Jan 23, 2019

Sheila Jackson Lee to resign from leadership roles amid lawsuit

Shannon Vavra

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. Photo: Earl Gibson III/Getty Images

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) will step down as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and House Judiciary's crime, terrorism, homeland security and investigations subcommittee amid allegations that she mishandled a sexual assault claim, the New York Times reports.

Details: One of Jackson Lee’s former congressional aides filed a lawsuit earlier this month alleging that the congresswoman fired her after she said she was sexually assaulted by a supervisor at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. The NY Times reports that Jackson Lee, who denies she fired the aide for retribution, was given an ultimatum by the foundation to step down this week or face a vote of removal.

Go deeper: #MeToo's 2018: Congress, Church and Silicon Valley

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Orion Rummler

House passes bill to make lynching a federal hate crime

Photo: Aaron P. Bauer-Griffin/GC Images via Getty Images

The House voted 410-4 on Wednesday to pass legislation to designate lynching as a federal hate crime.

Why it matters: Congress has tried and failed for over 100 years to pass measures to make lynching a federal crime.

Go deeperArrow46 mins ago - Politics & Policy
Kim Hart

This year's census may be the toughest count yet

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Community leaders are concerned that historically hard-to-count residents will be even harder to count in this year's census, thanks to technological hurdles and increased distrust in government.

Why it matters: The census — which will count more than 330 million people this year — determines how $1.5 trillion in federal funding gets allocated across state and local governments. Inaccurate counts mean that communities don't get their fair share of those dollars.

Go deeperArrow2 hours ago - Politics & Policy
Axios

Live updates: Coronavirus spreads to Latin America

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens.

Brazil confirmed the first novel coronavirus case in Latin America Wednesday — a 61-year-old that tested positive after returning from a visit to northern Italy, the epicenter of Europe's outbreak.

The big picture: COVID-19 has killed more than 2,700 people and infected over 81,000 others. By Wednesday morning, South Korea had the most cases outside China, with 1,261 infections. Europe's biggest outbreak is in Italy, where 374 cases have been confirmed.

Go deeperArrowUpdated 3 hours ago - Health