By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

President Donald Trump has ordered the bombing of seven countries in 2025. They are Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. There has been no congressional authorization for any of the military action. Trump is also threatening Columbia and Cuba.

On the afternoon of January 5, Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe met meet with members of Congress on their latest military action.

But a growing question is haunting some members of Congress: Is Congress now irrelevant? Trump is ignoring Congress’ Constitutional authority on domestic and foreign military actions regarding the declaration of war. There are many critics pressing Democrats to “take action” but no one in Congress or out appears to have a definitive answer on how to stop Trump from ignoring the constitution and the legislative branch.

During a January 4 emergency zoom call scheduled by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries with House Democrats, a senior Democrat “went there” on the question of Congress’ lack of power against a President who operates as if the legislative branch doesn’t exist. Though the emergency meeting was mostly focused on messaging, the larger question of congressional relevance in a nagging one.

Congress returns to session after the Christmas break on January 6. Democrats expected to be focused on the rise in health care costs for millions of Americans after the Republican controlled House and Senate failed to pass an extension of tax credits for the Affordable Care Act. The other topic that exploded in the news over the Christmas break was the partial release of the Epstein files. The latest document drop has included hundreds of photographs along with thousands of lines of redactions that appear to conceal the involvement of Donald Trump.

But when Trump bombed Venezuela on January 3 and abducted President Nicolás Maduro, the direction of the news cycle changed.

Congressman Greg Meeks, who is the senior member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, was a prominent voice on the emergency call. Questions about the U.S. becoming the “world police” emerged in general several times.

“The U.S. military to attempt regime change in a sovereign foreign nation, without approval from Congress, without a defined objective or plan for the day after, and without support from our allies, risks entangling the United States in an open-ended conflict in Venezuela that could destabilize the entire region,” Rep. Meeks declared in a statement on January 3.

“There’s nothing “America-First” about deploying American sons and daughters to Latin America with no plan and no Congressional oversight,” said Senator Mark Warner, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee on January 4.

Members were heard to agree that Trump believes that he can do whatever he wants in the same model as Vladimir Putin — with no explanation presented other than the existence of raw power.

Democrats in Congress are expected to bring up the war powers resolution this week. When the Sunday emergency zoom call ended there was no stated conclusion as to what Democratic messaging will be this week.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at [email protected] and on twitter at @LVBurke

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA White House Correspondent and Washington Bureau Chief

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are hosting their annual legislative conference, addressing issues such as a looming government shutdown, the impacts of budget cuts on healthcare, and federally funded programs like SNAP.

Another ever-present focus is redistricting. Texas, Missouri, and Louisiana are three states currently in a public fight over redistricting, expected to create representation problems for majority Black districts.

Illinois congressman Jonathan Jackson says a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Louisiana versus Callais, focuses on Louisiana redistricting, which could further gut the 1965 Voting Rights Act and eliminate 20 majority Black districts,” changing representation.

Jackson, the son of civil rights icon Jesse Jackson Sr., says his father believes, “It’s time to resist with all your might,” as “we’re seeing an end to reconstruction.”

Congressman Jackson acknowledged that his father, who currently has difficulty with speech, said his dad was firm, saying, “Don’t talk about back in the civil rights days.” The elder Jackson says, “You’re in the civil rights fight of your life, and it’s today!”

Karen Boykin-Towns, Vice Chair of the NAACP’s National Board of Directors, says, “The Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference has always been more than a gathering…it is a call to action.”

The theme of this 54th annual legislative conference is ‘Made for This Moment.’

Boykins-Towns says, “It could not be more fitting. At a time when our democracy, our freedoms, and our very presence in the American story are being challenged.”

“The NAACP stands strong alongside the CBC to say that we are indeed built for this fight,” adds Boykin Towns.

Regarding the looming shutdown, CBC members confirm Democrats plan to be on the hill as Republicans canceled votes for next week. The shutdown will be extremely hurtful as there are already hundreds of thousands of DODGE-fired federal workers and over 300,000 Black women who have lost their jobs over the past four months.

Also on the Conference agenda is the fight for HBCUs. Virginia Congressman Bobby Scott warned that HBCUs are not getting their “appropriated money,” stating, “the president has to faithfully execute the law, like the law says.”

The long-time Harvard-educated congressman fighting for HBCUs says these schools will have to use “some kind of enforcement mechanism” like court action to ensure Historically Black Colleges and Universities get their “appropriated” funding intended for the majority Black serving schools.

By Ashlee Banks
Special to the AFRO

With President Donald Trump back in the Oval Office and his administration rolling out sweeping changes to federal agencies, civil rights protections, and public health programs, Democratic lawmakers reassure Black voters that they are advocating on their behalf.

In candid interviews with the AFRO during a roundtable discussion at the U.S. Capitol in June 2025, key U.S. senators laid out actions they say they are taking to resist Trump’s policies and push for progress.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Democrats are waging battle on multiple fronts.

“We are fighting every day and we know how terrible President Trump is for our democracy, for working families, for people of color. He’s just the worst president we’ve ever had,” Schumer told the AFRO.

“We’re fighting on every front in the courts, where we have a huge amount of success. The previous two years we put in 235 new judges, two-thirds of which are women and two-thirds of which are people of color,” he added. “They’re our first line of defense when Trump breaks the law – which he does many times a day – we’ve been going to court. We have over 220 cases that we have filed.”

U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) said Democrats are working both publicly and behind the scenes to block key elements of the Trump agenda, particularly when it comes to federal appointments.

“Democrats are on the cutting edge when it comes to diversifying our ranks and fighting for the issues that matter to everyday people,” Alsobrooks told the AFRO. “The public doesn’t always see it, but we’ve been actively challenging [Trump’s] nominees. It’s absolutely unbelievable the people he’s nominated. Our role is to push back against these dangerous nominees.”

She also stressed that lasting change depends on grassroots movements, not just elected officials.

“The power comes from the people. The elected have a role to play. We’re going to play that role. But, the truest power comes from the people,” Alsobrooks said.

“When we think about the impacts that we’ve seen, we think about people like John Lewis; the real change happens because it rises from the people,” she added. “It’s not the elected people. We have roles to play, but the movements are the true act of resistance.”

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) acknowledged the discontent many Black voters feel toward the Democratic Party. He said that dissatisfaction has always existed and that it should be used as fuel and not a reason to walk away.

“Dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party is in the DNA of Black people. Fannie Lou Hamer said ‘I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired,’ and yet she leaned into the Democratic Party,” Booker told the AFRO.

“I would be concerned if I didn’t walk into a Black barbershop, a Black church and didn’t hear frustration,” he continued. “[But] let’s not abandon the Democratic Party, but grab [it] by the scruff and drag it forward as a vehicle with which to deliver advancement for this country and African Americans in general.”

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) described his own efforts on the ground, including recent protests against Trump administration cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“CDC is based in Atlanta, and so not only have I challenged the administration on these reckless cuts, I have literally been on the street corner with other protesters,” Warnock told the AFRO.

“We have seen some of these CDC employees rehired. Hundreds of them were rehired as a result of me making noise,” he added. “We are seeing that we do get results.”

From legislation to litigation to grassroots organizing, Senate Democrats say they are mobilizing across institutions in response to a political landscape that, for many Black voters, feels increasingly urgent.

Read what we will cover next!

132 years ago, we were covering Post-Reconstruction when a former enslaved veteran started the AFRO with $200 from his land-owning wife. In 2022 we endorsed Maryland’s first Black Governor, Wes Moore. And now we celebrate the first Black Senator from Maryland, Angela Alsobrooks!

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Washington Bureau Chief and White House Correspondent

“Ripping health care away from more than 17 million people. That disgusts me,” admonished House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries during a speech before the House vote on what he calls “The Big Ugly Bill.”

During Jeffries’ speech, Democrat Congressman Kwesi Mfume of Maryland told this reporter that “Johnson and Trump think they have the votes.” Jeffries notes that Democrats only need four Republicans to stand with them to defeat the legislation.

President Trump called all the Republican holdouts who were planning to vote against his “Big Beautiful Bill,” which the Congressional Budget Office says will add $3.3 trillion to the deficit.

The legislation’s provisions cut Medicare or Medicaid assistance for 16 million Americans as well as SNAP funding that provides food assistance to those in need, while codifying tax breaks for the wealthy, who need no assistance at all.

“The eligibility for the children’s health insurance program will also be diminished,” said Jeffries. He stressed that the legislation negatively impacts nutritional assistance programs and the nation’s farmers and is “an all-out assault on the healthcare of the American people.”

Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove of Los Angeles told this reporter, “The righteous indignation of these Republicans who are stealing taxpayers’ hard-earned money to give to the richest of the rich is beyond the pale.” She feels Republicans rushed this bill for votes. “A bill this large and impactful should have been given longer than 15 minutes in committee. It should have been given longer than the days we had to review it.”

In addition to her peers on the Hill, Dove wants more time for everyday Americans to discuss the legislation and its impact. “My hope is that we have special sessions across the country so that constituents across the nation know EXACTLY how they will be screwed by Trump and his sycophants.”

Jeffries issued a dire warning as he worked to galvanize those who were ready to vote, telling the membership that “all of us as leaders have a responsibility to make life better for the American people.”

Pointing an oratory finger at his peers across the aisle and the current presidential administration, Jeffries said that what we have seen from Republican leadership for “the first six months of the administration has been characterized as chaos, cruelty, and corruption that is not real leadership.” He notes instead that the leadership on this bill failed to demonstrate “courage,” “compassion,” or “commitment.”

The Big Beautiful Bill would also impact the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama.

Obama issued a statement in the lead-up to the House vote, stating, “More than 16 million Americans are at risk of losing their health care because Republicans in Congress are rushing to pass a bill that would cut federal funding for Medicaid and weaken the Affordable Care Act. If the House passes this bill, it will increase costs and hurt working-class families for generations to come. Call your representative today and tell them to vote no on this bill.”

According to Jeffries, Republicans are supporting a “reckless budget that is an immoral document” that tears people down — it is “an all-out assault on the American people.” The congressman from Brooklyn encouraged fellow Democrats and his Republican colleagues to “vote no” against the bill.

Shavon Arline-Bradley, President and CEO of the National Council of Negro Women, had this to say while Jeffries was addressing the nation. “We are in the fight of our lives. The Black Caucus, Black institutions, and leaders in media, politics, and civil rights are working diligently to hold the line on this Bill. The collective power of every mobilizing voice has held strong, resulting in some necessary ‘No’ Votes. If we can stop the bill, we can stop the health and economic burden on our most vulnerable.”

“Stand and Fight for the Future of America”

The following official statement from Democrats condemns President Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill:

“We believe in an America where hard work is rewarded, not punished. Where families can afford health care, put food on the table, and live with dignity.

“This fight is about more than budgets and numbers—it’s about whether we lift people up or leave them behind.

“We will stand and fight for the future of America. For working people. For families. For the next generation.