How Trump’s government shutdown affects the average American

December 22, 2018 congress, News, politics, trump

President Donald Trump has vowed that the partial government shutdown that began at midnight — the second government shutdown to occur while Republicans control the White House and both branches of Congress — will last for a “very long time.” The shutdown is the result of Trump reneging on an agreement to pass a “clean” bipartisan spending bill. Republicans then threw in more than $5 billion in funding for the wall, the president’s vanity project, ...

Amid swirling Trump scandals, Cummings backs rules change to allow indictment of a sitting president

December 16, 2018 congress, Donald Trump, House of Representatives, News, politics

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the Democrat who takes over chairmanship of the House Oversight Committee next month, called Sunday for the overhaul of legal guidelines that currently protect presidents from criminal prosecution.

“I think we should always reconsider laws and regulations, and this is one we definitely should reconsider,” Cummings told CNN’s State of the Union.

The Maryland Democrat raised the prospect of a rules change against the back...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn’t the only 29-year-old Democrat who was just elected to Congress

December 11, 2018 congress, Democrats, House of Representatives, News, politics

Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) isn’t the only 29-year-old who was part of Democrats’ historic “blue wave” in last month’s midterms.

Her future House colleague Abby Finkenauer (D-IA) — who recently unseated two-term Rep. Rod Blum (R-IA) in Cedar Rapids’ 1st congressional district — is only nine months older, but she’s just as relatable.

If you aren’t already feeling old, let’s just get it all out of ...

What a governor, insurer regulator, and consumer advocate want Congress to do about Obamacare

December 7, 2018 Affordable Care Act, congress, health, health care, News, obamacare, politics

Congress won’t be able to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) after the midterm elections handed Democrats control of the House of Representatives — but that doesn’t mean lawmakers are done tinkering with the 2010 health care overhaul law.

Democrats ran and won on health care and the new House majority is expected to make strengthening the ACA a top priority next year. For some lawmakers, this means passing measures to further stabilize the marketplace...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is changing the way politicians use social media

December 4, 2018 climate, congress, Democrats, health, House of Representatives, News, politics

If you aren’t following Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on social media, we highly recommend it.

Regardless of where you fall on the partisan political spectrum, there is something for everyone to learn from Ocasio-Cortez, who will officially become the youngest-ever congresswoman next month.

Though the new Democratic-led House won’t be seated until January 3, the New York City congresswoman-elect is already building a large following with her approach ...

…And now the bad news about the new Congress: Liz Cheney will be a top House Republican

November 27, 2018 congress, Donald Trump, House of Representatives, News, politics, republican-party, Republicans

American conservatism frequently resembles a bad horror movie franchise. Despite common sense indicating that unsavory characters stopped deserving our attention long ago, they somehow keep coming back for decades.

Many members of disgraced President Richard Nixon’s administration resurfaced under President George W. Bush.

Now the oldest daughter of Dick Cheney, Bush’s historically–unpopular vice president, has risen to a Republican leadership role during th...

Now that a record number of women head to Congress, can they repeal the Hyde Amendment?

November 27, 2018 congress, health, News, politics, reproductive-rights

For the past four decades, lawmakers in Washington, D.C. have largely prohibited federal dollars from paying for low-income people’s abortions. But with a record number of Democratic women elected to office in November and their party holding the majority in the House next year, momentum is building to lift the ban.

By ThinkProgress’ count, at least 183 House members support repealing the Hyde Amendment, a legislative provision that prohibits federal Medicaid dollars fro...

No one is having more fun right now than these new House Democrats

November 14, 2018 climate, congress, House of Representatives, News, politics

The House of Representatives is going to look a lot different come January — not just due to a Democratic majority, but also a record-breaking number of women, people of color, and LGBTQ members set to join Congress after last week’s midterm elections.

That sea change is depicted on the cover of the New Yorker, which Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) recently shared on Instagram with the caption “Knock knock.”

ThinkProgress

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What the Democratic House majority means for Medicare for All

November 14, 2018 congress, health, News, politics

Thousands of people dialed into a call Tuesday evening to strategize how Democrats can make unprecedented progress on Medicare for All. A week after the midterm elections handed House Democrats the majority, organizers with National Nurses United hosted a conference call with lawmakers, activists, and just about any #M4A enthusiast, outlining how single-payer legislation passes at least one chamber of Congress. By the end of the one-hour call, most unmuted to say “I believe that we w...

It’s time to expel white supremacist Steve King from Congress

November 14, 2018 congress, House of Representatives, News, politics

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) should be expelled from Congress.

The noted white supremacist, who also happens to be a Republican congressman, makes no effort to hide his racism.

In addition to his very long history of offensive conduct, King follows Twitter accounts “belonging to unabashed white supremacists, including Blair Cottrell, a violent Australian activist who’s called for hanging a picture of Adolf Hitler in every classroom; Stefan Molyneux, a Canadian alt-right...