WASHINGTON — Every New Jersey Democrat has lined up in support of a brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject President Donald Trump’s bid to restrict absentee balloting.
They were among the lawmakers and former lawmakers — both Democrats and Republicans — who have asked the court to kill the U.S. Postal Service’s efforts to limit which Americans can receive mail-in ballots. The president has continually claimed without evidence that absentee balloting is rife with fraud, even though that’s how he votes.
New Jersey is one of the states involved in the lawsuit.
Both U.S. senators from New Jersey and eight of the state’s nine Democratic U.S. representatives signed onto the congressional brief. They were among the 261 lawmakers and former lawmakers who signed their names.
The ninth Democrat was Rep. Herb Conaway of Delanco, who supports the brief but didn’t know about it until it was too late to affix his signature.
“Congressman Conaway strongly opposes the Trump administration’s attempt to restrict Americans’ ability to vote by mail,” spokeswoman Laney O’Shea said. “The administration should not be interfering with Americans’ access to the ballot or usurping the constitutional authority of Congress and the states to administer federal elections.”
The past and present senators and representatives argue that under the Constitution, Congress has authority over elections, not the president. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from trying to restrict voting rights as he continues to falsely insist that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Courts have repeatedly rejected his efforts.
“Donald Trump is once again asking the highest court in the land to silence voters and destroy the precious integrity of the American electoral process,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), who helped lead the effort. “Mail-in voting is proven safe and secure, and Trump’s continued efforts to obstruct America’s free and fair elections are blatant, unconstitutional attempts at interfering with the November midterms.”
Democratic lawmakers return to Delaney Hall
Reps. Analilia Mejia (D-Glen Ridge), Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) and . Adriano Espaillat (D-New York) visited Delaney Hall, the controversial privately run immigrant detention center. Espaillat chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
The lawmakers said they were responding to repeated complaints about spoiled food, inadequate medical care, and the lack of air conditioning.
“Those held in Delaney Hall continue to be dangerously neglected,” the lawmakers said in a statement after the visit. “We met with individuals who detailed medical care being delayed or denied when people are sick or in pain, spoiled and unsafe food being served, and inadequate air conditioning leaving people to endure dangerous conditions. This is a federally funded failure of care and oversight.”
Pou wants air traffic controllers to fly the friendly skies
Rep. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) has joined other members of the House Transportation aviation subcommittee in introducing legislation to allow air traffic controllers to see pilots in action during actual flights.
The idea would let controllers learn first-hand how pilots operate, and how they interact with those at the other end of the radio.
“Giving controllers firsthand flight deck experience can help both sides better understand the challenges the other faces and so ultimately make our skies safer,” Pou said. She said the measure “represents a practical way to strengthen communication between the people most responsible for keeping American skies the safest on earth.”