The Daily Reid: Whither the Censure Ten

What do we do when Democrats seem to join the other team

Good morning, friends! Trust you had an amazing weekend. I certainly did, and will soon be posting some of the best footage and photos from my weekend in the great state of Alabama, where I convened with the Birmingham Alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and then headed to Selma, for two incredible events, including a commemorative bridge crossing, celebrating the foot soldiers who put their bodies on the line on Edmund Pettus Bridge in March of 1965 — 60 years ago this past weekend — for the right of Black Americans to vote.

At the time of the bridge crossing in 1965, which became known as Bloody Sunday, with then SNCC activist John Lewis among those taking baton blows as they tried to march to the Alabama capital to demand the right to vote, it was southern Democrats who were the enemies of multiracial democracy, despite a Southern Democratic president sitting in the White House. Dixiecrats, as they were better known, had filibustered and hollered against civil rights advancement since ending reconstruction with the terroristic “redemption movement” starting in 1877, and in 1954 they launched a decade of “massive resistance” to the Supreme Court’s Brown v Board of Education decision calling for the desegregation of public schools.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 survived multiple Dixiecrat filibusters to pass but without voting rights — which would codify the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments — attached. But eventually, through a bipartisan vote of 328 to 74 in the Democratic supermajority House, and 47 northern Democrats and 30 Republicans in the Senate (with the 17 Dixiecrats — many of whom would switch parties and become Republicans after LBJ gave way to Nixon — and 2 Dixiecrats-turned-Republicans John Tower of Texas and Strom Thurmond of South Carolina voting “nay” plus four abstentions) the Voting Rights Act passed on May 26, 1965 and President Johnson signed it into law on August 6, 1965.

Al Green, who was born in New Orleans, was 18 years old in 1965. He would go on to attend Florida A&M, Howard University and the Tuskegee Institute, and while not receiving a degree, go on to Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in 1973. A member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, he was also a decade-long leader of the NAACP. From his congressional bio:

After graduating from law school, Congressman Al Green co-founded and co-managed the law firm of Green, Wilson, Dewberry, and Fitch. In 1977, he was appointed Justice of the Peace in Harris County, Texas, where he served for 26 years before retiring in 2004. Throughout his career, Congressman Al Green has enjoyed the respect of his colleagues as well as a wide cross-section of community leaders, who have praised his legal skills, impeccable character, and ability to work with people of diverse backgrounds.

For approximately ten years, Congressman Al Green served as president of the Houston Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Under his leadership, the organization grew to unprecedented heights, increasing membership from a few hundred to many thousands, and the staff from one to more than ten.

Green has called numerous times for Donald Trump’s impeachment — during his first term, and again last week. And to add to his biography, there is now this iconic moment, when Rep. Al Green, who shares his name with one of our greatest soul singers, did this:

Rep Al Green meeting history’s moment. Photo licensed from the Associated Press.

Given all of that history, we need to talk about those ten Democrats who while not being segregationists standing defiant in the face of historic change, sure seem to be missing the moment in the face of fascism’s rise in America.

On March 6th, ten Democrats sided with all 214 House Republicans to formally censure Representative Green for daring to take a stand, literally, and shout out and shake his cane in the air during Trump’s joint address. Representative Green cried out on behalf of the 72,058,701 Americans who depend on Medicaid (another 7,249,301 children are enrolled in CHIP; the Children’s Health Insurance Program) which Republicans are preparing to slash by $800 billion in order to make way for a $4 trillion permanent tax cut for billionaires and big corporations. Republicans are preparing to gut not just Medicaid, but potentially Medicare and Social Security, food stamps, Meals on Wheels, Head Start, and aid to American farmers through USAID and the foot stamp program, all at the behest of Donald Trump and his billionaire friends, while handing the richest, meanest, weirdest billionaire of them all, even more corporate welfare than he already gulps down, as he appears to be preparing to privatize everything from air traffic control to space exploration (sorry, NASA), effectively turning our federal government into just another arm of Elon’s empire. Let’s hope he runs the government’s most important safety agencies better than his electric car and rocket ship ventures, and super dodgy X-twitter.

Recommended reading: Paul Krugman says America is trapped in a burning Tesla

Representative Green stood against that rot. And the Censure Ten stood against him, in defense of … checks notes … “radical civility.” Uh-huh… Well I feel compelled to ask Rep. Bara this question: “radical civility” to who? Donald Trump … the most radically uncivil president we’ve had since the Andrews, Jackson and Johnson? A president who called Democrats “lunatics” and smeared Senator Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” from the dais of the House chamber??? A man his own current vice president once said “might be America’s Hitler” before joining the team? And who his own former generals, including his first chief of staff, called a Hitler admirer a fascist to his core? Civility to him??? Seriously??? Does the representative care to explain why, and what this civility would accomplish?

And given that Rep. Green shouted out for Medicaid, producing demonstrably uncivil behavior toward him by Republican House members, who hooted, sang “nah nah nah nah goodbye” and broke every form of decorum toward their fellow representative, and given the core incivility of slashing aid to the poor while giving aid and comfort to the rich, perhaps these ten Democrats ought to think, not just about how they will fare in the history books for choosing civility over justice, but also the impact that the gutting of Medicaid will have on their own districts. Let’s have a look, shall we? (And I’ve included some handy contact info in case you’d like to share your feedback with the members on their censure vote — remember to always be polite to the person on the phone. They didn’t take the vote, they just work there…)

Democratic Representatives and Medicaid Enrollment by District

1. Ed Case (Hawaii’s 1st District)
Medicaid Enrollment: Approximately 85,000 individuals
Source: Community Catalyst (2024)
Contact info:
Washington DC Office: (202) 225-2726
Honolulu Office: (808) 650-6688
Send an email: https://case.house.gov/contact/

2. Chrissy Houlahan (Pennsylvania’s 6th District)
Medicaid Enrollment: Approximately 60,000 individuals
Source: Congressional District Health Dashboard (2024)
Contact info:
Washington, DC Office: (202) 225-4315
West Chester District Office: (610) 883-5050
Reading District Office: (610) 295-0815
Send an email: https://houlahan.house.gov/contact/

3. Jim Himes (Connecticut’s 4th District)
Medicaid Enrollment: Approximately 70,000 individuals
Source: Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (2023)
Contact info:
Washington, D.C.: (202) 225-5541
Bridgeport, CT: (203)333-6600 or (866) 453-0028, Fax: (203) 333-6655
Stamford, CT: (203) 353-9400, Fax: (203) 323-1793
Send an email: https://himes.house.gov/email-me

4. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington’s 3rd District)
Medicaid Enrollment: Approximately 75,000 individuals
Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (2024)
Contact info:
Washington D.C. Office: (202) 225-3536
District Office: (360) 695-6292
Send an email: https://gluesenkampperez.house.gov/contact

5. Ami Bera (California’s 6th District)
Medicaid Enrollment: Approximately 330,100 individuals
Source: UC Berkeley (2025)
Contact info:
Washington, DC Office: (202) 225-5716, Fax: (202) 226-1298
Sacramento District Office: (916) 635-0505, Fax: (916) 635-0514
Send an email: https://bera.house.gov/contact/contactform.htm

6. Jared Moskowits (Florida’s 23rd District)
Medicaid Enrollment: Approximately 64,100 individuals
Source: Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (2023)
Contact info:
Washington D.C.: 202-225-3001
Coral Springs: 754-240-6330
Fort Lauderdale: 754-240-6330
Boca Raton: 754-240-6330
Send an email: https://moskowitz.house.gov/contact

7. Jim Costa (California’s 21 District)
Medicaid Enrollment: Approximately 330,107 individuals
Source: UC Berkeley (2024)
Contact info:
Washington DC: (202) 225-3341, Fax: (202) 225-9308
Fresno District Office: (559) 495-1620, Fax: (559) 495-1027
Visalia District Office: (559) 749-9330
Send an email: https://costa.house.gov/address_authentication?form=/contact/email-me

8. Laura Gillen (New York’s 4th District)
Medicaid Enrollment: Approximately 309,875 individuals
Source: New York State Department of Health (2024)
Contact info:
Washington, DC: (202) 225-5516
Garden City District Office: (516) 739-3008
Send an email: https://gillen.house.gov/address_authentication?form=/contact/email-me

9. Tom Suozzi (New York's 3rd District)
Medicaid Enrollment: Approximately 180,000 individuals
Source: New York State Department of Health (2024)
Contact info:
Washington D.C.: (202) 225-3335
Glen Cove District Office: (516) 861-1070
Douglaston District Office: (718) 631-0400
Send an email: https://suozzi.house.gov/address_authentication?form=/contact

10. Marcy Kaptur (Ohio’s 9th District)
Medicaid Enrollment: Approximately 125,300 individuals
Source: Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (2023)
Contact info:
Washington, DC: Phone: (202) 225-4146
Toledo District Office: (419) 259-7500
Send an email: https://kaptur.house.gov/address_authentication?form=/contact

Bottom line: if you’re voting to censure a fellow Democrat for standing up for the poor people in your own district, you’re doing it wrong.

The government is already shut down

Meanwhile, the next fight for House Democrats will be the continuing resolution to temporarily extend government funding, which is set for a vote on Friday. But the big question here is: what’s the point of Congress voting on government spending when Donald Trump has stripped Congress of that power and handed it to Elon Musk and the doge kids? If the executive branch doesn’t even respect congress’ authority, sorry … why should congress appropriate another dime for Elon and his child soldiers to decide how to spend?

And why should Democrats help out Speaker Johnson, the man who had a 77-year-old Black congressman escorted out of the House chamber like a criminal, in defense of the actual felon who is the president?

So far, opposition leader Jeffries is saying, nah. If you want to pass a budget gutting aid to the poor, the sick and the elderly, in the name of your orange Jesus and his very strange billionaire friend, do it yourself, Johnson.

Oh, and the budget slashes social programs that help ordinary Americans, while boosting … you guessed it … defense spending. I guess Republicans’ two dads need more coins to invade Canada, Panama, Gaza and Greenland.

The budget also demands $1.1 billion in budget cuts for the District of Columbia, one of America’s small number of remaining colonies (the others being Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which have no voting rights in Congress over their own budgets (their House representatives are non-voting members, and they have no Senators), and are therefore subject to the whims of whichever party controls congress. For D.C., the cuts will be devastating for everything from trash removal, to school funding, to the ability of the District to physically maintain itself and offer proper crime prevention and policing. The potential devastation feels deliberate and calculated.

The old Greyhound station in Montgomery, Alabama that currently serves as a civil rights museum is slated to be sold off by doge.

And I say that, because while all of this is going on, the doge gang are planning a fire sale of important pieces of Black history — starting with putting up for sale the bus station in Alabama where the yearlong Montgomery bus boycott began. The building is currently the home of the Freedom Rides Museum. From the Alabama Political Reporter:

The Montgomery Bus Station, the site where Freedom Riders were attacked by white supremacists in 1961, is owned by the federal government’s General Services Administration. As part of a nationwide cost cutting initiative undertaken by Musk and the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, a number of federally owned buildings have been listed for sale, including the bus terminal building.

An employee at the museum told APR on Wednesday that it wasn’t yet clear whether the building would be sold, and if so, what that meant for the museum, since no one from GSA had contacted the employees either before or after listing the property. The museum leases the building from GSA.

U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, whose district includes the historic station, said his office was actively working to get answers from GSA or other government officials on the status of the building.

“I know it is a building that absolutely should not be sold,” Figures said. “The historical significance of that building is a big reason I’m able to sit in this seat (in Congress). The Civil Right Movement was the greatest, most consequential social movement in the history of the country. These landmarks should be protected. That they’re not is very troubling.”

The actual status of the Bus Station building, along with pretty much all GSA-owned properties, is anyone’s guess at this point. It is assumed that the properties are for sale, because they appeared for a short time on a website listing created by GSA of federal properties for sale. That list was later cut down by GSA, and then it disappeared altogether on Wednesday.

A map of the GSA-listed properties was created by the online news site “Wired,” utilizing the lists that were published on the agency’s website and later removed. Those lists showed hundreds of government buildings for sale, including other historic and significant buildings, such as the J. Edgar Hoover Building, which houses the FBI. Wired reported earlier this year that employees within GSA were instructed by DOGE to sell off more than 500 total properties operated by the federal government.

While I was in Selma I also heard that the doge gang may be looking to remove the markers along the 54-mile stretch of highway that leads from the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma to Montgomery, where the 1965 march and encampments took place.

The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail was established as a National Park Service site by Congress in 1996, to commemorate the 54-mile peaceful march from Selma, Alabama to the state Capitol in Montgomery in March 1965.

The National Parks Service, which is currently in the process of being gutted by the doge gang, also owns the former residence of Medgar and Myrlie Evers, and other historic properties on the national register of historic places. It wouldn’t surprise me if the same goons who are salivating for Derrick Chauvin to get a federal pardon will call on the doge gang to hawk them all, so that these places are forgotten by history, the same way they are seeking to wipe Black, women’s and LGBTQ history and anything referring to climate change off of the government’s online memory — Soviet style — from the National Parks Service, to NASA to the U.S. military, and more. (Here’s a good, non-delimited list of all the agencies that are wiping the memory of non-white male Americans off the Web.)

Unpardonable men and retail stores

By the way, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who played a key role in getting justice for George Floyd and his family, had this response to Ben Shapiro and Elon Musk’s call for Chauvin to get a Trump Jan 6-style blessing:

"I hope that Donald Trump has enough humanity to recognize that releasing Derek Chauvin would cause untold injury to George Floyd's family and the many, many people who feel vulnerable because they share experiences like the one George Floyd experienced," Ellison said.

Hope is always good, but realism is often wiser.

And Ellison has noted that with Chauvin having been sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison for state charges related to George Floyd’s murder, on top of 21 years in federal prison for depriving Floyd of his civil rights, pardoning him would only “free” him to spend the next two decades in Minnesota state prison. Note that the governor of Minnesota is one Tim Walz, and he ain’t pardoning that man. And Trump may have been given monarchal powers by Chief Justice John Roberts and the Republican Party, but his monarchy does not extend to state powers. State’s rights, baby.

Speaking of Minnesota, the state also happens to be the headquarters of a company called Target, which over a week now has been the subject of a boycott call, led by pastor Jamal Bryant, who recently announced a 40-day “Target fast,” which has already signed up more than 143,000 supporters and counting. And while Target is projecting calm, claiming its share price drop is due to Trump’s tariff threats, social media is alive with video of half empty Target stores, and Black amateur activists warning shoppers away, due to the company’s insistence on kneeling to Trump by dumping DEI. Also interesting that according to Rev. Bryant, to try and stop the boycott, the company offered to have him speak with their chief equity officer — an odd choice, given that it’s not clear she will still have a job in a week with this and other companies dropping to one knee faster than a Game of Thrones character from a conquered kingdom — rather than CEO Brian Cornell. That kind of disrespect is no way to get out of a jam, fellas — not when Black folks are feeling the 1965 energy in a big way.

Political and civil rights leaders gather in Selma to commemorate Bloody Sunday, March 9, 2025

Medgar Evers said: don’t shop where they won’t hire or respect you. Rev. Bryant has taken up that mantle, and support is growing. Get your Easter outfits and supplies elsewhere, fam.

Get more info on the Target Fast here, including the list of demands on Target to end the boycott, and a redirect to Black-owned businesses that folks can shop with instead.

Have a blessed day!