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Biden's debt forgiveness misses targets

The Biden administration’s prospective move to cancel $10,000 of outstanding federal student loan debt, while welcomed by many current and former students with debt, has been critiqued for not being very well-targeted and for neither addressing the affordability of higher education nor the needs of future students. Instead, finding ways to decrease the cost of higher education going forward would reduce the need for families to borrow. In addition, fixing federal income-based repayment programs would ensure that debt does not become a lifelong burden for those who have borrowed but whose incomes ultimately make repayment difficult. 

Whether or not federal student debt is completely or partially forgiven, let’s not forget that many who started college and failed to get a degree also have institutional debt. These are debts owed to the colleges and universities they attended, for a range of expenses from tuition to library and parking fines. This type of debt too often keeps them from re-enrolling and completing a degree. This also disadvantages them in the labor market, making it even more challenging to pay back what they owe. Most colleges and universities withhold transcripts and prevent students from re-enrolling or transferring to another institution if they owe institutional debt. Withholding transcripts is viewed as one of the most easily available methods of collecting those debts. However, we have estimated that only about 7 cents on the dollar of such institutional debt are ever collected, while preventing individuals from gaining a valuable degree or credential that can help them increase their earnings. 

A program to help these students with institutional debt, freeing up their transcripts and any “stranded credits” so that they can continue their education, could potentially benefit up to 6.6 million adult learners. At the same time, this would help states achieve their educational attainment goals and contribute to the strength of their economies, including increasing tax revenues. 

Such a program need not cost much, because individual institutions would benefit if canceling institutional debt led to students re-enrolling and paying tuition (perhaps with Pell grants or other forms of federal or state financial aid). If institutions in a system collaborated in implementing such a program, all could benefit compared to collecting 7 cents on the dollar, if students reenroll and stay enrolled. This would take effective advising, including discussions around a clear pathway to a degree or valuable certificate. 

Canceling this institutional debt would be well-targeted, in that it would affect those adult learners with some credits who have been prevented from continuing their education because of these debts. And, it helps keep credits that students had previously earned, and states and the federal government in many cases supported through financial aid, from being wasted. This directly reduces the costs of degree attainment across higher education. Compared to the projected Biden policy, which cancels $10,000 of debt for each borrower, many who can and would ultimately pay it back, institutional debts tend to be smaller, less likely to be paid back by those who have incurred them, and prevent individuals from finishing their degrees. 

President Biden’s debt forgiveness proposal will benefit many borrowers, including many who ended up being worse off after borrowing, with debt and no degree. Yet at the end of the day, these benefits will only extend to those currently in debt. We need to also address the challenges of increasing educational attainment, particularly for lower-income and underrepresented populations, whose educational attainment continues to lag. A functioning income-based repayment program would reduce the risks of borrowing to invest in higher education. In addition, a means of addressing institutional debt would allow significant numbers of those with some credits and no degree, estimated to be about 39 million adults, to continue their education and improve their lives.

Catharine B. Hill is managing director of Ithaka S+R and president emerita of Vassar College.

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Healthcare — Formula shortage could last until July

Welcome to Thursday’s Overnight Health Care, where we’re following the latest moves on policy and news affecting your health. Subscribe here:  

K-pop superstars BTS are heading to the White House next week to help spotlight anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination, as well as discuss “the importance of diversity and inclusion.” 

Food and Drug Administration commissioner Robert Califf was back in the hot seat on Thursday as lawmakers continue to demand answers for the infant formula shortage. 

For The Hill, we’re Peter Sullivan (psullivan@thehill.com), Nathaniel Weixel (nweixel@thehill.com), and Joseph Choi (jchoi@thehill.com). Write to us with tips and feedback, and follow us on Twitter: @PeterSullivan4 @NateWeixel and @JosefChoi. 

Let’s get started. 

Formula shortage won’t end until July, FDA chief says 

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Robert Califf told members of the Senate Health Committee the infant formula shortage likely won’t be fully resolved until late July.  

He said it will take time to get to the point when store shelves are fully stocked, but eventually, there will be a surplus. 

“My expectation is that within two months we should be beyond normal, and with a plethora,” Califf said. “It’s going to be gradual improvement up to probably somewhere around two months until the shelves are replete again.”  

Califf added that there will need to be a discussion about whether the government should create a national stockpile of formula “as a backup” to guard against future disruptions. The U.S. currently doesn’t have formula in reserve, as it’s a perishable commodity.  

Conflicting timeline: While acknowledging the agency was likely too slow to act at first, Califf put much of the responsibility for correcting the shortage on the manufacturer. 

“Our oversight is critical, but make no mistake: The return to normal will only take place when Abbott takes steps to resume in a safe manner,” Califf said Thursday.  

The FDA and Abbott are operating under a legal agreement to reopen Abbott’s facility, but there have been conflicting statements about when that might happen. 

An Abbott executive on Wednesday told a House panel that the company is ready to reopen beginning the first week of June. 

But Califf said the company has yet to meet the FDA’s lengthy requirements and won’t be ready for the next several weeks. 

Read more here.

CDC: Nine monkeypox cases confirmed across seven states

Nine monkeypox cases across seven states in the U.S. have been confirmed as of this week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

During a press briefing, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky confirmed that nine cases of monkeypox in seven states have been identified. 

“These cases were suspected by local clinicians. They were identified by local laboratories and triggered local public health action to help with treatment and management of any potential contacts,” Walensky said. 

Cases have been identified in California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Utah, Virginia and Washington state. 

The clinical samples of these suspected cases were also tested by the CDC for confirmatory testing. 

The cases in the U.S. have been found in men who have sex with men, though Walensky stressed that the risk of exposure is “not limited to any one particular group.” 

“Stigma and discrimination in public health results in decreased access to care, ongoing disease transmission and a blunted response to outbreaks and threats,” Walensky said. “So I urge everyone to approach this outbreak without stigma and without discrimination.” 

The U.S. has two vaccines and two antiviral treatments that can be used for orthopox infections, a family of viruses that monkeypox falls within. One vaccine, called Jynneos, has already been mobilized to be sent to states with confirmed cases. 

Read more here. 

FIRST FEDERALLY SUPPORTED TEST-TO-TREAT SITE LAUNCHES 

The White house on Thursday announced the first federally supported test-to-treat site in Providence, R.I.

The site using federal funding joins the roughly 2,500 other test-to-treat sites across the country, where people can get tested for COVID-19, and then get prescribed the Pfizer treatment pills known as Paxlovid if they are positive.  

The administration is working to set up additional federally supported test-to-treat sites as part of its push to increase use of Paxlovid, which has been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by around 90 percent.  

Federal personnel are also being deployed to Minnesota to help in state-run test-to-treat sites, the White House said.  

The increased use of Paxlovid is one of the reasons the administration cites the death rate for staying largely flat despite a recent increase in cases.  

40 PERCENT OF AMERICANS SAY ABORTION IS ONE OF THEIR TOP ISSUES 

Forty percent of Americans list abortion as one of the most important issues in the country, according to a new Marquette Law School Poll.  

The new poll, published on Thursday, found that 39 percent of those surveyed said that the issue of abortion is somewhat important to them, while 21 percent of respondents said the issue isn’t important to them.  

Thirty-one percent of Republican respondents said that abortion is one of the country’s most important issues, while 44 percent of Republican respondents said the issue of abortion is somewhat important and 17 percent said the topic of abortion isn’t important at all. 

Forty-eight percent of Democrat respondents said that abortion is one of the country’s most important issues, while 14 percent of respondents who are Democrats disagree, according to the poll. 

Thirty-eight percent of independent respondents believe that abortion is one of the country’s most important issues, while 25 percent of those respondents believe that abortion isn’t an important topic.  

Read more here.  

Oklahoma governor signs nation’s strictest abortion ban into law  

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed a bill into law Wednesday that bans abortion at conception in his state, the strictest anti-abortion law in the nation. 

Stitt signed House Bill 4327, which prohibits physicians from performing abortions at any point in a pregnancy, unless it is necessary to save the pregnant person’s life. 

The law is modeled after the Texas “bounty” law that passed last year. The ban is enforced by civil lawsuits from private citizens, rather than from local authorities.  

The law allows private citizens to file civil lawsuits up to $10,000 against anyone who performs or assists in performing an abortion. However, it does not allow the person seeking an abortion to be sued. 

Under the measure, abortions are prohibited at any stage of pregnancy, with exceptions for medical emergencies or if the pregnancy was a result of rape, sexual assault or incest and reported to law enforcement. 

Read more here.

WHAT WE’RE READING 

• Patients face long delays for imaging of cancers and other diseases (The New York Times) 
• CDC plans to stop reporting suspected Covid cases to ease burden (Bloomberg) 
• Warning signs ahead of monkeypox outbreak went unheeded, experts say (Stat) 

STATE BY STATE 

• Florida IG report: ‘Insufficient evidence’ for DeSantis critic’s claims of Covid coverup (NBC) 
• California schools try to outrace Covid outbreaks (Kaiser Health News) 
• Abbott calls Texas school shooting a mental health issue but cut state spending for it (NBC) 

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On The Money — Democrats gripe over Fed’s handle on inflation

High inflation is a political problem for Democrats, and they’re looking to the Fed for answers. We’ll also look at when the baby formula shortage could end and the states where housing prices are rising the fastest. 

But first, the latest on monkeypox. 

Welcome to On The Money, your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. For The Hill, we’re Sylvan Lane, Aris Folley and Karl Evers-Hillstrom. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Democratic discontent brews with Federal Reserve

Discontent with the Federal Reserve is brewing among Democrats, even those who voted earlier this month to confirm Fed chairman Jerome Powell for another four-year term. 

• With inflation at 40-year highs and the prospect of a recession looming large over midterm elections later this year, Democrats are worried the economy could cost them their majorities. 
• And the feeling in the party is that if the Fed had acted quicker, Democrats might not be facing such tough headwinds. 
• Specifically, Democrats say the Fed started raising interests too late following the onset of the pandemic, missing an opportunity to curb the inflation that’s weighing on Democratic hopes for reelection. 

The Hill’s Tobias Burns has more here.  

SHORTAGE CONTINUES  

Formula shortage won’t end until July, FDA chief says 

The nation’s infant formula shortage likely won’t be fully resolved until late July, the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told senators Thursday. 

During a Senate Health Committee hearing, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said it will take time to get to the point when store shelves are fully stocked but that eventually there will be a surplus. 

“My expectation is that within two months we should be beyond normal, and with a plethora,” Califf said. “It’s going to be gradual improvement up to probably somewhere around two months until the shelves are replete again.”  

• The shortage came about after an Abbott Nutrition plant was shut down in mid-February following an FDA inspection that found unsanitary conditions and multiple strains of a bacteria that can be deadly to infants.  
• The FDA and Abbott are operating under a legal agreement to reopen Abbott’s facility, but Califf said the company has yet to meet the FDA’s lengthy requirements and won’t be ready for the next several weeks. 
• Califf added that there will need to be a discussion about whether the government should create a national stockpile of formula “as a backup” to guard against future disruptions. 

The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel has more here. 

GOING UP 

Here are the states where housing prices are rising fastest 

Home prices are up all over the country, but some states have seen particularly severe jumps.  

The typical U.S. home value is currently $344,141, according to Zillow’s home value index, which only includes the middle price tier of homes. That figure marks more than a 20 percent jump in the past year.   

• While not technically a state, Washington, D.C, tops the list of locations that have seen the most significant spike in home values between 2002 and 2020, with prices rising 167 percent. Since 2012, they have risen 54 percent. 
• Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California and Idaho have also seen huge price spikes over the last two decades.  

The Hill’s Monique Beals has more here. 

Read more: More than one-third of first-time homebuyers had help from their parents 

REGULATING ESG 

SEC proposes regulations aimed at cracking down on ESG greenwashing 

The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new regulation to combat the practice of “greenwashing,” the misleading marketing of unsustainable investments under the ESG label. 

If adopted, the measure would require funds marketing themselves as ESG-focused to disclose additional information to investors.  

A related rule, also introduced Wednesday, would require any fund that labeled itself as ESG-focused to put at least 80 percent of its money into such investments. 

“ESG encompasses a wide variety of investments and strategies. I think investors should be able to drill down to see what’s under the hood of these strategies,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in the statement. 

The Hill’s Saul Elbein and Rachel Frazin have more here. 

Good to Know

The Supreme Court is rebuffing an attempt from red states to block the Biden administration from using a key climate accounting metric in its decision making.  

In a new order on Thursday, the high court denied the states’ request to review a ruling that enabled the Biden administration to use the climate impacts measurement. The order did not provide insight into the court’s reasoning. 

Here’s what else we have our eye on: 

• Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) signaled their support Thursday for a federal investigation into solar panel components condemned by many of their colleagues in both parties.  

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hill’s Finance page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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Hillicon Valley — Twitter settles federal privacy suit

Twitter is going to pay $150 million to settle a federal privacy lawsuit over allegations of improperly collecting user data between 2014 and 2019.  

Meanwhile, Meta ramped up its feud with Apple through comments to a federal agency reviewing competition in the mobile app market.  

This is Hillicon Valley, detailing all you need to know about tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.  

Send tips to The Hill’s Chris Mills Rodrigo (@millsrodrigo), Rebecca Klar (@rebeccaklar_), and Ines Kagubare (@InesKagubare).  

Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.  

Twitter to pay $150M to settle privacy suit  

Twitter is set to pay $150 million to settle a privacy lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Justice Department. 

The settlement, made public Wednesday, concerns allegations that the platform improperly collected user data between 2014 and 2019. The settlement requires a court approval before being finalized. 

According to the complaint, Twitter asked users for phone numbers and email addresses to secure their accounts and then let advertisers use that information to target ads. 

The platform misrepresented what the information was being collected to do, per the complaint, allegedly violating a previous settlement from 2011 and the FTC Act. 

“As the complaint notes, Twitter obtained data from users on the pretext of harnessing it for security purposes but then ended up also using the data to target users with ads,” FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan said in a statement. “This practice affected more than 140 million Twitter users, while boosting Twitter’s primary source of revenue.” 

Read more here.  

Meta slams Apple 

Meta slammed Apple’s market power in the mobile app industry in comments for a federal agency’s report on the app ecosystem released Thursday. 

Meta’s stance escalates the feud between the two industry heavyweights and puts Facebook’s parent company in opposition to the industry groups trying to defend the competitiveness of the app market as the Biden administration cracks down on tech giants’ power.  

Piling on: In 19 pages of comments, Meta almost entirely focuses on criticizing Apple. 

The multibillion-dollar company, which is itself the target of a key federal antitrust lawsuit, paints a picture of Apple as a behemoth that is constraining Meta’s ability to expand.  

The comments were made to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is conducting a report on competition in the mobile app ecosystem as part of the Department of Commerce’s work to review the market as directed under a sweeping executive order on competition from President Biden. 

Apple’s take: In a 15-page comment submitted for the NTIA report, Apple defended its app store as a “pro-consumer and pro-developer economic engine for app developers.”  

Part of Apple’s defense is focused around security and privacy features it provides for consumers. The tech giant used a similar defense in a lawsuit against Epic Games, the developer behind Fortnite, and in hearings with lawmakers looking to add further regulations to how dominant app stores operate. 

Read more here. 

DORSEY’S FAREWELL 

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is stepping down from the company’s board effective today, a move that was expected and comes amid Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s multibillion-dollar bid to purchase the platform. 

“As we shared back in November, Jack would be leaving the Board when ‘his term expires at the 2022 meeting of stockholders,’” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill. 

The company held its annual stakeholder meeting on Wednesday.  

The co-founder’s departure comes a month after Twitter announced an initial deal to sell itself to the world’s wealthiest man for some $44 billion. 

Read more here.  

CYBERATTACK ATTRIBUTION IS KEY 

As Russian cyber threats continue to evolve amid the war in Ukraine, cyber experts are urging NATO to take authoritative steps to combat state-sponsored hackers, including attributing the actors behind the attacks. 

Merle Maigre, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said that NATO should “deny covertness by attribution” and hold malicious cyber actors accountable for their criminal actions.  

“I think NATO should persuade its opponents that they cannot be clandestine in the cyber operations,” Maigre said.  

“Attribution is a good way to make clear to malicious actors that their actions will be seen and will be addressed,” she added. 

Read more here. 

BITS AND PIECES

An op-ed to chew on: US infrastructure is nowhere near ready for Biden’s electric vehicle timeline 

Notable links from around the web: 

A Face Search Engine Anyone Can Use Is Alarmingly Accurate (The New York Times / Kashmir Hill) 

Tech Industry Groups Are Watering Down Attempts at Privacy Regulation, One State at a Time (The Markup / Todd Feathers and Alfred Ng) 

In private, vulnerable Senate Dems back off tech bill (Adam Cancryn and Emily Birnbaum)

One last thing: Blinken to unveil ‘China House’ 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday will announce the launching of a “China House” in the State Department, a team of diplomats across the agency who will coordinate U.S. policy to confront China on its global ambitions. 

Blinken will make the announcement on U.S. strategy during a wide-ranging speech at George Washington University on the Biden administration’s approach toward relations with Beijing. 

The China House will be a department-wide integrated team that will coordinate and implement the administration’s policy across issues and regions, according to an excerpt of Blinken’s remarks provided by the State Department. 

Read more here.  

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s technology and cybersecurity pages for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you Friday. 

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NotedDC — Democrats struggle to turn outrage into action

Each week following a mass shooting seems like Groundhog Day in Washington. Both parties offer thoughts and prayers, Democrats call for gun control legislation and Republicans argue that attention should be focused on the tragedy, not reforming gun laws.

A Morning Consult/POLITICO poll conducted in the wake of Tuesday’s shooting in Uvalde, Texas, indicates broad support for policy changes.

Eighty-eight percent support requiring background checks on all gun sales, 75 percent support creating a national database with information about each gun sale and 67 percent support banning assault weapons.

The results echo a message Democrats will most likely stick with: Most Americans want “commonsense” gun reform to save people’s lives.

“Young people are dying from this issue, and we need to do something to save our lives,” Zeenat Yahya, policy director for gun control organization March for Our Lives, told NotedDC.

But academic researchers aren’t so optimistic that things will be different this time.

“The chances of that [shooting] happening are low enough for so many people and they don’t see it as a real possibility,” Ben Kantack, an assistant professor at Lycoming College who researches public opinion after mass shootings, told NotedDC.

“We’re almost desensitized to the pattern now,” Kantack said. “We’re just kind of numb to it.”

Welcome to NotedDC: Your guide to politics, policy and people of consequence in D.C. Have some news, behind-the-scenes insight or other insider info? Send us tips: Elizabeth Crisp and Kelsey Carolan.

Cardona: ‘Thoughts and prayers are not enough anymore’

The Texas school shooting was a primary focus of a Thursday congressional hearing with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, though the meeting had been scheduled well before the Uvalde massacre and was meant to provide an update on the Biden administration‘s budget proposal.

Cardona, who was an elementary school principal in Connecticut at the time of the deadly Sandy Hook shooting just 30 miles away, used the opportunity in front of the House Education and Labor Committee to call for strategic safety measures for schools.

“The solution of arming teachers, in my opinion, is further disrespect to a profession that’s already beleaguered and not feeling the support of so many folks — We need to make sure we’re empowering our teachers to be successful at teaching our children,” he said.

“I think what Americans want to see is collaboration and — and bipartisanship, working together to do action. Thoughts and prayers are not enough anymore. We need to stop that we need to get to work. Americans are looking to us for answers, and we must deliver.

His remarks came as he fielded questions about education funding, student loan debt, COVID-19 recovery and educational opportunity. But Tuesday’s shooting dominated the hearing, which began with a moment of silence for the victims.

“Two days ago, 19 children and two educators were gunned down in an elementary school in Texas. Regrettably, this is too common [an] occurrence in this country,” committee Chair Bobby Scott (D-Va.) said at the top of the meeting, which was conducted virtually.

“We could have prevented a lot of these if elected leaders value children and families more than guns instead of time and time again, Congress has failed to act to to fail to act to enact any sensible a widely supported proposals to respond to these strategies and prevent another one from happening,” Scott said.

Rep. Virginia Fox (N.C.), who is the ranking GOP member on the panel, said she’s willing to work with the chairman on addressing school safety but cautioned against a rushed effort.

“There are no right words to describe the heartbreak again horrific tragedy that happened at Robb Elementary School,” she said. “We must be thoughtful about how we discuss and handle school safety and mental health issues … there are still many details we do not know as the investigation continues.”

SENATE REJECTS TERRORISM BILL BUT LAUNCHES GUN TALKS

The Senate left for recess Thursday after Republicans blocked a domestic terrorism prevention bill brought to the floor in reaction to the mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., last week.

Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wanted to use the measure as an opportunity to bring gun control amendments to the floor, but Democrats continue to struggle to get any GOP support on firearm bills.

New bipartisan talks, however, are set for after Memorial Day.

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton outlines what will come after recess:

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)– who has led the charge on gun control for nearly a decade – is in talks with Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.)

• Murphy, Toomey and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) plan to focus on expanded background checks. Toomey and Manchin two failed in 2013 to pass an amendment that would’ve mandated criminal background checks on most sales between private parties.
• Blumenthal and Graham are joining forces to negotiate something on red flag laws, which prohibit those deemed to be a risk to themselves or others from buying a gun.

Worth noting: Manchin told The Hill’s Mychael Schnell Thursday that compared to 2013, he’s “more encouraged right now that there’s more people that know that we need to do something reasonable and responsible.”

Exclusive: Report sought on lowering drug prices

Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) will announce legislation Friday that directs the Government Accountability Office to conduct a report on the impact that nonprofit pharmaceutical organizations could have on lowering drug costs and accelerating new drug development.

“The rising cost of prescription drugs is having a real and negative impact on the health and well-being of Nevadans, and I’m ready to do everything we can do to make crucial medications more affordable,”Rosen said.

Flashback: Rosen published an op-ed in The Hill about lowering drug costs last year when she introduced another bill aimed at reducing the costs of drugs and medical devices.

Primary season rolls on

After a break in action for Memorial Day week, the next major primary day hits states the following Tuesday. Here are some of the big battles coming that day:

California

Easily the biggest primary fight on June 7, California voters will see several major offices on their ballots, including governor, secretary of state, attorney general and U.S. senator, in addition to members of Congress and state lawmakers.

Remember: California’s primary system is unique in that, for statewide races, all candidates will appear on the same ballot. The top two candidates, regardless of party, will then face off in the Nov. 8 general election.

Governor: Gavin Newsom (D) survived a recall attempt less than a year ago, largely brought on by opposition to his COVID-19 policies.

The governor, first elected in 2018, faces 25 challengers, though he’s predicted to ultimately win reelection this fall.

Secretary of State and Attorney General: Both of these statewide offices are currently held by Newsom appointees — thanks to a chain reaction set off by President Biden‘s win in the 2020 election.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber (D) replaced Alex Padilla, after Padilla was appointed to the Senate seat previously held by Vice President Harris. (More on Padilla in a minute.)

Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) was appointed to fill the vacancy left when Biden appointed Xavier Becerra as secretary of Health and Human Services.

Another appointee post: Voters will see the Senate seat that Padilla now holds listed twice — one to fill the remainder of Harris’s term, ending in January, and the other to a full six-year term. Padilla is seeking both.

Iowa

Senate: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R), who at 88 is the oldest member of the upper chamber, faces a GOP challenger in state Sen. Jim Carlin in the June 7 primary.

On the Democratic side, three candidates are vying for the nomination to face off against the Republican primary winner this fall.

Congress: Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne faces no primary challenger in her bid for reelection to represent the state’s 1st District. But three Republicans are battling for the chance to face her in the November election.

Of note: Axne’s district voted for Donald Trump in 2020.

Other states with primaries on June 7: Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota and Mississippi. NotedDC will explore more on those next week.

Korean pop sensations coming to White House

Korean pop superstars BTS will join forces with President Biden and Vice President Harris Tuesday to raise awareness about anti-Asian hate crimes.

The group – known for its hits including “Butter” and “Dynamite” – come to Washington as hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are at an all-time high in the U.S.

According to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, anti-AAPI incidents rose by 300 percent in 2021.

BTS hasn’t shied away from speaking out against racism. Following the Atlanta spa shooting that killed six Asian women, the group tweeted that they have experienced “expletives without reason and were mocked for the way they look.”

They also donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter during the protests after the 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The Hill’s Judy Kurtz has more on the upcoming visit.

Stars come to DC for Memorial Day weekend concert

The stage is set in front of the Capitol for the annual National Memorial Day Concert, bringing together celebrities and members of the military this Sunday.

Actors Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise will host the show with appearances by actors Mary McCormack, Jean Smart and Gil Birmingham.

One notable name will be missing: General Colin Powell. The former secretary of State, who passed away in October, attended the concert for nearly 25 years. Actor Dennis Haybert is slated to honor him Sunday.

Unfortunately, the public will not be able to watch the concert in its traditional fashion as the Capitol continues its phased reopening. But you can watch it on PBS at 8 p.m. EST.

VIEW THE FULL EDITION HERE

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Five things to know as NRA presses ahead with Texas summit

The National Rifle Association (NRA) is moving forward with its annual summit in Houston, Texas, this weekend despite calls for the event to be canceled. 

The pro-gun group’s three-day convention, which starts Friday, is located less than 300 miles from the site of the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade. On Tuesday, an 18-year-old shot and killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas using guns he bought just days before.

The NRA, the most powerful gun rights group in the nation, has lobbied GOP lawmakers to oppose bills to expand background checks on gun sales, ban assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines and enact “red flag” provisions that allow authorities to take guns away from individuals who pose a threat.

The organization’s role in defeating federal gun control legislation after every mass school shooting, and backing of bills to loosen gun laws in several states, including Texas, has sparked outrage and pleas for the conference to be called off.

Here are five things to know about the NRA’s annual meeting.

Trump, Cruz, Abbott set to speak 

Former President Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are scheduled to deliver remarks to NRA members on Friday. Of those planned speakers, Trump was the only one to confirm his attendance as of Thursday afternoon. 

“America needs real solutions and real leadership in this moment, not politicians and partisanship,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform. “That’s why I will keep my longtime commitment to speak in Texas at the NRA Convention and deliver an important address to America.” 

Cruz and Abbott, both staunch opponents of gun restrictions, are under pressure to cancel their speeches at the Houston convention center. 

“What an absolute fraud the governor of Texas is,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor Thursday. “And this is the same Gov. Abbott who tomorrow, tomorrow, will go speak at the NRA convention in Houston.”

Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat who will face off with Abbott in November’s gubernatorial election, urged him over Twitter to “immediately withdraw from this weekend’s NRA convention and urge them to hold it anywhere but Texas,” joining a chorus of calls for Abbott to skip the event.  

“Governor, your attendance at the event right after 19 innocent children were murdered by a gun sends a message that guns are more important than the lives you represent,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson wrote in a letter to Abbott on Wednesday. “Which is more important to you?” 

Some have pulled out of the event

A small number of high-profile guests will no longer attend the NRA meeting following the shooting. 

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) will not speak at the convention due to “an unexpected change in his schedule” that occurred prior to the Uvalde shooting, his office said.

“He has to be in D.C. for personal reasons on Friday,” a Cornyn spokesperson said. 

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), another planned speaker, will not attend because he will be in Ukraine, a change that was made before the shooting took place, according to a spokesperson.

Country singers Larry Gatlin and Larry Stewart on Thursday announced that they will pull out of the NRA convention. Gatlin said in a statement that he could not “in good conscience” perform at the event and called on the NRA to drop its opposition to expanded background checks.

That comes after “American Pie” singer Don McLean told news organizations Wednesday that he will cancel his performance at the NRA due to Tuesday’s horrific attack.

“In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their convention in Houston this week,” McLean said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the AR-15-style weapon used by the suspected shooter, is no longer listed as an exhibitor at this weekend’s convention, according to the NRA’s website. Countless other gun manufacturers will promote their products at the event.

Activists push Houston to cancel the event 

Scores of activist organizations are putting pressure on the city of Houston to block the NRA conference from taking place.

Advocacy group ParentsTogether collected more than 200,000 signatures within 24 hours calling on the local government corporation that owns the Houston convention center to cancel the event. 

“While there are differences of opinion on the NRA and the exact current day interpretation of the Second Amendment, we should all be able to agree that it’s inappropriate for the largest gun lobbying organization in the world to host a celebratory convention in the very same state as this week’s mass elementary school shooting,” the group said. 

Several local organizations, including Black Lives Matter Houston, Indivisible Houston and the Harris County Democratic Party, are preparing to protest the convention. 

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, told outraged residents this week that the city cannot prevent the event from taking place due to the threat of ensuing legal action.

“It’s a contractual arrangement. We simply cannot cancel a conference or convention because we do not agree with the subject matter,” Turner said during a public meeting Wednesday. 

The NRA confirmed that the event will go on as scheduled, and indicated that the organization will address the devastating shooting. The NRA previously decided to hold its annual meeting after the 1999 Columbine, Colo., shooting after considering calling it off.

“As we gather in Houston, we will reflect on these events, pray for the victims, recognize our patriotic members, and pledge to redouble our commitment to making our schools secure,” the NRA said in a statement Wednesday. 

Guns are banned during Trump’s speech

NRA members will not be allowed to carry guns during Friday’s forum that includes remarks from Trump and other high-profile Republicans. 

The pro-gun group told attendees that the Secret Service will use magnetometers to screen attendees for guns, ammunition, holsters, magazines, gun parts and even toy guns, all of which are prohibited during the event.

Guns are allowed during other events at the annual meeting, but the NRA warned attendees of Friday’s forum that the convention center won’t provide storage for firearms.

Planned speakers benefited from NRA cash

The NRA shells out tens of millions of dollars in each election cycle to support GOP candidates, some of whom are set to speak at the NRA event Friday.

The pro-gun group spent nearly $48 million on ads backing Trump and attacking his Democratic opponents during the 2016 and 2020 elections, according to research group OpenSecrets. The pro-Trump ads accounted for the bulk of the NRA’s election spending in both contests. 

Trump indicated support for expanding background checks on gun sales in 2019 following back-to-back mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, but his tone changed after a meeting with NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, where they reportedly discussed the president’s reelection campaign.

According to OpenSecrets, Cruz is the top recipient of campaign donations from gun rights interests, which include the NRA and other pro-gun groups. He’s received more than $442,000 over the course of his career. However, Cruz is only the No. 37 recipient of total NRA support, including donations and election ads, among members of Congress.

Democrats and gun control activists swiftly linked the NRA’s political spending to inaction in Congress.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said Thursday that the NRA blocks bills to restrict access to guns by using “dark money political muscle,” noting that the group, like most political nonprofits, does not disclose the identities of its donors.

“It’s not the only place in which dark money political muscle has disabled the Congress, but it is certainly one of the worst,” he said.

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Equilibrium/Sustainability — Fighting illegal gold mining in the Amazon

A young Amazonian woman won a prestigious international prize yesterday for her work challenging gold miners digging up her people’s lands. 

When gold miners began stripping the ancestral forests of the Cofán people with bulldozers, Alexandra Narvaez formed a “forest patrol” to confront them, according to a statement from the Goldman Environmental Prize. 

With drones, camera traps and stealthy patrols, they documented enough illegal activities to convince the government of Ecuador to cancel the mining concessions — for which she and collaborator Alex Lucinante were this year’s Goldman Prize winners for Latin America. 

Narvaez was the first Cofán woman to join such a patrol. 

“As women we have to defend Mother Earth, to speak out for the future of our children and defend our way of life in spite of the machismo and being afraid,” Narvarez told The Guardian. 

“It’s been beautiful to be part of this struggle with other women from my community,” she added. 

Also noteworthy: While still a teenager, Nalleli Cobo — North America’s Goldman Prize winner — founded a community group whose lawsuit against the city of LA that led to the banning of oil and gas in city limits. 

We covered that ban in January. 

Welcome to Equilibrium, a newsletter that tracks the growing global battle over the future of sustainability. We’re Saul Elbein and Sharon Udasin. Send us tips and feedback. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here. 

Today we’ll look at a list of new Securities and Exchange Commission rules aimed to bring order to the often-misleading world of sustainable investment, followed by a U.N. study that suggests thirsty nations tap more “unconventional” water resources.  

New SEC rules aim to combat greenwashing 

New federal rules could help ensure that funds labeled as environment, social and governance (ESG) actually deserve the name — and the high fees they command. 
 

Drilling down: On Wednesday, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new rules to combat the practice of greenwashing, which is the misleading marketing of unsustainable investments under the ESG label. 
 

Rules of the road: If adopted, the new rules would provide clear direction as to what constitutes an ESG-focused fund — potentially bringing some order to an anarchic sector. 

A related rule, also introduced on Wednesday, would require any fund that labeled itself as ESG-focused to put at least 80 percent of its money into such investments. 

A glimpse inside: “ESG encompasses a wide variety of investments and strategies. I think investors should be able to drill down to see what’s under the hood of these strategies,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said a statement. 

Investors liked it: Large asset managers have long struggled with telling the truly sustainable funds from the greenwashed ones, and were a major impetus behind the SEC’s new ESG rules. 

“Brokers, advisors, and investors must have clarity,” CEO Chris Lacovella of the American Securities Association, which represents large asset managers, said in a statement. 

Fund managers pushed back: They will be the ones who have to meet the new requirements. 

 “The proposal for some funds to disclose emissions related to their holdings seems to be unworkable,” Eric Pan of the Investment Company Institute told The Wall Street Journal. 

Rampant confusion: A January study by climate nonprofit As You Sow found two-thirds of ESG-advertised funds invested in unsustainable industries like fossil fuels. 

The investigation found that formal SEC filings from the “greenwashing companies” were difficult to distinguish from more legitimate ones, according to the study.  

Telltale signs: A reliance on wiggle words like ““may consider,” “seek,” “believe,” “pursue,” “may” and “might,” As You Sow found. 

If the rule passes: Expect fewer ESG funds, but more reputable ones. 

ESG investment aims to keep migrants at home 

A new flood of investment could soon begin pouring into social enterprises in Central America in the hopes of providing alternatives for migrants leaving countries battered by climate change, political instability and civil violence. 

That’s according to a new initiative announced on Thursday by business, civil society and policy leaders at the World Economic forum in Davos, Switzerland. 

New business, new opportunity: “We will bring together local business leaders to drive change and create opportunities to improve the socioeconomic and environmental conditions in their societies,” Marisol Argueta, who runs the Latin American agenda for the World Economic Forum, said in a statement. 

Going to the roots: The proposed framework aims to connect big investors with local businesses to help grow businesses in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador that will encourage people to stay, rather than seeking their fortunes in Mexico, the U.S. or Canada. 

Building on Biden: The framework expands on President Biden’s 2021 executive order directing federal agencies to address undocumented migration from those countries with a “root cause” strategy, according to a White House fact sheet. 

As part of that effort, spearheaded by Vice President Harris, private companies and foundations like PepsiCo, Mastercard, Bancolombia and Cargill have promised $1.2 billion in investment, Guatemala’s Prensa Libre reported earlier this month. 

How has it gone? The groups claim to have deployed $150 million in new agricultural production and another $150 million in new industry, which they say has directly affected 2 million people in the region. 

‘More investment, please’: While trillions of dollars are now going into green investments, those funds “can never make their way to the countries that need them most” because they are deemed risky, Egyptian minister for international cooperation Rania Al Mashat told The Guardian. 

Egypt will host the COP 27 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Sharm El Sheikh in November. 

One solution to reduce risk: Greater collaboration or guarantees — or coordinated investments — between rich- or poor- country governments and big lenders, The Guardian reported. 

“We want this COP to be about moving from pledges to implementation,” Al Mahat told the Guardian. 

UN experts call upon nations to tap ‘unconventional water resources’ 

As drought conditions continue to dry up the planet, United Nations water experts are calling upon countries to tap the Earth’s abundant “unconventional water resources” such as those found deep underground or in icebergs. 

Benefiting billions: “Harnessing the potential of unconventional water sources could benefit billions of people,” Manzoor Qadir, deputy director of the U.N. University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health, said in a statement.  

“These sources will be essential to building a future in arid areas,” added Qadir, lead editor of a new book called Unconventional Water Resources.  

Helping relieve shortages: Qadir and his colleagues determined that these potential supplies could help alleviate shortages of water for drinking, sanitation, agriculture and economic development, according to a press release published alongside the book. 

What are unconventional water resources? Some such supplies include millions of cubic kilometers of water found deep in land-based and seabed aquifers, as well as in fog, icebergs and the ballast holds of thousands of ships, the authors found.  

Other critical resources include desalination facilities and wastewater treatment options, according to the researchers.  

Potential trade-offs, high costs: At the same time, Qadir acknowledged that implementing national action plans to tap these resources will first require assessments of the environmental trade-offs, as well as comprehensive cost analyses and innovative financing mechanisms. 

To learn more about these potential water resources, please click here to read the full story.  

Wealthiest incur most wildfire damage; low-income most exposed 

While wealthy homeowners in the U.S. West are enduring the most damage from wildfires, the poorest households are most likely to be situated in wildfire hazard zones.  

The finding was part of a study published on Thursday in Environmental Research Letters.  

What the study found: The top 10 percent most valuable homes in the western U.S. are 70 percent more likely to be in high wildfire danger zones than median-value properties. 

High-value homes have incurred the most damage: Recent wildfires have had the most impact on high-income, white and elderly communities, as well as on owners of high-income properties, the authors explained.  

Low-value homes have the most exposure: But the study also revealed disproportionate exposure to wildfire hazards among the least expensive homes in the Western U.S. and among Native American communities.  

Isn’t that contradictory? Not really. Many more expensive properties located in wildfire hazard areas are concentrated in high-density areas, the authors explained.  

Meanwhile most of the wildfire hazard zones in the western U.S. are sparsely populated and predominantly include less expensive properties, according to the study.  

Calls for equitable funding: “Wildfire mitigation policies that deliver financial assistance to high-hazard areas could be subsidizing wealthy households,” Molly Robertson, study co-author and a research associate at the nonprofit Resources for the Future, said in a statement.  

A focused approach: “However, high wildfire hazard areas are quite heterogeneous, so addressing concerns associated with costs of increasing wildfire hazard may call for a geographically targeted approach focused on reducing the burden for the most vulnerable communities,” Robertson added. 

Thirsty Thursday 

Drought comes for India’s mangoes, a slight reprieve for Colorado and a hidden toxin haunts a Great Lake. 

Mangoes are the latest victim of India’s heat wave, drought 

• India’s ongoing heat wave has devastated the country’s mango crops, jeopardizing the livelihoods of thousands of small farmers, The New York Times reported. The crisis is just one example of the challenges India is facing to secure its long-term food supply, amid the worsening impacts of climate change, according to the Times.  

Drought improves — slightly — in Colorado 

• Drought conditions improved for the first time in months in Colorado after more than 8 inches of snow hit mountain areas and more than an inch of liquid precipitation drenched lower elevations last week, CBS4 in Denver reported. Nonetheless, 90 percent of the state is still experiencing drought, according to CBS4. 

Cutting phosphorous pollution could make Lake Erie more toxic 

• Plans to cut phosphorous pollution in Lake Erie to control blooms of toxic algae could actually make the water more toxic — unless regulators cut nitrogen pollution as well, according to a new study in Science. Cuts in cloudy phosphorous leaves nitrogen-eating bacteria more light, allowing them to multiply and excrete more toxins, the study found.  

Please visit The Hill’s sustainability section online for the web version of this newsletter and more stories. We’ll see you on Friday. 

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Biden has limited options, but there are some things he can do on guns

Even though President Biden has nearly exhausted his options to confront gun violence with executive action, advocates and allies say there are a few steps he could take in the wake of horrifying mass shootings in Buffalo and Texas. 

The limited possibilities include stepping up enforcement of existing laws or looking to health agencies to address gun violence as a public health issue. 

The administration and advocates alike say such steps are minimal compared to the actions Congress could take through legislation to reduce gun violence.

Biden has pressed for the Senate to take a vote on background check legislation that could make it tougher for people to get guns. Even stronger measures such as a ban on assault weapons — previous legislation expired nearly two decades ago in 2004 — could do even more to make the mass shootings plaguing the country less common, based on the experiences in other countries.

But any kind of assault weapons ban seems like a non-starter in the Senate, and even the background checks legislation faces a very difficult road.

Those realities have frustrated Biden as much as the wider public, say people close to the White House.

“I think he’s just angry, as a lot of us are, that there is just an inability to do anything at all – I mean zilch, nothing,” said Doug Jones, the former Democratic senator from Alabama who more recently served in the White House to help guide the Supreme Court confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson. 

Advocates say there is value in the smaller steps Biden could take through executive action, including through a declaration that gun violence is a public health emergency.

“This should be an all-government, all-hands-on-deck approach to solve this issue, and that includes the health agencies,” said Kris Brown, president of the Brady Campaign.

She said Biden should declare the emergency and have Surgeon General Vivek Murthy write a report that lays out methods to reduce gun violence. Such a report could help guide a more fulsome public health approach to the scourge of gun violence in the U.S., Brown said, noting that most of Biden’s actions have come out of the Justice Department. 

Another step Biden could and should take through executive action, said Lindsay Nichols, the federal policy director at the gun control group Giffords, is to eliminate background check loopholes, including the so-called “boyfriend loophole” which allows individuals convicted of domestic abuse to buy and own firearms in certain cases.

Nichols also called for the Department of Justice to scale up its anti-gun trafficking strike forces launched last year in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco and Sacramento Region and Washington, D.C. By expanding to other cities, she argued, the groups would be able to have a greater impact.

“These incremental steps do help. But they’re not enough,” Nichols said. “And it is frustrating when there are clear actions Congress should take that the American public wholeheartedly supports.”

The administration has also faced pressure from some corners to form an office at the White House dedicated to addressing gun violence, but it’s unclear precisely where Biden currently stands on the idea.

“I think they were considering that even before Buffalo,” said Brown. “I’m sure there is additional focus on that now.” 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was peppered with questions on Thursday about the administration’s strategy. She offered few clues beyond saying that the White House was “always looking to do more,” but indicated the administration is primarily looking for action from Congress. 

She also insisted that Biden’s domestic policy adviser Susan Rice is already leading a “whole-of-government approach” to gun violence.  

“Look, the president has done a lot. He really has,” she said. “We’re always looking at what else we can do.”  

Biden, she added, “cannot solve this problem alone.”  

Polls have shown in the nearly 10 years since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that majorities of Americans support expanded background checks and other limits on purchasing guns.

A Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted Wednesday found 88 percent of respondents support background checks on all gun sales, and 67 percent support banning assault weapons, something Biden has called on Congress to enact.

Some wanted to see Biden get more involved in pushing the Senate to hold immediate votes on House-passed gun legislation, arguing that even though the votes would almost certainly fail due to GOP opposition that Republican senators would be put on the record. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is holding back on votes to give space to bipartisan negotiations on gun legislation, though hope is slim that those talks will bear fruit. Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Biden would defer to Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on the mechanics of the legislative negotiations.  

“I’m going to always see a glimmer of hope because I know people enough to know that this has affected them personally,” said Jones, who came into the Senate just before a gunman killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Fla. “I would say though it’s probably just a glimmer.”

After shootings in Atlanta, Boulder, Colo.; and South Carolina, Biden last month announced a long-awaited regulation targeting the use and distribution of ghost guns, which are assembled by an individual and are difficult to trace. The Department of Justice also announced new task forces to combat gun trafficking in several major cities. 

And Biden has put an emphasis on getting a confirmed leader atop the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), which is tasked with enforcing the nation’s gun laws. 

The Justice Department last year at Biden’s direction published model red flag legislation to be used as a starting point for states implementing the laws, which allow authorities or family members to go through the courts to take weapons away from individuals who are believed to pose a threat to themselves or others.

Red flag laws are once again at the center of negotiations among senators in the wake of the Texas shooting, though previous talks on red flag legislation have failed to produce results. 

The White House is optimistic that its ATF nominee Steve Dettelbach, a former federal prosecutor, can win the 50 votes needed to be confirmed. Dettelbach had a Senate hearing on Wednesday, one day after the Texas shooting, where he pushed back on GOP concerns about politicizing the agency. Sen. Angus King (I-Me.), who helped sink Biden’s first nominee, said he would support him. 

“The Senate should confirm him without delay, without excuse,” Biden said Wednesday. “Send the nomination to my desk. It’s time for action.” 

Executive power has its limits, and Biden’s authority and influence have been tested throughout his presidency by this and other crises. 

His administration has rigorously prepared executive actions on a range of policy fronts, seeking to ensure they can stand up to legal disputes from Republican challenges in conservative courts. 

But some advocates believe that Biden can be more aggressive with his actions on guns, such as by attempting to regulate assault weapons or high-capacity magazines. 

“Even a temporary fix is better than allowing this to happen day by day,” said Youth Over Guns executive director Luis Hernandez, who called on Biden to ban assault weapons through executive action. “We challenge the president to lean into his power.”

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Mass shootings highlight our failure in mental health

We missed another killer. Twice. It’s still unclear what motivated the shooter in Uvalde, Texas, but the gruesome shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., allegedly by Payton Gendron, spotlight our ongoing failures to identify potentially dangerous and violent individuals. The Buffalo killings also remind us of how extremism and racism stain our society.

While the facts behind the Uvalde shooting still come in, let’s deconstruct what we know of the Buffalo case — and others — that illustrate all-too-common missteps and shortfalls.

I have advised many senior leaders and attorneys over several decades on cases of accused terrorists and violent men and women. I have seen individuals that are dangerous, and those that have injured and killed many innocent victims. And I have seen others that have been in the wrong place and said the wrong things at the wrong time. For too many years, I have witnessed that we have neglected to enact policies and procedures to mitigate violent shootings and the dangers to our communities.

Lessons to be learned: The case of Payton Gendron contrasts sharply with the case of Khaled Miah that went to trial last year. Payton Gendron is white and allegedly targeted Blacks in a heinous act of violence. Khaled Miah is Muslim and killed no one, nor even harmed any person or animal ever in his life, to my knowledge. The reports on Gendron point to signs and symptoms of serious mental illness that do not seem to have been properly diagnosed nor treated. In comparison, I diagnosed Miah with a serious mental illness, as I’ve testified in court, but he did not get treatment until he landed in jail. Getting treatment has profoundly improved Miah’s mental state.

Both Gendron and Miah had encounters with the mental health system that failed to adequately evaluate them and provide appropriate therapy and treatment. Their cases are textbook examples that effective mental health services are woefully lacking. Moreover, there were failures to coordinate law enforcement with mental health.

The signs of mental illness and propensity to violence that Gendron showed had reportedly been apparent for years — history of violence and cruelty to animals, short-term hospitalization, bizarre behavior (wearing a Hazmat suit to school) and increasing social isolation, not dismissing the alarming online rants about violence and declaring that his high school graduation school project had been committing murder-suicide. Gendron had been posting information online since February about committing mass killings and had expressed astonishment that law enforcement showed little interest. No wonder that Black Americans are aggrieved. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies did not track nor monitor Gendron’s activities despite the obvious signs of dangerousness that he showed. His case makes it appear that law enforcement has been too politicized, targeting non-whites.

The case of Khaled Miah stands out as the counterpoint. Miah is one of many non-white young men and women accused of terrorism or material support since 9/11 in the war on terror. He is a 29-year-old Bangladeshi male, whose family came to the U.S. in 2003; he was convicted of knowingly and willfully transmitting in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat to injure the person of another. Miah is awaiting sentencing in Pittsburgh. He never hurt or killed anyone. But he did taunt and ridicule the FBI with online texts after they came to his apartment and questioned him about his postings on social media and other activities.

In his episodic wacky mental states, Miah recorded himself in reenactments of television series and movies, videos that were bizarre, childish, and preposterous. None of his online activity targeted potential victims or detailed plans of attack. The wording used by Miah is significantly different from and clearly contrasts with that of Gendron and others. My evaluation uncovered that Miah had been suffering from serious mood swings and thinking disorders that impaired his mental state, but he was not targeting individuals nor was he violent. He was obviously mentally ill, and the FBI knew it. Nonetheless, the FBI doggedly conducted a close surveillance of Miah for months, including tracking his trip from Pittsburgh to the national Capitol with a pretext that he may have been plotting an attack against government officials. Reviewing the evidence makes it obvious — to me at least — that their suspicions were preposterous.

The psychological autopsy of these cases uncovers important findings:

First, the mental health system — both public and private — is fragmented and flawed.  Gendron received an evaluation that failed to uncover his core dangerousness and likely pathology. For decades, mental health experts have recognized that cruelty to animals is a serious indicator of dangerousness and harm to others. I have not seen his records – but surmise that the hospitalization and examination were too abbreviated and cursory to discern the severity of illness that he may suffer. Miah received a too-brief evaluation several years before his arrest that failed to discern serious mental illness. Despite the constraints on frontline and emergency mental health services, practical improvements can be implemented with simple resourcing.

Second, mental health services, law enforcement, and other public agencies do not adequately collaborate in identifying and intervening with potentially serious cases. Too many shooters have slipped through the cracks. Measures have been implemented to improve coordination by judges and public officials, but the efforts are not widespread enough. More needs to be done. My review of activities by the FBI and other agencies has been that they have not prioritized tools available to them in cases of probable serious mental illness. The cases I have reviewed had neither mental health practitioners nor behavioral science teams analyze the information collected on the suspected individuals. There is no indication that the law enforcement agencies have applied artificial intelligence or other capabilities for assessing suspects or judging the dangerousness.

Thirdly, too much emphasis is placed on radicalism and what people say — ideology and racism — distracting agencies from priority issues of potential for violence. Radicalism and irresponsible speech — even if abhorrent, either politically, socially, or racially — have been embraced by the psychiatrically sane and insane alike. Focusing on radicalism has been both highly politicized and the fashion since 9/11, but it has obfuscated and derailed priority concerns on violence and dangerousness. Too often our law enforcement agencies have criminalized serious mental illness while lacking the understanding and skills to deal with predispositions to violence and harm. Had better analysis been undertaken by law enforcement, it would have shown that Gendron had worked on a plan and carried it out. Miah was just spouting off and acting bizarre. There’s crazy and there’s dangerously crazy; society should be most worried about the latter — individuals who act in ways to harm others and plan out attacks.

Effective mental health services in our communities are woefully lacking. Our society has failed to provide the breadth and depth of mental health services that are needed to protect our communities and families from potentially violent and dangerous individuals.

Mental health is fundamental to our safety, security, and productivity. In the interest of public health, we immunize our children against fatal illnesses, track down cases of tuberculosis, and have world-class safeguards for clean water and sanitation. Good mental health should be treated similarly as a public health concern.

Stephen N. Xenakis, a psychiatrist and retired Army Brigadier General, serves on the executive boards of The Center for Ethics & the Rule of Law at the University of Pennsylvania and is an adjunct professor at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. Follow him on Twitter: @SteveXen

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