Ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, Maryland’s U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, 55, sat down with Montgomery Community Media. She answered our questions about her work on Capitol Hill to preserve jobs, healthcare, education and, ultimately, the confidence of Marylanders and Montgomery County residents during uncertain times.
Alsobrooks spoke to use at the 55th Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Sept. 18. The event was organized by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy, research and educational institute established 50 years ago.
During the interview, the senator and Maryland native discussed her concerns about data centers and infrastructure costs, the impact of federal workforce reductions on Montgomery County, artificial intelligence and job scarcity. She also shared her thoughts on health care and the resurgence of measles, federal education policy, and what she sees as the challenges facing Maryland families. She also addressed President Trump’s promise to give every American adult a $5,000 check as the Republicans maintain control of Congress after the midterm elections and whether Montgomery County residents are likely to see any of that money.
Read Alsobrooks’ answers below, presented verbatim as told to MCM. A full video of this interview is to come.
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) talks with MCM’s Head of News Markette Sheppard at the the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 55th Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 18, 2026 (Photo Credit: Andrew Nguyen)
Markette Sheppard: Senator Alsobrooks, thank you so much for joining us.
U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks: Thank you for having me.
Sheppard: We’re here at the CBC during a special time — the 55th Annual Legislative Conference. This is really an interesting time when lawmakers from the Congressional Black Caucus come and talk about plans and strategies, and the American people and Montgomery County residents want to hear. Are you ready?
Sen. Alsobrooks: You know, you mentioned the 55th year. This is somewhat reminding me of my own age.
You know, I was here, it was close to 35 years ago. I was a Congressional Black Caucus intern. I came here to work on the Hill while I was in college. I was working for Eleanor Holmes Norton at the time. And I’m reminded today that there were five Black women in all of Congress when I was here in 1992, and today we stand at 31 strong.
So, these have been some challenging years, but we have every reason to be optimistic, to keep fighting, to expect the things to happen. And that’s the essence of this conference, to strategize, to talk with each other and to plan for a future that I think we have every right to feel optimistic about.
Data centers: doable or debacle?
Sheppard: Let’s talk about some of the strategies you have. I want to start with data centers. Montgomery County residents are very worried about their development in our county, and also about who is going to pay for the infrastructure. Is it going to be the data center industry, or is this going to be rolled onto the backs of residents? What can you tell us at the federal level?
Sen. Alsobrooks: Well, you know what? I think residents should be concerned.
You know, we agree that these technologies and innovations are important, but we don’t want to burden the people. We should not pay for them. The infrastructure should not be paid for by the people. It should not be done in a way that is burdensome. And so I have a For the People Act. That talks about if these data centers come to places that it means that the people who are responsible for them must pay for them and make sure that they do not burden our communities.
But, I agree with the people who don’t want to see them in their communities and who understand that there’s still a lot of work to be done by the innovators who have to ensure us that they do not burden — do not harm — our communities.
I think this is really a legitimate concern, and I share it.
AI and federal work: who (or what) is coming after our jobs?
Sheppard: Let’s move to jobs. Montgomery County has some of the highest educated people. We also have a lot of job loss because of the reduction in the federal workforce. And with A.I. emerging, people don’t know where to upskill or retrain themselves.
On the federal level, what are you seeing as far as industries and workforce trends that you can share with residents to help them plan and prepare for an uncertain job economy?
Sen. Alsobrooks: Well, Montgomery County — we’re so proud of — remains one of this: an economic engine for the state of Maryland, a very, very important part of our state. I share the distress and duress of all of us who watched the evil and the sheer cruelty of this administration who targeted at firsthand our federal workforce.
We saw Russell Vought say that it was his intention to make sure federal workers felt so traumatized that they didn’t want to come to work each day. And included in that are a huge number of federal employees in Montgomery County who lost their employment.
You’re asking about AI. I had mentioned that we have reason to be concerned that it needs to be regulated. Anytime you see the founders, the people, the creators of AI, who have rushed now to Congress to urge us to do our job and to make sure that AI is safe to make sure that it is regulated. And so I’m going to be really on the front end with everyone else, urging that we do our job to ensure that AI is not taking jobs in the way that is envisioned, that it is also safe, that it is regulated. That’s going to be really important.
And as we look toward the future, I’m still optimistic. First of all, we’re going to win these midterm elections. And we have a lot of work to do to repair so much of what was broken. It’s going to take time.
You know, it takes so much less talent to break something than to fix it.
But we’re in position now to make sure that we are focusing on an economy that works for all of us. This administration has done tremendous damage in that regard. So, we’ll be working to invest in our economy, making sure that we are growing economic opportunity in every place that we can, and that we’re keeping an eye on what’s best for families.
Healthcare H.E.L.P.
Sheppard: You’re a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. People are worried about keeping healthcare affordable, and they’re worried about measles. This was something that was extinct within our lifetime, and now it’s coming back. The last I read, there are 40 measles cases in Maryland. There’s probably more at the time that this will air, in three counties — not Montgomery County — but close enough where people should be worried.
What can you do as our senator to help inform and protect?
Sen. Alsobrooks: Well, that’s what I have spent the bulk of the last year doing, is really trying to bring attention to this issue with Secretary RFK, Jr.
You know, I was the first senator to say within four months of being sworn in that he ought to be fired or at the very least he ought to resign. So, the first four or five months, I called for him to be removed — and he proves that necessary every single day.
We’ve seen tremendous harm. Our country had reached elimination status where measles are concerned. And it’s just unconscionable that anyone in 2026 should die from the measles. So, I think we have to continue to insist that he be removed.
We’ve seen him do tremendous harm, and it’s not just measles. We saw cyclospora. I mean, we’ve seen just any number of issues that really could have been avoided, but for his poor leadership. And I think that I share the sentiment of so many in our country that we want to have public health officials whose word we can trust. We know that we cannot trust his word.
Parents have to make sure that they are talking to their health care professionals because under this secretary, the misinformation and disinformation has been so harmful and has cost people their lives.
Educational Uncertainty
Sheppard: Speaking of another area of information, I read that Senate Democrats are calling for the impeachment of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, and that you met with her and she said her job is to really make sure the Education Department doesn’t exist.
In Montgomery County, public schools do not have the money they need. Help us make the connection, because what we’re hearing from our county executive is that we didn’t get as much federal education funding, so the last budget cycle was tough on everyone.
Sen. Alsobrooks: I did meet with Secretary McMahon before she was confirmed. And that’s where she told me that if she didn’t have a job when this was done, it would have meant she was successful because she wanted to dismantle the Department of Education.
But let’s understand what that really meant. Inside the Department of Education is the Office of Civil Rights. Those are some of the areas that I believe this administration wanted to directly impact. That impacts the education of all of our children, but more specifically, also impacts the education of children who have learning disabilities. And so all of this, again, is unconscionable, that we have really taken our eye off the ball, and the people who have been most harmed are the vulnerable.
Our children have been harmed through the actions of this administration, through the Department of Education. We’ve seen them harm our seniors, who now are without health care, those who are working who lost their benefits, who lost supplemental nutrition benefits, about 36 ,000 in the state of Maryland. So, we have seen tremendous harm dump.
But, you know, again, in the midterm elections, I believe that what we have lost in Maryland, we’ve lost all across the country the right to have healthcare, the protections that we deserve where the First Amendment are concerned, our democracy is, you know, at the stake.
We have this war that he can’t stop. So, there are any number of reasons right now that Americans have to go fire these Republicans who have been empowered — and then we’re going to fire — we’re going to get us another president in 2028. So, we’re going to first fire these folks who are there in ’26 and then come ’28, we’re going to also take back power there.
A $5,000 (gut) check
Sheppard: What about the president saying he’s going to give every American adult a $5,000 check if the Republicans win the midterms? I mean, is that even possible from your vantage point?
Sen. Alsobrooks: This guy is so unserious and insulting. $5,000? What he should have done is made sure that he urged Congress to extend the subsidies for the Affordable Care Act so people could have their insurance. The guy who’s promising $5 ,000, how insulting.
I went to Georgia to campaign for Ossoff and realized that 500,000 people in Georgia have lost their insurance. You go to places like Mississippi where I went to campaign with Scott Colom and learned that the eight to nine hospitals are closing as a result of the actions that he’s taken.
$5 ,000 is really an insult.
And he’s saying to have majorities, he has a majority now. They have the House, the Senate, and the White House, and it has been an unmitigated disaster.
So, for your $5 ,000, sir, no thank you.
What we really need is to have people in power who care about the American people, all of them.
The ones who voted for him and the ones who do not, all of us are suffering and we need a change in power to make sure that we’re putting people first again.
Has hope run dry?
Sheppard: Can you leave Montgomery County residents with some hope? You said misinformation. You know, AI is a threat. One side is saying one thing, the other side is saying the other. How can you leave people with something to look forward to after these challenges?
Sen. Alsobrooks: Oh, they have a lot to look forward to. First of all, we’re going to wipe the floor clean in these midterm elections and these Republicans — up and down the ballot — are going to lose their positions. The ones who kowtowed to the president and favored billionaires, those people are going to lose their jobs and we’re going to take back our country.
Now, this is what I want to say to people who are watching. You don’t have the ability to sit on the sidelines and expect just elected people to fix this. We are neighbors all across our country. We have to care about how others do and so every person who are — even those who are not in an elected position, have an obligation to join in as well to make sure that we’re taking our country back in a positive direction.
But we have reason to believe that that is going to happen. I’m very hopeful, but it’s only going to happen if all of us participate. They say “la-di-da-di” and everybody get ready and to get ready to get on the ground and to work together in our communities to make sure that we are feeding our children, educating our children, providing healthcare to our elders, all of these creating jobs and opportunities, protecting our kids against the threats that we’ve seen, all of these things, AI and such.
So, we have to do this work together.
Sheppard: Thank you so much, Senator Alsobrooks.
Marylander Making History
In addition to being one of 31 African-American women currently serving in Congress, Alsobrooks also made history for being one of two Black women — U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester, a democrat from Delaware to concurrently serve in the U.S. Senate for this the first time in American history.
Stay Tuned
A full video interview with Alsobrooks is coming soon to MCM’s broadcast and streaming channels.
