House GOP Advances Project 2025, Makes Criminalizing Abortion Legislative Priority
Senate Republicans blocked bills to protect women's rights to reproductive healthcare as House Republicans draft budget bills to criminalize abortion, eliminate family planning
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House GOP Advances Project 2025, Makes Criminalizing Abortion Legislative Priority
As Donald Trump and the far-right antidemocratic think tank, The Heritage Foundation, attempt to distance themselves from one another, the facts keep underscoring their super tight affiliation. Moreover, as Donald Trump swallowed the Republican Party whole and word saladed it back out into his personal MAGA party, it makes sense that GOP lawmakers are legislating in a way that advances the think tank’s Project 2025 agenda. Especially the group’s ideological position on women’s reproductive freedom.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published yesterday that The Heritage Foundation is a RNC convention sponsor. It also will host an opening day “policy fest” dubbed Fighting for America’s Future in downtown Milwaukee on Monday, July 15 and a social event on Wednesday, July 18.
So it’s curious that the think tank Tweeted just yesterday, “Trump? Don’t know her” and attempted to dispute the facts about Project 2025 as if it hasn’t spent years promoting it. Or as if the federal courts and GOP lawmakers aren’t currently shifting U.S. law to enact and further its agenda.
On Tuesday, Senate Republicans blocked 3 bills that would have protected women’s rights to reproductive healthcare. This, as the U.S. corporate-owned media downplays the issue by repeating GOP messaging that the party platform has “softened” its stance.
Senate Democrats led by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) asked for unanimous consent for these bills: The Reproductive Health Care Training Act (S. 2024), the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act (S. 1297), and the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act (S. 2053). The first two bills would have allocated funding for training and education of medical professionals to provide abortion care for pregnant patients and would have protected doctors performing abortions from harm. The third would have guaranteed protection for pregnant women who are forced to seek abortion care in another state.
A single GOP senator stood up to block each piece of legislation. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS)—an OBGYN!!—blocked the first bill, Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) blocked the second, and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) blocked the third (definitely not a girls girl).
Actions speak louder than phony Republican words.
Speaking of GOP lies, House Republicans are baking in ideological poison pills to government spending bills that would criminalize abortions and end existing federal women’s reproductive programs.
This week, the GOP-led House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education has been busy incorporating riders and cuts in budget bills that are ONLY focused on federally banning abortions and defunding programs. And these are taken directly from Project 2025 and the far-right Christian Nationalist legal group, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
One provision includes language that would block funding to prevent President Joe Biden’s executive order on the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) from being enforced. Recall that the Supreme Court temporarily granted relief in the EMTALA case—kicking the can down the road until Congress or the courts overturn it so states can ban emergency reproductive healthcare procedures.
Another provision would block funding for hospitals that trains doctors to perform or assist with abortions. The language is crafty, stating that this would only apply IF hospitals don’t allow participants to voluntarily opt in or if those who opt out are subjected to discrimination. But these people know that hospitals wouldn’t invite the risk. The fear of legal action is the point.
And the committee isn’t stopping there. It is also incorporating language to defund the Office on Women’s Health, Planned Parenthood, Title X Family Planning Program (including clinics), the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, Healthy Start (addresses infant mortality), and medical research that involves fetal tissue.
And if that all doesn’t sound bad enough, the committee also plans to block funding earmarked for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which was approved earlier this year. Specifically, the GOP seeks to punish women who privately seek abortion care outside working hours.
The Heritage Foundation heavily lobbied the House GOP for this policy reversal. A former Trump appointee told the press earlier this year that it was a “massive priority” for a future Republican administration (aka the next Trump regime).
Given the priority of GOP lawmakers—fresh off Congress’ 4th of July recess—is to further roll back women’s rights as part of the party’s ideological crusade, it’s time the U.S. corporate-owned media take the Republican agenda much more seriously. Because the actions of party legislators this week aren’t happening in a vacuum.
It’s all part of Project 2025 and the Christian Nationalist agenda under Donald Trump’s leadership. It’s all connected and it’s all coordinated, which is what the Republican Party excels at.
-Stephanie
Russian Disinformation Network Dismantled
On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced it took down a Russian propaganda campaign devised by Russia’s CIA, the FSB. The campaign ran an artificial intelligence-powered bot farm that created fake social media accounts to spread disinformation in the U.S. and abroad. The Russians also used the scheme to launder money.
The DOJ seized 2 U.S.-based domain names and executed a search warrant for 968 Twitter (now X) accounts organized and operated by Russian state-owned propaganda network RT. Unsealed court documents show that the fake accounts posed as U.S. residents and shared videos and messages promoting pro-Kremlin positions on its invasion of Ukraine and planned invasions of Poland, Lithuania, and other Eastern European territories.
The DOJ confirmed that the investigation is ongoing in coordination with the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS), the Netherlands General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD), Netherlands Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD), and Netherlands Police. In addition, the case is being prosecuted by the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Government Working for the People
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed another impactful bipartisan bill into law and U.S. news outlets are again not reporting on it. Before joining world leaders at the NATO Summit, the President made the Fire Grants and Safety Act the law of the land, which re-authorizes several federal programs that will provide $95M in funding to address dire resource needs for local fire departments nationwide until 2028. The law extends the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program, the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program, and the United States Fire Administration (USFA). It also assists the deployment of new advanced nuclear reactors for energy production through the ADVANCE Act of 2024.
On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of senators advanced a legislative proposal for a congressional ban on stock trading ban. Called the ETHICS Act, the bill would bar lawmakers from buying stocks and other investments, as well as prohibit them from selling stocks 90 days after the bill is signed into law. It also extends the ban to lawmaker’s immediate family members from trading stocks beginning in March 2027 and prohibits them from using a blind trust. And that’s not all. Lawmakers and the president and vice president will be required to divest from all investments beginning in 2027. The Homeland Security Committee still has yet to approve the bill. If it passed out of committee, it will go to a House floor vote. The penalties for violations would be either the officials' monthly salaries or 10% of the value of the assets in violation of the law, whichever is greater.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took regulatory action against Ohio-based Fifth Third Bank for tricking auto loan customers into purchasing auto insurance policies despite already being covered and then repossessing their vehicles when they defaulted on payments. The bank, which the CFPB referred to as a “repeat offender,” also opened fake accounts in the names of 35K customers without their knowledge or consent to boost sales goals. The CFPB proposed a court order requiring the bank to pay a $20M fine for harming customers, $5M for forcing customers into duplicate auto insurance, and $15M for fraudulently opening accounts.
On Tuesday, the FTC released an interim report that found that the middlemen (pharmacy benefit managers known as PBMs) who buy and sell prescription drugs to pharmacies nationwide are deliberately inflating prices in order to boost profits for their parent healthcare companies. The report found that the 3 largest PBMs—CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum Rx—processed 79% of the 6.6B prescriptions written in the U.S. in 2023. Also, the top 6 PBMs processed more than 90%, disadvantaging independently owned pharmacies. It’s likely the FTC will recommend antitrust regulatory action to level the playing field. More to come on this soon.
Unions Take Action
Disneyland employees are ready to form a picket line around the Happiest Place on Earth as park and Downtown Disney union contracts expire. On Tuesday, Master Services Council, which represents 14K Disneyland employees from 4 unions (roughly 40% of cast members of Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, and Downtown Disney), announced that a strike authorization vote will be held next week. Voting ends on July 20 and Disney negotiators will meet with union officials on July 22 who have been meeting over new contracts since April. In addition to negotiating for better wages and benefits, fair working conditions, and more career opportunities.
SCOTUS in the Hot Seat
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) officially introduced articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas for corruption. The Congresswoman filed 2 articles against Alito, including refusal to recuse from cases in which he had a personal bias or prejudice and failure to disclose financial income, gifts and reimbursements, etc. She also filed 3 articles against Thomas, including failure to disclose financial income, gifts and reimbursements, etc., refusal to recuse from cases that involved his wife’s legal interests, and refusal to recuse from cases that involved his wife’s financial interests. The GOP House majority will ensure this effort goes nowhere, but the message is clear.
Republicans are unserious
The House Freedom Caucus is splintering as taking retribution against its own over disagreements has cost the congressional group 2 more members. On Monday night, the caucus booted Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) for endorsing caucus chair Rep. Bob Good’s (R-VA) primary challenger, VA state senator John McGuire. This was a bridge too far for Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) who quit the caucus in frustration over the group’s discordance. Earlier this year, former Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) was voted out of the caucus for publicly criticizing the party’s investigations into President Biden. And last summer, Q-Anon Karen, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), was ousted for her amicable, charming personality. But a shrinking member base is the least of the HRC’s problems; members have fractured into factions who can’t unify around one purpose.
As if the scandal around North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson couldn’t get worse, the GOP gubernatorial candidate held a campaign fundraiser on Tuesday night at a religious cult with quite the rap sheet. The Word of Faith Fellowship, based in Rutherford County, has a history of criminal allegations, including slave labor and human trafficking from Africa and South America, financial fraud, sexual and physical abuse of children and LGBTQ, and obstruction of justice—some of which have resulted in criminal convictions and international investigations that are potential ongoing. The church founder Jane Whaley’s son-in-law Frank Webster was the main sponsor of Robinson’s fundraiser. State records show that the church and its leaders have donated at least $85K to state-level politicians and GOP political groups over the past three decades. More than $28K of that was donated to Robinson in the past 2 years.
After auditioning so hard for the prized role of being Donald Trump’s next political lackey, Rep. J.D. Vance (R-OH) may be passed over because of the way he looks. Over the past year, the podunk bumpkin turned Yale Law School grad willingly squandered his humble, hard-working reputation to serve as an opportunistic bootlicker for a Con Man. He has shifted so far to the right as he vies to be Trump’s running mate that he forgot the narcissist’s number one qualification: Ya gotta look the part. And Vance’s scruffy beard isn’t it.