Kiley says he won’t caucus with Republicans if reelected
The Republican-turned-independent discussed education policy at a Semafor event.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, an independent member of the House from California, announced on Wednesday that he will not caucus with Republicans if he is reelected. Speaking at the Youth Wellbeing Forum, Kiley expressed his intention to challenge House rules that compel independent members to affiliate with a party to sit on committees. Currently, he caucuses with Republicans for committee assignments. Kiley argued that committee seats should belong to the American people and should not be denied to independent members.
During the interview, Kiley also criticized the Trump administration's decision to dismantle the Department of Education. He stated, "When it comes to the core mission of supporting educational excellence across the country, to say that we’re just not going to have this done in the Department of Education anymore, and we’re going to send it to some other department makes absolutely no sense to me."
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat from Oregon, participated in the same forum and discussed her plans to introduce a bill updating federal education policy to better address the needs of today's students. The bill would focus on project-based learning, arts education, and students' behavioral health needs. Bonamici also disclosed her intention to challenge Rep. Bobby Scott, the current Democratic leader on the Education and Workforce Committee, in the upcoming leadership contest.
Written by urgent.news from Semafor's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
