October 7, 2023
Dear Friends,
It is difficult to express just how unprecedented the past few days in Congress have been.
Instead of doing the people’s business and working to advance a strong bipartisan budget to keep the doors of government open, Republicans sent Members home while they attempt sort through the chaos within their own caucus after the Speaker of the House was ousted from his position for the first time in American history.
It’s a sobering moment for the People’s House and for our nation. And it didn’t have to be like this.
Before he even became Speaker this January, Kevin McCarthy paralyzed the House by agreeing to extreme rules changes demanded by his extreme MAGA caucus, allowing a small minority of members to act as hostage-takers.
During the debt ceiling debate in May, Republican hardliners took us to the brink of economic catastrophe and threatened the full faith and credit of the United States — actions that resulted in a downgrade in America’s credit rating and an increase in our borrowing costs moving forward. This crisis was only resolved when House Democrats came to the rescue, casting the majority of votes to pass bipartisan legislation that created a spending framework to fund our government. But as we neared the end of the fiscal year, Speaker McCarthy reneged on the bipartisan agreement he had made, content to again concede to far-right demands to squeeze out further cuts to public investments and pursue tighter restrictions on abortion and health care.
Last Saturday, with hours left on the clock before a shutdown, GOP leadership at last caved to the calls House Democrats had been making for weeks to keep the doors of our government open. Once again, House Democrats provided the majority of votes to keep the government running.
While we’ve twice skirted disaster, our work isn’t over. Congress has until November 17th to negotiate a full-year budget bill. But rather than advancing the bipartisan agreement that has the support of House Democrats, the Senate, and the White House, House Republicans continue to operate alone and in total chaos — again ignoring the terms of that agreement and instead pushing forth bills that do nothing to solve the real problems facing everyday Americans.
These decisions aren’t just mere D.C. intrigue and petty politics, these outcomes matter to people’s lives.
The policies that the extremist Republicans have been pushing for — and that GOP leadership and the vast majority of the Republican Party have been more than happy to advance — are disastrous. These severe budget cuts and regressive social policies would, in part:
- Decimate public education by cutting Title I funding, effectively removing 150,000 teachers and service providers from classrooms serving low-income students
- Slash funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) by more than 70%
- Take food out of the mouths of millions of children, families, and seniors by cutting the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Meals on Wheels by 30%
- Cut funding for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by 38%
- Further deny women’s right to abortion by limiting access to essential medications
This continuous brinkmanship and coddling of extremists is not the kind of leadership that the American people deserve, which is why this week, I joined with my colleagues in calling for new leadership in the House.
This was not a decision I took lightly. But whether running a government, an organization, or a business, ignoring promises made and reneging on established agreements is no way to lead. We cannot move forward, cannot begin to do our jobs and meet our obligations to the American people, without basic trust. With present Republican leadership, we are lacking that fundamental cornerstone.
It is my hope that new leadership will abandon this extremist path and extend a hand of bipartisanship. Regardless of who holds the Speaker’s gavel, Democrats remain resolute in their commitment to completing the work of the people. It is our hope that traditional Republicans will walk away from MAGA extremism and join us in partnership for the good of the country.
As always, thank you for reading.
Your friend,
DID YOU KNOW?
My office and I are working to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates and recommendations from federal agencies. With that in mind, here is some information that may be of interest to you:
- This week, the USPS began shipping out free at-home COVID-19 tests to individuals.
- As of September 25th, 2023, every U.S. household can again place an order to receive four more free COVID-19 rapid tests delivered directly to their home.
- This round of orders remains limited to one per household. But if you placed an order on or before May 31, 2023, you may now place another order. This order will contain a total of four tests.
- IMPORTANT NOTE: Tests may show "expired" dates on the container. The FDA has extended those dates.
- Click here for the full list of extended expiration dates for tests.
- If you need assistance placing an order for your tests, call 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489)
- Go to covid.gov/tests to get your free tests mailed today!
