Latest news with #JimMcGovern
CBS News
22-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Rep. Jim McGovern pleads for NIH funding in budget bill after daughter dies of cancer: "This is personal"
Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts made an emotional plea for Congress to restore grant funding for researchers at the National Institutes of Health as lawmakers debated President Trump's budget bill Wednesday night. McGovern's daughter Molly died unexpectedly from complications of a rare cancer last month while on a trip to Italy. She was 23 years old. "This is personal to me," the Worcester Democrat told the Rules Committee. "Five years ago, my daughter Molly was diagnosed with a rare cancer and there was no surefire treatment, but she was accepted into an NIH clinical trial and she received excellent care." Trump ripped NIH funding away from scientists already working on cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, and more. For me, this is personal. — Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) May 22, 2025 McGovern said the issue is "life or death" for people in ongoing clinical trials like his daughter Molly was. "We are so devastated by her loss," he said. "But we are so grateful that we got to spend more time with her because of the NIH clinical trial that she was in. A clinical trial made possible because for decades, Congress has provided funding to the NIH in a bipartisan way." Scientists at the NIH told "60 Minutes" last month that they feared NIH cuts could impact the health of Americans for generations. Some of the top scientists at the NIH have been laid off. "How can anyone justify firing NIH doctors and scientists?" McGovern said. "How can they look our family and other families in the eye and justify these cynical, cruel NIH cuts?" It was reported this week that former President Biden's "Cancer Moonshot" was hit by Trump administration cuts to research at Harvard University and Columbia University. Cancer scientists at Harvard said they've seen NIH funding disappear recently because of the funding freeze.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Most Brutal Zingers About Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' During Fiery House Debate
House Democrats — and one Republican — pulled no punches as they argued against the passage of President Donald Trump's policy package — titled the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' — during what became a fractious middle-of-the-night debate Wednesday into Thursday. Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) all railed against the proposed legislation that seeks to slash trillions in taxes for the most wealthy and cut federal health and nutrition programs. 'Hunger is a political condition,' fumed McGovern. 'We have the money, we have the infrastructure, we know what to do to end it, we have everything to end it but the political will and you bring to the floor a bill that robs from poor people, takes money away from the most incredible food assistance program in the world and you take that and you use it not to end hunger but to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. That is shameful. That is shameful.' The bill is 'rotten' and 'ugly' and a 'monstrosity' and 'Republicans just don't care,' he said at another point. McGovern further slammed Republicans for attempting to pass the bill so late at night: 'Some people may be wondering why are we debating this bill at 1.20 in the morning which is prime time in Guam. It's because they are ashamed of what they are bringing to this House floor. And they should be ashamed.' After Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Penn.) claimed in a rant backing the bill that it's actually about 'caring about America,' McGovern simply shot back, 'Boy, that was weird.' Frost, meanwhile, pointed out some 'very clear and truthful' things about the budget: 'Laws for gun manufacturers to make more money off of the death of children and our people? Yes. Food for children to eat? No. Health care for seniors, disabled Americans and millions more? No. Resources to help working families fight to ends meet? No.' 'This is why they've been told not to host any town halls back in their districts. This is why this debate is happening in the middle of the night,' he added. 'It's nothing short of theft.' Frost also railed: 'Republicans would have us believe most likely to steal from you is a Black person in a hoodie or an immigrant with tattoos.' 'This is to distract from the fact that at least here, tonight, the people stealing from Americans are not folks with tattoos and hoodies,' he continued.'It's people wearing suits and ties and congressional pins sitting in this Capitol right now, not in some random alley wrapped in darkness but in the United States Congress wrapped in the flag. It is disgusting and we will never forget this.' Ocasio-Cortez warned 'there will be consequences' for the GOP from American people. Hayes argued: 'Every provision in this program is cruel and they know it.' 'That's why none of them spoke on it in committee,' she said. 'That's why they were silent in budget. That's why they have nothing to say. That's why they have no response. That's why they don't hold town halls. That's why they don't answer questions. All they do is tweet, repeat and hide in the back until they vote yes.' And Massie warned of the bill: 'We are not rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic tonight, we're putting coal in the boiler and setting a course for the iceberg. If something is 'beautiful,' you don't do it after midnight. I oppose this bill.' Child's Sharp Question About Trump Delivers Viral Moment At White House Iconic Director Trashes Trump With Muffled Cannes Mic-Drop Target Sales Tumble As Retail Giant Warns Of More Trouble Ahead
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Most Brutal Zingers About Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' During Fiery House Debate
House Democrats — and one Republican — pulled no punches as they argued against the passage of President Donald Trump's policy package — titled the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' — during what became a fractious middle-of-the-night debate Wednesday into Thursday. Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) all railed against the proposed legislation that seeks to slash trillions in taxes for the most wealthy and cut federal health and nutrition programs. 'Hunger is a political condition,' fumed McGovern. 'We have the money, we have the infrastructure, we know what to do to end it, we have everything to end it but the political will and you bring to the floor a bill that robs from poor people, takes money away from the most incredible food assistance program in the world and you take that and you use it not to end hunger but to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. That is shameful. That is shameful.' McGovern: Hunger is a political condition. We have the money and we have the infrastructure and know what to do to end it and you bring to the floor a bill that robs from poor people, takes money away from the most incredible food assistance program in the world and take that and… — Acyn (@Acyn) May 22, 2025 The bill is 'rotten' and 'ugly' and a 'monstrosity' and 'Republicans just don't care,' he said at another point. McGovern: Democrats are united. And with strength in our mission and unity in our purpose, we're here to vote hell no on this monstrosity of a bill — Acyn (@Acyn) May 22, 2025 McGovern further slammed Republicans for attempting to pass the bill so late at night: 'Some people may be wondering why are we debating this bill at 1.20 in the morning which is prime time in Guam. It's because they are ashamed of what they are bringing to this House floor. And they should be ashamed.' McGovern: Some people are wondering why are we debating this bill at 120AM which is prime time in Guam because they are ashamed of what they are bringing to this floor. They should be — Acyn (@Acyn) May 22, 2025 After Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Penn.) claimed in a rant backing the bill that it's actually about 'caring about America,' McGovern simply shot back, 'Boy, that was weird.' McGovern: Boy, that was weird — Acyn (@Acyn) May 22, 2025 Frost, meanwhile, pointed out some 'very clear and truthful' things about the budget: 'Laws for gun manufacturers to make more money off of the death of children and our people? Yes. Food for children to eat? No. Health care for seniors, disabled Americans and millions more? No. Resources to help working families fight to ends meet? No.' 'This is why they've been told not to host any town halls back in their districts. This is why this debate is happening in the middle of the night,' he added. 'It's nothing short of theft.' Frost: And so America, we got to be very clear and truthful about this budget. Laws for gun manufacturers to make more money off of death, yes. Food for children to eat, no. Health care for seniors, disabled Americans and millions more, no. Resources to help working families, no.… — Acyn (@Acyn) May 22, 2025 Frost also railed: 'Republicans would have us believe most likely to steal from you is a Black person in a hoodie or an immigrant with tattoos.' 'This is to distract from the fact that at least here, tonight, the people stealing from Americans are not folks with tattoos and hoodies,' he continued.'It's people wearing suits and ties and congressional pins sitting in this Capitol right now, not in some random alley wrapped in darkness but in the United States Congress wrapped in the flag. It is disgusting and we will never forget this.' Frost: Tonight the people stealing are not folks with tattoos and hoodies but people wearing suits and ties and congressional pins sitting in the capitol now, not in some alley wrapped in darkness but in the US congress wrapped in the flag. It is disgusting and we will never… — Acyn (@Acyn) May 22, 2025 Ocasio-Cortez warned 'there will be consequences' for the GOP from American people. AOC makes the case against the reconciliation bill — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 22, 2025 Hayes argued: 'Every provision in this program is cruel and they know it.' 'That's why none of them spoke on it in committee,' she said. 'That's why they were silent in budget. That's why they have nothing to say. That's why they have no response. That's why they don't hold town halls. That's why they don't answer questions. All they do is tweet, repeat and hide in the back until they vote yes.' Hayes: Every provision in this program is cruel and they know it. That's why none of them spoke on it in committee. That's why they have nothing to say. That's why they have no response. That's why they don't hold town halls. That's why they don't answer questions. All they do is… — Acyn (@Acyn) May 22, 2025 And Massie warned of the bill: 'We are not rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic tonight, we're putting coal in the boiler and setting a course for the iceberg. If something is 'beautiful,' you don't do it after midnight. I oppose this bill.' Massie: We are not rearranging deck chairs on the titanic, we're putting coal in the boiler and setting a course for the iceberg. If something is beautiful, you don't do it after midnight. I oppose this bill — Acyn (@Acyn) May 22, 2025 Child's Sharp Question About Trump Delivers Viral Moment At White House Iconic Director Trashes Trump With Muffled Cannes Mic-Drop Target Sales Tumble As Retail Giant Warns Of More Trouble Ahead
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Intentionally Hiding': GOP Tries to Sneak Through Medicaid Cuts in Dead of Night
The Republican budget bill remains in rocky territory after a night of contentious, acrimonious debate, during which Democrats repeatedly accused the GOP of using the cover of darkness to attempt to jam through unpopular legislation. The so-called 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' would make permanent President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts, which were a boon to the wealthiest earners in the nation. In order to pay for those cuts, the GOP plans to kick millions of people off of Medicaid, food assistance, and other critical social safety net programs. Republicans scheduled a critical meeting of the House Rules Committee for 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning. The marathon hearing — in which lawmakers questioned the chairs and ranking members of various committees involved in the production of the reconciliation bill — lasted over eight hours. It did not escape notice that the late-night hearing took place during hours when most journalists, government officials, and interested members of the public would be at home and asleep. 'It's just over 100 days you guys have gone from promising to lower costs to ripping away people's health care. Of course you don't want anybody to know what you're doing here,' Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said around 1:30 a.m. 'It's because you know this bill betrays the people who voted for you.' 'You have the most ineffective Congress in the century, you passed almost no legislation into law, and this is how you want to roll out your big centerpiece legislation at 1:00 in the morning?' McGovern added. 'This isn't just incompetence. It's much more nefarious than that. You are intentionally hiding what you are doing. What an insult to the people of this country, what disdain you guys must have for the people who voted for you.' Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), ranking member of the House Budget Committee, noted that shortly before the hearing began, the Congressional Budget Office issued an updated analysis estimating that 'the bottom 10 percent of Americans will actually be poorer as a result of this bill, with the biggest benefit going to the top 1 percent of Americans.' The analysis also found that changes to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would lead to a significant drop in household resources for the lowest 10 percent of incomes over the next decade. The Republican bill would also result in around $500 million in cuts to Medicare, according to the new analysis. 'What is also quite clear is that this bill is not entirely paid for, even after all of those cuts to Medicaid, all of those cuts to Medicare, all of those cuts to the Affordable Care Act and nutrition assistance and on and on, they don't come close to paying for the cost of the tax cuts,' Boyle added. It's 'just taking on more and more to our national debt.' Democrats also took the opportunity to hone in on some of the other absurdities in the legislation. In the latter hours of the hearing — when daylight had finally returned to the Capitol — Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, called out a provision in the bill that would repeal a tax on firearm silencers, at the same time that Republicans wanted to institute more stringent work requirements on SNAP recipients. 'I have no idea why we think it's a good idea to repeal a tax on silencers when we are going to feed fewer children in our country as a result of this. It's a moral damn failure is what it is,' Craig said. In another exchange, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) asked House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) to read a line from his committee's legislation that would repeal an excise tax on tanning beds. 'I don't want to read the bill for you,' Smith responded to Fernández. 'They're repealing an excise tax on tanning beds. They're repealing a tax on silencers,' Fernández said after having another member read out the line item. 'So if you have a tanning bed, you get a little bit of a tax break and if you need a hospital bed in rural America, you're out of luck.' As previously reported by Rolling Stone, hospital executives and staff have warned that the deep cuts to Medicaid eligibility that the GOP is attempting to disguise as anti-waste legislation could force many hospitals — particularly in rural areas — to close their doors. Despite having the majority in both chambers of Congress, as well as control of the White House, Republicans have struggled to pass any sort of legislation throughout Trump's first months in office. As of Wednesday morning, several hardline members of the Republican caucus remained opposed to the 'big, beautiful' bill. Overnight, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was forced to make concessions to the so-called 'SALT Caucus,' a group of Republicans demanding an increase to the cap on state-and-local-tax (SALT) deductions allowed in some states. Johnson insisted that there was a 'chance' the Budget Committee would move to a vote on Wednesday, and met with several holdouts, including Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Andy Harris (R-Md.), and Keith Self (R-Texas.). On Tuesday, Trump made a rare trip to the Capitol to speak directly to Republicans and urge them to pass what he hopes will become his signature piece of legislation — to little discernible effect. If Republicans do manage to get their ducks in a row and pass the bill out of committee and through a floor vote, the legislation will face a whole new round of opposition in the Senate. The Democratic minority has been clear that they would provide no air or comfort to the other side of the aisle. To 'every Republican member who votes for this. You own it. You own it,' McGovern said on Wednesday. 'You own every hospital that closes, every child that goes to bed hungry. Every senior who loses care and every American family forced to choose between groceries and rent, between their heating bill and their child care.' 'You guys can force us to debate this bill in the dead of night, you can do it while the country sleeps. But the American people will wake up tomorrow, and I guarantee you they will wake up to how terrible your agenda is,' he added. 'They will remember this moment.' More from Rolling Stone Republicans Are Making Their Politically 'Suicidal' Medicaid Cuts Even Worse Trump's Plan to Kick Millions of Americans Off Medicaid, Explained Trump Lies That His Bill Cuts Taxes For Everyone, When It Raises Them on the Poor Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
E&E News
21-05-2025
- Business
- E&E News
House Republicans near release of latest megabill text
House Republicans appear ready to release new text of their tax cut, energy and border security megabill on Wednesday morning, but it's unclear when exactly that will happen. Among the points of contention are the fate of clean energy tax credits from the Democrats' 2022 climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act and the sale of public lands. Language on pipelines may also be in play after comments from President Donald Trump. In lauding the legislative effort early Wednesday, Rules Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) called it 'a serious course correction from the last four years.' Advertisement But ranking member Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said, 'You could have invested in housing, in child care, in clean energy, in community health. Instead you chose to side with those at the top.'
