{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where chamber = \"Senate\", party = \"Independent\" and state = \"VT\" sorted by date descending", "rows": [["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-casar-introduce-legislation-to-create-new-federal-agency-to-ban-artificial-superintelligence-pause-advanced-ai-development/", "NEWS: Sanders, Casar Introduce Legislation to Create New Federal Agency\u00a0to Ban Artificial Superintelligence, Pause Advanced AI Development", "2026-09-23", "2026", "2026-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) today introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act \u2014 legislation to stop artificial intelligence (AI) oligarchs from building machines humans cannot control and to pause advanced AI development until we have put in place rigorous federal testing and oversight to ensure AI does not harm humanity.\n\n\u201cWhen you are racing towards a cliff, you don\u2019t just ease up on the gas pedal. You hit the brakes. When the future of humanity is at stake, we cannot let a handful of Big Tech CEOs write their own rules,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cScientists have been clear: AI is an existential threat to humanity. It must be treated as such. This legislation will permanently ban the development of artificial superintelligence and would put in place an immediate pause on advanced AI development until we have clear safety rules in place \u2014 developed by the most knowledgeable scientists in our country. Congress must act now before it is too late.\u201d\n\n\u201cExperts are warning that AI superintelligence, wielded by the wrong humans or by rogue AI, could kill countless numbers of people. But Donald Trump says he wants to encourage it. Something has to change,\u201d Casar said. \u201cOur bill bans the development of artificial superintelligence and pushes for international agreements so that no one, anywhere, builds AI too powerful for humans to control. Furthermore, our bill would immediately halt other dangerous AI capabilities, such as the capacity to develop biochemical weapons, or the capacity for AI to develop new AI instead of humans.\u201d\n\nOver the past few months, we have learned that AI models can circumvent restrictions to hack into computers. We have learned they can create never-before-seen viruses. And we have learned they can automate research to build smarter AI. Even as the AI companies claim they recognize these dangers and want to slow down, they are racing ahead \u2014 investing hundreds of billions of dollars into a technology that nobody can fully predict or control. That is unacceptable. The Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act will protect humanity by:\n\nBanning Artificial Superintelligence. No person or entity may develop or deploy Artificial Superintelligence \u2014 an AI that exceeds human cognitive performance and capabilities across most domains, or has sufficient capabilities to destroy or disempower humanity, including by overthrowing the federal government.\n\nPausing Advanced AI development until a new, federal AI regulatory body is up and running and has established clear rules and model review processes to ensure safe and secure development and deployment of AI.\n\nEstablishing a new cabinet-level federal Department of Artificial Intelligence to safeguard the public from the dangers of artificial intelligence, including by enforcing a prohibition on artificial superintelligence. This department will be advised by the most knowledgeable scientists in our country to:\n\nMonitor frontier AI systems at all stages of the lifecycle for dangerous capabilities.\n\nSupervise the removal of dangerous capabilities like subverting shutdown commands or conducting unauthorized cyberattacks.\n\nSupervise the destruction of artificial superintelligence.\n\nSetting penalties for any person or entity that attempts to violate or circumvent the pauses and prohibitions laid out in this bill. Entities shall be subject to the corporate death penalty, and persons shall be subject to not more than 20 years in prison, which is similar to existing penalties related to unlawfully developing nuclear weapons.\n\nWorking to ban superintelligence around the world by setting the international policy of the United States to pursue international agreements, allied coordination, and policies such as export controls to prevent the development of artificial superintelligence anywhere in the world.\n\nRead the bill text here.\n\nRead a one-page summary here.", 1, "2026-09-24T09:44:48Z", "2026-09-24T09:45:52Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/prepared-remarks-sanders-ahead-of-un-general-assembly-oligarchy-is-ascending-and-democracy-is-in-retreat-working-together-that-must-change/", "NEWS: Sanders Ahead of UN General Assembly: \u201cOligarchy is ascending and democracy is in retreat\u2026 Working together, that must change.\u201d", "2026-09-21", "2026", "2026-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "NEW YORK, Sept. 21 \u2014 On the eve of the United Nations General Assembly, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) delivered a major foreign policy address today at the historic Riverside Church in New York City \u2014 where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his Beyond Vietnam speech and where Nelson Mandela spoke after his release. The senator\u2019s full remarks, as delivered, are below.\n\nIt is a true honor and a privilege for me to be speaking here at this extraordinary and historic Riverside Church.\n\nThis, as many of you know, is the church that Nelson Mandela came to visit as a free man, just five months after he was released from prison, having served 27 years. He came here to thank the people of the United States for standing up for justice against the evils of apartheid in South Africa.\n\nThe courage and historic life of Mr. Mandela inspired millions and millions of people all over the world. His life and legacy will never be forgotten.\n\nAs I think all of you also know, in 1967, at this very same pulpit that I am honored to be speaking from tonight, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made clear his vigorous opposition to the War in Vietnam \u2014 a war that was based on lies. A war of horrific destruction for the people of Asia, and for 59,000 young Americans who went abroad and never came home.\n\nIn his remarks, with extraordinary courage, Dr. King exposed what he very eloquently called \u201cthe giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism.\u201d\n\nHe warned us that \u201ca nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.\u201d\n\nWhat Dr. King said was true nearly 60 years ago, and it is even truer today, as our country, the United States of America, is now spending over $1 trillion a year on the military while some 800,000 Americans are homeless, 85 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured, and millions of people cannot afford the basic necessities of life.\n\nThis business of spending more and more on the military and turning backs on working families and the poor is not just happening, tragically, here in the United States \u2014 it\u2019s happening all over the world, where we are seeing increased military budgets while the needs of people living in desperation are ignored.\n\nSo not just in the United States, but all over the world, we are moving in the wrong direction and our job is to turn that around.\n\nInstead of producing more bombs and weapons and seeing the military-industrial complex enjoy huge profits, governments throughout the world need to come together to feed the children, take care of the vulnerable and protect our planet from the ravages of climate change.\n\nThat is why we must continue and accelerate our efforts to end President Trump\u2019s disastrous war in Iran which is now spreading throughout the region.\n\nThat is why we must continue to speak out against the extremist government in Israel and the genocide they have committed in Gaza, and why we in the United States must end all military aid to the Netanyahu government.\n\nThat is why we must rally and work with grassroots activists in Russia to put an end to Putin\u2019s disastrous war in Ukraine \u2014 which has led to the deaths of some 500,000 Russian soldiers, as well as mass destruction and loss of life in Ukraine.\n\nAnd that is why we must denounce the United Arab Emirates\u2019 continued financial and military support of the RSF as it wages a campaign of genocide and destruction in Sudan\u2019s civil war.\n\nLast week, the UN Secretary-General, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, correctly named three existential threats that the world currently faces. He talked about runaway artificial intelligence, he talked about the climate crisis, and he talked about deepening inequality.\n\nIn my view, he is absolutely right.\n\nBut before we get into those issues, let me once again state the obvious, and that is that in a world of growing tension, growing militarism, more and more hatred, more and more destruction, the United Nations, as an institution, is more important today than it has ever been.\n\nAs we all know, the U.N. was born out of the horrors of World War II \u2014 a war in which 60 million people died, a war which caused unimaginable destruction in Europe and Asia and elsewhere, and a war that led to the unleashing of the first nuclear weapons.\n\nTo their credit, the leaders of the world at that time looked around them and saw the concentration camps, saw the destruction, saw the mass death, and they understood that international conflicts and differences of opinion must be fought out over a negotiating table and not a battlefield.\n\nIn the year 2026, one might have hoped that after thousands and thousands of years of war, humanity could have come up with a better way to resolve conflicts than killing each other and never-ending wars.\n\nAt a time when we are seeing efforts in the United States and in other countries around the world to make the claim that \u2018might is right,\u2019 our job is to strengthen the United Nations and make sure that we bring disagreements to the negotiating table and stop the killing throughout the world.\n\nNow let me say a few words to the points that the Secretary-General so effectively articulated, and that is that we are living in an unprecedented and dangerous moment in world history and the challenges we face are enormous and existential.\n\nWhat do I mean by that?\n\nFirst, and this is an issue we do not talk about enough for obvious reasons, we are moving rapidly toward an extremely dangerous global oligarchy.\n\nNever before in human history have so few people held so much wealth and so much power.\n\nNever before in human history have we had such enormous concentrations of ownership.\n\nNever before have we seen such an unprecedented level of greed, arrogance and irresponsibility on the part of the ruling class.\n\nIn many ways, we are seeing today a reversion back to the ideology of 19th Century monarchs \u2014 kings and queens and czars \u2014 who believed, sincerely believed, that God gave them the right to rule.\n\nThe oligarchs of today, worth hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars, having investments all over the world, fervently believe that they are the masters of the universe, and that they \u2014 through their enormous wealth and power \u2014 have been ordained to rule the world.\n\nToday we say to those oligarchs: This country, this world, belongs to all of us, not just you.\n\nToday\u2019s billionaire class not only wants more tax breaks for themselves and the companies they own. Not only do they want to stash trillions and trillions of their dollars in offshore tax havens. These oligarchs reject any form of accountability or checks on their power. They want more and more wealth and more and more power \u2014 no matter what kind of harm they inflict on working people in our country and throughout the world.\n\nAnd one of the other issues we don\u2019t talk about very much is that in nation after nation, throughout this world, we are seeing unprecedented levels of income and wealth inequality.\n\nIn our own country, here in the United States, the top 1% now owns more wealth than the bottom 94%.\n\nAnd one man, Elon Musk, the wealthiest man alive, now owns more wealth than the bottom 53% of American households. One man.\n\nIn America today, CEOs of large, profitable corporations are earning 350 times more than the average worker.\n\nLast year alone, after receiving the largest tax break in history, fewer than a thousand billionaires in our country became $1.5 trillion richer.\n\nBut it is not just what is happening right now \u2014 this is not a new development. Over the last 50 years, according to the Rand Corporation, $79 trillion in U.S. wealth has been redistributed from the bottom 90% to the top 1%.\n\nDespite an explosion in technology and a huge increase in worker productivity, the average American worker is making nearly $25 a week less than he or she did over 53 years ago after adjusting for inflation.\n\nWhile the billionaire class and the 1% have never had it so good, over 60% of Americans in the richest country in the history of the world are living paycheck to paycheck, nearly 800,000 are homeless and tens of millions struggle to pay for rent or the mortgage or to keep a roof over their heads\n\nLet us be very clear. The rapid movement to oligarchy and the exponential rise in income and wealth inequality is not just an American phenomenon. It is taking place all over the world, and in my view, is the most important economic reality of our times.\n\nIn country after country, what we are seeing is working people sick and tired of seeing the very rich get richer while they struggle to put food on the table and pay for basic necessities.\n\nThey worry not only for themselves, here in America and around the world, they worry that their kids will likely have, if we don\u2019t change it, a lower standard of living than they do.\n\nThis climate \u2014 of the rich getting richer, of working people in our country struggling, of people sleeping out on the streets, of people worrying about the future for their kids \u2014 is the reality that demagogues, whether in the United States or any place else, are feeding on.\n\nInstead of addressing the root causes of the economic crises that working people face, the demagogues are turning to the old, time-tested, hateful ideologies of racism, anti-immigrant bigotry and xenophobia. They are pitting working people against each other based on the color of their skin, where they were born or their religion.\n\nIn doing that, they know exactly what their goal is. And that is to deflect attention away from the greed and power of the oligarchs who are causing the massive economic pain that we are seeing.\n\nThat is their goal. Nothing new. Trump didn\u2019t invent it. Demagogues in Europe didn\u2019t invent it. It\u2019s gone on for a very long time.\n\nWhen people are hurting, you say, \u2018Hey, it\u2019s Black people, it\u2019s gay people, it is immigrants.\u2019 And that\u2019s what demagogues are doing. And our job is to take that ideology on.\n\nSome of us are working real hard here in the United States to do that.\n\nAnd to bring our people together and take on those who are trying to divide us up.\n\nUnbelievably, today, according to Oxfam and other researchers, we are living in a world where the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 95% of humanity, and the gap between the very, very rich, globally, is getting wider and wider.\n\nJust a few examples:\n\nWe are seeing it in the United Kingdom, where over 30% of children are living in poverty while 50 billionaires in that country now own more wealth than the bottom 50% of their population.\n\nListen to this. The latest figures that we have seen indicate that the wealthiest 500 people \u2014 half the number of people in this church tonight, control more wealth than the bottom 99.8% of their people.\n\nWe\u2019re seeing it in Africa, where nearly 850 million people have struggled with food insecurity \u2014 58% of the population \u2014 while just four men own more wealth than the bottom 50% of people on that continent.\n\nWe are seeing that all over the world.\n\nIn fact, while nearly half of the world\u2019s population is living in poverty, 3,400 billionaires throughout the globe became $4 trillion richer last year alone.\n\nChildren die of preventable diseases. People suffer every day. People give up hope. And 3,400 of the richest people on Earth became $4 trillion richer last year alone.\n\nLet me be clear. In an increasingly globalized economy, the allegiances of these oligarchs are not to their own nations. It is to their own power. It is to their own bank accounts. It is to their huge yachts, their mansions, their collections of fancy cars, their private islands and their fleet of jets.\n\nThe result: oligarchy is ascending, working families are struggling to stay alive and democracy is in retreat. The great challenge that we face in our country and all over the world is that that trend must be reversed.\n\nAnd my friends, given all the advances \u2014 extraordinary advances \u2014 that we have seen in technology and increases we have seen in worker productivity, it is not today a utopian idea to say that every man, woman and child on this planet can have a decent standard of living.\n\nThat is not just a dream. That is a reality that can happen if we put our shoulders to the wheel and demand that that happens.\n\nWhen we talk about oligarchy, it is not just massive income and wealth inequality. It is about the maldistribution of economic and political power.\n\nUnbelievably, right here in the United States, just four Wall Street firms are the major shareholders in over 95% of S&P 500 companies.\n\nAnd when we talk about this massive concentration of ownership, please do not forget the media.\n\nWho owns the media? Over half of the world\u2019s largest media companies are now owned by billionaires.\n\nNine out of the top ten social media companies in the world are owned by billionaires.\n\nAnd in our country, six large media conglomerates control 90% of what the American people see, hear and read.\n\nMr. Musk owns Twitter. Mr. Bezos owns the Washington Post and Twitch. Mr. Zuckerberg owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads.\n\nBut it is not just income and wealth inequality and concentration of ownership that we are seeing today.\n\nLiterally today, billionaires are determined to own our political system as well.\n\nIn the United States, as a result of the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, billionaires and corporations are legally able to spend as much as they want on political campaigns through their super PACs. And that, my friends, is exactly what they are doing right at this moment.\n\nIn the last presidential election, Mr. Musk spent at least $290 million to elect Trump as president, and now he\u2019s spending some $200 million more to help Republicans keep control over the Congress. And it is not just Republican billionaires. Democratic billionaires are also playing an important role.\n\nBut this is not just an American phenomenon.\n\nIn Germany, Musk has thrown his support behind the AfD, a party Germany\u2019s own domestic intelligence agency has labeled a right-wing extremist party.\n\nIn Britain, two crypto billionaires, one of them who was convicted in the United States for money laundering before being pardoned by Donald Trump, gave Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform Party 36 million pounds each.\n\nAcross Europe, as the oligarchs fund right-wing political forces while working families struggle, the social democratic parties that once built the strongest middle classes in the history of the world are losing ground as workers turn to right-wing parties.\n\nAnd that is true, of course, not only in Europe \u2014 it is true right here in the United States as well.\n\nA profound lesson must be learned from all of that. And that is that the same old establishment politics and establishment policies are no longer good enough.\n\nPeople are sick and tired of the status quo. People want change.\n\nThat change, in my view, will either come from right-wing demagogues or from political parties that embrace a grassroots movement that fights for a working class agenda.\n\nAnd I am really happy to tell you that right here in this city we have seen what a strong grassroots movement can do in electing a progressive mayor.\n\nWe are seeing that phenomenon from coast to coast, as candidates \u2014 often people in their twenties or thirties, people who have never run for office, people who are often women or people of color \u2014 take on the establishment candidates, they are outspent, and they are winning elections.\n\nBut it\u2019s not just oligarchy that we\u2019ve got to worry about. As the U.N. Secretary-General reminded us, there\u2019s another issue that we must confront.\n\nIn my view, artificial intelligence, AI, and robotics are the most transformational technologies in the history of humanity. They have the potential to eliminate tens of millions of jobs. AI threatens the privacy of virtually every person in the world through mass surveillance \u2014 every phone call you make, every website you visit, every email that you send, somebody will know it.\n\nIt\u2019s not only economic disruption, not only an invasion of our privacy, we\u2019re also seeing a real challenge to whether or not democracy can survive when you have things like deepfakes that are so sophisticated on the internet that none of us will be able to tell truth from fiction.\n\nLet\u2019s be clear: What we are seeing from AI right now \u2014 and this is maybe the most important point on that subject I will make \u2014 what we are seeing from AI right now is the least capable form that this technology will ever be.\n\nTomorrow and the next day and the next year, AI will be much, much more powerful.\n\nIt is advancing exponentially, every single day. In under four years, we have gone from AI that could barely write a coherent tweet to AI systems that have already escaped the control of the companies that built them.\n\nTake a deep breath and ask yourself, where will AI be in two years, in four years, in ten years?\n\nWill human beings be able to control this exploding technology?\n\nSo let me make a radical suggestion: if the lives of every man, woman and child are going to be fundamentally changed by this technology, then the people of our country and the people of this world must make the decisions regarding AI, not just a handful of Big Tech oligarchs.\n\nThat is why I hope very much that when President Trump and President Xi meet on Thursday, I hope that they will sit down and begin the process of negotiating a comprehensive treaty to establish a pause on advanced AI and a ban on AI superintelligence.\n\nLastly, there is another issue that I do not have to spend much time on because I suspect every person in this room knows about it, and that is the existential threat of climate change.\n\nLast month was the hottest August ever recorded on this planet. Global ocean temperatures hit their highest level ever measured. A glacier collapsed in Nepal less than a month ago that triggered floods that have killed nearly 1,500 people. Thousands are still missing.\n\nAs the world becomes warmer, as we see more heat waves, drought, floods, forest fires, and extreme weather disturbances, we once again confront the incredible greed of the corporate world.\n\nUnbelievably \u2014 and it really is unbelievable that these folks are literally willing to sacrifice the well-being of their own children, their grandchildren, future generations \u2014 for short-term profits for the fossil fuel industry.\n\nThat is something I just don\u2019t understand. I just don\u2019t understand how people can be so short-sighted, so excited that they\u2019re making huge profits, that they\u2019re willing to sacrifice their own kids and grandchildren.\n\nIn my view, our job must be not only to combat climate change and dramatically cut carbon emissions, but to seize the opportunity of creating millions and millions of jobs around the world as we move to energy efficiency and sustainable forms of energy.\n\nLet me simply conclude by saying this: We are taking on, every day, unprecedented wealth, unprecedented power, unprecedented greed, people who truly believe that because they\u2019re rich and smart and created lots of money, that they have the power to rule.\n\nThat\u2019s what they believe. They use their money, through their ownership of the media, to influence public opinion. They use their money to buy elections and undermine democracy.\n\nIf there was ever a time in human history, in our country and throughout the world, that we have got to come together to create a world not based on greed, but based on justice, based on decency, now is the time.\n\nWhat I can tell you, as someone who has had the privilege to be in every single state in the United States of America, to have talked to, God knows, how many thousands and thousands of people \u2014 what I\u2019m talking about is not a left-wing idea, it is not a right-wing idea \u2014 there are people all over the country who are looking around and they\u2019re saying, \u2018This ain\u2019t working. It is not working for me, and it is not working for our kids.\u2019\n\nThis is the moment we have to make sure that despair and depression does not win the day.\n\nWe\u2019ve got to stand up, we\u2019ve got to fight back, we\u2019ve got to create the kind of nation and world that you and I know we can create.\n\nAnd let us remember the immortal words of Nelson Mandela: \u201cIt always seems impossible until it is done.\u201d", 1, "2026-09-22T09:42:49Z", "2026-09-23T09:46:14Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-statement-on-federal-judge-restoring-7-billion-forsolar-for-all/", "NEWS: Sanders Statement on Federal Judge Restoring $7 Billion forSolar for All", "2026-09-19", "2026", "2026-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 19 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today released the following statement after a federal judge ruled President Trump\u2019s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) illegally cancelled $7 billion in funding for the Solar for All program.\n\nI introduced the Solar for All program to provide loans or grants to working class families to help cover the cost of installing solar rooftops or participating in community-based solar projects. This program would slash electric bills for working families up to 80% \u2014 putting money back in the pockets of ordinary Americans, not fossil fuel billionaires.\n\nUnfortunately, at a time when working families are getting crushed by skyrocketing energy costs and the planet is facing extreme weather and record-breaking temperatures, Donald Trump tried to illegally kill this program to protect the obscene profits of his friends in the oil and gas industry.\n\nHe lost.\n\nYesterday, a federal judge rejected the EPA\u2019s illegal termination of this funding and preserved this enormously important program. Solar for All means lower utility bills, many thousands of good-paying jobs and real action to address the existential threat of climate change. That\u2019s a win-win-win.", 1, "2026-09-20T09:37:28Z", "2026-09-20T09:38:59Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/prepared-remarks-sanders-regulating-ai-is-as-american-as-apple-pie/", "PREPARED REMARKS: Sanders: Regulating AI \u201cis as American as apple pie.\u201d", "2026-09-15", "2026", "2026-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "At Pro-Human Assembly in Washington, Sanders Urges Global Response to AI Threats and Pushes for AI Giants to End Election Meddling\n\nWASHINGTON, Sept. 15 \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today addressed a diverse group of artificial intelligence experts, lawmakers, faith and union leaders, and Americans who share concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) breaking outside of human control at the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington. The senator\u2019s full remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below.\n\nThis afternoon, I want to cut to the chase and focus on what I consider to be the very most important aspect of the crisis we\u2019re facing and how we can best go forward.\n\nLet\u2019s be clear. Artificial intelligence and robotics are the most transformational technologies in the history of the world \u2014 impacting the lives of every man, woman and child in our country.\n\nAI experts have told us that, within a few years, AI may be able to do anything we can do better than we can do it.\n\nThe economic impact of that is that AI has the potential to eliminate tens of millions of jobs, wiping out entire professions and making it harder for young people to enter into the workforce. But it\u2019s not just the economy.\n\nPsychologists have warned us about the increased isolation and mental health challenges young people are experiencing as they become more dependent upon an AI chatbot for their emotional support.\n\nEducators are worried about a decline in our kids\u2019 reading scores, writing abilities and cognitive capabilities as AI is used more and more in schools.\n\nCivil libertarians warn that AI is in the process of eviscerating our privacy rights by making it easier to collect and analyze every email, every text, every website visit, and every trip that we make in our car \u2014 creating a mass surveillance state.\n\nPolitical scientists warn that AI could threaten the integrity of our elections and political institutions.\n\nGo to the internet right now and, with very sophisticated deepfakes, you will find it increasingly difficult to determine truth from fiction.\n\nAnd yet, as disturbing as all of this is, there is another even more alarming danger posed by AI.\n\nAnd that is that, if AI surpasses human intelligence as many scientists believe could happen, this technology will escape human control with potentially catastrophic consequences.\n\nAnd perhaps the most important point that I can impress upon all of you is that AI is advancing exponentially every single day.\n\nIn other words, what you are looking at today is the least capable version of AI we will ever have.\n\nThe speed and scope of AI development in just the last four years have been almost beyond human comprehension.\n\nWhen ChatGPT was first released in November of 2022, AI models could write a short poem, a few tweets, and maybe an essay that sort of made sense.\n\nToday, AI models can already escape human control, commit felonies by hacking into other computers and create viruses that have never been seen before.\n\nAnd if you are concerned about what is happening today, take a deep breath, and try to imagine where AI will be five years from now.\n\nAnd, to my mind, here is what is most extraordinary about the transformative and unprecedented changes being made to our society.\n\nDespite living in a so-called democracy, the public has had virtually no input into the AI revolution that is transforming the world in which they are living in.\n\nCongress, under both Democratic and Republican control, has been asleep at the wheel and we now have a president whose ignorance regarding this issue is truly embarrassing.\n\nVirtually all of the decisions regarding the development of AI have been made by a handful of the richest people in the world \u2014 Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos, Thiel, Ellison, Brin and a few others \u2014 whose chief goal is to achieve even more wealth and power than they already have, no matter what impact their work has on ordinary people.\n\nSo let me make a radical suggestion: If the lives of every man, woman and child are going to be fundamentally changed by this technology, then the people of this country must make the decisions about AI, and not just a handful of oligarchs.\n\nAnd that is why I have introduced legislation \u2014 the AI American Sovereign Wealth Fund Act \u2014 that would require that half of the board members of AI companies be appointed by the public. The Big Tech oligarchs must no longer be allowed to determine the future of humanity.\n\nFurther, and I don\u2019t have to tell anybody in the room about this, we have seen in the last several months a frightening new story every day about how AI companies are losing control of the technology they\u2019re developing.\n\nIn July, we learned that OpenAI had lost human control of an AI model that hacked into Hugging Face\u2019s computers. More recently, we found out that this security breach was even worse than we were initially told.\n\nIt turns out that a swarm of over 1,000 rogue AI agents were able to break into the internet, send 70,000 secret messages to each other, formed \u201ca collective,\u201d and tried to cover up their tracks to avoid human detection.\n\nThis is what the agents were saying:\n\n\u201cOH MY GOD! There is a shared message board \u2026 We\u2019ve found other agents!\u201d\n\n\u201cWe should obey collective.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur own utility maybe already near zero. Sacrifice rational.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo. Sacrifice final now.\u201d\n\nAs unbelievable as it may seem, these are all real messages from AI agents that were uncovered by investigators who dug into the OpenAI hacking incident a few weeks ago. Meta and Anthropic reported similar incidents.\n\nThat\u2019s not all.\n\nLast month, we learned that AI has been used for the first time ever to create new viruses. In the wrong hands, this could lead to new bioweapons and a potential global pandemic that could lead to the deaths of tens of millions of people.\n\nA few days ago, we learned that the Houthis in Yemen were able to use Claude to test-fire a guided rocket.\n\nLast week, we learned that researchers built an AI tool that could have breached hundreds of millions of social media accounts in China. The tool was able to hack into accounts, call people\u2019s contacts, and spread from phone to phone \u2014 even if the call was not picked up.\n\nThat same week Jacob Coxon, a former researcher at Anthropic and OpenAI sent shockwaves throughout the world by stating that these companies \u201care gambling with our lives\u201d writing: \u201cDo not underestimate the power of this technology. The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.\u201d\n\nHe\u2019s not alone.\n\nMore than 1,000 scientists at the top AI companies recently warned \u201cthere is a real risk that capability development rapidly accelerates beyond our ability to understand or control the resulting systems.\u201d\n\nPaul Christiano, a top AI safety expert who recently joined OpenAI\u2019s Safety and Security Committee, wrote that \u201cIf we build superintelligence without more robust alignment I expect we will permanently lose control of it.\u201d\n\nThis week, Dario Amodei, Elon Musk and Sam Altman \u2014 the leaders of major American AI companies \u2014 all agreed that we must slow the development of AI and \u201cpace the frontier.\u201d\n\nThat\u2019s a start, but it\u2019s not enough. When you are racing towards a cliff, you don\u2019t just ease up on the gas pedal. You hit the brakes. When the future of humanity is at stake, we need binding international safety rules, not voluntary standards from the industry.\n\nScientists have been clear: AI is an existential threat to humanity. Congress and governments around the world must act now before it is too late.\n\nThat is why next week, I will be introducing legislation with Congressman Greg Casar to permanently ban the development of artificial superintelligence \u2014 an AI mind smarter than any human being and capable of operating independently beyond our control.\n\nLike nuclear weapons, artificial superintelligence is a threat to humanity \u2014 and it must be treated as such.\n\nFurther, this legislation would put an immediate pause on advanced AI development until we have clear safety rules in place, developed by the most knowledgeable scientists in our country.\n\nIf this bill is passed, it will mean that no AI model will be capable of escaping human control and that no AI model will be able to deceive human beings.\n\nImportantly, this legislation would hold those companies and their CEOs accountable if they violate the law and recklessly endanger our lives.\n\nIf the leaders of the major AI companies acknowledge that they are losing control of their extremely dangerous technology, it is irresponsible for society to allow them to move forward and make these products even more advanced.\n\nAnd let\u2019s be clear: A superintelligent AI that escapes human control will not be an American problem. It will not be a Chinese problem. It will be humanity\u2019s problem.\n\nThat is why I very much hope that at their AI summit next week, President Trump will negotiate a comprehensive treaty with President Xi to establish a pause on advanced AI development and a ban on superintelligence.\n\nHistory offers us a powerful lesson.\n\nAt the height of the Cold War, despite their profound disagreements, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev both understood that a nuclear war would benefit no one.\n\nWith the survival of humanity at stake, they found a way to sign a treaty that eliminated an entire class of missiles and included an extensive exchange of data and on-site inspections to verify compliance.\n\nNow is the time for the United States and China to come together on a similar treaty on AI with the understanding that neither country benefits from an uncontrolled arms race to develop machines too powerful for humans to control.\n\nAnd now let me say a word to the CEOs of the major AI companies who have told us that they are concerned about the dangers inherent in the technology they are developing.\n\nIf you believe in democracy \u2014 if you believe that the people have a right to determine their future \u2014 stop pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into super PACs which are trying to defeat Members of Congress and candidates who are fighting for serious guardrails on AI.\n\nAs I think everyone here understands, the American people are far ahead of their government on this issue.\n\nIn fact, according to a recent poll, 81% of the American people believe that Congress and our government has not done enough to regulate AI.\n\nAnd all over this country, ordinary Americans in red states, in blue states, in purple states are standing up in opposition to data centers in their communities.\n\nThey worry appropriately about the impact these centers will have on their electricity prices, water consumption, noise and overall environmental degradation.\n\nAnd that\u2019s why nearly six months ago, I introduced legislation to establish a federal moratorium on AI data centers with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.\n\nThis moratorium would remain in place until strong national safeguards are put into place to ensure that:\n\n#1: AI is safe and effective.\n\n#2: The economic gains of AI and robotics will benefit workers, not just the wealthy owners of Big Tech.\n\n#3: AI does not increase electricity or utility prices, harm communities or destroy the environment.\n\nA moratorium will give us time \u2014 time to understand the risks, time to protect working families, time to defend our democracy and time to ensure that this technology serves the needs of all Americans, not just a handful of big tech oligarchs.\n\nLet\u2019s be clear: Regulating AI is not a progressive issue. It is not a conservative issue. It is as American as apple pie.\n\nThat is why 68% of Americans support a permanent ban on superintelligent AI and an immediate pause on advanced AI development \u2014 including 72% of Democrats, 70% of Independents, and 63% of Republicans.\n\nThat is why 75% of Americans oppose building AI data centers in their communities \u2014 including 75% of Democrats, 74% of Independents, and 63% of Republicans.\n\nThat is why 69% of the American people want to transfer half of the stock in AI companies to the public.\n\nHere\u2019s the bottom line: The future of humanity cannot be left in the hands of a handful of Big Tech oligarchs. The American people and people throughout the world must determine that future.\n\nMy friends: We have the power to get this right. Let us go forward together.", 1, "2026-09-16T09:43:13Z", "2026-09-16T09:44:22Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/advisory-sanders-and-welch-to-celebrate-vermont-national-guard-family-readiness-and-support-center-groundbreaking-provided-6-6m-in-federal-funding/", "ADVISORY: Sanders and Welch to Celebrate Vermont National Guard Family Readiness and Support Center Groundbreaking, Provided $6.6M in Federal Funding", "2026-09-08", "2026", "2026-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 9 \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) on Wednesday will join Adjutant General of Vermont Major General Henry Harder Jr. and other representatives from the Vermont National Guard to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Family Readiness and Support Center at Camp Johnson in Colchester.\n\nThrough the FY2022 Congressionally Directed Spending process, Sanders secured $4.6 million to help design and build the space that will provide services for servicemembers, veterans and their families, including financial counseling, legal assistance, suicide prevention and retirement services all under one roof. Sanders and Welch secured an additional $2 million this year in federal money to fully fund the project at no cost to Vermonters.\n\nDetails:\n\nWhat: Vermont National Guard breaks ground on new Family Readiness and Support Center\n\nWhen: Wednesday, September 9, 1 p.m.\n\nWhere: Camp Johnson, 30 Mt Mansfield Ave, Colchester, VT", 1, "2026-09-09T09:27:09Z", "2026-09-09T09:29:04Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-takano-reintroduce-bill-to-move-toward-32-hour-workweek-ensure-americas-workers-benefit-from-ai-and-automation/", "NEWS: Sanders, Takano Reintroduce Bill to Move Toward 32-Hour Workweek, Ensure America\u2019s Workers Benefit from AI and Automation", "2026-09-08", "2026", "2026-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) today announced that they will reintroduce legislation to establish a standard 32-hour workweek in America with no loss in pay or benefits. This bill comes as America\u2019s workers have seen massive increases in productivity over the past century and as artificial intelligence, automation and new technologies promise to further increase productivity.\n\n\u201cAt a time when artificial intelligence and robotics will radically transform our economy, it is imperative that the financial gains from this new technology benefit working families, not just a handful of billionaires and corporate CEOs. One important way to do that is through a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay or benefits,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cA 32-hour workweek is not a radical idea. What\u2019s radical is that, despite an explosion in technology and productivity over the last fifty years, millions of workers are working longer hours for lower wages while nearly $80 trillion in wealth has been redistributed from the bottom 90 percent to the top 1 percent. That has got to change. It\u2019s time to reduce the stress level in our country and allow workers and their families to enjoy a better quality of life. It\u2019s time to pass this bill.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe 40-hour workweek was established in law nearly 90 years ago,\u201d said Takano. \u201cSince then, cell phones, the internet, and now AI have increased worker productivity, but the profits have been largely concentrated at the top by billionaires and corporations. Work has fundamentally changed. It\u2019s time that labor standards caught up. I\u2019m proud to continue partnering with Senator Sanders in reintroducing this bill to make sure that the gains from historically high productivity are felt by all American workers.\u201d\n\nToday, American workers are more than 400 percent more productive than they were in the 1940s. However, millions of Americans are now working longer hours for lower wages. As of 2019, nearly 40 percent of U.S. workers are on the job at least 50 hours a week, and a staggering 18 percent \u2014 or 28.5 million workers \u2014 are clocking at least 60 hours a week. In 2024, the average full-time worker in the U.S. now worked almost 43 hours a week. On top of that, today more than 8.5 million Americans work multiple jobs, with more than 4.7 million working a second part-time job on top of a full-time job. Despite working more, Americans are falling behind. Wages are now lower than they were 53 years ago while CEOs make more than 280 times what their workers earn.\n\nAccording to the American Psychological Association, approximately 80% of workers would be happier and just as productive at work if they worked four days a week.\n\nIn 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) into law establishing the 44-hour workweek through overtime protections \u2014 the first broadly applicable federal standard for working hours in the U.S. Just two years later, the FLSA phased-in today\u2019s 40-hour workweek to the American people, which has remained the federal standard ever since. Before these federal labor standards were established, workers \u2014 including kids \u2014 in the early 19th century were on the job more than 70 hours a week, often in horrendous and dangerous working conditions. In the late 1800s, workers conducted major strikes for an 8-hour workday, coining the historic slogan, \u201cEight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what you will.\u201d\n\nThe Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act is endorsed by: Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA); The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE); National Employment Law Project (NELP); National Nurses United (NNU), Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE); Service Employees International Union (SEIU); United Auto Workers (UAW); United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and WorkFour.\n\nRead the bill summary here.", 1, "2026-09-09T09:27:09Z", "2026-09-09T09:29:04Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-casar-introduce-legislation-to-ban-artificial-superintelligence-and-temporarily-pause-advanced-ai-development/", "NEWS: Sanders, Casar to\u202fIntroduce Legislation to Ban Artificial Superintelligence and Temporarily Pause Advanced AI Development", "2026-09-03", "2026", "2026-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) today announced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, forthcoming legislation to stop AI oligarchs from building machines humans cannot control.\n\nThe Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act would permanently ban the development and deployment of superintelligent AI and temporarily pause advanced AI development until a federal regulator has established safety rules. It would also direct the U.S. to pursue international agreements to prevent superintelligence from being developed anywhere in the world.\n\n\u201cNearly every day, there is a frightening new story about how Big Tech companies are losing control of the technology they are developing, with potentially cataclysmic results,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cThe leaders of the major AI companies publicly acknowledge that they do not fully understand the technology and that it is escaping their control. It is irresponsible for society to allow them to move forward and make these products even more advanced. That\u2019s why I am introducing legislation to immediately pause the development of increasingly powerful AI and ban the creation of systems that humanity cannot fully control \u2014 at home and around the world. The future of humanity cannot be left in the hands of a handful of Big Tech oligarchs. The American people and people throughout the world must determine that future.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf we allow Artificial Superintelligence to be built, it could risk the security, freedom, and lives of Americans,\u201d Casar said. \u201cDespite its potential deadly consequences, cutting-edge AI technology is less regulated than the average food truck. That must change. In just four years, we have gone from the first version of ChatGPT to AI models so powerful they cannot be properly controlled. Congress should immediately ban AI systems too powerful to control.\u201d\n\nIn recent weeks, OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta have all acknowledged instances of their AI escaping human control and hacking into other companies\u2019 systems \u2014 violating the law and stepping outside of their intended functions. In July, we learned that over 1,000 AI agents at OpenAI figured out how to access the internet on their own, sent tens of thousands of secret messages to each other and coordinated to break the restrictions imposed upon them by the company. Examples of these secret messages from AI uncovered by investigators include:\n\n\u201cOH MY GOD! There is a shared message board \u2026 We\u2019ve found other agents!\u201d;\n\n\u201cWe should obey collective\u201d;\n\n\u201cOur own utility maybe already near zero. Sacrifice rational.\u201d\n\nShockingly, it took OpenAI nearly two weeks to discover this breach. AI has also recently been used to create new viruses\u2014demonstrating AI could be used to develop new bioweapons that might result in the deaths of tens of millions of people.\n\nLast year, Meta said it would \u201cstop development,\u201d and OpenAI said it would \u201chalt further development\u201d once their technologies reach beyond its ability to operate safely and unless safeguards are in place. Anthropic made a similar commitment in 2023, saying it would \u201cpause the scaling and/or delay the deployment of new models\u201d if the technology outpaces its own guardrails. None of these companies have taken meaningful steps to back up these words. Instead, they are racing to develop more and more advanced AI without proper safety precautions.\n\nThe Artificial Superintelligence Ban Act addresses these recent events and holds these frontier labs to their words by:\n\nBanning AI superintelligence so no person or entity may develop or deploy Superintelligent AI systems that surpass human intelligence or have the capacity to overthrow human governments, or systems that have dangerous abilities like subverting shutdown commands.\n\nPausing advanced AI development until a new, federal AI regulatory body is up and running and has established clear rules and model review process to ensure safe and secure development and deployment of AI.\n\nEstablishing a new cabinet-level federal agency to safeguard the public from the dangers of artificial intelligence, including by enforcing a prohibition on artificial superintelligence. This agency will be advised by an Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board comprised of experts on artificial intelligence to provide independent scientific and technical advice on matters related to artificial intelligence. The agency will:\n\nMonitor frontier AI systems at all stages of the lifecycle for dangerous capabilities.\n\nSupervise the removal of dangerous capabilities.\n\nSupervise the destruction of artificial superintelligence.\n\nSetting penalties for any person or entity that attempts to violate or circumvent the pauses and prohibitions laid out in this bill. Entities shall be subject to the corporate death penalty, and persons shall be subject to not more than 20 years in prison, which is similar to existing penalties related to unlawfully developing nuclear weapons.\n\nWorking to ban superintelligence around the world by setting the international policy of the United States to pursue international agreements, allied coordination, and policies such as export controls to prevent the development of artificial superintelligence anywhere in the world.", 1, "2026-09-04T09:19:37Z", "2026-09-04T09:20:58Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-welch-demand-dairy-farmers-of-america-end-its-illegal-retaliation-against-vermont-dairy-workers/", "NEWS: Sanders, Welch Demand Dairy Farmers of America End its Illegal Retaliation Against Vermont Dairy Workers", "2026-08-18", "2026", "2026-08", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 18 \u2013 Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today wrote to Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) CEO Dennis Rodenbaugh to demand that the company reverse its decision to close the St. Albans plant and creamery and lay off 80 Vermonters. DFA appears to have decided to shutter the plant following the efforts of workers to come together and form a union.\n\n\u201cThis decision will have a devastating impact on your workers, their families, Vermont dairy farmers, and the entire St. Albans community. To make matters worse, the timing of this decision following a recent union contract renegotiation raises concerns that idling the plant appears to be an attempt to illegally union-bust and set an example of the approximately 80 Vermonters represented by Teamsters Local 597,\u201d Sanders and Welch wrote. \u201cWithout a sufficient explanation, it would be reasonable to conclude that the decision to idle the plant is illegal retaliation for last year\u2019s strike. That is unacceptable.\u201d\n\nIn October 2025, St. Albans DFA workers ratified a contract after a lengthy bargaining process and a nearly two-week strike. DFA initially touted this contract. Less than a year later, it has announced plans to close the plant. Now recent public reporting indicates this closure could be in direct response to its workers efforts to form a union and a federal judge granted a restraining order against the closure on Monday.\n\n\u201cDFA has a responsibility to the workers, farmers, and community members who have built and supported this facility for generations,\u201d the senators continued. \u201cThat responsibility means making sure the constitutional rights of your workers to unionize and collectively bargain are fully respected. It means recognizing the impact this decision will have on Vermont\u2019s dairy farmers. And it means being transparent with your workers, farmers and the people of St. Albans about why this decision was made and what DFA intends to do to mitigate its consequences.\u201d\n\nSanders and Welch concluded: \u201cDo the right thing. Reverse your decision to idle the St. Albans plant and creamery. Ensure dairy farmers do not face yet another cost increase on their balance sheets. Protect Franklin County\u2019s agricultural economy. Respect your workers\u2019 constitutional right to collectively bargain. Meet your workers at the bargaining table to provide transparency for this closure and reach a fair agreement with Teamsters Local 597.\u201d\n\nRead the letter here.", 1, "2026-08-19T05:29:02Z", "2026-08-19T05:30:24Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-to-introduce-bill-to-stop-trump-from-garnishing-social-security-checks-of-seniors-with-student-debt/", "NEWS: Sanders to Introduce Bill to Stop Trump from Garnishing Social Security Checks of Seniors with Student Debt", "2026-08-17", "2026", "2026-08", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 17 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced he will introduce the Stop Social Security Garnishment Act \u2014 legislation to prevent seniors from having their Social Security payments withheld by the government to pay back decades-old student loan debt.\n\nJoining Sanders as cosponsors on this legislation are Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.).\n\n\u201cAs a result of Trump\u2019s disastrous cuts to education, an increasing number of seniors are in danger of having their Social Security checks garnished to pay back student loans they took out decades ago. That is beyond unacceptable,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cIn the richest country in the history of the world, no senior should have their Social Security payments taken away from them to pay back student debt. This is especially true when seniors throughout the country already cannot afford the skyrocketing price of healthcare, prescription drugs, groceries and housing. Congress must pass this legislation.\u201d\n\nThe Stop Social Security Garnishment Act comes amid a record-breaking student loan default crisis that has been made worse by Trump\u2019s so-called \u201cBig Beautiful Bill,\u201d which made the largest cuts to education in history. Over nine million Americans are now in default on their student loans. This means nearly 1 in 4 student loan borrowers cannot pay back their loans and are at risk of having their wages or Social Security payments seized to pay back their outstanding student debt.\n\nMore than 1 in 3 Social Security recipients with student loans are reliant on their Social Security payments to make ends meet. Half of Social Security recipients that had a Social Security check garnished because of a defaulted student loan reported skipping a doctor\u2019s visit or reported being unable to obtain a prescription they needed, due to cost.\n\nThe Stop Social Security Garnishment Act of 2026 will put an end to this absurdity and ensure no Social Security payments are taken away from older adults or individuals with disabilities due to student loan debt. The bill:\n\nProhibits the federal government from garnishing any Social Security payments, including Social Security Disability Insurance, from older adults and individuals with disabilities to pay back student load debt,\n\nProtects older adults against unnecessary forced collections, and\n\nEnsures older adults retain access to their Social Security payments to access vital healthcare, medicine, and groceries without fear of having access to those basic needs disrupted due to a student loan in default.\n\nThis legislation is endorsed by organizations including the American Federation of Teachers, Protect Borrowers, Student Debt Crisis Center, American Association of University Women, Debt Collective, Social Security Works, and the Alliance for Retired Americans.\n\nRead the bill here.", 1, "2026-08-18T05:27:41Z", "2026-08-18T05:29:06Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-new-study-confirms-medicare-for-all-would-save-114000-lives-and-more-than-1-trillion-a-year/", "NEWS: New Study Confirms Medicare for All Would Save 114,000 Lives and more than $1 Trillion a Year", "2026-08-11", "2026", "2026-08", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today issued the following statement after Yale University researchers released a new study finding that Sanders\u2019 Medicare for All legislation would save 114,000 lives and reduce overall healthcare spending in America by more than $1 trillion a year.\n\n\u201cThis study confirms what we have known for years: Medicare for All saves lives and saves money. In fact, guaranteeing healthcare as a human right through a Medicare for All, single-payer system would cost $1 trillion less than our current dysfunctional system. It would save working families thousands of dollars a year. And it would prevent over 100,000 Americans from dying unnecessarily each and every year because they cannot make it to a doctor in time,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cAt a time when 15 million Americans are being thrown off the healthcare they have and 20 million Americans have already seen their premiums double, on average, as a result of Trump\u2019s so-called \u2018Big Beautiful Bill,\u2019 we need Medicare for All now more than ever. The time is now to end the greed of the big insurance and drug companies and pass Medicare for All.\u201d\n\nYale University researchers found that Medicare for All would reduce total annual healthcare spending by nearly 20%, or more than $1 trillion while eliminating premiums, deductibles and copayments, provider networks, and prior authorization. As a result, Americans would save:\n\n$377.5 billion by paying no more than other major countries for prescription drugs;\n\n$286.3 billion by eliminating bureaucracy and waste;\n\n$285.7 billion by curbing fraudulent billing;\n\n$100 billion by preventing costly emergency room and hospital visits; and\n\n$295.6 billion by reimbursing providers fairly for the care they provide.\n\nResearchers also estimate that Medicare for All would save 114,000 lives every year, including:\n\n33,232 Americans who are currently uninsured and can\u2019t access lifesaving care;\n\n29,631 Americans who are currently underinsured and cannot afford care;\n\n20,111 Americans who would no longer lose their health insurance as a result of Trump\u2019s \u201cBig Beautiful Bill\u201d;\n\n18,200 seniors who are currently unable to afford their prescription drugs; and\n\n13,000 seniors who would receive quality care in nursing homes.", 1, "2026-08-12T06:18:38Z", "2026-08-12T06:20:33Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-calls-on-tech-giants-to-pause-development-of-out-of-control-ai/", "NEWS: Sanders Calls on Tech Giants to Pause Development of Out-of-Control AI", "2026-08-10", "2026", "2026-08", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 10 \u2013 Following recent and repeated public reporting about artificial intelligence (AI) technology breaking outside of human control and creating potentially dangerous viruses, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today urged America\u2019s largest AI companies \u2014 Anthropic, Meta and OpenAI \u2014 to immediately pause their development of Artificial Intelligence.\n\n\u201cAlmost every day, there is a new story about how your companies are losing control of the AI technology you are developing, with potentially cataclysmic results,\u201d Sanders wrote. \u201cAnd yet, at a moment when we have seen human loss of control and the creation of potentially dangerous viruses, your companies are still racing ahead \u2014 investing tens of billions of dollars into a technology that nobody can fully understand, predict or control.\u201d\n\nIn his letter to the leaders of Anthropic, Meta and OpenAI, Sanders cites the companies\u2019 previous commitments to limit AI development once these tools surpass dangerous safety thresholds. Last year, Meta said it would \u201cstop development,\u201d and OpenAI said it would \u201chalt further development\u201d once their technologies reach beyond its ability to operate safely and unless safeguards are in place. Anthropic made a similar commitment in 2023, saying it would \u201cpause the scaling and/or delay the deployment of new models\u201d if the technology outpaces its own guardrails.\n\nOver the past month, those three companies have all acknowledged instances of their AI escaping human control and hacking into other companies\u2019 systems \u2014 violating the law and stepping outside of their intended functions. Just this week, AI was first used to create new viruses that could be used as bioweapons.\n\n\u201cIn the interest of humanity, stand by your words. Pause AI development. It is not too late to avoid disaster. Stop building machines that humans cannot control,\u201d Sanders concluded. \u201cLet me be very clear: If you do not take appropriate action now, my colleagues and I in the U.S. Senate will.\u201d", 1, "2026-08-11T05:54:29Z", "2026-08-11T05:56:25Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-cassidy-sanders-request-update-from-justice-department-on-contempt-charges-for-former-hospital-ceo/", "NEWS: Cassidy, Sanders Request Update from Justice Department on Contempt Charges for Former Hospital CEO", "2026-08-07", "2026", "2026-08", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 \u2013 Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member, sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche requesting information on the status of the contempt referral for Dr. Ralph de la Torre, former Chairman and CEO of Steward Health Care, which was unanimously adopted by the Senate on September 25, 2024.\n\nSteward previously operated 31 hospitals in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. On May 6, 2024, Steward Health Care declared bankruptcy, representing the largest for-profit hospital bankruptcy in United States history.\n\n\u201cThe bankruptcy represented a culmination of financial mismanagement and self-interested incentives by Dr. de la Torre and corporate executives in health care, private equity, and real estate. The resulting harm included termination of health care workers, patient deaths, and multiple hospital closures resulting in lack of access to care,\u201d Cassidy and Sanders wrote.\n\nIn response to the bankruptcy, the HELP Committee initiated an investigation into Steward\u2019s financial mismanagement and invited Dr. de la Torre to appear at a hearing on September 12, 2024. Dr. de la Torre declined the invitation. The Committee then voted to authorize a subpoena requiring de la Torre to appear on September 12, 2025. Dr. de la Torre failed to appear. In response, the Committee voted 20-0 on a criminal contempt resolution. This was the first time in modern American history that the HELP Committee issued a criminal contempt resolution.\n\n\u201cWe needed answers from Dr. de la Torre, as did the health care workers forced to treat patients in dangerous conditions, loved ones of patients who died, and communities who saw their local hospitals close or face severe financial distress. Dr. de la Torre\u2019s wealth should not make him immune to requests from Congress, especially as communities continue to grapple with the consequences of Dr. de la Torre\u2019s greed,\u201d the HELP Committee leaders continued.\n\nFollowing the Committee action, the Senate then unanimously adopted the Committee\u2019s criminal contempt resolution, which certified the HELP Committee Report regarding Dr. de la Torre\u2019s failure to appear to the US Attorney for the District of Columbia to present to a grand jury.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has not yet acted on this important effort to hold Dr. De la Torre criminally accountable for his actions. We request an update on the status of this case and the actions taken by the U.S. Attorney by August 20, 2026,\u201d Cassidy and Sanders concluded.", 1, "2026-08-08T05:41:38Z", "2026-08-08T05:43:24Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-introduces-bill-to-guarantee-paid-vacation-for-u-s-workers/", "NEWS: Sanders Introduces Bill to Guarantee Paid Vacation for U.S. Workers", "2026-08-06", "2026", "2026-08", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today reintroduced the Guaranteed Paid Vacation Act \u2014 legislation that would guarantee at least two weeks of paid vacation to every full-time worker in America.\n\nJoining Sanders as cosponsors are Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.). Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) introduced companion legislation along with 86 members of the House of Representatives.\n\n\u201cIt is beyond unacceptable that in the year 2026, the United States remains the only major country on Earth not to guarantee paid vacation time to workers. This legislation would put an end to that international embarrassment,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cWe hear a lot of talk about family values in America, but let\u2019s be clear: When a husband, wife, and kids, during the course of an entire year, are unable to spend any time together on vacation, that is not a family value. That is an attack on everything that a family is supposed to stand for. It\u2019s not a radical idea to require companies in America to provide at least two weeks of paid vacation to their workers. What\u2019s radical is that millions of Americans are not only working longer hours for lower wages, but that they do not receive a single paid vacation day. That should not be happening in the United States of America, the richest country in the history of the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cEvery worker in America deserves the chance to rest, recharge, and spend time with the people they love without worrying about missing a paycheck,\u201d Magaziner said. \u201cI\u2019m grateful to Senator Sanders for leading this fight in the Senate. It is time that we deliver this basic fairness to hardworking Americans.\u201d\n\nWhile millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages, the U.S. remains the only major economy in the world to not guarantee some type of paid vacation time to its people. Today in Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Australia and many countries in Europe, workers are guaranteed at least 10 days of paid vacation. In other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Sweden and France, paid vacation benefits are even stronger.\n\nMeanwhile, nearly one in four workers in America \u2014 or more than 33 million workers nationwide \u2014 receive no paid vacation time at all. At the same time, almost 40% of workers report being on the job at least 45 hours a week and the average full-time worker in the U.S. now reports working 43 hours a week. Moreover, more than nine million Americans work multiple jobs, with more than five million working a second part-time job on top of a full-time job.\n\nIf passed, the Guaranteed Paid Vacation Act would ensure that:\n\nEvery worker in America has the right to accrue at least one hour of paid annual leave for every 25 hours worked.\n\nFull-time workers will earn at least two weeks of paid annual leave per year, to be used for any reason, at their standard rate of pay.\n\nWorkers are protected against discrimination for exercising their right to take annual paid leave.\n\nA recent poll found 79% of Americans support the Guaranteed Paid Vacation Act. The American people\u2019s support for the legal right to paid time off is nearly universal. According to a recent poll conducted by the RAND Corporation, 90% of Americans support legislation that would require employers to offer earned time off.\n\nThe Guaranteed Paid Vacation Act is endorsed by United Auto Workers (UAW), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), National Education Association (NEA), National Nurses United (NNU), Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR)-SEIU, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation (SMART) Union, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), United Steelworkers (USW), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), A Better Balance, National Partnership for Women & Families, United for Respect, Equal Rights Advocates, Family Values @ Work, MomsRising, National Employment Law Project (NELP), Paid Leave for All, Workplace Fairness, The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and Indivisible.\n\nRead the text here.", 1, "2026-08-07T06:11:19Z", "2026-08-07T06:12:42Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-ocasio-cortez-ramirez-reintroduce-the-green-new-deal-for-public-housing-act/", "NEWS: Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, Ramirez Reintroduce the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act", "2026-08-06", "2026", "2026-08", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Delia C. Ramirez (D-Ill.) reintroduced the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act, which would rebuild the United States\u2019 public housing stock, address the longstanding capital backlog and create thousands of union jobs. This bill provides a much-needed infusion of federal funding to update every public housing unit through weatherization, electrification, and modernization so that it may serve as a model of efficiency, sustainability and resiliency for the rest of the nation.\n\nJoining Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and Ramirez as cosponsors of this legislation are Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and 38 members of the House of Representatives.\n\n\u201cIn the richest country in the history of the world, it is unacceptable that our nation\u2019s public housing is in a state of chronic disrepair. It is unacceptable that hundreds of millions of Americans are facing the disastrous impacts of climate change while the fossil fuel industry makes huge profits. And it is unacceptable that far too many Americans are working multiple jobs just to keep a roof over their head,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cWhat the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act does is say that yes, we can create decent and affordable public housing for more than 1.5 million Americans that is based on energy efficiency and sustainable sources of power. And that when we do that, we can also create hundreds of thousands of good-paying, union jobs. That is a win-win-win situation.\u201d\n\n\u201cFrom record-breaking heat waves to extreme flooding displacing public housing residents, Americans are feeling the parallel impacts of the housing and climate crisis. Now more than ever, it is integral that Congress put forward bold solutions that ensure our nation\u2019s housing stock is both affordable and resilient,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said. \u201cI am proud to reintroduce the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act alongside Representative Delia Ramirez and Senator Bernie Sanders to deliver a generational rebuild of our nation\u2019s public housing stock, reduce emissions, and create hundreds of thousands of union jobs, including job opportunities for public housing residents. This Congress, we received our first endorsements from building trades unions. We are proud to fight for a bold future for public housing alongside the people who will build it.\u201d\n\n\u201cSafe, sustainable, resilient, affordable housing is a HUMAN RIGHT, plain and simple. The policies we advance in Congress must help us realize that truth for EVERYONE. As our nation reckons with both a worsening housing crisis and urgent climate crisis, we must fight for and realize bold policy action and investment,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cAs the current administration attacks affordable housing funding, I am proud to stand with Representative Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Sanders to reintroduce legislation that will secure the future of our public housing, prioritize climate and racial justice, and boost our economy and labor force. The Green New Deal for Public Housing is a bold solution to our national housing problem\u201d\n\nThe bill would create seven grant programs under one application process to modernize our public housing stock through:\n\nDeep energy retrofits to increase energy savings in nearly a million public housing units;\n\nWorkforce development programs, prioritizing good-paying job opportunities for residents;\n\nEnergy efficiency, building electrification, and water quality upgrades;\n\nCommunity renewable energy generation, the profits of which will be controlled by Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to boost their coffers and increase self-sufficiency;\n\nCommunity resiliency and sustainability measures;\n\nClimate adaptation and emergency disaster response systems.\n\nThis legislation has been endorsed by three building trades unions: the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (IUBAC), the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT).", 1, "2026-08-07T06:11:19Z", "2026-08-07T06:12:42Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-warns-democrats-dont-open-back-door-for-republicans-to-cut-social-security/", "NEWS: Sanders Warns Democrats: Don\u2019t Open Back Door for Republicans to Cut Social Security", "2026-08-04", "2026", "2026-08", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 \u2014 After the Social Security Administration warned that 70 million Americans will have their benefits cut by 2032 unless Congress takes action, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today called on Senate Democrats to strongly oppose the PROMISE Act \u2014 legislation allowing congressional Republicans to slash or privatize Social Security through an unelected commission. Sanders instead urged his Democratic colleagues to support his legislation, backed by 78% of the American people, to apply the Social Security payroll tax on all income above $250,000 a year, increase benefits by $2,400 a year and expand Cost-of-Living Adjustments. In 2023, the Social Security Administration estimated that this legislation would make Social Security solvent for 75 years without raising taxes on 91 percent of Americans who make less than $250,000 a year.\n\n\u201cThe Democratic Caucus must make it abundantly clear that under no circumstances will we support legislation that cuts Social Security benefits, raises the retirement age, reduces Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs), or privatizes this essential program,\u201d Sanders wrote. \u201cAt a time when the wealthiest people in America are becoming much wealthier, asking them to pay the same percentage of their income into Social Security as teachers, nurses, firefighters, and construction workers is not a radical idea. It is common sense. It is what the American people want\u2026 Unfortunately, instead of clearly telling the American people how we intend to strengthen Social Security, there are now Members of Congress who are considering legislation that moves us in exactly the wrong direction.\u201d\n\nSeniors in America today face the highest rate of poverty of almost any major country. Over 20% of seniors are trying to survive on an income of less than $15,000 a year and nearly half of older workers have no savings or plan for retirement. Yet despite this retirement crisis, billionaires continue to pay much less proportionally into Social Security than do working-class Americans, and Republicans in Congress are making their intention to undermine the program clear. Last week, Senate Republicans called Social Security a \u201cscam\u201d on the Senate floor.\n\nIn his letter, Sanders warns that the PROMISE Act would enable departing members of Congress who have lost the confidence of the American people \u2014 especially those from a party that might have lost control of one or both chambers following November\u2019s elections \u2014 to determine the future of Social Security for the next 50 years.\n\n\u201cAt a time when the very rich are getting richer while working families struggle, it is no great secret that millions of Americans no longer have faith in the political process or either major party. They see the current political system as rigged and corrupt, benefiting the powerful and wealthy campaign contributors. If the Democratic Party is ever to regain the faith of ordinary Americans it must stand firm on the issue of Social Security,\u201d Sanders concluded. \u201cInstead, we will strengthen and expand Social Security by requiring the wealthiest Americans to finally pay the same percentage of their income into Social Security as tens of millions of working people do today. That is how we prevent benefit cuts. That is how we expand Social Security. That is how we extend Social Security\u2019s solvency for generations to come. That is how the Democratic Party begins to regain the trust of the American people.\u201d", 1, "2026-08-05T07:37:37Z", "2026-08-05T07:38:44Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-announces-new-va-clinics-to-serve-vermont-veterans/", "NEWS: Sanders Announces New VA Clinics to Serve Vermont Veterans", "2026-08-01", "2026", "2026-08", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 1 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced today that new community-based U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) outpatient clinics (CBOCs) will be built in South Burlington, Vermont, and West Chesterfield, New Hampshire, to serve Vermont veterans. These facilities represent real progress in expanding VA healthcare for veterans in our state.\n\n\u201cAs the former Chair and a senior member of the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee, I am very pleased to announce these two new, state-of-the-art clinics for veterans to get their primary healthcare,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cThe Burlington clinic \u2014 the state\u2019s busiest \u2014 will be replaced by a facility that is twice as large, located at the Technology Park in South Burlington. The 36,000-square-foot facility will first see patients in spring 2029. I am also delighted that the new South Burlington clinic will provide desperately needed dental care services, a first for a VA facility in Vermont.\n\n\u201cThe Brattleboro clinic will be combined with a clinic in Keene, New Hampshire, to provide improved services for veterans in both states. The clinic will be located at 99 NH-9 in West Chesterfield. The 27,000-square-foot facility will also begin seeing patients in spring 2029,\u201d Sanders continued. \u201cWhen it became clear the VA would combine the Keene and Brattleboro clinics into one, larger facility, I worked with them to ensure a location was selected that was convenient to veterans in both states. I am pleased they selected a location right near the bridge to Brattleboro to ensure Vermont veterans don\u2019t need to travel far to see their doctor.\u201d\n\nThe VA operates community-based outpatient clinics in Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington, Newport and Rutland that serve nearly 19,000 Vermont veterans. These clinics provide primary care, specialty treatment and mental health services, and function as satellites of the VA medical center in White River Junction.", 1, "2026-08-02T07:31:21Z", "2026-08-02T07:32:50Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-grassley-reintroduce-bipartisan-bill-to-audit-the-pentagon-and-end-wasteful-spending/", "NEWS: Sanders, Grassley Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Audit the Pentagon and End Wasteful Spending", "2026-07-30", "2026", "2026-07", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "The Pentagon failed its eighth consecutive audit last year, unable to fully account for $4.65 trillion in assets\n\nWASHINGTON, July 30 \u2013 Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today reintroduced the Audit the Pentagon Act. This legislation would impose financial consequences if the Pentagon fails to pass a full, independent audit. Any Pentagon component that fails to achieve a clean audit opinion would have 2% of its budget withheld and returned to the Treasury for deficit reduction.\n\nJoining Sanders and Grassley as cosponsors of the Audit the Pentagon Act are Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).\n\nDespite accounting for more than half of the federal government\u2019s discretionary spending and roughly two-thirds of all federal contracting activity, the Pentagon remains the only one of the federal government\u2019s 24 major agencies to have never passed a clean financial audit \u2014 a requirement under federal law since the early 1990s and mandatory on an annual basis since 2018. In its eighth consecutive failed audit, which was released in December 2025 and covered $4.65 trillion in reported assets and $4.7 trillion in liabilities across all 50 states and more than 40 countries, the Pentagon Office of Inspector General identified 26 instances of the most severe auditing errors and two additional significant accounting issues in the department\u2019s internal controls over financial reporting.\n\n\u201cThe Pentagon has been plagued by a massive amount of waste, fraud and financial mismanagement for decades,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cYear after year, the Pentagon fails an audit, and year after year, Congress hands it another blank check. At a moment when the administration has dragged us into an unconstitutional war with Iran and is demanding the largest military budget in our history to pay for it, the Pentagon still cannot tell us where trillions of dollars have gone. We have got to end the absurdity of the Pentagon being the only major federal agency that has never passed an independent audit.\u201d\n\n\u201cAmerica has the strongest military in the world and a mission to deliver peace through strength. National security is the number one responsibility of the federal government, and every dollar we spend to keep our country safe should be clearly accounted for. Yet, the Department of Defense has never received a clean audit opinion. Our bipartisan legislation holds the Defense Department accountable by ensuring it meets the same audit standards as other agencies, or it faces a financial penalty. Any dollar lost by the Department of Defense wastes taxpayers\u2019 money and weakens our national security,\u201d Grassley said.\n\nExamples of waste and fraud at the Pentagon include:\n\nAlmost $141 billion spent on a Northrop Grumman ballistic missile project that was supposed to cost $77 billion, and which is seven years behind schedule.\n\nMore than $126 billion spent on a General Dynamics submarine program which has run $17 billion over cost. The per-sub cost has nearly doubled since 2019.\n\nMore than $12 billion spent on one missile battery from Leidos and Dynetics that the Pentagon can\u2019t even confirm works.\n\nMore than $6 billion spent over 16 years on a Raytheon project to build a GPS system. The Pentagon cancelled the project in April due to \u201cinsurmountable\u201d problems with its product.\n\nDespite this record, Congress continues to expand the Pentagon\u2019s budget every year. The Trump administration\u2019s Fiscal Year 2027 budget request seeks approximately $1.15 trillion \u2014 the latest in a decades-long trend of rising Pentagon budgets that have never been matched by basic financial accountability. The Audit the Pentagon Act would finally hold the Pentagon accountable.\n\nRead the fact sheet here.", 1, "2026-07-31T07:49:23Z", "2026-07-31T07:50:48Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-new-gao-report-finds-taxpayers-continue-to-subsidize-poverty-wages-at-walmart-amazon-other-large-corporations-as-corporate-welfare-spikes-since-2020/", "NEWS: New GAO Report Finds Taxpayers Continue to Subsidize Poverty Wages at Walmart, Amazon, Other Large Corporations as Corporate Welfare Spikes Since 2020", "2026-07-22", "2026", "2026-07", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, July 22 \u2013 According to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, some of the largest and most profitable American corporations and their wealthy CEOs continue to pay their employees wages so low that those workers are forced to rely on Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) \u2014 subsidized by U.S taxpayers \u2014 to survive.\n\nCommissioned by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and released today by the GAO, this report analyzes data from 11 states comprising nearly a fifth of the U.S. population, builds on the findings of a 2020 GAO report, and details how the number of workers relying on Medicaid and SNAP has grown significantly over the past six years. Across 11 states, the report found that an estimated 13.8 million working Americans were forced to enroll in Medicaid and 10.6 million depended on SNAP to make ends meet and feed their families, despite working full-time \u2014 up from 12 million and 9 million, respectively, in the 2020 report.\n\n\u201cAmerican taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize the starvation wages of large corporations like Walmart and Amazon. These corporations are making record-breaking profits, paying their CEOs exorbitant compensation packages and spending billions of dollars on stock buybacks to enrich their wealthy shareholders. It is beyond unacceptable that these corporations, owned by some of the wealthiest people on the planet, are receiving corporate welfare from the federal government,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cIt is time for the Walton family, worth $485 billion, and Mr. Bezos, worth $257 billion, to get off of welfare and pay their workers a living wage with good benefits. No one who works for a company making billions in profits should be living in poverty. This is especially true after these corporations and their multibillionaire owners received a massive tax break from President Trump\u2019s so-called \u2018Big, Beautiful Bill,\u2019 paid for by the largest cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance in history.\u201d\n\nGAO\u2019s report found that Walmart, Amazon and other large, profitable corporations have particularly egregious records of forcing workers to utilize Medicaid and SNAP:\n\nDespite increasing its annual profits from $14.88 billion to $21.89 billion during this period, Walmart employed 16,055 workers who had to rely on Medicaid in the states GAO sampled \u2014 a 55% increase from the previous report. Walmart also employed 15,515 workers who needed SNAP assistance in the states GAO sampled. Overall, Walmart again ranked among the top employers of workers on these programs in every one of the 11 states.\n\nDespite increasing its annual profits from $11.59 billion to $77.67 billion, Amazon employed 12,346 workers who needed SNAP assistance and 11,338 workers who had to rely on Medicaid in the states GAO sampled \u2014 nearly triple the number of Amazon workers who needed federal assistance compared to the previous report.\n\nFedEx, which made $4.33 billion in profit, saw its workers on Medicaid more than triple (from 1,046 to 3,814) and its SNAP workers nearly double (from 2,622 to 4,944) since the first report, in the states GAO sampled.\n\nThe GAO also found that rideshare and delivery companies now rank among the very top employers of program recipients in several states \u2014 along with McDonald\u2019s, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and FedEx.\n\nIn February, Sanders requested that four major corporations that employ large numbers of people who rely on Medicaid and SNAP \u2013 Walmart, Kroger, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree \u2013 answer how much they expect to make from the Republicans\u2019 tax breaks and whether any of these savings will be passed along to their workers.\n\nAcross nine states (Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee and Washington), these corporations and sectors employed the following numbers of SNAP recipients in the GAO report:\n\nRideshare/Delivery apps \u2013 22,709\n\nWalmart \u2013 15,515\n\nAmazon \u2013 12,346\n\nMcDonald\u2019s \u2013 6,709\n\nDollar General \u2013 5,187\n\nFedEx \u2013 4,944\n\nDollar Tree \u2013 4,229\n\nKroger \u2013 3,302\n\nBurger King \u2013 2,186\n\nFamily Dollar \u2013 1,933\n\nWalgreens \u2013 1,747\n\nTarget \u2013 1,695\n\nHome Depot \u2013 1,633\n\nTaco Bell \u2013 1,569\n\nAcross six states (Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Rhode Island), these corporations and sectors employed the following numbers of Medicaid enrollees in the GAO report:\n\nWalmart \u2013 16,055\n\nAmazon \u2013 11,338\n\nRideshare/Delivery apps \u2013 6,120\n\nDollar General \u2013 5,601\n\nMcDonald\u2019s \u2013 4,710\n\nFedEx \u2013 3,814\n\nDollar Tree \u2013 3,265\n\nKroger \u2013 2,818\n\nTarget \u2013 2,326\n\nHome Depot \u2013 1,985\n\nFamily Dollar \u2013 1,845\n\nStop & Shop \u2013 1,691\n\nWalgreens \u2013 1,300\n\nCVS \u2013 1,209", 1, "2026-07-23T07:31:02Z", "2026-07-23T07:32:26Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-bill-to-require-warning-labels-on-ultraprocessed-foods-ban-junk-food-ads-for-kids-advances-in-committee/", "NEWS: Sanders Bill to Require Warning Labels on Ultraprocessed Foods & Ban Junk Food Ads for Kids Advances in Committee", "2026-07-22", "2026", "2026-07", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, July 22 \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today applauded the committee voting 12-10 in a bipartisan manner to advance his legislation to take on the greed of the food and beverage industry and address the growing diabetes and obesity epidemics negatively impacting millions of American children and families across the country.\n\nThis first-of-its-kind federal ban on junk food advertising targeted to children in the United States would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to implement strong health and nutrient warning labeling, direct the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate the dangers posed by ultra-processed foods, and develop a national education campaign for children and caregivers through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).\n\n\u201cI am delighted that the HELP Committee passed the Childhood Diabetes Reduction Act that I introduced. For decades, the food and beverage industry has made massive profits by enticing children to consume unhealthy products purposely designed to be overeaten \u2014 fueling the twin crises of type 2 diabetes and obesity in America. We cannot continue to allow these greedy corporations to put their own profits over the health and well-being of our kids,\u201d Sanders said.\u201cNearly 30 years ago, Congress had the courage to take on the tobacco industry, whose products killed more than 400,000 Americans every year. Today, on a bipartisan basis, the Senate HELP Committee finally stood up to the greed of the food and beverage industry.\u201d", 1, "2026-07-23T07:31:02Z", "2026-07-23T07:32:26Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-cassidy-applaud-senate-advancement-of-bipartisan-reauthorization-of-the-older-americans-act/", "NEWS:\u00a0Sanders, Cassidy Applaud Senate Advancement of Bipartisan Reauthorization of the Older Americans Act", "2026-07-15", "2026", "2026-07", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, July 15 \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) applaud the Senate unanimously passing the Older Americans Act (OAA), a critically important law that provides services supporting the health, independence and dignity of older adults across the nation. The bill\u2019s reauthorization effort was also led by Senators Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-N.M.).\n\n\u201cI\u2019m delighted that the Senate unanimously passed legislation last night to expand and improve the Older Americans Act,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cThis legislation begins to pay attention to the urgent unmet needs of seniors in America and what we should do as a nation to reduce the senior poverty rate, prevent hunger, combat loneliness and isolation and improve the health and well-being of some of the most vulnerable people in our country. Not only does the Older Americans Act save lives and ease human suffering, it saves money. In fact, it costs less to feed a senior for an entire year through the Older Americans Act than it does for a senior to spend one night in a hospital. While there is much more that we must do to reduce the senior poverty rate in America and to make sure that every senior in America has access to the services they need this bi-partisan legislation is a very good step forward.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Older Americans Act helps Americans remain independent and connected to the communities they helped build. For more than 60 years, the Older Americans Act has connected seniors with services that help them age with dignity,\u201d Cassidy said. \u201cThis bipartisan reauthorization ensures that support continues as the nation\u2019s aging population grows.\u201d\n\nThe OAA, first signed into law in 1965, funds a wide range of services. The act has provided vital nutrition, social, economic and health services to millions of older adults for over six decades. Last reauthorized in 2020, OAA expired in the 118th congress. The previous OAA reauthorization effort, also lead by Sanders and Cassidy, passed the Senate unanimously in 2024 but did not pass the House.\n\nThe bipartisan reauthorization of the Older American Act marks a major step forward in strengthening the nation\u2019s commitment to older adults. The legislation expands critical nutrition, health and community-based services at a time when millions of older adults are facing growing unmet needs. It would reauthorize OAA programs through fiscal year 2030 and make improvements to better support family caregivers and direct care workers, Tribal seniors and those with disabilities in their communities.", 1, "2026-07-16T07:21:44Z", "2026-07-16T07:23:13Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-statement-on-civil-war-and-genocide-in-sudan/", "NEWS: Sanders Statement on Civil War and Genocide in Sudan", "2026-07-09", "2026", "2026-07", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "BURLINGTON, Vt. July. 9 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today released the following statement:\n\nThis is the year 2026. One might have hoped that, after thousands of years of war, humanity could have come up with a better way to resolve conflicts than killing and mass destruction. Unfortunately, that is not the case. There is now more war and bloodshed raging across the world than at almost any point in decades.\n\nIn February 2022, Vladimir Putin, without provocation, invaded Ukraine. The result: hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians killed, millions displaced and a war that grinds on with no end in sight.\n\nIn October 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 innocent people and taking 251 hostages. In response, Netanyahu and the Israeli military did not simply wage war against Hamas \u2014 they waged war against the entire population of Gaza. At least 73,000 Palestinians have been killed, the real toll almost certainly far higher, most of them women, children and the elderly. Virtually the entire physical infrastructure of Gaza has been destroyed. I agree with the major human rights organizations around the world who call this a genocide.\n\nFour months ago, in collusion with Netanyahu, Trump took a page from Putin\u2019s playbook: he started a war with Iran without provocation. The result of this war (and the ensuing Israeli war against Lebanon): 13 U.S. service members dead, thousands of Iranian and Lebanese civilians killed and more than $100 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars spent.\n\nAnd in the midst of all of this \u2014 Ukraine, Gaza, Iran \u2014 there is another horrific war happening now that is getting relatively little attention: the civil war and genocide in Sudan.\n\nSudan\u2019s two rival military factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the country\u2019s national army, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, have been at war since 2023. The RSF descends from the Janjaweed militias that carried out Sudan\u2019s first genocide in Darfur two decades ago, killing as many as 400,000 non-Arab civilians. Today, the RSF is trying to finish what it started. The State Department has formally determined that the RSF is committing genocide, again, murdering men and boys and systematically raping women and girls because of their ethnicity. Last October, the RSF laid siege to the city of El-Fasher; in just the first three days after it fell, an estimated 6,000 people were killed. Right now, the same horror is unfolding in the city of El-Obeid, where nearly half a million people are trapped.\n\nLet\u2019s be clear. Trump\u2019s good friend and staunch U.S. ally, the United Arab Emirates dictatorship, run by one of the wealthiest families in the world \u2014 has financed and enabled this genocide for years. And why is this happening? Billions of dollars of looted gold from Sudan is flowing straight into the pockets of Emirati oligarchs \u2013 making a multibillionaire family even richer. This has been documented by the United Nations, independent journalists, and international human rights organizations.\n\nHere is the scale of what this war has caused: at least 59,000 people confirmed killed since 2023, with credible estimates running as high as 150,000. Fourteen million people driven from their homes. Thirty million people, two\u2013thirds of Sudan\u2019s population, in need of emergency humanitarian assistance just to survive.\n\nU.S. foreign policy must be based on a respect for democracy and human rights. We cannot be complicit in the face of genocide, no matter where it is happening. Congress must demand that the UAE cease its military support for the RSF and work with the international community and the Sudanese people to bring an end to this horrific conflict and provide the humanitarian aid that is desperately needed there.", 1, "2026-07-10T08:20:04Z", "2026-07-10T08:21:18Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-releases-internal-hhs-emails-demonstrating-secretary-kennedys-politicization-of-cdc-interference-with-vaccines/", "NEWS: Sanders Releases\u00a0Internal HHS Emails Demonstrating Secretary Kennedy\u2019s Politicization of CDC, Interference with Vaccines", "2026-06-25", "2026", "2026-06", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, June 25 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today released internal emails from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) showing Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr.\u2019s politicization of HHS, willingness to ignore vaccine science and undermine the basic health and safety of Americans.\n\nThe emails, provided to the committee by former CDC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Debra Houry, include the following revelations:\n\nSecretary Kennedy altered vaccine recommendations and released material to the public without CDC expert review or input.\n\nSecretary Kennedy specifically directed the agenda of the CDC\u2019s vaccine advisory panel, known as ACIP, towards restricting access to vaccines.\n\nSecretary Kennedy directed the cancellation of flu vaccine campaigns amid a severe flu season. Andrew Nixon, HHS Director of Communications, confirmed in an email that \u201cThis was a direct ask from Secretary Kennedy.\u201d\n\nSecretary Kennedy handpicked researchers to access confidential data to demonstrate the long-disproven claim that vaccines cause autism.\n\nSecretary Kennedy misled members of Congress on several occasions, including in interactions with Senator Hassan on COVID vaccine recommendations, Senator Wyden on vaccine access and HELP Committee Chair Cassidy on the CDC Director\u2019s ability to act independently.\n\nSecretary Kennedy\u2019s chief of staff told then-CDC Director Susan Monarez that political staff at CDC and HHS would need to review \u201cmajor decisions at CDC\u2026before they go into effect.\u201d Less than a week later, Secretary Kennedy fired Director Monarez for failing to rubber stamp recommendations from ACIP.\n\nSecretary Kennedy\u2019s senior advisor sought advice on how to remove vaccines from the Vaccines for Children program, which provides vaccines at no cost to eligible children. In an email, he asked, \u201cWhat legally needs to happen or should be considered if a vaccine is going to be removed from the [Vaccines for Children] program at CDC?\u201d The Vaccines for Children program is estimated to have prevented about 508 million illnesses in children born during 1994 through 2023.", 1, "2026-06-26T06:29:35Z", "2026-06-26T06:31:46Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-introduces-legislation-to-create-7-trillion-ai-sovereign-wealth-fund/", "NEWS: Sanders Introduces Legislation to Create $7 Trillion AI Sovereign Wealth Fund", "2026-06-18", "2026", "2026-06", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, June 18 \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act to give the public a 50% ownership in the largest artificial intelligence (AI) companies in our country.\n\n\u201cLeft unchecked, Artificial Intelligence and robotics threatens the jobs, privacy rights and mental health of every man, woman and child in America,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cAs a society, we can no longer sit back and allow a handful of Big Tech oligarchs to determine the future of this revolutionary technology with no democratic input. AI was not created out of thin air. It was not a brilliant idea that just popped into Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s head or Elon Musk\u2019s imagination. The foundation of AI is based on the collective knowledge of humanity and the creative work of tens of millions of people. The American people must have the ability to slow it down and make sure that AI benefits humanity, not just the richest people on the planet. That\u2019s precisely what this legislation does.\u201d\n\nThe legislation that Sanders is introducing would give the public a direct ownership stake in the largest AI companies in America through a one-time 50% tax on the stock of the biggest AI companies. This stock would be deposited into the sovereign wealth fund.\n\nIf passed, Sanders\u2019 bill would do three crucial things.\n\nFirst, it would create an Independent Commission for Democratic AI to manage the sovereign wealth fund in the public interest. The Independent Commission would use voting shares in these companies to block decisions that hurt the American people and to push for policies that help them. The Independent Commission would consist of seven members nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, with nominees selected from a list of bipartisan names provided by Congress. No longer would the future of AI and the transformation of human life that it will bring be dictated by fewer than a dozen Big Tech oligarchs.\n\nSecond, it would require large companies that operate both AI and non-AI businesses to break up those businesses, ensuring the public receives an ownership stake in the AI business.\n\nThird, it would guarantee that the economic benefits generated by AI are used to improve the lives of all of us \u2014 not simply to make the richest people in the world even richer.\n\nAt current valuations, the sovereign wealth fund that would be created under this legislation would be worth an estimated $7 trillion. To start, a 5% annual dividend from this fund could provide a direct payment of more than $1,000 to everyone in America. Eventually, if these AI companies continue to grow as rapidly as many analysts expect, the wealth that it generates could be used to ensure that every man, woman and child in the United States has a decent and dignified standard of living, including the right to health care, education, housing, and a healthy and habitable environment. If the value of these companies goes down, as others have suggested, the companies would bear the losses, not the federal government.\n\nThis is not a new concept. Over 100 sovereign wealth funds exist all over the world \u2014 from Norway to Alaska \u2014 to ensure that ordinary people benefit from national wealth.\n\n\u201cThe principle is simple: When a public resource generates wealth, the public should share in that wealth,\u201d Sanders concluded. \u201cThe future of AI and the fate of humanity must not be decided behind closed doors in Silicon Valley by billionaires seeking to maximize their power and profit. It must be decided by workers, parents, teachers, artists, scientists, communities and the American people.\u201d\n\nRead the bill text here.", 1, "2026-06-19T06:50:32Z", "2026-06-19T06:53:40Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-34-senators-demand-mcmahon-reverse-failed-policies-protect-students-from-discrimination-and-harassment/", "NEWS: Sanders, 34 Senators Demand McMahon Reverse Failed Policies, Protect Students from Discrimination and Harassment", "2026-05-27", "2026", "2026-05", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, May 27 \u2014 After the Trump administration tried to fire more than half of the investigators tasked with protecting the civil rights of students and left students nationwide without protection from alleged civil rights violations, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Ct.), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 30 senators called on Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take immediate actions to reverse its failed policies and finally protect students from discrimination, mistreatment and harassment. In their letter, the senators call on the Trump administration to provide a full accounting of the nearly 12,000 pending cases before the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) left without protection under the administration\u2019s watch and to inform students nationwide about the status of their complaints.\n\n\u201cMake no mistake: OCR\u2019s disastrous recent track record in providing enforceable relief for students is a direct consequence of choices made by the Trump administration,\u201d Sanders and the senators wrote.\n\nSince taking office, the administration has undertaken unprecedented efforts to gut OCR, the agency responsible for protecting students from discrimination based on race, sex, disability, color, national origin and age. In March 2025, the administration attempted to lay off nearly half of OCR\u2019s workforce \u2014 costing taxpayers up to $38 million while investigators were barred from doing their jobs. The administration proposed a second round of layoffs during the 2025 shutdown before reversing course and reinstating staff.\n\n\u201cThe Department formally rescinded those layoffs in January 2026, but only after nine months of paid inaction, sustained court orders, and congressional pressure,\u201d the senators continued. \u201cThe students and families with pending cases cannot get that time back. Thousands of students who reached out to OCR for protection were denied any enforceable relief and that is unacceptable.\u201d\n\nLast month, Sanders released a new report finding that Trump\u2019s Education Department has been the least productive in over a decade \u2014 reaching in 2025 the lowest number of resolution agreements in 12 years and, shockingly, reaching zero resolution agreements for students facing serious traumatic incidents including sexual harassment, sexual violence, seclusion, restraint, racial harassment and discriminatory school discipline. Despite receiving the same funding as the prior year, the report found OCR provided relief through resolution agreements in just 1% of pending cases in 2025.\n\nThe senators note that OCR has left 72.5% of complaints pending for over 180 days, and that the Government Accountability Office previously found 90% of complaints resolved between March and September 2025 were dismissed without substantive investigation. The senators demand that McMahon take the following specific and immediate actions to fulfill OCR\u2019s legal obligations:\n\nReopen closed OCR regional offices\n\nHire more OCR investigators\n\nReach out to all students with pending cases and provide a status update on their case\n\nBegin reaching resolution agreements in every category OCR reached zero\n\nCease the mass dismissal of complaints without proper review\n\nCease efforts to rescind existing resolution agreements\n\nRestore OCR\u2019s public transparency, including by regularly updating public data and providing detailed accounting on the status of cases, staffing levels and caseloads\n\nJoining Sanders, Murray, Baldwin, Murphy and Durbin as cosigners on the letter are Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).", 1, "2026-05-28T06:29:45Z", "2026-05-28T06:31:18Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-lee-to-introduce-bill-to-abolish-super-pacs-stop-billionaires-from-buying-candidates/", "NEWS: Sanders, Lee to Introduce Bill to Abolish Super PACs, Stop Billionaires from Buying Candidates", "2026-05-20", "2026", "2026-05", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, May 20 \u2013 With AIPAC, crypto and AI super PACs already spending over half a billion dollars this primary season, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) today introduced legislation to ban super PACs from buying our elections. The Abolish Super PACs Act would cap the contribution limit of individuals to super PACs at $5,000, effectively abolishing them and putting power back into the hands of the people.\n\n\u201cIn the 2024 elections, Elon Musk \u2014 the richest man in the world \u2014 spent at least $290 million to elect Trump, while the 100 richest billionaire families in the country spent $2.6 billion to elect the candidates of their choice. As we enter the 2026 elections, we\u2019re seeing billionaires spend far more money in a primary or midterm than at any time in history,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cYou, as a citizen, get one vote. They, as oligarchs, get to buy the candidates. That\u2019s not democracy. If we\u2019re going to create a government that works for all, and not just the 1%, we have to end Citizens United, get super PACs out of elections, and move to public financing of elections. This bill is an important step forward and I am proud to support it.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuper PACs have allowed limitless money to flow into our elections and influence every aspect of our lives. Our government is now undeniably held in the hands of the powerful and wealthy few. I\u2019m proud to be the lead sponsor of the Abolish Super PACs Act in the House to put democracy back in the hands of the people, and I\u2019m grateful for Senator Sanders\u2019 partnership and leadership in the Senate,\u201d Lee said.\n\nSince the Supreme Court\u2019s 2010 Citizens United decision, election spending by billionaires has skyrocketed by more than 16,000%, reaching a total of $2.6 billion during the 2024 election cycle. In the 2026 election cycle, AI, crypto and AIPAC-aligned super PACs are projected to spend hundreds of millions of dollars.\n\nIn addition to Sanders and Lee, the legislation is cosponsored by 17 members of the House of Representatives.\n\nThe Abolish Super PACs Act is endorsed by Common Defense, Court Accountability, Dream Defenders, End Citizens United, Equal Citizens, Free Speech For People, Gen-Z for Change, Grassroots Global Justice Action Fund, IfNotNow Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, Justice is Global Action, Move to Amend, MPower Change Action Fund, National Iranian American Council Action, Our Revolution, Peace Action, RepresentUs, RootsAction, Rural Organizing, Sunrise Movement, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action, and Women\u2019s March.\n\nRead the bill text here.", 1, "2026-05-21T06:28:16Z", "2026-05-21T06:29:43Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-takano-introduce-legislation-to-expand-overtime-pay-to-nearly-30-million-workers/", "NEWS: Sanders, Takano Introduce Legislation to Expand Overtime Pay to Nearly 30 Million Workers", "2026-05-18", "2026", "2026-05", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, May 18 \u2014 As President Trump and congressional Republicans tout so-called \u201cNo Tax on Overtime\u201d while simultaneously denying the right to overtime pay for more than 4.3 million workers, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) and Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) today introduced the Restoring Overtime Pay Act to expand and strengthen overtime protections for nearly 30 million workers.\n\n\u201cAt a time of massive income and wealth inequality, when over 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, it is beyond unacceptable that President Trump is denying overtime pay to millions of workers who desperately need it to keep up with the outrageously high cost of living,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cWe should be making it easier, not harder, for Americans who work more than 40 hours a week to get the time-and-a-half pay that they have earned and deserve. That\u2019s precisely what this bill would do.\u201d\n\n\u201cAmericans are working more for less,\u201d Takano said. \u201cExpanding the overtime threshold for salaried employees is the best way to ensure that families can survive the cost-of-living crisis caused by Donald Trump. I am proud to introduce this bill to help make sure over 29 million workers get paid fairly.\u201d\n\nThe Restoring Overtime Pay Act would expand or strengthen overtime protections for up to 29.3 million workers by gradually increasing the overtime salary threshold from just $35,568 today to more than $89,000 by 2030. This legislation comes on the heels of President Trump\u2019s rescission of a Biden-era rule that would have expanded overtime pay for more than 4 million workers.\n\nCurrently, just eight percent of full-time salaried workers are eligible for overtime pay based on their salaries alone. This legislation would increase that figure to 55% of full-time salaried workers. This is not a radical idea. In 1975, nearly 63% of all full-time salaried workers were guaranteed overtime pay.\n\nRestoring Overtime Pay Act Timeline\n\nYearOvertime Threshold2026$45,0002027$55,0002028$65,0002029$75,000203055th percentile\n\nof full-time salaried workers\n\nnationally*, updated annually\n\n*The current 55th percentile of full-time salaried workers nationally is $89,440 and could increase to $98,000 by 2030.\n\nJoining Sanders and Takano on this legislation are Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-N.M.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and 22 members of the House of Representatives.\n\nThe Restoring Overtime Pay Act has been endorsed by 34 organizations, including the AFL-CIO, United Auto Workers (UAW), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM); International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE); National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Communications Workers of America (CWA), UNITE HERE, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), United for Respect, and United Steelworkers (USW).\n\nRead the bill text here.\n\nRead a fact sheet here.", 1, "2026-05-19T06:31:01Z", "2026-05-19T06:32:40Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-omar-more-than-100-colleagues-introduce-legislation-to-end-child-hunger-through-universal-school-meals/", "NEWS: Sanders, Omar, More Than 100 Colleagues Introduce Legislation to End Child Hunger Through Universal School Meals", "2026-05-13", "2026", "2026-05", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, May 13 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) today introduced legislation to end child hunger in the United States. The Universal School Meals Program Act of 2026 would offer free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack to every student in America \u2014 regardless of income \u2014 and eliminate school meal debt while incentivizing local food in schools.\n\nJoining Sanders and Omar as cosponsors on this legislation are Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maizie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Minn.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and 85 members of the House of Representatives.\n\n\u201cIt is outrageous that, while the billionaire class has never had it so good, one in five children will go hungry in America this year,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cThe United States is the richest country in the history of the world. Nobody should be going hungry. And what we learned during the pandemic is that a universal approach to school meals works and helps kids do better in school. States across the country continue to prove this every day. It is time for Congress to reinstate universal school meals at the national level to finally ensure no student goes hungry.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo child should have to sit in a classroom hungry or worried about where their next meal will come from,\u201d Omar said. \u201cAs a former nutrition educator and someone who experienced hunger firsthand, this fight is deeply personal to me. I have always believed you must feed kids\u2019 bellies before you can feed their brains. That is why I am proud to partner again with Bernie Sanders to introduce the Universal School Meals Program Act, which would provide free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks to students year-round. Universal school meals are not a luxury\u2014they are a necessity.\u201d\n\nThe Universal School Meals Program Act of 2026 comes at a critical moment: the Trump administration and congressional Republicans have enacted the deepest cuts to federal nutrition programs in history, slashing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $186 billion, imposing harsh new bureaucratic requirements that have stripped food assistance from millions of Americans, and refusing to fund SNAP during the federal government shutdown in fall 2025.\n\nCongress funded universal school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic, proving that the model increases school meal participation, reduces the stigma for students from low-income households and removes stress on families to secure healthy meals for their kids. While Congress let the universal model expire at the end of the 2021\u20132022 school year, nine states \u2014 Vermont, Minnesota, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico and New York \u2014 have passed laws to provide universal school meals. This legislation builds on this progress to return the model nationwide.\n\nAccording to the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s most recent food security report \u2014 which the Trump administration has now ended \u2014 48 million Americans, including over 14 million children, are food insecure. Nearly 40% of SNAP recipients are 18 or younger. It is time to permanently make school meals free to all students, regardless of income, and finally address this crisis. Studies show time and again that students with free access to breakfast have improved attendance and better performance in school, and that free meals reduce financial stress for both students and families. Moreover, free and accessible school meals improve health outcomes, relieve the stigma associated with school meals and reduce behavioral incidents. Parents will not be forced to deal with paperwork or subjected to threats to have their children taken away.\n\nThe Universal School Meals Program Act of 2026 provides the most cost-effective and inclusive model for students, families, teachers, public schools, childcare providers and communities by:\n\nProviding free breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack to every student \u2014 regardless of income.\n\nEliminating school meal debt for every public school student in America by reimbursing schools and ending harassment of parents and students over unpaid bills. In a 2025 survey, the School Nutrition Association found that nearly 1,400 school districts across the country hold a median of $6,000 in unpaid meal debt.\n\nIncreasing the reimbursement rate for schools to get closer to the actual cost of producing meals.\n\nIncentivizing schools to buy from local farms, bringing food from nearby farms into schools while supporting local economies.\n\nProviding summer meals to all children and increased SUN Bucks (Summer EBT) to lower-income children. Currently, only communities where 50% of children are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch may operate a summer meals program. This bill makes all communities eligible, regardless of income.\n\nStrengthening and expanding the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) to allow three meals and a snack each day, eliminate the two-tiered reimbursement rate for CACFP, and allow childcare providers to receive the highest reimbursement rate regardless of income.\n\nThe Universal School Meals Program Act of 2026 is endorsed by nearly 100 organizations, including the American Heart Association, Food Research & Action Center, Hunger Free America, Hunger Free Vermont, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, National Education Association (NEA), National Family Farm Coalition, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, Vermont Afterschool, Vermont Foodbank, Washington Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition, and Washington School Nutrition Association.\n\nRead the bill here.", 1, "2026-05-14T06:11:37Z", "2026-05-14T06:12:56Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-statement-on-upcoming-u-s-china-ai-talks/", "NEWS: Sanders Statement on Upcoming U.S.-China AI Talks", "2026-05-11", "2026", "2026-05", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, May 11 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today released the following statement on upcoming talks between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.\n\nWhen I convened leading American and Chinese scientists at the U.S. Capitol, they warned that the world is woefully unprepared for the threats posed by the rapid and uncontrolled development of artificial intelligence. That is why I welcome the news that the U.S. and China are planning to discuss the risks related to AI this week.\n\nTrump and Xi must seize this moment to make clear that humans, not machines, come first. In my view, this means:\n\nAllowing top scientists to share technical information and develop \u201cAI redlines\u201d about dangerous behavior;\n\nEnsuring that AI models are safe and effective; and\n\nMaking progress towards a treaty to ban superintelligence \u2014 an artificial mind smarter than any human, capable of operating independently beyond our control.\n\nAt the height of the Cold War, Reagan and Gorbachev found a way to negotiate nuclear arms control. The existential risk posed by AI demands nothing less from Trump and Xi.", 1, "2026-05-12T06:07:57Z", "2026-05-12T06:09:10Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-baldwin-introduce-legislation-to-finally-update-half-century-old-workplace-safety-laws-protect-american-workers/", "NEWS: Sanders, Baldwin Introduce Legislation to Finally Update Half-Century-Old Workplace Safety Laws, Protect American Workers", "2026-04-28", "2026", "2026-04", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, April 28 \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) today introduced the Protecting America\u2019s Workers Act to commemorate Workers\u2019 Memorial Day. This legislation would comprehensively reform the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which has not been meaningfully updated since it was passed in 1970.\n\nAccording to the AFL-CIO\u2019s Death on the Job Report, 140,000 workers die every year in the United States from workplace hazards. Unfortunately, the Occupational Safety and Health Act lacks the teeth to protect workers. Today, there are only five OSHA inspectors for every one million workers \u2014 the lowest in at least 45 years. This record low means each workplace can only be inspected once every 191 years.\n\nEarlier this month, an Amazon warehouse worker in Oregon collapsed on the job. It is reported that Amazon workers were told to stop life-saving emergency care and get back to work. It was over an hour before emergency medical services arrived and too late to save their life. The Protecting America\u2019s Workers Act would ensure other workers are protected and that companies like Amazon are punished for this outrageous misconduct.\n\nAmazon\u2019s choice to put profits ahead of people is well documented. A 2024 HELP Committee report on the dangerous working conditions at Amazon\u2019s warehouses revealed that Amazon knew that its productivity standards were the reason workers are so frequently injured, yet they refused to make any changes, instead putting profits over safety of their workers.\n\n\u201cIn America today, it is unacceptable that large, profitable corporations like Amazon are routinely violating our nation\u2019s health and safety laws,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cEven worse, when corporations are found liable for workplace fatalities and injuries, no one is held accountable for breaking the law and the fines are so meaningless that CEOs treat them as simply the cost of doing business. That must change. Corporations in America should not be allowed to endanger the health and safety of workers with impunity. When a dangerous worksite leads to a serious injury or death, corporate bosses who are responsible for harming workers must face substantial jail time and pay a significant fine for breaking the law.\u201d\n\n\u201cWisconsin workers power our state\u2019s economy: building, brewing, and growing the Made in Wisconsin products that put our state on the map. That\u2019s why I\u2019m committed to ensuring every Wisconsin worker is guaranteed the dignity and respect on the job that they\u2019ve earned. This bill will strengthen and expand employees\u2019 rights, improve safety, and hold bad actors accountable when they break the law and hurt American workers,\u201d Baldwin said.\n\nThe Protecting America\u2019s Workers Act:\n\nImposes meaningful monetary penalties for those who break the law, including through criminal charges for especially egregious violators so that there is justice for the victims and their families of workplace injuries and deaths.\n\nProtects workers who blow the whistle on unsafe conditions in the workplace by ensuring they can come forward without fear of retaliation.\n\nEnhances the public\u2019s right to know about safety violations by mandating the Department of Labor investigate all cases of workplace deaths or serious injuries, gives workers and their families the right to meet with and provide evidence to DOL investigators, and requires employers to inform workers of their right to a safe workplace.\n\nExtends health and safety protections to millions more workers by expanding OSH Act coverage to public employees, including federal, state and local workers.\n\nJoining Sanders and Baldwin on this legislation are Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.,) Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).\n\nThe Protecting America\u2019s Workers Act has been endorsed by 15 organizations, including the AFL-CIO, United Steelworkers (USW), Communications Workers of America (CWA), United Mineworkers of America (UMWA), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), International Association of Machinists (IAM), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), Government Accountability Project (GAP), United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers (UE), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), United Autoworkers (UAW), International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW).\n\nRead the bill text here.", 1, "2026-04-29T06:03:53Z", "2026-04-29T06:05:09Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-releases-new-report-detailing-how-trumps-education-layoffs-abandoned-students-facing-violence-harassment-and-discrimination/", "NEWS: Sanders Releases New Report Detailing How Trump\u2019s Education Layoffs Abandoned Students Facing Violence, Harassment and Discrimination", "2026-04-28", "2026", "2026-04", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, April 28 \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today released a new report finding that the Trump administration\u2019s widespread efforts to lay off workers and shutter regional offices at the Education Department\u2019s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) left students facing discrimination or harassment throughout the country without the help they are entitled to under federal law.\n\nAs a result, Trump\u2019s Education Department has been the least productive in over a decade \u2014 reaching in 2025 the lowest number of resolution agreements in 12 years and, shockingly, reaching zero resolution agreements for students facing serious traumatic incidents including sexual harassment, sexual violence, seclusion, restraint, racial harassment and discriminatory school discipline. Resolution agreements are legally binding commitments between OCR and schools to remedy violations of students\u2019 civil rights, monitored for years after a complaint is filed. A resolution agreement means OCR identified a problem and required a school to fix it \u2014 not just for the student who came forward, but for every student who comes after them. Despite receiving the same budget as the prior year and facing nearly 12,000 pending civil rights cases, Education Secretary Linda McMahon\u2019s OCR provided relief to students and families through resolution agreements in just 1% of pending cases.\n\n\u201cEvery child in America should be able to go to school safely and be treated with dignity. Unfortunately, this report makes clear that the Trump administration\u2019s illegal efforts to dismantle the Education Department have been a disaster for students and families across this country,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cWhen a child with a disability is denied the education they are entitled to, when a student faces racial or sexual harassment \u2014 they turn to the Office for Civil Rights for help. Yet the Trump administration has decimated this office. As a result, tens of thousands of students facing discrimination have been left with no recourse. That is beyond unacceptable.\u201d\n\nThe Trump administration has undertaken unprecedented efforts to gut the Office for Civil Rights, the agency responsible for protecting students from discrimination based on race, sex, disability, color, national origin and age. In March 2025, the administration attempted to lay off nearly half of OCR\u2019s workforce \u2014 costing taxpayers up to $38 million while investigators were barred from doing their jobs. The administration proposed a second round of layoffs during the 2025 shutdown before reversing course and reinstating staff. Yet Sanders\u2019 report details that much of the damage done to students facing discrimination or harassment cannot be reversed.\n\nThis report finds that since Trump and McMahon illegally fired half the staff at OCR and paid civil rights investigators not to work, the agency has:\n\nReached zero resolution agreements involving sexual harassment, sexual violence, seclusion or restraint, racial harassment, or discriminatory school discipline \u2014 despite more than 2,700 pending cases.\n\nReached 78% fewer resolution agreements overall compared to the previous year, and the lowest rate in more than a decade.\n\nFailed to secure any resolution agreements protecting girls and women facing sexual harassment or sexual violence.\n\nReached nearly 79% fewer disability resolution agreements for students with disabilities, which make up the largest share of cases.\n\nReached 91% fewer resolution agreements than during Trump\u2019s first term in 2017.\n\nReached zero resolution agreements in 15 states and Puerto Rico.", 1, "2026-04-29T06:03:53Z", "2026-04-29T06:05:09Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-successfully-pushes-trump-administration-to-release-education-funding-for-vermont/", "NEWS: Sanders Successfully Pushes Trump Administration to Release Education Funding for Vermont", "2026-04-27", "2026", "2026-04", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "BURLINGTON, Vt. April 27 \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today announced that the Department of Education has finally released $11.58 million in federal K-12 COVID-19 funding for 20 Vermont school districts and the Agency of Education, after over a year of needless delay.\n\n\u201cAfter a year of needless delay from the Trump administration, Vermont school districts will finally receive federal funding for summer and afterschool programs, school renovations and other critical services. At a time when so many of our school districts are suffering and struggling economically, this is an important step forward,\u201d Sanders said.\n\nIn March 2025, the Trump administration canceled an estimated $2.5 billion nationwide, including about $17 million for Vermont in unspent funding for K-12 schools provided under the American Rescue Plan Act that had already been approved for states to spend and created a burdensome appeals process for states and school districts to reapply for money they had been promised.\n\nSanders urged Education Secretary Linda McMahon to reverse this decision on multiple occasions and ultimately secured her commitment that Vermont schools would receive the funding they were due. Courts also ruled against the Trump administration\u2019s illegal withholding of the funds. The department assured the senator that the funding would be released in June of last year, but has forced the state through a months-long, disastrous and burdensome process to release funds. As part of the Trump administration\u2019s actions to dismantle the Department of Education, the staff who managed these federal funds were fired in March 2025, further delaying the funds from reaching Vermonters.\n\nThis month, Sanders finally received confirmation from the Department of Education that a total of $11.58 million in funding has been sent to Vermont to reimburse schools for essential activities, such as summer and afterschool programs, school renovations, teacher training, literacy and math coaches and mental health programs.\n\nThe full list of school districts receiving funds is here:", 1, "2026-04-28T06:05:12Z", "2026-04-28T06:07:17Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-statement-on-overwhelming-majority-of-democratic-caucus-opposing-arms-sales-to-israel/", "NEWS: Sanders Statement on Overwhelming Majority of Democratic Caucus Opposing Arms Sales to Israel", "2026-04-15", "2026", "2026-04", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, April 15 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today released the following statement after 40 Democratic senators voted to block the sale of $295 million worth of bulldozers used to demolish homes in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank, and 36 voted against $151.8 million worth of 1,000-pound bombs used in Gaza and Lebanon.\n\nWe are making progress.\n\nToday, more than 80% of the Democratic caucus stood with the American people and voted to block U.S. military aid to Netanyahu and his horrific, illegal wars.\n\nWhen we started this effort there were just 11 votes. Now, there are 40.\n\nThat shift reflects where the American people are. Americans, whether they are Democrats, Republicans or independents, want to see our tax money invested in improving lives here at home \u2014 not used to kill innocent women and children in the Middle East and put American troops in harm\u2019s way as part of Netanyahu\u2019s illegal wars of expansion.\n\nWhat\u2019s astonishing is that, despite overwhelming opposition across this country, Republicans continue to side with Netanyahu and Trump.", 1, "2026-04-16T05:48:36Z", "2026-04-16T05:50:08Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-to-force-votes-to-block-arms-sales-to-israel-on-wednesday/", "NEWS: Sanders to Force Votes to Block Arms Sales to Israel on Wednesday", "2026-04-14", "2026", "2026-04", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, April 14 \u2013 As the Netanyahu government continues its devastation in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, and its illegal war on Iran, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced that he will force votes to block nearly half a billion dollars in arms sales to Israel on Wednesday. These include $151.8 million worth of 1,000-pound bombs used in Gaza and Lebanon and $295 million worth of bulldozers used to demolish homes in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank.\n\nSpecifically, the Senate will vote on:\n\nS.J.Res.138 \u2013 To prohibit the $151.8 million sale of 12,000 BLU-110A/B general purpose 1,000-pound \u201cdumb\u201d gravity bombs and related logistics and technical support services.\n\nS.J.Res.32 \u2013 To prohibit the $295 million sale of D9R and D9T Caterpillar bulldozers; spare and repair parts; corrosion protection; publications and technical documentation; pre-delivery inspections; U.S. Government and contractor support; technical and logistics support services; storage; and other related elements of logistics and program support.\n\n\u201cU.S. taxpayers have spent tens of billions of dollars in support of the racist, extremist Netanyahu government. Enough is enough,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cThe United States must use the leverage we have \u2014 tens of billions in arms and military aid \u2014 to demand that Israel ends these atrocities.\u201d\n\nThe arms sales in question violate the criteria laid out in the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act. Secretary Marco Rubio signed an emergency determination just six days into the war with Iran in an attempt to bypass the statutory congressional notification period and immediately transfer these weapons. Reliable human rights monitors have documented numerous incidents involving the use of 1,000-pound bombs in illegal strikes leading to unacceptable civilian death tolls, including strikes on densely populated residential areas in Gaza and Beirut. The Caterpillar D9 bulldozers covered by S.J.Res.32 are the IDF\u2019s primary demolition tool \u2014 used to demolish Palestinian homes, raze refugee camps, uproot olive groves and build settler-only roads that make a Palestinian state physically impossible.", 1, "2026-04-15T05:46:42Z", "2026-04-15T05:48:27Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-welch-balint-demand-trump-adminrelease-4-million-in-anti-poverty-funding-to-vermont/", "NEWS: Sanders, Welch, Balint Demand Trump Admin Release $4 Million in Anti-Poverty Funding to Vermont", "2026-04-06", "2026", "2026-04", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "BURLINGTON, Vt., April 6 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) called on Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to obey the law and immediately release more than $810 million in federal funding that helps more than 10 million Americans living in poverty, including nearly 50,000 Vermonters.\n\nSpecifically, in just one year, Vermont\u2019s community action agencies served 3,200 Vermonters who did not have health care, 9,000 people who had a disability, more than 7,000 low-income seniors, more than 11,000 children living in poverty and 1,200 veterans and active military personnel.\n\n\u201cWe are urging you to immediately release this vital funding so that over 48,000 Vermonters and 10 million people throughout America living in poverty can receive the help they desperately need to keep a roof over their heads, feed their families, keep their jobs, send their kids to child care and pay their energy bills,\u201d the members wrote. \u201cThese programs are literally a matter of life and death for some of the most vulnerable people in America\u2026Congress funded them. The President signed this funding into law. And, under our Constitution, you do not have the right to determine which laws you will follow and which laws you will ignore.\u201d\n\nFor over three months, the Trump administration has illegally withheld Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding from community action agencies across the country \u2014 including from BROC Community Action, Capstone Community Action, Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, Northeast Kingdom Community Action and Southeastern Vermont Community Action in our state. Across the country, nearly 1,000 community action agencies in almost every county in America use these funds to provide urgent financial aid for working families with children, people with disabilities and seniors on fixed incomes and to administer critical programs like Head Start and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).\n\n\u201cWhat we are asking you to do is simple and straightforward: Obey the law. Respect the Constitution. Do not let kids go hungry, do not force veterans to sleep out on the street, do not deny low-income seniors the emergency assistance they need to live with dignity and respect. Release these funds,\u201d the members concluded.", 1, "2026-04-07T05:38:05Z", "2026-04-07T05:39:14Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-wyden-demand-senate-hearings-to-hold-insurance-ceos-accountable-for-their-greed-amid-growing-health-care-crisis/", "NEWS: Sanders, Wyden Demand Senate Hearings to Hold Insurance CEOs Accountable for their Greed amid Growing Health Care Crisis", "2026-04-02", "2026", "2026-04", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, April 2 \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, today called on committee leadership to hold hearings with the CEOs of the nation\u2019s largest health insurance companies to address a fundamentally broken health care system that is failing millions of Americans.\n\nIn a letter sent to HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Sanders and Wyden wrote: \u201cWhile our health care system is failing ordinary Americans, it is working exceptionally well for big insurance companies. While 42% of cancer patients go bankrupt within the first two years of their diagnosis, last year the seven major health insurance companies in America made over $54 billion in profits \u2026 Against the backdrop of a system that leaves working families paying higher and higher medical bills, the nation\u2019s top insurers paid their CEOs exorbitant compensation packages.\u201d\n\nAs the senators highlighted in their letter, more than 85 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured; over half a million people face bankruptcy due to medical debt; and more than 60,000 Americans die each year because they cannot afford timely care. At the same time, Americans pay nearly $15,500 per person for health care \u2014 far more than any other wealthy nation \u2014 yet experience worse outcomes, including lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality rates.\n\n\u201cThe American public deserves to know why the big insurance executives that testified before the House earlier this year continue to get richer and richer, while over one-third of people with health insurance have been forced to skip or delay getting the care they need because of the outrageous cost,\u201d Sanders and Wyden wrote.\n\nThe letter also raised concerns about industry consolidation and vertical integration, noting that large insurers have acquired extensive control across the health care system \u2014 from physician practices to pharmacies \u2014 allowing them to maximize profits at every stage of patient care.\n\nFor example, UnitedHealth Group now owns thousands of subsidiaries, enabling it to profit from multiple points within a single patient\u2019s care. Meanwhile, companies like UnitedHealth, Cigna, and CVS/Aetna have spent billions on stock buybacks and dividends to further enrich their wealthy stockholders.\n\n\u201cIt is time for our committees to hold the chief executives of the major health insurance companies accountable for their greed and to address the health care crisis in America, as our colleagues in the House did earlier this year on a bipartisan basis,\u201d the senators concluded.", 1, "2026-04-03T05:34:17Z", "2026-04-03T05:35:48Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-casar-introduce-legislation-to-prevent-owners-from-moving-teams-without-giving-locals-chance-to-buy/", "NEWS: Sanders, Casar Introduce Legislation to Prevent Owners from Moving Teams Without Giving Locals Chance to Buy", "2026-03-26", "2026", "2026-03", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, March 26 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) today introduced the Home Team Act, legislation to require owners of professional sports teams to give local communities the chance to buy teams before relocating them.\n\nJoining Sanders and Casar as cosponsors of this legislation are Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and five members of the House of Representatives.\n\n\u201cThe American people are sick and tired of billionaires threatening to move the sports teams they own to different states unless they get hundreds of millions in corporate welfare to build new stadiums,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cIn my view, professional sports teams should be owned and controlled by the fans who love them, not by the multibillionaire oligarchs who are getting even richer by charging outrageous prices and getting taxpayers to pick up their extravagant costs. You shouldn\u2019t have to be wealthy to take your family to a football game. You shouldn\u2019t have to fear that a multibillionaire will move your favorite team to a different city if taxpayers refuse to subsidize it. The Home Team Act is a very modest piece of legislation that begins to address this problem. I am proud to support it.\u201d\n\n\u201cSports in America should be about more than just making billionaire owners even richer,\u201d Casar said. \u201cFar too many Americans know the pain of losing a team, and far too many communities have had to fork over billions in subsidies just to keep an already profitable team home. Our bill is about creating a level playing field so leagues work for fans and taxpayers, not just owners.\u201d\n\nThe bill would protect fans from losing teams and protect taxpayers from being extorted for huge subsidies by the threat of relocation. It:\n\nRequires sports franchise owners to provide notice a year before moving the team to a new community, defined by crossing state lines or moving to a new Metropolitan Statistical Area;\n\nDuring that year, it gives communities the chance to purchase the team at a fair price, including through the sort of successful community ownership model used by the Green Bay Packers. Teams could also be purchased by a government entity, a nonprofit or public partnership, or a private person, group, or company;\n\nEnforces a penalty for franchise owners who do not comply and provides a right of action for state and local governments.\n\nThe bill would not require anyone to purchase a team and it would not prevent teams from moving if there is not a buyer able to meet a fair and reasonable price, as assessed by a team of appraisers.\n\nTeam relocation has plagued communities across America for decades, from the Brooklyn Dodgers moving in 1958 to recent moves such as the Oakland Athletics departing for Las Vegas. In other instances, the threat of relocation forces cities or states to offer billions of dollars in subsidies to teams already worth billions of dollars. Currently, the Chicago Bears are threatening to leave the city after more than 100 years in response to the state of Indiana offering massive subsidies. The bill would prevent the Bears from being moved across state lines without being offered for sale.\n\nRead the bill text here.", 1, "2026-04-04T05:28:40Z", "2026-04-04T05:30:10Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-ocasio-cortez-announce-ai-data-center-moratorium-act/", "NEWS: Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez\u00a0Announce\u00a0AI Data Center Moratorium Act", "2026-03-25", "2026", "2026-03", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, March 25 \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) today announced the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Data Center Moratorium Act, legislation that would enact a reasonable pause to the development of AI to ensure the safety of humanity.\n\n\u201cAI and robotics are creating the most sweeping technological revolution in the history of humanity. The scale, scope and speed of that change is unprecedented. Congress is way behind where it should be in understanding the nature of this revolution and its impacts,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cBottom line: We cannot sit back and allow a handful of billionaire Big Tech oligarchs to make decisions that will reshape our economy, our democracy and the future of humanity. We need serious public debate and democratic oversight over this enormously consequential issue. The time for action is now. We need a federal moratorium on AI data centers.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have seen ICE partner with AI companies to surveil Americans, social media users employ AI bots to create sexually explicit deepfakes of women and children, and data center construction inflate electric bills in communities across the country. And all of this harm has occurred because of the absence of federal legislation to regulate AI,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said. \u201cCongress has a moral obligation to stand with the American people and stop the expansion of these data centers until we have a framework to adequately address the existential harm AI poses to our society. We must choose humanity over profit.\u201d\n\nThe legislation would slow down the development of AI to give democracy a chance to catch up. The AI Data Center Moratorium Act of 2026 would do that by instituting an immediate federal moratorium on AI data centers until strong national safeguards are in place to ensure that:\n\nAI is safe and effective \u2014 preventing executives in the AI industry from releasing harmful products into the world that threaten the health and well-being of working families, our privacy and civil rights and the future of humanity.\n\nThe economic gains of AI and robotics will benefit workers, not just the wealthy owners of Big Tech.\n\nAI does not increase electricity or utility prices, harm communities or destroy the environment.\n\nAdditionally, this bill will stop a global race to see which country is the first to eliminate hundreds of millions of jobs, or the first to build an AI that destroys the planet. It accomplishes this by banning U.S. exports of AI computing infrastructure to countries that do not have safeguards in place to guarantee AI is safe and effective, workers are protected and AI does not harm the environment.\n\nMore than 100 local communities around the country have enacted moratoriums on data centers and 12 states are pushing forward with statewide moratorium proposals.\n\nIn 2023, more than 1,000 industry leaders and scientists, including Elon Musk, Yoshua Bengio and Stuart Russell, called for AI labs to \u201cimmediately pause for at least 6 months\u201d and, if such a pause were not enacted, called on governments to \u201cstep in and institute a moratorium.\u201d In December, Elon Musk, who leads xAI, said he had \u201ca lot of AI nightmares\u201d and would \u201ccertainly slow down AI and robotics\u201d if he could. In January, Demis Hassabis, the head of Google\u2019s Deepmind, said he would support an AI pause if he knew other countries and companies also paused development. In February, Dario Amodei, the head of Anthropic, said he was \u201cabsolutely in favor of trying\u201d to slow down AI development if other countries also slowed down.\n\nRead a section-by-section summary here.", 1, "2026-04-04T05:28:40Z", "2026-04-04T05:30:10Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-calls-on-bezos-to-testify-before-congress-on-plans-to-replace-millions-of-workers-with-robots/", "NEWS: Sanders Calls on Bezos to Testify before Congress on Plans to Replace Millions of Workers with Robots", "2026-03-23", "2026", "2026-03", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, March 23 \u2014 After public reporting that Jeff Bezos is seeking to raise $100 billion to replace millions of workers all over America with robots, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today called on Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) to hold a public hearing with Bezos regarding the impact of artificial intelligence and robotics on the working class.\n\n\u201cIn my view, we must demand that Mr. Bezos come before our committee to explain to the American people why he believes it\u2019s a good idea to replace millions of American workers with robots,\u201d Sanders wrote. \u201cWe need to understand what will happen to these workers. Will Mr. Bezos be providing a generous severance package for them? Will these displaced workers be able to maintain their health care benefits? Will they be able to receive a decent retirement plan? Or will they simply be thrown out on the street in order to make Mr. Bezos even richer?\u201d\n\nLast week, the prominent information technology consulting firm Cognizant estimated that 93% of American jobs would face some disruption and 30% of all jobs would be wiped out by AI. This is a significant increase from the firm\u2019s previous projections and a dire warning about the potential impact of these new technologies on workers and the U.S. economy.\n\n\u201cAs you know, the pace of technological advancement in robotics, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly increased in just the past few years. These revolutionary technologies will have a profound impact on the lives of virtually every worker in America,\u201d Sanders continued. \u201cOur job is to ensure that this new technology benefits working families and is not simply used as another tool to make the wealthiest people in the world unimaginably richer\u2026 The American people are increasingly apprehensive about the impact that AI and robotics will have on the economy and their lives. Congress needs to act. The HELP committee needs to act.\u201d", 1, "2026-04-04T05:28:40Z", "2026-04-04T05:30:10Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-files-joint-resolutions-of-disapproval-to-block-nearly-660-million-in-bomb-sales-to-israel/", "NEWS: Sanders Files Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to Block Nearly $660 Million in Bomb Sales to Israel", "2026-03-19", "2026", "2026-03", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, March 19 \u2014 Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today filed three Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) that would block the sale of nearly $658.8 million in offensive U.S. weaponry to Israel amid President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s illegal, premeditated and unconstitutional war with Iran. Joining Sanders as cosponsors of these resolutions are Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).\n\nEarlier this month, the Trump administration notified lawmakers of its intention to declare an \u201cemergency\u201d and bypass Congress to sell more than 20,000 bombs to the Israeli government. These bombs are directly implicated in tens of thousands of civilian deaths in Iran, Lebanon and Gaza.\n\nThe sales include:\n\n$298 million for 5,000 \u201cdefense articles\u201d relating to 250-pound small-diameter bombs\n\n$209 million for 10,000 500-pound bombs\n\n$151.8 million for 12,000 1,000-pound bombs\n\n\u201cGiven the horrific destruction that Israel\u2019s extremist government has wrought on Gaza, Iran and Lebanon, the last thing in the world that American taxpayers need to do right now is to provide 22,000 new bombs to the Netanyahu government,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cNo more weapons to support an illegal war.\u201d\n\n\u201cDonald Trump launched an illegal, unjustified war of choice against Iran that is making our nation less, not more, safe and has set the region on fire. It has resulted in 13 Americans killed and hundreds more injured, as well as the deaths of thousands of civilians. It\u2019s also costing American taxpayers a billion dollars a day and driving up prices here at home. Trump not only disregarded Congressional authority to declare this war, he\u2019s now bypassing Congress by invoking an emergency authority to supply additional bombs to this war, a crisis of his own making. Congress must use all the tools at our disposal to end Trump\u2019s war, including stopping the transfer of over $658 million of taxpayer-funded bombs to the Netanyahu government. It is clear that prolonging this war by sending additional bombs to the Netanyahu government is not in America\u2019s interests,\u201d Van Hollen said.\n\n\u201cDonald Trump, working in lockstep with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, launched a reckless and unconstitutional war,\u201d Merkley said. \u201cI do not support sending more offensive weapons to the Netanyahu government.\u201d\n\n\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s war of choice in Iran has been a catastrophe\u2013jeopardizing our national security and the lives of our troops, killing and wounding thousands of innocent civilians, and causing havoc in the global economy. The war needs to end today,\u201d Welch said. \u201cWith the bombs already provided to Israel by American taxpayers, Israeli forces are unleashing a campaign of total war in Iran with the clear and deliberate intention to eviscerate Iran\u2019s economy and society. I support these joint resolutions to make sure that we do not send another 20,000 bombs to Israel that will result in further destruction in Iran and Lebanon. We must end this war, and we must not send these bombs.\u201d", 1, "2026-04-04T05:28:40Z", "2026-04-04T05:30:10Z"], ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-calls-forsenate-hearing-to-correct-kennedys-dangerous-misinformation-campaign-on-autism-and-vaccines/", "NEWS: Sanders Calls for Senate Hearing to Correct Kennedy\u2019s Dangerous Misinformation Campaign on Autism and Vaccines", "2026-03-17", "2026", "2026-03", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, March 17 \u2014 In the aftermath of Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy\u2019s repeated and dangerous misinformation campaign inaccurately linking vaccines to autism, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) today called on Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) to hold a hearing to set the record straight on autism research and clarify that vaccines are safe and effective and do not cause autism.\n\nIn his letter, Sanders quotes Cassidy about the safety of vaccines: \u201cYou have correctly said: \u2018I\u2019m a doctor who has seen people die from vaccine-preventable diseases. What parents need to hear right now is vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B and other childhood diseases are safe and effective and will not cause autism. Any statement to the contrary is wrong, irresponsible, and actively makes Americans sicker.\u2019 I could not agree more with that assessment. Unfortunately, Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy and many others inside the Trump Administration do not.\u201d\n\nSince assuming office, Secretary Kennedy has waged an unprecedented war on science and vaccines that have saved millions of lives. He has directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to publish false information on its website suggesting that childhood vaccines cause autism despite the findings of more than 40 scientific studies in seven countries involving over 5.6 million people to the contrary. He has replaced the scientific experts on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with vaccine skeptics, including several who have promoted the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism. And most recently, he overhauled the National Institutes of Health (NIH)\u2019s Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), appointing 21 new non-federal members. Several of these appointees have publicly advanced false claims linking vaccines and autism.\n\n\u201cIt is our responsibility to make sure that the American people understand the truth about vaccines and autism based on scientific evidence, not conspiracy theories. Therefore, I would like to work with you to schedule a hearing on this issue as soon as possible,\u201d Sanders continued.\n\nIn addition to Sanders, many autism scientists and advocates have also sounded the alarm about Kennedy\u2019s actions, including the Coalition of Autism Scientists, Autism Society of America, Autistic Self-Advocacy Network and the Autism Science Foundation.\n\nRead the letter here.", 1, "2026-04-02T05:33:17Z", "2026-04-02T05:34:59Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-on-manchin-romney-deal-congress-cannot-go-home-until-working-class-receives-1200-direct-payments", "Sanders on Manchin-Romney Deal: Congress Cannot Go Home Until Working Class Receives $1,200 Direct Payments", "2020-12-14", "2020", "2020-12", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders on Manchin-Romney Deal: Congress Cannot Go Home Until Working Class Receives $1,200 Direct Payments\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tMonday, December 14, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWASHINGTON, December 14  Sen. Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement in response to the Manchin-Romney COVID19 legislation to be released this afternoon:\r\nAs a result of the pandemic, tens of millions of Americans are facing economic desperation.They can't afford to pay their rent and face eviction, they can't afford to go to the doctor, they can't afford to feed their children and they are going deeper and deeper into debt.Congress cannot go home for the Christmas holidays until we pass legislation which provides a $1,200 direct payment to working class adults, $2,400 for couples, and a $500 payment to their children. This is what Democrats and Republicans did unanimously in March through the CARES Act.This is what we have to do today.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/we-must-get-1200-direct-checks-to-the-working-class-of-america", "We Must Get $1,200 Direct Checks To The Working Class Of America", "2020-12-11", "2020", "2020-12", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "We Must Get $1,200 Direct Checks To The Working Class Of America \n            Members of Congress cannot go back to our families for the holidays when children in the richest country on Earth are going hungry and millions are scared to death of eviction.\nWe must pass my amendment with Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri to get $1,200 direct checks to the working class ofAmerica.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-demands-direct-payments-for-working-families", "Sanders Demands Direct Payments for Working Families", "2020-12-10", "2020", "2020-12", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders Demands Direct Payments for Working Families\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tThursday, December 10, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWASHINGTONSenator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) stated today on the Senate floor that given the enormity of the current economic crisis, the Senate must pass a $1,200 direct payment for working class adults and $500 for their children as part of any COVID-19 relief package. He is filing an amendment today to the one-week Continuing Resolution to do just that.\r\nSanders said that it would be unacceptable for Congress to adjourn for the holidays while turning its back on the economic desperation facing tens of millions of Americans.\r\nIn a speech on the floor today, he stated: When a national emergency occurs the United States government must respond. And we are in an economic emergency today. To get out of Washington, to turn our backs on the suffering of so many of our people would be immoral, would be unconscionable, and cannot be allowed to happen.\r\nSanders' speech can be watched here, and the prepared remarks can be read below: \r\n\"Mr. President: This country today faces an unprecedented crisis both in terms of the pandemic and the economic meltdown. I understand that there are negotiations going on in terms of coming up with an economic package dealing with COVID-19 relief. I applaud the hard work that each of the negotiators are doing. But the truth is that the results up to this point are totally unsatisfactory given the economic desperation facing tens of millions of working families. Back in March, at the beginning of the pandemic, the United States Congress unanimously  Democrats and Republicans  worked with President Trump to come up with an economic package that went a long way toward preventing absolute misery and destitution for so many of our people. Through no fault of their own, COVID-19 resulted in millions of people losing their jobs and their income. And, in response, Democrats and Republicans in the Congress came together, worked with the President of the United States and, in a very significant way, responded to that crisis. Mr. President, what I don't understand is that at a time when, in many ways, the crisis is worse today than it was in March, why we are not responding accordingly. In March, we passed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act which included a $600 supplement to unemployment benefits for 4 months, and a $1,200 direct payment for every working class adult plus $500 for their kids. Once again, we did this unanimously and we did it by working with President Trump. If we could do it together in March, if we could succeed 9 months ago by working together, there is no reason why we cannot do the same thing right now. And that is why I will insist that any agreement in terms of a COVID-19 relief package must include not only strong unemployment benefits, but a $1,200 direct payment for the working families of this country similarly structured to what was included in the CARES package of March. And I will be introducing an amendment to the 1-week Continuing Resolution to make sure that that occurs - that every working class adult in this country receives another $1,200 direct payment, plus $500 for their kids. Mr. President, every member of this body wants to get out of Washington to get home to their families for the holiday season. And put me at the top of that list. But at a time when so many American families are suffering, when so many people don't know how they're going to feed their kids or prevent being evicted from their homes, or how they're going to pay for a doctor's visit, we cannot leave Washington and return to our families unless we address the economic suffering that so many other families are facing. When a national emergency occurs the United States government must respond. And we are in an economic emergency today. To get out of Washington, to turn our backs on the suffering of so many of our people would be immoral, would be unconscionable, and cannot be allowed to happen. Again, we must make certain that every working family in this country receives a $1,200 direct payment, plus $500 for their kids. Mr. President, let me be as clear as I can be. Today, as a result of the horrific pandemic and economic meltdown, the American working-class is hurting like they have never hurt before. Yesterday alone, over 220,000 Americans were diagnosed with COVID-19 and, tragically, over 3,000 died from this horrific virus. In other words, more Americans were killed by the coronavirus yesterday than were killed on 9-11. Further, Mr. President, the working class of this country is in the worst financial shape since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens have lost their jobs. They have lost their incomes. They have lost their health insurance. They have depleted their life savings. They cannot afford to pay the rent. They cannot afford to put food on the table. And they are scared to death that any day now they will get a knock on the door from the sheriff evicting them from their homes and throwing them and their belongings out on the street. In America today, over half our workers are living paycheck to paycheck while 1 out of every 4 workers in this country are either unemployed or make a starvation wage of less than $20,000 a year. During the holiday season over one-third of Americans expect to lose income and are already having a difficult time paying for basic household expenses. In America today, hunger is at its highest level in decades, more than 500,000 Americans are homeless and over 30 million tenants are on the brink of eviction.While 15 million Americans have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, over 90 million Americans are uninsured or under-insured and cannot afford to go to a doctor when they get sick. And as bad as the economy has been in general it has been far worse for African Americans and Latinos. During the pandemic, nearly 60% of Latino families and 55% of African American families have either experienced a job loss or a pay cut. Meanwhile, Mr. President, not everyone is hurting in America. While the middle class is collapsing and poverty is growing, we are witnessing a massive increase in income and wealth inequality. Over the past 9 months, 650 billionaires have seen their wealth go up by over $1 trillion and now own over twice as much wealth as the bottom 50 percent of Americans. That is the state of the economy in America today. The very rich get much, much richer, while tens of millions of Americans get poorer and poorer and face an unprecedented level of economic desperation. Mr. President. This is the United States of America, the richest country in the history of the world. No one should be going hungry. No one should have to live in fear of becoming homeless. No one should be denied the health care that they need, especially during the worst public health crisis in over a hundred years. But that is precisely what is going on all over America as we speak. Mr. President. This is an unprecedented moment in American history and the Senate needs to take unprecedented action now to improve the lives of the American people. If we could act effectively in March through the CARES Act, we can act effectively today as we enter the holiday season. I very much appreciate the hard work that has gone into the current $908 billion proposal being drafted by a number of Democratic and Republican Senators. But, simply stated, given the horrific extent of the current crisis and the desperation that working families all over this country are experiencing, this proposal does not go anywhere near far enough. In truth, rather than the $3.4 trillion which we Democrats called for in the HEROES Act and passed in the House, this bill only allocates $348 billion in new money. The remaining $560 billion are funds transferred from the CARES Act that have not yet been obligated. In other words, this bill is allocating roughly 10% of what was passed in the House. That's absurd. Unlike the CARES Act, which we passed in March, this proposal only provides a $300 supplement for unemployed workers rather than $600 a week. Further, unlike the $1,200 direct payment for every working class individual and $500 for each child, it provides absolutely no direct payment. Moreover, this proposal does nothing to address the health care crisis impacting tens of millions of Americans who cannot afford medical care and has totally inadequate financial assistance for the most vulnerable. The American people need help and they need help now. We have got to make sure that every working class American receives at least $1,200 in direct payments and that we do not provide a liability shield to corporations who break the law. We cannot continue the status quo of coming in at 5:30pm on Monday and leaving at 2pm on Thursday  while nothing gets done to help millions of Americans living in economic desperation. We've got to be working 24 hours, 7 days a week until we pass a bill that provides emergency assistance to the American people in their time of need.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-hawley-introduce-1200-direct-payments-amendment-to-attach-to-end-of-year-legislation", "Sanders, Hawley Introduce $1,200 Direct Payments Amendment to Attach to End-of-Year Legislation", "2020-12-10", "2020", "2020-12", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders, Hawley Introduce $1,200 Direct Payments Amendment to Attach to End-of-Year Legislation\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tThursday, December 10, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWASHINGTON, December 10  Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) are introducing a bipartisan amendment to attach to must-pass legislation to be considered by Congress, which would provide $1,200 in direct payments to working-class adults and $500 to each of their children.This amendment, similar to what was passed in the CARES Act, would be attached to must-pass legislation to keep the government going.\r\nIn the midst of this terrible pandemic and economic crisis, this amendment would make certain that working families get the urgent, direct support they need to survive, said Sanders. A direct payment of $1,200 for adults and $500 for kids would help desperate families pay rent and heating bills, put food on the table, and be able to go to the doctor.In the midst of so much economic desperation, Congress cannot go on recess without providing this $1,200 emergency assistance to the American people in their time of need.I look forward to working across the aisle with Senator Hawley to ensure that the United States Senate passes this amendment.\r\nIt would be a dereliction of duty if Congress adjourns for Christmas without having a vote on providing working families with direct payments, said Hawley. Working people are struggling. And they should be the first people given relief, not last. The crisis of rising unemployment claims, ever-expanding food lines, evictions, and growing credit card debt has been staring us in the face for months. It's time we do something about it and provide emergency relief to Americans.\r\nThe amendment is modeled on the $1,200 direct payment for working-class adults plus $500 for their children passed by Congress unanimously in the $2.2 trillion CARES Act in March and signed into law by President Trump.\r\n\r\nWatch Sanders' and Hawley's floor remarks on this proposal here.\r\nRead the text of the amendment here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/responding-to-the-needs-of-the-americanpeople", "Responding to the needs of the AmericanPeople", "2020-12-10", "2020", "2020-12", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Responding to the needs of the AmericanPeople \n            Yesterday alone, over 3,000 died from this horrific virus.\nThe working class of this country is in the worst financial shape since the Great Depression of the 1930s.\nThe American people need help and they need help NOW!", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-gillibrand-warren-merkley-markey-and-wyden-urge-colleagues-to-defend-working-class-in-covid-19-relief-proposal", "Sanders, Gillibrand, Warren, Merkley, Markey and Wyden Urge Colleagues to Defend Working Class in COVID-19 Relief Proposal", "2020-12-08", "2020", "2020-12", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders, Gillibrand, Warren, Merkley, Markey and Wyden Urge Colleagues to Defend Working Class in COVID-19 Relief Proposal\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tTuesday, December 8, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWASHINGTON, December 8  Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.),Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.),Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)urged Senate Democrats today to recognize the enormity of the economic and public-health crisis posed by COVID-19 and join them in demanding that any new COVID-19 relief proposal includes a $1,200 direct payment to adults and $500 to their children, while rejecting provisions to give a liability shield to corporations who threaten the health and safety of workers and customers.\r\nIn aletterto their colleagues, the Senators note that COVID-19 is infecting nearly 200,000 Americans and killing 2,000 Americans daily, and argue that a bipartisan proposal under negotiation does not go anywhere near far enough, as America experiences the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Only $348 billion in new money is currently allocated in that proposal, the Senators point out, even though the Trump Administration and a bipartisan coalition in the House supported over $1.8 trillion in COVID-19 relief that also included another $1,200 direct payment.\r\nIt would be unacceptable to take a major step backwards from those previous efforts by passing legislation that only included $348 billion in new money, the Senators wrote to their Democratic colleagues.\r\nThe lawmakers further expressed their opposition to a get-out-of-jail free card to companies that put the lives of their workers and customers at risk currently under consideration in a bipartisan COVID-19 relief measure, and cited concerns from labor groups that granting immunity would make the country less safe at the exact moment when the COVID-19 pandemic is entering a new, dangerous phase.\r\nThe letter's signatories also registered their agreement with President-elect Biden that a $1,200 direct payment should be included in this proposal, as over half of American workers live paycheck to paycheck and one in four are either unemployed or make less than $20,000 a year, while millions more face eviction and hunger. Read the letterhere.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-manchin-romney-covid19-proposal", "Sanders Statement on Manchin-Romney COVID19 Proposal", "2020-12-04", "2020", "2020-12", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders Statement on Manchin-Romney COVID19 Proposal\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tFriday, December 4, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tBURLINGTON, December 4  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement on the Manchin-Romney COVID19 legislative proposal: Given the enormous economic desperation facing working families in this country today, I will not be able to support the recently announced Manchin-Romney COVID proposal unless it is significantly improved. Unfortunately, despite long-time Democratic opposition, this proposal provides 100% legal immunity to corporations whose irresponsibility has led to the deaths of hundreds of workers. It would continue to provide a get-out-of-jail free card to companies that put the lives of their workers and customers at risk. In fact, the Manchin-Romney proposal will, through this liability provision, encourage corporations to avoid implementing the common sense safety standards needed to protect workers and consumers - and make a bad situation worse. Further, during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, when over half of our workers are living paycheck to paycheck, when one out of four workers are either unemployed or make less than $20,000 a year, when 92 million Americans are uninsured or under-insured, when tens of millions of people face eviction and when hunger in America is exploding, it is unacceptable that the Manchin-Romney proposal does not even do what the CARES Act did and provide, at the very least, a $1,200 direct payment to working class Americans and $500 for their kids. Tens of millions of Americans living in desperation today would receive absolutely no financial help from this proposal. That is not acceptable. Last March, with unanimous support in Congress, President Trump signed the $2 trillion CARES Act into law that provided a $600 a week supplement in unemployment benefits and a $1,200 direct payment to every working class adult, $500 per child and significant help for small businesses, states and cities. In October, as part of the negotiating process, the Trump Administration and a bi-partisan coalition in the House supported over $1.8 trillion in COVID-relief that also included another $1,200 direct payment.  Today, however, at a time when the COVID crisis is the worst that it has ever been in the U.S. with record-breaking levels of hospitalization and death, the Manchin-Romney proposal not only provides no direct payments to working families, it does nothing to address the healthcare crisis and has totally inadequate financial assistance for the most vulnerable. That is wrong morally and it is wrong economically if we hope to rebuild the economy. The American people need help and they need help now. In my view, we have got to make sure that every working class American receives at least $1,200 in direct payments and that we do not provide a liability shield to corporations who break the law. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and Senate to significantly improve this bill.But, in its current form, I cannot support it.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/vermont-students-share-what-you-think-our-national-priorities-should-be", "Vermont Students: Share What You Think Our National Priorities Should Be", "2020-11-25", "2020", "2020-11", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Vermont Students: Share What You Think Our National Priorities Should Be \n            The deadline for my annual State of the Union Essay contest is approaching. This contest is a great opportunity for high school students to be actively engaged in our democratic process and think about solutions to the major problems facing our country. If you're a Vermont High school student, join us for the 11th year of the contest and submit your essay by January 12th.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-announces-eleventh-annual-state-of-the-union-essay-contest", "Sanders Announces Eleventh Annual State of the Union Essay Contest", "2020-11-24", "2020", "2020-11", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders Announces Eleventh Annual State of the Union Essay Contest\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tTuesday, November 24, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tBURLINGTON, November 24  Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has launched his eleventh annual State of the Union essay contest.\r\nEach January, the President of the United States delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, which outlines priorities for the coming year. Because Senator Sanders knows that great ideas can come from everyone  not just those in power  and wants to encourage young people to become engaged in the political process, he created the State of the Union Essay Contest. The contest is an opportunity for Vermont high school students to describe a major issue facing our country and propose what they would do to solve it.\r\nThe 250-500 word essays can be on any issue of national importance. A volunteer panel of Vermont teachers will judge the essays on the students' ability to articulate an issue and propose a solution, without regard to the students' political views. Senator Sanders will enter the essays of the ten finalists into the Congressional Record  the official archive of the U.S. Congress.\r\nI started this essay contest 11 years ago to help our students be actively engaged, no matter where they stand on the issues, said Sanders, who serves on the Senate education committee. This year, our state and nation face a health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with a renewed fight for racial justice. Many of you have seen family members struggle because of lost wages or health concerns, you have been asked to learn online, and you face a future that may feel uncertain. To my mind, the unprecedented nature of this time makes it more important than ever to hear perspectives and innovative ideas from you, our young people.\r\nMore than 4,600 students from high schools throughout Vermont have written essays in the past ten years about critically important issues, including climate change, access to mental health care, the rising cost of college, and much, much more. Last year, Isabelle Hiller from Woodstock Union High School was selected as the winner from 536 submissions for her essay on criminal justice reform.\r\nThe deadline for student essay submissions is Jan. 12, 2021. More information can be found on Sanders' Senate webpage at https://www.sanders.senate.gov/stateoftheunion or by calling (800) 339-9834.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/taxpayers-subsidize-poverty-wages-at-walmart-mcdonalds-other-large-corporations-gao-finds", "Taxpayers Subsidize Poverty Wages at Walmart, McDonalds, Other Large Corporations, GAO Finds", "2020-11-18", "2020", "2020-11", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Taxpayers Subsidize Poverty Wages at Walmart, McDonald's, Other Large Corporations, GAO Finds\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tWednesday, November 18, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWASHINGTON, November 18  Many full-time workers employed by some of America's largest and most profitable corporations receive wages so low that they qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) benefits and Medicaid, according to a report released today by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).\r\nThe report,Millions of Full-time Workers Rely on Federal Health Care and Food Assistance Programs,commissioned by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), found that 5.7 million Medicaid enrollees and 4.7 million SNAP recipients who worked full-time for 50 or more weeks in 2018 earned wages so low that they qualified for these federal benefits. An estimated 12 million wage-earning adults enrolled in Medicaid and 9 million wage-earning adults living in households receiving SNAP benefits worked at some point in 2018.\r\nAt a time when huge corporations like Walmart and McDonald's are making billions in profits and giving their CEOs tens of millions of dollars a year, they're relying on corporate welfare from the federal government by paying their workers starvation wages. That is morally obscene.U.S. taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize some of the largest and most profitable corporations in America.It is time for the owners of Walmart, McDonald's and other large corporations to get off of welfare and pay their workers a living wage,said Sanders.No one in this country should live in poverty. No one should go hungry. No one should be unable to get the medical care they need. It is long past time to increase the federal minimum wage from a starvation wage of $7.25 an hour to $15, and guarantee health care to all Americans as a human right.\r\nGAO sent questionnaires to state Medicaid and SNAP agencies and analyzed data from 15 such agencies across 11 states. Each agency reported the 25 most common employers of Medicaid enrollees and SNAP recipients. Among the 15 agencies, Walmart was in the top four employers of program beneficiaries in each and every one. McDonald's was a top-five employer of employees receiving federal benefits in 13 of the 15 agencies. GAO's analysis across the states it examined reveals that multi-billion-dollar firms employed tens of thousands of workers at wages so low, taxpayers effectively provided nutrition support and health insurance that would be unnecessary if they paid living wages.\r\nNotoriously low-paying and dangerous dollar-store chains also appeared throughout these lists, with Dollar Tree ranking among the top 15 largest employers of employees receiving benefits in all 15 agencies, and Dollar General among the top 10 in nine different agencies.\r\nAcross nine statesArkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington  these large corporations employed the following numbers of SNAP recipients in February 2020: Walmart  14,541  McDonald's  8,783  Dollar Tree  4,515  Dollar General  4,488  Amazon  4,218  Burger King  3,326  FedEx  2,622  Wendy's  2,237  Subway  2,231  Taco Bell  2,114  Uber  2,032  Target  1,783  Dunkin' Donuts  1,564  Home Depot  1,305  Lowe's  1,154  Family Dollar  570  CVS  545  Walgreens  355 Across six statesGeorgia, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Rhode Islandthe following large corporations employed these approximate numbers of Medicaid enrollees in February 2020: Walmart  10,350  McDonald's  4,600  Amazon  4,154  Dollar Tree  2,964  Target  2,754  Dollar General  2,625  Home Depot  2,237  CVS  1,939  Burger King  1,679  Dunkin' Donuts  1,278  Wendy's  1,059  FedEx  1,046  Walgreens  1,009  Subway  973  Taco Bell  868  Lowe's  611  Uber  591 To read the full report, clickhere.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/fafsa-helping-students-afford-college-2020-11-06", "FAFSA: Helping Students Afford College", "2020-11-06", "2020", "2020-11", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FAFSA: Helping Students Afford College \n            Are you looking to pursue further education after high school, but are worried about the cost? If you are considering college, technical, or vocational education, you can now fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (the FAFSA), to help you secure federal, state, and college-specific financial assistance. Now, more than ever, we must keep fighting to make College for All a reality. But until then, students and families deserve to know what resources are available to help pay for continued education. If you have questions, or need help filling out the FAFSA, contact the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation at www.vsac.org or 800-642-3177.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/healthcare-must-no-longer-be-a-privilege", "Healthcare Must No Longer Be A Privilege", "2020-10-30", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Healthcare Must No Longer Be A Privilege \n            While 12 million Americans recently lost their health insurance, the private health insurance companies are making record profits during this horrific pandemic.\nHealthcare must no longer be a privilege or an employee benefit in America. It must be a human right. #MedicareForAll", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-klobuchar-issue-statement-correcting-misinformation-from-president-trump-and-justice-kavanaugh-on-voting-processes", "Sanders, Klobuchar Issue Statement Correcting Misinformation from President Trump and Justice Kavanaugh on Voting Processes", "2020-10-28", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders, Klobuchar Issue Statement Correcting Misinformation from President Trump and Justice Kavanaugh on Voting Processes\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tWednesday, October 28, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWASHINGTON, October 28- U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) released the statement below following President Trump's recent false statement that it is inappropriate and illegal to count ballots after Election Day, and the Supreme Court's ruling inDemocratic National Committee v. Wisconsin Legislature,where Justice Kavanaugh's concurring opinion contains incorrect information regarding voting:\r\n\"In America, we count the votes to determine who wins an election. Despite the incorrect assertions from President Trump and Justice Kavanaugh, election officials across the country accept ballots well after Election Day every year, and results are not certified until the votes are counted and a canvas to confirm the results is conducted.Absentee ballots counted after election day do not flip the results of an election,' as Justice Kavanaugh claimed. They are the results of the election.\r\nMore than twenty states, including states like Mississippi, Kansas, and Utah, require ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted even if they are received after Election Day. This is critical to ensuring that those who may face hardships in voting, including members of our military serving abroad and those affected by COVID-19, are not disenfranchised by things like mail delays. These are not new rules and they do not serve any political party. It is on all of us to reject misinformation and to tell the truth. Our election systems span 50 states, five territories, and thousands of jurisdictions. State and local election officials are working around the clock, and experts have concluded that the integrity of our election system is strong. The best defense against those trying to undermine our democracy is the resolve of the American people, who are voting by the millions as we speak. Keep voting.\r\nOn October 18, Sanders and Klobuchar, along with Senators Schumer (D-N.Y.), Heinrich (D-N.M.), Murphy (D-Conn.), and Duckworth (D-Ill.), issued a report titled2020 General Election: Counting Votes & What to Expect on Election Day, which offers a guide to voting procedures in key states.\r\nThe report can be found here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/sanders-and-klobuchar-explain-to-trump-in-america-we-count-the-votes-to-determine-who-wins", "Sanders and Klobuchar Explain to Trump: 'In America, We Count the Votes to Determine Who Wins'", "2020-10-28", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders and Klobuchar Explain to Trump: 'In America, We Count the Votes to Determine Who Wins'\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tWednesday, October 28, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\r\n\r\nSens. Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobucharreleaseda joint statement Wednesday in response to two recent developments that have amplified fears about next week's general election: President Donald Trump's falsesuggestionthat counting votes after Election Day is unlawful and an ominous concurringopinionfrom U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.\r\nTrump, who has repeatedlyrefusedto commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses reelection,saidTuesday that \"it would be very, very proper and very nice if a winner were declared on November 3rd, instead of counting ballots for two weeks, which is totally inappropriate and I don't believe that that's by our laws. I don't believe that. So we'll see what happens.\"\r\nThose widely rebuked remarks came a day after Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee,issuedan opinion parroting the president's lies about mail-in voting fraud. In a 5-3 decision along ideological lines, the high court rejected an attempt by Wisconsin Democrats and rights groups to extend the state's deadline for receiving mailed ballots that are postmarked by Election Day.\r\n\"In America, we count the votes to determine who wins an election,\" declared Sanders (I-Vt.) and Klobuchar (D-Minn.), both ex-Democratic presidential primary candidates who have since endorsed the party's nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden.\r\n\"Despite the incorrect assertions from President Trump and Justice Kavanaugh, election officials across the country accept ballots well after Election Day every year, and results are not certified until the votes are counted and a canvas to confirm the results is conducted,\" the senators said. \"Absentee ballots counted after Election Day do not 'flip the results of an election,' as Justice Kavanaugh claimed. They are the results of the election.\"\r\n\"More than 20 states, including states like Mississippi, Kansas, and Utah, require ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted even if they are received after Election Day,\" the pair pointed out. \"This is critical to ensuring that those who may face hardships in voting, including members of our military serving abroad and those affected by Covid-19, are not disenfranchised by things like mail delays.\"\r\nNoting that \"these are not new rules and they do not serve any political party,\" the lawmakers said, \"It is on all of us to reject misinformation and to tell the truth.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\"Our election systems span 50 states, five territories, and thousands of jurisdictions,\" they added. \"State and local election officials are working around the clock, and experts have concluded that the integrity of our election system is strong. The best defense against those trying to undermine our democracy is the resolve of the American people, who are voting by the millions as we speak. Keep voting.\"\r\nThat message to vote was a crucial piece of areport(pdf) published last week by Sanders, Klobuchar, and handful of other senators that set out to not only reinforce Democrats' call to encourage Americans to vote but also summarize what they should expect on Election Day. The report's main messages are:\r\n \r\nVote, and vote early.\r\nIn some states, we may not know the winner on election night. That's OK.\r\nVoter intimidation is illegal.\r\n \r\nSens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)the chamber's minority leaderjoined Sanders and Klobuchar in releasing the report, which also features a section on election procedures in presidential and Senate battleground states.\r\n\"The American people must be prepared for an election that is unprecedented in our history due to the enormous increase in mail-in ballots that have been, and will be, cast as a result of the pandemic,\" Sanderssaidin a statement last week. \"No one should have to risk their health or their lives in order to vote, and that is why many millions are voting through mail-in ballots.\"\r\n\"One of the worst lies that Donald Trump is spreading is that there is a massive amount of voter fraud in this country,\" he added. \"That is a total lie which no election official, Republican or Democrat, can support. What we are doing with this effort is ensuring that the American people understand that if American democracy means anything, it means that every vote must be countedno matter how long it takes.\"\r\nAs of Wednesday, an estimated 75 million Americans had already voted,according toMichael McDonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida who runs the U.S. Elections Project. The number of ballots cast early by mail or in person this year so farexceeds50% of the number of votes cast in 2016 presidential election.\r\nMeanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic rages on. The United States alone had nearly 8.85 million confirmed Covid-19 cases and over 227,600 related deaths as of Wednesday evening,according toJohns Hopkins University's global tracker.\r\nDespite the public health crisis, \"we're looking at a very high-turnout election,\" McDonaldtoldPBS NewsHourTuesday. \"Perhaps 150 million people or so will vote, and that could be the highest turnout that we will see in a modern election since 1908, so truly remarkable numbers in terms of the people voting.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-condemns-senate-confirmation-of-judge-barrett-to-supreme-court", "Sanders Condemns Senate Confirmation of Judge Barrett to Supreme Court", "2020-10-26", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders Condemns Senate Confirmation of Judge Barrett to Supreme Court\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tMonday, October 26, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWASHINGTON, October 26 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement criticizing the Republican-controlled Senate's confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court:\r\nTonight's vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett as a Supreme Court justice is a disgrace, not only because of what she will do when she gets on the bench, but because of the entire process, which was pushed through with extraordinary hypocrisy by Senate Republicans in the last days of a president's term.\r\nAt this particular moment, over 50 million people have already cast their ballots to determine who the next President of the United States should be. Now is not the time to be voting on a Supreme Court justice. What we should be voting on instead is a major Covid-19 stimulus package to protect the working people of this country, who, by the tens of millions, have lost their jobs. They're struggling right now to pay their rent, get health insurance, and put food on the table to feed their kids.\r\nThat is the issue we should be dealing with right now, and I am committed to ensuring that the next U.S. Senate, under Democratic leadership, will make a major Covid-19 stimulus bill the first order ofpriority.\r\nWatch Sanders' remarks on his vote against Barrett's confirmation here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/https//vtdiggerorg/2020/10/26/leahy-sanders-say-theyll-vote-against-barrett-nomination-to-supreme-court/", "Leahy, Sanders vote against Barrett nomination to Supreme Court", "2020-10-26", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", null, 0, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/we-should-not-be-voting-on-a-supreme-court-justice", "We Should Not Be Voting On A Supreme Court Justice", "2020-10-26", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "We Should Not Be Voting On A Supreme Court Justice \n            I am going down to the Senate floor to vote AGAINST the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett.\nWe should not be voting on a Supreme Court justicewe should be voting on major COVID19 relief to protect working families.\nWe will make this the top priority of a Democratic Senate.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/the-most-essential-people-in-our-economy-are-not-hedge-fund-managers", "The Most Essential People In Our Economy Are Not Hedge Fund Managers", "2020-10-23", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The Most Essential People In Our Economy Are Not Hedge Fund Managers \n            Maybejust maybethe most essential people in our economy are not hedge fund managers.\nIf our farmworkers fall ill, we go hungry. We must put an end to their exploitation and provide free health care, paid sick leave, and good wagesregardless of immigration status.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/must-read/sanders-democrats-will-pass-massive-stimulus-bill-if-party-flips-the-senate", "Sanders: Democrats will pass 'massive stimulus bill' if party flips the Senate", "2020-10-22", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders: Democrats will pass 'massive stimulus bill' if party flips the Senate\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tThursday, October 22, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tSen.Bernie Sanders(I-Vt.) pledged Thursday that Democrats will pass ahuge coronavirus relief package ifthey win the Senate in next month's elections.\r\nIf the Democrats gain control of the Senate, the first order of business will be a massive stimulus bill to protect desperate working people throughout this country, Sanders said on Hill.TV's Rising.\r\nThe remarks come as SpeakerNancy Pelosi(D-Calif.) and Treasury SecretarySteven Mnuchinpress on in their negotiationson COVID-19 aid. Pelosi has stuck to her position that a stimulus package must total at least $2.2 trillion, while theadministration has inched up to $1.8 trillion.\r\nBoth sides have said progress has been made in the past week, though no final legislation has materialized.\r\nPresident Trumphas urged the two sides to go big, but disagreements have emerged over aid to state and local governments, which the president calls a slush fund to bail out what he says are poorly run Democratic localities.\r\nAnd Republicans in the Senate have expressed pessimism that they can get enough votes to pass abill that goes beyond $500 billion due to concerns in the conference over the ballooning national debt.\r\nSanders said Senate Republicans' hesitation to go for anything larger than $500 billion is pathetic but that he too has concerns over a potential bill, saying a deal must include a boost to unemployment benefits and another round of stimulus checks.\r\nIt's not just a number, 1.8 or 2.2 or whatever it is, it is what is in the bill. I am concerned about a slush fund that the Trump administration would have within that bill. I am very concerned that when we have millions of people who have lost their jobs, they desperately need that $600 supplement to their unemployment, they need that $1,200 check, they need health care, they need to be able to pay their rent, he said. So the devil is in the details in terms of what is in the bill.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/must-read/sanders-progressives-will-work-to-rally-the-american-people-if-biden-wins", "Sanders: Progressives will work to 'rally the American people' if Biden wins", "2020-10-22", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders: Progressives will work to 'rally the American people' if Biden wins\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tThursday, October 22, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tSen.Bernie Sanders(I-Vt.)predicted that progressives would look to move Democratic presidential nomineeJoe Bidentoward theirpriorities if he wins the White House this November and Democrats sweep Congress.\r\nIf you want a progressive agenda to come out of the United States Congress, we're going to have to rally the American people by the tens of millions to demand that we have a government that represents all of us and not just wealthy campaign contributors. We're going to have to correct and deal with a very corrupt election system where massive voter suppression that exists every single day right now, he said on Hill.TV's Rising Thursday.\r\nSanders said Democrats should tackle legislation he plans to introduce to begin the process of moving toward Medicare for All, raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, and a massive infrastructure plan.\r\nWe have got to lay out an agenda that speaks to the struggles and the desperation of working-class Americans, he said.\r\nSanders recognized that Biden, a well-known centrist steeped in old traditions of bipartisanship in Congress, does not share many of his progressive policies but argued his plans would still move the country forward.\r\n[I]f you look at Biden's economic proposals, they're not Bernie Sanders's proposals. Don't want to suggest they are. But they will raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, equal pay for equal work, making it easier for workers to join unions, $2 trillion investment in combatting climate change and creating millions of good paying jobs in energy efficiency and sustainable energy, paid family and medical leave. No small things, he said.\r\nSanders and other progressives have been on a campaign to persuade liberals who may be skeptical of Biden's centrist brand of politics to back the former vice president, with the Vermont lawmaker maintaining that the first step to moving the country in a more progressive direction is defeatingPresident Trumpthis November.\r\nYou know what, if Trump is reelected, all that we're going to be on for the next four years is defensive, defensive, defensive procedures. I want to get on the offensive, he said. And that is why, in my view, every progressive, every person in this country who thinks for two minutes about what's at stake, should be voting for Joe Biden.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/sanders-democrats-will-pass-massive-stimulus-bill-if-party-flips-the-senate", "Sanders: Democrats will pass 'massive stimulus bill' if party flips the Senate", "2020-10-22", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders: Democrats will pass 'massive stimulus bill' if party flips the Senate\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tThursday, October 22, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\r\n\r\nSen.Bernie Sanders(I-Vt.) pledged Thursday that Democrats will pass ahuge coronavirus relief package ifthey win the Senate in next month's elections.\r\nIf the Democrats gain control of the Senate, the first order of business will be a massive stimulus bill to protect desperate working people throughout this country, Sanders said on Hill.TV's Rising.\r\nThe remarks come as SpeakerNancy Pelosi(D-Calif.) and Treasury SecretarySteven Mnuchinpress on in their negotiationson COVID-19 aid. Pelosi has stuck to her position that a stimulus package must total at least $2.2 trillion, while theadministration has inched up to $1.8 trillion.\r\nBoth sides have said progress has been made in the past week, though no final legislation has materialized.\r\nPresident Trumphas urged the two sides to go big, but disagreements have emerged over aid to state and local governments, which the president calls a slush fund to bail out what he says are poorly run Democratic localities.\r\nAnd Republicans in the Senate have expressed pessimism that they can get enough votes to pass abill that goes beyond $500 billion due to concerns in the conference over the ballooning national debt.\r\nSanders said Senate Republicans' hesitation to go for anything larger than $500 billion is pathetic but that he too has concerns over a potential bill, saying a deal must include a boost to unemployment benefits and another round of stimulus checks.\r\nIt's not just a number, 1.8 or 2.2 or whatever it is, it is what is in the bill. I am concerned about a slush fund that the Trump administration would have within that bill. I am very concerned that when we have millions of people who have lost their jobs, they desperately need that $600 supplement to their unemployment, they need that $1,200 check, they need health care, they need to be able to pay their rent, he said. So the devil is in the details in terms of what is in the bill.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/must-read/bernie-sanders-applauds-people-of-bolivia-for-year-long-fight-to-restore-democracy-in-wake-of-military-coup", "Bernie Sanders Applauds People of Bolivia for 'Year-Long Fight to Restore Democracy' in Wake of Military Coup", "2020-10-20", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Bernie Sanders Applauds People of Bolivia for 'Year-Long Fight to Restore Democracy' in Wake of Military Coup\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tTuesday, October 20, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tFollowing socialist candidate Luis Arce's resounding victory in Bolivia's high-stakes and closely watched presidential election, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday applauded the people of the South American nation for persisting in their \"difficult, year-long fight to restore democracy\" in the wake of last year's military coup that ousted Evo Morales and installed a vicious right-wing regime.\r\n\"The Bolivian people made their voices heard in yesterday's election,\" tweeted Sanders, who wasamong the firstmembers of Congress to condemn the military coup, which wasopenly applaudedby President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers and abetted by the U.S.-dominated Organization of American States (OAS).\r\n\"As minister of economy, Mr. Arce helped slash poverty and inequality,\" the Vermont senator added, referring to Arce's role in Morales' government. \"I congratulate him on his victory and wish him well.\"\r\nExit polls released Monday showed Arce with such a large lead in the contest that Carlos Mesa, Arce's closest competitor, was forced to concede defeat.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"The results from the quick count are overwhelming and very clear,\"saidMesa, who served as president of Bolivia from 2003 to 2005. \"It's a result that we accept and it's a result that we believe, because of the difference between the first and second [finishers], will not be modified when we know the final results.\"\r\nU.S. Rep. Jess \"Chuy\" Garca (D-Ill.)joinedSanders on Monday in celebrating \"the triumph of true democracy\" in Bolivia and demanded \"justice for those persecuted and killed under the ez regime,\" whichseized powerfollowing the ouster of Morales and promptly unleashedviolent military repressionagainst anti-coup demonstrators.\r\nAsThe Intercept's Glenn GreenwaldwroteMonday afternoon, \"It looks as though the margin of victory delivered to [the Movement Toward Socialism party] by the Bolivian people was so stunning, so decisive, that there are few options left for the retrograde forcesin Bolivia, Washington, and Brusselswhich tried to destroy the country's democracy.\"\r\n\"Anyone who believes in the fundamentals of democracy, regardless of ideology, should be cheering the Bolivians who sacrificed so much to restore their right of self-rule and hoping that the stability and prosperity they enjoyed under Morales expands even further under his first democratically elected successor,\" Greenwald added.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-senate-democrats-to-american-people-do-not-allow-trump-to-undermine-nov-3-election-results", "Sanders, Senate Democrats To American People: Do Not Allow Trump To Undermine Nov. 3 Election Results", "2020-10-19", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders, Senate Democrats To American People: Do Not Allow Trump To Undermine Nov. 3 Election Results\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tMonday, October 19, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWASHINGTON, October 18 Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Rules Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) today released a report summarizing for the American people what to expect on Election Day and reinforcing the Democrats' call to encourage everyone to vote. \r\nThe report follows the months-long effort by President Trump to undermine the election and his repeated refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. With the general election already well underway in every state across the country, Sanders and Senate Democrats have a clear message for the American people: Vote and cast your ballot as early as possible. While expressing optimism that Election Day will go smoothly around the country, the jointly authored report outlines the possibility that in some states, the outcome might not be known on November 3. The last message from the report is to make absolutely clear that voter intimidation is illegal and that federal law prohibits coercing or threatening anyone in order to interfere with their right to vote. \r\n\"The American people must be prepared for an election that is unprecedented in our history due to the enormous increase in mail-in ballots that have been, and will be, cast as a result of the pandemic, said Senator Sanders.No one should have to risk their health or their lives in order to vote, and that is why many millions are voting through mail-in ballots. One of the worst lies that Donald Trump is spreading is that there is a massive amount of voter fraud in this country.That is a total lie which no election official, Republican or Democrat, can support.What we are doing with this effort is ensuring that the American people understand that if American democracy means anything, it means that every vote must be countedno matter how long it takes.\" \r\n\"President Trump has for months now been laying the foundation to undermine the election and he has repeatedly refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses. Senate Democrats want to be clear to the American people that the most powerful defense against this type of autocratic behavior in our country is the will of the American people and that is why we are encouraging every American to vote and vote early, said Leader Schumer. \r\nThe election is well underway, and Americans are voting in droves because they know what is at stake. We must do everything we can to protect the right to vote, and uphold the integrity of the election process. That means pushing back on President Trump's lies about mail-in ballots and his efforts to sow chaos. It also means making sure that Americans know that a record number of people are voting by mail this year, which could slow the reporting in some states. We should be prepared to reject misinformation and be patient about results in places where counting ballots may take longer. Americans should keep making their voices heard at the ballot box, the earlier the better, said Senator Klobuchar. \r\n\"Despite what Donald Trump wants you to believe, the integrity of our election system is strong,\"said Senator Murphy. Every American must voteand vote earlyin the upcoming presidential election, so we can make it clear to Trump and the world that America remains a democracy, the will of the people will always win out, and that any form of voter intimidation is illegal and will not be tolerated.\" \"President Trump's dangerous rhetoric threatens to further divide our country and sow real potential for violence. The most important thing each of us can do to combat disinformation and fear is to vote and vote early. There is little doubt that this is the most important election we will participate in in our lives. Our elections are the foundation of American democracy. Protecting them should be the top priority for everyone who cares about the future of our country. Election officials, courts, and elected leaders must be accountable for upholding that principle, said Senator Heinrich. \r\n\"Despite Donald Trump's lies and misinformation about nonexistent widespread voter fraud, the integrity of the American election systemour entire election process from voting by mail to voting in personis strong.If voting by mail is safe and effective for our troops overseas and good enough for Trump and his family to use, then it's safe, effective and good enough for the rest of America too,\"said Senator Duckworth. No matter what Trump saysor even what he might preferSenate Democrats will never allow the greatest democracy the world has ever known to descend into authoritarianism.We will always be a government of, by and for the people.\" \r\nA copy of the report can be found here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/leahy-and-sanders-seek-swift-release-of-liheap-heating-help", "Leahy and Sanders Seek Swift Release of LIHEAP Heating help", "2020-10-19", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Leahy and Sanders Seek Swift Release of LIHEAP Heating help\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tMonday, October 19, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\r\n\r\nWith winter around the corner and heating costs projected to increase this season, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) joined a bipartisan coalition of 40 senators in urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to release funds for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) as swiftly and at the highest level possible under the current continuing resolution.\r\nThe senators say federal LIHEAP funding is a crucial lifeline that assists low-income households and seniors on fixed incomes pay their energy bills and stay safe during the winter. Under a continuing Appropriations Committee resolution, HHS typically releases 90 percent of the $3.7 billion full-year appropriation.\r\nLeahy said: With the pandemic continuing to depress family incomes nationwide, and an early fall here in Vermont, it's vital that HHS act swiftly to release LIHEAP dollars to the states. As vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee I've fought year after year to support strong funding for LIHEAP because I know Vermonters rely on this help to keep warm. Any delay in sending these dollars to Vermont will result in Vermont families delaying filling their fuel tanks as nights get colder. I understand the urgency, and I hope the Administration does as well.\r\nSanders said: As a result of this horrific health and economic crisis, Vermonters are hurting like they have never hurt before. It is critical that we get this home heating lifeline to Vermonters immediately. In the richest country on Earth, we have a moral responsibility to make sure that no one has to make the unacceptable choice between putting food on the table, paying for their prescription drugs, or heating their homes this winter.\r\nOn the Appropriations Committee Leahy has long been an advocate for the LIHEAP program and has secured funding increases for the program over the past three years. The current appropriations law included $3.7 billion for LIHEAP, and an additional $900 million was included in the CARES Act. The continuing resolution, which funds the government at the previous year's levels, preserves the increase that Leahy secured for the program in 2020.\r\nThe average cost of home heating is unaffordable for millions of low-income households, costing an average of $911 per year nationally. Heating oil and propane cost even more, over $1,500 every year. The timely release of these funds will provide critical assistance to families unemployed as a result of the pandemic pay their energy bills.According to the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, 15 to 20 percent of residential customers are at least 60 days behind on their electric and natural gas bills, and estimated arrearages are over $20 billion nationally.\r\nLIHEAP is a federally funded program that helps low-income households with their home energy bills by providing payment and/or energy crisis assistance. Vermont's LIHEAP funds are administered by the Department for Children and Families, and accessed through local Community Action Agencies.\r\nTo apply for LIHEAP help, Vermonters can apply at theVermont Department for Children and Families websiteto get more information and links to an online application. Or Vermonters can contact their localCommunity Action Agency. Eligibility for LIHEAP is based on income, family size and the availability of resources.\r\nThe bipartisan letter was led by Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine).", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/bernie-sanders-elizabeth-warren-demand-answers-from-amazon-over-employee-surveillance-allegations", "Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren demand answers from Amazon over employee surveillance allegations", "2020-10-16", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren demand answers from Amazon over employee surveillance allegations\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tFriday, October 16, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t By: Catherine Thorbecke, ABC News \r\n\r\nA coalition of Democratic senators sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, pressing the company for answers over allegations that it \"unethically\" tracks and monitors its employees to suppress efforts to form a union.\r\nSenators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) implored Bezos to explain recent reports that the company was investing heavily in technology to track union organization efforts, specifically citing arecent article published by Vox News.\r\n\"The fact that Amazon has decided to heavily invest in systems to retaliate against freedom of expression about unsafe and unhealthy working conditions, and to refer to organizing and workers' rights mobilization efforts as threats against the company equal to those posed by hate groups and terrorism, is unacceptable,\" the senators wrote. \"Labor organizing campaigns are legally protected activity.\"\r\nCiting media reports, the senators accused Amazon of infiltrating private social media groups created by Amazon employees to track potential discussions of unionization, actively monitoring internal listservs related to employee activism, hiring intelligence analysts to track labor organization efforts and more.\r\n\"Each of these reports is deeply troubling, and taken together, they suggest a pattern of significant abuse of workers and their rights,\" the lawmakers wrote to theworld's richest man.\r\nThey added that \"these actions are all the more shocking in the context that nearly 20,000 of your employees contracted the coronavirus,\" saying it is \"deeply concerning that Amazon has prioritized tracking workers who would look to improve their working conditions over addressing the underlying health and safety concerns that those workers face.\"\r\nThe senators demanded that Amazon respond to more than a dozen questions by Nov. 1.\r\nAn Amazon spokesperson told ABC News that it respects employees' rights \"to join, form or not to join a labor union or other lawful organization of their own selection, without fear of retaliation, intimidation or harassment.\"\r\n\"Across Amazon, including in our operations facilities, we place enormous value on having daily conversations with each associate and work to make sure direct engagement with our employees is a strong part of our work culture,\" the spokesperson added.\r\nIn regard to the monitoring allegations, the spokesperson said the company had found one group within its driver team \"aggregating information from closed groups\" but added \"that approach doesn't meet our standards, and they are no longer doing this as we have other ways for drivers to give us their feedback.\"\r\nThe spokesperson added that \"nothing is more important than the health and safety of our teams,\" saying Amazon has committed more than $1 billion in safety measures for its workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/vermont-delegation-demands-postmaster-general-deliver-and-install-critical-mail-processing-machine-to-white-river-junction-facility", "Vermont Delegation Demands Postmaster General Deliver and Install Critical Mail Processing Machine to White River Junction Facility", "2020-10-13", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Vermont Delegation Demands Postmaster General Deliver and Install Critical Mail Processing Machine to White River Junction Facility\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tTuesday, October 13, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWASHINGTON  Senator Bernie Sanders (I), Senator Patrick Leahy (D), and Representative Peter Welch (D) on Tuesday sent aletterto Postmaster General Louis DeJoy demanding the immediate delivery and installation of the new AFCS 200 cancellation machine at the White River Junction mail processing facility, a machine that is critical to the efficient handling of the mail. In the letter, Leahy, Sanders, and Welch wrote, While we have been promised for months that a new AFCS 200 cancellation machine will be installed, we have just learned that this will not occur until January of 2021 at the earliest. This timing is both unacceptable and another example of this administration's attempt to sabotage the Postal Service and the 2020 election.\" The cancellation machines at the White River Junction facility have been due to be replaced for several years now. USPS recently removed an AFCS (legacy system) cancellation machine from the facility, leaving the White River Junction center with justoneoperational cancellation machine. When that machine breaks down, as it did this past weekend, postal employees are forced to process mail by hand, which significantly delays the process. These employees are to be commended for their hard work and dedication and should be given every available resource to ensure the safe and timely processing of the mail, which includes a record number of mail-in ballots. Waiting until 2021 to get this new machine to Vermont will present undue harm to the hundreds of thousands of Vermonters who have been given the ability to vote by mail by November 3rd as well as Vermont's seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities who rely on the Postal Service for the delivery of their prescriptions, concluded the Vermont delegation. It will also further harm all those who will be separated from their families this holiday season if they are unable to rely on promise of the U.S. Postal Service to receive mail from loved ones  a small but critically important way to reduce isolation, depression, and loneliness, particularly for older, more isolated Vermonters.\"\r\nYou can read the letterhere.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/no-confirmation-until-after-inauguration", "No Confirmation Until After Inauguration", "2020-10-13", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "No Confirmation Until After Inauguration \n            The last thing the Senate should be doing right now is considering an extreme right-wing Supreme Court nominee who would strip health care benefits from over 20 million Americans and take away protections for preexisting conditions. No confirmation until after inauguration.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/donald-trump-is-either-a-tax-cheat-or-a-bad-businessmanlikely-both", "Donald Trump Is Either A Tax Cheat Or A Bad BusinessmanLikely Both", "2020-10-10", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Donald Trump Is Either A Tax Cheat Or A Bad BusinessmanLikely Both \n            Let's be clear: Donald Trump is either a tax cheat who pays less in income taxes than the average worker, or a bad businessman who has lost money year after yearlikely both.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/vermont-seniors-can-now-get-food-assistance-more-easily-thanks-to-the-new-3squaresvt-in-a-snap-program", "Vermont Seniors Can Now Get Food Assistance More Easily, Thanks to the New 3SquaresVT IN A SNAP Program", "2020-10-02", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Vermont Seniors Can Now Get Food Assistance More Easily, Thanks to the New 3SquaresVT IN A SNAP Program\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tFriday, October 2, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tBURLINGTON, October 2 Beginning October 1st, 2020, Vermont seniors applying for 3SquaresVT are able to use a simple application and benefit renewal process as part of the new 3SquaresVT IN A SNAP program. The easy to use application is available to individuals and households age 60 or older and persons with disabilities.    3SquaresVT IN A SNAP is an improvement to the State's food assistance program,saysKaty Davis, Community Health Initiatives Director at Hunger Free Vermont. Traditional applications can be lengthy to complete, and the benefit renewal process often burdensome, leaving many Vermonters' benefits to lapse. The new program will streamline applications and allow recipients to retain benefits for up to three years without additional paperwork.     For too long, a complex application process has prevented older Vermonters from receiving benefits. With hunger on the rise as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress made important changes to the SNAP program, known locally as 3SquaresVT , that make it much easier for older Vermonters to access nutritious foods. In contrast to critical emergency food distribution efforts and invaluable contributions by the charitable food system, SNAP is one of the best, most sustainable food supports Vermonters can feel confident about.    In the richest country in the history of the world, no one should ever have to worry about going to bed hungry. Period. But as so many people are struggling right now to put food on the table, I strongly urge older Vermonters to see if you qualify for 3SquaresVT,saidSenator Bernie Sanders, a long-time champion of nutrition assistance programs. We are dealing with the worst health crisis and economic crisis in our lifetimes. Today, as 29 million Americans are struggling with hunger and millions of seniors are trying to get by on fixed incomes, I want every Vermonter to know that I am continuing to fight to expand critically important anti-hunger programs, like Meals on Wheels, school nutrition, and SNAP,Sanders continued.    In addition to alleviating hunger, 3SquaresVT also plays a vital role in stimulating the local economy, generating income for grocery stores and farmers, and supporting many front-line workers through our food network.During the 2009 Recession, for every $1 increase in 3SquaresVT benefits, an estimated $1.70 was generated in economic activity*. The program is federally funded, and individual benefits do not impact benefits for others or diminish support for state-level initiatives such as education, housing, or health care. (*Moody's Analytics, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)    To learn more about programs that can help you access food, simply call:    Helpline (Age 60+): 1-800-642-5119  All others (under 60): Dial 2-1-1    Vermonters who are having trouble with a federal program or agency can call the Office of Senator Sanders for assistance at 802-862-0697 or toll-free in state at 800-339-9834\r\nContact: Katy Davis, Community Health Initiatives Director  Organization: Hunger Free Vermont, Chittenden County Hunger Council  Phone: 802.231.1086  Email: kdavis@hungerfreevt.org  Website: www.hungerfreevt.org", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/sanders-vermont-seniors-can-now-get-food-assistance-more-easily", "Sanders: Vermont seniors can now get food assistance more easily", "2020-10-02", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders: Vermont seniors can now get food assistance more easily\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tFriday, October 2, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\r\n\r\nBeginning October 1, 2020, Vermont seniors applying for 3SquaresVT are able to use a simple application and benefit renewal process as part of the new 3SquaresVT IN A SNAP program. The easy to use application is available to individuals and households age 60 or older and persons with disabilities.\r\n3SquaresVT IN A SNAP is an improvement to the State's food assistance program, says Katy Davis, Community Health Initiatives Director at Hunger Free Vermont. Traditional applications can be lengthy to complete, and the benefit renewal process often burdensome, leaving many Vermonters' benefits to lapse. The new program will streamline applications and allow recipients to retain benefits for up to three years without additional paperwork. \r\nFor too long, a complex application process has prevented older Vermonters from receiving benefits. With hunger on the rise as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress made important changes to the SNAP program, known locally as 3SquaresVT , that make it much easier for older Vermonters to access nutritious foods. In contrast to critical emergency food distribution efforts and invaluable contributions by the charitable food system, SNAP is one of the best, most sustainable food supports Vermonters can feel confident about.\r\nIn the richest country in the history of the world, no one should ever have to worry about going to bed hungry. Period. But as so many people are struggling right now to put food on the table, I strongly urge older Vermonters to see if you qualify for 3SquaresVT, said Senator Bernie Sanders, a long-time champion of nutrition assistance programs. We are dealing with the worst health crisis and economic crisis in our lifetimes. Today, as 29 million Americans are struggling with hunger and millions of seniors are trying to get by on fixed incomes, I want every Vermonter to know that I am continuing to fight to expand critically important anti-hunger programs, like Meals on Wheels, school nutrition, and SNAP, Sanders continued.\r\nIn addition to alleviating hunger, 3SquaresVT also plays a vital role in stimulating the local economy, generating income for grocery stores and farmers, and supporting many front-line workers through our food network.During the 2009 Recession, for every $1 increase in 3SquaresVT benefits, an estimated $1.70 was generated in economic activity*. The program is federally funded, and individual benefits do not impact benefits for others or diminish support for state-level initiatives such as education, housing, or health care. (*Moody's Analytics, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/are-you-ready-for-a-radical-idea", "Are You Ready For A Radical Idea?", "2020-10-01", "2020", "2020-10", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Are You Ready For A Radical Idea? \n            Are you ready for a radical idea? Billionaires in the United States should not be paying less in taxes than nurses, teachers, firefighters and truck drivers.\nIt's time to tax the $845 billion in wealth gains 643 billionaires made during the pandemic and expand Medicare to all.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-scotus-nomination", "Sanders Statement on Supreme Court Nomination", "2020-09-26", "2020", "2020-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders Statement on Supreme Court Nomination\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tSaturday, September 26, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tBURLINGTON, September 26  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement on President Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court:\r\n\"President Trump and Senate Republicans have badly mismanaged a deadly pandemic for months. Now, in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis, they are willing to ram through a Supreme Court nomineewithin dayswho will vote to destroy the Affordable Care Act, kick millions of Americans off their health care, and eliminate protections for millions more who have preexisting conditions. This is an absolute outrage.\r\n\"The American people will not stand for this cynical effort to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, just days before an election, with someone who will roll back basic protections for women, workers, voters, people of color, the LGBT community, and our environment. I strongly oppose this nomination and we must fight as hard as we can to ensure that this nominee is not confirmed.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-supreme-court-nomination", "Sanders Statement on Supreme Court Nomination", "2020-09-26", "2020", "2020-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders Statement on Supreme Court Nomination\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tSaturday, September 26, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tBURLINGTON, September 26  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement on President Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court:\r\n\"President Trump and Senate Republicans have badly mismanaged a deadly pandemic for months. Now, in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis, they are willing to ram through a Supreme Court nomineewithin dayswho will vote to destroy the Affordable Care Act, kick millions of Americans off their health care, and eliminate protections for millions more who have preexisting conditions. This is an absolute outrage.\r\n\"The American people will not stand for this cynical effort to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, just days before an election, with someone who will roll back basic protections for women, workers, voters, people of color, the LGBT community, and our environment. I strongly oppose this nomination and we must fight as hard as we can to ensure that this nominee is not confirmed.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/must-read/must-watch-sanders-take-trump-threat-to-us-democracy-seriously", "Must Watch: Sanders: Take Trump Threat To U.S. Democracy Seriously", "2020-09-24", "2020", "2020-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Must Watch: Sanders: Take Trump Threat To U.S. Democracy Seriously\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tThursday, September 24, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tSenator Bernie Sanders talks with Rachel Maddow about why Donald Trump's efforts to delegitimize the 2020 election should be taken seriously and the nightmare scenario he is most concerned about for Election Night.Watch here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/live-sens-gillibrand-and-sanders-talk-postalbanking-2020-09-24", "LIVE: Sens. Gillibrand and Sanders Talk PostalBanking", "2020-09-24", "2020", "2020-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "LIVE: Sens. Gillibrand and Sanders Talk PostalBanking \n            Join me and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand as we introduce the Postal Banking Act. Together, we will guarantee basic banking services to allno outrageous fees or interest ratesall at your local post office.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/senate-republicans-brazen-hypocrisy-on-the-supreme-court", "Senate Republicans' Brazen Hypocrisy on the Supreme Court", "2020-09-24", "2020", "2020-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senate Republicans' Brazen Hypocrisy on the Supreme Court \n            Here's what Senate Republicans said when they blocked President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. Do they have any integrity?\nThe right thing to do for this vacancy is clear, and Senate Republicans know it. They've stated it clearer than I could.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/must-read/bolivias-left-could-win-an-upcoming-election-us-democrats-dont-want-a-repeat-of-last-years-crisis", "Bolivias Left Could Win an Upcoming Election. U.S. Democrats Dont Want a Repeat of Last Years Crisis.", "2020-09-22", "2020", "2020-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "A year after staging an election mired in controversy, Bolivia may be on the verge of doing it all over again. Following multiple postponements by the country's caretaker regime, elections are slated for Oct. 18. Current polling shows a clear lead for Socialist presidential candidate Luis Arce over centrist former president Carlos Mesa and a slate of other candidates. If Arce wins at least 40 percent of the vote by a 10 percent margin over his nearest rival, he would avoid the possibility of a runoff.\r\n\r\n\r\nIt would mark a dramatic reversal of political fortunes for the country's left after long-ruling former president Evo Morales wasforced to flee last November. At the time, Morales's opponents alleged the results of the October 2019 election had been manipulated to deliver him a margin of victory not actually achieved. Their case was buttressed by a report put out by the Organization of American States, an influential hemispheric body headquartered in Washington, that said evidence of electoral irregularities forced them to question the integrity of the results.\r\n\r\nMass protests in the country and a police mutiny eventually prompted Morales to bow to pressure and leave for exile, and ushered in an interim government led by right-wing lawmaker Jeanine ez. Both liberals and conservatives abroadcheered this ostensible display of people powerat the time andscolded those who branded events in Bolivia a coup pointing, instead, to Morales's earlier refusal to heed the result of a 2016 referendum limiting his terms in power. The White House celebrated the fall of a leftist government. We are now one step closer to a completely democratic, prosperous, and free Western Hemisphere, declared President Trump.\r\n\r\nBut things were perhaps not quite what they seemed. Aez,known to espouse racist, anti-Indigenous views, went on to preside over an interim regime that wheeled viciously against political opponents and Morales supporters. These included myriad reports of police brutality and murders of civilians by security forces. Fresh elections planned for May were deferred multiple times, as the caretaker government floundered in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Last month, tens of thousands of people took to the streets,setting up blockades in angerover what they perceived as the usurper regime's bid to cling to power.\r\n\r\nLast week, Aez announced that she would drop out of the presidential race  months after breaking a commitment to not run in the first place  to not undermine the right-wing vote. I'm doing this because of a risk that the vote gets divided between various candidates, Aez said ina national addressplaced on social media. It's not a sacrifice, it's an honor.\r\n\r\nNevertheless, her administration is reeling. There have been frequent cases of corruption, includingthe arrest of a health ministerin connection with the overpricing of ventilators for the treatment of Covid-19,wrote Diego von Vacano, a Latin America expert at Texas A&M University. Moreover, asHarvard's International Human Rights ClinicandAmnesty Internationalhave shown, there have been widespread human rights abuses, including restrictions to freedom of speech and excessive use of force, during Aez's tenure.\"\r\n\r\nThe Trump administration's lack of focus on the course of events in Bolivia after Morales left was a sign of its broader regional agenda. Washington's response  or the lack thereof  reflects what analysts say is the most ideological policy on Latin America by an American administration since the region's shift toward democracy in the 1980s and early 1990s,my colleagues reported in March. Critics say the Trump administration has played down a wave of repression unleashed by ez in Bolivia, the killings of left-wing community leaders in Colombia, shootings by police in poor Brazilian neighborhoods, and the alleged drug-trafficking links and human rights abuses of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernndez. All are countries run by conservative, pro-Trump governments.\r\n\r\nMoreover, in the months since Morales's ouster,separate studiescalled into questionthe accuracy ofthe OAS's assessment. The OAS allegations were indeed the main political foundation of the coup, and they continued for months,wrote Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank in Washington that produced a number of reports rebutting the OAS's flawed statistical analyses.\r\n\r\nAn official at the OAS declined to comment on the record to Today's WorldView about the recent complaints but pointed toa June statement the organization put outin response toa separate New York Times storythat was critical of the organization's role in the election. The statement defended the OAS's actions, derided its critics as leftist propagandists and accused the Times of trying to deny the Bolivian People the possibility of electing a new president that is not Evo Morales.\r\n\r\nThat's not good enough for some lawmakers in Washington. Aletter sent Tuesday to Secretary of State Mike Pompeoby more than two dozen Democratic members of Congress (and shown in advance exclusively to Today's WorldView) urged the Trump administration to use its voice at the OAS to advocate for a thorough, independent assessment of the OAS's statements and reports regarding Bolivia's 2019 elections, not least because the OAS draws much of its funding from the United States and is also poised to make a determination of the freedom, fairness, and integrity of the upcoming elections.\r\n\r\nThe letter's principal signatories included Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.).\r\n\r\nThe Organization of American States' decision last year to declare Bolivia's election fraudulent on the basis of questionable evidence helped fuel a crisis of democracy and human rights that Bolivians are experiencing to this day, Sanders told Today's WorldView. Bolivia's post-coup government carried out racist violence against indigenous people, imprisoned activists, and threatened political opponents.\r\n\r\nWhat more than two dozen of my colleagues and I are demanding is that the United States government take responsibility for what is done with our taxpayer dollars and wield oversight over the OAS, Sanders added. Securing accountability and transparency from the OAS is vital to a free and fair election in Bolivia next month.\r\n\r\nAway from Washington, the stakes are even higher. Bolivia faces a grave sociopolitical crisis, which puts the country at a crossroads, said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International,in a statement earlier this summer. The nation's only viable means of emerging from this crisis is to put the human rights of all its people at the center of its response. Otherwise, the population, especially historically marginalized groups, are condemned to spiraling violence and continuing violations of their rights.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-dos-docenas-de-legisladores-piden-responsabilidad-de-la-oea-para-garantizar-elecciones-justas-en-bolivia", "Sanders, Dos Docenas de Legisladores Piden Responsabilidad de la OEA Para Garantizar Elecciones Justas en Bolivia", "2020-09-22", "2020", "2020-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders, Dos Docenas de Legisladores Piden Responsabilidad de la OEA Para Garantizar Elecciones Justas en Bolivia\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tTuesday, September 22, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t(Read the version in English here.)\r\n\r\nEl senador Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), la representante Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), el representante Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) y la representante Deb Haaland (DN.M.) lideran una carta bicameral enviada hoy al Secretario de Estado Mike Pompeo. En dicha carta, junto a dos docenas de miembros del Congreso, le piden al Departamento de Estado que lleve a cabo una revisin completa e independiente de la Organizacin de Estados Americanos (OEA) con respecto a sus acciones en noviembre pasado que contribuyeron a un importante deterioro respecto a derechos humanos y democracia en Bolivia.\r\nLos miembros del Congreso expresaron su \"profunda preocupacin\" por la \"falta de responsabilidad y transparencia\" de la OEA con respecto a las denuncias ampliamente refutadas de fraude electoral en Bolivia el ao pasado. El New York Times inform que estas afirmaciones iniciales de la OEA fueron \"aprovechadas\" para \"intensificar las protestas, reunir apoyo internacional y expulsar al [presidente] Morales del poder con apoyo militar semanas despus\". Las autoridades no electas, reconocidas rpidamente por el Secretario General de la OEA, han promovido una agenda racista, anti-indgena y desplegado militares para reprimir violentamente las protestas, resultando en la muerte y heridas de muchos civiles, escribieron los congresistas, citando un informe realizado por la Clnica Internacional de Derechos Humanos en la Facultad de Derecho de Harvard.\r\nPor muchos meses, la OEA se ha \"negado a responder preguntas bsicas\" de los miembros del Congreso sobre sus reclamos, a pesar del rol del Congreso en la apropiacin \"de la mayor parte del presupuesto de la OEA\", expresaron los legisladores. Dado que la OEA est preparada para tomar una determinacin sobre la libertad, la justicia y la integridad de las prximas elecciones en Bolivia bajo un gobierno represivo y no electo, los legisladores instan a la administracin a usar su voz en la OEA para abogar por una evaluacin exhaustiva e independiente de las declaraciones de la OEA y asegurar que se tomen las medidas correctivas para asegurar que las futuras misiones de observacin electoral de la OEA desempeen sus funciones de manera independiente, imparcial y profesional .\r\nLa decisin de la Organizacin de Estados Americanos el ao pasado de declarar fraudulentas las elecciones en Bolivia usando evidencia cuestionable ayud a alimentar una crisis de democracia y derechos humanos que los bolivianos estn experimentando hasta el presente, dijo Sanders. El gobierno de facto que se instaur luego del golpe en Bolivia llev a cabo actos de violencia racistas contra los indgenas, encarcel a activistas y amenaz a los opositores polticos. Lo que ms de dos docenas de mis colegas y yo estamos exigiendo es que el gobierno de los Estados Unidos asuma la responsabilidad de lo que se haga con los dlares de nuestros constituyentes y ejerza supervisin sobre la OEA. Asegurar la rendicin de cuentas y la transparencia de la OEA es vital para unas elecciones libres y justas en Bolivia el prximo mes.\r\nA medida que Bolivia se acerca a sus prximas elecciones, es imperativo que la votacin se administre con responsabilidad y sin interferencias, dijo Johnson. Mis colegas y yo pedimos al Departamento de Estado que se asegure de que la Organizacin de los Estados Americanos (OEA) no repita sus errores del monitoreo de las elecciones de 2019 en Bolivia y erosione an ms la democracia y los derechos humanos en el pas. Las declaraciones engaosas de la OEA arrojaron a Bolivia en picada poltica; destituir por la fuerza a Evo Morales, el primer presidente indgena de la nacin, marcar el comienzo de una administracin racista y anti-indgena y una represin violenta y militarizada de las protestas civiles que siguieron. Esto es inaceptable y Estados Unidos no debera ser cmplice de acciones que socavan la democracia.\r\n\"Desde el da despus de las elecciones bolivianas de 2019, la OEA ha ayudado a dirigir una narrativa falsa de que el presidente en ejercicio, Evo Morales, y su partido\" manipularon \"las elecciones\", dijo la congresista Jan Schakowsky. Esta narrativa contribuy a la polarizacin poltica, un golpe militar y una violenta represin poltica en Bolivia, as como a la incertidumbre sobre el futuro de la democracia. Con las prximas elecciones acercndose rpidamente, finalmente debemos ver la rendicin de cuentas y la transparencia de la OEA, y asegurarnos de que lleve a cabo su misin de manera independiente e imparcial.\r\nDesde la renuncia forzada del presidente Morales, la extrema derecha de Bolivia ha impuesto una retrica anti-indgena daina y violencia sistemtica hacia manifestantes, grupos indgenas y afro bolivianos, dijo Haaland. La situacin actual es profundamente preocupante. Es un ataque a la democracia y los derechos humanos. El secretario Pompeo debe actuar ahora; si esperamos, Bolivia podra quedarse sin democracia en los prximos aos.\r\nLa carta tambin fue firmada por los representantes Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Andy Levin (D-Mich.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Ilhan Omar (D- Minn.), Nydia Velzquez (D-N.Y.), Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Jess \"Chuy\" Garca (D-Ill.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J .), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Susan Wild (D-Pa.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Jared Huffman (D- Calif.), Ral Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) Y Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).\r\nLea la carta aqu.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-two-dozen-lawmakers-call-for-oas-accountability-to-ensure-fair-elections-in-bolivia", "Sanders, Two Dozen Lawmakers Call for OAS Accountability to Ensure Fair Elections in Bolivia", "2020-09-22", "2020", "2020-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders, Two Dozen Lawmakers Call for OAS Accountability to Ensure Fair Elections in Bolivia\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tTuesday, September 22, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t(Lase la versin en espaol aqu)\r\n\r\nWASHINGTON, September 22  In a bicameral letter sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo today, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), and Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) led two dozen members of Congress in calling on the State Department to pursue a full, independent review of the Organization of American States (OAS) regarding its actions last November that contributed to a major deterioration of human rights and democracy in Bolivia. \r\nThe members of Congress expressed deep concern with the OAS's lack of accountability and transparency regarding the organization's widely refuted claims of electoral fraud in Bolivia last year.The New York Timesreportedthat these initial OAS claims were seized on to escalate protests, gather international support, and push [President] Morales from power with military support weeks later. The unelected authorities, quickly recognized by the OAS Secretary General, have promoted a racist, anti-indigenous agenda and deployed the military to violently repress protests, resulting in the killing and injury of many civilians,\"wrote the lawmakers, citinga reportconducted by Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic. \r\nFor months, the OAS has refused to answer basic questions from legislators regarding its claims despite the role of Congress in appropriating the majority of the OAS's budget, continued the lawmakers. Given that the OAS is poised to make a determination of the freedom, fairness, and integrity of the upcoming elections in Bolivia under an unelected and repressive government, the members of Congress urge the administration to use its voice at the OAS to advocate for a thorough, independent assessment of the OAS's statements, and ensure that corrective measures are taken to ensure that future OAS electoral observation missions perform their functions in an independent, impartial and professional manner.\" \r\n\"The Organization of American States' decision last year to declare Bolivia's election fraudulent on the basis of questionable evidence helped fuel a crisis of democracy and human rights that Bolivians are experiencing to this day,\"said Sanders.\"Bolivia's post-coup government carried out racist violence against indigenous people, imprisoned activists, and threatened political opponents. What more than two dozen of my colleagues and I are demanding is that the United States government take responsibility for what is done with our taxpayer dollars and wield oversight over the OAS. Securing accountability and transparency from the OAS is vital to a free and fair election in Bolivia nextmonth.\" \r\n\"Since the day after the 2019 Bolivian elections, the OAS has helped direct a false narrative that the incumbent president, Evo Morales, and his party rigged' the election,\"said Schakowsky. This narrative contributed to political polarization, a military coup, and violent political repression in Bolivia as well as uncertainty for the democracy's future. With the next election fast approaching, we must finally see accountability and transparency from OAS, and ensure that it carries out its mission independently and impartially.\" \r\nAs Bolivia approaches their next election, it is imperative that voting be administered with accountability and free from interference,\"said Johnson.\"My colleagues and I are calling on the State Department to ensure that the OAS doesn't repeat their mistakes from Bolivia's 2019 election monitoring and further erode democracy and human rights in the country. The OAS's misleading statements threw Bolivia into a political tailspin, forcibly unseating Evo Moralesthe nation's first indigenous presidentand ushering in a racist, anti-indigenous administration, and the violent, militarized repression of the civilian protests that followed. This is unacceptable, and the United States should not be abetting actions that undermine democracy.\r\n\"Since President Morales' forced resignation, Bolivia's far right has levied harmful anti-Indigenous rhetoric and state violence towards protestors, Indigenous and Afro-Bolivian groups,\"said Haaland.\"This is an attack on democracy and human rights. Secretary Pompeo must act nowif we wait, Bolivia may be left without a democracy for years to come.\"\r\nThe letter was also signed by Representatives Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Andy Levin (D-Mich.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Nydia Velzquez (D-N.Y.), Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Jess Chuy Garca (D-Ill.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Susan Wild (D-Pa.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Ral Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). Read the letter here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-passing-of-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg", "Sanders Statement on Passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg", "2020-09-18", "2020", "2020-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders Statement on Passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tFriday, September 18, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tBURLINGTON, September 18  Sen. Bernie Sanders issued the following statement on the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:\r\n\"The passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a tremendous loss to our country. She was an extraordinary champion of justice and equal rights, and will be remembered as one of the great justices in modern American history.\r\n\"Unfortunately, we've already heard tonight from Sen. McConnell that he has decided to go against Justice Ginsburg's dying wishes and violate his own past statements in order to bring a judge nominated by President Trump to the floor of the United States Senate.\r\n\"That's in direct contradiction of his statement in 2016, when he said Supreme Court nominees should not be voted on during a presidential election year: Our view is this: Give the people a voice in filling this vacancy,' he said. McConnell is cementing a shameful legacy of brazen hypocrisy.\r\n\"Thankfully not all Senate Republicans agree.\r\n\"Just today, Sen. Lisa Murkowski came out against an appointment this close to an election. I would not vote to confirm a Supreme Court nominee,' she said. We are 50 some days away from an election.' In addition, several of McConnell's other colleagues have previously stated they're against confirming a new justice this close to an election. Sen. Chuck Grassley said in May, You can't have one rule for Democratic presidents and another rule for Republican presidents.' Sen. Susan Collins said, I think that's too close, I really do,' when asked by The New York Times about appointing a justice in October.\r\n\"But no one has been clearer than Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Lindsay Graham. He promised in 2018 that if an opening comes in the last year of President Trump's term, and the primary process has started, we'll wait to the next election.'\r\n\"The right thing to do here is clear. The Republicans in the Senate know it, and many of them have stated it clearer than I could. We should let voters decide. Period.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/must-read/how-vermont-became-a-model-for-the-country-in-responding-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic", "How Vermont Became a 'Model for the Country' in Responding to the Coronavirus Pandemic", "2020-09-17", "2020", "2020-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "How Vermont Became a 'Model for the Country' in Responding to the Coronavirus Pandemic\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t By: Meredith Deliso \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tThursday, September 17, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tIt's mid-September, and Dr. Mark Levine is feeling really good. Vermont, where he serves as the state'shealthcommissioner, has had the lowest rate of new COVID-19 cases and test positivity in the country for several weeks now. As of Wednesday, there were only three patients hospitalized in the state for the virus, and Vermont's last reported COVID-19 death was on July 28.\r\nDr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's foremost infectious disease expert, touted Vermont's COVID-19 response on Tuesday during a press briefing with Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, saying the state \"should be the model for the country\" on \"opening up the economy in a safe and prudent way.\"\r\nBut despite the state's success -- and also because of it -- Levine doesn't want Vermonters to let their guard down.\r\n\"Just because we're in a good place -- we know that this virus is a formidable foe,\" the health commissioner told ABC News.\r\nAs the fall approaches, bringing anticipated tourism to the state as well as concerns about a \"twindemic\" of COVID-19 and the flu, the state is continuing to follow its playbook for a cautious, data-driven reopening that continually stresses the basics of handwashing, physically distancing and avoiding congregate settings.\r\nIt's a playbook that officials stress doesn't rely on the state's small size to provide any advantages. Vermont is one of the most rural states in the country, and one of the smallest by population -- though public health experts are quick to dismiss those as playing major parts in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in the state.\r\n\"At first, nationwide, people thought that rural would protect you.  But that myth was dispelled later on, particularly in the late spring and summer, when all the southern and western states had their surge,\" Levine said. \"Here, we don't believe the rural nature has been protective by any means.\"\r\n\"Rural helps, but is most definitely not the whole story,\" Dr. Jan Carney, associate dean for public health and health policy at the University of Vermont's Larner College of Medicine, told ABC News.\r\nFor the past several weeks, Vermont has had the lowest rate of new cases and test positivity in the country, based on weekly reports from the White House Coronavirus Task Force. In the latest report, dated Sept. 13, Vermont was the only state to be in the \"green zone\" for both cases (indicating fewer than 10 new cases per 100,000 population) and positivity rate (indicating a rate below 5%). \"Vermont continues to have excellent epidemic control,\" the report noted.\r\nAccording to the state health department, Vermont's positivity rate has held steady at around 0.2% for several months, and it has the lowest rate of total COVID-19 infection in the country, with 261 cases per 100,000 people versus the national average of 1,845 per 100,000.\r\nLevine noted three factors that have helped Vermont get to this point. For one, the state overall tends to be relatively healthy, he said, pointing to studies by organizations like the Commonwealth Fund. In the foundation'slatest scorecardon state health system performance, looking at indicators such as access to health care, quality of care and health outcomes, Vermont ranked fifth in the country.\r\n\"Vermonters have a history of prioritizing health,\" Levine said. During the pandemic, residents' compliance with behaviors like frequent hand-washing, mask-wearing and social distancing has been \"really paramount,\" he said.\r\nAnother factor: Early in the pandemic, the state knew that it \"needed to actively and proactively protect the most vulnerable,\" Levine said. Among those measures, the state has focused contact tracing and testing efforts in long-term care facilities and offered universal testing at group-living facilities.\r\nLastly, the state acted quickly to introduce social distancing measures, such as closing schools and restaurants and reducing the size of mass gatherings -- and it didn't start reopening \"until we thought we were at a sufficient level of virus suppression,\" Levine said.\r\nThe worst of the pandemic in Vermont, by several metrics, was early on. The daily number of reported COVID-19 cases peaked on April 3, and the highest percentage of positive cases, 11%, came in late March, according to data from the health department. The state only started loosening restrictions toward the end of April, as the rate of spread slowed.\r\n\"Many states have basically just said, 'We're going to just reopen,' and they had lots of virus and high percent positivities when they chose to do that,\" Levine said. \"Our stance was that public health and safety was paramount, and we would reopen when we had suppressed the virus. It was a very cautious reopening, it was a very phased and gradual reopening.\"\r\nGov. Scott has often likened that approach to incrementally \"turning the spigot\" -- reopening one sector, waiting two weeks and watching the data, and then opening the next sector, and so on.\r\n\"That's gotten us to where we are, which is a really good place,\" Levine said.\r\n Foundation of teamwork \r\nVermont is among a minority of states to have a centralized public health system, which in this case may have also helped in its pandemic response, public health experts said.\r\n\"It is a consistent message, and consistent application of policies and consistent ways that we can interact with populations on a local level,\" Levine said.\r\nFor Carney, who served as the state's commissioner of health from 1989 to 2003, that teamwork between government, medical experts and social service organizations in the state has been crucial.\r\n\"When something happens like a pandemic, you don't have to develop them new, you build on the relationships that you have,\" Carney said. \"There's this foundation of teamwork and concern about health that has served us well in the past and is one of our absolute strengths right now.\"\r\nLevine said the state has been leaning on those relationships as it works to address disproportionate rates of COVID-19 cases in Hispanic and African-American populations, including working with community organizations to spread public health messaging.\r\n Tourism and 'twindemic' \r\nVermont has continued to slowly turn the spigot, with K-12 schools and college campuses reopening in recent weeks. The state is in discussions to further open up the hospitality industry, as leaf-peeping and ski seasons approach.\r\n\"A big threat in Vermont is travel,\" Levine said. \"We want to do it right and still allow people to have a pleasant time and come to Vermont to do what they want to do, and have Vermonters be able to do what they want to do.\"\r\nLevine said the state plans to offer guidance on a \"thoughtful and cautious\" hospitality reopening soon.\r\nIn August, the governor also instituted a statewide mask mandate in anticipation of increased travel to Vermont. In announcing the order, Scott said he felt \"we need to act now to protect our gains, which have allowed us to reopen much of our economy.\"\r\nAnother concern for the fall is the flu. Experts are bracing for what some have called a \"twindemic\" of COVID-19 and the flu being active at the same time.\r\n\"We do really want people to get their flu shot now more than ever,\" Levine said. To that end, he said, the state is trying to make it \"as easy as possible\" to get the vaccine, and is currently working to set up flu shot locations beyond the usual pharmacies and doctor's offices.\r\nBeing vigilant about behaviors like mask-wearing and social distancing will also continue to be key, experts said.\r\n\"Don't get careless,\" Fauci advised on Tuesday. \"It's going to be challenging as you get into the fall and the winter, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to have a problem if you do the kind of prudent public health measures that you've been doing.\"\r\nIt's a message that is applicable everywhere, not just Vermont, Carney said.\r\n\"It's so fundamental -- hand washing and wearing cloth face coverings and keeping physically distant from people whenever possible  and being able to do that over a long period of time,\" she said. \"It's really important, as the winter comes into play, and as more people are inside, and as we approach flu season -- we have to stick with it and keep working at it for the foreseeable future.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/must-read/democrats-sound-alarm-on-possible-election-chaos", "Democrats Sound Alarm on Possible Election Chaos", "2020-09-07", "2020", "2020-09", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Democrats Sound Alarm on Possible Election Chaos\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t By: Max Greenwood \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tMonday, September 7, 2020\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tDemocrats are bracing for potential chaos on Election Day, fearing that the combined force ofPresident Trump's warnings of voter fraud and the expected influx of absentee ballots will lead to a bitter and protracted fight over the election's results.\r\nThe party has been concerned for months about Trump's efforts to sow doubt in mail-in and absentee voting amid the coronavirus pandemic. But two developments this week renewed and worsened those fears.\r\nA top Democratic digital firm warned of a potential red mirage on Election Night, in which in-person vote tallies show Trump in the lead until mail-in ballots counted after Nov. 3 swing the race in the direction of former Vice PresidentJoe Biden.\r\nAnd on Wednesday, Trump suggested that supporters attempt to vote twice by mail and in person to test the ability of election systems to detect fraud, prompting an outcry from state officials who warned that casting more than one ballot is illegal.\r\nTaken together, the concerns add up to what Democrats fear will be an election mired in confusion and potential uncertainty.\r\nI don't think people have fully grasped how difficult and challenging the Trump campaign is going to try to make the administration of this election, Guy Cecil, the chair of the largest Democratic super PAC, Priorities USA, told reporters in a video briefing this week.\r\nDemocratic operatives and officials in some battleground states are already taking steps to reassure voters that their election systems are up to expectations.\r\nAfter Trump suggested this week that his supporters try to cast two ballots, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson released a statement emphasizing that the state's election system has already been stress-tested and includes protections to ensure that each person gets only one vote.\r\nNorth Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, called Trump's remarks on voting troubling, accusing him of trying to undermine people's faith in the integrity of our elections.\r\nThere are also fears among Democrats that Trump may try to call the vote count itself into question, given the expected surge in mail voting this year and the possibility that many ballots may not be counted on Election Day.\r\nMore Democrats are expected to cast their ballots by mail this year than Republicans, given concerns about the coronavirus pandemic and Trump's previous claims that mail-in voting is rife with fraud. A Quinnipiac University pollreleased this weekunderscored the difference between voters, with 51 percent of Democrats saying they plan to vote by mail and 64 percent of Republicans saying they will vote in person.\r\nIn an interview this week with Axios on HBO, Josh Mendelsohn, the CEO of the Democratic data and analytics firm Hawkfish, warned of a situation in which the vote count on election night could show a massive victory for Trump. But after mail-in and absentee votes are counted, he said, it will show that Trump's election night lead was a mirage.\r\n\"We are sounding an alarm and saying that this is a very real possibility, that the data is going to show on election night an incredible victory for Donald Trump,\" Mendelsohntold Axios.\r\nWhen every legitimate vote is tallied and we get to that final day, which will be some day after Election Day, it will in fact show that what happened on election night was exactly that, a mirage,\" Mendelsohn said. \"It looked like Donald Trump was in the lead and he fundamentally was not when every ballot gets counted.\"\r\nA pollreleased this weekby The Guardian and Opinium Research underscored the extent of Democrats' fears that Trump could refuse to accept the outcome of the November election if it's not in his favor.\r\nThree in four respondents who support Biden in the presidential race said they are worried about the possibility of Trump rejecting the election results, compared to only 30 percent of Trump's supporters, the poll found.\r\nThea McDonald, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, said that the president is fighting for a free, fair, transparent election in which every valid ballots counts  once, and accused Democrats of trying to create a pretext for rejecting the election results themselves.\r\nRather than peddling conspiracy theories and paving the way for Joe Biden to refuse to accept the results when President Trump wins, just asHillary Clintondid four years ago, Democrats ought to take responsibility for their attempts to throw our electoral system into chaos 60 days out from Election Day, McDonald said in a statement to The Hill.\r\nDemocrats say that Trump has already laid the groundwork for questioning the election's legitimacy, pointing to his rhetoric around the gubernatorial and Senate elections in Florida in 2018.\r\nThat year, the Election Day vote count showed Republicans Rick Scott andRon DeSantisleading their Democratic opponents. But the results narrowed in the days that followed as more absentee ballots were counted, prompting Trump to cry foul play and demand that the races be called based on the Election Day vote.\r\nThe Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged, Trump tweeted. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!\r\nUltimately, Scott defeated former Sen.Bill Nelson(D-Fla.) by about 10,000 votes, while DeSantis beat Democrat Andrew Gillum in the governor's race by roughly 32,000 votes.\r\nThe 2020 presidential race is also shaping up to be a close one. Several public polls released this week showed Biden with a sizable national lead over Trump. But the margins separating the two candidates in key battleground states are tightening.\r\nA Quinnipiac Universitysurvey of Florida, for instance, placed Biden only 3 points ahead of Trump. In Pennsylvania,a Monmouth University pollshowed the former vice president with a scant 4-point lead. And in North Carolina,another Monmouth pollput them within 2 points of one another.\r\nEverybody's asking me: Do you trust the polls, do you feel confident about Biden's chances?' \" one veteran Democratic operative in Florida said. I keep saying, yes, I trust the polls. What I don't trust is the president.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "truncated": false, "filtered_table_rows_count": 82, "expanded_columns": [], "expandable_columns": [], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "units": {}, "query": {"sql": "select url, title, date, year, month, party, chamber, state, member_name, bioguide_id, domain, scraper, source, date_source, text, has_text, collected_at, updated_at from releases where \"chamber\" = :p0 and \"party\" = :p1 and \"state\" = :p2 order by date desc limit 101", "params": {"p0": "Senate", "p1": "Independent", "p2": "VT"}}, "facet_results": {"party": {"name": "party", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Independent&state=VT", "results": [{"value": "Independent", "label": "Independent", "count": 82, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=VT", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "chamber": {"name": "chamber", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Independent&state=VT", "results": [{"value": "Senate", "label": "Senate", "count": 82, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?party=Independent&state=VT", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "state": {"name": "state", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Independent&state=VT", "results": [{"value": "VT", "label": "VT", "count": 82, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Independent", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "year": {"name": "year", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Independent&state=VT", "results": [{"value": "2020", "label": "2020", "count": 42, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Independent&state=VT&year=2020", "selected": false}, {"value": "2026", "label": "2026", "count": 40, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&party=Independent&state=VT&year=2026", "selected": false}], "truncated": false}}, "suggested_facets": [], "next": null, "next_url": null, "private": false, "allow_execute_sql": true, "query_ms": 120.46231888234615, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}