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alexandria ocasio-cortez
'Bigoted Folks' Love Trans Sports Ban, Says AOC—And So Do CEOs for the Diversion It Creates
"Los Angeles is on fire right now, and this is the number one priority this majority has," said the congresswoman.
Jan 14, 2025
While Republicans claimed a bill restricting transgender girls' participation in school sports was aimed at protecting "our culture and civilization" on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the legislation benefits the corporate class as it distracts from true life-threatening emergencies faced by communities across the country.
"Thank you for your concern about women for the first time that I've seen," said the New York Democrat on the House floor, noting that Republicans have consistently voted against the Violence Against Women Act and backed abortion bans that have stripped women of the ability to control their own bodies proven deadly.
But contrary to the GOP's claims that barring transgender girls and women from playing on sports teams that align with their gender will protect girls from assault, Ocasio-Cortez suggested, the biggest beneficiaries of the legislation include corporate executives whose companies do far more harm to American families than transgender athletes.
"I know who loves this bill," said the congresswoman. "Yes, bigoted folks love this bill. Assaulters love this bill. But also, CEOs love this bill. Because Los Angeles is on fire right now, and this is the number one priority this majority has."
The bill passed 218-206, with the entire Republican caucus supporting it and all but two Democrats voting no. If the legislation is signed into law, schools that receive federal funding would be barred from allowing transgender girls from playing on girls' sports teams.
Republicans have poured $111 million on political ads regarding the issue in the past year, as communities in the Southeast have suffered catastrophic hurricane damage and homelessness has soared by 18%.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) agreed with Ocasio-Cortez's comments about the distraction caused by the transgender sports bill.
"Republicans fearmonger about the trans community to divert attention from the fact they have no real solutions to help everyday Americans," said Bonamici. "Transgender students, like all students, they deserve the same opportunity as their peers to learn teamwork, to find belonging and to grow into well-rounded adults through sports."
Ocasio-Cortez added that the bill, which lacks an enforcement mechanism, would open the door to "genital examinations" of student athletes as it would force schools to confirm the sex assigned at birth of each member of a school sports team.
"What this also opens the door for is for women to try to perform a very specific kind of femininity for the very kind of men who are drafting this bill, and to open up questioning of who is a woman because of how we look, how we present ourselves, and yes, what we choose to do with our bodies," said Ocasio-Cortez.
The so-called Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act was the subject of a letter signed by more than 400 civil society groups on Monday, who urged members of Congress to reject the "discriminatory proposal."
"Although the authors of the legislation represent themselves as serving the interests of cisgender girls and women, this legislation does not address the longstanding barriers all girls and women have faced in their pursuit of athletics," said the groups, led by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. "We firmly believe that an attack on transgender youth is an attack on civil rights."
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As 'Republican Shutdown' Nears, Dems Say 'Hell No' to Trump-Backed Spending Bill
"They're cutting healthcare to kids because Elon gets his money from defense contracts so they'll never touch the military budget," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Dec 19, 2024
With a government shutdown looming, Democrats on Thursday lashed out against Republicans' failed end-of-year spending bill, which Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal warned would allow U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's "unelected billionaire friends to control the government and enrich themselves at the expense of working people."
Congress has until Friday night to avert a federal government shutdown by passing a continuing resolution. After Trump thwarted a measure that took months to negotiate, House Republicans reached a short-term agreement on Thursday that would keep the government funded for the next three months and suspend the debt ceiling until 2027. It also included approximately $110 billion in disaster relief funding, a key Democratic demand.
However, the House rejected the bill late Thursday. The vote was 174-235, with 38 Republicans voting against the proposal and two Democrats approving the package.
This, after Trump and multibillionaire Elon Musk—who the president-elect has tapped to co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency—on Wednesday torpedoed an earlier spending plan put forth by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) after negotiations with Democratic lawmakers.
According toPolitico, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) ripped Thursday's GOP proposal as "laughable" during an afternoon press conference.
"Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown," said Jeffries, who added in a later meeting with Democratic Caucus members: "I'm not simply a no. I'm a hell no" on the GOP proposal.
Decrying proposed cuts to child healthcare in the bill—specifically, the elimination of $190 million in pediatric cancer research—Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said on social media Thursday that Republicans are "cutting healthcare to kids because Elon gets his money from defense contracts so they'll never touch the military budget."
On Wednesday, the Senate passed an $895 billion military spending bill that now awaits Democratic President Joe Biden's signature.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was one of numerous progressives who took aim at Musk, writing on social media Thursday that the world's richest person "is threatening to unseat elected officials if they do not follow his orders to shut down the government during the holidays."
"Are we still a democracy or have we already moved to oligarchy and authoritarianism?" Sanders added.
Jayapal (D-Wash.) said in a statement Thursday that "any shutdown is a 100% Republican shutdown, and the effects on working people will be devastating."
Here’s the situation: There was a bipartisan deal to stop a government shutdown. But now, shadow President Elon Musk is calling the shots and Mike Johnson, Trump, and Republicans are falling in line. It’s clear who’s in charge.
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— Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (@jayapal.house.gov) December 19, 2024 at 6:42 AM
Japayal continued:
Shadow President Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump are billionaires who don't even know what it's like to worry about where the next rent check comes from, how they will pay for the medications they need, or what happens if the [Federal Aviation Administration] shuts down and families can't go and visit their loved ones for the holidays. And yet they are leading scaredy-cat Republican members of Congress into chaos, barely 12 hours after congressional Democrats and Republicans had reached a bipartisan deal to keep the government open and provide critical funding to communities ravaged by natural disasters, support to vulnerable farmers facing bankruptcy, and childcare and Social Security checks to kids and seniors across this country.
"Derailing a deal to keep the government functioning means a devastating holiday shutdown that would cause millions of essential workers to go without pay, families to be evicted, flights delayed during the busiest travel season, and potential disruptions to Social Security or Medicare services," Jayapal stated.
"The Progressive Caucus stands with Leader Jeffries and our full Democratic Caucus to demand passage of the negotiated deal to fund government and ensure we protect communities across this country," she added. "We cannot succumb to a government by billionaires, for billionaires."
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'Tried My Best,' AOC Says After Losing Bid for Top Oversight Role
"Sorry I couldn't pull it through everyone—we live to fight another day," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on social media following the vote.
Dec 17, 2024
Update:
The House Democratic caucus on Tuesday chose Rep. Gerry Connolly over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the ranking spot on the House Oversight Committee in the upcoming Congress.
The result of the secret-ballot vote, according toAxios, was 84 for Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and 131 for Connolly (D-Va.).
"Tried my best," the New York progressive wrote on social media following the vote. "Sorry I couldn't pull it through everyone—we live to fight another day."
In a statement, Connolly thanked his colleagues "for their support and the confidence they've placed in me to lead House Democrats on the Oversight Committee," which will be under GOP control through at least 2026.
"We know what the Republican playbook will be. We have seen it before," said Connolly. "They have demonstrated that they are willing to traffic in debunked conspiracy theories and enable the worst abuses of the Trump administration. This will be trench warfare. Now is not the time to be timid."
"I promise the American people that our committee Democrats will be a beacon of truth and prepared from Day One to counter Republican gaslighting," he added. "We will be disciplined. We will be laser-focused on getting results on the kitchen table issues that affect the American people the most. We will stand up for our democracy and for truth. And we will protect the tremendous and historic progress we have made as House Democrats."
Earlier:
Rep. Gerry Connolly narrowly bested Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a secret-ballot vote Monday for the ranking spot on the House Oversight Committee in the upcoming Congress—but the New York progressive still has a shot to secure the role in a full Democratic caucus vote on Tuesday.
Connolly's (D-Va.) bid for the top Democratic slot on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability—which could play a central role in investigating the incoming Trump administration in the coming years—is backed by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has frequently clashed with Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other progressives on policy.
The House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee voted 34-27 behind closed doors on Monday to recommend Connolly over Ocasio-Cortez for the oversight role. While full caucus votes "typically align with the steering panel's recommendations," Politiconoted, "two Democratic allies of Ocasio-Cortez... predicted the full caucus, composed of younger members who might be more likely to favor the 35-year old liberal compared to the steering panel, could sway in favor of the progressive New Yorker."
"Members said Connolly attracted staunch support from centrist Democrats after spending the last several weeks campaigning with key members," Politico reported. "He moved to lock down critical bases of support like the centrist New Democrat Coalition."
Ocasio-Cortez, for her part, is backed by the roughly 100-member Congressional Progressive Caucus as well as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The New York progressive also secured the backing of a majority of members on the House Oversight Committee, which is set to be controlled by Republicans through at least 2026.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote on social media late Monday that "many" in the House Democratic caucus, including himself, will back Ocasio-Cortez in Tuesday's vote.
"AOC is objectively a more skilled communicator and narrative shaper than just about anyone in her party, and certainly more than Connolly."
Following Monday's steering panel vote, Ocasio-Cortez told reporters that she is "locked in" and "working hard."
"We are still in this," she wrote on social media. "This is the difficult business of hope and defying expectation. We do not give up. We run through the tape."
In private, Ocasio-Cortez—who won her seat in Congress by toppling a high-ranking Democrat—has "signaled" to her colleagues that she "might no longer back congressional primary challenges" against them, according toPolitico, which cited three unnamed people familiar with her remarks.
The race between Connolly and Ocasio-Cortez is widely seen as a proxy fight between the younger, more progressive faction of the Democratic Party and the old guard, which appears bent on maintaining control. In recent days, Pelosi has reportedly been "actively working to tank" Ocasio-Cortez's chances of winning the oversight spot by making calls in support of Connolly.
Slate's Alexander Sammon wrote in a column Tuesday that "it's a bad move" for Pelosi and other leading establishment Democrats to back Connolly over Ocasio-Cortez, "one of the best-known progressives in the country" and also "one of the best-known Democrats period."
"With Trump in office, the role of Oversight will be extremely important, especially for a party that is begging voters to believe that they are well positioned to tackle corruption," Sammon wrote. "AOC is objectively a more skilled communicator and narrative shaper than just about anyone in her party, and certainly more than Connolly. Her ability as an explainer is top-notch, and her penchant for conveying outrage and injustice is sorely lacking in the party's upper echelons."
"Pelosi's penchant for backroom sabotage was easy to cheer when she was pushing fellow octogenarian and likely loser Joe Biden out of the presidential race; it's harder to justify when an eminently qualified rising star—who, whether Pelosi likes it personally or not, is widely known to be a cornerstone of the party's future—pushes for a simple promotion," Sammon added.
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