On Tuesday (14 April 2026), Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democratic member of Congress from California, spoke at the National Press Club about his vision for the country and answered questions from Mark Schoeff, NPC president and financial services correspondent for CQ-Roll Call. The event should put to rest any questions of Khanna running for president.
Exclusive photos from Khanna’s event at the National Press Club are available in the TechNewsLit portfolio at the Alamy photo agency.
Khanna became well known for his work on the House Oversight Committee to release the Department of Justice’s files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Despite deadlines written into legislation passed by Congress and signed by the president, DoJ has yet to release all of the files, and recently fired Attorney General Pam Bondi has so far ignored a subpoena to appear before the commitee on this topic.
While Khanna made several references to Epstein and the files, he framed many of his arguments on economic inequality in terms of the “Epstein Class” vs. most everyone else. In Khanna’s view, the Epstein Class is made up of super-rich individuals who feel their wealth and power makes them exempt from laws all others must obey. Their disrespect for sex offender laws is just one example.
Khanna’s main pitch was for plans with bold direct actions addressing economic inequality: universal health care, affordable child care, faster conversion to green energy, and more support for college or vocational education. He said reversing the Trump tax cuts and ending the blank check for defense spending would pay for those programs.
Khanna noted that incrementalist or technocratic proposals from Democrats only got Donald Trump elected twice. He also said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), should step down from his Democatic Party leader post. Khanna did not say anything about Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the party leader in the House where he serves.
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