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'America Deserves Better': Top Trump FEMA Official Continues to Claim He's Being Teleported By God
"With over 340 million people in this country, you’d think we could find people grounded in reality to run our government programs," said Sen. Mazie Hirono.
Apr 01, 2026
The man appointed by President Donald Trump to lead America's disaster recovery will not stop talking about teleportation. It's leading many people to question whether he's fit for the job.
Even before this past week, many concerns had already been raised about Gregg Phillips, who Trump tapped as associate administrator for the Office of Response and Recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in December.
Phillips had no formal experience in disaster management prior to being given a senior role overseeing billions of dollars to help victims of floods, hurricanes, and wildfires.
But he did have qualifications that are evidently more important to the second Trump administration: a long history of echoing the president's baseless claims about election fraud, including that millions of noncitizens illegally voted in 2016 and that an elaborate operation involving ballot stuffing “mules” helped former President Joe Biden beat Trump in 2020.
Because Phillips was a presidential appointee, Congress was not given the opportunity to scrutinize these statements or others he's made, including his description of himself as a "very vocal opponent of FEMA," the very agency he was chosen to help lead. Nor did it have the opportunity to examine accusations that he directed millions in government contracts to his own personal businesses and associates while working in the Texas and Mississippi governments.
But months into his tenure, Phillips is finally getting some attention for comments he made on multiple podcasts, in which he claimed to have been involuntarily "teleported," including to a Waffle House in Georgia.
Phillips discussed the supernatural experience in a January 2025 episode of the podcast Onward, hosted by fellow election conspiracy theorist Catherine Engelbrecht. CNN first reported on the conversation earlier this month:
"I was with my boys one time and I was telling them I was gonna go to Waffle House and get Waffle House. And I ended up at a Waffle House—this was in Georgia—and I end up at a Waffle House like 50 miles away from where I was,” Phillips said...
"And they said, ‘Where are you?’ and I said, ‘A Waffle House.’ And, 'A Waffle House where?’ And I said, ‘Waffle House in Rome, Georgia.’ And they said, ‘That’s not possible, you just left here a moment ago.’ But it was possible. It was real.”
“Teleporting is no fun,” Phillips added. “It’s no fun because you don’t really know what you’re doing. You don’t really understand it, it’s scary, but yet um—but so real. And you know it’s happening but you can’t do anything about it, and so you just go, you just go with the ride. And wow, what, just an incredible adventure it all was.”
Phillips said this was not the only time he'd been teleported. In another case, he described his car being “lifted up” and dropped in a ditch outside a church in Albany, Georgia.
CNN reported on other controversial and violent statements made by Phillips as well, including one on the same podcast in which he said he'd like to "punch [Biden] in the mouth" and that he "deserves to die." In a 2024 Truth Social post, Phillips also urged listeners to learn how to shoot firearms and warned them that migrants were "coming here to kill you."
But it's his tales of teleportation that have drawn the greatest ridicule. And Phillips has only continued to double down, according to a report out Wednesday from CNN's KFile.
“Haters gonna hate,” Phillips wrote on Truth Social in a post that now appears to be deleted.
"I know what I’ve experienced, I know Who I serve," he continued, in a reply to one of his detractors on the right-wing social media site owned by Trump.
To another, he said: “I have no regrets for my words nor my faith in my Savior, Jesus Christ. The Bible has many examples of the power of God."
Given the enormity of FEMA's responsibility, especially with the climate crisis increasing the number of billion-dollar disasters in the US in recent years, Phillips' tenuous grasp on the fabric of reality has led some to worry that the agency is in suboptimal hands.
“With over 340 million people in this country, you’d think we could find people grounded in reality to run our government programs," said Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). ”And yet, here’s another powerful official who exists on lies and conspiracy theories. America deserves better.“
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'New Name, Still Cuts Medicaid': GOP Attempts Rebrand of Healthcare-Slashing Budget Bill Amid Dismal Polls
"Hey, so changing what you call this bill actually doesn’t change the harm that’s in it," said one Democratic senator. "Hope this helps!"
Sep 03, 2025
The Republican Party's massive budget law has shown itself to be decidedly unpopular with voters, as polls consistently show Americans opposed to its $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid.
Because of this, reported Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman, US President Donald Trump met with GOP members of Congress on Wednesday morning to discuss how to boost the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act's popularity.
According to Sherman, Trump's message to the GOP is that the bill will become popular if "they completely rebrand it and talk about it differently."
Politico similarly reported that Republicans in Congress have been eager to rebrand the bill after enduring "a spate of angry crowds at... town halls and alarming polling that shows dismal views of the bill's safety-net cuts and deficit impact."
As Common Dreams reported last month, Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) faced angry constituents who yelled, "You cut our healthcare!" and called him a liar when he claimed the Medicaid cuts would improve healthcare services. Other Republicans have been confronted with similar outrage at town halls.
Republican pollsters are reportedly recommending that GOP lawmakers tout provisions in the bill such as eliminating taxes on some tips, although worker advocacy organization One Fair Wage has found that this provision won't benefit most tipped workers since two-thirds of them don't earn enough money to file federal income taxes.
In fact, New York Times congressional correspondent Annie Karni noted that Republicans started referring to the package as the "working families tax plan" after getting out of their Tuesday morning meeting.
But critics in the Democratic Party argued that a simple rebrand of the legislation is unlikely to be enough to rescue it in the court of public opinion, with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) emphasizing that the problems with the law stem not from marketing, but from its substance.
"The poorest 25% of workers lose money under this bill while the richest Americans get a $270,000 tax cut," he wrote while sharing a chart of Congressional Budget Office estimates of the impact the law will have on different income groups. "They can rebrand all they want. The facts are the facts. They screwed working people to help their billionaire and corporate donors."
Several other Democratic lawmakers similarly pounced to mock the GOP's attempted rebrand.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) sardonically offered advice to her Republican colleagues, writing: "Hey, so changing what you call this bill actually doesn’t change the harm that’s in it. Hope this helps!"
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) suggested a more accurate renaming of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would be the “Tax on Working Families” plan.
"Under the GOP tax law, billionaires got the big tax cuts. In fact, thanks to Republicans, many working families will actually see their taxes go up," said Beyer. "And Trump's tariffs are a huge tax hike on working Americans."
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Penn.) ridiculed the White House for "desperately" trying to rebrand the package because "working families think the GOP's plan to sacrifice their healthcare and SNAP benefits to give billionaires a tax cut is a bad idea."
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Senate GOP Blocks Effort to Federally Protect IVF Access
"Remember this the next time they claim to care about freedom and family," said one Democratic lawmaker.
Feb 28, 2024
Democratic U.S. lawmakers and reproductive rights defenders on Wednesday blasted congressional Republicans and former U.S. President Donald Trump after a GOP senator blocked a bill to protect access to in vitro fertilization a week after Alabama's right-wing Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children.
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) objected to a request to pass by unanimous consent a bill introduced by Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to federally protect IVF access, claiming that the bill is "a vast overreach that is full of poison pills that go way too far."
Calling the bill "a vast overreach that is full of poison pills that go way too far," Hyde-Smith claimed it would legalize human cloning, gene-edited "designer babies," and commercial surrogacy, "including for young girls without parental involvement."
Duckworth accused her colleague of misreading the legislation, asserting that "it simply says you have a statutory right should you choose to pursue assisted reproductive technology."
Democratic lawmakers reacted angrily to Hyde-Smith's move—and to Republican attacks on reproductive freedom.
"Once again, Republicans have shown their true colors,"
said Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). "Republicans are claiming to support IVF while voting down the very bill that would do that. Actions speak louder than words."
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)
said on social media: "I wish I could say I'm surprised. Senate Republicans just blocked our attempt to pass Sen. Duckworth's bill to protect nationwide access to IVF. Republicans will stop at nothing to deny women in America their fundamental rights and freedoms."
In the House, Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) lamented Republicans' attack on legislation that would "protect Americans' right to start a family through IVF."
"Remember this the next time they claim to care about freedom and family," Clark added.
Speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday, Duckworth said: "Let's be clear about what led to this moment. The overturning of Roe is what made last week's ruling even possible."
"Donald Trump is the one who bragged about taking down Roe v. Wade," she added. "Donald Trump acts as if that's something to be proud of."
Trump—the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner despite facing 91 federal and state criminal charges—appointed three right-wing anti-abortion justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. All three were part of the 6-3 majority in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which voided half a century of federal abortion rights.
Following last week's Alabama ruling—which prompted multiple IVF clinics to suspend operations in the state—Trump and other Republicans scrambled to distance themselves from the deeply unpopular decision.
However, Duckworth said Wednesday that "while it may now be convenient" for Trump "to claim that he had nothing to do with what happened in Alabama, we know the truth: IVF is at risk because of him. He is to blame."
"Him and every other GOP official who shamelessly kisses his ring, proving with every word that they they that they care more about protecting his poll numbers than protecting Americans' freedoms," she added.
At the Center for American Progress, senior vice president for inclusive growth Emily Gee said that "Republicans have been on a relentless crusade to strip women of their fundamental freedom to control their own reproductive destinies and medical decisions—seeking to ban abortion, restrict contraception, and limit fertility options for Americans trying to grow their families."
"They have been emboldened and enabled by Donald Trump and his hand-picked U.S. Supreme Court justices, who have misinterpreted the Constitution to rip away Americans' rights and enforce their extreme MAGA ideology on all of us," she continued.
"Senate Republicans' decision to block legislation affirming Americans' ability to obtain IVF treatment is a moral abomination as well as an insult to families devastated by the Alabama Supreme Court's recent ruling," Gee added. "Today, they have made painstakingly clear that there's no limit to their agenda to intrude upon women's most personal decisions. That is an intrusion that Americans will continue to reject."
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Manchin Says He'll Oppose Julie Su for Labor Secretary, Citing Her 'Progressive Background'
"Julie Su has already done what Sen. Manchin says she can't," Sen. Mazie Hirono argued, noting how the nominee "brought labor and industry together to avert a potentially catastrophic port strike."
Jul 13, 2023
Right-wing Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin said Thursday that he'll oppose President Joe Biden's nomination of Julie Su to head the Labor Department, a move that could torpedo the progressive acting secretary's confirmation chances in a divided Senate.
"I believe the person leading the U.S. Department of Labor should have the experience to collaboratively lead both labor and industry to forge compromises acceptable to both parties," Manchin (D-W.Va.)—a recurrent obstructor of his own party's agenda—said in a statement.
"While her credentials and qualifications are impressive, I have genuine concerns that Julie Su's more progressive background prevents her from doing this and for that reason I cannot support her nomination to serve as secretary of labor," he added.
Manchin's opposition does not necessarily sink Su's nomination. However, Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) have not yet said if she will get their votes. She may not need them, as a 1946 law allows the deputy labor chief to indefinitely "perform the duties of the secretary until a successor is appointed."
Still, some Senate Democrats said they were optimistic about Su's confirmation chances.
"I think she'll be a very good labor secretary," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday. "And we're working hard to get her approved."
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told NBC News that "she's gonna have enough votes. We're gonna confirm her."
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said in a statement that Su is "the most qualified candidate to be our next labor secretary."
"There is no one more ready and prepared to lead the department on day one than she is," Duckworth added.
As Roll Call reports:
Su's nomination has been the subject of lobbying by outside groups, according to first-quarter disclosures. At least 23 companies and interest groups lobbied on the nomination, including 10 that publicly oppose Su and nine that support her.
Groups opposing Su—including the National Restaurant Association, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, and the Flex Association, a group that represents rideshare companies—reported spending at least $3.4 million on lobbying in the first quarter of this year on the nomination and other policy issues.
Unions and civil rights groups have come to Su's defense, disclosing about $2.1 million on first-quarter lobbying spending. Supporters include the Service Employees International Union, American Federation of Government Employees, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the Society for Human Resource Management.
Su, who previously served as labor secretary of California and deputy U.S. labor secretary, made a name for herself representing some of the most vulnerable workers in the nation, including as the lead attorney in a case involving Thais trafficked in a Los Angeles-area sweatshop.
The 54-year-old has been serving as acting head of the Labor Department since former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh resigned in March to take a job leading the National Hockey League Players Association.
In April, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) asserted that opposition to Su "has nothing to do with her qualifications" and "everything to do with the fact that [she] is a champion of the working class who will stand up against the forces of corporate greed."
Last week, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights reaffirmed its support for Su, tweeting that "there is no one more prepared to move into this role and lead the department as it undertakes its critical mission to protect working people."
This is not the first time that Manchin—who is up for reelection next year and is widely suspected of considering a presidential run—has opposed one of Biden's Labor Department nominations. Along with Sinema and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), he effectively ended David Weil's bid to head the agency's Wage and Hour Division by voting last year against advancing his nomination.
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'Musk Is Not Exempt From the Law': Warren Wants to Know If Twitter Is Following FTC Deal
"Mr. Musk's behavior reveals an apparent indifference towards Twitter's longstanding legal obligations, which did not disappear when Mr. Musk took over the company," says a new letter from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and three of her Democratic colleagues.
Jun 05, 2023
Four Democratic U.S. senators have asked Twitter CEO Elon Musk and CEO-Designate Linda Yaccarino to provide information about the social media corporation's "continued disregard for consumer safety" by June 18, the lawmakers announced Monday.
In a letter dated Friday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Ed Markey (Mass.), and Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) expressed their concerns that since Musk purchased and assumed control of Twitter in October 2022, the company may have "violated its consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and put consumer privacy and data security at risk."
The letter follows last week's back-to-back resignations of Twitter's former head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, and its former head of brand safety and advertising quality, A.J. Brown.
"Regardless of his personal wealth, Mr. Musk is not exempt from the law, and neither is the company he purchased."
"These departures, following a string of high-profile resignations from Twitter's lead privacy, information security, and compliance officers, raise concerns about Twitter's ability to comply with its legal obligations," the lawmakers wrote. "Twitter had a poor track record of protecting consumer privacy even before Mr. Musk's takeover."
As FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar explained earlier this year, Twitter in 2011 "agreed to a 20-year consent order over its data security practices and how it uses your private information."
In May 2022, several months before Musk's acquisition of the company was finalized, "the FTC charged Twitter with violating the 2011 order for misusing personal information," Farrar noted. Twitter then "paid a $150 million penalty and entered a new consent order," which "added further provisions to protect consumers' sensitive data."
But as the four Senate Democrats pointed out in their new letter, Musk has "made numerous hasty personnel and product decisions" since he took over Twitter last October, heightening concerns about the company's adherence to the updated FTC agreement.
The resignations and terminations began well before the exits of Irwin and Brown last week, as the quartet observed:
In November 2022, Mr. Musk fired multiple top executives; top security executives resigned; and Mr. Musk fired employees who had criticized him, let go of contractors, and laid off half of the workforce. On November 9, the day before the deadline to submit a report to the FTC, the chief privacy officer, chief information security officer, and chief compliance officer all resigned. Internal messages obtained by The New York Times show that an employee suggested internal privacy reviews of Twitter's products were not occurring as they should under the order. Reports also indicated that the launch of the updated Twitter Blue subscription service "disregarded the company's normal privacy and security review." In April of this year, Mr. Musk also confirmed that over 80% of the workforce had left Twitter since he became CEO.
"These personnel changes, firsthand accounts from employees, and hasty launch of new products raise questions about whether Twitter is able to comply with its obligations under the FTC consent decree," the lawmakers wrote. "In apparent dismissal of concerns regarding reducing his workforce, Mr. Musk's team has said he is 'used to going to court and paying penalties, and was not worried about the risks.'"
"Mr. Musk's behavior reveals an apparent indifference towards Twitter's longstanding legal obligations, which did not disappear when Mr. Musk took over the company," they continued. "One employee highlighted his problematic behavior, stating, 'Elon has shown that his only priority with Twitter users is how to monetize them,' and his personal lawyer Alex Spiro reportedly said, 'Elon puts rockets into space—he's not afraid of the FTC.'"
As a matter of fact, Musk's Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket exploded before reaching space in April, coating a Texas community in ash and provoking fears of negative public health and environmental impacts.
The senators stressed that "regardless of his personal wealth, Mr. Musk is not exempt from the law, and neither is the company he purchased."
"Twitter must meet the requirements it agreed to under the 2011 and 2022 FTC agreements," they added. "If reports about Mr. Musk's actions are correct, it appears that the company may not be doing so."
Citing their concerns, the lawmakers asked Musk and Yaccarino to answer a series of questions about Twitter's privacy practices no later than June 18.
"In particular, the letter asks whether Twitter conducted a privacy and security assessment of Twitter Blue, its paid subscription service, before rolling it out earlier this year," CNN reported Monday. "Under its 2022 consent agreement, Twitter is required to perform such assessments 'prior to implementing any new or modified product.'"
"The letter also asks whether Twitter has maintained a comprehensive cybersecurity program to protect user data since Musk's takeover and whether Twitter has met various reporting requirements, including obligations to report any significant data breaches to the authorities," CNN noted. According to the outlet, the inquiry "could highlight vast legal risks for Twitter and potentially for Musk himself."
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Dick Durbin Under Fire for Letting GOP Senate Minority Veto Biden Judges
The Senate GOP only has effective veto power over Biden judges "because Durbin refuses to revoke the blue-slip tradition that willingly grants Republicans the ability to obstruct," said one observer.
Apr 10, 2023
With the disastrous consequences of the far-right's takeover of the federal court system becoming clearer by the day, the Democratic chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee is facing intense criticism for preserving a tradition that is allowing Republicans to veto judges nominated by President Joe Biden.
The so-called "blue slip courtesy" is a nonbinding Senate norm that allows lawmakers to reject nominees for court seats in their home states.
While Republicans didn't hesitate to dispense with the informal rule when they were ramming through far-right judges at a torrid pace during former President Donald Trump's four years in office, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has chosen to adhere to the blue slip norm for district court nominees.
That decision garnered fresh anger last week when Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) announced she would not return a blue slip for Scott Colom, a Biden nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Collum had already received approval from Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, also a Republican.
CNN noted Monday that "Durbin's office blasted Hyde-Smith's opposition to Colom in a statement that did not indicate whether he was rethinking the blue slip rule."
"The rule has not been respected consistently through the modern history of the Senate, and Republicans nixed the requirement for U.S. circuit court vacancies under Trump. Democrats, now in control, have refused to bring it back for appellate nominees, but Durbin has said he'd like to keep it in place for district courts," the outlet reported. "Durbin didn't waver on that position when Sen. Ron Johnson [R-Wis.] flip-flopped last year on his support of a district court nominee in his home state, state Judge William Pocan, effectively torpedoing Pocan's nomination."
Progressive advocacy groups said Monday that Durbin's refusal to ditch the blue slip tradition was made even more outrageous by a Friday ruling from Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Texas, who deemed the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of the abortion medication mifepristone invalid. The U.S. Justice Department is appealing the ruling.
Shortly after Kacsmaryk handed down his ruling, which parroted anti-abortion talking points, U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice of Washington State—an Obama appointee—issued a conflicting decision ordering the FDA to maintain access to the pill.
"If last week's appalling ruling from a MAGA judge attempting to ban abortion medication has taught us anything, it's that judges matter. Senate Dems must do everything in their power to confirm [Biden's] nominees, including eliminating the blue slip ASAP."
Hyde-Smith praised the Kacsmaryk ruling, calling it a "victory for pregnant mothers and their unborn children."
Durbin's adherence to the blue slip norm has also drawn frustration and backlash from fellow Democrats.
"If it's a blue slip problem and the Republicans aren't turning in their blue slips and they're being obstructionist, then we need to think about changing the rules," Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) told CNN.
In a tweet late Friday, former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) faulted Durbin for "allowing the blue slip process to prevent confirmation of Democratic judges in red states" as right-wing judges attempt to further weaken abortion rights.
The Senate approved 96 federal judges during Biden's first two years in office, outpacing all of his recent predecessors.
But the upper chamber confirmed just 34% more Biden judges in 2022 compared to the previous year, whereas the Senate under Trump approved 177% more judicial nominees in the former president's second year in the White House than in his first.
The Senate greenlit a record 231 federal judges—not including Supreme Court justices—during Trump's four-year tenure, filling vacancies across the country with young, often unqualified right-wing judges who will have significant power over U.S. law for decades to come.
In addition to further imperiling abortion rights, Trump-appointed judges have recently issued rulings against student debt cancellation, LGBTQ+ protections, and efforts to revoke anti-immigrant policies implemented by the former president.
According to the American Constitution Society, 18 Biden judicial nominees are awaiting floor votes, 12 still must be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and six are still waiting for hearings.
The Biden administration has thus far refused to pressure Durbin to drop the blue-slip rule entirely, even after Hyde-Smith made clear that she would try to tank Colom's nomination.
Durbin has said the recent and indefinite absence of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-Calif.)—a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee—has had an impact on the panel's ability to advance judges.
CNN observed that since Feinstein's office announced in early March that the senator was hospitalized with shingles, "the committee has only approved one nominee, Judge Matthew Brookman, the GOP-supported appointee for the Indiana district court seat."
But The American Prospect's David Dayen stressed Monday that the Senate GOP only has effective veto power over Biden judges "because Durbin refuses to revoke the blue-slip tradition that willingly grants Republicans the ability to obstruct."
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Warren and Cleaver Lead Introduction of 'Historic' Bill to Address US Housing Crisis
"It's time to stop nibbling around the edges and, instead, pass this big, bold proposal," said the Massachusetts Democrat.
Apr 23, 2021
Led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, Democrats on Friday reintroduced what they describe as "historic" legislation to tackle a national housing crisis in the U.S. exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The American Housing and Economic Mobility Act (pdf), also introduced in the last congressional session and now backed by over two dozen advocacy groups, aims to make renting or buying a home more affordable and address decades of housing discrimination against communities of color.
"The cost of housing is squeezing American families in communities all across the country--rural, suburban, urban--whether they're struggling to pay rent or trying to buy a home," Warren (D-Mass.) said in a statement. "The legacy of government discrimination and negligence means that communities of color have been hit the hardest."
"It's time to stop nibbling around the edges," she said, "and, instead, pass this big, bold proposal to solve our housing crisis and take steps to address the legacy of housing discrimination."
Cleaver (D-Mo.) asserted that "the rising cost of housing is holding back working-class families throughout the United States, preventing them from climbing the economic ladder, building generational wealth, and achieving the American dream in the 21st century."
"With the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act, we have an opportunity to rectify decades of discrimination and transform housing in America," he said. "Timid and incremental investment in housing has failed to solve the affordable housing crisis. Substantial investment in affordable housing will ensure a more equitable economy where millions more families of all backgrounds have a safe place to rest their head at night."
As Warren's office summarized (pdf), the bill:
- Controls the cost of renting or buying a home by leveraging federal funding to build around three million new housing units--bringing down rents for lower-income and middle-class families by 10%, according to an independent analysis from Moody's Analytics;
- Provides assistance to people hurt by federal housing policy failures;
- Reduces the cost of housing across America by creating incentives for local governments to eliminate unnecessary land-use restrictions that drive up costs;
- Holds financial institutions accountable for providing access to credit for all Americans;
- Promotes mobility by strengthening anti-discrimination laws and improving the housing voucher program; and
- Increases the amount of accessible housing.
Specific initiatives to assist those hurt by past policies include down payment grants for first-time homebuyers living in formerly redlined or officially segregated areas as well as extending eligibility for home loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to direct descendants of veterans who served between the enactment of the G.I. Bill and the Fair Housing Act but did not receive the benefit.
The lawmakers call for covering the cost of their multi-faceted proposal by increasing estate tax.
The other co-sponsors are Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), along with Reps. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Mich.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Jesus "Chuy" Garcia (D-Ill.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Jan Shakowsky (D-Ill.).
"Decades of discriminatory practices have harmed communities of color and their ability to access safe and affordable rental housing or access to a mortgage," said Gillibrand. "The pandemic has exacerbated these challenges and Congress must do more to ensure Americans have access to affordable rental housing and the tools necessary to purchase a home."
"I thank Sen. Warren for her leadership on this issue and I'm proud to join this legislation to enact fair housing laws, invest in affordable housing, and end discriminatory practices that have historically barred minority families from purchasing a home," she added. "This legislation will reaffirm the commitment to fair housing for all Americans by making bold investments and improvements to these critical programs to level the playing field in the housing sector."
Housing advocates and mayors (pdf) supporting the bill also applauded the Democrats for tackling the issue and celebrated the scope of the legislation.
"More than ever, we need bold solutions to ensure that people with the greatest needs have a stable, affordable home," declared Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. She said the bill would "transform lives and communities by significantly expanding investments the national Housing Trust Fund to help millions of the lowest-income and most marginalized households who struggle to pay rent and the half a million people without a home at all."
Referencing a broader proposal that President Joe Biden is expected to put forth next week, Yentel added that "Congress should enact this bill as part of the American Jobs Plan to ensure that everyone has the breadth of opportunities that come from having a stable, affordable place to call home."
The bill's reintroduction comes as people across the country are facing evictions or homelessness resulting from lost income related to the pandemic. Reuters reported Friday that "landlords have persisted in pursuing evictions across the United States, despite government measures meant to keep tenants in their homes," including Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's eviction moratorium.
Although there is not comprehensive national data, Reuters noted Princeton University Eviction Lab's found that 318,091 households have faced eviction proceedings during the pandemic in 27 U.S. cities.
Meanwhile, Moody's Analytics estimates that by next month, seven million renters across the country will owe a collective $40 billion in back rent, utilities, and fees.
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Josh Hawley Casts Lone 'No' Vote on Senate Bill Targeting Anti-Asian Hate Crimes
The Missouri Republican—who helped incite the deadly January 6 Capitol attack—previously called the measure "hugely overbroad."
Apr 22, 2021
Responding to a surge in racist attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders fueled by racist rhetoric from former President Donald Trump and the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Senate on Thursday nearly unanimously approved a bill aimed at fighting anti-AAPI hate--with Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri casting the sole dissenting vote.
In a rare display of overwhelming Senate bipartisanship, the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act, sponsored by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii)--who in 2013 became the first Asian American woman elected to the upper chamber--passed by a vote of 94-1.
"This historic, bipartisan vote... is a powerful message of solidarity to our AAPI community," Hirono said following the measure's passage. "Now, I urge the House to swiftly pass this legislation so President [Joe] Biden can sign it into law."
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), the only other Asian American woman currently in the Senate, recalled racist harassment endured by her mother and said that "this bill will allow me to go home to my mom and say we did something."
Hawley, a potential 2024 Republican presidential contender who helped incite the deadly January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and was one of the leading peddlers of the lie that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" from Trump, offered no immediate response to queries about his "no" vote.
However, according to The Hill, Hawley previously told reporters he was concerned with the bill's scope, calling the measure "hugely open-ended."
"It just you know the ability and power to define crimes, to define incidents going forward, and collect all that data, it just seemed hugely, hugely overbroad," he said.
AAPI advocates, however, welcomed the bill's passage. Advancing Justice-AAJC told Politico the bill would "provide much-needed support for individuals and communities impacted by hate and discrimination."
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights issued a statement applauding the Senate for "recognizing the urgency of this moment and the need to improve hate crimes reporting and invest in communities targeted for hate."
"More accurate reporting and data would help to create community-centered solutions to prevent and report hate crimes and help law enforcement carry out its duty to protect and serve communities targeted for hate," the group said, adding that "we... call on the House of Representatives to pass this important legislation so the president can sign it into law."
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Leading Digital Rights Group Warns Section 230 Reform Bill Will Boost Big Tech While Crushing Smaller Sites
"This bill, as written, would have enormous unintended consequences for human rights and freedom of expression," warned Fight for the Future's Evan Greer.
Feb 04, 2021
A leading digital rights group on Friday sounded the alarm on a bill introduced by Senate Democrats aimed at reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, warning that although well-intentioned, the measure would "have enormous unintended consequences" that would boost the power of Big Tech at the expense of smaller websites and online freedom.
"It would solidify the monopoly power of the largest tech companies like Facebook and Google while crushing small sites and rendering the Internet almost completely unusable for activism and organizing."
--Evan Greer,
Fight for the Future
The SAFE TECH Act (pdf)--introduced by Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.)--changes key language in Section 230, which largely protects websites, including social media platforms, from being held legally liable for content posted by third-party users. The new language proposed by the senators would no longer extend protection when payment is involved.
"For years, Section 230 provided a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card to platform companies as their sites are openly and repeatedly used by bad actors to cause damage and injury," Warner explained in a series of tweets promoting the new bill. "The SAFE TECH Act doesn't interfere with free speech--it's about allowing these platforms to finally be held accountable for harmful, often criminal behavior enabled by their platforms to which they have turned a blind eye for too long."
Under former President Donald Trump, Section 230 was in the administration's crosshairs, as social media companies policed or blocked the president's false, misleading, and inflammatory content. Democrats--including now-President Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign--also proposed repealing or significantly modifying Section 230, not because it restricted free speech but rather because it allowed the dissemination of lies and incitement.
Section 230 came under increased scrutiny in the wake of the deadly January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing extremists, many of whom used social media to foment and organize the insurrection.
Last week, a coalition of internet defenders cautioned lawmakers against responding to the Capitol attack by making ill-advised changes to Section 230. However, Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, said on Friday that the SAFE TECH Act does just that.
"We absolutely agree that Congress needs to take meaningful action to address the real world harm being done by Big Tech companies' surveillance capitalist business models," Greer said in a statement. "But unfortunately this bill, as written, would have enormous unintended consequences for human rights and freedom of expression. It creates a huge carveout in Section 230 that impacts not only advertising but essentially all paid services, such as web hosting and CDNs, as well as small services like Patreon, Bandcamp, and Etsy."
Greer continued:
While it appears the bill's sponsors intended to make targeted changes to Section 230, as written this bill essentially guts Section 230. It would solidify the monopoly power of the largest tech companies like Facebook and Google while crushing small sites and rendering the internet almost completely unusable for activism and organizing. We urge lawmakers to pass the SAFE Sex Worker[s] Study Act to investigate the harm done by SESTA/FOSTA, and hold hearings about the potential human rights and civil liberties implications of changing Section 230 before advancing legislation that could do tremendous harm.
"We hope to work with the bill's sponsors and supporters to work toward meaningful policy changes to hold Big Tech companies accountable for their role in undermining democracy and basic rights," added Greer. "We urge swift action on measures such as strong data privacy legislation and enforcement of antitrust and civil rights laws."
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Quitting Trump Cabinet Is 'Not Courageous, It's Cowardly,' Say Supporters of 25th Amendment Ouster
"At this late a stage, resignations help little beyond serving as late attempts at self-preservation," argued Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Jan 06, 2021
Progressive lawmakers and advocacy groups on Thursday urged members of President Donald Trump's Cabinet considering resignation following Wednesday's insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol to remain in the administration and invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.
"The vice president and Cabinet members must invoke the 25th Amendment NOW and remove Trump from office before he incites more violence and chaos."
--Sen. Bernie Sanders
"A number of administration officials are resigning to protest Trump's horrific acts of sedition yesterday," noted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Twitter. "Not good enough! The vice president and Cabinet members must invoke the 25th Amendment NOW and remove Trump from office before he incites more violence and chaos."
Sanders' remarks came hours after Elaine Chao, Trump's transportation secretary, cited Wednesday's "traumatic and entirely avoidable" attack as she tendered her resignation, explaining the incident "has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside."
Chao, who is also the wife of soon-to-be Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), was the highest-ranking Trump administration official to resign in the wake of what many observers called a domestic terror attack. But she wasn't the only one.
NPR reports Stephanie Grisham, chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump; Sarah Matthews, a deputy press secretary; Mick Mulvaney, the special envoy to Northern Ireland; and Matt Pottinger, the deputy national security adviser, are among those who are quitting over Wednesday's insurrection.
While such resignations may be dressed in a veneer of principle, many progressives say that if they want to make good, Trump officials should remain in his Cabinet and use the 25th Amendment--which allows for the dismissal of a president who is incapacitated, or unable or unwilling to perform their duties--to remove him from office. A group of nearly 100 Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday sent a letter to Vice President Mike Pence to "emphatically urge" him to invoke the constitutional remedy.
"At this late a stage, resignations help little beyond serving as late attempts at self-preservation," argued Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). "If Sec. Chao objects to yesterday's events this deeply, she should be working the Cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment--not abdicating the seat that allows her to do so."
The advocacy group Public Citizen was even more blunt, calling Chao's resignation "the definition of cowardice."
"Chao could have stayed and pushed for the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office," the group tweeted. "Instead, she enabled Trump for four years and jumped ship when her husband's workplace was ransacked. Pathetic."
To those members of Trump's Cabinet who haven't left but are thinking about doing so, Robert Weissman and Lisa Gilbert, respectively Public Citizen president and vice president, sounded a gentler tone:
I am sure you all are profoundly and appropriately disturbed by what occurred yesterday at the Capitol... Many of you may now be considering resigning... While principled resignations would have been appropriate at any other moment in the administration's tenure, that is no longer this case.
Invoking the 25th Amendment in this way is without precedent and should only be done in the most extreme circumstances. But we are now living in those most extreme circumstances. Your country is relying on you to honor your duty to the Constitution and protect us all.
Pence, however, is reportedly unwilling to use his power to invoke the 25th Amendment, according to sources who spoke with Business Insider on Thursday. New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman confirmed the report.
Another option for holding Trump accountable for the riot he incited--impeachment--appears off the table for now. Despite Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) introducting articles of impeachment against Trump on Thursday for his "attempted coup against our country," Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives--which just 24 hours earlier had been under occupation by a Trumpist mob--saw fit to adjourn until the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on January 20.
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