The list of things that President Trump has referenced on Twitter is so vast, that it has almost become a rite of passage for politicians and celebrities to draw his ire.

And on Tuesday morning, after an appearance on Fox News in which he called for witnesses in the president’s ongoing impeachment trial, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen was added to that list. In a tweet calling Van Hollen a “no name Senator,” the president lamented both Van Hollen’s appearance, as well as his news channel of choice’s decision to have him on its airwaves.

“I thought it was interesting that he said ‘no name Senator’ and then provided my name,” Van Hollen says. “I know the president likes to watch Fox News, and apparently he was watching. I was saying that I thought it was important that we call key witnesses as part of getting to the truth in this [impeachment] trial. Apparently President Trump was offended.”

Van Hollen notes that he goes on Fox frequently, as he feels it’s important to reach people across different cable channels. He doesn’t think directly about the fact that the president might be watching when he does appear on Fox, but, as evidenced Tuesday, that is often the case. And a little more than an hour after the president’s tweet, Van Hollen issued a rebuttal.

“I think it’s important not to allow a tweet directed at me not to go unanswered,” Van Hollen says. “Obviously the president is trying to silence people like me by telling Fox not to let us go on. I think it’s important to respond and I also thought it was appropriate, since we’re engaged in the search for the truth, to welcome the president to the Senate and tell his story.”

Van Hollen and his Senate colleagues are currently mired in a testy impeachment trial, one in which Democrats are currently hoping to sway at least four Republicans to their side in order to get the votes to subpoena witnesses. Procedures and rules were set in place last week for the Senate trial, which has extended for hours each day. As Van Hollen notes, this mandates a reserve of endurance as senators weigh both sides’ arguments.

“Everyone needs their sugar fix after four or five hours straight on the Senate floor,” Van Hollen says. “They are long hours, but it’s an important moment for our country. I think everybody has a responsibility to pay attention, weigh the evidence, and make a decision.”

Van Hollen is also in a unique position in the trial. On the first day of the Senate portion, he offered an amendment to the resolution of the rules, in which the Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts—who is presiding over the trial—would have first ruling on allowing witnesses and documents. This would not preclude the Senate from overruling the Chief Justice.

“The proposal does not take away the senate’s ability to override the chief justice by a majority vote,” he explains. “It would just require in the first instance the chief justice to make determinations on witnesses and documents.”

Though the amendment was struck down in its first introduction, Van Hollen says that, in the wake of new evidence uncovered in former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s upcoming book, he is considering reintroducing it. “[It’s] an impartial way to decide which witnesses have relevant testimony.”

The next two days of the trial will now consist of two, eight-hour question and answer sessions from each of the 100 senators. Van Hollen will ask at least one question of the many he has submitted to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office. But, as the day ends, he is taking stock of what has been a whirlwind—one in which he found himself in the president’s crosshairs.

“It’s a crazy day,” Van Hollen says. “When you get in an exchange with the president, it raises the stakes. If this results in more people watching my interview on Fox News, I welcome that.”

Over the course of 12 days in November 2016, United Maryland Muslim Council director Mubariz Razvi and his wife were camped at the University of Maryland Medical Center’s shock trauma ward. Their adopted 23-year-old son, Ali Shah, was suffering from sepsis, on life support, and unfortunately, didn’t have much time left to live.

Around a week into agonizing over Shah’s health, a woman saw that the ward doorway was clear, walked into the room, and rudely confronted Razvi.

“She blatantly stood a foot away from my face and said, ‘You don’t belong here,’ and ‘Get out of here,’” Razvi recounts. “The shocking thing was that, if she was in that area, that means that she had a family member in the same ward.”

The situation escalated to a point where the woman threatened to call hospital security on Razvi, who had simply been tending to his family. Razvi turned the tables, enlisting security himself. The woman fled before she could be questioned.

“That is an example of what security systems can do for you when they’re in place,” Razvi says. “It deterred her from going any further.”

Since that event almost three years ago, similar incidents and others much worse have become more commonplace. There has been a stark rise in hate crimes across the country, according to reporting by the FBI. It’s for this reason that religious institutions and community businesses have become more proactive in ensuring the safety of their congregants and patrons. More than $3 million in aid from the same grant program has been provided to these institutions in the past year. But as lawmakers see it, as the danger grows, so too does the need to increase funding to support these efforts.

Earlier this month, Maryland congressmen John Sarbanes, Ben Cardin, and Chris Van Hollen introduced a proposal to quadruple federal funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program from $90 million to $360 million in the 2021 fiscal year. The program, established in response to 9/11, is designed to provide security assistance to religious and community nonprofits at high risk of terrorist attacks across the country. Its promotion has been co-signed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“Our overriding goal has to be to reduce the number of hate crimes that are being committed,” says Van Hollen, who served as a representative for Maryland’s 8th District from 2003-2017 before being elected to the U.S. Senate. “That’s the most important thing we can do to help reduce people’s fears. But, to the extent that you can provide a more secure environment, people can feel more safe in practicing their religion or going about their daily lives.”

Given the increasing prevalence of hate crimes across the country, government leaders say they need to both institute stronger measures to try to prevent such crimes, while also providing appropriate assistance to respond to attacks.

“It would be irresponsible not to take steps to protect places that we know have been targets of hate crimes,” Van Hollen says. “We need to be confronting [the increase] in two ways. One is to bring the different faith communities together in solidarity to speak out against hate crimes. The second thing we need to do is to provide protection for places of worship and other places that are targeted.”

One of the many reasons there is a sense of urgency surrounding this problem is that it’s not just affecting one community. Elissa Sachs-Kohen, the rabbi at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation for the last 16 years, says anti-Semitic crimes remain an increasing concern in the Jewish community. Baltimore Hebrew Congregation was one of many Maryland institutions that received part of the more than $3 million funds from the grant program in the past year.

“The Jewish community feels more at-risk than it has in many years,” Sachs-Kohen says. “In my Rabbinic tenure, there’s always been a very low-level hum. There are people who hate Jewish people and who might choose to do something about that hatred. It’s no longer a low-level hum.”

Among the suggestions for how to use the funds include increasing physical security presence and surveillance, as well as fencing around places of worship. Leaders also hope that talking about these issues will help members of their communities, and the community at-large, to understand why these attacks are happening and what they can do to combat them.

“I think that what [calls to increase funding] also point to is this has been a neglected area in the past,” Sachs-Kohen says. “Whenever you’re looking at something quadrupling, it suggests maybe that there wasn’t as much as a need before, but it also suggests that we were not doing our due diligence before.”

Van Hollen serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Maryland 2nd District Representative Dutch Ruppersberger, who has also been a part of this initiative, serves on the House Appropriations Committee. The two plan to collaborate with their colleagues to put together a workable funding resolution for the 2021 fiscal year, hoping for approval in both the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate later this year.

Even so, for Razvi, these ideas are short-term solutions to a larger problem, one that he hopes one day will be left in the past.

“With additional funding, I definitely believe it will help us keep houses of worship secure,” he says. “But at the same time, there has to be a change of opinion in the public’s mind that, we might speak a different language, we might look different, but we’re all one humanity and one human race.”

Mike Miller, the longest serving president of the Senate in Maryland history, announced Thursday that he is stepping down after 33 years due to health issues. Miller, who will be 77 by the start of the next legislative session in January, has been battling prostate cancer for more than a year.

Cantankerous, charismatic, stubborn, and generous by turn, Miller wielded power in the Maryland General Assembly perhaps like no other before him. First elected to state Senate in 1975, he rose to president of the Senate in 1987, and ultimately dominated the state legislative process across the tenures of five governors.

At a press conference, Miller said he will continue to represent his district, which includes parts of Prince George’s, Calvert, and Charles counties while he continues treatment.

Baltimore state Senator Bill Ferguson, 36, was unanimously tapped by his Democratic colleagues—who hold a sizable advantage in the legislature—to succeed Miller as their leader. With Baltimore County state Del. Adrienne Jones rising to Speaker of the House of Delegates earlier this year—the first African American and woman to hold that role—the youthful Ferguson’s ascension marks a significant course change in leadership in Annapolis. And, perhaps, a shift in political power in the General Assembly by back toward the state’s largest city.

Jones succeeded deceased House of Delegates Speaker Michael Busch, who had held the position for nearly a decade and a half, in April. A former teacher and coach, Busch was considered the kinder and gentler of the “Two Mikes,” as Miller and Busch came to be known. Busch passed away in office at the end of the last General Assembly following a long illness and liver transplant.

Baltimore has lost notable sway in Annapolis over the past several decades as the city’s population dwindled. The combination of Ferguson and Jones now holding both top positions in the General Assembly could change that perception.

Miller was not just longest serving president of Senate in Maryland history, but also the longest, current serving state Senate president in the country.

He led the state Senate through the passage of a series of controversial measures in recent years, including a ban on the death penalty, and support for legalized gambling and same-sex marriage, the last of which Miller did not vote for himself, but also did not block from coming to the floor of the General Assembly.

In many ways, Miller remained a politician from a previous era. A voracious reader and student of history, Miller was also a protector of the state Senate and General Assembly traditions. In a profile of Miller several years ago, Barbara Hoffman, a former Democratic senator for Baltimore City and County, told Baltimore, “I think his legacy is to be a model for caring about the institution of the Senate more than any one thing.”

“He is the guardian of the tradition of the Senate,” Montgomery Senator Richard Madaleno, who arrived in Annapolis as a budget analyst in 1989, said in the same 2013 profile, describing Miller as the “pillar” of the Maryland Democratic Party. “He knows how to bring people together to form a majority to get an issue done, whether that’s through humor, through discussion, or through yelling.”

Miller also considers Republican Gov. Larry Hogan a friend. Miller knew Gov. Hogan’s father, a former Prince George’s county executive, and has known the governor almost his whole life—a relationship that has somewhat diffused party tensions in the General Assembly in recent years. Miller’s “steady presence and trademark humor will be deeply missed” as Senate president, Gov. Hogan said in statement. “I have immense respect for Mike Miller,” Hogan added. “For the past year, he has shown all of us what courage and determination look like as he faces a very tough personal battle.”

Meanwhile, local and state elected officials praised the selection of Ferguson, who is more liberal than Miller, generally considered a centrist or conservative Democrat. A former teacher and attorney, Ferguson has been vocal in his support for more public education spending as well as the recent Kirwan Commission recommendations calling significant funding increases for public schools. Hogan has called the Kirwan education spending recommendations “half-baked” and referred to the commission as the “Kirwan Tax Hike Commission, setting up a likely contentious battle in Annapolis during the upcoming General Assembly.

State Sen. Bill Ferguson

City Council President Brandon Scott called Ferguson a “hardworking public servant for the people of the 46th District and for every Baltimorean.”

“He loves our city and he loves our state,” Scott said. “I know he’ll honor our city as President. Senator Ferguson will ensure our greatest resource—our young people—get the resources they need for a quality education, regardless of their zip code.”

Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young highlighted Ferguson’s background in teaching and leading voice for increased funding for public education. “I know that he will be a passionate advocate for our children, and a committed partner as we work together with his colleagues in the legislature to ensure that Kirwan is fully funded,” Young said.

Maryland U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen said in a statement that’d he’d seen Miller Wednesday night at the Morgan State tribute to Elijah Cummings and that Miller insisted his doctors let him out of the hospital to eulogize Cummings.

“That’s Mike,” Van Hollen said. “Always there for friends; always there for Maryland. Mike Miller has dedicated his life to serving Marylanders and set the gold standard for true leadership in the State Senate. I was proud to serve under him, and to this day appreciate his mentorship and wisdom. His guiding hand will be missed, but I’m confident that Bill Ferguson will serve our state well.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday afternoon that the House of Representatives will begin a formal impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Pelosi’s action—long awaited by many Democratic activists after findings in the Mueller Report—comes in response to startling new allegations that the president recently sought to enlist Ukraine in his personal electoral cause. Namely, undermining current frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020—former Vice President Joe Biden.

Pelosi, the daughter of former Baltimore mayor Thomas D’Alessandro Jr., announced the start of an impeachment inquiry on Capitol Hill following a closed-door meeting with her Democratic caucus.

“The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution,” she said. President Trump, she said, “must be held accountable—no one is above the law.”

Impeachment has occurred twice in U.S. history, with charges brought against Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Neither president was removed or left office. Rather than face a House of Representatives vote on impeachment over the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974.

Even if the House—where the Democrats hold a majority—votes to impeach Trump after their inquiry, forcing a president from the White House requires a conviction in the Senate. In that chamber, where Republicans hold a majority, elected GOP officials have remained in lockstep behind Trump during each controversy of his presidency.

Trump’s alleged efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating Biden, his potential rival, and his son, Hunter Biden, who served on board of the country’s largest private gas company, were brought forth by a U.S. intelligence whistleblower. Earlier Tuesday, Trump acknowledged he withheld $391 million in military support for Ukraine in the run-up to his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The president and his personal lawyer, former New York Mayor and former GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, have suggested Biden tried to protect the Ukrainian company, and thereby his son, from a corruption investigation. Neither Trump, Giuliani, nor anyone else to date, has provided evidence of illegal activity by either Biden.

Fact checking and investigations by multiple U.S. news outlets have repudiated Trump’s and Giuliani’s allegations that the former vice president attempted to protect his son by advocating for the removal of the former top Ukrainian prosecutor. The current prosecutor general of Ukraine, Yuri Luiseno, has looked into the matter and cleared the Bidens.

Leading up to Tuesday’s announcement by Pelosi, Maryland’s congressional delegation, who had been hesitant to speak out in favor of an impeachment inquiry previously, offered their strong backing for formal hearings.

“We can now see with our own eyes that the President is jeopardizing our national security,” Rep. Elijah Cummings said in a statement, referring to Trump allegedly holding back military aid to an ally in exchange for damning information on an American political candidate. “He admitted to personally withholding military security that Congress appropriated to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression. He admitted to personally urging a foreign actor to dig up dirt on his political rival. And he personally attacked a whistleblower whose protected information is being withheld from Congress in violation of the law.”

In a move described as unprecedented, the Trump Administration’s acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, has refused to share the whistleblower complaint with congressional intelligence committees, even after receiving a subpoena.

Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he would release the transcript of his phone call with the Ukrainian president, referring to the conversation as “totally appropriate.” The release of the whistleblower complaint, which is required to be turned over to Congress, remains another story, however. Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson determined that whistleblower’s allegations involving the president and his contact with Ukraine—of which the July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president is just a part, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and The Washington Post—were deemed credible and of “urgent concern.”

The Mueller Report, of course, found multiple contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian representatives during the 2016 election season.

Fellow Maryland Democratic Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger emphasized his national security concerns regarding the president’s contacts with Ukraine: “As a former prosecutor, I have resisted calls to begin formal impeachment proceedings against the President until we had clear, indisputable evidence that transcends politics,” Ruppersberger said in a statement. “Jeopardizing our national security is where I draw the line. Withholding duly appropriated money meant to aid a country that could be overtaken by Russia is reckless and dangerous. This is yet another example of the President doing Putin’s bidding.”

“President Trump’s actions are a threat to our democracy,” Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said in a press release. “His continued disregard for our Constitution and the democratic norms that guide our nation have caused irreparable harm to our country, our standing in the world, and to the Office of the Presidency. As the White House continues to prevent the House of Representatives from exercising their Constitutionally-mandated oversight role, it has become clear that the tools provided by an impeachment inquiry must be employed.”

Maryland Democratic Congressman John Sarbanes said Trump’s alleged conduct, “constitute[s] a direct attack on our democracy and signify an unprecedented new level of corruption and lawlessness in the White House.”

“President Trump’s attempt to pressure a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 election is a blatant abuse of power,” Sarbanes said.

By coincidence, former Vice President Joe Biden was scheduled for a private fundraising event at Citron, a Pikesville restaurant and event space, Tuesday evening, according to reporting by The Baltimore Sun. However, Biden and his team were forced to head back to home to Wilmington, Delaware, after realizing the former vice president would not make it in time because of traffic caused by an overturned a tractor-trailer on I-95.

Police responded to the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday during morning services following reports of an active shooter. The shooter has been identified as Robert Bowers, who walked into the synagogue with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and three pistols and began shooting, killing 11 and injuring six more.

Bowers is being charged with 29 federal counts, including several hate crimes.

“They’re committing genocide to my people,” he told a SWAT officer after being shot and captured, according to a federal criminal complaint released ­Sunday. “I just want to kill Jews.”

The Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish organization that fights anti-semitism and bigotry, says that this shooting is the the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in America.

The names of the victims were released on Sunday, the oldest being 97-year-old Rose Mallinger, who lived in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood and was a faithful member of the Tree of Life temple. Bernice Simon, 84, and her husband, Sylvan, 86, were married at the Tree of Life synagogue in December 1956, and died together there on Saturday along with brothers Cecil and David Rosenthal.

This tragedy has sparked worldwide outrage with local officials and clergy speaking out about the horrific loss.

The Baltimore Hebrew Congregation held a special service on Sunday morning to mourn with the families who lost their loved ones in the shooting. Rabbi Elissa Sachs-Kohen addressed the congregation detailing how devastated she is at the loss of life in the Jewish community.

“My heart is so heavy this morning,” she said to the congregation. “And my heart is heavy with fear. Not fear that I, or someone I love will be the next target, though that is real. My heart is heavy with fear that we will send our thoughts and prayers; that we will go on Facebook and Instagram and with a tear on the face of a yellow emoji express our sadness and that we will think that is enough. That is not enough.”

Senator Ben Cardin, who attended the service on Sunday, took to social media to express his outrage about the act of hate.

“Heartbroken and horrified by the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue,” he said in a tweet. “Just appalling. I’m thinking of and praying for the entire Squirrel Hill community today. And I’m grateful as ever for our first responders. We cannot—we WILL NOT—accept this as normal. I refuse.”

Governor Larry Hogan also expressed his grief on Twitter, even reaching out to the Governor of Pennsylvania to offer assistance “to help our neighbors.”

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the horrific shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh,” he wrote. “Our prayers are with the victims and those were were injured.”

Senator Chris Van Hollen took to Twitter to plead for a stop to gun violence.

“Horror strikes again,” he wrote. “My heart goes out to Pittsburgh. We must end the hate. We must stop the gun violence. We have it in our power to save lives. Hate, silence, and failure to act have deadly consequences.”

On Saturday, in one of the slimmest votes in American history of 50-48, Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States amid controversial sexual misconduct claims from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. He was sworn in promptly after the vote by both Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy—whom he is replacing—in a private ceremony.

This is considered a major victory for the Trump administration and Senate Republican leaders who have made stockpiling conservative judges a signature issue. At 53, Kavanaugh is young enough to serve on the Supreme Court for decades if not more.

“I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court,” President Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon. “Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!”

Maryland officials were not pleased with Kavanaugh’s confirmation and made their grievances known on social media:

Senator Chris Van Hollen, who voted no to the confirmation, believes that the allegations against Kavanaugh should have prevented him from obtaining the seat on the high court.

Maryland gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous also expressed his opposition to the confirmation.

Officials on the other side of the aisle were pleased with the decision to vote him in.

Before the vote, Governor Larry Hogan declined to say whether he would confirm Kavanaugh if he were a senator.

“I’m glad that actually happened, that there was an FBI investigation,” Hogan told The Sun. “I have frankly no involvement in that. I’ve never taken any position on any Supreme Court nominee. I’m not qualified to make those decisions. I’m not a member of the Senate. I haven’t seen the report. I haven’t watched the testimony. I’m working 15, 18 hours a day, seven days a week. I’m not sitting home watching television. I’ve followed what’s happening, but I don’t feel educated enough to make that decision.”

Former U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski watched the Supreme Court nomination hearings Thursday of candidate Brett Kavanaugh and said she found the testimony of the Stanford University professor who has accused him of sexual assault to be sincere.

Mikulski was one of just two women in the U.S. Senate when she witnessed the testimony and treatment of law professor Anita Hill, who told the all-male Senate Judiciary Committee that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had repeatedly sexually harassed her when he was head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“I, of course, found Professor [Christine Blasey] Ford very credible,” Mikulski said Saturday following an event at the Baltimore Convention Center to promote the city’s efforts to ensure an accurate count in the 2020 U.S. Census. “Not only in her personal presentation, but that on her own she had spoken about this with a therapist and a friend previously.”

It is worth noting, added Mikulski, who began her career as a Baltimore social worker, “that she [Ford] remained so distressed years later that she wanted to have a different front door on her own house.”

When Mikulski moved up from the House of Representatives to the U.S. Senate in 1986, she became the first Democratic woman ever elected to the upper chamber of Congress. Five years later, she saw first hand the machinations behind the appointment of Thomas, who was tapped by then-President George H.W. Bush to fill the seat of retiring Justice Thurgood Marshall appointment, and Hill’s testimony.

After Ford and Kavanaugh’s own testimony last Thursday, the Senate Judiciary committee, divided along partisan lines, initially voted to move his confirmation forward without further FBI investigation into Ford and two other women’s allegations of sexual assault. Later, at the behest of Arizona Senate Republican Jeff Flake, President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans agreed to an additional background check of Kavanaugh—a limited investigation, however, that is now drawing scrutiny as inadequate.

“First of all, I’m glad the Senate is finally returning to regular order and re-opening the background check on Judge Kavanaugh,” said Mikulski, who earlier jokingly described herself as a “C-Span junkie” in retirement. “They need to actually look at the facts of the case involving Professor Ford and there are the other allegations as well.”

Later Saturday, NBC News reported the FBI, as part of its background check, will investigate the allegations of Ford and Deborah Ramirez, who alleges inappropriate sexual behavior by Kavanaugh when both were in college at Yale. But the agency, at the direction of the White House, will not investigate the allegations of a third accuser, Julie Swetnick, who alleges she witnessed Kavanaugh “engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior” toward women while in high school at Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda and that he was present at party where she was drugged and gang-raped.

Also at the direction of the White House, it has been reported, broader area of investigations are off limits—including Kavanaugh’s drinking in high school and college, interviewing certain witnesses, as well as questions of whether he lied to the Senate during his testimony.

“Judge Kavanaugh, who is a D.C. appellate judge, deserves to have all the facts presented, too,” Mikulski said. “He wants to clear his name, and a further background investigation can add to his cause.”

In 1991, Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee, including Orrin Hatch of Utah and Charles Grassley of Iowa, both of whom remain on the committee, were excoriated for their harsh and often insensitive cross-examination of Hill. Democratic senators, including top-ranking member Joe Biden, were scrutinized for failing to recognize the significance of Hill’s claims.

Other women, who made similar allegations to Hill’s sexual harassment charges against Thomas, were not called to testify.

“To anybody out there who wants to be a whistle-blower, the message is: Don’t blow that whistle because you’ll be left out there by yourself,” Mikulski said in 1991, regarding the lack of support among her male Senate colleagues for Hill. “To any victim of sexual harassment or sexual abuse or sexual violence, either in the street or even her own home, the message is nobody’s going to take you seriously, not even the United States Senate.”

Today, there are 23 women in the Senate. Seventeen are Democrats and six are Republicans. Four Democratic women serve on the Judiciary Committee.

Maryland Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, who also attended the U.S. Census event Saturday, suggested Friday in a tweet that the Judiciary Committee call more witnesses to testify under oath, including “the retired federal agent who administered Ford’s polygraph.”

Cardin told MSNBC in a weekend interview that Kavanaugh had “crossed the line” and “demeaned the process” during his often emotional, and at times angry and belligerent, testimony last week.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who filled Mikulski’s seat after her retirement two years ago, said in a Facebook post midday Saturday that he supported “the effort to postpone any further votes in the Senate until the FBI reports on these credible and deeply troubling allegations. The truth is nonpartisan.”

Van Hollen also said that, with his combative testimony Thursday, Kavanaugh revealed he is not an appropriate appointment to the country’s highest court.

“Talk to your friends and your family—and then have them talk to five more people that they know,” Van Hollen continued. “Please tell your friends in other states to keep calling their undecided Republican Senators and tell them what’s at stake.”

After Thursday’s testimony from Ford and Kavanaugh, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, along with three other Republican governors, said he deemed the allegations against the judge “credible.”

“It’s very disturbing. It gives me great pause. There are credible charges and big concerns. They need to be heard,” Hogan told The Baltimore Sun. “They ought to take whatever time it takes to make sure these accusers are heard and he has a chance to respond to them.”

Previously, Hogan had declined to comment on the Kavanaugh nomination, except to say he would not call for an investigation by the Maryland state police.

On Friday, after receiving a request from the Montgomery County state house delegation to investigate sexual assault charges against Kavanaugh, Montgomery County Chief of Police and Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said they would only do so, per procedure, at the behest of a victim.

Shortly before 8 a.m. this morning, Austin Wyatt Rollins, walked into Great Mills High School in St. Mary’s County with a handgun and began shooting students. Two students—a 16-year-old female and 14-year-old male, were shot and remain in critical and stable condition, respectively.

School resource officer Blaine Gaskill responded to the scene in less than a minute and fired a round at the shooter, who was pronounced dead. It has yet to be confirmed if Rollins’ fatal injury came from Gaskill’s bullets or the shooter’s own.

Parents of Great Mills students were directed to report to nearby Leonardtown High School for reunification. Shortly after the shooting was reported, Governor Larry Hogan reassured residents via Twitter that the situation was being addressed.

“We are closely monitoring the situation at Great Mills High School,” he said. “[The Maryland State Police] is in touch with local law enforcement and ready to provide support. Our prayers are with students, school personnel, and first responders.”

Other local officials and politicians were quick to offer “thoughts and prayers” to the victims of the shooting.

“My thoughts are with the Great Mills High School community as we grapple with yet another school shooting,” Rep. Elijah Cummings tweeted. “I pray for the victims of this horrendous tragedy and my heart goes out to their families.”

Sen. Ben Cardin expressed his anger and frustration saying that at a minimum, universal background checks and a ban on assault-style weapons are needed. He said he believes the momentum for gun reform is building and is fueled by student activism.

“These students are literally just not taking ‘no’ for an answer,” Cardin said. “I can tell you that Americans are listening to our students. I think our political system will respond.”

Rep. Steny Hoyer praised the first responders, more specifically Gaskill who “answered the call this morning with swiftness, professionalism, and courage.” Hoyer believes now it’s time for Congress to act.

“We sympathize. We empathize,” Hoyer said. “We have moments of silence. But we don’t have action. Wringing our hands is not enough.”

According to the Never Again Movement, this incident at Great Mills marks the 11th time a gun has been discharged in a K-12 school since the Parkland shooting in Florida on February 14. 

Last week, students at Great Mills participated in the National School Walkout to protest gun violence.

“Headed to St. Mary’s County to be with the students, teachers, and families of Great Mills High School,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen. “Much gratitude to all the first responders. We must stop the epidemic of gun violence.”

Today former FBI director James Comey told the the Senate Intelligence Committee that he believes he was fired by President Donald Trump because of concerns with the Russia investigation. Due to this mistrust, Comey testified, he documented their private conversations, appointed a special counsel to probe the administration, and accused White House officials of telling “lies, plan and simple.”

In numerous, seemingly uncomfortable, conversations with President Trump, Comey said he was asked for his “loyalty” and to abandon the FBI’s investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. 

Several Maryland representatives had varying reactions to the bombshell testimony, including U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, who called the details “disturbing.” 

“There is no reason to doubt the integrity of Mr. Comey’s recollection of how Mr. Trump repeatedly used the weight of the presidency to ask a law enforcement official to drop an investigation,” Cardin said in a statement. “Such inappropriate actions cannot be simply written off to a learning curve.”

Cardin said it should further encourage his colleagues to cosponsor his legislation to create an independent, 9/11-style commission to investigate Russia’s actions during the 2016 presidential campaign. 

Other local representatives had a different takeaway from Comey’s testimony today.

“I am disturbed by Mr. Comey’s statement that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch asked him to refer to the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email servers as a ‘matter’ instead of an ‘investigation,'” Rep. Andy Harris said in a statement. “If true, this would in fact demonstrate a clear bias by Ms. Lynch and an attempt to influence public perception of Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign.”

The testimony was also of special interest to Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, which is running an investigation into possible Russian collusion. Today, he announced that Rep. Trey Gowdy, of South Carolina, was chosen by the Republican Steering Committee as the new Committee Chairman, subject to final approval.

“I offer my sincerest congratulations to Rep. Gowdy on his new role as Chairman of the Oversight Committee,” Cummings said in a statement. “I look forward to working with him in a constructive and bipartisan manner on an agenda that serves the interests of the American people.”

 Cardin concluded his statement with another note of bipartisanship, urging both sides of the aisle to investigate Russia’s interference with the American political system.

“It is time for Republican leadership in Congress to acknowledge publicly how dangerous the president’s actions and rhetoric have been to American rule of law—the very foundation of our nation,” he said. “We need an independent commission to get to the heart of Russia’s interference in our country and to make public its findings and recommendations for how we can avoid this kind of nightmare in the future.”

Shortly after the Comey hearing, Sen. Chris Van Hollen went down to the Senate floor to urge Congress to pass sanctions on Russia. 

“Right now the world is looking at the United States and asking why we haven’t imposed tougher sanctions on Russia for its unprecedented and multifaceted campaign to undermine our elections,” he said. “There is no excuse for inaction. The United States must show Putin that we will not stand idly by while he attacks our democracy. We need to be unified in our resolve and put patriotism over partisanship.”

On April 12, U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen announced the “Customers Not Cargo” act, which will prohibit the forcible removal of a passenger after boarding a flight due to overbooking. This new piece of legislation comes on the heels of a viral video showing a United Airlines passenger being forcefully ejected from a flight.

The video showed Dr. David Dao, with a bloodied face, being heaved and dragged through the aisle of a plane departing Chicago for Louisville on April 9. To accommodate for an overbooked flight and no volunteers coming forward to leave the plane, United Airlines randomly selected four passengers and when Dao refused, the Chicago Aviation Police forcibly removed him.

“It is outrageous that airlines can bodily remove passengers after boarding rather than providing appropriate incentives to encourage volunteers,” Van Hollen tells Baltimore. “A lot of people don’t realize that airlines currently have the legal right to forcibly eject a passenger who’s already on board. And that’s just not right.”

Van Hollen explains that his proposed legislation doesn’t prevent airlines from the common practice of overbooking, but requires them to instead offer sufficient incentives to passengers to encourage the voluntary release of seats. While the United passengers were offered $800 to de-board, Van Hollen argues that should have happened before passengers boarded the plane, not afterwards.

“Right now you have this perverse system where airlines are able to offer incentives to get passengers off flights,” he says. “But if they forcibly eject somebody or, say, voluntarily bump you, the financial risk for overbooking should be on the airline, not the passenger.”

The cause is especially important to Van Hollen, whose father shared a similar, albeit less violent, experience.

“My father, who passed many years ago, was thrown from a flight,” he says. “He wasn’t on board yet, but it was the last flight for the day, he was about 83 years old at the time. That’s why we named the bill Customers Not Cargo. [Airlines] overbook and then tell passengers they can’t get on.”

On April 11, Van Hollen and 13 other members of Congress sent a letter to the CEO of United Airlines, Oscar Muñoz—who originally praised the work of the Chicago Aviation Police and later publicly apologized to Dao—requesting answers about the current policies in place.

The same day, Muñoz released a statement, saying “no one should ever be mistreated this way.” He continued and said that United Airlines will “take full responsibility” and the airline is conducting a review, in which results will be made public by April 30.

Van Hollen and fellow Congress members have not yet received a response from Muñoz, but remain optimistic that they will. He has begun circulating the Customers Not Cargo act with hopes of gaining co-sponsors in time to introduce the bill to the Senate—in less than 10 days when Congress is back in session.

Right now, he is focused on spreading the word about the bill and highlighting Dao’s experience. Dao’s attorney, Thomas Demetrio, said at a news conference on April 13 that his client was released from a Chicago hospital after suffering a concussion, broken nose, missing teeth, and the need for reconstructive surgery.  

“It’s one thing to read about a passenger that was mistreated,” Van Hollen says. “It’s much different to see it with your own eyes on a video. It really adds transparency and accountability to the process. This is a passenger’s rights issue; it’s a consumer rights issue. It has created the opportunity for action.”