A man approached Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar and sprayed her with a liquid from a syringe at a town hall in Minneapolis on Tuesday night. Police say 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak was booked for third-degree assault. CBS News justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane has the latest.
Rep. Maxwell Frost said Saturday that he was assaulted at the Sundance Film Festival, linking to a news article describing a hate crime at a party for the film festival.
“Last night, I was assaulted by a man at Sundance Festival who told me that Trump was going to deport me before he punched me in the face,” Frost posted on social media. “He was heard screaming racist remarks as he drunkenly ran off. The individual was arrested and I am okay.”
Frost, a Florida Democrat, linked to a Variety story about the alleged incident, which said a party crasher allegedly “punched a person of color in the face” after telling people in the restroom that he is proud to be “white.”
Security then intervened and detained the man, according to Variety.
The Park City police department did respond to CBS News’s request for comment.
Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries posted on social media on Saturday that he was “horrified by the attack” and he was “appalled that this terrifying assault took place.”
“The perpetrator must be aggressively prosecuted,” Jeffries wrote. “Hate and political violence has no place in our country, and the entire House Democratic Caucus family stands with Maxwell.”
The Sundance Film Festival, which began on Jan. 22 and runs through Feb. 1, is being held in Park City, Utah, for the final time, with next year’s festival set to be held in Boulder, Colorado.
MadSoul Music and Arts Festival is coming back to Orlando in December, and a first glimpse at the band and speaker lineup has been unveiled.
From the mind of Orlando-area Rep. Maxwell Frost, the festival marries live music with civic engagement and political advocacy. It started when Frost first launched the event with friends Niyah Lowell and Chris Muriel in 2015, and has since grown to host thousands of attendees, big-name headlining acts, and guest speakers like Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, songwriter-actor-playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, the band MUNA and Phoebe Bridgers and more.
This year’s lineup boasts music and entertainment from Aly & AJ, Magdalena Bay, Cuco (spinning a cumbia DJ set), Jay Safari, Raspberry Pie, The Pheromones, Mirror Parts, and the Renaissance Theatre Co. Speakers will include Rep. Frost, Rep. Anna Eskamani, Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis, founder of Change the Ref Manuel Oliver, the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Andrea Montanez and more.
The event will take over Orlando’s Central Florida Fairgrounds Saturday, Dec. 6, from 3 to 10 p.m. Tickets are available on a sliding scale from free to $100, and a portion of the event proceeds will support immigrant rights organizations and legal aid services.
Attendees can register to vote on site, update voter registration and mingle with various advocacy groups.
Last year’s event, held in spring 2024, hosted more than 3,500 attendees and donated $40,000 to organizations related to reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ equality and voter registration.
The confirmed speakers include:
U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley
U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez
Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones
Florida State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith
Florida State Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis
Florida State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani
Orange County Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad
SEIU President April Verrett
Anderson Clayton, Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party
Manuel Oliver, father of Joaquin “Guac” Oliver and Founder of Change the Ref
Andrea Montanez, National LGBTQ Task Force
Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, candidate for Florida House District 42
U.S. House Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) advocates for the extension of subsidies to make healthcare more affordable. (Nov. 3, 2025) Credit: McKenna Schueler
After seven weeks of a federal government shutdown that has led to flight cancellations and delays in food assistance to families, the U.S. Senate approved a funding agreement Monday that could reopen the government if approved by the House and signed into law by President Trump.
Democratic U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost of Orlando, however, sharply rebuked the controversial deal for offering “empty promises.”
“This funding fight was supposed to be about addressing the urgency of rising health care costs for 20 million Americans brought on by this administration’s failed policies and Republican inaction. Instead, the Senate gave up in exchange for an empty promise for a vote on extending current health care subsidies, ” Frost said in a statement, echoing the concerns of other Democrats who have described the deal as “lousy” and “complete BS.”
“Americans don’t need empty promises,” Frost added. “They need to be able to afford their health care premiums.”
Seven Democrats and one independent U.S. Senator joined Republicans (including Florida’s two U.S. Senators) in voting 60-40 to approve the funding agreement Monday, which would effectively reopen the federal government. Just one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against the deal, according to the Washington Post. It’s expected to head to the U.S House for a vote later this week.
Rep. Frost, a progressive Democrat from Orlando, says he’s a firm “no” on the deal, noting it fails to directly address the expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits at the end of the year. The expiration of the COVID-era tax credits could cause the monthly healthcare premiums of roughly 22 million Americans, including nearly 200,000 people in Frost’s district, to more than double. Locals who rely on their health insurance for life-saving medication are already sounding the alarm.
“This deal fails our communities who elected us to stand up for them, but the fight isn’t over,” Frost shared Monday. “I believe that in the richest country on the face of the Earth, families deserve to get the care they need when they need it — and I will fight like hell to make that a reality,” he said.
The sort-of bipartisan deal reached between U.S. senators over the weekend offers no guaranteed extension of the enhanced ACA tax subsidies, which have helped make healthcare more affordable for millions of low- and middle-income Americans who don’t receive health insurance through an employer, including small business owners and the self-employed.
The deal approved Monday would reverse the layoffs of thousands of federal workers during the early days of the shutdown, fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through September, and offer stopgap funding for most of the federal government’s operations through Jan. 30, according to the Post.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has also reportedly promised a vote by mid-December on whether to extend the ACA tax subsidies. But that promise falls short of the guaranteed extension that Democrats have been holding the line for over the last 42 days.
“People need healthcare, damn it,” U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) told Axios. “Not some lame promise about a mythical future vote.”
The shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history. It’s left hundreds of thousands of federal employees either furloughed or working without pay, including TSA officers and air traffic controllers who are considered essential to government operations.
The air traffic control system already faced a staffing shortage of roughly 3,000 controllers prior to the government shutdown. Now, the lack of pay afforded to controllers working 10-hour shifts during the shutdown has caused even greater staffing shortages, leading to flight delays and cancellations at airports across the U.S., including Orlando International Airport.
“For decades, air traffic controllers have held the line through staffing shortages, outdated equipment, hiring freezes, terrorist attacks on September 11th, pandemics and every crisis that this country has lived through,” said Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, a union that represents nearly 20,000 aviation safety professionals.
“They have kept their focus, their composure and their commitment to safety, but now they must focus on childcare instead of traffic flows, food for their families instead of runway separation,” Daniels noted during a press conference Monday. “This is not politics,” he added. “This is not ideology. This is the erosion of the safety margin the flying public never sees, but [that] America relies on every single day.”
This strain of the government shutdown on air travel, as Thanksgiving and the winter holidays approach, has added significant pressure to Congress to reach a deal to reopen the government. So has the unprecedented delay of SNAP benefits that help 42 million Americans, including nearly three million Floridians, buy groceries for themselves and their families.
Although the Trump administration has said they have the money to fund SNAP for November, the administration has appealed court orders to do so, agreeing only to fund partial benefits.
“The record here shows that the government sat on its hands for nearly a month, unprepared to make partial payments, while people who rely on SNAP received no benefits a week into November and counting,” an appeals court said Sunday.
The seven Democrats who caved and joined Republicans in voting through the funding agreement Monday are all years away from re-election. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (who voted against the deal, despite playing a key role in negotiations) is consequently facing calls to resign from some fellow Democrats and progressive groups like MoveOn and Our Revolution over his handling of the shutdown.
“Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?” progressive Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) wrote in a post on X.
The Florida Democratic Party also blasted the Senate’s funding deal, opting to blame Republicans rather than any of the Democrats (or Schumer) who were complicit in its passage.
“A temporary deal to end the shutdown without healthcare is not a real solution,” said FDP chair Nikki Fried in a statement.
“Republicans have once again betrayed the American people,” she argued. “This deal will force millions of Americans to choose between medicine or groceries. It doesn’t have to be this way. A deal without health care is unacceptable — plain and simple.”
Nathan Boye, a father of three from Orlando, doesn’t usually like being in the spotlight. “But I’ve been told my story matters,” he told reporters at a press conference Monday. See, Boye is currently enrolled in a health insurance plan he bought through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, like roughly 4.7 million others in Florida and upward of 24 million Americans nationwide.
It’s more affordable for him than employer-provided insurance, currently costing just $28 a month. As someone living with diabetes, a chronic and potentially life-threatening illness, Boye relies on health insurance that’s affordable in order to maintain access to the medications he needs to stay alive. “To be blunt,” he explained, with a shrug.
But that could change very soon, if the ACA tax credits that are currently at the center of a federal funding showdown expire at the end of the year. Boye showed reporters a letter he received from his insurance provider Florida Blue over the weekend, warning him of upcoming changes to his health plan.
If he keeps the same health plan that he currently pays $28 per month for, in a couple of months’ time, his monthly premium could skyrocket to more than $700, according to the letter. “I’m going to be forced to make impossible choices that, I mean, essentially means that I could survive another day,” said Boye. “No family should have to face that.”
Nathan Boye, a father of three with diabetes, speaks at a press conference organized by Congressman Maxwell Frost on expiring ACA tax credits and the government shutdown. (Nov. 3, 2025) Credit: McKenna Schueler
Boye spoke at a press conference organized by U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost, a Democrat from Orlando, who has for weeks called on U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to summon House members back to Washington, D.C., so they can negotiate a funding agreement on healthcare like adults.
“We can even step away from the policy disagreement or agreement, just talk about the fact that Congress has been out of session for over 40 days. … We don’t even have to talk about blame,” said Frost, referring to the consistent finger-pointing that has taken place between Republicans and Democrats.
Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has argued it’s in Senate Democrats’ hands to reach a deal on federal funding and allow the government to reopen. Frost believes that line of thinking “makes zero sense.”
“Mike Johnson says the House of Representatives will not go to work until the government opens. The government will not open unless we go to work to open up the government,” Frost said. “I mean, it makes absolutely zero sense.” His far-right colleague, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, has similarly called Johnson’s failure to bring them back to work “embarrassing.”
“I have no problem pointing fingers at everyone. And the worst thing that I, that I just can’t get over, is we’re not working right now. And I put that criticism directly on the speaker of the House,” Greene said during an appearance on ABC News program The View.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan think tank, an estimated 93 percent of Americans who buy insurance through the ACA marketplace — roughly 22 million — currently benefit from these enhanced tax credits that are set to expire at the end of 2025.
Without those tax credits, health insurance costs for ACA plans (also known as Obamacare) are expected to go up hundreds or even thousands of dollars for low- and middle-income earners per year, just in premiums alone. The Orlando Sentinelreported over the weekend that locals like Boye are already getting “sticker shock” from health insurance renewal letters they’re receiving in the mail.
Eric Rollings, another Orlando local who’s self-employed (and the former chair of the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District board), told reporters Monday that he faces a roughly 113 percent healthcare premium hike to his Florida Blue health plan — from $581.25 per month to $1,238.97 per month come Jan. 1. “Just six weeks ago, I joined 1.2 million people who have received a heart stent in the past year. I don’t have an option to go without insurance,” he said.
The medication his doctor prescribes for him, a common medication for those who have gone through a heart stent procedure, is “essential,” but costs over $2,600 a month for a 180-day supply without insurance.
“I think that this is a really insane and hurtful increase,” Rollings admitted. “And for me, for my friends that own businesses and restaurants, I want to apologize in advance, because I’m probably not going to be able to see you, at least for the time being, because I don’t know where this is going.”
Eric Rollings, a constituent of Congressman Maxwell Frost, faces a 113% healthcare premium spike next year if ACA tax credits expire. Credit: McKenna Schueler
The federal government shutdown that has highlighted this sharp rise in healthcare premiums began Oct. 1 and is on its way to becoming the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The ACA enhanced tax credits at stake were first established in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and reportedly spurred a significant increase in the number of people enrolled in health insurance.
Healthcare advocates have warned that, if the tax credits do expire, an estimated 4 to 5 million Americans will lose coverage in 2026, due to unaffordability. Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” enacted in July, already started “the destruction of our healthcare system,” Frost shared, referring to the millions of Americans who are expected to lose their Medicaid coverage over the next decade, plus the legislation’s anticipated impacts on nursing homes, hospitals and community health centers.
Rising health insurance costs also come amid an ongoing affordability crisis, said State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, who also joined Frost’s press conference.
“These [ACA] subsidies have been a lifeline to these families,” said Smith. He also renewed Florida Democrats’ call for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to tap into emergency state funding to provide food assistance for Florida’s nearly 3 million SNAP recipients.
Benefits for the federal Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, sometimes called “food stamps,” have been frozen this month as the USDA claims that funding for the program has run out.
And while the Trump administration has been ordered by a federal judge to tap into its own contingency funds to fund SNAP during the government shutdown, the administration has only agreed to pay up to 50 percent of benefits for households, and it’s still unclear when that will actually trickle down to Florida’s recipients.
“Under state law, [DeSantis] can declare a state of emergency on food insecurity, and he can tap into the nearly $5 billion of our state’s rainy day fund to temporarily cover the cost of SNAP benefits that are not currently available,” Smith said. DeSantis has renewed a state of emergency on immigration over a dozen times, and Smith said the governor should recognize the same urgency here, too.
“When he renewed that state — so-called ‘state of emergency’ — he tapped into over $300 million in public money to build the Everglades detention camp that they called Alligator Alcatraz,” Smith pointed out. “Why can’t he declare a state of emergency on food insecurity to make sure that children across the state of Florida are fed?” He asked. “It is about priorities.”
DeSantis has rejected Democrats’ calls to declare a state of emergency over the issue. However, on Monday, DeSantis did vaguely commit to mobilizing the state agriculture department to assist in food aid, without providing specifics on how that would work.
Florida Democrats on Tuesday, meanwhile, renewed their call for the Republican governor, pointing to the recent action taken by the Trump administration to commit half.
“Now that the courts have ordered Washington to pay half of SNAP benefits, the governor has even less of an excuse to ignore our calls for a State of Emergency on food insecurity,” said Senate Democratic leader Lori Berman in a statement.
“Ron DeSantis has always been more concerned with what’s going on in Washington than how he can help the people of Florida,” she added. “He should join us in being more worried about what he can actually control — keeping Florida’s families fed. Now he can do it at half the price.”
Florida has more to lose than any other state if Congress doesn’t extend enhanced premium tax credits for so-called Obamacare coverage.
That was the message a trio of Democratic members of Congress delivered Tuesday on Day 14 of the government shutdown. At the center of the shutdown is a partisan battle over extending the tax credits to lower the costs of health care coverage.
The credits expire at the end of the year. Democrats are holding up government funding to pressure Republicans into extending them. While Republicans have said they are open to talks, they insist Democrats vote to continue government operations until late November.
“If Trump and Republicans continue to refuse to negotiate our way out of this health care coverage crisis, it’s going to be absolutely brutal, disproportionately for Florida,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Weston.
Florida leads the nation in the number of people who purchase insurance through the federal exchange (healthcare.gov), which was established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), sometimes called Obamacare.
U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data from March show that of the 4.7 million Florida residents with an Obamacare plan in 2025, 4.6 million receive the tax credits.
Obamacare enrollment for 2026, meanwhile, is set to begin next month.
“If these credits expire, millions of people will — and thousands of people that we represent, really, hundreds of thousands — will face double, triple, or quadruple price hikes in their [health insurance] premiums. That’s not exaggeration or hyperbole. We’ve seen the notices,” said Wasserman Schultz, whose district includes 209,000 Obamacare enrollees, 203,000 of whom receive the tax credits.
“We’ve talked to insurance companies and we know that that’s what’s coming,” she added. “And you all know what that really means. Families will be forced to drop coverage, chronic diseases will go undiagnosed, ERs will be flooded.”
Joining Wasserman Schultz in a Zoom meeting were U.S. Reps. Darren Soto and Maxwell Frost, who said the loss of the enhanced premiums plus Florida’s decision to not expand Medicaid to low-income childless adults will prove devastating.
Soto said his congressional district has the second highest Obamacare enrollment (271,000) in the nation.
“And there’s a good reason for that. We have a lot of folks working for small businesses. We have a lot of folks who are independent contractors, and they don’t have access to affordable, employer-based health care, so they’ve gone on the exchange, and the fact that Florida didn’t expand Medicaid only made it more desperate for folks to have to use the ACA exchange,” Soto said.
He added: “Remember when Donald Trump ran on lowering costs? Well, now he’s running away from lowering costs with this key negotiation.”
Advanced premium tax credits have been available since passage of the Affordable Care Act. During COVID, Congress agreed to make the premium tax credits more generous. Those enhanced credits lower out-of-pocket costs for the coverage and allow people who earn more money to qualify for the subsidies.
Only Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas (all of which have lower Obamacare enrollment) have lower average monthly premiums.
While the battle over the tax credits has been partisan, conservatives including Associated Industries of Florida President and CEO Brewster Bevis, Florida Hospital Association President and CEO Mary Mayhew, President and CEO of Florida Association of Community Health Centers Jonathan Chapman, and President and CEO of the Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Julio Fuentes aligned under the Florida Conservatives for Affordable Health Care moniker and came out in support of their continuation over the summer.
“I have been around this debate over health care coverage for decades and, while the politics of the ACA have been heated over the years, there should be a unified political voice in support of the federal marketplace and the premiums assistance in Florida,” Mayhew said during a press conference this summer.
U.S. Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody both oppose extending the tax credits. Moody’s position could hurt her election bid next year, a public opinion survey conducted by the Tyson Group shows.
Scott, the multimillionaire former health care executive who launched his political career opposing Obamacare, doubled down on his opposition to the longstanding federal health care law last week on Fox News’ The Sunday Briefing.
‘Heartbreaking’
For his part, Frost said the argument is an extension of the battle this summer over the GOP’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and that he was “proud” that Democrats are “standing strong” on the issue.
“We are the party of the working class, we’re the party of working people, and we don’t want people’s health care costs to go up anywhere from 50% to 300%. We don’t want millions of people in this country losing their health care, because we believe health care is a human right for every single person in this country, and that’s what we’re fighting for,” he said.
Frost said his office has asked constituents to share videos of themselves talking about the looming health insurance premium increases they face. His office, he said, has been posting them online.
One “heartbreaking” story he described involved a woman who said her monthly premiums were about to double.
“She’s having to cut from her grocery trips. She had to cancel a trip to go see her parents that she hasn’t seen in a long, long time. And a lot of people are considering having to change their housing situation because the rent is too damn high,” Frost said.
“We have to remember that Donald Trump is throwing us into this healthcare crisis while he’s also thrown us into a grocery store crisis, while he’s also thrown us into a housing crisis, even worse than it ever was before. Everything is so much more expensive.”
With wages stagnant and costs of living increasing, Frost said, “working people just need a break, and taking away their health care — it’s one of the most inhumane things a person can do.”
Silence
Meanwhile, state political leaders to date have been silent on the issue.
The three Democrats were critical of Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworski and Gov. Ron DeSantis for not warning state residents about the increases.
“Absolutely,” Soto said when asked whether the governor and insurance commissioner should be making people aware.
“They can’t hide these numbers. Obviously, people want to know, and they should know, and there’s a duty to tell them ahead of time.”
Frost said DeSantis and Yaworski are motivated by political considerations.
“The governor knows that in about a year, he’s going to become pretty irrelevant on the national stage, and he’s trying to find relevancy. He doesn’t want to rub Trump the wrong way. And so instead of looking out for Floridians and what’s best for the people he’s supposed to lead and represent, he’s going to keep his mouth shut and continue to play partisan games,” Frost said.
OIR presentation
Meanwhile, OIR Deputy Commissioner for Life and Health Alexis Bakofsy updated the House Health Health Care Facilities & Systems Subcommittee Tuesday afternoon, including news that a statewide average 34% increase in premiums will take effect Jan. 1.
An OIR slide presentation shows the state expects Obamacare enrollment to “drop significantly during 2026 Open Enrollment with the expiration of enhanced subsidies & Federal Rule implementation.” OIR has a demographic breakout but Bakofsy said she didn’t have the information available with her.
She did tell committee members that 95% of Obamacare enrollees live in a county with at least four carriers. Monroe County is the only area in the state with only one health insurer offering a Obamacare plan through the exchange, the result of Aetna exiting the market (in Florida and nationally.)
Bakofsy repeatedly said Florida consumers should shop, given the changes that are occurring.
“When I say ‘shop’ I mean understand how you’re going to be impacted both on the exchange but also what are your options off exchange. Every consumer is going to be different to the extent that we can provide you with resources so that they can go. I would hate for someone to come to Dec. 15 and realize that the plan that they had, the plan they want to keep, is no longer available.”
Bakofsy also told members that the OIR plans to collect data on enrollment and claims starting next year to ensure the office can effectively track participation in the market.
The OIR had not publicized the steep rate increases, a fact that Bakofsy acknowledged and which irked committee member and state Rep. Robin Bartleman, a Democrat from Weston.
Bartleman said many residents haven’t even received notice from insurance companies warning them of the rate increases (Florida law requires the notice to go out 45 day in advance. Bakofsy said that gives the carriers until mid-November to send the notices).
“So, what? What is your plan? Because everyone this committee, we’re going to be left holding that ball, and we had nothing to do with this. But you work for the state. You work for the governor. What are you going to do, because it’s not just low-income people or minority people. I can give you the numbers of every person in this community and how many people in your district aren’t going to be able to afford health care insurance. What can you do to help us, help Floridians get this information out?”
Democratic U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost joined federal employees, union representatives and local state representatives Thursday to highlight the impact of the ongoing U.S. government shutdown on Orlando’s federal workforce and what’s at stake if Republicans fail to preserve affordable healthcare costs for millions.
“At the end of this year, if Congress doesn’t do its job, we are going to see 25 million Americans have their healthcare costs go up anywhere from 50 to 300 percent,” Frost said at a Healthcare Over Billionaires rally, flanked by a couple dozen members of the public and federal employees.
“When the Speaker of the House [Mike Johnson, R-LA] was asked about this, he said healthcare is an ‘extraneous issue,’” Frost pointed out, criticizing the GOP leader as “out of touch.” Johnson recently accused Democrats’ effort to hold the line on healthcare in the current fight over government funding as “trying to grab a red herring.”
“Maybe for a billionaire like Donald Trump, a bump in your healthcare isn’t life-changing,” Frost conceded, taking a predictable swing at the Republican president. But for a working family, he said, “That’s a matter of medicine or food. … It’s a matter of life or death.”
The primary sticking point that led to the federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1 was a fight to preserve federal subsidies that have helped keep healthcare affordable for millions of Americans who purchase insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Those tax credits, first made available through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, are set to expire by the end of 2025 unless Congress extends them.
If the subsidies do expire, monthly healthcare premiums for those ACA marketplace plans could more than double, potentially costing low- and moderate-income earners hundreds or even thousands of dollars more per year. Frost estimates this could affect 200,000 people in his Orlando-area district alone.
KFF analysis of how changes to ACA tax credits could affect health plan enrollees. Credit:KFF
“Republicans have chosen to shut down this government because they don’t want to do anything about healthcare and because they want more room in the federal budget to give their billionaire donors and mega-corporations a tax break,” Frost said. “And it’s disgusting.”
Impact on the federal workforce
Also at stake amid the shutdown is reliable paychecks for more than 1 million federal government employees across the country. That group includes thousands of people in Central Florida who work for the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Homeland Security and other critical agencies.
“Every day that this shutdown continues, more families fall behind, more stress builds and more essential services are put at risk,” said Tatiana Finlay, a union representative for the American Federation of Government Employees Local 556, which represents TSA officers at Orlando International Airport.
“Federal workers don’t stop showing up,” she said, referring to federal workers who haven’t been furloughed. “But each day without pay chips away at the stability and dignity they earn.”
Amid the shutdown, many federal government employees are forced to either work without pay, or have already been furloughed (also without pay) until Congress reaches a funding agreement that will allow the government to reopen.
Federal employees have conventionally been guaranteed back pay once a government shutdown lifts, although a recent White House memo this week floated that, just maybe, they are not entitled to that after all.
Speaking at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 606’s union hall in Orlando Thursday, Finlay recalled the last federal government shutdown that occurred during Trump’s first term in the White House in 2018.
“I remember the last one — the silence in the break rooms, the fear of opening banking apps, the exhaustion of putting on a uniform knowing no paycheck was coming,” Finlay said. “I remember co-workers carpooling because they couldn’t afford gas, and officers holding back tears because they didn’t know how to feed their kids.”
“And yet we showed up,” said Finlay. “Because that’s what federal workers do. We serve this country even when it feels like the system is not serving us.”
The government shutdown, she added, “isn’t just about a missing paycheck,” but priorities.
“Federal workers don’t stop showing up, but each day without pay chips away at the stability and dignity they earn.”
The federal workforce has already taken a hit under the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, a novel (and controversial) initiative that ordered federal agencies to drastically reduce their workforce.
The White House on Friday also reportedly began moving forward with permanent layoffs of employees in various departments, including Homeland Security, as previously threatened by White House budget director and Project 2025 architect Russell Vought. The move has been slammed by the AFGE, the largest union of federal workers, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
“A budget is not just a financial document. It’s a statement of values,” said Finlay. “It tells workers, families and communities whether they matter.”
‘Kicking the most vulnerable to the curb’
State Reps. Anna Eskamani and Rita Harris, both Democrats, also joined Frost’s rally Thursday, highlighting the stakes of adequate government funding in a state that hasn’t expanded access to Medicaid (even though the federal government, not the state, would fund most of the expansion).
Florida is also expected to see more low-income Floridians kicked off social welfare programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) moving forward, as a result of eligibility changes made through Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law in July.
“We reviewed the changes here in Florida to Medicaid, to SNAP and to TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] because of the big, ugly bill, and we learned that more than 181,000 Floridians who currently have exemptions to the administrative burdens to access SNAP are no longer going to have those exemptions,” said Eskamani, who attended presentations on the topic during legislative committee meetings earlier this week.
“That includes our veterans, that includes foster youth, and it includes immigrants with legal status, including asylum seekers and refugees and victims of human trafficking,” she added.
“This comes from the party that says they care about veterans, they care about our survivors of human trafficking,” Eskamani said of the GOP. “They say they care about the most vulnerable, and here they are kicking the most vulnerable to the curb.”
Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, argue that Democrats are to blame for the government shutdown (although the majority of Americans disagree) and claim Democrats are being unreasonable in their demands.
“They’re trying to make this about health care. It’s not. It’s about keeping Congress operating so we can get to health care. We always were going to. They’re lying to you,” Republican House Speaker Johnson told reporters on Thursday. “The health care issues were always going to be something discussed and deliberated and contemplated and debated in October and November.”
Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried, however — who made a surprise visit to Frost’s rally Thursday night — argued that Democrats don’t trust Republicans will meaningfully return to the issue for negotiation. And they want to settle this now, not later.
“We stand firm with our family members, and we’re asking Republicans to do their damn jobs,” Fried said.
Missed the second half of the show? The latest on…Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida has signed a letter urging Congress to return from recess to replenish relief funds, telling “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that although FEMA currently has enough funding, “why would we leave it up to chance” for the remainder of the hurricane season, and The latest CBS News poll shows that Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are effectively even in all of the battleground states likely to determine the presidential election. CBS News Director of Elections and Surveys Anthony Salvanto joins “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” to break down the poll the latest CBS News poll shows that Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are effectively even in all of the battleground states likely to determine the presidential election. CBS News Director of Elections and Surveys Anthony Salvanto joins “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” to break down the poll.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Florida’s entire Democratic U.S. House delegation, including local Congressmen Maxwell Frost (D-10) and Darren Soto (D-9), have voiced support for Brightline workers’ right to organize, following allegations from the Transport Workers Union of union-busting behavior by the rail company.
“Since 1926, the Railway Labor Act has protected rail workers and their right to form a union and collective bargain — a core principle we all unequivocally support,” the U.S. House delegation of eight Congressional members, led by U.S. House Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, shared in a statement. “With the news of employees working onboard Brightline trains from Miami to Orlando seeking to organize with the Transport Workers Union (TWU), we reaffirm and publicly support the right and ability to organize with the National Mediation Board as intended under the Railway Labor Act.”
Democratic Members of the Florida delegation support Brightline employees’ right to organize. Read our statement: pic.twitter.com/srqxEXZE36
The statement, pretty uncontroversial on its face, comes shortly after TWU president John Samuelsen sent a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg this month, urging him to direct the DOT to deny additional federal funds to Brightline and to investigate the for-profit passenger train’s “compliance with its obligations” under previously-awarded grants.
“Faced with workers’ desires to unionize, Brightline and its president, Patrick Goddard, have deliberately chosen the path of confrontation and acrimony,” Samuelsen wrote in a letter to Buttigieg dated Sept. 19. “Although Brightline bosses are anti-worker, President Joe Biden is not.” The U.S. DOT, he continued, “must give funding priority to companies that don’t interfere with workers seeking to unionize.”
The statement from the Congressional delegation notably does not directly reference union-busting allegations, nor condemn such behavior.
The Transport Workers Union, representing some 155,000 workers in the transportation industry nationwide, first announced a historic organizing drive among onboard attendants for Brightline in early August. The company, which has been friendly to labor unions out west, runs a high-speed rail line in Florida, from Miami up to its new station in Orlando. The company does not have other union-represented workers in Florida.
Shortly after the Florida workers filed cards of support for unionization with the National Mediation Board, however (as part of the standard process to request a union election in the rail industry), Brightline hired on attorneys from Littler Mendelson, a firm notorious for its “union avoidance” services, to represent them. An archived list of “do”s and “don’t”s from the firm, for instance, encourages employers to“[t]ell workers that they are free to support the union or not, as they see fit, but you hope they vote against it.”
Brightline president Goddard sent an email to Brightline employees last month, according to screenshots shared with Orlando Weekly, where he basically did just that. In his email, Goddard wrote that, while he can now see that some employees feel “unheard,” he’d prefer to approach such discontent “by working together, without a third party involved.”
“There is a legal process that is currently playing out and we will keep the team updated as more information becomes available,” Goddard wrote.
Brightline, a private company, has already been awarded billions of dollars in federal grants to construct its high-speed rail line out west — a connection from Las Vegas to Southern California — and has similarly sought out government funds for expansion plans in Florida.
“Elected officials in Florida are sending a clear message to Brightline — stop interfering with Brightline’s onboard workers’ efforts to form a union,” wrote union president Samuelsen in a statement responding to the congressional delegation’s show of support. “Brightline must stop delaying an election so workers can join the TWU and begin collective bargaining.”
In addition to anti-union messaging, the TWU has said that Brightline is also trying to delay a union election by claiming it does not fall under the jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board, which oversees union elections in the rail and airline industries.
Instead, Brightline has argued that a union election should take place through the National Labor Relations Board, which oversee private sector labor relations in all other industries. The union, however, has claimed this argument is meant to drag out the organizing process, thus giving Brightline (and their lawyers) more time to intimidate employees against unionization.
Low-cost airline JetBlue has been called out for alleged interference in employees’ organizing efforts, with at least two local members of Congress joining a call from the Congressional Labor Caucus to cut it out.
Orlando’s U.S. House Rep. Maxwell Frost joined a bipartisan group of 160 members of Congress in penning a letter to JetBlue Wednesday, asking the company to cease “anti-union” tactics alleged by the country’s largest airline workers’ union, and to allow their employees to have a “free and fair choice” to join a union.
“As is required by law, unionization efforts must be permitted to occur free from interference, whether from supervisors or organizations at-large,” reads a letter led by members of the Congressional Labor Caucus, sent to JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty, on Wednesday.
“It has come to our attention that there have been instances of anti-organizing interference at JetBlue from management,” the letter adds.
Over the last year, two groups of aviation mechanics and air dispatchers forJetBlue have been organizing with the Transport Workers Union, a labor union that represents over 155,000 workers in the railway, airline, transit, university, and service sectors, including Jet Blue flight attendants.
According to the union, the workers’ organizing campaigns have faced consistent opposition from JetBlue management, despite provisions of the Railway Labor Act that strictly prohibit employers from interfering with workers’ right to organize and collectively bargain.
In light of that, a sizable group of Democrats and even some Republicans in Congress have urged JetBlue to adopt what’s known as a union neutrality agreement.
This would essentially establish a commitment from JetBlue not to interfere with, or attempt to sway employees on matters related to their lawfully protected right to organize.
“Your commitment to neutrality would ensure that management does not pressure workers into voting against unionization or delaying the election process, and it would signal to workers that supporting an organizing drive would not negatively impact their employment,” the letter from the Congressional members reads.
Notably, Maxwell Frost is the only Central Florida-area member of Congress who officially signed onto the letter.
Orlando Weekly reached out to Rep. Darren Soto — also an ally to organized labor — who confirmed in a statement that he similarly supports the union’s efforts “to give JetBlue workers the opportunity to unionize free from intimidation and harassment.”
However, instead of joining his colleagues, Soto decided to write his own, separate letter to JetBlue yesterday. In this letter, Soto asked the company to please follow the law, while adding that he “appreciate[s] JetBlue’s continued commitment to and investment in Orlando.”
According to Transport Workers Union president John Samuelsen, who’s based out of New York, the letter featuring signatures from 155 members of Congress (not including Soto) is a direct response to what Samuelsen describes as a “draconian crackdown” on JetBlue employees’ union drive.
“They have responded to every single organizing drive with the most anti-trade union, anti-worker aggression of any employer in the country,” Samuelsen told Orlando Weekly, “especially of any employer in the airline industry.”
And that’s saying something. Delta Airlines is notorious in the labor movement for its yearslong effort to remain the only major U.S. airline without a unionized workforce of flight attendants.
“They’re worse than Delta,” Samuelsen said.
Photos posted online Wednesday by the TWU show anti-union flyers and other materials ostensibly posted in employee break rooms, airport lounges, and other spots that workers frequent, including areas at Orlando International Airport (MCO), one of the busiest air hubs in the country.
“There’s a reason union promises may sound too good to be true — they often are,” one white-and-blue flyer, apparently posted somewhere at MCO, reads. “A union can promise whatever it wants, but can’t guarantee anything,” the flyer adds (which is ironic, since — unlike a union contract — neither can the boss!)
An anti-union flyer reportedly posted by JetBlue management at MCO.
In some ways, the company’s opposition is unsurprising, since they’ve opposed union drives before. The TWU, for instance, already represents JetBlue flight instructors and JetBlue flight attendants — who voted to unionize with TWU in 2018, despite opposition from the company then, too.
Back in 2019, The Guardianreported on anti-union messaging that JetBlue had continued to pass along to a separate group of airport operations agents and others who were similarly organizing with the union.
Over email, for instance, JetBlue CEO Geraghty reportedly urged employees in 2019 to decline to sign a union card, arguing the union would never be able to provide them with the same “accomplishment” that JetBlue has.
According to an email reviewed by The Guardian, this included things like holiday parties, a new app launch, and bag scanners.
“Don’t be fooled — the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence and you don’t have to look over that fence to see what unions have done (or failed to do) at other airlines,” Geraghty reportedly wrote.
When reached for comment Thursday, a spokesperson for JetBlue called TWU’s allegations of anti-union behavior from company management “inaccurate.”
“After hearing from union organizers, our crewmembers often ask us to share our perspectives so that they can consider multiple points of view and we have a responsibility to participate in the discussion,” an unnamed spokesperson shared over email. “We work very hard to make JetBlue a great place to work, and in many cases, our crewmembers have preferred the direct relationship over unionization.”
JetBlue also denies any unlawful behavior. “Our track record shows that we fully comply with the law and respect our crewmembers’ right to decide without interference,” the company spokesperson added.
Samuelsen, however, said that JetBlue employees have told union staffers they’re being intimidated on the job. “JetBlue is in the process of trying to intimidate the living daylights out of every single worker not to sign a card,” he shared.
“They have responded to every single organizing drive with the most anti-trade union, anti-worker aggression of any employer in the country”
tweet this
Job termination, for instance, has been a big concern. According to Samuelsen, the issue of job security is what sparked “renewed interest” in organizing among the airline’s nonunion workforce. This reared its head especially when JetBlue announced plans to acquire Spirit Airlines back in 2022. Such a merger, Samuelsen said, “would destabilize everything.”
The controversial merger was called off last month, weeks after a federal judge blocked the deal, but Samuelsen says the desire for better job protections and job security that a union can lock down in a contract is unchanged.
“Workers have stepped up and embraced the moment,” he said. At this point, their campaign — spread across different air hubs throughout the country — is largely being driven by rank-and-file committees of employees at these different sites and full-time staff union organizers who help spread the word on-the-ground.
Meanwhile, members of the Transport Workers Union at Southwest Airlines this week just ratified a new contract covering more than 21,000 of Southwest’s flight attendants, after a majority rejected a previous deal reached in December that members felt wasn’t up to par.
According to the union, the deal delivers a 22.3 percent raise for Southwest flight attendants, effective May 1, as well as paid maternal and parental leave, additional pay for work done on the ground (instead of solely on the plane), and pay protections for flight attendants who are injured on the job.
This post has been updated to clarify that the congressional letter was signed by 160 members of Congress. An earlier version stated 155.
Lin-Manuel Miranda added to Maxwell Frost’s MadSoul Fest
Another big name has been announced for the MadSoul music festival happening here in early March: Grammy winner and Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Miranda joins an eclectic lineup of performers and speakers for the day that includes Muna, Melanie Faye, Kaelin Ellis, Maddy Barker, Venture Motel, I Met a Yeti, Palomino Blond, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Justin Jones, Rep. Anna Eskamani and Brandon Wolf.
Miranda will be introduced by a local student choir before giving a speech on the dual importance of civic engagement and music and the arts in his life.
Orlando’s U.S. Rep Maxwell Frost — who started the event with friends Niyah Lowell and Chris Murie — has resurrected MadSoul for a day that mixes music and progressive politics at Loch Haven Park.
“Lin-Manuel’s own story is a testament to the beauty that can happen when people combine the arts with activism, which is at the heart of what MadSoul is all about. I can’t wait for the people of Central Florida to hear from him in person.,” said Frost in a press statement.
MadSoul happens Saturday, March 2, at 2 p.m. at Loch Haven Park. Tickets are on sale through MadSoul’s website.
Local congressman Maxwell Frost honors Parkland victims, introduces new gun legislation
Updated: 8:20 PM EST Feb 14, 2024
Feb. 14, 2024, marks six years since 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Local congressman Frost held a news conference and introduced a new bill alongside Reps. Jared Moskowitz to honor all the lives lost in Parkland and other gun violence attacks. The bill is called the Identify Gun Stores Act, which prevents states from prohibiting credit card companies from establishing and implementing codes that track suspicions gun and ammunition purchases. Frost said this could’ve prevented the mass shooting that occurred in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and the Orlando Pulse Club.”If we were able to allow credit card companies to flag these sorts of purchases and track them, we could have probably prevented the Pulse nightclub massacre. The Pulse nightclub shooter walked in there with an assault weapon and murdered and killed in cold blood, 49 angels due to armed bigotry and armed hate,” Frost said. “He spent $26,000 in the days leading up to the shooting to accumulate all of his ammo and weapons. Something like that would have been flagged by the credit card company using the merchant category code and could have potentially saved lives.”The bill would override state bills, like the one in Florida that currently prevents credit card companies from using a separate ‘merchant category code’ for sales at gun businesses. State Rep. Randy Fine (R)-Brevard County believes credit card companies shouldn’t have that power.”I don’t think it’s the role of credit card companies to oversee what Americans choose to spend their money on,” Fine said. “What you think is suspicious might be different than what I may think is suspicious, and in Florida we think credit card companies should stick to offering credit.”Rep. Frost said they are going to fight to get this passed on the house floor. Top headlines: School District: Student’s head injury ‘possibly caused by vape’ in brawl at Central Florida school Great Danes being investigated as dangerous after several attacks in St. Cloud Police: South Florida mall secure after reports of shots fired
Feb. 14, 2024, marks six years since 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Local congressman Frost held a news conference and introduced a new bill alongside Reps. Jared Moskowitz to honor all the lives lost in Parkland and other gun violence attacks.
Frost said this could’ve prevented the mass shooting that occurred in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and the Orlando Pulse Club.
“If we were able to allow credit card companies to flag these sorts of purchases and track them, we could have probably prevented the Pulse nightclub massacre. The Pulse nightclub shooter walked in there with an assault weapon and murdered and killed in cold blood, 49 angels due to armed bigotry and armed hate,” Frost said. “He spent $26,000 in the days leading up to the shooting to accumulate all of his ammo and weapons. Something like that would have been flagged by the credit card company using the merchant category code and could have potentially saved lives.”
The bill would override state bills, like the one in Florida that currently prevents credit card companies from using a separate ‘merchant category code’ for sales at gun businesses.
State Rep. Randy Fine (R)-Brevard County believes credit card companies shouldn’t have that power.
“I don’t think it’s the role of credit card companies to oversee what Americans choose to spend their money on,” Fine said. “What you think is suspicious might be different than what I may think is suspicious, and in Florida we think credit card companies should stick to offering credit.”
Rep. Frost said they are going to fight to get this passed on the house floor.
Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost called out his Republican colleague Lauren Boebert for previously referring to the U.S. Constitution as “junk” during a House subcommittee hearing Wednesday.
Frost’s statements came out during a hearing for the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, which heard from a group of witnesses Wednesday as part of its proceedings on global religious extremism. Democrats on the subcommittee invited Amanda Taylor, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, to testify at the meeting.
Taylor told House members during her testimony that Christian nationalism—the belief that the U.S. is defined by Christianity—is the “single greatest threat to religious liberty in the United States today.” Some conservatives have argued that the Republican Party should embrace Christian nationalists, including Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has previously described herself as one.
Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert arrives to a Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on September 13, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Boebert was called out for previously referring to the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution as “junk” during a House Oversight subcommittee hearing on Wednesday. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
While prompting questions to Taylor, Frost spoke about how Christian nationalism posed a threat to Democratic institutions, and Taylor agreed.
“And this threat to Democracy has made its way to Congress,” Frost said, making mention of Greene’s past statements that praised the political ideology.
“My colleague, Representative Lauren Boebert, said, ‘The church is supposed to direct the government,’” Frost continued, quoting Boebert. “‘The government is not supposed to direct the church. I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk.’”
“Junk being the Constitution and Bill of Rights,” Frost asserted.
Newsweek on Wednesday reached out to Boebert’s press office via email for comment on Frost’s statement.
Frost was quoting a statement Boebert made in June 2022 during a speech to the Cornerstone Christian Center in Basalt, Colorado, in which Boebert told the crowd: “The reason we had so many overreaching regulations in our nation is because the church complied.”
“The church is supposed to direct the government,” Boebert continued. “The government is not meant to direct the church. That is not how our Founding Fathers intended it. And I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk, that’s not in the Constitution. It was in a stinking letter, and it means nothing like what they say it does.”
Boebert was referring to an 1802 letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association, in which he called for the separation of church and state. Under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Congress is not permitted to make laws “respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Boebert’s statements were previously condemned by political experts, including Andrew Seidel of Americans United, who told The Denver Post at the time, “We are about to get a very brutal real-world lesson in what it’s like to live in a country that doesn’t have that separation.”
The congresswoman has also faced calls from American Christians to resign and repent after indirectly making a death wish toward President Joe Biden. In a petition posted in March, the online Christian community Faithful America said Boebert was “known for weaponizing religion to seize power and restrict the rights of anyone different than her,” and that her comments regarding Biden was an “entirely new level.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) scorched House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and his GOP “circus” in an all-out roast that mocked him over a possible government shutdown and his call to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
“We are 15 days from a government shutdown that will impact millions of working people and Speaker Kevin McCarthy can not even get his own party to pass any significant pieces of legislation,” said Frost on Thursday as the clock ticks down to avoid a government shutdown by the end of the month.
“And the cherry on top of all of this is that instead of getting to work to fund the government, they’re trying to impeach Hunter Biden, I think, which, spoiler alert, is not the president of the United States.”
Frost’s jab is in response to McCarthy directing House committees to open an impeachment inquiry into the president despite Republicans not showing any direct evidence linking Biden to his son’s business deals.
The speaker’s announcement arrived amid a looming threat of a shutdown as far-right Republicans threaten to file a motion to oust McCarthy as speaker, knocking him for not backing lower spending.
“So America, in 15 days from now, when our country comes to a halt, remember who did this to you: Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the extremist House Republicans, who care more about themselves and their politics than you,” Frost said.
Maxwell Frost made history last month when he won election in Florida’s 10th Congressional District, becoming the first Gen Z member of Congress at just 25 years old. But that historic win didn’t come easy — and now, the financial toll of the campaign is making it difficult for him to secure a home near the House.
In a Twitter thread on Thursday, Frost said that he had just applied to rent an apartment in Washington, D.C. During that process, he told the person taking his application that his “credit was really bad.”
Just applied to an apartment in DC where I told the guy that my credit was really bad. He said I’d be fine. Got denied, lost the apartment, and the application fee.
This ain’t meant for people who don’t already have money.
“He said I’d be fine,” Frost said. “Got denied, lost the apartment, and the application fee. This ain’t meant for people who don’t already have money.”
He went on to say that he has bad credit because he “ran up a lot of debt running for Congress for a year and a half.”
During his campaign, Frost told Politico that he had quit his job to focus on campaigning. He drove for Uber to pay his bills, a “sacrifice” he said he made because “I can’t imagine myself not doing anything but fixing the problems we have right now.”
But that money didn’t go far enough, Frost said on Thursday, saying he “didn’t make enough money from Uber itself to pay for my living.”
“It isn’t magic that we won our very difficult race. For that primary, I quit my full time job cause I knew that to win at 25 yrs old, I’d need to be a full time candidate. 7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day. It’s not sustainable or right but it’s what we had to do,” he tweeted. “As a candidate, you can’t give yourself a stipend or anything till the very end of your campaign. So most of the run, you have no $ coming in unless you work a second job.”
Members of the House and Senate earn $174,000 a year, but that salary will not begin until Frost is sworn in on January 3. In the meantime, he needs to find a place to live in D.C.’s pricey housing market. According to Apartment List, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city is $1,786, well above the national average. Zillow shows an even higher cost of living, with a median rent of more than $2,300 for a one-bedroom apartment, slightly over $300 more than what the price was last year.
Frost noted that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez faced something similar when she was elected in 2018.
“I have three months without salary before I’m a member of Congress. So, how do I get an apartment? Those little things are very real,” she told The New York Times. “…I’ve really been just kind of squirreling away and then hoping that gets me to Janaury.”
Four years later, “it’s still a problem,” Frost said Thursday.
Maxwell FrostPhoto: The Washington Post (Getty Images)
Amidst a sea of depressing, enraging, mildly promising, and other election results tonight, one victory has proven to be truly inspiring. And it took place in Florida.
In a state that has voted overwhelmingly in support of goons like Governor Ron DeSantis, Democrat Maxwell Frost won Florida’s 10th Congressional District—based mostly in Orlando—by a landslide, capturing 58.8% of the vote (at time of posting) against his nearest competitor, Republican Calvin Wimbish, on 39.7%.
Frost’s victory is notable for a number of reasons. You’ll see him hailed in most reports as the “first member of Generation Z elected to Congress,” since he is just 25 years old, and don’t get me wrong, that’s an incredible achievement. But we’re here because Frost is, at least on record, also the first Kingdom Hearts fan elected to Congress. Here he is back in 2017:
Normally digging up a politician’s old tweets is a source in either boredom or frustration, since—given their advanced age—many Congressmen and Senators in the US were already image-conscious politicians by the time they began using the platform.
But Frost was just 20 when he wrote that Tweet. Just a regular guy, doing what we all used to do on The Hellsite, namely sharing little snippets of the people and things that we love.
G/O Media may get a commission
Frost ran because the incumbent, Democratic Val Demings, vacated the seat to try to (unsuccessfully) challenge Marco Rubio in the Senate elections. In a more recent Tweet, he said “WE WON!!!! History was made tonight. We made history for Floridians, for Gen Z, and for everyone who believes we deserve a better future. I am beyond thankful for the opportunity to represent my home in the United States Congress.”
Just so you don’t think he went straight from being a guy posting about Kingdom Hearts on Twitter to Congress, as NPR reports, Frost has been an activist for almost a decade now, and had previously “served as the national organizing director for March For Our Lives, a group that advocates for gun control policy.”
The 25-year-old Democrat running in Florida’s 10th Congressional District is likely to be the first Gen Z member of Congress — a term used to refer to those born between 1997 and 2012.
But Frost rejects his age is the only thing setting him apart.
“I didn’t decide to run to be the first Gen Z member of Congress,” he told HuffPost.
Driven By Activism
A survivor of gun violence, Frost worked as National Organizing Director at March for Our Lives — a youth-led movement aimed at ending the gun epidemic in the U.S. created after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida — for two years before he decided to run for office.
But his activism started while he was still in school 10 years ago, following the deadly 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Gun violence, which has been a major focus of his campaign, “is an issue that is solvable that we’ve seen the least amount of progress on,” Frost explained.
Frost has pledged to be an advocate for gun reform and work to get money into communities across the country to prevent shootings before they even start, if elected. His district is solidly Democratic.
Frost said gun regulation is the first step. He explained that the majority of gun crimes in America are born out of the perpetrator’s living conditions, noting that people experiencing difficult circumstances often feel that using a gun could help them get ahead. The Florida Democrat believes improving people’s standard of living, including access to health care, is key in fighting gun violence.
“The goal here should be to build a world where people don’t feel the need to use a gun to solve their problems in the first place,” Frost, who supports “Medicare for All,” said.
What Prompted His Run
Frost won his primary contest in August among a crowded field of 10 candidates running to succeed incumbent Val Demings, the Democrat challenging Republican Sen. Marco Rubio this election season.
Local organizers approached Frost in January 2021 to encourage him to run, but he initially rejected their request, attributing his hesitation, in part, to “internalized ageism.”
Frost, who is Afro-Cuban and was adopted at birth by a musician and a special education teacher, shared the moment that changed his mind.
“What changed everything for me was connecting with my biological mother, learning about her story, learning about the things she had been through,” he said.
As Frost writes on his campaign website, she “was caught in a cycle of drugs, crime, and violence while pregnant. She didn’t have healthcare and wasn’t able to see a doctor even once.”
During a phone call with his biological mother, Frost learned he had multiple siblings and that she was forced to give him up because she wasn’t able to raise another child.
She, along with his adoptive mother who migrated to the U.S. from Cuba in the 1960s, influenced his decision to run. Another contributing factor was his community, which was excited about having a young, progressive candidate to support.
The Role Of Money
But Frost says he can’t create change alone.
“It’s never about one person. It’s always about a movement,” Frost told HuffPost.
He has donated money to 20 candidates across the country and supported a number of down-ballot candidates in Central Florida.
“We need to build a Congress that looks like the country, so I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to get good candidates in,” he said.
The young Democrat, who has worked on political campaigns since he graduated from high school and was an organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union before joining March for Our Lives, opened up about the financial struggles he’s faced as a candidate. He ran out of money in the first three months of his campaign and had to work as an Uber driver to pay his bills.
“As a young person who just doesn’t have a lot of money, I’ve been living literally paycheck to paycheck this entire year and at times didn’t have money to feed myself,” Frost said.
Frost says to have a better democracy, there should be more poor and working-class candidates in the political system.
Running As A Gen Z Candidate
Frost is keen to dispel the myth that young people are disenfranchised with politics, pointing to the fact that Gen Zers are running for office earlier than older generations did. He also expects young voter turnout to continue rising as more Gen Z members reach voting age.
The 2020 presidential election saw 53% turnout in young voters age 18 to 29 years old, according to The Washington Post, but a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll found only 49% of those 19 to 29 years old are “absolutely certain to vote” in this year’s midterm elections.
Frost said his organizing at March for Our Lives taught him “young people want something to vote for, not against,” adding that many campaigns don’t even bother to reach out to voters of his generation.
He hopes his campaign, which is built on a message of love, will help inspire voters to turn out to the polls. Love, he said, is what connects his legislative priorities for office: ending gun violence, protecting U.S. democracy by enacting bold election reform and addressing the climate crisis.
“When you love somebody, you want them to have health care, housing, you want them to be safe, free of gun violence,” he said.
Frost’s state was recently tested by Hurricane Ian, which killed at least 127 people, ABC News reported citing local officials. He says Ian exposed climate inequality, meaning that poor communities, people of color and students were the ones to bear the disproportionate impact of the hurricane.
“Just because you’re poor, just because you’re Black, just because you’re Latino does not mean you should live in a place where you have a higher percent chance of dying in a hurricane or losing everything that you own,” he told HuffPost.
He emphasized the importance of building climate-friendly infrastructure in Florida, warning, “there will be another hurricane, and it will be bad.”
“I don’t like to be an alarmist. But, I mean, this is an existential problem,” he said.
Plans For The Future
If elected, Frost will join the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Frost said he hasn’t yet committed to joining any other groups, including the “Squad,” a group of young progressive lawmakers in the House.
Still, he is very excited to work with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who made history by defeating 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley in 2018, becoming the youngest woman elected to Congress.
“AOC is part of the reason why I decided to run. I think her election really gave permission to young people to do it,” he said.
He also said he admires Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), who slept on the steps of the Capitol to protest the end of the federal eviction moratorium.
“What’s more noble than that?” he asked.
Finding Meaning In Music
Apart from a political candidate and organizer, Frost also identifies as a musician. He went to an arts middle and high school, and was part of a salsa band named “Seguro Que Si” that performed at former President Barack Obama’s inauguration.
“Playing music, listening to music, going to concerts is just a huge part of my life,” he said.
Music, though, is not a self-care ritual for Frost. It is also a big part of his campaign.
Last week, his campaign rented a flatbed truck for Orlando Pride and staged a mobile concert. He played the drums.
Maxwell Frost, a Democratic candidate for Florida’s 10th Congressional district, plays the drums during the Pride Parade in Orlando, Florida, on October 15, 2022.
Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images
VIDEO: In the bustle of Orlando’s Pride March, Maxwell Frost is finalizing preparations for a concert on a truck bed — the latest impromptu campaign gig by the 25-year-old as he seeks to become Generation Z’s first member of Congress. pic.twitter.com/5sccWs1Q1I
Music was also a way of bonding with his father. His dad, who is also a musician, was the one to first introduce him to the art and buy him a drum set.
Frost recalls his dad reassuring him when he cried to music for the first time.
“It really gave me permission to be vulnerable, because of art,” he said. “And I feel like that’s made me into the person I am.”
