WASHINGTON, D.C. — Revs. Jesse Jackson, William Barber, and other prominent religious leaders were arrested for demonstrating in the U.S. Capitol on Monday, demanding the restoration of the Voting Rights Act and the end of racial gerrymandering.
Dozens of others were also arrested across the country as part of the second week of protests organized by the revival of the Poor People’s Campaign, a movement that originated in 1968 with Martin Luther King Jr. at the helm. The...
congress
Congress is hyperfocused on opioids. Is it focusing enough on addiction?
Congress is trying to pass legislation that addresses the opioid crisis in an election year, so they’re moving fast, passing a bill through committee Thursday that would free up Medicaid dollars for opioid addiction treatment in institutionalized care. But it could be more harmful than lawmakers realize.
Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) is aiming for the House to take up legislation in June. So to keep with schedule, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce — on which Walden se...
Babies took over Capitol Hill to rally for paid family leave and affordable childcare
On Tuesday (May 8), Capitol Hill was crawling with babies.
Babies from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, along with their families, had descended upon the Hill’s east lawn for the annual “Strolling Thunder” Rally, organized by Zer...
Paul Ryan is retiring from Congress
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan will announce to his friends and colleagues Wednesday morning that he will not run for re-election in 2018, according to multiple media reports.
Ryan will join over 30 other Republicans in the House of Representatives who have already announced their retirements earlier this year, an indication that the GOP believes the party may not have what it takes to hold onto the House in 2018. Democrats only needs to pick up 24 seats to take back the chamber.
Republican who voted to repeal Obamacare draws challenge from cancer survivor
An Arkansas state legislator who survived cancer announced Monday that he’s running for Congress, hoping to take down his district’s current Republican representative, who voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Clarke Tucker, a Democrat, told ThinkProgress Monday that his own experience with bladder cancer last year helped him realize just how real the consequences of repealing the ACA would be.
“Thankfully, I had access to great health care, but it ...
On the brink of a government shutdown, Congress still has unresolved issues
In a move that has lately become a Congressional norm, the House plans to vote on an interim spending bill Thursday, racing to beat a Friday midnight deadline to fund the government or face a shutdown.
With less than 48 hours to reach an agreement, Democrats and Republicans are split on funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and community health centers, disaster relief, defense spending, as well as a solution for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as...
The GOP tax plan is not a game
On Tuesday afternoon, the House passed the final version of the GOP’s tax bill, and the Senate is expected to pass the bill later Tuesday night. The plan will upend the American economic system, raise taxes on middle class people making between $40,000 and $50,000 a year by more than $5 billion, cut taxes by more than $5.5 billion for people making more than $1 million a year, punish wage-earning employees, repeal the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, likely force billi...
Man pleads with Jeff Flake to vote down the tax plan and save his life
One of Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)’s last major votes before retirement could be a death sentence for tens of thousands of Americans. One of them is Ady Barkan, a 33-year-old California father living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), who, during a Thursday night flight from Washington D.C. to Phoenix, Arizona, asked Flake to cast a vote to save his life.
“I was healthy a year ago. I was running on the beach,” Barkan told Flake on the flight, according to video footage of the exch...
