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Michelle Lujan Grisham is Congressional Hispanics choice to lead Health and Human Services

29 November 2020
Dan Ackermann

Hispanic lawmakers are openly lobbying to have New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham be named Health and Human Services secretary, according to a letter obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: These members are now following the example some Black lawmakers have used for weeks: trying to convince Joe Biden his political interests will be served by rewarding certain demographic groups with Cabinet picks.

The big picture: Biden is weighing Lujan Grisham, who he considered as his vice presidential running mate, along with Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimando for the critical post.

  • The next HHS secretary will not only have to tackle the coronavirus crisis but reconfigure the Affordable Care Act, which the Trump administration has attempted to dismantle.

The case: In their letter to Biden, 32 members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus say nominating Alejandro Mayorkas to lead the Department of Homeland Security was a "good start" - but they believe the country deserves more.

  • "Latinos constitute 18 percent of the U.S. population and the diversity of the Latino population in itself is incredibly varied, with Mexican-Americans making up 62.3 percent of the total Latino population," the letter says.   
  • "We write to restate our strong support for the first Democratic Hispanic woman elected state governor in U.S. history."
  • Lujan Grisham was a chairperson of the Caucus while serving in the House from 2013-2019. While the letter is not a CHC document, the signers are members of the group.

Between the lines: Mayorkas is of Cuban extraction and most of the letter signers, as well as Lujan Grisham, are of Mexican-American descent. Cubans communities supported Trump, especially in south Florida, while other Hispanic demographics helped Biden win crucial states, including Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.