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Who is Cori Bush? Missouri Congresswoman behind bill to expel GOP members also wants to 'defund Pentagon'

Bush, after defeating long-time congressman Lacy Clay in the primary in August 2020, had tweeted in October 2020: 'If you're having a bad day, just think of all the social services we're going to fund after we defund the Pentagon'

The newly elected Democratic Congresswoman from Missouri, Cori Bush, has stated that her "first resolution in Congress will be to call for the expulsion of the Republican members of Congress who incited this domestic terror attack on the Capitol". Cori Bush, who took her oath on January 3, 2021, has also referred to the storming of the Capitol building by Trump protesters as an "attempted coup" in a tweet publicizing her self-funded online petition campaign asking for people's signatures supporting her bill to expel Republican Congressmen like Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Josh Hawley.  

The petition website gopcoup.com states "Republican members of Congress who incited this domestic terror attack through their attempts to overturn the election must face consequences. They have broken their sacred Oath of Office. Add your name as a co-signer of Rep. Cori Bush’s bill to investigate and expel these members from Congress." The petition has already got 135,558 signatures, short of 69,242 more signatures until the petition's "goal" of 204,800 signatures is reached. 

Earlier, in an on-camera interview, after the attacks, she had said: "I am prepared to do whatever it takes to defend our democracy." She'll be calling for the expulsion of the Republican members of Congress under the 14th Amendment. "No person should be serving in Congress who is actively working to undermine the rights and freedoms of the American people as afforded to us by the Constitution,” she had added.

Trump and some Republican lawmakers had attempted a last-ditch attempt to overturn the election results by directly challenging states' slates of electors in Congress. At least 12 members of the Senate planned to join a slew of House Republicans in mounting a formal challenge to multiple slates of electors from states that voted for Biden.  

Does Cori Bush want to 'defund Pentagon'?

Bush, after defeating long-time congressman Lacy Clay in the primary in August 2020, had tweeted in October 2020: "If you're having a bad day, just think of all the social services we're going to fund after we defund the Pentagon."

At the time, her statements attracted criticism from both sides of the political aisle from individuals like Mayor Lyda Krewson, Republican Governor Mike Parson and his challenger for the post in the 2020 elections, Democratic nominee, Nicole Galloway. Bush had proceeded to defend her stance in a long tweet thread.

"Militarization makes up 64% of our federal budget. Medicare & Health are 6%. Education is 5%. Social Security, Unemployment, and Labor together are 3%. Ignorance is thinking those priorities keep our families safe," she had tweeted. She had added, "the Department of Defense has never passed an independent audit, yet we continue to give them money unchecked. Ignorance is the Trump administration *INCREASING* the Pentagon budget by more than $100 billion since he was elected." She also name-dropped Congressmen Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey as lawmakers who saw things her way. ".@BernieSanders and @EdMarkey proposed a 10% cut on the Pentagon budget to use to fund health care, housing, childcare and educational opportunities for cities and towns experiencing a poverty rate of 25% or more. Ignorance is blocking this bill knowing it would save lives."

First Black woman from Missouri elected to Congress

Cori Bush had made news after being the first Black woman to become a Congresswoman from Missouri. In her victory speech she said: "As the first Black woman, and also the first nurse and single mother to have the honor to represent Missouri in the United States Congress, let me say this ... to the Black women, the Black girls, the nurses, the essential workers, the single mothers ... this is our moment.”

Bush struggled paycheck to paycheck as a COVID-19 patient and is a prominent Black Lives Matter activist. She was on the frontlines of the 2014 Ferguson protests against police violence working as a nurse, demonstrator and organizer.