“I want the public to see my emails,” Hillary Clinton announced today, cribbing MoveOn’s original slogan. Despite security concerns, police allowed children to sled on the Capitol grounds today, which we consider a slippery slope. And Trey Radel launched his own crisis PR firm, telling prospective clients that his ability to manage crises has lead him all the way to the top of his very own crisis PR firm. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Thursday, March 5th, 2015:
MCCONNELL DELAYS VOTE ON IRAN BILL - Jen Bendery: "Feeling the heat from a Democratic rebellion, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is reversing course on a plan to move forward next week with a controversial Iran bill. McConnell spokesman Don Stewart confirmed Thursday that the GOP leader is pulling the bill from next week's schedule. Instead, the Senate will turn to human trafficking legislation. The bill, introduced by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), would give Congress 60 days to review -- and potentially reject -- any deal that scales back U.S. nuclear sanctions on Iran. The measure has bipartisan support, but Democrats have insisted their support hinges on allowing delicate U.S.-Iran talks to play out first. International negotiations on curbing Iran's nuclear capabilities have entered their final phase as the March 31 deadline for a final deal nears. McConnell infuriated Democrats on Tuesday by saying he planned to bypass regular order and expedite the bill to the floor next week, versus sticking to a previous agreement to hold off on any votes untilMarch 24 and until after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee debates it. Democratic co-sponsors of the billretaliated by vowing to block it, which left Republicans without the assurance of a veto-proof margin on it. The White House has already threatened a veto." [HuffPost]
@EleanorNorton: No enforcement of #sledding ban on Capitol Hill today. Thank you Capitol Police!
LEAN OUT - Roll Call: "Rep. Candice S. Miller, R-Mich., the sole female House committee chairman, will not seek a ninth term, she announced Thursday. 'This is the community that I love, that I call home, and at the conclusion of my current term in office, I will be coming home. I will not seek re-election,' Miller announced in a video posted to Facebook. First elected to Congress in 2002, Miller is one of 22 women in the House GOP conference. Her district includes the eastern part of Michigan that borders Canada on land and water. In 2012, Miller became the chairwoman of the House Administration Committee, making her the unofficial “Mayor of Capitol Hill.” The committee has jurisdiction over election changes, daily House operations and oversight over legislative branch agencies and Capitol security." [Roll Call]
AMERICA'S FERGUSON PROBLEM - Matt Sledge and Ryan Reilly: "It was billed as an investigation of the Ferguson Police Department. But a hard-hittingreport released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice also reads as an indictment of cities and towns across the St. Louis region. The report implicates at least four other municipalities in alleged misconduct or questionable behavior. And as the Justice Department itself acknowledged, many of the conditions described in the report could have been written about any number of the 90 municipalities in St. Louis County. 'What's listed in the report about Ferguson is a widespread practice,' said Thomas Harvey, executive director for the Arch City Defenders, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization that has brought attention to the municipal courts in St. Louis County over the past several months. 'I don't think anyone who takes these issues seriously … can limit their work to Ferguson.'" [HuffPost]
RICK SCOTT OFFICIALLY LOSES DRUG TEST BATTLE - Curt Anderson: "Florida Gov. Rick Scott will not seek U.S. Supreme Court review of a law that would have required applicants for welfare benefits to submit to mandatory drug testing. The law, a top priority of the Republican governor's first term, was ruled unconstitutional by two federal courts. Scott's administration did not ask the Supreme Court to consider the case by a Tuesday deadline." [Associated Press]
Scott pissed away hundreds of thousands of dollars defending that sucker in court.
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - #TBT: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and other Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee have revived an old fight by introducing a bill to stop the Obama administration from waiving work requirements for welfare recipients. This issue first surfaced during the 2012 presidential campaign, when GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and Ryan, his running mate, accused the Obama White House of trying to eliminate work requirements for beneficiaries of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the program most closely associated with the concept of "welfare." That summer, the administration had invited statesto apply for waivers from certain federal rules dictating welfare work requirements. Romney, Ryan and other critics said the move gutted the landmark welfare reform legislation of 1996, even though the White House's invitation didn't result in any actual policy change: No state ever asked for a waiver. [w/ HuffPost's Mike McAuliff]
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DEMS WANT VOTE ON LORETTA LYNCH - Not in recent memory has one party seemingly so enjoyed the minority. It's like Senate Democrats know they can't graduate with anything higher than a 2.5 and have resolved to party their faces off until graduation. Jen Bendery: "Democrats wrote to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday, urging him to schedule a vote on U.S. attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch, who has waited months for confirmation. 'No one questions that Ms. Lynch is qualified and ready to serve, yet we are troubled that her nomination continues to languish on the Senate floor,' reads the letter, signed by 43 Senate Democrats and two Independents. 'As of this writing, Ms. Lynch’s nomination has been pending for 117 days, making her the longest pending Attorney General nominee in three decades.' 'We are ready to work with you to ensure a swift vote on this nomination, and we hope you will schedule a floor vote without further delay,' it concludes. Republicans have slow-walked Lynch's nomination ever since President Barack Obama announced it in November. They insisted last year that Obama wait until this year to begin moving her nomination, and then waited until February to hold her hearing. The committee delayed action on her vote, and since she was voted out of committee last week, McConnell still hasn't scheduled her confirmation vote." [HuffPost]
HILLARY SAYS HER LIFE IS AN OPEN INBOX - Ben Smith thinkpiece on how clintonemail.com addreses are the new power symbol to arrive shortly. Igor Bobic: "Hillary Clinton responded to intense scrutiny over her email practices on Wednesday, saying she has asked the State Department to make available her private email during her tenure as secretary of state. 'I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible,' Clinton wrote in a tweet posted late Wednesday evening. A New York Times report published Monday evening set off a firestorm of criticism, and suggested Clinton violated State Department regulations by using a personal email account for government business, potentially shielding her correspondence from public inquiries like Freedom of Information Act requests. Her email account, clintonemail.com, was hosted by a server located at her home, and reportedly 'became a symbol of status within the family’s inner circle.'" [HuffPost]
Trey Radel, the congressman busted on cocaine charges in 2013, is starting his own crisis management PR firm.
RUBIO FINDS HIS OWN SHELDON - "Jeb Bush’s success in rounding up GOP donors as he pursues a likely presidential run has created a big question for his fellow Floridian, Sen. Marco Rubio: Will there be any money left for him? That’s where Norman Braman comes in. The Miami billionaire auto dealer and longtime Rubio benefactor is expected to put as much as $10 million into a pro-Rubio super PAC if the Florida senator decides to run, according to people familiar with his plans… 'I don’t pay any attention to that other distinguished Floridian,' [Braman said]. 'I respect Jeb Bush, but I think we need someone who represents the next generation.' Support from Braman, who also is a former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles football team, is exactly what the 43-year-old first-term senator needs. Rubio is expected to announce his presidential campaign next month, but he faces big hurdles as he prepares to do so. In a year when many donors are excited about governors such as Bush and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, his profile as a rookie senator with dazzling oratorical skills — similar to the Democratic incumbent — is a harder sell." [WaPo]
JEB BUSH FORMING FOREIGN POLICY TEAM - Cardboard cutout of James Baker not yet on board. Paul Blumenthal: "The Chertoff Group boasts a rich and mostly secret client list of intelligence and security companies, as previously detailed by The Huffington Post, that benefit financially from the global war on terror through government contracts and policies. The founder of that firm now has the ear of potential White House candidate Jeb Bush. The former two-term Florida governor has assembled a foreign policy advisory team laden with officials who served in his father’s and brother’s presidential administrations and have since spun through the revolving door into the world of influence peddling. They are consultants, lobbyists, lawyers and corporate board members for business interests eager to be heard by the man who might become the 45th president of the United States. Besides Chertoff himself, they include former CIA Director Michael Hayden, who works for the Chertoff Group, and former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, retired Adm. Robert Natter and Tom Ridge, the first Homeland Security secretary -- the latter three all run their own consulting firms. All of these men also sit on the boards of companies ready to reap huge rewards from defense, intelligence and security contracts." [HuffPost]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here's a badass cat.
COMFORT FOOD
- History's greatest bar mitzvah invitaiton.
- The only thing goths love more than the snow (they like that, right?) is Thomas the Tank Engine.
- Taylor Swift meets "Game of Thrones."
TWITTERAMA
@CNNyourmom: Why Be Your Mom?
@MEPFuller: Capitol officer: "Under an 1876 ordinance, we have a duty to protect the Capitol Grounds from injury."
Child: "Sir, I am six years old."
@JPFriere: If only someone had just asked Hillary about her gaffes.
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