House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer just appeared on WAMU-FM's Politics Hour to discuss the future of the D.C. House Voting Rights Act.

Hoyer acknowledged that "we've been distracted by the gun issue and a couple of other issues that haven't gotten as much publicity" but said he's been "talking to the mayor, talking to Vince Gray, talking to members of the city council...trying to get this done."

DCist's Sommer Mathis asked Hoyer whether he saw a way forward. "Yes, there is," he replied. "I don't want to go deeply." He did note the possibility of "taking the gun thing then getting the vote, then dealing with the gun issue as we go along"---though he said "that is not my preference."

In response to question from Tom Sherwood of WRC-TV, Hoyer said there was no "drop dead deadline" for getting the bill passed. "I don't expect we'll get past May and not get it done," he said. "Ultimately, we're going to create a sense of how we can do this."

Sherwood asked if it would help if President Barack Obama spoke out on the issue. Said Hoyer, "We're talking to the administration about that, and we're getting a read on what the city wants to do about that and what [Eleanor Holmes Norton] wants to do about that."

Kudos to commenter "al gonzales" for pointing this out.

Yesterday, WAMU-FM reporter Kavitha Cardoza did a piece [Windows Media/RealPlayer] on the DCPS budget hearing held Tuesday, which was announced only six days ahead of time and which only "about a dozen" persons reportedly attended.

Kind of a boring piece, with requisite outrage from veteran activists Mary Levy and Margot Berkey---until Cardoza put Mayor Adrian M. Fenty on the spot about the short notice.

His verbatim reply, if you can call it that: "Yeah, I think the person who said it right is that we're providing an information in real time probably summed it up best."

A typical content-free response from Fenty, sure, but that isn't even a sentence, far as LL can parse. Replied Cardoza, "What does that---I don't understand what that means."

Said Fenty, "I can't translate. All I can give you is a response to your question."

In that case, we're all still waiting.

No huge surprise here, but it's finally official: Tom Sherwood is now the resident analyst on the weekly Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi.

Since Jonetta Rose Barras left the Friday noon talk show on WAMU-FM last May over a pay dispute, the show has been rotating in guest analysts (including, now and again, yours truly). But in recent months, Sherwood, best known as a reporter for WRC-TV, has pretty much become a fixture. Nnamdi, indeed, has been referring to him as "permanent guest analyst" on recent shows.

Says Sherwood, "I've been a guest on Kojo's show occasionally over the years. I've got the highest respect for him." Late last year, he says, he was approached about doing something more permanent, and "my TV station decided to give me the time on Friday afternoons. I appreciate that they asked me."

When Barras was on the show, it was billed at the "Politics Hour With Kojo and Jonetta"; with Sherwood on board, however, the name will remain as plain-ol' "Politics Hour," says producer Diane Vogel.

Tune in to Sherwood's "resident" debut tomorrow noon at 88.5 FM---LL will be guest analysting!