Tag: 2019 Congress

Schumer gets ready to go on the offensive

After spending the past two years trying to protect 10 incumbent Democrats in pro-Trump states, the Senate minority leader is ready to put Republicans on the defensive, knowing the GOP will have a tougher electoral map to defend in 2020.

Republicans will have a bigger Senate majority next year — 53 seats compared to 51 seats now — but will also have more seats that Democrats are looking to pick off in the next election cycle.

Schumer has started flexing his muscles in the lame-duck session of Congress. He’s pushing Republicans to add measures such as protecting special counsel Robert Mueller and eliminating a question about citizenship from the U.S. census to a year-end spending package.

He has also dismissed the possibility of reviving an immigration deal he offered to President Trump earlier this year that would fully fund the proposed border wall in exchange for protections for immigrants who came to the country illegally at a young age.

View the complete December 6 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

Will the Congressional Progressive Caucus become the Freedom Caucus of the left?

The new, 235-member strong Democratic majority set to take power in the U.S. House of Representatives in January will be, on average, the most progressive Democratic ruling faction on Capitol Hill in decades — or ever.

The party’s left flank is further to the left than ever: Democrats’ most celebrated freshmen, upstarts like Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are vowing to push for single-payer health care and other left-wing policies. Meanwhile, the Democrats to their right, like Rep.-elect Dean Phillips, unabashedly defend the Affordable Care Act, gun control, and other liberal priorities. The pro-gun, sometimes pro-life conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats who populated Democrats’ last House majority from 2007 to 2011 are all but extinct.

Progressives finally have a fresh chance to govern in D.C., and the Congressional Progressive Caucus is aiming to make it as successful as possible. The decades-old faction of the most left-leaning Democrats — most recently co-chaired by outgoing Rep. Keith Ellison — was, over the last eight years of Republican control of the House, a group of a few dozen liberals that slowly increased its clout in Congress as Democrats languished in the minority.

View the complete December 4 article by Sam Brodey on the MinnPost.com website here.

House Democrats unveil their first bill in the majority: a sweeping anti-corruption proposal

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi approaches the microphones to speak to journalists during the Democratic caucus vote on the speaker’s nomination on November 28, 2018. Credit: Melina Mara, The Washington Post via Getty Images

Democrats will take up voting rights, campaign finance reform, and a lobbying crackdown — all in their first bill of the year.

House Democrats unveiled details of their first bill in the new Congress on Friday — a sweeping anti-corruption bill aimed at stamping out the influence of money in politics and expanding voting rights.

This is House Resolution 1 — the first thing House Democrats will tackle after the speaker’s vote in early January. To be clear, this legislation has little-to-no chance of passing the Republican-controlled Senate or being signed by President Donald Trump.

But by making anti-corruption their No. 1 priority, House Democrats are throwing down the gauntlet for Republicans. A vast majority of Americans want to get the influence of money out of politics, and want Congress to pass laws to do so, according to a 2018 Pew Research survey. Given Trump’s multitude of scandals, it looks bad for Republicans to be the party opposing campaign finance reform — especially going into 2020.

View the complete November 30 article by Ella Nilsen on the Vox.com website here.

Democrats Go Into 2019 With Ethics Blazing

Campaign finance is high on Democrats’ agenda. Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi rolled out some details last week. Credit: Bill Clark, CQ Roll Call

Pelosi, Sarbanes tease dark money overhaul as the party’s grand opening salvo

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Maryland Rep. John Sarbanes offered a sneak peak Friday of what will likely be christened HR 1 in the 116th Congress. Instead of starting from scratch, the bill will draw from numerous existing proposals — including some that have languished for years during GOP control.

Though short on specifics, the pair revealed that the package will draw from an existing voting rights measure (HR 2978) and a proposed change in federal ethics laws that would require disclosure of presidential tax returns. Sarbanes, who leads the party’s Democracy Reform Task Force and has been working on the measure for months, called it a once in a generation opportunity to overhaul the nation’s political system. It also will offer Democrats a template as they head into the 2020 presidential campaigns. President Donald Trump, for example, has refused to release his tax returns.

View the complete December 3 article by Kate Ackley on The Roll Call website here.