Federal Budget

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the projected debt ceiling deadline is extended to June 5, four days later than previously estimated. In the meantime, Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans in Congress are still pushing for cruel budget cuts that will harm millions of Americans. One of my GOP colleagues even said that Republicans "don't feel like negotiating with their hostage." The lives of Americans are not a game. The GOP must stop holding the most vulnerable among us hostage. Democrats in Congress will continue to fight back against these awful proposals.

The GOP said the quiet part out loud, "they don't feel like negotiating with their hostage." One of their hostages is Janet, a constituent of mine who relies on her Social Security Disability because she is unable to work. Janet's life is not a game.

I wish I could tell you that we have reached an agreement on raising the debt ceiling, which is really agreeing to continue paying the debts of the United States, but Republicans continue to insist on massive budget cuts. Cuts which, among many things, would strip health care from thousands of America’s veterans, seniors, and children. The Republicans in Congress are holding our economy and the American people hostage.

Meet Janet from Chicago. She’s on Social Security Disability because she suffers from a chronic mental illness. She wants to work but can’t. Republicans holding our economy hostage puts her only income at risk. There are millions of Janets around the US. Don’t hold Janet hostage!

The United States is now on track to set a record in 2023 for mass killings. Just last week, a neo-Nazi with an arsenal of firearms killed eight people and wounded seven others at a Dallas-area shopping mall. These tragic mass shootings are in addition to the everyday shootings that we continue to see. We need action now. As a proud member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, I have had conversations with my Republicans to see if there is anything at all they could agree to. We need universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons, and so much more.

My Republican colleagues called a Budget Committee Hearing "Exposing the Woke, Wasteful, and Bloated Bureaucracy." Hiring enough nurses to care for our veterans is not "woke" and "wasteful." Veterans had our backs, we owe it to them to have theirs.

On Friday, the Supreme Court granted the Department of Justice’s emergency stay application in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, preventing a lower court decision from going into effect that would have put women’s health at risk and undermined FDA’s medical judgment. For now, Mifepristone, which is used in 54% of all abortions, remains safe, legal, and available. But let me make it clear – the battle is not over. I will continue to fight and advocate for bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom.