Democrat Reintroduces Reparations Bill That Could Cost More Than Annual U.S. Budget

A Democrat congresswoman has revived an effort to provide reparations payments to black Americans for slavery, introducing legislation that would cost trillions of dollars.

Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) reintroduced the Reparations Now resolution, which was first introduced by former Rep. Cori Bush in 2023.

Lee says that the funds are owed to black Americans. “Black folks are owed more than thoughts and prayers. We’re owed repair, we’re owed restitution, and we’re owed justice,” Lee said at a press conference as she announced the reintroduction of the bill. “We’re here to say that there’s no more waiting, no more watering down, no more putting justice on layaway.”

If enacted, the bill is estimated to cost a whopping $14 trillion. The gross domestic product of the entire United States in 2023, by comparison, was just over $27 trillion, while the federal government’s entire budget in that same year was $6.1 trillion.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), a member of the far-Left coalition of Democrats referred to as “the squad,” echoed Lee’s remarks and accused Trump’s policies of being “anti-blackness on steroids.”

“We will not back down in our pursuit of racial justice,” Pressley said. “The antidote to anti-Blackness is to be pro-Black, and we will do it unapologetically. The United States government owes us a debt, and we need reparations now.”

Cori Bush, who originally introduced the bill in 2023 before losing her reelection bid, joined the two at the press conference. “You cannot turn your back on the demand for reparations, because until there is repair, there will be no justice,” Bush said. “And where there is no justice, we will continue to fight. We’re not going anywhere.”

The legislation, which died after it was first introduced in 2023, has little chance of advancing in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) introduced legislation earlier this year in the hopes of preventing state and local governments from enacting reparations policies.

“Reparations based on race or historical grievances are not only unfair: they’re unconstitutional and divisive,” Babin said as he announced the legislation, which would strip federal funding from states and localities that pass reparations bills. “Our nation should focus on policies that promote economic opportunity for all, not government handouts based on ancestry.”