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
House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban
‘Big Beautiful Bill’ now heads to the Senate
The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted 215-214 for passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” reconciliation package, which includes provisions that would prohibit the use of federal funds to support gender-affirming care.
But for an 11th hour revision of the bill late Wednesday night by conservative lawmakers, Medicaid and CHIP would have been restricted only from covering treatments and interventions administered to patients younger than 18.
The legislation would also drop requirements that some health insurers must cover gender-affirming care as an “essential health benefit” and force states that currently mandate such coverage to find it independently. Plans could still offer coverage for transgender care but without the EHB classification patients will likely pay higher out of pocket costs.
To offset the cost of extending tax cuts from 2017 that disproportionately benefited the wealthiest Americans, the reconciliation bill contains significant cuts to spending for federal programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Human Rights Campaign criticized House Republicans in a press release and statement by the group’s president, Kelley Robinson:
“People in this country want policies and solutions that make life better and expand access to the American Dream. Instead, anti-equality lawmakers voted to give handouts to billionaires built on the backs of hardworking people — with devastating consequences for the LGBTQ+ community.
“If the cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP or resources like Planned Parenthood clinics weren’t devastating enough, House Republicans added a last minute provision that expands its attacks on access to best practice health care to transgender adults.
“This cruel addition shows their priorities have never been about lowering costs or expanding health care access–but in targeting people simply for who they are. These lawmakers have abandoned their constituents, and as they head back to their districts, know this: they will hear from us.”
Senate Republicans are expected to pass the bill with the budget reconciliation process, which would allow them to bypass the filibuster and clear the spending package with a simple majority vote.
Changes are expected as the bill will be reviewed and amended by committees, particularly the Finance Committee, and then brought to the floor for debate — though modifications are expected to focus on Medicaid reductions and debate over state and local tax deductions.
Congress
Gerry Connolly dies at 75 after battle with esophageal cancer
Va. congressman fought for LGBTQ rights
Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia died on Wednesday, according to a statement from his family.
The 75-year-old lawmaker, who served in Congress since 2009, announced last month that he will not seek reelection and would step down from his role as the top Democrat on the powerful U.S. House Oversight Committee because his esophageal cancer had returned.
“We were fortunate to share Gerry with Northern Virginia for nearly 40 years because that was his joy, his purpose, and his passion,” his family said in their statement. “His absence will leave a hole in our hearts, but we are proud that his life’s work will endure for future generations.”
“He looked out for the disadvantaged and voiceless. He always stood up for what is right and just,” they said.
Connolly was memorialized in statements from colleagues and friends including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.), former President Joe Biden, and U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).
Several highlighted Connolly’s fierce advocacy on behalf of federal workers, who are well represented in his northern Virginia congressional district.
The congressman also supported LGBTQ rights throughout his life and career.
When running for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 1994, he fought the removal of Washington Blade newspapers from libraries. When running in 2008 for the U.S. house seat vacated by Tom Davis, a Republican, Connolly campaigned against the amendment to Virginia’s constitution banning same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state.
In Congress, he supported the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality, the Biden-Harris administration’s rescission of the anti-trans military ban, and the designation within the State Department of a special LGBTQ rights envoy. The congressman also was an original cosponsor of the Equality Act and co-sponsored legislation to repeal parts of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Congress
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill to criminalize gender affirming care advances
Judiciary Committee markup slated for Wednesday morning
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)’s “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” which would criminalize guideline-directed gender affirming health care for minors, will advance to markup in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning.
Doctors and providers who administer medical treatments for gender dysphoria to patients younger than 18, including hormones and puberty blockers, would be subject to Class 3 felony charges punishable by up to 10 years in prison if the legislation is enacted.
LGBTQ advocates warn conservative lawmakers want to go after families who travel out of state to obtain medical care for their transgender kids that is banned or restricted in the places where they reside, using legislation like Greene’s to expand federal jurisdiction over these decisions. They also point to the medically inaccurate way in which the bill characterizes evidence-based interventions delineated in standards of care for trans and gender diverse youth as “mutilation” or “chemical castration.”
Days into his second term, President Donald Trump signed “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” an executive order declaring that the U.S. would not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit” medical treatments and interventions intended for this purpose.
Greene, who has introduced the bill in years past, noted the president’s endorsement of her bill during his address to the joint session of Congress in March when he said “I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body.”
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