Politics and views in the United States.

States consider their own versions of the federal Voting Rights Act, Justice Department attorneys shift their focus from voting rights to voter fraud, and state legislatures urge the Supreme Court to reverse its decision legalizing same-sex marriage. 

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

This bill is our commitment to Coloradans.

It is our commitment to the sanctity of voting.

It is our commitment to accountability.

Colorado State Representative Jennifer Bacon says a new state-level version of the Federal Voting Rights Act will enshrine voter protections she fears could soon be erased.

New York and Washington have already passed their own versions of the law, and several more are considering it.

Many cite one of President Donald Trump's recent executive orders, which claims sole authority to regulate federal elections.

That order, like others, is being challenged in court.

Federal firings have cut the number of Justice Department lawyers protecting voting rights from 30 down to three, according to one outside count.

A new mission statement for DOJ's Voting Rights Section shifts the focus to targeting voter fraud.

House lawmakers are now debating a massive tax and budget bill.

It would cut taxes for all brackets, benefiting top earners and corporations the most.

But Republican Missouri Congressman Jason Smith says working families will see some relief.

The 2017 Trump tax cuts gave a boost to workers.

The new 2025 Trump tax cuts will provide even more tax relief by delivering on President Trump's promise to hardworking Americans.

The current House tax would raise the debt limit by $4 trillion.

It includes hundreds of billions for immigrant sweeps and detention, and for increased defense spending.

A contentious proposal to slash Medicaid by nearly $900 billion to pay for the tax cuts would strip coverage for more than 8 million Americans.

Private universities would also face a hefty new tax on their endowments.

And a separate provision would end the tax-exempt status of non-profits the State Department says support terrorism.

Leah Holland with the digital rights group Fight for the Future says the language is vague enough to target any group opposing Trump's agenda.

Every environmental, racial justice, LGBTQ+, gender justice, immigration justice, and any anti-genocide organization throughout the country may be on the chopping block.

Legislation introduced in several states urges the Supreme Court to reconsider Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 decision which legalized same-sex marriage.

Paul Collins, a legal studies professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, calls it part of a broader attack on LGBTQ+ rights.

We have arguably the most conservative Supreme Court in American history, and it's already sent signals to us that it's willing to revisit even popular precedents.

In the court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and remove the constitutional right to an abortion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion saying the court should use the same logic to overturn same-sex marriage.

I'm Katherine Carley for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

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