Ride-hacking: Sen. Bill Cassidy is joining a group of Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill in questioning the ride-hailing service Uber over a data breach that exposed the personal information of 57 million customers. Uber is now facing at least three potential class-action lawsuits and investigations by several state attorneys generals after revealing it paid hackers $100,000 to keep quiet about the breach, The Washington Post reports. Uber waited more than a year to disclose the data breach. Cassidy and several other Senators say in a letter to the company that the incident merits “further scrutiny.” The lawmakers also cited prior security issues at Uber, which has weathered repeated controversies in the past year.
On the Hill: Gov. John Bel Edwards and a group of other Louisiana officials are heading to Washington, D.C. to tout the state’s recent criminal justice overhaul, which aimed to deflate Louisiana’s highest-in-the-nation incarceration rate. The governor will speak at an event Tuesday hosted by Pew Charitable Trusts, a group that helped analyze data and develop potential solutions to Louisiana’s prison system. Edwards will be joined by state Rep. Tanner Magee, Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc and Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre. Legislation was passed this year to expand probation and parole opportunities, and shrink sentences, mainly for nonviolent offenders. Read more.
Taxing times: President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans scrambled today to make changes to a Republican tax bill in an effort to win over holdout GOP senators and pass a tax package by the end of the year. Trump hosted Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee at the White House while GOP leaders worked to round up the votes needed to pass the bill in the Senate this week. The president and Senate leaders are trying to balance competing demands, as some senators fear the package would add to the nation’s mounting debt, while others want more generous tax breaks for businesses. Read more.
