SF Chronicle: Oakland’s new representative in Congress is adjusting to a new normal: Absolute chaos

WASHINGTON - Before Rep. Lateefah Simon took office as the East Bay’s new representative in Congress, it would have been easy to imagine how her first term was likely to go. She would join The Squad, and become a go-to source on MSNBC and others drawn to her incredible biography: The legally blind MacArthur Fellowship “genius grant” winner grew up in public housing and is equal parts wonky and woke.

But Simon is defying expectations in her first few weeks in Congress, including some of her own. She has had to adjust on the fly to a Washington consumed with disaster relief politics, rapid-fire executive orders, the unchecked power of the Muskocracy, a Republican trifecta of government control and the daily lurch of chaos.

She is learning how to channel her bullhorn-clutching organizer instincts in a glacial institution, much as as she has done throughout her life, whether as an adviser to then-San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, president of the BART board of directors, member of the California State Board of Trustees, or leader of foundations funded by wealthy progressives. She won’t be shy about flying the progressive flag — she’s already a vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus — but she knows that it’s not enough to be “just vocal.” She said growing up in the diverse Bay Area makes it easier for her to adapt to changing situations.  

“My grandmother loved Jesus. Super church lady. I grew up Muslim and I went to a Jewish Day School. I’ll sing you any Hanukkah song you want,” she said. 

So no, she didn’t become a member of The Squad — the informal name for a group of high-profile legislators who are progressive women of color — but OG Squad member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., did personally show her the mechanics of how to cast a vote on the House floor — something Simon said wasn’t covered in her myriad orientation classes. 

“I’ve never had the luxury to be cliquey,” Simon said. “If you have 99 cubicles in an office space and I’m only working with four people, nothing’s going to get done. Does that mean I in any way shutter my values? Absolutely not. But there’s some brass tacks stuff that has to get done. It’s not good enough to just be loud in this Congress. We have to be surgical. We have to be thoughtful.” 

She didn’t run for president of the freshman class of Democrats as she promised supporters she would, after Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries pulled her aside and told her the party had bigger plans for her. She’s now a deputy whip for policy, an unusually high perch for a freshman. The Democratic whip and No. 2 Democrat in the House, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, accompanied Simon last weekend on a trip to the Bay Area, another unusual marker for a newbie.

With her BART board experience, Simon had aimed to get on the House Transportation Committee — and in the currency of Washington, should have had her pick of committee assignments after raising more money than any incoming freshman — but was assigned to the House Oversight Committee, which likely will turn out to be more high-profile given concerns about unelected billionaire Elon Musk’s attempt to gut the federal government. Harris ceremonially swore her into office. Later, House Speaker Mike Johnson,  swore her into the House with her hand on the Quran. 

Instead of living near most freshman lawmakers in the more sterile Navy Yard neighborhood (think of a more boring Mission Bay) known as the “freshman dorm,” Simon and her 13-year-old daughter are living in Logan Circle, one of D.C.’s LGBTQ  neighborhoods.

“I’m Bay Area, so like, give me a gay neighborhood. I feel safer. You think about it, right? l live with queer folks because folks have had to build in safety nets for themselves,” Simon told me over coffee a few blocks from her home. 

Yet it didn’t take her long to be reminded that official Washington wasn’t as much of a safe neighborhood for a Black Muslim woman. When she was at an orientation for freshman House members at a packed hotel, she rode down the elevator to breakfast with the spouse of a Republican lawmaker. Simon recalled that the woman said to her, “I bet you’ll be glad when we all leave.” 

The inference: Simon was part of the housekeeping staff. 

“Oh, you think I work here? Well, one, members of Congress are not working harder than the maids in this hotel, but two, I have the same job as your husband. I got here the same way,” Simon recalled saying to the woman. She said she thought to herself, “My mother was born into segregation. The American public is flipping out about people being denied their constitutional rights. That’s my family story. So, no, I’m not scared of these people.” 

She’s heeding the advice of Harris, who knows better than most about the doubt and lack of respect accorded to a woman of color in D.C. politics. Harris reminded Simon that people should now publicly address her as “congresswoman,” not “Lateefah” or “teefie” any more.

Simon realizes that she has to work with Republicans. She co-sponsored a bill last week with Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, chair of the House Small Business Committee, that would ban people convicted of defrauding the government (like by fraudulently obtaining  Paycheck Protection Program loans during COVID) from receiving any assistance from the Small Business Administration. It’s the type of “You mean that isn’t already a law?” legislation that is unlikely to get much opposition but shows that the progressive firebrand is willing to link arms with a Republican. 

She’s connected with Republicans in unexpected ways, too. Johnson is helping Simon, who is legally blind, get accommodations for her office, including by assigning her a first-floor office that is easier to access. But other, unexpected obstacles for someone who is sight-impaired have turned up.

When Ocasio-Cortez literally walked Simon through the mechanics of casting a vote on the House floor, she told her to look up at the display in the chamber to confirm that her ballot was accurately recorded and to see how her colleagues voted. 

“I was like, oh s—, I can’t see those names,” Simon said. She told her staff she needed to be carrying an iPad so she could more easily monitor votes. 

So what’s her advice to fellow Democrats in this moment when many seem uninterested in or incapable of pushing back against Trump’s moves to position himself as a king responsible to no one? 

Despite being someone who has admittedly participated “in every protest you can actually imagine,” Simon is not advocating that “the most vulnerable communities get in the streets and flex your rights. I am saying to people, ‘Make a plan.’ This is not a game. This is real life for our undocumented folks.” She said she has been making sure local leaders are informing vulnerable communities of their legal rights and how to get help.

Simon said she is in touch with civil rights attorneys, and notes that at least 16 lawsuits have been filed against the Trump administration’s actions by various Bay Area groups.