no illusion that sending me to primrose would help and i could get something out of it if i tried and this is a testament that i got something. i came home to a world where it night feel overwhelming and like it's absolutely hard to make a way to hurt somebody in the past. also came to the radical change shifting and creating more and more opportunities for people to reflect in ways which they've changed and going to be welcomed back inside of what i like to think the beloved community. >> listen to q&a and all the broadcasts on the free cspan now app.

>> democracy this is your government of work. giving you your democracy unfiltered. >> members held aws news conference on capitol hill and speaking out about the freezing and how it impacts women and california congresswoman judy chu shared how she and glenn moore walked into speaker johnson's own office going with answer of elonsw musk's access o the treasury department payment system.

>> good morning. our chair couldn't be here because her brother unfortunately suffered a heart attack and passed away this week. teresa rushed to his side. the women in the country are disproportionately the caretakers and tenders of the family and that's what our chair ist doing right now for her family. i'm representing michigan's third congressional district in the house of represents and first woman and mother in west michigan history to represent our community and our part of the country in congress. it is such an honor to stand for community at this particular time when the rights of i stand

with incredible leaders for them and for the past few weeks women and families across america have bourn the brunt of chaotic start to president trump and president trump along with elon muskhelp

families have access to child care they need. just little over a week ago, every single medicaid portal in this country was shut down. republicans did that. and republicans in congress are doing nothingng to stop this chaos. they bear the responsibility of what's happening and the democratic members are here to tell our neighbors back home and across the country we are united in our fight for you and your families here in congress. make one thing crystal clear, the chaos of this administration does nothing to help women and working families across the country. they think by freezing federal funding and seizing independent agencies, taking money that was democratically allocated through

congress to help working families that they're going to somehow help working families. they will distract us from the fact that they're nominating cabinet picks that believe women don't belong in the work force, in voting booths, or military uniforms but we're paying attention and wee see them and we're calling out the injustice. these actions come at a real cost to women and families. president ...

our workforce and at large. is one county within ouru entire. think of the scale of the damag of caused mind-boggling. women c children, women in this country deserve better. we'll better. to protecting our rights to drive. to help them navigate republican majority in accountable for sitting idly by while the leader of theof party attack this is te help american families stay healthy and happy. is a reason t bringing these policies through

congress. they wouldn't pass. they are unpopular with the american people. they would not allow their democratically elected representatives to vote for them. as the first woman and mother to represent my distr to represent my district, i know too well is across the country might be. i can't imagine who would talk your gross one day. fighting for you. it is now my honor to introduce congresswoman lois frankel, share emerita of the democratic women's caucus. thank you. ms. frankel: hello. lois frankel. i'm a member of congress from palm beach county, most importantly and first, i am the

mother of a united states marine war veteran who fought in two wars. the joyful grandmother of two little boys. and blessedly the daughter of a 99-year-old mother. what i'm going to talk about will affect them deeply. hillary, thanks to your leadership olleags here, sadly and alarmingly, the disregard for women's rights and dangerous policies targeting women do not stop at our borders. just days after taking office, donald trump signed a series of executive orders that have not reversed to lead to devastating consequences for women and their families around the world. let me tell you, it's going to affect us, too. his foreign aid funding freeze has cut off funding for family planned services at 46 million women around the globe rely on. his reinstatement of the global gag rule has silenced doctors and nurses and health care workers.

barring them from giving patients truthful information. and deep cuts to the usaid workers now 14,000 to now less than 300 proposed. it's shocking, really. it's going to sideline programs all over the world that provide women and girls with access to education, to economic opportunity, that it's going to halt the anti-traffic efforts, and all this is being done without the consent of congress led by an unelected billionaire. what's this going to do? it's going to result in fewer health clinics, more preventable deaths, more spread of disease, poverty, despair, when i think about it millions of women are going to see their children starve to death. but the facts are undeniable. when we empower women, entire communities thrive. no woman, no matter where she lives, no matter where she lives, she'll be denied the ability to make her own health

care decisions and denied access to the jobs and the education she needs to feed her children, and at a time when the women around the world are facing unprecedented threats, especially in conflict areas where sexual assault has become a weapon of war, this is the last thing we should be doing is cut off their services. listen, these policies, they don't just cost lives abroad, they put us all at risk. global health programs prevents the next deadly outbreak in our shores. poverty and desperation fuel instability and terrorism that threaten our security. and when we leave the world stage, it gives it to russia and china. let's be clear. these anti-women's draconian policies do nothing to lower the costs for american families. they don't make health care more affordable here. they don't create jobs or strengthen our economy. instead, they weaken our global

standing, undermining lifesaving programs, endangering women and girls without making life better for one person in this country. and in fact, endangering everybody. i'll just conclude by saying something that we all know and we all believe, and i believe the american people know this. that when women succeed, families and communities succeed. and the world succeeds. with that i turn it back over to shontel brown. ms. brown: thanks. good morning, everyone. i'm congresswoman shontel brown of ohio's 119 quongal district. i want to let folks know i am the daughter of parents who are seniors. the proud aunt of six, great aunt of two. my siblings, one has a childcare center and one is an aspiring

entrepreneur, but also a labor union worker. i say all that because i think it's important to know who we are and how these policies are impacting people across the country. i am proud to be here with my women's caucus colleagues to call out donald trump and elon musk and their all out assault on women and families across america. so what's really going on here? they claim that all of this chaos and confusion is about finding waste, fraud, and abuse. elon musk isn't finding waste, he's blocking spending he doesn't personally agree with. elon musk isn't finding fraud, he is recklessly assessing sensitive payment systems and our personal data. elon musk isn't finding abuse, he's blatantly breaking laws with no transparency or

accountability. dare i would say he is acting out abuse. so this really isn't about waste, fraud, and abuse, is it? how do i know for sure? well, i'm glad you asked. because when we tried to subpoena musk this week, republicans on the oversight committee blocked it. now, why don't they want to us hear about all the great things he's doing? because this is a power grab. i'm especially worried about what it means for communities like mine. in my district 21%, that's one in five, 21% of people live below the poverty line, including 30% of children. but it's not just them. it's hardworking families, single moms and seniors who are struggling to keep up with rising costs. these are people who will be hurt the most if republicans slash programs to keep up with rising costs. these are the people who will be hurt the most. they don't see medicaid and medicare as waste, they seem

them as lifelines. they don't see funding for early childhood education and kids with disabilities as fraud, they see them as essential. and they don't see meal programs like snap and school lunches as abuse. they see them as a hand up. but it's not just about the big safety net programs. last week, i visited the cleveland rape crisis center, in a neighborhood that's 90% black. this center has long received federal funds to protect survivors, including victims of human trafficking. so the center has made sure their services can be responsive to their needs as well as the needs of human trafficking survivors. what's going to happen to their funding? these are real people we are talking about. rest assured, the women you see here, we are going to fight this agenda, bill by bill, amendment by amendment, order by order to stop republicans from cutting

taxes for the reach, while sticking it to working families and women and children to pay the bill. and i'm going to keep fighting for northeast ohio in places -- and places just like it. with that i'd like to thank theresa for organizing this again, and i'd like to turn it over to our d.w.c. policy task force co-chair from the -- the gentlelady from north carolina, ms. ross. ms. ross: thank you, shontel. congresswoman deborah ross from the second congressional district in north carolina. the proud daughter of two parents in their 80's who are doing well now but boy, i -- my heart goes out to people who are providing that care giving to their parents. and i have six nieces and nephews under the age of 30. and when gi to work every day, it's my job to take care of their -- i go to work every day,

it's my job to take care of their fuhr. when donald trump was president a candidate for president. he talked about lowering prices over and over and over again. now that he's actually in office, trump is doing anything, he is doing nothing to cut costs for american families. in fact, he's doing the opposite. he even admitted that his tariff plan would cause some pain. he's right about the pain. but he's wrong about how much. trump was forced to back down and he's been backing down a lot lately because we have kept the pressure on. he backed down at the last minute with canada and mexico. but the fight is far from over. trump's war on our closest trading partners threatens to raise the cost of household basics for every american family. trump cares about his bank

account, not yours. he's focused on his family grievances, but not your family's grocery bills. the trump administration could ensure that every child in this country has a healthy lunch and a positive learning environment. instead, they are working to illegally shutter the department of education. they could expand access to health insurance, instead trump and his buddies in congress are trying to cut funding for medicaid and the children's health insurance program. threatening lifesaving care for millions of children and families. they could make supporting and protecting vulnerable women a priority, but instead, they try to freeze funding for women shelters and survivors of abuse in my home state of north carolina. in short, they have done almost nothing to promote the security and well-being of american women

and families. while initiating power grabs to make things more difficult for all of our working people. but i didn't come here just to talk about donald trump and elon musk. i'm here because democrats and particularly the democratic women's caucus, are fighting for the economy and fighting for one that works for women and families. we are fighting to protect medicaid so that every woman and child has quality health insurance and seniors can have nursing home care. we are pushing to increase our investments in quality affordable childcare so that every child has a chance to succeed. we are working hard for policy that is will ensure that women earn a fair wage, workers have access to paid family leave, and that parents can afford childcare. we are willing to work with anyone, especially our

republican female counterparts, to improve the lives of women in america. but that is not what this administration has done in its first two weeks. thank you again to chair leger fernandez for your leadership. we are carrying the torch for you today. and i want to make one thing clear as i close. to the women across america, we are understandably anxious, all of us. we don't know what the future holds. but the house democratic women's caucus will not abandon you. we will fight for you. we will listen to you. we will tell your stories. and we will not be silent when the president and his rich friends move to take our country backward. now i am thrilled to introduce our whip, nikema williams from the great state of georgia.

ms. williams: good morning, everyone. it's ok to say good morning, i'm southern, you all. we need call and response here. i am congresswoman nikema williams. i proudly represent georgia's fighting fifth congressional district. i have the feeling for the next four years we are going to be doing a lot of fighting here for the women and families we represent across this country. i also am proud to serve as the chief chip of the democratic women's caucus. first of all it's been a long 19 days. it's hard to imagine that it's only been 19 days. but every day, every woman up here and every woman of the democratic women's caucus has taken on this fight to stand up for the women and families in this country. but we have taken on fights long before and i know that this won't be our last. the trump administration is attacking us at every opportunity. just two days ago, the unconstitutional, not congressly

appropriatated doge, took on an unprompted and illegal field trip to the c.d.c. a public health organization that is centered in my district. in the midst of their attack on our constitution, they are attacking our public health institutions. my office is getting hundreds of calls from constituents worried about these fundamental health centers like the centers for disease control and prevention, the n.i.h., and so many others. i heard from one constituent that she is afraid that her son will literally die because of elon musk's attempt to take over medicaid funds. she called the office in tears because she didn't know what would happen if her son, who receives s.s.i. and medicaid, is not able to continue to get the lifesaving treatments that he gets every month. i have even received reports that maternal and child health centers of excellence across the country have received letters to cease and desist all activities. imagine that. in the midst of the maternal health crisis in this country,

and in particular my home state of georgia where we continually rank 50th out of every state, they are trying to close frontline support centers. you all, georgia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in this country. with black women being three times more likely to die from pregnancy related complications than any of our counterparts. this administration is send ago loud and clear message, they want to take away our reproductive freedoms, and even more than they already have, they don't care how it affects our health or our lives. they have removed reproductive health resources from the health and human services webpage, and trump pardoned people who had illegally blockade add reproductive health clinic, telling america it's ok to harass people seeking the care that they need and deserve. and they have supported legislation that will prosecute health care workers for providing vital treatment to mothers.

all, i worked for planned parenthood for over a decade before i came to congress. and it's the stories and experiences of the women that i served during that time that i carry with me each and every day. and those conversations guide my work as a member of congress. as we see an assault on all forms of reproductive freedom, the need for full and equitable access to contraception is at an all time high. that's why i'm proud to co-lead the right to contraception act we just introduced this week. until congress passes legislation, protecting access to contraception, our work is not done. the power to make decisions about our health, our bodies, and our futures must be ours, and ours alone. not donald trump's and definitely not an unelected billionaire like elon musk. without the interference of any politician, especially those unelected. and now i am proud to turn it over to one of the newest members of the democratic women's caucus who is in the

sphiet with us, representative april mclean delaney. miss delaney, good morning. thank you for being here today. as we stand up for women and families in the face of these unconstitutional mean-spirited and corrosive attacks on our government agencies, our experience federal workforce on vital food security and health programs for families. and most importantly on esteemed clinical research programs, including cutting-edged cancer research, medical trials, and those impacting women's health. it is my honor to represent maryland's sixth district and to be here with these incredible women. i am a new women of congress, but will i say i'm the mother of four daughters, 31 to 17. and a brand new grand mama, one month old baby charlie. that is the reason why i ran for congress. for their future and for their health and well-being.

i am on the science, space, and technology committee, but aim also -- live in maryland. and maryland is home to some of the world's most esteemed research institutions in the world, including nist our nation's jewel in research tech and innovation policy. national institute of health, n.i.h., and national cancer institute, as well as fort detrick and noaa. the work of these institutions and their highly trained government funded scientist, engineers, and doctors result in medical breakthroughs which save lives and further technical innovation, which by the way contributes to u.s. competitiveness and national security. but this administration whether it be trump or elon musk or doge has engaged in nonsensical and partisan budget attacks, which will cut short all of this. and hurt not only the health of women and families, but also our u.s. businesses, which actually

depend on basic research which is and truly only can be done by federal funding. let's just humanize this. why is federal funding of this research so very, very important? a few miles away from here is n.i.h., and the esteemed national cancer institute. the world's largest funded biomedical and behavioral science institution. these institutions have saved millions of americans' lives, and they will continue to do so. just a few things, for the women here, the most common cancer is breast cancer. 300,000 women are diagnosed each year with this disease. these women have the highest chance of survival due to a lot of clinical research was first pioneered at n.i.h. n.i.h. is known for their incredible work on immune therapy and blood cancers. and in fact in my district there

is one capitalizing on that and has t-cell therapy, which is revolutionary across the world. giving the best of public and private together. but trump's proposed cuts threaten this research and current medical trials n fact i heard from a constituent about a young mother who is about to undergo medical trials and the freezing of these funds, unfortunately, jeopardize that. she was in tears. that's just mean. but moreover, let's just do two more things. cervical cancer impacts 11,000 women every year. in the late 1990's, n.i.h. and n.i.c. sound the cancer causing agent gene, and was able in h.p.v. virus find that and actually help in developing a vaccine which now has cut h.p.v. infections by 64%. that's incredible, isn't it? it really impacts my daughters and those moving forward.

then let's talk about heart disease. heart disease is the leading killer in this country. it's the leading cause of death in the u.s. and february is heart month. my own mother died of a heart attack five years ago. and f.y. 2023n.i.h. dedicated $2.88 billion to cardiovascular research to move the needle on this disease and how many more women and daughters are helped? you see, research saves lives. not only here, but across the world. in closing i want to say yesterday as i was watching tv i saw a white house press secretary speak to doge and increasing efficiency of government. and how it should operate more like a business. i beg to differ. there are things called public and private partnerships. but the public sector, government is not a business. it is supposed to focus on the health and well-being of our citizens. and to further their prosperity

and health. our federal government and its trained highly experienced decades of experience civil servants do things that businesses cannot or will not do. there are better ways to improve efficiency, but jeopardizing research and innovation and the lifes of mothers, daughters, sisters, and even my grandbaby charlie, is not one of them. today and every day i'm going to stand with these women and for the women of america and for their families because i believe investing in our health and well-being and security is what government anti-public sector is supposed to do. and our federal workforce is an incredible talented workforce of public agents -- servants. i thank you. and you now think i'm handing it over to congresswoman chu? ms. chu: thank you, congress

member delaney, the phones in my offices have been ringing off the hooks. i'm congress member judy chu, i represent the california cities of altadena and pasadena, which have burned to the ground. my constituents are devastated and worried and now they have another huge worry. and that is that their most sensitive data and the systems that control their taxpayers that are have been handed over to an unelected billionaire, the billionaire who is president trump's biggest political donor, and because of that it has been handed over to unvetted lackeys. i am a member of the ways and means committee, which is the committee that protects taxpayer dollars. over the weekend we learned that elon musk had unfettered access to the treasury department systems that disburse nearly all

federal funds. that mean he is can see your social security number, and bank information. he can see your confidential protected tax information. he might even be able to turn off your social security payments. and he's already bragged about canceling funds that congress, through the legislative process, has appropriated. this is, of course, completely illegal. but republicans in congress have done nothing. speaker johnson even invited treasury secretary scott besent, the very person who granted elon musk this unprecedented access, to the capitol on wednesday to plot how big their tax cuts for the wealthy would be and what programs they'd butt to fund them. programs that real people rely on such as medicaid, snap, and more. so when i heard about this

meeting, congress member gwen moore, a fellow member of the ways and means committee, and i, walked straight to the speaker's office to demand to speak with the secretary. this isn't business as usual. that's why we did it. well, they put the speaker in the room to talk to us and then put the treasury secretary off through another door to avoid us. so we speak to speaker johnson and what we learned was shocking. the speaker admitted that he did not know if musk's actions were even legal. or what information his team had access to and was manipulating. but he still refused to take action to stop him. fortunately, a federal court order has ordered musk out of the treasury systems at least in terms of manipulating it, but

not in terms of reading it. the danger certainly has not passed. if he remains in our government system, he could unilaterally freeze federal funds for programs that women and families rely on he was may have already stolen women's private, personal data, including sensitive health information. he could turn off funding for new mothers, to help feed their babies, funding designated for community health clinics that provide a full range of reproductive care to women, funding for snap benefits and school lunches that feed hungry kids. we will not stop until we get answers. women across america are relying on us to stand up for their rights, their benefit, and their privacy. and now i hand it back to vice chair hillary scholten for q&a.

>> we are fortunate to have julia brownley with us here today. ms. brownley: i came to support all these women and women across the country given these times. i'm julia brownley, i represent california's 6th district, aye certain -- 26th district, i've certain and the veterans affair committees for a decade in congress. i want to speak about women in the military and women veterans across the country. women every single day in the military are putting their lives on the line for our country and trust me, without women in the military, our national security, our mission readiness is at severe, severe risk. women in the military, women veterans, are the largest growing cohort within the military and within the v.a. community. women in the military, women in

the v.a., want everything else that women across our country want and need. equity, diversity, inclusion, access, is so critically important for our military today. as the largest cohort within the military, these are fighter pilots, they are nuclear engineers, they are captains of ships. we will not be ready for any kind of national crisis, without our women in the military. so it is critically important and i know right now and we -- when we speak of the v.a., the objective and the mission of federal government and the d.o.d. and the v.a. are the two largest agencies within the federal government but they want to privatize the veteran administration. they want to get rid of the veterans' administration as we

know it. privatize it. believe me the women and the men who have served our country and who become our nation's veteran they want to receive their health care from the v.a. and not go out into the community, a community of great physicians but physicians and medical support that don't understand their experiences that they have had in the military. so i just want to be clear. we are here also to stand for the women who have serve or -- served our country and continue to serve our country and put their lives on the rain and we need to fight for them. with that i hand it back to our chairwoman. ms. scholten: thank you so much, julia. we are the home of the free because of the brave including so many of our women who bear the -- who wear the uniform of our u.s. military. thank you for representing them. we're happy to take a few

questions. reporter: [inaudible] ms. scholten: i was going to hand it over to our ways and means committee member. the democratic women's caucus, one of the very first things we did was send a letter to president trump extending an invitation, a truly genuine invitation to talk to him about the ways in which we can work together. the tax cuts and jobs act is a mixed bag. especially for women. including women entrepreneurs. i serve on the house small business committee. i know some of the tax cuts that were included in the tcij, they want them to extend. we want to have a sit down conversation with trump and talk about the ways that we can work together. the democratic women's caucus is a powerful caucus within congress. we're ready to work with our

leadership and help deliver the votes that we might need to get a budget bill and tax deal done this year if it works for women and families. i want to make sure we can get to enough questions. we have quite a few. reporter: women are a large part of -- [inaudible] ms. scholten: i see a unity on the ground but is not breaking through into the national conversation. a lot of people say democrats have struggled to find their footing. yet, you know this time around you've seen, you know, members of our caucus who have walked into a meeting with the speaker and the treasury secretary demanding answers for the american people, you know, about a dozen bills have been introduced this week holding the republican leadership accountable. and you know, there's been

noticeably absent fire on republicans this time who are standing by and allowing this to happen, despite outcry from women in their district, despite outcry from women around the country, over, you know what they feel is an unconstitutional takeover of our federal government. women are united with the rest of the country in the fact that we know that there need to be reforms to the way that we tax and spend in this country. but you do that through a congressional process. it is literally congress' number one job to allocate funding, to decide how we're going to tax and spend those taxpayer dollars. trump is choosing to do this exclusively through an unelected businessman who has serious conflicts of interest in the work that he's done. and not bringing it through congress. so you know, i will just reiterate that we feel a strong unity in opposition to what he's

doing. and accountability needs to be placed at the feet of the republicans. reporter: [inaudible] ms. scholten: they have a three-seat majority. i have said since the election, they might have a technical majority, they do not have a governing majority. they need democrats. they need democratic women to vote with them in order to accomplish what they need to accomplish. the people of west michigan sent me here for a reason, send my colleagues here for a reason. we're here to stand up for our constituents. it is an incredible leverage

point for us not only to accomplish those objectives for our district but the objectives that we laid out here today. and you know, i think we have made clear throughout this week that we're not going to just roll over without some, you know, some serious concessions from the republicans. reporter: there was a report in the "wall street journal" -- i wonder what the democrats are talking about? ms. scholten: we are continuing to hold the administration accountable. we sent a letter to the president and asked for a meeting to talk about things like this. yesterday i, along with shontel brown on the oversight committee introduced a bill called the clear act which clarifies that doge is subject to foia. we want to see the emails that talk about why they're doing

this. and who they're cutting. we want to see all those internal communications. i man many people in this room also would as well. you heard my colleague, shontel brown, talk about how the oversight committee had asked, subpoenaed elon musk to try to come before them and testify. we're doing everything we can to push the republican majority to hold these unelected individuals that are operating doge accountable. that's where this is coming from. and we're hearing the american outcry. democrats are bringing to it to the forefront. republicans need to apps. are they ok with this? what are they saying about the use and purpose of congress, if they're allowing all of these things not only just to happen through the executive branch but specifically through a temporary quasi-governmental organization through an individual that was not elected, not confirmed by the senate, and has, you know, very, very little accountability. republicans need to answer that.

i'm sorry, we do have to go, we're a little bit over time. thank you all so much. erin from my com ms team is here, my other comms team, we're happy to answer anything else offline that you might want. thank you, guys. their latest nonfiction. here's a look at this weekend. 3:00 p.m. eastern. ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ watch book tv every sunday confront a full schedule on the program. live. ♪♪ dismantlement democracy unfolded. >> what is the internet?

♪♪ ♪♪ spark life. we are always looking. ♪♪ a front row seatemocracy. ♪♪ >> president trump's nominee service u.s. sector. in 2020 of the trump administration