Tipsheet

Conservatives Have One Question After Far-Left Activists Occupy Speaker McCarthy's Office

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  September 12, 2023 7:01 AM

Seven far-left activists were arrested Monday after occupying House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office over funding for HIV and AIDS programs. 

The demonstrators demanded Congress reauthorize provisions of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, set to expire at the end of the month. 

A spokesperson for the Capitol police said the agitators were asked to leave but “refused to cease demonstrating.”  

“PEPFAR has saved millions of lives. It is criminal for some members of Congress to treat it as a political football,” Charles King, CEO of Housing Works, said in a statement. “AIDS isn’t over until it’s over for everyone. PEPFAR has been essential to helping people in developing countries flatten the curve of HIV transmission. The United States has committed to the international goal of ending AIDS by 2030, and we cannot do that if PEPFAR is threatened.”

In a statement, Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell accused House Republicans of "playing political games with the lives of countless adults, children, and newborns with HIV and most affected by HIV across the globe and here in the U.S."

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The demands included a "5-year reauthorization of PEPFAR in its current form, and full funding for HIV treatment and prevention programs in the U.S." 

Both King and Russell were among those arrested. 

Conservatives wondered whether they'd be treated similarly to those involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.