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Is a discharge petition ‘the only way’ to pass ENDA?

Gay lawyer who authored McCain-Feingold thinks so

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Trevor Potter, gay news, Washington Blade

Gay McCain-Feingold co-author Trevor Potter says a discharge petition is “the only way” to pass ENDA. (Photo courtesy of Caplin & Drysdale via Wikimedia Commons).

The gay co-author of the bipartisan campaign finance reform law known as McCain-Feingold says LGBT advocates could take a lesson from the way that measure passed into law — a discharge petition in the U.S. House — to advance the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Trevor Potter, a Republican attorney with Caplin & Drysdale who specializes in political law, told the Washington Blade on Tuesday that a discharge petition is “the only way” to get ENDA passed while Republicans remain in control of the House.

“Given the House GOP leader’s opposition to ENDA, and resulting refusal to schedule it for a floor vote, the ONLY way to get it passed in the House is by way of a discharge petition,” Potter said via email. “If the petition gets close to 218 signatures, then the leadership will negotiate.”

Asked whether those words should be considered an endorsement of a discharge petition, Potter replied, “I’m not in the business of endorsing strategies — just commenting on them and analyzing them. I’m just a lawyer, not a political strategist.”

Successful discharge petitions in Congress in rare, but some supporters of ENDA — most prominently the LGBT group Freedom to Work — are seeking a discharge petition as a way to get around the issue of House Republican leadership  withholding a floor vote on ENDA.

If 218 lawmakers sign the petition, ENDA would come to the floor regardless of what House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) have to say. That would mean in addition to the 178 sponsors of ENDA, 40 more lawmakers would have to sign the petition in the Republican-majority chamber.

The last successful discharge petition was in 2002: the House version of campaign finance legislation co-written by Potter that became known as the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.

In addition to co-writing that law, Potter has a distinctive history as an openly gay person in support of McCain. He served as general counsel to the Arizona senator’s 2008 and 2000 presidential campaigns.

Asked whether he could see McCain voting in favor of ENDA, Potter declined to answer.

“Like all good lawyers, I don’t comment on my clients,” he said.

Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work, said supporters of ENDA should take heed of Potter’s words as they look to pass the bill during the 113th Congress.

“Mr. Potter is way too modest,” Almeida said. “I understand that he basically co-wrote the McCain-Feingold legislation and was an author of the strategy to move it through both chambers of Congress. I’m impressed with the way they used the House ‘discharge petition’ to bring about the win on that legislation, and we should learn from their success as we push forward this year on ENDA.”

Still, Almeida cautioned against considering a discharge petition the “only way” to pass ENDA in the House and said other options are on the table.

“I don’t think a discharge petition is the only winning strategy, we might also choose to attach ENDA to another bill in the Senate, but the House discharge petition should definitely be on the table after we rack up a huge Senate vote total on ENDA this fall,” Almeida said. “If we all push hard, we could get to 60 Senate votes by September.”

Other LGBT groups and lawmakers who support ENDA aren’t overtly calling at this point for a discharge petition amid preparations for a full floor vote in the Senate in the months ahead.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, spoke broadly about supporting the right strategy to pass the bill when asked about the discharge petition.

“NCTE is interested in pursuing every possible option at the right time in the right way,” Keisling said.

Stacey Long, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force director of public policy and government affairs, said the first matter at hand is success in the Senate before turning to the House.

“Our focus is building support for ENDA in the Senate and getting a floor vote done as soon as possible,”

Last week, Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said he didn’t know whether a discharge petition would be appropriate for ENDA.

“I think as we get closer and as we make progress in the Senate, we’ll see, as we get closer, what the right strategies will be ultimately to get this done and work with the leadership, and work with Leader Reid and Chairman Harkin, who have been instrumental, and Sen. Merkley, who have been instrumental in getting us to where we are today,” Griffin said.

During the Netroots Nation conference in San Jose, Calif., last month, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) entertained the idea of a discharge petition to pass ENDA, but doubted the votes are there for passage.

“We can do discharge, but we don’t have enough votes to pass it,” Pelosi said. “So that means we have to have mobilization outside from some of our Republican friends, who should think that this is a form of discrimination that we should be getting rid of. But this is certainly the next order of business for us.”

And in an interview with the Blade in November, Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), the gay lawmaker who’s the chief sponsor of ENDA in the House, said a discharge petition could be an option, but noted that legislation is rarely passed through that method.

“We can certainly file one,” Polis said. “Certainly in my time in Congress and long before it, there has never been a successful discharge petition … There certainly hasn’t been one in my time, or in the immediate past before my time.”

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Congress

House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban

‘Big Beautiful Bill’ now heads to the Senate

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U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael. Key)

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.

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Congress

Gerry Connolly dies at 75 after battle with esophageal cancer

Va. congressman fought for LGBTQ rights

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U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) speaks at a Barack Obama rally on Oct. 19, 2012. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

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.


 

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Congress

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill to criminalize gender affirming care advances

Judiciary Committee markup slated for Wednesday morning

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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

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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