Politics
Gov’t shutdown impacts HIV/AIDS programs, LGBT fed’l workers
Loss of oversight for Ryan White grants as 818,000 employees placed on furlough
As the shutdown begins, key programs related to HIV/AIDS are affected. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key).
The federal government shutdown is impacting certain services related to HIV/AIDS programs and LGBT federal employees are among hundreds of thousands furloughed on Tuesday.
The shutdown began at midnight on Tuesday after Congress failed to pass a budget that would continue funding the federal government after the start of fiscal year 2014.
The Republican-controlled House passed several resolutions that would continue to fund the government, but would also repeal portions of health care reform or delay its implementation. The Democratic-controlled Senate refused each proposal, stripping out the language related to the Affordable Care Act and insisting on legislation that would only fund the government.
Although certain federal government functions will continue, such as the U.S. Postal Service and programs related to national security, programs and offices that have closed include the National Park Service, the Environmental Protection Agency and housing vouchers from the Department of Housing & Urban Development, according to the Washington Post.
Key programs for people with HIV/AIDS are among the programs affected by the government shutdown. According to a shutdown plan from the Department of Health & Human Services, the cut off of federal funds means a loss of oversight for Ryan White AIDS Grants, a freeze in new medical research at the National Institutes of Health and no more updates for treatment and prevention recommendations for HIV at the Centers for Disease Control.
The guidance takes note of how the discontinuation of oversight from Health Resources & Services Administration will have a negative impact on programs related to Ryan White, which provides medication to low-income people with HIV/AIDS.
“Monitoring of Ryan White grants – particularly AIDS Drug Assistance Program Grants, Emergency Relief Grants and Comprehensive Care would be insufficient to assure states, cities and communities are complying with statutory guidance and necessary performance,” the guidance states.
Winnie Stachelberg, executive vice president for external affairs at the Center for American Progress, blamed the right-wing of the Republican Party for the negative impact on these HIV/AIDS programs.
“The Tea Party Republicans are playing irresponsible politics with men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS,” Stachelberg said.
Michael Cole-Schwartz, spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, said the situation for HIV/AIDS programs isn’t yet dire because they’re by-and-large grant funded and won’t face a loss of funds for some time.
“Many of the grants… are on an April 1-March 31 cycle and won’t be immediately impacted by the shutdown,” Cole-Schwartz said. “That said, there is uncertainty about the FY 14 funding levels and the impact this will have on grantees for the next grant cycle.”
Cole-Schwartz also said there are LGBT-related implications to the shutdown because furloughing may impact the enforcement efforts at the Justice Department for hate crimes and Title IX cases involving LGBT students.
Issues related to these programs under the government shutdown are basically the same as the ones they faced under sequestration, but magnified because the funding level has gone from significantly reduced to potentially zero.
It’s unclear when Congress will come to an agreement to continue funding for the government. House Republicans have proposed a conference committee to iron out the differences between the different versions of the legislation, which would likely mean some give on health care reform.
But Senate Democrats are refusing to conference and insisting the House pass a measure that funds the government. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said late Monday night, “We will not go to conference with a gun to our head.”
Gregory Angelo, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, declined to assign blame for the shutdown, but said a “compromise” is in order. His group had joined conservative organizations in calling health care reform “tyrannical.”
“Don’t think for an instant that anyone wanted a government shutdown,” Angelo said. “Whether the House GOP votes or Harry Reid’s stubbornness were prudent or not is immaterial at this point — the fact is we are in the midst of a shutdown that Democrats are as responsible for as Republicans. We hope it’s resolved soon with a compromise that gets this country back on track.”
Even though the government has shut down, the health care reform law that Republicans had sought to thwart became effective the same day other services stopped because funds to start it up were already appropriated. Open enrollment into health insurance exchanges began today as well as the Medicaid expansion for states that elected to participate. That’s significant because most people who receive HIV/AIDS medications through federal assistance get them through Medicaid.
Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, slammed Republicans for halting the government over a law that she said would afford significant help to LGBT Americans.
“This tantrum could end up costing our nation billions of dollars and will negatively affect the most marginalized in our society,” Carey said. “The truth is, the Affordable Care Act will help ensure access to health care for millions of Americans who are uninsured — including many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who desperately need it. Health care delayed is health care denied. And health care denied is putting lives in jeopardy.”
Meanwhile, LGBT workers are among the more than 818,000 federal workers estimated by the Wall Street Journal deemed “non-essential” and placed on furlough while the government is shut down.
Leonard Hirsch, president of the LGBT affinity group known as Federal GLOBE, said conservative denigration of federal workers and continual worries over funds and government shutdown has made work difficult to complete for all workers.
“We are all working to fulfill our mission for an effective administration of the laws of the land,” Hirsch said. “We worry about the lasting impacts on our economy and on our international standing. Having multiple years without real budgets, and discussion of yet another full year omnibus is destructive. It makes developing new initiatives difficult if not impossible.”
Shin Inouye, a White House spokesperson, is among the federal employees placed on furlough and was unable to answer questions about the government shutdown for the Washington Blade.
Robyn McCutcheon, president of Gays & Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies, or GLIFAA, said for the time being work for LGBT employees in the State Department continues, although there are limitations.
“We are given to understand that State has sufficient operating funds for these initial days and that all employees are expected to report to work as usual,” McCutcheon said. “There has been guidance that in the interim, there should be no new travel, no representational events, and so on.”
Still, McCutcheon said LGBT State Department employees worry the situation may change if Congress doesn’t come to a resolution about continued funding for the government.
“GLIFAA shares the concerns and worries of all government employees over what will happen should the shutdown continue,” McCutcheon 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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