(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . New Faces in Congress: Rep. Glenn Ivey, a Maryland Tour de Force [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-01 New Faces in Congress is a diary series meant to highlight our new and diverse members of Congress in the Democratic Party. These 36 House freshmen range from political neophytes to seasoned legislative veterans. The series will run every Sunday morning, bright and early. Last week, the New Faces in Congress series continued with a profile on Rep. Becca Balint from Vermont’s at-large district. If you missed it, feel free to click on this link to read all about her! This new member of Congress is a familiar face for many veterans on Capitol Hill from his days as a staffer. He has had a very long career in public service in Maryland, and being a member of Congress is likely the capstone of his political career. He is a pragmatist at heart, and he is willing to work across the aisle to get things done. How did this pedigreed public servant make it back to the halls of Congress? First, Rep. Anthony Brown had to run for Attorney General of Maryland. That set up a huge primary in one of the most Democratic districts in America. Our candidate filled the more establishment lane in the primary, and had to face a former representative who was much more progressive. He beat back that primary challenge, which was tantamount to election here. Today, the spotlight is on Rep. Glenn Ivey! Want to help the freshmen members of Congress like Glenn Ivey? Please donate to the New Faces in Congress Fund on ActBlue! Glenn Ivey (Maryland-4) Donate | House Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Biography This section is extremely difficult to write — not because there is a dearth of information. In fact, Rep. Glenn Ivey has been politically active for so long that it makes it hard to condense the information down into palatable chunks. We will start with his campaign website and his upbringing. Glenn grew up in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and the schools of his hometown were still segregated when he started attending. But he watched his mother, a librarian, desegregate four different white schools. He watched his father work for a federal War on Poverty agency that helped unemployed workers in eastern North Carolina get job training and find jobs. Ivey did an interview with Roll Call earlier this year. The subject of this interview included his three different jobs as a staffer on Capitol Hill. I would go to the condensed interview at the link above as this is just the introduction before he delves into his time as a staffer in Congress. Maryland Democratic Rep. Glenn F. Ivey got his start on Capitol Hill with a conversation about jazz. After blanketing members of the Congressional Black Caucus with his résumé, Ivey landed an interview with one of its founders, Democratic Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan. Instead of talking politics, the two talked about music. It was an instant connection and the start of a congressional career that would span both chambers, eventually leading Ivey to a role in the Senate Whitewater investigation into President Bill Clinton’s Arkansas real estate dealings. Besides Conyers, Ivey worked for the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., and former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. Ivey, first elected to Congress in the fall, has held on to the connections and friendships he’s made over the years: His legislative director is someone he’s known since his early days on the Hill in the 1980s. “For your readers out there who are working on the Hill, I would encourage them to maintain those contacts as they go through life, because you just never know where people are going to end up,” Ivey says. Official portrait of Rep. Glenn Ivey. His career in Maryland has been a very long one, and Wikipedia is probably the best resource in reading about all of the things he has done in greater detail. To keep this section shorter, I will bullet point list his accomplishments with links if you wish to know more. In 2002, Ivey sought his first elected office when he ran for Prince George’s County State Attorney and won. His tenure was very productive, as his Wikipedia entry shows. When Ivey took office in December 2002, Prince George's county had the second-highest crime rate in Maryland. During his two terms as state's attorney, he oversaw reductions in crime and led reform measures that put cameras in police interrogation rooms and prosecuted officers accused of excessive force.[32] He sought to involve community groups in crafting policies and strategies for tackling crime in the county[33] and partnered with faith leaders to assist domestic violence survivors and to gain tougher sentences for convicted offenders.[34] In October 2002, following the arrest of D.C. snipers Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad, Ivey declined to prosecute them in his county because of their murder convictions in both Maryland and Virginia.[35] In July 2008, Ivey's office faced intense public scrutiny to hold someone accountable following the strangulation death of 19-year-old Ronnie White, who was accused of killing a police officer.[6][37] In December, the grand jury involved in the death investigation had concluded its deliberations, determining that it had insufficient evidence to bring down indictments in the case.[38] After a yearlong investigation, Ivey announced that there was no evidence to support murder charges against jail employees.[39] The Department of Justice also reviewed the case[40] and concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone with murder or manslaughter.[41] CSPAN has interviewed Rep. Glenn Ivey, and he discusses his long tenure behind the scenes in Washington, as well as some of his work in Maryland. I feel that I did not give Rep. Glenn Ivey justice in this section, as I didn’t even mention his work in the private sector, nor did I fully expand on his impact after leaving the State Attorney office in 2011. I feel this information is sufficient to prove that Rep. Glenn Ivey has a pedigree that few in Congress can match, and especially no one else in the freshman class. Notable Media Headlines Rep. Glenn Ivey is a mainstay whenever legal news happens, especially when it pertains to one Donald J. Trump. Even before getting to Congress, he was part of a panel explaining the special counsel appointment of Jack Smith. In April, he joined Politics Nation on MSNBC to discuss the developments in the Trump criminal cases with Rev. Al Sharpton. Included were the House GOP attempts to intimidate or silence Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. x Great to join @TheRevAl on @PoliticsNation this evening to discuss the lack of jurisdiction House Republicans have in the @ManhattanDA's Trump Investigation despite their demands for evidence related to the case. pic.twitter.com/ovcakDjHFE — Rep. Glenn Ivey (@RepGlennIvey) April 8, 2023 In that same vein, Rep. Glenn Ivey made some headlines at the beginning of August when Trump was given a superseding indictment in the documents case. Here’s what he had to say in The Hill. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) said he doesn’t think the legal challenges former President Donald Trump faces will help the 2024 GOP front-runner in a general election. Ivey, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, said he thinks the troubles with the law the former president faces are reinforcing his support only among “hardcore” Republican voters. Ivey said the challenges are “ensuring” a Biden win in another head-to-head matchup between the 2020 rivals. “I don’t think it’s making him stronger for the general election next November,” Ivey said on NewsNation’s “The Hill” on Friday. He also predicted that the attempt to impeach President Biden or any cabinet officials would hit a dead end, especially given Democratic control of the Senate. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) said impeachment articles targeted at President Joe Biden and other administration officials would lead to “dead ends” during a TV appearance Friday. Ivey, a House Judiciary Committee member, said Republicans’ efforts to impeach Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas “damaging” to their party. During his appearance on “The Hill” on NewsNation, Ivey said he sees “no case” against the current president and that Republicans are unclear in what they think his wrongdoing is. “I think they’re heading in the wrong direction,” Ivey said. In May, right in the middle of the debt ceiling debacle, Ivey had an interview with a local FOX affiliate. He discussed gun safety, Trump’s criminal case, and especially the debt ceiling debacle. x ICYMI: I joined @fox5dc's @katieleebarlow last night to discuss the ongoing debt ceiling battle, recent developments in Trump's criminal case, and potential legislation related to gun laws.https://t.co/0m65iZBuVP — Rep. Glenn Ivey (@RepGlennIvey) May 15, 2023 Ivey opined in July on MSNBC that the whole NDAA was at risk due to the poison pills the House GOP inserted that had nothing to do with defense and everything to do with the culture wars. This includes Rep. Eli Crane using the slur ‘colored people’ on the House floor. x I get it. We all misspeak sometimes. But a Republican congressman's recent use of the term "colored people" just goes to show how important diversity, equity, and inclusion training really is. Watch my take in the clip below. #DEI #EducateYourself pic.twitter.com/z6MTI4SMR1 — Rep. Glenn Ivey (@RepGlennIvey) July 18, 2023 x The draconian #NDAA amendments that Republicans voted for last week would strip our military women of their right to seek an abortion, even after sexual assault. How dare they think this is an acceptable way to treat our #WomenInUniform? We owe them so much more than this. pic.twitter.com/QjOj7UECXc — Rep. Glenn Ivey (@RepGlennIvey) July 19, 2023 Right before the end of September and a possible government shutdown, Ivey joined Politics Nation and laid out in clear terms what the possible shutdown would do to his constituents, many of whom hold government jobs. x Maryland @RepGlennIvey explains what a possible government shutdown would mean for the people if spending bills are not passed. pic.twitter.com/G0MN01Gp2X — PoliticsNation (@PoliticsNation) September 23, 2023 Rep. Glenn Ivey has been in public service for such a long time that dealing with the media is second nature to him. I especially like his calming voice as opposed to the histrionics that many of the fascists use to draw attention to themselves. Bills and Legislative Priorities Rep. Glenn Ivey is on three committees — The House Judiciary Committee, the House Ethics Committee, and the House Committee on Homeland Security. As shown above, he has tangled with the fascists on each committee, but they aren’t conducive to generating bills at this time. This political ad sums up why Rep. Glenn Ivey decided to run for Congress in 2022, and it describes perfectly what his priorities are now that he is back on Capitol Hill. Here is another interview with MSNBC that explains his legislative priorities. Upon entering Congress, Ivey joined the Congressional Black Caucus and the New Democratic Coalition. The latter consists of the more moderate members of our coalition, but Ivey has a more liberal profile than your typical member of that caucus. Ivey has introduced a couple of bills already on the floor of Congress. They line up perfectly with his priorities in the introductory ad above. Raise the Age Act for gun safety Recruit and Retain Act for police x Safe Access to Cash Act x Ivey voted YES on the Bipartisan Debt Ceiling Deal, but he didn’t put out a statement explaining his vote. Glenn Ivey strongly disapproved of all of the Extreme Court decisions at the end of June, but the affirmative action decision truly stuck in his craw. Here is what he released the day of that heinous decision. x Ivey has around 2.5k followers on the dying social media platform Twitter, which is about average for a new member of Congress. His communications team is quite sharp witted, and his feed is a joy to read in all honesty. Rep. Glenn Ivey will continue to add to his storied political career for as long as he remains in Congress. After all of those years of being a staffer or counsel, now he is the person front and center in three different House Committees. He is using his knowledge of how Washington, D.C. works to be a more effective legislator even in the minority. Ivey has become the go to freshman Democratic representative to explain the latest developments in the ongoing Trump legal saga. Those account for the majority of his media appearances at this time, although he has appeared when gun safety has been discussed as well. His knowledge of legal matters makes him easily explain complex things to the public at large. His age is the only barrier to him having a long Congressional career. While he isn’t above 70 years old like many members of Congress, he is aged 62. At some point, after nearly 40 years of public service, he will wish to retire. That day may be later on, or it could be soon. Only Rep. Glenn Ivey can chart the course of the capstone of his career! Next week, I will profile Rep. Nikki Budzinski of Illinois’ 13th district. See you then! Glenn Ivey (Maryland-4) Donate | House Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/1/2184729/-New-Faces-in-Congress-Rep-Glenn-Ivey-a-Maryland-Tour-de-Force Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/