Politics
White House mum on gay donors, Exxon Mobil
Earnest talks floor amendment for UAFA, but no update on ENDA executive order
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest had no comment on Friday when asked about gay donors expressing discontent with the Democratic Party or Exxon Mobil’s rejection of non-discrimination protections for LGBT workers.
Under questioning from the Washington Blade, Earnest said he doesn’t “want to react to” threats from gay Democratic donors who say they’ll no longer give funds in the wake of gay couples being excluded from immigration reform and the White House withholding an LGBT workplace discrimination executive order.
Instead, with respect to immigration reform, Earnest reiterated that the bill pending before the Senate doesn’t have everything Obama wants, including a provision for bi-national same-sex couples. The spokesperson suggested that provision may come up as a floor amendment to the immigration bill.
“And the priority that you’ve identified there is one of the things that the President is not getting — at least at this point, doesn’t look like he’ll get in this compromise,” Earnest said. “I do think that there is an amendment process on the Senate floor where this could be considered, so I don’t want to predict the outcome at this point. But what I can tell you is that this is something that — this is a compromise piece of legislation that’s moving forward.”
On the executive order for LGBT workplace non-discrimination protections, Earnest said he had no updates.
“I don’t have any updates for you in terms of any timing or any possible executive order, or whether anything is being drafted or anything else you might ask along those lines,” Earnest said.
Earlier this week, Jonathan Lewis, a progressive Miami, Fla., based philanthropist, told the Blade he would withhold donations to Democrats “until we see our friends’ actions and deeds align with their rhetoric.” In a subsequent article by Reuters, Juan Ahonen-Jover, another Florida-based philanthropist, said he’s not giving until “the Democratic Party starts acting like Democrats and show some spine.”
Earnest still had no comment about the directive when asked about the decision of shareholders at Exxon Mobil on Wednesday to reject a resolution that would have expanded its equal employment opportunity policy to include non-discrimination protections for LGBT workers.
“Look, I don’t have any update for you on the executive order front,” Earnest said.
In a leaked email obtained by the Blade, Democratic National Committee Chair Andrew Tobias said the rejection of the policy at Exxon Mobil may be the “hook” that puts the executive order “across the finish line.”
A transcript of the exchange follows:
Washington Blade: Thanks, Josh. This week, some prominent, gay Democratic Party donors publicly expressed discontent with the White House over not issuing that executive order against LGBT workplace discrimination and with Senate Democrats over the exclusion of gay couples from immigration reform. One donor, Jonathan Lewis, said he’s withholding donations to the Democratic Party “until we see our friends’ actions and deeds align with the rhetoric.” Are these threats from gay Democratic Party donors significant?
Josh Earnest: Well, I haven’t seen the threats, so I don’t want to react to them. But I’ll tell you that what we have said about the immigration compromise that’s moving through the Senate is that it broadly reflects the priorities that the President laid out, but the President is not getting every single thing that he wanted.
And the priority that you’ve identified there is one of the things that the President is not getting — at least at this point, doesn’t look like he’ll get in this compromise. I do think that there is an amendment process on the Senate floor where this could be considered, so I don’t want to predict the outcome at this point. But what I can tell you is that this is something that — this is a compromise piece of legislation that’s moving forward.
In terms of the executive order, I don’t have any updates for you in terms of any timing or any possible executive order, or whether anything is being drafted or anything else you might ask along those lines.
Blade: But I do want to put a fine point on that, because in an attempt to allay some of these concerns, DNC Treasurer, Andrew Tobias, said in an email to donors that was leaked to me that Exxon Mobil’s decision on Wednesday to reject a nondiscrimination policy towards LGBT workers may be a hook to push that executive order across the finish line. Does that company’s rejection of a nondiscrimination protection on Wednesday prompt any reconsideration at the White House about that directive?
Earnest: No, look, I don’t have any update for you on the executive order front.
Watch the video here:
Congress
Congress passes ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ with massive cuts to health insurance coverage
Roughly 1.8 million LGBTQ Americans rely on Medicaid
The “Big, Beautiful Bill” heads to President Donald Trump’s desk following the vote by the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday, which saw two nays from GOP members and unified opposition from the entire Democratic caucus.
To partially offset the cost of tax breaks that disproportionately favor the wealthy, the bill contains massive cuts to Medicaid and social safety net programs like food assistance for the poor while adding a projected $3.3 billion to the deficit.
Policy wise, the signature legislation of Trump’s second term rolls back clean energy tax credits passed under the Biden-Harris administration while beefing up funding for defense and border security.
Roughly 13 percent of LGBTQ adults in the U.S., about 1.8 million people, rely on Medicaid as their primary health insurer, compared to seven percent of non-LGBTQ adults, according to the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute think tank on sexual orientation and gender identities.
In total, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the cuts will cause more than 10 million Americans to lose their coverage under Medicaid and anywhere from three to five million to lose their care under Affordable Care Act marketplace plans.
A number of Republicans in the House and Senate opposed the bill reasoning that they might face political consequences for taking away access to healthcare for, particularly, low-income Americans who rely on Medicaid. Poorer voters flocked to Trump in last year’s presidential election, exit polls show.
A provision that would have blocked the use of federal funds to reimburse medical care for transgender youth was blocked by the Senate Parliamentarian and ultimately struck from the legislation — reportedly after the first trans member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) and the first lesbian U.S. senator, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), shored up unified opposition to the proposal among Congressional Democrats.
Congress
Ritchie Torres says he is unlikely to run for NY governor
One poll showed gay Democratic congressman nearly tied with Kathy Hochul
Gay Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York is unlikely to challenge New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in the state’s next gubernatorial race, he said during an appearance Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“I’m unlikely to run for governor,” he said. ““I feel like the assault that we’ve seen on the social safety net in the Bronx is so unprecedented. It’s so overwhelming that I’m going to keep my focus on Washington, D.C.”
Torres and Hochul were nearly tied in a poll this spring of likely Democratic voters in New York City, fueling speculation that the congressman might run. A Siena College poll, however, found Hochul leading with a wider margin.
Back in D.C., the congressman and his colleagues are unified in their opposition to President Donald Trump’s signature legislation, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which heads back to the House after passing the Senate by one vote this week.
To pay for tax cuts that disproportionately advantage the ultra-wealthy and large corporations, the president and Congressional Republicans have proposed massive cuts to Medicaid and other social programs.
A provision in the Senate version of the bill that would have blocked the use of federal funds to reimburse medical care for transgender youth was blocked by the Senate Parliamentarian and ultimately struck from the legislation, reportedly after pressure from transgender U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) and lesbian U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).
Torres on “Morning Joe” said, “The so-called Big Beautiful Bill represents a betrayal of the working people of America and nowhere more so than in the Bronx,” adding, “It’s going to destabilize every health care provider, every hospital.”
Congress
House Democrats oppose Bessent’s removal of SOGI from discrimination complaint forms
Congressional Equality Caucus sharply criticized move
A letter issued last week by a group of House Democrats objects to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s removal of sexual orientation and gender identity as bases for sex discrimination complaints in several Equal Employment Opportunity forms.
Bessent, who is gay, is the highest ranking openly LGBTQ official in American history and the second out Cabinet member next to Pete Buttigieg, who served as transportation secretary during the Biden-Harris administration.
The signatories to the letter include a few out members of Congress, Congressional Equality Caucus chair and co-chairs Mark Takano (Calif.), Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), and Becca Balint (Vt.), along with U.S. Reps. Nikema Williams (Ga.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill.), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Joyce Beatty (Ohio), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), and Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas).
The letter explains the “critical role” played by the EEO given the strictures and limits on how federal employees can find recourse for unlawful workplace discrimination — namely, without the ability to file complaints directly with the Employment Opportunity Commission or otherwise engage with the agency unless the complainant “appeal[s] an agency’s decision following the agency’s investigation or request[s] a hearing before an administrative judge.”
“Your attempt to remove ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation’ as bases for sex discrimination complaints in numerous Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) forms will create unnecessary hurdles to employees filing EEO complaints and undermine enforcement of federal employee’s nondiscrimination protections,” the members wrote in their letter.
They further explain the legal basis behind LGBTQ inclusive nondiscrimination protections for federal employees in the EEOC’s decisions in Macy v. Holder (2012) and Baldwin v. Foxx (2015) and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020).
“It appears that these changes may be an attempt by the department to dissuade employees from reporting gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination,” the lawmakers wrote. “Without forms clearly enumerating gender identity and sexual orientation as forms of sex discrimination, the average employee who experiences these forms of discrimination may see these forms and not realize that the discrimination they experienced was unlawful and something that they can report and seek recourse for.”
“A more alarming view would be that the department no longer plans to fulfill its legal obligations to investigate complaints of gender identity and sexual orientation and ensure its
employees are working in an environment free from these forms of discrimination,” they added.
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