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Aug. 22, 2021 02:05PM EST
Biden recess plan omits Afghanistan
The White House is downplaying Afghanistan in outside-the-Beltway events during the August congressional recess, hoping voters will pay more attention to President Biden's big spending plans.
Why it matters: Democrats privately fear political blowback, even though the White House insists voters aren't talking about the Kabul calamity.
What they're saying: White House senior adviser Neera Tanden didn't mention Afghanistan once when Axios asked her how much the events of the past week will affect what Biden can accomplish on the Hill.
- "We developed our plan around August recess in July," she said. "We planned for a cadence of multiple events a week around Build Back Better and infrastructure and we have been operationalizing that plan and will continue to do so."
- "So we’re going to continue that work, and this agenda is important to the public."
Between the lines: The Atlantic's Peter Nicholas argued in a piece published Friday titled, "Biden Is Betting Americans Will Forget About Afghanistan," that the White House is "relying on Americans’ notoriously short-term memory."
- The White House insists that Democratic lawmakers are excited to have Cabinet members hosting events in their districts around infrastructure, climate and energy, health care and the economy.
- But communications strategiescan only do so much amid the reality and images emerging from Afghanistan.
Behind the scenes: Since joining the White House in May as senior adviser to Biden, Tanden has kept a low profile. But her role, after losing a confirmation fight to be Biden's budget director, is setting her up to have outsized power in helping sell the president's agenda.
- When Tanden helped create the White House plan for selling Democrats' agenda during the August recess, Afghanistan wasn't among the policy priorities to discuss with voters. It still isn't.
Aides are tracking whether opposition surfaces at vulnerable House Democrats' town halls and district event this month.
- "There are numerous components of Build Back Better that are incredibly popular amongst Republicans," Tanden told Axios.
- "It’s challenging for them to create the kind of energy they did in past eras," she added, pointing out that the White House is seeing nothing like the emotionalism around the Affordable Care Act during former President Obama's first term.
According to internal White House documents obtained by Axios, aides have tracked 18 town halls or events with Democratic lawmakers this month.
- At least sixwere virtual or by phone. So while the White House says there's been "no organized opposition" from angry Republicans, as seen in past August recesses, that would be hard to know.
- An event with Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) allowed only written questions — and those weren’t documented. Instead, a White House document notes that the senator "discussed infrastructure."
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Aug. 18, 2021 09:46PM EST
Trump admin alums to launch 'Center for Election Integrity'
The America First Policy Institute, led by Trump administration alumni, on Thursday will announce a Center for Election Integrity, a nonprofit group it says will push policies in state legislatures to "help make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat."
Driving the news: CEI will hold a morning announcement event at Atlanta Metropolitan Cathedral, a nod to Georgia's swing-state status as a hotbed of election controversy.
- The group posted an introductory video.
What they're saying: Hogan Gidley, a former White House spokesman and the center's director, said CEI "will work tirelessly to protect the voters and safeguard the integrity of future elections because one illegal vote is one too many.”
- The group aims to support voter ID requirements and to "require ballots to be returned by election day...ensure voter rolls are consistently cleaned and kept up to date...and litigate cases of voter fraud."
- CEI chairman Ken Blackwell, a former Ohio secretary of state, said in a statement: "We must help make sure that people have confidence in our system and that we give citizens a fair vote count."
Reality check: Although election security is a hot issue with Republicans, even Bill Barr, who was attorney general under President Trump, said he saw no evidence of widespread election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
- And more than half of Americans are "more concerned about laws restricting voting access than making sure that no one who is ineligible votes," according to recent polling.
- Meanwhile, hundreds of bills aimed at restricting voter access at the polls have been proposed across the country.
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Jul. 07, 2021 01:37PM EST
Trump to sue Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter's Jack Dorsey
Former President Donald Trump, who has complained about censorship by social media giants, plans to announce class action lawsuits today against Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: It's the latest escalation in Trump's years-long battle with Twitter and Facebook over free speech and censorship. Trump is completely banned from Twitter and is banned from Facebook for another two years.
Details: Trump is scheduled to make an announcement at a press conference today at 11 am.
- Trump's legal effort is supported by the America First Policy Institute, a non-profit focused on perpetuating Trump's policies.
- The group's president and CEO and board chair, former Trump officials Linda McMahon and Brooke Rollins, will accompany him during the announcement.
- Class action lawsuits would enable him to sue the two tech CEOs on behalf of a broader group of people that he argues have been censored by biased policies.
- To date, Trump and other conservative critics have not presented any substantial evidence that either platform is biased against conservatives in its policies or implementation of them.
The big picture: Data shows that Trump's megaphone has been significantly muzzled in light of bans from Big Tech platforms, particularly Twitter and Facebook.
- The president and his allies have repeatedly criticized the bans as censorship. The tech giants argue they were put in place for safety reasons following the Capitol siege in January.
- Even during his presidency, Trump has tried to take aim at both CEOs and tech companies. In 2020, he signed an executive order that was meant to limit the legal protections that shield social media companies from liability for the content users post on their platforms. President Biden revoked that executive order in May.
What to watch: Lawsuits and actions targeting Big Tech platforms serve as ammunition for Trump's conservative base. Down-ballot Republican candidates have latched onto messages around censorship as part of their campaigns and messaging tactics.
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Jul. 06, 2021 09:00AM EST
School board recalls in 2021 skyrocket amid organized campaigns for critical race theory bans
Efforts to recall school board members are surging around the U.S. — and especially in California — amid Republican efforts to quash teaching about institutional racism.
Why it matters: Coordinated efforts by conservative groups are shaping public education, fueled by controversies over race as as well as backlash to COVID-19 closures.
The big picture: Just halfway through 2021, at least 51 local recall efforts involving K-12 school boards have been initiated this year, targeting at least 130 elected members of those boards.
- That's more than twice the annual average, according to Ballotpedia, a website that follows election trends.
- It's accompanying the surge of new school board candidates that Axios' Stef Kight has been tracking.
By the numbers: California alone is home to 22 of the current recall efforts. Arizona and Idaho follow with six and four recall efforts respectively.
- By comparison, Ballotpedia counted a yearly average of 23 recall efforts against 52 school board members between 2006 and 2020.
The intrigue: Historically, school board recalls tended to stem from disputes over mismanagement, open meeting violations or allegations of corruption. But this year's campaigns focus on efforts to snuff out teachings on critical race theory and displeasure about mask requirements.
- A political action committee led by former Trump Justice Department official Ian Prior is sponsoring a recall of school board members in Loudoun County, Virginia who belonged to a private Facebook group focused on anti-racism.
- Four of the seven members of the Mequon-Thiensville School District Board of Education in Wisconsin are being targeted over the district's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and introducing critical race theory lessons.
- Two of the five members of the Litchfield Elementary School District Governing Board in Arizona face a recall effort tied to objections about critical race theory.
Reality check: Critical race theory — which holds that racism is baked into the formation of the nation and ingrained in our legal, financial and education systems — was developed in law schools in the 1970s and isn't really taught in grade school.
- But some teachers have endured criticism for merely mentioning systemic racism in class or bringing up Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd last year.
- Melissa Statz, a fourth-grade teacher in Wisconsin, last year was accused by some parents of "indoctrinating children" because she introduced lessons on racism. Her school was later hit with racist graffiti.
Don't forget: Elementary school teachers, administrators, and college professors are facing fines, physical threats, and fear of firing as states pass bans to restrict critical race theory in public schools.
- Citizens for Renewing America, a group led by a White House budget director under former President Trump, offers activists model legislation to craft bans in their states.
- The proposed legislation says that equity, intersectionality, social justice, and "woke" terms are racist ideas and falsely claims that critical race theory teaches that "one race or sex is superior to another race or sex."
- Meanwhile, "Patriots for Delaware" in May endorsed five pro-school-reopening candidates for the state's elections, highlighting a local push to limit social justice discussions and defy mask mandates.
- And parents in Pennsylvania formed their own political action committee to support school board candidates running to keep kids in school in person.
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