Ayanna Pressley

The amendment, which provides protections on the basis of gender preference, exists in a legal gray area and would be extensively litigated.

Liz Warren now raises big bucks off the “anger” Americans feel about their lousy health care. Wait, hasn’t she been one of the leading proponents of Obamacare?

President Biden pardoned 39 people and commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 others on Thursday, a sweeping move that comes after pressure from criminal justice advocates over the surprise pardon of his son Hunter Biden. The White House billed it as setting a new single-day record for the number of people impacted. They include those [...]

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley's home was targeted by a bomb threat this week.

As President Joe Biden’s term nears its end, Democratic lawmakers are intensifying calls for him to make one final push to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment—a constitutional amendment that would enshrine gender equality in the U.S. Constitution. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and outgoing Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri are at the forefront of this movement, and have urged Biden multiple times over several years to act before the clock runs out on his presidency.According to a report by The Hill, Bush spoke passionately about the issue on Tuesday from outside the Capitol.“The publication of the Equal Rights Amendment may be long overdue, but the stakes for gender equality have never been higher,” said Bush, cofounder with Rep. Ayanna Pressley, of the Congressional ERA Caucus. “Our bodies, our rights, our lives are on the line.”

President Biden's pardon of his son Hunter has opened the floodgates to a battery of requests from members of Congress in both parties for additional pardons.Why it matters: Biden has received more than 10,500 pardon requests over his four years in office but has only issued 25, a historically low number even for single presidential terms, according to the Justice Department.Now Biden's controversial act has unleashed a wave of pleas on behalf of people convicted or accused of various crimes, including figures such as Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.Zoom in: Several lawmakers have specific pardons or commutations in mind that they would like to see Biden issue.Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) is enlisting colleagues on behalf of Steven Donzinger, an environmental lawyer accused of using fraudulent evidence to win a lawsuit against Chevron, according to a draft letter first obtained by Axios.McGovern also is urging Biden in a separate letter to posthumously exonerate Ethel Rosenberg, citing "significant evidence" that she did not engage in the Soviet spying for which she was executed in 1953.Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has urged Biden to pardon Assange, also told Axios he also wants pardons for Snowden and drug trafficker Ross Ulbricht — seen by libertarians such as Massie as anti-government crusaders.Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) cited Billie Allen, a death row inmate who says he was wrongfully convicted of murder, as well as Michelle West and Ismael Lira, who are serving life sentences for drug-related offenses.Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wants a pardon for indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of killing two FBI agents.Several lawmakers have urged Biden to pardon President-elect Trump for his actions related to Jan. 6 and his handling of classified documents. Zoom out: Some lawmakers want Biden to go far bigger than just a few high-profile pardons, with progressives planning a wide-ranging push for Biden to issue sweeping pardons for certain non-violet or low-level offenders.Progressives want pardons for "those that are elderly, those that are ill, those that are non-violent offenders, those who have been incarcerated because of cannabis convictions," said Pressley, who is leading the effort."I had a lot of members stopping me in the halls today about it," she added in an interview with Axios.The plan was in the works even before the Hunter Biden pardon, according to Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who told Axios she "spoke to the White House right before Thanksgiving about our asks about clemency."The intrigue: It's not just Democrats seeking categorical pardons.Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) told Axios that "everyone who was released under the CARES Act during COVID that hasn't reoffended should at least be granted clemency."Right-wing Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said Biden should pardon those convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — though Trump has already signaled plans to do just that.Between the lines: Many progressive activists have seen Biden as woefully lacking when it comes to clemency and had been urging him to ramp up pardons in his last few weeks on the job, according to the nonprofit news outlet NOTUS.Biden couching his son's pardon as a response to a "miscarriage of justice" against has kicked that dynamic into overdrive."I hope he can look a little wider and understand there are a lot of people who have committed crimes less serious who need a little compassion," McGovern said of Biden.Even House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) urged Biden on Tuesday to "exercise the high level of compassion he has consistently demonstrated ... including toward his son" by pardoning "working-class Americans" who were subject to "unjustly aggressive prosecutions."The bottom line: "I would hate see President Biden leaving office with less commutations and clemency issuances than even President Trump," Ocasio-Cortez said.

President Biden pardoned son Hunter Biden this week, sparking renewed interest about who else the 46th president may pardon before his exit from the White House next month.

President Joe Biden has ducked questions on his decision to break his word and pardon his son Hunter, ignoring calls for him to explain his reversal as he was making his first presidential trip to Angola. Dismissing shouted questions Tuesday...

Tribalism is fundamentally anti-American. Too many people have responded to tribalism with tribalism and that leads only to more factionalism.

Jack Brewer led several other charity heads in condemning the lack of action from the Biden administration against U.S. planes shot in Port-au-Prince.

Democrats are grappling with how to handle transgender politics and policy following a campaign that featured withering and often misleading GOP attacks on the issue.

ATLANTA — After losing the White House and both houses of Congress, Democrats are grappling with how to handle transgender politics and policy following a campaign that featured withering and often misleading GOP attacks on the issue. There is plenty of second-guessing after President-elect Donald Trump anchored his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris with [...]The post Trump Hammered Democrats on Transgender Issues. Now the Party Is at Odds on a Response appeared first on GV Wire.

Democrats are grappling with how to handle transgender politics and policy following a campaign that featured withering and often misleading GOP attacks on the issue. There's plenty of second-guessing after President-elect Donald Trump anchored his victory with grandiose promises on...

The House members of the "Squad" and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are some of the prominent figures who have been re-elected to office.

Quelle horreur—Barack Obama is wrong about something Donald Trump did! At a rally for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris this week, the former president criticized Trump for signing the pandemic-era stimulus checks that went out to Americans. xPresident Obama: I hear some folks say, ‘Well Donald Trump sent me a check during the pandemic.’ Joe Biden sent you a check during the pandemic just like I gave people relief during the Great Recession. The thing is we didn't put our name on it because it wasn't about feeding our... pic.twitter.com/UQ9AjihdhE— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 24, 2024The thing is: Trump was right to sign those checks, and Obama and President Joe Biden were wrong.

Rep. Ilhan Omar calls for "radically" changing the Supreme Court. She advocates policies such as increasing the number of justices on the bench.

When Steward Health announced a deal to sell its nationwide physician network to Optum, a subsidiary of the health insurance company UnitedHealth Group, Massachusetts residents waited to see what would happen to Steward’s nine healthcare facilities in the state. However, last month, the two organizations announced the deal was off. The potential purchase of hospitals [...]

By Arjun Singh, Jackson Richman, Nathan Worcester, Samantha Flom, Stacy Robinson Contributing Writers CHICAGO — Intraparty conflicts, protests and the attempted assassination of a former president have ratcheted up political tensions [...]The post At DNC, delegates weigh in on bridging the political divide appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

Convention attendees had mixed feelings on whether common ground could or should be found.

Two of the progressive House members who call themselves the 'Squad' have already lost their primaries.

The new rule will set specific standards for accessible diagnostic equipment used for health care services provided by state and local governments.

After a tough summer of primaries, the progressive House members who call themselves “the Squad” are facing their final challenge next week

The DEI attack has been brewing since the Trump assassination attempt, where several female agents were among those protecting the former president and several conservatives questioned their fitness to serve.

By CLAIRE SAVAGE As Congressional members on both sides of the aisle grilled U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Monday on how a gunman was able to fire shots at former President Donald Trump in an assassination attempt, several Republican lawmakers seized on gender and the agency’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts as among the [...]

Who has endorsed Kamala Harris for president now that Joe Biden has dropped out? Here is a list of the current Democrats who support her, and a few notable figures who haven't yet.

Director of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) Kimberly Cheatle appeared before the House Oversight Committee on Monday following a nationwide call for answers following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13.Hearing Takeaways: Cheatle offered vague commentary on the implications of the attempt. The director said that the USSS “will move heaven and earth” to make sure that an event like the one on July 13 would not happen again.“We failed,” Cheatle said in her opening statement. During an aggressive line of questioning by Nancy Mace (R-SC), Cheatle agreed that the attempt was “preventable.”Several representatives — including committee chair James Comer (R-KY), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and others — called on Cheatle to resign her post.“I think I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time," Cheatle said under questioning by Virginia Foxx (R-VA).Cheatle repeatedly insisted that she would not comment on ...Full story available on Benzinga.com

A number of Democratic lawmakers, governors and past leaders were quick to rally behind Vice President Harris as she pursues the Democratic Party's presidential nomination following President Biden's withdrawal from the race. Shortly after dropping out of the presidential race, Biden endorsed Harris as his successor, stating it is "time to come together and beat" [...]

What effect will President Biden's departure have on down-ballot races.