Today’s notice: School choice advocates are rejoicing, but not suggesting anyone should try to buy the plot of land under the Dept. of Education quite yet. Gaetz-gate is not going away quite yet, either, and that’s a challenge for at least one senator.
Will Trump Be The Last President With a Dept. of Education?
The election of Donald Trump puts a vocal ally of conservative education advocates back in the White House. NOTUS’ Violet Jira reports that adherents to the longtime GOP goal of abolishing the Department of Education are feeling pretty good.
North Dakota superintendent of public instruction, Kirsten Baesler, told Violet that a program of drastically reducing Dept. of Ed powers should be the priority for the next secretary of education. After that, “the Trump administration should analyze whether there is merit and worthiness for [the dept.] to keep its cabinet status,” she said.
There is really not much Dept. of Education critics see as outside their reach. NOTUS’ Calen Razor reports that Michele Morrow, the MAGA-allied failed GOP nominee for superintendent of public instruction in North Carolina, is looking for an admin job and dreaming big. Her goals for a Trump term include “dismantling this restorative justice that Barack Obama put forth where children are not being disciplined in the classroom” and “doing away with the National Education Association,” Calen writes.
But the big dream of shutting down a whole federal department would require an act of Congress. Even severely paring it down is something Dept. of Education opponents have been trying since the Reagan administration. (Trump’s last secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, couldn’t curtail it that much.) What’s more, advocates of school choice — a longtime Republican priority — say the whole concept may be a distraction from their goals.
Both sides of the debate agree that school choice succeeds when it’s a quieter conversation among lawmakers, not a loud one in front of voters. Democrats, unions and others who have fought hard against well-funded efforts from conservatives note that a bunch of school choice ballot measures failed on Election Day, even in red states. It’s a clear message, they say, that the public is just not that into it. But school choicers say all it shows is that “the public tends to vote no on things that they are confused about,” one policy vet told NOTUS.
A fight over a government department is likely to fall into the same dynamic. Trump’s education reform movement could have a serious impact on the way public schools work, especially given the feeling among some Republicans that battles over schools play great in the frustrated suburbs. But once and for all closing the Department of Education?
“Do I think it will get some more traction? I do,” the public-school-reform veteran said. “Do I think there are the votes? I seriously doubt it.”
—Evan McMorris-Santoro
A Second Drug-Fueled Sex Party?
Trump’s attorney general pick, Matt Gaetz, allegedly attended a second drug-fueled Florida party in the summer of 2017 with young women who were paid to attend, according to a little-noticed — though definitely noticed by NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery — affidavit from an eyewitness filed in a federal court in Florida.
Quick recap: In September, NOTUS reported that Gaetz attended a party on July 15, 2017, with a 17-year-old involved in his alleged underage sex scandal, according to legal documents citing sealed affidavits by three women who attended the gathering.
Buried in those same court documents was another affidavit that described an additional party the next week at the same home belonging to Gaetz’s friend, Florida lobbyist Chris Dorworth. While Washington waits to see if the Ethics Committee releases (or someone leaks) its report on Gaetz after a vote on Wednesday, Jose has all the newest details for you in the meantime.
Front Page
- ‘The Most Powerful Minority’: Democrats See Some Upside to Their Election Misfortunes: Democrats see some opportunities after losing the White House and Congress.
- Blue Dogs Propose New Task Force to Look at ‘Winner-Take-All’ Election System: Two of the most vulnerable Democratic representatives are looking to change the electoral system.
- Tracker Sues Democratic Super PAC American Bridge for Unpaid Overtime: The PAC has gone after Republicans for opposing overtime pay in the past.
- Lawmakers Are Trying to Take the Culture Wars Out of Defense Budget Negotiations: Republicans want to get the NDAA over the line this year.
Tough Gig Alert: Being Thom Tillis
Thom Tillis is entering a “politically treacherous two-year election cycle,” NOTUS’ Alex Roarty and Calen Razor report. The North Carolina Republican has drawn MAGA’s ire in the past, and elements of that movement are already considering a primary challenger. If he navigates that, he might have to face Gov. Roy Cooper in a general election. In between those fun times ahead and now are Trump’s cabinet picks. Stand in their way and boost a would-be primary challenge. Wave them through and Democrats are licking their chops.
Number You Should Know
$300,000
Stacey Abrams remains a formidable fundraiser. Unfortunately for Georgia, she tends to focus her money on other states — at least her new committee does.
Abrams’ new federal PAC, Speak Up, raised over $3 million between August and mid-October. It distributed over $2 million during those weeks of the presidential campaign, according to an October FEC filing.
The PAC sent $1.75 million to organizations based in other states, including the battlegrounds of Nevada, North Carolina, Arizona and Wisconsin. A little less than $300,000 was given to organizations with Georgia addresses, according to the filing.
“That’s an ongoing complaint about her,” a Georgia strategist who worked with the Harris campaign said. “Stacey does not fund efforts in Georgia, and she hasn’t for years.”
Another $175,000 was split between Georgia and North Carolina for field-canvassing programs, according to a spokesperson for the PAC.
Patrick Guarasci, a senior adviser to the PAC, said in a statement that the spends were part of “strategic investments across the Sunbelt.”
“We are proud and grateful to have played a part in boosting turnout from Arizona to North Carolina,” he said.
Abrams campaigned for Kamala Harris in Georgia and elsewhere, but the campaign declined to call her an official surrogate, as NOTUS reported.
—Ben T.N. Mause
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- Segregation Academies Across the South Are Getting Millions in Taxpayer Dollars by Jennifer Berry Hawes and Mollie Simon at ProPublica
- Why Is Elon Musk Really Embracing Donald Trump? by John Cassidy at The New Yorker
- How Democrats Blew It on Inflation by Nick Timiraos at The Wall Street Journal
- Democratic Party union blasts leadership over layoffs by Alex Thompson at Axios
Be Social
But was he lovin’ it?
Johnson confirms that RFK Jr. “did actually eat some of the McDonalds”
— Katherine Swartz (@kv_swartz) November 18, 2024
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