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
rosa delauro
100+ Democrats Urge Trump to Improve US-Mexico-Canada Trade Deal
"We are united in our view that the agreement enacted in 2020 has failed to deliver improvements for American workers, family farmers, and communities nationwide."
Nov 03, 2025
A group of more than 100 congressional Democrats on Monday called on President Donald Trump to use the opportunity presented by the mandatory review of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement "to make significant and necessary improvements to the pact" that will benefit American workers and families.
"In 2020, some of us supported USMCA, some opposed it, and some were not in Congress," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Trump led by Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.). "Today, we are united in our view that the agreement enacted in 2020 has failed to deliver improvements for American workers, family farmers, and communities nationwide."
The USMCA replaced the highly controversial North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was enacted during the administration of then-Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1994 after being signed by former Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1992. The more recent agreement contains a mandatory six-year review.
As the lawmakers' letter notes:
Since enactment of the USMCA, multinational corporations have continued to use the threat of offshoring as leverage wielded against workers standing up for dignity on the job and a share of the profits generated by their hard work—and far too often, enabled by our trade deals, companies have acted on these threats. The US trade deficit with Mexico and Canada has significantly increased, and surging USMCA imports have undermined American workers and farmers and firms in the auto, steel, aerospace, and other sectors. Under the current USMCA rules, this ongoing damage is likely to worsen: Since USMCA, Chinese companies have increased their investment in manufacturing in Mexico to skirt US trade enforcement sanctions against unfair Chinese imports of products like electric vehicles and to take advantage of Mexico’s duty-free access to the US consumer market under the USMCA.
These disappointing results contrast with your claims at the time of the USMCA’s launch, when you promised Americans that the pact would remedy the NAFTA trade deficit, bring “jobs pouring into the United States,” and be “an especially great victory for our farmers.”
Those farmers are facing numerous troubles, not least of which are devastating tariffs resulting from Trump's trade war with much of the world. In order to strengthen the USMCA to protect them and others, the lawmakers recommend measures including but not limited to boosting labor enforcement and stopping offshoring, building a real "Buy North American" supply chain, and standing up for family farmers.
"The USMCA must... be retooled to ensure it works for family farmers and rural communities," the letter states. "Under the 2020 USMCA, big agriculture corporations have raked in enormous profits while family farmers and working people in rural communities suffered."
"We believe that an agreement that includes the improvements that we note in this letter" will "ensure the USMCA delivers real benefits for American workers, farmers, and businesses, [and] can enjoy wide bipartisan support," the lawmakers concluded.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Federal Workers Union Denounces Trump's Threat of 'Illegal Mass Firings' Amid Shutdown Fight
“Instead of coming to the table to negotiate lowering costs and addressing the healthcare crisis Republicans created, the White House is staging harmful charades like this that will impact all Americans," said Sen. Rosa DeLauro.
Sep 25, 2025
The largest federal workers union on Thursday denounced the White House's threat of mass firings in the event of a government shutdown next week as "political games" and an attempt to distract from a simple fact: The Republican Party needs Democrats to vote for its funding bill, so it must agree to reverse massive healthcare cuts in order to get Democratic support.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a memo Wednesday night, telling federal agencies to prepare for mass layoffs if the government shuts down on October 1.
The office, headed by Russell Vought—who co-authored the right-wing agenda Project 2025 and helped push for the firing of tens of thousands of other federal employees by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—said agencies should consider firing workers involved in programs that are not funded by other laws such as the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and that are "not consistent with the president’s priorities.”
Even after government funding is eventually reinstated following a potential shutdown, said the OMB, agencies should plan to retain the smallest possible number of employees needed to operate.
“While politicians are playing games, real Americans’ jobs, paychecks, and access to vital services are being threatened by a looming government shutdown. Now, White House OMB Director Russell Vought has announced his intention to pursue another DOGE-like round of illegal mass firings in the event of a shutdown, adding to the chaos," said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees.
An OMB official told Politico that “Social Security, Medicare, veterans benefits, military operations, law enforcement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and air traffic control" would not be impacted by the mass firings threatened in the memo.
The threat came just a week before the October 1 deadline to pass legislation to keep the government funded.
Republicans have proposed a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through November 21.
The Democratic Party has proposed a plan to keep the government running through October 31 with legislation that reverses Medicaid cuts included in the OBBBA and extends Affordable Care Act subsidies that set to expire due to provisions in the law.
Neither proposal passed in the Senate last week before lawmakers left for recess. GOP leaders including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) have refused to meet with Democrats to negotiate on the healthcare cuts, and President Donald Trump this week canceled talks with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)—baselessly claiming on his Truth Social platform that the Democrats had made demands including "transgender operations for everybody" in a government funding bill.
On Wednesday, Schumer called Vought's memo "an attempt at intimidation" and said the mass firings threatened by the OMB would not stand up in court.
" Donald Trump has been firing federal workers since day one—not to govern, but to scare," said Schumer. "This is nothing new and has nothing to do with funding the government. These unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back, just like they did as recently as today.”
But since the Republicans are "happy to downsize and to shed federal government employees," warned Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith, they have "an asymmetric weapon against congressional shutdown threats."
Vought's memo concluded by placing the responsibility for a shutdown on Democrats, asserting that their refusal to support legislation that's expected to result in healthcare premiums that are 75% higher for millions of families would be to blame for the mass firings.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement that the memo displayed "Russ Vought's trademark chaos."
“Instead of coming to the table to negotiate lowering costs and addressing the healthcare crisis Republicans created, the White House is staging harmful charades like this that will impact all Americans,” DeLauro said.
Kelley added that "the truth is simple: Republicans cannot fund the government without Democratic votes."
"That means the only path forward is compromise," said Kelley. "The president and congressional leaders must sit down and negotiate in good faith to keep the lights on for the American people. Nothing less is acceptable."
“Federal employees are not bargaining chips," he added. "They are veterans, caregivers, law enforcement officers, and neighbors who serve their country and fellow Americans every day. They deserve stability and respect, not pink slips and political games."
Keep ReadingShow Less
House GOP Accused of 'Waging War on America's Wildlife' With Proposed Spending Cuts
"This budget proposal shows yet again the extremes to which anti-wildlife members of Congress will go to sacrifice endangered species," said one conservationist.
Jul 14, 2025
As Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives begin work on spending legislation for fiscal year 2026, conservationists and congressional Democrats are blasting a key appropriations bill released Monday.
" House Republicans are once again waging war on America's wildlife in yet another giveaway to their industry allies," said Stephanie Kurose, deputy director of government affairs at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. "Extinction isn't inevitable, it's a political choice. The Appropriations Committee has one job to do, which is to fund the government, not decide whether our most vulnerable animals get to survive."
The bill that the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee is set to consider on Tuesday morning would not only slash funding for the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—by 23%—and the Fish and Wildlife Service, but also strip Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections from animals including gray wolves, the center noted.
"This budget proposal shows yet again the extremes to which anti-wildlife members of Congress will go to sacrifice endangered species," declared Robert Dewey, vice president of government relations at Defenders of Wildlife. "The bill is loaded with riders that attack the Endangered Species Act and would put some of America's most iconic species, including the grizzly bear and wolverine, at serious risk of extinction."
"The bill and all who support it are compromising the crucial habitats, outdoor recreation areas, and natural resources that Americans and wildlife rely on."
The legislation would block funding for listing the greater sage-grouse as well as money to protect the northern long-eared bat, the lesser prairie-chicken, and captive fish listed under the ESA. It would also block the Biden administration's rules for the landmark law.
"By blocking protections for public lands while also providing short-sighted lease sales for the benefit of oil and gas corporations, the bill and all who support it are compromising the crucial habitats, outdoor recreation areas, and natural resources that Americans and wildlife rely on," Dewey said.
Democrats on the committee put out a statement highlighting that, along with attacking wildlife, worsening the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency, and jeopardizing public health by favoring polluters, the GOP legislation would hike utility bills, promote environmental discrimination against rural and poor communities, and cut national park funding.
"With the release of the FY26 Interior bill, it's clear House Republicans are once again pushing an agenda that accelerates the climate crisis, upends our national parks system, and leaves local communities to fend for themselves—all while undermining the power of the Appropriations Committee and of Congress," said Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), ranking member on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
"We are still living with the fallout of last year's failure to negotiate a full-year funding bill. Instead of correcting course, the bill released today delivers more of the same: It cuts water infrastructure funding, slashes EPA programs, and wipes out environmental justice and climate initiatives. It even blocks the EPA from completing its risk assessment on PFAS in sewage sludge," she continued, referring to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also called forever chemicals. "On top of the environmental attacks, Republicans are taking aim at the arts and cultural institutions that enrich communities and drive local economies."
Pingree asserted that "any arguments that these irresponsible cuts are somehow fiscally responsible ring hollow in the wake of Republicans adding $3.4 trillion to the national deficit thanks to their disastrous so-called 'One Big Beautiful Bill.' I urge my Republican colleagues to come to the table and support the essential work of this subcommittee: Protecting public health, conserving our lands and waters, investing in resilience, and ensuring that every community—from rural Maine to urban centers—has access to a healthy environment and a vibrant cultural life."
House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) pointed out that President Donald Trump "promised to address the cost-of-living crisis, but instead, he and House Republicans are making it worse."
"House Republicans' 2026 Interior funding bill raises utility bills and energy prices to benefit billionaires and big corporations," DeLauro said. "Republicans are threatening the air we breathe and the water we drink and taking steps that damage our public lands, promote dirty energy, and hinder our ability to confront the climate crisis."
"In addition to these dangerous cuts, Republicans' proposal would mean fewer trips to national parks and less access to museums and the arts," she warned. "House Republicans are more focused on lining the pockets of big oil companies than lowering prices for working-class, middle-class, rural, and vulnerable families; protecting our public health; and preserving the planet."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular