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chris murphy
'Illegal Sabotage': Medicaid Payment Portals Down Across All 50 States After Trump Order
"This is an immediate crisis for kids, for public safety, for our seniors, for our healthcare system," said Sen. Chris Murphy. "And why? Because Donald Trump is trying to seize power."
Jan 28, 2025
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dodged the question numerous times during the Trump administration's first press briefing on Tuesday: Will Medicaid be one of the federal programs impacted by the Office of Management and Budget's recently announced funding freeze on grants and loans?
Leavitt told reporters numerous times that "funds that go to individuals" will not be affected by the OMB's order and said she would get a full list of the impacted programs to the press after the briefing, refusing to answer when one journalist pointed out that many impacted programs "pass on benefits to people."
When one reporter asked if she was "guaranteeing here that no individual now on Medicaid would see a cutoff because of the policy," Leavitt said she would "check back on that."
But before the briefing was over, numerous Democratic lawmakers were sharing reports that Medicaid portals in all 50 states were in fact down.
"Just confirmed that the Trump administration shut down the Medicaid portal for Florida," said U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.). "There are over 3.8 MILLION Floridians on Medicaid."
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) confirmed that "Medicaid payment system has been turned off" in his state, with doctors and hospitals unable to be compensated for care provided to low-income people, children, and people with disabilities who receive healthcare through the program, while Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said the same about New Mexico.
On the Payment Management Services website at the Department of Health and Human Services, a message read: "PAYMENT DELAYS: Due to executive orders regarding potentially unallowable grant payments, PMS is taking additional measures to process payments. Reviews of applicable programs and payments will result in delays and/or rejections of payments."
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said his staff had confirmed that Medicaid portals in "all 50 states" were affected by the order, which the OMB said was driven by the Trump administration's desire to ensure federal resources are not used to "advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and Green New Deal social engineering policies."
NEW: My staff has confirmed reports that Medicaid portals are down in all 50 states following last night's federal funding freeze. This is a blatant attempt to rip away health care from millions of Americans overnight and will get people killed.
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— Senator Ron Wyden (@wyden.senate.gov) January 28, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Noting that 41% of all births in the U.S. are covered by Medicaid, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) emphasized that the entire Republican Party is "backing this illegal sabotage"—freezing funds that provide nearly 80 million people with healthcare coverage as well as those that keep Head Start early childhood education programs, clinical cancer research trials, food assistance for senior citizens, and homeless shelters running.
"Overnight, Republicans are destroying healthcare for millions of Americans—and it isn't just [President Donald] Trump," said Ocasio-Cortez. "They are ALL in on it. Every one."
In a video posted to social media, Murphy accused Trump of a "brazen, transparent effort to seize power"—marked by his pardon of more than 1,000 people who stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to overturn his 2020 election loss and his firing of at least a dozen inspectors general, as well his "government funding shutdown."
"This is an immediate crisis for kids, for public safety, for our seniors, for our healthcare system," said Murphy. "And why? Because Donald Trump is trying to seize power."
Ocasio-Cortez agreed, saying Trump's order has thrown the country into "a constitutional crisis."
"Trump is holding all the nation's hospitals and vital services hostage to seize power from Congress and hand it over to billionaires," said the congresswoman. "It's a massive, illegal power grab that the House and Senate have a sworn duty to stop."
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Stefanik Backs Far-Right Israeli Push for West Bank Control at Confirmation Hearing
The U.N. ambassador nominee also shrugged off the Nazi salutes made by Elon Musk on Inauguration Day.
Jan 21, 2025
As U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik faced questioning by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday regarding her nomination for a top diplomatic position, the rights group Jewish Voice for Peace Action called on lawmakers to consider her "record of antisemitic, anti-Palestinian, anti-immigrant, and anti-democracy rhetoric and policy" and block her confirmation.
Stefanik's (R-N.Y.) record was reinforced at the hearing as she was asked about her views on Palestine, expressions of antisemitism in the United States, and far-right Israeli leaders' political agenda, with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) recalling a meeting he had with the congresswoman after President Donald Trump nominated her to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
At the meeting, Van Hollen said, Stefanik had expressed support for the idea that Israel has a Biblical right to control the entire West Bank—a position that is held by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, but runs counter to the two-state solution that the U.S. government has long supported.
"Is that your view today?" asked Van Hollen, to which Stefanik replied, "Yes."
Van Hollen noted that Stefanik's viewpoint also flies in the face of numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions and international consensus about the Middle East conflict.
"If the president is going to succeed at bringing peace and stability to the Middle East, we're going to have to look at the U.N. Security Council resolutions," said the senator. "And it's going to be very difficult to achieve that if you continue to hold the view that you just expressed, which is a view that was not held by the founders of the state of Israel."
Stefanik also refused to answer a direct question from Van Hollen regarding whether Palestinian people have the right to self-determination, saying only that she supports "human rights for all" and pivoting to a call for Israeli hostages to be released by Hamas.
Jenin Younes, a civil liberties attorney, said Stefanik expressed "religious fanaticism, pure and simple" at the confirmation hearing—which was held as Israeli settlers and soldiers ramped up attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.
"That [Stefanik] will now play a major role with respect to our foreign policy in the region is terrifying," said Younes.
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Action noted that in addition to supporting "the Israeli government's brutal genocide of Palestinians," Stefanik has also "amplified the antisemitic Great Replacement theory"—which claims the influence and power of white Christian Americans is being deliberately diminished by Jewish Americans and immigration policy.
Despite her support for the debunked conspiracy theory, Stefanik made headlines last year for her accusations against college students, faculty, and administrators over the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that exploded across campuses as Americans spoke out against Israel's U.S.-backed assault on Gaza. The congresswoman said the protests were expressions of antisemitism and pushed for the resignation of university leaders who declined to discipline students who spoke out against Israel.
The hearings where Stefanik lambasted college leaders "were part of a broader campaign to silence anti-war activism and dissent on college campuses while forwarding the MAGA culture war campaign against [diversity, equity, and inclusion], critical race theory, and LGBTQ+ rights," said JVP Action.
An exchange between Stefanik and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Tuesday also raised questions over Stefanik's views on antisemitism. Murphy asked the nominee about the Nazi salute twice displayed by billionaire Trump backer Elon Musk—whom the president has named to lead his proposed Department of Government Efficiency—at an event Monday night.
" Elon Musk did not do those salutes," Stefanik asserted.
Murphy countered by reading several comments from right-wing commentators who applauded Musk's "Heil Hitler" salute.
"Over and over again last night, white supremacist groups and neo-Nazi groups in this country rallied around that visual," said Murphy.
JVP Action said Stefanik has "deeply embraced Trump's anti-democratic agenda."
"Her nomination must be blocked," said the group.
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Senators Decry Biden's Decision to Fully Fund Egypt Despite Ongoing Rights Abuses
"Over the last year, for every single political prisoner Egypt has released, it has jailed two more," lamented U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy.
Sep 12, 2024
Several Democratic U.S. senators on Thursday denounced the Biden administration's decision to send $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt despite enduring human rights abuses by the Middle Eastern country's authoritarian regime.
U.S. State Antony Blinken this week waived human rights conditions attached to $225 million of the aid package, citing Egypt's strategic importance and the country's role in attempts to broker a cease-fire agreement that would halt the assault on Gaza by Israel, which is on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice.
"It's no secret that Egypt remains a deeply repressive autocratic state."
"This decision waives requirements on an additional $225 million of military aid to Egypt that is tied to broader improvements on democracy and human rights," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Ct.) said in a statement on Thursday.
"It's no secret that Egypt remains a deeply repressive autocratic state, and I see no good reason to ignore that fact by waiving these requirements," the senator added. "We have previously withheld this portion of Egypt's military aid package, while still maintaining our strategic relationship, and we should continue to do so."
On Wednesday, Murphy and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) issued a joint statement decrying Biden's decision to fully fund Egypt, focusing on a separate $95 million share of aid released by the administration.
"The law is clear: Egypt is required to make 'clear and consistent progress' in releasing political prisoners in order to receive $95 million—a small portion—of its $1.3 billion military aid package this year," the senators wrote. "The Egyptian government has failed that test."
"Over the last year, for every single political prisoner Egypt has released, it has jailed two more," Murphy and Coons noted. "That's not clear and consistent progress—it's one step forward and two steps back. And among the thousands and thousands of political prisoners the government has continued to refuse to release are two U.S. legal permanent residents, Hosam Khalaf and Salah Soltan."
Last week, Murphy and Coons were among the nine Democratic senators and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who urged Blinken to "enforce the conditions set forth by Congress on holding Egypt accountable for progress on human rights" by withholding aid "until Egypt's human rights record improves."
According to the most recent State Department annual country report, "there were no significant changes in the human rights situation in Egypt" between 2022-23.
The report cited violations including:
Credible reports of arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearance; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; political prisoners or detainees; transnational repression against individuals in another country; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; punishment of family members for alleged offenses by a relative.
"Egypt has failed to make consistent progress, yet the State Department has decided to release additional military aid," Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said on Thursday. "The administration should use the leverage Congress provided to defend the fundamental rights of Egyptian political prisoners and dissidents. That's what the Egyptian people, and people everywhere, rightly expect of the United States."
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