Good morning, and welcome to The Yappie’s AAPI politics briefing — your guide to the policy news and activism affecting Asian Americans + Pacific Islanders. Send tips and feedback to editors@theyappie.com and support our work by making a donation.
— Edited by Shawna Chen
The Biden Era
OPM DIRECTOR KIRAN AHUJA TO DEPART: Office of Personnel Management director Kiran Ahuja has announced that she will leave the agency in early May due to personal reasons. Deputy director Rob Shriver will step into her role on an acting basis.
- After being confirmed in 2022 in a tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Kamala Harris, Ahuja became the first South Asian American and first Asian American woman to serve in her role. She faced scrutiny from Senate Republicans during her confirmation process due to her stance on critical race theory, a framework used in college academia that recognizes systemic racism.
- Some OPM policies implemented under Ahuja’s leadership came as a direct response to Trump-era efforts to overhaul what he called the “deep state” by easily hiring, firing, or involuntarily moving employees around.
- Earlier this month, the OPM rolled out a new set of rules to expand protections for federal civil service employees—a direct response to former President Donald Trump’s vow to revive Schedule F and make “every executive branch employee fireable by the president.”
- Of note: Ahuja served as executive director of the White House Initiative for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders prior to leading OPM.
NAVY’S RED HILL FAILURES COME INTO FOCUS IN COURT TESTIMONIES: Pearl Harbor-area residents testified this week that the fuel leak at the Navy’s Red Hill facility resulted in symptoms that ranged from burning of the esophagus to seizures after contaminating their drinking water.
- It’s the first mass tort trial focused on the 2021 crisis, which plaintiffs’ attorney told the federal judge forced almost 6,000 people to seek medical care, Christina Jedra reports for Honolulu Civil Beat.
- One witness, Army Maj. Amanda Feindt, said she feared her baby was going to “choke on his own vomit” after the previously-healthy child began projectile vomiting within a week of the spill.
- While U.S. Department of Justice attorneys have admitted a breach of duty in the Red Hill facility’s management, they’ve maintained there is no clear evidence that the fuel is what caused what plaintiffs have called a widespread illness.
- What’s next: U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Kobayashi will rule on how much money is owed in damages.
WHITE HOUSE REVEALS TITLE IX AMENDMENTS: The U.S. Department of Education has announced changes to Title IX that will expand protections against discrimination based on factors like sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy, among others.
- The new action also revises the process of investigating sexual misconduct in schools, reversing several Title IX rules established by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that LGBTQ+ activists claim weakened protections against sexual misconduct.
- Advocacy groups have particularly focused on trying to advance protections for transgender students, as the new rule does not include the right for trans athletes to play on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
- Asians comprise over 13% of transgender-identifying youth ages 13-17 in the U.S., according to a 2022 study by the Williams Institute. Meanwhile, about 61% of AAPI LGBTQ young people surveyed by the Trevor Project in 2023 reported feeling discriminated against due to their gender identity in the past year, while 23% reported being physically harmed or threatened.
AAPIS RESPOND TO NEW FIREARMS REGULATIONS: Following the Biden administration’s announcement of a new rule to reduce the number of firearms sold without background checks, the AAPI Against Gun Violence coalition held its third annual convention for policymakers and advocates to discuss ways to combat gun violence across the U.S.
- The new action will help close a loophole through which individuals previously managed to evade background checks by purchasing firearms from unlicensed sellers online or at gun shows.
- Gregory Jackson, deputy director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, attended the convention to speak about the updated rule as well as the Biden administration’s broader efforts against gun violence as gun ownership among Asian Americans continues to inch up.
On The Hill
U.S. SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM RENEWED DESPITE CRITICISM: The federal government will retain the ability to conduct warrantless surveillance on non-Americans outside of the country, including their communications with U.S. citizens, after Biden signed into law legislation renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
- The two-year extension passed both chambers of Congress, defeating amendments that limited the scope of surveillance by requiring warrants for accessing private communications.
- While U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the provision is “indispensable” to federal efforts to protect Americans from terrorist and cyber threats, critics counter that the scope of surveillance infringes on privacy and could be weaponized against people of color, especially Asian Americans who have long faced accusations of espionage.
- A coalition of 63 Asian American and allied organizations penned a letter last November opposing the reauthorization of Section 702, which they said led to “wrongful targeting, unjust surveillance, and devastating tolls on careers, livelihoods, and reputations.”
- “This disproportionate targeting has fostered a climate of fear among Asian Americans and their families, causing anxiety about being stopped, monitored, or investigated while engaging in everyday activities,” they noted, alluding to the DOJ’s previous Trump-era China Initiative.
CAPAC HIGHLIGHTS MINORITY BUSINESS SUCCESS: Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) recently met with Eric Morrissette, who oversees the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) in the U.S. Commerce Department, to discuss efforts to support minority-owned businesses following a court ruling that declared as unconstitutional the MBDA’s presumptions that race and ethnicity play a role in determining social disadvantages.
- The March decision came as attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts intensified across the country.
- The result: The MBDA, which focuses its work on lowering economic barriers for the nation’s nearly 10 million minority business enterprises, quickly became a target for opponents who argued it should equally apply its efforts to white businesses,Inc.’s Bryan Crumley writes.
- “As we saw with last month’s ruling by a federal judge and ongoing efforts by extremist Republicans to dismantle programs serving disadvantaged communities, we must redouble our efforts to strengthen opportunities for entrepreneurs from underserved backgrounds, including people of color, women, and low-income individuals,” CAPAC chair Judy Chu (D-California) said in a statement after the meeting.
ON OUR RADAR: The world is dealing with fallout from newly signed legislation that requires TikTok’s Chinese owner—ByteDance—to either sell the app or face a ban in the U.S.
Campaign Watch
GUAM LIKELY TO VOTE IN THREE-WAY DEMOCRATIC DELEGATE PRIMARY: Three Democratic candidates, including former Del. Michael San Nicolas, have officially filed to challenge Republican Del. James Moylan, who is up for re-election this November.
- Guam Sen. Amanda Shelton and former federal official Ginger Cruz are also running. The Democratic candidate will be decided in Guam’s August primary.
- San Nicolas was elected to Congress in 2018 and served as vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee before unsuccessfully running for governor in 2022, Haidee Eugenio Gilbert writes for Pacific Daily News.
- Of note: San Nicolas was investigated by the House Ethics Committee in 2019 over allegations that he may have “engaged in a sexual relationship with an individual on his congressional staff, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted improper or excessive campaign contributions." No formal charges were brought.
- What we’re watching: Guam has thus far struggled to secure a venue for early voting in the 2024 elections. The Guam Election Commission did not receive a single bid by the April 5 deadline and is now weighing using a leased space for a limited time without completing a bidding process.
SOUTH ASIANS FOR BIDEN RETURNS AS NOVEMBER LOOMS: The grassroots organization South Asians For Biden, which originally launched in 2020 to mobilize South Asian voters for the 2020 election, has relaunched with an emphasis on disaggregated voter data and in-language voter outreach.
- "At a time when there is so much at stake, outreach to our growing, diverse and increasingly impactful South Asian community is critical,” Neha Dewan, founder and co-national director of South Asians for Biden, said in a press release that noted the likelihood of razor-thin margins in several key battleground states.
- Don’t forget: Indian Americans are now the largest Asian ethnic group in America and have become a rising political force as donors.
RECORD NUMBER OF ASIAN AMERICAN GOP CANDIDATES RUN FOR NY STATE SEATS: 10 GOP candidates who are East Asian are running to represent Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan in the New York legislature, New York Post’s Carl Campanile reports in an exclusive.
- “The Asian community is waking up to the fact that there’s another party that is more aligned to our conservative values on public safety and education,” said Yiatin Chu, a Taiwanese immigrant and Republican candidate running against longtime incumbent state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D). Chu is campaigning in Queens, where about 25% of residents were Asian as of 2021.
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