Congresswoman-elect Melat Kiros, the first woman of Generation Z to join Congress, wants Democratic leaders to bring Medicare for All, a data center moratorium, a stop to selling weapons to Israel, and an end to the war in Iran to the floor of the House for a vote.
At 29, Kiros, a democratic socialist who will represent Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, made these demands in a video clip shared by the Pod Save America podcast a few days after winning the Denver seat. According to her, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is running for speaker, does not have to support the proposals. He only needs to let them be voted on.
In the clip, when asked, “Is there an example of something specific that you would feel was bold enough to earn your vote?”, Kiros said no single bill would do it.
“I mean, it’s not just one thing. I want to see Medicare for All voted on. I want to see a data center moratorium voted on. I want to see us ending military sales to Israel. And I want us to end the war in Iran,” Kiros said. “These are, again, all popular things.”
“And to be clear, my demand is not that Leader Jeffries specifically supports these things himself, right? My demand is that he lets us vote on it,” she added. “And if there are other parts of the party that want to put forward their own proposals, great. Let them vote on it, too. But again, these are populist politics that won us the midterms.”
Democrats won control of the House in Tuesday’s midterm elections, putting Jeffries, a New York Democrat, on track to become the first Black speaker. Jeffries formally launched his campaign Wednesday in a letter to colleagues, saying that “House Democrats must deliver dramatic change.”
House Democrats are expected to nominate their speaker candidate behind closed doors later this month. The whole House will then elect a speaker after the new Congress is sworn in on January 3rd.
Kiros has not yet pledged to back Jeffries. Speaking Saturday on a panel at Crooked Con, a political conference in Washington run by Pod Save America’s parent company, Crooked Media, she said her vote was “something that’s still up in the air right now,” per the Washington Examiner. She said on Tuesday that the results were not a mandate for any part of the party, but showed that populist politics won, according to the Examiner. Her conference schedule included a panel hosted by Jon Favreau of Pod Save America.
In an October interview with Politico, Kiros said she wanted the next speaker to push for Medicare for All, universal child care, ending aid to Israel, and pulling back from the war in Iran.
She is among the progressive Democrats joining Congress, informally referred to as “The Bloc,” who have discussed their demands in exchange for backing Jeffries, Axios reported last month. Their ideas included committee assignments, changing House rules, and votes on progressive legislation.
Their leverage may be small. With many races still unresolved on Wednesday, Jeffries told reporters he expects at least 255 Democrats in the House next year, way above the 218 required for a majority.
Jeffries has shied away from Medicare for All. In August, on NBC’s Meet the Press, when asked if he personally supports the bill, he said it is not legislation he is cosponsoring or supporting at the moment. He cosponsored different versions of the bill between 2013 and 2021.
Polls show that most Americans support Medicare for All, even when informed that it would end most private insurance and raise taxes, Newsweek reported. Experts say that the proposal could require trillions of dollars in annual federal spending and tax hikes.
Kiros has demanded a moratorium on data centers until federal labor and environmental regulations are in place.
The U.S. and Israel started attacking Iran earlier this year. In June, both chambers of Congress approved a war powers resolution requiring President Trump to withdraw U.S. military forces from Iran. It is the first time both chambers approved such a resolution since the War Powers Resolution was enacted in 1973. Trump called such votes “meaningless.”
Kiros’ criticism of Israel and the war in Gaza sparked controversy during her campaign. Shimon Blau, an unaffiliated candidate who joined the race after the primary, accused her of using antisemitic rhetoric. Kiros has argued that her criticism is against the state of Israel, not Jewish people.
Kiros defeated Rep. Diana DeGette, who had served for 15 terms, in the June 30th Democratic primary. DeGette first took office in 1997, the same year Kiros was born. The Associated Press declared Kiros the winner after leading DeGette by 6 percentage points, with Wanda James, a University of Colorado Regent, far behind in third.
On Tuesday, Kiros defeated Republican Christy Peterson and Blau, taking 78% of the vote in the latest tally, according to Denverite. The District, which includes most of Denver, is the most Democratic District in Colorado.
Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost became the first Gen Z member (1997–2012) to win a congressional seat in 2022. Kiros is the first woman of that generation to do so. Also on Tuesday, Republican Michael Alfonso, 26, won Wisconsin’s 7th District and will be the first person born in the 2000s to serve in Congress, NPR reported.
Kiros was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, just weeks before her father won the U.S. diversity visa lottery and her family moved to Denver. She worked as a lawyer at Sidley Austin in New York until 2023, when the firm fired her after she refused to remove an open letter she wrote criticizing a letter major law firms sent to law school deans about antisemitism on campus. She later joined a doctoral program.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Justice Democrats endorsed Kiros, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. She was among at least five House winners Tuesday endorsed by DSA or its affiliates, tripling the movement’s presence in Congress.
After winning, Kiros told NPR that party leaders need to “recognize that this cycle is not sustainable,” arguing that voters will leave the party if they don’t deliver results for working people.
Kiros will be sworn in on January 3rd.
