Latest in Politics
PELOSI, LAWMAKERS REFLECT ON FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER’S LEGACY
“There has been no greater honor for me than to stand on the House floor and say: ‘I speak for the people of San Francisco.’”
read moreSenate Republicans, conservative think tanks criticize Affordable Care Act
WASHINGTON — Republican senators and witnesses criticized the affordability of the ACA on Thursday, claiming the health care plan drives up costs and stifles competition. In a contentious hearing with the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations, witnesses across the health care industry condemned the fiscal impacts of the ACA, also called Obamacare.
Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said that the ACA harmed the health care market.
“The third-party data system has led to greater consolidation within all sectors of health care industry, medically reducing competition and driving up costs,” Johnson said.
He also criticized the fiscal spending of Medicaid, claiming that the Affordable Care Act cleared the way for high government spending for health care coverage.
“Instead of acknowledging all the damage done by the default design of Obamacare and working in good faith with Republicans to repair it, Democrats simply want to spend hundreds of billions of dollars more in their attempt to continue to hide this failure,” Johnson added.
Joel White, President of Council for Affordable Health Coverage, said that the ACA’s consolidation of health care coverage comes at the expense of quality care.
The Council for Affordable Health Coverage advocates for increased competition in the health care market, seeking more options for consumers.
“We are subsidizing inferior coverage through incentives created…Why is this happening? A big reason is that Obamacare drove consolidation and triggered an arms race to consolidate in insurance markets and hospital markets, and that is driving up costs in the market and leaving consumers with fewer choices,” he said.
According to Tarren Bragdon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Foundation for Government Accountability, the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid to able-bodied adults raised taxes for Americans and inhibited access to health care for the “severely disabled.”
He said that allowing adults without disabilities to access Medicaid blocked disabled adults from accessing the same benefits.
“Meanwhile, as that [expansion] happened, 700,000 Americans with intellectual and physical disabilities are stuck on Medicaid, Home and Community waiting lists while Obamacare’s able-bodied adults are always at the front of the line,” he said.
“Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion has left a trail of fiscal destruction. It’s prioritized able-bodied adults over the truly needy, elderly and disabled, and then it rewards money-laundering by states. That’s costly and wrong,” he added.
A conservative public policy think tank that focuses heavily on combating the expansion of Medicaid, the Foundation for Government Accountability has been at the forefront of attacks on the ACA.
Brian Blase, President of conservative think tank Paragon Health Institute said that the ACA sparked an affordability crisis for American taxpayers.
“The Inflation Reduction Act set the Covid credits to expire after 2025, and they should end. Continuing them with exacerbated fraud, increased premiums and health care prices drive out alternative financing arrangements, remove the imperative to perform this failing program, and drive the country into deeper debt,” Blase said.
According to Politico, Blase and the Paragon Health Institute played a critical role in the formation of policies that were adopted into $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts in the GOP’s spending bill.
Wisconsin resident Shana Verstegen, an ACA Marketplace Enrollee and member of MomsRising, an organization that has advocated for women’s health care, said that the growing cost of ACA premiums put a strain on her family’s finances. She said her family hasn’t gone on a vacation in years and had to consider “scaling back” her children’s sports activities.
She said that attacks on the ACA harm American families.
“Families like mine in every state: blue states and everywhere in between, rely on the Affordable Care Act. This is about real families, real kids and real health,” she said.
Verstegen said her family even considered withdrawing from her existing health care plan, but deemed it “too big of a risk.”
“Right now, we’re leaning toward my husband leaving a small business that he loves so that we can have affordable health care,” she said.
First signed into law in 2010, the ACA has long been a target of conservative attacks. Republicans argue that the coverage plan allows for the federal government to exert too much power over the health care system.
During the shutdown, discourse on Obamacare has become a focal point for both parties, as Democrats advocate for the extension of ACA tax credits while Republicans argue that excess spending for the health care plan places a strain on the federal budget.
While Republicans critique the cost of extending Obamacare subsidies, House Democrats like Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries argue that the GOP has no substantial plan to lower health care costs and find an affordable alternative to the ACA.
“Mike Johnson has claimed over the last several weeks that Republicans are the party of health care. That’s a joke,” Jeffries said in a Thursday press conference.
“For several weeks, we were told that Republicans had a health care plan and that Republicans had planned all along to address the ACA issue and the fact that these tax credits for working class Americans, middle class Americans and everyday Americans are about to expire and Republicans can’t be bothered,” he added.
On the Democratic side of the subcommittee, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said that the hearing was a part of a broader effort by Republicans to roll back the protections of the Affordable Care Act and cut spending for health care.
Blumenthal said that GOP-led efforts to cut spending for the ACA are “abhorrent.”
“It is a broad, relentless, calculated campaign to appeal the law that underlies those tax credits and take away health care insurance from millions and millions of Americans who would come to rely on it,” Blumenthal said.
“Republicans are refusing to extend enhanced credits because they hate the ACA more than they care about pain,” he said.
In photos: Longest ever government shutdown in U.S. History, protesters rally on trump’s re-election anniversary
WASHINGTON — Wednesday marked the longest government shutdown in U.S. history under President Donald Trump’s term, surpassing the previous 35-day record during his first administration from December 2018 to January 2019.
The day saw thousands of anti-fascist protesters rallying throughout Washington, shouting, “Trump must go now” on Trump’s re-election anniversary. Additionally, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Trump’s global tariff case, raising concerns.
The morning after Democrats swept the gubernatorial election races, Prop 50 in California and the mayoral race in New York City, Trump told Senate Republicans that the GOP should “terminate” the filibuster at a White House breakfast.
The filibuster is a legislative method that requires 60 votes to pass legislation to fund the government. Removing it would mean Republicans would need a simple majority to pass it.
Trump has blamed the Democrats since the shutdown began and emphasized it in CBS’s segment of 60 Minutes, days before the elections.
“They have to let the country open, and I’ll sit down with the Democrats, and we’ll fix it,” Trump said. “All they have to do is raise five hands. We don’t need all of “em.”
Latest in Education
Senators debate need for transparency in higher education costs
While the GOP is demanding a more transparent process for families investing in higher education, Democrats say it doesn’t go far enough to address rising costs of attendance and affordability.
read more‘It’s turning back time’: parents, experts fear special education layoffs threaten civil rights protections
WASHINGTON – Meredith Peterson is the parent of a 17-year-old with Down syndrome. The Pennsylvania mother said the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) is crucial in protecting her access to resources and funding as she navigated raising her child.
Peterson says she relied on OSERS resources “to really understand and learn about education law, learn about procedural safeguards, the protections, and… to make sure that my child has what she needs and is thriving.”
Peterson is intimately familiar with OSERS operations. She is the Executive Director at PEAL, the Pennsylvania Parent Training and Information Center. The organization is mandated by IDEA, the law that provides funding and accommodations for 7.5 million kids with disabilities. It is overseen by OSERS.
But now, she says, those essential oversight and funding services are at risk.
The U.S. Department of Education eliminated 121 OSERS staff members and 137 people in the Office for Civil Rights in October, after the start of the government shutdown. In September 2024, the last time the federal government published agency employment numbers, OSERS had 179 staff members and the Office for Civil Rights had 568.
While all federal layoffs initiated during the government shutdown are temporarily paused by a federal judge, parents and experts say they fear that money and civil rights protections overseen by OSERS and the Office of Civil Rights could be lost.
“I feel like it’s turning back time,” Peterson said.
Dr. Shameka Stewart works with children with special education needs within the justice system. She said that with reduced staff, OSERS could become overloaded with requests for funding and parent complaints, leading to delays in enforcement.
“The youth are going to get the blunt [end] of all of this impact, because then, they’re not getting quality services – they’re not getting services at all,” Dr. Stewart said. “There’s going to be a risk to the compliance around [it] if the child is actually getting what they need to be successful in education, which is a civil rights violation.”
Peterson says she worries the lack of OSERS staff will leave parents like her without recourse if schools violate IDEA protections.
“Who is that oversight, and how does that family get the resolution when perhaps there is an inconsistency, or an unfairness, or discrimination that’s happening,” she asked. “Where does the family go?”
In a statement, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the government shutdown has forced agencies like hers to reevaluate what services are “truly critical” for Americans.
“No education funding is impacted by the RIF, including funding for special education,” McMahon wrote on October 15. “Two weeks in, millions of American students are still going to school, teachers are getting paid, and schools are operating as normal. It confirms what the President has said: the federal Department of Education is unnecessary, and we should return education to the states,” she added.
However, educators argue returning oversight of education to the states could further threaten protections for special education students.
Dr. Tinita Kearney is a speech-language pathologist in Maryland who has worked with children with special education needs for over a decade.
“Even with the important protections and guidelines set by IDEA, schools and districts across the country differ greatly in how they follow them,” Dr. Kearney said. “Without strong oversight from the Department of Education, these differences could grow worse, harming students with disabilities nationwide.”
She says the potential staffing cuts are already leading to confusion and uncertainty in schools.
“That confusion means questions are going unanswered, timelines are extended, and those critical pieces, the services that these students need with consistency, are completely not being given consistently at this point,” Dr. Kearney said.
Peterson worries that without OSERS protections guaranteeing educational support, future career opportunities and even representation for students with disabilities could be put at risk.
“We are now in a society where our kids are everywhere,” she said. “You see ads on social media, you see ads in Target, American Eagle, and our kids are there because we’re included. We’re not being hidden anymore. I don’t want us to have to turn back time, where, you know, we’re no longer an accepting and inclusive society.”
For student parents, federal child care funding hangs in the balance
Daniel A. Gonzalez, 41, is a nursing student at Jamestown Community College in New York and a parent to 14-month-old Sebastiano. During his son’s first year, Gonzalez juggled night shifts at a medical clinic, diapers and classes on just a few hours of sleep — earning around $36,000 while trying to cover the soaring costs of baby formula and child care.
Gonzalez believes education is key to building stronger parents and, in turn, stronger children. Affordable child care can reduce obstacles for student parents like him, he said.
“We don’t have people in the community going to school — simply because they can’t afford child care,” Gonzalez said. “They’ve got to wait 16 or 18 years before they can try to give their kids a better life by going back to school — but at that point, your child’s already grown.”
The Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program has aimed to ease that burden since its launch in 1999. The federal initiative provides $80 million in grants to colleges with accredited child care, helping students cover child care costs while pursuing degrees. But now its future is uncertain: the Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposal eliminates it, and the Department of Education did not open this year’s grant application. Advocates warn that without CCAMPIS, student parents are far more likely to drop out.
While Jamestown Community College doesn’t receive CCAMPIS funding, Gonzalez feels the presence of the program at other colleges is essential for student parents like him.
Renee Ryberg, senior research scientist at Child Trends, points out that one in five undergraduates are student parents. They earn grades comparable to their peers without children but are far less likely to graduate, she said.
“So for us, that really points to barriers outside of the classroom that student parents are facing on their path to graduation,” Ryberg said. “One of the largest barriers is child care and specifically accessible, affordable child care.”
In many states, that cost exceeds tuition. According to Child Care Aware of America, the average annual price of infant care at a center surpasses in-state university tuition in 41 states.
CCAMPIS is the only federal grant aimed at the nearly five million student parents in the country. But now, colleges are scrambling to find alternatives as grant money dries up.
At Kansas State University, the four-year CCAMPIS grant expired this year, and a request for extension was denied, said Berni Howe, director of the University’s Center for Child Development. The program had subsidized child care for 15–20 student parents annually.
“We ask for information about whether [student parents] would be able to continue their enrollment without the subsidy — a large portion of our parents report that their subsidy for their child care tuition is essential to them being successful,” Howe said.
The Center is now referring students to state and county programs, but each has its own eligibility barriers, leaving many parents without support.
According to The 19th, 13 colleges have also reportedly lost funding mid-grant, after the DOE argued that some programs were teaching toddlers about gender ideology and race — part of the administration’s broader effort to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The DOE said in an email that its office wouldn’t respond to press requests until after the government shutdown ends.
Austin Community College, in its final year of funding, has been notified of continued support for now. The school receives roughly $1 million annually through CCAMPIS, providing child care scholarships to 50–55 students each year, according to Angelica Cancino de Sandoval, ACC’s director of basic needs and advocacy.
But the university is aware of the uncertainty around the future of CCAMPIS, and has a “backup plan,” Sandoval said. She added that ACC has institutional grants that it uses to support other students with child care scholarships. The university can also reach out to other existing donors if needed, she said.
Student parents make up 28% of ACC’s population, and more than 400 remain on the CCAMPIS waitlist.
“The completion rate is 82% for children who receive scholarships — 20 points above the average ACC student,” Sandoval noted. “They’re doing up and above the average ACC student who does not have a child care scholarship.”
In Congress, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) are pushing to reauthorize and expand CCAMPIS to $500 million. The bill, reintroduced last month, has strong backing from advocacy groups such as Today’s Students Coalition.
“This is a moment where we are seeing so many cost pressures on families,” Clark said. “We want students to be able to go back, get a degree, make that investment in themselves and be able to help them pay for child care.”
Tanya Ang, executive director of the Today’s Students Coalition, said while it’s going to be challenging for the bill to be discussed during the ongoing shutdown, she is hopeful due to the bipartisan interest in CCAMPIS.
“You have both sides of the aisle supporting CCAMPIS and wanting to see it get funded and so it could be one of the few things that might be able to be looked at and discussed during this Congress,” Ang said.
In the current Senate appropriations package, CCAMPIS funding has stayed at its current level. However, the House’s version of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education bill eliminates it entirely — aligning with the administration’s proposal to zero out the program in the 2026 budget.
That split means the program’s future will likely hinge on negotiations when both chambers reconcile their spending bills. Until then, colleges and advocates are caught in limbo, unsure whether their grants will continue.
Ryberg, the senior research scientist at Child Trends, said the fear among universities and student parents is only growing — especially the worry that funding could disappear mid-semester.
“The word I’m thinking of is discombobulating,” Ryberg said. “Students rely on childcare to be able to go to class, to be able to stay enrolled and so that shift you’re suddenly dealing with: ‘Wait, how am I going to go to class if I have a two-year-old with me? It’s a real question.”
Health & Science
Soybean oil’s time to shine
China’s boycott of U.S. soybeans has pushed farmers to find outlets to offset the financial loss. The growing market for soybean oil may be the answer.
read moreSenate Republicans, conservative think tanks criticize Affordable Care Act
WASHINGTON — Republican senators and witnesses criticized the affordability of the ACA on Thursday, claiming the health care plan drives up costs and stifles competition. In a contentious hearing with the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations, witnesses across the health care industry condemned the fiscal impacts of the ACA, also called Obamacare.
Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said that the ACA harmed the health care market.
“The third-party data system has led to greater consolidation within all sectors of health care industry, medically reducing competition and driving up costs,” Johnson said.
He also criticized the fiscal spending of Medicaid, claiming that the Affordable Care Act cleared the way for high government spending for health care coverage.
“Instead of acknowledging all the damage done by the default design of Obamacare and working in good faith with Republicans to repair it, Democrats simply want to spend hundreds of billions of dollars more in their attempt to continue to hide this failure,” Johnson added.
Joel White, President of Council for Affordable Health Coverage, said that the ACA’s consolidation of health care coverage comes at the expense of quality care.
The Council for Affordable Health Coverage advocates for increased competition in the health care market, seeking more options for consumers.
“We are subsidizing inferior coverage through incentives created…Why is this happening? A big reason is that Obamacare drove consolidation and triggered an arms race to consolidate in insurance markets and hospital markets, and that is driving up costs in the market and leaving consumers with fewer choices,” he said.
According to Tarren Bragdon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Foundation for Government Accountability, the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid to able-bodied adults raised taxes for Americans and inhibited access to health care for the “severely disabled.”
He said that allowing adults without disabilities to access Medicaid blocked disabled adults from accessing the same benefits.
“Meanwhile, as that [expansion] happened, 700,000 Americans with intellectual and physical disabilities are stuck on Medicaid, Home and Community waiting lists while Obamacare’s able-bodied adults are always at the front of the line,” he said.
“Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion has left a trail of fiscal destruction. It’s prioritized able-bodied adults over the truly needy, elderly and disabled, and then it rewards money-laundering by states. That’s costly and wrong,” he added.
A conservative public policy think tank that focuses heavily on combating the expansion of Medicaid, the Foundation for Government Accountability has been at the forefront of attacks on the ACA.
Brian Blase, President of conservative think tank Paragon Health Institute said that the ACA sparked an affordability crisis for American taxpayers.
“The Inflation Reduction Act set the Covid credits to expire after 2025, and they should end. Continuing them with exacerbated fraud, increased premiums and health care prices drive out alternative financing arrangements, remove the imperative to perform this failing program, and drive the country into deeper debt,” Blase said.
According to Politico, Blase and the Paragon Health Institute played a critical role in the formation of policies that were adopted into $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts in the GOP’s spending bill.
Wisconsin resident Shana Verstegen, an ACA Marketplace Enrollee and member of MomsRising, an organization that has advocated for women’s health care, said that the growing cost of ACA premiums put a strain on her family’s finances. She said her family hasn’t gone on a vacation in years and had to consider “scaling back” her children’s sports activities.
She said that attacks on the ACA harm American families.
“Families like mine in every state: blue states and everywhere in between, rely on the Affordable Care Act. This is about real families, real kids and real health,” she said.
Verstegen said her family even considered withdrawing from her existing health care plan, but deemed it “too big of a risk.”
“Right now, we’re leaning toward my husband leaving a small business that he loves so that we can have affordable health care,” she said.
First signed into law in 2010, the ACA has long been a target of conservative attacks. Republicans argue that the coverage plan allows for the federal government to exert too much power over the health care system.
During the shutdown, discourse on Obamacare has become a focal point for both parties, as Democrats advocate for the extension of ACA tax credits while Republicans argue that excess spending for the health care plan places a strain on the federal budget.
While Republicans critique the cost of extending Obamacare subsidies, House Democrats like Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries argue that the GOP has no substantial plan to lower health care costs and find an affordable alternative to the ACA.
“Mike Johnson has claimed over the last several weeks that Republicans are the party of health care. That’s a joke,” Jeffries said in a Thursday press conference.
“For several weeks, we were told that Republicans had a health care plan and that Republicans had planned all along to address the ACA issue and the fact that these tax credits for working class Americans, middle class Americans and everyday Americans are about to expire and Republicans can’t be bothered,” he added.
On the Democratic side of the subcommittee, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said that the hearing was a part of a broader effort by Republicans to roll back the protections of the Affordable Care Act and cut spending for health care.
Blumenthal said that GOP-led efforts to cut spending for the ACA are “abhorrent.”
“It is a broad, relentless, calculated campaign to appeal the law that underlies those tax credits and take away health care insurance from millions and millions of Americans who would come to rely on it,” Blumenthal said.
“Republicans are refusing to extend enhanced credits because they hate the ACA more than they care about pain,” he said.
Senators raise competing legislation to continue SNAP benefits as suspension looms
WASHINGTON — In an attempt to curb a national humanitarian crisis when SNAP benefits — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that feeds nearly one in eight Americans — are set to be suspended nationwide on Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown, Democrats and Republicans are proposing separate bills to continue funding the program.
Sparring over who is to blame for the defunding, most Republicans maintain that Democrats must support Congress passing a clean bill to reopen the government. Meanwhile, Democrats have pushed back, insisting that the United States Department of Agriculture has already allocated contingency funds to support the benefits in the event of a shutdown.
“What brings us here today in an absolutely unbelievable way, President Trump is refusing to release the $5 billion in emergency funding for SNAP that helps feed 16 million kids, and that is a direct violation of the law,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday afternoon.
The two parties have proposed two competing bills to continue SNAP benefits. On Tuesday, Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) introduced a bill that continues funding for SNAP and WIC, a nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children, supported by Democrats and by 11 Republicans. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) put forward a similar bill on Oct. 21, co-sponsored by ten other Republicans and one Democratic senator, focused solely on SNAP funding.
Hawley’s effort was initially met with criticism by Senate Majority Leader Jon Thune (R-S.D.), with Republicans divided on the path forward.
“Even as nutrition programs are running out of money and federal workers are lining up with food banks, Democrats continue to reject every opportunity to end the shutdown or mitigate its pain,” Sen. Thune said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) responded by directly challenging Thune’s framing on the floor.
“The USDA said weeks ago that contingency funds were available to fund participant benefits,” Sen. Schumer said. “But now they’ve reversed course and literally wiped their plan from their own website. Because Donald Trump has ordered them not to use this funding.”
Over two dozen democratic attorneys general and governors are pursuing a lawsuit against the USDA for withholding these contingency funds. During the last government shutdown under the Trump Administration, SNAP benefits were maintained without pauses.
Experts say stress from uncertainty has already hit American households dependent on food assistance.
In the District of Columbia alone, 1 in 5 residents are on SNAP benefits. More than 54% of SNAP participants are in families with children and another 34% are in families with older adults or disabled members.
Kate Bauer, associate professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan, works with families who rely on SNAP. She said misinformation around the program’s benefits fuels politicians to use public opinion to limit food assistance programs.
“There’s a belief that people on SNAP don’t work,” Bauer said. “There’s a belief that it goes to people who are here illegally. Those things are not true.”
SNAP lifted an average of 19,000 Washington D.C. residents above the poverty line annually between 2015 and 2019, including 8,000 children per year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
A mother on SNAP/EBT benefits from Washington, D.C., who did not want to be identified, said her future is ‘messed up’ while deliberations on continuing SNAP take place at the Capitol.
“I can’t feed my kids, and I can’t feed myself,” she said. “We’ve been heading up to Dollar Tree to get whatever we can get. It’s not fair.”
Latest in Environment
Congress votes to overturn Central Yukon conservation management plan
For over a decade, federal workers collaborated with Alaska Native tribes, Alaskan residents, federal agencies and state representatives to develop a federal strategy to manage public lands in the Central Yukon.
read moreDems urge rural development nominee to push back against Trump administration
WASHINGTON — Democrats urged a U.S. Department of Agriculture nominee to push back against Trump administration policies and stand up for rural communities at a confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Glen Smith, President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next Under Secretary of Rural Development, largely responded to these entreaties with broad statements agreeing to look into Democrats’ concerns.
Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) began his remarks by appealing to both his and Smith’s history growing up on small farms.
“I certainly hope that when you’re at the table, Mr. Smith, that you’ll stand up for the farmers and ranchers where we grew up, where you grew up,” Luján said. “My Republican colleagues are in the majority. They’re in charge. I get that. But in the end, farmers and ranchers shouldn’t get hurt arbitrarily because someone just had a whim about something.”
Rural communities have been increasingly affected by Trump administration policies, including medicare rollbacks, spending cuts and tariffs, which committee Democrats appeared to note.
Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) focused on workforce reduction in the rural development office in his state, which he described as “overboard.”
Welch said that Smith appeared “sympathetic” to these issues, yet worried about how Smith would negotiate situations where Trump’s policy clashed with farmers’ interests.
“Maybe I’m just putting you on notice,” Welch said.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) concentrated on frozen funds, pointing to already awarded energy projects that aren’t being upheld. Klobuchar wanted a commitment that Smith would look into her concerns.
Smith responded to both of these questions with a vague promise to investigate Democrats’ concerns.
“We should all look together,” he said to Klobuchar.
The Trump administration has been under fire for its agricultural policy and its outsized impact on rural communities, as hundreds of thousands of American soybean farmers suffer due to the global trade war. In response to tariffs levied by Trump, China, previously a large buyer of American soybeans, has imposed retaliatory tariffs, effectively halting purchases for extended periods of time.
Indeed, China has now shifted to alternative markets like Brazil and Argentina to purchase soy beans.
After negotiations with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, Trump announced on social media that Jinping had authorized his country to begin purchasing “massive amounts” of soybeans, sorghum and other farm products. However, the Chinese government has made no public commitment to uphold this agreement, and the deal appears to be a return to the status quo.
Still, Trump’s agricultural nominees continue to express largely uninhibited support for the president.
On Wednesday, Smith said that he had ideas “in carrying out the goals of the Trump administration in serving rural America.”
And, at a confirmation hearing on Oct. 29, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) grilled Julie Callahan, Trump’s nominee to serve as chief agricultural negotiator, about Trump’s trade deal with Argentina and how Callahan will serve the interests of U.S. farmers.
Callahan repeatedly refused to answer questions relating to the harm caused to soybean farmers by the Trump administration’s bailout of Argentina. She insisted that China was at fault.
“You can’t even acknowledge that our American soybean farmers are having trouble right now?” Warren asked. “If you can’t answer that question, I don’t see how you can represent American soybean farmers.”
Senate committee approves plan for new FBI headquarters
WASHINGTON — The FBI is one step closer to having a new home at the Ronald Reagan Building.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) voted to repurpose the Ronald Reagan Building to hold the new FBI headquarters. The building is located near the Washington Monument, a few blocks away from current FBI headquarters at the J. Edgar Hoover building.
In 2022, Congress passed bipartisan legislation that directed the General Services Administration (GSA), which oversees federal properties, to choose from three options for the location of new FBI headquarters. The agency selected a site in Greenbelt, Maryland the year after.
Instead of moving forward with the GSA-selected site, the Trump Administration announced plans on July 1, 2025 to repurpose the Ronald Reagan Building to house FBI headquarters.
The GSA needs approval from the two congressional committees that authorize federal infrastructure — the EPW and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure — to proceed with the new plan.
The EPW narrowly passed a resolution along party lines to approve the GSA plan to move the FBI to the Ronald Reagan Building Wednesday.
All that remains to finalize the FBI’s move to the Reagan Building is approval from the House committee, which blocked the Greenbelt plan in June.
Some Democratic senators suggested the change of plans was a targeted attempt to pull investment from Maryland, a Democrat-led state — something their conservative colleagues refuted.
“We’re talking about billions of dollars with an excess of federal property that we can’t get rid of,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said. “This is not something of a Maryland-versus-Virginia competition. This is about where the FBI should be located.”
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) raised concerns that the Ronald Reagan Building could not reach the security standard needed for the FBI because of its proximity to public spaces: the building is located above a metro station and includes a public parking garage.
She also said the resolution undermined bipartisan cooperation by selecting a location that was not one of the three options identified by Congress in 2022.
“Congress provided funding and oversight, and GSA made its selection. That selection remains the only legitimate choice,” Alsobrooks said. “And so again, I am extremely disappointed today — disappointed that we abandoned this committee’s bipartisan traditions on GSA prospectuses, and disappointed that we’re not upholding a bipartisan law in a bipartisan way.”
EPW Chairman Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said in response that the recent proposal to repurpose the Ronald Reagan Building was a practical option to lower taxpayer costs, rather than a political move.
“There is nothing in law that prevents our Committee’s approval of the Ronald Reagan Building prospectus today,” Capito said. “I believe it is the right policy to use a facility already owned by a federal government at a lower cost to our taxpayers.”
The EPW also approved seven nominees to positions related to energy and the environment — all but one with 10-9 votes along party lines.
The exception was Ho Nieh, the nominee to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, who received bipartisan support and a 13-6 vote for approval.
“The meeting went as expected, which is that the Republican majority drove questionable nominees through,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said. “I was glad to see bipartisan support for nominees who were not a problem.”
The nominations will now be sent to the Senate floor for confirmation.
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read moreGoogle and Meta officials discuss censorship, AI legislation at Senate hearing
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers grilled public policy officials from two of the largest tech companies in the United States, Google and Meta, on the alleged “jawboning” they endured during the Biden administration and other policies during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday.
Jawboning is described as indirect coercion by the government of others to censor and take down posts that government officials dislike.
The hearing was a continuation of the committee’s hearing earlier this month on the Biden administration’s alleged censorship of tech companies, where committee members discussed Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the temporary suspension of television host Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show.
Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) accused the tech companies of bias against conservatives and being influenced by the Biden administration. He also accused Google of taking down a YouTube video that compiled clips from presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump that suggested fraud during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.
“I don’t think a tech monopoly should be deciding what the American citizens get to hear and what they don’t get to hear, particularly given your heavy ideological bias,” Cruz said.
Markham Erickson, vice president of government affairs and public policy at Google, clarified multiple times that Google took action against claims of widespread election fraud once elections were certified.
“We felt it was appropriate to take down allegations of widespread fraud because of potential real-world harm at that moment,” Erickson said. “When that time had dissipated, we did believe it was appropriate to deprecate that policy and allow for that discussion.”
The attacks from Republican senators towards Google and Meta continued with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) questioning Neil Potts, the vice president of public policy at Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.
“You say mistakes happen, but your mistakes always happen against conservatives,” Blackburn said.
Potts responded to her earlier claims that Meta has spent $20 million on lobbying against bills that make it safer for children to go online. She said Meta has made a “playground for pedophiles.”
“We’ve worked tirelessly with law enforcement to remove that type of content from our platform,” Potts said.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) pointed to President Trump’s threats to use the Department of Justice to prosecute tech companies. He suggested that Meta’s recent policy changes were influenced by Trump’s threats.
“My Republican colleagues have spent endless time and resources concocting elaborate conspiracies about online censorship of conservatives, yet they have ignored the real threat staring them in the face: President Trump’s explicit threats to prosecute Mark Zuckerberg and Google,” Markey said.
Markey soon found himself in heated discourse with Cruz about the ongoing government shutdown, which has now reached its 29th day.
“Beginning on November 1st, 20 million Americans are going to get the notices that they’re either losing their health care insurance or it’s going to dramatically skyrocket,” Markey said. “That is a discussion that is hard to have with Republicans since the House has not been in session for six weeks.”
Cruz responded that he had spoken out about the increase in the cost of health insurance premiums.
“Senator Markey will recall I stood on the Senate floor for 21 hours saying that is exactly what would happen, that premiums would skyrocket,” Cruz said.
Despite the partisanship, some senators made positive references to bipartisan legislation. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) mentioned the progress she’s had in working with Cruz, Blackburn, and other Republican senators, including the passage of the TAKE IT DOWN Act on nonconsensual sexual images.
Klobuchar had her own encounter with an artificial intelligence deepfake video made of her earlier this year, prompting her to work on a bill with Republicans that gives people greater control over their intellectual property rights regarding AI.
“I do appreciate Google and YouTube support for the NO FAKES Act that Senator Blackburn and Senator Coons and Senator Tillis and I have, and I think it’s very important legislation right now,” Klobuchar said.
Trump nominee faces tough questioning at ambassador nomination hearing
WASHINGTON — Hamtramck, Michigan, Mayor Amer Ghalib forcefully defended past comments and years of social media activity during intense questioning by lawmakers at his confirmation hearing to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait on Thursday.
Ghalib faced scrutiny from eight members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations over his past statements on conflicts in the Middle East, including the war in Gaza. His nomination hearing was postponed in September after criticism from several groups committed to fighting antisemitism, including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and StopAntisemitism.
Ranking Member Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) told Ghalib, “I have grave concerns about some of the statements that you have made, particularly those that seem to justify the October 7th attack against Israel.”
Shaheen referenced quotes from Ghalib’s “hometown news outlet.” The Hamtramck Review reported in May that at a pro-Palestinian rally in 2023, Ghalib allegedly “justified Palestinian violence against Israel for its brutality against Palestinians, and denied that sexual violence happened against Israelis when Hamas militants invaded Israel on Oct. 7.”
Ghalib said he “totally condemn[s] what happened on October 7th.” He also said some of his statements were taken out of context and claimed the “media was biased in translating.”
Despite Ghalib’s reassurances, senators from both parties said they would not support his nomination, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who said he was “concerned that [Ghalib’s] stated public positions are markedly in conflict with the views of President Trump and with the positions of the United States.”
Ghalib replied, “I wouldn’t go against the President and his policies.”
Other Republican senators also said they’re worried Ghalib’s perspectives on the Middle East will contradict the messages the Trump administration hopes to convey overseas.
Sens. Dave McCormick (R-Penn.) and Cruz questioned Ghalib about allegedly liking a social media post comparing Jewish people to monkeys.
Ghalib called his previous social media activity, including his tendency to like every comment underneath his posts, a “bad habit.” He also said many of his controversial posts were made while he was a “private citizen,” before he was elected Hamtramck Mayor in 2021.
Multiple senators also referenced a post in which Ghalib allegedly called Saddam Hussein, the former leader of Iraq, a “martyr.” Ghalib said he made the post “in a moment of anger” after Iran launched missile strikes aimed at U.S. troops in Iraq in response to the U.S. killing of top Iranian general Quassem Suleimani in January 2020.
“As a private citizen, it is fine for you to have those views,” Sen. Shaheen said. “But it is very different when you are an ambassador representing the United States of America, particularly in a country that Saddam Hussein invaded.”
“I complimented Saddam because he kept Iran in check,” Ghalib said, “and probably that’s the only positive thing he did in his life.”
Ghalib, a Democrat and immigrant from Yemen, endorsed Trump for president and campaigned with him in Hamtramck in October 2024. Trump credited the Hamtramck Mayor with helping him win Michigan and nominated Ghalib for the ambassador role in March.
Ghalib is the third Michigander appointed to a diplomatic position in the Middle East by the Trump administration this year. Bill Bazzi, former mayor of Dearborn Heights, was confirmed as the U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia this month. This week, Trump also appointed Mark Savaya, owner of Leaf and Bud dispensaries throughout southeast Michigan, as the U.S. special envoy to Iraq.
According to Ghalib, the president personally reaffirmed his commitment to the nominee earlier in the month following criticism from several groups. “President Trump has just called me and emphasized his unwavering support to me to serve as the next Ambassador of the United States to the state of Kuwait, and he thanked our community for their support,” Ghalib wrote in a Facebook post.
Ghalib’s confirmation could take weeks or even months. Ghalib must receive a majority of votes from the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations before his nomination can be voted on by the full Senate. It is unclear when that will take place.
Published in conjunction with 
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Federal workers’ holiday plans thwarted as government shutdown enters fourth week
“People will be getting fewer Christmas cookies this year.”
read moreBipartisan housing affordability and availability package awaits House amid shutdown
WASHINGTON – As the federal government enters its second-longest shutdown in the nation’s history this week, the House of Representatives faces a growing workload when it is brought back in session — including consideration of the Senate-approved “ROAD to Housing Act,” a bipartisan package hailed as the most significant housing reform in a decade.
The Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act of 2025 draws from 27 previously introduced bills focused on boosting the supply of affordable housing. After clearing committee with unanimous support, the measure was folded into the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which passed on Oct. 9.
Discussion of housing reform continued in a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs subcommittee hearing on Tuesday.
“Home ownership remains a foundational element to the American dream but, as we can see, is out of reach for so many,” Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) said. “This is not a partisan issue. This affects families in Alabama and Minnesota and in every state across our great nation.”
Housing policy is usually left to states and localities, but because the affordability crisis is a national problem, it requires a national response, said Dennis Shea of the Bipartisan Policy Center. That means cooperation between federal, state and local governments as well as the private sector, he added.
The Act uses a few levers — a mix of “carrots” and “sticks” — to push state and local governments toward pro-housing policies, Shea said.
For example, it includes an Innovation Fund to encourage communities to expand housing through streamlined permitting, density bonuses and zoning changes. Another provision ties Community Development Block Grants in high-cost areas to housing production, with the risk that communities not producing housing would lose funds, according to the text of the bill.
“Solving the housing shortage is not about more bureaucracy. It’s not about spending more and more government subsidies. It’s about unleashing locally-driven solutions and cutting red tape while empowering builders and incentivizing private sector investment,” Britt said.
The Senate subcommittee elevated local solutions like weather-resistant homes in coastal Alabama and modular construction in Minnesota that have already proven cost effective.
“Building stronger, more resilient homes reduces the damage during disasters, fewer insurance claims and lower premium costs,” said Lars Powell, executive director of the Center for Risk and Insurance Research.
The witnesses stressed that the ROAD to Housing Act would enable many more communities to follow suit.
Although the Act already passed the Senate two weeks ago, Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) told Medill News Service that the hearing keeps the ball rolling. As the legislation still needs to be reviewed by the House, the Senate hopes it remains in public focus.
The House passed its version of the NDAA without the housing provisions in September, so the two chambers will have to reconcile the differences once Speaker Mike Johnson brings the House back in session.
Shea said attaching the ROAD to Housing Act to a “must-pass” bill like the NDAA was strategic because Congress often aims to pass the defense bill by Thanksgiving. If the shutdown drags on and the House skips markups due to time constraints, he added, it’s possible that lawmakers pass the Senate version of the NDAA, leaving the ROAD to Housing Act intact.
“I know that this is a step in the right direction. We were able to pass it off at the Senate floor,” Smith said. “We need to continue to work to move that and other housing reforms forward so that we can fulfill the hope in this country — the fundamental freedom that people want to be able to own their own home.”
Supreme Court hears arguments over Mexico’s suit against U.S. gunmakers
WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justices heard oral arguments on Tuesday about whether U.S. gun manufacturers can be held accountable for the production and sale of firearms and the proximate harm their products cause in Mexico by contributing to drug cartel violence.
In 2021, the Mexican government filed a lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers, claiming they had aided and abetted illegal gun sales to traffickers for use by Mexican cartels. The suit alleged firearms companies engaged in business practices for decades that created a supply of weapons smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Mexican government is asking for $10 billion in damages in addition to “injunctive relief,” which would impose new gun control measures in the U.S.
A federal district court in Massachusetts dismissed the case under Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which bars lawsuits against firearms companies based on criminals misusing their products.
The U.S. Court of Appeals First Circuit reversed the decision, ruling that PLCAA does not apply in this case since Mexico has claimed gun manufacturers’ business practices have aided and abetted firearms trafficking to cartels, which has ultimately harmed the Mexican government.
This is the first time the Supreme Court has considered the legality of PLCAA since it was enacted with bipartisan support in 2005.
Raymond M. Sarola, of counsel at Cohen Milstein, filed an amicus brief in support of Mexico on behalf of law enforcement officers across the country.
If the court rules in favor of the Mexican government, Sarola said, “Hopefully litigation like this would cause an industry to take affirmative steps when it is aware that the conduct that it is engaged in is having these terrible consequences.”
During oral arguments, justices appeared skeptical of both sides.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett pressed Noel Francisco, the lawyer arguing on behalf of the gun companies, on how the issue of proximate cause was framed within the context of the case.
“You haven’t sued any of the retailers that were the most proximate cause of the harm. And you haven’t identified them that I can tell in the complaint.”
In an amicus brief supporting the petitioners Smith and Wesson Brands, David Tryon, the Director of Litigation at The Buckeye Institute, argued that a ruling in favor of Mexico could potentially cripple American gun manufacturers, which he believes encroaches on the Second Amendment.
“This is a Second Amendment case because they are very clear, because that law was passed to protect the Second Amendment, and this is designed to invade that law and to attack the firearms industry and basically bankrupt the firearms industry, because they’re asking for billions and billions of dollars in damages.”
When hearing arguments in Mexico’s favor, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson expressed her concern about PLCAA and protecting Congress’s prerogative to regulate the firearms industry.
“All of the things that you ask for in this lawsuit would amount to different kinds of regulatory constraints that I’m thinking Congress didn’t want the courts to be the ones to impose.”
Timothy Lytton, a Regents’ Professor and Professor of Law at Georgia State University who filed an amicus brief on behalf of Professors of Tort Law, Statutory Interpretation, and Firearms Regulation in support of neither party, emphasized the impact that a ruling in favor of Smith and Wesson could have on the legitimacy of PLCAA.
“If the court holds in favor of Smith and Wesson’s argument with regard to proximate cause, it will eliminate any possibility of liability for injury arising out of criminal misuse of a weapon. That would be a radical expansion of what Congress intended when it passed the federal immunity shield.”
The court is expected to reach its decision in summer 2025.
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Supreme Court scrutinizes Trump’s sweeping tariffs, limits of presidential power in historic case
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read moreWatch: D.C. ‘shyster’ trades briefcases for buns, launching hot dog stand during shutdown
WASINGTON — As Washington grinds to a halt during the government shutdown, furloughed IRS lawyer Isaac Stein is firing up his grill.
Fulfilling what he calls his ‘childhood dream’, Stein’s new workplace is the corner of 1st and M St NE, where his pop-up hot dog cart, Shyster’s Dogs (@shystersdogs), has become a local and Internet obsession thanks to his suit-and-tie service and cheeky menu serving “correct” and “wrong” hot dogs, Moon Pies, and RC Colas.
Watch the video report here:
Trick or tariff: Halloween supplies see double-digit price increases
VIENNA, Va. — A significant majority of Halloween essentials like costumes and decorations are made in China, leaving many families spooked by tariff-induced price increases this holiday season.
The National Retail Foundation projects that Americans will spend a record amount on Halloween this year — about $11 more per person than last year. A possible explanation, according to supply chain experts, is that products face steep tariffs, forcing importers to raise prices for retailers and, by extension, consumers.
“When you’re talking about a really low profit margin business … there’s not gonna be a lot of room for the producers to sort of eat the cost of the tariff, so you’d expect them to pass it on to the consumer in terms of a higher price,” Brooklyn Law School Associate Professor Stratos Pahis said.
Watch the video report here:
SOTU: Health Care
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Congress should approve his plan to replace Obamacare with a new health care program that would provide “affordable alternative” insurance options and criticized Democrats for trying to impose “a socialist takeover of our health care system.”
“A good life for American families requires the most affordable, innovative and high-quality health care system on earth,” Trump said in his third State of the Union address.
Trump said he has proposed health care plans that would be up to 60% cheaper than the Affordable Care Act plans. Both the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services did not respond when asked if a specific replacement plan has existed or ever will.
The president blamed Democrats for not providing the American people with the health care reforms he has promised.
“As we work to improve Americans’ health care, there are those who want to take away your health care, take away your doctor, and abolish private insurance entirely,” said Trump, referring to the Democrats.
Democrats stood up at this comment, pointed their fingers at Trump and shouted “YOU.”
Trump said 130 Democrats endorse legislation to impose a “socialist takeover” of the health care system by “taking away the private health insurance plans of 180 million.”
Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are pushing for a “Medicare for All” plan that would end private health insurance while other candidates like former Vice President Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., are pushing to expand on Obamacare.
“We will never let socialism destroy American health care,” Trump said.
Trump emphasized the administration’s efforts to protect patients with pre-existing conditions, to which Democrats threw up their hands and shook their heads in disagreement. Led by House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate and House Democrats brought more than 80 patients, doctors and health care advocates from across the country as guests to the speech.
“President Trump will speak to an audience filled with Americans who are suffering because of his broken promises on prescription drug costs and his all-out assault on Americans with preexisting conditions,” Pelosi said in a press release Tuesday morning.
The president also called upon Congress to pass legislation to lower prescription drug prices.
“Get a bill to my desk, and I will sign it into law without delay,” the president said.
Democrats responded to this by booing and holding up three fingers to represent H.R. 3, legislation proposed by the late Rep. Elijah E. Cummings that would require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to negotiate certain drug prices. The bill has been on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s desk for over a month after being passed in the House.
Generic prescription drug prices dropped 1% in 2018, the first price drop in 45 years, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Trump said it was the first time in 51 years. Brand-name drug prices, however, are still increasing.
Trump said the administration will continue to make health care more transparent by requiring hospitals to make their prices negotiated with insurers public and easily accessible online. He also pointed to the passage of administration-backed legislation called “Right to Try,” which allows terminally ill patients access to drugs not fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration if they feel they have tried all other options.
He also said he has launched new initiatives to improve care for Americans with kidney disease, Alzheimer’s and those struggling with mental health challenges, in addition to pursuing new cures for childhood cancer and AIDS.
The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday afternoon to further discuss Trump’s health care policies and overcoming pharmaceutical barriers in particular.
Trump Sticks By Wall in State of the Union Address
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s call for a wall to secure America’s southern border in his State of the Union address Tuesday night was no surprise to opponents.
Jennifer Johnson, the policy director at the Southern Border Communities Coalition, said Trump continually characterizes the southern border as a violent area.
“More of a reality check, these are families and children seeking protection, fleeing spiraling violence and poverty,” she said.
Chris Montoya, who served as a Customs and Border Protection agent for 21 years, said that “crime rates are pretty low in border cities. Being a border patrol agent is one of the safest law enforcement jobs. All those things together means a safe border.”
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., invited as his guest a mother who had been separated from her children at the border.
Other Democrats brought undocumented immigrants as their guests, including Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J.
Rep. Sheila Jackson, D-Texas, was enthusiastic about their attendance at the address. “Their presence here today is representative of the big tent that America is,” she said.
In his address, Trump attributed what he called at crisis at the border to America’s “reduced jobs, lower wages, overburdened schools, and hospitals that are so crowded you can’t get in.” He referenced San Diego and El Paso as being cities that were once violent, and now safe with the addition of physical barriers.
Trump also mentioned the prevalence of MS-13 within the country. “They almost all come through our Southern border,” he said.
Montoya said MS-13 members do enter through the southern border on rare occasions, but it is uncommon for CBP agents to make an arrest.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin is the ranking member on the Senate Subcommittee for Border Security and Immigration. He said nothing changed in Trump’s rhetoric. “If we’re waiting on him, we’re not going to get this solved,” he said.
Washingtonians alternately protest, celebrate the State of the Union
WASHINGTON – DC-area residents had very different reactions to President Donald Trump’s second State of the Union address Tuesday night. But whether they celebrated or denounced the event, emotions were strong.
Around 40-50 people gathered at each of two intersections near the Capitol ahead of the address — far fewer than the 400 people who protested last year, according to Resist DC, the community action group that organized both years’ protests.
People lined the sidewalks along the streets that President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other Trump cabinet members’ motorcades were expected pass by. They held homemade signs lit with string lights so they would be visible to government officials in their cars and chanted anti-Trump messages to music and drums.
Eileen Minarick, 70, said she was protesting simply “because the state of our union is terrible.”
Elsewhere in the city, local bar patrons gathered to drink beer, compete in presidential bingo and watch the State of the Union.
Grassroots activist group CODEPINK hosted a number of guest speakers, including actor Danny Glover, for a lively discussion before the main event. Topics ranged from the Bolivarian revolution to ending domestic violence.
Anita Jenkins, spokeswoman for Stand Up for Democracy, riled the crowd with a call to establish the District of Columbia the 51st state in the United States.
“The people of D.C. have no representation… We have nobody to speak for us,” she said. Modifying the words of America’s early founders, she said, “Taxation without representation is a rip-off.”
As President Trump appeared on the projector, shouts of disapproval rose from the bar patrons. The State of the Union 2019 had begun and the energy was energetic in its moroseness.
Across town, the atmosphere was also charged. Members of DC Young Republicans and Arlington Falls Church Young Republicans filled a restaurant for a celebratory viewing party.
“In the past, most of the people in this room voted for a wall… but the proper wall never got built,” said Donald Trump. He paused and then said, “I’ll get it built.” Hoots and hollers erupted in the bar and two girls were seen smiling and hugging each other.
Though Trump stressed unity in his national address, DC-area residents remained divided in their reactions.
2020 Candidates Alternate Cheers, Hisses to Trump Wall, Immigration Proposals during State of Union
WASHINGTON – Several Democratic 2020 presidential candidates expressed their displeasure with many of President Donald Trump’s policies during the State of the Union address Tuesday.
Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., could be seen shaking their heads when Trump mentioned controversial topics such as his commitment to building a border wall and the dangers of migrant caravans heading to the U.S. southern border.
Harris, who announced her candidacy on Jan. 21, shook her head and visibly mouthed, “They’re not,” as Trump said, “Large, organized caravans are on the march to the United States.”
In a Facebook Live address before the State of the Union, Harris told viewers, “It’s a moment for a president to rise above politics and unite the country with a vision that includes all Americans, not just the ones who may have voted for them. It’s a moment to bring us together.”
Early in the address, Harris was often reluctant to give Trump a standing ovation, asking her colleagues, “Really?” as they cheered the president’s comments about space exploration.
The candidates and their Democratic colleagues booed and hissed as Trump labeled the numerous investigations into his campaign finance and relationship with Russia “ridiculous partisan investigations.”
“If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation,” he said. “It just doesn’t work that way!”
Democrats cheered later as Trump mentioned that women have filled 58 percent of new jobs in the past year. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who has formed a presidential exploratory committee, pointed at the newly elected House Democrats, who stood up and chanted, “USA, USA.”
“I think he didn’t realize that all the female jobs he created were for [congresswomen],” Gillibrand said after the speech.
The Democratic candidates stood and applauded with everyone in the chamber when Trump recognized World War II veterans, a SWAT team member and a childhood cancer survivor.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., sat stoically as Trump denounced socialism. Sanders, who calls himself a democratic socialist, is widely considered likely e to enter the presidential race. Unlike Sanders, Gillibrand and Harris stood and applauded as Trump said, “America will never be a socialist country.”
TRUMP STRIKES CHORD WITH WOMEN, FALLS FLAT ON BIPARTISAN BORDER WALL PITCH
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump got one of his biggest rounds of applause during his State of the Union address Tuesday night when he noted that Congress now has a record-high number of elected women, but it wasn’t lost on the crowd that when the women rose to cheer they were mostly on the Democratic side of the aisle.
“Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before,” Trump said as the women lawmakers rose to clap and celebrate. He then advised them “Don’t sit. You’re going to like this.”
“Exactly one century after the Congress passed the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in the Congress than at any time before,” he said. There were 117 women elected to Congress in 2018.
Bipartisan chants of “USA! USA!” filled the chamber as both the Democrats and Republicans broke into uproarious applause. Many of the Democratic women wore white and donned pins that read “ERA YES,” in a nod to the women of the suffragette movement.
Trump called his list of priorities “the agenda of the American people” in his second State of the Union address Tuesday, which was delayed a week because of the 35-day government shutdown, which didn’t end until the previous Friday. The address was the first the president has delivered before the new Democratic majority in the House.
The president remained on-script for the duration of the 84-minute speech and touted his administration’s achievements from the past two years. He also laid out several legislative priorities going forward, including a “smart, strategic, see-through steel barrier,” an infrastructure bill and the eradication of HIV and AIDS.
Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., was glad that health care was a topic in the speech, while Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., described the speech as “terrific.”
“We haven’t gotten that right when it comes to protection our citizens with pre-existing conditions, correcting all the problems and costs associated with the ACA,” French said. “I like that he kept an emphasis on that while also tackling the prescription drug process.”
For Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., laying out these broad initiatives wasn’t enough.
“I wrote down a number of initiatives — defense spending, cancer research, transportation, infrastructure — and never heard anything of how we’re going to pay for them,” he said.
The president also pushed his plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and to reduce drastically the number of troops in Afghanistan.
Among Democrats, reactions were mixed as Trump highlighted his achievements. When Trump lauded the U.S. increase in gas and oil production, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who has championed a Green New Deal to address accelerating climate change, remained seated.
Many Democrats applauded Trump’s push for a new infrastructure bill and decision to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who sat behind Trump with Vice President Mike Pence, was clearly following a printed version of the speech. She applauded when Trump mentioned criminal justice reform and bipartisan efforts on lowering drug costs and furthering women’s rights.
After praising a recent bipartisan effort to secure criminal justice reform, Trump shifted to a project he said would require the same bipartisan effort: a southern border wall.
“Simply put, walls work and walls save lives,” he said. “So let’s work together, compromise and reach a deal that will truly make America safe.”
However, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, was not encouraged by the president’s attempt to strike a bipartisan tone.
“I just don’t think he is to be trusted,” she said. “This is not a president who is working for the middle class of this country.”
Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said that while parts of Trump’s speech were good, he was too combative at times.
“There should have been more emphasis on the fact that the government was shut down and we all need to work together to bring it back,” he said. “Blaming the Democrats is not going to keep the government open.”
Freshmen members of Congress excited, disappointed at their first State of the Union address
WASHINGTON — Before attending his first State of the Union address, Rep. Jefferson Van Drew, D-N.J., felt a sense of excitement and joy, but also feared the president might once again fan partisan flames by rehashing controversial issues.
“I hope that right now, he doesn’t talk about closing the government again. I hope he doesn’t talk right now about declaring a national emergency. I would so much rather see that we try to work together and get something done. That requires flexibility on Democrats side as well. Both sides have to do this,” said Van Drew.
Partisanship is the reason the approval rating for Congress is so low, but issues like border security, and infrastructure deserve cooperation between the two parties, said Van Drew.
“Rather than just argue and disagree and investigative and be hurtful on both sides, maybe we can actually get something get done.”
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Chris Pappas, D-N.H.
Although having been full-fledged members of Congress for a little over a month, the freshmen class of senators and representatives still retains a “sense of awe” about the State of the Union address, said Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H. Pappas said he hoped Trump would strike a conciliatory tone with Democrats, allowing lawmakers to avoid a second government shutdown.
Pappas brought a transgender military veteran from his home state to hear the president as a symbol of his hope that Trump’s transgender military service ban will be lifted.
“That doesn’t make us any safer and in fact plays politics with the military,” he said.
In addition to passing social justice reform, Pappas said he would like Trump to speak about the opioid crisis, prescription drug costs and infrastructure — and Trump did.
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Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill.
In Illinois Rep. Sean Casten’s dreams, Trump’s State of the Union address would make climate change a priority, but said his expectations were low. Trump did not in fact mention the environment.
“Truth is what I hope he doesn’t say is what I fear he will say,” Casten said, “which is that he’s going to threaten to shut down the government again if he doesn’t get a wall.”
Casten’s guest was Julie Caribeaux, the executive director of Family Shelter Service, which receives federal aid and provides support for victims of domestic abuse. He said domestic violence victims are some of the “primary victims” of Trump’s rhetoric.
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Anthony Brindisi, D-N.Y.
Rep. Anthony Brindisi, D-NY, was hoping for a message of bipartisanship and unity, things that “the American people are calling for.” Trump did call on Congress to act together on many issues.
Brindisi’s top priorities this year are trying to find common ground with the Republicans on immigration reform, infrastructure and lowering prescription drug costs. On infrastructure, he said he specifically wanted to hear Trump’s ideas on investing in job training programs. Trump mentioned all the issues, but with little specificity except that he wants a border wall and enforcement to stop what he called “caravans of migrants” heading to the southern border.
“Those are things that I talked about during the campaign that many people back in upstate New York are calling for and those are things I hope he does say,” Brindisi said.
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Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev.
Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., said she gets excited every time she walks onto the House floor, and Tuesday was no exception. Although there were parts of the speech she did not agree with, namely Trump’s insistence on a border wall, Lee said she appreciated the call for bipartisanship.
Lowering prescription drug prices, investing in infrastructure and a comprehensive border control strategy — these are all components of his speech Lee said she could agree with.
“These are all ideas I can get behind and they work together to produce some results for American families,” she said.
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Rep. Deb Halaand, D-N.M.
Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., said she was dismayed about Trump’s urgency regarding funding for a border wall.
“I wasn’t surprised. Let’s put it that way about the president’s speech. I mean, of course, we don’t want a wall,” said Halland. “He instilled fear and everybody about the danger, you know, the danger that’s coming across the border.”
Haaland hopes to focus on promoting awareness about climate change and wished the President would be more receptive to the diverse issues and people around the country.
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Rep. Chuy Garcia, D-Ill., said he enjoyed his first State of the Union in a historical sense, but wanted President Trump to address issues he feels are important, including raising the minimum wage and healthcare.
Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, D-Ill.
He said while the president did mention lowering prescription drug costs, there was another area of healthcare that was not noted, such as the millions who do not have healthcare at all.
“He wrapped himself around a lot of patriotism and recognition of your courageous battles and victories and but in the end, I think he failed to address important things more,” Garcia said.
Post-SOTU Interviews with Illinois Democratic Reps. Jan Schakowski and Cheri Bustos
Our Alex Lederman sat down with Illinois Democratic Reps. Jan Schakowski and Cheri Bustos after the State of the Union to hear their thoughts on President Obama’s address.
Schakowski — Evanston’s congresswoman since 1999 — said “(Obama)’s vision of what makes our country strong was so human and so true.”
Bustos said Obama is focused on the future — our children and grandchildren — and working together to solve the nation’s problems.
Medill’s State of the Union night on social media
Medill on the Hill produces live State of the Union broadcast
WASHINGTON — It was the third day of reporting for the 21 students in Medill on the Hill. It also happened to be the day the president would deliver his final State of the Union address.
Months ago, buoyed by the excitement of the possibilities and the folly of youth, some of us came up with the idea of taking Medill on the Hill to a new level — producing live TV while also finding new ways of storytelling for the website and social media.
On State of the Union night, Jan. 12, the Washington web team led by Alex Duner and Celena Chong managed the flow of copy and constant web updates streaming in from reporters around Capitol Hill and elsewhere in D.C. There also was a constant stream of @medillonthehill tweets and snapchats as well as several Periscopes.
Tyler Kendall, Allyson Chiu and Shane McKeon were responsible for the main story, and Chiu said the experience was, “the highlight” of her journalism career.
“It was hectic, crazy and we were definitely all running on adrenaline by the end of the night,” she said.
Other reporters were assigned to stories on specific issues the president mentioned, or how local college students reacted to the speech. One even tweeted the speech in Spanish.
My task was to produce the Washington end of a live television broadcast.
Nine months ago Jesse Kirsch came back from 2015 Medill on the Hill with an idea for Carlin McCarthy, another producer with the Northwestern News Network, and me.
He said, with the optimism of a television anchor, that for the 2016 State of the Union we should produce a live broadcast with analysts at our home studio in Evanston and reporters in our D.C. bureau and on Capitol Hill. I said, with the skepticism of a television producer, that I thought he was crazy.
It took long nights, patience and a lot of support from the Medill faculty and staff, but we pulled it off.
Jesse opened the show in Evanston and before we knew it Isabella Gutierrez was doing a live hit from the Washington bureau. Then we were live in Statuary Hall with Noah Fromson, followed by a live report from graduate student Ryan Holmes on what to watch for just minutes before we streamed the live feed of President Barack Obama addressing a joint session of Congress for his final State of the Union.
We did a live interviews with Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, wrote scripts while we counted down the seconds until they were read and gathered quotes from senators and members of Congress. Alex Lederman also provided quick-turn video interviews with two congresswomen.
Associate Producer Geordan Tilley, who interviewed Durbin, was nervous before the show, but she said she is proud of the Medill effort.
“I thought the show was some of our best work, Tilley said. “Especially considering how many firsts were involved, not the least of which was our first time going live.”
Medill Today | Wednesday, November 5, 2025
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