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 [email protected] and support our work by making a donation.
— Edited by Shawna Chen
The Biden Era
NEW WHITE HOUSE GUIDELINES TO RESHAPE HOW FEDERAL AGENCIES COLLECT DATA: The federal government has released new standards for data collection in a bid to better reflect racial and ethnic diversity in the U.S. and ensure more accurate and consistent data mapping through updated terminology, definitions, and question formatting.
- It’s the first time the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has revised the guidelines—Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity—since 1997.
- Historically, poor data disaggregation for AAPI subgroups—of which there are more than 50—in government data obscured social, political, and economic disparities, many of which worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
BIDEN ADMIN TOUTS INVESTMENTS IN AANHPI EDUCATION: The White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders held a higher education leadership development summit last week at the University of California, Berkeley, where Biden administration official Erika L. Moritsugu delivered a letter from Vice President Kamala Harris.
- The Biden administration has invested over $6 billion in Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions.
On The Hill
PATSY MINK’S LEGACY MEMORIALIZED ON U.S. QUARTER: The U.S. Mint is honoring Patsy Takemoto Mink—the first woman of color elected to the House—with her own special edition quarter, which rolled out last week as part of the American Women Quarters Program.
- Born and raised in Hawai‘i, the third-generation Japanese American was one of only two Asian Americans in her law school class at the University of Chicago. After graduating, she opened her own practice, becoming the first Japanese American woman to practice law in Hawai‘i.
- She served in the Hawai‘i legislature and the state Senate before successfully campaigning to represent the Rainbow State in the U.S. House in 1964.
- Her achievements include co-authoring Title IX in the Education Amendments of 1972, the scope of which bans sex-based discrimination in education.
- Her quarter, which depicts Mink holding her landmark Title IX legislation and wearing a lei, is inscribed with the words: “Equal opportunity in education.”
SOUTH ASIAN DEMOCRATS DEMAND HATE CRIMES BRIEFING: South Asian members of Congress are calling on the Department of Justice to hold a briefing on the U.S.’s strategy for combating “anti-Hindu hate crimes” following a number of attacks on Hindu temples, or mandirs.
- The letter sent by the lawmakers cites a 2022 Washington Post article that covered a string of anti-Indian and anti-Hindu incidents, from verbal attacks in California and Texas to the toppling of a Gandhi statue in New York.
- In their words: “The number of incidents and the closeness of the timing of incidents raise troubling questions about linkages and the intent behind them,” the letter states. “It takes relatively few coordinated acts of hate to create fear nationally within a community that has often been marginalized or neglected, and we must work collaboratively to combat hate against all religious, ethnic, racial, and cultural minorities in America.”
- The letter is signed by all five South Asian Congress members: Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois), Ro Khanna (D-California), Shri Thanedar (D-Michigan), Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), and Ami Bera (D-California)—and yes, the group refers to itself as the “Samosa Caucus.”
- The lawmakers gave the DOJ until April 18 to hold the briefing.
ICYMI—HOUSE ODI SLASHED AFTER SPENDING CUTS: The House Office of Diversity and Inclusion has officially been disbanded following the $1.2 trillion spending bill signed into law in March.
- The now-defunct office’s mission was to “cultivate a congressional workforce within USHR that is reflective of the American people” and “advance representation in the congressional workforce,” per its website.
- On our radar: An effort is already underway to revive it, Andrew Solender reports for Axios. The push is being led by the Tri-Caucus chairs—Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus chair Judy Chu (D-California), Black Caucus chair Steven Horsford (D-Nevada), and Hispanic Caucus chair Nanette Barragán (D-California).
- Of note: This is not the first attempt to shutter a DEI-centered federal office. House Republicans sought to authorize the Pentagon’s DEI offices last year through the National Defense Authorization Act, though the final legislation only froze new DEI jobs until the Government Accountability Office provides a report on the DEI workforce.
- DEI proponents claim that offices such as ODI help remove structural barriers for women, people of color, and LGBTQ communities, The Hill’s Cheyanne M. Daniels writes.
- On the other hand, opponents claim that such offices are divisive—Rep. Alex Mooney (R-West Virginia), who introduced legislation in 2023 to abolish ODI, called DEI efforts “cultural Marxism in the workplace.”
Campaign Watch
ANDY KIM CLEARS PATH TO SENATE: Korean American Rep. Andy Kim (D-New Jersey) is set to move to the Senate after securing a clear path to the Democratic nomination. Multiple media outlets are predicting a probable victory.
- Kim would replace Sen. Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), who dropped his bid for the Democratic nomination after facing corruption charges.
- The overwhelming support for Kim, who is running a grassroots campaign, led his main opponent, New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy, to drop out of the race in a bid to avoid “waging a very divisive and negative campaign,” per her video message on her exit.
RFK PICKS SHANAHAN AS RUNNING MATE: Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running on an independent ticket, has announced California lawyer and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan as his running mate.
- His choice led to widespread surprise among his supporters. The Oakland native is the daughter of a Chinese immigrant mother and an Irish and German American father.
- “I wanted someone who would honor the traditions our nation, as a nation of immigrants, but who also understands that to be a nation, we need to secure borders,” Kennedy, who has faced criticism for suggesting that COVID-19 was designed to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, said at a recent rally in her hometown.
- Shanahan has largely remained absent on the campaign trail but visited the southern border in Yuma, Arizona last week. “I’ll be honest: I didn’t understand the gravity of the crisis at the border until today when I sat with NGO leaders who are on the front lines,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
🥰 Enjoying The Yappie? Make a donation, forward this briefing to a friend, or subscribe here. You can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
The Yappie is your must-read briefing on AAPI power, politics, and influence, fiscally sponsored by the Asian American Journalists Association. Make a donation, subscribe, and follow us on Twitter (@theyappie). Send tips and feedback to [email protected].
