Politics and views in the United States.

The Senate dismisses the Mayorkas impeachment. Maryland Lawmakers fail to increase voting access. Texas Democrats call for better Black maternal health. And polling confirms strong support for access to reproductive care, including abortion.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2024 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

I will not assist Senator Schumer in setting our Constitution ablaze and bulldozing 200 years of precedent.

Missouri Republican Eric Schmidt objects to the Senate ending the impeachment of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Schmidt says no majority leader before Chuck Schumer moved to dismiss impeachment charges without a trial, when the official is still in office.

Schumer says impeachment should not be used to settle immigration policy.

Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed Wednesday he'll bring foreign aid legislation to the floor, despite pressure from Republican hardliners over assistance to Ukraine.

The House could vote on the four bills by the weekend, with a total price tag of about $100 billion, including $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza.

Unable to be at a previous similar hearing, Columbia University's president yesterday told a House panel some expressions of anti-Semitism are against campus rules.

Nehmat Shafik said one visiting professor and 15 students had been disciplined, angering supporters of free speech.

Polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds nearly 70 percent of OBGYNs say overturning Roe has worsened their care for pregnancy-related emergencies.

And Heidi Sieck, co-founder of Vote Pro Choice, says access to reproductive care continues to motivate voters across the spectrum.

"Eighty percent of our country does not want their elected officials making decisions about their pregnancies, about their reproductive freedom.

Men, women, non-binary people, Republicans, independents, decline to stay, Democrats, across the board, this is true."

Texas has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality, especially among what is the nation's largest Black population.

Shea Weirich-Cathy with the Texas Democratic Party says that makes the political fight over reproductive care a life-or-death issue there.

"This November, the stakes could not be higher.

And Texas will head to the polls knowing that health care justice is on the ballot."

The Maryland Senate is blocking automatic voter registration for newly released prisoners, even though legislation doing that had strong backing in the House.

Joanne Antoine is the executive director of Common Cause Maryland.

"Eligible voters are being released from correctional facilities throughout the state on a daily basis, and most of them are unaware that their right to vote has been restored.

The Senate failed those voters, most of whom are Black."

U.S. senators are responsible for enforcing their own ethics rules, but since 2007, 1,500 complaints have resulted in no disciplinary action.

Eric Kashtan with the Campaign Legal Center says the Senate needs an independent ethics committee like that in the House.

"We can no longer rely on self-policing in the Senate.

An independent ethics committee will promote accountability and ensure that our elected officials truly prioritize the interests of the public."

I'm Farah Siddiqui for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.