Category: fox-news/person/bernie-sanders

Sanders-backed bill jabs Trump’s ‘narcissism’ with ban on self-named federal buildings

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is leading legislation aimed at what Democrats describe as President Donald Trump’s "narcissism," seeking to bar sitting presidents from putting their own names on federal buildings. 

"For Trump to put his name on federal buildings is arrogant, and it is illegal," Sanders said in a press release Tuesday. "We must put an end to this narcissism — and that’s what this bill does.

"It’s no secret that President Trump is undermining democracy and moving this country toward authoritarianism," Sanders added. "Part of that strategy is to create the myth of the ‘Great Leader’ by naming public buildings after himself — something that dictators have done throughout history." 

Sanders was joined by Democratic Maryland senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks in introducing the Stop Executive Renaming for Vanity and Ego Act Tuesday, which would "prohibit the naming, renaming, designating, or redesignating of any Federal building, land, or other asset in the name of a sitting President, and for other purposes," according to text of the bill. 

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If the legislation should pass, a federal building, piece of land or other federal asset that is currently named after a sitting president must be reverted to the name established by federal law before that president took office, according to the text of the bill. 

The legislation follows Democratic outrage over the renaming of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. to The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in December 2025. 

When asked about the senators' remarks and legislation, the White House told Fox News Digital the Trump administration isn't focused on "branding." 

"Overdue upgrades of national landmarks and lasting peace deals are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership," White House spokeswoman Elizabeth Huston told Fox News Digital Wednesday. "The administration’s focus isn’t on smart branding, but delivering on President Trump’s goal of Making America Great Again."

Previous presidents have had their names etched into the nation’s landmarks and institutions while still in office. Washington, D.C., for example, was named in 1791 while George Washington was serving as president as the new federal capital took shape. And, in 1930, Interior Secretary Ray Lyman Wilbur said the Boulder Canyon Project’s dam would be called the Hoover Dam during Herbert Hoover’s presidency. 

The Trump administration announced in December 2025 that the center's board of trustees unanimously voted to rename the center, saying Trump saved the institution from financial ruin during his second term. 

Presidents appoint the majority of the board's trustees, and Trump dismissed the previously appointed Board of Trustees "who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture" in the early weeks of his second administration. Trump also serves as the center's chairman of the board, the first president to fill the position. 

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When asked about the legislation, Trump–Kennedy Center Vice President of Public Relations Roma Daravi underscored Trump's work to revitalize the center after "years of neglect." 

"President Trump deserves credit for saving America’s cultural center after years of neglect — as the very legislators attacking him now sat idly by while the center fell into disrepair," Daravi said. "Thanks to the chairman’s leadership and record-breaking fundraising, the Trump Kennedy Center is a thriving, bipartisan institution that welcomes patrons of all backgrounds — even those peddling baseless legislation to score political points." 

President of the Trump–Kennedy Center Richard Grenell told Fox News Tuesday that "President Trump has saved the arts institution," noting that when he was tapped to lead the center, it was relying on debt reserves to pay staff. 

"The board put President Trump forward, because President Trump saved the Kennedy Center. We have, for decades, watched the Kennedy Center be ignored by the very people now who are standing up and complaining about the rescuer," Grenell said. "They're complaining about the fireman who's come in to literally rescue and put out the fire."

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Grenell said in 2025 that he was rolling out a "commonsense plan" to make the center prosperous again, including getting rid of debt, expanding fundraising and its endowment and restoring programming that the administration argues appeals to a broader national audience. Fox News Digital previously reported the center nearly doubled its fundraising during the Kennedy Center Honors awards show in 2025 compared to the Biden administration, raising a record $23 million during the December 2025 event. 

Democrats feverishly came out against the renaming of the iconic cultural center, and Sanders said in December 2025 he would introduce legislation to prevent sitting presidents from renaming federal property after themselves, slamming the Kennedy Center name change as showing Trump's alleged "arrogance" and "narcissism." 

Van Hollen said Tuesday that "Trump doesn’t get to slap his name on any public institution he chooses."

"We don’t have kings or dictators in America, and this legislation stops him or any future sitting president from creating monuments to glorify themselves — because these landmarks belong to the people, not to self-worshipers," the Maryland senator continued. 

The U.S. Institute of Peace also was formally rebranded as the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace in December 2025 as the administration continues working to dismantle the agency. 

The institute is an independent, national institution funded by Congress that was established in 1984 under the Reagan administration to promote peace and diplomacy on the international stage. 

The White House defended the rename in a comment to Fox News Digital at the time, saying the agency is a "a bloated, useless entity that blew $50 million per year while delivering no peace," adding that Trump "ended eight wars in less than a year."

Lawmakers filed a lawsuit to remove Trump's name from the Kennedy Center in December 2025, while the shuttering of the Institute of Peace is still embroiled in court battles focused on whether the Trump administration controls the congressionally created agency. 

Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., joined the trio in co-sponsoring the legislation. 

Vermont GOP sees ‘record’ ballot boost as blue-state citizens ‘see the need for change’

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

After tabulations from the state's recent primary were finalized, the Vermont Republican Party recorded 22 new candidates for state House races, on top of the 74 that had already been on the ballot for the 150-member chamber.

While nationally considered a blue state, Vermont Republican Party Chairman Paul Dame said Monday the development was exceptional, given the state’s actual penchant to blur partisan lines.

He ascribed the GOP’s boost to a recently enacted "double-digit" property tax hike in the state, as well as voters’ renewed focus on the presidential race.

"I think we're absolutely poised to pick up seats from where we have been, there seems to be much more energy and cohesion on the Republican side than we've had in a while," Dame said.

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Gov. Phil Scott, a moderate Republican ranked the most popular such official in the country at 81%, has also been involved with party work, Dame said. A request for comment from Scott was not immediately returned.

Dame said he’s talked to several of the new candidates, including a man from Colchester, who had been on the fence when petitions were circulated in May.

"Over the summer, you always get his kids ready to enroll in school. And he said, ‘You know what – now Vermont is going to be our home. We're going to make a commitment to stay here. If that's the case, I want to run and change the course that we're on,'" Dame recalled.

In Vermont, many of the latecomers to the ballot appear to follow a similar timeline. 

After the primary ballot is finalized in May, voters realize there are vacancies on the final ballot and then may try to organize write-in campaigns.

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If 25 voters write the same name in for a House seat, or 50 voters for a state Senate seat, that name will then appear on the November general election ballot.

While 96 Republicans is still somewhat distant from two decades ago when Vermont saw 130 Republicans on the ballot, the significance is that Vermonters are stepping up to serve.

"It's a story of regular voters, seeing the need for change and deciding that they're willing to step up and be part of that change," he said.

"It’s definitely inflation and affordability. I think that that's sort of the national… but then Vermont is adding a new layer on top of that."

With the Democrats recently earning a supermajority in the legislature, Scott has issued a record number of vetoes and Democratic lawmakers in return have issued a record number of veto overrides.

Thus was the case in the property tax debate, with Scott calling for "tax relief now," while House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Chittenden, said the governor failed to offer a sufficient alternative plan.

As for the GOP’s prospects in November, Vermont has had a penchant for ideologically divergent election results.

Scott is just as much a heavy favorite as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the self-described "democratic socialist."

"Vermonters vote for authenticity," Dame added. 

"And both Gov. Phil Scott and Sen. Bernie Sanders have a relationship with Vermonters that Vermonters know that they believe what they're saying – they say very different things, but they know that they can trust what they're saying there and they're not pandering."

Both Scott and Sanders are not afraid to criticize their own party.

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Sanders has critiqued President Biden and members of the Democratic caucus in Congress on occasion, while Scott was the first GOP governor to back impeachment inquiries against former President Trump.

In the latest University of New Hampshire poll, Sanders leads his Republican challenger Gerald Malloy 66-25%. Scott leads Democrat Esther Charlestin by a similar 55-28%.

Former Sen. Jim Jeffords, R-Vt., who notably ceded Republican control of the Senate when he switched to a Democrat-caucusing-Independent in 2001, was the last GOP member of Congress from the Green Mountain State.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Vermont Democratic Party for comment but did not hear back by press time.

AOC resurrects ‘Green New Deal’ moniker for public housing bill

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., will resurrect her "Green New Deal" terminology with a new housing bill she plans to announce Thursday, according to Politico.

Ocasio-Cortez will announce the "Green New Deal for Housing" alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders I-Vt., who is sponsoring the legislation in the Senate. She says the bill will focus largely on public housing, arguing that private housing is no longer realistic for many Americans.

"For a long time, we could pass a tax incentive here or there and say, ‘Hey, we've got a great housing policy,’" Ocasio-Cortez told Politico. "And everyday people … were supportive because there was still that dream and that idea that ‘I'm going to be buying a home soon … that's within the horizon for me.’ Right now, we have an entire generation — that is ascending into becoming the most powerful electorate, the largest electorate — for which that is decades away."

The legislation's central change would be to repeal the Faircloth Amendment, which for decades has prevented the Department of Housing and Urban Development from funding new public housing.

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"No housing conversation is complete without a conversation around public housing," Ocasio-Cortez added. "We in the United States have lived under the scourge of the Faircloth amendment for decades, and that has helped precipitate — and contributed to — the housing crisis that we are living in today. A major part of our housing problem is a supply problem."

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The legislation comes several years after Ocasio-Cortez's first attempt at a "Green New Deal," which sought to reshape the conversation around clean energy use and emissions in the U.S. That bill was dead on arrival in Congress, as is likely to be the case with her latest effort.

President Biden's administration wished the effort well in a Thursday statement but shied away from endorsing the legislation.

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"As he laid out in his State of the Union address and again this week in Nevada, President Biden is laser focused on lowering housing costs for owners and renters alike," a White House spokesman told Politico when asked about the bill. "We welcome ideas from members of Congress to build on our strong agenda."

Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders are expected to announce the legislation at an event on Capitol Hill later Thursday.

Some Democrats call for Trump impeachment after Capitol riots

Posted on by Megan Henney
A growing number of congressional Democrats are calling for President Trump to be impeached after a group of his supporters stormed the United States Capitol building on Wednesday.

Democracy 2020 Digest: Trump, Democratic presidential candidates, campaign off impeachment acquittal

Posted on by Paul Steinhauser
Both President Trump and the 2020 Democrats campaign off the Senate's vote to acquit the president of the House impeachment charges

Here’s what 2020 Dems asked during the 2nd day of impeachment trial questions

Posted on by Tyler Olson
The four Democratic senators running for president were stuck in the Senate chamber for the second consecutive day of impeachment trial questions Thursday, but that didn't prevent one of them from making some headlines ahead of Monday's Iowa caucuses. 

Here are the questions 2020 Dems asked during Trump impeachment trial

Posted on by Tyler Olson
With four of the candidates for the Democratic nomination for president -- and two of the top four in the polls -- stuck in Washington, D.C., for President Trump's impeachment, asking questions during the Senate trial's nationally televised question-and-answer session is one of the only ways for them to reach voters ahead of Monday's Iowa caucuses.

AOC, Michael Moore pinch-hit at Iowa rally with Bernie Sanders in DC for Trump’s Senate impeachment trial

Posted on by Nick Givas
With Bernie Sanders tied up in Washington at President Trump's Senate impeachment trial, a couple of his high-profie supporters filled in for him Friday at a campaign rally in Iowa.

Bernie Sanders calls into his own Iowa rally on the way back from impeachment trial

Posted on by Nick Givas
2020 presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called into his own campaign rally in Iowa City Friday night, after the Senate's impeachment trial schedule interfered with his ability to be there in person,