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
mondaire jones
'Full-Scale Authoritarian Takeover': Vance and Musk Take Aim at Federal Judges
"We must push back hard against these next leaps down the pathway to tyranny," said one Democratic in the House.
Feb 09, 2025
Facing a string of judicial rulings in recent days that have struck down or at least put on hold a variety of efforts by the Trump administration that appeared to overstep its executive authority, both Vice President JD Vance and billionaire oligarch Elon Musk on Sunday took aim at the power of judges by saying their powers—despite being the recognized co-equal and third branch of the U.S. government—should be curbed or disregarded.
"If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal," Vance tweeted Sunday morning, in a legally dubious post. Despite the claim, military generals are not free—either from laws of war, international human rights treaties, or chains of command—to do anything they please.
"If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal," Vance continued. "Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power."
Shortly before Vance's tweet, Musk, the world's richest person and who has been tasked by Trump to run the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort to dismantle key government agencies and programs, floated the idea that life-time appointed judges should, based on a set annual quota, be subject to termination by the political party in power. Currently, both chambers of Congress and the White House are controlled by Republicans.
"I'd like to propose that the worst 1% of appointed judges, as determined by elected bodies, be fired every year," Musk said on Sunday morning. "This will weed out the most corrupt and least competent."
Over the last week, federal judges have intervened to block DOGE efforts to have unfettered access to a key Treasury Department payment system and also blocked the so-called "Fork in the Road" offer to federal workers put forth by the unsanctioned Musk-led team at DOGE.
After a U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer responded to a suit brought by 18 state attorneys general on Friday by blocking DOGE access to the Treasury system, Musk retweeted a message suggesting that the best thing to do might be to ignore the order.
Musk also called for Engelmayer's specific ouster. "A corrupt judge protecting corruption," Musk tweeted. "He needs to be impeached NOW!"
Outside critics, Democratic lawmakers, and legal experts responded with grave concern to the comments about judges by both Vance and Musk, arguably President Donald Trump's closest advisors.
After initial litigation losses for their illegal actions, Trump Admin now begins intimidating/attacking judiciary. Vance—ignore court orders. Musk—impeach “corrupt” judges. We must pushback hard against these next leaps down the pathway to tyranny.
[image or embed]
— Rep. Lloyd Doggett (@doggett.house.gov) February 9, 2025 at 3:19 PM
In an email to CNBC on Sunday, Duke Law School professor Marin K. Levy explained that the state attorneys general and the judge in the Treasury case "were all acting well within their authority. What we saw here was the judicial system working as it is supposed to."
Mondaire Jones, a former congressman from New York and now a commissioner on the U.S. Commission for Civil Rights, characterized Vance's comments as being part of the Trump-led "fascist movement in American politics."
In a Sunday morning appearance on "Face the Nation," Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said what the nation is witnessing with Trump allowing people like Musk to run roughshod over federal agencies—and now attacking the judiciary—is nothing short of a "constitutional crisis" and "full-scale authoritarian takeover."
"We are seeing an executive branch," said Omar, "that has decided they are no longer going to abide by the Constitution in honoring Congress' role in the creation of the agencies, in their role deciding where money is allocated. And so the only recourse we have—since our congressional leadership, the Speaker [of the House Mike Johnson], will not stop the executive—is through the judiciary."
We're witnessing a constitutional crisis and a full-scale authoritarian takeover.
The executive branch has decided they’re no longer going to abide by the Constitution.
However, our judiciary system is fighting back. One-by-one, we will stop this illegal government takeover. pic.twitter.com/MMFgrLlXVV
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) February 9, 2025
"When you think about the checks and balances we have," Omar continued, "the courts are the only recourse we have at the moment. And when we talk about the illegality of what the executive branch is doing, we have seen every single executive order that has been challenged in the court we found to be illegal."
Omar said that fact, hopefully, will offer some solace to the "American people that our courts are working as they should. The checks and balances are working, but what is not working is the way the executive is behaving and the congressional leadership that is failing the American people."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Huge Victory' for Democracy as NY Court Orders Congressional Map Redrawn
"It's important that the Independent Redistricting Commission get to work expeditiously and present a map that fairly reflects the racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, and socioeconomic diversity of our great state," said U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Jul 13, 2023
Progressives on Thursday expressed hope that a ruling by a state appeals court in New York will give the Democratic Party an opportunity to regain control of several U.S. House seats that were won by Republicans in last year's midterm elections following what critics called an "undemocratic process" of drawing the state congressional map.
The appellate division of the state Supreme Court sided on Thursday with the Democratic Party, which had argued in a lawsuit that the district map that was drawn for the 2022 midterms was only meant to be temporary.
The current map was drawn last year by a special master who had been appointed by the state Supreme Court after it ruled that Democrats had unfairly gerrymandered the previous map. That ruling took the responsibility for redistricting out of the hands of the state's Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC).
The five-judge panel on Thursday voted 3-2 in favor of ordering the IRC to "commence its duties forthwith" and redraw the state map.
If it stands, the ruling is set to give the New York Legislature, which is dominated by Democrats, final say over the state's 26 U.S. House districts in the coming years. The party could retake as many as six seats currently held by Republicans who won their elections last year, including U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler in the 17th District and Rep. George Santos in the 3rd District.
Marc Elias of the voting rights group Democracy Docket called the ruling a "huge victory" for fair districting.
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said the ruling presents the party with an opportunity to retake seats it lost after "the current congressional map was drawn by an unelected, out-of-town special master appointed by an extreme right-wing judge, who himself was handpicked by partisan political operatives," referring to Judge Patrick McAllister of the state Supreme Court.
"It's important that the Independent Redistricting Commission get to work expeditiously and present a map that fairly reflects the racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, and socioeconomic diversity of our great state," said Jeffries.
The special master-drawn map forced progressive former Rep. Mondaire Jones out of the 17th District and changed the district where grassroots organizer Rana Abdelhamid had been campaigning, pitting her against other progressives and forcing her to end her U.S. House bid. Jones announced earlier this month that he is running again in the 17th District.
The ruling handed down on Thursday "is huge and could have massive national implications," said Abdelhamid.
Democrats could now win back enough seats in New York to offset losses that are expected in North Carolina, where the right-wing state Supreme Court earlier this year cleared the way for Republicans to redraw the state map.
Republican lawmakers said they will appeal Thursday's ruling, which would give the state Court of Appeals the final word. The Court of Appeals has moved to the left in the last year, with liberal Judge Rowan Wilson—who dissented last year when the court rejected Democrats' appeal of the appointment of the special master—having replaced former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore.
Organizer Victor Shi called the appellate division's ruling a "victory for anyone who cares about democracy and voting rights."
"The right to participate in the democratic process is the most essential right in our system of governance," said the court. "The procedures governing the redistricting process, all too easily abused by those who would seek to minimize the voters' voice and entrench themselves in the seats of power, must be guarded as jealously as the right to vote itself; in granting this petition, we return the matter to its constitutional design."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Progressive Mondaire Jones Launches Campaign to Reclaim US House Seat
"I'm running to finish the work I began," said Jones.
Jul 05, 2023
Pledging to "finish the work" he began when he served in the U.S. House from 2021-23, former Rep. Mondaire Jones launched a congressional campaign Wednesday in New York's 17th District, more than a year after redistricting in the state pushed him to leave the district and run unsuccessfully in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The progressive attorney announced his candidacy with a video posted on social media in which he described his working-class background and highlighted his work in Congress and his former constituents offered endorsements of his commitment to ending gun violence and strengthening infrastructure.
"Some people in my party got mad at me when I tried to block members of Congress from getting rich off the stock market or when I said no to taking money from corporations," said Jones. "I have never been Washington's choice, because I stand up to corruption."
"We've got to get Washington back on the side of working people," he added. "I know we can do better."
In Congress, Jones was an outspoken supporter of Green New Deal legislation and Medicare for All before the New York state Supreme Court threw out the state Senate Democrats' congressional map on the grounds that it was unfairly partisan.
A court-appointed special master redrew the map, placing Jones in the same district as former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), a corporate Democrat who until this year chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which recruits candidates and raises campaign funds to elect Democrats.
Maloney angered progressives when he announced he would run to represent the 17th District, which includes several suburban communities north of New York City. Jones opted to leave the district and run instead in the 10th District. Both Democrats lost—Jones to Rep. Dan Goldman, a Democrat who largely self-funded his campaign, during last year's primary election; and Maloney to Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican, in the general election.
Speaking to News 12 Westchester on Wednesday, Jones expressed regret about forgoing Maloney's primary challenge.
"I never imagined that I would wake up one day and would have to decide against primarying a member of the Democratic party at a time when we were seeing an assault on our democracy," he said. "To that extent, yeah, I do regret not being the Democratic nominee last cycle."
Liz Whitmer Gereghty, a school board member and sister of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), is running against Jones in the Democratic primary. As Politico reported Wednesday, Gereghty "has been courting support from members of the Michigan congressional delegation."
Gereghty told HuffPost Wednesday that she is committed to passing legislation regarding "gun control and abortion rights," but was "vague" about her position on policies aimed at addressing economic injustice.
"This is not a Washington-driven campaign or even a Michigan-driven campaign," Jones told HuffPost. "This is a campaign that is rooted in the Hudson Valley, in New York's 17th Congressional District."
Gereghty was endorsed late last month by EMILY's List, a national group that supports pro-choice female candidates, while Jones released a list of local leaders who are supporting his campaign.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which was an early supporter of Jones' 2019 campaign, said the former congressman "worked to increase opportunity for all New Yorkers, including fighting to protect civil rights, expand access to affordable childcare, and tackle climate change."
"We are confident this track record combined with his grassroots support and positive vision for a more equitable America will resonate with voters," said Mayor Annise Parker, the group's president and CEO. "With growing anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and racism across our country, including within the halls of Congress, Mondaire's election is a powerful symbol of hope for our community."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Dick Durbin Under Fire for Letting GOP Senate Minority Veto Biden Judges
The Senate GOP only has effective veto power over Biden judges "because Durbin refuses to revoke the blue-slip tradition that willingly grants Republicans the ability to obstruct," said one observer.
Apr 10, 2023
With the disastrous consequences of the far-right's takeover of the federal court system becoming clearer by the day, the Democratic chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee is facing intense criticism for preserving a tradition that is allowing Republicans to veto judges nominated by President Joe Biden.
The so-called "blue slip courtesy" is a nonbinding Senate norm that allows lawmakers to reject nominees for court seats in their home states.
While Republicans didn't hesitate to dispense with the informal rule when they were ramming through far-right judges at a torrid pace during former President Donald Trump's four years in office, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has chosen to adhere to the blue slip norm for district court nominees.
That decision garnered fresh anger last week when Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) announced she would not return a blue slip for Scott Colom, a Biden nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Collum had already received approval from Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, also a Republican.
CNN noted Monday that "Durbin's office blasted Hyde-Smith's opposition to Colom in a statement that did not indicate whether he was rethinking the blue slip rule."
"The rule has not been respected consistently through the modern history of the Senate, and Republicans nixed the requirement for U.S. circuit court vacancies under Trump. Democrats, now in control, have refused to bring it back for appellate nominees, but Durbin has said he'd like to keep it in place for district courts," the outlet reported. "Durbin didn't waver on that position when Sen. Ron Johnson [R-Wis.] flip-flopped last year on his support of a district court nominee in his home state, state Judge William Pocan, effectively torpedoing Pocan's nomination."
Progressive advocacy groups said Monday that Durbin's refusal to ditch the blue slip tradition was made even more outrageous by a Friday ruling from Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Texas, who deemed the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of the abortion medication mifepristone invalid. The U.S. Justice Department is appealing the ruling.
Shortly after Kacsmaryk handed down his ruling, which parroted anti-abortion talking points, U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice of Washington State—an Obama appointee—issued a conflicting decision ordering the FDA to maintain access to the pill.
"If last week's appalling ruling from a MAGA judge attempting to ban abortion medication has taught us anything, it's that judges matter. Senate Dems must do everything in their power to confirm [Biden's] nominees, including eliminating the blue slip ASAP."
Hyde-Smith praised the Kacsmaryk ruling, calling it a "victory for pregnant mothers and their unborn children."
Durbin's adherence to the blue slip norm has also drawn frustration and backlash from fellow Democrats.
"If it's a blue slip problem and the Republicans aren't turning in their blue slips and they're being obstructionist, then we need to think about changing the rules," Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) told CNN.
In a tweet late Friday, former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) faulted Durbin for "allowing the blue slip process to prevent confirmation of Democratic judges in red states" as right-wing judges attempt to further weaken abortion rights.
The Senate approved 96 federal judges during Biden's first two years in office, outpacing all of his recent predecessors.
But the upper chamber confirmed just 34% more Biden judges in 2022 compared to the previous year, whereas the Senate under Trump approved 177% more judicial nominees in the former president's second year in the White House than in his first.
The Senate greenlit a record 231 federal judges—not including Supreme Court justices—during Trump's four-year tenure, filling vacancies across the country with young, often unqualified right-wing judges who will have significant power over U.S. law for decades to come.
In addition to further imperiling abortion rights, Trump-appointed judges have recently issued rulings against student debt cancellation, LGBTQ+ protections, and efforts to revoke anti-immigrant policies implemented by the former president.
According to the American Constitution Society, 18 Biden judicial nominees are awaiting floor votes, 12 still must be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and six are still waiting for hearings.
The Biden administration has thus far refused to pressure Durbin to drop the blue-slip rule entirely, even after Hyde-Smith made clear that she would try to tank Colom's nomination.
Durbin has said the recent and indefinite absence of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-Calif.)—a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee—has had an impact on the panel's ability to advance judges.
CNN observed that since Feinstein's office announced in early March that the senator was hospitalized with shingles, "the committee has only approved one nominee, Judge Matthew Brookman, the GOP-supported appointee for the Indiana district court seat."
But The American Prospect's David Dayen stressed Monday that the Senate GOP only has effective veto power over Biden judges "because Durbin refuses to revoke the blue-slip tradition that willingly grants Republicans the ability to obstruct."
Keep ReadingShow Less
War Industry 'Celebrating Christmas Early' as House Passes $858 Billion NDAA
"There is no justification to throw... $858 billion at the Pentagon when we're told we can't afford child tax credit expansion, universal paid leave, or other basic human necessities," said the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. "End of story."
Dec 08, 2022
Peace advocates on Thursday slammed the House of Representatives' passage of a mammoth $858 billion military spending bill as an early holiday gift for the Pentagon and the weapons corporations who benefit from the United States' ongoing--but largely forgotten--War on Terror.
"While working families are being crushed by inflation, we shouldn't be spending $45 billion MORE than the president requested in the NDAA."
House lawmakers voted 350-80 in favor of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), with 45 Democrats and 35 Republicans voting "no."
The new NDAA authorizes an $80 billion military spending increase over the 2022 bill, and $118 billion more than when President Joe Biden took office in 2021. The 2023 allocation is more than the combined military budgets of China, India, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and South Korea, according to the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). It's also more than the annual gross domestic product of countries including Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey, based on United Nations figures.
The $858 billion figure does not include additional spending on the U.S. nuclear arsenal, contributions to Ukraine's defense, or veterans' benefits.
Progressives including Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Jesus "Chuy" Garcia (D-Ill.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Marc Pocan (D-Wis.), Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) were among those who rejected the bill.
"While working families are being crushed by inflation, we shouldn't be spending $45 billion MORE than the president requested in the NDAA," tweeted Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), who opposed the bill. "Certainly not on top of an already bloated $800+ billion Pentagon budget full of lobbyist giveaways. I voted NO."
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), another "no" vote, said he could not support a bill whose "topline remains billions of dollars above the president's request, adding to an already bloated Pentagon budget."
Calling the bill an "absolute disgrace," the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen tweeted that "increasing the budget for inflation is a lousy excuse. The minimum wage has been $7.25 for over a decade. Why is there always money for the military-industrial complex, but a livable wage is somehow 'too expensive'?"
"There is no justification to throw... $858 billion at the Pentagon when we're told we can't afford child tax credit expansion, universal paid leave, or other basic human necessities," the group added. "End of story."
Cole Harrison, executive director of Massachusetts Peace Action (MPA), said in a statement that "Waltham-based Raytheon and its fellow merchant of death, Lockheed, are celebrating Christmas early."
"Bring our war dollars home," Harrison added, noting that the fight for the bill is not over. "We don't need more weapons and more war. We need international respect and cooperation. We urge senators to vote 'no' on this disgraceful misappropriation of taxpayers' money."
MPA further noted that "the Pentagon recently failed its fifth consecutive annual audit, yet House members were quick to shower the unaccountable agency with taxpayers' money," and that "2.9 million children in the United States were lifted out of poverty in 2021 by the child tax credit, but that program expired after a year, and now our elected officials have decided to spend an equivalent amount on increasing the war budget."
Anti-war activists call on people to contact their senators and urge them to vote "no" on the NDAA--even while acknowledging that the mammoth package is all but sure to pass in the upper chamber.
Writing for the Qunicy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, National Taxpayers Union director of federal policy Andrew Lautz said that "Congress is rushing to pass the NDAA over the next week or two, before they go home for the holidays."
"Lawmakers will all but certainly pass a massive increase to the defense budget approved by members of both parties in both chambers of the legislature--at least $80 billion in total above 2022 levels, and that doesn't include tens of billions of dollars the Pentagon has received to combat Russia's invasion of Ukraine," he said.
"If so," Lautz added, "then Christmas will come early for the nation's military brass, who often get to spend without consequences from lawmakers who control their purse strings, and defense contractors, who benefit mightily from the taxpayer-funded largesse."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Warnock Defeats Walker in Georgia, Giving Democrats 51-49 Senate Majority
"Tonight, the people--young, Black, Brown, and working people--expanded the Senate majority, neutralized the power of Joe Manchin, and defeated yet another fascist," the Sunrise Movement cheered.
Dec 06, 2022
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock was declared the winner Tuesday night in Georgia's U.S. Senate runoff race against Republican challenger Herschel Walker, giving the incumbent's party a 51-49 advantage in the upper chamber and helping to temper the obstructionist power of the GOP and right-wing Democrats like West Virginia's Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.
"Democrats can do a lot more with 51 Senate seats."
The Associated Press, NBC News, Decision Desk HQ, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and other outlets projected a Warnock victory as tallied ballots from heavily Democratic metro Atlanta gave the incumbent a late surge of support over Walker, an ex-National Football League star backed by former President Donald Trump.
"I have no doubt that Warnock will win. But 1.5 million people voting for Walker speaks volumes about the work that lies ahead," former NAACP Legal Defense Fund president Sherrilyn Ifill tweeted. "Buckle up, folks."
"Tonight, the people--young, Black, Brown, and working people--expanded the Senate majority, neutralized the power of Joe Manchin, and defeated yet another fascist," the youth-led climate group Sunrise Movement tweeted.
Sunrise executive director Varshini Prakash said in a statement:
The truth is, young people win. Warnock's strategy of investing heavily in young voters paid off because we organize, we get out the vote and we consistently vote for Democrats who speak to the issues we face everyday. We know the stakes, from the climate crisis to getting guns out of schools...
This race was dangerously close because of the right's local organizing power. That's why we're standing up and fighting back. We're focusing the power of our winning movement on building long-term power from the ground up in communities across the country. We won't let up until we win a Green New Deal.
Progressive economist and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich congratulated Warnock, "the people of Georgia, and everyone who cares about preserving and strengthening democracy."
May Boeve, executive director of the climate group 350 Action, said in a statement that "the crucial Senate majority secured by Warnock's win will help key legislators implement real solutions and ensure that climate legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act protects our communities from further devastating climate impacts."
"Warnock's win also better protects climate champions' ability to block new fossil fuel projects like Sen. Manchin's 'dirty deal,' which he continues to push," Boeve continued.
"With this final senate race now decided, the midterm results send a clear and decisive message: we can and must move forward the important work of advocating for more bold climate action," she added. "While a divided Congress poses some legislative challenges, voters have proven that climate is a priority for them, and we have a clear opportunity to organize for our people and the climate."
The Nation publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel noted in her congratulatory tweet that "Democrats can do a lot more with 51 Senate seats."
Taking aim at Walker--a deeply troubled candidate with an admitted history of domestic violence, hypocritically pressuring multiple women to get abortions, and recently claiming permanent residency in Texas for a tax break--Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) tweeted that "national Republicans handpicked an unqualified and morally bankrupt caricature to run for Senate in Georgia because they thought his race would be enough to make him competitive with Black voters."
"But we know when we're being patronized," Jones added. "Herschel Walker needed to be defeated."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Citing 'Unprecedented Crisis,' House Dems Push Biden to Protect Haitians From Deportation
Warning of "mortal danger," one advocacy group argues extending and redesignating Temporary Protected Status for Haitians "is a matter of life and death."
Dec 01, 2022
The Biden administration faced fresh pressure Thursday to protect Haitians who are in the United States from being deported to a country that has endured increasing economic and political turmoil since a presidential assassination and devastating extreme weather last year.
"Given the deteriorating situation in Haiti, this administration should prioritize humanitarian relief."
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), along with 14 other House Democrats, urged a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) extension for Haitians not affected by Ramos v. Mayorkas, and redesignation for people who arrived in the United States after July 29, 2021.
"Haiti is currently experiencing one of its worst outbreaks of violence in decades," the letter states. "The rule of law has effectively collapsed. Powerful gangs rule with impunity, and in some cases with government complicity."
"For months, a gang blockade at Haiti's principal fuel terminal crippled day-to-day operations, severely restricting the movement of medicine, food, and supplies," the letter continues. "The situation paralyzed an already crippled economy in the country, where the inflation rate reached a staggering 30%."
The letter adds that "this has all occurred amid a resurgence of cholera in the country, particularly in Haiti's National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince. Since October, the disease has killed at least 100 people and sickened 8,000 more, though experts say the numbers are likely higher."
"Given the deteriorating situation in Haiti, this administration should prioritize humanitarian relief, especially given the positive impact that extending and redesignating Haiti for TPS will have for our nation," the lawmakers argued, also highlighting how Haitians positively contribute to the American workforce.
House Democrats' letter calling on the Biden administration to refrain from sending Haitians to "face an unprecedented crisis in their home country" was also sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and echoes recent demands from civil society.
More than 400 groups--including the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC)--sent Biden, Blinken, and Mayorkas a letter last month, stressing the need for urgent action given that "the TPS designation for Haiti will expire on February 3, 2023."
FLIC renewed its call for action in a statement Thursday, warning that "Haitians are in mortal danger" and asserting that extending and redesignating TRS "is a matter of life and death!"
Last month, a Florida-bound vessel overloaded with almost 200 Haitians--including 46 children--struck a sandbar. After the rescue effort, the U.S. Coast Guard returned nearly all of them "to a Haiti plagued by a rapidly spreading cholera," noted FLIC's co-executive director, Tessa Petit.
Petit, who immigrated to Florida from Haiti, stressed that "you do not have to be Haitian to be outraged by the blatant human rights violations currently perpetrated by both the United States and the Dominican Republic on Haitian nationals."
Along with FLIC's TPS demands, the group is calling on the Biden administration to "provide all possible support required and needed to stop the abuse of Haitians in the Dominican Republic."
In the Dominican Republic, which shares an island with Haiti, "the violent attacks against Haitians have intensified, to include hateful bodily harm using whips and wooden sticks," Petit pointed out. "All this added to the mass deportation of Haitians regardless of their immigration status, their safety, and in a discriminatory manner, using the color of their skin as a crime."
Like the lawmakers, in addition to the moral appeal, FLIC director of politics and policy David Metellus--the son of Haitian immigrants--made an economic case for federal action.
"Haitians living in the United States currently eligible for TPS contribute $2.6 billion annually to our economy, and 81% of them are part of the American labor force, providing essential services at a time of worker shortages and high inflation," said Metellus. "They have lived here for 15 years, on average, and have built families of almost 200,000 American citizens."
"Continuing to provide TPS protections for Haitian nationals would ensure families remain together and continue building meaningful lives in our society," he added. "Moreover, redesignating Haiti for TPS would allow more Haitians in the U.S. to enroll in the program, and contribute their skills and talents to the American workforce and communities around the country."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Humiliating': DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney Concedes in New York
Maloney controversially decided to run in the district held by progressive Rep. Mondaire Jones--despite the purpose of the committee he chairs being the reelection of congressional Democrats.
Nov 09, 2022
U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney--a powerful Democrat running in a blue New York district--conceded Wednesday to his Republican opponent in what observers are calling a "humiliating" loss after an election night in which Democratic congressional candidates collectively outperformed expectations.
Maloney, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), admitted defeat to freshman state Assemblyman Mike Lawler (R-97) in a stinging loss for a candidate who controversially decided to run in New York's 17th Congressional District--currently represented by progressive Rep. Mondaire Jones--after a court-appointed special master redrew district maps earlier this year.
The new 17th District leans Democratic; President Joe Biden won it by 10 points in 2020.
Lawler is the first candidate to defeat a DCCC leader since 1980, according to National Republican Congressional Committee chair Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).
"There will be lots of second-guessing here, mostly around Maloney's decision to hop districts after New York's new maps came down," NY Metro political correspondent Nicholas Fandos tweeted. "He campaigned for the DCCC job, after all, on idea that he knew how to win tough races in swing districts."
Maloney was rebuked by progressives for running against Jones, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) asserting in April that he should resign as head of the DCCC--whose purpose is the reelection of House Democrats--if he sought to unseat the incumbent.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Bowman Introduces Bill to Help People 'Crushed by the Burden of High Prices'
"People cannot afford to live in America today," the New York progressive said while unveiling his anti-price gouging legislation, "and our government needs better tools to respond."
Aug 04, 2022
Stressing the need for a "new economic playbook" that prioritizes human needs over corporate greed, U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman on Thursday introduced proposed legislation that would tackle excessive profiteering with targeted price controls.
"In my district and across the country, people simply cannot afford to live."
"In my district and across the country, people simply cannot afford to live," the New York Democract said in a statement introducing the Emergency Price Stabilization Act. "From impossible rents and utility bills to soaring costs for food, healthcare, and other necessities of life, people in America are being crushed by the burden of high prices and wages that can't keep pace."
Bowman asserted that "we must move with greater speed and agility to protect our constituents from price shocks and corporate profiteering. The Emergency Price Stabilization Act will do exactly that--first, by getting to the bottom of what is driving price increases in key sectors, and second, by designing targeted controls and regulations to rein in those prices."
If passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden, Bowman's bill would:
- Monitor and analyze price changes related to food, energy, housing, healthcare, transportation, and other goods and services that are vital to the country's health and economic security;
- Proactively investigate corporate profiteering in those areas, including price gouging linked to supply chain disruptions, by using subpoena power to open up and examine corporate books;
- Make recommendations to the president for appropriate, strategic controls and regulations to limit growth and reduce volatility in those key prices, which the president is temporarily authorized to implement;
- Engage and mobilize the public as part of the process of monitoring and regulating prices, and harness the expertise of federal agencies, outside experts, unions, and community organizations; and
- Propose complementary measures to ensure adequate supply of relevant goods and services, expand productive capacity, and meet climate and public health standards in the application of any price controls or regulations.
"At every step of the way, we will mobilize and engage the public in the process," said Bowman. "We cannot simply step back and allow the Federal Reserve, which hiked interest rates again last week, to address inflation on the backs of everyday people. That approach means throwing people out of work and risking a recession."
"Here is the question we must ask: Do we have the resources and skills to reach our full productive capacity, make sure everyone in this country has a good job, and manage our economy in the interests of all people? I believe the answer is yes," he added. "But we'll need a new economic playbook to get there, and passing my Emergency Price Stabilization Act would be a major step in the right direction."
Original co-sponsors of Bowman's bill include Democratic Reps. Cori Bush (Mo.), Steve Cohen (Tenn.), Danny K. Davis (Ill.), Jesus G. "Chuy" Garcia (Ill.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Mondaire Jones (N.Y.), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Donald M. Payne Jr. (N.J.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Mark Takano (Calif.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.).
Related Content
Progressives Rip Corporations for 'Using Inflation as a Cover Story to Jack Up Prices and Pad Profits'
Dozens of advocacy groups also support the proposed legislation.
Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter said that "though Wall Street tycoons would have us believe otherwise, retail prices for essential goods like food and energy are not set by simple supply and demand. They are egregiously manipulated by corporate giants that have achieved monopoly-level dominance over their markets."
"Setting reasonable maximum prices for everyday needs would reduce out-of-pocket costs to consumers while curbing excessive profiteering by opportunistic corporations," she added. "This commonsense legislation is needed more than ever."
Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said in a statement that "even before the pandemic, millions of America's lowest-income and most marginalized households were struggling to keep roofs over their heads, always just one financial shock away from falling behind on rent and being threatened with eviction, and in the worst cases, homelessness."
"Today, these same households are facing new threats with historic levels of inflation and skyrocketing rents," she added. "Just as some states have in place laws to prevent price or rent gouging after natural disasters, Congress should consider similar protections like those included in the Emergency Price Stabilization Act for renters coming out of a global pandemic."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Progressives See Midterm Hopes Rise on Kansas Voters' Defense of Abortion Rights
"Voters in Kansas just struck a blow to the Republican anti-choice movement. Now millions of people are counting on us to keep this momentum going, because—without question—abortion rights are on the ballot."
Aug 03, 2022
The landslide defeat in Kansas of a constitutional amendment to revoke abortion rights is energizing reproductive freedom fighters, who on Wednesday expressed hopes that congressional Republicans will pay dearly in this November's midterm elections for flouting the will of the majority of Americans.
"The right-wing extremists who plotted to overturn Roe had no idea of the level of anger--and determination--they'd unleash."
Had the Kansas amendment passed, it would have paved the way for state legislators to pass the type of extreme abortion bans that are proliferating in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling, which voided half a century of constitutional abortion rights. However, the measure was decisively defeated by a nearly 18-point margin amid unusually high voter turnout.
"The Supreme Court's extreme decision to overturn Roe v. Wade put women's health and lives at risk. Tonight, the American people had something to say about it," U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement following the Kansas vote.
Addressing his administration's reproductive rights task force on Wednesday, Biden contended that "the voters of Kansas sent a powerful signal that this fall the American people will vote to preserve and protect their rights, and refuse to let them be ripped away by politicians."
Progressive U.S. lawmakers and activists also hailed Tuesday's results with an eye toward the midterms.
"This was the first time abortion rights were on the ballot at the state level since Roe v. Wade was overturned--and last night showed that voters simply do not want abortion bans," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a Wednesday fundraising email. "And when we organize and fight for abortion protections at the state level, we can win."
"The right-wing extremists who plotted to overturn Roe had no idea of the level of anger--and determination--they'd unleash," she continued. "Our momentum is only growing stronger, and we have more chances ahead to mobilize voters, make our voices heard, and fight back against these extreme anti-abortion efforts."
"If we can expand our Democratic majority in the Senate by just two seats, and if we hold onto the House, we will be able to protect the right to an abortion nationwide through federal law," Warren noted. "In Wisconsin and Pennsylvania--two states that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won in 2020--Mandela Barnes and John Fetterman are running strong campaigns to flip Republican-held Senate seats. They both support ending the filibuster to pass legislation that would ensure abortion rights nationwide."
Fetterman, who is also Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor, said in a statement that "people all across this country are strongly on the side of women's reproductive freedom, even in red states. Kansas just proved it."
NBC News correspondent Dasha Burns noted the high turnout in Kansas, tweeting that "this kind of showing is virtually unheard of in a midterms primary. And sends a big message ahead of November: The abortion rights issue will drive voters to the polls."
According to polling published Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, abortion access is a "very important issue" to 55% of likely midterm voters, making it tied with healthcare costs as the third-most important issue after inflation (74%) and gun violence (57%).
Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, wrote:
Abolishing a woman's right to control her own body is only one of several issues where the far right has gotten high on their own supply. Combined with the excesses of Trumpism, the Republicans have handed Democrats a winning game plan for the 2022 midterms...
The far right is also on the wrong side of public opinion on everything from gun mayhem to drug price controls and of course to the attempted coup of January 6, 2021. These issues divide Republicans; they unite Democrats and bring along independents. In every House and Senate race, the Democrat will be demanding to know where the Republican stands. If the Republican stands with the hardcore right, normal people are alienated. Conversely, if the Republican stands with a majority of public opinion, the GOP base is alienated.
Noting that "in every closely contested Senate race, except North Carolina, the Democrat now leads in the polls," Kuttner held hope that "a year that was supposed to produce a devastating Democratic defeat could yield gains of two or three Senate seats."
"It's too early to claim vindication--that awaits November," he added, "but I'm feeling a lot better than I did a month ago."
Reminding voters of what could be at stake in the midterms, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted, "Mark my words, the anti-choice movement is going to look at the Kansas result and decide that their best path to criminalize abortion is a federal ban."
"It's coming," he added, "and that's what's on the ballot this November."
Keep ReadingShow Less
See More
Most Popular
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy