In the News

By Politico Staff

Twenty members of Congress — 19 Democrats and one Republican, Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona — are accompanying President Barack Obama on his trip to Kenya and Ethiopia.

According to the White House, half of the lawmakers will fly on Air Force One to Kenya, and the other half will return on the presidential plane on the way back from Ethiopia. The group includes three senators; the rest are House members, all members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Flake is one of a small number of Republicans who have expressed openness to the White House’s nuclear agreement with Iran.

Lawmakers flying with the president to Kenya are: 

• Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.)
• Senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.)
• Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
• Representative Karen Bass (D-Calif.)
• Representative G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.)
• Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas)
• Representative Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)
• Representative Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.)
• Representative Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.)
• Representative Terri Sewell (D-Ala.)

These lawmakers are expected to fly back from Ethiopia on Air Force One: 

• Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.)
• Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.)
• Representative Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio)
• Representative Al Green (D-Texas)
• Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas)
• Representative Robin Kelly (D-Ill.)
• Representative Gwen Moore (D-Wis.)
• Representative Donald Payne (D-N.J.)
• Representative Cedric Richmond (D-La.)
• Representative Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.)

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