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For Immediate Release
January, 04 2021, 11:00pm EDT
Contact:
Thomas Oppel
(603) 304-6767
toppel@asbcouncil.org
ASBC members Seventh Generation, Ben & Jerrys, Patagonia and More Strongly Urge All Members of Congress to Defend Democracy and Certify Election Results
On behalf of the 250,000 businesses ASBC represents, we call on all members of Congress to defend our democracy and certify November's election results when they meet Wednesday, January 6. ASBC endorses the bipartisan effort from across the country supporting a swift and transparent transfer of power to the Biden-Harris administration, upholding the electoral norms that have been a cornerstone of American constitutional democracy for 224 years.
WASHINGTON
On behalf of the 250,000 businesses ASBC represents, we call on all members of Congress to defend our democracy and certify November's election results when they meet Wednesday, January 6. ASBC endorses the bipartisan effort from across the country supporting a swift and transparent transfer of power to the Biden-Harris administration, upholding the electoral norms that have been a cornerstone of American constitutional democracy for 224 years.
"Congress must put a swift end to this egregious attempt to override our constitutional government," says Joey Bergstein, CEO of Seventh Generation. "The people have spoken, the votes have been counted, the courts have ruled. We ask all leaders in this country to stand up against brazen efforts to undermine our democracy. It's time to move forward to tackle the enormous challenges we face as a society."
Businesses and their customers across the United States have been profoundly affected by the ongoing COVID19 health crisis, a severely weakened economy and ongoing social unrest in the past year. But despite those challenges, the American people turned out in historic numbers to make their voice heard on what direction they wish our country to take.
"Despite repeated recounts and audits and more than 50 failed legal challenges, some politicians continue to make baseless allegations as an excuse to overturn the legally cast votes of millions of Americans," says Jeffrey Hollender, CEO of ASBC. "ASBC stands with all of our members and partners in asking that there be no further attempts to undermine our democracy or deny the right of the American people to elect their leaders."
ASBC specifically urges the following 13 senators who have pledged to object to the certification to rethink their positions and align themselves with the will of the American electorate and the values of the American Republic:
- > Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO)
- > Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)
- > Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
- > Sen. James Lankford (R-OK)
- > Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT)
- > Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA)
- > Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
- > Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN)
- > Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
- > Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS)
- > Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
- > Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)
- > Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA)
The list of businesses who have signed onto this statement are the following:
Seventh Generation
Patagonia
Ben & Jerrys
Package Free Shop
Ibis Communications
1worker 1vote
Superior Travel
Sustainable Success
JustLaws PLLC
Effect Partners
Collectivity
Harrington Investments, INc
Studio Airstream
Soap Alchemy
Distance Learning Consulting
Nature's Logic
New Jersey Sustainable Business Council
Your Stellar Self
Do Good Well Consulting
NEEV
Center for Community Based Enterprise
The American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) advocates for policy change and informs business owners, policymakers and the public about the need and opportunities for building a vibrant, broadly prosperous, sustainable economy. Founded in 2009, its membership represents over 250,000 businesses in a wide range of industries.
(202) 660-1455LATEST NEWS
Tlaib Backs Primary Challenger McKinney Over Democratic Incumbent Thanedar
"I know when it comes to real representation, Michigan's 13th District deserves better," said Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib in support of state Rep. Donavan McKinney.
May 12, 2025
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib drew praise from progressives Monday after endorsing a state lawmaker's Democratic primary challenge against an incumbent from a neighboring Michigan district.
Tlaib (D-Mich.) endorsed 32-year-old state Rep. Donavan McKinney (D-11), who last month announced he is seeking to oust pharmaceutical magnate-turned Congressman Shri Thanedar, who has represented Michigan's 13th Congressional District since 2023.
"Centering community not only means standing up to corporate donors and lobbyists but also means fighting to address community needs through robust community services and responsive representation," said Tlaib in a statement. "This type of leadership is missing for residents in the 13th and I know Donavan will bring it... I know when it comes to real representation, Michigan's 13th District deserves better."
Big news! Rep. Rashida Tlaib is endorsing @donavanmckinney.bsky.social’s campaign for Congress—the first Congressional endorsement of this race. Rashida knows that voters in her neighboring district need a leader who will fight back against billionaire corruption—not a Congressman in name only.
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— Justice Democrats (@justicedemocrats.com) May 12, 2025 at 7:08 AM
McKinney, who is also endorsed by the progressive group Justice Democrats and more than a dozen current and former Michigan state lawmakers and other officials, said Monday on social media that he is "honored to have" Tlaib's support and "can't wait to serve by her side" in Congress.
According to Justice Democrats, McKinney's "priorities are protecting our economic security, ensuring families have access to clean air and water, ensuring every child can receive a quality public education, bringing justice to the criminal legal system, pushing for a robust, quality public transit system, and expanding the rights of unions and workers."
"He has worked to lower costs and increase affordability for the people of his district, taken on corporate monopolies, and fought to get big money out of politics on the state-level and he's running for Congress to bring that fight to Washington," the group added.
Thanedar responded to Tlaib's endorsement in an interview with the Detroit Free Press in which he said that "my focus is, and will continue to be, fighting [President Donald] Trump, bringing federal dollars back to the district, and serving my constituents."
"I'm confident voters in the 13th will choose me again in 2026," he added.
One issue of contention between Tlaib and Thanedar is Israel's U.S.-backed assault on Gaza, which is the subject of an International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide case and the impetus for International Criminal Court arrest warrants targeting fugitive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Tlaib—the only Palestinian American member of Congress—is a staunch advocate of a Gaza cease-fire and cutting off U.S. military aid to Israel.
Thanedar previously co-sponsored a resolution in Michigan's House of Representatives advocating an end to U.S. aid for Israel, which he described an an "apartheid state"—a position aligned with the ICJ and numerous international and Israeli human rights groups.
However, Thanedar subsequently quit the Democratic Socialists of America over what he said was DSA's failure to condemn the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Blue Wave—a super political action committee linked to American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, spent $2.3 million on ads attacking Thanedar's 2024 primary opponent, Detroit City Councilmember Mary Waters, who drew praise from the area's sizable Palestinian and Arab American community for her opposition to Israel's Gaza onslaught.
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Duffy Warns Technical Issues, Chaos at Newark Airport Could Spread Across US
The transportation secretary has called for upgrades to the systems used by air traffic controllers; he voted against such improvements when he was in Congress.
May 12, 2025
Travelers at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Monday were still being impacted by flight delays and cancellations after numerous technical issues in recent days interrupted air traffic control operations—disruptions that U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday are likely to spread to the nation's other airports.
Duffy toldNBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that he is currently "concerned about the whole airspace," but said traveling by air is still safe.
"The lights are blinking, the sirens are turning," said Duffy. "What you see in Newark is gonna happen in other places across the country."
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement that Newark's most recent technical disruption on Sunday was the result of a "telecommunications issue" at Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) Area C facility, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark.
Air traffic control systems were also disrupted on Friday, with controllers at the same facility losing radar and radio contact for about 90 seconds.
At least five air traffic controllers at TRACON Area C are currently on 45 days of trauma leave after a similar incident on April 28 during a busy afternoon.
The air traffic control team at the facility lost contact with all planes while they were managing 15-20 flights. One air traffic controller at Newark toldNBC News after this incident that the airport is "not a safe situation right now for the flying public."
The disruption led to thousands of flight cancellations and delays—some longer than five hours—in and out of Newark, which serves more than 24 million travelers per year and is the nation's 12th busiest airport.
Duffy denied on Sunday that job cuts affecting about 400 staffers at the FAA—spearheaded by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, headed by billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk—had anything to do with the problems at Newark.
But representatives of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union, which represents about 11,000 employees who support air traffic controllers, warned earlier this year that layoffs would result in critical workers guiding planes in and out of airports with less support from the FAA.
The job cuts affected workers including administrative and logistics technicians, aeronautical information specialists, and maintenance mechanics.
The FAA has blamed many of the issues at Newark, where TRACON Area C has been affected by outages four times since November, on equipment failures and staffing shortages.
Duffy has called for air travel upgrades including investments in digital flight data management, improvements to radio systems, and extending the retirement age for air traffic controllers to 61, up from 56.
On CNN last week, Kaitlan Collins pointed out that Duffy, then a Republican member of the U.S. House, joined his party in voting against upgrades to air traffic control systems.
On Sunday, signs were already emerging that staffing and technical issues could be spreading to other airports with impacts on travel.
An equipment outage at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport—the busiest in the world—led to a ground stop for more than an hour, delaying 1,337 flights. FAA staffing shortages at a control tower in Austin, Texas also led to delays for 145 flights.
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DOGE Minion Accused of Self-Dealing by Participating in Attack on Consumer Watchdog Agency
"It's clear that the mission of Elon Musk and his DOGE crew has nothing to do with reducing 'waste, fraud, and abuse,' and everything to do with lining their own pockets at the expense of working people," said one advocate.
May 12, 2025
Several watchdog and advocacy groups are demanding the acting inspector general of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau investigate potential conflicts of interest between the Department of Government Efficiency employees who have been involved in mass layoff efforts at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with a focus on one DOGE aide in particular.
The groups behind the letter, which is dated May 8, include Accountable.US, Public Citizen, Project On Government Oversight, and others.
Twenty five-year-old software engineer Gavin Kliger was detailed to work at the the CFPB starting in March as part of DOGE operations to downsize the agency, according to ProPublica.
The investigative outlet reported that Kliger holds stock in companies "that could benefit from the agency's dismantling" but went on to help oversee mass layoffs at the CFPB, despite objections reportedly raised by ethics attorneys at the agency.
The CFPB, an agency created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to protect consumers from deceptive or unfair practices in the consumer financial space, bars employees from owning holdings in specific firms—a list that "is tailored to include only businesses that are subject to examination by the bureau." That list is in addition to ethics regulations in place at other financial regulatory agencies and those that apply to executive branch employees more generally.
In April, ProPublica reported that Kliger owns up to $365,000 worth of shares in Apple Inc., Tesla Inc. and two cryptocurrencies. Apple and Tesla are on the list of prohibited holdings. The two cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Solana, are not on that list but "are nevertheless barred under agency guidance on investing in cryptocurrency firms," according to ProPublica.
In May, the outlet reported that further review of his public financial report showed that Kliger has even more holdings in companies that are on that prohibited holdings list. "Kliger also disclosed owning as much as $350,000 worth of stock in Google parent Alphabet Inc., Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba," the reporting states.
Pointing to court records and government emails, ProPublica reported that Kliger was indeed involved in overseeing layoffs of more than 1,400 employees at the CFPB. A spokesperson for the White House repeatedly told ProPublica that Kliger "did not even manage" the layoffs, "making this entire narrative an outright lie."
Those layoffs are currently tied up in litigation.
Kliger departed the CFPB last week, according to Bloomberg Law.
"Americans expect that those who serve in office are looking out for the public interest, not their own bottom line," said Accountable.US executive director Tony Carrk in a statement on Monday. "Clearly, the Trump administration is more focused on self-enrichment schemes and making it easier for corporate special interests to take advantage of regular Americans than it is on bringing down skyrocketing costs. The CFPB inspector general must investigate this matter immediately."
Mike Pierce, executive director of another group behind the letter, the Student Borrower Protection Center, added that "it's clear that the mission of Elon Musk and his DOGE crew has nothing to do with reducing 'waste, fraud, and abuse,' and everything to do with lining their own pockets at the expense of working people."
In the letter, the groups point to ProPublica's reporting about Kliger's holdings, note that CFPB employees are barred from owning holdings in specific companies, and cite federal law that forbids executive branch employees from participating in matters affecting their own personal financial interests.
The letter also links to research from the Student Borrower Protection Center which explores how Musk could also benefit from a less powerful CFPB.
"We urge you to swiftly investigate these clear conflicts of interest violations of Trump administration officials acting in their own personal financial interest, and we look forward to your prompt response on this matter," concludes the letter.
According to Politico, which first reported on the letter, spokespeople with the Office of Personnel Management, CFPB, and DOGE did not respond to requests for comment.
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