The Pour Over Today - DC Shadow Senators: What Do They Actually Do?

Starting point is 00:00:00 I honestly, whenever I was editing this and I saw, you wrote something about their job is to advocate to become a state. I was like, there's no way. There's no way that these shadow delegates would say their main job is pushing to become a state. And I went and looked at the candidates for DC's shadow senator this year. And on everybody's platform, it says, I will fight for DC. see to become a state. So I stand corrected. Hey, this is Kathleen. And this is Catherine Ann. And welcome to TPO Explains, where we provide news context for normal people. On Monday, Wednesday, Friday, the poor over summarizes the day's biggest headlines. But as we're doing that, we

Starting point is 00:00:52 inevitably come across something that we just want to learn more about. Maybe we have heard about it and didn't know much about it, or maybe we knew nothing at all, which happens a lot. So on Saturdays, we take a shallow dive into one topic from the headlines that week to educate ourselves and we bring you along with us. We're in the middle of a midterm series. We've been prepping for midterms, learning about midterms, providing resources for you for midterms. So K.A. has done a lot of work on that and she writes our Saturday explainers. Today we're going to talk about shadow delegates, which I don't I, this was not on my radar. I'm really excited for this topic. Um, um, um, So, K.A. is going to read through today's newsletter. You can listen along to her soothing voice, or you can follow along on the screen as she reads it to us.

Starting point is 00:01:44 Yeah. So when we say shadow delegation, that probably sounds like a spy thriller or something. But it actually has nothing to do with spies. A shadow delegation is a group of unpaid officials who represent Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill. D.C.'s delegation is made up of two shadow senators and one shadow representative, who serve six and two-year terms respectively, just like their unshadowed versions. This year, D.C. is electing one shadow senator and its shadow representative. So what do they do? Think of shadow delegates like official advocates. They don't have seats in Congress, access to floors, committee assignments, or votes. Their main job is to lobby Congress for statehood and advocate for constituents. So maybe you're thinking, so no one actually represents D.C. in Congress? We didn't say that. D.C. and the U.S.'s five territories each have a real seat-holding

Starting point is 00:02:46 position in the House. U.S. House non-voting delegates have an office, a salary, and staff, and can introduce legislation, speak on the floor, and vote in committee. They just can't participate in House floor votes. D.C.'s is elected with state's representatives every two years. So, does my state have anything like this? States don't need shadows because they have the real thing. Two senators and a number of representatives, all of whom can vote. State's congressional delegates can hire staffers to help them serve their constituents.

Starting point is 00:03:19 House members can hire up to 18 permanent staffers, and senators can hire as many as they want. So how do shadow delegates advocate's adventurers? for D.C. without a vote. Good old-fashioned hobnobbing. Kind of. Hobnobbing. Oh, yeah.

Starting point is 00:03:36 They meet with members of Congress, hold rallies, make media appearances, and coordinate with officials to get their message out. So why are they called shadow delegates? It's all thanks to Tennessee. My home? My homeland. When Tennessee wanted to be a state, the Southwest Territory sent two guys to D.C. to lobby for statehood

Starting point is 00:03:56 and learned the congressional ropes before being officially granted seats. Michigan, Iowa, California, Oregon, Minnesota, Kansas, and Alaska all followed suit, sending shadow delegations to cast light on their statehood plights. Spoiler alert, they all got to come out of the shadows. D.C. created its shadow seats via state constitution and elected their first shadow delegates to fight for statehood in 1990. It's funny to me that D.C. created its shadow seats via state constitution. as if they're like, you know what, we're just going to go ahead. We know we want to fight for this.

Starting point is 00:04:30 Let's just go ahead and have a state constitution to show them we're serious. Well, when I was writing about this, I was looking into like, why are they called shadow senators? Your camera is shaking. Oh, sorry. That's me shaking my leg. I've held a lot of caffeine. Sorry to Amy. I want to edit this.

Starting point is 00:04:51 This is just really exciting topic for all of us. I'm so excited. in our... Shaking in our boots. Apologies to the people who write in and tell me to stop talking so fast. I have heard your feedback. I am

Starting point is 00:05:07 trying. I'm really sorry. Kathleen is always highly caffeinated. It's very true. I have three children under five years old and I drink a lot of caffeine. I will stop shaking my leg.

Starting point is 00:05:22 Your camera is shaking Like, is it an earthquake? What's going on? Yeah, okay. Back to it. Yeah. What were we talking about? While when I was researching shadow delegates, one of, like, the purpose of them being, like, called shadow delegates is, or just their position in general, is it, it's sort of an official protest. Because when you think about it, it's like, who would sign up for an unpaid position where you're kind of doing the same thing that a normal lobbyist would, I guess, is a more official. like publicized capacity like what's the appeal of that but the existence of it like being an elected position that dc is saying we care enough about this to like vote somebody into this is like a protest in and of itself kind of like yeah writing a state constitution even though

Starting point is 00:06:11 you're not a state i mean i guess if i were to think about dc it's not that i don't spend time thinking about dc but i don't really spend a lot of time thinking about dc um but it is an interesting setup right like you have this city of nearly 700,000 people. So that's, for context, that's more people than Vermont has within its state boundaries and more people than Wyoming. So D.C. as a city is bigger than those two states. And of course, there are large cities throughout the United States. But D.C. doesn't have a governor. You know, it treated as a city. It has a mayor. And then it kind of jumps from, you know, having this local government to, well, D.C.'s

Starting point is 00:07:03 National Guard, which reports right to the president. And so there's this, like, big gap of government, right? Well, he's right there. You know, that's true. And you have all of these legislators that are in D.C. and then subject to these local laws, but also, I don't know, it's just a very, it is kind of complex when you think of it. that this important city is lacking representation at the Capitol building right down the street. So it is interesting and it's interesting that they're fighting for statehood. I didn't know that this was something. Like, I didn't know that. I didn't know.

Starting point is 00:07:43 You wanted to be a state, D.C. I just didn't know. As food runs out in places like Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, there's one population that's quietly suffering in more ways than one. Children. Food scarcity and the growing orphan crisis are tightly linked. Children's homes are one of the places hit hardest in areas like Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where violence and unrest are making food scarcer and communities more fragile. Serving orphans worldwide is there.

Starting point is 00:08:18 Combating this crisis by providing hungry children and babies with nutritious meals, emergency groceries, life-saving formula, long-term food security, and the gospel message. A gift of $12 feeds an orphan. Visit servingorphins.org forward slash the pourover or click the link in the show notes to give the gift of a full belly today. So yeah, I did, fun fact, so I did learn there is a plan, okay, outlined for D.C. to become a state. Oh. Like it has been written as if... Sure.

Starting point is 00:08:59 In case it needs to be implemented. Yeah. When it was presented, the legislation has passed the U.S. House of Representatives multiple times, but has not gotten through the Senate. As recently as 2020 and 2021. So the fun fact is, under the plan, so do you know what D.C. stands for? District of Columbia. But under the plan, the state would actually be Washington-Douglas Commonwealth. Oh.

Starting point is 00:09:23 Oh. Instead of District of Columbia to pay homage to the abolitionist Frederick Douglass. So yeah. So now you know if D.C. were to become a state, it would be Douglas Commonwealth, not District of Columbia. Yeah. What? I mean, did you, would you have guessed this was a thing before we covered it? Shadow senators themselves.

Starting point is 00:09:46 No, I had no idea. When I was, I first heard of this when we were making the midterm guide, which if, if, If you have not checked that out and you want to know what's on your ballot for midterms, check out our midterm guide and find your state profile or go look at DC's. Because when I was making DC's profile, I, first of all, I was thinking like, oh, I guess it makes sense that DC has elections in the midterms. What are they even voting on? And then I went to go and, like, create the profile. And I was like, I think I saw shadow something. And I was like, that's not real. And then I saw like on official websites, they were listing it. I was like, what? And then I started looking into it. I was like, no way. Shadow senators, real thing. I had no idea. I had no idea. And honestly, like, learned what they were, but still didn't know what they were doing until wrote that. So what about did anything that you read contradict what you assumed going in? Yeah. Similarly, like when we were making the profile, I didn't know the whole of what they did. And when I actually, started looking into it. I guess in my head I was like, okay, they've got shadow representatives, shadow senators. So they go and sit in Senate and House like everybody else. And I guess they just don't get to shadow people. Yeah. But they don't. Like their whole job is to advocate for

Starting point is 00:11:09 statehood pretty much. And that, no, I did not know that that's what they did. That's a good point because, yeah, I guess you shadow somebody learning their job. with the idea that maybe you'll have that job too or you're just interested, I don't know. But to learn that, so DC was like, all right, we're going to mandate that we have shadow delegates and we're going to do this via state constitution. But Congress itself actually never approved that.

Starting point is 00:11:39 I don't know why they would, I don't know the, you know, legality of it, like why they would need to approve that. I guess. And so maybe it's, that's why DC's shadow representatives don't have access to the floor and stuff because Congress was never like, oh, we'll invite you in to learn the ropes. But yeah, it is a little interesting. And if D.C. were to be granted statehood, these people would still need to be elected. So it's not like, I don't know. So it is a little bit contradictory, you know, the name and what they actually do. Okay. So what about your Christian perspective?

Starting point is 00:12:16 So as we're reading about real life advocates that should remind believers, that we have the greatest advocate who lobbies on our behalf. His argument is rock solid. Jesus' atoning sacrifice has made us clean and worthy of being in the Father's presence. We can look to 1 John 2 verses 1 through 2, which say, My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One. He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world. Thanks, Kay. Before we go, let's say a prayer together. Today we're going to pray from a prayer for lawmakers,

Starting point is 00:13:02 and this is another prayer from our upcoming book, Praying the News. Righteous lawgiver direct lawmakers steps so they can direct a diverse country toward flourishing and goodwill and peace. give them insight into the needs of their constituents and courage to lead in light of what they see so they might serve out of love instead of performing for their own gain. And when they disagree on the best way forward, may they model gentleness, respect, and humility, creatively compromising to bring about the good of the public. Thank you for those who serve their constituents with humility and skill, and thank you for our representative, Jesus, whose mediation

Starting point is 00:13:44 before you doesn't just manage our sin and make the best of brokenness, whose purifying work cleanses us from the inside out so that we stand pure and righteous before you, fit for your coming kingdom. May we walk in obedience to the law of Christ in whom we live and move and have our being and in whom we pray. Amen. Amen. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like and subscribe. You can find all of our past explainers as well as our Monday, Wednesday, Friday news summaries on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Until next time. Bye.

Starting point is 00:14:22 The Bible can be overwhelming. I mean, it's got 1,189 chapters after all. So where do you start for a deeper study? The courage for life, Bibles for men and women, will help you out. There's a four-part Bible study on every single page of text. That's 1,400. 64 studies in one volume. So wherever you open it, you're pointed in the right direction. Each one highlights courage in action, built around the seven steps to courage and 82 profiles

Starting point is 00:15:07 of bold believers, from Abraham to C.S. Lewis, Esther, to Corey Tenbun. Each edition is in the accurate, understandable, new living translation, and you can scan any page with the free filament app for 25,000 more notes. Get your copy today at the link. in our show notes.

The Pour Over Today - DC Shadow Senators: What Do They Actually Do?

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