Mar. 1, 2023: A bipartisan response to East Palestine

The Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

Daily News, Politics, Government, News

4.2 • 614 Ratings

🗓️ 1 March 2023

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

A bipartisan group of six senators today will introduce the Railway Safety Act of 2023, legislation aimed at preventing a repeat of the toxic firestorm in East Palestine, Ohio, that followed the Feb. 4 derailment of a chemical train. According to a summary we saw last night, the legislation would: 1) require rail carriers to give advance notice to state emergency response officials before running trains carrying hazardous materials; 2) mandate trains run with at least two-person crews; 3) require better monitoring of railcar wheel bearings — which overheated in the Ohio train accident, according to the NTSB, and likely caused the train to jump the tracks — and 4) increase penalties for wrongdoing in the industry. AP’s Julie Carr Smyth with the scoop And as House Republicans ramp up their investigation into alleged politicization at the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick Garland will use his opening statement at a congressional hearing today to defend the integrity of his workforce. Speaking at the Senate Judiciary Committee, Garland will emphasize how DOJ officials have worked to combat violent crime and hate crimes, to assist Ukraine officials in defending democracy and to “protect reproductive freedom,” according to an excerpt shared with Playbook. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Presented by Emerchant.
0:02.5	Good morning, Playbookers. I'm Rogulmovalin.
0:06.2	A preview of Merrick Garland's congressional hearing, plus a bipartisan response to East Palestine.
0:13.6	Here are the big things we're watching on Wednesday, March 1st.
0:18.0	His House Republicans ramp up their investigation into alleged politicization at the Justice Department,
0:25.2	Attorney General Merrick Garland will use its opening statement at a congressional hearing today
0:30.7	to defend the integrity of his workforce.
0:33.8	Speaking at the Senate Judiciary Committee, Garland will emphasize how DOJ officials have worked to combat violent crime and hate crimes,
0:43.3	to assist Ukraine officials in defending democracy and to, according to an excerpt shared with playbook, protect reproductive freedom.
0:52.1	Then comes the hard part.
0:53.9	Following his opening statement,
0:55.7	Garland will be grilled on several issues. His department has notably avoided discussing. He'll face
1:01.6	questions about the status of the special counsel probes of Trump's and Biden's handling of classified
1:07.6	materials, as well as the ongoing investigation into the January 6th Capitol riot.
1:13.6	House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan's subpoena concerning the DOJ's handling apparent protests
1:19.7	and disruptions at school board meetings comes due at 9 a.m. today.
1:24.7	Should Garland refuse to comply, he could face queries from Jordan's GOP Senate
1:29.5	allies. Lawmakers from both parties are expected to probe Garland about the curious case of
1:35.7	former FBI agent Charles McGonigal, who stands accused of taking money from a Russian oligarch,
1:42.1	a situation that's prompting concern about whether the DOJ
1:45.7	can police itself.
1:47.6	And he may well find himself fielding a question or two about the origins of the COVID-19
	...

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