Impeachment, health care, immigration, and housing — in that order.
Bronx and Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez didn't want to spend a lot of time Thursday night on what most of The Hill was talking about: the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
"I'm going to move on because, frankly, I think the whole thing's boring. He should have been impeached a long time ago," the first-year Democratic congresswoman said to constituents. "I'm over it. And so, that's how I feel about it, because we have work to do."
But local residents who attended the town hall at the Queens Public Library in LeFrak City wanted to provide some political advice:
"We need the Democrats united so we can get this guy out of office," one man said.
They also had questions about local issues, like housing, education, health care, and jobs.
"Safety is always an issue, housing is always an issue, and the elderly," one town hall attendee said about her priorities.
Ocasio-Cortez has become one of the most prominent Democrats in the nation. She called for impeachment before a majority of her Democratic colleagues. Her left-leaning positions have caused strife within the ranks, but she stressed that recent divisions within the party will not distract from what is now a shared goal: removing Trump from office.
"It's rather straightforward: this is a complete violation of our constitutional obligation. It's an abuse of power, a betrayal of our country," she said. "Not only that, it threatens our fabric of national security,"
In recent days, Ocasio-Cortez has come out against the Bill de Blasio administration's plan to close Rikers Island and replace it with smaller borough-based jails. The plan is up for a vote in the City Council this month.
"This is a vote I personally would like to see, at the bare minimum, delayed," Ocasio-Cortez said.
The congresswoman also detailed her newest legislative plan: the "Just Society," a package of six measures aimed at reducing poverty, capping rent increases, and extending benefits to undocumented immigrants.
The bill was introduced in the House last week, but it's unlikely to get any traction in the Republican-controlled Senate.
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