Politics
Baldwin reflects on first 100 days as U.S. senator
Lesbian lawmaker sees movement on ENDA, anti-bullying measures
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) will reach her 100th day in the U.S. Senate on Saturday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The lesbian lawmaker who made history last year by becoming the first openly gay member of the U.S. Senate is about to mark another milestone: her first 100 days in office.
Saturday will mark 100 days in office for Tammy Baldwin, who was sworn in as the junior senator from Wisconsin on Jan. 3.
In an interview with the Washington Blade this week, Baldwin said nothing has surprised her since she took office in the Senate because the upper chamber of Congress is so obviously different from the House, where she served for 14 years.
“On the home front, the difference is between representing a whole state and representing a slice of that state that’s reconfigured every 10 years,” Baldwin said. “That’s a big difference, and I come from a big state, a state with a really interesting political history. And so, that’s really, really exciting for me personally to represent the whole state of Wisconsin.”
Another key change for Baldwin is the relative ease of getting to know her 99 colleagues in the Senate as opposed to the 434 members with whom she served in the larger House.
“It may be just catching up with people on the walk to the Capitol or an elevator ride — or all the people who’ve already reached out and said, ‘Let’s have dinner, let’s have coffee, let’s get to know each other and find out where our common ground is,” Baldwin said. “It’s one of the things I love about the legislative process — trying to build majority support for certain ideas. A lot of that is done on that person-to-person level. And it’s much tougher in the House.”
And Baldwin is undertaking outreach for the LGBT community as she completes her first 100 days in office. On April 18, the D.C.-based Whitman-Walker Health will honor the senator with its Partner for Life Award at the “Be the Care” event. On Sunday, Baldwin gave a well-received keynote speech at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund’s annual champagne brunch in D.C.
In terms of LGBT issues, the most prevalent topic in the U.S. Senate these days isn’t legislation, but senators coming out for marriage equality. Just this week, Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) added his name to the list of senators, making a total of 54 in support of marriage equality.
Baldwin said the trend of U.S. senators coming out in favor of marriage equality reflects a growing trend nationwide. A widely cited poll from the Washington Post found that 58 percent of the American public now backs marriage rights for gay couples.
“In many cases, just like the president’s evolution on the issue, it’s been because of individuals wanting their neighbors, their relatives, their friends who are part of the LGBT community to have full and equal rights, including the right to marry the person they love and protect their own families,” Baldwin said. “I think sometimes you see elected officials leading, sometimes you see elected officials following. As long as they get to the right place, I celebrate either way.”
While many of these senators talked about consideration of their gay friends and colleagues before making their announcements, Baldwin said no U.S. senator spoke to her for her perspective as a lesbian in the days before they made their announcements because they were in the middle of spring recess.
And Baldwin has little patience for members of the LGBT community who criticized Republican Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio) for endorsing marriage as a result of his son coming out as gay.
“Obviously, he had a choice between whether to change his mind and do so privately, or change his mind and do so publicly,” Baldwin said. “I think it took courage for him to make this announcement, and, frankly, as I said earlier, the major factor for most Americans changing their mind is because of someone they know, someone they love, someone they work with. And so this is how most Americans change their mind, and I think that’s a great thing. I’m certainly not going to criticize it, and I would ask again, for those who are critical of Sen. Portman and support marriage equality, we want people to get to that place and be ready to take that stance, and we don’t really care what their journey is. We just want them to get there.”
Baldwin sees movement on ENDA, anti-bullying measures
Baldwin has relatively optimistic views about Senate advancement of pro-LGBT bills in the remainder of the 113th Congress. She had particularly high hopes for legislation overseen by a panel on which she serves — the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee — foreseeing advancement of both the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Student Non-Discrimination Act.
Recalling that Senate HELP Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has pledged to move the legislation to the floor this year, Baldwin said we’ll “very likely” see ENDA advance in the Senate.
Although Baldwin sees a path in the Senate for ENDA — even a floor vote — it ends there. She wasn’t optimistic that the House under Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would be amicable to the legislation.
“I’m feeling optimistic that we can get a floor vote on ENDA,” Baldwin said. “I’m feeling fairly pessimistic about the chances of ENDA moving ahead in the House as currently composed.”
On the issue of bullying, Baldwin was optimistic that both chambers would approve legislation — provided the Senate undertakes education reform known as Elementary & Secondary Education Act reauthorization and includes the measure in the larger vehicle. Legislation that has addressed these issues are the Student Non-Discrimination Act and the Safe Schools Improvement Act.
“I think the prospect for either a Student Non-Discrimination Act within that bill or an anti-bullying measure within that bill — or even both — remains a distinct possibility,” Baldwin said. “And that is something that I think may be able to pass through both houses of Congress — especially given earlier action in the House on the Violence Against Women Act that had LGBT-inclusion. It suggests a willingness to act in similar ways to protect LGBT youth.”
Baldwin based on her distinction on the chances of passing ENDA and an anti-bullying inclusive education reform bill on the temperament of House Republican leadership — as well as passing the LGBT measure as one segment of another vehicle.
“I would say the parallel between VAWA and the ESEA is if we can make these very important provisions a part of a bill that gains some momentum, and that the Republicans in the House see as must-pass legislation, our prospects are brighter,” Baldwin said.
Although she predicts movement on ENDA, Baldwin also said she expects changes to ENDA upon reintroduction, which she anticipates later this month. The Blade previously reported the legislation was under review before its planned reintroduction later this month.
Baldwin didn’t detail the ways in which the legislation would be changed, but talked vaguely about changes to ENDA that are the result of lessons learned from states and municipalities that have enacted non-discrimination policies based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
“I certainly think there’ll be some changes based on the hard work of advocacy and legal defense organizations across the U.S. where lessons have been learned from state level legislation, and we want to capture some of those changes in the proposal that’s introduced in the Senate,” Baldwin said. “That said, there’s also always the counter-attention of trying to keep all the range of supportive organizations on board and all of the, not only all of the prior sponsors of the legislation, but obviously you want to build on that to gain momentum. So, I think that’s the — as I understand it — the process that’s ongoing right now, and we hope it’ll come to a conclusion shortly so that the bill can be introduced.”
As previously reported by the Blade, Baldwin confirmed two areas where ENDA is under reconsideration are the religious exemption, which was previously in line with Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, and disparate impact, an issue previously unaddressed by ENDA that deals with discriminatory action by employers that isn’t discriminatory on its face.
Thoughts on immigration, court cases
Another piece of legislation of interest to the LGBT community is the immigration reform bill that the “Gang of Eight” in the U.S. Senate is expected to make public soon. The Blade reported earlier this week that the Uniting American Families Act — legislation that would enable gay Americans to sponsor their foreign same-sex partners for residency in the United States — is unlikely to be included as part of the agreement.
That’s an expectation shared by Baldwin. Still, she said she expects Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the sponsor of UAFA in the Senate, to attempt to amend any legislation that goes through the Senate Judiciary Committee with a provision to include gay couples.
“We have the very strong potential of having the Judiciary Committee look at the some of the areas where the ‘Gang of Eight’ on immigration have left silent,” Baldwin said. “I expect that the committee will do that. And I’m very hopeful about the odds of UAFA ultimately becoming a part of the immigration reform measure.”
While not a member of the Gang of Eight producing the initial immigration reform legislation, Baldwin said she has been speaking with members of the Judiciary Committee about including UAFA as they address the bill.
“I certainly keep in touch with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and have been voicing my strong interest in seeing them take up UAFA as an amendment at that stage of consideration of the bill,” Baldwin said.
The legislative front isn’t the only place where LGBT advances are expected. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in June in two marriage equality-related lawsuits: one challenging California’s Proposition 8, the other challenging the Defense of Marriage Act.
Baldwin, who attended oral arguments in the DOMA case, said she’s hopeful about an outcome that would enable the federal government to recognize legally married same-sex couples.
“I’m very hopeful that there will be a determination that DOMA is unconstitutional,” Baldwin said. “My hope is that then marriages would be recognized by the federal government regardless of venue or jurisdiction, but that really is one of the key issues that people are watching, and again, we don’t know how broadly the court will apply its decision.”
Although she wasn’t in attendance for the Prop 8 arguments, Baldwin was hopeful about a positive court ruling, although she didn’t know what the scope of the ruling would ultimately be.
“The feeling that the court may basically rule it’s improperly before the Supreme Court at this time either because of standing issues or because they basically made a premature decision to take up the case,” Baldwin said. “In either event, my understanding is that the lower court ruling, which declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional, would stand, but, unfortunately, that would mean the reach was only to the State of California, not nationally.”
White House
Trump-appointed judge restores White House TV pool access
Judge called in to question president’s justification of the ban
A federal judge ordered the White House to restore West Wing press credentials to three news organizations after President Donald Trump attempted to bar their access for unfavorable reporting.
Early Thursday morning, Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly granted a temporary restraining order brought by POLITICO, CNN, and MS NOW as part of a joint lawsuit. The lawsuit cites the imperative role of a “free press” and ordered the 78 journalists’ credentials returned to the three outlets for at least the next two weeks as litigation plays out.
In the eight-page ruling, the judge goes over a slew of laws that Trump may have violated in banning the three media groups — from stepping on their First Amendment rights to a free press to the Fifth Amendment right to due process.
The judge also questioned Trump’s justification for removing the outlets, originally saying it was a matter of national security.
“The court is skeptical — at least on this record — that defendants’ interest in safeguarding national security is the actual motivation for, or is even advanced by, the revocation of plaintiffs’ hard passes,” Kelly wrote in an 8-page ruling issued just before 1 a.m. ET.
“Nothing in the record that predates this suit suggests that the revocation of plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns. Certainly, that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was ‘banning’ plaintiffs from the White House — instead, he focused on the alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity of plaintiffs’ reporting,” the judge added.
The Washington Blade reached out to the White House press office asking if the administration would file an appeal to keep the journalists out of the West Wing but did not hear back before publication time.
White House
White House press pool pushes back after Trump bars three outlets
As President Trump refuses entry to outlets he deems unreasonable, lawsuits have been filed to regain access to the West Wing
Past the first checkpoint to get into the White House, multiple carts filled with camera equipment sat along a fence. Wagons loaded with tripods, cables, mics, and cameras sat just past where they normally would be working at full power. Today, they were turned off and packed away.
Last week, President Donald Trump decided to bar CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO from the White House following reporting he considers “FAKE NEWS.”
Trump, in a post on Truth Social on Monday morning, described his move as “instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS,” which he said has “grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America.”
“It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control,” he wrote on the social media site he owns. “It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!”
As a result, all of the major television networks that comprise the television press pool — ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Fox News — suspended their White House TV pool coverage. They decided to no longer send camera crews to cover President Donald Trump’s events.
“The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” the five White House TV pool networks said in a joint statement Monday. “No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”
POLITICO, CNN and MS NOW filed a lawsuit Monday to immediately restore access for their reporters, who had their credentials confiscated by the Secret Service.
In the White House, there was a noticeable shift in the atmosphere. The Washington Blade is the only LGBTQ news outlet that is part of the White House Press Pool, and was acting as the primary print pooler as the situation unfolded on Monday.
Whispers about who might be kicked from the press pool next could be heard both in the press area of the West Wing, as well as outside the part of the White House dedicated to filming the president’s office. The area where TV stations normally film their live shots of the White House while reporting looked less busy than a normal Monday — especially as the president made his way to New York City ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting this week.
CNN’s outdoor filming area, which is staffed nearly at all times, sat dark with a green cover over the space that normally houses its cameras and political reporters like Kaitlan Collins.
There were small signs of solidarity from other outlets in the press office. A sign that has hung outside one of the news offices in the West Wing was updated. It originally read, “WE STAND WITH AP” following President Trump’s first attempt at removing a news outlet he deemed unfavorable. It now includes “I STAND WITH AP CNN MSNOW POLITICO.”
The change could also be felt as the press pool attempted to cover the president.
There was a ribbon cutting in honor of the $6 million helipad installed at Trump’s behest — which had nearly no audio as a result of fewer microphones in the space following the outlets’ removal on Monday afternoon, and partly because of the loud sound of Marine One.
Vice President JD Vance defended Trump when asked about the changes to TV access at the White House, standing with the president despite this likely being a violation of the First Amendment’s guarantee of a free and fair press.
“He’s not banning media outlets. What he’s doing is saying we’re not going to give you special access to the White House if you engage in what is effectively propaganda,” Vance said, alleging that 92% of the stories from CNN, MS NOW and Politico about Trump are “negative.”
“That’s not representative of the American people. It’s not representative of public opinion,” Vance said.
He pushed back on the notion that this is a hindrance on free speech — claiming access to the president through White House visitation is a privilege — a privilege that in this administration, at least until courts weigh in, could change the landscape of the American media system.
“It’s about basic fairness. They can still report. They still have the access to free speech. They’re just not going to get an office in the White House anymore,” Vance said.
Jacqui Heinrich, the White House Correspondents Association President condemned the president’s actions in restricting media access in a statement sent to WHCA members on Saturday.
“Today’s action revoking access for journalists from CNN, POLITICO, and MSNOW violates the First Amendment. The implications extend beyond these organizations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future.
“The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably. That’s why courts have repeatedly held that once the White House provides access to journalists, it cannot deny that access arbitrarily or based on the content of their reporting. The WHCA calls on the administration to immediately restore our colleagues’ access.”
Congress
Jeremy Moss looks to bring LGBTQ advocacy from Lansing to Capitol Hill
Congressional candidate would represent Detroit suburbs if elected
With fall comes swapping out T-shirts for sweaters, raking leaves and, of course, elections. The summer’s primaries have narrowed the playing field in a slew of races, but the big ones — the actual races for seats in federal and local elections — are still to come.
Jeremy Moss is one of those people running for a congressional seat in Michigan. Despite his young age, Moss has quickly learned the ropes of politics in the state, already serving terms in the Great Lakes State’s House of Representatives and Senate.
Moss sat down with the Washington Blade to discuss his history in Michigan politics, his experience as an openly LGBTQ legislator and his vision for a better America as he looks toward Congress.
He currently represents Michigan’s 7th Senate District, but now he is setting his sights beyond Lansing toward Capitol Hill to represent Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, which includes Detroit’s northern suburbs.
Moss earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University, where just a few years later he made history as the first openly gay person elected to the Michigan Senate and the first to serve as its president pro tempore.
His political experience stretches across multiple offices.
Moss worked in the offices of Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence, who also served in the U.S. House of Representatives, and State Rep. Paul Condino.
Moss, at age 25, was elected to the Southfield City Council in 2011, becoming the youngest member elected in the body’s history. He then switched over to the state legislature, representing Michigan’s 35th House of Representatives District in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2014-2018, becoming the second openly gay member elected to the Michigan legislature.
He then moved from Michigan’s House to its Senate in 2018, elected to represent the 11th Michigan Senate District and becoming the Assistant Democratic Leader. Moss started his second term in the Michigan Senate in 2023, this time representing District 7.
He currently has a long list of priorities listed on his campaign website, many of which have become standard for Democrats running across the country, with a particular focus on minimizing — and cleaning up — issues that the Republican-controlled federal government has created under President Donald Trump.
Those goals include lowering healthcare costs, tackling the cost of living crisis, holding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement accountable and fixing the broken immigration system, restoring national voting rights, protecting rights — with a particular focus on abortion access and LGBTQ rights — combating corruption in politics, preventing gun violence and strengthening gun safety, empowering Michigan workers, and preserving the environment.
Why Moss is running for Congress
When asked why he wants to run for Congress, Moss pointed to his lengthy resume in state leadership, with a clear voice arguing that if he can do it in Lansing, he can get it done in Washington.
“I’ve served 12 years in the legislature and have ascended into leadership as president pro tem of the Senate,” Moss explained to the Blade. “We flipped our state legislative chamber to a Democratic majority for the first time in 40 years in 2022, and we passed some big, generational-changing, consequential Democratic wins that had languished for a generation, but had improved people’s lives in our state.
“We’ve passed the first gun safety laws in a generation that are saving lives. We protected the right to vote amidst attacks from Donald Trump and other conspiracies. We pushed forward and finally put LGBTQ rights in our state civil rights law. We provided free school meals and lunches for all public school children in the state of Michigan.
“The problems from Washington, D.C., aren’t getting less severe over time,” he continued. “They’re getting more severe. So this district unexpectedly opened up due to a series of retirements and it was just a great opportunity for me to continue to advocate for big change that we’ve already achieved here in the state legislature.”
“I’m a product of this district. I grew up here. I’ve represented a bulk of the district already in the state legislature, and I knew that I was going to earn grassroots support to be able to wage this campaign. We sought it out, we earned it, including some premier endorsements from Gov. (Gretchen) Whitmer, among many others, and were highly successful in the primary because we were in tune to the needs of this district.”
Moss has been endorsed by a slew of Democratic leaders and organizations, including, as he pointed out, by Whitmer.
Other endorsements include former Gov. Jim Blanchard, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Attorney General Dana Nessel, the Equality PAC, the Human Rights Campaign, the Unity Fund, and the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund.
His political identity and the Democratic Party
Moss described himself as being “on the liberal end of the spectrum,” but argued that the Democratic Party’s internal divisions should not be the central focus.
“I’m certainly on the liberal end of the spectrum, but I don’t even think it necessarily has to be this progressive versus establishment fight that we’ve seen play out,” Moss said when asked about various elements of in-party disagreements. “It has to be between action and, and inaction, fighters versus folders.”
He said that distinction between action and inaction is central to how he would approach Washington.
“At this moment, I think we need to demonstrate that we are ready to take on Donald Trump and MAGA chaos with boldness and effectiveness. I’ve been saying all along our campaign trail, we can no longer be the party that shows up to the knife fight carrying a pie chart, and so I think we have to be showing that we have spine and we have punch, and we’re really ready to be tough fighters for, for Michiganders and the American people.”
“We can’t walk on eggshells anymore. We can’t pull our punches,” he added. “We can’t fear that we’re offending someone, you know, one way or another with how we act. People are expecting a bold party to take on MAGA, and I think that’s exactly what the Democratic Party needs.”
Becoming an LGBTQ legislator
Moss also reminisced with the Blade about his first run for elected office — at a time when Michigan had no openly LGBTQ members serving in the state legislature — and how that experience became deeply connected to his identity and his approach to LGBTQ politics.
In 2014, Michigan was in the pre-marriage equality era, and the state had no openly LGBTQ members serving in the legislature.
“12 years ago in 2014 — this was pre-marriage, the pre-marriage equality era — we had zero people from our community serving in the legislature, and still they were talking about us.
“The big topic then in Michigan was whether or not to expand our civil rights law to include LGBTQ protections, so that people from our community would no longer face discrimination in housing and employment. And they were talking about us regardless of whether or not we were at the table.”
Moss eventually helped lead the effort to expand Michigan’s civil rights protections to include LGBTQ people, a measure that passed with bipartisan support.
He said his experience as an openly gay lawmaker allowed him to make the case for LGBTQ protections in terms that extended beyond LGBTQ issues.
“One thing I definitely aligned with Gov. Whitmer at the time was making the case that discrimination was not only morally wrong, but it was bad for business,” he said. “By not having these protections for our LGBTQ neighbors and family members and friends and community members, we were actually holding back our economy. We were essentially allowing people to be kicked out of Michigan as consumers and workers, because of who they are and how they identified.”
That led to various efforts — including committee hearings and meetings with advocates, businesses and the public — that helped make Michigan what the Movement Advancement Project deems the 16th most LGBTQ-friendly state, solidly above other states due to its robust LGBTQ-related legislation.
“I wanted to meet everybody where they were, including those who may have not been involved with or engaged with the LGBTQ community as legislators, but understood that we couldn’t sustain the economic impact of discriminating against our community,” Moss said. “And as I’ve said all along, discrimination is bad for business. That’s something I think helped broaden the vote and earn some bipartisan support for it.”
Representation and LGBTQ youth
For Moss, the importance of LGBTQ representation also comes from his own experience growing up.
“I think about when I was younger, when I was 18 years old. It was in 2004, and, you know, there are certain things that really shaped me in that time … Michigan had a ballot proposal that passed to have the strictest language banning marriage equality in our state constitution. We didn’t even allow civil unions in that language in our constitution to exist, and there were scandal-plagued LGBTQ politicians.”
“It was the same year that Jim McGreevey was forced to resign as he came out,” he said. “So it really was a signal to me that, you know, you don’t have a future. Not just you don’t have a future in politics; you might not even have a future. Period, and it was pretty defining for me.”
Despite those fears, Moss continued to pursue public office.
“And you can’t be what you can’t see, and so to be able to break the barriers at the state level and at this congressional level, I think is a signal to anybody who is struggling with wondering where their place is?”
“I think that visibility is incredibly important, and it’s something that I needed when I was much younger, and it’s something that I’ve been honored to be able to provide for the, for the next generation of emerging leaders.”
His LGBTQ priorities in Congress
When asked what LGBTQ issues he would prioritize in Congress, Moss emphasized the importance of growing the number of LGBTQ lawmakers while also expanding federal nondiscrimination protections.
“To have a caucus in the legislature has made all the difference because you can, you know, run these issues across the field. You can have somebody take on marriage. You can have somebody take on trans rights. You can have somebody take on LGBTQ youth. You can have somebody take on discrimination protections.”
He sees much of the work he wants to get done on Capitol Hill as a direct follow-up to his work in Lansing — most importantly, the passage of the Equality Act. The legislation has been debated in some form for more than 50 years at the federal level, with the goal of protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination under federal law.
“I think the Equality Act is incredibly important. That’s kind of the, the counterpart to what we’ve done in the state legislature, ensuring discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community,” he said.
“I think housing and, and workplace discrimination is, is everything, you know, to protect our community so that they can have a safe place to call home and earn a living … That’s incredibly important across the board. And I would really want to take a leading role in telling the story of how we were able to do it in Michigan after 50 years since this act was first written — and finally finished the job federally to ensure their federal protections in, in, in, in employment and housing.”
LGBTQ political organizations and Congress
Moss said the LGBTQ political organizations that have supported his political career from its early stages have helped him along the way.
“Obviously, I’ve been affiliated with Victory Fund since I first ran for office, and they were early endorsers, but Equality PAC, which is the political arm of the LGBTQ caucus in Congress, has been an incredible part of my support system. From day one they helped me out.
“I’ve been getting to know a lot of the members of Congress who are LGBTQ, really over the last year of this campaign. So I’m eager to join them. I’m eager to be one of the players on the field here to be able to advocate and advance our issues.”
Voting rights
Voting rights are another major focus for Moss, an issue he said dates back to his experience during the 2004 campaign over marriage equality.
“Something I’m very passionate about is voting rights, and it really does go back to that 2004 campaign where it was very evident that elections can determine your future.
“Elections can determine what rights you do have and don’t have, and so I’ve been very laser focused on increasing access to the ballot box, making sure our democracy remains whole and accessible.”
He explained how Trump’s recent attacks on voting legitimacy and mail-in voting have only made his desire to help that much stronger.
“We went through a real trial of that in 2020 with, with Michigan’s presidential election, with Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani — as he jetted into Michigan and tried to overturn our valid and accurate election results. We were kind of the spotlight of the nation in that stop this deal movement that led to Jan. 6.”
That, according to Moss, spurred direct action on his end.
“I took the helm as chair of the Senate Elections Committee, and we wrote the law to implement pieces of that ballot proposal, including drafting the law that implemented nine days of early voting here in Michigan, increased access to absentee ballot. We further secured our canvassing and certifications so that nobody could jet in with an alternative slate of electors and send them to Congress on Jan. 6.”
“So I’ve been on the front lines in Michigan on defending our election systems and strengthening protections for both voters to access the ballot box and protections against those who want to overturn our election results.”
Those issues are still present today, he explained.
“He’s pushing for suppressive tactics like the Save Act. The Supreme Court has eroded the federal Voting Rights Act,” Moss said. “I want to really get into Congress as an election expert, we have a Michigan story to tell. I wrote a lot of that story, and, and I think the most urgent thing that we could pass is the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to make sure that there’s no pocket of discrimination anywhere in our country, and that people have the ability to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote.”
What he would do differently in Washington
Moss also shared that he believes Democrats should communicate differently in Washington, with an emphasis on getting things done.
“Yeah, again, we’ve, we’ve seen politics evolve in this Trump era, and I think that Democrats need to communicate differently.
“He talks so brazenly, and how proud he is that he’s renamed the Gulf of Mexico or Lake Ontario. I put that in the stupid category.
“He’s also done things in the harmful category that he boasts about, like cutting Medicaid and cutting SNAP. And of course, he’s doing things in the dangerous category, but proud of it, like trying to overturn our elections or suppressing the vote.
“What we’re doing is both popular and good for people, whether it’s growing our economy from the middle class outward, whether it’s lowering costs, whether it’s making healthcare more affordable, whether it’s strengthening the core functions of our democracy, we have to be talking about it with the same gusto and confidence that MAGA talks about their agenda.
“I think this is a party that needs more spine and more punch, and really meet this moment because I think that’s what people are looking for, and that’s really what I think a new generation will bring into this next Congress.”
Being a female firefighter comes with unique risks, and rewards
Writing a play about Lincoln leads down a rabbit hole to a closet
Trump-appointed judge restores White House TV pool access
Philadelphia event to launch 2026 LGBT History Month
