See below for video and a few highlights from Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA10)’s latest town hall, Saturday afternoon in Fairfax County. As CSPAN describes it:
“Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) held a town hall at Bull Run Elementary School in Fairfax County where he answered questions from constituents on a variety of topics. He addressed federal funding cuts by the Trump administration as well as concerns over the Democratic Party’s plan to fight back against the president’s policies. He responded to contentious statements made by some attendees about his vote supporting the Laken Riley Act and his stance on the separation of church and state”
First, an excellent answer by Rep. Subramanyam on putting pressure on Trump:
“If you look at stuff that happens, stuff will happen and then three or four weeks later either the administration will admit it was a mistake or backed down a little bit and maybe reinstate some people. I’m not saying things are going well. Things are NOT going well. But I will say when we have actually put pressure on the administration, we have gotten some results – not enough, but we’ve gotten some results. I think that the energy is seen and heard, even in the halls of Capitol Hill…What I’d like to see in the House of Representatives is, we have slim margins, Republicans, even with the special election wins, only have a couple votes on us and they have at least three or four members in districts Donald Trump didn’t win. I would like to see them start to pull on our side. Right now there is no sort of incentive in their minds or really in the minds of any Republican to divert from the president. In fact, the incentive is to celebrate the president. We have a bill to put him on Mt. Rushmore. We have a bill to rename Dulles Airport Trump Airport – that’s a real bill…the birthday parade…We have a bill to make his birthday a federal holiday. These are real bills. The intent of them is to pander to the president and be in his good graces. I think the more pressure we put, the more they may feel like that’s not a good idea. And in the meantime, we have to use every tool at our disposal. We can’t be fearful. We can’t back down from a fight. I was a little disappointed by the CR and what the Senate did there. We have to use every bit of leverage we have to put them in a difficult spot. Maybe I fell short on some votes, but every committee hearing I have seen, done, and been in, I bring up all of the stuff we are talking about, even if it is not the subject of the hearing. Because I think it is important we continue to put pressure on. I know it is frustrating. I’m with you, but we have to keep fighting even if we don’t win every single fight.”
With regard to the Laken Riley Act, here’s what Rep. Subramanyman had to say:
“I want to tell you the difference between the Laken Riley Act and what is happening. Because at least the Laken Riley Act does give an immigration judge the ability to hear and let the person know what is going on. They are at least charged with a crime and at least know what the crime is and they at least have the opportunity to have a deportation proceeding. What is actually happening right now is there are people being picked up without even being told why they are being picked up. And they are being sent to El Salvador out of our jurisdiction where — the administration is telling people we can’t get them back…that’s completely different…
The concern that I have right now is two things. Even if you disagree with someone’s stance on an issue, to call them a threat to foreign affairs and our country because you disagree what they are saying, it is not right to detain somebody based on that issue. The people detained had green cards, they were here legally, a lot of people had TPS status for instance. And so, they are very different situations. We can still beat for the rule of law… for making sure there are consequences for crimes, but not do what is happening now, where there is absolutely no communication. We had a third grader in New York that was picked up and it detained and put in a prison, had no idea what was going on, he did nothing wrong. That is not that. I disagree with a lot of your premises, actually. We will agree to disagree on that. But I just don’t think that what is going on today in our country is anywhere near the goal of trying to at least make sure our communities are safe.”
I don’t really follow this. In fact, the criticism of the Laken Riley Act by other Democratic members of Congress from Virginia was basically – as Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) said, for instance – that “This bill denies due process, authorizing the mass detention of people who have been merely accused, not convicted, of even minor crimes.” Which is exactly correct! And as Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA04) said:
“…congressional Republicans seek to exploit Laken Riley’s tragic death as a means to pass this overreaching anti-immigrant legislation. Under current law, any undocumented immigrant arrested or convicted of a felony can be detained without bail and deported. This bill goes even farther to mandate detention and deportation of any undocumented immigrant merely charged with or arrested for certain crimes, even if charges are dropped or they are found not guilty. This bill clearly oversteps and undermines due process, paving the way for immigrants to be deported without regard to innocence or guilt.”
Bingo! So yeah, I agree with Reps. Connolly, McClellan, etc. – and not with Rep. Subramanyam – on this one.
Also interesting: Rep. Subramanyam was asked about taking money from AIPAC. He responded, “I have zero money taken from…AIPAC has not sent me any money…I’ve gotten far more money from people who oppose Israel…my vote is not bought in any sort of way, I vote based on my community, based on the facts, based on what’s best for our country…” That’s fine, but I checked Open Secrets, and they *do* list AIPAC as Rep. Subramanyam’s top contributor in 2023-2024, so…not sure what’s going on here. I also checked the FEC database, and AIPAC *is* listed there (e.g., $3,300 on 10/16/24, $1,000 on 11/5/24, $1,000 on 11/13/24, $1,250 on 9/18/24, $1,250 on 9/25/24, etc. Again…not sure, maybe Rep. Subramanyam is referring to something else, but it sure *look like” he got money from AIPAC (for the record, I strongly support Israel’s right to live in peace and security, but I’m not a fan of AIPAC, as I see them as having moved hard right over the years, allying with anti-democracy/hard-right politicians like Netanyahu, Trump, etc.). [UPDATE: maybe the contributions were “earmarked” through AIPAC, whatever that means exactly?]
Another interesting exchange was after a constitutent asked Rep. Subramanyam about fighting back *hard* against Trump:
“You are a first-time congressperson. You have a potential very nice political career ahead of you. What are you going to do with it? Are you going to make sure you keep it, above all else, or are you going to do whatever it takes, even if it means your career?” [APPLAUSE]
Rep. Subramanyam responded:
“I appreciate that. I do think we need to look at more creative ways…of how we’re going to push back and how we’re going to get things done. One of the reasons, for instance, DOGE has been an initiative, and maybe more popular, is that we could have done more to make the federal government work better for people. The federal government takes on a very difficult task. But there is more we could have done and more we can do still. That’s one example. But to your point, I feel like I’m playing with house money. There’s not very many Suhas Subramanyams in Congress. I feel like I’m lucky to even be here. And so I have tried to use the platform in a way I would have wanted somebody representing me to use it, which is to allow every citizen to have a voice and allow people to share their stories in a way where people around the country will listen…If there are things I can do better, please let me know…As soon as I start voting for self preservation, just get me out of here…”
Good to hear that he’s not about “self preservation,” although a lot of politicans *say* that, but then don’t follow through. Hopefully Rep. Subramanyam really means it. As for Democrats needing to push back hard against Trump, I was chatting recently with someone I respect greatly, a super-smart former Democratic Congressional staffer, and the individual was NOT impressed with Democrats’ pushback against Trump so far, didn’t think it’s been focused and forceful enough, with a clear enough message, etc. I agree. For instance, why on earth did a lot of Senate Democrats vote to confirm many of Trump’s dreadful Cabinet picks? Why are they not using EVERY legislative/procedure tool at their disposal to slow down/stop Trump’s agenda? Remember how Mitch McConnell acted when Barack Obama was president? I’m thinking something like *that*, except in this case there would actually be good reason to do so, unlike McConnell wanting Obama to “fail” simply for cynical, calculated political reasons…
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