Tesla CEO Elon Musk , right, co-chair of the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency, carries his son on his shoulders at the U.S. Capitol following a meeting with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, left, the other co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency, Rep. Kat Cammack, center, and other members of Congress on Dec. 5, 2024 in Washington, D.C. Musk and Ramaswamy met with lawmakers about DOGE, a planned presidential advisory commission with the goal of cutting government spending and increasing efficiency in the federal workforce. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump enlisted Washington outsiders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to tell members of Congress how they should run things.

But Musk and Ramaswamy as they build their Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, don’t actually hold any elected or bureaucratic positions in the federal government — giving two hard-driving businessmen far less authority than they’re used to having in the private sector.

The duo will need to garner support from hundreds of members of Congress for any of their suggested spending cuts to become law, even with Republicans in control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. That is an uphill slog many have failed at before.

The mix of personalities, differing committee jurisdictions and separation of powers laid out in the Constitution could create tension, to say the least, when powerful Republican lawmakers disagree with or outright ignore Musk and Ramaswamy. Several Republicans indicated in interviews with States Newsroom that they intend to listen to the DOGE duo but will not back down from their roles as elected representatives of the people.

Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, the incoming chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, said during a brief interview she believes the two men can offer lawmakers “valuable insights” and advice, but cautioned the power of the purse rests with Congress.

“It doesn’t mean that we will take all of these issues, but it’s always helpful to have additional oversight,” Collins said. “And so I look forward to seeing what they come up with.”

Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, chairman of the Budget Committee, summed up Democrats’ views on the Musk-Ramaswamy entity in a social media post.

“What does Doggie (“DOGE”) do? Maybe think of it this way: you have to watch a couple of precocious toddlers for the day,” Whitehouse wrote. “They need activities, but you don’t want them near stoves, cars, electrical equipment, or anything operational.”

Meet the appropriators

In Congress, the Appropriations Committee is tasked with drafting the dozen annual government funding bills that total about $1.7 trillion. The legislation funds the vast majority of federal departments and agencies, including Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Justice, State and Transportation.

The other two-thirds of federal spending covers interest payments on the debt, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Idaho GOP Rep. Mike Simpson, chairman of the Interior-Environment Subcommittee, told States Newsroom he expects there will be “conflict” between Congress and the Musk-Ramaswamy group, in part, because they don’t have the years, or even decades, of experience learning the ins and outs of federal spending that appropriators hold.

“I noticed that they’ve said that they want to defund public television. I think they might get some kickback on that,” Simpson said. “To me, that’s a policy decision, not an efficiency issue.”

When GOP lawmakers met with Musk and Ramaswamy behind closed doors in early December to talk about government spending, Simpson said, the two pressed the idea that Trump should be able to cancel spending he deems “waste.”

But what Trump might consider unnecessary could be an essential program to a GOP lawmaker or a rural community, Simpson said.

There’s also a federal law called the Impoundment Control Act that prevents presidents from halting funding that Congress has approved and a Supreme Court ruling that bars the president from using line-item vetoes.

Arkansas Republican Rep. Steve Womack, chairman of the Transportation-HUD Subcommittee, told States Newsroom he expects there will need to be some “deconfliction” once Musk and Ramaswamy release their proposals.

“There will be a lot of different, competing interests and ideas, and we’ll just have to see what those are,” Womack said. “It’s a little premature, but, yeah, I’m sure there’ll be some deconfliction, there’ll be some negotiating. Some of this will be leveraged with other significant emotional events up here like debt ceiling, or funding the government.”

Floor votes could also be a hurdle for the various DOGE groups if they don’t gain Democratic support. Republicans will hold just 220 seats in the House at the start of the 119th Congress before a few of their members depart for other opportunities. That razor-thin margin means proposals from Musk and Ramaswamy will need support from the full spectrum of GOP lawmakers to pass.

Then they’ll need to gain the support of nearly all 53 GOP senators if they expect any spending cuts proposals to become law through the complex budget reconciliation process. 

Proving their value

One of the many challenges for Musk and Ramaswamy will be showcasing how their efforts differ from those of the White House budget office.

Bipartisan Policy Center Managing Director for Economic Policy Rachel Snyderman said in an interview with States Newsroom she’ll be watching closely to see whether Musk and Ramaswamy integrate their proposals with the president’s budget request, which the White House will likely release sometime in the spring.

That massive document tells Congress how the president wants lawmakers to change tax and spending policy. Congress, however, rarely follows it to the letter and often ignores large swaths of it.

If Musk and Ramaswamy’s proposals go a completely different route, it could create confusion about what exactly it is the Trump administration wants lawmakers to do and could bog down any support they might get on Capitol Hill.

But simply mirroring what’s already in the budget request would lead to a question about whether or not Musk and Ramaswamy serve any real purpose.

“If you go back and look at the budgets from Trump’s first term … they averaged about $1.6 trillion in cuts over a 10-year budget window,” Snyderman said. “And at least for the first two years, those were presented to a GOP trifecta as well and not implemented as policy.”

Snyderman said Musk and Ramaswamy will likely want to do something other than reinvent the wheel by simply republishing the hundreds of government efficiency and spending cuts proposed over the years by the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office and inspectors general.

Those groups have given lawmakers and presidents plenty of recommendations to reduce waste, fraud and abuse. But government officials don’t always act on their suggestions.

“There have been so many resources over the years doing just this — proposing smart, sensible, but tough pills to swallow when it comes to government efficiency,” Snyderman said. “What I think it’s going to really boil down to is what’s politically palatable through legislative or executive action. And where as a nation we’re willing to make those trade-offs in service to improve our fiscal outlook and trying to get a handle on the national debt.”

One of the more recent examples, she said, was the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s release of a detailed, 116-page report on ways that lawmakers could reduce the deficit in mid-December.

Impoundment law

If Republicans disagree with Musk and Ramaswamy’s suggestions or only put a few of them in place, it could lead Trump to try to cut spending unilaterally.

Such a decision would create considerable issues for Republicans, since it would violate the Impoundment Control Act and potentially set a new precedent that future Democratic presidents could use to ignore Congress on conservative spending priorities.

That Impoundment Control Act, enacted after then-President Richard Nixon refused to spend billions approved by lawmakers, essentially says a president must distribute money Congress has approved for various federal departments and agencies. It also gives the president a couple of paths to ask lawmakers to cut spending they’ve already approved, but they must agree.

Russ Vought, who has been nominated as director of the Office of Management and Budget, is likely to press the belief that presidents can unilaterally cancel spending, often called “impoundment.”

The Center for Renewing America, the think tank Vought established following his stint as OMB director during the first Trump administration, has repeatedly argued the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional and published a detailed history of how presidents canceled spending before the 1974 law took effect.

The Trump administration ignoring the ICA would likely lead to legal challenges and eventually a Supreme Court ruling.

Checks and balances

North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven, the top Republican on the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, told States Newsroom some of the government efficiency proposals that Musk and Ramaswamy pursue will be able to move through executive action, but said any spending cuts must go through Congress.

“This is a country of 320 million people that all have a different point of view about all these different issues, which is why you’ve got to have the kind of process we have, the checks and balances and all that — to figure out where is there enough support to implement these recommendations,” Hoeven said. “That’s how the system works because you’re talking about something that’s very far-reaching and it’s going to affect people throughout the country.”

Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, the top Republican on the Military Construction-VA spending subcommittee, said he expects there will be a lot of communication between lawmakers, Musk and Ramaswamy about constitutional authority to try to avoid public disagreements, though he didn’t rule that out.

“I think as long as the communication lines are open, we should hopefully end most of that,” he said.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said during a press conference he expects it will take some time for Musk and Ramaswamy to “scrutinize government operations and figure out where we can achieve savings and efficiencies” before Congress reviews those recommendations and puts them in a bill.

Thune said he would like to see some of those move through the budget reconciliation process that Republicans are planning to use to get around the Senate’s 60-vote legislative filibuster; essentially allowing the GOP to move sweeping policy changes without Democratic input.  

More cooks in Congress

Republicans have talked about cutting government spending for decades, but haven’t used unified control of government to make significant structural reforms in quite some time.

Newly formed groups in the House and Senate will likely provide some support for Musk and Ramaswamy’s proposals, but they may disagree with them as well, or come up with completely separate ideas.

The combination of Musk and Ramaswamy’s DOGE, a soon-to-be-formed House Oversight subcommittee on government efficiency chaired by Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and the government efficiency caucus could become a too-many-cooks scenario.

The Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus already holds several Republican lawmakers among its ranks, but it doesn’t have the jurisdiction that the Appropriations Committee holds. Neither does the Oversight subcommittee.

Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst established the caucus alongside Florida Rep. Aaron Bean and Texas Rep. Pete Sessions

North Carolina’s Ted Budd, Texans John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, Oklahoma’s James Lankford, Utah’s Mike Lee, Kansan Roger Marshall, Ohio’s Bernie Moreno, Missouri’s Eric Schmitt, Florida’s Rick Scott and Alaska’s Dan Sullivan have all joined the group on the Senate side.

House members include Rick Allen of Georgia, Jim Baird of Indiana, Andy Barr of Kentucky, Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, Ben Cline of Virginia, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Ron Estes of Kansas, Pat Fallon of Texas, Randy Feenstra of Iowa, Scott Franklin of Florida, Carlos Giménez of Florida, Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin, Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee, Doug LaMalfa of California, Nick Langworthy of New York, Debbie Lesko of Arizona, Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Celeste Maloy of Utah, Tom McClintock of California, Cory Mills of Florida, Dan Newhouse of Washington, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Gary Palmer of Alabama, David Rouzer of North Carolina, Mike Rulli of Ohio, Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida, Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, Beth Van Duyne of Texas, Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, Tim Walberg of Michigan, Randy Weber of Texas, Daniel Webster of Florida, Roger Williams of Texas and Joe Wilson of South Carolina. 

The U.S. Capitol pictured on Nov. 26, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — House Republicans have finalized their committee chairs for 2025, with most lawmakers returning to their posts.

The committee chairs will play a pivotal role in helping advance President-elect Donald Trump’s ambitious legislative agenda amid a GOP trifecta in the House, Senate and White House.

There are several new incoming committee leaders. The list of new and returning chairs, released Thursday, does not include any women.

Michigan Rep. Tim Walberg will serve as chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, following Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina.

Kentucky Rep. Brett Guthrie will serve as chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, succeeding Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

Arkansas Rep. French Hill will chair the House Committee on Financial Services, taking over the post from North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry.

Florida Rep. Brian Mast is set to lead the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, succeeding Texas Rep. Michael McCaul.

Texas Rep. Brian Babin will chair the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, replacing Oklahoma Rep. Frank Lucas.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said that given the imminent GOP trifecta, “it is imperative we are in position to move President Trump’s agenda efficiently and thoughtfully so we can quickly restore our nation to greatness,” per a statement Thursday. 

“From securing our southern border, to unleashing American energy, to fighting to lower Bidenflation, and making our communities safe again, our Committee Chairs are ready to get to work fulfilling the American people’s mandate and enacting President Trump’s America-First agenda,” the Louisiana Republican added.

Committee chairs continuing their leadership roles include:

Agriculture: Rep. Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania

Appropriations: Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma

Armed Services: Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama

Budget: Rep. Jodey Arrington of Texas

Homeland Security: Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee

Judiciary: Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio

Natural Resources: Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas

Oversight and Accountability: Rep. James Comer of Kentucky

Small Business: Rep. Roger Williams of Texas

Transportation and Infrastructure: Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri

Veterans’ Affairs: Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois

Ways and Means: Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, speaks with reporters inside the U.S. Capitol after returning from a meeting at the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024.  (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday tripped and fell after a GOP lunch, sprained his wrist and sustained a small cut on his face, his office said in a statement.

The Kentucky Republican is doing fine, and after receiving medical attention, “has been cleared to resume his schedule,” his office said in the three-sentence statement read to reporters.

McConnell, 82, is a polio survivor, and has tripped in the past.

The incoming Senate GOP leader, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, said that McConnell was “fine” and deferred all other questions to McConnell’s office. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ur M. Jaddou speaks at a U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Dec. 4, 2024. Republican members of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement sharply questioned Jaddou on her agency's handling of immigration benefits, applications and petitions. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Republican members of a U.S. House Judiciary Committee panel scrutinized the head of the Department of Homeland Security agency tasked with processing legal pathways to immigration during a contentious hearing Wednesday about the Biden administration’s parole program that grants temporary protections for nationals from some countries.

That program temporarily grants work permits and allows nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to remain in the country if they are sponsored by someone in the United States.

Rep. Tom McClintock of California, the chair of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, accused U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of creating “unlawful” pathways to legal immigration through humanitarian parole programs – an authority presidents have used since the 1950s.

The chair of the full Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan of Ohio, also grilled USCIS Director Ur Jaddou about if parole programs “of this magnitude” had been used before.

Since President Joe Biden launched the program in 2022, more than 500,000 people have been paroled through that authority.

Jaddou said that historically, presidents have used some kind of parole authority.

The top Democrat on the panel, Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, criticized Republicans for wanting to curtail legal pathways to immigration and argued that the U.S. workforce is reliant on immigrants.

“The truth is that we benefit from the contributions of immigrants and their families in every single field of work,” she said.

Funding structure blamed

USCIS is a roughly $5 billion agency that is primarily funded by filing fees from immigrants – about 96% – not through congressional appropriations, which make up the remaining 4% of its budget.

Jayapal defended the agency, arguing that Jaddou had to rebuild USCIS after the first Trump administration and a budget deficit from the COVID-19 pandemic that closed offices and led to fees plummeting.

The agency handles applications for naturalization, green card applications, family visas, some work visas, humanitarian programs and adoptions of children from non-U.S. countries, among other things.

Jaddou said one of the biggest challenges is that because USCIS operates on fees, if there is a funding crisis it can cause funding to freeze and puts limitations on hiring and overall efficiency.  

“We do not have effective legal immigration systems to meet the needs of the nation,” she said.

Jaddou said, for example, funding constraints limit the number of asylum officers hired.

“It limits us in our humanitarian work,” she said.

Questions about fraud

Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs questioned Jaddou about fraud in the parole program, which caused a temporary pause in applications over the summer to investigate some of the U.S-based sponsors.

“The program was paused for five weeks because of fraud,” Biggs said.

McClintock asked Jaddou if she knew how many parolees had changed in their immigration status and how many paroles have been renewed since the program began in 2022.

Jaddou said she didn’t have those numbers, which frustrated McClintock.

“This is outrageous.” he said. “You were asked these questions in September, you were told in advance of this hearing that they would be asked again, and you were advised to have answers for us. These are basic questions of data.”

California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren asked what improvements USCIS has made in light of the investigations into U.S.-based sponsors.

Jaddou answered that the agency added biometric requirements such as fingerprints and photos and allowed for automated systems to cross-check Social Security numbers. She said that employees were also re-trained and given guidance to monitor for potential fraud.

“We saw some issues, we took action,” Jaddou said.

New Jersey Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew said he was frustrated with the agency’s backlogs and that it takes years to process green cards.

“I think you’re doing a bad job,” he said to Jaddou. “You’ve hurt legal Americans and legal immigrants and helped some folks who shouldn’t be in this country.”

Van Drew asked if USCIS has diverted its resources from processing other legal pathway applications by focusing on parole applicants.  

Jaddou said the agency hasn’t.

“Well I disagree with you,” he said. 

 

U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., arrives for the Senate Republican leadership elections at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington, D.C.  Thune was elected majority leader for the Congress that convenes in January. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans huddled behind closed doors Tuesday to plot the path forward for the unified control of government they won in the November elections, though GOP senators said afterward a very narrow House majority will likely determine how sweeping their policy proposals will be.

Republicans are planning to use the complicated budget reconciliation process to address immigration and energy in one bill before turning their attention to taxes later next year in a separate bill. The specifics of those measures or how they might affect policy are not yet clear.

That budget reconciliation process will allow the GOP to get around the 60-vote legislative filibuster in the Senate that typically forces bipartisanship on big-ticket items. Reconciliation is generally used when one party controls the House, Senate and the White House, since it requires a majority vote in each chamber.

With House Republicans’ majority dropping to just 220 seats during the upcoming session of Congress, there will be very little room for GOP lawmakers in that chamber to vote against reconciliation bills, since Democrats are not likely to be included in negotiations or to vote for the final versions.

GOP leaders will also be down a seat from the beginning since former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who resigned to focus on his confirmation process for attorney general before dropping out, isn’t planning to take his oath of office.

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, nominated for United Nations ambassador, and Florida Rep. Michael Waltz, who will become Trump’s national security adviser, are expected to resign from Congress early next year, leaving GOP leaders down three slots until special elections are held. That would make for a 217-215 split.

Those extremely narrow margins could throw the chamber into gridlock if Republicans lawmakers miss a vote or are absent due to illness. There’s even a scenario where Democrats could have more votes on the floor than Republicans if several of their members are out.

The last time Republicans held unified control of Congress and the White House in 2017, when they passed their tax package via reconciliation, they held 241 House seats, a significantly wider margin than they’ll have next year. 

Thune says options presented

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, who will become majority leader in January, said lawmakers are working through “how best to maximize the opportunity we have through reconciliation to achieve a lot of the president’s and our objectives and things that he campaigned on.”

“And, you know, there obviously is the tax piece, but we’ve got until the end of the year to do that,” Thune said, referring to 2025. “So the question is how do we execute on using the opportunity of reconciliation.

“So we presented some different options, all of which our members are considering. And so, you know, we’ll see in the end where it lands but we’ve got to work with the House of Representatives and with obviously incoming President Trump to get the best path forward.”

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said Republicans still have a lot of work to do ironing out the details of the two packages, given the narrow margins for passage.

“If you take a look at the priorities of one end of the spectrum for the House caucus and the other end on border, there’s some reconciliation, pun intended, that needs to be done before reconciliation,” Tillis said.

House Republican leaders have struggled at times during this Congress to keep centrist GOP lawmakers and far-right members both supportive of large-scale policy bills. Adding in proposals or amendments from one side meant the GOP often lost votes from the other, forcing leaders to constantly walk a metaphorical tightrope when drafting legislation.

Republicans could have a more narrow House majority during the next Congress, likely causing headaches for leadership as they hold “family discussions” on the reconciliation bills.

Johnson stops by Senate GOP huddle

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., attended the Senate Republican meeting as the two chambers work to stay on the same page heading into January.

“I think we’re pretty unified on where we want to go. It’s just getting there,” she said. “You know, the devil’s in the details.”

Capito, who will become Republican Policy Committee chair next year, said election results sent a clear message to the GOP about what policy changes Americans expect to see during the next two years.

“What the voters are telling us they want us to do is very clear in some ways,” Capito said. “And we can go through the clearest ones first.”

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who will become the first Republican woman to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee next year, cautioned the reconciliation process requires a lot of coordination and planning.

“Reconciliation is extremely complex, as those of us who have been through it before know,” Collins said. “And I think we’re going to have a very busy beginning of the year, which is why I’d like to see the disaster supplemental pass before we leave here for Christmas.

“And I would also still argue that it would be important to try to finish up the FY 25 appropriations bills. I realize that’s going to have to go into January at this point. But I’m still hoping we don’t go into March, because with reconciliation coming down the pike, the president’s new budget, which is due the first Monday of February, also coming at us, there’s going to be a ton of work to do.”

Delayed spending bills

Congress was supposed to complete work on the dozen annual government funding bills by Oct. 1, but instead relied on a stopgap spending bill to extend the deadline until Dec. 20.

Since they haven’t made any real progress on the full-year bills, congressional leaders are now debating how long a second continuing resolution should last.

That appropriations work will likely pile up at the beginning of next year, overlapping with Republican efforts to push through their first reconciliation package before turning their attention to the second one.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said he’s confident House GOP leaders will be able to whip the votes necessary amid another razor-thin majority to approve the two reconciliation packages next year.

“We need to show that we’re recognizing the mandate of the last election, and have something smaller and hard-hitting before we take on the big issues,” Grassley said.

House Republicans, he said, “know there’s a mandate to deliver on. And they know that they better deliver.”

‘We have a directive from the American people’

Alabama GOP Sen. Katie Britt said Johnson will be able to keep the centrist and far-right members of the House Republican Conference united as details emerge in the weeks and months ahead about how exactly the two reconciliation packages will change policies.

“We know we have a slim majority in the House, but Speaker Johnson is aware of that,” Britt said. “And I think that they will work through issues over there, because we know that we have a directive from the American people to actually get things done. And I think that that’s what we’re unified to do.”

Asked about the narrow margins Republicans will have, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said “hopefully, this will all be things that we can form consensus on.”

“It’s what President Trump ran on and we’re going to try and, obviously, pass his agenda,” he said.

Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, a Republican, said their timeline is “as soon as possible” but that they’ll have to wait.

“It’s going to be a lot going on, but the budget is number one — we have to do that to start the process, and then just as quickly as possible,” Boozman said.

Congress must adopt a budget resolution in order to unlock the reconciliation process. That tax and spending blueprint is not a bill and does not become law. Instead, it sets Congress’ goals for the 10-year budget window.

In order to actually fund government departments and agencies, Congress must pass the dozen appropriations bills, which they’ve mostly ignored for the last several months.

Ariana Figueroa contributed to this report.

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The news that a Dane County judge struck down key parts of Act 10 — former Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s signature anti-union law — prompted Walker to comment on X: “Collective bargaining is not a right. It is an expensive entitlement.” 

That’s the kind of message that helped make Walker a national Republican star back in 2011. The billionaire Koch brothers supported him and his pioneering approach to politics — turning neighbor against neighbor by weaponizing the resentment of working class people and training it on teachers and other public employees whose union membership afforded them health care and retirement benefits. Walker memorably called his approach “divide and conquer.” That philosophy is at the heart of Judge Jacob Frost’s decision, which found that Act 10’s divisive carve-out for “public safety” employees (i.e. Republican-voting cops) is unconstitutional. 

Walker started by pitting private sector workers against public employees. The next step, he promised his billionaire backer Diane Hendricks, would be to make Wisconsin a right-to-work state, smashing unions across the board.

Walker made good on that promise and signed the right-to-work law that undercut private sector unions. And he certainly succeeded in dividing Wisconsin, ushering in a toxic style of politics that set the stage for Donald Trump and nationwide polarization.

But Walker’s war on organized labor is out of tune with the populism of today’s Trump-dominated Republican party, which courted union support in the recent election. It’s also out of step with public opinion. A September Gallup poll found near record-high approval of labor unions with 70% of Americans saying they approved of unions, compared with 48% approval in 2009. 

In embracing Act 10 and Walker’s dubious legacy, Wisconsin Republicans are marching to a different beat than the rest of the country. 

“Act 10 has saved Wisconsin taxpayers more than $16 billion,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos declared in a statement. “We look forward to presenting our arguments on appeal.”

Other Republicans have made even bigger claims about the “savings” that came out of teachers’ paychecks and benefits. But over time, it has become clear who the real beneficiaries of those savings were. The Kochs and Hendricks didn’t support Walker because they thought he would do wonderful things for working class voters. They backed him because they wanted to squeeze workers and enrich themselves.

Act 10, and the other measures passed by the Wisconsin Legislature in its wake, including right-to-work and prohibitions on local governments from increasing wages and improving working conditions in city and county contracts, hurt Wisconsin workers and the state economy. 

“The changes, labor leaders and experts say, have caused flattened real wages for construction workers, higher pay for their bosses and local governments stuck offering wages that make it difficult to hire contractors — and hard for those workers to make a living,” Wisconsin Watch reported. 

A study by the Economic Policy Institute compared the economies of states with strong collective bargaining laws with so-called “right-to-work” states from 2011 to 2018. “Those ‘right-to-work’ states see slower economic growth, lower wages, higher consumer debt levels, worse health outcomes and lower levels of civic participation,” one of the study’s authors, Frank Manzo, told Wisconsin Watch.

On top of all that, Walker’s oft-repeated promise to create 250,000 new jobs in his first term was a bust. He made it just over halfway to that goal, according to a “gold standard” report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the end of his second term, Walker still hadn’t reached the 250,000 jobs number. Instead, when he left office, Wisconsin ranked 34th in the nation for private sector job growth, according to the BLS. Walker’s 10.3% growth rate fell far behind the national growth rate of 17.1%. And Wisconsin public schools have never recovered from Walker’s savage budget cuts.

There has been a lot of talk since the 2024 election about how Democrats have lost touch with working class voters, allowing the Trump-led Republican Party to capture disaffected working people who are suspicious that politicians don’t really care about them or represent their interests.

The Act 10 fight, which will be front and center in Wisconsin’s spring state Supreme Court race, reverses that dynamic. Democrats in Wisconsin have been fighting all along for better wages and working conditions for working class people, and Republicans have been outspoken in their opposition to workers’ rights.

Walker’s war on workers prompted historic protests in Wisconsin back in 2011, bringing together teachers, firefighters, police, prison guards, snowplow drivers and tens of thousands of citizens from across Wisconsin to protest at the Capitol. Democrats in the state Legislature fled to Illinois to temporarily deprive Republicans of the quorum needed to pass the law. Walker dismissed the protesters as “union bosses” and agitators brought in from “out of state.” But anyone who was there could tell you the crowd was made up of lots and lots of regular Wisconsinites outraged that the governor had made hardworking people his target.

The uprising in Wisconsin inspired other pro-democracy protests around the globe. Egyptian activists ordered pizza from Ian’s Pizza downtown for the protesters at the Capitol.

Still, in the short term, the protests failed. A grassroots recall effort against Walker fell short, and he went on to be reelected to a second term. But the tide has been turning steadily ever since. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers defeated Walker in 2018. Evers’ reelection by a larger margin in 2022 was one of 7 out of 10 statewide races Democrats have won since 2019. In one of those races, the Democratic-backed Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz beat her conservative rival by more than 10 points, flipping the ideological balance on the court and setting up the demise of Republican gerrymandering and, potentially, a final judgment against Act 10.

Today, as Democrats reel from their losses in the recent national elections, Wisconsin offers an example of a state where the fight over workers’ rights is at the center of politics. The Act 10 battle makes it clear which side each party is on. That’s good news for Democrats. For Walker’s brand of Republicanism, not so much.

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Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, speaks during a press conference inside the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)   

WASHINGTON — Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell announced Thursday he’ll become chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and the Rules Committee when the new Congress convenes in January. 

“America’s national security interests face the gravest array of threats since the Second World War,” McConnell wrote in the announcement. “At this critical moment, a new Senate Republican majority has a responsibility to secure the future of U.S. leadership and primacy.”

Maine Sen. Susan Collins currently holds the top Republican slot on the Defense Subcommittee, which drafts the Pentagon’s annual spending bill, worth $825 billion.

Collins is expected to become chairwoman of the full Appropriations Committee next year and McConnell said in the statement he looks forward to working with her “to accomplish our shared goal.”

It wasn’t immediately clear Thursday if Collins would become chairwoman of one of the Appropriations Committee’s other 11 subcommittees.

Current Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., not only leads the full panel but is also chairwoman of the Energy-Water Subcommittee, for example.

McConnell will also take over the Senate Rules Committee, one of the oldest panels in the chamber that holds a broad jurisdiction.

“Defending the Senate as an institution and protecting the right to political speech in our elections remain among my longest-standing priorities,” McConnell wrote in his statement. “Ranking Member Deb Fischer has done an outstanding job advancing these causes, and I know she will remain a key partner in the committee’s ongoing work.”

Nebraska Republican Sen. Fischer secured reelection this year against a closer-than-expected challenge from an independent candidate in the Cornhusker State.

Thune taking over from McConnell

McConnell remained an active member of both the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Rules Committee after he became Senate Republican leader in 2007.

He’s stepping aside from that leadership role when the new Congress begins in January but will remain a member of the Senate.

Senate Republicans elected South Dakota’s John Thune to become the majority leader once they take over control of the upper chamber in January after flipping four seats in this year’s election.

McConnell is up for reelection in 2026 and hasn’t said yet if he’ll seek another six-year term in the Senate or opt to retire.

McConnell, 82, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984. 

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a House Republican Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on Nov. 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Allison Robbert-Pool/Getty Images)

President-elect Donald Trump ordered congressional Republicans on Wednesday to block a broadly popular bill to protect press freedoms, likely ending any chance of the U.S. Senate clearing the legislation.

The measure would limit federal law enforcement surveillance of journalists and the government’s ability to force disclosure of journalists’ sources, codifying regulations the Department of Justice has put in place under President Joe Biden.

The House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved it last year and it passed the House by voice vote in January.

“REPUBLICANS MUST KILL THIS BILL!” Trump wrote on his social media site, Truth Social, in all capital letters on Wednesday, linking to a PBS segment about the measure.

Substantial floor time is generally required in the Senate to bypass the process that allows a single member to hold up the chamber’s business. With Democrats prioritizing confirmation of Biden’s judicial nominees before they lose their majority in January, it is unlikely they would bring a vote on the measure without the unanimous consent of all 100 senators.

Trump’s influence within the Senate Republican Conference makes reaching unanimous consent exceedingly unlikely.

The bill’s House sponsor, California Republican Kevin Kiley, accepted the bill’s defeat in a statement Thursday.

“Based on the feedback we’ve received from Senators and President Trump, it’s clear we have work to do to achieve consensus on this issue,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with the new Administration on a great many areas of common ground as we begin a new era of American prosperity.”

A Kiley spokesperson declined to provide further details about senators’ feedback on the measure. A spokesperson for U.S. Senate Judiciary ranking Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina did not respond to a message seeking comment.

In the House, 19 members from both parties, including Republicans Barry Moore of Alabama, Darrell Issa of California, Russell Fry of South Carolina and Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota and Democrats Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Ted Lieu of California and Rashida Tlaib and Dan Kildee of Michigan, signed on as cosponsors.

Protection for local journalists

Jon Schleuss, the president of The NewsGuild-CWA, a national journalists’ union that has supported the bill, noted in a Thursday statement it would protect news sources across the political spectrum.

“Americans would not know about the corruption of former Democratic Senator Bob Menendez or former Republican Representative George Santos without the hard work of local journalists holding power to account,” he said. “All of us depend on journalism, especially local journalism, to shine a light and protect Americans from threats, both foreign and domestic. The PRESS Act protects all voices: news sources, whistleblowers and the journalists they talk to from media outlets across the spectrum.”

In a Thursday statement to States Newsroom, Gabe Rottman, policy director at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, called the bill a “reasonable and common-sense measure” that enjoyed broad bipartisan support.

“Its passage would put an end to actions the Justice Department has taken under past administrations of both parties to target reporters’ confidential communications when investigating and prosecuting disclosures of government information,” he wrote. “We urge Congress to recognize that there is still a need for a legislative remedy here.”

Press advocacy groups have expressed worries about Trump’s return to the White House, citing a record in his first term that included surveillance of and legal threats against journalists and news organizations.

Seeking retribution

In the closing days of the presidential race, Trump fantasized aloud about reporters being shot.

Press freedom groups also worry that Trump’s promises to use the federal bureaucracy to seek retribution against perceived enemies would extend to journalists.

“In his second term, Trump will make good on these anti-press threats to try to destroy any news outlet, journalist, or whistleblower who criticizes or opposes him,” Seth Stern, the director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, wrote in a Nov. 6 blog post.

Stern added that Trump would “almost certainly repeal” the protections against surveillance the Department of Justice had put in place during President Joe Biden’s term.

Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz leaves a House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 3, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)  

WASHINGTON — Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz announced Thursday he’s withdrawing as President-elect Donald Trump’s planned nominee for attorney general days after securing the appointment.

Gaetz’s path to Senate confirmation was highly unlikely following years of investigations about alleged drug usage and payments for sex, including with an underage girl. He submitted his resignation to Congress last week.

“While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz wrote in a social media post. “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1.” 

Trump posted on social media afterward that he “greatly” appreciated “the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General.”

“He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect,” Trump wrote. “Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”

When asked if the Trump-Vance transition team had another nominee choice lined up, and whether they viewed the Gaetz withdrawal as a setback, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt did not provide details.

“President Trump remains committed to choosing a leader for the Department of Justice who will strongly defend the Constitution and end the weaponization of our justice system. President Trump will announce his new decision when it is made,” Leavitt told States Newsroom in an emailed statement. 

The House Ethics Committee voted along party lines Wednesday not to release its report on Gaetz, following more than three years of investigation. Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, including the allegations that he had sex with a minor.

Meetings with senators

Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, spent Wednesday shuffling Gaetz between meetings with Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would have held his confirmation hearing. Republicans will control the Senate in the new session of Congress beginning in January.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, wrote on social media that he respected Gaetz’s decision to withdraw his name from consideration as AG.

“I look forward to working with President Trump regarding future nominees to get this important job up and running,” Graham said.

GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, incoming Judiciary Committee chair, posted the following on X: “I respect Gaetz decision &look fwd 2helping PresTrump confirm qualified noms 2reform Dept of Justice &bring TRANSPARENCY/ACCOUNTABILITY Trump’s mission = DRAIN THE SWAMP& I would add get some1 who will answer my hundreds of outstanding oversight letters sitting at Biden DOJ/FBI.”

Grassley’s staff referred States Newsroom to the social media post when the outlet reached out for comment.

The offices of Sens. John Kennedy of Louisiana and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, fellow Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, declined to comment.

Gaetz’s future is unclear, given that he resigned from the U.S. House last week and notified the chamber he didn’t plan to take the oath of office for the upcoming 119th Congress.

He first joined the House in January 2017 and led efforts to remove former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from that role last year, setting off a month-long stalemate within the House Republican Conference over who should lead the party.

The race to fill his empty seat in a special election has already attracted six candidates, mostly Republicans in a heavily conservative-leaning district.

Gaetz could jump into the race for his old seat, possibly winning a place back in the House of Representative next year following the special election.

He could also try to take the oath of office when the next session of Congress begins on Jan. 3, since he wrote in his resignation letter that he did “not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress, to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration.”

That would give the House Ethics Committee jurisdiction to complete its report on Gaetz and release it publicly. 

AG oversees Department of Justice

The attorney general is responsible for overseeing the Department of Justice, which includes the federal government’s top law enforcement agencies as well as prosecutors.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Office for Victims of Crime, Office on Violence Against Women and U.S. Attorneys’ offices are among the 40 entities within the DOJ and its 115,000-person workforce.

Congress approved $37.52 billion for the Department of Justice in the most recent full-year spending bill.

Trump had two attorneys general during his first term as president. He first nominated former Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, whom Trump later fired amid disputes, and then Bill Barr. 

Ashley Murray contributed to this story.

FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance Team members conduct outreach to provide local and FEMA resources to Charlotte County residents in Punta Gorda, Florida, on Oct. 22, 2024. (Photo courtesy of FEMA)

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell told two U.S. House panels Tuesday that there is no evidence that an order to deny emergency relief to Donald Trump supporters went beyond a single rogue employee — though Criswell said she welcomed a robust investigation to confirm that.

A long line of Republicans denounced the action of a low-level agency supervisor working in Florida following Hurricane Milton. The supervisor told her team to avoid canvassing houses that displayed support for Trump, at the time the Republican nominee in the 2024 election and now the president-elect.

Republicans on the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee with oversight of FEMA and the House Oversight and Accountability Committee were largely congenial toward Criswell. They thanked her for terminating the employee while still questioning if a larger culture of political targeting plagued the agency.

Criswell repeatedly told the panels the incident appeared to be isolated. She added that the agency was conducting an internal investigation to determine if any other employees were involved.

The fired employee, Marn’i Washington, was not named during the morning’s Transportation and Infrastructure hearing but has openly discussed the matter with news media. Members of the Oversight Committee did name Washington during the afternoon hearing.

“The actions of this employee are unacceptable, and it is not indicative of the culture of FEMA, and I do not believe that there is a widespread cultural problem,” Criswell said at the Transportation and Infrastructure hearing. “I have directed ongoing investigations, working with the (Homeland Security inspector general), working with the Office of the Special Counsel, and if we find any other acts of similar behavior, we will take appropriate disciplinary measures.”

Criswell said the employee directed about 11 subordinates to skip houses with Trump signs. About 20 homes in Florida were passed over, she said.

Larger problem?

Pressed by Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee Chair Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, Criswell said she would request an inspector general investigation.

Perry and other GOP members said they would continue to probe allegations from Washington that her directions to avoid canvassing homes with Trump signs were part of a larger directive within the agency.

“If that is the case, more people at FEMA must be held accountable,” Perry said.

At the afternoon hearing of the Oversight Committee, Chair James Comer of Kentucky said a politicized civil service workforce was a problem throughout the federal bureaucracy.

“While today’s hearing will focus on FEMA, the issue at hand is part of a larger problem: the urgent need to hold the unelected, unaccountable federal workforce accountable to the American people and to the duly elected president of the United States,” he said. “In his first term, President Trump faced not only open insubordination from federal employees who refused to help implement his policies, but also subtler practices intended to thwart elements of his agenda.”

While the internal FEMA investigation is ongoing, Criswell could say only that she had “seen no evidence that this was anything beyond one person’s specific instructions to her team.”

She added that investigators had questioned “other personnel” in the employee’s chain of command and had found “no information at this point that there was anything beyond her direction to her employees to skip and bypass a home.”

She told House Oversight member Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican, that she would comply with any requests for information or agency communications the committee requested.

Republicans on both panels praised Criswell’s handling of the immediate situation.

“I think you did your job, and I think you did it well,” Minnesota Republican Pete Stauber told Criswell. “You terminated that employee who weaponized the federal government as quickly as you can. And I think we need to do more of that.”

Democrats warn of misinformation

Democrats on both panels also denounced Washington’s actions, while warning that misinformation has made FEMA workers’ jobs more difficult.

Nevada’s Dina Titus, the ranking Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure panel, said she was “very upset” to learn about the incident.

“I condemn the employee’s decision,” she said. “That should never be the case and Administrator Criswell immediately did the right thing when she learned about this incident, by firing the employee and referring the case to the Office of Special Counsel.”

Washington has defended her action partially by saying the agency has a policy to avoid confrontations when canvassing in the wake of a disaster.

Oversight ranking Democrat Jamie Raskin of Maryland called the judgment “a bad mistake, legally and constitutionally, which violated the core mission of FEMA and every federal agency to work on behalf of all Americans.”

“It’s plainly wrong and divisive to use a presidential campaign lawn sign as a proxy for someone’s dangerousness,” he said.

Democrats on both panels decried an environment of misinformation that could foment hostility toward federal aid workers.

“I was disgusted with the ridiculous rumors that were floating around cautioning people that government was going to bulldoze over their communities, seize their homes and divert disaster aid to other programs,” Titus said.

Raskin said FEMA aid workers encountered “a cloud of propaganda and lies concocted to erode public trust in FEMA.”

“Because of this disinformation, many victims of hurricanes have rejected federal assistance, and others have even harassed and threatened FEMA workers,” he said.

Trump retribution

New Jersey’s Jeff Van Drew, a Republican member of Transportation and Infrastructure, told Democrats to be wary about FEMA aid being denied to opponents of a presidential administration.

“People on the other side of the aisle should know: If it happened to us, it could happen to them,” he said.

Democrats noted that Trump had threatened to withhold FEMA aid based on political affiliation during his first term.

Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Florida Democrat, criticized “hypocrisy” from Republicans on the Oversight panel who denounced political targeting of Trump supporters without acknowledging Trump reportedly had to be convinced to send aid to disaster-struck areas he thought were heavily Democratic. 

Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., who will become the first openly transgender member of Congress, poses for a photograph after joining other congressional freshmen of the 119th Congress for a group photograph on the steps of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on Nov. 15, 2024 in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina led a charge Monday to try to ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms in the U.S. Capitol and House office buildings, following the election of a transgender lawmaker.

The move, which the House Democratic leader characterized as attempting to “bully” another member, came as Democrat Sarah McBride of Delaware will soon be sworn in as the first openly transgender member of Congress. Republicans also have undertaken broader efforts to bar transgender people from using restrooms that align with their gender identity.

“Biological men do not belong in private women’s spaces,” Mace wrote in a post on X alongside the resolution she is pushing. “Period. Full stop. End of story.”

The resolution would prohibit members of Congress, officers and employees of the House from using “single-sex facilities” other than those corresponding to their “biological sex.”

It reads: “A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House may not use a single-sex facility (including a restroom, changing  room, or locker room) in the Capitol or House Office Buildings, other than those corresponding to the biological sex of such individual.”

The House sergeant-at-arms would be tasked with enforcement, according to the resolution, so it appears it would apply only to bathrooms on the House side of the Capitol and not the Senate.

Mace told the Washington Examiner in 2021 that she strongly supports LGBTQ rights and equality and said “no one should be discriminated against.”

The South Carolina Republican co-sponsored a Republican alternative to the  Democratic-backed Equality Act in 2021. The GOP effort sought to “prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity; and to protect the free exercise of religion.” 

In a post on X Monday appearing to respond to Mace’s push, McBride said “every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness.”

“This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing,” McBride added.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Mace’s resolution “doesn’t go far enough” and “we need something more binding” while speaking to reporters Tuesday.

The Georgia Republican, who referred to McBride as a “biological man,” said “America’s fed up with the trans ideology being shoved into our face.”

Greene said she asked U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson at the House GOP conference meeting Tuesday “what the men in our leadership are going to do about this, because this has to be stopped.”

According to Greene, the Louisiana Republican committed to her that McBride “will not be using our restrooms.”

However, at a Tuesday press conference following that GOP meeting, Johnson would not specify how he would respond to Mace’s resolution.

“This is an issue that Congress has never had to address before,” Johnson said, while also noting that “it’s a command that we treat all persons with dignity and respect.”

“We’ll provide appropriate accommodation for every member of Congress,” he added.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries questioned House Republicans’ priorities Tuesday regarding Mace’s effort.

“This is your priority — that you want to bully a member of Congress as opposed to welcoming her to join this body so that all of us can work together to get things done and deliver real results for the American people?” said the New York Democrat at a Tuesday news conference. 

President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on Nov. 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C. Biden continued the tradition of inviting the newly elected president to meet at the White House after Trump won the presidential election on Nov. 5. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden welcomed President-elect Donald Trump to the White House Wednesday, a tradition between incoming and outgoing American leaders, though the courtesy was not extended to Biden after he won the 2020 election.

The pair met behind closed doors in the Oval Office for most of the meeting that lasted just under two hours. Biden’s Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and Trump’s incoming counterpart, Susie Wiles, joined the president and president-elect.

Biden had been seeking reelection against Trump until late July, when Biden dropped his bid. Vice President Kamala Harris lost the race to Trump after just over 100 days of campaigning as the Democratic nominee.

Harris did not attend the meeting, according to the White House.

In brief remarks before cameras, Biden congratulated his predecessor who will again take the oath of office in January as the nation’s 47th president.

“Well, Mr. President-elect, former president, Donald, congratulations,” Biden said, as Trump interjected with “Thank you very much, Joe.”

“And looking forward to having a, like I said, smooth transition, do everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated, what you need,” Biden continued. “And we’re gonna get a chance to talk about some of that today.”

Trump again thanked Biden and responded “And politics is tough. And it’s, many cases, not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today. And I appreciate it very much, a transition that’s so smooth, it’ll be as smooth as it can get. I very much appreciate that, Joe,” Trump said.

A ‘substantive’ conversation

First lady Jill Biden joined the president in greeting Trump and presented a handwritten letter of congratulations and offer for transition assistance addressed to incoming first lady Melania Trump, according to the White House.

The meeting got underway just after 11 a.m. Eastern, and the press was ushered out after the brief welcoming remarks and photo opportunity. Biden and Trump finished their private discussion at roughly 1 p.m. Eastern.

Neither addressed a large gathering of reporters and photographers outside afterward.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden and Trump had “a very good back and forth.”

“(Biden) wants you all to know that the president-elect was gracious, came with a detailed set of questions, it was, again, substantive” Jean-Pierre said at the daily press briefing.

Jean-Pierre declined to provide the meeting’s specifics but said “the length of the meeting tells you they had an in-depth conversation on an array of issues.”

Trump did not invite Biden to the White House following his 2020 presidential election win, nor did he attend his successor’s inauguration that occurred just 14 days after a mob of his supporters violently tried to stop Congress’ certification of Biden’s victory.

The president-elect’s transition team did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s inquiries on why Trump did not invite Biden to the White House in 2020.

Musk, Ramaswamy to head new initiative

The president-elect continues to announce numerous Cabinet and staff positions, stacking his administration with staunch loyalists.

Late Tuesday, Trump announced he named billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy to what he describes as a new “Department of Government Efficiency,” or shortened to “DOGE,” also the name for a popular internet dog meme and cryptocurrency in the last decade.

Trump said the new entity would function outside of government.

“To drive this kind of drastic change, the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before,” Trump said in a statement.

Musk was also present, sitting in the front row during Trump’s visit with House Republicans earlier Wednesday.

Also on Tuesday night, Trump announced Fox News host Pete Hegseth as his pick for secretary of Defense, a position that requires managing hundreds of billions in Pentagon spending.

Trump endorses Johnson

Trump joined House Republicans Wednesday morning before his meeting with Biden at the White House. At a hotel near the U.S. Capitol, Trump received a standing ovation from GOP lawmakers, according to congressional pool reports.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, introduced Trump, calling him a “singular figure in American history,” according to congressional pool reports. 

House Republicans are also planning to have their leadership elections late Wednesday, but it’s expected that Johnson will be selected to continue the role, although an official vote for the speaker’s gavel will take place in January.

At the meeting, Trump threw his support behind Johnson to continue in his role as House speaker, according to NBC News.

During the meeting, Trump touted GOP wins in keeping control of the lower chamber. Although Republicans are on track to hold their slim majority, The Associated Press, the news organization that States Newsroom relies upon for race calls based on decades of experience, has not called the House for Republicans though it might happen soon.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Republicans have 216 seats, just two short of the 218 seats needed for control. Democrats have 207 seats, with 12 races still to be called.

Trump also joked about wanting to run for another term in office — something that the U.S. Constitution prohibits, as presidents are limited to only serving two terms. 

“I suspect I won’t be running again unless you do something,” Trump told members, who laughed, according to pool reports.

Democrats ready to push back

Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Pete Aguilar said Wednesday that Democrats are ready to work with the incoming administration in a bipartisan manner, but are also prepared to push back on efforts to further restrict reproductive rights, such as a national abortion ban, and any changes to the Affordable Care Act.

“We’re clear-eyed about the challenge ahead of us,” Aguilar, Democrat of California, said.

He acknowledged the failure of Democrats to regain control of the House.

“I think it’s appropriate for the current caucus to reflect on what happened, to listen to listen to our constituents, to listen to American people, to listen to our members, to gather data, and then to chart a path forward,” he said.

Aguilar added that Democrats plan to look at voter data to understand the issues important to their voting bloc.

“I don’t want to have broad generalizations of any group or geographic or otherwise, without that data in front of me,” he said. “I think it’s very clear to us that for people with two jobs, the economy is, gas and groceries and rent. We’ll need to speak to those issues if we’re going to be the party that speaks to our community members and people working, everyday Americans, then we need to speak to those issues, and … that’s on us to communicate.”

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) speaks to reporters after testifying on April 25, 2023. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

Devin LeMahieu was reelected Thursday to serve as Senate majority leader. He’ll lead a smaller Senate Republican caucus than in previous years. 

“I am honored by the trust they have placed in me to lead our caucus,” LeMahieu said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to working with everyone and having a successful session.” 

Under new legislative maps that were put in place by the Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers after the Wisconsin Supreme Court determined previous maps were an unconstitutional gerrymander, Democrats flipped four Senate districts during Tuesday’s election, ending Senate Republicans’ 22-seat supermajority and giving Democrats the opportunity to flip the chamber in 2026. The Senate makeup now includes 18 Republicans and 15 Democrats. 

“The No. 1 issue we heard from voters was the effect of rising costs and inflation,” LeMahieu said. “Senate Republicans’ top priority will be returning the state’s surplus to hardworking families.”

LeMahieu was first elected to the Senate in 2014, and has served as the majority leader since 2021.

Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) was elected as Senate president, replacing Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Pewaukee). 

“The Senators in our caucus represent 18 vastly different areas of the state, and each have their own unique perspectives on the challenges that face Wisconsin,” Felzkowski said in a statement. “My focus this session will be continuing to promote successful conservative policies that will enrich the lives of the people of Wisconsin.”

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Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil | Screenshot via C-SPAN

Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil won a fourth term Tuesday night in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District, defeating Democrat Peter Barca’s attempt to recapture the seat Barca lost three decades ago.

Steil’s victory kept the 1st District seat in GOP hands for another term after three decades of Republican control that began when Barca himself lost reelection in a 1994 Republican wave that flipped the U.S. House that year.

With 76% of the votes counted, Steil cleared 55% of the vote to Barca’s 42%, according to unofficial election results. The Associated Press called the race at 11:07 p.m.

Steil’s campaign emphasized the inflation sparked by supply chain clogs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Republican’s messaging attributed inflation solely to the legislative agenda of President Joe Biden — sweeping bills for pandemic relief, infrastructure repair, high-tech industrial policy and more.

The Democratic campaign focused heavily on Steil’s votes  against those measures, including his ‘no’ vote on the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The legislation included provisions to address climate change as well as provisions to rein in prescription drug costs for Medicare patients.

The message, however, proved inadequate in countering Steil’s advantages, both incumbency and a campaign war chest that was nearly three times the size of Barca’s.

Steil also in the last year has focused on immigration, picking up on a Republican theme that blamed the Democrats for a surge in migrants at the southern border of the U.S.

Barca countered by hammering Steil and the congressional Republicans generally for not taking up an immigration bill that the White House had negotiated with a small group of conservative Republican senators. The bill foundered after former President Donald Trump called in GOP lawmakers to kill it and preserve immigration as an issue in his presidential campaign.

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Vice President Kamala Harris has made a dent in former President Donald Trump’s lead among likely Iowa voters in the most recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll. (Photos by Win McNamee and Megan Varner/Getty Images, photo illustration via Canva)

Vice President Kamala Harris has taken a narrow lead over former President Donald Trump in the latest Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll published Saturday, just days before the Nov. 5 election.

The results are a surprising development for the state, which has been largely written off as an easy victory for Trump. He won Iowa in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. The latest Iowa Poll showed Harris leading with 47% of likely voters and Trump with 44%, the Register reported.

The poll, taken Oct. 28-31 by Selzer & Co. with responses from 808 likely Iowa voters, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

While Harris’ lead falls in the margin of error, it’s a significant reversal from previous Iowa Polls. In September, Trump led the Iowa Poll with 47% to Harris’ 43%. Trump had the support of 50% of likely Iowa voters in June when President Joe Biden was expected to become the Democratic presidential nominee.

Women, independents shift toward Harris

The largest shift heading toward support for Harris has been Iowa women – particularly women who identify as independent voters as well as those age 65 and older, the Register reported. More independent likely voters as a whole now support Harris at 46% to Trump at 39%, despite the demographic favoring Trump in every earlier Iowa Poll.

Independent women favored Harris in the September poll, with 40% supporting her and 35% supporting Trump. That lead grew in the latest poll to 57% of independent women who support Harris and 29% who support Trump.

More independent men still favor Trump over Harris at 47% to 37%.

While likely voters 65 and older also support Harris as a demographic, 63% of senior women support the vice president compared to 28% who support Trump – a more than 2-to-1 margin. More senior men also support Harris but by a margin of 2 percentage points at 47% to 45%.

Iowa Republicans have stumped for Trump in swing states

Iowa Republicans have spent time on the campaign trail touting Trump’s popularity in the state and the expectation that the former president will win Iowa for the third election in a row — U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst and U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, Iowa Republicans, have traveled to swing states like Pennsylvania and Georgia to rally voters in recent weeks, with Ernst saying Iowa was “in the bag” for Trump.

Though both Harris and Trump have spent most their time in key swing states ahead of the election, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart told reporters Saturday that the poll results show that Iowa is a winnable state for Democrats in the upcoming election.

“We’ve been putting in the hard work, and it is paying off,” Hart said. “We’ve been educating our voters, recruiting volunteers, listening to friends’ and neighbors’ concerns, and we recognize that Iowans are looking for better leadership. The fact that Vice President Harris now leads Donald Trump in the latest Des Moines Register poll is obviously very exciting for us.”

Iowa GOP chair calls poll an ‘outlier’

But Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann disputed the accuracy of the results, comparing the Des Moines Register’s poll results to one released by Emerson College earlier Saturday that showed Trump ahead at 53% to Harris at 43%.

“Des Moines Register is a clear outlier poll,” Kaufmann said in a statement. “Emerson College, released today, far more closely reflects the state of the actual Iowa electorate and does so with far more transparency in their methodology.”

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst argued that the Iowa Poll well respected, and should not be dismissed just because it does not show favorable results for one party.

“I’ve been in their shoes on a Saturday night before Election Day, where the Iowa poll results come out, and they don’t look like what we’d like them to (be),” Konfrst said. “And they can’t believe Ann Seltzer, one of the gold standard pollsters in the country, in 2020 and not in 2024.”

The poll also found Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate who remains on the Iowa ballot despite ending his campaign, still has the support of 3% of likely voters. Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver earned less than 1% in the poll. Another 1% of respondents said they would vote for someone else, 3% responded that they were not sure who to support and 2% said they did not want to disclose who they supported.

Though the poll showed Harris in a favorable position for Tuesday, Hart said it was important to note that Iowa Poll results are not Election Day results. Konfrst said the poll is a welcome push giving “energy and enthusiasm and momentum” to Democratic voters and organizers leading up to Tuesday.

“We have three more days before this election, so remember, this is just a poll, and what really matters is that Iowans show up and make their voices heard,” Hart said.

Democrats say poll supports argument for more national help

In the final days before the election, Konfrst said that she and other Democrats are having conversations about the poll with the national party and supporting Democratic organizations, hoping to get support and surrogate visits ahead of Election Day.

“We’re going to be asking as many folks as we can to be surrogates here, but at the end of the day, we know that it’s the hard work of volunteers, our candidates up and down the ballot, the Congressional candidates and the party and all of our partners here in Iowa who are doing that hard work,” Konfrst said. “And so, surrogate or not, we think that we’re going to have a better night than expected for Kamala Harris and Democrats on Tuesday.”

Hart also said that Iowa’s decision in the 2024 presidential election could have major implications for the future of the Iowa Democratic caucuses. Iowa was ousted from its first-in-the-nation seat in the 2024 Democratic presidential nominating cycle and released its mail-in caucus results on Super Tuesday supporting Biden this year. The nominating calendar will be up for discussion again heading into 2028, and Hart said Nov. 5 results will have a crucial impact on Iowa Democrats’ argument to return to return as an early state in future elections.

“Once this election is over, we’re going to be having this conversation,” Hart said. “And the better we do here in November, the better case we can make. … The bottom line is that I hope this shows the rest of the country that Iowa is a good barometer for choosing good leadership.”

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Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on Facebook and X.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee | Photo by James Gould

The weekend before Election Day, former President Donald Trump brought his campaign to Milwaukee.

During a Friday night rally at the Fiserv Forum, the same venue where Trump  formally accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination just a few months ago, Trump told the crowd that, if he’s elected again, he will bring America back to the “golden age.”

“America will be bigger, better, bolder, richer, safer and stronger than ever before,” Trump said. 

Trump slammed the current state of the economy and also talked about his plan to impose high tariffs on imports. “You’re going to become so rich with the word tariff,” he told the crowd. That was met with a massive cheer. 

The former president declared that his opponent, Vice President  Kamala Harris, “has a low IQ.”

During the rally a section of the crowd in the upper deck began to shout that  they could not hear what was being said on stage. 

A clearly frustrated Trump ripped the microphone away from the mic stand  and yelled, “Do you want to see me knock the hell out of people backstage?”

“I am up here seething. I’m working my ass off with this stupid mic,” Trump added. “I’m blowing out my left arm, now I’m blowing out my right arm and I’m blowing out my damn throat, too, because these stupid people.”

After the mic issues appeared to be fixed, Trump claimed he won Wisconsin twice, although actually, after winning the state in the  2016 presidential election he lost to President Joe Biden in  2020.

John Kettman, a fan of Trump who attended the rally, held a pumpkin with the former president’s face on it while he waited to get into the Fiserv Forum for the rally. He called the prop  a “Trumpkin.”

Kettman said the “middle-class people” are the ones suffering the most in America.

When it comes to foreign policy, Kettman said that Harris “can’t be trusted” and that Trump is the man who can “deal with” North Korea and Russia. 

Another Trump voter who waited to enter the rally was Fernando Puente.

“All the polls say it’s coming out tight,” Puente said of the presidential election.“I’m here on the ground, I see that it’s going to be a landslide, Trump is going to win big.”

Puente added that he wasn’t always a big fan of Trump before 2016. He said he had felt Trump  was “arrogant” and disliked the way he talked, but that all changed for him when Trump started talking about “the border and inflation.”

Wisconsin Republicans who spoke at the rally included ​​former Govs. Scott Walker and Tommy Thompson, U.S. Reps. Scott Fitzgerald and Bryan Steil and candidate for U.S. Senate Eric Hovde, who is challenging incumbent Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

“This election is so consequential,” Hovde said from the stage, contrasting “what President Trump and I want to do versus what Kamala Harris and Tammy Baldwin want to do.” Trump and Hovde want to “make America great again” and “restore the American Dream,” Hovde said, while the Democrats  “bankrupted our country, causing the worst inflation in 40 years. … jeopardized our safety by defunding the police and opening our southern borders,” and “divided our country …  by gender, by race, by socio economic class, by religion.”

When Trump took the stage he praised Hovde, calling him “a great guy,” and joked, “He’s a great-looking guy, too, sometimes I say maybe he’d be better off without that mustache. I’m not sure.”

In recent TV ads Hovde’s  campaign has been attacking Baldwin’s girlfriend, highlighting her work as an investment adviser on Wall Street and the couple’s same-sex relationship.

Hovde’s campaign has repeatedly mentioned Maria Brisbane, referring to her as Baldwin’s “life partner,”  although Baldwin publicly refers to Brisbane as her girlfriend.

While Trump spoke,  Harris held a simultaneous rally in Milwaukee just over five miles away at the Wisconsin State Fair Exposition Center. Harris spoke for 24 minutes, according to NBC News, while Trump gave a 90 minute speech. She described Trump as “increasingly unstable,” and said if elected he would walk into the Oval Office with an “enemies list” while Harris would walk in with a “to-do list.”

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Opposing political signs in neighbors' yards in Maple Bluff, Wisconsin | Photo by Ruth Conniff

“Truth Decay” is rotting our politics and public discourse, according to political scientist Ray Block. Block delivered the keynote address at the WisPolitics “polling summit” at the Madison Club this week, where a panel of pollsters discussed trends in the 2024 election. (Top takeaway: No one knows who is going to win.)

“We’re in a worrying place,” Block warned, with disinformation and misinformation eroding confidence in election integrity and public institutions. “Lies kill democracy,” he said. If people can’t debate in good faith, public trust, community cohesion and ultimately all of our democratic institutions will collapse.

Block is the inaugural Michael D. Rich Distinguished Chair for Countering Truth Decay at the Rand Corporation, where researchers first began focusing on the degradation of truth in our current political and social media environment because it posed a threat to the value of scientific and academic expertise. After all, if facts don’t matter, research and hard-won expertise lose their currency. 

But the antidote to the bitter polarization and the sheer wackiness of our new political reality, Block and his colleagues have decided, lies not with experts or even with identifying objective truth. Instead, he said, it’s a matter of rebuilding individual relationships among neighbors. 

As he spoke, I thought about my suburban neighborhood, where Trump and Harris signs bristle at each other across sidewalks and driveways. How will we ever get along again?

“You can’t ‘correct’ your way out of these problems,” Block said of some voters’ beliefs that, for example, massive amounts of voter fraud changed the outcome of the 2020 election, or that President Barack Obama wasn’t really born in the United States. It’s no use treating these pernicious narratives as “a wrong answer on a test question,” he added. Instead, we have to understand how such false ideas are attached to a sense of shared social identity and community — and then do something to rebuild community among people with different points of view. 

The antidote to polarization and fact-aversion, Block and his Rand colleagues have decided, is to rebuild civil society through individual acts of community engagement. He talked about the urgency of preserving local news, and he urged people to get involved in local community-building efforts. Rand is doing this by hosting community dialogues near its headquarters in Santa Monica, California. The events bring together people with opposing views to discuss and debate the issues that worry them. The idea, Block said, is to “get people used to the idea that you’ve got to live together even if you don’t agree.” 

It sounds simple, but it’s not an easy thing to do. 

Close to home, I saw a good model of what Block is talking about during high holiday services at Shaarei Shamayim, Madison’s Reconstructionist Jewish congregation, where my family and I belong.

Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman led a conversation on the war in Gaza on Yom Kippur, the traditional Jewish day of mourning. She invited people to share their grief, both for the people killed in the  Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the hostages who remain in Gaza, and for the tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians who have been killed and displaced in the ensuing war. “You are going to hear things you don’t agree with,” Rabbi Laurie said, to a group of congregants with conflicting views on Israel, Palestine and the war, “and that’s OK.

In her Rosh Hashanah sermon, Rabbi Laurie described her own uncomfortable conversations with family members with whom she disagrees, and her participation in a community forum on Gaza that devolved into shouting. In her humble, self-deprecating way, she described an unsatisfying conversation about the war with fellow rabbis. One of them pooh-poohed her suggestion that children learn about the complexities of the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians, including the history of repression and injustice Palestinians have experienced. He asserted that “kids need to know what side they’re on.” In his Sunday school classes, he said, he skips complexity and has children draw Israeli flags.

“It’s not soccer,” Rabbi Laurie grumbled. 

In the community forum, she found herself on the opposite side, arguing heatedly with an activist who insisted that the rapes and murders of Oct. 7 were justified — comparable to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of Polish Jews during the Holocaust. 

“​​The attack on October 7th and ensuing war has created, or maybe unleashed, deep polarization — in families, among friends, in congregations, and in the larger community,” Rabbi Laurie said. “It widened the discourse to the point where I have heard people I know and love say things that are untrue, conspiratorial, hateful, and bereft of the basic values I had thought we all shared.”

Despite the discomfort, she continues to pursue these awkward conversations, and encouraged her congregation to do likewise, “not to find solutions, but to become more connected with one another. To think deeply about the meaning of kinship and of justice. To become more committed to our deepest ideals.”

It’s a credit to Rabbi Laurie’s willingness to endure these difficult encounters, to persist despite not knowing where it will lead, that the Shaarei Shamayim community does, in fact, make room for a diversity of opinions. If people can talk to each other and hold onto their relationships through deep disagreement, there’s hope for peace and justice. It’s a good model for all of us going forward. 

As Block said, no matter who wins the election, “we are not going to make it if we don’t figure out how to work together.” 

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CAMBRIDGE, WI - APRIL 25: Cows walk from a barn after being milked on Hinchley's Dairy Farm on April 25, 2017 near Cambridge, Wisconsin. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

While Republican politicians were busy spreading lurid stories about immigrants bringing chaos, violence and economic harm to communities across the Midwest, organizers of last week’s World Dairy Expo were quietly adjusting their program to offer programs in Spanish for employees and managers who play a crucial role in the industry.

Workers from Mexico and other Latin American countries make up an estimated 70% of the labor force on Wisconsin dairy farms. Over the last several years, the annual dairy expo in Madison has been responding to the needs of these workers, as well as to visitors from Spanish-speaking countries around the world, with the “expo en español.”

On Wednesday afternoon Juan Quezada, director of training and development at Milk Source LLC, gave a lecture on leadership entirely in Spanish. (Other Spanish-language sessions this year concerned women in dairy, animal welfare and labor retention.) 

The meeting room inside the Alliant Center was full of Latino farm managers, some from as far away as Spain and Ecuador and others from nearby dairy operations in Wisconsin. Outside, the fairgrounds hosted people from 130 countries and more than 2,500 cows, exhibits showing off gleaming farm equipment, and aisles of food vendors.

The expo declined an offer to appear from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

“We host an event for cows and people who care for cows and not for candidates,” Lisa Behnke, communications manager for World Dairy Expo, told Wisconsin State Farmer, who added that the same decision would apply to any partisan candidate. “We’re staying in our lane.”

But given Trump’s attacks on immigrants, and the promise of a “mass deportation” that, if it ever happened, would destroy the dairy industry overnight, the Republican presidential candidate would have been a particularly bad fit for the expo this year.

“We’ve seen a big population of Latinos coming to these events,” said Alison Pfau, bilingual regional dairy educator for the University of Wisconsin Extension, explaining the decision to offer programs in Spanish. 

It stands to reason that immigrants, who are the backbone of the dairy industry, are moving into leadership positions, training and supervising workers, keeping operations running smoothly, becoming trusted managers on farms that lean heavily on them to survive.

In his lecture, Quezada told his own story, how he moved up from milking cows to management after a long apprenticeship. He described how he got a big break one day, while leading a tour of international visitors on the large farm where he was working. As he was giving the tour, he stopped now and then to pick up bits of garbage. When the tour was over, a farm manager from Europe asked if he would like to work overseas. His attention to detail and care for the little aspects of the job caught his prospective employer’s eye and led to his next job in Denmark. “Thanks to the garbage, I achieved one of my dreams,” he declared. Eventually, Quezada made it back to Wisconsin to work at Milk Source, the largest single milk-producer in Wisconsin. 

It was one of many anecdotes about leadership qualities — honesty, punctuality, respect — that Quezada expounded on to his audience, mostly broad-shouldered Latino men wearing baseball caps, who nodded in agreement.

How many immigrant workers have come to this country and arrived in our state following Quezada’s path, I wondered — working hard, keeping their heads down and slowly becoming an indispensable part of our economy and society?

Last week the Immigration Research Initiative in New York and the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., co-released a one-page infographic showing how immigration benefits the U.S. economy.

Together, immigrant workers and business owners generated $4.8 trillion in economic output in the U.S. in 2022, the groups reported.

In addition to their outsized role in agriculture, immigrants, who make up 14% of the U.S. population, are 27% of janitors, 37% of construction laborers, 47% of maids and 46% of software developers.

On the rooftops of houses, above the Trump/Vance signs displayed in some of my neighbors’ yards, teams of Latino workers have been busy lately, hammering away to Reggeaton music as they replace hail-damaged roof tiles. It’s astounding how much work is getting done by immigrants even as the toxicity of anti-immigrant rhetoric keeps ramping up. 

“When immigrants move to the United States, the economy grows,” the Immigration Research Initiative and EPI researchers found. “That doesn’t mean fewer jobs; it means more jobs: there are more consumers, more workers and more business owners. Study after study shows there is no fixed number of jobs in the economy. Immigration creates opportunities that benefit U.S.-born workers, too.”

Quezada’s lecture emphasized both the importance of hard work — an easy sell to his audience, which knows a lot about that topic — and the responsibilities that come with leadership. Leadership means setting an example, he told the group. It means thinking about how your speech and actions create a positive or negative atmosphere for others. It means listening well, inspiring people to follow your example, being consistent by saying hello every day. 

When he asked for examples of leadership qualities from audience members, they offered more: respect, good communication skills, the ability to control your emotions.

Quezada told a story about how he lost his temper once, the night before he was about to be promoted to a new job. A cow gave birth unexpectedly and he had to stay in the barn late on a Sunday night. Angrily, he kicked the wall, only to find that his employer was standing behind him. He could have lost his promotion, he said. He told the story to illustrate another quality of good leaders: integrity — doing the right thing even when you think no one is watching. 

I can think of a few political leaders who would benefit from Quezada’s lessons in leadership. But they’d need a translator to help them understand.

Correction: An earlier version of this column incorrectly stated the total amount immigrants contribute to U.S. GDP, based on a draft of the Immigration Research Initiative report that was later corrected.

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Rice-Eccles Stadium on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City is pictured on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

WASHINGTON —  A GOP measure barring accrediting organizations from requiring colleges and universities to adopt diversity, equity and inclusion policies as a condition of accreditation passed the U.S. House Thursday, though its fate appears dim.

The End Woke Higher Education Act — which succeeded 213-201 — marks one of several so-called anti-woke initiatives and messaging bills from Republican lawmakers to hit the House floor this week.

The higher education measure, which drew fierce opposition from the Biden administration and major associations of colleges and universities, came amid a looming government shutdown deadline and in the heat of the 2024 campaign.

Four House Democrats voted in favor of the GOP measure, including Reps. Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Mary Peltola of Alaska and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington.

Baked into the legislation are two bills introduced by Republican members of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce — the Accreditation for College Excellence Act and the Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act.

Utah Rep. Burgess Owens, chairman of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, introduced the Accreditation for College Excellence Act in May 2023, while New York Rep. Brandon Williams brought forth the Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act in March.

In a statement to States Newsroom, Owens said “House Republicans passed the End Woke Higher Education Act to stand up for academic freedom, defend students’ constitutional rights, and ensure that colleges and universities aren’t forced to bend the knee to activist accreditors pushing political agendas as a condition for federal funding.”

The Utah Republican said the “Biden-Harris administration has injected its far-left ideology — Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Critical Race Theory — into every part of American life, including our higher education system.”

Owens’ bill says accreditation standards must not require, encourage or coerce institutions to support or oppose “a specific partisan, political, or ideological viewpoint or belief” or “set of viewpoints or beliefs on social, cultural, or political issues” or support “the disparate treatment of any individual or group of individuals.”

Meanwhile, Williams’ Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act forces schools to disclose policies regarding free speech to students and faculty as a condition of receiving any Title IV funds.

Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 includes federal student financial aid programs.

Strong opposition 

But the legislation is highly unlikely to be passed in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The Biden administration also strongly opposed the measure, saying in a statement this week that the legislation would “micromanage both public and private institutions, undermining their ability to recognize and promote diversity.”

The legislation “would go beyond Congress’s traditional role in higher education with a wide range of confusing and unprecedented new mandates,” the administration added.

Rep. Bobby Scott — ranking member of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce — called the measure a “baseless attempt to inject culture wars into an ever-important accreditation process” during the floor debate Thursday.

The Virginia Democrat said the legislation “attempts to circumvent the First Amendment to establish a whole new scheme to regulate speech and association rights on campus outside of established precedents and practices.”

The GOP measure also drew the ire of leading associations of colleges and universities, who opposed the legislation both individually and collectively.
In a joint letter this week to House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, six major associations led by the American Council on Education took aim at Williams’ portion of the legislation, saying it “would undermine efforts to protect free speech on campus and provide safe learning environments free from discrimination.”

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