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'Should Send a Chill Down the Spine of Every American': Trump DOJ Charges New Jersey Democrat
"The most corrupt administration in our country's history is targeting and punishing public officials who seek to hold them accountable."
May 20, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump's Justice Department announced Monday that it is pursuing assault charges against a Democratic congresswoman from New Jersey who took part in an oversight visit at a privately run migrant detention center in Newark earlier this month.
In a statement, Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba announced the charges against U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), claiming the lawmaker "assaulted, impeded, and interfered with law enforcement" at GEO Group's Delaney Hall. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) awarded GEO Group a billion-dollar contract earlier this year to detain migrants there, even as the facility faced legal challenges and accusations of abuse.
McIver rejected the charges against her as "purely political," saying that "they mischaracterize and distort my actions" in an attempt to "criminalize and deter legislative oversight."
"We were fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before, and our visit should have been peaceful and short," said McIver. "Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor [Ras] Baraka."
Habba said Monday that her office has agreed to drop the trespassing charge against Baraka, who welcomed the decision while expressing solidarity with McIver.
"Congresswoman McIver is a daughter of Newark, past Newark Council president, a former student of mine, and a dear friend," said Baraka. "I want to be clear: I stand with LaMonica, and I fully expect her to be vindicated."
"It reveals the increasingly authoritarian nature of this administration and its relentless, illegal attempts to suppress any dissent or oversight."
The U.S. attorney's announcement sparked an outpouring of support for McIver and grave warnings about the implications of the Trump administration's attempt to prosecute her and other officials who try to stand in the way of its lawless mass deportation effort.
"This is a clear political attack on Rep. LaMonica McIver for having the courage to stand up to Trump's abuses of power," said Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party. "Let's be clear who the real lawbreakers are. In just the last week, both Donald Trump and [Attorney General] Pam Bondi have been caught with a hand in the cookie jar. Bondi sold millions of shares of stock on the same day that Trump announced his disastrous tariffs. And Trump accepted a $400 million luxury plane from the Qatari royal family."
"The most corrupt administration in our country's history is targeting and punishing public officials who seek to hold them accountable," Mitchell added.
McIver's fellow congressional Democrats also rallied to her defense.
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) called the charges a "purely political act" and said that "oversight is not a criminal offense unless you are living under a fascist regime."
The chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), said that "the baseless charges against Congresswoman McIver for simply doing her job should send a chill down the spine of every American."
A group of Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee warned that "charging members of Congress for doing our jobs is a dangerous precedent to set."
"It reveals the increasingly authoritarian nature of this administration and its relentless, illegal attempts to suppress any dissent or oversight, including from judges, members of Congress, and the American people, which check lawless executive power," the lawmakers said. "Representative McIver has our full support, and we will do everything in our power to help fight this outrageous threat to our constitutional system."
The scene at Delaney Hall earlier this month was highly chaotic, with video footage showing jostling and heated verbal exchanges outside of the facility's gate as federal agents moved to arrest Baraka after three New Jersey lawmakers—McIver and Reps. Robert Menendez and Bonnie Watson Coleman—visited the inside of the detention center, which they have a right to do under federal law.
The Department of Homeland Security released a video claiming to show McIver "assaulting" an ICE agent, and one DHS official accused the Democratic lawmaker of "body-slamming" and "body-ramming" officers. McIver, who rejected the claims, said at the time that federal agents at the scene were "roughing up members of Congress."
Watson Coleman, who is 80 years old, said she was "manhandled" by ICE agents as they moved to arrest Baraka.
In a statement late Monday, Mike Zamore of the national ACLU and Amol Sinha of ACLU-NJ said that "the Trump administration's political charges against Congresswoman McIver [are] a method more suited for authoritarianism than American democracy."
"If the Trump administration can target elected officials who oppose its extreme agenda, it can happen to any one of us," they said. "We demand that they drop the charges against Rep. McIver, and we implore her fellow members of Congress to call for the same."
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'The Fix Is In': GOP Wants Poor People to Pay More for Medicaid to Fund Tax Cuts for Wealthy
"Poor people will pay more for healthcare so rich people can get tax cuts. Sometimes the stakes are pretty simple."
May 07, 2025
Reporting out Wednesday indicates that congressional Republicans are considering a proposal that would force low-income Americans to pay more for Medicaid coverage, a highly regressive plan aimed at helping the GOP offset the massive projected cost of another round of tax breaks for the wealthy.
The proposal, first reported by The American Prospect's David Dayen, is part of a menu of options Republicans are weighing for inclusion in their forthcoming reconciliation package. A House Energy and Commerce Committee markup of the legislation is expected next week.
"Making poor people pay more for healthcare is exactly the kind of effective cut to Medicaid that moderate Republicans have sworn they would not abide," Dayen wrote. "While reducing the federal share of Obamacare's Medicaid expansion, which provides federal funding to extend Medicaid to adults under age 65 up to 138% of the poverty level in 40 states and D.C., is not part of the menu, this is a backdoor way of achieving something like that reduction, on the backs of individuals who get Medicaid."
The proposal is described in the emerging reconciliation proposal as "cost-sharing above 100% FPL," or federal poverty level.
Medicaid's website explains that out-of-pocket Medicaid costs currently apply to all "enrollees except those specifically exempted by law, and most are limited to nominal amounts."
Under the GOP proposal, according to Dayen, "Medicaid recipients making at or above the federal poverty level, which is $15,650 for a single individual and $21,150 for a two-person household, would have to pay some money for coverage—either in premiums, co-payments for hospital visits and other treatment, or other fees."
"Currently, Medicaid gives states the option to impose out-of-pocket spending on recipients, though some populations and services, like children under 18 or pregnancy care, are exempted," Dayen added. "Some premiums and enrollment fees are limited to beneficiaries above 150% of the poverty line; this policy would take that number lower."
Matt Bruenig, founder of the People's Policy Project, told the Prospect that "whether you call it a co-pay, a premium, a fee, or a tax, the net result is either a reduction in the disposable incomes of those subject to the cost-sharing or people forgoing healthcare."
"When I look out into the American income distribution for places where I'd like to cut things back," Bruenig added, "families with incomes between 100% and 138% of the poverty line is not where my eye tends to go."
In response to Dayen's reporting, Working Families Party national director Maurice Mitchell said in a statement that "Republicans want to hike Medicaid premiums and copays to pay for massive tax cuts for the rich."
"The fix is in," said Mitchell. "They care more about tax breaks for their billionaire donors than keeping costs low for families in their own districts. But we're not going to let them get away with it. We're ready to fight back."
"The bottom line is that the Republican bill is going to cut healthcare for kids, seniors, Americans with disabilities, and working families."
Another option on the GOP policy menu for Medicaid is work requirements, which have been tried to disastrous effect at the state level. Research has repeatedly shown that work requirements do little to boost employment while making it more difficult for eligible program recipients to continue receiving benefits. Most Medicaid recipients already work.
Dayen's reporting was published shortly before the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an analysis examining the potential consequences of some of the Medicaid cuts floated by Republican lawmakers in recent days.
The CBO—which did not examine the GOP plan to impose more payments on poor Americans—found that the Republican proposals would "reduce the resources available to states to fund Medicaid programs."
"Overall, CBO expects that, on average, states would replace roughly half of the reduced funds with their own resources," the budget office said. "Additionally, in response to the loss of the other half of the resources, states would modify their Medicaid programs and reduce Medicaid spending using three levers: reduce provider payment rates, reduce the scope or amount of optional services, and reduce Medicaid enrollment."
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who requested the CBO analysis last month, said Wednesday that "the Republican plan for healthcare means benefit cuts and terminated health insurance for millions of Americans who count on Medicaid."
"Republicans continue to use smoke and mirrors to try to trick Americans into thinking they aren't going to hurt anybody when they proceed with this reckless plan, but fighting reality is an uphill battle," said Wyden. "The bottom line is that the Republican bill is going to cut healthcare for kids, seniors, Americans with disabilities, and working families, and Democrats are going to fight to stop it."
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States With Democratic Trifectas Are Failing to Meet the Moment
After the disappointing results in November, Democrats in blue states should be using their power to show how government can make life better for working people.
Apr 07, 2025
The anger and frustration Americans are feeling toward the Democratic Party reached a boiling point earlier this month, after ten Senate Democrats joined the Republicans in voting for a federal funding bill that slashes everything from disaster relief to school meals for our kids. Presented with an opportunity to stand up for working people, Senate Democrats immediately tossed in the towel. But the Democratic leadership crisis isn’t limited to the U.S. Capitol. In states where Democrats hold the majority, the reasons they’re losing working people become painfully clear.
Over the first two months of the new administration, we’ve seen states with Democratic trifectas and supermajorities duck for cover. Instead of exercising their power to make life better for working people and respond to the devastating actions at the federal level, they’ve kowtowed to corporate lobbyists and wealthy donors.
Look at Delaware—a bright blue state with a governing trifecta—where Democrats worked hand-in-hand with Elon Musk’s lawyers to land Musk a $56 billion pay package. Displeased with a court ruling that denied his bloated Tesla pay package, Musk made good on his threat to move the company’s copyright registration to Texas. But he didn't want to leave without his payday, and state Democrats were eager enablers.
Any person living in these blue states should be demanding that their governor, attorney general, and state legislatures use their power to stand up to Trump and Musk.
Democratic spines in other blue trifecta states are no sturdier. In Colorado, Democrats have advanced a bill to slash the tipped minimum wage, which could result in $8,000 a year in lost income for full-time food service workers. Directly to the south, in New Mexico, Democrats compromised their own paid family and medical leave bill that now leaves too many working-class state residents behind.
During the election, Donald Trump and Musk were able to capitalize on the Democrats’ disregard for working-class voters. However, it hasn’t taken long for Trump and Musk to show their true face. They’re already signaled their plans to make deep cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. Republicans have no interest in governing on behalf of working people. Democratic pundits from across the spectrum have emphasized the need for Democrats to put working people at the center of the party. But the Democrat’s lack of a coherent message or plan of action to address the Trump-Musk destruction is pushing away those exact voters.
The steady drift of working-class people from the Democratic Party is the reason the Working Families Party was founded 27 years ago. And in the absence of a clear plan from Democratic leaders, WFP legislators are stepping up to fill the void. In Rhode Island, WFP legislators are pushing a 13-point agenda that, among other things, guards against cuts to Medicaid, lowers the cost of healthcare, and protects tenants against retaliatory evictions. In New York, WFP legislators are fighting to pass the Working Families Tax Credit, which will put money back into the pockets of working families. And in Philadelphia, housing protections enacted by Working Families Party City Council members have led to a 41% drop in eviction filings over the last year.
After the disappointing results in November, Democrats in blue states should be using their power to show how government can make life better for working people. Yet after months of soul-searching and post-mortems, the lessons of the past election have quickly worn off.
As Indivisible points out in their handbook, there are nine more states with Democratic trifectas than there were in 2017, and the 15 states with trifectas are major economic powerhouses making up nearly half of the country’s gross domestic product.
Any person living in these blue states should be demanding that their governor, attorney general, and state legislatures use their power to stand up to Trump and Musk. They have the ability to protect residents and ensure uninterrupted access to the services and benefits we all need. Waving the white flag and enabling their money grab doesn’t show working people that you’re in their corner.
Democratic legislators in triple blue states can choose to be courageous, unlike many of their congressional counterparts. In state after state, Working Families Democrats are putting forward a plan of action. It’s on their fellow legislators to follow their lead.
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