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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Washington, DC, will remain in fortress mode as the Pentagon considers a request to keep the National Guard deployed there. Perhaps because of the heightened security, a reported threat against the Capitol yesterday failed to materialize.

Meanwhile, in Silicon Valley, local officials swept a homeless encampment that sprung up near the Facebook campus. Advocates liken the scenes to something out of the Great Depression and say the wealthy need to do more to ensure everyone has access to housing.

And lastly, there are two competing bills in Congress regarding the future of Puerto Rico and the question of statehood. Progressive groups favor the one backed by AOC, which aims to create a meaningful process around decolonization.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The seat of American power is still on high alert for threats from within. US Capitol Police have requested a sixty-day extension of the National Guard members activated in the District of Colombia in response to security threats and the January 6th assault on Congress, according to the Washington Post. If approved, it would keep Guard members on duty through May, defense officials said. About five thousand two hundred Guard troops are on duty in Washington now. They are staffing a security perimeter around the Capitol that includes miles of fencing around one of the major symbols of American democracy.

The request appeared to catch DC Mayor Muriel Bowser by surprise, the Post reports. She said her expectation was that the additional forces would be leaving now, adding that Capitol Police have had limited communication with the city. The request comes after Capitol Police officials said Wednesday that they had information about a possible attempt by a militia group to breach the Capitol on Thursday, a date that some followers of QAnon falsely claimed would mark Donald Trump’s return to the White House. The House canceled a session yesterday in response, while the Senate remained in session to consider President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.

Concerns about QAnon at the Capitol were not borne out Thursday, the Post reports. While Guard members remained on duty and the fencing and barbed wire is still in place, there was no violence. The appearance of the military forces, and the onerous security measures in place, have become controversial – and politicized – in recent weeks. Representative Elissa Slotkin, Democrat of Michigan, called for more transparency. And some Republicans have questioned the need for the National Guard to stay. Of course, some Republicans cheered on the insurrection, so their judgment here is questionable.

Homeless Evicted Near Facebook

This vignette from the great class divide comes from the Los Angeles Times. In the shadow of Facebook’s headquarters, dozens of unsheltered people made their home on a sixty-acre plot of grass and marshland they shared with foxes, coyotes and other Silicon Valley wildlife. The encampment has existed for years, but started swelling in numbers last summer. In 2019, the Bay Area was home to more than twenty eight thousand homeless people, third nationwide behind only New York City with seventy six thousand and Los Angeles with fifty five thousand. Those numbers have likely increased during the pandemic. Sometimes tents appear on the edges of city parks, inches from multimillion-dollar homes.

Heather Freinkel, an attorney for the Oakland-based Homeless Action Center, told the Times QUOTE I know it sounds dramatic, but the scale feels like something out of the Great Depression or Dust Bowl. It’s really not OK ENDQUOTE. As numbers in the camp swelled, infrastructure within the camp became increasingly intricate and complicated. Camp occupants dug four-feet deep latrines in the ground, erected solar panels around their structures, constructed chimneys into their shelters, and kept dogs that alerted them to strangers.

A spokeswoman for Facebook told the Times that the company was not involved in the local decision to dismantle the neighboring encampment. In mid-February, a crew of Caltrans contractors arrived with three fifty-yard dumpsters and dismantled the tents and structures, removed the residents’ belongings and filled in the holes that dotted the landscape. By Monday of this week, an encampment had been partially rebuilt. A few days later, even more people had returned. What’s needed, advocates say, is more housing options — solutions that will allow people to live in dignity. Amen to that. Maybe Mark Zuckerberg should chip in.

Puerto Rico Statehood Bills Considered

There are dueling proposals for Puerto Rico’s future. Progressive organizations are pushing for passage of a bill they say gives Puerto Ricans a voice on the question of the island's status and its relationship with the US, NBC News reports. The push aims to present an alternative to pro-statehood legislation introduced Tuesday by two Puerto Rican members of Congress. In a letter sent yesterday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, advocates from more than eighty grassroots organizations across sixteen states and Puerto Rico urged prioritizing the passage of the Puerto Rico Self- Determination Act of 2020.

According to NBC, the progressive groups argue that unlike the statehood bill introduced on Tuesday by Representatives Darren Soto, Democrat of Florida, and Jenniffer Gonzalez, Republican of Puerto Rico, the Self-Determination Act would ensure that Puerto Ricans have access to a legitimate, accountable and inclusive process for decolonization. The bill was introduced last year by New York Democratic Representatives Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It proposed creating a status convention made up of delegates elected by Puerto Rican voters who would come up with a long-term solution for the island’s territorial status – whether it be statehood, independence, or any option other than the current territorial arrangement.

Velázquez and AOC are expected to reintroduce their bill in the House this year, NBC reports. The Puerto Rico Statehood Admissions Act, introduced Tuesday by Soto and González, aims to make the island a state. The statehood legislation follows a referendum that took place last November. It directly asked voters whether Puerto Rico should immediately be admitted as a state. With nearly fifty-five percent voter turnout, about fifty three percent of Puerto Ricans who voted favored statehood while forty seven percent rejected it. With margins so close, the process matters that much more.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The Transportation Department’s internal watchdog found evidence of potential ethical violations by then-Secretary Elaine Chao and referred the case to the Justice Department for prosecution in December, but it declined, according to the Washington Post. Investigators from the Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General said Chao used government employees to perform private tasks, such as arranging Christmas ornaments. Pretty tacky!

Pope Francis and Ali al-Sistani, the spiritual leader of millions of Shiite Muslims, will meet in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf on Saturday, NBC reports. It is believed to be the first meeting between a pope and an Iraqi grand ayatollah. While at the Vatican, Francis has worked to build a Christian-Muslim alliance as a way to combat the cycle of Islamic terrorism and nationalist populist reactions. Al-Sistani has similarly called for peaceful coexistence and dialogue among faiths. When’s the last time you heard good news from Iraq?

In a major shift in policy, California officials said Wednesday night they will now devote forty percent of available Covid-19 vaccines to residents in the most disadvantaged areas, the LA Times reports. The shift comes amid mounting evidence that Latino and Black communities are falling behind white and Asian ones in getting access to the vaccine. This has sparked concern in part because those underserved communities have been hardest hit by Covid-19. Vaccine justice now!

The AFL-CIO's executive board will meet next week to determine its position on eliminating the filibuster, the labor federation's president, Richard Trumka, told Politico yesterday. If organized labor coalesces around overturning the filibuster, a priority for many progressives, it could give the movement significant momentum. And then all kinds of good and interesting things could happen. We’ll keep you posted either way.

MAR 5, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn