NEW. Beginning today, Capitol Press will share a list every Monday AM of the stories we’re watching as the week begins in Congress. Scroll down for our first weekly list of “Stories On Our Radar” after quick, humble brag by me.
Epic C-SPAN Debut, Bro
HUMBLE BRAG. C-SPAN host John McCardle interviewed me last Thursday night in Statuary Hall. The interview was my first on the network where I appeared live as the final on-air guest after President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in the House chamber.
RESPONSE. The interview was well received online after CSPAN producer Howard Mortman tweeted the video on Friday morning. So far, it’s been viewed over 140,000 times. Even House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office is excited to see the final product.
TIMELINE. My hope is to have my SOTU painting to the Speaker’s office by the first week of April. Logistics complicate getting it done sooner, as I have no way to bring the wet paintings home without damaging it or the rideshare that carries them.
NEXT STEPS. The larger canvases need about a week to cure above in their hideaway above the Senate before I take them out and do a session or two of detail work and color correction. Two weeks after that, they should be touch-dry. Once they are, I’ll walk one over to Speaker Johnson’s office.
— Pablo
Stories On Our Radar
Good morning! House and Senate are back on the Hill this afternoon. Here's a list of stories I'm watching as the week begins. Lmk what you'd add to this —
CHINA. Will Congress ban TikTok? Seems unlikely, but it's a story I'm wading into as the week begins.
OKLAHOMA. House Republicans cut a $500,000 from a government funding appropriation for a Tulsa community center for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. Will James Lankford and Markwayne Mullin intervene in the Senate? (FOX 23)
SHOTS FIRED. Mark Pocan sent what was probably the best press release after last week’s State of the Union, calling out Derrick Van Orden for heckling Joe Biden’s speech from the House floor. (THE HILL)
POCAN. “This constant pattern of unnecessary outbursts, whether it’s teen pages in the Capitol Rotunda or administration officials at a classified briefing, has many of us worried about his temperament and perhaps his soberness," said Pocan.
FAIR GAME. Was Derrick drunk at SOTU? Dunno, but I hope he gets the opportunity to respond to Pocan.
CUFFARI. Senate Homeland Security Committee Gary Peters seems to have a love/hate relationship with the embattled DHS Inspector General Joseph R. Cuffari who was back in the news last week, this time as a '“whistleblower.” (THE HILL)
GAZA. In January, 22 Senators were asked if Israel was committing Genocide in Palestine. The question hasn't been sked much in the House. (CAPITOL PRESS)
DIGNITY ACT. The bipartisan immigration bill by Maria Elvira Salazar, Veronica Escobar, Hillary Scholten, and Lori Chavez DeRemer picked up two new Democratic cosponsors last week in Emilia Sykes and Val T. Hoyle. Curious to know what brought them on board.
CURIOUS. Dignity Act hasn’t added a Republican since Brian Fitzpatrick co-sponsored on October 24. Is that all the support Elvira Salazar can deliver from her Republican conference?
What stories are you watching this week in Congress?
— Pablo, Arturo
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