Proponents of legislation that would ban members of Congress from trading stocks are say that Democratic party leaders are stalling on the bill. Though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) claimed last week that lawmakers are finally ready to bring a bill to ban Congress from trading stocks to a vote by the end of this month, proponents of the ban are skeptical that that is the case, according to interviews with the lawmakers. As Insider reports, key advocates of the proposal in the House like Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-Virginia), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois) and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington)…
Pramila Jayapal
Lawmakers Are Facing More Violent Threats Due to Trumpian Rhetoric, Jayapal Says
“We are at a precipice and we’re counting on the American people to come through — and I have hope that people will realize that we have to turn this clock back.” That’s what U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told MSNBC’s Ali Velshi Saturday in an interview about how rhetoric from former President Donald Trump and his political allies — including their “Big Lie” that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by Democrats — connects to threats against both American democracy and individual lawmakers, including her. The interview came just two days after Jayapal…
“Give Millions of People a Raise”: Progressives Ask Biden to Expand Overtime Law
On Tuesday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) urged President Joe Biden to extend his streak of major executive actions by greatly raising the overtime threshold, making overtime pay available to millions more workers in the U.S. CPC Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) issued a statement ahead of Labor Day calling for Biden and his Department of Labor (DOL) to raise the overtime salary threshold from a meager $35,568 to the salary of the 55th percentile of full time salaried earners, or about $83,000, by 2026. This would allow millions more workers to access overtime protections under the Fair Labor Standards…
Progressives Say Abbott’s “Near Monopoly” Laid Groundwork for Baby Food Shortage
In a push to urge President Joe Biden to take executive action to ease the nationwide baby food shortage, progressive lawmakers are saying that manufacturer Abbott Nutrition should face particular scrutiny for its role in causing the problem. Representatives Jamaal Bowman (D-New York), Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts), Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) and Grace Meng (D-New York) sent a letter to Biden urging him to “do everything within your executive authority, across all federal agencies,” to ease the shortage. They say that the president can use the Defense Production Act and powers given to him through the COVID-19 emergency declaration to ease what…
Warren Unveils New Bill Binding Supreme Court Judges to Ethics Code
As public trust in the Supreme Court rapidly erodes, Democrats in Congress are working to tighten ethics laws around federal courts and increase transparency in order to combat corruption and increase accountability in the U.S. court system. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) introduced a bill on Tuesday that would ban federal judges from trading individual stocks to avoid conflicts of interest and tighten restrictions on gifts they can receive and privately funded events they can attend. The Judicial Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act contains several provisions aimed specifically at the Supreme Court. It would create a binding…
Ocasio-Cortez Warns That Allowing Congress to Trade Stock Erodes Democracy
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) pushed to pass a stock trading ban for lawmakers last week, warning that if such legislation isn’t passed, bad faith actors will take advantage of public mistrust in Congress over members’ ability to trade stocks in order to erode democracy. In a press conference calling for Congress to pass a ban on stock trading, Ocasio-Cortez said that the issue “isn’t just about actual impropriety, but … about the perception of impropriety.” One of the many consequences of corruption and insider trading within Congress, she pointed out, is that it undermines the public’s trust in the…
Democrats Schedule First COVID-Era Hearing on Medicare for All
Democrats in the House Oversight Committee have scheduled the first hearing to consider Medicare for All since the onset of the pandemic, as progressive lawmakers wage a new push for the proposal. Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-New York) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) will lead the hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, March 22, to consider proposals for universal health care and to assess the ways that the U.S.’s primarily private health care system is affecting people without insurance. The hearing will also feature Representatives Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-New York), Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts), as well…
House Lawmakers Say Amazon May Have Illegally Impeded Antitrust Investigation
On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House Judiciary Committee asked the Justice Department to probe whether or not Amazon illegally impeded the committee’s antitrust investigation into the company. During the committee’s 16-month long probe that ended in 2020, the company engaged in “potentially criminal conduct,” the representatives said in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland. That top Amazon executives lied to the committee suggests that the company was attempting to “influence, obstruct, or impede” the investigation, the committee continued. Throughout the investigation, “Amazon repeatedly endeavored to thwart the Committee’s efforts to uncover the truth about Amazon’s…
25 House Democrats Urge Pelosi to Bring Congressional Stock Trading Ban to Vote
On Monday, a group of 27 House representatives sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) urging them to pass legislation that would bar Congress from trading stocks. The letter calls such a ban a “common-sense” move that has the support of both Democrats and Republicans in the chamber. “Both of you have recently addressed this issue in public comments, but this glaring problem will not go away until it is fixed and Congress should not delay when we have the power to fix it,” the letter read. The effort has rare…
Progressive Lawmakers Signal Support for Four-Day Workweek Proposal
As the movement for a shorter workweek gains steam across the country, the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) has endorsed a House bill that would establish a 32-hour workweek as the nationwide standard for full-time work. The proposal was filed earlier this year by caucus member Rep. Mark Takano (D-California) and would shorten the standard workweek by lowering the threshold for overtime compensation from 40 hours to 32 hours. With standard eight-hour workdays, this would translate to a four-day workweek. Though the proposal stands little chance of passing Congress, the caucus’s support is a signal that progressives lawmakers are listening to…