SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
April, 06 2021, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Carley Towne
CODEPINK Co-Director
carley@codepink.org
CODEPINK Applauds 29 Members of Congress Calling on President Biden to Curtail the 1033 Program
CODEPINK applauds the letter led by Representative Hank Johnson and signed by 29 Members of Congress, sent to President Biden today calling on President Biden to use the power of the Executive Order to curtail the transfer of military weapons to local police forces.
The letter, supported by CODEPINK and 55 other civil society organizations, calls on the Biden Administration to "effectuate the revisions to the '1033 program'" found in H.R. 1694, the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2021, which Representative Hank Johnson introduced on March 9, 2021.
WASHINGTON
CODEPINK applauds the letter led by Representative Hank Johnson and signed by 29 Members of Congress, sent to President Biden today calling on President Biden to use the power of the Executive Order to curtail the transfer of military weapons to local police forces.
The letter, supported by CODEPINK and 55 other civil society organizations, calls on the Biden Administration to "effectuate the revisions to the '1033 program'" found in H.R. 1694, the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2021, which Representative Hank Johnson introduced on March 9, 2021.
The Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement language would preserve the important distinction between our military and our police by ending transfers of certain destructive and aggressive military equipment to local law enforcement. This text is the very same language included in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 and 2021, excepting a small technical change to conform to the codification of the FY21 NDAA.
Jodie Evans, Co-founder of CODPINK, said, "Curtailing the 1033 program is an important first step--but communities of color and working-class communities bear the brunt of police brutality in this country, which is why eliminating the 1033 program altogether is a racial justice issue."
The letter also recalls stark images of "local police in military formations, with military-style weaponry trained on citizens" during protests last summer, demonstrating "irrefutable proof of our police forces' increasing aggression and brutality." A recent study out from the Security Policy Reform Institute also shows that the flow of military equipment to police has accelerated under President Biden, further emphasizing the urgency of demilitarizing the police.
Carley Towne, co-Director of CODEPINK and coordinator of the Defund the Pentagon campaign, said, "This program is just one example of the many ways that our bloated Pentagon budget does nothing to create real safety and security in our society. It is absurd that the Pentagon has so much funding they can send their 'excess' weaponry to police departments around the country. We need to demilitarize our police and defund the Pentagon now."
You can find the full letter and list of signatories here.
CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs.
(818) 275-7232LATEST NEWS
Bernie Sanders Advises Graham Platner to 'Step Aside'
The senator said he spoke with the Democratic candidate "about the best path forward for Maine" and recommended that he leave the race.
Jul 07, 2026
US Sen. Bernie Sanders, among the earliest and most prominent congressional backers of Graham Platner's campaign to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins, has joined growing calls for the Maine Democrat to exit the race following sexual assault allegations.
"I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine," Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a Tuesday statement. "In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside."
95% of Americans Say Country Faces Cost-of-Living Crisis as Half Struggle to Afford Essentials
"Meanwhile, Trump wants to hike military spending to $1.5 trillion a year," said one observer.
Jul 07, 2026
Days after President Donald Trump made his latest dismissive remark about the cost of living and Americans' struggles to afford housing, new polling released Tuesday finds that nearly the entire voting public views the US as facing an affordability crisis and are increasingly pessimistic that the economy—and working people—will recover.
The Harris Poll, conducted on behalf of The Guardian newspaper, found that 57% of respondents believe the economy is still getting worse for Americans even after the US and Iran signed a peace deal last month to end the conflict started in February by the Trump administration and Israel—a war that sent oil prices soaring.
The average price of gas in the US is still $3.79 per gallon, despite the fact that Brent crude prices have fallen sharply.
Across party lines, about half of respondents said they are struggling to afford basic items like gas and groceries, and two-thirds of Americans, including nearly half of Republican voters, said they do not believe the Trump administration will improve the affordability crisis.
The poll was taken nearly a week after Trump, who ran on lowering costs for Americans, refused to sign affordable housing legislation, calling the bipartisan bill "a big yawn."
In May, as the administration was negotiating an end to the Iran War, Trump said that he did not “think about Americans’ financial situation,” even as the Middle East conflict he and Israel started hit family budgets hard.
A month earlier, he said the federal government "can’t take care of daycare" and healthcare programs for Americans, because it was focused on one thing and one thing only: "military protection."
According to the new survey, gas is at the top of the list of expenses that Americans are struggling to afford, with 52% saying they are having trouble keeping up with the cost. More than half of respondents also reported having trouble affording groceries, and 46% said they are struggling to make their loan payments and pay for utilities.
Trump ended the Biden administration's Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) program, terminating the income-based student loan repayment plan for millions of borrowers. A report by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee in March also found that the average utility bill was up by $110, or 6.4%, over last year, following the Republican Party's elimination of tax credits for solar and wind power and as Trump pushed for the unregulated expansion of energy-sucking artificial intelligence data centers, despite warnings that they would drive up household utility bills.
The president's tariffs and his refusal to take on corporate consolidation in the meatpacking industry have also contributed to high grocery prices, recent analyses have found.
The Harris Poll found that 57% of Americans believe the economy is steadily getting worse, compared with 46% who said so in February. Just 16% said the economy is getting stronger, and only 27% of Republicans said the same. In February, 49% of Republican voters reported a positive outlook on the economy.
The survey also found that 54% of respondents said neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party has a solution to the growing affordability crisis.
However, the poll was taken on the heels of several electoral victories by progressive and democratic socialist candidates who have centered the needs of working families, demanded that billionaires pay their fair share in taxes, and called for Medicare for All and universal childcare—programs that would be similar to ones that are commonplace in other wealthy countries.
In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has made strides toward a universal childcare program, a wealth tax, and a rent freeze for rent-stabilized housing units to address the economic inequality and cost-of-living crises.
On Monday, Trump claimed that "a social Democrat is a communist," in an apparent reference to democratic socialists like Mamdani and US House candidates Melat Kiros in Colorado's 1st District, Claire Valdez in New York's 7th District, and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York's 13th District.
"If you look at the people that are running, it's crazy what they're doing," said Trump. "But we'll never let that happen to this country... There's no appetite for it."
But in The New York Times on Tuesday, Lindsay Owens of the progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative suggested the recent elections prove there is, in fact, an "appetite" for candidates who recognize the affordability crisis, and prioritize solutions.
“The economic populist moment is here," she said.
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Unspeakable Horror' in Gaza Sends Democratic Voter Support for Israel Plummeting: Survey
Over half of Democratic voters in the US believe Israel is guilty of genocide in Gaza, and nearly 60% feel the American government is "too supportive" of its top ally in the Middle East.
Jul 07, 2026
A survey published Tuesday offered the latest evidence of US public opinion souring on Israel, with more than half of Democratic voters and a nearly third of all American adults saying they believe the 1,000-plus-day assault on Gaza amounts to genocide.
The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, conducted between June 11 and June 17 of this year, found that 52% of Democratic voters "say Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians." Thirty-one percent of all US adults—and 30% of Jewish adults—believe the Israeli military has committed genocide in Gaza, which has been obliterated with the help of American weaponry and diplomatic support from both a Democratic and Republican administration.
Harold Kalmus, a 69-year-old Democratic voter from Arden, Delaware who is Jewish, told The Associated Press that the Israeli military has inflicted "unspeakable horror" on the Gaza Strip, where Israel's massive bombing campaign and ground attacks have killed more than 70,000 people—including tens of thousands of children—since October 7, 2023.
"They’re trying to wipe out a civilization as far as I’m concerned,” said Kalmus.
The new survey found that nearly 60% of Democratic voters—including 51% of Jewish Democrats—now believe the US government is "too supportive" of Israel, up from 45% percent in a January 2024 AP-NORC poll.
AP described Americans' increasingly negative views of Israel as a "dramatic erosion of support for the longtime US ally, with rising opposition from Democrats and signs of division among Republicans."
"Younger Democrats—those 45 and younger—are still more likely than older ones to say that the United States is 'not supportive enough' of the Palestinians, but older Democrats are catching up to their younger counterparts," the outlet noted. "About 57% of older Democrats now say the US should do more for the Palestinians, up from 39% two years ago."
The findings came amid internal Democratic Party turmoil over a House amendment that aims to strike $3.3 billion in US military aid to Israel from annual defense policy legislation. Leading progressive lawmakers, including top members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, have spoken out in support of the amendment, with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) calling it "a no-brainer."
But top Democrats, including the ranking members of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees, have expressed opposition to the amendment, which stands little chance of passing the Republican-controlled House.
“I don’t want Israel to be without what they need,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said last week.
In the Senate, a small number of leading Democrats—including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)—joined Republicans in April to block resolutions aimed at preventing the Trump administration from transferring more bombs and bulldozers to the Israeli government.
A poll released last month found that 82% of Democratic voters in New York oppose US weapons transfers to Israel, leaving Schumer and Gillibrand far out of step with their constituents.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular