🏛️ Legislative Branch |
Congressional Record |
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On May 7, 2025, Congress took several important steps. The Senate voted 52 to 47 to reject a rule about bank mergers ( S.J.Res.13), showing concern about how banks combine. They also agreed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry with a resolution ( S.Res.207). The Senate planned to vote the next day on rules about helping students with internet access for homework ( S.J.Res.7) and about vehicle use in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area ( H.J.Res.60). The House passed two key bills: one to stop forced organ harvesting ( H.R.1503) with a strong vote of 406 to 1, and another ( H.R.881) to limit funding for schools connected to Confucius Institutes, passing 266 to 153. These actions show Congress is working on financial rules, protecting human rights, and addressing education and environmental concerns. Read full document →
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Random excerpts from the Senate
The question of the moment that people should be asking is why are so many politicians lying to us about climate change? The answer, of course, is money. Fossil fuel money floods our political system, pours into it, much of it secretly. Politicians, whose home State universities teach about climate change, lie about climate change. How is that possible? It is not like there is some unfathomable mystery about how climate change works that eludes human understanding. No, it is known. There is a counterforce at work against knowledge. Fossil fuel money and political pressure is that counterforce.
— Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
The issue before us is simple: If we don’t act, Americans making less than $400,000 will face a $2.6 trillion tax hike next year--$2.6 trillion. Small businesses will face a $600 billion tax hike. Republicans do not intend to let that happen. We are going to extend the tax relief we passed during President Trump’s first administration, starting with the lower individual rates that put more money in Americans’ pockets and eased the burden on small businesses. I say “extend,” but in fact, we intend to make that tax relief permanent.
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Random excerpts from the House
President Trump has defied a unanimous Supreme Court order blocking the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and, instead, vanishing him to a prison in El Salvador without a trial, without a hearing, and without a shred of justice. This isn’t just cruelty, but it is lawlessness. It is a direct assault on our values and the rule of law. He was abducted from his home and sent to a foreign prison infamously known for human rights violations. When the President defies the courts, he crosses the line into tyranny. He is even arresting judges whom he sees as standing in his way.
When tyranny takes root, no one is safe. Today, it is immigrants with tattoos, 2-year-olds, and even children with cancer. Tomorrow, it could be anyone who falls out of favor, even Republicans who don’t clap long enough or make the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring. We have to stand up for our rights and for the rule of law not just for Kilmar but for the future of our Republic.
— Rep. Jesús G. “Chuy” García (D-IL-4)
Through executive orders, the Trump administration continues to circumvent Congress and violate the checks and balances of our three branches of government. He also continues to ignore court orders, including from the highest Court in the land, the U.S. Supreme Court, inching every day closer and closer to a constitutional crisis.
Mr. Speaker, in addition, Senate and House Republicans have made it clear time and time again that they have no interest in holding the President accountable to the American people and the Constitution of the United States of America, leaving the judicial branches of government as our strongest tool, leaving the courts as our only hope.
Within hours of taking office, President Trump issued an executive order that would have unlawfully denied birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed to everyone born in America by the 14th Amendment. He did this although this principle has been affirmed by the courts on numerous occasions. Currently, the courts have halted this executive order, citing how unconstitutional it is. More than 200 Democrats filed an amicus brief against this executive order when it was challenged in court. This attempt has been successfully halted.
When the Trump administration tried to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency that provides relief to consumers, 200 Democrats filed an amicus brief when it went to court. The amicus brief was cited by the judge in the decision, pausing the dismantling of this important bureau.
Mr. Speaker, after one of Trump’s latest crackdowns on scientific research at universities, Harvard filed a lawsuit against the administration, arguing that its freezing of research funding is unconstitutional and flatly unlawful.
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