Politics
Carney won’t say if Obama will push for gay inclusion in immigration bill
Proposal is ‘compromise,’ urges observers to allow process to play out
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney declined to say if Obama will push to include gay couples in immigration reform. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney refused to say on Wednesday whether President Obama would push to include a provision for bi-national gay couples as part of comprehensive immigration reform.
In response to a question from National Public Radio’s Ari Shapiro, Carney emphasized the immigration bill produced by a group of U.S. senators known as the “Gang of Eight” is a compromise and the result of bipartisan agreement.
“As the president said, this bill is clearly a compromise, and no one will get everything they want from it, including the president,” Carney said. “That’s the nature of compromise, but the bill is largely consistent with the principles he has laid out repeatedly.”
Still, Carney said the legislative process is ongoing and that “we will see” what changes are made to the legislation before it reaches the president’s desk.
“Have you ever seen a bill of this size go from inception to a president’s desk unaltered?” Carney said. “So, we’ll see where this goes. So, I don’t want to characterize any provision within it. I want to broadly make the point that the president made yesterday that it is consistent with his principles and that this is significant and important progress and the members of the ‘Gang of Eight’ should be commended for the progress they’ve made.”
The 844-page comprehensive measure lacks a provision along the lines of the Uniting American Families Act that would enable gay Americans to sponsor their same-sex partners for residency in the United States.
The president has included language for bi-national same-sex couples as part of his plan for the comprehensive immigration bill. Carney’s remarks are consistent with what Obama has said previously: that he doesn’t want to be “heavy handed” in telling Congress what should be included in the legislation.
LGBT advocates, who expressed disappointment that a provision for bi-national gay couples wasn’t included in the base bill, are pushing for an amendment in the Senate Judiciary Committee to include UAFA as part of the final legislation.
The exchange between Shapiro and Carney follows:
Ari Shapiro: I want to ask about the immigration bill. President Obama spoke positively about the compromise offered yesterday, which does not include citizenship for same-sex couples of different nationalities. Is that something the president will push for in a final bill, or is just the cost of compromise?
Jay Carney: The president did, as you know, meet with Sens. Schumer and McCain, who briefed him on the bipartisan immigration reform bill that they have drafted and has now been submitted. As the president said, this bill is clearly a compromise, and no one will get everything they want from it, including the president. That’s the nature of compromise, but the bill is largely consistent with the principles he has laid out repeatedly. It would strengthen security at our borders and hold employers more accountable, and it would provide a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million individuals who are already in this country illegally, and that is significant progress, as the president noted in his statement. This process will continue, we will work with lawmakers of both parties as the bill is considered, but it very important to note that this is a bipartisan bill that represents compromise and reflects and is consistent with the principles the president has long supported.”
Shapiro: Does that mean he’s willing to let that provision go?
Carney: I’m not going to negotiate out the process that will take some time in the Senate as this moves bill forward, or assess individual items within it. It certainly the case, as the president said in his statement, that not everything in the bill reflects how he would write it, but it broadly is consistent with his principles. And we will see — have you ever seen a bill of this size go from inception to a president’s desk unaltered? So, we’ll see where this goes. So, I don’t want to characterize any provision within it. I want to broadly make the point that the president made yesterday that it is consistent with his principles and that this is significant and important progress and the members of the “Gang of Eight” should be commended for the progress they’ve made. But we’re not there yet, and this is a big piece of business that requires broad bipartisan support. And much work remains to be done.
Watch the video here:
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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