Politics Desk

NPR’s Nina Totenberg & Scotus Blog’s Tom Goldstein live on...

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 12:18:42 -0400

NPR’s Nina Totenberg & Scotus Blog’s Tom Goldstein live on Periscope outside the Supreme Court, recapping today’s same-sex marriage arguments.

Same-sex marriage is at the Supreme Court today. And along with...

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 10:53:43 -0400

Same-sex marriage is at the Supreme Court today. And along with the plaintiffs and defendants, a record number of groups, individuals and governments filed amicus (”friend of the court”) briefs (seen above in green). Here they are by the numbers:

148 briefs filed, a record number
136 previous amicus brief record, made in the 2013 Obamacare case
$25,000-$50,000 average cost to file one
370 large & small businesses filed one brief
76 briefs contending same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional (as of 2 weeks ago)
58 briefs defending the bans
5 briefs supporting neither party

Read more about the briefs here. And the cases here.

You can follow npr news on Periscope, nprnews & nprpolitics on Twitter + npr.org for updates from the court throughout the day.

Photos: Emily Jan/NPR

Remember the time Rand Paul shushed a CNBC anchor on air? That...

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 16:30:51 -0400

Remember the time Rand Paul shushed a CNBC anchor on air? That was February, and he’s only three days into his campaign but the short temper is back:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2015/04/09/398528641/3-times-rand-paul-got-testy-this-week

Gif: YouTube/CNBC

And the shop is open…Rand Paul announced his bid for the...

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 12:02:21 -0400

And the shop is open…

Rand Paul announced his bid for the White House Tuesday morning on his website, complete with the swag fit for a presidential campaign.

“Political fashion is boring. Rand fashion is cool,” the website reads.

From top to bottom:

Eye chart (Paul is an opthamologist): $20.16
Signed copy of the constitution: $1000.00
Woven blanket: $75.00
NSA spy cam blocker: $15.00

NPR.org has full coverage of Rand Paul’s announcement:

Can Libertarian Rand Paul Win A Republican Primary

5 Things You Should Know About Sen. Rand Paul

Sen. Rand Paul Announces His 2016 Run

(Photos: RandPaul.com/PR)

At the White House today, the Easter bunny looked on as...

Mon, 06 Apr 2015 13:07:26 -0400

At the White House today, the Easter bunny looked on as President Obama gave the first lady a kiss on the cheek. The two spoke during the 137th annual Easter egg roll on the South Lawn.

It’s not the first #awkwardeasterbunny photo from the White House.

(Photos: Getty Images)

Happy Unbirthday, Sen. Tom Cotton

Fri, 03 Apr 2015 16:05:16 -0400

This just in: Sen. Tom Cotton buys and eats birthday cake EVEN WHEN IT’S NOT HIS BIRTHDAY. See this exchange with the New York Times below:

You have been described as having very little appetite for frivolity. Do you have any guilty pleasures? I run a lot every morning.
That sounds neither guiltynor pleasurable. But I do it so I canindulge in the guilty pleasure of eating birthday cake.
Every day? Most days, with ice cream. Early on, when my wife and I weredating, we went to the grocery store, and I told her that sometimes I just buybirthday cakes, and I eat them. And she said: “Really? I do, too.”
Even if it’s not somebody’sbirthday? Yes. She went to the grocery store yesterday and picked up a white birthday cake.

More here: Tom Cotton Eats Birthday Cake Almost Every Day

Photo: iStockphoto

Woman in Gold

Thu, 02 Apr 2015 10:57:58 -0400

It’s one of the great legal battles in art history, writes Nina Totenberg.

Maria Altmann fought her way to the Supreme Court to force the Austrian government to give back this painting of her aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer. The painting, and others by artist Gustav Klimt, were taken from the Bloch-Bauer home by the Nazis and ended up in Austria’s federal art museum after the war. Altmann’s story is featured in the new film, Woman in Gold, out this week.

NPR’s Nina Totenberg, who interviewed Altmann before she died, has more here:

After Nazi Plunder, A Quest To Bring The ‘Woman In Gold’ Home

(Photos: Getty Images, The Weinstein Company)

pewresearch:High-income Americans pay most income taxes, but...

Tue, 24 Mar 2015 12:36:46 -0400

pewresearch:

High-income Americans pay most income taxes, but enough to be ‘fair’?

The Social Race To 2016 In Two Charts

Thu, 19 Mar 2015 11:50:05 -0400

Good Thing I Wore A Tie

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 18:08:24 -0400

Diary Of A Presser

I wear a tie to work every Tuesday as an intern for Planet Money. This tradition is, imaginatively, named “Tie Tuesday.” Despite my best efforts, nobody else at NPR’s New York Bureau joins in – most of the reporters dress like interns.

But today, Tie Tuesday paid off. When it was announced this morning that Hillary Clinton would finally discuss her growing email scandal, NPR needed an intern on scene, and I was dressed the part. My navy blue tie signaled my seriousness of intent. I packed up a kit, spare kit and camera, and got ready to roll tape.

Then the fun started. MSNBC reported that the presser would follow Hillary’s remarks at the United Nations, and that journalists needed to apply for credentials 24 hours ahead of time.

The Twitter jokes started immediately:

Veteran political journalists are apparently used to shenanigans when it comes to covering the Clintons.

I set about obtaining press credentials with two instead of 24 hours’ notice. 31 emails, seven phonecalls and one press credential later, I was in a taxi on my way home – reporters needed to bring their passport to the UN’s Media Accreditation and Liason Unit, referred to by flacks, reporters, and UN Security Guards alike by the Orwellian acronym MALU.

Hillary was scheduled to give her UN remarks at 1:30 p.m. I reached MALU at 1:20 p.m., and took my place behind 12 other journalists, all there for the same reason.

While there were several MALU reps dealing with incidental staff and visitors, only one was assigned to the press. By 2:15 p.m., I was at the front of the line. Thankfully, things were running late.

I pinned my badge to my coat and ran across the street to UN headquarters. At this point, I should apologize to the sixty-odd tourists waiting to go through the UN’s TSA-style security checkpoint. I cut all of you in line and pretended to be busy on my phone so you wouldn’t notice. I’m sorry!

Once inside, nobody could point me to the room where the press conference was taking place (update: it was in a hallway between two other rooms). I approached a desk labeled “information,” and was told very politely by the attendant: “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Onward and upward.

I found a Fox News cameraman who worked the UN on a regular basis, and followed his directions – across the UN headquarters, down an elevator, then up an escalator. When I reached the hallway, it was closed and guarded by several security officers – the event was at capacity. Tourists and UN interns strained for a glimpse of the former Madam Secretary.

I took a picture of a guard holding the crowd back, and nearly got kicked out for it. She let me stay after we went through my phone and deleted the photo. Finally, a MALU rep took pity and let me sneak through a side door to a tiny spot behind the scrum of television broadcasters and their rampart of equipment.

From there it was a quick slip under the guard rail to the press pit. A producer for Japanese television was taking a #stakeoutselfie on his iPhone.

After all that, the event was streamed live with broadcast-quality audio, and NPR didn’t need mine. Thankfully, I’d brought a good camera, and managed to stay useful by getting some up-close photographs when the presser began, just before 3 p.m.

–Ryan Kailath

Eds note: For more on Hillary Clinton’s presser, visit npr.org

Letter To Iran (*in tweets)

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 11:55:58 -0400

More about the letter to Iran signed by 47 GOP senators, including Congressional Correspondent Ailsa Chang’s report for Morning Edition, at NPR.org.

(Photos above from Twitter. Top-Bottom: Sen. Tom Cotton, Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Gardner, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.)

Ferguson PD Reddit Chat 4pm E.T. Today

Fri, 06 Mar 2015 10:32:47 -0500

Have questions about the Justice Department’s Ferguson report?

On Wednesday, the DOJ issued a scathing report about the Ferguson, Mo. police department, writing that the data “establish clear racial disparities that adversely impact African-Americans.“ The Justice Department also released a report Wednesday saying it found no reliable evidence to disprove the testimony of former officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed Michael Brown last summer.

NPR’s Justice Correspondent Carrie Johnson and St. Louis Public Radio’s Emanuele Berry covered the reports & reaction and take your questions at 3pm C.T. / 4pm E.T. today on Reddit.

[Photo: Getty Images]

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) announced she will not seek a 6th...

Mon, 02 Mar 2015 12:05:12 -0500

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) announced she will not seek a 6th term. She’s the longest serving woman in Congress. She was first elected to the House in 1976, and has served in the Senate since 1987.

“Do I spend my time raising money or raising hell to meet your day-to-day needs?” she said at today’s announcement.

NPR’s Jasmine Garsd has more on the two-way blog and Brian Naylor will report on All Things Considered tonight.

Note: Apologies, we could only find a #whiteandgold outfit for that 5th photo.

(Photos: Getty Images

Red - On stage at the DNC, 2012; Orange - With then FBI Director Robert Mueller before a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting, 2012; Yellow - At a Girl Scouts event on Capitol Hill, 2012; Green - With Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Singaporean PM Hsien Loong, 2014; Blue - Leaving a closed-door Senate Select Intelligence Committee meeting, 2013. Purple - Mimicking a raven after a Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl win, 2001.)

“This is the greatest country in the world, and we all...

Sat, 28 Feb 2015 09:11:53 -0500

“This is the greatest country in the world, and we all have to work together whether we are Republican or Democrat. We need to come together, and we need to fight together. … Let’s go back to the core values of what this country was founded on, and God bless America.”

That’s what Rhonda De La Cerda (bottom), one of thousands of attendees of this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference, wants the next presidential nominees to know. Read and hear more responses here.

(Photos by NPR’s Emily Jan)

pewresearch:Presidential job approval ratings from Ike to...

Fri, 20 Feb 2015 11:35:43 -0500

pewresearch:

Presidential job approval ratings from Ike to Obama

This day in history…1839.And you thought today’s...

Fri, 20 Feb 2015 11:33:37 -0500

This day in history…1839.

And you thought today’s Congress has issues playing in the sandbox. On February 20, 1839, Congress passed a law outlawing dueling in Washington D.C. The legislation came after an epic Congressional duel – Rep. Jonathan Cilley of Maine was killed by Rep. William Graves of Kentucky in a three-round duel (two rounds was customary, apparently) just outside the district. Two other members of the House were present and later recommended for censure for their participation.

At issue: Cilley had questioned a newspaper report that accused a member of Congress of corruption.

(h/t editor Charlie Mahtesian; photo: Library of Congress)

"The first White House website was launched on Oct. 21, 1994, and Clinton was the first president to..."

Thu, 19 Feb 2015 15:53:19 -0500

“The first White House website was launched on Oct. 21, 1994, and Clinton was the first president to use email, though he wasn’t exactly an enthusiastic user. In a 2011 speech, Clinton recalled that he “sent a grand total of two emails as president — one to our troops in the Adriatic, and one to John Glenn when he was 77 years old in outer space,” adding, “I figured it was OK if Congress subpoenaed those.””

- From telegrams to Instagram, a look at presidents and technology

(via pewresearch)

This is the 1816 Senate Resolution establishing the Standing...

Tue, 17 Feb 2015 13:04:50 -0500

This is the 1816 Senate Resolution establishing the Standing Committees of the Senate, from the National Archives.

Today on All Things Considered, NPR’s Juana Summers reports on the modern battle over Congressional committee names, including a recent subcommittee that dropped “civil rights” and “human rights” from its name. And she asks whether anybody cares about the name game outside Washington…Tune in!

The White House Briefing Room was built in 1970, replacing a...

Fri, 13 Feb 2015 16:58:59 -0500

The White House Briefing Room was built in 1970, replacing a swimming pool that had been installed in 1934 to aide in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s physical therapy. There’s the stuff you may have seen on TV – about 50 chairs for the press corps, the podium where the press secretary speaks and an emblem of the White House mounted on the wall. But for those with a more inquisitive eye — and special access — a hidden gem can be found beneath the floors.

Behind the staging area is a secluded staircase that leads to a room, which was once the deep end of the former pool. The space now contains 18 miles of cables, but what’s even more striking is that the walls are completely covered with signatures and messages from White House staff, journalists and celebrities including Sarah Jessica Parker, Ben Stiller and Anderson Cooper.

You’re not going to see the room during the typical White House tour but if you are lucky enough to visit, be sure to come prepared with a marker in hand. Don’t be like me and attempt to scrawl your name with a pen.

–Nayana

e-m-a-r-t-i-n-e-z:Thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback...

Thu, 12 Feb 2015 15:12:54 -0500

e-m-a-r-t-i-n-e-z:

Thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, the public has access to screen captures of web pages over time.
Behold, whitehouse.gov circa 1996. Patriotic waving flag GIFs were probably super high-tech at the time. Were they ever a good idea? Probably not.
Three years later, background colors are apparently discovered.

On September 12, 2001, President Bush’s response to the 9/11 attacks is available online.

Major design improvements arrived in 2007: columns, a light blue theme and a new White House logo.

Remember when the government shut down for two weeks? October 2013.

Fast forward to 2015. Marty McFly returns and — unforeseen in Back to the Future II — President Obama proposes his plan for high-speed, accessible, nationwide broadband.

From Washington Desk intern Emily Martinez: Behold the White House website over the years.

(Photos: Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine)