🤫 GOP: Open up!

Plus: For-profit detention circle | Monday, February 14, 2022

Open in app View in browser     Axios Sneak Peek By the Axios Politics team ·Feb 14, 2022 Welcome back to Sneak. 📅 Please join Axios' Astrid Galván and Russell Contreras tomorrow at 12:30pm ET for a virtual event spotlighting change-makers in the Afro Latino community. Guests include Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) and "Sesame Street" actor Sonia Manzano. Register here. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,067 words ... 4 minutes. Edited by Glen Johnson.     1 big thing: Scoop - GOP wants Capitol reopened Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images   More than half of Senate Republicans plan to introduce a resolution this week calling to fully reopen the Capitol to the public after it was closed because of the coronavirus, Axios' Andrew Solender has learned. Why it matters: The resolution is the latest salvo in an ongoing dispute between the two parties over how secured the Capitol should be amid the lingering pandemic — and the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack. Republicans in the House have long railed against pandemic measures like proxy voting and a mandate requiring masks in the chamber. A couple of Republicans have opted to be repeatedly fined rather than comply with the mandate, prompting assistant house speaker Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) to suggest they be required to vote in "isolation boxes." There's also been a partisan fight over how many members of Congress to allow at President Biden's State of the Union next month. Driving the news: Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) is leading the resolution along with 25 mostly conservative Senate Republicans. They include Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The resolution calls for the Senate side of the Capitol complex to return to pre-COVID-19 visitor policies to "facilitate public participation in the legislative process and public visitation of these historic buildings." Keep reading.     2. For-profit detention circle Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Yalonda M. James/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images   Migrant-tracking technology the U.S. government is using in part to fulfill Biden's pledge to close for-profit detention centers is sold by the subsidiary of a major for-profit detention provider, Axios' Stef Kight has learned. Why it matters: Human rights advocates and labor unions have long objected to for-profit prisons, saying the financial incentive for mass detention creates a morally slippery slope ripe for abuse. A sole provider also benefits from the alternatives to them. Alternative-to-detention (ATD) programs can cost the government almost 50 times less per person than physically housing people in detention facilities. The government pays $142 per day for a detention bed, but as little as $3 per day for ATD services, according to Department of Homeland Security officials. Still, contract money flowing from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to what Axios is told is the sole ATD technology and service provider — B.I. Incorporated — has been on the rise for years: from $61 million in obligated funds in 2016 to $281 million in 2021, according to USASpending. What they're saying: "For more than three decades, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, we have been a trusted service provider to the federal government," a spokesperson for the GEO Group Inc., the parent company of B.I. Incorporated, told Axios — pushing back on any allegations of mistreatment. The spokesperson referred questions about B.I. Incorporated's ATD work to ICE. An ICE spokesperson said: "Among the steps DHS has taken to make lasting improvements to civil immigration detention, DHS closed two detention facilities, transitioned family residential centers into facilities for single adults, expanded Alternatives to Detention and issued policies to ensure the protection of vulnerable populations." Keep reading.     3. Charted: Battle for ballot control Note: States are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada and Wisconsin; Reproduced from Brennan Center for Justice; Chart: Axios Visuals Candidates running for the top state election position in six battleground states have had a fundraising windfall as former President Trump and associates continue to push baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election, Stef also reports. Driving the news: As of the end of December, state secretary of state candidates running in the six states this fall had brought in three times as much money as 2018 candidates at the same point in the election cycle, according to new research by the Brennan Center for Justice. By the numbers: Two Georgia secretary of state candid­ates have raised more than $1 million — Trump-backed Republican U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, with $1.6 million, and Democratic State Rep. Bee Nguyen, with $1.1 million. Incum­bent Brad Raffen­sper­ger, a Republican targeted by Trump, has raised $705,000. There's also been a surge in out-of-state contributions in some of the battleground states — a clear sign of the rising national interest in key state election roles. Only in Nevada is secretary of state fundraising not outpacing 2010, but even there, it's ahead of fundraising at this point in 2014 and 2018. Wisconsin's even seen a surge of funds, despite the fact its secretary of state is not currently involved in election oversight. Keep reading.     A message from Axios Sports news worthy of your time     Get the latest sports headlines, stats, stories and trends delivered daily to your inbox with Axios Sports. Subscribe for free     4. Worthy of your time National security adviser Jake Sullivan (center) enters the Capitol on his way to brief senators about Ukraine. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images   🏛 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) took a shot at her party in a New Yorker interview, saying, "I wish the Democratic Party had more stones. I wish our party was capable of truly supporting bold leadership that can address root causes." Ocasio-Cortez was more equivocal about whether she'd like to see Nancy Pelosi replaced as House speaker, calling the matter a "question of conditions and circumstance," Andrew also reports in tonight's Sneak roundup. 🗳️ Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is stepping into a competitive House primary, endorsing progressive Jessica Cisneros over Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) — a prominent member of the moderate-to-conservative Blue Dog Coalition — in the March 1 Texas primary. Sanders also endorsed Greg Casar for an open House seat in Texas. Casar and Cisneros are two of the six candidates endorsed by the progressive group Justice Democrats this cycle. 💉 Senate conservatives are once again threatening to delay passage of legislation to temporarily fund the government in lieu of an annual budget over funding for federal vaccine mandates, according to Fox News. Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told fellow senators in a letter their demand is a vote on an amendment to defund the mandates. 🌄 Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, the chief election denier in Colorado, announced today she's running for secretary of state, the chief election administrator, Axios Denver's John Frank reported. You can sign up for Axios Denver or any of our other free local newsletters through this link. 🎥 Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee celebrated Valentine's Day with a list of spoofed romantic comedy movie titles skewering Democrats and the Biden economy, including "Jobless in Seattle" and "Tax Hikes, Actually." "Families' budgets are red. The White House is blue. They said inflation would just be transitory. But we know now that's not true," spokespeople J.P. Freire and Jessica Henrichs said in a press release.     5. Pics du jour Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images   First lady/teacher Jill Biden bid farewell to second-grade students from Aiton Elementary School in Washington. They visited the White House to see artwork indoors and a Valentine's Day display on the North Lawn. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images     A message from Axios Sports news worthy of your time     Get the latest sports headlines, stats, stories and trends delivered daily to your inbox with Axios Sports. Subscribe for free   📬 Thanks for reading. Please tell your family, friends and colleagues they can subscribe to Sneak or any of Axios' other free local and national newsletters through this link. Like this email style and format? Bring the strength of Smart Brevity® to your team — more effective communications, powered by Axios HQ.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. 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