Name: Bryan Maxwell

What office are you seeking: US Senate

What is your political party? Democratic Party

What is your current age? 37

Occupation and employer: Agricultural engineer and environmental research scientist, University of Illinois

What offices, if any, have you previously held? None

City: Urbana

Campaign website: maxwell4senate.com

Education: Bachelor’s and PhD in agricultural and environmental engineering

Community involvement: I am primarily involved in volunteer and community groups that work on access to housing, anti war advocacy, and pushing back against indiscriminate surveillance technologies used in the community.

Marital status/Immediate family: No spouse or children

What are your top three legislative priorities for your first year in the U.S. Senate?

Passing Medicare for All, to begin gradual transition of Americans to the Medicare program. Private insurance will be left in place for those who wish to used it, but will no longer be subsidized by the government.

Direct payments to Americans making less than $60,000 a year and renewing the child tax credit, to address the affordability crisis. This program is similar to the COVID relief package passed by the Biden/Harris administration. Paid for by new wealth taxes on the 1% and reduced military spending.

Ending all US sanctions and military intervention in foreign countries that are a root cause of mass migration from the Global South into the US and Europe. Reinvest military spending into affordable housing and clean energy.

Should the Senate eliminate the filibuster? Do you support term limits for senators, and if so, what limits?

Yes. The filibuster has made Congress dysfunctional and unable to pass any meaningful legislation to help Americans, and given most authority to the executive and judicial branch. I support eliminating the filibuster. I support term limits for the Senate and House of Representatives so that members don’t serve longer than 18 years.

How do you plan to work with or oppose the Trump administration? What’s your approach to bipartisanship?

Congress needs to enforce its constitutional authority of the budget and war powers. I believe that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose budget has ballooned to over $70 billion in the last year, needs to be cut dramatically and ICE should no longer have authority to operate proactively in states to target immigrant communities. Federal law enforcement should only act to facilitate removal of illegal immigrants that are in custody of local and state law enforcement that have been convicted of a crime.

My approach to bipartisanship is finding the areas of compromise where possible. There is bipartisan desire to stop sending our tax dollars overseas for foreign wars, and to spend more of our federal tax dollars making sure we have safe and affordable communities.

How would you address inflation and rising costs for Illinois families?

My plan for affordability is similar to the Biden/Harris response to the COVID pandemic, which was three main programs for financial assistance: renewing the child tax credit, direct payments to Americans, and funding for local and state governments to reduce local and state taxes. We should also reduce regulatory and administrative overburden by the federal government that makes housing, energy, and healthcare more expensive.

What federal actions should Congress take to improve health care affordability?

Passing Medicare for All. Medicare for All allows the government to directly negotiate prices for common drugs. Every major study has shown that Medicare for All would reduce overall healthcare spending in the US and make healthcare more affordable for the consumer. Every other developed country has universal, guaranteed healthcare for its citizens. The US is the richest country in the world, there is no excuse for us not to have the same.

Do you support changes to Social Security or Medicare to ensure long-term solvency?

I support closing the loophole for couples making more than $400,000 a year for Social Security and Medicaid, which has been shown to improve the long-term solvency of both programs.

The administration has described the $12 billion aid package to farmers as a “bridge payment” to offset losses from the trade war and tariffs. What changes, if any, would you make to U.S. trade policy to address the challenges facing farmers?

Congress needs to have authority on tariffs. The US President should not be able to unilaterally impose tariffs that upend trade markets that have taken decades to develop. The Trump administration also have a $40 billion bailout to Argentina, which allowed Argentina soybean producers to undercut US farmers selling to markets in China. We need to have more intentional trade policy that actually listens to American farmers. We also need the USDA federal subsidy program to expand subsidies and crop insurance to crops other than the major commodity crops (corn, soybean, wheat). We need to diversify our agricultural economy to improve environmental and economic sustainability.

How should the U.S. balance border security with comprehensive immigration reform?

We need a legal pathways to citizenship or legal residency for those in the country without documentation who have committed no crimes. The immigrant community is a bedrock of multiple industries that are important to US national security and welfare, such as construction, agriculture, food processing, service and hospitality, and more. The answer to immigration is not the violent treatment and dehumanization of our neighbors. Most importantly, the cheapest thing the US can do to reduce immigration across the border is to end all economic sanctions and military intervention in countries across the Global South. The War on Terror that began under the Bush administration resulted in some 35 million refugees. Economic sanctions across Central and South America, along with regime change operations, have destabilized the region and caused millions to flee their communities.

Do you believe the President should have the constitutional authority to order military strikes and detain a foreign head of state without prior Congressional authorization? Why or why not, and where should Congress draw the line between executive action and its own constitutional war powers?

No, the President should not have any unilateral authority to declare war and detain foreign heads of state. This is a violation of domestic and international law, and provides an example to other countries that this is acceptable. For too long Congress has given up its authority to granted in the Constitution to regulate war. We need a new War Powers resolution to reassert Congress’ role in declaring war that forbids the US military to act without Congress’ approval. Congress needs to pass a resolution ending all unilateral sanctions. Congress also needs to readdress the AUMF that was passed under Bush and reign in the executive branch with respect to foreign policy.

What is your position on U.S. intervention, specifically Ukraine, Israel and Venezuela?

While I stand in solidarity with Ukraine against the violent invasion by Russia, I do not support sending more military aid to Ukraine. US taxpayers have already supported this war with more than $150 billion in US tax dollars. I believe that NATO needs to withdraw to its original borders and we need to find diplomatic resolutions to ending this conflict.

The State of Israel should not receive any more military assistance from the US. Continuing to provide military aid to Israel, whose head of state has been charged with war crimes and committing a genocide, is a violation of the Leahy Act and the Geneva Conventions. It is a moral failure that the US continues to support this level of violence, and it is shocking that the two leaders in this race, Lt. Gov Julianna Stratton and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, support more weapons for Israel. Over 90% of Democrats oppose more military aid to Israel.

The US needs to end all unilateral sanctions on both Venezuela and Cuba which make it more difficult for working class families to access food, fuel, and medicine and develop their economy. We need to find diplomatic solutions to foreign governments we don’t agree with, not impose violence and force.

Where do you stand on federal legislation regarding abortion access and reproductive rights?

I believe that there needs to be federal legislation granting women reproductive rights and rights to their own bodies. It was never the intention of our founding fathers for the federal government to have the authority to restrict what citizens can do with their own bodies.

Should federal law protect same-sex marriage rights? What’s your position on LGBTQ+ protections?

While the Supreme Court has decided the same-sex marriage is protected, I believe that Congress should act to pass federal legislation supporting it. We have seen the Supreme Court generally erode the rights of US citizens based on their own personal beliefs and flawed interpretations of the Constitution.

Is systemic racism still an issue in the United States? What role should the federal government play in addressing it?

Yes, systemic racism is still an issue in our country. We see its impacts in our criminal justice system, our healthcare system, or financial system, and more. It is well-documented that the USDA systematically denied black farmers loans, resulting in property loss for thousands of black farmers. The federal government needs to play a role by recompensating black farmers for their losses, adequately funding HBCUs, better funding for community programs that reduce reliance on the prison-industrial complex, and programs like reparations the reduce the racial wealth gap in this country that is the results of 300 years of wage, property, and land theft.

What climate and energy policies should Illinois prioritize at the federal level?

The US military is the single largest institutional source of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. We need to close a significant number of our 700 overseas military bases that have a huge climate impact to operate, staff, and supply. We need to redirect federal spending from our $1 trillion military budget and fund programs like the Green New Deal. We need to end federal subsidies for the oil and gas sector. We need to fund the transition of the agricultural economy to more sustainable, regenerative forms of farming. And we need to build out the public transit to reduce reliance on personal vehicles.

How should Congress regulate artificial intelligence, if at all?

There needs to be a national moratorium on data centers. Data centers are being built without proper community input, significantly impacting local air and water quality, driving up energy prices for residents, and putting us further and further away from addressing climate change. Congress also needs to regulate AI to outlaw its use for sexual harassment and sexual depictions of individuals without their consent, particularly minors. AI video content on social media platforms should be required to have a label. AI companies should be required to compensate artists whose content is being used and plagiarized without their consent.

Do you support the proposed elimination of the Department of Education?

No, I do not. But I do support reforming federal regulations around Education to reduce the national standardization of testing in public schools. Our overreliance on standardized testing has generally produced worse outcomes in our educational system, and has generally been shown to make school less enjoyable for students and teachers. While I don’t support fully funding tuition at 4 year universities, I do support funding tuition for trade schools and community colleges, which spend a greater share of their costs on education and teaching.

Is the CDC a trustworthy, qualified source of information under RFK Jr.?

No, I do not believe the CDC has maintained its integrity under RFK Jr. We need scientists to be able to provide objective data to the public on risk of disease transmission and health. RFK Jr.’s opinions on vaccines are dangerous and risk misinforming the community on the need for vaccines.

How do states’ autonomy balance with federal policy, for example, with abortion rights vs. Immigration enforcement?

States should have the right to regulate their economies, with respect to energy, housing, fiscal, and public health policy. But states should not have the authority to deprive US citizens of inherent rights, such as bodily autonomy, access to voting, marriage, and other civil rights. Balancing federal and state policy should take into account individual rights first and foremost, and answer the basic question : is the state or federal government depriving individuals of human rights? As a senator, I will side with whichever authority is protecting human rights. I believe the federal government should have have the authority to send masked, federal agents into local and state communities to detain people without due process. These federal agents do not have adequate legal or law enforcement training, and face no oversight.

Should private equity and hedge funds be allowed to purchase so many homes?

No, I believe there should be a limit on the number of residential properties any individual or corporation can own. Housing should be considered a public utility, in the same way as roads and water/energy distribution. It does not benefit the public to have a small number of individuals controlling the housing supply.

Do you support or oppose the expansion of work requirements for SNAP recipients? Why?

I do no support expansion of work requirements. It has been shown that many of those receiving food assistance already satisfy the existing work requirements, and making access to food more difficult will primarily impact the disabled and elderly community who already have difficulty with these programs. Millions of veteran families also use these programs, and should not be restricted from using them.

Who are your top five donors? How do you ensure donor influence doesn’t compromise your independence?

I only take donations from individuals (whose cap is <$3500), this is how I ensure that my politics are not compromised by my donors.