Vox: All Posts by Jacob Gardenswartzhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52517/voxv.png2017-04-21T09:10:01-04:00https://www.vox.com/authors/jacob-gardenswartz/rss2017-04-21T09:10:01-04:002017-04-21T09:10:01-04:00How museums are quietly resisting President Trump
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<p>An expert explains why museums are subtly leading the resistance.</p> <p id="Cr3kyo">On January 20, as <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/21/14347298/trump-inauguration-crowd-size">hundreds of thousands of people</a> flocked to Washington, DC, to attend President Donald Trump’s inauguration, many artistic institutions across the country <a href="http://www.vox.com/culture/2017/1/12/14250514/writers-artists-inauguration-protest-j20-strike-joyce-carol-oates-dissent-trump">shut their doors</a> for the day in an act of protest against the new commander in chief.</p>
<p id="V4J4jl">Yet most major American museums did not join the artists’ strike. Instead, many opted for a subtler form of dissent, <a href="http://www.artnews.com/2017/01/12/with-an-art-strike-and-a-new-presidency-on-the-horizon-museums-prepare-for-inauguration-day/">waiving their entrance fees</a> or developing programs to specifically address the political moment, like the Whitney’s <a href="http://whitney.org/Events/SpeakOut">Speak Out</a> event<strong> </strong>featuring artists and writers or the Brooklyn Museum’s <a href="https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/calendar/event/let_america_be_america_again_january_2017">seven-hour reading</a> of Langston Hughes’s <a href="https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/calendar/event/let_america_be_america_again_january_2017">“Let America Be America Again.”</a></p>
<p id="XxnI3u">Since Trump took office, museums have continued to engage in what some have dubbed the <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/new-york-museums-signal-their-resistance">“resistance,”</a> with varying degrees of publicity and antagonism. When the White House statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day <a href="http://www.vox.com/2017/1/30/14431216/trump-holocaust-statement-6-million-jews">failed to explicitly mention Jews</a>, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum issued a <a href="https://www.ushmm.org/information/press/press-releases/museum-statement-on-international-holocaust-remembrance-day">statement</a> that included this quiet rebuke: </p>
<blockquote><p id="JSsG8w">Millions of other innocent civilians were persecuted and murdered by the Nazis, but the elimination of Jews was central to Nazi policy. As Elie Wiesel said, “Not all victims were Jews, but all Jews were victims.”</p></blockquote>
<p id="RojB1e">“Many museums now have at least a component of them that are activist — by that, I mean wanting to participate in a healthy civic culture and conversation,” said <a href="https://history.indiana.edu/faculty_staff/faculty/linenthal_edward.html">Edward Linenthal</a>, a professor in the history department at the University of Indiana Bloomington with a particular interest in studying controversial museum exhibitions. </p>
<p id="LPPf4c">He noted that the restraint with which museums have recently<strong> </strong>engaged in outright political criticism is important, pointing out that it is precisely because museums exist as “demilitarized zones” that they become places where people from all across the spectrum can engage with difficult themes or topics. Museums must push back against assumptions and share important truths, he suggests, but in a way that is accessible to all people.</p>
<p id="b6sCv4">Linenthal has authored numerous books, including <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Preserving-Memory-Struggle-Americas-Holocaust/dp/0231124074"><em>Preserving Memory: The Struggle to Create America’s Holocaust Museum</em></a><em>.</em><em> </em>He’s also worked on the curation of public memorials throughout the US, including the National Park Service’s 50th anniversary ceremonies at Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 United Flight 93 memorial in<strong> </strong>Pennsylvania, and has<strong> </strong>advised on the memorialization of those killed in the 2011 terrorist attack in Utøya, Norway. In a phone interview with Vox, he detailed his thoughts on the role of museums in the current political moment.</p>
<p id="TqT2f9">The following transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.</p>
<h4 id="54dfB7"><strong>Jacob Gardenswartz</strong></h4>
<p id="A8aw3J">How do you think museums engage in politics and activism? </p>
<h4 id="mE7Oov">Edward Linenthal</h4>
<p id="fTVM2P">I think museums, many of them, for some time now, have taken a more activist position in the culture. These are not just places, temples, to display beautiful or interesting or strange things that people just come in to look at, more than the old definition of the museum as a cabinet of curiosities. Now museums — and certainly the Holocaust Museum is a prime example of this, not by any means the only one or necessarily the first — but these are places to engage really important issues. Museums become forums. </p>
<p id="wslWfH">So [when] you go to a natural history museum, I imagine it would be strange not to encounter some text or temporary exhibition or something having to do with species extinction or with climate change. If one goes to a history museum, it would be hard to imagine not engaging in some way with an appropriate element of the civic culture of the place where that museum is. Whether it’s how immigrants are treated in a particular place or how city X has been the site of these kinds of issues in the civil rights movement, or in the development of American architecture, or who knows what.</p>
<p id="pjxEsa">But I think many museums now have at least a component of them that are activist — by that, I mean wanting to participate in a healthy civic culture and conversation. And given the unbelievable celebration of ignorance that we see in the contemporary political climate, thank god that museums are doing that.</p>
<p id="4I083v">So I think museum exhibitions both show us sensitive parts of identity issues, and also suggest the fault lines in particular cultures. </p>
<h4 id="gEwoqt">Jacob Gardenswartz</h4>
<p id="mbeqeT">How can museums best engage in controversial topics?</p>
<h4 id="olkcGJ">Edward Linenthal</h4>
<p id="cTb5Ks">There are ways of bringing people into the complexity of these historical questions without creating stick figures, without creating caricature, without stereotypical takes on good guys and bad guys.</p>
<p id="ChQSu4">I think the most powerful exhibitions are not ones that present the hidden, omniscient voice of the curator as, “This is the way it is, and this is the way to think about this,” but to bring people deeper into the kinds of questions that arise. So if I was a curator, I would be most happy if people walk out of an exhibition I had created going: “Wow, this is not as simple of a question as I thought. I think I really need to go to the bookstore here and jot down some titles and buy some titles, because I need to explore this much more carefully.”</p>
<p id="OCa2F3">The linking of memorial and museum, the linking of commemorative voice and historical voice, is absolutely one of the most complex, problematic things that’s going on now. I’m not saying that in a positive or negative way — the United States Holocaust <em>Memorial</em> <em>Museum</em>; the Oklahoma City National <em>Memorial</em>, which includes a visitors center that has a brilliant exhibition about the day (that’s gone under huge [recent] changes, by the way); the September 11 <em>Memorial</em> and <em>Museum</em>. If you link these, you’re bringing two different environments together: the intimate, respectful environment of commemoration, and the distant, analytical voice of historians. And they don’t always blend together all that well.</p>
<h4 id="sQdRCV">Jacob Gardenswartz</h4>
<p id="VB8SIE">What are some of the ways that museums as institutions are able to contribute to the national conversation in ways that other places like media outlets or even artists themselves cannot?</p>
<h4 id="iU0cbz">Edward Linenthal</h4>
<p id="giNWhp">Well, I think we’re in a period that is increasingly characterized by really ugly, toxic language. We all know that language has consequences, and the degradation of conversation I think is a real challenge to any kind of thoughtful civic culture. And I don’t have any illusions that this is going to get better anytime soon. I don’t even know how it would go about getting better at this point.</p>
<p id="tbiLbs">But I do think museums often are kind of demilitarized zones in the culture. People still behave civilly most of the time in these places, and maybe are willing to reflect and engage thoughtfully in ways that they’re not when they’re thinking about politics or candidates or the other side that really pisses them off. So I think museums have a real role to play in that way, that they are for the most part demilitarized zones where people can come. And even if they’re not talking to one another, they’re part of a public culture that is engaging in what the museum has to offer.</p>
<p id="Z4DO2k">And there are other ways museums can play roles in this. Museums are resource centers; museums have outreach programs. There are people that know way more about this than I do, but traveling exhibitions and digital exhibitions now that allow people to touch exhibitions from anywhere in the world. Museums that have speaker series and public programming of all kinds, podcast programs. </p>
<p id="7RLskY">So all you’d have to do is take one museum, like US Holocaust Memorial Museum, look at their programming, and think, “Okay, this is a way that a museum becomes a really important part of the public culture.” Temporary exhibitions, as an idea. I think National Park Service sites, which have had visitors centers/museums for generations, are incredibly important sites. Lots of people learn their history by going to National Park Service sites, and in my mind that’s a good thing.</p>
<p id="xe2BdZ">So I think in that way, museums can be really, really important. I think we’ve seen incredibly important changes at, for example, historic house museums, plantations where in the past the focus was on who comes in the front door. The focus was on the furniture and the drapes and the this and the that, and what a wonderful life it was for people who lived in this place. And now there’s also a focus on, “Who were the people who worked here, the slaves, and where did they enter?” Let’s come into the house that way, and think from their perspective and from where they lived on the site.</p>
<p id="mv82lc">Look at a place like Monticello that’s undergone incredible exciting change, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/02/thomas-jefferson-monticello-slaves-quarters">excavation of slave quarters</a>, understanding the slave culture at the site. Incredibly interesting questions about the relationships of Founding Fathers and slavery that to my mind deepen our understanding of American history and the original sin of slavery, and how it played into the culture. And it makes visible and human people who for too long had been left out of the story.</p>
<p id="VPvu24">Museums can do these things in such exciting ways. Who counts? Whose stories count, whose lives count? And what’s the challenge of telling those stories at a particular site? I think museums have an incredibly important role to play in resisting the continued degradation of civic culture in America.</p>
<h4 id="0BnlVW">Jacob Gardenswartz</h4>
<p id="g9bIST">How might museums be limited in their ability to speak out and engage in controversial discussions? </p>
<h4 id="KeGbF3">Edward Linenthal</h4>
<p id="BzEUy4">Well, to use a simplistic, but I don’t think unhelpful, template, if a museum moves from forum to tribunal — where it seeks to answer too easily contemporary political questions rather than bring people into more thoughtful reflection about particular events — that becomes a problem. Now, there absolutely have to be times when museums support, undergird, illustrate important truths about particular issues. You’re not going to have a museum that says, “Okay, we’re going to be open to all the different voices, so here’s a Holocaust museum and half of it will be dedicated to Holocaust denial and half to the Holocaust.” Or, “Here’s a natural history museum, and here’s our ‘flat Earth’ exhibition over here.” Obviously you’re not going to do that. </p>
<p id="dKxWiQ">But for museums to take a stand and say, “These are important issues that we can take a stand on. Here’s why, and here’s how we can do it.” It just needs to be done with care, and it needs to be done around issues that are more than just the flavor of the moment. </p>
<p id="uZ23M9"><strong>Correction:</strong> An earlier version of this story stated that no major American museum joined the artists’ strike. It has been updated to reflect that the Queens Museum in New York City did close on the day of Trump’s inauguration. </p>
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/21/15331340/museums-resistance-president-trumpJacob Gardenswartz2017-04-19T11:07:42-04:002017-04-19T11:07:42-04:00Watch Sean Spicer’s daily White House press briefing live stream
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<p id="lh4YY1">Sean Spicer’s press briefing begins at<strong> </strong>12:00 pm today.<strong> </strong>Stream his daily briefing<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/press-briefing-press-secretary-sean-spicer-34">here</a>,<strong> </strong>or from the video above.</p>
<p id="nnhFT3">Beginning with his first — and <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/24/14356628/sean-spicer-trump-crowds">hugely controversial</a> — press briefing, White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s daily briefings have consistently drawn public attention and scrutiny. </p>
<p id="mG3fUe">In February, his briefings — which are carried live by cable news networks — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/business/media/daytime-tvs-new-star-sean-spicer.html">garnered</a> an average of 4.3 million viewers, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/business/media/daytime-tvs-new-star-sean-spicer.html">surpassing</a> the viewership of many daytime soap operas. He’s become must-see TV, in a way. He was <a href="http://www.vox.com/culture/2017/2/5/14512934/melissa-mccarthy-sean-spicer-impression-snl">parodied on <em>SNL</em></a> two times only three weeks into Trump’s presidency.</p>
<p id="yecl1U">As Vox’s Andrew Prokop <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/24/14356628/sean-spicer-trump-crowds">writes</a>, “Spin is considered a sort of game of skill in Washington. The most skillful practitioners of this art are able to push their preferred message or gloss on events to reporters without relying on obvious, provable lies.” </p>
<p id="juJNEC">But watching Spicer can feel like a unique exercise in disbelief. Spicer’s version of “spin” includes<strong> </strong>outright falsehoods and harsh denunciations of stories that are critical of the administration. Occasionally, he has become <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/28/15094444/sean-spicer-april-ryan-trump">combative</a> with reporters, too. To date, the fact-checking site Politifact has <a href="http://www.politifact.com/personalities/sean-spicer/statements/">rated</a> seven of Spicer’s statements since he became press secretary — and determined six fell into one of three categories: “mostly false,” “false,” or “pants on fire.” </p>
<p id="V0LDFk">Spicer holds briefings most<strong> </strong>weekday afternoons. The exact time changes day to day based on the White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/live">schedule</a>. </p>
<p id="pwlUYC"></p>
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/30/15089694/watch-white-house-briefing-live-stream-sean-spicerJacob Gardenswartz2017-04-19T08:20:01-04:002017-04-19T08:20:01-04:00How to get Congress to do what you want
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<p>Lawmakers explain how to change their opinions.</p> <p id="07m61W">The woman who ended up persuading a conservative member of Congress that President Donald Trump should release his tax returns didn’t use to<strong> </strong>consider herself an activist.</p>
<p id="FKmrbX">When Trump was elected, though, Sara Walters, a consultant in Gainesville, Florida, felt drawn to oppose his agenda. Her involvement eventually led to a brief meeting in February with her member of Congress, Rep. Ted Yoho.</p>
<p id="52ULaq">Walters talked to Yoho for just 15 minutes, but she managed to persuade the Tea Party–supporting congressman from a heavily Republican district. Yoho had initially voted against a bill that would force presidents to release their tax returns. In April, he flip-flopped, signing on as a co-sponsor of the legislation — and told a town hall audience of more than 500 that Walters had changed his opinion.</p>
<p id="dIWEBM">Walters’s story should be heartening for the anti-Trump activists flooding Congress members’ phone lines. A <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/poll-finds-surge-of-political-activism-on-the-left_us_58daad61e4b0ae61844c0706">SurveyMonkey poll</a> in early March found 31 percent of self-described liberal Democrats had written to members of Congress since Trump was inaugurated, and 59 percent said they planned to do so over the next two years. </p>
<p id="wORE9t">But whether the constituents in question are liberals furious at Trump or conservatives outraged over Obamacare, it’s easy to be skeptical: Can ordinary people really make a difference? <a href="http://www.vox.com/cards/gerrymandering-explained">Gerrymandering</a> means members of Congress rarely face legitimately contested elections. Super PACs and interest groups wield <a href="http://www.vox.com/2014/7/30/5949581/money-in-politics-charts-explain">tremendous influence</a> on legislators. Can letters, phone calls, or meetings really change someone’s mind? </p>
<p id="nc57Sf">Yes, say current and former members of Congress, pointing to specific constituents who’ve influenced them over the years. But they say some strategies of persuasion work better than others. Here’s what they think works.</p>
<h3 id="5ovNw6">Meet in person</h3>
<p id="7kWpMU">As satisfying as it may be to take part in large, organized campaigns with groups of like-minded individuals<strong> </strong>— letter-writing drives or mass-circulated online petitions, for example —<strong> </strong>those are not always the most effective ways to make a difference, legislators say.</p>
<p id="7nCzBO">“Form letters, these postcards that people sign in the mall and then send them in, that’s not that impactful,” said Jason Altmire, a centrist Democrat who represented Pennsylvania’s Fourth District in Congress for six years. </p>
<p id="byjfiF">More compelling are in-person meetings with representatives or their staff. Getting a meeting on the calendar can be difficult, but patience is key. “Just ask and be willing to work around our schedule,” said Zach Bunshaft, a staff assistant in the office of Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA).</p>
<p id="qYhHmC">A willingness to wait is how Walters, the Gainesville activist, ended up getting one-on-one time with Yoho. After Trump was elected, Walters, who works in employee education, got involved with the local chapter of <a href="https://indivisiblegnv.org/">Indivisible</a>, a newly formed progressive group. Every week during her lunch break, starting four days after inauguration, Walters drove to Yoho’s office for<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1809093316083978/">“Resist Trump Tuesday.”</a> On February 20, she learned Yoho was in town that day — but all of his appointments were booked.</p>
<p id="BFgXVR">She told his staff that she’d like to speak to him, and that she was willing to wait. About 30 minutes later, when<strong> </strong>another constituent’s appointment ended early, she got her meeting.</p>
<h3 id="kZX9pb">Tell a story and build a relationship</h3>
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<cite>Photo by Tom Williams/Contributor/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Rep. Jason Altmire meets with constituents in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, in 2012.</figcaption>
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<p id="fOsJ36">Once your meeting is set up, lawmakers say, it helps to demonstrate your connection to the issue.</p>
<p id="sWNBnr">“What’s most effective is having a passionate, credible story,” Altmire said. He points to those who advocate on behalf of disease funding as among the most effective individuals and groups he meets with. </p>
<p id="KEWPQs">In one case, a family with a child who had Type 2 diabetes met with Altmire not long after he was first elected. The boy was about 10 at the time, Altmire said. Over the next six years, Altmire watched him grow into a teenager and an athlete, and listened to the family’s stories about dealing with the disease. </p>
<p id="eEvz5W">“And I’m a parent,” Altmire said, “so it just hits you: This is something that this family and this kid [are] going to have to deal with for the rest of their lives.”</p>
<p id="yEQ0D7">Since then, he’s tried to advocate for increased funding for diabetes causes, writing letters to colleagues on the appropriations committee, Altmire said. </p>
<p id="fqxgpD">Byron Dorgan, who served as a North Dakota senator for 18 years, echoes this sentiment. He <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/17/14638292/how-to-lobby-senate-congress">told Vox’s Sarah Kliff</a> several weeks ago that the reason he lobbied for the Affordable Care Act’s ban on <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/15/14563182/obamacare-lifetime-limits-ban">lifetime limits for health insurance</a> was because of a particular constituent.</p>
<p id="vL2zQG">Brenda Neubauer’s son had hemophilia, a blood disease that required expensive and frequent injections. Before the ACA passed, insurance regulations allowing for lifetime limits on the amount of treatment insurance could cover meant that Neubauer’s son would run out of benefits by the time he was 16, she estimated. So she continued to set up meetings, to send Dorgan medical bills and photographs, and her story made an impact. </p>
<p id="FquKCs">“She caught my attention, I cared about it, and it became personal,” Dorgan said. </p>
<div class="c-float-right"><aside id="u26ML6"><q>“She caught my attention, I cared about it, and it became personal”</q></aside></div>
<p id="q5PUv5">Then comes the follow-up. It’s rare than any single meeting can produce tangible change, but building a continued relationships over time can make the difference.</p>
<p id="7mVcvE">“There’s nothing more effective than sitting across from a constituent when they’re suffering,” Altmire said. “It’s heart-wrenching to have to make these decisions, and then over time, you get to know these people and they become friends. They come into your office and you can see the progression from year to year, and it really makes a huge difference in your support of those programs.”</p>
<h3 id="N8q1YB">Do your research, and let your representatives do theirs too</h3>
<p id="f2z2XJ">When planning for a meeting with your member of Congress, don’t assume that he or she will know all the intricacies of the issue you’d like to discuss. </p>
<p id="4pLdPZ">“I ask people if it’s a policy issue… to give me some information on the subject prior to our meeting so I can research it,” Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) said. “There’s some issues you know ahead of time, and many issues that are in a subject area I’m not that familiar with, and I’d like to feel that I can have enough information that I can sit down with you and have a meaningful conversation.” </p>
<p id="tnzYZw">Representatives probably already know the political outcomes resulting from supporting or opposing a piece of legislation. The best arguments, they say, are about how their decision would affect you personally, and why they should back your point of view.</p>
<p id="AOTNSi">That’s how a constituent eventually changed Altmire’s mind on the Employee Free Choice Act in 2007. The bill would have made it easier for workers to establish unions. Most Democrats and unions supported the bill, whereas Republicans and business interests argued against it. </p>
<p id="N0GSvI">When the legislation was introduced, Altmire supported it in the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. On the House floor, he <a href="https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2007/3/6/house-section/article/h2169-2?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22Jason+Altmire+%5C%22Employee+Free+choice+Act%5C%22%22%5D%7D&r=1">said</a> it would “benefit working families across this country.” But back in his district, Altmire spoke with Bill Rackoff, the owner of a local company that made tools for metal processing. Rackoff was a Republican who hadn’t supported Altmire, but he was able to convince him to oppose the legislation by arguing that it was bad policy that would affect his business.</p>
<p id="r5Muz2">“He made a very persuasive case,” Altmire remembers. “He’s a guy working in the steel industry in Pittsburgh. And obviously the union issue is very important in that neck of the woods. And he made a case that it was bad legislation and it would hurt his business and I was on the wrong side, and I agreed with him.”</p>
<p id="tQEpeI">When the bill came up again a couple of years later, Altmire didn’t support it, and the Democratic leadership and union interests weren’t pleased. Nonetheless, Altmire continued to oppose it.</p>
<p id="7SRTY5">“I don’t think my argument was based on a political view,” Rackoff recalls of his exchanges with Altmire. “What we talked about wasn't a political standpoint; it was really about fairness.” </p>
<h3 id="usBGFy">If at first you don’t succeed... </h3>
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<figcaption>Rep. Walter Jones.</figcaption>
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<p id="46cxjo">No matter how personal the issue and how convincing an argument you make, there will still be times when your representative will not take your side. In those cases, try to have him or her explain where the disagreement is, so something productive can come from your conversations.</p>
<p id="N8g7PT">“We as an office take very seriously the communications that we receive from our constituents,” Jones said. “And we’re going to make sure that that constituent knows if I differ or disagree with their position, why.” </p>
<p id="4vEvoA">Members of Congress are elected as representatives of their districts, not as direct voices for their constituents’ thoughts and opinions. This tension, which dates back to America’s founding, is present in every major decision Altmire makes.</p>
<p id="SYTIr2">“Are you electing somebody to do exactly what the district wants?” Altmire asked. “Or are you electing somebody to be thoughtful and get to know the district, and cast a vote on their behalf knowing that you know a lot more about it than anyone in the district knows?” </p>
<p id="P3BRhW">Rackoff, the constituent who successfully convinced Altmire to change his vote, sees failure as a part of the process. </p>
<p id="Tv7wtb">“I meet with my representatives or senators or their staff to articulate the views I have about certain issues, and explain to them through the force of logic how to think about the issues,” he said. “Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t.”</p>
<p id="BLKi02">In Walters’s case, it seemed to have worked. Months of showing up at Yoho’s office and laying the groundwork with his staff led to an in-person meeting. She did her research, had a specific “ask,” and clearly and deliberately explained her reasoning. </p>
<p id="G6o8Ga">“[The meeting] went really well, probably better than I imagined talking with a Republican representative that I don’t agree with on stuff,” Walters said. Yet even she didn’t think much would come from it. “[Yoho] said he’d think about it, and honestly I thought he wouldn’t do anything about it.” </p>
<div class="c-float-left"><aside id="nb0Dh3"><q>“I think there’s value in our elected officials understanding when people aren’t happy”</q></aside></div>
<p id="LFmXVQ">When Yoho mentioned Walters’s name at a town hall meeting nearly two months after they first met, explaining how she’d changed his mind, she wasn’t even there, as she had to watch her kids at home. She learned that she’d been name-dropped via a surge of Facebook posts on her wall, but still her shock and pride at the announcement was palpable. And she hopes the experience shows the value of conversation, not just protest.</p>
<p id="QB8fzu">“There’s some people whose personalities are more suited to coming out to the protest and holding up signs, and I think there’s value in that,” she says. “I think there’s value in our elected officials understanding when people aren’t happy.”</p>
<p id="IyuBj2">“But I feel like there’s also value for those of us who want to say, ‘Yeah, I’m not happy, but here’s why,’” she continued. “And I’m going to go in there and meet with people that might not agree with me, and I’m going to try to find common ground in order to change policy.” </p>
<p id="hr6bEX">While some may have interpreted a victory like Walters’s as a chance to take a break, she’s pushing ahead with full force, asking that Yoho sign a discharge petition to move <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/305/all-actions">the bill to require the president’s tax returns</a> out of committee. </p>
<p id="sEAsxZ">“Then, of course, my next ask would be for Yoho to vote YES on HR 305,” she <a href="https://momtakesastand.wordpress.com/resources/yohotrumptaxes/">wrote</a>. “If it passes, then there’s an identical bill sitting in the Senate.”</p>
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/19/14949234/how-to-change-opinions-congressJacob Gardenswartz2017-04-18T18:21:15-04:002017-04-18T18:21:15-04:00Read the full text of Trump's H-1B visa executive order
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<figcaption>Photo by Saul Loeb/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="u4kp3h">On Tuesday, President Donald Trump <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/18/15340686/h1b-visa-executive-order-trump">signed an executive order</a> directing federal agencies to review their policies with respect to hiring foreign workers, and to examine the controversial H-1B visa program for skilled foreign workers, popular with many tech companies.</p>
<p id="ehsDJI">The order also directed agencies to minimize the number of waivers the government issues that allow exceptions to “Buy American Laws.” </p>
<p id="sXeXau">Trump signed the order while on a visit to the headquarters of Snap-On, a tool manufacturer in Kenosha, Wisconsin.</p>
<p id="qq9doL">Though the order is intended as demonstration of Trump’s commitment to his “America First” campaign promise, the direct impact of the order remains unclear. In January, when Trump <a href="http://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/1/24/14372706/trump-dakota-access-keystone">signed an executive action</a> restarting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, he touted a new requirement that the pipeline be made with American steel. In early March, however, his administration revealed that the Keystone pipeline would be <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-trump-won-t-require-keystone-pipeline-1488585551-htmlstory.html">exempt</a> from the “buy American” requirement.</p>
<p id="a7xasT">Trump’s latest order makes it clear that all components of steel production must occur in the US to qualify as American.</p>
<p id="CoovML">The full text of the order is available below:</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="k6Du43">
<h4 id="pwRoHQ">BUY AMERICAN AND HIRE AMERICAN </h4>
<p id="kISwIj"> By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to ensure the faithful execution of the laws, it is hereby ordered as follows:</p>
<p id="Z3pPc6"> Section 1.<strong> </strong>Definitions. As used in this order:</p>
<p id="7OyrfS"> (a) "Buy American Laws" means all statutes, regulations, rules, and Executive Orders relating to Federal procurement or Federal grants ‑‑ including those that refer to "Buy America" or "Buy American" ‑‑ that require, or provide a preference for, the purchase or acquisition of goods, products, or materials produced in the United States, including iron, steel, and manufactured goods.</p>
<p id="tiDLmR"> (b) "Produced in the United States" means, for iron and steel products, that all manufacturing processes, from the initial melting stage through the application of coatings, occurred in the United States.</p>
<p id="hknTs9"> (c) "Petition beneficiaries" means aliens petitioned for by employers to become nonimmigrant visa holders with temporary work authorization under the H-1B visa program. </p>
<p id="WvhJvt"> (d) "Waivers" means exemptions from or waivers of Buy American Laws, or the procedures and conditions used by an executive department or agency (agency) in granting exemptions from or waivers of Buy American Laws.</p>
<p id="eSo1UC"> (e) "Workers in the United States" and "United States workers" shall both be defined as provided at section 212(n)(4)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(4)(E)).</p>
<p id="Nwu22K"> Sec. 2. Policy. It shall be the policy of the executive branch to buy American and hire American.</p>
<p id="dLtmHI"> (a) Buy American Laws. In order to promote economic and national security and to help stimulate economic growth, create good jobs at decent wages, strengthen our middle class, and support the American manufacturing and defense industrial bases, it shall be the policy of the executive branch to maximize, consistent with law, through terms and conditions of Federal financial assistance awards and Federal procurements, the use of goods, products, and materials produced in the United States.</p>
<p id="NnPQlG"> (b) Hire American. In order to create higher wages and employment rates for workers in the United States, and to protect their economic interests, it shall be the policy of the executive branch to rigorously enforce and administer the laws governing entry into the United States of workers from abroad, including section 212(a)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(5)).</p>
<p id="ITOp2y"><strong> </strong> Sec. 3.<strong> </strong>Immediate Enforcement and Assessment of Domestic Preferences According to Buy American Laws. (a) Every agency shall scrupulously monitor, enforce, and comply with Buy American Laws, to the extent they apply, and minimize the use of waivers, consistent with applicable law. </p>
<p id="T2X4bY"> (b) Within 150 days of the date of this order, the heads of all agencies shall: </p>
<p id="V0xqOg">(i) assess the monitoring of, enforcement of, implementation of, and compliance with Buy American Laws within their agencies; </p>
<p id="9w3zwi">(ii) assess the use of waivers within their agencies by type and impact on domestic jobs and manufacturing; and</p>
<p id="3yEEJ6">(iii) develop and propose policies for their agencies to ensure that, to the extent permitted by law, Federal financial assistance awards and Federal procurements maximize the use of materials produced in the United States, including manufactured products; components of manufactured products; and materials such as steel, iron, aluminum, and cement.</p>
<p id="AM1rZN"> (c) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Commerce and theDirector of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Labor, the United States Trade Representative, and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, shall issue guidance to agencies about how to make the assessments and to develop the policies required by subsection (b) of this section.</p>
<p id="TozQew"> (d) Within 150 days of the date of this order, the heads of all agencies shall submit findings made pursuant to the assessments required by subsection (b) of this section to the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. </p>
<p id="Xz5C5Y"> (e) Within 150 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative shall assess the impacts of all United States free trade agreements and the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement on the operation of Buy American Laws, including their impacts on the implementation of domestic procurement preferences.</p>
<p id="oWUGLH"> (f) The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of State, theDirector of the Office of Management and Budget, and the United States Trade Representative, shall submit to the President a report on Buy American that includes findings from subsections (b), (d), and (e) of this section. This report shall be submitted within 220 days of the date of this order and shall include specific recommendations to strengthen implementation of Buy American Laws, including domestic procurement preference policies and programs. Subsequent reports on implementation of Buy American Laws shall be submitted by each agency head annually to the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, on November 15, 2018, 2019, and 2020, and in subsequent years as directed by the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. The Secretary of Commerce shall submit to the President an annual report based on these submissions beginning January 15, 2019.</p>
<p id="85riDz"> Sec. 4.<strong> </strong>Judicious Use of Waivers<em>. </em>(a) To the extent permitted by law, public interest waivers from Buy American Laws should be construed to ensure the maximum utilization of goods, products, and materials produced in the United States.</p>
<p id="SwBbVH"> (b) To the extent permitted by law, determination of public interest waivers shall be made by the head of the agency with the authority over the Federal financial assistance award or Federal procurement under consideration.</p>
<p id="PUzJYD"> (c) To the extent permitted by law, before granting a public interest waiver, the relevant agency shall take appropriate account of whether a significant portion of the cost advantage of a foreign-sourced product is the result of the use of dumped steel, iron, or manufactured goods or the use of injuriously subsidized steel, iron, or manufactured goods, and it shall integrate any findings into its waiver determination as appropriate.</p>
<p id="HY4HrA"> Sec. 5.<strong> </strong>Ensuring the Integrity of the Immigration System in Order to "Hire American." (a) In order to advance the policy outlined in section 2(b) of this order, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, as soon as practicable, and consistent with applicable law, propose new rules and issue new guidance, to supersede or revise previous rules and guidance if appropriate, to protect the interests of United States workers in the administration of our immigration system, including through the prevention of fraud or abuse.</p>
<p id="0OL8sE"> (b) In order to promote the proper functioning of the H-1B visa program, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, as soon as practicable, suggest reforms to help ensure that H-1B visas are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid petition beneficiaries.</p>
<p id="xOtQrp"> Sec. 6.<strong> </strong>General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: </p>
<p id="v2Nnj5">(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof;</p>
<p id="3l8GLi">(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals; or</p>
<p id="inBdYg">(iii) existing rights or obligations under international agreements.</p>
<p id="ZDEpuy"> (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.</p>
<p id="Opsp82"> (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.</p>
<p id="uNuLtL"></p>
<p id="yCy56H"> DONALD J. TRUMP</p>
<p id="pCra5v"></p>
<p id="SLV0nx">THE WHITE HOUSE,</p>
<p id="2reqCR">April 18, 2017.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2017/4/18/15343620/trump-h-1b-visa-executive-order-read-full-textJacob Gardenswartz2017-04-17T16:00:01-04:002017-04-17T16:00:01-04:00The fundamental problem with Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown
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<figcaption>Photo by Icon Sportswire/Contributor/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>On immigration enforcement, Trump kept a campaign promise. But it’s about to get tougher.</p> <p id="LqemLz">During President Donald Trump’s first 12 weeks in office, he’s struggled to deliver on many of his campaign promises — but just as he said he would, he’s making enforcement of immigration law much harsher. </p>
<p id="JIGWcs">On this episode of <em>T</em><em>he Weeds</em>, Matt Yglesias and Sarah Kliff are joined by Vox immigration reporter Dara Lind to talk through the changes the Trump administration has already made to immigration policy and what developments we can expect in the near future. They also discuss the <a href="http://www.vox.com/new-money/2017/4/10/15244100/united-overbooking-bumping-scandal">United Airlines fiasco</a> and a new <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w23297">NBER working paper</a> about the impact of New York City’s universal prekindergarten program on the health of low-income children.</p>
<p id="lN67Cf">You can <a href="https://soundcloud.com/panoply/the-worlds-worst-club?in=panoply/sets/the-weeds">listen to the episode here</a>, or <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/voxs-the-weeds/id1042433083?mt=2">subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts</a>. Also, be sure to get tickets for <a href="http://www.vox.com/2017/3/28/15078188/the-weeds-live-ezra-matt-sarah-washington">the<em> Weeds </em>live taping</a> on April 18, and join the new <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheWeeds/">official Facebook group</a> for <em>Weeds</em> fans.</p>
<div id="jGbIpo"><iframe width="100%" height="400" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?visual=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F317426672&show_artwork=true&in=panoply%2Fsets%2Fthe-weeds"></iframe></div>
<p id="rXdQpj">Here’s Dara explaining a major problem with <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/11/politics/donald-trump-deportation-force-debate-immigration/">Trump’s pledge to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants</a>, and how Trump could get around that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="P93DTp">DARA: The fundamental problem with removing 11 million unauthorized people from the country is immigration courts have a massive backlog. If you have not previously been deported from the US, and you aren’t caught within a certain distance from the border — or you are caught within that distance but you’ve been living here for several years — you have the right to an immigration court hearing before you’re deported. And that means that over the last several years, because Congress realized it wanted to put a lot more funding toward immigration enforcement, it put it toward DHS [Department of Homeland Security]. It didn’t put it toward DOJ [Department of Justice], where the immigration courts were. </p>
<p id="1S0QET">So, over the entire Obama administration, the court backlog went from a year, a year and a half, to two and a half years.</p>
<p id="XIlhpQ">MATT: So if you nab a longtime resident in Chicago—</p>
<p id="qBKGGA">DARA: Right, that’s two and a half years where they’re going to be out in the community, where in theory they could abscond and not show up for their hearings. Or that’s two and a half years that you have to keep them in detention, which gets extremely expensive, even if you’re cutting costs by putting them in private facilities…</p>
<p id="P0BJmq">One of the ways you could root around it is by expanding the exception — the “Oh, you’re not entitled to an immigration court hearing.” And there should be regulations coming down soon about that. Some people are worried that it’s going to allow anyone who gets caught anywhere in the US to, if they can’t prove they’ve been here for a couple of years, to get deported without a hearing. We don’t know for sure that’s what’s going to happen, but that’s the rumor that’s been going around. </p>
<p id="KRyadv">Another way to get around it is to use federal criminal court, which is not as backlogged as immigration courts generally, and charge and convict you of a crime. And once you’ve been convicted of a crime, it is much more easy to ship you through immigration court in a jail or prison and deport you.</p>
</blockquote>
<h3 id="clqgiX">Show notes:</h3>
<ul>
<li id="Vc8AoP">Dara’s report from Austin, Texas, on the <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/5/14635132/ice-raids-checkpoints">fear taking hold</a> in one immigrant community</li>
<li id="7Da314">Jeff Sessions’s <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/12/prosecutor-jeff-sessions-new-immigration-plan-is-f-cking-horrifying.html">new directives to US attorneys</a>
</li>
<li id="wDgFjp">How Trump’s election <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/20/14241026/police-trump-border-patrol">has emboldened</a> ICE </li>
<li id="pEIjKh">BuzzFeed News’s Zoe Tillman on the challenges posed by the <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/zoetillman/backlogged-immigration-courts-pose-problems-for-trumps-plans?utm_term=.kvwn93ZMQ#.awOA98JgP">immigration court backlog</a>
</li>
<li id="aKi9mG">Dara on what ICE’s <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/11/15180140/immigrants-arrested-courthouses-ice">new trend of arresting immigrants at courthouses</a> means</li>
<li id="tzmaX1">Why United Airlines <a href="http://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/11/15246632/united-airlines-drag-man-off-plane">could get away with</a> its latest fiasco</li>
<li id="AYNK0V">Why flying in America keeps getting more miserable, <a href="http://www.vox.com/new-money/2017/4/12/15247172/why-airlines-are-terrible">explained</a> </li>
<li id="zY4aRa">“Seeing and Hearing: The Impacts of New York City's Universal Prekindergarten Program on the Health of Low-Income Children,” an NBER <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w23297">working paper</a> by Kai Hong, Kacie Dragan, and Sherry Glied</li>
</ul>
https://www.vox.com/2017/4/17/15294810/trump-immigration-enforcement-crackdown-problemJacob Gardenswartz2017-04-17T13:22:14-04:002017-04-17T13:22:14-04:00The Weeds Live is happening in April in Washington, DC
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<p>Ezra Klein, Sarah Kliff, and Matt Yglesias are hosting a live episode of The Weeds.</p> <p id="sDooq5">Fans of <em>The Weeds</em> rejoice: You now have the opportunity to watch a live taping of your favorite wonky podcast and see what goes on behind the scenes! </p>
<p id="aEDpBN">Join Vox’s Ezra Klein, Sarah Kliff, and Matthew Yglesias on Tuesday, April 18, as they talk through the latest policy developments and political battles in the Trump administration. </p>
<h2 id="u5vkes">Details:</h2>
<ul>
<li id="IgmpTL">
<strong>Date</strong>: Tuesday, April 18</li>
<li id="gWjJ3p">
<strong>Time: </strong>7:30 pm; doors open at 6:30 pm</li>
<li id="x7Dst4">
<strong>Location: </strong><a href="http://www.warnertheatredc.com/">Warner Theater</a>, 513 13th Street NW</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="c1eOgi">Tickets:</h2>
<ul><li id="aDc1KG">Available for purchase <a href="http://concerts1.livenation.com/event/1500526F00495702">here</a>, starting at $28 a person</li></ul>
<p id="zXLzTZ">Be sure to catch up on all the latest episodes before the live taping. You can listen to them on <a href="https://soundcloud.com/panoply/sets/the-weeds">Soundcloud</a>, or by <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/voxs-the-weeds/id1042433083?mt=2">subscribing to the show iTunes</a>. Also, be sure to join the new <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheWeeds/">official Facebook group</a> for fans of <em>The Weeds</em>! </p>
https://www.vox.com/2017/3/28/15078188/the-weeds-live-ezra-matt-sarah-washingtonJacob Gardenswartz2017-04-17T11:00:05-04:002017-04-17T11:00:05-04:00Watch the White House Easter Egg Roll live stream
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<p id="a8bmYC">President Trump will participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll, the 139th iteration of the annual tradition, on Monday morning.</p>
<p id="kjntS6">Yet even something as light as the Easter celebration for kids has become a sort of mini controversy for Trump, as a recent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/us/politics/white-house-easter-egg-roll-trump.html">New York Times report</a> detailed a planning effort behind on its organizational and staffing requirements. Some contractors went so far as to take to the president’s favorite medium of Twitter to remind him of important dates:</p>
<div id="XFCVa0">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS">@FLOTUS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump">@realDonaldTrump</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS">@POTUS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MELANIATRUMP">@MELANIATRUMP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/IvankaTrump">@IvankaTrump</a> FYI manufacturing deadlines for the Easter eggs are near. Please reach out! <a href="https://t.co/D78YqWVPBi">pic.twitter.com/D78YqWVPBi</a></p>— Wells Wood Turning (@WellsTurning) <a href="https://twitter.com/WellsTurning/status/833662248958754817">February 20, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
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<p id="Yu0rPZ">Hosted by first lady Melania Trump, the event is expected to draw approximately 21,000 adults and children to the White House lawn for the festivities, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/17/politics/white-house-easter-egg-roll/">according to CNN</a>, down from the more than 35,000 attendees as last year’s gathering. The festivities began at 7:30 am and will continue throughout the morning, with various waves of events planned. </p>
<div id="VsTbNK">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Looking forward to hosting the annual Easter Egg Roll at the <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse">@WhiteHouse</a> on Monday! <a href="https://t.co/nz7vucugx9">pic.twitter.com/nz7vucugx9</a></p>— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/852968772088594434">April 14, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
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<p id="s16D0B">Though press secretary Sean Spicer was in attendance, he did not reprise his role as the official Easter Bunny, a position he held when he worked for the George W. Bush administration; instead he opted to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekj2S2UGTRY&feature=youtu.be">read a story to children</a>. </p>
<div id="4JRsqe">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/neverforget?src=hash">#neverforget</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WhiteHousebunny?src=hash">#WhiteHousebunny</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/seanspicer">@seanspicer</a> <a href="https://t.co/Fi134UjYYJ">pic.twitter.com/Fi134UjYYJ</a></p>— Olivier Knox (@OKnox) <a href="https://twitter.com/OKnox/status/714454998952910848">March 28, 2016</a>
</blockquote>
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<p id="YeUU6c">You can watch a live stream of the events above, or on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKYlYTtQXhE">White House YouTube channel</a>. </p>
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/17/15325612/white-house-easter-egg-roll-2107-live-stream-trumpJacob Gardenswartz2017-04-13T12:50:02-04:002017-04-13T12:50:02-04:00Sheila Abdus-Salaam, first black female judge on NY’s high court, was found dead Wednesday
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<figcaption>Photo by Hans Pennink/Associated Press</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Police are treating her death as a suicide.</p> <p id="PBLAPR">Sheila Abdus-Salaam was the first black woman appointed to the New York Court of Appeals — a groundbreaking career that was cut short when she<strong> </strong>was <a href="https://apnews.com/12cb72b9f8724222b289daeb50beea71">found dead Wednesday</a> in the Hudson River, likely the result of a suicide.</p>
<p id="23J8mx">New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio <a href="https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/852341613351378947?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2017%2F04%2F13%2Fus%2Fsheila-abdus-salaam-judge-hudson-river%2Findex.html">described</a> Abdus-Salaam,<strong> </strong>a 65-year-old associate judge on New York’s highest court, as a “humble pioneer.” When she was appointed to the New York State Court of Appeals, according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/nyregion/sheila-adbus-salaam-new-york-judge-hudson-river-committed-suicide.html">New York Times</a>, she was the first black woman to have held the position. One of her recent decisions expanded the definition of “parenthood” for same-sex couples. </p>
<p id="glA9GA">There were no apparent signs of trauma on her body, and a police source <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/judge-sheila-abdus-salaam-committed-suicide-police-article-1.3051425">told the New York Daily News</a> she likely took her own life. </p>
<h3 id="bLFcVF">What we know about her death</h3>
<ul>
<li id="WRJoyV">Officers with the NYPD’s Harbor Unit responded to a report of a floating body near the shore of the Hudson River near West 132nd Street in Upper Manhattan around 1:45 pm on Wednesday, April 12, according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/nyregion/judge-dead-hudson-river-sheila-abdus-salaam.html?mtrref=undefined&gwh=91AB0E0928DC31958653D7465B202066&gwt=pay&_r=0">New York Times</a>.</li>
<li id="AyuNTY">Abdus-Salaam was pronounced dead by paramedics just after 2 pm, on a pier on the river.</li>
<li id="ko2d3R">CBS2 NY’s Tony Aiello <a href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/04/12/appeals-court-justice-found-dead/">reported</a> that Abdus-Salaam had been reported missing a day earlier, on April 11, though it is unclear how long she had been unaccounted for.</li>
<li id="WXXGpk">A law enforcement official told the Times there were no apparent signs of criminality.</li>
<li id="CidPLz">Law enforcement officials are treating her death as a suicide, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/nyregion/sheila-adbus-salaam-new-york-judge-hudson-river-committed-suicide.html">Times said</a>, though still planning an investigation into the circumstances.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="D6fkxn">The life and legacy of a “trailblazing jurist”</h3>
<p id="o5txfm">Abdus-Salaam was born to working-class parents in Washington, DC, according to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/13/us/sheila-abdus-salaam-judge-hudson-river/">CNN</a>, and started her legal career as a staff attorney at <a href="http://bka.org/about-us/">East Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation</a> in 1977. In 1991, she <a href="https://www.nycourts.gov/courts/AD1/centennial/Bios/sabdussaalam2.shtml">took the bench</a> as an NYC civil court judge, and was eventually elected to the state Supreme Court for New York County. </p>
<p id="jM93HG">In 2009, then-Gov. David Patterson appointed her to the Appellate Division, First Department, of the New York State Court of Appeals. In 2013, Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed her to the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest judicial office.</p>
<p id="zvirrl">Abdus-Salaam made several important rulings on civil rights, including writing the opinion in <a href="http://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/Decisions/2016/Aug16/91-92opn16-Decision.pdf"><em>Brooke S.B. </em><em>v.</em><em> Elizabeth A. C.C</em></a><em>,</em> which <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/31/nyregion/new-york-court-parental-rights.html">expanded</a> the definition of “parenthood,” specifically as it refers to same-sex couples. Before the August 2016 decision, only blood relatives, biological parents, or adoptive guardians could be granted custody and visitations rights for a child. The court’s opinion in the case changed that definition to allow for custody rights to be granted to a non-blood relative, such as a same-sex partner.</p>
<p id="yL55KY">In a <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/statement-governor-andrew-m-cuomo-passing-judge-sheila-abdus-salaam">statement</a>, Cuomo said Abdus-Salaam “was a trailblazing jurist whose life in public service was in pursuit of a more fair and more just New York for all.” He went on to call her “a force for good whose legacy will be felt for years to come.”</p>
<p id="p2ChHT">Although it’s been 25 years since Abdus-Salaam was appointed to the bench, female judges of color are still quite rare. According to the <a href="http://gavelgap.org/">American Constitutional Society for Law and Policy</a>, women make up less than a third of state judges, and people of color less than 20 percent. As a judge on the highest court of a large and powerful state, Abdus-Salaam represented an historic first and served as a strong voice who often sided with vulnerable groups.</p>
<p id="bHfXx8"></p>
<p id="HEgPPW"><strong>Update: </strong>Though it has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/13/united-states-first-female-muslim-judge-found-dead-in-new-york">widely reported</a> that Abdus-Salaam was Muslim, a spokesperson for the NY Court of Appeals <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/nyregion/sheila-adbus-salaam-new-york-judge-hudson-river-committed-suicide.html">told the New York Times</a> that she was not.</p>
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/13/15286272/sheila-abdus-salaam-death-first-black-woman-judge-new-yorkJacob Gardenswartz2017-04-12T14:20:01-04:002017-04-12T14:20:01-04:00A brief history of the Trump administration’s flirtation with Holocaust denial
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/o5GAJikxQNkfSwFIx0a962CaAIs=/0x0:4500x3375/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54218585/GettyImages_667383110.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Spicer’s claim that Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons wasn’t a one-off gaffe.</p> <p id="3dlf3o">Sean Spicer shocked many when he falsely <a href="http://www.vox.com/world/2017/4/11/15262100/sean-spicer-assad-hitler-holocaust-gas">claimed</a> on Tuesday that "Hitler didn't even sink to the level of using chemical weapons” during World War II. In normal times, it would probably have been enough to end the career of a spokesperson. But, we are continually reminded, these are not normal times. </p>
<p id="fa37hR">Trump and his people are far too familiar with gaffes involving the Holocaust. Spicer’s Tuesday comments are but the latest in a series of anti-Semitic <a href="http://forward.com/news/national/353563/donald-trumps-final-ad-evokes-centuries-old-anti-semitic-dog-whistles/">dog whistles</a> and Holocaust denials emanating from the president, his staff, and his family. </p>
<p id="Hd2FGO">Here’s a quick refresher: </p>
<h3 id="3xcejq">1) Trump tweets an anti-Semitic meme and calls it a “sheriff’s star” </h3>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/75eQZFc1ZTUJhR6BsjoG2RUrZII=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8326997/zwfsxs559qbqbrurczraxwx4r1nl4ipdttf9i5tgmwvsa8n5raqfhtotdom7bxbi.png">
<figcaption>A since-deleted tweet from July 2, 2016.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="Zx8cmv">It’s the summer of 2016, the election campaigns are still being waged, and Trump has just tweeted an image depicting Hillary Clinton with a Star of David and the phrase “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” atop a bed of dollar bills. As Vox’s Matt Yglesias <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/7/5/12095130/donald-trump-anti-semitism">explained</a>, the graphic initially surfaced on an 8chan forum, a hub of white supremacist <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/4/18/11434098/alt-right-explained">alt-right internet trolls</a>. And despite Trump’s fervent <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/749961528422625281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F2016%2F7%2F5%2F12095130%2Fdonald-trump-anti-semitism">defense</a> that the six-pointed star was really a “Sheriff’s Star, or plain star!” white nationalists the likes of David Duke seemed to be able to <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/david-duke-no-way-star-in-trumps-tweet-was-a-sheriffs-star?utm_term=.ad6Vwrye8#.jq6QkmZ73">read between the lines</a> about what the image really meant. </p>
<h3 id="lVSk4l">2) Donald Trump Jr. denies “warming up the gas chamber” is a reference to the Holocaust</h3>
<p id="iUSi5K">Flash forward to September, when Trump’s son Donald Jr. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/15/politics/donald-trump-jr-gas-chamber/">compares</a> the media treatment of his father to the atrocities of Holocaust concentration camps. In an interview with Philadelphia-based conservative radio host Chris Stigall on September 14, Trump Jr. claimed that if his father acted like Hillary Clinton, news media would “be warming up the gas chamber right now.” </p>
<blockquote>
<p id="knS0Sj">The media has been her number one surrogate in this. Without the media, this wouldn't even be a contest. But the media has built her up. They've let her slide on every indiscrepancy, on every lie, on every DNC game trying to get Bernie Sanders out of the thing…</p>
<p id="jPF4qp">I mean, if Republicans were doing that, they'd be warming up the gas chamber right now. It's a very different system — there's nothing fair about it”</p>
</blockquote>
<p id="fo2ztC">Trump’s campaign was quick to deny that the “gas chamber” comment had anything to do with the Holocaust. "Don Jr. was clearly referring to capital punishment to make the case that the media continues to take words out of context in order to serve as the propaganda arm of the Hillary Clinton campaign,” Trump communications adviser Jason Miller <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/15/politics/donald-trump-jr-gas-chamber/">said</a> in a statement. Trump Jr. <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/donald-trump-jr-clarifies-gas-chambers-remark-n649026">told</a> NBC News’s Katy Tur that he was referring to executions in general, not the Holocaust, and often uses the phrase “electric chair” to make the same point.</p>
<h3 id="wnDWKE">3) The White House Holocaust Remembrance Day statement doesn’t mention Jews </h3>
<p id="jqVIcO">The trend didn’t stop once Trump took office. On January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the White House issued a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/27/statement-president-international-holocaust-remembrance-day">short statement</a> honoring the “victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust.” The statement did not, however, note that 6 million of those victims happened to be Jews.</p>
<p id="hrMBws">During the ensuing <a href="http://www.vox.com/2017/1/30/14431216/trump-holocaust-statement-6-million-jews">controversy</a>, the Trump administration defended its statement, arguing that Jews were not specifically mentioned because there were other groups targeted during the Holocaust. Spokesperson Hope Hicks <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/28/politics/white-house-holocaust-memorial-day/">told CNN</a>, “we are an incredibly inclusive group and we took into account all of those who suffered.” Many, from historian <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/the-trump-administrations-softcore-holocaust-denial/514974/">Deborah Lipstadt</a> to Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Director <a href="https://twitter.com/JGreenblattADL/status/825029533581520896">Jonathan Greenblatt</a>, were critical of the statement, with some going so far as to dub it “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/29/tim-kaine-white-house-holocaust-statement-jews-muslims">Holocaust denial</a>.” </p>
<p id="VzU7AV">Politico later <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/white-house-holocaust-jews-234572">revealed</a> that the White House had, in fact, been presented with a statement that mentioned the Jewish people, but blocked its release and went with its own version instead. Trump administration staff continue to <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/priebus-holocaust-statement-isn-t-whitewashing-anything-865259587912">stand behind the statement</a>. Meanwhile, the neo-Nazi site Daily Stormer <a href="http://www.dailystormer.com/white-house-admits-they-intentionally-omitted-jews-from-holocaust-statement/">celebrated</a> the administration’s omission of Jewish suffering. </p>
<h3 id="5CPTnJ">4) Trump: questions about anti-Semitism are “insulting”</h3>
<p id="ogw3S4">In a February 16 news conference, Trump was asked by journalist Jake Turx about the <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/19/13326336/trump-antisemitism">rise in anti-Semitic incidents</a> in the US following his election and the <a href="http://www.vox.com/2017/2/23/14691010/bomb-threats-jccs-jews-anti-semitism-trump">epidemic of bomb threats</a> against Jewish organizations. He <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/16/14630034/trump-anti-semitism-news-conference-insulting">proceeded</a> to cut Turx off, belittle his question, and deny any anti-Semitism from himself or his campaign:</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="ZK4fj9">He said he was going to ask a easy question — okay sit down, I understand the rest of your question. Folks, number one, I am the least anti-Semitic person that you have seen in your entire life. Number two, racism. The least racist.</p>
<p id="PfZPZx">We did relatively well — quiet, quiet, quiet — see he lied about what was going to be a very straight simple question. I hate the charge. I find it repulsive, I hate even the question because people that know me and you heard the Prime Minister, you heard Netanyahu yesterday. Did you hear him, Bibi, he said I've known Donald Trump for a long time and said forget it so you should take that instead of getting up and asking a very insulting question like that. Just shows you about the press but that's the way the press is.</p>
</blockquote>
<p id="yUpNSc">Jewish organizations were aghast at the way Trump brushed aside legitimate fears of anti-Semitism and violence against Jews. The ADL issued a <a href="https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-president-trumps-repeated-dodging-of-serious-questions-on-anti-semitism-are#.WKY6MBIrKRu">statement</a> calling Trump’s response “mind-boggling,” while the American Jewish Committee <a href="http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=7oJILSPwFfJSG&b=9302337&ct=14985425&notoc=1">implored</a> the president “not to bully reporters asking questions potentially affecting millions of fellow Americans.” </p>
<p id="M0wiQg">About a week later, Trump formally condemned the “horrible” and “painful” anti-Semitic threats targeting Jewish community centers, calling them “a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil.” Still, some Jewish groups felt like his statement was too little, too late. </p>
<p id="1NduFv">“The president’s sudden acknowledgment of anti-Semitism is a Band-Aid on the cancer of anti-Semitism that has infected his own administration,” executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect Steven Goldstein <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/21/us/politics/trump-speaks-out-against-anti-semitism.html?_r=0">told the New York Times</a>. “When President Trump responds to anti-Semitism proactively and in real time, and without pleas and pressure, that’s when we’ll be able to say this president has turned a corner. This is not that moment.”</p>
<h3 id="XBiPzE">5) Spicer and Hitler and chemical weapons</h3>
<p id="wuYl83">Which brings us to Tuesday, April 11, when Sean Spicer <a href="http://www.vox.com/world/2017/4/11/15262100/sean-spicer-assad-hitler-holocaust-gas">falsely said</a> that Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons during the Holocaust, drawing a distinction to what Syrian President Bashar al-Assad did to his people. In his attempts to clarify, Spicer didn’t do himself any favors:</p>
<blockquote><p id="lcNk16">I think when you come to sarin gas, there was no … he was not using the gas on his own people in the same way that Assad is doing. There was not … he brought them into the Holocaust centers, I understand that. But what I’m saying is the way that Assad used them, where he went into towns, dropped them, the use of it — I appreciate the clarification, [denying that Hitler used gas] was not the intent.</p></blockquote>
<p id="beO23g">Aside from the bizarre labeling of concentration camps as “Holocaust centers,” Spicer’s follow-up is again false. As Vox’s Zach Beauchamp <a href="http://www.vox.com/world/2017/4/11/15262100/sean-spicer-assad-hitler-holocaust-gas">explained</a>, “Prior to the construction of gas chambers, SS soldiers would drive around so-called ‘gas vans’ — vehicles with hermetically sealed compartments that could be flooded with poison gas — and used them to execute Jews in, yes, <a href="http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%206236.pdf">their towns</a>.” </p>
<p id="cYEwJW">Spicer has since apologized for the remarks, <a href="https://twitter.com/tommyxtopher/status/851923287370342400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fworld%2F2017%2F4%2F11%2F15262100%2Fsean-spicer-assad-hitler-holocaust-gas">saying on CNN</a> he didn’t want to distract from Trump’s attempts to “destabilize the region.” He’s continued on this <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/12/sean-spicer-apology-hitler-holocaust-syria">apology tour</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/852118117547376640">telling NBC’s Peter Alexander</a>, “I’m absolutely sorry, especially during a week like this, to make a comparison that is inappropriate and inexcusable.” </p>
<p id="99dkpe">After Spicer’s latest controversy, many were quick to point to <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/godwins-law">Godwin’s Law</a>, the so-called “<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/11/politics/spicer-hitler-assad/index.html">first rule of politics</a>.” The term was coined by Mike Godwin, the famed internet lawyer and journalist, who argued that you should never, ever make Hitler comparisons, as they will rarely serve you well. </p>
<p id="g4abIz">Unfortunately, the Trump administration hasn’t seemed to learn this lesson.</p>
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/12/15270970/trump-administration-holocaust-denial-sean-spicerJacob Gardenswartz2017-04-12T13:50:02-04:002017-04-12T13:50:02-04:00Mitch McConnell says the legislative filibuster is safe. Should we trust him?
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oG1EIsZf36BKzPFOiRlBwMEbeFk=/0x0:3000x2250/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54216631/GettyImages_665810490.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What’s next for the filibuster after Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation?</p> <p id="iSoxK9">Last week, Republicans in the Senate invoked the so-called <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/3/15108140/neil-gorsuch-nuclear-option-trump">“nuclear option,”</a> which immediately allowed President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/31/14450024/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court">Judge Neil Gorsuch</a>, to be confirmed with a simple majority of the votes, rather than the previous 60-vote threshold. But what about the long-term impact of the rule change?</p>
<p id="Ry4KSA">As Vox’s Jeff Stein <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/6/15205316/nuclear-option-senate">noted</a>, that senators have used such <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJeffMerkley/status/850028285841027072">apocalyptic rhetoric</a> to describe this rule change shows how important institutional procedure is to many of them. “This is a body blow to the institution,” Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/mcconnell-nuclear-option-helps-senate-mccain-whoever-says-that-is-a-stupid-idiot/2017/04/05/d9d73aec-1a1a-11e7-9887-1a5314b56a08_story.html?utm_term=.cf469bf044ff">told reporters</a> on Wednesday. “I think we’re on a slippery slope.” (And yet McCain was one of the 52 Republican senators to cast a party-line vote in favor of the change.) </p>
<p id="O9mAUA">On this episode of <em>The Weeds</em>, Matt Yglesias and Sarah Kliff are joined by Vox policy and politics editor Jim Tankersley to discuss the implications of the rule change and whether it could signal further changes in Senate procedure. They also touch on the <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/31/15093946/gop-tax-reform-cuts-permanent-border-interest">looming battle over tax reform</a> and a new <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20160080&&from=f">white paper</a> in the <em>American Economic Review</em> about the impact of gender quotas in Swedish government. </p>
<p id="l8QeyG">You can <a href="https://soundcloud.com/panoply/nuclear-winter">listen to the episode here</a>, or <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/voxs-the-weeds/id1042433083?mt=2">subscribe to the show on iTunes here</a>. Also, be sure to get tickets for <a href="http://www.vox.com/2017/3/28/15078188/the-weeds-live-ezra-matt-sarah-washington">the<em> Weeds </em>live taping</a> on April 18, and join the new <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheWeeds/">official Facebook group</a> for <em>Weeds</em> fans <em>— </em>those who join the group have the opportunity to win two tickets to the live taping.</p>
<div id="oxZfP1"><iframe width="100%" height="400" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?visual=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F316309459&show_artwork=true"></iframe></div>
<p id="rSQqhQ">Here’s Sarah on what invoking the nuclear option for Supreme Court nominees might signal about further rule changes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="CW6luf">One of the things I’m curious about is how much of [the opposition to changing the legislative filibuster] is influenced by the current legislative context, and if there will be a willingness to revisit this six months or a year down the road. Right now I think [Matt is] right — it really advantages the Senate to blame health care on rules, because they don’t actually want to get behind the thing that the House might pass. And they really like being able to say, “Well, with 50 votes, we can only deal with budgetary things. Sorry, guys, it’s our weird Senate rules. They’re just what they are.” And it’s a great crutch to not be the ones who get blamed for millions of people losing insurance.</p>
<p id="9D0zhl">The thing I wonder about is if you do get to the point where they have a bill that they actually like — I don’t know if it’s tax reform, or infrastructure, or something else that they actually really are enthusiastic [about] and really do want to move it through. I think now that they’re inching in this direction, it’s a lot easier to see McConnell going back on his remarks. </p>
<p id="gHb3s2">It’s hard for me to see it as a long-lasting commitment given the change we’ve seen to Senate rules over the past decade or so. I could very easily see Mitch McConnell, someone who wants to get his members elected, saying that “Democrats are being obstructionists on an important bill. We need to pass it,” and getting rid of [the filibuster] at some point in the future. Maybe it’s only with certain types of legislation, like it happened with nominations, as you inch further and further in that direction. It’s really hard to see how the filibuster continues to be compatible with the deep polarization we have right now.</p>
</blockquote>
<h3 id="n1Goz5">Show notes:</h3>
<ul>
<li id="Ika6kz">Dylan Matthews and Matt on <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/31/15093946/gop-tax-reform-cuts-permanent-border-interest">the 7 big questions Republicans have to answer on tax reform</a>
</li>
<li id="iowYFw">Alvin Chang explains corporate tax reform <a href="http://www.vox.com/2017/4/4/14986022/corporate-tax-reform-destination-based-cash-flow-cartoon">with a cartoon about sandwiches</a>
</li>
<li id="FEQ7yd">Jim <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/3/14772242/republicans-tax-cuts-reform-kevin-brady-corporate-border-adjustment">talks with House Ways and Means Committee Chair Kevin Brady</a> on his big plans for tax reform</li>
<li id="s3LwUt">
<a href="http://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/4/4/15168316/filibuster-gorsuch-senate-nuclear-mistake">“The progressive case against filibustering Neil Gorsuch,”</a> by professors Daniel Hemel and David Herzig</li>
<li id="8CkIUC">Jeff on <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/6/15205316/nuclear-option-senate">why senators use such apocalyptic rhetoric about the "nuclear option" rules change</a>
</li>
<li id="WmbnxU">
<a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20160080&&from=f">“Gender Quotas and the Crisis of the Mediocre Man: Theory and Evidence From Sweden,”</a> a new white paper by Timothy Besley, Olle Folke, Torsten Persson, and Johanna Rickne in the <em>American Economic Review</em>
</li>
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<p id="XYr5oh"><strong>Correction:</strong> A previous version of this post listed the wrong former vote threshold for confirming a Supreme Court justice. </p>
https://www.vox.com/podcasts/2017/4/12/15207072/filibuster-nuclear-option-gorsuch-what-nextJacob Gardenswartz