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
pramila jayapal
'The Current Tax Code Is Rigged,' Plus 6.2 Trillion Other Reasons to Tax America's Ultrarich
"My bill is about basic fairness and making the ultrawealthy pay their fair share," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren. "It's time for the government to stop listening to the richest of the rich and start working for working people."
Mar 26, 2026
Backed by dozens of lawmakers, advocacy organizations, and labor unions, a trio of congressional Democrats on Thursday reintroduced the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, which would generate an estimated $6.2 trillion in revenue over the next decade by imposing a wealth tax on US fortunes above $50 million.
As the lead sponsors, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), highlighted in a statement, that estimated revenue is "more than double the score of the bill when it was first introduced five years ago, and enough money to pay for investments like universal childcare, free community college, Medicare expansion, and more—without raising taxes on 99.85% of American households."
The reintroduction comes just months away from the midterm elections. Democrats are working to reclaim control of Congress from President Donald Trump's Republican Party, which last year used its slim majorities in both chambers to push through a budget package that gave more tax cuts to the rich while cutting social programs for working families.
"While multimillionaires and billionaires are getting richer and richer, families are getting squeezed by a rigged economy," said Warren. "My bill is about basic fairness and making the ultrawealthy pay their fair share. It's time for the government to stop listening to the richest of the rich and start working for working people."
Under the bill, the country's wealthiest 260,000 households would pay a 2% annual tax on fortunes valued at over $50 million and an additional 1% on the net worth of households and trusts above $1 billion. The legislation would also impose a 40% "exit tax" on ultrarich individuals who renounce their citizenship for evasion purposes and would give the Internal Revenue Service $100 million in new funding.
"As millions of families are struggling under the weight of inflation, tariffs, and rising gas prices, the richest billionaires continue to see their net worth grow. We live in the richest country in the world, but that wealth is incredibly concentrated in a tiny group of people. It's time to tax the rich and level the playing field to ensure that every American has a chance to succeed," said Jayapal.
"The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act is a major step toward making sure the wealthy finally pay their fair share," she continued. "With this legislation, we can narrow the racial wealth gap and invest trillions of dollars in healthcare, schools, clean energy, housing, and more to improve lives in communities across America."
At the beginning of 2026, an Institute for Policy Studies analysis found that the total wealth of US billionaires surged to $8.1 trillion last year—and the country's top 15 billionaires saw their collective fortune grow from $2.4 trillion to $3.2 trillion, more than double the S&P 500's 16% increase in 2025.
In the months since, even a columnist at the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal acknowledged that "billionaires' low taxes are becoming a problem for the economy," and Peter Mallouk, the CEO of wealth management firm Creative Planning, suggested that US wealth inequality "is 100% completely unsustainable as a society."
Boyle declared Thursday that "a secretary shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than the CEO. The current tax code is rigged against working people and the middle class. Our proposal finally changes this and makes billionaires pay their fair share."
Today, I'm introducing my wealth tax — and more than 50 members of Congress are joining me. It’s time for the government to start working for American families, not just the ultra-rich.
[image or embed]
— Elizabeth Warren (@warren.senate.gov) March 26, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Unions backing the bill include the American Federation of Government Employees; American Federation of Teachers; American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); Communications Workers of America; Service Employees International Union; and United Steelworkers.
"Anti-worker extremists in Congress and their billionaire backers are slashing safety net programs and rigging the tax code to make the ultrawealthy richer as working families are pushed closer to the brink," said AFSCME president Lee Saunders. "The working people who keep this country running shouldn't be the ones carrying a heavier tax burden than the richest 0.1%."
"It's past time billionaires paid their fair share, so we can invest in the public services that working people need—from childcare to healthcare to food support," he argued. "Congress must pass Sen. Warren and Rep. Jayapal's Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act now."
Other organizations behind the bill include Americans for Tax Fairness, Climate Hawks Vote, Groundwork Collaborative, Indivisible, MomsRising, Oxfam America, Patriotic Millionaires, People's Action Institute, Public Citizen, the Sunrise Movement, and more.
“The United States is capable of sustaining the rich, stable, and free economy and country the vast majority of Americans—regardless of political party—actually want. The only way to ensure we get there, though, is by building a tax system that puts a check on the extreme inequality that threatens our economy and our democracy," said Patriotic Millionaires chair Morris Pearl.
"Millionaires like me want less inequality because we and our families will be better off in a society with less economic disparity. And it's not because I'm good or altruistic. I am not any more altruistic than the next person, I'm just greedy for a different kind of country than some other rich people in America," he continued. "I'm willing to pay more in taxes if it means helping us become the kind of country I know we can be. The Patriotic Millionaires are proud to support the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, and we urge Congress to act quickly to make this law."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) introduced another bill to tax the rich—the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act—earlier this month, but neither proposal is likely to advance in the GOP-controlled Congress.
However, as historian Lawrence Wittner highlighted in a Thursday opinion piece for Common Dreams, "campaigns for state tax-the-rich legislation are flourishing in California, Colorado, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia, and have already succeeded in getting such legislation adopted in Massachusetts and Washington."
"Most Americans support proposals to raise taxes on the rich," he noted, citing a January poll that found 80% of Americans saw wealth inequality as a problem, 80% said the rich had too much political power, and 78% said taxes on billionaires were too low. Wittner concluded that "it's time to tax the rich."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Jayapal-Meeks Bill Would Block Trump From Using Federal Funds for Military Attack on Cuba
"Trump has started illegal regime change conflicts in Venezuela and Iran and is now threatening Cuba," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal. "We must pass this legislation to block him from acting on a whim."
Mar 26, 2026
Amid calls for Congress to "do something—before it is too late," a pair of US House Democrats on Thursday introduced the Prevent an Unconstitutional War in Cuba Act to block President Donald Trump from using any federal funds to take military action against the island nation without congressional authorization.
The proposal from Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, comes after Trump ramped up the United States' decades-long economic blockade, cutting off Cuba from Venezuelan oil. The fuel shortage has led to island-wide blackouts, and disrupted everything from healthcare to transportation. As Jayapal put it earlier this month, the "cruel and failing policy... has caused incredible harm to the Cuban people."
Trump has also repeatedly threatened a US takeover of Cuba. His other misadventures abroad—such as joining Israel in waging war on Iran without authorization from Congress, bombing boats allegedly being used to smuggle drugs in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, and abducting President Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela in an operation that killed dozens of Venezuelans and Cubans—have fueled fears that he may act on those threats, as Jayapal signaled in a Thursday statement.
“Trump has started illegal regime change conflicts in Venezuela and Iran and is now threatening Cuba. These military attacks put our troops in danger, endanger innocent civilians, waste billions of taxpayer dollars, and are not what the American people want," she said. "Trump promised to end forever wars—he lied. Congress alone has the power to declare war, something Trump clearly does not respect. He has no plan to improve conditions for the Cuban people or promote democracy, and we must pass this legislation to block him from acting on a whim."
The bill's prohibition on funding military action against Cuba does not apply to any use of force that is consistent with the section of the War Powers Act that empowers the president to respond to a "national emergency" created by an attack on the United States or its armed forces. In January, Trump notably signed an executive order declaring a national emergency with respect to Cuba and authorized new tariffs on imports from countries that supply oil to the island.
As with Iran pre-war, the Trump administration is currently engaged in negotiations with the Cuban government. Those talks are being led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a son of Cuban immigrants and longtime supporter of regime change in the country, who said earlier this month that "the embargo is tied to political change on the island... They're in a lot of trouble, and the people in charge, they don't know how to fix it, so they have to get new people in charge."
Predictions over whether Trump will actually bomb or invade Cuba, which is located just 90 miles south of Florida, remain mixed.
"I think once Donald Trump gets an economic agreement that opens the island to US business, he will have fulfilled his transactional aims in Cuba. I don't think he cares about political transition. He doesn't seem to care about it in Venezuela," American University professor and Back Channel to Cuba coauthor William LeoGrande told USA Today this week. "And so, I think once there's an economic agreement that's to the advantage of the United States and US businesses, the president will move on to the next thing."
Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan Robinson, who's reported on the Nuestra América Convoy from Havana this week, declared on Wednesday that "they WILL run the Venezuela playbook on Cuba."
"They want a Republican donor imperial viceroy who will privatize the Cuban healthcare and school systems, and hand all the waterfront property to developers, with the Cuban people serving as cheap labor building a playground for Miami's rich," said Robinson.
Meeks—who is facing pressure to force a vote on his Iran war powers resolution—said Thursday that "Cuba is not for Donald Trump to take, and today we stand firm against the illegal use of the US military to pursue turning Cuba into another playground for Trump's chaotic adventurism."
"Such a reckless course would risk American lives, cost taxpayers billions, and, in all likelihood, leave the underlying political and economic conditions unchanged," he said. "The United States cannot bomb Cuba out of economic collapse or political repression—lasting change must come through empowering the Cuban people, not doubling down on a failed approach that disproportionately harms them."
The new bill is backed by Democratic Reps. Gabe Amo (RI), Joaquin Castro (Texas), Sara Jacobs (Calif.), Jesús "Chuy" García (Ill.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (Calif.), Jim McGovern (Mass.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Melanie Stansbury (NM), Dina Titus (Nev.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), and Nydia Velázquez (NY). However, like legislation aimed at stopping Trump's boat strikes, aggression toward Venezuela, and war on Iran, it is unlikely to be passed by the GOP-controlled Congress.
Still, earlier this week, Velázquez also introduced a war powers resolution to prevent US involvement in military hostilities against the island. She said in a statement that "Donald Trump's belligerent foreign policy is creating new wars and conflicts across the world."
"This administration's foreign policy is totally out of control and is putting countless American and foreign lives at risk," Velázquez warned. "Trump's military blockade, his threats, and his track record this term show that Congress must reassert its constitutional authority and stop another disastrous war before it's too late."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Johnson Delays FISA Vote Amid Bipartisan Push for 'Major, Necessary' Privacy Reforms
"Republicans, Democrats, and independents all overwhelmingly want Congress to take serious action to protect privacy—in particular against AI and data brokers," said one campaigner.
Mar 20, 2026
With just a month until a key Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act spying power expires, US House Speaker Mike Johnson was planning to try to push through reauthorization legislation next week, but the Louisiana Republican leader is now reportedly delaying the vote while "still dealing with a dozen or so Republican members who want reforms."
Privacy advocates and lawmakers across the political spectrum have long called for reforms to FISA's Section 702, which empowers the US government to surveil electronic communications of noncitizens located outside the United States to acquire foreign intelligence information, without a warrant.
Citing three unnamed sources familiar with discussions in the House of Representatives, Politico reported Friday that "with a GOP hard-liner revolt over warrantless surveillance threatening to tank the legislation," Johnson "will instead work through the remaining issues over the upcoming two-week recess and try to put the extension on the floor the week of April 14."
Welcoming the development, Demand Progress executive director Sean Vitka said in a statement that "Speaker Johnson is backing away from his plan to ram through a FISA reauthorization vote next week because he knows his members don't want it and the American people don't want it."
"Republicans, Democrats, and independents all overwhelmingly want Congress to take serious action to protect privacy—in particular against AI and data brokers—and oppose any efforts to rubber-stamp the government's warrantless mass surveillance powers as is," Vitka continued.
"Before any vote on reauthorizing FISA," he added, "Congress must first enact real protections for Americans' privacy, in particular by closing the data broker loophole to prevent the government from circumventing the courts and independent oversight through the purchase of Americans' private location, web browsing, and other sensitive information."
Various bills, including the bipartisan Security and Freedom Enhancement (SAFE) Act introduced last month by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), would close the loophole that agencies use to buy their way around the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, which is supposed to protect Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Demand Progress has endorsed that bill, and on Thursday partnered with the Project On Government Oversight and over 130 other artificial intelligence and civil rights groups for a letter urging Republican and Democratic congressional leaders to impose "much-needed privacy protections against government agencies' warrantless mass surveillance of people in the United States."
President Donald Trump and his pro-spying deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, have fought for a "clean" reauthorization, but the GOP has slim majorities in both chambers of Congress. In the House, Johnson can only afford to lose two votes, and in the Senate, most bills require at least some Democratic support to get to the president's desk.
The conduct of Trump's second administration has fueled calls for reform. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a Thursday statement that "as the Trump administration continues to run roughshod over our Constitution, we cannot continue to give them a further opening to sacrifice our civil liberties in the name of national security. We cannot give Stephen Miller a blank check to conduct domestic surveillance in violation of the Fourth Amendment."
"I have been working on essential reforms to FISA across administrations, and I have not wavered—whether it is a Democratic or Republican president," she noted. "This has always been a bipartisan issue for good reason. Americans across political parties care deeply about privacy and not being surveilled. Congress has a duty to protect those fundamental constitutional liberties. Any attempt to push forward a 'clean' reauthorization of Section 702 will put our private, sensitive data at risk."
Jayapal stressed that "this Trump administration has been particularly brazen in its use of domestic surveillance to suppress our constitutional rights and dissent. In just the last six weeks, the administration has blacklisted Anthropic for refusing to stand down on its requirement that its technology not be used for the mass surveillance of Americans, and we learned that the Department of Justice surveilled me—and likely many other members—while reviewing the Epstein files, seeking justice for survivors."
"In Minnesota, federal immigration agents have surveilled and intimidated US citizens exercising their First Amendment rights to document agents' unlawful actions," the congresswoman noted. "It is time to reform FISA, ensure our Fourth Amendment protections are guaranteed, and stop the government surveillance of Americans."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular