mounting pressure and increasingly vocal concern" by House Dem leaders, a source familiar with this process told me yesterday.
Has Pelosi given her blessing to Biden for Deb Haaland to be Interior sec?

Pelosi spokesman: “We have an existing policy of not commenting on private conversations concerning the transition."
If House Dem leadership resistance to Haaland's House seat being empty for a time is really the hold-up on this, it seems odd for a couple reasons.

2 other House Dems are heading to the admin, but not Haaland?

Her seat wouldn't be empty for that long.
Per New Mexico rules, Haaland could be a member of Congress up til the Senate confirmed her to the Interior post.

From there, NM SOS would have 10 days to set special election that'd have to happen within 77-91 days of the seat going vacant.

So, seat empty ~3 months max.
Haaland's seat is also a guaranteed Dem seat.

There's no primary. Just a general election with candidates chosen by the state's two parties.

Bideon won this district, New Mexico’s 1st congressional district, by 23% in November.
Biden, not Bideon, in that last tweet.

(Bideon?)
Does Deb Haaland want this job?

Hell yes she does. It's her wheelhouse and she's broadly supported for it. And somehow, she's got support for this from progressive groups like @sunrisemvmt AND conservative GOPers like Reps. Don Young and Tom Cole. huffpost.com/entry/deb-haal…
Having Haaland lead the Interior Dept, particularly after how damaging the Trump admin has been for public lands + tribes, would be significant for so many reasons.

One reason is justice. huffpost.com/entry/deb-haal…
So, if I'm reading in between the lines on this situation correctly -- and I've got more reporting to do today -- it appears that what's happening right now is that Biden wants Deb Haaland for interior but House Dem leaders are saying no.
If Haaland were nominated & confirmed to interior sec, House Ds would have a 219-213 majority until her seat (+ 2 other seats by Ds heading to admin) were filled in special elections.

Well, maybe it'd be 219-212 since GOP Rep. Paul Mitchell just quit the party and became indie.

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More from @jbendery

10 Dec
Today, Lindsey Graham went on a conservative radio show and claimed that Stacey Abrams “conned the Republican leadership in Georgia” into helping Joe Biden win by abetting voter fraud huffpost.com/entry/lindsey-…
Graham also said Georgia's GOP leaders must immediately change state laws to “stop Stacey Abrams from stealing the Senate race," referring to January's runoff elections.

That Stacey Abrams, she must be very powerful in her efforts to... strengthen voting rights & fair elections.
What Graham is saying: Abrams tricked GA Republicans! Fraud! Biden no real!

What really happened: GA officials agreed to a March legal settlement laying out steps for local election officials to notify voters if there's a problem with a ballot signature. Abrams supported it.
Read 7 tweets
8 Dec
I know there's a lot going on but FYI Senate Republicans are voting in a couple hours to confirm a guy, Stephen Schwartz, to a 15-year federal judgeship who has fought for discriminatory voter laws, severe restrictions on abortion access + discrimination against trans kids.
Schwartz, 34, argued on behalf of North Carolina in 2016 in a failed effort to get SCOTUS to review the 4th Circuit’s ruling striking down the state's discriminatory voter ID law.

The 4th Circuit found the law "target[s] African Americans with almost surgical precision."
Schwartz defended N.C.'s anti-LGBTQ law, HB 2, that barred people from using restrooms that match their gender ID + blocked nondiscrimination protections.

He was co-counsel in a Va. case, arguing Gavin Grimm, a trans high school boy, shouldn't be able to use the men’s restroom.
Read 6 tweets
8 Dec
Good morning! ☕ Tribal leaders all over the country have been urging Biden to pick Native American Rep. Deb Haaland for interior secretary. But for some reason, anonymous Biden advisers are telling news outlets she's not qualified. People are NOT happy. huffpost.com/entry/deb-haal…
“Of course it’s offensive to say she’s not qualified,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva, chairman of the Natural Resources Committee. "Those individuals being anonymous should think that through for themselves, because by going after this person, you’re standing in the way of history."
The anonymous hits on Haaland by "Biden advisers" are shitty for a few reasons.

1) Hiding behind anonymity to hurt her chances at getting a historic job is shady.

2) She is qualified + very popular.

3) These "sources" want a different Native candidate who happens to be a man.
Read 9 tweets
7 Dec
Okay folks -- here is today's snapshot of each state's progress in reducing COVID cases/hospitalizations/death, via covidexitstrategy.org

Green is trending better.

Yellow is caution warranted.

Red is going downhill.

Bruised red is uncontrolled spread. Image
Of all 50 states + D.C., Hawaii is the only state not facing uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus right now.

We are the United States of Bruised Red. Image
Here's one week ago vs today. Somehow, we got even worse.

(Washington state is black because it was missing data, not because it just fell off the charts.) ImageImage
Read 9 tweets
24 Nov
🚨🚨 Two days before Thanksgiving, here is today's snapshot of each state's progress in reducing COVID cases/hospitalizations/death, via covidexitstrategy.org

Green is trending better.

Yellow is caution warranted.

Red is going downhill.

Bruised red is uncontrolled spread.
The ENTIRE country is blood red, save Hawaii.

Maybe skip that big family dinner this year, folks. Not even maybe -- skip it!
Here's the U.S. one week ago vs today.

It actually got worse. I didn't think it was possible.
Read 10 tweets
20 Nov
Just an incredible milestone for the United States Senate: more Republicans have tested positive for COVID-19 than have accepted Joe Biden as the president-elect. huffpost.com/entry/republic…
Maybe we're all just worn thin from Trump's chaos, or maybe it's the frog-boiling-in-water phenomenon. But I can't get over that it's not breaking news every day how complicit Republican leaders are in Trump's lies about election fraud + efforts to undermine democracy.
It's been 2 weeks, and there are only 5 GOP senators who have said Biden won or referred to him as president-elect.

That leaves the remaining 48 GOP senators complicit in Trump’s efforts to undermine people’s faith in democratic institutions to try to make it look like he won.
Read 9 tweets

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