By Minho Kim

With help from Brakkton Booker, Jesse Naranjo, Rishika Dugyala and Teresa Wiltz 

POLITICO illustration/Photo by AP

Hello, Recasters! I’m Minho Kim, an intern with E&E News, and I’m happy to helm today’s newsletter. Today, President Biden is in Arizona touting his signature Inflation Reduction Act. Also, voters head to the polls today for a special election in Ohio and statewide primaries in Mississippi. But today, we’re looking at Pete Buttigieg’s time leading the DOT.      

Just days into his tenure as Transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg outlined an ambitious plan to restore cities and neighborhoods gutted during federal interstate highway expansion that began nearly 70 years ago.

The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, touted at the time as the largest public works program in the nation’s history, was at times purposefully used to carve up Black and brown communities. Hundreds of thousands of homes were seized by the government under eminent domain. The homes that remained declined in value and the air quality of the neighborhoods deteriorated.

The action Buttigieg took was swift.

He launched a long-shot federal civil rights probe that pumped the brakes on a highway expansion project in Houston, which drew ire from some Texas Republicans — and praise from environmental justice advocates.

Now those same activists who championed Buttigeig’s aggressive action are growing frustrated by what they say is the Biden administration’s reluctance to keep its initial promise to rein in states’ expansive highway projects.

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Buttigieg, who noted he took office during Black History Month, told POLITICO in March 2021, “It’s the right moment to be looking at the equity implications of everything we do in the federal government.”

The following month, citing possible Civil Rights Act violations, he launched an investigation into the Texas Department of Transportation’s controversial plan to widen a stretch of Houston’s Interstate 45.

Activist groups such as Stop TxDOT I-45 say the project would destroy more than 1,300 homes and businesses, including five houses of worship and two schools in predominantly Black and Hispanic communities. Critics argue neighborhoods near the proposed highway expansion will be adversely impacted by elevated pollution levels which could lead to asthma and breathing problems for residents.

Traffic flows south on Interstate 45, Nov. 19, 2021, in Houston. The projected I-45 expansion would widen this section of highway. | Justin Rex/AP Photo

Yet two years into the investigation, the U.S. Transportation Department concluded it “did not find any issue” with the new Houston project. Then it entered into a voluntary agreement with Texas officials — allowing the $9 billion expansion to rev back up, with promises to provide housing for displaced residents.

In an emailed statement to The Recast, a DOT spokesperson said, “The Department has worked tirelessly, within the bounds of our legal authority, to make sure we are using resources to connect communities in ways unthinkable in the past, whether that means better road design, or adding transit lines or safer ways to walk, bike, or roll – all of which connect people to jobs and economic opportunities."

And last week, in an interview with Houston NBC affiliate KPRC, Buttigieg sounded far different than he did in 2021: “We’re not saying you can never expand a road anywhere, ever.”

That rankles advocates such as Beth Osborne, the director of the advocacy group Transportation for America. She says the Biden administration has “done little to nothing” to push back against states’ highway projects.

The fact that Buttigieg is not fighting against state highway expansions with all his might, Osborne says, shows where the Biden administration’s priorities are.

“It’s probably that the White House has told [Buttigieg] that we’re not putting our energy on fighting highway expansions,” Osborne says.

Buttigieg attends a meeting with other Cabinet members May 5, 2023, at the White House. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo

Critics say they understand that Buttigieg does not have direct control over how states spend the bulk of the highway money designated by the infrastructure law. But Osborne, a former assistant secretary at the Transportation Department during the Obama administration, says the Biden administration has chosen not to exercise its authority — even where Buttigieg has power to do so.

Another tool Buttigieg could use, according to a July report from transportation advocacy group Smart Growth America, is to encourage states to consider the consequences of highway expansions by adjusting their metrics to account for benefits and costs. State transportation departments now only measure speed, an approach that Osborne says is flawed because it ignores both disruptions in communities and the extra demand for driving that highway expansion ultimately generates.

Houston is not an isolated example. Fueled by the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law President Joe Biden signed in 2021, states across the country are now pouring money into urban highway expansion.

Similar projects are gaining traction in Lafayette, La., Queens, N.Y., Norfolk, Va., Portland, Ore., Seattle and Orlando, Fla., all of which propose taking down homes to add lanes for more vehicles.

In Illinois, the residents of majority Black and Latino neighborhoods in the South Side of Chicago are fighting an Interstate 55 expansion plan that state lawmakers approved in May. In Wisconsin, despite years of local opposition, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is adding two lanes to Interstate 94 that will pass through communities of color in Milwaukee.

Interstate 94 is seen passing through Milwaukee, June 22, 2021. | Morry Gash/AP Photo

William Sulton, president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, which opposes the I-94 expansion in Milwaukee, also sees little change in how the DOT is operating, despite Buttigieg’s enthusiastic promises early on.

As the 2024 presidential cycle ramps up, Biden is touting “Bidenomics,” which in part includes achievements Democrats see as beneficial infrastructure projects for states — both red and blue — arguing they create jobs and spur economic growth locally. But what communities of color need, Sulton argues, is more public transit — not highway expansion which he says only creates temporary construction gigs.

“That’s all it is — rhetoric. It’s not a real commitment,” Sulton says. “We’re talking about folks that spend almost 50 percent of their income on housing and transportation. Expanding highways doesn’t solve those problems.”

According to one estimate, 18 percent of Black households, 13 percent of Native American households, 11 percent of Asian American and 10 percent of Latino households are without a vehicle, compared to just 6.5 percent of white households. People of color also make up a majority of transit riders and have longer commutes.

Buttigieg’s Transportation Department also tried to steer states to channel infrastructure funding for fixing roads, rather than adding lanes. But those plans, too, were thrown into reverse.

In February, after monthslong pushback from congressional Republicans, the Transportation Department rescinded its internal memo for its “fix it first” programs. Republicans claim the administration ran afoul of the law’s requirements by telling states how to spend federal infrastructure money in ways the law did not.

Buttigieg has tried other ways to bring an equity focus to the nation’s infrastructure.

He initiated a first-of-its-kind pilot program last year that seeks to reconnect cities by “removing, retrofitting or mitigating transportation facilities” that act as impediments to building community connectivity. The $1 billion in grants for the Reconnecting Communities Pilot grants are available through the bipartisan infrastructure law.

It remains to be seen whether programs like this are enough to change perceptions about Buttigieg and the Biden administration’s perceived inability to thwart a new wave of highway expansion.

We’ll keep tabs on this and its impact on elections as the 2024 campaign shifts into high gear.

All the best,
The Recast Team

REMEMBERING CHARLES OGLETREE 

Professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr. accepts the chairman's award at the 48th annual NAACP Image Awards, Feb. 11, 2017, in Pasadena, Calif. | Matt Sayles/Invision/AP

A mentor, scholar, author, campaign adviser and friend. That’s how many who knew and worked with Charles Ogletree, the famed Harvard Law professor, are remembering him, The Recast’s Brakkton Booker reports.

Ogletree, who died Friday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, left a profound mark on how the nation discusses and frames debates on race in contemporary America and did so while elevating issues around social and economic issues to the forefront.

After joining the faculty of Harvard Law School in 1985, he became a consistent presence in media and politics for the next three decades. He served as legal counsel for Anita Hill during the contentious 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas. Hill came forward to testify that Thomas, who was her supervisor, sexually harassed her.

Ogletree was instrumental in organizing a media strategy to help her share her story. He became a fixture too, sitting directly behind Hill during the contentious televised hearings. In an interview that aired Tuesday on Boston’s WBUR station, Hill credits Ogletree for helping her build the confidence to go public.

“Charles' legal expertise was absolutely necessary for me to feel confident, stepping up and giving my testimony,” Hill said. “Charles understood that the laws that he had been working on were really relevant to this issue of sexual harassment. And he was a gifted trial lawyer. And so he knew that it was important for my story to be heard.”

Ogletree, lawyer for Anita Hill, speaks to reporters in the Russell Senate Office Building, Oct. 13, 1991, on Capitol Hill in Washington. | John Duricka/AP Photo

He also represented hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur during his series of criminal and civil cases in the early 1990s, right around the same time he was hired as a television legal expert during the “trial of the century,” the murder trial of O.J. Simpson.

Ogletree is remembered by his mentee and former student, former President Barack Obama as someone who was “supportive and encouraging.”

“He took time on weekends to run something called ‘Saturday School’ for Black students who didn’t necessarily have the support systems at home to get through the difficult first years of law school,” Obama recalled.

Ogletree, who provided political advice to Obama, was also the first person fellow Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates called in 2009 during an episode that sparked national debate about racial profiling in America. Obama waded into the controversy saying that Cambridge police “acted stupidly” when they arrested Gates at his home, leading some to accuse the white officer of racial bias.

It led to the unceremonious “Beer Summit” at the White House.

While making no mention of that episode, Gates referred to Ogletree as a friend who he spent many fishing trips with on Martha’s Vineyard.

“Charles was deeply compassionate about defending the accused, but he had no mercy for striped bass and bluefish, which he masterfully caught in abundance on those joyous outings of ours,” Gates said on social media.

Ogletree also fought for survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, suing the city and state for restitution and helping to spark interest in their story. He also lent his talents to South Africans helping to draft the nation’s new constitution after the fall of apartheid.

Olgletree was 70 years old.

ICYMI @ POLITICO

NYC Mayor Keeps Taking Hits — New York City Mayor Eric Adams vowed 2023 would be his “Aaron Judge Year,” a nod to the Yankees slugger who won the AL MVP last year. As POLITICO’s Jeff Coltin reports, instead of Adams knocking it out of the park, he’s been hit with a series of controversies.

Cannabis flowers are sold in the "pop up" location of Smacked, Jan. 24, 2023, in New York. | John Minchillo/AP Photo

Speaking of New York, here’s the opening line to POLITICO’s Mona Zhang’s latest piece: “No new weed shops will be able to open in New York, after a judge blocked cannabis regulators from moving forward with retail licensing on Monday.” If that sparks your interest, here’s the rest of the piece.

The Oldest Freshman Ever — Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) isn’t a household name in politics. But he is distinctive, as POLITICO’s Daniella Diaz’s engaging profile notes. At 76, he’s the oldest ever to be first elected in the upper chamber and he’s been dubbed “The Nicest Dude in D.C.”

THE RECAST RECOMMENDS

Wayne Brady’s Big Reveal — The “Whose Line Is It Anyway” star reveals in People that he’s pansexual.

Alexandra Chang’s new story collection “Tomb Sweeping” transports the reader between the U.S. and Asia in its bold exploration of relationships, community and identity.

A new doc, “Ladies First,” canonizes the trailblazing women who shaped hip-hop over the last half-century. Catch it on Netflix starting tomorrow.

With its percussive Colombian folk and joyful accordion melodies, Gregorio Uribe’s Tiny Desk concert is not one to be missed.

Aaron Pierre and Lamar Johnson star in “Brother,” a poignant coming-of-age story centered on two siblings growing up in a Toronto suburb.

Halle makes her first solo single venture with the anthemic, empowering “Angel.” The “Little Mermaid” star said she hopes “other brown and Black girls and everyone in general feel embraced, respected and inspired” by the song’s words.

TikTok of the Day: Talent!

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