Tag Archives: Hakeem Jeffries

Atlantic: The Largest Upward Transfer of Wealth in American History

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House Republicans voted to advance a bill that would offer lavish tax cuts for the rich while slashing benefits for the poor.

House Republicans worked through the night to advance a massive piece of legislation that might, if enacted, carry out the largest upward transfer of wealth in American history.

That is not a side effect of the legislation but its central purpose. The “Big, Beautiful Bill” would pair huge cuts to food assistance and health insurance for low-income Americans with even larger tax cuts for affluent ones.

Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, warned that the bill’s passage, by a 215-214 margin, would mark the moment the Republicans ensured the loss of their majority in the midterm elections. That may be so. But the Republicans have not pursued this bill for political reasons. They are employing a majority they suspect is temporary to enact deep changes to the social compact.

https://archive.is/g9lSX#selection-671.0-682.0

Raw Story: ‘Partisan hack’: Top House Dem tears into Trump DOJ prosecutor

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The top Democrat in the House took a swipe at Alina [“Bimbo #4”] Habba, the acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, after she announced plans to charge a sitting member of Congress with assault.

Habba has held high-profile roles but had no prior prosecutorial experience and limited federal court experience prior to her appointment as interim U.S. attorney in March. On Monday, she sparked fierce backlash for charging Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) with assault during a congressional visit to a federal immigration detention center in Newark.

And on Wednesday’s Alina “Bimbo #4” Habbas ridiculous charges against the mayor of Newark were dismissed with prejudice.

But House Minority Hakeem Jeffries gave a more blunt assessment of Trump’s acting attorney.

“Alina [“Bimbo #4”] Habba is a partisan hack and Trump lackey who will never be confirmed as a United States Attorney,” he chided on X on Tuesday evening.

That post came hours after he and other House Democratic leaders said in a shared statement that the charge was “extreme, morally bankrupt and lacks any basis in law or fact.”

‘Partisan hack’: Top House Dem tears into Trump DOJ prosecutor

https://www.rawstory.com/alina-habba-2672172937

Washington Post: In rare move, Congress pushes back on Trump over Library of Congress

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Congress refuses to accept the appointment of King Donald’s stooge as the head of their library:

In a rare bipartisan effort to defend its institutional authority, Congress is quietly resisting President Donald Trump’s attempt to assert control over the Library of Congress — a move that experts say threatens the separation of powers and the integrity of the legislative branch’s premier research body.

Pushing back on Trump’s designation of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting librarian, lawmakers said Tuesday that control of the institution remains with its top career official, Robert R. Newlen. Newlen told staff at the library that he is the acting head, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.

In rare move, Congress pushes back on Trump over Library of Congress
Lawmakers are raising separation-of-powers concerns as the White House seeks to install a Justice Department official at the legislative-branch institution.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/13/trump-library-of-congress-power-struggle

The Hill: GOP lawmakers turn up the pressure on Hegseth

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is under close scrutiny as Republican lawmakers criticize his handling of sensitive military information in a group chat with other administration officials that inadvertently included a journalist.

Republican lawmakers have stopped short of calling on Hegseth to resign, but they’re warning that his decision to share sensitive details about a pending military strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen over Signal, a commercial app, is a clear “strike” against him.

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And they’re wondering about Hegseth’s response to reporters’ questions, specifically his adamant denial that “nobody’s texting war plans” after a National Security Council spokesperson had confirmed the chat group’s reported texts appeared to be “authentic.”

“The worst part of it is Hegseth saying himself, ‘This didn’t really happen.’ Why don’t you just admit it?” one Republican senator remarked.

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And while White House press secretary [Bimbo #1] Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday sought to draw a distinction between “war plans” and “attack plans” in criticizing The Atlantic’s reporting …  

GOP lawmakers turn up the pressure on Pete Hegseth

Los Angeles Times: Americans aren’t waiting for the Democratic Party to take on Trump

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Now, for those who think that firebombing Tesla dealerships is a better tactic than nonviolent protests, I would remind you of the world-changing work of Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. And I would also tell you about the work of Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth and her colleagues. To Chenoweth’s surprise — shock, actually — she discovered that over time, nonviolent protests are far more successful than violent ones.

Between 1900 and 2006, she says, campaigns of nonviolent civil resistance were twice as successful as violent campaigns. She also came up with the so-called 3.5% rule: No government can withstand a challenge from around 3.5% of its population without accommodating the movement.

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To hit the magic percentage, about 11 million Americans would have to rise up. In 2017, nearly half a million people protested Trump at the Women’s March in Washington. Around the United States, between 3.2 million and 5.2 million people joined in, which amounts to between 1% and 1.6% of the population.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that twice as many Americans are now upset enough to take to the streets.

The goal is not to overthrow the government. The goal is to awaken the small-d democratic instincts of a Republican-dominated Congress that has actively ceded its power to Trump. And the only way they’ll snap to is if they begin to fear for their jobs.

Column: Americans aren’t waiting for the Democratic Party to take on Trump
The Democratic Party hasn’t found a way to meet Trump’s authoritarian moment, but if enough voters take to the streets in peaceful protest, change will come.

Column: Americans aren’t waiting for the Democratic Party to take on Trump – Los Angeles Times