IN MEMORIAM — “FRED HIATT, a onetime foreign correspondent who in 2000 became The Washington Post’s editorial page editor and greatly expanded the global reach of the newspaper’s opinion writers in the era of 9/11, the election of BARACK OBAMA and the destabilizing presidency of DONALD TRUMP, died Dec. 6 at a hospital in New York City. He was 66. … “Mr. Hiatt was one of Washington’s most authoritative and influential opinion-makers. For two decades, he either wrote or edited nearly every unsigned editorial published by The Post — more than 1,000 a year — and edited the opinion columns published on the paper’s op-ed page and website. He also wrote a column and was a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing.” The full obituary, via WaPo’s Matt Schudel A few remembrances pouring in on social media from the many journalists he mentored and influenced: Dana Milbank: “We at @PostOpinions and @washingtonpost are reeling. Fred Hiatt, our beloved friend, mentor, conscience and leader, is gone. There never has lived a more decent man.” Karen Attiah: “I'm shaking in shock as I type this...Fred Hiatt hired me in 2014 when I had little experience as a journalist. Since then, he mentored and guided me and so many others during my time at @PostOpinions. He was brilliant, and above all, kind. This is utterly devastating.” Catherine Rampell: “Fred Hiatt was a prince of a man. A champion of human rights, a kind friend and beloved mentor, a man who deployed his wit and brilliance to nudge all those around him toward a better, more humane, more democratic world. I’m devastated by his loss.” Max Boot: “I am saddened and devastated by this awful news. [Fred Hiatt] was one of the finest people I've ever known--and one of the most stalwart champions of freedom. He was a true mensch who inspired all of his colleagues. May his memory be a blessing.” Jane Mayer: “Heartbreaking to lose Fred Hiatt today. He was a lifelong friend, colleague, and leading journalist of my generation. As the editorial page editor at the Washington Post he championed human rights, democracy and decency. He will be very deeply missed by all who knew him.” Jonathan Capehart: “With one out-of-the-blue phone call in 2007, Fred Hiatt changed my life. He was kind, exacting, caring and brilliant. Losing Fred is beyond devastating.” ABOUT THAT DEADLINE — In a letter to his Senate colleagues today, Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER reiterated his optimistic timeline for Senate Democrats to finish the Build Back Better bill. Schumer said that “our goal in the Senate is to pass the legislation before Christmas and get it to the president’s desk.” The letter But Christmas Eve is 18 days away and there are good reasons to believe that Dems will blow that deadline: 1) Four of the 12 Senate committees drafting the bill still haven’t submitted final text to the Parliamentarian, which needs to consider whether any provisions violate the Byrd rule; to the Congressional Budget Office, which needs to score the legislation; and to Senate Republicans, who will be sure to scrub it for political landmines. 2) This week the Senate will be tied up with Biden nominations and the continuing negotiations over the NDAA, which Schumer said was close to “a final conference agreement.” But Schumer also noted that neither of those priorities will be simple: “Due to the time it may take to process those items in the Senate without cooperation, Senators should prepare for potential weekend votes.” 3) The death of BOB DOLE, who will lay in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda this week, could also cause some legislative delay. 4) The debt ceiling needs to be addressed by Dec. 15. 5) Even if BBB passes the Senate before Christmas, it will still have to return to the House for a vote, assuming, as everyone involved does, that the Senate doesn’t pass the House version without any changes. JASON FURMAN, a top economist in the Obama White House, made a good point to our colleague Laura Barrón-López regarding why other priorities keep leapfrogging in front of the reconciliation bill: “BBB does have a problem that the debt limit doesn't have, and that appropriations didn't have, which is it doesn't actually have a forcing event. … [U]nfortunately, with Congress, things that don't have to happen often don't happen.” Also notable, via Laura: the White House is not yet imposing a deadline for BBB and many Democrats don’t want Biden to impose one. Sen. TIM KAINE (D-Va.) said a deadline could backfire in negotiations with Sens. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) and KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-Ariz.): “I don't know that announcing a public deadline would really get [the White House] anything and it might cause some people to get their hackles up.” |