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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi Representing the 12th District of California

“Venezuela is ruled by an illegitimate regime, but the Trump Administration has not made the case that an urgent threat to America’s national security existed to justify the use of U.S. military force. President Trump has made no secret of his intentions to effectively abolish the Congress, and that pattern continues today with his flagrant disregard for the Article One war powers of Congress which is essential to our constitutional system of checks and balances.

“If the President grounds his actions on the basis of drug trafficking charges, it is entirely hypocritical in light of his recent pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández who was responsible for bringing more than 400 tons of cocaine in the United States in order to ‘shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos.’ The Administration says Maduro will be tried for drug trafficking in a U.S. court — but Hernández was convicted of the same crimes by an American jury and Trump pardoned him. 

“Congress must be fully and immediately briefed on the strikes and regime change in Venezuela, the objectives and extent of this operation, and how the Administration intends to prevent further regional fallout.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a press event with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House and Senate Members, where they marked five years since the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 and honored those whose lives were lost.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Good evening. Thank you, Leader Schumer, Speaker Emerita Pelosi, to the Sicknick and Smith family and to all of my colleagues who are present.

Today, we gather here on the steps of the United States Congress, the citadel of our democracy, to commemorate the solemn five-year anniversary of the violent insurrection incited by Donald Trump to overturn the results of a free and fair election. On that fateful day, hundreds of brave, courageous and dedicated Capitol Police and DC officers stood on these very steps and across the Capitol grounds to defend the Congress, the country and the Constitution. They were outnumbered by a violent mob, but never overwhelmed by the seriousness of the moment.

For more than five hours, they were forced to engage in hand-to-hand combat, confronting thousands of bloodthirsty rioters who were unleashed by Donald Trump. They were beaten with pipes, whipped, assaulted by bear spray and pummeled by Confederate flagpoles. They were bloodied but unbowed. We owe these heroes an eternal debt of gratitude and will never forget their service and their sacrifice.

Had it not been for their bravery on that fateful day, many of us would not be alive right now standing on these Capitol steps, continuing to serve our nation. And I have a simple message for the violent mob of insurrectionists: Donald Trump may have pardoned your crimes, but only God can pardon your sin. James Baldwin once made the observation that history ‘is not merely something to be read and it does not refer merely or even principally to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it…and history is literally present in all that we do…it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities and our aspirations.’

We gather here today because we are still living the history of January 6th and we will never allow it to be whitewashed. We thank the heroes of January 6th. We remember those whose lives were lost, aspire to be a better nation and make clear to the election deniers that we will never allow a violent insurrection to take place on American soil again.

Today we are joined by the families of officers Brian Sicknick and Jeffrey Smith. Gladys, Ken and Aaron, thank you so much for your presence here today and for your continued strength and patriotism.

Now I ask everyone to join us in a moment of silence, to remember those whose lives were lost as a result of the tragic and horrific events of January 6, 2021.

[…]

May God bless those whose lives have been lost, their families, Capitol police, members of law enforcement and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

Full event can be watched here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA)

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA — On the one-year anniversary of the January 2025 Palisades Fire, Congressman Brad Sherman issued the following statement reflecting on the impact to Pacific Palisades, the federal response, and the continued need for disaster recovery funding:

“One year ago, the Palisades Fire tore through Pacific Palisades, destroying homes, displacing families, and permanently changing our community. The damage was swift, devastating, and deeply personal for many throughout our communities.

Because of decisions made during the Biden Administration, the federal government has expended $7 billion to respond to the Los Angeles-area wildfires so far. That funding helped clear debris, provide temporary housing, and give Palisades families a real chance to begin rebuilding. Unlocked by President Biden’s initial disaster declaration, many more billions of federal dollars are expected to come in the near future, to support the state’s infrastructure rebuilding projects.

Unless Trump closes the door, California expects to receive approximately $15 billion for rebuilding. However, we need a Supplemental Appropriation to increase the grants to underinsured homeowners. 

The Trump Administration has signaled to congressional Republicans that at this time it does not support a supplemental disaster appropriation to provide additional assistance directly to families and businesses — not for Southern Californians, not for Texans and Wisconsinites impacted by severe flooding, and not for residents of other states hit by major disasters in 2025.

Natural disasters do not recognize state borders or political parties. Abandoning communities still recovering from catastrophe, including here in the Palisades, is wrong and short-sighted.

I am proud that C-130J Super Hercules firefighting aircraft I secured years ago for the California National Guard helped protect lives and property in the Palisades. Preparedness saves lives.

One year later, Pacific Palisades continues to rebuild. I will keep fighting to make sure our community is not forgotten and that the federal government meets its responsibility to stand with Americans when disaster strikes.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (9th District of Illinois)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) and Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), joined U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in reintroducing the Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights Act, legislation created to strengthen protections for part-time workers and allow them to better balance their work schedules with personal and family needs. The legislation will address one of the primary issues that hourly workers face – work schedules that do not provide as many hours as they need to support their families – and provide additional protections and benefits for part-time workers.

“Part-time workers across the country deserve better. More than one in five American workers are part-time and they face volatile work hours, unstable incomes, and low wages,” said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. “I reintroduced the Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights Act with my colleagues Representative DeLauro and Senator Warren to ensure equitable workplace treatment and conditions for part-time workers. This legislation requires employers to treat part-time and full-time employees impartially and gives part-time workers access to stable hours and medical leave. We must improve the quality of part-time work for millions of families across the country.”

“Part-time workers are crucial to the strength of our economy,” said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. “Yet, far too often, these workers are at a disadvantage when it comes to the stability, opportunity, and benefits that are afforded to full-time employees. The Part Time Workers Bill of Rights Act provides part-time workers with the peace of mind they deserve by ensuring they have access to additional hours and receive benefits like Family and Medical Leave and retirement plans, which we know are crucial to the well-being of our workers and their families. I am glad to partner with Congresswoman Schakowsky and Senator Warren on this issue.”

“Every worker deserves a chance at providing for themselves and their families, but greedy giant corporations are using loopholes to exploit part-time workers instead,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren. “I’m fighting hard to pass the Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights and ensure companies put their workers over profits.”

Corporations often attempt to avoid providing workers benefits and higher wages by giving part-time workers fewer hours than they want and spreading work among many part-time employees rather than hiring full-time employees.

This month, Starbucks agreed to pay $38.9 million to settle claims it violated New York law by failing to provide regular schedules to employees, cutting workers’ scheduled hours without their consent, and giving shifts to new hires first instead of to existing employees. 

The Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights Act would:

• Require employers to offer available hours to current, available, qualified part-time employees before hiring new employees or subcontractors. The legislation requires employers with more than 15 workers to compensate existing employees if they hire new employees instead of assigning new work to available, qualified, existing employees. This provision is based on successful access to hours ordinances in cities across the country, including those in Chicago, Emeryville, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle.
• Make more part-time employees eligible for family and medical leave. The legislation guarantees any employee who has worked for their employer for at least a year access to federal leave protections under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
• Allow part-time workers to participate in their employers’ pension plans. The legislation amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to give part-time workers who have worked at least 500 hours for two consecutive years access to retirement plans if they are offered by their employers to full-time workers.

The Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights Act is supported by: 9to5, A Better Balance, Action for Children, AFL-CIO, African American Health Alliance, All-Options, American Association of University Women, Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, BreastfeedLA, Catch Fire Movement, CDF, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Center for Popular Democracy, CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers, Chicago Foundation for Women, Child Care Aware of America, Citizen Action of New York, Coalition for Social Justice, Coalition of Labor Union Women, Coalition on Human Needs, Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF), Economic Policy Institute, Equal Rights Advocates, Every Texan, Faith in Public Life, Family Values @ Work, Healthy Nourishment,  Jobs With Justice, Justice for Migrant Women, Kentucky Equal Justice Center, Legal Aid at Work, Legal Momentum, The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, MANA – A National Latina Organization, MomsRising, National Black Worker Center, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, National Center for Law and Economic Justice, National Council of Jewish Women, National Employment Law Project, National Employment Lawyers Association, National Organization for Women, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women’s Law Center, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Network of Jewish Human, Service Agencies, North Carolina Justice Center, Oxfam America, Poligon Education Fund, Public Justice Center, ROC United, Service Employees International Union, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Start Early, Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice, TakeAction Minnesota, The National Domestic Violence Hotline, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, United for Respect, We All Rise, Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest PA, Women Employed, Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, Women’s Law Project, Women’s Media Center, Workplace Fairness, YWCA of the University of Illinois, YWCA USA, ZERO TO THREE.

The legislators also introduced the Schedules That Work Act, complementary legislation to help ensure that low-wage employees have more certainty about their work schedules and income. The Schedules That Work Act protects workers who ask for schedule changes from retaliation and requires employers to consider their requests. For retail, food service, and cleaning occupations, it requires employers to provide schedules two weeks in advance. The legislation also provides compensation to these employees when their schedules change abruptly or they are assigned to particularly difficult shifts, including split shifts and call-in shifts.

A recent Berkely study found that unpredictable schedules – which often mean lack of access to enough working hours – are associated with financial insecurity, housing insecurity, high stress, poor health outcomes, and, for parents, less time spent with children, which, in turn, leads to worse outcomes for children. One study found that 65% of respondents with part-time jobs had dealt with “at least one serious material hardship” in the past year. Workers facing these challenges are disproportionately women and workers of color as exposure to schedule instability is 16% higher among workers of color compared to white workers.

Laws to help workers access more work hours have already been passed as part of fair workweek laws across the country, including in Chicago, Emeryville, California; New York City; Philadelphia; San Francisco; San Jose; Seattle; and SeaTac, Washington.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Joaquin Castro (20th District of Texas)

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jason Crow (CO-06)

AURORA — Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO-06), a former paratrooper and Army Ranger who serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and House Armed Services Committee, released the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s military action in Venezuela:

“After decades of failed conflicts, trillions of  taxpayer dollars spent, and thousands of lives lost, Americans are struggling to get by and are exhausted by endless wars.

“It’s true that Maduro is a brutal dictator. It’s also  true that not every problem is ours to fix. But now this one is.

“The Trump Administration repeatedly lied to Congress  and the American people about Venezuela. Over and over, officials testified  that this was not about regime change.

“Congress needs an immediate briefing on the Trump  Administration’s strategy for the day after. Donald Trump has already done  incalculable damage to America’s reputation. We have to prevent this from  spiraling into another nation-building disaster.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Ted Lieu (33 District of California)

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) released the following statement to honor the five-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection:

“Today marks five years since Donald Trump incited the deadly attack on our Capitol and our democracy. For weeks leading up to January 6, 2021, Trump fueled lies about the election he lost – lies that culminated in a violent mob scaling walls, smashing windows, and brutally assaulting law enforcement officers in an attempt to overturn the will of the American people.

“January 6 was one of the most shameful days in our nation’s history, and no amount of revisionism or whitewashing by Trump or his allies in Congress will ever change that. Trump continues to minimize the violence, lie about what happened, and he even pardoned rioters who assaulted police officers and desecrated our Capitol. Unlike Trump and Republicans who refuse to recognize the law enforcement officers on that day, many of whom still live with the physical and emotional scars from the attack, I want to sincerely thank them for their bravery.

“On January 6, I was evacuated from my office and sheltered with my friend and then-colleague, Congressman David Cicilline, as we watched the horrific events of that day unfold in real time. In the immediate aftermath, David and I – along with Representative Jamie Raskin – drafted the single article of impeachment charging Donald Trump with incitement of insurrection. That article passed the House, and I later served as an Impeachment Manager during the Senate trial where 57 Senators voted to convict on a bipartisan basis.

“It was a solemn responsibility to help lead the effort to hold Donald Trump accountable for his actions. While not enough Senate Republicans summoned the courage to convict, our work ensured that the truth was placed permanently in the historical record. No pardon, no lie, and no act of political cowardice can erase what happened on that dark day.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett (USVI)

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

Last night, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MS NOW’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell where he pointed out how House Democrats are fighting for everyday Americans, while Donald Trump and sycophantic House Republicans continue to focus on schemes that reward the wealthy, the well off and the well connected.

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: Leading off our discussion tonight is House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Thank you very much for joining us, Mr. Leader, really appreciate it. You were one who got to be in the briefing today to find out what this is really all about. What did you learn from Marco Rubio and the other members of the Cabinet who were in that briefing?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I think many of us on the Democratic side certainly left with more questions than answers. We pressed Secretary Rubio and others about the plan moving forward and what exactly Donald Trump meant when he said that we, meaning the Trump administration, presumably, were running Venezuela, when what’s clear is that Donald Trump and the administration can’t even run the United States of America and keep the promises that they made to American people, including promising to lower the high cost of living on day one, when we know that’s been a disaster. Costs aren’t going down, they’re going up. Life is more expensive under Donald Trump and his policies and his Trump tariffs. Now, the American people, we made clear, are not interested in seeing American boots on the ground, our men and women in uniform put in harm’s way as part of whatever scheme Donald Trump and his administration are executing relative to Venezuela or any other place. And so, one of the things that we’re going to have to do, Lawrence, here in the Congress, is to act immediately to make clear that no further military action can take place without explicit congressional approval.

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: So Marco Rubio has said publicly that he thought this is the kind of operation where you just can’t give—you just can’t follow the rules. You just can’t give any prior notice, no matter how secretly, to anyone in Congress.

LEADER JEFFRIES: We pressed them on that, and, in fact, the administration, though they’ve said that their concern is that if they communicate anything to Congress, even a subset of congressional leaders, the problem is that information is going to leak. But I explicitly asked them to give us a single example of them communicating with Members of the Gang of Eight or other high-level Members of congressional leadership and that information then becoming public, and the response was crickets, Lawrence. They had no answer because there’s no example of it. And we’re going to continue to make the case, of course, that the Constitution is not a mere inconvenience in the United States of America. It needs to be followed. And Congress explicitly was given the sole authority to declare war and, therefore, to authorize acts of military aggression that have all of the indicia of an act of war.

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: What did you hear from Marco Rubio or anyone else from the administration in that briefing that they have not said publicly?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, you know, we’re not at liberty, of course, to reveal many of the details that were discussed because it was a highly classified briefing. But suffice is to say that many of us, I don’t think, were persuaded that the justification that has been articulated publicly by the administration, that this was a law enforcement operation that had anything to do with keeping the American people safe. We weren’t persuaded by that argument because they can’t explain in clear terms how this helps the national security of the American people in any way, shape or form. You broke down the indictment. I know others are going to talk about it. This is the same administration that, of course, just pardoned Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former President of Honduras, who’s one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world, who was sentenced after being found guilty of narco-trafficking of epic proportions, flooding the country with more than 400 tons of cocaine, then sentenced to 45 years of hard time in a federal prison. Donald Trump pardons him just a few weeks ago, and they now want the country to believe that this unprecedented military action in Venezuela is about narco-trafficking. Of course it’s not. It does appear to be about oil, and I can tell you that there was a lot of conversation, we’ve heard this publicly as well, about oil and American access to that oil and being able to control it, but still nothing that was discussed as it relates to how the life of everyday Americans is going to be made any better.

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: What—did you come out of it with an understanding of what the administration’s next step is in Venezuela?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we pressed the administration on this very point, and there’s a lack of clarity as it relates to the situation. Of course, the Chavez regime remains in place, in many ways. And the Maduro folks who’ve taken over over the last several years, they remain in place, including the Vice President, who’s now apparently at least the titular head of the regime at this moment, and how that makes life better for the Venezuelan people is unclear. The one thing that we’ll continue to point out is that the future of Venezuela should be determined by the people of Venezuela, not by Stephen Miller, God forbid, or any other member of the Trump administration, notwithstanding what Donald Trump is talking about. But there’s no real plan that we’ve heard from the Trump administration as to how to ensure that the Venezuelan people will actually get self-determination, the self-determination that they certainly deserve.

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: Was there any form of confusion between, say, the Defense Secretary, the Secretary of State, CIA Director, people in the room? Was there an indication that they, as a group, didn’t know what was happening next?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, you know, most of the jurisdiction, in terms of what comes next does fall within the portfolio of the Secretary of State. And so, when we pressed him repeatedly on what comes next, there was just a lack of clarity because, of course, there’s a great deal of uncertainty, there’s chaos that could be unleashed in Venezuela. There are competing forces who are battling for power in the vacuum that was left as a result of, you know, Maduro now being apprehended. And look, Maduro’s a bad guy, and he oppressed the Venezuelan people. He was not legitimately elected. That election in 2024, we know, was stolen. But when it comes to actually having a plan to put the people of Venezuela in the best possible position moving forward, it doesn’t exist, and that’s problematic. And that’s why, when you take these type of military actions, but you’re not thinking through what comes next, we’ve seen this turn into a disaster. That certainly was the case in Iraq, and the American people don’t want to see that type of foreign policy disaster happen ever again.

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: Donald Trump has succeeded in pushing aside stories he really doesn’t want covered, at least temporarily. Epstein files, Jack Smith’s testimony and January 6th anniversary tomorrow, less than a year after Donald Trump pardoned everyone who attacked you at the Capitol that day.

LEADER JEFFRIES: That’s exactly right. And the irony is that Donald Trump promises to lower costs on day one, but instead, on day one of his presidency, he pardons hundreds of violent felons who brutally assaulted the Capitol, beat police officers, seriously injured more than 140 brave law enforcement men and women. Some subsequently lost their lives. Many were injured in ways both physically and psychologically in terms of damage that is now permanent, and yet Donald Trump pardons these individuals and then unleashes them to go back to communities all across the country, where many of them have committed violent crimes and have reoffended. And we’ve got to make sure that that story is told, and we also have to make that there’s value to free and fair elections in the United States of America. There’s value to the peaceful transfer of power. There’s value to ensuring that the rule of law remains central to who we are as a country. All of those things were threatened, of course, by what took place five years ago on January 6, which is why it’s important that we never forget and that we learn the lessons of January 6, so that we never allow it to happen again.

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: Leader Jeffries, I hope you can join us on this program on this exact date a year from now, because you may be Speaker of the House by that time, one year from now. Just one year from now. As we sit here in January drowning in Trumpian abuse of power and this swirl of stories, what do you think will be the issue in the first week of November when voters are deciding who will run the House of Representatives next year.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I think central to what the American people decide is going to be who’s actually committed to making their life better. That’s our fight as Democrats. We want to lower the high cost of living. We want to make life more affordable. We want to fix our broken healthcare system. And, of course, we want to clean up corruption so we can deliver a country that actually works for working class Americans. And I think the failure of the Trump administration has been they’re focused on so many other things, most recently, what took place in Venezuela, but not focused on improving the quality of life of everyday Americans because they’d rather spend their time trying to engage in this scheme or that scheme to subsidize the lifestyles of the rich and shameless and reward their billionaire donors, which is exactly what they did in their One Big Ugly Bill while cutting Medicaid by the largest amount in American history and ripping healthcare away from more than 14 million Americans. The whole thing has been a failure. The American people are rejecting Republican extremism, and they’re embracing the Democratic vision for making their life better and dealing with the affordability crisis that exists here in our great country.

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. Thank you in advance for joining as one year from tonight and many times in between. Thank you very much.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you so much.

Full interview can be watched here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Adam Smith (9th District of Washington)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, released the following statement in response to President Trump’s announcement regarding U.S. military activities in Venezuela.

“President Trump’s announcement this morning that U.S. forces carried out ‘a large-scale strike against Venezuela’ and have captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife has introduced more chaos and instability into Venezuela. It appears the Trump Administration gave no consideration or plan for what comes next in terms of a functioning government in Venezuela. This vacuum threatens to destabilize South America, will likely have no impact on the drug cartels, and could make the situation worse.

“For weeks, Secretary Rubio and the administration claimed that U.S. activities in the region were not aimed at regime change in Venezuela. Today’s military action, taken without consultation with or authorization from Congress, shows that Secretary Rubio misled the Congress and the American people. The administration must immediately and truthfully brief Congress on its plans in the region and Congress, specifically the Republican majority, must stop abdicating its responsibility.

“I have grave concerns about the impact that today’s actions will have on international relations and the United States’ standing in the world. It appears to violate the very international laws and norms that have protected the United States and our partners and allies for more than 80 years. Based on the administration’s National Security Strategy, I am deeply concerned that this may be an indication of more to come as the administration seeks to dominate the Western Hemisphere.

“Today’s actions will not make Americans safer and do nothing to address the everyday concerns regarding the rising cost of health care, housing, groceries, and other critical issues impacting affordability and the quality of life here at home. These actions run counter to everything Trump campaigned on and rather than ending conflicts the president has chosen to drag the U.S. into further foreign wars.”

https://democrats-armedservices.house.gov/2026/1/smith-statement-on-regime-change-strike-in-venezuela 

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