Sean Casten

"The best friend of a nation is he who most faithfully rebukes her for her sins—and he her worst enemy who, under the specious… garb of patriotism seeks to excuse, palliate or defend them." - Frederick Douglass

This Mental Health Awareness Month, I’m proud to lead legislation focused on improving mental health resources in aviation and reducing the stigma around seeking care. Our pilots and air traffic controllers deserve access to the support they need. I’m glad to see my bipartisan legislation pass the House and look forward to it passing the Senate.

Pluribus comes to ATL!

Just in: Donald Trump finally telling the truth and openly admitting he does not care about your finances. Since we’re on a truth-telling streak, would the president also care to tell the American people why working families are paying more for groceries, healthcare, and energy while his billionaire friends keep cashing in?

Democracy does not erode overnight. It erodes when those elected to defend it choose silence instead. Congress has both the authority and the responsibility to push back against judicial overreach. As a member of this legislative body, I chose to stand up and do exactly that.

This week, instead of voting on bills to lower grocery, housing, health care, or energy costs, Speaker Johnson has chosen to focus on partisan, fear-driven legislation. That’s where things stand in Congress right now: no action to lower costs for working families, just more political theater and efforts to appease the president.

It was an incredible honor to meet the Artemis II crew and commend them for the historic mission they took on behalf of our country and our planet.

And generator/grid managers have a long history of managing those risks to keep the lights on 24/7. Burgum may or may not know better - he's certainly on no one's short list of energy system experts. But word salad doesn't keep the lights on.

...for intermittent renewables shifts the energy storage technology from the front (fossil fuel piles/tanks) to the back (batteries) of the generator. But the need for energy storage per se isn't unique to renewables.

@JaredHuffman is great as always, and Burgum is just spewing words. But it's worth noting that you can't run a coal plant reliably without energy storage. AKA, a 3 - 5 day coal pile. Gas and oil plants also have on-site energy storage.

past presidents needed years to lose a war.

I joined the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce for a walking tour of the Spring Road Business District to hear directly about the challenges and opportunities facing small businesses in IL-06. From family-owned staples like Mehta Motors, My Car Wash, and Alan Energy Services, to locally-owned and operated businesses like Phase Three Brewing Company and Skyline Smiles, small businesses continue to drive our local economy and strengthen our communities.

I recently toured Finkbiner Equipment, a family-owned manufacturing facility in Burr Ridge. Finkbiner Equipment has been serving the community since 1963. We had a meaningful discussion about how technology is impacting their industry and the opportunities to build the next generation of skilled workers.

"The last gaspers in a cult who are still staying to the very end" will be @SpeakerJohnson's epitaph. newrepublic.com/article/210290…

I recently met with UCAN Chicago to discuss the needs of children and families across Illinois, including behavioral health, youth development, crisis services, and child welfare. UCAN continues to provide support for historically underrepresented youth and families, including violence prevention, foster care, and therapeutic services. I appreciated the opportunity to hear about the challenges they are seeing firsthand and discuss ways to strengthen support and infrastructure investments for the communities they serve.

I joined the La Grange Business Association and Village President Kuchler for a roundtable and walking tour of downtown La Grange, meeting with local business leaders to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing small businesses. I met with several small business owners, including the team at Vagabond Botanical, a women-owned botanical styling studio. Small businesses are vitally important to our economy, and I enjoyed hearing directly from the owners and entrepreneurs who keep our communities thriving through their local investments.

3 MILLION Americans can't afford health insurance any more because of the Republican's refusal to extend ACA subsidies and Oz just says they were all fraudsters. How the hell do look an American in the eye, tell them that lie and live with yourself? notus.org/healthcare/aca…

I get it. "I made your gas prices a few cents lower" might have some political value, but it is vapid as a policy matter; if it works politically, it takes pressure off of fixing the real problems, even as it starves government infrastructure funds for $. Just say no.

Don't pick needless fights. Don't impose bottlenecks on major shipping hubs. Don't send morons to do an adult's job. But if you must do all those things, don't respond by slashing gas taxes. Putting one more layer on the stupid cake doesn't help. indianacapitalchronicle.com/2026/05/06/bra…

… demand that Congress use all our powers to check these anti-equality, anti-constitutional, anti-American zealots. We have the power to get into that good trouble. Let’s make some noise and demand it. thehill.com/opinion/judici…

The task before us now is first to justify that optimism at the ballot box. The heroes of the civil rights era didn’t bow before men in white robes and none of us are under any obligation to bow to their successors in black ones. AND THEN…

The Roberts court is, above all else, racist. They don’t like the reconstruction amendments and they don’t like the laws that enforced them. There is no legal, constitutional or separation of powers principle here. It’s just racism. joycevance.substack.com/p/heres-why-we…