Tag: House of Representatives

Posted on

House Of Representatives Votes To Protect LGBTQ Staffers From Discrimination

For the first time in the history of the U.S. government, the House of Representatives voted to ban employment discrimination against LGBTQ staff members as part of a package of rules that will govern the chamber over the next two years.

For the first time in the history of the U.S. government, the House of Representatives voted to ban employment discrimination against LGBTQ staff members as part of a package of rules that will govern the chamber over the next two years.

The new rule was championed by Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, one of eight openly LGBTQ legislators in the new Democratic-controlled House.

“Government at its best works for the benefit of all Americans, not just the powerful and privileged,” said Cicilline said in a statement to NBC Out. “Protecting the rights of LGBT employees is just the right thing to do.”

LGBTQ advocacy group The Human Rights Campaign issued a statement hailing the new rule as “an historic moment for our country.”

“For the first time ever, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity will be banned in the House of Representatives,” said HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy. “This action to protect LGBTQ congressional employees from discrimination is the result of millions of Equality Voters going to the polls in November to ensure their voices were heard and demanding a Congress that looks like America.”

Many Americans erroneously believe that LGBTQ discrimination is illegal across the United States.

But, as the HRC notes, half of LGBTQ Americans live in states without legal protections in regard to employment, housing and other arenas.

I’ve previously reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced she plans to make passage of The Equality Act a priority in the new Congress.

The Equality Act would amend existing civil rights law to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes from discrimination.

Posted on

2018 Midterms: Democrats Flip Two More House Seats

As the last races of the 2018 midterms are finally coming to a close, there’s more good news for the Democrats.

Two more seats in the House of Representatives have been flipped to blue:

Democrat Jared Golden, a U.S. Marine veteran, defeated two-term Republican Representative Bruce Poliquin in Maine’s Second District.

This was the state’s first use of ranked-choice balloting in a congressional race proved consequential.

After the first round of vote counts, Poliquin lead but no candidate had a majority. Under ranked-choice voting, the lowest-choice candidates were eliminated and their votes reallocated to their second choices.

Golden, it turns out, was the second choice in more of the lower-choice candidates than Poliquin. That meant Golden for the win.

And Democrat Katie Porter upset anti-LGBT Republican Mimi Walters in Southern California’s Reagan country.

While in the California Assembly, Walters supported the anti-marriage equality Prop 8. And in the House, she voted against LGBT protections for federal employees.

Good riddance.

Democrats now have won five GOP seats in California, and Republicans are being threatened in another race that still is too close to call. Porter’s victory is a sign of changing times in Orange County, once known nationally as a GOP stronghold but now increasingly Democratic.

As a member of the California Assembly, Mimi Walters endorsed Prop 8 and voted against the ban on ex-gay torture. In the US House, she voted against protections for LGBT employees of federal contractors. And that’s just a start.

Democrats have now flipped 36 seats in the House and there are three more yet to be called that are leaning Democrat.

Posted on

House Republicans Fail To Pass Their Own Immigration Bill

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives failed today to pass their more extreme immigration bill by a vote of 193-231.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan says he will not bring a more narrowly tailored bill to the floor for a vote.

But with Donald Trump’s recent executive order addressing family separations at the border possibly being challenged in courts, Ryan may have to rethink that position.

It’s still possible that a solution might be found in the Senate where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has signaled he would consider emergency legislation on the issue.

All 49 Democratic Senators have signed on in support of a bill they’ve crafted that would legally put an end to the family separations but it’s doubtful McConnell would embrace the legislation.

Here’s the report from CBSN below.

Posted on

News Round-Up: March 21, 2018

(via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Handsome dog, right? The pup’s a cutie, too 😉

• The most anti-LGBTQ Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives barely eked out a win over his primary opponent in Illinois. He now faces (no exaggeration) a Republican whose a devout Neo-Nazi.

• Cell phone video shows a gay teen in Oklahoma getting his head bashed into a school locker by a bully.

• For the first time in decades the National Rifle Associations has a net negative approval rating.

• Included in the undercover recordings of Cambridge Analytica executives was one of the top ranking bosses suggesting spreading gay rumors about candidates was an effective method of bringing them down.

• Political analyst Stu Rothenberg spoke to several insiders who predict the Democrats will win between 30-45 seats in the House during the fall mid-term elections, more than the 24 seats needed to take control.

• In a somber Instagram post, insanely handsome Superman star Henry Cavill shares the news that his facial hair is, sadly, no more. #ShavedButNotForgotten

A post shared by Henry Cavill (@henrycavill) on Mar 21, 2018 at 2:10am PDT

Posted on

Republicans Privately Worried About Losing House Majority In 2018 Midterms

There could be serious bad news for Donald Trump come this November.

Republicans are apparently sharing in private that even they believe Democrats could retake the majority in the House of Representatives in this year’s mid-term elections.

A change of power in the House would require a flip of 24 seats from GOP to Democrat. In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton won 23 of the districts that currently have Republican congressmen.

Additionally, over 30 GOP congressmen have announced they will not be running for reelection leaving those races without incumbents.

The average loss for a president’s party during midterm elections is about 32 seats, and folks are talking about possible 40+ losses for the Republicans.

With control of the House, Democrats gain not only control of the chamber for legislative purposes, but subpoena power and the ability to pass articles of impeachment.

#DonaldYouInDangerGirl

Posted on

Trump Continues Attacks On House Freedom Caucus

President Trump continued attacking the conservative House Freedom Caucus members today on Twitter, writing, “The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!”

The fact of the matter is if Trump alienates both the Dems and the Freedom Caucus, he winds up with a minority in the House:

237 House Republicans minus 30-35 Freedom Caucus members minus all Democrats leaves Trump roughly 200 Republicans to work with, which isn’t enough to get anything done.

It would seem to me that if Trump really wanted some kind of leverage over the Freedom Caucus, he would begin negotiating with, and offering real compromises to, Democrats.

Freedom Caucus members respond:

Posted on

House Speaker Paul Ryan Seeks To Fine Lawmakers Who Live-Stream From House Chamber

When Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan says to turn off cameras in the House chamber, he means ALL cameras.

And so, he has come up with a rules package that would fine Congressional lawmakers who live-stream from the chamber.

Via Politico:

The move comes in response to Democratic lawmakers, who in June live-streamed a sit-in on the House floor over gun control legislation. Democrats organized the sit-in to protest Republican lawmakers’ decision not to bring to the floor a gun-control bill, which if passed would have broadened background checks and prevented people on no-fly lists from buying guns.

When the House turned off the cameras inside the chambers during the sit-in, the participating lawmakers turned to live-streaming services such as Periscope and Facebook Live to broadcast the sit-in, which spanned for 25 hours. The live-streams, which attracted considerable publicity and millions of views, were in turn broadcast live on C-SPAN and other TV networks, which had lost access to live video when the House cameras were shut down.

Ryan, who at the time called the protest a “publicity stunt,” faced criticism for not penalizing the lawmakers for using their mobile phones and for taking photographs during the protest. Through a spokesperson, Ryan said the proposed rules package “will help ensure that order and decorum are preserved in the House of Representatives so lawmakers can do the people’s work.”

The proposal, which was first reported by Bloomberg News, would fine House members for using a device to record audio or video from the House chamber floor. Lawmakers would be fined $500 for the first offense and $2,500 for each subsequent violation. The fines would be deducted from members’ paychecks.

Posted on

House Republicans Celebrate Diversity With Vice President-elect Mike Pence

Look at all that diversity on display as incoming Vice President Mike Pence takes a celebratory selfie with U.S. House Republicans.

No, no – wait. There’s a black man in the upper left hand corner, see?

There you go. A virtual melting pot. What a rich tapestry they all are.

Posted on

Chaos In Congress As Republican Lawmakers Vote Down LGBT Protections

For a brief period of time, House Democrats were celebratory in the belief that they had passed an amendment to a defense authorization bill that would have prevented federal contractors from federal jobs if they discriminate against LGBTs.

But shortly after the vote showed the amendment had passed, the numbers began to change even though it seemed the clock had run out on voting.

Via Politico:

It was an unruly scene on the floor, with Democrats chanting “shame!” after GOP leaders just barely muscled up the votes to reject, 212-213, an amendment by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) that would have effectively barred federal contractors from getting government work if they discriminate against the LGBT community.

At one point, a monitor in the House gallery showed there were 217 votes supporting the legislation, eliciting cheers of joy from Democrats who thought the measure might actually pass. But over the course of about 10 minutes, those votes suddenly dropped one by one to 212 — and the amendment failed.

A number of lawmakers from western states, who originally voted yes, changed their votes. According to a list tweeted out an hour after the vote by House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer’s (D-Md.) office, they included: Reps. Darrell Issa (Calif.), David Valadao (Calif.), Jeff Denham (Calif.), Greg Walden (Ore.), Mimi Walters (Calif.), David Yong (Iowa) and Bruce Poliquin (Maine). Their offices have not yet responded to request for comment.

Posted on

House LGBT Caucus Launches #WeAreWithYou Campaign

In observation of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT), and the recent wave of anti-LGBT rights legislation introduced at state and federal level, the House Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus is launching a video campaign to show support for the LGBT community.

Via press release:

Featuring over 25 members of the LGBT Congressional Equality Caucus, Rep. Maloney released a video titled “We’re With You,” which is aimed at showing solidarity and support for LGBT equality at a time when many federal, state and local leaders are advancing blatantly discriminatory policy proposals.

These proposals have far-reaching consequences beyond simply legalizing discrimination, including reinforcing feelings of isolation and desperation among already targeted populations. One suicide helpline for trans people has reported that call volume has doubled since the passage of HB 2 in North Carolina. The video aims to combat this trend and echoes this year’s IDAHOT theme of mental health and wellness.

“Discrimination has no place in the law, and these attempts to legalize hate are shameful. These laws tell LGBT people that who they are or who they love makes them less valuable as human beings – and that’s just wrong,” said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18), a Co-Chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.

“I started this campaign because, from North Carolina to Missouri, I want LGBT Americans to know that they are not alone. So I am asking my colleagues in Congress and folks across the country to join me and tell our LGBT brothers and sisters, ‘we’ve got your back, and we’re going to keep fighting for you until we win.’”