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After Khalil Abduction by ICE, Jeffries and Schumer 'Not the Men for This Moment In History'
Democratic leaders "helped create the conditions for this framing anti-genocide speech as antisemitic/terrorism," said one journalist.
Mar 11, 2025
The two highest-ranking Democratic members of Congress both call New York City home, but even with their personal connection to the city where immigration agents abducted a recent Columbia University graduate for his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have had little to say about Saturday night's arrest.
Amid mounting calls from House progressives and advocacy groups for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil on Monday evening, Jeffries released a statement that one local rights group derided as "word salad," starting by accepting the Trump administration's narrative about the former student who helped organize last year's Palestinian solidarity encampment.
"To the extent his actions were inconsistent with Columbia University policy and created an unacceptable hostile academic environment for Jewish students and others, there is a serious university disciplinary process that can handle the matter," said Jeffries, calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to "produce facts and evidence of criminal activity... such as providing material support for a terrorist organization."
Jeffries noted that the Trump administration's arrest and detention of Khalil—which were carried out under the State Department's "catch and revoke" program—"are wildly inconsistent with the United States Constitution." His statement contrasted starkly with those of his progressive colleagues including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who warned that the Trump administration is signaling "they can disappear US citizens too," and demanded Khalil's release.
The House leader's statement came after a federal judge blocked the administration from removing Khalil from the U.S. and reviewed a petition saying his detention is unlawful. Khalil is a legal resident with a green card and a citizen of Algeria.
The statement from Jeffries—who has faced condemnation for suggesting Democrats are powerless to stop President Donald Trump from imposing his agenda and has privately complained about demands for action from advocacy groups—offered the latest evidence that "he is impressively unsuited to the moment," as writer Noah Kulwin said.
Schumer, who is "the most powerful politician in New York State, and the highest ranking American Jewish elected official—locally famous for his retail politics and shaking everyone's hands at local events," had not released a statement on Khalil's detention at press time, noted local historian and community organizer Asad Dandia.
"Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer are not the men for this moment in history," saidNew Yorker staff writer Jay Caspian Kang. "So obvious and gets more obvious by the day."
Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) abduction of Khalil and efforts to have him deported—with Trump warning his arrest will be the "first of many"—came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that under the "catch and revoke" program, the administration "will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported." On Sunday, DHS said the arrest was carried out "in support of President Trump's executive orders prohibiting antisemitism."
Supporters of Trump's actions have pointed to videos of Khalil being interviewed last year about the Columbia encampment and organizers' negotiations with Columbia officials to push for divestment from companies that have profited from Israel's policies in Gaza and the West Bank.
"Our demands are clear, our demands are regarding divestment from the Israeli occupation, the companies that are profiting and contributing to the genocide of our people," said Khalil in one video.
Adalah-NY, which supports calls for a boycott of Israel to protest its oppression and violence against Palestinians, said it was "no coincidence" that Jeffries offered tacit approval of the accusations against Khalil, considering his longtime vocal support for Israel.
"Fire Hakeem Jeffries," said Track AIPAC, which keeps track of donations lawmakers receive from the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Jeffries has taken $1.6 million from the lobbying group.
Musician Soul Khan asked whether Jeffries and Schumer are "trying to get Mahmoud Khalil out of ICE detention and ensure the security of his green card status," calling his abduction "the most urgent domestic crisis happening right now."
Journalist Kylie Cheung called Khalil's abduction, along with the order to "single out, detain, persecute someone for their political speech" coming directly from the president, "the purest distillation of fascism."
But with Democratic leaders, including former President Joe Biden, joining Republicans in claiming that student-led protests against Israel's U.S.-backed assault on Gaza were endangering Jewish students, said Cheung, the party "helped create the conditions for this framing [of] anti-genocide speech as antisemitic/terrorism."
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House Progressives, Climate Coalition Demand End to 'Fossil Fuel Handouts'
Opposition to Build Back Better Act provisions that would benefit polluters comes amid reporting that Senate Democrats plan to delay a vote on the package until 2022.
Dec 15, 2021
Progressives in the U.S. House of Representatives and a coalition of 140 advocacy groups this week ramped up pressure on Senate Democrats to serve people and the planet, not polluters, with the climate provisions of the Build Back Better Act.
"Congress members, senators, and the president are negotiating with people's lives."
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) statement and coalition's letter came amid reports that Senate Democrats may delay a vote on the House-approved budget reconciliation package until next year so they can focus on voting rights legislation.
The CPC's Wednesday statement--attributed to six House Democrats including Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the nearly 100-member caucus--expressed alarm about industry-led efforts to undercut the bill's policies to reduce planet-heating emissions and emphasized progressives' opposition to "fossil fuel handouts."
"The Build Back Better Act has rightfully been touted as the largest-ever federal investment in climate action," the CPC members said. "Today, we urge the Senate to resist the fossil fuel industry's efforts to remove basic guardrails on the tax credits for carbon sequestration."
As the statement explained:
The House-passed version of Build Back Better requires fossil fuel emitting plants to store 75% or more of their carbon pollution--an eminently reasonable requirement, as the fossil fuel industry itself touts carbon capture's ability to achieve a 90% sequestration rate. But now, special interest groups are pushing our Senate colleagues to remove the requirement altogether, and provide a no-strings-attached taxpayer handout to the biggest polluters.
For Congress to pass such a policy--especially as the South and Midwest are still recovering from the latest climate change fueled disaster--would be an insult to basic tax fairness and to every member of our communities demanding environmental justice. It's simple: A bill that aims to tackle climate change and rapidly decarbonize our economy cannot include gifts for polluters.
Highlighting President Joe Biden's pledge to halve U.S. emissions from 2005 levels by 2030, the CPC said that "in order to meet that mandate, our colleagues must oppose any efforts to remove the limited guardrails that currently exist on carbon sequestration subsidies and protect our national effort to rapidly transition to solar, wind, and other renewable energies."
\u201cLet\u2019s be clear: The Build Back Better Act that aims to tackle climate change and rapidly decarbonize our economy CANNOT include gifts for polluters.\u201d— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Rep. Ilhan Omar) 1639601110
While House progressives argued that the bill's promise to address the climate emergency "must not be weakened," the advocacy group coalition went a step further in a Tuesday letter to three top senators--Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).
"We call on you to remove fossil fuel subsidies and... incentives for the development of harmful energy sources and technologies," says the letter, initiated by 11 groups that belong to United Frontline Table.
Specifically, the coalition is calling for the removal of:
- Nuclear power production tax credits (Section 136108 of H.R. 5376);
- Biofuels and biomass power plant tax credits, funding for biofuels development, and the Biofuels Infrastructure Program (Sections 12006, 30109, 136101, 136101, and 136202);
- Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) tax credits, including Section 45Q CCS tax credits for coal, fracked gas production, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects (Section 136106);
- Hydrogen power production tax credits (Section 136204); and
- Waste-to-energy tax credit for the production of energy from municipal solid waste (Section 136101).
"By investing in fossil fuels and these false solutions and technologies that perpetrate continued pollution, environmental justice inequities, and public health harms in communities," the letter warns, "the Build Back Better Act falls short on the scale of investments needed to transition away from fossil fuels towards a renewable and regenerative economy."
That warning was echoed by representatives for groups backing the letter.
"These incentives in Build Back Better are giveaways to the polluting industries that got us into this mess," said Adrien Salazar, policy director of Grassroots Global Justice Alliance. "Congress members, senators, and the president are negotiating with people's lives."
\u201c@ggjalliance @IENearth @CJAOurPower @ourcityRTTC @APEN4EJ @PplsAction @GCCLP @Center4EconDem @UPROSE @kftc Dirty energy in the #BuildBackBetterAct:\n\u274cCarbon capture credits for coal, oil, and gas\n\u274cBiofuels that are net emitters\n\u274cHydrogen from fossil fuel production\n\u274cNuclear that harms frontline communities\n\u274cWaste-to-energy that releases toxic pollutants\nGet #DirtyEnergyOutofBBB\u201d— It Takes Roots (@It Takes Roots) 1639511738
"Investing in dirty energy would lock in years of continued emissions and climate delay that harms Indigenous, Black, and people of color communities the most," Salazar said. "A Build Back Better Act with billions of dollars for industries that want to keep polluting cannot reasonably be called a climate bill. Senators must remove dirty energy from this bill and direct funds to support a just transition to a renewable energy economy."
Bineshi Albert, co-executive director of the Climate Justice Alliance, noted that "President Biden and members of Congress are touting the Build Back Better Act as a potentially historic investment to confront the climate crisis."
Reiterating the coalition's critique of "handouts to fossil fuels and dirty energy technologies that harm already overburdened and historically harmed communities," Albert asserted that "Congress and the president should not throw frontline communities living with fossil fuel extraction and climate crisis under the bus to get this bill across the finish line."
"Congress and the president should not throw frontline communities living with fossil fuel extraction and climate crisis under the bus to get this bill across the finish line."
If and when the $1.75 trillion social infrastructure and climate package does reach Biden's desk will be determined by Senate Democrats, who now may not vote on the legislation until March, NBC Newsreported Wednesday, citing a pair of unnamed congressional sources.
According to NBC, "The decision to try again next year is based on simple math--Schumer doesn't have the 50 votes needed to pass the legislation thanks to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who remains a holdout."
The Sunrise Movement, which last week blasted efforts by Manchin and the fossil fuel industry to water down the bill, responded with outrage to reports of a delayed Senate vote.
"This is shameful," said Sunrise executive director Varshini Prakash. "After a year of climate disasters killing hundreds of people through brutal storms, tornadoes, and fatal heatwaves, indefinitely postponing a vote on Build Back Better could mean a death sentence for millions."
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House Progressives to Pelosi: Reject Divisive Means Testing in Favor of Universal Benefits
"We can choose to strengthen the bond Americans have to one another by proposing universal social insurance benefits that broadly benefit all Americans."
Oct 14, 2021
Leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Wednesday reiterated their top-level priorities for the nascent reconciliation package and urged their fellow Democrats to pursue universal programs instead of "complicated methods of means-testing that the wealthy and powerful will use to divide us."
"The CPC agrees that President [Joe] Biden has made a compelling case to the American people that government can, and should, be a force for good in this country, and we agree that bold investments in good-paying union jobs, climate action, immigration reform, and caregiving are essential to uplifting families and building back better," reads a letter that the CPC's executive board sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif). "This is our moment to make the president's vision a reality."
The letter--signed by CPC chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and 26 other progressive lawmakers--goes on to outline the "five core priority areas" that the caucus has chosen to emphasize during ongoing negotiations over the reconciliation bill:
- Strengthening the care economy with child care, paid leave, and investments in home- and community-based care;
- Investing in affordable housing;
- Reforming Medicare to lower prescription drug prices, while expanding the earned benefits to include vision, dental, and hearing benefits for our seniors;
- Meaningfully tackling the climate crisis; and
- Keeping our promise to pursue necessary immigration reform that benefits our economy and budget.
The CPC leaders also put forth the caucus' broad vision for how such programs should be crafted, pushing back against right-wing efforts to impose work requirements, income limits, and other restrictions that would limit the number of people who qualify for benefits.
"Much has been made in recent weeks about the compromises necessary to enact this transformative agenda," the CPC members write. "We have been told that we can either adequately fund a small number of investments or legislate broadly, but only make a shallow, short-term impact. We would argue that this is a false choice."
\u201cThe Build Back Better talks pit funding programs well against reaching as many people as possible.\n\nAs our 27 Executive Board members write, this is a false choice.\n\nNow is the moment to show that no matter our zip code, class, race, or gender, government can work for all of us.\u201d— Progressive Caucus (@Progressive Caucus) 1634226354
Instead of slashing the funding of key programs in order to extend their duration over 10 years and appease conservative lawmakers' demand for a lower price tag, the CPC executive board contends that Democrats should "make robust investments over a shorter window."
Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Pelosi indicated she is open to that approach.
"This will help make the case for our party's ability to govern, and establish a track record of success that will pave the way for a long-term extension of benefits," the CPC's letter reads. "We cannot pit childcare against housing, or paid leave against home- and community-based care."
The progressive Democrats also deliver a sharp warning against limiting benefits on the basis of income, a route some right-wing lawmakers--including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)--have advocated during recent negotiations over the Build Back Better package.
"We strongly believe that this is the moment to demonstrate to the American people that regardless of geography, race, gender, or class, Democrats believe that everyone has a right to affordable child care, pre-K, clean water, and a community college education," the CPC letter states. "We can choose to strengthen the bond Americans have to one another by proposing universal social insurance benefits that broadly benefit all Americans."
"This bill," the letter concludes, "offers us a chance to fundamentally transform the relationship between the American people and their government."
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