Ahead of Potential Shutdown, Democrats Game Out McCarthy Bailout

Andrew Solender for Axios reports that House Democrats have begun considering how to leverage House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s struggles to avert a government shutdown. With Democrats in control of the Senate, any bill that funds the government will have to be bipartisan and McCarthy will most likely need Democratic votes not only for a funding bill, but also for the “rule,” a procedural vote that typically falls along party lines, but has been rejected by GOP hardliners in recent budget legislation. The looming shutdown could spell trouble for McCarthy as some Republican hardliners have warned that any deal with Democrats could trigger an effort to remove him as Speaker via the “motion to vacate.”

Slim Majority of Voters Believe Trump Could Be Disqualified Under 14th Amendment

For POLITICO, Zach Montellaro reports that according to a new POLITICO-Morning Consult poll, a slim majority of voters support an effort to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot. When asked if they “support or oppose” the section of the 14th Amendment which prohibits those who engaged in insurrection from running for president, 63% of respondents said that they strongly or somewhat support it. When asked if they believed Trump “engaged in insurrection or rebellion,” 51% answered definitely or probably, with 35% saying definitely or probably not. PRRI data from June 2023 found that while Trump maintains his majority approval rating among Republican voters, two-thirds of Americans overall (66%) hold unfavorable views.

Education Department Presses Colleges To Increase Diversity Efforts

Lauren Sforza of The Hill writes that the Education Department has issued a report outlining ways higher education institutions can promote more diversity in their admission practices in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling that restricted the use of race-based admission practices.The report includes resources for targeted recruitment, outreach, and pathway programs in schools and urged higher education admissions to consider adversity students have faced, including racial discrimination. PRRI finds that a majority of multiracial Americans (56%) and half of Hispanic Americans (50%) say that a college education is a good investment, compared with less than half of Black Americans (46%) and four in ten white Americans (38%).

After Florida Restricts Black History, Churches Step Up To Teach It

For the Washington Post, Brittany Shammas describes the multi-faith effort to teach Black history in houses of worship in Florida amidst controversy over new directives governing classroom instruction — changes that critics say sanitize or even distort the past. So far, more than 260 religious institutions including synagogues, Catholic churches, and mosques have pledged to teach Black history using a tool kit created by Faith in Florida, a nonprofit coalition of religious institutions. PRRI finds that while vast majorities of all religious groups support efforts to tell the truth about the history of slavery, violence, and discrimination against racial minorities, support for efforts to repair the damage done by past violence or discrimination against racial minorities tends to be lower among white Christians.

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Read PRRI’s report “Clergy and Congregations in a Time of Transformation” here.