Ocasio-Cortez Suffers Double Blow As Socialism Takes Over Dem Party
New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and socialism have taken quite a few hits in the past week. Just before New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani arrived in Washington for his first meeting with President Donald Trump, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan resolution condemning what it called the “horrors of socialism.”
“A yes vote on this resolution should be a relatively straightforward, easy decision. It simply states that Congress denounces socialism in all its forms and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States of America,” Republican Arkansas Rep. French Hill said.
The measure passed in a bipartisan vote of 285-98. Among the 86 Democrats who backed it were 14 members from New York and New Jersey, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who endorsed Mamdani only in the final moments of the mayoral race.
Several Democrats and progressives have also whined about House Democrats’ refusal to elevate Ocasio-Cortez while sticking with older Democrats who have been in Congress for decades.
Far-left commentator argued, “At this point almost nothing the Democratic Party does makes any damned sense. They are hanging onto their gerontocracy and consultant class at the expense of their most loyal voters. And let’s just be clear, they’ll be fine while our communities pay the price.”
Progressive YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen said, “Democrats refuse to learn their lesson. Refuse to take generational change seriously. Refuse to spotlight the party’s most effective communicators.”
Pod Save America‘s Dan Pfeiffer concurred, submitting, “Valuing seniority over political and messaging chops is exactly how Democrats got into this mess in the first place.”
Another left-wing podcaster, Matt Lech, responded to Pfeiffer’s tweet by declaring, “It is maliciously misleading people to say this is about ‘seniority,’ which was not determinative last time. Are we gonna grow up and confront this blatant corruption here or just shadowbox.”
Mamdani and AOC have sparked a “socialist movement” that could endanger Democrats going into the 2026 midterms.
“Two more candidates who are proud to align themselves with socialism are running for important House seats in solid blue districts in Democrat-controlled states. The secret sauce fueling this phenomenon is a widely perceived belief among the progressives who dominate the grassroots of the party that the Democratic establishment is corrupt to the core and must not just be reformed but thoroughly eradicated,” wrote Liberty Nation’s Joe Schaeffer.
That enemy is none other than California state Senator Scott Wiener, who is one of the most extreme left-wing politicians in the Golden State. But Wiener is also thought to be connected to the party’s mainstream, which could hurt him a lot more in the Bay Area than his controversial views on how transgender youth “rights” should take precedence over parental authority or how “sex workers” should be free to roam California street corners.
Chakrabarti and Wiener are both running for the Democratic nomination for the seat that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is leaving open. Three or four years ago, during the Biden administration’s White House heyday, the political climate may have supported Wiener. But in 2025, the winds of change are obviously flowing in Chakrabarti’s direction.
Chakrabarti helped start the Justice Democrats, a dissident progressive group that became well-known when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) became a rising star on the left in November 2018.
One of these fellow travelers is Chi Osse, a member of the New York City Council who is running against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in the primary.
Osse, who is 27 years old, left the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in 2022 because of a disagreement over policy. However, he rejoined the group this past summer. Many moderate Democrats are worried about this looming fight.
Trump Admin Says It Uncovered $10 Billion Obamacare Fraud Scheme
The Trump administration says it has uncovered what it describes as a massive fraud scheme within the Affordable Care Act.
Members of Trump’s administration allege that roughly $10 billion in taxpayer money was improperly paid out between 2021 and 2024 because of weakened enrollment safeguards under former President Joe Biden.
According to a Department of Health and Human Services report, officials have already removed nearly three million fraudulent or improper Obamacare enrollments and estimate another 2.6 million questionable enrollments remain.
Administration officials say the findings are part of a broader government-wide effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse across federal programs.
The report traces the alleged problems to changes made during the Biden administration that expanded enrollment opportunities while relaxing income verification and eligibility checks.
At the start of Biden’s presidency, approximately 10 million people were enrolled through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. By 2024, enrollment had surged to roughly 22 million.
Federal investigators now believe millions of those enrollments were improper, fraudulent, or created without the knowledge of the individuals involved.
“By our estimate, improper, phantom, and fraudulent enrollment peaked at 5.6 million people in 2025,” the report states.
“We estimate 2.6 million improper and phantom enrollments remain, including over 1 million enrollments without a Social Security number.”
According to the report, several different forms of abuse contributed to the alleged fraud.
Officials say some applicants intentionally understated their income to qualify for larger taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Others allegedly received premium assistance despite failing to meet eligibility requirements.
Investigators also identified what they describe as “phantom enrollments,” in which insurance brokers allegedly enrolled people in Obamacare plans without their knowledge to collect federal commissions.
The report argues that reduced verification requirements made those practices significantly easier to carry out.
Since taking office, the Trump administration says it has restored stricter income verification requirements, ended several special enrollment periods, increased screening for duplicate Medicaid enrollment, and launched investigations into brokers suspected of creating phantom policies.
Officials also say they have strengthened oversight of agents participating in the federal marketplace.
As a result of those efforts, nearly three million enrollments have already been removed from the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Even after those removals, approximately 19.2 million people remain enrolled.
The administration says its goal is not to reduce legitimate coverage but to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent only on individuals who actually qualify.
“Preserving the fiscal and programmatic integrity of the ACA Exchanges is key to safeguarding taxpayer-funded resources for those that truly need them,” the report states.
“The federal government paying brokers to enroll individuals without their knowledge is not.”
The report also says the administration will continue pursuing additional enforcement actions against brokers and others accused of exploiting the program.
“The Trump Administration continues to aggressively root out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption by promulgating new regulations to improve program integrity, investigating suspected improper or fraudulent enrollment, and taking action against agents and brokers committing fraud.”
The findings are likely to reignite debate over the Affordable Care Act and how aggressively eligibility rules should be enforced.
Supporters of the administration argue the report demonstrates that stricter oversight is necessary to protect taxpayers and preserve benefits for those legally entitled to receive them.
Critics of previous verification rollbacks have long warned that loosening enrollment safeguards could increase improper payments and fraud, while supporters of the Biden-era policies argued the changes made healthcare more accessible to eligible Americans, Fox News reported exclusively.
The administration says its investigations remain ongoing, with an estimated 2.6 million additional enrollments still under review as officials continue auditing the federal health insurance exchanges.
Trump has been pushing to replace Obamacare for over a decade, and this may give Republicans enough motivation to actually do something.
