WMAL Interview - Susan Ferrechio 05.20.16

Susan Ferrechio of the Washington Examiner co-hosted on Friday and shared the latest happenings on Capitol Hill.

Q & A with Susan Ferrechio about Congress:

How Senate Democrats are trying to deal with Sanders. Senate Democrats discussed how to handle Bernie Sanders and his supporters at a private caucus meeting on Tuesday. The lawmakers met in a closed-door session days after Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was shouted down at the Nevada Democratic convention, an incident that shook Democrats and raised fears about a chaotic fight at the party’s upcoming national convention that might cost the party the White House. Democrats in the room decided the best course would be to let Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) handle the delicate task of talking to Sanders about the increasingly negative tone of supporters of his presidential bid, according to sources familiar with what happened at the meeting.
GOP struggles for response to Obama’s transgender rule. (Washington Examiner) — Republicans are outraged at the Obama administration’s directive expanding the rights of transgendered students in public schools, but they don’t yet know what to do about it. Other than the introduction of a bill sponsored by Rep. Rep. Luke Messer, R-Ind., which would block the federal government from withholding funding from non-compliant schools, Republicans made no legislative move to stop the new rule this week. But some were already talking about taking the fight to court, in the hopes that a judge would decide Obama’s move is illegal. “We write laws, and we need to respect the president that he disagrees with us, but that is why the courts would be involved,” House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, told the Washington Examiner.
Congress, White House strike rescue deal for Puerto Rico. WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans and Democrats reached a rare, election-year deal with the White House to try to rescue Puerto Rico from $70 billion in debt as millions of Americans in the cash-strapped U.S. territory struggle with the loss of basic services. A revised House bill introduced late Wednesday would create a board to help manage the territory’s financial obligations and restructure some debt. Negotiations between the Obama administration and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office helped finalize the legislation. It is a “fair, but tough bipartisan compromise,” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said. Ryan, R-Wis., said the legislation would avoid an eventual taxpayer bailout. Puerto Rico, mired in a decade-long recession, already has missed several payments to creditors. A $2 billion installment, the largest yet, is due July 1. The island’s businesses have shuttered, schools lack sufficient resources like electricity and some hospitals are limiting treatment or drugs. Puerto Rico’s governor used a state of emergency this week to protect one public agency from lawsuits.
House Votes to Ban Confederate Flags on VA Cemetery Flagpoles. (AP) – The House voted Thursday to ban the display of the Confederate flag on flagpoles at Veterans Administration cemeteries. The 265-159 vote would block descendants and others seeking to commemorate veterans of the Confederate States of America from flying the Confederate Battle Flag over mass graves, even on days that flag displays are permitted. California Democrat Jared Huffman authored the prohibition, saying the flag represents “racism, slavery and division.” After a mass shooting at a South Carolina black church last year, the state legislature ordered the flag removed from the capitol in Columbia. The House approved amendments last year to block the display and sale of the Confederate flag at national parks but a backlash from Southern Republicans caused GOP leaders to scrap the underlying spending bill.