In the News
As the Supreme Court swings further to the right and Joe Biden contemplates structural changes if he wins the presidency, a Bay Area congressman has introduced legislation that would expand the court and set term limits for new justices, without amending the Constitution.
"The Supreme Court was designed to be the final chapter in a distinguished jurist's career, not a partisan battle to see who can appoint the youngest, most ideological judge to sit on the bench for the next four decades," Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Santa Clara, said Wednesday.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced legislation this week in the House to make a massive $900 billion investment in science and technology to expand Silicon Valley jobs to America's heartland and to ensure the United States retains its technological edge over China.
Khanna shared his vision for the legislation back in May for Fox News' Big Idea segment on how to create regional tech hubs that could spur jobs, education and innovation in rural America and minority communities throughout the United States.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and several other House Democrats introduced legislation on Tuesday to invest in and train a technologically proficient workforce for the future.
The 21st Century Jobs Act would invest $900 billion over ten years in research and development efforts around emerging technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and biotechnology, along with prioritizing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.
A congressman representing Silicon Valley is proposing the creation of a federal agency and a new workforce-focused set-aside for federal contracting as part of a plan to invest in technology education and job opportunities in rural areas.
On Tuesday, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced the 21st Century Jobs Package, which includes several provisions that would directly affect federal agencies, such as the creation of a new agency: the Federal Institute of Technology, or FIT.
More than 100 Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives, largely progressives, are calling on congressional leaders to take steps to prepare the United States for the next pandemic and mitigate racial disparities in U.S. health care.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., spearheaded a letter sent to the top Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate on Thursday calling on them to "lay the groundwork to prevent and mitigate future pandemics."
Rep. Ro Khanna has one message for politicians who continue to suggest technology companies should give law enforcement agencies access to encrypted data: This is a power grab.
Egypt's authoritarian regime has jailed thousands of political opponents, human rights activists and pro-democracy lawyers, often on flimsy or trumped-up charges. That has triggered widespread condemnation, yet the jailings have continued.
Now congressional Democrats are signaling to Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi that human rights abuses will not be tolerated if Joe Biden wins the presidency next month.
Last Friday, the Trump administration offered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a $1.8 trillion stimulus deal, which she promptly rejected. It's $400 billion smaller than the House Democrats' plan and probably wouldn't pass the GOP-controlled Senate. A handful of Democrats are calling on Pelosi to take it anyway, and dare Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to be the one to kill it. Now, Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are back on the phone, and reportedly inching closer to an agreement.
Supreme Court justices are not answerable to the people of the United States. Nominated by partisan executives and confirmed by partisan legislators, justices join a largely unaccountable third branch of the federal government that has in the past seized opportunities to overturn popular legislation enacted to protect voting rights and women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and labor rights, and that could in short order undermine the protections outlined in the Affordable Care Act.
House Democrats plan to introduce a bill next week that would limit US Supreme Court justices' lifetime appointments to 18 years, a largely symbolic response to the high-stakes battle in Congress over the Supreme Court vacancy left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.