Politics
Sen. Merkley bullish on prospects for ENDA
Says he’s talked with Portman, sees committee vote in May or June


Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) talks about ENDA in an interview with the Washington Blade. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The lead sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the Senate is excited about the bill’s prospects upon reintroduction and anticipates committee action in May or June.
In an interview with the Washington Blade on Tuesday, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) talked about the future for ENDA, which he’s planning to introduce on Thursday. The bill is set to debut on the same day as the House version by gay Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.).
Merkley, who prior to being elected as U.S. senator was Oregon State House Speaker, said he’s “very excited” about leading the fight on ENDA for two reasons: it builds off the state LGBT non-discrimination legislation he helped usher into law in 2007, and it honors the legacy of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, who previously championed ENDA.
“Part of the reason it’s exciting to me is I led the fight in Oregon for basic rights,” Merkley said. “It was a huge honor to have Sen. Kennedy ask me to carry the torch on this bill. And I want to fulfill the responsibility he gave me of getting the bill passed in the Senate. I think we’re going to be a lot of closer. We have a chance of getting this done, and getting it done this year.”
Merkley said he’s spoken with the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who’s already pledged to have a panel vote on ENDA this year, and received assurances a markup would happen in the coming months.
“He was very publicly saying the moment he got the bill in his hands — as soon as it was introduced — that he wanted to move forward quickly,” Merkley said. “My understanding, to be confirmed obviously in conversations with him, is he’d like to have the markup in May or June.”
The Oregon senator affirmed the Senate version of the bill would have five original co-sponsors: himself, Harkin as well as lesbian Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Mark Kirk (Ill.). On Friday, the legislation will be open to additional co-sponsors.
Merkley also confirmed that two areas that were previously under reconsideration with respect to ENDA — the religious exemption and no mention of disparate impact — would be unchanged upon reintroduction.
However, Merkley said ENDA would be different because other provisions were modified following conversations with stakeholders and with Republican partners.
Among the changes relates to shared facilities. The previous version of ENDA stated an employer wouldn’t be in violation of the law if it denied a transgender person access to dressing facilities in which being seen unclothed is unavoidable — provided that the company provides access to adequate facilities consistent with the employee’s gender identity. Merkley said the new version of ENDA won’t address the issue of shared facilities.
“We’re going to adopt the model that has been the dominant state model, which is simply not to have discussion on facilities in any of the sections of the bill, which is what the states have done and it’s worked very well,” Merkley said.
The Oregon senator is eager for a full Senate floor vote on ENDA once the bill is moved out of committee, saying, “I think it’s time for every senator to have to take a position on this.”
“We have senators who have been silent on where they stand,” Merkley said. “We have other senators who may have been recognizing they have been hesitant before, but really there’s a hugely compelling principle at stake here: that of equal opportunity to be a full participant in our economy. It’s only right and just that people not be discriminated against in employment.”
And Merkley was bullish about reaching the 60-vote threshold in the Senate to end a filibuster on the legislation in the wake of additional senators coming out in support of marriage equality.
“I think I was the ninth,” Merkley said. “Now there are over 50. That’s a huge transformation in four years. I can’t imagine that anyone who is supportive of marriage equality wouldn’t also fully be there on non-discrimination.”
All eyes will be one of those lawmakers in particular, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who came out in favor of marriage equality after learning that his son is gay. Merkley said he’s spoken to Portman about ENDA, as well as other Republican senators, but wouldn’t divulge what the response was in these conversations.
“I’ve lobbied him and let him know I’m going to bring him back the details and work with him, and he acknowledged it,” Merkley said. “So, he’ll have to choose his own moment of what he says to the public.”
Asked whether ENDA stands a better chance at becoming law now than it did in the 112th Congress, Merkley replied, “Yes, society is way ahead of Congress. The attitudes in state after state are changing. Certainly the conversations regarding marriage equality have changed.”
As Merkley lobbies his colleagues on ENDA, the senator said he doesn’t think pressure from the White House would be useful to move forward with the legislation. Groups like Freedom to Work have been asking President Obama to call publicly for a floor vote and lobby senators on ENDA.
“I’m not sure that that’s helpful,” Merkley said. “We have the business community on board, we have commerce, we have the majority of Fortune 500 companies. I think people hearing from their home state businesses that have recognized that this is the right and good thing to do is a very powerful voice — home state interest groups as well.”
Still, Merkley said he continues to want to see administrative action against LGBT workplace discrimination in the form of an executive order barring it among federal contractors. The senator has been one of the leading lawmakers on Capitol Hill calling for the directive.
“I’ve been encouraging the administration to do what they can within their own world, which is of government contractors in employment discrimination among the contractors,” Merkley said. “I think discrimination is so abhorrent that it should be ended through any means available. I’ll keep encouraging them to do that, but maybe we can pass this bill and get it to the president and accomplish it for the entire working world at once.”
The White House continues to say in response to questions about the executive order that it prefers a legislative approach to address the issue of LGBT workplace discrimination. Merkley said he’s received no indications that the administration is reconsidering its position.
“My impression is they’re not moving quickly in that area,” Merkley said.
Congress
Top Congressional Democrats reintroduce Equality Act on Trump’s 100th day in office
Legislation would codify federal LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination protections

In a unified display of support for LGBTQ rights on President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office, congressional Democrats, including leadership from the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, reintroduced the Equality Act on Tuesday.
The legislation, which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, codifying these protections into federal law in areas from jury service to housing and employment, faces an unlikely path to passage amid Republican control of both chambers of Congress along with the White House.
Speaking at a press conference on the grass across the drive from the Senate steps were Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.), U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), who is the first out LGBTQ U.S. Senator, U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (Calif.), who is gay and chairs the Congressional Equality Caucus, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (N.H.), who is gay and is running for the U.S. Senate, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.), and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (Ore.).
Also in attendance were U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (Del.), who is the first transgender member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Dina Titus (Nev.), U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (Ill.), and representatives from LGBTQ advocacy groups including the Human Rights Campaign and Advocates 4 Trans Equality.
Responding to a question from the Washington Blade on the decision to reintroduce the bill as Trump marks the hundredth day of his second term, Takano said, “I don’t know that there was a conscious decision,” but “it’s a beautiful day to stand up for equality. And, you know, I think the president is clearly hitting a wall that Americans are saying, many Americans are saying, ‘we didn’t vote for this.'”
A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released Sunday showed Trump’s approval rating in decline amid signs of major opposition to his agenda.
“Many Americans never voted for this, but many Americans, I mean, it’s a great day to remind them what is in the core of what is the right side of history, a more perfect union. This is the march for a more perfect union. That’s what most Americans believe in. And it’s a great day on this 100th day to remind our administration what the right side of history is.”
Merkley, when asked about the prospect of getting enough Republicans on board with the Equality Act to pass the measure, noted that, “If you can be against discrimination in employment, you can be against discrimination in financial contracts, you can be against discrimination in mortgages, in jury duty, you can be against discrimination in public accommodations and housing, and so we’re going to continue to remind our colleagues that discrimination is wrong.”
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which was sponsored by Merkley, was passed by the Senate in 2013 but languished in the House. The bill was ultimately broadened to become the Equality Act.
“As Speaker Nancy Pelosi has always taught me,” Takano added, “public sentiment is everything. Now is the moment to bring greater understanding and greater momentum, because, really, the Congress is a reflection of the people.”
“While we’re in a different place right this minute” compared to 2019 and 2021 when the Equality Act was passed by the House, Pelosi said she believes “there is an opportunity for corporate America to weigh in” and lobby the Senate to convince members of the need to enshrine federal anti-discrimination protections into law “so that people can fully participate.”
Politics
George Santos sentenced to 87 months in prison for fraud case
Judge: ‘You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.’

Disgraced former Republican congressman George Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison on Friday, after pleading guilty last year to federal charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
“Mr. Santos, words have consequences,” said Judge Joanna Seybert of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. “You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.”
The first openly gay GOP member of Congress, Santos became a laughing stock after revelations came to light about his extensive history of fabricating and exaggerating details about his life and career.
His colleagues voted in December 2023 to expel him from Congress. An investigation by the U.S. House Ethics Committee found that Santos had used pilfered campaign funds for cosmetic procedures, designer fashion, and OnlyFans.
Federal prosecutors, however, found evidence that “Mr. Santos stole from donors, used his campaign account for personal purchases, inflated his fund-raising numbers, lied about his wealth on congressional documents and committed unemployment fraud,” per the New York Times.
The former congressman told the paper this week that he would not ask for a pardon. Despite Santos’s loyalty to President Donald Trump, the president has made no indication that he would intervene in his legal troubles.
Congress
Democratic lawmakers travel to El Salvador, demand information about gay Venezuelan asylum seeker
Congressman Robert Garcia led delegation

California Congressman Robert Garcia on Tuesday said the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador has agreed to ask the Salvadoran government about the well-being of a gay asylum seeker from Venezuela who remains incarcerated in the Central American country.
The Trump-Vance administration last month “forcibly removed” Andry Hernández Romero, a stylist who asked for asylum because of persecution he suffered because of his sexual orientation and political beliefs, and other Venezuelans from the U.S. and sent them to El Salvador.
The White House on Feb. 20 designated Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, as an “international terrorist organization.” President Donald Trump on March 15 invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which the Associated Press notes allows the U.S. to deport “noncitizens without any legal recourse.”
Garcia told the Washington Blade that he and three other lawmakers — U.S. Reps. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), and Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) — met with U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador William Duncan and embassy staffers in San Salvador, the Salvadoran capital.
“His lawyers haven’t heard from him since he was abducted during his asylum process,” said Garcia.
The gay California Democrat noted the embassy agreed to ask the Salvadoran government to “see how he (Hernández) is doing and to make sure he’s alive.”
“That’s important,” said Garcia. “They’ve agreed to that … we’re hopeful that we get some word, and that will be very comforting to his family and of course to his legal team.”

Garcia, Frost, Dexter, and Ansari traveled to El Salvador days after House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) denied their request to use committee funds for their trip.
“We went anyways,” said Garcia. “We’re not going to be intimidated by that.”
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on April 14 met with Trump at the White House. U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) three days later sat down with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who the Trump-Vance administration wrongfully deported to El Salvador on March 15.
Abrego was sent to the country’s Terrorism Confinement Center, a maximum-security prison known by the Spanish acronym CECOT. The Trump-Vance administration continues to defy a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ordered it to “facilitate” Abrego’s return to the U.S.
Garcia, Frost, Dexter, and Ansari in a letter they sent a letter to Duncan and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday demanded “access to” Hernández, who they note “may be imprisoned at” CECOT. A State Department spokesperson referred the Blade to the Salvadoran government in response to questions about “detainees” in the country.
Garcia said the majority of those in CECOT who the White House deported to El Salvador do not have criminal records.
“They can say what they want, but if they’re not presenting evidence, if a judge isn’t sending people, and these people have their due process, I just don’t understand how we have a country without due process,” he told the Blade. “It’s just the bedrock of our democracy.”

Garcia said he and Frost, Dexter, and Ansari spoke with embassy staff, Salvadoran journalists and human rights activists and “anyone else who would listen” about Hernández. The California Democrat noted he and his colleagues also highlighted Abrego’s case.
“He (Hernández) was accepted for his asylum claim,” said Garcia. “He (Hernández) signed up for the asylum process on an app that we created for this very purpose, and then you get snatched up and taken to a foreign prison. It is unacceptable and inhumane and cruel and so it’s important that we elevate his story and his case.”
The Blade asked Garcia why the Trump-Vance administration is deporting people to El Salvador without due process.
“I honestly believe that he (Trump) is a master of dehumanizing people, and he wants to continue his horrendous campaign to dehumanize migrants and scare the American public and lie to the American public,” said Garcia.
The State Department spokesperson in response to the Blade’s request for comment referenced spokesperson Tammy Bruce’s comments about Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador.
“These Congressional representatives would be better off focused on their own districts,” said the spokesperson. “Instead, they are concerned about non-U.S. citizens.”
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