Dear Neighbor,

I’m sending heartfelt greetings to all my friends across Maryland and America as we ring in the New Year together. It remains a surpassing honor to represent Maryland’s beautiful Eighth District in Congress.

I want to kick off the year by sharing notable policy achievements, casework highlights, special memories and more from the year 2024 with you. 

I am also excited to report that in December, I was elected unanimously by my colleagues to lead Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee in the 119th Congress. I’m ready to mobilize our Members on the Committee to defend American freedom, the Constitution, the rule of law and our democratic institutions. 

As always, I encourage all of my constituents across the Eighth District to connect with me on Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Bluesky. If you need help with a federal agency and want to request my assistance, please complete the online request form here, and my District Office team will be in touch.

With all best wishes for 2025,

Jamie Raskin

Representative Raskin’s 2024 in Photos 

Advancing Key Policy Priorities in 2024 

Securing Millions for Local Priorities 
In 2024, I secured millions in federal funding for 15 community projects in Maryland’s Eighth District. These projects are already advancing public safety, fostering economic development, and improving our local infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists and transit-riders.

From Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, I helped secure $58 million to replace aging, polluting school buses with low- or non-polluting alternatives, keeping our children safe and protecting the environment. 
 
Together with the cohesive Maryland delegation, we delivered almost $30 million to replace lead water pipes across our state. The funding, delivered by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will prove to be a crucial investment in communities that for too long have been left behind. 
 
Ensuring Federal Funding to Rebuild the Key Bridge 
In December, House Democrats united to keep government open for the American people (again). I fought hard to ensure funding was included for the rebuilding of the Key Bridge in Baltimore. The port is a critical passage for Maryland and the nation, and now it will be restored to full working order. 
 
Winning Tax Relief for Maryland Parents  
I successfully advocated for tax relief for Maryland parents who, through no fault of their own, were affected by system errors with their Maryland Prepaid College Trust (PCT) accounts. After hearing from my constituents who were adversely affected by these errors, I was glad to work with the IRS and the Treasury to find a fair solution for Maryland families.  
 
Promoting Tax Relief for Victims of Scams 
Did you know that Americans victimized by scams and fraud are currently left on the hook for taxes on their stolen income?  In 2024, I introduced legislation with Rep. Jim McGovern (MA-02) and Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to reinstate a critical tax deduction for victims of scams, thefts, frauds, and other personal casualty losses. Taxpayers victimized in scams shouldn’t be saddled additionally with a tax penalty on the money stolen from them. Reforming our tax code to better serve scam and fraud victims is the right thing to do and would help people like my constituent Judith, who was scammed out of her life savings and struck with a hefty tax burden during filing season. 
 
Building a Clean Energy Economy 
Throughout 2024, I worked closely with Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Rep. Don Beyer (VA-08) to ensure that the new hydrogen energy tax credit created by the Inflation Reduction Act reduces carbon emissions and grows our clean hydrogen industry. I was glad to see the Biden Administration release its final guidance for the tax credit on January 3, 2025. While the final guidance is not perfect, it includes many of the key guardrails that I advocated for and is a crucial step forward in our efforts to bolster the U.S. hydrogen industry and reduce emissions. 
 
Reforming Our Supreme Court 
We’ve all seen the headlines: billionaires are allegedly bankrolling Supreme Court justices, taking them on luxury vacations, paying for a relative’s private school tuition, buying them luxury gifts and more—all while they have business before the Court. In 2024, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and I introduced the High Court Gift Ban Act, legislation to ban Supreme Court justices and other federal judges from receiving gifts valued at more than $50. Our nation’s highest judicial body shouldn’t have the lowest ethical standards. 
 
Advancing Bipartisan Mental Health Policy  
Working across the aisle in 2024, I introduced new bipartisan legislation with Republican Congressman Don Bacon (NE-02) to expand evidence-based suicide prevention care. The Stabilization to Prevent (STOP) Suicide Act increases access to crisis stabilization services which can help reduce or eliminate imminent suicide risk, helping save lives and relieving pressure on emergency services and law enforcement. Too many families have experienced the terrible pain of losing a loved one to suicide. This critical legislation infuses resources into stabilization and crisis care services to finally treat suicide as an urgent public health crisis. 
 
Fighting to Bring Down Utility Costs in Maryland  
Leading 33 of my House and Senate colleagues, I called on PJM Interconnection (PJM), our region’s power grid operator, to swiftly improve the reliability of our local electricity grid, deliver cheaper electricity prices, and address the biggest roadblocks to transitioning to renewable energy. 
 
Promoting Freedom of the Press 
Standing up for the freedom of the press, Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley (CA-03) and I introduced our bipartisan Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying (PRESS) Act and celebrated its unanimous passage in the House. The PRESS Act would enshrine legal protections for journalists by preventing law enforcement from compelling them to reveal their confidential sources and notes. In January, the House passed the PRESS Act, moving America closer than ever before to establishing our first federal press shield law. 
 
Protecting First Amendment Rights  
Rep. Kevin Kiley (CA-03) and I introduced our bipartisan Free Speech Protection Act to protect organizations and individuals from frivolous lawsuits known as ”strategic lawsuits against public participation,” or SLAPPs. Free speech advocates and legal experts alike recognize that SLAPPs are often employed by powerful special interests to silence and intimidate individuals and organizations by exposing them to burdensome legal fees and invasive discovery. Our legislation allows judges to quickly identify and dismiss SLAPPs, prevents invasive discovery processes and awards attorney fees and costs to the victims. 
 
Protecting Pedestrians, Cyclists and Transit Riders  
To keep our roads safe for all, I secured an agreement from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a review of U.S. vehicle safety design standards and their effects on the safety of vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and bicyclists. GAO’s decision closely follows a letter I wrote to the agency last month amidst persistently high levels of traffic injuries and fatalities across America.  
 
Championing Funds for Youth Mental Health Research 
In 2024, I also celebrated with Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) the inclusion of $15 million in the latest appropriations package for our Children and Media Research Advancement (CAMRA) Act. The CAMRA Act, which was signed into law in 2022, directs the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to lead a research program on how technology and media affect infants, children and adolescents in core areas of cognitive, physical and socio-emotional development. Including the $15 million in funding we secured in 2024, $30 million in total has now been dedicated to this critical research initiative in the past two years.

Delivering Casework Success for Constituents

My Rockville district office team meets with Rep. Glenn Ivey's team (MD-04) to share constituent services best practices

No matter the twists and turns of our national politics, my district office staff and I stand ready to assist you with any issues you have involving a federal agency and to ensure our federal government works for everyone.

My office processed 4,655 constituent casework requests in 2024. My top-notch staff in Rockville helped constituents like you resolve issues with the IRS, passport renewal, Social Security payments, and more.

In total, my office returned more than $2,210,699 to constituents in our community!

Please know that if you are a constituent of Maryland’s Eighth Congressional District, you can always contact my office for help with a federal agency via my website or by calling 301-354-1000.

Leading Democrats on the House Oversight Committee 

In 2024, I was proud to lead Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. We drew on the talents of all our members and staffers to stand strong as the “Truth Squad” for government integrity and accountability, democracy and the rule of law. 

Documenting President-elect Trump’s Alleged Constitutional Violations  
In one of the Oversight Committee Democrats’ first reports of the year, we revealed that during his first term in office, Donald Trump allegedly received at least $7.8 million from 20 governments including the governments of China, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Malaysia through his businesses. If true, this means that Donald Trump violated the U.S. Constitution by failing to divest from his business empire and allowing his businesses to accept millions of dollars in payments from some of the most corrupt nations on earth.

Exposing Big Oil’s Climate Disinformation Campaign 
With Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Oversight Democrats released a report that revealed that for decades, Big Oil used disinformation and doublespeak to hide their culpability in the climate crisis. Our bicameral investigation found that fossil fuel companies continue to conceal the facts about their business model and obscure the actual dangers of fossil fuels, including natural gas, in order to block the effective climate action our people and planet need.

Highlighting Alleged Supreme Court Extremism and Ethics Violations  
Representative Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and I led Oversight Democrats in a roundtable with expert panelists to examine how conservative justices are allegedly beholden to right-wing dark money networks and unencumbered by any binding code of ethics are imposing an extremist agenda that undermines American democracy, deprives Americans of basic civil rights, and guts environmental protections.

Rejecting Political Violence 
In the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Chair James Comer and I quickly came together with our Committee members in a bipartisan fashion to convene a hearing to investigate the attack and to condemn political violence in all forms. The Oversight Committee demanded better leadership for the Secret Service so it could begin to rebuild trust with Congress and the American people, and our advocacy ultimately led to the resignation of the former agency director, paving the way for new leadership at this essential national security institution.

Organizing Against Gun Violence 
To examine the epidemic of gun violence and its long-term consequences for children, teenagers, and their communities, I joined Representatives Maxwell Frost (FL-10) and Jared Moskowitz (FL-23) in hosting a panel of school leaders, advocates, and gun violence experts. We challenged the idea that gun violence is a ‘fact of life’ in America. In fact, it has become a pervasive fact of death, the leading cause of death among children.

I’m grateful to these leaders for their bravery and vulnerability in sharing their stories with Committee Democrats.

Demanding Insurance Fairness in Natural Disasters 
Finally, I led Oversight Democrats in calling out attempts by insurance companies to rip off Americans whose lives were upended by natural disasters by failing to pay out insurance claims. Our letter implored insurance regulators in states to curb these harmful industry practices and deliver the support these families have paid for.

Celebrating the Local Heroes of the Eighth District 

In 2024, we reached a remarkable milestone: our 200th Local Hero! After launching this series to recognize first responders and medical personnel during the COVID-19 crisis, we’re nowhere near finished highlighting the people who make MD-08 such a special place to live and work, and I couldn’t be prouder to represent such a public-spirited, vibrant and diverse constituency in Congress. 

Here are some of the Local Heroes we featured in 2024:

In January, we featured noted community organizer, author and filmmaker Judy Richardson. The civil rights activist in Silver Spring shared a message of hope ahead of MLK Day and reminded us that we are all the changemakers we've been waiting for.

Chef José Andrés, world-renowned chef and restauranteur and the founder of World Central Kitchen, is our proud neighbor in Bethesda. This Local Hero and global hero mobilizes the power of food to bring people together, responding in the wake of some of the most complex disasters across the world with fresh, nutritious and delicious meals. Recently, President Biden awarded Chef Andrés the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our country’s highest civilian honor, for his extraordinary contributions to humanitarian work and the culinary community. 

In March, we featured composer, violinist, audio producer, NPR contributor and birdwatcher David Schulman. David is the man behind BirdCalls, a delightful local public art project in Takoma Park. The art installation allows users to hear local bird calls from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology through a free retrofitted payphone—no quarters required! 

Local Hero Daniel Langenkamp of Bethesda has advocated for pedestrian and cyclist safety across MD-08 and America, turning his pain into purpose after his wife Sarah was struck by a vehicle and killed while biking. I talked with Daniel about his advocacy and the partnership we've continued to forge to make roads across Maryland and America safer. 

In a special episode of Local Hero, I talked with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime former director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Disease. This Local Hero advised seven presidents, led public health initiatives that have saved millions of lives and guided America through the HIV, Ebola, Zika and COVID epidemics and pandemics. 

In the last few years, we’ve seen conservatives in D.C. intensify their attacks on Social Security. Standing on the frontlines to protect this vital American trust was none other than the former Maryland governor and commissioner of the Social Security Administration Martin O’Malley. The commissioner talked about the varied improvements he led at the SSA and how Social Security can grow stronger for generations to come. 

For Labor Day, we recognized the “most powerful flight attendant in America,” Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and proud MD-08 resident in Bethesda. As a prominent labor leader, Sara is committed to keeping dignity and respect in the profession she loves. 

I spoke with Dr. Zadia Gadsden of Takoma Park Elementary School, who was named the Washington Post's 2024 Principal of the Year. It was a pleasure to thank her for her dedication to our young people. 

Captains Josh Kurland and Dave Hutchinson are ready to put their lives on the line to assist. As MoCo firefighters, they have traveled across the country on FEMA rescue teams to help Americans facing natural disasters. 

World-renowned swimmer Katie Ledecky made a splash as our final Local Hero of 2024. Raised in Bethesda, this nine-time Olympic gold medalist and 21-time world champion gold medalist is the pride of Montgomery County and America!

Recognizing Youth Achievement Across MD-08

2024 revealed the bounty and breadth of youth talent across Maryland’s Eighth District! From my Congressional Art Competition to my Service Academy Nominations, I was delighted to highlight the promise and potential of students in our community in 2024.

‘Caged’ by Jean-Luc Chretien of Kensington, Maryland, the winning submission to my 2024 Congressional Art Competition.

In May, Jean-Luc Chretien of Kensington earned first place in my annual Congressional Art Competition for Caged, pictured above. This breathtaking piece hangs in the U.S. Capitol alongside art from across America, for Members of Congress, staff, and visitors to admire. You can check out all of the other impressive entries to the MD-08 2024 competition—more than 150 strong—in my virtual gallery.

During Computer Science Education Week, I announced Ayden Yeung of Wheaton High School and Julian Givens of Montgomery Blair High School as the winners of MD-08’s 2024 Congressional App Challenge. Their app, ‘Better Buildings,’ helps students, faculty and staff report problems with school facilities, bridging the gap between campus communities and administrators to maintain safer, cleaner and more functional school environments in real time. I was also delighted to recognize them as Local Heroes and learn more about their process creating the app.

With members of the Class of 2028 MD-08 Service Academy Nominees on Capitol Hill

As your Member of Congress, I have the distinct honor and privilege of nominating exceptional young Marylanders to our nation’s service academies. The opportunity for a fully funded education and the high honor of attending a service academy make these nominations highly competitive. In 2024, I proudly nominated 39 students for admission. In May, I welcomed these student appointees, their families and members of my interview panel to a reception celebrating their tremendous commitment to education and service.

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