December 31, 2024
Puerto Rico Without Power
No, I’m not talking about the U.S. territory not having electoral votes or adequate representation in Congress — I mean literally. A massive power outage hit the “oldest colony in the modern world” early this morning, affecting over 80% of island residents. Initial estimates by Luma Energy, a private company that is in charge of power distribution throughout the territory, were that it would take between 24-48 hours for power to be restored, although reports are coming in about power already returning to a few small areas. Preliminary findings are saying that the outage came from a point of failure in an underground line.
Why am I leading with this story on what’s nominally a politically-related blog? Largely because the people of Puerto Rico — who are, make no mistake, fully American — continue to be treated as second class citizens. This was particularly on display during the first Trump administration, when back-to-back Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 devastated the island’s power grid, and the federal government’s response at the time was considered quite anemic, with international aid organization Oxfam intervening on American soil for the first time since 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. Arguably, today’s issue is a direct result of the poor coordination and haphazard restoration of the power grid following that situation.
Johnson Without Votes to Remain Speaker?
Republican Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX) has announced that he’s undecided on supporting current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) bid to remain in that position for the next Congress. President-elect Donald Trump gave a strong endorsement of Johnson yesterday, but in an interview on Fox Business, Roy expressed concerns about Johnson’s ability to push forward Trump’s agenda. “Right now,” he said, “I don’t believe has the votes on Friday.”
Friday, January 3, is when the 119th Congress will convene, and their first order of business is to elect a Speaker who will drive the legislative agenda. But with a historically small GOP majority in the new Congress, it means that Johnson can only afford a single defection from his caucus and still maintain his position. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has already announced that Democrats won’t help out Johnson, who had to rely on some Democratic votes to push through the Continuing Resolution that kept the government running just before Christmas. Democrats seem eager to let House Republicans’ dysfunction go on display once again, as it did multiple times in 2023.
Longest-held Guantánamo Bay Detainee Released Without Charges
Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi, who had been incarcerated by the United States at the Guantánamo Bay military prison in Cuba since its opening in 2002, has been sent back to his home country of Tunisia without charges. The U.S. had accused al-Yazidi of being a member of al-Qaeda, but never charged the man, with multiple human rights organizations challenging his incarceration over the years. In fact, al-Yazidi had been cleared for transfer back to Tunisia in 2007 with both former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama speaking in favor of his release, but a former member of the U.S. State Department attributed “diplomatic challenges” with Tunisia for the extraordinary delay.
This is the fourth detainee released from Guantánamo Bay this month alone, with 26 more prisoners remaining. More than half of those 26 are also eligible for transfer; although like with al-Yazidi, it may take significant time and diplomatic efforts to actually follow through with releasing them. President Biden has vowed to close the camp before his term ends, but time is obviously running out.
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