SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
elizabeth warren
16 Senate Dems Join GOP to Advance Crypto Bill—A Gift to Trump's 'Reeking Corruption'
"No Democrats should be supporting Trump's self-enrichment," said one grassroots progressive group.
May 20, 2025
Despite concerns that it does not address U.S. President Donald Trump's ties to the crypto industry, 16 Democrats in the Senate voted with most Republicans on Monday to advance a bill that creates a regulatory framework for stablecoins, digital assets whose value is tied to traditional currency, such as the U.S. dollar, or a commodity like gold.
The industry-backed Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act passed a cloture vote, with support from Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the original co-sponsor of the bill, Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.). The bill is now teed up for Senate debate.
Back in February, a coalition of consumer groups and watchdogs warned that the bill would accelerate the "convergence of Big Tech and Big Finance" and is "a necessary prerequisite for future giveaways to the crypto industry."
In early May, the legislation faltered after several crypto-friendly Democrats raised concerns that it did not contain strong enough provisions around anti-money laundering, national security, and other issues.
Pro-crypto Democrats have said that the version of the bill that was considered on Monday contains a number of revisions that address those concerns, including more consumer protections and some limitations on Big Tech's ability to issue stablecoins.
However, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs—said on the Senate floor Monday that the bill's "basic flaws remain unaddressed," according to prepared remarks.
Warren is concerned, in particular, that the bill does not "rein in the president's crypto corruption."
"Trump and his family have already pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars from his crypto ventures and they stand to make hundreds of millions more from his stablecoin, USD1, if this bill passes," Warren said. "Passing this bill means that we can expect more anonymous buyers, big companies, and foreign governments to use the president's stablecoin as both a shadowy bank account shielded from government oversight and as a way to pay off the president personally."
USD1 is a stablecoin developed by the Trump family crypto firm, World Liberty Financial. A few weeks ago, it was announced that USD1 would be used for a $2 billion deal between an investment firm established by the government of Abu Dhabi, MGX, and the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance.
Warren on Monday also expressed concern that the bill, even with revisions, creates a relatively weak regulatory framework, and still allows Big Tech to create private currencies, among other objections.
"Democrats correctly deride Republicans for abetting Trump's endless, daily, sulfurous corruption. But given the chance to stand up to his crypto grift—perhaps the most reeking corruption in presidential history—too many Democrats instead yielded to another depravity, namely unprecedented political spending by a handful of crypto corporations and billionaires," said Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert on Monday, referencing election spending by the crypto industry.
In the last election cycle, crypto industry-supported super political action committees gave money to multiple senators who voted for cloture on Monday, including Slotkin and Gallego.
"No Democrats should be supporting Trump's self-enrichment," the grassroots progressive group Indivisible wrote on Tuesday on Bluesky.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Progressives Mark Mother's Day With Calls to 'Honor Our Moms With Action'
"Today on Mother's Day, let's remember every mother deserves a livable wage, affordable childcare, paid family leave, and the ability to retire with dignity," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
May 11, 2025
As the Republicans who narrowly control both chambers of Congress plot cuts to programs that serve the working-class to pay for tax giveaways to the wealthy, progressive lawmakers on Sunday marked Mother's Day by renewing calls for policies that would improve the lives of U.S. families.
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), founder of the Congressional Mamas' Caucus, said in a video shared to social media that "this Mother's Day, we're gonna fight to protect Medicaid, we're gonna fight for childcare, and we're gonna fight to make sure that our children have access to clean water."
Other representatives featured in the video also pledged to fight for federal programs, including Medicaid, which provides health coverage to low-income individuals; Head Start, which provides early childhood education and programming for working-class parents; and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly called food stamps.
President Donald Trump's administration recently reversed course on Head Start cuts by leaving them out of the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget—at least for now—but, as USA Todaynoted earlier this month, "other preschool and after-school programs may be in jeopardy as the Republican-controlled Congress wrestles over the federal budget this summer."
As part of that budget battle, GOP lawmakers are targeting programs including SNAP and Medicaid. In a U.S. House of Representatives floor speech, Tlaib declared that "too often, mothers are left behind in this chamber."
"In the richest country in the world," the mother-of-two argued, "no mother should worry about feeding her children or affording basic care. Ending child poverty is a policy choice. I introduced the End Child Poverty Act to provide universal child benefit for every child in our country and cut child poverty by 60%. Paid leave, affordable childcare, and universal school meals should be guaranteed, not privileges."
Tlaib also noted the Black Maternal Health Caucus' Momnibus Act, a bill she co-sponsors that aims to address the nation's maternal health crisis, and a new Mamas' Caucus campaign to battle GOP efforts to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid. She said that "this Mother's Day, I'm asking all of you to not only thank our mothers, but do it with action as we recommit to fighting for the dignity and health of every mother in our nation."
Like Tlaib, Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) used Mother's Day to recognize the U.S. maternal health crisis.
"As we honor our mothers, we must also recognize that too many are being failed by a system that should protect them," he said on social media. "In the U.S., Black women are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women, regardless of income or education. The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries. Over 80% of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. are preventable. This is unacceptable."
"We will continue fighting for mothers today, tomorrow, and every day for their right to safe, dignified care, bodily autonomy, compassionate treatment, and healthy equity in America," Jackson added.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Sunday advocated for his Child Care for America Act, which aims to make childcare $10 per day for families but raise the pay floor for industry workers to $24 an hour.
Khanna, Jackson, and Tlaib have all backed the fight for Medicare for All—and the related bill for that was reintroduced late last month by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).
"Today on Mother's Day, let's remember every mother deserves a livable wage, affordable childcare, paid family leave, and the ability to retire with dignity," Sanders said Sunday. "America must become a nation which treats all mothers and their kids with the respect and dignity they deserve."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) honored her own mom on Mother's Day by resharing, in a series of social media posts, the story about how she supported their family by securing a minimum wage job.
"After my daddy had a heart attack, he couldn't work for a while. Bills piled up. We lost our family station wagon. It looked like the house would be next to go. At night, I'd overhear my parents talk, and that's when I learned words like 'mortgage' and 'foreclosure,'" she recalled. "One day, I walked into my parents' bedroom. My mother's face was red and puffy. A dress was laid out over the bedspread—the dress that only came out for weddings, graduations, and funerals."
"'We are not going to lose this house,' she kept saying. 'We are not going to lose this house.' She'd never worked outside the home. She was terrified," Warren continued. "But she knew what she had to do. I watched her put that dress on, put on her high heels, and blow her nose. She walked to Sears. She got a minimum wage job. And that minimum wage job saved our house and saved our family."
"Today, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour—a wage that has not increased in over 15 years. With that, a family living on minimum wage is living in poverty."
The senator said that "this story is written on my heart. I'm remembering my mother's courage this Mother's Day. I'm thinking about all the mamas out there fighting for their families. And I'm thinking about all the ways the deck is stacked against mothers and families today. A mother today would not be able to work a minimum wage job and keep everyone afloat. Today, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour—a wage that has not increased in over 15 years. With that, a family living on minimum wage is living in poverty."
"And, without quality, affordable childcare, mothers have been shoved out of the workforce," she noted. "They will feel the consequences—in lost earnings, in lower Social Security benefits—for the rest of their lives. And, notably, most women who get abortions today are already mothers. Many are working multiple jobs that don't pay enough to support their children. Abortion bans make it even harder for those families to make ends meet."
While GOP policymakers are working to restrict reproductive freedom and cut safety net programs, Warren made her priorities clear: "I'm working to give every mother and every family a fighting chance—and I'm in this fight all the way."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Even Dems Who Initially Backed Crypto GENIUS Act Block It Over 'Outstanding Issues'
"Democrats held firm against this corporate power grab. We're fighting for fairness, not billionaire greed!" said Our Revolution said—though the effort to pass the bill is not over.
May 09, 2025
In a win for progressive groups and lawmakers who have been sounding the alarm about legislation that would create a regulatory framework for stablecoins, the U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus—along with a couple of Republicans—blocked the cryptocurrency bill from advancing on Thursday in a 49-48 procedural vote.
A stablecoin is a digital asset whose value is tied to traditional currency, such as the U.S. dollar, or a commodity like gold. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) co-sponsored the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which advanced out of the Senate Banking Committee in March with support from five other Democrats.
Meanwhile, the committee's ranking member, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), has blasted the bill—as has Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who caucuses with Democrats and warned this week that the GENIUS Act would make it easier for President Donald Trump "and his family to continue to engage in corrupt dealmaking enabled through their cryptocurrency."
Our Revolution, a group formed as a continuation of Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign, has similarly panned the legislation, with executive director Joseph Geevarghese calling it a "laughably weak and toothless regulatory bill—a sham crafted by cryptocurrency giants that is certain to line the pockets of the Trump family's crypto empire."
Concern over the bill has grown since the revelation last week that a stablecoin developed by the Trump family crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, would be used for a $2 billion deal between an investment firm established by the government of Abu Dhabi, MGX, and the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance.
In recent days, several crypto-friendly Democrats said they couldn't support the GENIUS Act in its current form, and ultimately, no members of the party's caucus voted for it. Thursday's vote was welcomed by Our Revolution, which said on social media that "Democrats held firm against this corporate power grab. We're fighting for fairness, not billionaire greed!"
Gillibrand, a key target of Our Revolution ahead of the vote, said in a statement that "I believe it is essential to the future of the U.S. economy and to everyday Americans that we enact strict stablecoin regulations and consumer protections where none currently exist. Over the past few years, I have worked in good faith with Republicans to author robust stablecoin legislation that protects consumers, enables innovation to thrive, and maintains the dominance of the U.S. dollar."
"The bipartisanship of this effort was on display when the bill passed out of the Banking Committee with strong support from Democrats and Republicans," she continued. "However, developments over the past week made it clear that there were a number of outstanding issues that needed to be addressed before this bill could pass the full Senate."
"I fully support my colleagues' efforts," Gillibrand said, specifically applauding Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) "for his tireless work across the aisle to improve and strengthen this bill." She added that "I remain extremely confident and hopeful that very soon we can finish the job."
According toAxios: "Key Senate players have been meeting all week, trying to land a deal to appease Democrats. Senate Republicans reviewed Democrats' proposed changes to the GENIUS Act, with Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) negotiating up until the last minute."
Warner, one of the Democrats who voted the bill out of committee in March, said in a Thursday statement that "while we've made meaningful progress on the GENIUS Act, the work is not yet complete, and I simply cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to vote for this legislation when the text isn't yet finished."
"I remain fully committed to getting this right," he said. "I plan to continue working with my colleagues to strengthen this legislation and move it forward in a way that promotes innovation while protecting the interests of the American people. It is my sincere hope that we can start floor consideration next week after we have finalized our work and given our colleagues adequate time to review."
While Thune reposted social media statements from his GOP colleagues expressing disappointment over the result and accusing Democrats of "hypocrisy," he also signaled that the effort to pass a stablecoin bill will continue by changing his vote from yes to no, which enables him to bring up the GENIUS Act at a later date.
Given expectations that the fight for the bill will go on, Democrats are still pushing for key reforms and additions. Citing recent reporting about Trump agreeing to attend a dinner with major investors in his cryptocurrency, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said on social media Friday that "access to the White House shouldn't be up for sale to the highest bidder!!"
"This kind of blatant corruption takes a sledgehammer to public trust—we need to add my End Crypto Corruption Act to the GENIUS Act NOW!" added Merkley, pushing
legislation that would ban the president, vice president, top executive branch officials, members of Congress, and their immediate families from issuing, endorsing, or sponsoring crypto assets.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular