In the News
The book Patricia Oliver is showing lawmakers this week would, she said, fit in well in a first-grade classroom. It has pretty illustrations, bright colors and large text.
But the subject is much darker and sadder than at first glance— the title is “Joaquin’s First School Shooting.” It has holes piercing through the book, so when you flip the pages there are four that the reader sees, to represent the number of times she said Joaquin Oliver, her son, was shot. Joaquin was one of the 17 people who died in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018.
“It takes courage to be moving forward in every single issue, and that’s something that we have to appreciate about those that are willing to do it for others,” Oliver told the Globe, a necklace with Joaquin’s name dangling around her neck. She had appointments to meet with lawmakers to show them the book and had already met with about 20. “Joaquin was supposed to be here, and if he was lucky enough to have made it that day, he would be the first in line in this fight.”
On Thursday, Oliver stood outside the House of Representatives, with a collection of lawmakers, and people who had personally experienced the suffering that can be caused by government, whether through action or inaction.
Oliver was just one of several women hosted on Capitol Hill by Minority Whip Katherine Clark this week, to talk about the issues that have intersected suddenly with their lives and families. Though Democrats control the Senate and White House, they lack a meaningful majority in the Senate that prevents them from passing major legislation like, for example, sweeping gun reform. And for now the House of Representatives is controlled by Republicans, who largely oppose the types of reforms Oliver and the other women were calling for.
“This is not an issue that we cannot act on,” Clark said in an exclusive interview with the Globe in the Revere Democrat’s office, as she sat around a glass table with several of the women there to advocate for the day, using mass shootings as an example. “There are solutions and investments for all of this.”
In Clark’s office before the press conference, the women met for the first time. Oliver had come up from Florida for several days. Karen George had driven about four hours from Maryland to talk about the importance of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Cynthia Davis lives in DC and was there to talk about the importance of providing more child care funding.
Despite how different their experiences are, they immediately found commonalities in their respective causes.
Also among them was Amanda Zurawski, a Texas resident who needed an abortion last year because of a nonviable pregnancy, but was unable to get one. She said she faced life-threatening complications before her medical team could step in due to the state’s abortion restrictions. In a lawsuit filed in a state court, she and other plaintiffs alleged that the state’s laws regulating abortion are tying doctor’s hands and preventing them from providing care, leaving pregnant women in a “health care crisis.”
“This doesn’t get easier to tell,” Zurawski said as she teared up. “Especially since it was about this time last year.”
She said she’s still dealing with the fallout, emotionally and physically. She and her husband are still trying to have a baby, but it’s proven to be even harder. “It was hard the first time, and it’s even more difficult now for me to get pregnant.”
Recently she came to Capitol Hill and testified in a Senate hearing, where she called out her state’s Senators — Ted Cruz and John Cornyn — and said she “nearly died on their watch” as a result of abortion restrictions they support. They were not present in the room when she made the comments addressing them. She told the Globe she had not heard from either of them since. Cruz’s office did not respond to a request for comment; a spokesperson from Cornyn’s office said they would “let you know if I have anything to add on this” when asked if he’d responded to Zurawski’s remarks, or reached out to her since the hearing.
After the press conference, the women mingled. They hugged Democratic lawmakers. They took pictures together. Oliver was going on to more appointments with lawmakers. Zurawski walked away with a pink suitcase in tow. If action is going to happen by elected officials, it wouldn’t be today.
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Original story HERE.
Since the news broke about Pat Schroeder’s death on March 14, there have been thousands of tributes, obituaries, tweets and social media postings in her honor. They described her as a maverick, pioneer, feminist champion, trailblazer, fearlessly independent politician, and an icon and role model for many elected officials, men and women alike. We agree—but for the feminist movement, Pat Schroeder was much more. She was a member of Congress not just for the people in Denver, but for feminists across the United States.
Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts is not only the top-ranking woman on the Democratic side of the House, she’s also the only woman in House Democratic leadership. The 59-year-old lawmaker, however, is used to breaking gender barriers. In 2021, Rep Clark became the first woman to become the Assistant Speaker of the House.
Know Your Value and “Morning Joe” recently visited the congresswoman in her office on Capitol Hill to discuss her journey, in addition to the best advice she received from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the latest on childcare relief legislation, and why paving the path for other women is so important.
Here’s what she said:
On the best advice she’s received from Nancy Pelosi
In her new role as House Whip, Congresswoman Clark is responsible for persuading her members to vote for the party’s position. And to do this, she learned a key piece of advice from her mentor, Rep. Pelosi on how to be successful. Clark recounted Pelosi telling her that “power will never be given to you, and you shouldn’t be afraid to take it.”
“How I interpret that is, know the power of the people you represent and know the power of being that voice for people who often feel they are overlooked in the process here in Congress, of government, in our economy, and feel left behind,” Rep. Clark said.
Whether it’s Roe v. Wade no longer being the law of the land, or the lack of healthcare many Americans still face, she’s taking Pelosi’s words of guidance into consideration. “All of those voices and people come with me, and they're right with me at the leadership table…to be that voice for children for families, for women, is one that I find gives me a strength and clarity.”
On why she decided to share the story of her own miscarriage
Last year the Congresswoman shared the story of her own miscarriage with the Boston Globe, hoping to spread awareness of the dangers of overturning Roe v Wade before it was ultimately banned last summer. In doing so, Clark expressed a vulnerability that many women, and men, in leadership roles hesitate to embrace. “I see the personal as politics,” Rep. Clark said, adding she prefers to see her vulnerability as a strength that she brings to her work. “Sometimes people, you know, look at the television, they watch the coverage of Congress, and they don't really see themselves or their families in their representatives. And I think it's important to say, I have this experience…”
On her best tips to negotiate and persuade
Being a good listener first and understanding the position or point of view of the people she is negotiating for are key components of the Congresswoman’s negotiating style. “I always think that if we understand where people are coming from you have a better chance of being able to get to yes,” Rep. Clark shared. “I also use a little tip that I discovered with three teenagers who often would tell you more in the car when you weren't looking directly at them. I find that elevator trips have the very similar effect on my colleagues, that when people are sort of looking at the elevator door, they can tend to tell you things they might not otherwise tell you.”
Why she’s optimistic childcare relief legislation will pass in 2023
“I’m determined. We have to do this,” said Rep. Clark. Early in 2021, the lawmaker introduced the Child Care is Infrastructure Act, which would make $10 billion in additional federal money available to renovate child care facilities, offer loan forgiveness for early educators and support on-campus child care for parents in school. She is also in favor of legislation like the CHIPS and Science Act, which is intended for semiconductor workers, but includes high quality and affordable childcare as a way to include childcare in infrastructure spending. That legislation was introduced by the Biden Administration in late February.
Childcare is one issue that the congresswoman said comes up repeatedly with voters. “We are going to continue to make sure that as we're handing out infrastructure money, the money to private businesses in collaboration with the government that childcare is part of the plan.”
The issue is personal for Clark. When first elected to Congress, Clark had quite the balancing act with three teenagers at home and two elderly parents who needed caretaking. Her mother was suffering from Alzheimer’s and her father from a debilitating stroke.
“I remember pulling in that driveway and being really torn often in tears about who do I go to. Do I relieve my husband and go see my kids and hear about their week? Or do I go and check in with my parents and make sure they have what they need? Do they have the groceries they need? And you know I have a great spouse who was there to help me but that is not the story for so many families. So, let's get those policies in that that makes sense. Let's have paid family leave paid sick days so that people don't have to make a choice between keeping a job and taking care of their loved ones …”
On how she finds power in being the only woman in the room.
Throughout her career Rep. Clark has often found that she is the only woman in the room. Instead of being intimidated, she found power in it. She recalled a meeting when she was working on childcare legislation for the state of Massachusetts and was debating on the ideal length of the workday and how long children should be in childcare.
“The men in the room had forgotten that you also need childcare in the time that you are traveling to and from work. And being the mom who was often coming in right as childcare was closing and starting to add a large bind for every minute you were late, it's important to be that one to say, ‘this isn't how it works.’”
On imagining her career after 50
Rep. Clark said she never imagined a career in politics, let alone in her 50s and beyond. But now that she is climbed the ranks and doing what she loves, she urged women, “Don't be afraid to take a risk. But don't be afraid to fail. I certainly have lost a political campaign and it was painful. But you know, just push yourself because we're here waiting for you...And don't let anybody tell you you're too young or certainly too old to reinvent yourself, and keep moving towards whatever the work is that really is meaningful to you.”
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Original story HERE.
BALTIMORE — Democratic women in the House freshmen class that Rep. Jill Tokuda of Hawaii called “our sisterhood” came together Thursday in Baltimore as part of their caucus held its annual retreat.
After Vice President Kamala Harris headlined a closed meeting at the party conference, Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts shared highlights with reporters. She said the vice president spoke about foreign and domestic priorities, including her recent trip to the Munich Security Conference, which preceded President Joe Biden’s unannounced trip to Ukraine.
Clark said the vice president discussed “how she and President Biden had been working to reassure our allies and NATO that we are here, that our presence in Ukraine is about knowing that when we are helping them defend their democracy, we are helping build our own.”
“And she went on to talk about the very local which drives her, whether that's her work with small businesses, making sure our main streets are thriving, to our discussion on reproductive justice,” Clark said.
Clark was joined at her news conference by freshman women members of the 118th Congress, and she argued that people need to broaden what they think of as “women’s issues.” “There is no economy without women. There is no climate justice without women. There is no criminal justice without women,” Clark said.
Among the new members joining Clark was Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who succeeded retired fellow Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson in a Dallas-based district. Crockett was among the Black freshmen to highlight the varied experiences and backgrounds of the caucus.
“What I believe in as a civil rights lawyer is that we must embrace our diversity. The Speaker Emeritus [Nancy Pelosi] always says our diversity is our strength, and our unity is our power. And I absolutely believe that you are looking at the most diverse class of freshmen that we've ever had in the history of the Congress,” Crockett said. “You're looking at more Black women … being elected to Congress than we've ever seen.”
Abortion rights and environmental protection were recurring themes as the members spoke.
Of 33 Democrats first elected in November, 14 are women, including four each who are Black or Hispanic and one who is Asian. The class includes some firsts. Rep. Becca Balint is the first woman to represent Vermont. Also joining the retreat was Rep.-elect Jennifer McClellan, who last month won a special election in a Richmond-based district and will be the first Black woman ever sent to Congress from Virginia.
“I grew up listening to my parents tell stories of their life where they saw the best of government in the New Deal and the worst of government in Jim Crow,” McClellan said. “That's what took me to the Virginia General Assembly a few years ago, where I quickly learned that in this government by and for the people, the perspectives of the people that are in the chamber making the laws will be heard and the perspective of those diverse faces, or lack thereof, will determine whose needs are met."
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Original story HERE.
The pandemic exposed just how broken the country’s child care system is: It costs parents too much and pays employees too little. More than half of the country’s residents live in a child care desert.
A recent report by ReadyNation, a coalition of business leaders, reveals the impact of those fissures on the nation’s economy – including individual taxpayers.
According to the report, insufficient care for children under 3 depletes the country of $122 billion each year in lost earnings, productivity and revenue. That's more than double the $57 billion in losses in 2018, the analysis found.
"The nation's economy rests on the shoulders of early care and education teachers, and the system that they're in is on the brink of collapse," said Allyx Schiavone, a prominent early childhood education advocate from Connecticut.
"When parents can't find child care, they can't work. It's really simple," continued Schiavone. "And when they can't work, families and businesses suffer. Building a better child care system is the best opportunity to unlock the power of our nation's economy."
Parents forced to choose between child care and work
Especially when compared with other developed countries, the United States invests very little in child care. The businesses that employ Americans tend not to invest much in that care either.
As a result, nearly 3 in 4 parents surveyed said access to child care is a challenge. And that hurts them in the workplace: Nearly 1 in 3 parents said they'd been reprimanded at work because of child care problems, and roughly a quarter said they'd either quit or been fired from a job.
Meanwhile, 41% said such problems have forced them to turn down a new job offer. Thirty-six percent said they've turned down further education and training.
"When I have needed child care to put a roof over my children's head and food on the table, I have not been able to afford it nor find it," said Angélica María González, an advocate and mother of five.
"I have gotten amazing positions that ... I've had to turn down," she continued, "because I could not get child care. I have been in the position of looking for child care and not being able to find it within a 60-mile radius. I have picked up extra jobs to be able to afford child care so that I could keep my main job."
All in all, parents of infants and toddlers lose $78 billion annually in foregone earnings and job search expenses thanks to insufficient child care.
This is bad for those infants and toddlers too.
“Beyond its impact on the workforce and economy today," the ReadyNation report notes, "the infant-toddler child care crisis damages the future workforce by depriving children of nurturing, stimulating environments that support healthy brain development while their parents work”
Child care woes hurt employers, taxpayers
Child care challenges indirectly affect the companies that employ these parents, too, because of lost productivity.
Nearly 2 in 3 parents reported being late to work or having to leave early due to child care struggles. More than half said those struggles made them distracted or caused them to miss entire days of work. The vast majority said lacking child care undermined their efforts and time at work.
These productivity issues, according to ReadyNation, cost employers $23 billion annually – and taken together, detract from income and sales tax revenue. ReadyNation concludes that taxpayers every year lose an average of nearly $1,500 per working parent.
Members of Congress call for more federal support
Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington state Democrat, convened an event ahead of the State of the Union to draw attention to child care issues. The former preschool teacher has been pushing for reforms to the child care system for years.
Murray has introduced the Child Care for Working Families Act – legislation that inspired Biden's platform and would cap a family's child care expenses at 7% of their income – every Congress since 2017.
Under President Joe Biden, Murray and other supporters have managed to secure some increases in child care funding, but their more ambitious proposals have struggled to progress.
Biden's Build Back Better, which would have limited a families' child care expenses to a maximum of 7% of their income, failed to overcome partisan gridlock in Congress. And efforts to extend the pandemic-era child care credit, which temporarily contributed to historic reductions in the child-poverty rate, have fallen flat.
Murray requested that her colleagues in Congress wear crayon pins – "Crayons for Kids" – during Tuesday's State of the Union to bring attention to the issue.
"Child care is infrastructure, just like our roads and bridges. Child care is essential to a healthy, inclusive economy," said Democratic Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, now the House Minority Whip. "There is no economic recovery without child care."
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Original story HERE.
Fifty years ago today, Roe v. Wade delivered a landmark victory for reproductive freedom in America. The right for women to decide if and when to have children — in accordance with their own family, health and faith — was a vital step in America’s journey toward liberty and justice for all.
By repealing Roe, the Supreme Court’s right-wing majority upended that progress, dismantling a Constitutional right that most Americans have never lived without. Republican attacks on reproductive rights have sold out the American people in service of a dark vision: a country where freedom is reserved for a privileged few.
For years, Americans warned that this would happen if extremists got the chance. Women across the country have courageously told their own personal abortion stories — because they understand first-hand the stakes of this fight.
They inspired me to share my story of a miscarriage that required an abortion to prevent a potentially fatal infection. As I wrote then, abortion bans are designed to inflict a legal and emotional nightmare on patients in need of this basic care.
I shared my story in fear of a post-Roe America. Six months later, it became our reality.
Abortion is now unavailable in 14 states. These laws have subjected nearly 18 million women to barbaric health care restrictions while threatening doctors with criminal charges for simply doing their jobs.
Every day, these laws are forcing Americans through senseless, preventable anguish.
In Texas, Amanda Zurawski faced the risk of a life-threatening infection as she mourned the loss of her pregnancy. Doctors told her that, under Texas state law, she would have to wait until her life was in imminent danger before they could intervene. Days later, she was in the emergency room. On the brink of death and battling sepsis, she narrowly escaped with her life.
In Ohio, a ten-year-old survivor of rape was denied an abortion and forced to seek help across state lines. Devoid of compassion, Republican leaders decided to harass the Indiana doctor who cared for this child in her darkest moment.
In Florida, a court told a teenage girl that she was not “sufficiently mature” to have an abortion — yet deemed her mature enough to endure a forced pregnancy.
The American people have resoundingly rejected the GOP-led crusade against abortion. Nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose the decision that overturned Roe. And last fall, voters across the country stood up to right-wing extremism in favor of reproductive freedom — from California and Vermont to Michigan and Kansas to Kentucky and Montana.
Yet Republicans are still doubling down. Within days of gaveling in the new Congress, the House GOP passed two senseless anti-abortion bills. And now, they have introduced legislation to impose a nationwide abortion ban.
The fight for abortion rights is a defining moment — one that will determine who we are as a nation.
Do we believe in every person’s right to control their own body — to freely make the most personal and consequential decisions of their lives? Or will we allow politicians to seize that power for themselves?
House Democrats believe in liberty, not oppression. We believe in progress for all, not power for a few.
That’s why we voted to enshrine Roe into federal law.
It’s why we voted to codify the right to use birth control.
And it’s why we will continue fighting to advance reproductive justice and defend the health, economic security, and freedom of the American people.
Katherine Clark represents the 5th District of Massachusetts and is the Democratic whip.
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Original story HERE
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-CT) tells CNN's Jake Tapper that Republicans are trying to distract the American public away from their legislative agenda under new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
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Interview available HERE.
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) on Sunday said “the keys have been handed over to extremists” after the House elected Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to the Speakership.
“It is exactly the American people and the solutions they need to meet the challenges that were completely left out of the Speaker’s chaos we saw this week. It not only endangered our country’s national security, but it also showed that the keys have been handed over to extremists,” Clark told host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Clark underlined the unity of Democrats in their agenda after the party banded together to vote for Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) in the successive contests with McCarthy.
The Republican won the top House leadership slot early Saturday after flipping a number of holdouts who had stalled any candidate from getting the needed majority of votes, making concessions to hard-liners in negotiations on the rules package.
Pressed Sunday on whether Democrats could find some common ground with the GOP in some of the concessions, like tweaks to the amending process for legislation proposals, Clark said the matter was a “smoke screen.”
“When they talk about process, that is a smoke screen,” Clark said.
“All the talk about process and amendments and germaneness, that is cover for what they’re really trying to do, which is dismantle the equities of our economy. And to make sure that their billionaire buddies continue to thrive at the expense of hard working American families,” the new House minority whip added.
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Original story HERE.
The dramatic fight to secure the U.S. House speakership for California’s Rep. Kevin McCarthy is far from the final conflict that will face the newly sworn in Congress, according to its Democratic minority whip.
“When they talk about process, that is a smoke screen,” U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, told CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday. “They’ve already put this out there. This is their written agenda that they had put forward during the midterms: that they are going to use the debt ceiling as leverage to take American seniors hostage. This is their plan.”
The congresswoman was speaking to Tapper about the many concessions McCarthy reportedly made to secure the 218 voters required to replace outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the podium.
Among them, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican and member of the so-called far-right Freedom Caucus told Tapper, was a promise to not raise the debt ceiling without first coming up with a way to reduce spending.
According to Roy, his party has no intention of touching “the benefits” going to those on Medicare or Social Security, “but we all have to be honest about sitting at the table and figuring out how we’re going to make those work and how we’re to deal with defense spending and how we’re going to deal with non-defense spending.”
Clark said Republicans have been telling a different story for months: that Medicare and Social Security are very much at risk under the leadership of McCarthy and considering the arrangements he had to make in order to hold the speaker’s gavel.
“They voted to raise the debt ceiling three times under the Trump administration. This is all about forcing us to make cuts to Social Security where the hard earned earnings of Americans reside and Medicare so that they can, you know, enact that in the middle of a crisis,” she said.
“That is taking our seniors hostage, we have to be clear about this,” she continued. “All the talk about process, and amendments and germaneness, that is cover for what they really want to do and which is to dismantle the equities of our economy and to make sure that their billionaire buddies continue to thrive at the expense of hardworking families.”
Concerns over the future of Social Security and Medicare seemed to be in the forefront of President Joe Biden’s mind this week as well. In a Saturday release congratulating McCarthy on his successful election to the speakership, Biden noted that the American people expect the government to actually get some work done and that the economy has been improving.
“It’s imperative that we continue that economic progress, not set it back. It is imperative that we protect Social Security and Medicare, not slash them. It is imperative that we defend our national security, not defund it. These are some of the choices before us,” Biden said.
The debt ceiling must be raised after July 1 if the federal government is going to meet its financial obligations. It will need to fund federal agencies and programs as of October 1.
A similar fight in 2011 resulted in a reduction in the country’s credit rating by Standard & Poor, the first ever such downgrade, despite the fact former President Barack Obama managed to end the stalemate by agreeing to a $2 trillion deficit reduction over 10 years.
Current projections show the debt will rise by at about $1 trillion per year for the next 10 years. The country’s debt currently totals over $31 trillion.
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Original story HERE.
Massachusetts Representative Katherine Clark took several jabs at House Republicans Thursday amid the continued chaos surrounding the party and its discord about whether to elect Representative Kevin McCarthy to the speakership.
Following two days of consecutive losses for the post, due to a group of vocal party dissidents, McCarthy continued to seek the position Thursday. He reportedly made concessions to the hard-right group in the process, in a bid to lock down a deal.
But as the eighth vote for speaker got underway in the afternoon, Clark — not for the first time that day — highlighted the lack of unity among Republicans, reading out on the House floor the number of consistent votes New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries received from Democrats during previous rounds.
The same, she pointed out, could not be said for McCarthy.
“212. 212. 212. 212. 212. 212,” she said. “And today, 212.”
Clark then ticked off a number of proposals that Democrats have supported, from equal pay for women to universal child care. After each item, she noted how Republicans responded to the measures: “They said no.”
Eventually, others in the chamber joined in, repeating the mantra.
“It is our job, and our responsibility, to elect a speaker who stands with [the American people],” she said. “And with great pride, I nominate Hakeem Jeffries.”
During a press conference earlier in the day, Clark highlighted how the party’s disconnect is paralyzing Congress, referring to the third day of votes being cast — a historic deadlock roiling Republicans — as “Groundhog Day.”
While House Democrats are united behind Jeffries as minority leader, and their agenda for the term, “House Republicans are in historic turmoil,” said Clark, who was elected as the new Democratic whip in November.
She cast attention on the rebels — many of them members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who have rallied behind former president Donald Trump — for handing McCarthy a series of humiliating defeats in recent days.
“Unable to organize, unable to govern, unable to lead,” Clark said. “Years of blindly pursuing power, currying the favor of special interests, and bowing to election deniers has left the GOP in shambles.”
On the other hand, Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) said on ABC’s “This Week” that the debate on display last week is “what a healthy democracy actually requires” and is a good sign for the new Congress.
“I understand the American people’s concern with the delay in electing a Speaker. Certainly it’s going to be a challenge to have a conference full of independent thinkers with a thin majority. But not only did the Framers of our Constitution expect us to debate the operations of the House … that’s what a healthy democracy actually requires,” Barr said.
And Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) on “State of the Union” said Congress needs conflict in order to get lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to the debate table.
McCarthy, who has failed to secure the votes needed to become speaker, essentially blocking the chamber from performing its work, wasn’t spared by Clark. She said the California Republican is “being held hostage to his own ambitions by the dangerous members that he’s enabled.”
“Let’s look at the extremists who have taken over,” Clark said. “[Colorado Representative] Lauren Boebert is whipping votes, MTG [Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene] is their spokesperson, and [Florida Representative] Matt Gaetz is negotiating the rules.”
Boebert, who has repeatedly voted against McCarthy for speaker and rejected Trump’s call to support him for the post, made headlines alongside fellow hardline Republicans in recent days for their vocal opposition.
On the House floor Wednesday, she continued to voice opposition and urged Trump to tell McCarthy to drop out of the race.
“Let’s stop with the campaign smears and tactics to get people to turn against us, even having my favorite president call us and tell us ‘We need to knock this off,’” she said. “I think it actually needs to be reversed.”
She continued her argument during television appearances Wednesday night, interviews that frustrated both MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle and Fox News’ Sean Hannity, who said he felt like he was “getting an answer from a liberal” over her tactics.
But, Clark said during the press conference, the mark left by the former president — despite him appearing to lose control of his supporters — remains, as evidenced by the divided vote for speaker.
“Some on the other side of the aisle have campaigned to standing up to the crazy in their party, but their deference at this point to MAGA Republicans — their outreach to try and get power for Kevin McCarthy at any expense — is paving the way for the policies that directly assault American families,” said Clark, who listed a national abortion ban as one example.
She ended her brief speech by touching on the deadly attack on the Capitol two years ago.
“Tomorrow is the second anniversary of the January 6 insurrection. It is a dark day for our country, but the pinnacle of what has become the Republican Party,” Clark said. “Our message to the American people is that House Democrats stand together with you. We will stand together to fight for progress, to put your voice back in the halls of Congress, and for our democracy.”
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Original story HERE.