LAST THREE WEEKS IN REVIEW

Good morning. I’m your Representative in Congress, and I write to keep you informed.

Zoom Town Hall with Rep. Joe Morelle: For the last year, constituents have been raising concerns about the integrity of the midterms. The president tried to steal the 2020 election and continues his baseless lies about fraud, against overwhelming evidence that American elections are secure. The president is also trying to suppress voter registration and nationalize elections. Paired with cynical gerrymandering efforts, the total effect is an assault on American election integrity through both word and deed.

I held a virtual town hall to discuss congressional efforts to secure the midterms. Joining me was Congressman Joe Morelle & his chief legal counsel. Congressman Morelle is the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, which has jurisdiction over election issues. Democrats on the Committee have been pursuing a three-part strategy over the last year: identify threats (now more than 150), determine the mitigating response for each, and then conduct a gap analysis between threat and response in order to mobilize both official and non-profit resources.

Some examples of threats & responses that we discussed during the town hall are below:

Threat: Deployment of ICE / National Guard to polling locations.

Response: This is already illegal & recent rulings from California have further weakened the plausibility of an order being ‘lawful.’ The Committee has been securing on-the-record commitments from military & federal law enforcement officials, including the Acting Attorney General, to reject unlawful orders and is also conducting briefings with state & local officials so they know the law & the response.

Threat: Cyberattacks on election infrastructure & deepfakes in campaigns.

Response: The collection and tabulation of votes is offline & analog. As it should remain! However, hackers could infiltrate secretaries of state's websites to display false tabulations; when the correct results are later reported, the public might be distrustful of a big swing. There is also concern about deepfakes of candidates being used to spread disinformation. Long-term action includes my bipartisan Deepfake Liability Act, as well as restoring the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency after it was DOGE'd. In the short-term for the midterms, the Committee has been working with secretaries of state, of both parties, on cyber-hardening measures.

Threat: Voter suppression through documentation laws & Postal Service politicization.

Response: Democrats have successfully fought off the president's attempts to get Congress to pass laws imposing unnecessary & absurd documentation requirements for citizens. Voter fraud is vanishingly rare in the United States. We will also prevent the Postal Service from refusing to mail ballots.

There are more examples, as well. In general, state & local election officials of both parties want to conduct the public trust of election administration with integrity. The House Committee on Administration is supporting them as best as possible, and is also working to inoculate the media and the public against lies about the conduct & competence of those officials and the elections they oversee.

Challenging Trump’s unlawful deployment of the National Guard in D.C. and ballroom construction: I recently joined congressional leaders in an amicus brief supporting the District of Columbia’s challenge to the president’s unlawful deployment of National Guard to police D.C., which not only violates the Home Rule Act, but also undermines the core tenets of federalism across the country. By setting a firm legal precedent now, Congress can add yet another bulwark against the president deploying the National Guard to potentially intimidate voters ahead of the midterms.

I also cosigned an amicus brief that argues that the president lacks the legal authority to demolish and rebuild the White House East Wing or construct a new ballroom without explicit congressional authorization and appropriations. Congress, not the president, controls federal property and has historically approved major White House construction projects. The brief supports ongoing litigation challenging the project and backs a court ruling that the construction likely exceeds presidential authority under existing law.

Speaking at Heatmap News’ Energy Entrepreneurship Event. Image: Invariant

Making the case for nuclear and geothermal energy: Heatmap News hosted me for a conversation on energy policy at their event for energy entrepreneurs. I highlighted how both nuclear and geothermal have bipartisan tailwinds in Congress, including through my own legislative initiatives. I particularly pointed to the opportunity for fission & fusion developers to build in India as well as America. For an industry that requires superb project engineering and economies of scale & scope, India is worth attention. The benefits to America will be not just faster & cheaper reactors, but also India tied to American clean energy technology, rather than Russian oil.

Attending Boston Tech Week: At a Boston Tech Week panel hosted by VIA in Somerville, I 'reverse-pitched' entrepreneurs in the audience on building maritime robotics companies in Massachusetts. The Bay State has all the elements to support a global hub for this growing industry:

 -  talented robotics + autonomy workforce
 -  cluster of contractors for the nuclear submarine fleet & other Naval assets
 -  deep maritime legacy, including Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution & the New Bedford Port

Over the next decade, both the public & private sectors in the United States are going to be deploying uncrewed systems into the sea to sense, surveil, sustain, swarm and/or strike. From Ireland's submarine cables to the South China Sea, our allies will need them, too. Southeastern New England will be competing against emerging clusters in Texas/Louisiana and San Diego to host the defining start-ups. The prize is jobs & economic development.

Thoughtful deployment of autonomous vehicles: Self-driving cars are here and they have big potential. For example, dedicated AV lanes could complement commuter rail, like buses do today. And levying the AV companies for deadheading & curb access could help reduce congestion and fund infrastructure beyond the insolvent Highway Trust Fund. However, AV deployment needs to be deliberate.

Draft legislation to reauthorize America's surface infrastructure funding green-lights autonomous passenger buses, without a requirement for a fallback safety driver. I do not think this is wise. In my meeting with the president of Fall River's Local 174, the transit union, I agreed that passenger & pedestrian safety & comfort is best served by requiring fallback drivers, who can also manage other passenger accommodations.

Do you support deployment of self-driving cars?

Promoting the Atlas of Innovation: I represent a smart & ambitious district. Have a big idea? Learn how you might get it off the ground with The Atlas of Innovation, which helps you navigate the universe of innovation-funding mechanisms.

Last week, the House finally passed a War Powers Resolution on the war in Iran. This bipartisan rebuke of the president’s expensive and illegal war of choice is the first step Congress must take in taking back the steering wheel of foreign policy. This war has been a strategic failure. All that Trump’s bombs have achieved is to make Americans’ gas more expensive. Through my vote and voice, I’m working to prevent a third forever war in the Middle East. You can read select excerpts from my recent interview with Bloomberg on the topic below:

Bloomberg: Obviously, you've been spoken for on this, and the question is, what happens now? Even if it passed the Senate, the President wouldn't sign it. Is this a symbolic move? How important is that symbol?

Rep. Auchincloss: It's important because it crystallizes the American public's opinion about what has been a disastrous war against Iran. This President started this war of choice without authorization, without consulting allies, without consulting Congress, without planning for contingencies, and the result has been a massive increase in the prices of food, of fuel, of travel upcoming this summer, and no material progress against his purported war aims: nuclear enrichment, missile capabilities, funding of proxy terror forces. And so, while it's true that this President would veto a War Powers Resolution, what this also exemplifies is that Congress is starting to wake up from its constitutional slumber and is going to take back the steering wheel of foreign policy before he starts a third quagmire in the Middle East.
…
Bloomberg: Is it disingenuous to be telling the families of people serving in harm's way that we are in a ceasefire when in fact we're shooting at each other every day?

Rep. Auchincloss: It's a lie. The United States is at war. And I find it so shameful, not just the administration's lies, but the complicity of congressional Republicans. And you hear them torture the logic. It's really quite something. They'll say, "Oh, well, they have 60 days, but then because there was a ceasefire, the clock actually restarts after those ceasefires." It's complete nonsense. This war was illegal on Day 1, not Day 61. On Day 1. And here's why: the president can launch hostilities in one of two circumstances. One is Congress says you can, and the second is an imminent threat to the security of the United States homeland. Neither of those contingencies existed when this president launched this war on Day 1. It was illegal on Day 1.

Defending the National Institutes of Health (NIH): I addressed patient advocates on Capitol Hill, first at the Pathway to Cures & Treatments for Rare Diseases conference and then with Massachusetts volunteers from the Alzheimer's Association. While there's a tremendous amount to discuss in disease R&D, from FDA leadership to clinical trials modernization, I focused on the NIH. After a year of attacks, Office of Management & Budget Director Russell Vought is launching his worst assault yet: changing the Uniform Grants Regulation to replace peer review with politics in the disbursement of science funding from the NIH.

Everyone who cares about science — for discovery, for jobs, for U.S. global leadership — should rally in opposition to this terrible proposal. I encouraged the leaders in attendance to join that opposition. Defenders of science have successfully fought off funding cuts to the NIH over the last year, and we can fight off this politics-over-peer review concept, too, but it's going to require a broad & sustained campaign.

Infectious disease oversight: Last week, I also joined colleagues in pressing the House Energy & Commerce Committee, on which I serve, to conduct oversight of top health officials on the response to the recent Ebola and Hantavirus outbreaks. We highlighted concerns with administration efforts to undermine the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Washington cannot protect the country from global health threats if it hollows out prevention & response resources for infectious diseases.

Meeting with Bay State medical leaders: Community behavioral health centers offer quick-turn, affordable treatment for Bay Staters with addiction or mental-health disorders. They divert crises from emergency rooms and law enforcement. Under the GOP's Medicaid cuts, the treatment model that is working in Massachusetts is at risk. 

I met with leaders of these behavioral health providers to discuss the way forward; we agreed that the upcoming Medicaid 1115 waiver, in which MassHealth will negotiate terms & conditions for health funding, delivery and innovation with Washington, is a critical opportunity for Massachusetts state & federal leaders to work together to protect patients and lower prices.

Touring medical facilities in the MA-4: Milford Regional Medical Center’s leadership welcomed me for a discussion & tour. We reviewed their integration into UMass Memorial Health, changes to hospital pharmacy pricing through the 340B program, and opportunities in the upcoming Medicaid 1115 waiver negotiation. 

I am particularly interested in how UMass Memorial is approaching hospital-at-home innovation, which could ultimately help lower costs & improve patient experience. It’s early days for both the technology and the policy, but Massachusetts should be at the forefront of both, and I’m impressed that UMass Memorial is experimenting. I’ve previously argued that the 1115 waiver is a chance to fund and scale these & similar efforts, and I’ll continue to stay engaged with state partners and federal Medicaid officials on the 1115 negotiations.

Discussing health premiums with local business leaders: Health premium inflation was my focus in a conversation with the Cranberry Country Chamber of Commerce in Lakeville. I spoke to the issue that I know is stressing both the public & private sectors as much as any other: perennial double-digit hikes in health insurance costs.

Health care is 20% of the U.S. economy: there's no silver bullet for a sector so big & complex. Every industry within the sector needs to be part of the solution. As a member of the Health subcommittee, I walked through some ways that I'm trying to reduce costs across the board:

 -  pharma: legislation to speed biosimilars to market so that expensive brand-biologics get more competition, faster. 
 -  hospitals: reform to the 340B hospital pharmacy program that raises premiums for employees & measured adoption of site neutral reimbursement policies.
 -  insurance companies: ending noxious prior authorization & co-pay policies, as well as rejecting the over-billing of Medicare Advantage
 -  state & federal gov'ts: establishing terms & conditions for thoughtful adoption of AI into diagnostic, decision, documentation, and care-delivery activities within the clinic

And more. Unless Congress gets serious about bending the cost curve in health care, more towns, businesses, and families will see revenues & wages eroded.

At Wood Elementary in Plainville: Ms. Devon Houghton, a fourth grade teacher at Wood Elementary in Plainville, received the National Teaching Award in January. A resident of Bellingham, Ms. Houghton is the daughter & niece of local teachers and has been teaching herself for 20 years.

I came to her classroom to present Ms. Houghton with a certificate and take questions from her students. They asked great ones! Then I asked the teacher a question — what has changed most since she began teaching?

Her answer: smartphones and social media undermining attention spans. I agree! I’m working hard on the policy that ensures our children are raised by adults, not algorithms.

With town officials and elementary students in Millville: Millville officials hosted me at town hall for a discussion on local infrastructure priorities. After supporting their efforts to address concerns about the elementary school's water supply, I wanted to hear what's next. Most urgently: a diesel generator. Also on deck: brownfield redevelopment on the Blackstone River and (potentially) a new well.

To celebrate the re-opened elementary school, my staff & I organized a scavenger hunt for third-and-fourth-graders at the vernal pool in the school's backyard. Students paired up to find different insects, plants, fungi, and birds on their bingo card. I explained to the students how the fun outdoors activity also relates to legislation I'm co-leading in Congress: America’s Living Library Act.

This bill envisions a project to collect, catalog, and sequence genomic information of animals, plants, fungi, and microbes on U.S. public lands (starting with National Parks). The effort would establish collections of the physical samples in addition to a public database for genomic data storage.

Talking shop in Seekonk: James Marzilli, Founder of Marzilli Machine, invited me onto his Raw Material podcast to discuss my legislation to build 1,000 trade schools across America, paid for with a levy on social media corporations' digital ads. There's a fracture in American life between digital dopamine, peddled by social media & online gambling firms, and IRL connection & community. Trade schools help us build IRL.

I shared with James three principles I would want to animate new trade schools: earn & learn programming where students alternate between instruction & paid apprenticeships; cooperation between employers, educators and government to establish & fund a contemporary curriculum, including by recruiting top-notch instructors with good pay; and an open door for lifelong learners who come mid-career.

As a trade-school graduate and machine-shop founder, James shared his insights about what works. I was particularly interested by his description of how an online curriculum can be paired with in-shop instruction to give students flexible access to excellent pedagogy. America needs to build 7 million homes, dozens of nuclear power plants, and more ships than the Chinese Navy. Trade schools are a big part of how we get there.

Helping restore a play-based childhood: I recently cosponsored H.R. 8757, the Promoting Childhood Independence and Resilience Act, which would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study and promote policies that protect parents who allow children to engage in reasonable independent activities, while clarifying that such activities alone do not constitute child neglect. It also encourages states to train child welfare workers accordingly and prevent unnecessary investigations or family separations based solely on age-appropriate childhood independence. We cannot restore an IRL play-based childhood if parents live in fear of being reprimanded for simply letting their kids walk to a park or ride a bike.

A farm where kids can play: Wojcik’s in Blackstone is a four-generation family farm. It’s also a great place for kids to play. I visited with Chip, the owner, and his family to learn about how farming has evolved in Massachusetts since the fifties. It's hard to compete in wholesale distribution for small farms, and many of them – like Wojcik's – have found success hosting events, recreation, and self-picking & on-site sales. Can't wait to see the corn maze this fall with my kids.

I recently cosponsored the Jewish American Security Act, a bill that would strengthen federal efforts to combat antisemitism across several key areas, including Title VI reform to address antisemitism on college campuses, a monetary allocation of $1 billion in security funding for houses of religious worship and holding social media platforms accountable for how they handle antisemitic content. I also spoke out about emerging extremism in America on CNN this week. You can read my remarks below:

Rep. Auchincloss: I think Jewish voters are increasingly alarmed by extremism that manifests in… both parties, candidly. You've got the Nick Fuenteses and the Tucker Carlsons in the Republican Party, and you've got individuals in the Democratic Party. And the commonality between those two factions has been where they mushroom, and that is on the social media platforms.

Traditionally, antisemitism has been a feature of failed societies… When societies have pathologies that go unaddressed, they tend to manifest as antisemitism and scapegoating of Jews. And social media is a failed society. Our online discussion has become so toxic that now it is starting to crystallize as antisemitic memes that go viral. And that, to me, is really the core underlying factor here. It's going to pop up in both parties with different hideous manifestations, but at the core of it, it is that on social media, whether it's TikTok or Meta or otherwise, antisemitism is viral.

Barney Frank’s Celebration of Life ceremony at Faneuil Hall. Photo: WBUR

The Pentagon pitched Barney Frank on funding for the B-2 stealth bomber, pointing out that it was undetectable by the enemy’s surveillance systems.

‘So why not just tell the Russians we have it and spend the money on something else?’ Congressman Frank responded.

This & many other anecdotes peppered a wonderful celebration of life for my predecessor representing the MA-4. Barney was beloved by my constituents, who elected him 16 times to work on issues ranging from marriage equality to financial regulation. He was voted by Republicans as both one of the fiercest partisans — a man who defended Democratic values — and one of the legislators they most enjoyed working with on bipartisan policy.

Chairman Frank, may your memory be a blessing.

Question: Jake, is there any effort in Congress to stop Trump from launching military action against Cuba, our closest neighbor to the south?

 - Gary from Milford

Answer: I believe the president intends to use economic pressure, primarily based on the oil blockade, rather than military action to effectuate change in Cuba, which has been immiserated by the current regime. Obviously, he’s impetuous – so that may change, which Congress should get ahead of. Furthermore, a blockade is itself an act of war that should require congressional approval.

Just as with Iran, Congress must legislate the parameters in which the president can operate regarding Cuba. The Republicans will not do so on Cuba, partly due to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s influence on his party on this issue. After the midterms, should Democrats take back the House & Senate, there is more potential for guardrails on Cuba.

You can submit a question for a future newsletter here. Please note that casework inquiries for federal agencies must be submitted to my website here. My casework team will respond to these in a timely manner. 

Onwards,

Jake