LOOKING AHEAD: WaPo's Erica Werner, Jeff Stein and Dino Grandoni report: "Senior Democratic officials have discussed proposing as much as $3 trillion in new spending as part of what they envision as a wide-ranging jobs and infrastructure package that would be the foundation of Biden's 'Build Back Better' program." But not all Dems agree about this plan. More here: http://wapo.st/3jZuUXX DETECTED? "The U.S. Capitol Police are investigating two incidents related to the new metal detectors set up outside the House chamber: one involving a member of Congress potentially assaulting a police officer and the other involving a lawmaker trying to bring a gun onto the House floor," reports HuffPo's Matt Fuller, who personally observed both incidents and was interviewed by the Capitol police about what he saw: https://bit.ly/37Gxptt COMMISSIONED WARNINGS: As Pelosi and Democrats press forward with their Jan. 6 commission, Republicans are warning them not to relitigate impeachment or turn it into something designed to attack Trump. This comes as Pelosi's office is reviewing a commission bill drafted by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), who chairs the House Administration Committee, a Democratic aide tells CNN. And Democrats want to examine all facets, which certainly puts Republicans in a prickly situation. CNN has more here: https://cnn.it/3uadTz2 Related Read: For Black aides on Capitol Hill, Jan. 6 brought particular trauma by NYT's Luke Broadwater: http://nyti.ms/3dADM5l TIME100: GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger named to the TIME100 list of influential people for 2021. Read it here: http://bit.ly/37l2Zwj GAMIN' IT OUT: Here's what to expect from Thursday's GameStop hearing with Robinhood, Citadel and Reddit CEOs by CNBC's Maggie Fitzgerald: http://cnb.cx/3rVP9bQ | And here is Zachary Warmbrodt with a story on the hedge fund king and GOP megadonor who will face off with Democrats: http://politi.co/2ZrK3b1 MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Rep. Byron Donalds is one of the two black House Republicans to win office this last cycle -- the only two in the chamber after Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) retired last year. The Florida freshman acknowledges this unappointed role comes with a lot of responsibility -- but he says there is far more to him than the persistent label of a black conservative. -How it started: Politics wasn't on Donalds radar until he was well into his career in finance. But that all changed when CSPAN aired a House hearing about the Lehman Brothers collapse -- the first one he says he ever watched -- and he grew frustrated that many didn't appear to know what they were talking about and instead seemed to cater to political theater rather than fact-finding. From there, he began reading and shaping his political views. -Do you feel there is a certain responsibility that comes with being one of the two black House GOP members? "Is it a mantle of responsibility? It absolutely is." Donalds said he is glad Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) won his election, particularly because the "burden is too much for one person to carry," let alone two individuals. "I can't even imagine how much [Sen.] Tim Scott has had to carry on his shoulders." "The only thing will be frustrating for me is typecast to only talk about those inflection points, when race comes up in policy," Donalds said. "I could talk to you about economic policy tax, policy immigration policy, we could talk about political philosophy...we could talk about so many things." Recruitment efforts: While he is just weeks into his first term in Congress, Donalds says he is interested and has talked with his team about trying to help recruit more black Republicans to Congress. His 2022 advice to Republicans about appealing to more black and minority voters? Sit down, shut up and listen. Let these communities be heard and show them they are supported. Donalds noted he's been critical about GOP efforts with the black communities. "The biggest place that the party has gone wrong is we do these coalition things in September of every election cycle, thinking that's going to get black people to vote Republican. Nope. That is not going to work. You actually have to build relationships over time," Donalds said. "I think in the black community, there's a wide divergence of political thought. The assumption is that all black people are Democrats…I get it -- happens to me all the time. People assume I'm a Democrat because I got the member badge on." -Pet Issue? Congressional term limits and he says he has set his own term limits serving in the House: Eight years, maybe 10 max. But he also has a lot of changes he wants to see in various areas like banking and criminal justice reform, including repealing Dodd-Frank, which he argues has allowed the big banks to grow bigger and then clean up technical violations of probation. His personal mantra: "I'm playing with house money." This comes after Donalds says he turned his life around from his younger years, when he "almost destroyed" his life. At 18, he was arrested for marijuana possession and at 20, he was arrested for felony theft. "I was at bottom. I was desperate." But he says, by God's grace, he turned his life around. He became a youth leader, mentoring teenagers for more than a decade and he was still able to start a career in the financial sector, where he remained for 17 years. Now, he is in Congress. What has surprised him about Congress? The partisanship, telling me he was "shocked" to see how bad it was, while repeatedly highlighting his friendships with Democrats in the Florida State legislature. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment