Author: Jack Merritt

As JD Vance pushes Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda in North Carolina before fundraising with anti-worker extremists in Washington, D.C. today, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“JD Vance stands with Donald Trump and his ultra-wealthy backers over hardworking Americans – that’s why he’s fundraising with anti-worker billionaires after touting the Trump-Vance Project 2025 agenda to raise taxes and jack up costs on middle-class families. Vance is part of the most anti-union, anti-worker ticket in recent American history, running with a former president who created new incentives for companies to send jobs overseas and left office with the worst jobs record since the Great Depression. Now, Vance is defending Trump’s praise for firing striking workers, while their Project 2025 plans would rig the economy for billionaires and big corporations on the backs of the working class. While Trump and Vance push a reckless and out-of-touch agenda, Vice President Harris and Governor Walz have a plan to protect workers and help middle class families get ahead.”

TODAY: JD Vance is attending a fundraiser hosted by the Associated Builders and Contractors, which has consistently pushed anti-union rhetoric and stood with Donald Trump over workers.

2024: Associated Builders and Contractors complained that a Biden-Harris policy would make more workers eligible to earn overtime pay.

2024: Associated Builders and Contractors attacked the pro-union language of the Biden-Harris administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.

2024: An Associated Builders and Contractors executive complained that a Biden-Harris administration policy prioritizing federal grants for projects with higher worker wages was a “gift to unions [that] is discouraging…”

2018: Members of the Associated Business and Contractors joined Donald Trump at the White House to tout Trump’s tax giveaways for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations that came at the expense of hardworking Americans.

2017: An Associated Builders and Contractors executive opposed the Fair Pay and Safe Workplace rule because it required contractors to report allegations of misconduct, which he said were often “frivolous.”

Just like Trump — who was one of the most anti-worker and anti-union presidents in American history — Vance stands firmly against working people and has opposed legislation to protect unions.

Politico: “Vance has consistently opposed the PRO Act, the ‘holy grail of pro-union labor reform’ that organized labor and its allies on the Hill have been fighting for over two years to get passed. … Vance’s skepticism of the PRO Act is part of a more fundamental skepticism that he harbors toward organized labor.”

Fast Company: “Vance also voted in favor of a resolution to strike down the NLRB’s updated joint-employer rule, which would have given workers more leverage when organizing at companies—like Amazon—that rely heavily on third-party contractors, by forcing both employers to participate in labor negotiations.”

Trump: “I know the unions. They’re dues-sucking people. They just want their dues and they couldn’t care less.”

New York Times: “Does [Trump] support unions? He has had ‘great success’ in New York building with unions and also in Florida without unions. ‘If I had my choice,’ he said, ‘I think I’d take it without.’”

Vance is defending Trump’s shameful comments about firing striking workers.

Politico: “Vice presidential candidate JD Vance defended Donald Trump’s comments about firing striking workers during a rally in Michigan.”

Newsweek: “Donald Trump Cheers Elon Musk Over Firing Workers: ‘You’re the Greatest!’”

Vance doesn’t care that Trump has repeatedly broken his promises to workers across the country.

CNN: “Trump told GM workers he could save their plant, but it’s gone for good”

Washington Post: “Trump promised this Wisconsin town a manufacturing boom. It never arrived.”

Detroit Free Press: “Trump, tweets couldn’t save U.S. auto jobs in 2017”

MLive: “On the 2016 campaign trail in Warren, Trump pledged ‘you won’t lose one plant’ if he were elected. GM announced last year it would end production at five North American plants.”

Vance is pushing Trump’s extreme Project 2025 agenda to raise taxes for the middle class while gifting tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and threatening to supercharge inflation.

Washington Post: “Trump and his advisers have discussed deeper cuts to both individual and corporate tax rates that would build on his controversial 2017 tax law … Further cutting corporate taxes … would primarily benefit large firms.”

Trump: “You’re all people that have a lot of money … You’re rich as hell. … We’re gonna give you tax cuts.”

Vanity Fair: “Donald Trump Wants to Give His Favorite Corporations Another Giant Tax Cut in a Second Term: Report”

Center for American Progress: “Project 2025’s Tax Plan Would Raise Taxes on the Middle Class and Cut Taxes for the Wealthy”

“In [Project 2025], far-right extremist plans are outlined that raise taxes on low- and middle-income households to finance tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations. Project 2025’s tax plan includes an ‘intermediate tax reform’ that includes changes to tax brackets and corporate tax cuts that would shift the tax burden toward middle-income households…

“The shift toward a flat consumption tax while eliminating income taxes would lead to an average $5,900 tax increase for the middle 20 percent of households and an average $2 million tax cut for the top 0.1 percent… Project 2025 does not stop at cutting taxes for wealthy individuals; it also proposes an array of tax cuts for corporations. … This would amount to a $24 billion tax cut for the Fortune 100, the 100 largest companies in America.”

New York Times: “Senator JD Vance of Ohio, former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate, denied in an interview with NBC News on Sunday that tariffs had caused higher costs for Americans, as economists have documented.”

Vance on Trump’s plan that would raise tariffs and raise costs for hardworking Americans: “This is a fascinating proposal and we could talk for a while about it.”

Center for American Progress: “Former President Trump Proposes an Up to $3,900 Tax Increase for a Typical Family”

The Atlantic: “Trump’s Plan to Supercharge Inflation”

Axios: “Sixteen Nobel prize-winning economists are jumping into the presidential campaign with a stark warning: Former President Trump’s plans would reignite inflation and cause lasting harm to the global economy if he wins in November.”

Vance has praised Trump’s failed economic agenda that resulted in broken promises, a skyrocketing deficit, and new incentives for companies to ship jobs overseas.

Vance: “The left attacked Donald Trump for those tax cuts said they would make the deficit worse when in reality we took in more revenue because the government got out of the way on the regulatory side and the tax cuts spurred a lot of growth which means more people working, which meant more economic production which meant the entire economy was healthier … I think we have a pretty common sense regulatory and tax agenda.”

New York Times: “The 2017 corporate tax cuts signed into law by Mr. Trump have not increased government revenue … In fact, they have had the opposite effect.”

Washington Post: “Trump promised this Wisconsin town a manufacturing boom. It never arrived.”

The Guardian: “Donald Trump’s $1.5tn tax cuts have helped billionaires pay a lower rate than the working class for the first time in history.”

CBS News: “Two years after Trump tax cuts, middle-class Americans are falling behind”

Washington Post Analysis: “One of President Donald Trump’s lesser-known but profoundly damaging legacies will be the explosive rise in the national debt that occurred on his watch. The financial burden that he’s inflicted on our government will wreak havoc for decades, saddling our kids and grandkids with debt. The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in office… The growth in the annual deficit under Trump ranks as the third-biggest increase, relative to the size of the economy, of any U.S. presidential administration.”

Washington Post: “Trump promised ‘America First’ would keep jobs here. But the tax plan might push them overseas.”

The post JD Vance Touts Trump’s Project 2025 Plan to Raise Costs on Middle-Class Families… Before Fundraising With Anti-Worker Billionaires appeared first on Democrats.

Today, MAGA Mike Johnson is setting Republicans in the House up for more chaos and dysfunction, proving once again that his Chaos Conference can’t govern — and they’ll continue on this destructive path if the Trump-Vance ticket takes power. Even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell knows that MAGA Mike’s gambit of putting Trump’s priorities over the American people spells political disaster for Republicans this November. 

Donald Trump is directly calling on MAGA House Republicans to shut down the government if they don’t get their way despite McConnell’s warnings that it’d be “politically beyond stupid.”

McConnell: “My only observation about this whole discussion is the one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown. It’d be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election, because certainly we’d get the blame.”

MAGA Mike Johnson is making House Republicans vote on the same legislation that he pulled just last week, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle can agree on one thing: they’re not really sure why. 

Punchbowl News: “The House is set to vote today on a short-term funding bill that won’t pass. GOP lawmakers are grumbling about messaging, strategy and yearning to get back home to run for reelection. And Speaker Mike Johnson is being publicly and privately cagey about his next move, frustrating the entire House Republican Conference, which is looking for guidance about the leadership’s plans. 

“In fact, the GOP leadership is even in the dark at most times as to what Johnson is thinking and planning.

“Johnson is putting a bill on the floor that his entire leadership team — Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Tom Emmer of Minnesota — knows is going to fail. One House Republican lawmaker entered a meeting of GOP whips Tuesday and told us that he was ‘going to see how well they’re polishing this turd.’”

Axios: “Johnson’s colleagues baffled by his shutdown strategy”

“House members in both parties are perplexed about House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) decision to revive a short-term government funding bill that he pulled last week.

“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), asked if he has any sense of why Johnson is reviving the bill, told Axios, ‘I have no idea.’

“Why it matters: Even some Republicans are questioning Johnson’s strategic decision-making, with some warning that his decision to hold a vote on the measure could actually hurt him in the long run.

“I don’t know how he thinks it’s going to pass … where are the votes coming from?” said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas).

“Another House Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity, called Johnson’s plan ‘puzzling’ and predicted that it will frustrate some GOP lawmakers.

“Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters: ‘There’s an old saying in Arkansas that you don’t learn nothing the second time you get kicked in the head by a mule.’”

Trump and JD Vance have called on MAGA congressional Republicans to shut down the government unless they get their way. 

NBC News: “‘I would shut down the government in a heartbeat if they don’t get it,’ Trump said on the ‘Monica Crowley Show’ last week.”

“‘It should be in the bill. And if it’s not in the bill, you want to close it up,’ he said. ‘So I’m not there but, you know, I have influence.’”

Vance: “…And so yeah, man, why shouldn’t we be trying to force this government shutdown fight to get something out of if that’s good for the American people?”  

The 118th Congress is already on track to be one of the least productive in American history as MAGA Republicans continue to choose chaos over delivering for the American people. 

ABC News: “118th Congress on track to become one of the least productive in US history”

Axios: “Capitol Hill stunner: 2023 led to fewest laws in decades”

Associated Press: “Americans’ faith in institutions has been sliding for years. The chaos in Congress isn’t helping”

A government shutdown could disrupt the lives of millions of Americans who are on federal government payroll. 

Reuters: “All federal employees’ pay could be disrupted during a shutdown, though they would receive retroactive pay once government operations resume.”

Congressional Research Service: “According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal workforce is composed of an estimated 2.1 million civilian workers.”

The post McConnell: Trump-Backed Shutdown Would Be “Politically Beyond Stupid” and GOP Would “Certainly Get the Blame” appeared first on Democrats.

This election presents two starkly different paths for Latino families and our country. Donald Trump and JD Vance seek to pull us backward with their extreme Project 2025 agenda. Project 2025 is the blueprint for cutting access to reproductive care, reversing student debt relief efforts, and repealing the Affordable Care Act. We know this would disproportionately harm Latino families. In contrast, Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are fighting for a new way forward—one that protects our fundamental freedoms, strengthens our democracy, and ensures every community can not just get by, but thrive, in pursuit of the American Dream.

FACT: Project 2025 would cut off access to reproductive health care – including access to abortion medication – while Latinas are already disproportionately impacted by abortion bans across the nation.

Rolling Stone: “But it may not matter how the high court rules if Republicans win the presidency next November. That’s because GOP operatives have already crafted an expansive blueprint, 887 pages long, laying out in painstaking detail how they intend to govern, including plans to leverage virtually every arm, tool and agency of the federal government to attack abortion access. The document explicitly names their intention not just to rescind FDA approval for the abortion pill if they regain control of the White House in 2024, but to revive a 150-year-old law that criminalizes sending or receiving through the mail any ‘article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine or thing’ that could be used to facilitate an abortion. That law, the Comstock Act, is viewed as a de facto federal abortion ban by reproductive rights advocates and anti-abortion activists alike.” 

Associated Press: “Women of color advocating for abortion access pointed out that restricting access to mifepristone could worsen racial health disparities. They argue that individuals of color and pregnant people from marginalized communities are more likely to face systemic barriers that limit their access to abortion and other reproductive health care. As a result, they rely on methods like medication abortion.”

Intersections of Our Lives: “Access to birth control is the highest priority when it comes to reproductive health, with 78% of Latina/x women saying it is extremely or very important. 74% identified both maternal mortality for women of color and abortion legality, affordability, and access as extremely or very important. A strong majority (73%) of Latina/x women overall support abortion rights. While there is some variation in views on abortion across ethnicities, the majority supports abortion rights overall.”

NBC News: “Abortion bans affect Latinas the most among women of color, new report finds”

Donald Trump and JD Vance’s Project 2025 agenda would reverse the Biden-Harris administration’s student debt relief efforts, which would disproportionately harm Latino borrowers, and cut off funding to HSIs.

CNBC: “In October, when the Biden administration turns the $1.7 trillion federal student loan system — dormant for more than three years — back on, millions of people are expected to struggle financially. But the problems may be especially severe and long-lasting among Latino borrowers, who tend to earn less than non-Hispanic whites and fall behind on their loans at a higher rate, consumer advocates say.” 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: “Over 90 Percent Of African-American And 72 Percent Of Latino Students Leave College With Student Loan Debt, Compared To 66 Percent Of White Students.”

“We know that this debt burden continues to acutely affect students of color. The Great Recession hit African-American and Latino communities the hardest, with many families seeing their net worth nearly cut in half. This, combined with the rising cost of tuition and fees at public colleges and universities, and the large numbers of students of color enrolled in for-profit schools, has made a big impact on the amount of debt that these students and their families have taken on to finance their higher education. Recent research also further underscores the disproportionate impact of student debt on communities of color.” 

Center for American Progress: “Project 2025 Would Increase Costs, Block Debt Cancellation for Student Loan Borrowers”

Project 2025: “The next Administration should work with Congress to eliminate or move OPE programs to ETA at the Department of Labor. Funding to institutions should be block-granted and narrowed to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and tribally controlled colleges.” 

Department of Education: “The Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Division is a component of the OPE Institutional Service program office. This division provides grant funding to institutions of higher education to assist with strengthening institutional programs, facilities, and services to expand the educational opportunities for Hispanic Americans and other underrepresented populations.” 

Trump and Vance want to repeal the ACA and jeopardize health care for 15 million Latinos, including 1 in 3 Latinos receiving health care coverage from Medicaid or another public program.

Trump: “The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare. I’m seriously looking at alternatives. We had a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it, and then raised their hands not to terminate it. It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!”

New York Magazine: “Why a Second Trump Presidency Might Try Again to Repeal Obamacare”

KFF: An estimated 33.5% of Hispanics received health insurance coverage from Medicaid or another public program. 

Health and Human Services Brief: “Latinos, who were most likely to be uninsured when the ACA was enacted experienced the largest percentage point decline in their uninsured rate after the law’s coverage expansions went into effect: from 32.7 percent in 2010 to 20.8 percent in 2015. By 2020, the uninsured rate among non-elderly Latinos was 18.6 percent and continued to fall to 18 percent in 2022. Between 2010 and 2022, the number of Latino Americans with health insurance increased by 15.6 million.” 

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion has helped narrow longstanding disparities in health coverage and access to care for people of color, and preliminary evidence suggests it is also improving their health outcomes. The 36 states (plus the District of Columbia) that have implemented expansion have made the greatest progress in increasing health coverage since the ACA’s major coverage provisions took effect in 2014, and these states have narrowed the gaps in uninsured rates between Black and Hispanic people and white people far more than states that haven’t expanded.” 

Commonwealth Fund: “Medicaid expansion continues to be associated with greater coverage gains, better access, and narrower racial/ethnic disparities across states.”

The Trump-Vance Project 2025 agenda would also eliminate or cut a variety of programs that increase educational opportunities for Latino children, including CEP, Title I, and Head Start.

USDA: “The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a non-pricing meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas. CEP allows the nation’s highest poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications.” 

Project 2025: “Congress should eliminate CEP. […] Currently, students can get meals from schools even if they are not in summer school, which has, in effect, turned school meals into a federal catering program.” 

Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, University of Connecticut: Roughly A Quarter Of Kindergarteners Who Attended CEP Schools Were Black, While Over 38 Percent Were Hispanic.

“Hispanic children were shown to particularly gain from CEP by having higher reading scores, while children from low-income families had a lower risk of being overweight with the adoption of CEP in their schools.” 

Brookings: “Project 2025 proposes to phase out federal spending on Title I over a 10-year period, with states left to decide whether and how to continue that funding.”

Brookings: “Overall, economically disadvantaged and Black and Hispanic students receive less education funding than economically advantaged or white students. […] For Hispanic students, the national gap is particularly stark: Hispanic students receive over a thousand dollars less per pupil than white students.”

Office of Head Start: “The Head Start program served a diverse group of children, families, and pregnant women and pregnant people. Thirty-seven percent identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino, and 28% were Black or African-American, non-Hispanic or Latino. Additionally, about 33% of children enrolled were dual language learners, of which nearly two-thirds were in families that primarily spoke Spanish at home.”

Project 2025: “Head Start, originally established and funded to support low-income families, is fraught with scandal and abuse. …  this program should be eliminated along with the entire OHS.”

The post Trump-Vance Project 2025 Agenda: A Threat to Latino Families and Their Pocketbooks appeared first on Democrats.

Trump ally Rep. Andy Harris was named the new chair of the House Freedom Caucus — ushering in a Trump-endorsed, Project 2025-backed chair to head the far-right caucus tasked with doing Trump’s bidding in the chamber and pushing a Project 2025 legislative agenda.

DNC National Press Secretary Emilia Rowland released the following statement: 

“Trump’s Project 2025 takeover just got a new ally in the MAGA House. Rep. Andy Harris was a key player in pushing Trump’s Big Lie — becoming one of Trump’s ‘closest allies in Congress’ as he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election — and has a record of pushing extreme, Project 2025 legislation like a national abortion ban, repealing the ACA, handouts to the ultra-wealthy, and attacks on Americans’ personal freedoms. Trump’s Republican Party isn’t focused on solutions for the American people, they’re focused on doing Trump’s bidding in Congress to score him political points. With Rep. Harris at the helm of the far-right Freedom Caucus where Trump pulls the strings, they’ll continue to attack our freedoms, middle-class families, and our democracy until voters hold them accountable at the ballot box this November.” 

Rep. Andy Harris was a key player in Trump’s failed plot to overturn the results of the 2020 election — and all signs point to him continuing to be one of Trump’s “closest allies in Congress.” 

Washington Post: “Rep. Andy Harris (Md.) was among at least 10 House Republicans who attended a December 2020 White House meeting with President Donald Trump to discuss actions that could be taken to keep Trump in power on Jan. 6, 2021, the committee investigating the attack on the Capitol revealed in its latest hearing.

“Harris’s attendance indicates he was more intimately involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results than previously known, making him one of Trump’s closest allies in Congress as the president desperately tried to cling to power despite being told by White House lawyers and the Justice Department that there was no evidence of widespread election fraud.”

WBAL: “Rep. Andy Harris on Wednesday echoed President Donald Trump’s unsupported allegations of widespread voter fraud and claimed a manual recount in key states would determine he has in fact won reelection.”

Trump gave his whole-hearted endorsement of Rep. Harris just months before they both conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. 

@realDonaldTrump, June 2020: “Congressman Andy Harris (@Harris4Congress) is a tremendous advocate for Maryland! A highly respected physician, Andy fights for the Second Amendment, Border Security and our incredible Farmers. Andy has my Complete and Total Endorsement! #MD01”

And Rep. Harris has long supported Trump — and even promised to campaign for him and help him win Maryland’s electoral votes in 2016. 

DelmarvaNow, June 2016: “Maryland’s Republican governor recently made clear he doesn’t plan on voting for Donald Trump for president this November. But the Free State’s next-highest-ranking member of the party isn’t just voting for the presumptive nominee, he plans to campaign on his behalf.

“‘Yeah, I’m a Republican. I’m going to support him,’ said U.S. Rep. Andy Harris at a town hall gathering in Fruitland on Wednesday, June 29. ‘He’s the nominee, so I’m going to support him. I particularly like his picks for the Supreme Court.”

“Afterward, in a Daily Times interview, [Rep. Harris] gave his strongest endorsement yet.

“I’m going to work for him. I’m going to help him try to win the electoral votes in the state of Maryland because in the presidential election, it’s always a selection between two individuals. No one is going to be perfect, any individual. But Mr. Trump will be a far better choice for this country than Mrs. (Hillary) Clinton.”

Delmarva Public Media, July 2016: “Rep. Andy Harris to Campaign for Donald Trump”

Breitbart, January 2024: “Exclusive: Top Maryland Republicans Dave Bossie, Rep. Andy Harris Endorse Donald Trump for President”

The Baltimore Sun, July 2024: “‘I’m looking forward to seeing Donald Trump being nominated on Thursday night and then going out and making the case to the American people that his policies are the policies that will make this country great again,’ said Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD-1).”

Rep. Harris is an anti-choice extremist who’s called for a national abortion ban, just like Trump’s Project 2025. 

WYPR: “Maryland’s lone Republican congressman U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, who represents the first district, said he would support a national abortion ban if a fetus has a heartbeat. If the legislation was passed by Congress, abortions after six weeks into a pregnancy would be illegal nationwide. The six week mark is often before many women know they might be pregnant. When asked about a nationwide abortion ban, Harris said his vote would depend on the details of the bill. ‘I’m on record,’ Harris said. ‘I would support a heartbeat bill. I think we should protect infant lives after the heartbeat is detected.’”

Life at Conception Act, (a national abortion ban that threatens IVF protections) 117th Congress, Cosponsors: Rep. Andy Harris

• Trump’s Project 2025 could use the Comstock Act to implement a national abortion ban. Their plans for HHS could threaten access to IVF. 

Rep. Harris supported efforts to rip away access to the safe and effective medication abortion pill mifepristone — and Trump’s Project 2025 wants to revoke its FDA authorization. 

Roll Call: “Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., who chairs the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, said he is likely to offer an amendment to the coming fiscal 2024 House spending bill later this year to restrict mifepristone.”

• Trump’s Project 2025 calls for revoking Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the abortion pill mifepristone.

Rep. Harris voted for Trump’s extreme MAGA tax scam, which rigged the economy against the middle class for ultra-wealthy and big corporations, and Trump’s Project 2025 would bring back this failed MAGAnomics agenda. 

Roll Call Vote, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, 2017: “Harris – YEA” 

•  Trump’s Project 2025 would once again leave the middle class behind while America’s wealthiest and greedy corporate execs line their pockets with tax giveaways. 

Rep. Harris wants to rip away the historic Inflation Reduction Act provisions that are already lowering prescription drug costs for America’s seniors, just like Trump’s Project 2025. 

The Baltimore Sun: “The conservative Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project calls for a repeal of all tax increases passed under the IRA, including the excise taxes placed on drug manufacturers that force them to obey prescription drug price controls under Medicare. The Committee to Protect Health Care, a national organization that advocates for a stronger health system, sent letters to all congressional candidates, including those in Maryland, requesting that they support the health benefits outlined in the 2022 IRA. … No Republican U.S. House candidates responded, including Congressman Andy Harris, a Republican who voted against the bill in 2022.”

• Trump’s Project 2025 calls for ending the Inflation Reduction Act, which has already lowered the cost of prescription drugs for America’s seniors. 

Rep. Andy Harris railed against the Affordable Care Act and voted to repeal the program. 

Press Release, Office of Congressman Andy Harris, on voting for legislation that repeals the Affordable Care Act: “On May 4, Dr. Andy Harris (MD-01) voted in favor of the H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act (AHCA).”

Press Release, Office of Congressman Andy Harris: “As the Obamacare nightmare continues to unfold, it’s critical that Congress does not give up on efforts to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a system that will bring down the cost of premiums for the middle-class Americans who have been hardest hit by Obamacare.”

• Trump’s Project 2025 calls for ripping away access to health care for 40 million Americans, and Trump has once again echoed those calls during the presidential debate. 

Rep. Harris has openly attacked transgender people and their health care as Trump’s Project 2025 calls to end protections for LGBTQ+ Americans.

The Independent: “Indeed, last week the Republican National Committee officially made cutting off taxpayer funding for all ‘sex change surgeries’ part of its 2024 policy platform. Other legislators were more diffident. ‘Yeah? So?’ said Maryland Republican Andy Harris, a medical doctor on the House appropriations committee who backed several anti-trans amendments, when buttonholed by The Independent on the Capitol steps on Thursday before Congress left for recess. Pressed on why he supported those amendments, he said: ‘Because there should be no special rights.’”

Washington Blade: “Republican Maryland Congressman Andy Harris on Wednesday attacked transgender people during a debate against Democratic challenger Heather Mizeur.”

• Trump’s Project 2025 calls for drastically rolling back rights for LGBTQ+ Americans.

Heritage Foundation founder and Project 2025 contributor Ed Feulner and former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, who is also involved in Project 2025, have praised Rep. Harris.

The Baltimore Sun: “Ed Feulner, a founder of the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Harris could help confront those questions. Feulner, a member of Trump’s transition team, was the committee’s executive director during its early days. Harris ‘can very much be the bridge between the leadership on the one side and the … guys and gals in the Freedom Caucus on the other,’ he said, ‘bringing everybody back together.’”

Maryland Matters: “During the 2016 convention, in Cleveland, then-U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the head of the House Freedom Caucus at the time and later President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, was a Maryland GOP breakfast speaker. He told the group that in his perfect world, Maryland Rep. Andy Harris (R) would be a prime candidate for speaker of the House. That was a surprise.”

The post 🚨NEW: Project 2025-Backed Rep. Andy Harris Named New House Freedom Caucus Chair appeared first on Democrats.

In response to JD Vance saying Donald Trump has been consistent on abortion, DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement: 

“JD Vance is right: Donald Trump has been consistent in his anti-choice Project 2025 agenda to ban abortion nationwide, and we should take him at his word.”

JD Vance is right: Donald Trump has been consistent on the issue of abortion, repeatedly making it clear that he would ban abortion nationwide with the Trump-Vance ticket’s anti-choice Project 2025 agenda.

Vance: “You take [Trump] for his word or you don’t. … He’s been as consistent as he could about [abortion].”

Rolling Stone: “Trump Wants to Ban Abortion Nationwide: Report”

Associated Press: “Trump says he will support national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy”

New York Times: “Trump Privately Expresses Support for a 16-Week Abortion Ban”

Rolling Stone: “Trump Floats National Abortion Ban After Claiming He’s ‘On the Side of Women’”

Trump: “There of course remains a vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life. And it’s very important.” 

Trump on if he would sign a six-week national abortion ban: “I’m looking at all options.”

Trump: “We’ll pick something that’s going to be very, very good for pro-life … I’m going to be in there pushing.”

New Republic: “On January 20, 2025, conservatives plan to resurrect a 150-year-old defunct law to ban abortion across the nation. This is not a secret plan—far from it. It’s part of the 180-Day Playbook produced by Project 2025, detailing priorities for an incoming conservative president on day one. These 900 pages lay out a Christian nationalist vision of the United States, one in which married heterosexuality is the only valid form of sexual expression and identity; all pregnancies would be carried to term, even if that requires coercion or death; and transgender and gender-nonconforming people do not exist…”

Axios: “[Project 2025] is undeniably a Trump-driven operation. The biggest tell: Johnny McEntee — one of Trump’s closest White House aides, and his most fervent internal loyalty enforcer — is a senior adviser to Project 2025. One of the most powerful architects is Stephen Miller, a top West Wing adviser for the Trump administration.”

After all, Trump STILL brags about how he “proudly” overturned Roe v. Wade and paved the way for extreme abortion bans across the country, which he’s celebrated as “working very brilliantly.”

Trump: “I was proudly the person responsible for the ending of … Roe v. Wade.”

Trump: “We broke Roe v. Wade and we did something that nobody thought was possible. We gave it back to the states, and the states are working very brilliantly … But they’re working, and it’s working the way it’s supposed to.”

Trump: “For 54 years they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it, and I’m proud to have done it. … Nobody else was going to get that done but me, and we did it, and we did something that was a miracle.”

Trump: “After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the ‘shock’ of everyone … Without me there would be no 6 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks, or whatever is finally agreed to. Without me the pro Life movement would have just kept losing. Thank you President TRUMP!!!”

Trump: “I’m the one that got rid of Roe v. Wade, and everybody said that was an impossible thing to do. I put on three Supreme Court justices. Very few people have had that privilege or honor.”

Trump: “Getting rid of Roe v. Wade was an incredible thing for pro-life because it gave pro-life something to negotiate with. Pro-life had absolutely nothing, being stuck in Roe v. Wade, to negotiate with. … And look, everybody that was president wanted to get rid and tried to get rid of Roe v. Wade … For fifty years, this has been going on. I was able to do it, and I was very honored to do it.”

New York Times: 22 states across the country currently have abortion bans.

The post Donald Trump Has Been Consistent … In His Agenda to Ban Abortion Nationwide appeared first on Democrats.

New reporting from Axios underscores that MAGA Republicans in Congress care more about cozying up to Big Phara than helping seniors afford the prescription drugs they need as they plot to repeal President Biden and Vice President Harris’ historic Inflation Reduction Act. 

Rolling back the Inflation Reduction Act is a key component of Trump’s Project 2025 agenda. If Republicans scrap Medicare drug price negotiations from this historic law, which is already lowering costs for seniors, over 18 million Americans are expected to see price hikes and it will cost Medicare Part D enrollees a total of $7.4 billion — an average cost increase of $399 per enrollee. 

Axios: Hill GOP sets sights on scrapping drug price talks
By Peter Sullivan

Key Point: “Multiple high-ranking Republicans told Axios they want to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare drug price negotiations next year if they prevail in the elections. […] “By the numbers: The Congressional Budget Office found that the negotiation provisions would save about $100 billion over 10 years.”

• The big picture: The tension surfaced this week when multiple high-ranking Republicans told Axios they want to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare drug price negotiations next year if they prevail in the elections.
  
  
• [Trump] could still be open to repealing the IRA drug price measures, and his campaign isn’t elaborating.

• What they’re saying: “I would try to remove that and replace it, but I can’t tell you the exact, you know, what it would be yet,” Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who’s in line to be the next chair of the Senate Finance Committee if Republicans flip the chamber, told Axios when asked about the drug price talks.

• Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he “100%” wants to repeal the negotiation provisions, while other drug pricing sections of the law would need to be evaluated based on whether they have “a positive impact on business.”

• Yes, but: The lack of a consensus replacement plan could mean a long, grinding health care debate with echoes of the failed 2017 Affordable Care Act repeal-replace fight.

• By the numbers: The Congressional Budget Office found that the negotiation provisions would save about $100 billion over 10 years.

• Vice President Kamala Harris has called for expanding the negotiations and making more drugs subject to price talks, if she’s elected.

• And congressional Democrats are trying to showcase how the talks are already yielding savings for seniors and working-class Americans, through forums like a hearing today in the Senate Finance Committee.

The post ICYMI: MAGA GOP Wants to Decimate the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiating Power – Driving Up Costs for America’s Seniors appeared first on Democrats.

As Republicans once again blocked protections for IVF access today, DNC National Press Secretary Emilia Rowland released the following statement:

“Senate Republicans put politics first and families last again today by blocking the Right to IVF Act for the second time since June. As Trump makes baseless claims about being “a leader on fertilization,” the reality is that his Project 2025 agenda and the Republican Party platform directly threaten IVF. Voters know the difference between words and actions, and between now and November, they will turn out against Republicans from the top to bottom of the ballot for siding with Trump’s Project 2025 plans to take his abortion bans nationwide that have already cost millions of Americans their rights and in some tragic cases, even their lives.”

🚨MAGA Senate Republicans ONCE AGAIN blocked a bill to nationally enshrine Americans’ freedom to start a family through IVF. 

NBC News: “For the second time in four months, Senate Democrats forced a vote on the Right To IVF Act, only to be blocked by Republicans who called it unnecessary and politically motivated as Vice President Kamala Harris seeks to make access to in vitro fertilization a 2024 campaign issue.”

Burgess Everett, Semafor: “For a second time this year, Senate Republicans vote down Sen. Duckworth’s IVF bill. The vote was 51-44 and needed 60.”

This is the second time since June that GOP senators voted to block Democrats’ legislation to enshrine access to IVF into law. 

Associated Press: “Senate Republicans block bill on women’s right to IVF as Democrats make push on reproductive care”

“Senate Republicans blocked legislation that would make it a right nationwide for women to access in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer forced a vote on the matter Thursday in an effort to drive an election-year contrast on reproductive care.”

Trump’s running mate JD Vance couldn’t even bother to show up, but we know where he stands – he voted against this legislation in August. 

The Independent: “IVF is supposedly key to Trump’s campaign. JD Vance didn’t even show up to vote on it”

The Hill: “Senate Republicans block legislation to codify IVF access”

Republicans who voted against include: JD Vance.

Vanity Fair: “On Wednesday, Senate Republicans are expected to object to Tammy Duckworth’s Right to Build Families Act, because, surprise: They don’t actually care about families and aren’t ‘pro-life.’

“‘It’s idiotic for us to take the bait,’ Senator J.D. Vance told Politico, as though the measure were some kind of political trap. (He also noted that he had not actually read the bill yet.)”

Trump’s Republican Party platform AND Trump and Vance’s Project 2025 agenda both include explicit language advocating for “fetal personhood” — a legal concept that directly threatens IVF.

Slate: “The [Republican] platform pairs its commitment to states’ rights with a nod to fetal personhood, a legal concept that would—as the modern anti-abortion movement understands it—render laws protecting abortion rights, even ballot initiatives, unconstitutional. Most contemporary anti-abortion advocates, including the leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, argue that the recognition of fetal personhood would require limits on or even bans of IVF.”

The 19th: “RNC approves platform that would give rights to fetuses, endangering abortion, IVF” 

“Fetal personhood is widely seen as being in conflict with in vitro fertilization (IVF), which creates embryos outside of the uterus that are later implanted. Fetal personhood bestows the same rights currently reserved for people to embryos from the moment of fertilization.”

Media Matters: “The Heritage Foundation quietly released draconian new IVF policy recommendations for the next GOP president”

“The Heritage Foundation, the right-wing think tank organizing the plan for a conservative overhaul of the federal government known as Project 2025, recently published another blog critical of in vitro fertilization procedures, this one with a list of specific policy recommendations for limiting access to the reproductive method. 

“Heritage has been a staunchly anti-IVF voice, supporting Alabama’s controversial Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos cultivated through IVF treatment have the same rights as living children, and that a person can be held liable for destroying embryos.”

Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, pg. 450: “From the moment of conception, every human being possesses inherent dignity and worth, and our humanity does not depend on our age, stage of development, race, or abilities.”

The Nation: “And by declaring that life begins at conception, his [Project 2025] manifesto appears to commit HHS to finding ways to outlaw IVF, which relies on generating multiple embryos, most of which are not implanted.”

Thanks to his role in overturning Roe v. Wade, Trump has paved the way for states’ cruel abortion bans and attacks on IVF.  

HuffPost: “Donald Trump Has Deep Ties To Anti-IVF Movement”

“Like many Republicans, Trump’s words of support don’t align with his past actions on IVF. The current Republican presidential nominee ― who has repeatedly bragged about his role in repealing federal abortion protections ― has deep ties to extreme right-wing organizations that actively oppose IVF.

“While in the White House, Trump and his administration praised, appointed and worked with some of the nation’s most extreme thought leaders who believe the IVF process is akin to murder. Trump hosted the Alabama Supreme Court chief justice who wrote the IVF ruling twice: once during his 2016 campaign and in 2018 at the White House. (This is the same chief justice who recently appeared on a QAnon conspiracist’s show.)”

New York Times: “[The Alabama Supreme Court ruling on IVF was] made possible by the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in its 2022 Dobbs decision, which was a result of Mr. Trump’s appointment of three justices.”

MSNBC [Opinion]: “Alabama’s embryos ruling is a terrifying preview of another Trump presidency”

“Last week, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos frozen in in vitro fertilization procedures are ‘children’ under state law, and that a person responsible for their destruction can be held liable…

“This theocratic dystopia is not an outlier, confined to a single state, but rather a roadmap should Donald Trump return to the White House.”

Washington Post: “Texas high court declines to decide if embryos are people or property”

CNN: “How the reversal of Roe v. Wade led to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are children”

FACT: The majority of Americans overwhelmingly reject the Trump-Vance agenda to rip away women’s freedoms and threaten access to IVF. 

ABC News: “Americans continue to support IVF and abortion access”

“The vast majority of registered voters, 80 percent, think IVF should be legal.”

Navigator Research: “Large majorities say reproductive care like birth control pills and IVF should be made easier to access, including majorities of Republicans. … Americans across party lines also say access to fertility planning like IVF should be easier to access, including 72 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of independents, and 53 percent of Republicans.”

The post By Blocking “Right to IVF” Act Again, Trump’s GOP is Sending A Message to Americans That Their Freedoms and Families Are On the Line appeared first on Democrats.

As Republicans once again blocked protections for IVF access today, DNC National Press Secretary Emilia Rowland released the following statement:

“Senate Republicans put politics first and families last again today by blocking the Right to IVF Act for the second time since June. As Trump makes baseless claims about being “a leader on fertilization,” the reality is that his Project 2025 agenda and the Republican Party platform directly threaten IVF. Voters know the difference between words and actions, and between now and November, they will turn out against Republicans from the top to bottom of the ballot for siding with Trump’s Project 2025 plans to take his abortion bans nationwide that have already cost millions of Americans their rights and in some tragic cases, even their lives.”

🚨MAGA Senate Republicans ONCE AGAIN blocked a bill to nationally enshrine Americans’ freedom to start a family through IVF. 

NBC News: “For the second time in four months, Senate Democrats forced a vote on the Right To IVF Act, only to be blocked by Republicans who called it unnecessary and politically motivated as Vice President Kamala Harris seeks to make access to in vitro fertilization a 2024 campaign issue.”

Burgess Everett, Semafor: “For a second time this year, Senate Republicans vote down Sen. Duckworth’s IVF bill. The vote was 51-44 and needed 60.”

This is the second time since June that GOP senators voted to block Democrats’ legislation to enshrine access to IVF into law. 

Associated Press: “Senate Republicans block bill on women’s right to IVF as Democrats make push on reproductive care”

“Senate Republicans blocked legislation that would make it a right nationwide for women to access in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer forced a vote on the matter Thursday in an effort to drive an election-year contrast on reproductive care.”

Trump’s running mate JD Vance couldn’t even bother to show up, but we know where he stands – he voted against this legislation in August. 

The Independent: “IVF is supposedly key to Trump’s campaign. JD Vance didn’t even show up to vote on it”

The Hill: “Senate Republicans block legislation to codify IVF access”

Republicans who voted against include: JD Vance.

Vanity Fair: “On Wednesday, Senate Republicans are expected to object to Tammy Duckworth’s Right to Build Families Act, because, surprise: They don’t actually care about families and aren’t ‘pro-life.’

“‘It’s idiotic for us to take the bait,’ Senator J.D. Vance told Politico, as though the measure were some kind of political trap. (He also noted that he had not actually read the bill yet.)”

Trump’s Republican Party platform AND Trump and Vance’s Project 2025 agenda both include explicit language advocating for “fetal personhood” — a legal concept that directly threatens IVF.

Slate: “The [Republican] platform pairs its commitment to states’ rights with a nod to fetal personhood, a legal concept that would—as the modern anti-abortion movement understands it—render laws protecting abortion rights, even ballot initiatives, unconstitutional. Most contemporary anti-abortion advocates, including the leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, argue that the recognition of fetal personhood would require limits on or even bans of IVF.”

The 19th: “RNC approves platform that would give rights to fetuses, endangering abortion, IVF” 

“Fetal personhood is widely seen as being in conflict with in vitro fertilization (IVF), which creates embryos outside of the uterus that are later implanted. Fetal personhood bestows the same rights currently reserved for people to embryos from the moment of fertilization.”

Media Matters: “The Heritage Foundation quietly released draconian new IVF policy recommendations for the next GOP president”

“The Heritage Foundation, the right-wing think tank organizing the plan for a conservative overhaul of the federal government known as Project 2025, recently published another blog critical of in vitro fertilization procedures, this one with a list of specific policy recommendations for limiting access to the reproductive method. 

“Heritage has been a staunchly anti-IVF voice, supporting Alabama’s controversial Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos cultivated through IVF treatment have the same rights as living children, and that a person can be held liable for destroying embryos.”

Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, pg. 450: “From the moment of conception, every human being possesses inherent dignity and worth, and our humanity does not depend on our age, stage of development, race, or abilities.”

The Nation: “And by declaring that life begins at conception, his [Project 2025] manifesto appears to commit HHS to finding ways to outlaw IVF, which relies on generating multiple embryos, most of which are not implanted.”

Thanks to his role in overturning Roe v. Wade, Trump has paved the way for states’ cruel abortion bans and attacks on IVF.  

HuffPost: “Donald Trump Has Deep Ties To Anti-IVF Movement”

“Like many Republicans, Trump’s words of support don’t align with his past actions on IVF. The current Republican presidential nominee ― who has repeatedly bragged about his role in repealing federal abortion protections ― has deep ties to extreme right-wing organizations that actively oppose IVF.

“While in the White House, Trump and his administration praised, appointed and worked with some of the nation’s most extreme thought leaders who believe the IVF process is akin to murder. Trump hosted the Alabama Supreme Court chief justice who wrote the IVF ruling twice: once during his 2016 campaign and in 2018 at the White House. (This is the same chief justice who recently appeared on a QAnon conspiracist’s show.)”

New York Times: “[The Alabama Supreme Court ruling on IVF was] made possible by the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in its 2022 Dobbs decision, which was a result of Mr. Trump’s appointment of three justices.”

MSNBC [Opinion]: “Alabama’s embryos ruling is a terrifying preview of another Trump presidency”

“Last week, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos frozen in in vitro fertilization procedures are ‘children’ under state law, and that a person responsible for their destruction can be held liable…

“This theocratic dystopia is not an outlier, confined to a single state, but rather a roadmap should Donald Trump return to the White House.”

Washington Post: “Texas high court declines to decide if embryos are people or property”

CNN: “How the reversal of Roe v. Wade led to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are children”

FACT: The majority of Americans overwhelmingly reject the Trump-Vance agenda to rip away women’s freedoms and threaten access to IVF. 

ABC News: “Americans continue to support IVF and abortion access”

“The vast majority of registered voters, 80 percent, think IVF should be legal.”

Navigator Research: “Large majorities say reproductive care like birth control pills and IVF should be made easier to access, including majorities of Republicans. … Americans across party lines also say access to fertility planning like IVF should be easier to access, including 72 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of independents, and 53 percent of Republicans.”

The post By Blocking “Right to IVF” Act Again, Trump’s GOP is Sending A Message to Americans That Their Freedoms and Families Are On the Line appeared first on Democrats.

In response to JD Vance skipping today’s Senate vote to protect access to IVF, DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement: 

“JD Vance celebrated when Donald Trump ‘proudly’ overturned Roe v. Wade and paved the way for threats to IVF access for Americans who want to start or grow their family. Today, Vance couldn’t be bothered to show up to vote on protecting IVF access, after voting against the same protections in June. Vance is showing us who he is and we should believe him. The American people will remember that Vance didn’t show up for them, and they’ll make that clear when they reject the Trump-Vance ticket’s anti-choice Project 2025 agenda in November.”

NEW: JD Vance skipped today’s vote on legislation to enshrine access to IVF for all Americans.

The Independent: “JD Vance didn’t even show up to vote on [IVF protections].”

Jennifer Bendery, Huffington Post: “Vance won’t be at today’s Senate vote…”

REMINDER: Donald Trump’s MAGA minions in the Senate already blocked legislation to protect IVF access TWICE.

Associated Press: “Republicans block Senate bill to protect nationwide access to IVF treatments”

The Hill: “Republicans block bill to protect access to IVF”

“Senate Republicans blocked an effort Wednesday to pass legislation that would federally protect access to in vitro fertilization (IVF).”

The Hill: “Senate Republicans block legislation to codify IVF access”

Republicans who voted against include: JD Vance.

Vanity Fair: “On Wednesday, Senate Republicans are expected to object to Tammy Duckworth’s Right to Build Families Act, because, surprise: They don’t actually care about families and aren’t ‘pro-life.’

“‘It’s idiotic for us to take the bait,’ Senator JD Vance told Politico, as though the measure were some kind of political trap. (He also noted that he had not actually read the bill yet.)”

Vance celebrated when Trump “proudly” overturned Roe v. Wade, paving the way for the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that stopped IVF treatments in the state. 

Vance: “I think that what I really think on – so first of all, the Dobbs decision, everybody knows, overruled Roe v. Wade – I think that was the right decision.”

CNN: “How the reversal of Roe v. Wade led to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are children”

New York Times: “[The Alabama ruling was] made possible by the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in its 2022 Dobbs decision, which was a result of Mr. Trump’s appointment of three justices.”

The Trump-Vance Project 2025 agenda would put at risk IVF access for millions of Americans, and Trump has spent years cozying up to his anti-freedom allies who are plotting the best ways for him to restrict it.

HuffPost: “Donald Trump Has Deep Ties To Anti-IVF Movement”

“The current Republican presidential nominee ― who has repeatedly bragged about his role in repealing federal abortion protections ― has deep ties to extreme right-wing organizations that actively oppose IVF.

“While in the White House, Trump and his administration praised, appointed and worked with some of the nation’s most extreme thought leaders who believe the IVF process is akin to murder…

“During his time as president, Trump appointed several extreme anti-IVF advocates to positions of power.”

Media Matters: “The Heritage Foundation quietly released draconian new IVF policy recommendations for the next GOP president”

“The list of policy suggestions in the recent blog post echoes the MAGA-backed Project 2025, a comprehensive plan Heritage has spearheaded for the next GOP presidential administration that includes calls to eliminate the term ‘reproductive health’ from federal rules and regulations and to tighten restrictions on abortion rights and access to certain emergency contraceptives. In its pieces on IVF, Heritage expands on the extreme conservative agenda outlined by Project 2025.

“Heritage research associate Emma Waters has been a leading voice from the organization on reproductive issues, specifically denouncing IVF procedures and other ‘reproductive technologies.’

“Many of Waters’ other policy ideas are seemingly benign proposals meant to heighten the barrier of entry to securing IVF procedures, in much the same way anti-abortion lawmakers have used targeted restrictions on abortion providers.”

REMINDER: Vance’s anti-choice record includes saying that he’d like “abortion to be illegal nationally,” attacking exceptions for rape and incest, and more.

CNN: “JD Vance said in 2022 he ‘would like abortion to be illegal nationally’”

“JD Vance said he ‘certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally’ and was ‘sympathetic’ to the view that a national ban was necessary to stop women from traveling across states to obtain an abortion.”

Manu Raju, CNN: “J.D. Vance, the Ohio GOP senator, says Republicans need to shift their approach on abortion and begin to embrace federal legislation … ‘We can’t give into the idea that the federal Congress has no role in this matter,’ he told us.”

Newsweek: “J.D. Vance Backs ‘National Standard’ for Abortions”

Washington Post: “Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance argues against need for rape and incest exceptions in abortion laws”

Daily Beast: “J.D. Vance suggested he would support prohibiting abortion even in cases of rape and incest—and dismissed those catalysts as ‘inconvenient.’”

REALITY CHECK: Attacks on reproductive rights, like Trump and Vance’s anti-choice Project 2025 agenda to block IVF access, are wildly unpopular.

ABC News: “Americans continue to support IVF and abortion access”

“The vast majority of registered voters, 80 percent, think IVF should be legal.”

Navigator Research: “Large majorities say reproductive care like birth control pills and IVF should be made easier to access, including majorities of Republicans. … Americans across party lines also say access to fertility planning like IVF should be easier to access, including 72 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of independents, and 53 percent of Republicans.”

The post 🚨NEW: JD Vance SKIPS Vote to Protect IVF Access After Voting Against It in June, Showing Trump-Vance Ticket Won’t Stand Up For IVF appeared first on Democrats.

In response to JD Vance skipping today’s Senate vote to protect access to IVF, DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement: 

“JD Vance celebrated when Donald Trump ‘proudly’ overturned Roe v. Wade and paved the way for threats to IVF access for Americans who want to start or grow their family. Today, Vance couldn’t be bothered to show up to vote on protecting IVF access, after voting against the same protections in June. Vance is showing us who he is and we should believe him. The American people will remember that Vance didn’t show up for them, and they’ll make that clear when they reject the Trump-Vance ticket’s anti-choice Project 2025 agenda in November.”

NEW: JD Vance skipped today’s vote on legislation to enshrine access to IVF for all Americans.

The Independent: “JD Vance didn’t even show up to vote on [IVF protections].”

Jennifer Bendery, Huffington Post: “Vance won’t be at today’s Senate vote…”

REMINDER: Donald Trump’s MAGA minions in the Senate already blocked legislation to protect IVF access TWICE.

Associated Press: “Republicans block Senate bill to protect nationwide access to IVF treatments”

The Hill: “Republicans block bill to protect access to IVF”

“Senate Republicans blocked an effort Wednesday to pass legislation that would federally protect access to in vitro fertilization (IVF).”

The Hill: “Senate Republicans block legislation to codify IVF access”

Republicans who voted against include: JD Vance.

Vanity Fair: “On Wednesday, Senate Republicans are expected to object to Tammy Duckworth’s Right to Build Families Act, because, surprise: They don’t actually care about families and aren’t ‘pro-life.’

“‘It’s idiotic for us to take the bait,’ Senator JD Vance told Politico, as though the measure were some kind of political trap. (He also noted that he had not actually read the bill yet.)”

Vance celebrated when Trump “proudly” overturned Roe v. Wade, paving the way for the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that stopped IVF treatments in the state. 

Vance: “I think that what I really think on – so first of all, the Dobbs decision, everybody knows, overruled Roe v. Wade – I think that was the right decision.”

CNN: “How the reversal of Roe v. Wade led to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are children”

New York Times: “[The Alabama ruling was] made possible by the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in its 2022 Dobbs decision, which was a result of Mr. Trump’s appointment of three justices.”

The Trump-Vance Project 2025 agenda would put at risk IVF access for millions of Americans, and Trump has spent years cozying up to his anti-freedom allies who are plotting the best ways for him to restrict it.

HuffPost: “Donald Trump Has Deep Ties To Anti-IVF Movement”

“The current Republican presidential nominee ― who has repeatedly bragged about his role in repealing federal abortion protections ― has deep ties to extreme right-wing organizations that actively oppose IVF.

“While in the White House, Trump and his administration praised, appointed and worked with some of the nation’s most extreme thought leaders who believe the IVF process is akin to murder…

“During his time as president, Trump appointed several extreme anti-IVF advocates to positions of power.”

Media Matters: “The Heritage Foundation quietly released draconian new IVF policy recommendations for the next GOP president”

“The list of policy suggestions in the recent blog post echoes the MAGA-backed Project 2025, a comprehensive plan Heritage has spearheaded for the next GOP presidential administration that includes calls to eliminate the term ‘reproductive health’ from federal rules and regulations and to tighten restrictions on abortion rights and access to certain emergency contraceptives. In its pieces on IVF, Heritage expands on the extreme conservative agenda outlined by Project 2025.

“Heritage research associate Emma Waters has been a leading voice from the organization on reproductive issues, specifically denouncing IVF procedures and other ‘reproductive technologies.’

“Many of Waters’ other policy ideas are seemingly benign proposals meant to heighten the barrier of entry to securing IVF procedures, in much the same way anti-abortion lawmakers have used targeted restrictions on abortion providers.”

REMINDER: Vance’s anti-choice record includes saying that he’d like “abortion to be illegal nationally,” attacking exceptions for rape and incest, and more.

CNN: “JD Vance said in 2022 he ‘would like abortion to be illegal nationally’”

“JD Vance said he ‘certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally’ and was ‘sympathetic’ to the view that a national ban was necessary to stop women from traveling across states to obtain an abortion.”

Manu Raju, CNN: “J.D. Vance, the Ohio GOP senator, says Republicans need to shift their approach on abortion and begin to embrace federal legislation … ‘We can’t give into the idea that the federal Congress has no role in this matter,’ he told us.”

Newsweek: “J.D. Vance Backs ‘National Standard’ for Abortions”

Washington Post: “Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance argues against need for rape and incest exceptions in abortion laws”

Daily Beast: “J.D. Vance suggested he would support prohibiting abortion even in cases of rape and incest—and dismissed those catalysts as ‘inconvenient.’”

REALITY CHECK: Attacks on reproductive rights, like Trump and Vance’s anti-choice Project 2025 agenda to block IVF access, are wildly unpopular.

ABC News: “Americans continue to support IVF and abortion access”

“The vast majority of registered voters, 80 percent, think IVF should be legal.”

Navigator Research: “Large majorities say reproductive care like birth control pills and IVF should be made easier to access, including majorities of Republicans. … Americans across party lines also say access to fertility planning like IVF should be easier to access, including 72 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of independents, and 53 percent of Republicans.”

The post 🚨NEW: JD Vance SKIPS Vote to Protect IVF Access After Voting Against It in June, Showing Trump-Vance Ticket Won’t Stand Up For IVF appeared first on Democrats.