“It’s a teaching and learning job” Candidates and officials could be using powers they don’t know they have for doing good, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) argues. The American Prospect profiles the candidate for U.S. Senate from California: The tough-as-nails single-mom image caters to the legions of suburban parents in the Golden State. But what actually differentiates Porter from her main opponents in the California Senate race—progressive antiwar hero Rep. Barbara Lee and Trump impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff—is that she’s been able throughout her career to make progress without carrying institutional authority. Porter acknowledged that she, Lee, and Schiff would likely take the same votes, at least on the major issues. But there’s more to politics than that. “I just want to fix some shit,” Porter writes in her book. “The job of a candidate should be to make their case for what they’ll do with that power.” Porter, a former college professor, became known for her white-board dressing-downs of prominent CEOs and government officials, David Dayen writes: But to me, her signature moment was at a hearing in 2020, days into the pandemic, with then-Centers for Disease Control director Robert Redfield. Porter’s staff found a provision in the federal code (42 CFR § 71.30, to be precise) enabling the CDC to offer free diagnostic testing for infectious diseases, regardless of insurance status. To that point, CDC had not offered COVID tests for free. When Redfield wavered, Porter interrupted. “No, not good enough. Dr. Redfield, you have the existing authority. Will you…