On Wednesday, November 17, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Robin Kelly, and Rep Katie Porter in the House and Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Patty Murray in the Senate introduced the Access to Birth Control Act to ensure that customers attempting to access birth control at pharmacies cannot be turned away. According to Rewire News, “thanks […]
Congress Passes Infrastructure Bill, Biden to Sign Next Week
On Monday, November 15th, President Biden will sign the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the long-awaited bipartisan infrastructure bill, into law. Attending the ceremony will be members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, governors and mayors, and labor union and business leaders. The Senate passed the bill in August, and the House passed […]
ERA Coalition and 77 Organizations urge the A.G. to withdraw Trump administration anti-ERA memo
Yesterday (October 28th), Christopher Schroeder was confirmed by the Senate to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) by a vote of 56-41. Previously, he served as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy under the Obama Administration. Under the Trump Administration, the head of the […]
President Biden Releases Build Back Better Framework
President Joe Biden released on Thursday a new framework for his Build Back Better agenda, which includes $1.75 trillion in investments to extend health care coverage and alleviate child poverty and combat climate change. Key to this framework is expanding the child tax credit (CTC) for one year, and establishing full refundability permanently, allowing low-income […]
House Oversight and Reform Committee Holds Historic Hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment
On Thursday, the House Oversight and Reform Committee held a hearing about the Equal Rights Amendment. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who chairs the Oversight Committee, started the hearing by stating that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) has met all requirements for the adoption of a United States Constitutional Amendment. It was ratified by 2/3 of both […]
Fifty Years After Passage, the Equal Rights Amendment Is More Important Than Ever
This is an opinion piece written by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, published originally on Ms. online. Imagine for a moment that the Equal Rights Amendment had become part of the U.S. Constitution soon after Congress in 1972 sent it to the states for ratification. Many heartbreaking events would have been prevented, for both women and men. […]
U.S. Representatives Share their Personal Abortion Stories at Congressional Hearing
Several United States House Representatives, including Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), spoke at a House Oversight Committee hearing Thursday about their personal decisions to get an abortion. Rep. Cori Bush testified how she had been raped at 17 years old on a church trip, realized she was […]
Biden Administration Proposes New Rule to Protect DACA
The Biden administration published a rule Tuesday that could help to preserve Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in the administration’s latest attempt to protect the program from legal challenges. The rule would cement DACA, protecting hundreds of thousands of people without documentation who were brought to this country as children from losing their ability […]
U.S. Gymnasts Testify at Senate Hearing, Revealing How the FBI Mishandled the Larry Nassar Abuse Investigation
Four top U.S. gymnasts, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, and Maggie Nichols, testified at a Senate hearing Wednesday on how the FBI botched the investigation into sexual abuse allegations made against former USA Gymnastics doctor, Larry Nassar. Nassar is currently serving a life sentence for molesting hundreds of women and girls during his time […]
Biden Administration Appeals Ruling that Found DACA Illegal
The Biden administration appealed a federal district court ruling on Friday that declared the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program illegal and blocked new applicants from receiving the program’s benefits. The appeal challenges a ruling made by Texas federal district Judge Andrew Hanen in July. Judge Hanen ruled that DACA was unlawful because it […]
Activists Join Together to Rally for the Equal Rights Amendment on Women’s Equality Day
On Thursday afternoon, around 150 activists and women’s rights leaders from across the country gathered in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, across from the U.S. Senate, to rally for removal of the arbitrary timeline placed in the preamble of the Equal Rights Amendment. The U.S. House of Representatives voted to remove the time limit […]
House Approves $3.5 Trillion Budget Resolution
The House passed a $3.5 trillion budget plan on Tuesday that will enable Congress to pass legislation to address climate change, health care, immigration, and education. The budget, which is a legislative framework that does not require the president’s signature, was approved by a 220-212 vote along party lines. It will lay the groundwork for […]
Supreme Court Denies Biden Administration’s Request to Pause Reimplementation of “Remain in Mexico” Policy
The Supreme Court ordered the Biden administration Tuesday to reimplement former President Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy that requires migrants to wait in Mexico until their immigration hearing in the United States. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Texas ordered the Biden administration to revive the policy, which had been formally ended by the […]
House Passes John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to Strengthen Landmark Voting Rights Act
The House passed on Tuesday the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a bill that would strengthen and restore key provisions of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. The legislation is named after the civil and voting rights leader John Lewis, who died a year ago. The bill, HR 4, would restore the preclearance provision […]
Senate Passes Biden’s $1 Trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill
Today, the Senate passed President Biden’s expansive bipartisan infrastructure bill. The package contains $550 billion in new federal funds to invest in American infrastructure over the next five years. The bill will now move to the House. After months of difficult negotiations, the infrastructure measure passed in the Senate by a vote of 69-30. While […]
CDC Issues New Eviction Moratorium Due to Delta Variant
On Tuesday, the Center for Disease Control and the Biden Administration announced a new 60-day ban on evictions in areas of the country where transmission of the Covid-19 is high. The eviction moratorium will last until October 3 and is effective in counties where there is “substantial and high levels of community transmission” of the […]
Rep. Cori Bush Sleeps on Steps of U.S. Capitol to Protest Eviction Moratorium’s Expiration
This weekend, Representative Cori Bush (D-Mo) protested the expiration of the Center for Disease Control’s eviction moratorium by sleeping on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. On Saturday night, the CDC’s ban on evictions expired, threatening renters across the country with the possibility of eviction. The moratorium had been put in place 11 months ago […]
Biden Announces Plan to Protect “Long Covid” Patients Under Federal Disability Law on 31st Anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act
On Monday, President Joe Biden honored the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act by announcing a new initiative to qualify “long Covid” symptoms as disability and grant Americans with “long Covid” protections under the ADA. People who suffer from “long Covid” experience serious and ongoing health issues that originated from a previous Covid-19 […]
Representative Joyce Beatty Arrested at Voting Rights Protest on Capitol Hill
On Thursday, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, was arrested while protesting for voting rights in a Senate office building. U.S. Capitol Police arrested Rep. Beatty and eight other activists who were demonstrating in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building. In a statement, police said they arrested the protestors […]
House Subcommittee Advances HHS Spending Bill without Hyde Amendment
On Monday, the House Appropriations Labor and Health and Human Services subcommittee advanced a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services that does not include the Hyde Amendment. The 1976 Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal funds, specifically Medicaid, for abortion care. It disproportionately affects women of color and low-income women […]