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House Democrats are prepping a blitz of far-left bills—including decriminalizing prostitution and axing ICE — as a newly empowered majority and a surge of socialist lawmakers look to ram long-stalled legislation through Congress.
Original “Squad” member Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) has bills to end the federal death penalty and decriminalize prostitution, which she has called a “byproduct of discrimination, poverty and/or addiction.”
Pressley will be joined by eight new incoming lawmakers who are members of the Democratic Socialists of America and who are getting ready to flex their muscle, although their experience in elected office varies.
Her “People’s Justice Guarantee” is meant to combat mass incarceration and expand access to “restorative justice,” which critics have bashed as a lenient, criminal-first approach to justice.
The newbies are expected to draw from the DSA’s platform –- which commits all endorsed candidates to backing its radical agenda. A DSA electoral commission document reviewed by The Post sets up a “Socialists-In-Office” network to collaborate with winners “towards the goal of promoting Democratic Socialism.”
The progressive onslaught extends far beyond DSA-backed lawmakers like Pressley.
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) wants to boost “diversity visas” after President Trump slashed thousands from the program that sprinkles 55,000 US work visas around the globe.
Outgoing Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) has a bill to provide training to business owners on resisting ICE — a proposal that comes after a campaign season in which a host of candidates called to eliminate or defund the immigration enforcement agency. Velazquez is being succeeded by democratic socialist Claire Valdez, who has called for a “living wage” and talked up her own time working low-wage jobs at Taco Bell.
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) has introduced the “Drain ICE Act” to rescind $75 billion in funds the agency got under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) has introduced a resolution “recognizing the disparity in wages paid to Latinas and the impact of that disparity on women, families, the economy, and the United States.”
Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) has introduced legislation with more than 80 co-sponsors to require employers to provide paid leave to their workers –- with one hour off for every 25 hours worked, or two weeks off for a full-time worker.
The progressive bloc is preparing to flex its growing muscle. The chair of the House Progressive Caucus said it will have roughly 105 members next year — enough to wield significant influence over the party’s agenda.
“Our goal is not to win a battle against other Democratic caucuses. It is to pass longstanding progressive priorities that bring down costs, root out corruption, and boost wages,” Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), who won his reelection with a stunning 84% of the vote in a redrawn district, wrote caucus members Friday.
None of the Democratic bills went anywhere in the Republican-controlled Congress that runs through early January. Lawmakers need only dust off the language and reintroduce it in the new session, where a House Democratic majority of more than 250 can push it through.
Still, the scale of the Republican wipeout could give likely incoming Speaker Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) more room to maneuver.
He could choose to steer the party toward more poll-tested proposals and cost-of-living measures — priorities voters said drove their decisions — rather than letting the expanded “Squad” dictate the agenda.
Leading progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told NPR Jeffries, who she spoke to, “intends to usher in the biggest, boldest progressive populist agenda.”
