10 Things in Politics: Toxic bosses run rampant in Congress
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Here's what we're talking about:
- Congress has no real HR department, and it's a huge problem for staffers
- Biden says Hurricane Ida provides a warning about the climate crisis
- Former Theranos employees share new tales as Elizabeth Holmes' fraud trial begins
With Phil Rosen.
Samantha Lee/Insider
1. WHAT IT'S LIKE TO WORK ON THE HILL: Across the US, workers are questioning the conditions of their workplaces and things they tolerated before the coronavirus pandemic. But it remains to be seen what happens on Capitol Hill. Even three years after #MeToo hit Congress, staffers say there are still major gaps in how elected officials run their workplaces.
Here's what staffers told Insider about the toxic culture that continues to persist:
The biggest problem is there's no real HR: "Hill staff, myself included, are uniformly treated like shit," said one former Democratic legislative staffer who quit after enduring a toxic workplace. She never reported her boss' abusive behavior, she said, because she felt as if there was nowhere to go.
The aide scoffed at going to the office tasked with helping workers: Employees can seek help from the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights within 180 days of an incident if they feel they have a serious complaint against their manager or workplace. But any procedural mistakes in the convoluted process can cost staffers their day in court.
- A tight-knit industry also makes it difficult for staffers to come forward: "If you said anything about your office, that was it. You were done," the former aide said. "If you wanted to stay working in politics, even off the Hill, you kept your mouth shut." One former chief of staff said lawmakers expected "blind loyalty."
Read more about why one attorney says Congress will continue to struggle to fix its toxic culture.
2. Biden calls for Ida relief money as government shutdown looms: The White House asked Congress for at least $24 billion in disaster relief and urged swift passage of a short-term funding bill with a government shutdown looming at the end of September. The money would also go toward helping some Afghans relocate to the US. Washington is facing a crush of deadlines this month, which includes keeping the government open.
- Touring Ida damage, Biden says hurricane is warning about climate crisis: "Climate change was here and we're living through it now - we don't have any more time," President Joe Biden said while visiting hard-hit areas in New Jersey and New York. Biden further noted that extreme weather had touched virtually all of the US.
3. Trump's EPA head faced investigation over impeachment comments: EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler was investigated on suspicion of violating a federal corruption law after he said Donald Trump would be "vindicated" during Trump's first impeachment trial, according to emails obtained by Insider. "Uh oh," the EPA's top ethics official said in an email to colleagues at the time. Ethics officials ultimately cleared Wheeler of wrongdoing. The episode offers the latest glimpse into how top Trump appointees tested the limits of the Hatch Act.
4. Powerful earthquake hits Mexico: A 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Mexico overnight. The New York Times reported that at least one person has died. More on the news.
- There was also historic news out of Mexico: The nation's Supreme Court justices voted unanimously to decriminalize abortion, marking a major victory for reproductive-rights advocates in the largely Catholic country. The ruling is expected to reverberate throughout Latin America, where abortion mostly remains illegal.
5. COVID-19 surges over Labor Day weekend: Three times as many US coronavirus cases were recorded during this year's Labor Day compared with last year, while deaths from COVID-19 were up almost twofold, according to The New York Times' COVID-19 tracker. The spike in hospitalizations is putting the US health system under strain. The Department of Health and Human Services reported 75% of hospital beds were in use on Tuesday, and COVID-19 patients took up one-third of all intensive-care-unit beds. More about the worrying direction of the pandemic.
6. Texas governor defends abortion ban's lack of rape exception: Gov. Greg Abbott told reporters that Texas' new law banning abortions after roughly six weeks wouldn't force rape victims to carry their assailants' children to term, because the state would "work tirelessly" to "eliminate all rapists." Abbott further defended the law by arguing that women still had six weeks to get abortions. But as The 19th noted, that argument got "a basic fact about pregnancy wrong."
7. Britney Spears' dad files to end conservatorship: Jamie Spears' legal team reportedly filed a petition to end his daughter's conservatorship, saying Britney Spears "is entitled to have this Court now seriously consider whether this conservatorship is no longer required." The pop star's lawyer told Variety the filing was a "massive" legal victory but also described it as an attempt to avoid accountability. What's next for the case that has captured international attention.
Ryan M. Kelly/AFP via Getty Images)
8. Largest remaining confederate statue set to be removed today: A crew is set to take down a six-story, 12-ton statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that has towered over Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, for more than 130 years. The statue is expected to be stored in a state facility until officials decide what to do with it. Five other Confederate statues previously stood near Lee, but the general is the last remaining.
9. Taliban announces interim Afghan government that includes terror suspects: Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund, one of the Taliban's founders, was named interim prime minister. He's on a United Nations blacklist. And Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a Taliban cofounder, has been tapped as deputy prime minister. The new interior minister is on the FBI's wanted list.
10. Opening arguments start today in Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' trial: The fallen Silicon Valley star faces up to 20 years of prison if found guilty on fraud charges. Now, former employees are speaking out about their experience working at the blood-testing startup. Here's what ex-staffers are saying.
Today's trivia question: Today marks the anniversary of President Gerald Ford's full pardon for former President Richard Nixon. Ford later testified before House lawmakers about his decision, a rare occurrence of a sitting president testifying before Congress. Who was the first president to testify before a congressional committee? Email your guess and a suggested question to me at bgriffiths@insider.com.
- Yesterday's answer: President Ronald Reagan's library bought and relocated the actual Ballyporeen, Ireland, pub that Reagan visited while in office. Ballyporeen was also his family's ancestral home.
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