OMB, DHS, and Bills from the House and Senate
GOVERNMENT
Shalanda Young and The Office of Management and Budget
Reporters say people on Capitol Hill want the White House to nominate Shalanda Young to be the next director of the Office of Management and Budget now that Neera Tanden has withdrawn her name. I’ve flagged this position as one to watch because this position will lead Biden’s “racial equity” efforts across the federal government.
Biden has nominated Young to be the deputy director and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said she could serve as the acting director. Those who support Young say she has the right experience and relationships. But according to The Washington Post, there’s concern about the lack of Asian American representation in the Biden administration. Hopefully, Biden names a replacement soon for this critical role.
Biden Administration To Reunite Separated Families
White views on nonwhite immigrants is a key part of white identity and white racism. Whites have long racialized immigration, and immigration is racist in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security is another tool of racialization and racist oppression. We must know what’s happening at DHS. The Biden administration announced plans to reunite separated families here or in the country of origin, and provide other supports and resources. I suspect the Biden administration will only offer a “not-Trump” side of whiteness. The Breathe Act lists several DHS programs to repeal immediately.
The House Passed The Equality Act
The Act guarantees protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The late professor Joel Olson believed the present cultural wars have racial roots. Plus many Black people and people of color identity as LGBTQIA+. The Equality Act will have an impact on race and racism. See what Representative Cori Bush said in support of the Act.
According to The Washington Post, “The legislation would amend federal civil rights laws to ensure protections for LGBTQ Americans in employment, education, housing, credit, jury service and other areas.”
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act Passes the House
The police are a primary tool of racialization and oppression. Antiracist efforts must deal with policing. The House of Representatives again passed The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which was authored by Congresswoman Karen Bass of California, who was on Biden’s short list of VP candidates.
According to Axios, the bill addresses qualified immunity for officers by making lawsuits easier; it establishes at the Department of Justice a national registry of police misconduct; it bans chokeholds at the federal level; it ends no-knock warrants in federal drug cases and makes racial and religious profiling illegal. Reportedly, Philonise Floyd believes the act would’ve saved his brother.
But Derecka Purnell says, “The George Floyd Act wouldn't have saved George Floyd’s life. That says it all.” In her piece for The Guardian, Purnell points out that Floyd wasn’t murdered by a chokehold, the police can kill people in several ways, and the bill gives more money to the police. Activists and progressive lawmakers are clear on what they want as listed in The Breathe Act. And the Human Rights Watch posted a list of recommendations.
The trial for the white terrorist who killed George Floyd starts Monday, March 8. We’ll also have to see what happens to the bill in the Senate.
The House Passes the “For the People Act” to Expand Democracy
Enhancing democracy is one of the most effective ways to end whiteness because whiteness is fundamentally antidemocratic. House Democrats recently passed again the For the People Act which some say would make the US into a democracy. The site Represent Us has an excellent rundown of what’s in the bill that Mitch McConnell calls a power grab. I heard Nancy Pelosi say John Lewis wrote the first 300 pages of the bill.
According to Represent Us, the bill seeks to end gerrymandering, modernize voter registration, enhance voting access, finance elections through the public, increase oversight and enforcement of existing laws, and strengthen lobbying rules, transparency, and conflict of interest rules.
We’ll have to see what the Senate does with the bill and how white-identity Democrats, like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, vote on the bill.
Senate Passes The American Rescue Plan; The Bill Goes Back to The House
The Senate passed its version of the American Rescue Plan and now the bill goes back to the House before Biden signs the bill. The House plan included funding for “Vaccine Confidence Activities.” We’ll have to see what the final bill has in that area.
The Senate plan does not include stimulus checks for undocumented immigrants, which is another way citizenship functions to exclude just like whiteness excludes. According to ABC News, couples who file jointly only need one social security number and they would receive one stimulus check. GOP amendments to block payments to incarcerated people and trans inclusive entities were rejected.