Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is working against the grain to push for a vote on the unpopular Obamacare repeal. Within the GOP’s own ranks, there are five members (and counting) who are against the bill. In the House, members will be voting on a few immigration bills this week. We’ll have more on that tomorrow. Donald Trump is tweeting this morning accusing President Obama of … wait for it ... “colluding” or “obstructing” in the Russia probe. We can’t decipher these tweets. Read them for yourself. Worth a read: the NYT’s Helene Cooper reports that the White House is pushing for military spending in Africa over humanitarian and development assistance. Over the weekend, VP Mike Pence officiated the wedding of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and actress Louise Linton. You may not recognize Linton from any theatrical work but she did embrace her inner drama queen in a work of fiction she penned under the guise of a “truthful” account of her time in Zambia. The book was so ridden with stereotypical white-savior-in-the-jungle narratives that there was a global backlash against her account prompting #LyntonLies to trend on twitter. Last night in LA, the BET awards mixed entertainment and politics with calls for social justice as Michelle Obama honored Chance the Rapper. The countdown to July 4th recess begins! We’re kicking off the week with this:
- The Senate has their eyes on Loretta Lynch.
- Michelle Obama honors Chance the Rapper.
- Jimmy Gómez gets delayed in LA.
- Planned Parenthood has a message for you.
- The Obamas land in Indonesia.
- Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) wants to create tech jobs for coal miners.
- Straight Outta the White House ... Barack Obama is forever Crenshaw.
- There's Crosstalk below. Check it out!
- RTDNA honors Lester Holt.
- California Attorney General Xavier Becerra introduces his own travel ban.
- Black Lives Matter responds to Buzzfeed's Darren Sands.
- Navajo candidate ends bid against Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT).
- Black publishers elect a new leader.
- We're in the thick of summer conferences. The Beat will be hitting the road soon. Check out that happenings below in FOMO.