Ilhan Omar mobilizing progressives to push Biden further left

Congresswoman says 'a cohort of progressives' will try to influence Biden if he's elected president

Per Fox News:

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said in an interview that Democrats will have "a cohort of progressives" who will try to influence 2020 presidential nominee Joe Biden should he be elected.

Progressive Democrats who endorsed former 2020 Democratic nominee Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. have been quiet in the criticism of Biden ahead of the next election but have suggested wanting to push the candidate, who is campaigning largely on moderate policy ideas, farther to the left. 

"We will have a cohort of progressives that are very clear about their objectives for wanting the implementation of Medicare for All and a Green New Deal and raising the minimum wage and not allowing for fracking," Omar said Monday in an interview with Axios.

Omar's office did not immediately respond to an inquiry about who the "cohort" will include.

She added that "there has been a level of responsiveness ... to the policies that [progressives] are advocating for that [progressives] know will have not just a future in [Biden's] administration, but a future in the upcoming administrations after his." Responsiveness "is a signal" for progressives "to push and to mobilize our base trying to accomplish these policy objectives," she said.

"As progressives, we have a clear understanding of what the inside and outside game is," the congresswoman continued.

She would also be open to Biden's decision to appoint any Republicans to his cabinet but fears danger if the administration pushes "policies that are contrary to what the Democratic platform is," according to Axios.

Omar and three other congresswomen, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, refer to themselves as "The Squad" and represent a shift among younger Democrats in Congress toward more progressive ideologies. Omar, Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib endorsed Sanders' campaign earlier this year.

The four legislators support the objectives Omar listed as priorities for the "cohort of progressives" she mentioned in the interview, including the Green New Deal, a ban on fracking and a $15 minimum wage. All four have also expressed support for packing the Supreme Court after Justice Amy Coney Barrett's Monday confirmation.

Biden has not expressed explicit support for the Green New Deal or Medicare for All but has similar climate and health care plans; his website calls the Green New Deal a "crucial framework," and he has said he plans on expanding ObamaCare to make it "BidenCare." His stance on fracking and the oil industry has flip-flopped over the course of his campaign. 

"I think, overall, we can likely push Vice President Biden in a more progressive direction across policy issues," she told Just the News in a Sept. 15 interview. "I think foreign policy is an enormous area where we can improve; immigration is another one."

Immigration is a key issue for Omar, the country's first Somali woman to serve in Congress, in her Minneapolis district -- home to one of the largest populations of Somali refugees in the country. Biden's immigration plan includes increasing the number of U.S. annual refugee admissions to 125,000.

Ocasio-Cortez added that she thinks "it's important to acknowledge" that she and Biden have, "in some cases, very large disagreements," but that it does not mean she and other Democrats are trying "to undermine the party or undermine each other."

"It means that we're trying to do what's best for people in the country," she told Just the News.

1 year, 11 months ago

Governors in Iowa, North Dakota and Alabama join GOP colleagues in banning TikTok for state employees

The Republican governors of three more states have joined the growing number of GOP governors who are banning TikTok among state government employees amid security concerns about the Chinese-owned social media platform

1 year, 11 months ago

Arizona Governor Creates Shipping Container Border Wall

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has had hundreds of double-stacked shipping containers topped with razor wire placed on the state’s border with Mexico

1 year, 12 months ago

Stacey Abrams’s Georgia Nonprofit Could Face Criminal Investigations for Unlicensed Fundraising

New Georgia Project's charity license has lapsed in at least nine states

1 year, 12 months ago

Biden says ‘more important things’ than border visit, despite 59 trips to Delaware, 8 stops for ice cream

Biden has yet to visit southern border despite historic crisis under his watch

1 year, 12 months ago

Governor Kristi Noem delivers annual Budget Address, says the state can afford grocery tax cut

In about thirty minutes of remarks, Governor Kristi Noem laid out her administration would like to see nearly $2.2 billion spent over the course of the next fiscal year and a half.

1 year, 12 months ago

‘A Clear And Present Danger To Its Users:’ South Carolina Gov. Bans State Employees From Using TikTok Amid National Security Concerns

South Carolina became the second state in the union Monday to permanently ban state employees’ electronic devices from using TikTok amid federal officials sounding the alarm that the Chinese-based social media app threatens national security