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Washington, D.C. — Today, President Donald Trump signed the FIRST STEP Act into law, following passage in the Senate and House with overwhelming bipartisan support. The bill would reform federal sentencing laws by allowing judges to sentence below mandatory minimums for a larger number of people and retroactively apply the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010,...
Washington, D.C. — This week, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) placed a hold on the reappointment of Chai Feldblum as a commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In response, Winnie Stachelberg, executive vice president for External Affairs at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement: As a distinguished scholar and public servant, Chai Feldblum...
Washington, D.C. — After failing to gut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the 2018 Farm Bill, the Trump administration announced today that it plans to circumvent Congress and unilaterally slash food assistance for struggling workers and families through administrative action. A new proposed rule the administration released today would dramatically weaken SNAP by...
Washington, D.C. — Michael Madowitz, economist at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement today after the Federal Reserve announced its decision to raise its benchmark interest rate a quarter-point: The Fed clearly telegraphed today's rate hike, so while its actions are no surprise, they are no less of a disappointment. In the Fed’s...
Washington, D.C. — Former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams is joining the Center for American Progress’ board of directors, the organization announced today. Abrams is an author, serial entrepreneur, nonprofit CEO, and political leader. Abrams served 11 years in the Georgia House of Representatives and seven as house minority leader. In 2018, she became the Democratic...
Washington, D.C. — Yesterday, the Senate passed the FIRST STEP Act by an 87-12 bipartisan vote. The bill would reform the federal criminal justice system by revising some sentencing laws and letting judges consider sentences below the mandatory minimum for more people. The legislation would also establish a system of programs to provide incarcerated people with...
Washington, D.C. — Today, the Center for American Progress released a new report analyzing the effectiveness and unintended consequences of hardening schools. Over the past few decades, mass shootings at American schools have prompted federal and state officials to increase investment in these products and services, propelling the industry to more than $2.7 billion in total sales annually....
Washington, D.C. — Oceans should play a bigger role in the global effort to address climate change and meet commitments put in place by the Paris Agreement, according to a new issue brief from the Center for American Progress. The analysis comes after last week’s agreement by nearly 200 nations at the 24th Conference of the...
Washington, D.C. — After defeating the Islamic State and losing the disputed Iraqi city of Kirkuk, Iraq’s Kurdistan region faces a hard won moment of calm and opportunity, according to a new report from the Center for American Progress. To seize that moment, the report recommends that Kurdistan Regional Government leaders shift gears after existential...
Washington, D.C. — Today, the Federal Commission on School Safety released a new report that purports to outline the best practices and policy recommendations for enhancing school safety. The body writing the report, which was established on the heels of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, largely ignored the role...
Washington, D.C. — Mercury emissions from power plants dropped by a stunning 81.7 percent from 2011 through 2017, according to a new analysis from the Center for American Progress that warns of the danger in rolling back critical emissions safeguards responsible for the decline. The sharp reduction has come since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the Mercury...
Washington, D.C. — Anonymous bank accounts, shell corporations, and front companies are all tools that foreign adversaries can use to execute anonymous financial transactions that facilitate attacks on free and fair democratic elections. A new report today from the Center for American Progress reveals how corporate opacity and Donald Trump’s business interests converged to forge channels that...
Washington, D.C. — Enrique Fernández-Toledo, director of the Puerto Rico Relief and Economic Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement urging Congress to provide additional fiscal year 2019 disaster assistance Nutritional Assistance Program (NAP) funds for Puerto Rico: Despite its limitations, the federal NAP is critical for Puerto Rican families—especially for children and the elderly, who...
Washington, D.C. — After President Donald Trump announced that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke would leave the administration at the end of the year, Christy Goldfuss, senior vice president of Energy and Environment Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement: In his short time at the Interior Department, Secretary Zinke used and...
Washington, D.C. — In June, the Trump administration announced that it would refuse to defend the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions from a lawsuit brought by 20 states. The lawsuit argues that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s repeal of the individual health insurance mandate should invalidate all—or as the administration argues, key parts—of the...