Meanwhile on the National Mall, Tribal leaders + activists about to present @SecDebHaaland with a totem pole carved by Lummi Nation carvers, as a gift to Biden to urge his immediate protection of sacred sites.
Brenda Mallory of the WH Council of Enviro Quality speaking now.
Also here: Obama's former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell + Hawaiian Dem Rep. Kahele.
Sec. Deb Haaland is about to speak.
She's wearing a mask with a red handprint across her mouth, a symbol of the horrific but still mostly invisible crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women.
People swarming Sec. Haaland like she's a rockstar out here, asking for photos, giving her presents.
This totem pole being presented to Haaland/Biden has come a long way to be here. Organizers of this event brought it here after stops at sacred Indigenous sites all over the country that are at risk from infrastructure projects and resource extraction.
An incredible amount of gratitude here for Haaland's actions so far, like her probe into the US govt's legacy of forcing Native children into horrific residential boarding schools.
"I never thought I'd see this day," says one of speaker, becoming emotional. "I lost a brother."
More on Haaland's effort here.
The Interior Dept will review past boarding schools and sites, the location of known and possible burial sites near schools + the identities and tribal affiliations of children forced there.
All the stops this totem pole made around the country before being delivered to Haaland:
Snake River
Bears Ears
Chaco Canyon
Grand Canyon
Black Hills
Missouri River
Standing Rock
Line 3 in Minnesota
Line 5 in Michigan
Isn't this a good picture? I'm very pleased with portrait mode.
Tribal leaders and activists at this ceremony are saying lots of positive things about Biden and Haaland, but also they are ready to see Biden restore protections that Trump gutted for sacred sites like Bears Ears.
"We're just here waiting patiently to hear from our president."
"Mr. Biden, recognize us," says another speaker. "And help us to restore Bears Ears."
"It's for all of us. It's not only for Indigenous people. It's for all of us."
Still wild to me to see so much enthusiasm for an Interior Secretary. I get why, but can you imagine someone making a beautiful print like this to help confirm Ryan Zinke? (No.)
Where is this totem pole going to live? It's a present to Biden.
I am told it weighs ~5,000 lbs and is 24.5 feet long.
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JUST IN: The Senate just confirmed Nicole Berner, a longtime SEIU lawyer and former Planned Parenthood litigator, to a lifetime federal judgeship on a U.S. appeals court. huffpost.com/entry/nicole-b…
The final vote was 50-47.
No Republicans voted to confirm Berner. Not even the two GOP senators who identify as pro-choice, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.
Progressives are chalking up a win with Berner's confirmation.
She's a 17-year lawyer for Service Employees International Union, most recently its general counsel.
She was a staff attorney for Planned Parenthood.
She's fought for all kinds of civil rights issues in courts.
ICYMI: Biden's historic Muslim judicial nominee Adeel Mangi may not have the votes because 1) the GOP has spent months falsely casting him as an antisemitic, anti-cop terrorist sympathizer and 2) a coupla Dems are cowering.
The attacks on Mangi have been so offensive I can't believe this hasn't gotten more attn.
For starters, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton + Josh Hawley demanded in his Senate hearing that he share his *personal views* on 9/11, the Oct. 7 attack in Israel + the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
A Leonard Leo-aligned judicial group ran attack ads against Mangi -- a seasoned and award-winning civil litigator in NJ -- saying he is “radical” and an “antisemite."
The ads use footage of the 9/11 plane crash, overlaid with an incredibly misleading headline about Mangi.
Not sure what's more insane, the fact that 1) someone set up a GoFundMe to raise $350,000,000 for Trump because that's how much he owes in damages for decades of fraudulent business practices in NY or 2) it has raised more than $80K.
The person behind this GoFundMe effort is Elena Cardone, who @lizskalka just wrote about.
She is married to get-rich-quick guru Grant Cardone, whose firm has been accused of overhyping his investment fund and luring followers into expensive contracts. huffpost.com/entry/kari-lak…
@lizskalka Also, as several folks have pointed out on here, Elena Cardone's GoFundMe campaign violates GoFundMe's terms of service.
GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher, who has refused to say how he'll vote on impeaching Mayorkas and could potentially make or break this whole thing, is here on the House floor.
He is huddling with... Dem Rep. Dean Phillips.
This vote is happening any minute now.
Mike Johnson just left for some reason.
I love a good bet. Like on how a House vote will go.
I have no idea if this impeachment vote is gonna pass or fail. It feels like it's that close.
Here we go. House GOP kicks off its hearing to mark up impeachment articles for DHS Sec Mayorkas for... no real reason.
"We're here today not because we want to be, but because we have exhausted all other options," says Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.).
(In fact, they have not.)
If you haven't been following this, here is what is happening:
House Rs have been screaming about border security. But they don't know how to legislate. And Trump ordered them not to pass any bipartisan border bills bc it would give Biden a win.
So, impeach a cabinet secretary!
Chairman Green kicking off this hearing by saying Rs "have exhausted all other options" is all you need to know about how silly this is.
Congress could do so many things to address border security by... passing a bipartisan bill.
NEW: Today, Trump privately pressured Senate Republicans to “kill” a bipartisan deal to secure the U.S. border because he doesn’t want Biden to chalk up a win ahead of the 2024 presidential election, per a source familiar with negotiations. huffpost.com/entry/trump-bo…
Trump directly reached out to several GOP senators today to tell them to reject any deal, said this source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.
He also personally reached out to some Senate Republicans over the weekend to do the same.
“Trump wants them to kill it because he doesn’t want Biden to have a victory,” said this source. “He told them he will fix the border when he is president."