🧵1/3: When VA made a rule changing how veteran disability ratings were evaluated, veterans pushed back. They flooded the Federal Register with nearly 20,000 comments demanding to be heard. The people who served this country refused to let VA quietly take away what they earned.
I strongly support the Major Richard Star Act. If this Administration can find money for its misguided priorities, it can surely find the money to care for our nation’s veterans, their dependents, and their survivors. - RM @repmarktakano.bsky.social
Honoring veterans means more than awards and medals, it means respecting their healthcare. Trump MUST direct the VA to back off of rules that would diminish care and cut benefits.
🧵1/2: Tonight, Trump will address the nation & discuss his priorities. RM @repmarktakano.bsky.social's guest is George Retes, a combat veteran who was detained by overreaching ICE agents in July.
🧵1/2 : Yesterday, VA quietly issued an interim final rule that immediately changes how veterans’ disability ratings are evaluated: no notice, no explanation, no debate. Trump's VA Secretary Collins did not consult VSOs or Congress before acting.
Trump's tariffs are bankrupting more Americans than ever. What happened to 'lower prices on day one'? www.cbsnews.com/news/bankrup...
The Secretary chose to leave today's hearing.
Our questions remain unanswered.
The Secretary must come back.
This reorganization is Secretary Collins's third attempt to dismantle VA.
Veterans will feel the consequences.
Pam Bondi is bothered and upset by questions about her cover up of the Epstein files. The survivors and our country deserve so much better.
VA Secretary Collins just told RM @repmarktakano.bsky.social that VA doesn't have enough clinical employees. Then why are there more postings on USA jobs right now for ICE & CBP than there are for VA doctors & nurses? Why did VA just wipe almost 30,000 vacant VHA positions off its books?
Trump has slow-walked the release of the Epstein files and appears to be granting favors to Ghislaine Maxwell in return for her silence. This White House cover-up must end, regardless of who is implicated - including the president himself. The rest of these files must be released.
Members of Congress, the President, and the Vice President should not use their positions to enrich themselves. I'm joining my colleagues in banning stock trading for these individuals, because no elected official should use their access and the public trust to profit.
People have been killed by ICE. No accountability, no funding.
ICE and DHS agents are stomping on the rights of Americans while covering their faces, with zero repercussions for their actions. Accountability and impeachment must happen if we want our communities, families, and country to be safe.
Today, my Democratic colleagues and I stood in protest at ICE headquarters, outraged by the roughly 50 people killed at the hands of their agents. Reform and accountability NOW.
Sec. Kristi Noem's Department of Homeland Security is out of control and endangering lives.
@repmarktakano.bsky.social and @repraulruizmd.bsky.social & I held a press conference in front of the ICE office in San Bernardino to demand the removal of Kristi Noem and serious reforms at the agency.
On Fred Korematsu Day, Chair @meng.house.gov, First Vice Chair @repmarktakano.bsky.social, Second Vice Chair @tokuda.house.gov, and Executive Board Members @hirono.senate.gov @dorismatsui.bsky.social issued a joint statement to honor the life of this civil rights hero.
Americans must be able to protest this regime safely, without fearing for their lives or being logged into a government database.
Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at Minneapolis VA hospital, was fatally shot by ICE agents in broad daylight on Saturday in Minnesota. He dedicated his life to caring for the veterans who fought to defend the very rights we hold dear.
RM @repmarktakano.bsky.social full statement: tinyurl.com/yfwve9cw
1yr ago today, Donald Trump signed an Executive Order banning trans Americans from serving in the military.
As Chair @repmarktakano.bsky.social promises: we won't stop fighting until this ban is undone & we pass long-lasting protections for trans servicemembers into law.
youtube.com/shorts/f2bcE...
"My heart is with Alex Jeffrey Pretti’s family. No words can bring back your son, but his name and the justice he was fighting for will never be forgotten." - @repmarktakano.bsky.social
Secretary McMahon has used the Department of Education to discriminate against trans students. While we were both speaking in front of the Supreme Court, I told her yet again to stop these attacks and to restore the Department.
"CEC Chair Takano Speaks on Supreme Court Cases; Clashes with Education Secretary" Full remarks at the link in our bio. / IMAGE: Rep. Mark Takano speaking.
“I end with a message to trans youth who need to know that there are adults who reject the political weaponization of hate and bigotry. To you, I say: YOU MATTER. You are not alone. Discrimination has no place in our schools. It has no place in our laws, and it has no place in America.” Full remarks at the link in our bio. / IMAGE: Rep. Mark Takano speaking.
Today, CEC Chair @repmarktakano.bsky.social spoke outside the Supreme Court as the Justices heard two cases with major ramifications for the rights of trans people.
He concluded with a simple message for the young trans people being targeted by politicians:
"You matter. You are not alone."
It is our responsibility as Americans to acknowledge the basic fact: that trans people exist and matter. @equality.house.gov
Big companies trap consumers in recurring subscriptions they never wanted, then make them nearly impossible to cancel.
That’s why I’m co-leading the Unsubscribe Act with @repmarktakano.bsky.social to require clear billing and simple cancellation.
The Supreme Court must recognize the dignity and existence of trans students and provide them the same opportunities as their peers — that includes sports. @equality.house.gov
Congress cannot be complicit in Trump's hostile takeover of the Fed. EVERY Republican must join in ensuring the Fed stays independent and our country's economic future is left to professionals, not Trump. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
Secretary Noem and President Trump cannot hide from this, and the American people know what they saw.
This senseless, state-funded violence stains the moral fabric of our nation. Renee Nicole Good's memory must be honored by demanding accountability from ICE and those empowering their lethal tactics.
President Trump is once again acting like a king. He just overthrew the Venezuelan government, dragging us into yet another foreign intervention without Congress’s approval. Republicans need to grow a spine and join us in demanding oversight and checking this imperial president.
