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Tag: chris van hollen

  • Senate bill seeks to restore federal workers collective bargaining rights – WTOP News

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    Maryland U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen is leading a push to restore collective bargaining rights for federal workers as well as workplace protections.

    For all the latest developments in Congress, follow WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller at Today on the Hill.

    Maryland U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen is leading a new push to restore collective bargaining rights for federal workers as well as workplace protections, which the majority of federal employees lost due to executive orders by President Donald Trump.

    Van Hollen spoke at a rally of union federal workers Wednesday in Upper Senate Park, urging them to make their voices heard on the Protect America’s Workforce Act, or PAWA, which includes U.S. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia as one of its co-sponsors.

    “Are you going to make sure that your fellow federal employees from every state in this country call up their U.S. Senators and tell them to vote for the PAWA?” Van Hollen said. “Because that’s what it’s going to require.”

    Van Hollen hopes to build on the bipartisan support the legislation received in the House, which passed it last year.

    Federal workers trying to recover from major job losses

    Last year was a rough one for many federal workers, as hundreds of thousands of federal jobs were phased out by the Trump administration through executive orders and the Department of Government Efficiency, a team tasked with slashing government spending.

    Federal unemployment figures released this month indicate that 72,000 jobs were lost last year in Maryland, Virginia and D.C.

    The president’s executive order on collective bargaining placed the majority of federal workers under the category of national security, which allowed him to make the change.

    Van Hollen questioned the basis for the change, calling it a “sham.”

    He noted that those who work on matters involving the Chesapeake Bay for the Environmental Protection Agency don’t seem to fall under national security.

    The Democratic lawmaker ended his remarks with optimism that the legislation could move forward this year.

    “You’re the cavalry. So let’s get this passed,” he said to cheers.

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    © 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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  • Citing AP investigation, senators demand answers on use of full-body restraints during deportations – WTOP News

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    A “near-total secrecy” surrounding deportation flights and the use of full-body restraints onboard is raising “serious human rights concerns,” a group of 11 Democratic U.S. senators wrote in a letter Thursday to top immigration officials.

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A “near-total secrecy” surrounding deportation flights and the use of full-body restraints onboard is raising “serious human rights concerns,” a group of 11 Democratic U.S. senators wrote in a letter Thursday to top immigration officials.

    U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland called upon U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide a full accounting of its air operations and to stop using the black and yellow restraints known as the WRAP until the agency explains its policies for the device and resolves other questions about its use on immigration detainees.

    “I think it’s very problematic,” Van Hollen told The Associated Press. “They want to keep the public in the dark.”

    The senators’ letter cites an AP investigation this month that revealed several examples of ICE using the device on people — sometimes for hours — on deportation flights dating to 2020. Van Hollen was joined by U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Alex Padilla of California, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, and six others.

    The WRAP is the subject of several federal lawsuits likening incorrect usage of the device to punishment and even torture. Advocates have expressed concern that ICE is not tracking the WRAP’s use as required by federal law when officers use force, making it difficult to discern exactly how many people are being subjected to the restraints.

    “When an organization like DHS doesn’t want transparency, it’s because they don’t want people to know what they’re doing,” Van Hollen said, referring to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency.

    In addition to the letter, U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., told AP in a statement that she is working on a bill to rein in the agency’s use of the WRAP.

    “ICE’s use of full-body restraints to immobilize detained individuals raises serious concerns about the safety, dignity, and human rights of those under their jurisdiction,” Ramirez said.

    DHS has not answered detailed questions from the AP about the use of the WRAP and did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin previously said that ICE’s practices “align with those followed by other relevant authorities and is fully in line with established legal standards.”

    The manufacturer of the WRAP, Safe Restraints Inc., said in a statement to AP that the device “was specifically designed to prevent pain and injury.”

    “Our priority is preserving life and preventing harm,” the company said. “We strongly oppose any misuse or untrained use of this equipment.”

    The AP found that DHS has paid Safe Restraints Inc. $268,523 since it started purchasing the devices in late 2015, during the Obama administration. Government purchasing records show the two Trump administrations have been responsible for about 91% of that spending.

    ICE would not provide AP with records documenting its use of the WRAP despite multiple requests, and it’s not clear how frequently it has been used in the current and prior administrations.

    In addition to reporting on ICE’s use of the device, the AP identified a dozen fatal cases in the last decade where local police or jailers around the U.S. used the WRAP and autopsies determined “restraint” played a role in the death.

    “The brutal, inhumane tactics of ICE continue to jeopardize people’s lives across the country,” Ramirez said. “ICE is acting outside of oversight or accountability. That can’t go on.”

    ___

    Mustian reported from Washington and New York and Dearen reported from Los Angeles.

    ___

    Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/.

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    © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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  • Q&A: Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen on the federal shutdown and ‘No Kings Day’ – WTOP News

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    Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen joined WTOP to talk about the ongoing shutdown and Saturday’s “No Kings” protest in the D.C. area and nationwide.

    Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen has taken a prominent position for the Democrats in the wake of the 2025 federal shutdown.

    He’s expressed strong support for federal workers across the country who have been fired, furloughed or otherwise affected when President Donald Trump shut down the federal government on Oct. 1.

    WTOP’s Ralph Fox spoke with Sen. Van Hollen about the ongoing shutdown, and Saturday’s “No Kings” protest. Read the full Q&A below.

    Listen to the full interview below or read the transcript. The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. 

    Md. Sen. Chris Van Hollen joined WTOP’s Ralph Fox to discuss the shutdown and the No Kings protest.

    • Ralph Fox:

      Let’s start with the shutdown. There have been whispers this could go on until Thanksgiving if there isn’t a substantial change. What are your thoughts?

    • Chris Van Hollen:

      Well, I certainly hope not. We would like to end the shutdown today.

      I’ve now voted seven times on a plan that would reopen the government without giving Donald Trump a blank check, and also in a way that prevents this huge health care crisis that is upon us.

      We need to diffuse this ticking time bomb on America’s health care, and what we’d like to do is sit down and negotiate with President Donald Trump. He’s refused to do that.

      I’m glad he’s doing negotiations in the Middle East, but he’s not negotiating here at home to reopen the government.

      As you know, the House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Republicans have been on, I think, a five-week paid vacation right now. They are totally AWOL. So in order to move forward, we do need everybody to come to the table.

    • Ralph Fox:

      As far as the “No Kings” protests going on today, the right is positioning them as a “Hate America” event. What’s your take there?

    • Chris Van Hollen:

      Well, that would be news to the moms and dads and grandmothers and grandfathers and kids and people of all ages and walks of life who I’ve met this morning on the march, including thousands and thousands of Marylanders already.

      Millions of people around the country are saying yes to our democracy, and yes to our rights, but no to kings, no to a lawless president who has been focused on stripping away people’s rights — whether their rights to due process, whether their rights to free speech, whether their rights to a fair justice system.

      So these protests represent the very best of American democracy, and when Speaker Johnson and Republicans can’t win the argument, they decide to engage in that kind of language labeling these democratic protests as hateful.

      But I will just tell you that we saw a great American portrait all morning. Today, people standing up for the country they love.

    • Ralph Fox:

      Do you think that protests like this will start to move some of the elected lawmakers in Congress?

    • Chris Van Hollen:

      I hope so, yes. Because ultimately, especially for Republicans in Congress who’ve been a rubber stamp for Donald Trump.

      The question is, are they more afraid of a Donald Trump tweet against them, or are they more worried about what their constituents think? And what we’re seeing is across the board, whether you’re Republican, a Democrat or anything else, people do not like this march toward taking their rights away.

      And they certainly don’t like a government that seems to be focused on helping Donald Trump’s billionaire buddies at the expense of everybody else in America.

      So this is an important day for American patriots. I mean, we fought a revolution to to make sure that we weren’t bowing down to kings, and that’s what today is all about. Peaceful protests across the country, and across Maryland, to stand up for our democracy and our Constitution.

    • Ralph Fox:

      To go back to the shutdown, do you have an idea of what it’s going to take to get these federal employees moving once again and people back to work?

    • Chris Van Hollen:

      Well, all it takes is a vote in the House and the Senate to get this moving and reopen the government. And we need to do so without giving Donald Trump a blank check.

      Remember, Donald Trump has been shutting down parts of the government since day one. I mean, he brought in Elon Musk with his chainsaw. They illegally fired lots of federal employees. Now they’re holding federal employees hostage again to their agenda.

      So what is required now is for the good of the country. The President needs to sit down and negotiate. I mean, he said his top priority was going to be to bring down prices and costs on Day One, he’s done everything else. He’s attacked our democracy. He has attacked our rights. But prices keep going up, and we are about to experience this huge spike in health care costs that we’re trying to address. And you know, Donald Trump says he cares about health care, but he’s nowhere to be found when it comes to sitting down to resolve this. We could do it today.

    • Ralph Fox:

      I have one last question for you. I know it’s been a key issue with you. What’s the latest we know about Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

    • Chris Van Hollen:

      Here’s an example of an individual who was literally disappeared off the streets of Maryland, denied his due process, and sent to a gulag in El Salvador.

      The Trump administration said they would never let him set foot on American soil, even though their lawyers admitted that he’d been wrongfully deported.

      By the way, the people who admitted that in the Justice Department, they got fired, which tells you that this is an administration that punishes people for telling the truth.

      But right now, he’s back in the American court system, and he is working to protect his rights. As a federal court judge said the other day, the administration continues to abuse its power.

      In this case, the federal judge said there was some ample evidence to show that the Trump administration was engaged in a political prosecution. So at least now Abrego Garcia is in the American court system and not locked up in a gulag in El Salvador.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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  • Federal workers in Maryland sound off on government shutdown – WTOP News

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    Federal workers who live in Maryland raised concerns about the federal government shutdown Monday with Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks.

    We want to know your thoughts on the government shutdown. How are you and your family affected? Share your story — Send us a message or a voice note through the WTOP News app on Apple or Android. Click the “Feedback” button in the app’s navigation bar.

    Federal workers who live in Maryland participated in a virtual town hall Monday night, hosted by Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks to raise concerns about the federal government shutdown.

    Some participants, such as Amanda from Reisterstown, sounded defeated: “We’re feeling pretty beat down at this point.”

    While others such as Joe from Germantown, were pushing for action: “I want to know what you’re doing to fight back against this.”

    Rayna from Upper Marlboro was among those who asked practical questions: “The backpay for federal workers, I just want to know what kind of guarantee that we will see this?”

    That backpay is guaranteed by law, Van Hollen said.

    He said when federal employees are hurt, everyone in the country gets hurt because they lose government services.

    “I want to thank our federal employees, they are great patriots,” Van Hollen said. “They perform vital services for the American people.”

    Alsobrooks said she has felt the pain of the shutdown, because she knows so many federal workers personally.

    “It hurts all of us,” Alsobrooks said. “The thing that is so ridiculous about this shutdown, is it hurts both Democrat and Republican families.”

    The Senate held a pair of votes Monday aimed at funding the federal government, but neither proposal came close to gaining the 60 votes needed to advance.

    The last government shutdown, the nation’s longest, ended in January 2019 after 35 days.

    The current government shutdown would enter its second week Wednesday.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Kyle Cooper

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  • Van Hollen, Democrats in Iowa call for end to political violence after Kirk’s killing

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    Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) speaks with Iowa state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, who is running for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, at the Polk County Democrats Steak Fry in Des Moines on Saturday. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

    Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Iowa congressional candidates took time Saturday at the Polk County Democrats’ Steak Fry to condemn political violence in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing in Utah.

    Van Hollen, gave a keynote address at event, an annual Iowa fundraiser that featured speeches from Democratic candidates for Iowa’s U.S. Senate race, as well as from the 3rd and 4th congressional district races. He spoke about Kirk’s death, saying the shooting is a reminder of “how fragile our democracy can feel,” while criticizing Trump’s response to the issue.

    On Wednesday, Kirk, the co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot while answering a question at an event at Utah Valley University. The suspected gunman was identified and taken into custody Friday.

    Politicians and leaders mourned Kirk’s death and called for a change to prevent future politically motivated violence.

    “The answer cannot be more violence,” Van Hollen said. “The answer cannot be vengeance. And sadly, the president is using this moment not to unite America against political violence, but to engage in finger pointing.

    “But we will not be silenced. We will speak out for what we believe vigorously, courageously and peacefully,” he said.

    Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said it has been a “really hard week” in light of Kirk’s death, and that Democrats, and all Americans, need to take steps to ensure these threats are eliminated.

    “We don’t have to look very far to see other examples of violence that has occurred because of political leanings,” Hart said, in part referring to the fatal shooting of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman in June. “And none of us find that to be acceptable, because it simply isn’t.

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    “We live in a country that was founded on the principle that we could stand up in a place like this and express our feelings, our thoughts, our attitudes, our beliefs and our political leanings, and not get shot because we have an opinion or a thought that’s different than somebody else’s,” she said.

    In Iowa, there has been an outpouring of sympathy for Kirk’s family and calls to stop political violence. Speaking with reporters, Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate called for an end to political violence.

    In recent days, there has been some criticism from Republicans and others of Iowans, including some teachers, who have made controversial social media posts about Kirk’s death.

    Democratic Senate candidate Jackie Norris, the school board president for the Des Moines Public Schools, said political violence was unacceptable, and that teachers — alongside most people — should be more cognizant of what they are publicly posting on social media. However, Norris added, “we have to respect that people have different views,” including teachers.

    “It is important that we tone down the rhetoric, but we also have to respect that (teachers) have strong feelings too,” Norris said. “It’s a balance.”

    Van Hollen calls Democrats ‘spineless’ for not backing Mamdani

    Van Hollen also told Iowans at the event that winning in 2026 will mean Democrats must be outspokenly in support of Democratic candidates running in 2025 races — including New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

    The Maryland Democrat said Iowa would play an important role in the 2026 midterms — but that supporting Democrats in 2025 races for governor in Virginia and New Jersey, as well as for New York City mayor, will help build “momentum” for 2026.

    Van Hollen criticized New York Democrats for not supporting Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who won the Democratic mayoral primary. He said many Democrats representing New York in the U.S. House and Senate have “stayed on the sidelines” as President Donald Trump and others have mobilized to defeat the Democratic candidate.

    “That kind of spineless politics is what people are sick of,” Van Hollen said. “They need to get behind him and get behind him now.”

    Van Hollen criticized other aspects of the Democratic Party, saying the Biden administration was “feckless” in holding the Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accountable to U.S. and international law. But he largely focused his remarks on Trump and Republicans in control of Congress.

    In addition to talking about Medicaid cuts and criticizing Trump’s foreign policy decisions, Van Hollen said the Trump administration was violating people’s constitutional rights by pursuing mass deportations. Van Hollen gained a significant national platform earlier in 2025 for his work involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was deported to El Salvador erroneously and held in prison there before being returned to the U.S. He is currently being held in Virginia by immigration authorities.

    Van Hollen was one of the major advocates for returning Abrego Garcia to this country and allowing his case to go through the U.S. court system. At Saturday’s event, he said he was advised not to pursue the issue, as immigration is not a winning topic for Democrats, but said he continued to fight for Abrego Garcia’s due process rights because “our democracy cannot survive on silence or equivocation.”

    “And lo and behold, Americans across the political spectrum do believe in the red, white and blue essential right to due process in the United States of America,” he said. “They do believe in the principle that no one in America — I mean, no one — should be disappeared by the state without having a chance before a court of law.
    “And Americans understand this is not about one man,” Van Hollen said. “It’s about all of us. Because when you strip away the rights from one person, you threaten the rights … of all of us.”

    Abrego Garcia has been returned to the U.S., though the Trump administration has said it intends to deport him again, potentially to the country of Eswatini, previously known as Swaziland.

    Van Hollen said he would “never, ever apologize for standing up for anybody’s constitutional rights,” and said Democrats need to do more to speak out on issues they believe are important, even if polls or pundits say the topics are not politically advantageous. This will be especially important in states like Iowa, he said.

    “We can and we will win here again, if — if — we speak to our core values, if we show people what we will stand up for and we will fight for,” Van Hollen said. “That’s why it’s great to be here to flip steaks and flip seats.”

    – This story originally appeared in Iowa Capital Dispatch, which 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.

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  • U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Democrats call for end to political violence after Charlie Kirk’s death

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    U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, spoke to state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, who is running for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District in 2026 at the Polk County Democrats Steak Fry in Des Moines Sep. 13, 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

    U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, and Iowa congressional candidates took time Saturday at the Polk County Democrats’ Steak Fry to condemn political violence in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing in Utah.

    The Polk County Democrats Steak Fry, an annual fundraiser, featured speeches from Democratic candidates for Iowa’s U.S. Senate race, as well as from the 3rd and 4th congressional district races. Van Hollen, who gave a keynote address at the event, spoke about Kirk’s death, saying the shooting is a reminder of “how fragile our democracy can feel,” while criticizing Trump’s response to the issue.

    On Wednesday, Kirk, the co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot while answering a question at an event at Utah Valley University. The suspected gunman was identified and taken into custody Friday. Politicians and leaders mourned Kirk’s death and called for a change to prevent future politically motivated violence.

    SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

    “The answer cannot be more violence,” Van Hollen said. “The answer cannot be vengeance. And sadly, the president is using this moment not to unite America against political violence, but to engage in finger pointing. But we will not be silenced. We will speak out for what we believe vigorously, courageously and peacefully.”

    Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said it has been a “really hard week” in light of Kirk’s death, and that Democrats, and all Americans, need to take steps to ensure these threats are eliminated.

    “We don’t have to look very far to see other examples of violence that has occurred because of political leanings,” Hart said, in part referring to the fatal shooting of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman in June. “And none of us find that to be acceptable, because it simply isn’t. We live in a country that was founded on the principle that we could stand up in a place like this and express our feelings, our thoughts, our attitudes, our beliefs and our political leanings, and not get shot because we have an opinion or a thought that’s different than somebody else’s.”

    In Iowa, there has been an outpouring of sympathy for Kirk’s family and calls to stop political violence. Speaking with reporters, Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate called for an end to political violence.

    In recent days, there has been some criticism from Republicans and others of Iowans, including some teachers, who have made controversial social media posts about Kirk’s death.

    Democratic Senate candidate Jackie Norris, the school board president for the Des Moines Public Schools, said political violence was unacceptable, and that teachers — alongside most people — should be more cognizant of what their are publicly posting on social media. However, Norris added, “we have to respect that people have different views,” including teachers.

    “It is important that we tone down the rhetoric, but we also have to respect that (teachers) have strong feelings too,” Norris said. “It’s a balance.”

    Van Hollen calls Democrats ‘spineless’ for not backing Mamdani

    Van Hollen also told Iowans at the event winning in 2026 elections will mean Democrats must be outspokenly in support of Democratic candidates running in 2025 races — including New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

    The Maryland Democrat said Iowa would play an important role in the 2026 midterms — but that supporting Democrats in 2025 races for governor in Virginia and New Jersey, as well as for New York City mayor, will help build “momentum” for 2026.

    Van Hollen criticized New York Democrats for not supporting Mamdani, who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He said many Democrats representing New York in the U.S. House and Senate have “stayed on the sidelines” as President Donald Trump and others have mobilized to defeat the Democratic candidate.

    “That kind of spineless politics is what people are sick of,” Van Hollen said. “They need to get behind him and get behind him now.”

    Van Hollen criticized other aspects of the Democratic Party, saying the Biden administration was “feckless” in holding the Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accountable to U.S. and international law. But he largely focused his remarks on Trump and Republicans in control of Congress.

    In addition to talking about Medicaid cuts and criticizing Trump’s foreign policy decisions, Van Hollen said the Trump administration was violating people’s constitutional rights by pursuing mass deportations. The Maryland Democrat gained a significant national platform earlier in 2025 for his work involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was deported to El Salvador erroneously and held in the country’s megaprison.

    Van Hollen was one of the major advocates for returning Abrego Garcia to the country and allowing his case to go through the U.S. court system. At the Saturday event, Van Hollen told Iowans he was advised not to pursue the issue as immigration was not a winning topic for Democrats — but he said he continued to fight for Abrego Garcia’s due process rights because “our democracy cannot survive on silence or equivocation.”

    “And lo and behold, Americans across the political spectrum do believe in the red, white and blue essential right to due process in the United States of America,” he said. “They do believe in the principle that no one in America — I mean, no one — should be disappeared by the state without having a chance before a court of law. And Americans understand this is not about one man. It’s about all of us. Because when you strip away the rights from one person, you threaten the rights of all, of all of us.”

    Abrego Garcia has been returned to the U.S., though the Trump administration has stated they intend to deport him again, potentially to the country of Eswatini.

    Van Hollen said he would “never, ever apologize for standing up for anybody’s constitutional rights,” and said Democrats need to do more to speak out on issues they believe are important, even if polls or pundits say the topics are not politically advantageous. This will be especially important in states like Iowa, he said.

    “We can and we will win here again, if — if — we speak to our core values, if we show people what we will stand up for and we will fight for,” Van Hollen said. “That’s why it’s great to be here to flip steaks and flip seats.”

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  • Kilmar Abrego Garcia taken into ICE custody, facing deportation to Uganda

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    Washington — Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being processed for deportation to Uganda, the Department of Homeland Security said, after he was taken into custody Monday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, days after his release from criminal custody.

    Abrego Garcia, a native of El Salvador, was mistakenly deported to his home country in March and held in a notorious Salvadoran prison for months before being returned to the U.S. in June where he was jailed on federal human smuggling charges. A judge ruled that he should be released from detention ahead of a trial set for January.

    Abrego Garcia was freed from pretrial detention last Friday. CBS News reported on Saturday that his attorneys were then sent a court-required notice of his potential deportation to Uganda. He arrived at the ICE facility on Monday morning to check in, speaking in Spanish to supporters who had gathered in a show of support outside of the facility.

    “There was no need for them to take him into ICE detention. He was already on electronic monitoring from the U.S. Marshals Service and basically on house arrest,” his attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said. “The only reason that they’ve chosen to take him into detention is to punish him. To punish him for exercising his constitutional rights.”

    The Department of Homeland Security claims Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, which his family denies.

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement that ICE had arrested Abrego Garcia and was “processing him for deportation.” DHS said he is “being processed for removal to Uganda.” The U.S. reached an agreement with Uganda to accept some deportees last week.

    “President Trump is not going to allow this illegal alien, who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator to terrorize American citizens any longer,” Noem said.

    Sandoval-Moshenberg said Abrego Garcia filed a new lawsuit Monday challenging his confinement and deportation to any country “unless and until he had a fair trial in an immigration court.” In a legal filing over the weekend, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said he was offered a plea deal that included deportation to Costa Rica. His attorneys said they then received a notice of his possible deportation to Uganda. Sandoval-Moshenberg clarified Monday that Abrego Garcia had stated that he was willing to accept refugee status in Costa Rica.

    “The fact that they’re holding Costa Rica as a carrot and using Uganda as a stick to try to coerce him to plead guilty to a crime is such clear evidence that they’re weaponizing the immigration system in a manner that is completely unconstitutional,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said Monday.

    Sandoval-Moshenberg said an ICE officer did not answer when asked about the reason for Abrego Garcia’s detention and would not say which detention center he would be taken to, or commit to providing paperwork.

    Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat who traveled to El Salvador to advocate for the return of Abrego Garcia earlier this year, met with him Sunday. Van Hollen said in a statement that he was glad to “welcome him back to Maryland after what has been a long and torturous nightmare.”

    “The federal courts and public outcry forced the Administration to bring Ábrego García back to Maryland, but Trump’s cronies continue to lie about the facts in his case and they are engaged in a malicious abuse of power as they threaten to deport him to Uganda — to block his chance to defend himself against the new charges they brought,” Van Hollen said. “As I told Kilmar and his wife Jennifer, we will stay in this fight for justice and due process because if his rights are denied, the rights of everyone else are put at risk.”

    An immigration judge ruled in 2019 that Abrego Garcia may not be deported to El Salvador because he feared persecution by local gangs in the Central American country.

    Maryland Gov. Wes Moore advocated for due process for Abrego Garcia on Sunday, saying on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that “I just simply want a court and a judge to decide what is going to be the future fate of this case and all cases like this, and not simply the president of the United States or the secretary of homeland security who is trying to be judge, juror, prosecutor and executioner inside this case.”

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    Maryland Gov. Wes Moore calls Trump D.C. National Guard deployment “unconstitutional”

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  • Vice president holds College Park abortion rights rally with all the trappings of a campaign event – WTOP News

    Vice president holds College Park abortion rights rally with all the trappings of a campaign event – WTOP News

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    At the Monday campaign event doubling as an abortion rights rally, supporters held hundreds of “Biden-Harris” or “reproductive freedom” signs.

    This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.

    COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND – JUNE 24: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks on reproductive rights at Ritchie Coliseum on the campus of the University of Maryland on June 24, 2024 in College Park, Maryland. Harris is speaking on the two year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and struck down federal abortion protections. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)(Getty Images/Kevin Dietsch)

    Vice President Kamala Harris (D)  stood in Ritchie Coliseum at the University of Maryland, College Park underneath a blue banner that said “Trust WOMEN” in large white text.

    Just underneath, in significantly smaller text, was a disclaimer: “Paid for by Biden for President.”

    At the Monday campaign event doubling as an abortion rights rally, supporters held hundreds of “Biden-Harris” or “reproductive freedom” signs. In the upcoming general election, Democrats insist their candidates, not Republicans, will ensure that Marylanders and voters across the United States have access to abortion care.

    Harris wasted little time, telling the enthusiastic crowd that a second presidency for Republican Donald Trump would pose a threat to reproductive rights across the country. The rally came on the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed abortion access as a constitutional right for nearly 50 years.

    “Today, our daughters know fewer rights than their grandmothers. This is a health care crisis. And we all know who is to blame: Donald Trump,” Harris said.

    “He proudly takes credit for overturning Roe,” she said, noting that Trump appointed three justices who were key to reversing Roe. “My fellow Americans, in a court of law, that would be called an admission, and some would say a confession…. In the case of stealing reproductive freedom away from the women of America, Donald Trump is guilty.”

    The event also effectively functioned as a rally for Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) in her run against former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate.

    Harris gave a shout out to her “dear friend” Alsobrooks, whose Senate candidacy the vice president endorsed earlier this month.

    If successful, Alsobrooks would be the first Black woman to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate, a glass ceiling that would echo Harris’s historic election as the first woman, the first Black American, and the first South Asian American to serve as vice president.

    The question of abortion is expected to have an outsized role in the campaign for Maryland’s Senate seat, which has become an unexpectedly tough race in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 2-to-1.

    “Today is more than just an anniversary. It’s proof that we should never take for granted our liberties,” Alsobrooks said. “It is the confirmation that we must be vigilant in fighting for and protecting, with everything we have, our rights.”

    Alsobrooks took some jabs at her opponent, saying that Republicans hope Hogan is the key to securing a conservative majority in Congress.

    “They believe that Larry Hogan is the best opportunity that the Republicans have to get the 51st vote,” in the Senate, she said. “In fact, Donald Trump endorsed him because the two of them share something in common … they share the goal of handing the over the Senate to the Republican Party.”

    Trump has said in recent days that he believes the question of abortion restrictions should be left up to the states, a key part of the Dobbs decision. And Hogan, who has long said he is personally pro-life, has insisted that as senator he would defend Roe-style abortion protections.

    He reiterated that in a statement posted Monday on his campaign website in recognition of the second anniversary of Dobbs, saying that he would work in the Sentate “to codify Roe v. Wade, as the law of the land.”

    “A woman’s health care decisions are her own. Whether it be the decision to start a family with the help of IVF, or exercise her reproductive rights, nothing and no one—especially partisan politics—should come between a woman and her doctor,” according to the written statement.

    U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who spoke at Monday’s rally, went to bat for Alsobrooks and said that she would be the best choice to protect abortion access in the U.S. Senate. He ridiculed Hogan’s recent promises to support Roe-style abortion protections.

    “Her opponent Larry Hogan is undergoing some election year conversion like none I’ve ever seen,” Van Hollen said. “This guy now goes around saying that he’s quote, ‘pro-choice.’ The problem is he has a record that tells us the exact opposite.”

    Democrats, including Alsobrooks, have criticized Hogan’s claims on abortion rights, pointing to his previous actions as Maryland governor.

    Hogan vetoed a measure in 2022 that would have expanded abortion access in the state. When the legislature overrode his veto, Hogan withheld state funding to train nonphysicians to perform abortions, funding that Gov. Wes Moore (D) released on his first day in office in 2023.

    “So now we see Larry Hogan bobbing and weaving. Zigging and zagging. Flipping and flopping,” Van Hollen said. “And as we watch this, we know one thing’s for sure: Marylanders just cannot trust Larry Hogan with this one.”

    Hogan’s campaign — which released a video Monday criticizing Alsobrooks’ record on crime as county executive — pushed back on the characterization that he has “flipped” on supporting Roe v. Wade.

    “Governor Hogan protected choice in Maryland for eight years as Governor, funding access to abortion in the budget every year and being the first governor in America to provide over-the-counter birth control paid for by Medicaid,” according to an email from the campaign. “In the Senate, Governor Hogan will work to reinstate Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.”

    Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X.

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  • Primaries in Maryland and West Virginia will shape the battle this fall for a Senate majority

    Primaries in Maryland and West Virginia will shape the battle this fall for a Senate majority

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    ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Voters across Maryland and West Virginia will decide key primary elections Tuesday with big implications in the fight for the Senate majority this fall.

    At the same time, Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump hope to project strength in low-stakes presidential primaries, while further down the ballot, two congressional candidates on opposite sides of the 2021 Capitol attack serve as a stark reminder that the nation remains deeply divided over the deadly insurrection.

    In all, three states are hosting statewide primary elections on Tuesday — Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia — as Republicans and Democrats pick their nominees for a slate of fall elections. None are more consequential than Senate primaries in Maryland and West Virginia, where Republicans are eying pickup opportunities that could flip control of Congress’ upper chamber for at least two years.

    A TRUMP CRITIC VIES FOR MARYLAND’S GOP NOMINATION

    In Maryland, Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan expects to dominate the state’s GOP Senate primary despite his years-long criticism of Trump, whom Hogan describes as a threat to democracy. The former two-term governor would be the blue state’s first Republican senator in more than four decades.

    It’s unclear whether Trump loyalists will ultimately embrace Hogan. In all, six other Republicans are challenging the 67-year-old former governor.

    In a message to supporters before polls closed, Hogan avoided any mention of Trump as he cast himself as the underdog in the fall election should he claim the GOP nomination on Tuesday.

    “I’m in this Senate race because I am sick and tired of the division, partisan bickering, and inaction of many of our politicians in Washington today,” Hogan wrote. “I CANNOT stand by and watch the dysfunction continue without doing everything in my power to fix the broken politics.”

    On the Democratic side, Rep. David Trone has been locked in a contentious — and expensive — battle with Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

    Trone, the co-founder of the Total Wine & More national liquor store chain, has put more than $61 million of his own money into the race. That’s just shy of the national record for self-funding a Senate campaign, with much of it going to a months-long TV ad blitz. The three-term congressman says he’s better positioned to beat Hogan in November as a progressive Democrat not beholden to special interests.

    Race has been an issue in the primary, with Alsobrooks working to become Maryland’s first Black U.S. senator. Trone apologized in March for what he said was the inadvertent use of a racial slur during a budget hearing.

    Alsobrooks, who serves as chief executive of Maryland’s second-largest jurisdiction with the state’s largest number of registered Democrats, has been endorsed by many of the state’s top officials, including Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Rep. Steny Hoyer and a long list of state lawmakers.

    She has campaigned on growing economic opportunity, investing in education and protecting abortion rights.

    THE WEST VIRGINIA BATTLE TO REPLACE MANCHIN

    Meanwhile, in West Virginia, the Republican Senate primary is likely to decide retiring Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s replacement given the state’s overwhelming Republican tilt.

    Republican Gov. Jim Justice and U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney are the leading GOP candidates. With Manchin gone, the seat is almost guaranteed to turn red come November.

    The Trump-endorsed Justice, a former billionaire with a folksy personality that’s made him wildly popular in the state, is the front-runner against Mooney and five other lesser-known Republicans. A former Democrat, Justice switched to the Republican Party in 2017. He announced the change at a Trump rally.

    Mooney has tried to win over conservatives by labeling Justice a “RINO” — which stands for “Republican in name only” — who would support Democratic policies. Justice did support Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law, saying West Virginia couldn’t afford to turn away the money offered in the bill. Mooney voted against it.

    On the other side, Democrats are choosing between Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, who has Manchin’s endorsement, and Marine Corps veteran Zach Shrewsbury, who has support from the Progressive Democrats of America. Also in the Democratic primary: former Republican Don Blankenship, who was convicted of violating safety standards after 29 people died in a 2010 coal mine explosion.

    West Virginia is also deciding its candidates for governor.

    Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the Republican nominee in the 2018 Senate race against Manchin, is running for the Republican nomination. He’s up against the sons of two members of West Virginia’s congressional delegation: car dealer Chris Miller, whose mother is Rep. Carol Miller, and former state Rep. Moore Capito, whose mother is Sen. Shelley Moore Capito. West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner is also in the GOP race.

    On the Democratic side, Huntington Mayor Steve Williams is unopposed.

    TESTS OF STRENGTH IN THE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY

    There’s far less drama in Tuesday’s presidential primaries.

    Biden and Trump have already amassed enough delegates to claim the presidential nominations at their respective national conventions this summer. Yet voters on both sides hope to register a significant protest vote Tuesday that will demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the Biden-Trump rematch.

    Maryland progressives especially unhappy with the Biden administration’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas are encouraging voters to select “uncommitted to any presidential candidate” instead of Biden. There is no uncommitted option in West Virginia or Nebraska.

    Everett Bellamy, a Democrat who voted early in Annapolis, said he voted “uncommitted” instead of Biden as a protest against the killing of women and children and noncombatants in Gaza.

    “I’ve got to make a decision come November, but for now while the violence is raging in Gaza and people are being killed every day and starving to death, I wanted to send a message,” Bellamy, 74, said after leaving an early voting center. “Hopefully, I have a better choice come November.”

    Meanwhile, Trump’s Republican critics cannot choose “uncommitted,” but they can choose his former GOP rival Nikki Haley, who will appear on the ballot in Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia despite formally suspending her campaign more than two months ago. Last week in Indiana, Haley earned nearly 22% of the Republican primary vote.

    Trump has shrugged off his Republican critics, yet his weakness with the party’s moderate wing could threaten him in the general election.

    TWO SIDES OF THE INSURRECTION

    Tuesday’s elections also include two candidates who were intimately involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

    In West Virginia, a former member of the House of Delegates, Derrick Evans, is running for the Republican nomination in the 1st Congressional District. The 39-year-old Trump loyalist served a three-month jail sentence after livestreaming himself participating in the storming of the U.S. Capitol. He calls himself the only elected official who “had the courage” to stand behind efforts to temporarily halt certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory.

    Evans is trying to oust incumbent Republican Rep. Carol Miller.

    In Maryland, former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn is among nearly two dozen Democrats running in the state’s 3rd Congressional District. The 40-year-old Democrat was in the Capitol working to repel the violent mob on Jan. 6.

    Also on Tuesday, in North Carolina, voters will finalize their pick in what has become a one-person Republican primary in the state’s 13th Congressional District. Trump endorsed Brad Knott this month, leading his opponent to suspend her campaign.

    ___

    This story has deleted an incorrect reference to a California election being Tuesday. The California election is next week.

    ___

    Willingham reported from Charleston, West Virginia. Peoples reported from Washington.

    ___

    Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

    Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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    Brian Witte, Leah Willingham And Steve Peoples, Associated Press

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  • Updated criteria for new FBI headquarters announced, boosting Maryland locations

    Updated criteria for new FBI headquarters announced, boosting Maryland locations

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    ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The General Services Administration announced changes in criteria for choosing a location for a new FBI headquarters on Friday, boosting two potential places in Maryland, which has been competing with Virginia for the bureau’s new home.

    The new criteria give more weight to cost and social equity concerns than proximity to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

    Maryland officials, including Gov. Wes Moore, were encouraged that the announcement “corrects the flawed approach released in September that ignored taxpayer costs and the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to equity,” they said in a statement.

    Police in Maryland say five people leaving a cemetery after a funeral were wounded by gunfire after someone shot into their car from another vehicle.

    A drill rig for a geothermal heat pump sits outside a home in White Plains, N.Y., Monday, May 8, 2023. A water-filled loop installed several hundred feet deep in your yard is used to either carry heat away from or into the house, depending on the season. Industry experts see the technology becoming increasingly popular in the coming years. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

    More than one third of all U.S. energy consumption, and thus a significant source of climate change, is from heating and cooling homes and buildings.

    Patrick Moran, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Maryland Council 3, speaks to the Maryland Board of Public Works before the panel approved a $13 million settlement, Wednesday, July 5, 2023, in Annapolis, Md., to resolve claims of unpaid wages due to the changing of timecards at the state's corrections department. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

    A Maryland board has approved a settlement of more than $13 million to resolve claims of unpaid wages due to the changing of timecards at the state’s corrections department, after an investigation by the U.S.

    Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, center, talks to Treasurer Dereck Davis during a meeting of the Board of Public Works, which approved $2.9 million in compensation, Wednesday, July 5, 2023 in Annapolis, Md., for John Huffington, who was wrongly imprisoned for 32 years, including a decade spent on death row, for two murders he did not commit. Comptroller Brooke Lierman, who is a board member with Moore and Davis, is seated right. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

    A Maryland board has approved $2.9 million in compensation for a man who was wrongly imprisoned for 32 years for two killings he did not commit.

    “Today’s revised guidelines are a critical step in the right direction,” said Maryland officials, including Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen. “This update is in line with the language we secured in last year’s omnibus funding bill that both delegations supported.”

    Maryland officials, including Rep. Steny Hoyer and six other members of the state’s congressional delegation, remain confident that two locations in Maryland, either Greenbelt or Landover in the suburbs of the nation’s capital, “provide the best operational and cost-effective options for the new, consolidated FBI Headquarters,” they said.

    “These sites meet and exceed the criteria laid out by GSA,” the officials said. “They are shovel-ready with exceptional access to transportation and will spur greater equity and opportunity, in line with the Biden-Harris Administration’s executive orders. We will continue working with GSA to ensure these factors are taken into consideration.”

    Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner expressed concern about the changes in a joint statement of their own.

    “The GSA didn’t pluck its initial criteria out of thin air — it spent years talking to experts and carefully deliberating on what is best for the mission of the FBI,” the senators said. “While we are concerned that these changes to the criteria will further delay what has already been a drawn-out, decade-long process to select a new site to replace the dilapidated headquarters downtown, we remain confident that Virginia continues to be a home run in every category, and encourage the GSA to draw this process to a close sooner rather than later.”

    The General Services Administration announced it had reduced the significance of the new headquarters being near other FBI facilities to 25% from 35%. It also increased cost and social equity to 20% each.

    Nina Albert, the administration’s commissioner of the Public Buildings Service, said consultations with the two state’s delegations “provided valuable feedback, and helped us refine our plan to maximize the value for the FBI and the public.”

    “While the core elements of the site selection plan remain the same, we have updated the plan to incorporate new government-wide directives and to increase the consideration of cost to deliver better value for taxpayers,” Albert said in a statement. “We believe these adjustments will support a process that results in a site that best serves the FBI and the public for years to come.”

    The General Services Administration said the three sites under review — Greenbelt and Landover in Maryland, and Springfield, Virginia — were selected in 2014 by the administration because they all met the baseline requirements of the FBI, including being able to accommodate the size of a new headquarters facility and meet the federal government’s unique security requirements.

    The administration anticipates making a site selection in the coming months, it said in a statement.

    Plans to replace the FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C., built in 1974, have been under discussion for 15 years. Momentum to pick a new site stalled during Donald Trump’s presidency, when plans to move the headquarters to the suburbs were scrapped in favor of a proposal to rebuild at the existing site.

    Roughly 7,500 jobs are tied to the new facility, budget documents estimate.

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  • Dem Points Out The ‘Farce’ Of Republicans’ Demands Amid Debt Ceiling Talks

    Dem Points Out The ‘Farce’ Of Republicans’ Demands Amid Debt Ceiling Talks

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    Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) went after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Republicans on Sunday for “saying that they are going to … blow up our economy” if their demands aren’t met amid debt ceiling talks.

    President Joe Biden and McCarthy look to meet again on Monday as GOP lawmakers seek significant spending cuts in exchange for a lift of the debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned the country could default on its obligations as soon as June 1 if action is not taken.

    In an interview with ABC’s “This Week” anchor Martha Raddatz, Van Hollen said Republicans “won’t accept one penny” in deficit reduction from closing tax loopholes before pointing to moves under former President Donald Trump’s administration.

    “The farce of this whole thing is that, under Donald Trump, we raised the debt ceiling three times. Forty percent of our national debt actually was accumulated during the four years of the Trump administration,” said Van Hollen, who revealed he was “extremely worried” where negotiations were.

    “And now they’re not willing to talk about any revenue from very wealthy people as part of this effort,” he added.

    Van Hollen referred to the talks as an “insane situation” and declared that a default would destroy the American economy.

    “What we have right now is Speaker McCarthy and MAGA House Republicans saying that they are going to push the default detonator and blow up our economy if they don’t get their way on their budget proposals,” he said.

    He later added: “Republicans are saying if they don’t get things their way, they’re going to blow up the economy.”

    Van Hollen emphasized what he called “a really important difference” between Democrats and Republicans: Democrats, along with Biden, aren’t threatening to annihilate the economy if they don’t get their way.

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  • Key Senate Dems want Supreme Court funding tied to an ethics code for justices | CNN Politics

    Key Senate Dems want Supreme Court funding tied to an ethics code for justices | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Key Senate Democrats are calling for next year’s funding for the Supreme Court to be conditioned on the creation of an ethics code for the justices.

    Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat who leads the appropriations subcommittee charged with writing the annual funding bill for the judiciary, has expressed support for the idea, but doing so will ultimately need the backing of GOP lawmakers, and the top Republican on the subcommittee is signaling opposition to the proposal.

    Van Hollen is weighing in as 15 other members of the Democratic caucus – including Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary subcommittee that oversees the federal bench – are proposing language to be attached to next year’s funding bill that would require the Supreme Court to adopt more transparent processes for recusals and for investigating ethics allegations lodged against the justices.

    They did so in a new letter, obtained by CNN, to Van Hollen and Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty, who is the top Republican on the appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the judiciary.

    “It is unacceptable that the Supreme Court has exempted itself from the accountability that applies to all other members of our federal courts, and I believe Congress should act to remedy this problem,” Van Hollen said in a statement shared with CNN Monday. His comments were first reported by The Washington Post.

    Democrats’ interest in leveraging the funding Congress appropriates to the high court is the latest volley in the debate over whether a stronger code of conduct is needed at the Supreme Court, which is not beholden to many of the ethics procedures imposed on lower court judges.

    Van Hollen noted that including an ethics code requirement in the annual appropriations bill will require bipartisan support given the current make-up of Congress, but said he didn’t “see any reason why ensuring that the Supreme Court establish a code of ethics should be a partisan issue.”

    A spokesperson for Hagerty said that an ethics code is a “policy question that is separate from the funding levels for Supreme Court operations and security.”

    “Moreover, Senator Hagerty strongly believes in preserving the independence of the Judicial Branch from political interference intended to force the Court to change its rulings or policies,” the spokesperson said in a statement Monday evening. “Threats to hold the personal security of the justices and their families hostage in exchange for favored policies are no different from court-packing proposals or protests outside the homes of Justices.”

    Some Republicans in the House have indicated openness in the past to pushing for an ethics code for the justices, but congressional GOP leaders have defended conservative justices in the face of claims that they had run afoul of ethical norms.

    The new letter from the Democrats pointed to recent reports that have raised questions about potential conflicts-of-interests issues with the political activities of Justice Clarence Thomas’ spouse, and about an alleged well-financed, secret campaign seeking to influence the high court’s conservatives.

    “The Supreme Court has the tools and authority it needs to develop and implement these changes, including adopting a code of conduct, creating fairer and more transparent recusal rules, and setting up procedures – based on longstanding procedures in the lower courts – to receive and investigate complaints of judicial misconduct,” the letter said. “The only obstacle keeping the Court from adopting these reforms is the Court’s own unwillingness to see them through.”

    They argued that the annual funding bill should withhold $10 million of the Supreme Court’s funding unless the justices adopted an ethics code. The Supreme Court is asking for nearly $151 million in the coming appropriations process for 2024.

    The ethics language the new letter is proposing for the annual appropriations legislation would create more concrete standards for when a justice must disqualify him or herself from a case, as well as a system “for receiving and investigating complaints alleging violations of such public code of ethics or other misconduct by justices of the Court.”

    Currently, justices decide for themselves whether they must recuse themselves from a case. It is unclear what procedures, if any, the Supreme Court uses to review ethics allegations brought against the justices.

    In the past, Chief Justice John Roberts has written that the justices have taken the steps necessary to maintain transparency and the public’s trust.

    “I have complete confidence in the capability of my colleagues to determine when recusal is warranted,” he wrote in a 2011 year-end report. His 2021 report stressed the need for the judicial branch to have “institutional independence,” while implying that the federal bench could be trusted to police itself without the interference of Congress.

    With the Democrats’ new letter to the appropriators, the senators countered that “Congress has broad authority to compel the Supreme Court to institute these reforms, which would join other requirements already legislatively mandated.”

    “And Congress’s appropriations power is one tool for achieving these changes,” the Democrats’ letter said, while citing DC Circuit cases where judges – including Republican appointees – asserted that Congress could use the power of the purse to pressure the Executive Branch to make certain changes.

    The Supreme Court’s press office did not immediately respond to CNN’s inquiry about the funding bill proposal.

    This story has been updated with additional information.

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