02E04 - Equilibrium

Trade negotiations between the US and Mexico are going badly, with no one on either side happy with what the other has put forward, and certain negotiators on both sides taking hard lines. This standoff has led to American truckers placing roadblocks at the US-Mexico border crossings, not allowing specifically Mexican truckers to cross into the United States with their goods. A Mexican trucker by the name of Jose Menez runs one of those border crossings, in the process being shot dead by the gunfire by border officials and civilians on both sides of the border. It is eventually determined that he was killed by an American bullet. Tom and those in the White House have now not only to deal with the trade impasse but the fact that a Mexican citizen was killed on American soil by an American bullet. Tom has to decide how far to go to deal with the issue, including if he should exploit the grief and suffering of Menez's wife, an undocumented Mexican long having lived in the States. Although Aaron knows that his first priority is to carry out the President's agenda, he gets caught in the middle of this issue as a Mexican-American, certain people who he thinks are trying to exploit that fact for their own benefit. With this issue dominating the goings-on in the White House, Emily can't be distracted by the work of an officious bureaucrat named Maya Dunning, whose sole purpose in the White House at this time is to deal with a broken vase, albeit an expensive one, in the office wing of the building. Maya is determined to discover who broke it, she, based on circumstantial evidence, believing that it was Penny. As it a matter that crosses the line between his professional and personal life, Tom has to take the time out of his busy schedule to deal with the matter. Meanwhile, Hannah, in figuring out what to do with the circumstantial evidence that looks like Alex's mom accepted a bribe thirty years ago in the awarding of a government contract, speaks to John off the record. Despite Hannah's first priority being to protect the President, she still needs to find out the truth and in the process has to protect herself in how she proceeds solely in carrying out her job responsibilities.