Georgia Republicans push for Clarence Thomas statue by state Supreme Court

Today’s newsletter highlights:

• Chris Carr takes his campaign for governor to CPAC.
• Georgia federal employees stress over email.
• State Senate looks to expand “right to try” law.

Senate Republicans are once again pushing for a statue of Georgia native and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

But instead of placing it on the grounds of the state Capitol, Senate GOP leaders are now advocating for the monument to stand at the judicial building across the street. And it could bring a thorny new political fight.

Under a newly introduced measure, Senate Bill 242, a six-member Capitol Art Standards Commission would oversee the design and placement of a statue of Thomas within the Nathan Deal Judicial Center.

The legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, says the monument would be paid for by outside groups and private individuals — and that no public funding would be involved.

Anavitarte and other Senate Republicans have pressed for years to honor Thomas with a statue on the Capitol grounds, but the legislation has stalled in the Georgia House of Representatives.

Sponsors hope the shift, along with Thomas’ growing influence on the high court, will generate a warmer reception. But it could also spark another bitter partisan battle.

The idea has long been opposed by Democrats, particularly Black leaders, who point to Thomas’ controversial confirmation hearings in 1991, which remain a flash point in judicial and political debates today.

Those proceedings were marked by allegations from Anita Hill, a former Thomas aide at the U.S. Department of Education, who accused him of sexual harassment.

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State Rep. Matt Reeves, a Republican from Duluth, wants to create a way to bring more migrants into the country legally with work visas.

GOOD MORNING! The Atlanta Journal published its first edition today back in 1883. James Cox bought the Journal in 1939 and its rival, The Atlanta Constitution, in 1950. The two papers merged completely in 2001 to form The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that you know today.

Here are three things to know for today:

• Discrimination lawsuits and other complaints involving transgender people have cost Georgia taxpayers at least $4.1 million since 2015, according to an AJC analysis of state liability claims. Many of the 19 claims involved denial of medical treatment to transgender employees, inmates or Medicaid recipients, the AJC’s David Wickert and Maya T. Prabhu report.
• Democrats in the Georgia Senate want to ban kids younger than 14 from using social media, saying the online content is harming their mental health, the AJC’s Caleb Groves reports.
• While the Trump administration is cracking down on illegal immigration, state Rep. Matt Reeves, R-Duluth, has a bill that would incentivize more legal immigration, the AJC’s Michelle Baruchman reports.

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CARR AT CPAC. Attorney General Chris Carr brought his gubernatorial campaign to the Conservative Political Action Conference over the weekend, where he highlighted Georgia’s efforts to crack down on human trafficking.

“We don’t just have a legal obligation,” he told the influential conservative gathering. “We have a moral one, too.”

The conference has become a fixture in MAGA politics, and this year’s event drew a chainsaw-wielding Elon Musk, freshly pardoned Jan. 6 rioters and the return of President Donald Trump, who boasted of firing thousands of “radical-left bureaucrats.”

It also was held hours after another accusation of sexual misconduct was leveled against CPAC chair Matt Schlapp. It’s one of several similar allegations against Schlapp.

He also faced allegations from a former Herschel Walker staffer who said he was groped by Schlapp when the two men were alone in a car after a 2022 campaign event in Georgia. The staffer dropped his lawsuit last year after receiving a $480,000 settlement. Schlapp and his allies dismissed all the allegations as “character assassination.”

We asked a spokeswoman for Carr, the state’s top law enforcement official, why he took part in a conference led by Schlapp.

“Attorney General Carr joined President Trump and thousands of conservatives to share how Georgia is leading the nation in the fight against human trafficking, with the AG’s Office having rescued and assisted nearly 200 children,” said Kara Murray.

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GEORGIA DOGE’D. Washington was reeling Friday night from news of an email sent to hundreds of thousands of federal employees with the subject line, “What did you do last week?”

The email, which included federal employees based in Georgia, asked workers to list five things they “accomplished” last week before 11:59 tonight. The email appears to have been sent from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, with an address of “HR@opm.gov.”

Those emails were preceded by a post on X from Elon Musk warning that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

Several employees’ unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, have instructed their Georgia-based members not to respond directly to the email, reasoning that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management does not have the authority to ask for detailed work-product information from workers outside of OPM. The federation suggested its members contact their supervisors to ask if they are required to respond to OPM at all.

Several federal employees told us the ominous emails since Musk began making cuts have consumed significant agency time, with multiple “all-hands” meetings about possible firings. It’s also left workers demoralized and afraid about who is watching them to gather information to fire them later.

“It’s chaos,”’ one employee said. “It’s like living in a surveillance state.”

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IMMUNITY. It’s hard for one government to tell another government what to do. But state lawmakers might have found a big stick to use against their local counterparts.

Local government officials and staff are shielded from most lawsuits by a legal doctrine known as “sovereign immunity.” But multiple bills filed in the Legislature this year threaten to lift that shield in certain circumstances.

The most prominent proposal is from state Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, whose bill would waive sovereign immunity for local governments that do not comply with an immigration detainer request from the federal government. The state Senate has already passed that bill.

And last week, the Senate passed a bill that threatens to remove Gwinnett County’s sovereign immunity if it doesn’t provide services to the newly created city of Mulberry.

No local government has been cited for violating state immigration laws, and it is unlikely any will in the future, either. Still, the trend has alarmed local governments, with the Georgia School Boards Association pleading with lawmakers to not waive sovereign immunity.

“This is a bully move to get our local governments to do what the Republicans want them to do,” said state Sen. Nikki Merritt, D-Grayson.

State Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, is not concerned. His advice to local governments: “If you follow the law, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

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GENE THERAPY. Georgia passed a “right to try” law in 2016 to give people with rare, life-threatening diseases access to treatments that did not have full federal approval.

Now, some state lawmakers want to expand that law to include gene therapies — or treatments designed to benefit a single patient suffering from a rare disorder.

Senate Bill 72 by state Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, is scheduled for a vote today in the Senate. It would let people with life-threatening or severely debilitating illnesses try these therapies after they have considered all other options approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It would also protect Georgia doctors from punishment for prescribing these treatments.

“This law needs to be upgraded and modernized to account for the rapid developments in medicine, such as gene therapy, which aren’t covered under the original law in most cases,” said Naomi Lopez, a senior fellow with the Goldwater Institute that is supporting the bill.

Gene therapy has made great strides in recent years. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2023 approved two gene therapies for sickle cell disease. But with few incentives to produce them, the treatments remain out of reach for many.

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CALLOUT. Are you a Donald Trump voter in Georgia who is having second thoughts after his first month in office? Or are you a Trump supporter who is even happier with your choice now?

Either way, we’d love to hear from you.

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The Georgia Capitol in Atlanta.

UNDER THE GOLD DOME. It’s the 22nd day of the legislative session. Here are some of today’s happenings:

• 8 a.m.: Senate Appropriations Committee meets to discuss their version of the 2025 amended budget.
• 10 a.m.: House convenes. Lawmakers could vote on six bills, including House Bill 232, which would make it easier for massage therapists to get licensed in Georgia and other states.
• 10 a.m.: Senate convenes. Lawmakers could vote on four bills, including Senate Bill 28, the bill backed by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones that is inspired by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.
• 1 p.m.: House Education Committee considers House Bill 340, which would require most public schools to ban students from using cellphones.
• 1 p.m.: House Public and Community Health Committee meets to consider House Bill 500, which aims to increase benefits for people in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
• 1 p.m.: The Senate Public Safety Committee will consider Senate Bill 185, which would ban gender-affirming care for state prison inmates, including sex-reassignment surgeries and hormone replacement therapies.
• 2 p.m.: The House Health Committee meets to consider House Bill 428, which would protect in vitro fertilization treatments.
• 2 p.m.: The House Regulated Industries Committee meets to consider House Bill 342, which would repeal a ban on advertising some medical cannabis products.

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U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, a Republican from Suwanee, is a guest today on the "Politically Georgia" show.

LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee, joins the show to discuss his Roswell town hall meeting last week that went viral after attendees peppered him with boos over Elon Musk’s role in cutting government jobs. Also, Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon looks at President Donald Trump’s first 30 days, while Georgia Democratic Party Vice Chair Matthew Wilson gives his view of Democrats’ regrouping after Trump’s election.

Be sure to download the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Have a question for the show? Give us a call at 770-810-5297. Episodes are uploaded by noon each day, just in time to have lunch with us. You can also listen live at 10 a.m. EST on 90.1 FM WABE.

On Friday’s show, AJC reporters looked back at the first month of Trump’s second term.

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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:

• President Donald Trump will meet at the White House with French President Emmanuel Macron and participate in a virtual summit with other G7 leaders.
• The House returns this evening for votes.
• The Senate is working through more of Trump’s nominations.

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