The dam breaks on Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton's age question
D.C.'s "warrior on the Hill," Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, turns 88 on Friday. Her brutal birthday present: Well-wishers prodding her to retire.
Why it matters: A dam is breaking on Norton, the second-oldest member in Congress — while Democrats nurse their hangover from the Joe Biden experience.
Driving the news: Four D.C. Council members expressed concern about Norton running for re-election, in a recent Washington Post article that describes episodes of her looking feeble in public and diminished in private.
Under fire from Republican intervention, "I just feel like the past few months, we've been behind," Council member Christina Henderson told the Post.
Norton's response:"I'm gonna run," she told NBC News on Tuesday. "I don't know why anybody would even ask me."
Hours later, Norton's office walked that back. "She wants to run again, but she's in conversations with her family, friends and closest advisers to decide what's best," her spokesperson, Sharon Nichols, told Axios.
In response to Axios' interview request, Norton's office released a lengthy statement: "I've delivered better results than the vast majority of federal lawmakers — despite not having a vote on the House floor and without partners in the Senate who are accountable to D.C. residents."
But the pressure is growing.
"It's time for a change," Bill Lightfoot, a former council member and ally of Mayor Muriel Bowser, told Axios.
Norton would win on name recognition, he acknowledges, but "not because she would run a good campaign, not because she's good on the issues, not because she can give a good stump speech. She can't do any of those things anymore."
Behind the scenes: While always praising Norton's legendary legacy, insiders have wondered for several years about her ability to continue serving.
Norton's public appearances have declined, and she often avoids media interviews. Well-timed floor speeches and daily press releases kept scrutiny at bay — until recently.
Some blame Norton for not stopping the House from approving a bill that nukes D.C.'s local budget by $1.1 billion. It's a costly " error," still unfixed.
The intrigue: What set off a firecracker in city hall was Bowser's senior adviser, Beverly Perry, telling Washingtonian she thinks Norton is "declining in health."
"It's hard for her to navigate the political waters as she has in the past," Perry said.
In the post-Biden era, Council member Brooke Pinto said she was moved to speak out publicly after reading " Original Sin," by Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson.
"We need to speak up," Pinto told the Post.
"That never happens," Norton told me on the phone. "People who retire don't go to training someone else."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
29 minutes ago
- Axios
"He's lost it": Inside Newsom's attack on Trump's mental fitness
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has embraced a new attack line in his ongoing showdown with Donald Trump: The president — who turns 79 on Saturday — is slipping. "He is not the same person that I dealt with just four years ago, and he's incapable of even a train of thought," Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential contender, told Fox LA. "He's lost it." Why it matters: Newsom, who was among the many Democrats who repeatedly attested that Joe Biden was sharp and ready to serve another four years, is now among those suggesting that Trump — the oldest president ever inaugurated — is showing signs of not being up to the job. Newsom's jabs at Trump's age are part of a barrage of criticisms he's tossed at Trump in the past week. He's called Trump a threat to democracy who is putting the U.S. on a road to authoritarianism. Driving the news: Throughout Newsom and Trump's public spat over Trump sending troops and Marines to Los Angeles in a show of force against immigration protesters, Newsom repeatedly has mocked Trump for mangling dates and words. "Trump doesn't even know what day it is," Newsom wrote on X after Trump said he'd spoken with Newsom on Monday, when their conversation actually had been two days earlier. Newsom's office made fun of Trump for mistakenly saying "primarily" before Trump corrected himself to say "primary." With a concerned look on his face, Newsom also noted that Trump had stumbled up the steps to Air Force One over the weekend. In 2024, Trump's campaign frequently used video of Biden tripping up those stairs to argue that Biden, then 81, was no longer fit to be president. Reality check: Newsom didn't express similar concerns about mental acuity when Biden was in the White House, even as there were increasing public signs the Democratic president was struggling to be coherent. "It's because of his age that he's been so successful," Newsom said of Biden in February 2024, in the aftermath of special counsel Robert Hur's report that concluded a jury would be unlikely to convict Biden of mishandling classified documents because he was a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." Newsom added that Biden's "masterclass" record meant that he was "all-in" on Biden serving another four years in the White House, which Newsom said would be a "gift ... for the American people." Zoom out: Trump is much more accessible to the media and appears more vigorous than Biden, but there are still questions about his health. Trump wasn't transparent about his full medical history during the 2024 campaign. His White House released a three-page summary of his most recent physical in April, which included some more information and declared that he was in "excellent health" but was still a limited report. That's similar to what recent presidents, including Biden, have provided. The White House isn't legally obligated to provide information about a president's health. Biden's White House physician had claimed that Biden was in great shape for a man of his age. Trump has had other slips in recent months, such as repeatedly mixing up the Japanese car company Nissan and the Japanese steel company Nippon. During the 2024 campaign, he also repeatedly mixed up countries and names — like when he talked about GOP primary rival Nikki Haley when he meant former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D). Trump has long had a rambling and at times difficult to follow speaking style, which he has dubbed "the weave." Democratic and Republican rivals both tried to make Trump's age a key issue in last year's campaign but were ultimately unsuccessful. What they're saying: White House communications director Steven Cheung told Axios that Newsom's attacks on Trump are "rich, coming from Gavin Newsom, who in this past election tried to gaslight and lied to the American public about Joe Biden's decline."
Axios
29 minutes ago
- Axios
Congress' "doc fix" spurs value-based care concerns
Physicians are divided over how the massive Republican budget bill moving through Congress would insulate doctors from future Medicare cuts without continuing financial incentives to provide better care through alternative payment models. Why it matters: The "doc fix" championed by the American Medical Association, among other groups, would solve a long-standing complaint about the way Medicare pays physicians. But some physician groups worry it would maintain a system long criticized for tying pay to the volume of procedures delivered and the number of patients seen. State of play: Physician practices that agree to be paid based on patient outcomes get bigger payouts in exchange for taking on the extra financial risk are in line, under current law, for a pay boost through a key adjustment called the conversion factor, starting next year. But the version of the GOP budget bill that passed the House of Representatives would instead create a single conversion factor for all physicians that's updated based on Medicare's measure of inflation. That would leave providers in the performance-based payment models getting higher payments than currently prescribed from 2026 through 2028, but lower payments than outlined in current law after that through 2035, according to an analysis from Berkeley Research Group viewed by Axios. Primary care physicians and providers embracing value-based care worry that removing an incentive for participating in the models will set back efforts to move Medicare toward a more holistic payment system that's meant to improve patient care. "Signals matter in health care," said Shawn Martin, CEO of the American Academy of Family Physicians. "I think it's a signal [to physicians] of an entrenchment back in fee-for-service." The American College of Physicians, the trade group for internal medicine doctors, told lawmakers last month that it's concerned the policy as structured will disincentivize doctors' participation in value-based care. "It's being marketed as a long-term fix," said Mara McDermott, CEO of value-based care advocacy group Accountable for Health. "I don't read it that way. I read it as creating a new cliff." Zoom out: Many provider groups are also concerned that the legislation doesn't fix the 2.83% cut to physicians' Medicare payment that took effect in January. The American College of Surgeons in a May statement praised lawmakers for recognizing that Medicare physician payments have to be adjusted for inflation, but that the legislation's provision "is not sufficient to make up for the 2025 cut, and more work is needed." The other side: The AMA wrote to House leadership last month that it "strongly supports" the provision to consolidate into one conversion factor and tie updates to inflation starting in 2026. Reductions made to the conversion factor over the past half-decade to keep the physician fee schedule budget neutral have made private practice financially impossible for many doctors, the AMA said. "It is absolutely vital that this issue be addressed," the letter to House leaders said. The AMA disagrees that the provision would discourage participation in alternative payment models, it told Axios in an email. Although payment updates to alternative payment model physicians starting in 2029 would be lower than current law provides, those doctors will still get positive payment updates overall, it said. Between the lines: The policy would go into effect as the Trump administration seeks to leverage Medicare alternative payment models to drive HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s priorities of prevention and personal choice in health care. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told Axios it does not comment on proposed legislation, but said it's continuing to prioritize policies that encourage providers to join payment models that reward high-value and coordinated care. Reality check: Just about all physicians and physician trade organizations agree that stable Medicare payment updates with some link to inflation is necessary to ensure continuous access for Medicare patients, AAFP's Martin said. It's "extraordinarily healthy" for physician advocacy groups to have different opinions on exactly how to reach that conclusion, he added. The Senate is currently debating what to include in its own version of the reconciliation bill.
Newsweek
30 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Mikie Sherrill's Chances of Beating Jack Ciattarelli in New Jersey: Polls
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Democratic New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill is set to beat her Republican rival Jack Ciattarelli in the upcoming election for governor, according to a poll. According to a SurveyUSA poll, released the day after Ciattarelli and Sherrill secured their respective nominations on Wednesday, the Democrat led his GOP rival by 13 percentage points. The Context Along with Virginia, New Jersey is one of the two states holding gubernatorial elections this year to replace New Jersey's incumbent Democratic governor, Phil Murphy, who has a term-limit. The Republicans have not won a gubernatorial election in New Jersey since 2013 and has voted for a Democrat in every presidential election since 1988. But the GOP has seen increasing success in the state in recent years, with Trump increasing his vote share by 10 points in 2024. This was the best showing by a GOP presidential nominee in two decades. Split image of Democratic Representative Mikie Sherrill, left, and former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, right, who will face Sherrill in New Jersey's gubernatorial contest. Split image of Democratic Representative Mikie Sherrill, left, and former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, right, who will face Sherrill in New Jersey's gubernatorial contest. AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, Mike Catalini, file What To Know Ciattarelli is a former New Jersey state representative who has said he would end any sanctuary policies protecting immigrants without permanent legal status. Sherrill is a United States representative who worked in the navy and as a federal prosecutor. According to the SurveyUSA poll of 785 adults, 51 percent of likely voters said they'd support Sherrill in the November general election, compared to 38 percent who said they'd back Ciattarelli. The poll was conducted between May 28 and May 30. However, a previous survey by the same pollster found that 40 percent of Garden State voters have a favorable view of Ciattarelli, while 41 percent had the same view of Sherrill. There was a larger gap between the two candidates when it comes to their negative ratings, with 29 percent of voters having an unfavorable view of Sherrill, compared to 36 percent who have an unfavorable opinion of the Republican. What People Are Saying Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, previously told Newsweek that while Democrats are the majority party in the state. "It is certainly possible that New Jersey could elect a Republican governor in November. [Incumbent] Governor [Phil] Murphy was the first Democrat to be reelected in more than 40 years, and in that same span, three Republican governors were elected and reelected. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: "The Great State of New Jersey has a very important Primary coming up on Tuesday. Get Out and Vote for Jack Ciattarelli, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement! His Opponents are going around saying they have my Endorsement, which is not true, I don't even know who they are! We can't play games when it comes to Elections, and New Jersey is a very important State that we must WIN. The whole World is watching. Vote for Jack Ciattarelli to, MAKE NEW JERSEY GREAT AGAIN!" What Happens Next The election takes place on November 4. Five third-party or independent candidates are also running for the seat.
