Jun 18, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Pelosi orders removal of portraits of House speakers who served Confederacy on Juneteenth

Photo: Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered that the chamber's clerk remove portraits of former House speakers who served the Confederacy from display in the Capitol in a letter sent Thursday.

The big picture: Pelosi wrote that the portraits should be removed "to appropriately observe Juneteenth," the day that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.

"The portraits of these men are symbols that set back our nation's work to confront and combat bigotry," Pelosi wrote.
Pelosi last week requested that statues honoring the Confederacy should be removed from the Capitol.

Details: The portraits are of Robert Hunter of Virginia (who served as speaker from 1839- 1841), Howell Cobb of Georgia (1849-1851), James Orr of South Carolina (1857-1859), and Charles Crisp of Georgia (1891-1895).

What she's saying: "As I have said before, the halls of Congress are the very heart of our democracy. There is no room in the hallowed halls of Congress or in any place of honor for memorializing men who embody the violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the Confederacy," Pelosi wrote.

"We cannot honor men such as James Orr, who swore on the House Floor to 'preserve and perpetuate' slavery in order to 'enjoy our property in peace, quiet and security,' or Robert Hunter, who served at nearly every level of the Confederacy, including in the Confederate Provincial Congress, as Confederate Secretary of State, in the Confederate Senate and in the Confederate Army."

Go deeper

Fadel Allassan

21 mins ago - Health

Florida smashes single-day record for new coronavirus cases

Data: Covid Tracking Project; Chart: Axios Visuals

Florida reported 15,299 confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday — a new single-day record for any state, according to its health department.

The big picture: The figure shatters both Florida's previous record of 11,458 new cases and the single-state record of 11,694 set by California last week, according to AP. It also surpasses New York's daily peak of 11,571 new cases in April, and comes just a day after Disney World reopened in Orlando.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)

Rashaan Ayesh

26 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Pelosi: Trump is "messing with the health of our children" with push to open schools

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' aggressive push to fully reopen schools this fall is "malfeasance and dereliction of duty," accusing the Trump administration of "messing with the health of our children."

Why it matters: Trump has demanded that schools reopen as part of his efforts to juice the economy by allowing parents to return to work, despite caution from health officials that little is known about how the virus impacts children.

Go deeper (1 min. read)

Fadel Allassan

Updated 1 hour ago - Health

Betsy DeVos: Schools that don't reopen shouldn't get federal funds

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told "Fox News Sunday" that public schools that don't reopen in the fall should not get federal funds, and that the money should be redirected to families who can use it to find another option for their children.

Why it matters: The Trump administration is engaged in a full-court press to reopen schools this fall, despite warnings from some public health officials that the coronavirus outbreak is out of control in many states and that it will be difficult for many schools to reopen safely.