Today’s highlights:
- Sonya Halpern files to run for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.
- Georgia House Democrats step up their resistance.
- Brandon Beach says goodbye to his state Senate colleagues.
Eight years ago, Stacey Abrams delivered a speech at an Atlanta union hall that aimed to turn the outrage over Donald Trump’s first term in office into electoral energy. It also laid the groundwork for her own run for governor.
Now Trump is in his second term in office and Abrams has yet to announce whether she’ll wage a third campaign for Georgia’s top office after two unsuccessful runs. But her message about Trump remains the same.
At the Black Women & Public Policy in the South Symposium, she invoked the old adage, “never let a good crisis go to waste,” to compel the crowd of mostly young, Black women not to despair over Trump’s policies.
Said Abrams:
“We are in a moment of crisis in this nation. We are on the edge of tyranny, if we haven't already tipped over. We have an executive branch that is insistent on its abuse of power. We have a legislative branch that is insistent on its ignominy and its supplication and its willingness to do whatever it is told to do. We have a judiciary that is hoping against hope that when it issues a ruling that the system of checks and balances holds."
Since her second defeat to Gov. Brian Kemp in 2022, Abrams has largely distanced herself from state politics to focus more on national issues. But she remains a prime target for Republicans both in Georgia and beyond.
Georgia GOP leaders routinely bash Abrams, attacks that intensified in January after the New Georgia Project organization she founded agreed to pay a record $300,000 fine for violating campaign finance laws. And Trump singled her out this month during his address to Congress.
Abrams didn’t bring up the criticism during her remarks at the symposium. But she encouraged the audience at Clark Atlanta University to channel their energy into building a more equitable future.
“We each have the power of change, but you have even more power than that, because you are the ones who will design the solutions that come next,” she said.
“You are the ones who will see what is broken, and instead of trying to repair what was already a shoddy system, you will build a better one, the right one, the thing we should have had when we began.”
Things to know
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
We’re nine days away from Sine Die, the final day of the legislative session. Here are three things to know for today:
- Marine terminals in Savannah recorded their best February on record, the AJC’s Adam Van Brimmer reports. But officials warn traffic could slow down in April amid expanded tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
- U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff peppered senior Trump administration intelligence officials with questions about a text chat discussing sensitive military strategies that was sent to a prominent political journalist, Tia Mitchell reports.
- State lawmakers have reached a compromise on a bill aiming to block transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, the AJC’s Maya T. Prabhu reports.
Nunn on group chat
Former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn worked extensively with military and intelligence officials for decades as the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. So when news broke about the group chat among Trump officials discussing an upcoming strike in Yemen, we reached out to get his reaction.
“This was obviously a severe security breach,” Nunn said in a statement. “Since the communications were highly classified, further information will have to be determined by the appropriate Congressional committees.”
Congressional bid
Credit: AJC file photo
Credit: AJC file photo
Democratic state Sen. Sonya Halpern filed paperwork to succeed U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath on Tuesday, becoming the first prominent candidate to enter the race to represent the district spanning parts of west metro Atlanta.
The timing of the filing, however, raised eyebrows since McBath still hasn’t formally announced whether she’ll run for governor. The four-term Democrat said earlier this month she was exploring a bid for Georgia’s top office but hadn’t yet declared her candidacy.
Halpern didn’t immediately return requests for comment, though she earlier told the “Politically Georgia” podcast she would frame her campaign around fighting Republican efforts to slash federal funding for essential services.
“We need to be talking about the economy,” she said. “President Trump clearly won his election, and there are many people who say he won because people were concerned about the economy, and he gave promises about what he was going to do. And so far those promises were broken.”
She’s likely to be joined by a range of rivals for the deep-blue seat — if McBath winds up running for governor. Other potential contenders, though, are waiting for McBath to make up her mind before entering the race.
Halpern is the second Democratic state senator from metro Atlanta to seek a U.S. House seat. Democratic state Sen. Emanuel Jones earlier filed paperwork to run for U.S. Rep. David Scott’s east Atlanta-based seat.
Democratic Defiance
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Georgia Democrats’ failure to derail Gov. Brian Kemp’s legal overhaul has inspired the caucus to take a more assertive approach as the session enters its final stretch.
On Tuesday, House Democrats quietly orchestrated a walkout during a key committee meeting to prevent the panel from having a quorum. That temporarily blocked a measure sponsored by Republican state Sen. Brandon Beach of Alpharetta, which could let President Donald Trump and his allies recover legal fees in the pending election interference case in Fulton County.
That maneuver may be a glimpse of a more muscular brand of Democratic defiance. Maintaining party discipline is a central part of that strategy. Three House Democrats broke party ranks to support Kemp’s bill, violating a caucus directive to oppose the measure. Going forward, officials warn, defying a caucus stance will carry “serious implications.”
Vouching for Vance
Credit: Screenshot
Credit: Screenshot
Yesterday we noted the silence from top Republicans over state Rep. Vance Smith losing his job as the Harris County Chamber’s CEO for voting against Gov. Brian Kemp’s legal overhaul.
Well, that silence shattered Tuesday when Smith broke down in tears on the House floor, saying he was overwhelmed by the bipartisan support received in the days since he lost his job.
House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley and other Democrats rushed to console him — and notably, so did House Majority Whip James Burchett, the lead GOP sponsor of Kemp’s bill in the House.
We asked Burchett for comment, and he put out a doozy of a statement that ended with this line: “Being cancelled is not something that this House ascribes to, and there is no place for that in Georgia government.”
Ready to move
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
President Donald Trump still hasn’t formally named state Sen. Brandon Beach his administration’s treasurer, but the Alpharetta Republican is already gearing up for his move to Washington.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones feted Beach on the Senate floor on Tuesday, saying he helped grease the wheels for the senator’s appointment after he was passed over for a Transportation Department post.
“Just be patient. There’s something else that’s going to come up,” Jones said he told Beach. “And I believe this is a better gig, Brandon, than what we initially thought you were going to get.”
Beach said he thought Trump’s aides dialed the wrong number a few weeks ago when he was told about his appointment.
“It’s going to be life changing,” said Beach. “I’m going to Washington, but I will never forget you guys. I’ll never forget where I came from, and thank you for all you’ve done for me.”
Ripple effects
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
We’re still sorting through the fallout from last week’s seismic House vote on Gov. Brian Kemp’s proposal aimed at limiting large jury awards in some civil lawsuits.
One thing to keep an eye on: a potential vote later this week on school speed cameras in the Senate Public Safety Committee.
The committee is considering dueling proposals from state Reps. Alan Powell and Dale Washburn. Powell wants to regulate how the cameras are used and who would get the money from them. Washburn wants to ban the cameras completely.
Both bills passed the House and are sitting in the Senate Public Safety Committee, which held a three-hour hearing about them last week but has not signaled how it will act.
Complicating matters is that Washburn was one of eight Republicans to vote against Kemp’s proposal. That could hurt him with Kemp and in the Senate, where all but one Republican voted to back the governor.
Some Kemp allies say they expected several of the eight Republicans who opposed the bill to cast “no” votes, but that they were caught off guard by Washburn’s decision.
Washburn has been pushing hard for his speed camera ban, including asking Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to let it come to the Senate floor for a vote. Washburn said he believes “our citizens have been abused greatly by these out-of-state camera companies.”
“This bill stands on its merit,” Washburn said, adding that “it should have no relation to a vote on another issue.”
Under the Gold Dome
Credit: Adam Beam/AJC
Credit: Adam Beam/AJC
The Legislature is not meeting today to give lawmakers time to review bills in committees. Some of today’s happenings:
- 8 a.m.: Senate Special Committee on Investigations meets to get an update on enforcement of a subpoena for documents and testimony of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
- 9 a.m.: Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 254, which would ban the sale of drinks that contain THC, the psychoactive compound found in cannabis.
- 10 a.m.: House Health Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 39, which would prohibit the state health benefit plan from covering gender-affirming care expenses.
Listen up
Today on “Politically Georgia‚” constitutional law professor Fred Smith talks about President Donald Trump’s ongoing battle with the courts. Tia Mitchell discusses the fallout from the Trump administration’s national security group. And Greg Bluestein gives an update on the religious liberty bill.
You can listen and subscribe to the show for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Today in Washington
Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Here’s what’s happening:
- President Donald Trump will participate in a Women’s History Month event at the White House.
- The House has no votes scheduled today to allow members to attend the funeral of former Arizona Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who died of cancer earlier this month.
- The Senate will work through more of Trump’s nominations.
- The House DOGE Subcommittee, chaired by Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Rome, will hold a hearing featuring the heads of NPR and PBS about allegations their content is biased against conservatives.
- CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and FBI Director Kash Patel will provide testimony on global security during a House Intelligence Committee meeting.
Shoutouts
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One more thing
More than 300 wealthy people sent a letter to Congress asking them to not cut their taxes. The letter was signed by Atlanta native Shannon Cofrin Gaggero. “How in the world do wealthy people need more tax breaks when people, like everyday working people, are suffering,” she said.
That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.
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