WHO HOLDS SEATS OF POWER IN AMERICA?
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent

Consider two lists of names.

First: George Floyd, Donnie Sanders, Breonna Taylor, William Howard Green, Christopher Whitfield, Atatiana Jefferson, Channara “Philly” Pheap, Ryan Twynman, Isaiah Lewis, Marcus McVae. These are the names of 10 black men and women who were killed by police in just more than a year.  

Next: Hiram Revels, Blanche Bruce, Edward Brooke, Carol Moseley Braun, Barack Obama, Roland Burris, Tim Scott, WIlliam “Mo” Cowan, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris. This is a list of every black American who has ever served in the U.S. senate. There have been 10. 

It is a stark reminder that people who are often the victims of police violence are not proportionally represented in our government.  

Looking only at police shooting deaths, something this Washington Post database has tracked carefully since 2015, 235 black people were shot and killed by police in the U.S. in 2019. That is 23.5 percent of all police shooting deaths, nearly double the percentage of the U.S. population that is black.

And that figure dwarfs the number of black Americans — again, 10 — who have ever had a seat in the U.S. Senate, considered to be the most powerful elected body in the U.S.

As protests over the death of George Floyd continue this week, we looked at how black Americans are represented in our democracy. The numbers show glaring disparities continue, though there are instances of proportional representation.  

The situation is remarkably different depending on which seat of power you consider. In general, the higher the rung of power, the lower the chances that a black person has held that position. 

• Overall: 13 percent of the U.S. population is black or African American, according to the official people counters: the Census. 
• White House: 4 percent of President Donald Trump’s cabinet is black. That is one official —- HUD Secretary Ben Carson — out of 23 cabinet positions. Carson has announced he intends to leave the job at the end of this year.
• House of Representatives. The House of Representatives nearly has proportional representation, with 12.5 percent of the lawmakers there being black.  
• U.S. Senate. In the Senate, however, that figure is 3 percent, with just three black senators currently in the chamber — three of 10 to ever hold a seat in the body. 
• Federal Courts: About 13 percent of federal judges are black, according to recent data from the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank, as well as 2017 data cited by the Congressional Research Service.
• Governors: There are currently no black governors.
• State legislatures.  About 9 percent of lawmakers in state houses are black, according to the National Council of State Legislatures.
• Big City Mayors: According to the data we reviewed from the 50 largest cities, 11 of them have black mayors. That’s 22 percent.

IN MINNEAPOLIS, PROTESTS OVER GEORGE FLOYD’S DEATH ‘A LONG TIME COMING’
By Daniel Bush, @DanielBush
Senior Political Reporter

MINNEAPOLIS — It’s the way George Floyd died that hurts the most.

“To see a man being held down that way, it’s just too much,” said Franklin Bridgeman, 53, who is black and a longtime resident of Minneapolis, Floyd’s hometown. “Of all the police shootings and killings, it’s the most painful. This was just so blatant.”

“This could have been my dad. This could have been my brothers, my nephews. George Floyd feels like my family,” Dha’Manique Evans said. 

The police “don’t care about us at all. They know they can get away with it,” Evans, 21, added, and for that reason, she’s glad her city decided to protest. “They hear us now. They see what we’re doing.”  

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on May 25 after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, held him to the ground with a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd said several times, “I can’t breathe.” Video of the incident captured by bystanders quickly went viral, spurring protests in Minneapolis and dozens of cities across the country, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

Chauvin, 44, and three other officers who were present at the arrest were fired the day after Floyd’s  death. Chauvin was charged on May 29 with third-degree murder and manslaughter. 

But by then, the protests in Minneapolis that had started peacefully were increasingly punctuated by confrontations between residents and police. Swaths of the city were set on fire and looted. Police fired tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse crowds. The governor imposed a curfew and ordered the largest deployment of the National Guard in state history.

In interviews around Minneapolis, many white residents expressed shock that something like this could happen in their city. Black residents said the anger and pain underlying the protests were both familiar and misunderstood. READ THE FULL STORY. 

FIVE OVERLOOKED POLITICAL STORIES FROM THE PAST WEEK
By Alex D’Elia, @AlexDEliaNews
Politics production assistant

Trump vetoes student loan forgiveness bill -- May 29. The president rejected Congress’ bipartisan legislation, which would have kept in place an existing Obama administration loan forgiveness plan. Why it matters: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ narrower loan forgiveness rules — which stay in place because of Trump’s action — limit students’ ability to get their loans forgiven when schools shut down due to fraud. -- Forbes

Supreme Court upholds Puerto Rico oversight board from constitutional challenge -- June 1. The board was formed by then-President Barack Obama in 2016 to oversee Puerto Rico’s  debt restructuring, a process that has been complicated by Hurricane Maria, earthquakes and now the coronavirus. Why it matters: The Supreme Court ruling allows for the oversight board to continue restructuring hundreds of billions in debt and bankruptcy to help the island emerge from its financial crisis. -- The Washington Post

Lawmakers begin bipartisan push to cut off police access to military-style gear -- June 1.Local law enforcement receive military weaponry — like bayonets and grenade launchers — through a Pentagon program that was shut down by Obama but revived by Trump. Why it matters: The program is being scrutinized amid concerns about aggressive use of force by police around the country as they are dispersing often non-violent protesters. -- The New York Times

Senate Democrats pump brakes on new stimulus checks -- May 29. Though House Democrats want to include more $1,200 checks in the next economic stimulus bill, some Senate Democrats would rather focus the relief effort specifically on  those who have been hit the hardest. Why it matters: The conflict demonstrates difficult negotiations surrounding coronavirus relief that could stall aid as the pandemic’s economic impacts linger. -- The HIll 

Justice Department closing insider-trading investigations into three U.S. senators -- May 26. Investigations into the stock sales of Sens. Kelly Loeffler, Jim Inhofe and Dianne Feinstein at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak have concluded. Why it matters: The end of the investigation is welcome news particularly for Loeffler, a Republican who is facing a challenger from her own party for her Georgia Senate seat and has politically suffered in the polls in part because of the insider-trading scandal.  -- The Wall Street Journal


#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Kate Grumke, @KGrumke
Politics producer

On this day in 1774, the British government renewed an act that allowed British troops to stay housed in private American residences. This was the fourth in a series of legislation known as the Intolerable Acts or the Coercive Acts, which spurred the first meeting of the Continental Congress.

Our question: What was this act called?

Send your answers to [email protected] or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: On this day in 1868, Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial ended. The Senate voted on three articles of impeachment, and failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority on any of them to convict Johnson and remove him from office. How many votes did each article fail by?

The answer: Each article failed by just one vote.

This was the first impeachment trial in our nation’s history, and a majority of Senators voted to convict the president of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” But the final roll call was 35-19 for the three articles of impeachment. 

Johnson served out the rest of his term, and five years after leaving office, won a Senate seat and returned to the capitol. 

Congratulations to our winners: Tim Smith and Mary Hubbard!!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your Inbox next week.