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jim mcgovern
'They Don't Seem to Give a Shit': Trump and GOP Push Food Aid Cuts as Iran War Costs Soar
"It’s disgusting," said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. "We ought to be able to end hunger in this country. It's a political condition. We have the money."
Apr 22, 2026
Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern on Wednesday said it is "disgusting" that President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are pursuing more cuts to federal nutrition assistance for low-income Americans while simultaneously backing a war of choice in Iran that has cost US taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.
"We have 46 million people in this country who are hungry, and they don’t seem to give a shit," McGovern (Mass.) told reporters, warning that Republicans are bent on enacting additional cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in their forthcoming budget reconciliation package. "We ought to be able to end hunger in this country. It’s a political condition. We have the money."
McGovern: SNAP provides about $2 per person per meal. We’re told there are more cuts to SNAP coming in reconciliation. We have 46 million people in this country who are hungry, and they don’t seem to give a shit, and it’s disgusting.
We ought to be able to end hunger in this… pic.twitter.com/Aq1o8L0ZQa
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 22, 2026
McGovern noted that the Trump administration has "spent $60 billion on the war in Iran"—a rough estimate based on analyses indicating that the US is spending around $1 billion per day on the conflict. The Trump administration is also pushing Congress to approve up to $100 billion in new funding for the Iran war.
More broadly, Trump has requested that lawmakers pass a $1.5 trillion military budget for the coming fiscal year—a nearly 50% increase compared to current levels—while pushing for more cuts to healthcare, housing, nutrition, and education programs.
Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, are demanding additional food aid cuts as part of the annual appropriations process, as the unprecedented $200 billion in SNAP cuts they enacted last summer continue to wreak havoc nationwide.
On Wednesday, the GOP-controlled House Appropriations Committee released its funding bill for the Agriculture Department and other agencies. The proposal would significantly underfund the Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program (WIC), taking food benefits from around 5.4 million toddlers, preschoolers, and pregnant and postpartum WIC participants, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said the Republican funding bill "cuts grocery vouchers specifically for women, infants, and children" and "pares back assistance for rural communities, slashing water and waste grants and cutting resources to help provide broadband service in rural areas."
"Republicans are willing to increase funding by hundreds of billions of dollars to fight foreign wars," said DeLauro. "But when it comes to supporting American farmers and hungry families, all they can do is cut, cut, cut. The American people deserve better."
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House Republicans Defeat Another Venezuela War Powers Resolution by 'Tightest Margin'
"The maniac in the White House does not have the authority to bomb and invade anywhere he wants across the globe," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib. "Congress must put an end to this."
Jan 22, 2026
The latest in a series of congressional efforts to rein in President Donald Trump's military aggression against Venezuela failed Thursday as Republican lawmakers again defeated a war powers resolution by the tightest possible margin.
House lawmakers voted 215-215 on H.Con.Res.68—introduced last month by Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.)—which "directs the president to remove US armed forces from Venezuela unless a declaration of war or authorization to use military force for such purpose has been enacted."
Unlike in the Senate, where the vice president casts tie-breaking votes, a deadlock in the House means the legislation does not pass.
Every House Democrat and two Republicans—Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Thomas Massie of Kentucky—voted in favor of the measure. Every other Republican voted against it. Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) did not vote.
The House vote came a week after Vice President JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote was needed to overcome a 50-50 deadlock on a similar resolution introduced last month by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
The War Powers Resolution of 1973—also known as the War Powers Act—was enacted during the Nixon administration toward the end of the US war on Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The law empowers Congress to check the president’s war-making authority by requiring the president to report any military action to Congress within 48 hours. It also mandates that lawmakers approve any troop deployments lasting longer than 60 days.
Thursday's vote followed this month's US bombing and invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping of its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife on dubious "narco-terrorism" and drug trafficking allegations. Trump has also imposed an oil blockade on the South American nation, seizing seven tankers. Since September, the US has also been bombing boats accused of transporting drugs in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
"If the president is contemplating further military action, then he has a moral and constitutional obligation to come here and get our approval," McGovern said following the vote.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (D-NY) lamented the resolution's failure, saying, "The American people want us to lower their cost of living, not enable war."
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said on Bluesky: "Only Congress has the authority to declare war. Today, I voted for a war powers resolution to ensure Trump cannot send OUR armed forces to Venezuela without explicit authorization from Congress."
Cavan Kharrazian, senior policy adviser at the advocacy group Demand Progress, also decried the resolution's failure.
“We are deeply disappointed that the House did not pass this war powers resolution, though it's notable that it failed only due to a tie," he said.
"As with the recent Senate vote, the administration expended extraordinary energy pressuring Republicans to block this resolution," Kharrazian added. "That effort speaks for itself: With the American people tired of endless war, the administration knows that a Congress willing to enforce the law can meaningfully curtail illegal and escalatory military action. We urge members of Congress to continue fully exercising their constitutional authority over matters of war.”
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Congressmen Unveil Bipartisan War Powers Resolution to Block Trump War on Venezuela
"No conflict for oil, no armed intervention, no war with Venezuela!" said Rep. Jim McGovern.
Dec 03, 2025
As President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth face mounting fury over their deadly boat bombings and threats against Venezuela, a trio of US lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a bipartisan war powers resolution aimed at blocking any attacks on the South American country not authorized by Congress.
"Donald Trump claimed he would put America first—instead, he's trying to drag us into an illegal war in Venezuela," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), ranking member of the House Rules Committee and co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, in a statement. "Whatever this is about, it has nothing to do with stopping drugs."
"Trump just pardoned the former president of Honduras, who was convicted of sending cocaine to the US. And... he pardoned a guy who brought fentanyl in from China via the dark web," he highlighted. "To me, this appears to be all about creating a pretext for regime change. And I believe Congress has a duty to step in and assert our constitutional authority. No more illegal boat strikes, and no unauthorized war in Venezuela."
So far, congressional efforts to prevent Trump from waging war on Venezuela and continuing to blow up boats the administration claims are running drugs in the Caribbean and Pacific—the US military has attacked 22 vessels and killed at least 83 people—have not been successful.
On Tuesday, while answering questions about reporting that the first vessel attack on September 2 involved a double-tap strike that killed survivors, the president signaled he will soon pursue long-threatened attacks on Venezuelan soil.
"We're going to start doing those strikes on land too," Trump said. "The land is much easier" than bombing boats, "and we know the routes they take," he continued, referring to alleged drug traffickers.
Meanwhile, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), a co-sponsor of the new resolution and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, said that "President Trump has undermined our alliances in the Western Hemisphere, openly interfered in elections, conducted illegal strikes on boats in the Caribbean, and threatened foreign military intervention."
"He has put our country at the brink of a war with Venezuela without a debate or vote in the Congress," Castro said of Trump. "This resolution will ensure that every member of the House is on the record about sending service members to a war that Americans do not want."
Castro and McGovern are spearheading the new push with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who previously joined with Democrats to force the House's November vote on releasing federal files related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Trump's former friend. The bill is also backed by three California Democrats: Reps. Sara Jacobs, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, and Ro Khanna.
"The Constitution does not permit the executive branch to unilaterally commit an act of war against a sovereign nation that hasn't attacked the United States," Massie stressed. "Congress has the sole power to declare war against Venezuela. Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution."
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Urgent Appeal to Rep. McGovern: Stop the US-Israeli Starvation of Gaza
Are we expected to observe this genocide through starvation being conducted with our tax dollars, with our own government's full partnership, before our eyes, minute-to-minute, and do nothing?
Jul 23, 2025
On July 21, I and other constituents of Democratic U.S. Rep. James McGovern of Massachusetts who are active with three community organizations—River Valley for Palestine, Demilitarize Western Mass., and Leahy Fast for Palestine—sent an emergency email regarding the engineered starvation in Gaza to two staff members responsible for foreign policy issues in Mr. McGovern's Washington D.C. office. The full text of the letter is provided below. We received a response that did little more than list a few of Mr. McGovern's votes. It was Capitol Hill boilerplate.
Congress is due to begin its "summer recess" on July 25, though House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) may begin the break early to spare U.S. President Donald Trump further embarrassment regarding his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and fellow pedophiles. As Gaza enters what experts call the "Fifth Phase" (most acute and deadly) of the deliberate Israeli-U.S. designed starvation, and people collapse in the streets, members of Congress will hit U.S. beaches, campgrounds, and cookouts.
We urge all Common Dreams readers to immediately contact their members of Congress to demand that Congress remain in session throughout the summer and reverse all U.S. policies supporting Israel. (On July 18, Rep. McGovern voted AGAINST an amendment that would have prevented the provision of $500 million in weapons to Israel. This vote makes our member of Congress complicit in genocide.)
Open Letter to Staffers of U.S. Congressman James McGovern, 7/21/25:
Dear ---,
We are writing to you, with utmost urgency, as constituents of Rep. McGovern and as members of Northampton-based organizations: River Valley for Palestine, Demilitarize Western Mass., and Leahy Fast for Palestine. Mr. McGovern knows some of us on a first-name basis. Since October 7, 2023, we have been in steady contact with him and with [former senior staffer] regarding the genocide in Gaza.
We understand that [former senior staffer] has moved on, and that you are assuming her responsibilities covering foreign policy for the congressman. We wish you the very best and look forward to building a relationship with you.
In another email, we would like to address a number of issues about Israel-Palestine and provide some background about our efforts in communicating with Representative McGovern. But in this message, we are operating under an urgent need to get to the immediate point of the matter: Israel's deliberate, systematic policy of starvation of the entire 2-million-plus population of the Gaza Strip and U.S. collaboration in this horrific criminal enterprise.
We need Mr. McGovern to use his "bully pulpit" NOW, in 2025 and to bring equal passion and visibility to the desperate needs of the people of Gaza.
We're sure you're aware that the complete blockade of all goods and services entering the Gaza Strip has been enforced by the U.S.-supported Israel Defense Forces since March 2 of this year; that the population of Gaza had already been worn down by over a year and a half of partial blockade, heavy bombardment, etc, as well as years of blockade, deprivation, and warfare before that; that the U.S.-Israeli "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" is a "mousetrap" whereby more than 1,000 Gazans have been gunned down and over 7,000 wounded in attempting to receive food aid at a few militarized sites in the far southwest corner of the territory; that United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which had operated over 400 food-aid sites throughout the Gaza Strip, has been prohibited from operating for a long period of time; that nearly all food markets and community kitchens are now closed due to lack of food; that Israel and the U.S. have deliberately created a situation in which there are violent gangs, a black market, and astronomically high prices for the few available goods; that there is no fuel to run water desalination plants or for other critical needs; and that Israeli-U.S. policy has systematically and by design destroyed Gaza's healthcare system.
The resultant situation is predictable, indeed, planned: People are now dying in the streets, too weak to rise to their feet. As Alex de Waal, international famine expert, said on Democracy Now's program July 21, "There is no case since World War II of starvation that has been so minutely designed and controlled." United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Michael Fakhri said in March of 2024 that in his expert opinion, "Israel's starvation of Gaza is genocide."
Are we expected to observe this genocide through starvation being conducted with our tax dollars, with our own government's full partnership, before our eyes, minute-to-minute, and do nothing?
Congressman McGovern is the founder and cochair of the House Hunger Caucus. He is cochair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. We know of the congressman's commendable actions during the Darfur genocide when he was arrested three times protesting the crimes against humanity in western Sudan. We need Mr. McGovern to use his "bully pulpit" NOW, in 2025 and to bring equal passion and visibility to the desperate needs of the people of Gaza.
We ask that you convey to Congressman McGovern our immediate and urgent request that he speak on the House floor TOMORROW, in his capacities as cochair of the Hunger Caucus and Tom Lantos Commission, and demand: 1) that the U.S. government inform Israel that the blockade must end immediately; 2) that Gaza's borders and coastline must be opened immediately; 3) that all of the aid sitting at Gaza's borders must be allowed in immediately—UNDER UNRWA SUPERVISION AND AUSPICES; and 4) that the U.S. take the lead in shipping, via U.S. military cargo aircraft and naval vessels, food and other humanitarian provisions to the people of Gaza on an ongoing basis.
Vis-à-vis No. 4 above: To be clear—we are not asking Congressman McGovern to call for airdrops of food or humanitarian supplies by the U.S. or any country into Gaza. This is NOT the correct approach. The correct approach is permanently opening the borders of Gaza, allowing aid to enter via trucks. Aid should also be delivered via U.S. and E.U. navies at the Gaza coastline. All aid deliveries must be overseen by UNRWA, as previously.
Beyond this speech from the floor of the House, we ask that Congressman McGovern work assiduously and daily to use his public microphone, private powers of persuasion, and media contacts to get other members of Congress to join him in these demands, including exercising his right to employ nonviolent civil disobedience for the people of Gaza, as he so admirably did on behalf of the people of Darfur on three separate occasions in 2006, 2009, and 2012.
A final note: On July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice issued a groundbreaking Advisory Opinion about Israel's illegal occupation of Gaza and all the Occupied Territories, and pointed out the legal jeopardy of governments, private organizations, and individuals in supporting Israel's actions or failing to take immediate steps to stop them, since they are in flagrant contravention of many international laws and norms. As you know, the U.S. is breaking many domestic laws in supporting Israel's genocide as well.
We would appreciate hearing from you on an emergency basis. Thank you.
Sincerely,
River Valley for Palestine
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House GOP Has 'Shut Down Congress' to Avoid Voting on Epstein Files
"Who's he gonna pick?" Republican Thomas Massie asked of Speaker Mike Johnson. "Is he going to stand with the pedophiles and underage sex traffickers? Or is he gonna pick the American people and justice for the victims?"
Jul 22, 2025
Republicans on the House Rules Committee have ground business in the chamber to a halt to avoid having to vote on Democratic amendments calling for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
For weeks now, Republicans in Congress, facing pressure from the White House, have dodged efforts to force the release of the files, which may implicate U.S. President Donald Trump in crimes committed by the convicted sex criminal.
According to Axios, the House had been scheduled to vote on GOP legislation involving immigration and environmental legislation this week. But in order for these votes to reach the floor, they'd first need to pass through the Speaker-controlled Rules Committee, which has also been presented with multiple Epstein amendments.
Republicans on House Rules "don't want to vote no because they're then accused of helping hide the truth about Epstein," Punchbowl News reported Tuesday morning. So instead, they've chosen to simply stop work for the week to avoid having to vote at all.
This has essentially ground all business in the House to a halt, potentially until after Congress gets back from its August recess.
On Monday, the ranking Democrat on the Rules Committee, Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), told Politico reporter Mia Camille, "We're done in [the] Rules Committee until September."
"The Rules Committee decides what gets voted on in the House. It's where Republicans have already voted six times against forcing the release of the Epstein files," said Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.). "They'd rather shut down Congress than vote to release the files. What are they hiding?"
The Epstein cloud has only grown thicker over the White House over the past week after The Wall Street Journal reported that in 2003, Trump gave Epstein a salacious letter for his 50th birthday containing talk of a "secret" between the two men and a drawing of a nude woman. Trump has sued The Journal, calling the letter "a fake thing."
The New York Times later reported that a decade earlier, Trump hosted a party full of young women where Epstein was the only other guest.
Amid the drip of scandal, the White House has remained dismissive of calls, including from the president's own supporters, for the Department of Justice to release all its files related to Epstein.
Not long ago, officials in his administration made promises to release the files themselves, assuring damning revelations. But now, Trump describes the files as a "hoax" by the "radical left." Of the Trump-faithful who have called for their release, he said, "I don't want their support anymore!"
Late last week, Trump called for the DOJ to release grand jury transcripts pertaining to the investigation. But many other critical pieces of information, including ones that could implicate the president, would remain hidden.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has closely coordinated the House GOP's response to the Epstein fiasco with the White House, saying repeatedly that there is "no daylight" between his position and that of the administration.
Johnson last week introduced a non-binding resolution to provide the public with "certain" Epstein-related documents, but it had no legal weight, allowing the White House to have total control over the information they disclosed. But even that resolution, Johnson said, would not be brought forth for a vote until after the August recess.
This has provoked the ire of a fellow Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who—along with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna (Calif.)—drafted a discharge petition last week in an attempt to force a vote on the Epstein files onto the House floor.
"I think this is the referendum on [Johnson's] leadership," Massie said. "Who's he gonna pick? Is he going to stand with the pedophiles and underage sex traffickers? Or is he gonna pick the American people and justice for the victims?"
Last week, a CNN/SSRS poll found that just 3% of Americans were satisfied with the amount of information the government had released about the Epstein files, while more than half said they were dissatisfied.
"This is the ultimate decision the speaker needs to make. And it's irrespective of what the president wants," Massie said.
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'What Don't They Want You to Know?' GOP Sets 1 AM Hearing to Advance Disastrous Medicaid Cuts
"They have such contempt for the American people," said Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern.
May 20, 2025
House Republicans are set to take the next step toward passage of their sprawling reconciliation bill at a Wednesday hearing scheduled to begin while most Americans are fast asleep.
The GOP-controlled House Rules Committee will convene at 1 am ET Wednesday morning to consider the legislation and recent changes pushed by Republican hardliners, who are demanding even more aggressive cuts to Medicaid and green energy programs.
Specifically, a faction of far-right Republicans led by Rep. Chip Roy of Texas wants the bill's proposed work requirements for Medicaid recipients to take effect earlier than the originally proposed 2029 start date. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Tuesday that Republicans had settled on "early 2027" as a new start date.
While the House Rules Committee has not responded to reporters' questions about the timing of Wednesday's hearing, critics said it appears to be an attempt to avoid the kinds of protests and public scrutiny that daytime meetings have attracted.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the rules panel, blasted his Republican colleagues over the dead-of-night hearing time, writing on social media that "they have such contempt for the American people."
"If Donald Trump's big beautiful tax break for billionaires is so great... why not pass it in primetime?" McGovern asked. "Why jam it through in the middle of the night? What don't they want you to know?"
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) added that "if you think you are doing what is right for the American people, you don't consider it in the dead of night."
"This bill doesn't just cut Medicaid, it guts Medicaid, and it will cause millions of eligible people in House districts across the country to lose access to the Medicaid benefits they need."
The GOP reconciliation package, a centerpiece of President Donald Trump's legislative agenda, would slash Medicaid and federal nutrition assistance by more than a trillion dollars combined over the next decade—cuts that would help offset the cost of massive tax breaks for rich Americans.
The spending cuts, which would be achieved in part through draconian and ineffective work requirements, would strip healthcare coverage and food aid from millions of Americans and potentially devastate rural hospitals, farmers, and local economies.
"Instead of listening to the millions of Americans clogging their phone lines and showing up at townhalls, or even those in their own party warning against severe cuts to Medicaid, House Republicans are making bigger cuts and terminating people's healthcare coverage even faster," said Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA.
"This bill doesn't just cut Medicaid, it guts Medicaid, and it will cause millions of eligible people in House districts across the country to lose access to the Medicaid benefits they need," Wright said. "When will we hear from those members?"
Later Wednesday morning, Medicaid recipients from across the country—including districts represented by House Republicans—are set to gather on Capitol Hill to protest the GOP legislation.
"Upon arrival on May 21, they will hold a press conference, demand face-to-face meetings, deliver petitions signed by thousands of constituents urging GOP decisionmakers to change course, and take direct action in order to be heard," the People's Action Institute and Popular Democracy said Tuesday.
"The plan to eviscerate Medicaid and other programs in order to siphon public dollars into the pockets of billionaires who already pay less in taxes than working families is universally unpopular," they added.
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Lawyers for Jailed Palestine Defender Mohsen Mahdawi Demand His Release
One attorney said that the former Columbia University organizer "sits in a jail cell because of his lawful speech," while another reminded supporters that Mahdawi "has not been charged with any crime."
Apr 23, 2025
Attorneys for Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student organizer at Columbia University and permanent U.S. resident caught up in the Trump administration's crusade against Palestine defenders, argued in federal court Wednesday that their client was illegally arrested and detained for his constitutionally protected speech and should be immediately freed.
In what Mahdawi's legal team hailed as a "victory," U.S. District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford extended a temporary restraining order issued last week by Judge William Sessions III to prevent federal officials from transferring Mahdawi from Vermont, where he is being held at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans. Crawford also scheduled a new hearing for Mahdawi on April 30.
Addressing the nearly 100 letters submitted in support of Mahdawi, Crawford said that "no one has ever provided anything like that before," adding, "These were quite striking in geographic and philosophical breadth, including many members of the Jewish community."
Mahdawi, who is 34 years old and has been a green-card holder for a decade, was arrested on April 14 by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during an appointment for his citizenship test in Colchester, Vermont. He was steps away from naturalization; instead, federal agents attempted to force Mahdawi onto a plane bound for Louisiana, where other Palestine defenders are being held pending deportation proceedings.
Mahdawi's lawyers are seeking his immediate release.
"We ask this court to suspend this unlawful retaliation and slow the grave threat to free speech posed by his continued detainment by releasing Mr. Mahdawi on bail," his legal team said in a filing.
Luna Droubi, an attorney on the team, said after the hearing that "Mohsen Mahdawi sits in a jail cell because of his lawful speech."
"What the government provided thus far only establishes that the only basis they have to currently detaining him in the manner they did is his lawful speech," Droubi added. "We intend on being back in one week's time to free Mohsen."
"What the government provided thus far only establishes that the only basis they have to currently detaining him in the manner they did is his lawful speech."
Like the numerous other pro-Palestine activists arrested—critics say kidnapped—and detained by the Trump administration, the government concedes that Mahdawi committed no crime. However, under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, the secretary of state can expel noncitizens whose presence in the United States is deemed detrimental to foreign policy interests.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that Mahdawi should be deported because letting him remain in the country "would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest."
Trump administration officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio have cited President Donald Trump's executive order ostensibly aimed at combating antisemitism and his edict authorizing the deportation of noncitizen students and others who took part in protests against Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza as justification for Mahdawi's arrest and detention.
However, Mahdawi has repeatedly condemned anti-Jewish hatred, including during a 2023 interview on CBS News' "60 Minutes" in which he asserted that "the fight for freedom of Palestine and the fight against antisemitism go hand in hand because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
VTDigger reported that hundreds of people gathered outside the Burlington, Vermont courthouse Wednesday to show support for Mahdawi and demand his release. Nora Rubinstein of Middletown Springs, Vermont said she was rallying in defense of "democracy and freedom" and to help the U.S. "return to the democratic principles this country was founded on."
"It's time to end the shredding of our democracy, the shredding of our Constitution," Rubinstein added.
On Monday, Mahdawi told U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who visited him behind bars, that "I wanted to become a citizen of this country because I believe in the principles of this country."
"The most important rights [are in] the Bill of Rights, which includes free speech on the top of these rights, freedom of assembly, freedom of press, freedom of having religion or not having religion at all," he added.
As Welch visited Mahdawi, Columbia University students, faculty, and alumni once again chained themselves to a fence to protest his detention and demand the release of not only Mahdawi but also of fellow Columbia activists and permanent U.S. residents Mahmoud Khalil and Yunseo Chung, as well as other student Palestine defenders including Rümeysa Öztürk, Badar Khan Suri, and others.
On Tuesday, a delegation of Massachusetts Democrats—U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and Reps. Jim McGovern and Ayanna Pressley—visited Khalil and Öztürk at the Louisiana ICE detention facility where they are being held. Markey accused the Trump administration of jailing the activists in Louisiana in a bid to have "the single most conservative circuit court of appeals in the United States of America" hear the case.
Mahdawi's lawyers said they believe their client will soon be free.
"We are very hopeful that he will be released," attorney Cyrus Mehta told supporters and media gathered outside the Burlington courthouse on Wednesday. "The judge wants to move quickly, and he realizes that this is a case of great importance for this country."
"What we're seeing here is unprecedented where they are so hell-bent on detaining students," Mehta added. "These are not hardened criminals. These are people who have not been charged with any crime, they have also not been charged under any of the other deportation provisions of the immigration act."
One of the attorneys read the crowd a statement from Mahdawi in which he said that "this hearing is part of the system of democracy" that "prevents a tyrant from having unchecked power."
"I am in prison," he added, "but I am not imprisoned."
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'Hidden From the American People,' GOP Moves to Give Trump Unchecked Trade War Powers
"They slipped in a little clause letting them escape ever having to debate or vote on Trump's tariffs," said one Democratic critic. "Isn't that clever?"
Mar 11, 2025
Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday snuck language into a rule on the GOP's stopgap funding bill that a pair of Democratic lawmakers warned would "effectively surrender congressional power over raising taxes and tariffs on the American people" to President Donald Trump as he escalates his trade war against the world.
The Republican move would prevent any Democratic vote to challenge the "national emergency" being invoked by Trump to levy sweeping tariffs on countries including Canada, China, and Mexico—and, according to remarks by the president during his joint address to Congress earlier this month, any nation that does not lower barriers to trade with the United States by April 2.
Trump has used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to slap tariffs on Canadian, Chinese, and Mexican exports—although some products have been granted exemptions. The 1977 law empowers the president to control international transactions by declaring a national emergency. However, the measure has never been invoked in order to impose tariffs.
While House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and some of his GOP colleagues said Tuesday that they believe they can push through the six-month funding measure that would avert a government shutdown, Democratic lawmakers condemned the Republicans' process, in which they say they were not included.
"Guess what [Republicans] tucked into this rule, hoping that nobody would notice?" Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the House Rules Committee, said on the lower chamber's floor on Tuesday. "They slipped in a little clause letting them escape ever having to debate or vote on Trump's tariffs. Isn't that clever?"
McGovern: Guess what they tucked into this rule, hoping that nobody would notice? They did this after everyone went home. They slipped in a little clause
letting them escape from ever having to debate or vote on trump's tariffs. pic.twitter.com/qza0T1UdyT
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 11, 2025
Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), both members of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, said in a joint statement Tuesday that "every House Republican who votes for this measure is voting to give Trump expanded powers to raise taxes on American households through tariffs with full knowledge of how he is using those powers, and every Republican will own the economic consequences of that vote."
"It speaks volumes that Republicans are sneaking this provision into a procedural measure hidden from the American people," added Beyer and DelBene, who together previously introduced the Prevent Tariff Abuse Act and the Congressional Trade Authority Act in a bid "to rein in Trump's abuses of tariff powers."
The lawmakers continued:
Today, Trump is further endangering the U.S. economy and hiking prices on the American people by increasing his destructive and pointless tariffs on Canada. There can be no doubt about how he will use the power Republicans are about to give him, and about the disastrous economic effects we have already seen from Trump's tariffs. While he babbles about making Canada the 51st state, your groceries and housing are getting more expensive and your retirement accounts are getting crushed—and House Republicans are supporting him every step of the way.
"The Constitution delegates authority setting tariffs, which are taxes, to Congress, and Congress retains the power to stop Trump from wrecking our economy," Beyer and DelBene added. "Yet House Republicans are choosing to surrender the power of their own votes to a reckless president, putting politics over the country and their constituents. We will continue urging our colleagues to come to their senses and save our economy from Trump's tariff chaos."
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'The American People Did Not Vote for Whatever the Hell This Is,' Warns House Democrat
Rep. Jim McGovern said the House GOP's rules package offers "the clearest window yet into their agenda for the next two years."
Jan 02, 2025
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern said Wednesday that the House GOP's newly released rules package for the incoming Congress shows that Republicans are "doubling down on their extremism" by moving to further diminish the power of the minority party and paving the way for a legislative agenda that rewards billionaires and large corporations.
McGovern (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, said in a statement that the GOP's proposed changes "would, for the first time in American history, shield the speaker from accountability to the entire chamber by making it so that only Republicans can move to oust the speaker."
The provision in question states that a resolution to vacate the House speakership "shall not be privileged except if it is offered by a member of the majority party and has accumulated eight cosponsors from the majority party at the time it is offered." Axios noted that "for most of U.S. history, any singular House member in either party has been able to introduce a motion to vacate."
The new GOP rules package for the 119th Congress would also set the stage for fast-tracked consideration of a dozen Republican bills, including a measure to sanction the International Criminal Court and prohibit any moratorium on fracking.
Under the proposed rules, neither party would be allowed to offer amendments to the 12 bills.
In his statement Wednesday, McGovern said that the Republican bills offer "the clearest window yet into their agenda for the next two years."
"Here's what I see: Nothing to help workers. Nothing to bring down grocery prices. Nothing to lower rent or make housing more affordable. Silent on inflation and healthcare costs. Next to nothing on jobs and the economy," said McGovern. "Instead, I have no doubt they'll find time to pass tax breaks for billionaires and massive corporations at the expense of everyday Americans."
The Washington Post reported Thursday that Republicans intend to offset the massive cost of their proposed tax cut package by slashing federal nutrition assistance, imposing work requirements on Medicaid recipients, and blocking a rule that would require Medicare and Medicaid to cover anti-obesity medications, among other changes.
"The American people did not vote for whatever the hell this is," McGovern added, "and you better believe that Democrats will not let Republicans turn the House of Representatives into a rubber stamp for their extremist policies."
The GOP's proposed rules package will receive a vote in the House once a speaker is chosen—which could happen as soon as Friday. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), backed by President-elect Donald Trump, is running for reelection for the leadership post, but he has very slim margins and at least one Republican opponent—Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).
As The American Prospect's David Dayen wrote Thursday, "One problem for Republicans is that they only have three days to get the Speaker in place before January 6, when the presidential electors are confirmed by Congress, rolls around."
"The typical scenario for the House is that they must select a speaker first, and only move forward afterward. Members-elect aren't even sworn in as members of the House until there's a speaker," Dayen added. "The signs of another dysfunctional two years in Congress are all around. That doesn't completely nullify what Trump can do—much of his agenda, like mass deportations and tariffs, will be carried out mostly unilaterally—but it does mean that a unified Democratic Party could make things very difficult for Republicans. Someone should tell that to Democrats!"
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34 US Lawmakers Urge Biden to Pardon Steven Donziger
"We are deeply concerned about the chilling effect this case will have on all advocates working on behalf of other frontline communities, victims of human rights violations, and those seeking environmental justice."
Dec 11, 2024
More than 30 Democratic members of Congress on Wednesday called on outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden to pardon environmental and human rights lawyer Steven Donziger, who endured nearly 1,000 days in prison and house arrest after successfully representing Ecuadoreans harmed by Big Oil's pollution of the Amazon rainforest.
In a
letter to Biden led by Rep. Jim McGovern, (D-Mass.), 33 House and Senate Democrats plus Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont noted the "troubling legal irregularities" in Donziger's case, which have been "criticized as unconstitutional or illegal by three federal judges, 68 Nobel laureates, and five high-level jurists from the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations."
Donziger represented a group of Ecuadorean farmers and Indigenous people in a 1990s lawsuit against Texaco—which was later acquired by Chevron—over the oil company's deliberate dumping of billions of gallons of carcinogenic waste into the Amazon. He played a key role in winning a $9.5 billion settlement against Chevron in Ecuadorian courts.
However, Chevron fought Donziger in the U.S. court system, and when the attorney refused to disclose privileged client information to the company, federal District Judge Lewis Kaplan—who was invested in Chevron—held him in misdemeanor contempt of court. Loretta Preska, Kaplan's handpicked judge to preside over Donziger's contempt trial, is affiliated with the Chevron-funded Federalist Society.
Donziger's case drew worldwide attention and solidarity, with human rights experts and free speech groups joining progressive U.S. lawmakers in demanding his release. He was released in April 2022 after 993 days in prison and house arrest.
"Donziger is the only lawyer in U.S. history to be subject to any period of detention on a misdemeanor contempt of court charge," the 34 lawmakers wrote. "We believe that the legal case against Mr. Donziger, as well as the excessively harsh nature of the punishment against him, are directly tied to his prior work against Chevron. We do not make this accusation lightly or without evidentiary support."
The legislators warned:
Notwithstanding the personal hardship, this unprecedented legal process has imposed on Mr. Donziger and his family, we are deeply concerned about the chilling effect this case will have on all advocates working on behalf of other frontline communities, victims of human rights violations, and those seeking environmental justice. Those who try to help vulnerable communities will feel as though tactics of intimidation—at the hands of powerful corporate interests, and, most troublingly, the U.S. courts—can succeed in stifling robust legal representation when it is needed most. This is a dangerous signal to send.
"Pardoning Mr. Donziger," the lawmakers added, "would send a powerful message to the world that billion-dollar corporations cannot act with impunity against lawyers and their clients who defend the public interest."
The lawmakers join more than 100 environmental and human rights groups that have urged Biden to pardon Donziger.
In an April opinion piece published by Common Dreams, Donziger contended that "I need this pardon because I am the only person in U.S. history to be privately prosecuted by a corporation."
"More specifically, the government (via a pro-corporate judge) gave a giant oil company (Chevron) the power to prosecute and lock up its leading critic," he continued. "As a result of this unprecedented and frightening private prosecution, I still cannot travel out of the country and I have been prohibited from meeting with clients I have represented for over three decades. Nor can I practice law, maintain a bank account, or earn a livelihood."
"No matter where one stands on the political spectrum," Donziger added, "we should all be able to agree that what happened to me should not happen to anybody in any country that adheres to the rule of law."
The appeal for a Donziger pardon comes amid a
wave of eleventh-hour pleas from lawmakers for Biden to grant clemency to figures ranging from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden to Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier—often described as the nation's longest-jailed political prisoner—and federal death row inmates including Billie Jerome Allen, who advocates say was wrongly convicted of murder.
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