Sewell leads new push for voting rights
Plus, House Democrats and big-city mayors defend sanctuary city policies and Bernie Sanders revives the fight to pass the PRO Act.
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! First things first:
House Democrats and the broader Capitol Hill community are mourning the loss of first-term Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas), who passed away last night. Turner, who was 70, replaced the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) after serving as Houston’s mayor for eight years.
House Republicans introduced a censure resolution against Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) today for interrupting President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress last night before Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had Green removed from the chamber. Green, who filed articles of impeachment against Trump last month, said it was worth it: “I’ll accept the punishment,” he told reporters last night.
House Ways and Means Committee Democrats introduced three Social Security-related, including one to pause the closure of field offices for the rest of Trump’s term and another to block the so-called Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive beneficiary information. ICYMI: “Dems’ new fault line”
A group of bipartisan lawmakers reintroduced the HERO Act, which would improve mental health support programs for first responders, including firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency operators, and other public safety officers and health care providers.
And finally, the government shut down in nine days without congressional action.
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Sewell leads new push for voting rights
House Democrats reintroduced a longshot bill this morning to restore and strengthen a landmark law prohibiting racial discrimination in voting.
Allow me to explain: The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act has the backing of Democratic leaders, key caucus chairs, and every rank-and-file member.
Republicans, led by Donald Trump, frame expanded voter access as a threat to “election integrity.”
In her own words: Lead sponsor Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) sees a narrow path forward.
“If we can get three Republicans to join us … to fight for protections of voting rights, we can make a difference,” she told me.
What else they’re saying: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called voting rights central to democracy.
“Republicans, in many ways, have decided that voter suppression is an electoral strategy.”
In the know: The bill updates the preclearance formula for federal oversight of jurisdictions with recent voting rights violations.
It last passed the House in 2021 but stalled in the Senate after then-Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.) opposed weakening the filibuster.
Looking ahead: Sewell reintroduced the bill ahead of the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. She will lead a congressional delegation to Selma this weekend for the annual march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
“We expect thousands to cross the bridge in a show of support for democracy,” she said.
The full picture: “Sewell’s new voting rights push”
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Dems, big-city mayors defend sanctuary city policies
Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee presented a unified front in defending four big-city mayors and sanctuary cities during a three-hour hearing where Republicans accused the city leaders of prioritizing undocumented immigrants over public safety.
Allow me to explain: House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) summoned the mayors—Michelle Wu of Boston, Brandon Johnson of Chicago, Mike Johnston of Denver, and Eric Adams of New York City—to accuse the leaders of impeding federal immigration enforcement and compromising public safety.
The mayors pushed back, citing research showing that immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-born citizens, and argued their policies do not contribute to higher crime rates.
Committee Democrats and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) framed the hearing as a political attack on urban centers and a distraction from broader issues of comprehensive immigration reform.
In his own words: “This effort is just a show,” Aguilar, the number-three House Democrat, said of his GOP colleagues. “They don’t treat this issue with the seriousness it deserves.”
Aguilar emphasized that House Democrats are open to discussing border security and pathways to citizenship in good faith. “What they’re seeking to do here, legislatively, is to defund local law enforcement in our communities,” he added. “That’s not something that we support.”
In the know: Sanctuary cities are jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. These policies typically prevent local law enforcement from complying with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests or aiding deportation efforts.
Looking ahead: The future of sanctuary cities is uncertain and will likely continue to evolve in response to shifting political dynamics, legal challenges, and public opinion.
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Sanders, Dems revive PRO Act fight
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) continued his long-running warnings about America’s slide toward oligarchy when he joined a group of Hill Democrats this afternoon to reintroduce the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO Act).
Allow me to explain: The bill would address systemic challenges that hinder labor organization efforts in the U.S. Supporters describe it as one of the most significant pieces of labor reform legislation proposed in decades.
What they’re saying: “The only protection that workers will have from massive layoffs to AI robotics is through forming unions, standing up for their rights and making sure that the new technology benefits workers and not just the oligarchs,” Sanders said.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the ranking member of the House Education and Workforce worker protections panel, told me it was important to promote measures that prove her party is still one for working-class people.
“It’s essential, especially for Democrats, to make sure that we are doing everything to advance legislation that fights to protect workers, to give them the ability to fight for their protection and organize.”
In the know: The PRO Act was first introduced in 2021. Key provisions aim to streamline union organizing, protect workers against employer retaliation, boost worker bargaining power, and increase employer penalties for violations.
Not so fast: The PRO Act would eliminate right-to-work laws in 27 states, which allow workers to opt out of paying union dues even when covered by union contracts.
Opponents of the legislation contend that repealing these laws would force workers into unions, regardless of their individual desires, potentially driving up costs and reducing workers’ freedom of choice.
By the numbers: Union membership hit a historic low of 9.9 percent in 2024, down from 10 percent the year before and 20.1 percent in 1983.
Looking ahead: The Senate is expected to vote on Thursday to confirm former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) as Labor Secretary.
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