Congress & Federal Issues

Governor, Senators respond to congressional debt ceiling fight

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New Mexico’s Democratic governor and senators responded to the debt ceiling bill passed by the House Wednesday. The bill seeks to extend the debt limit with budgetary cuts some have called “draconian.” New Mexico’s senators refer to the bill as the “Default on America Act.”

HR 2811, also known as the Limit, Save Grow Act of 2023, passed the U.S. House on a party line vote of 217-215 Wednesday. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed off on a letter along with nine other governors to Senate and House leadership opposing HR 2811. “We write today to express our firm opposition to any efforts that would cut funding for programs that hundreds of millions of Americans pay into and rely on for their health care, retirement benefits, and more,” the letter states. “As governors, we are uniquely positioned to best understand the needs of our residents, and waivers represent a needed tool to meet those needs.

News

Local public radio station ceases use of Twitter

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The battle whether public broadcasting and other non-profit outlets should use the social media platform Twitter came to a head last week when the national NPR account stopped posting to the platform after it was labeled “state-sponsored media.”

National Public Radio affiliate KUNM-FM, based out of Albuquerque, announced Friday it would cease sharing its work on Twitter due to both the label and decreased engagement in recent months. KUNM News Director Megan Kamerick spoke to NM Political Report Monday about the decision to cease posting its work to Twitter. Kamerick was reminded of her friend, NPR’s Alicia Shepard who died on April 1 from lung cancer. 

As a memorial for Shepard, her friends created a faux-New York Times page with a quote about journalism, Kamerick said. “Basically, ‘beware journalism or news media. Your credibility is the only thing you have’,” Kamerick said.

NM Legislature
Rep. T. Ryan Lane

House responds to tweet about House minority floor leader and his son

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With the session winding down with days to go, members of both parties in the New Mexico House of Representatives spoke in solidarity with House Minority Leader Rep. T. Ryan Lane, R-Aztec, during a Wednesday floor session following a March 8 tweet referencing Lane’s introduction of his son on the floor. Evan Lane spent his 17th birthday at the Roundhouse being honored by his father Rep. Lane on March 8. “Now he’s a very special, special young man and I know I’m biased because I’m his father, but I want to share a bit about the transformation that he’s done in the last couple years,” Lane said. 

Evan started working out and getting into wrestling two years ago, the elder Lane said. “Growing up as a kid, (Evan was a) very sweet, young man, great personality, very funny, not very athletic, not very motivated, if I can be frank for a minute,” Lane said. “About two years ago, he decided he was going to change things in his life… he’s found a tremendous amount of self discipline, to the point where he started getting up a few times a week in the morning around 5 a.m. Wake himself up, go workout, got into wrestling and it’s been very inspirational for his mother and I to see that kind of self-motivation and self-transformation that’s taking place within him and I know it will serve him well for the rest of his life.”

ProgressNow New Mexico* Energy Policy Director Lucas Herndon was watching the floor session that morning and made a Twitter post referring to Lane’s introduction of his son on the House floor on March 8 as “toxic masculinity.”

Lane spoke to the NM Political Report about the tweet.

American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico

State announces new public health orders to protect PPE supply

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Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced two new public health orders from the state Department of Health Wednesday to protect the supply of personal protective equipment for health care workers in the state. The orders are necessary to try to slow the spread COVID-19, a type of coronavirus, according to the state. There has been a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers across the nation and many have taken to Twitter to plead for more. On Monday nurses held up signs in front of an Oakland hospital to protest the need for more personal protective equipment. #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; }
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Luján slams Trump for racist tweets

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During an appearance on Fox News on Sunday morning, U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján slammed Donald Trump for a series of tweets he made, telling four Democratic representatives, “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came, then come back and show us how it is done.”

Screenshot of tweets by President Donald Trump on July 14, 2019. The four Democrats Trump appeared to reference—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley—are all women of color. The four are also among the most liberal members of the chamber and frequent critics of Trump. Luján reacted with surprise when “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace read part of Trump’s Sunday morning tweetstorm to him at the end of the interview. “Chris, that’s the first I’m hearing of that.

Quick Reads

Ad of Lujan Grisham smashing ‘Trump’s wall’ goes viral

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New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham does her own stunts. In high heels, no less. As President Donald Trump delivered the State of the Union address Tuesday night, Lujan Grisham released a never-before-seen political ad on Twitter that shows the diminutive Democrat smashing through walls in high heels while talking about breaking barriers to improve New Mexico. In the ad, the president took a hit, too. “And here’s what I think of Trump’s wall,” Lujan Grisham says at the end of the ad before she shatters drywall that held the president’s portrait.

ACA

Udall, Heinrich vote against first steps to repeal Obamacare

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Both U.S. senators from New Mexico voted this week against the first steps the Senate took to repeal the federal Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. The Senate vote, held Thursday during early morning hours, changed procedural rules to allow majority votes on so-called reconciliation bills. Such reconciliation bills are limited to actions on the federal budget and are filibuster-proof, meaning they just need 51 votes from senators to pass instead of the usual 60 votes. Republicans plan to use this reconciliation process to repeal as much of the ACA as they can. Sens.

Barack Obama

Friends again: Bills (Clinton and Richardson) pose for photo

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After years of acrimony and feelings of betrayal, former President Bill Clinton and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson stopped to take a photo with each other in New York City. Richardson posted the photo on his Facebook page and Twitter account on Thursday afternoon and wrote, “Great seeing my former boss President Clinton in NYC. We caught up and rekindled an old friendship. Go Hillary!” In August, Richardson officially endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

2nd Judicial District Court

Journalists not happy with new attempted restrictions by court

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Quickly after the Second Judicial District Court announced restrictions to journalists covering cases, journalists denounced and mocked the restrictions. The court admitted it was “overbroad” and said that the restrictions were being rewritten. A memo to members of the press titled “Media Access to the Courthouse” laid out the new restrictions and is dated June 2, though journalists received it on Wednesday morning, June 3. The memo acknowledges that “cameras and recording devices are allowed in the courtroom” as long as they abide by a rule set forth by the New Mexico Supreme Court. More from the memo, with quotes from the Supreme Court:
In addition, the media coverage must not “detract from the dignity of the court proceedings or otherwise interfere with the achievement of a fair and impartial hearing…”

News

Santa Fe mayor doesn’t seem to be a fan of Grover Norquist

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Santa Fe mayor Javier Gonzales is currently in New York City for two summits. Albuquerque mayor Richard Berry was also scheduled to be in New York City. While at the Yale School of Management CEO Summit/Mayors College, the mayors in attendance listened to several speakers, from Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett to Fortune editor-in-chief Alan Murray. Also at the summit is anti-tax icon Grover Norquist. Gonzales, a former Democratic Party of New Mexico chair, does not agree with Norquist on much.