Latest / Breaking The Meta / She'd Put Failing Members of Congress on a PIP
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- Breaking The Meta: Hello everyone and welcome to Breaking the Meadow. My name is Mike Quinson. Today we are sitting down with Siobhan Hedgebeth, who is running in Maryland's 4th District, 4th District. Yes, I'm getting them. ⁓ I'm on fire today. ⁓ Hello, Siobhan, how are you doing today? Shavonne Hedgepeth: Yes. ⁓ ⁓ fantastic. How are you doing today? Breaking The Meta: I'm doing great. To start off, I always, I think it's important to just meet you as the person. So let's start off with who are you and why did you decide to run for Congress in the first place? Shavonne Hedgepeth: Good. Yeah, so my name is Siobhan Hetchpeth. I'm originally from California. I lived in Atlanta for 10 years. I matriculated at Clark Blaine University. Didn't finish there. I was a lounge server there, so I helped open the Loz-O-Lana Hotel. I kind of bounced around trying to figure out who I was or brought me joy. So I interned at the High Museum. I interned at the Auburn Avenue Research Library. I used to volunteer at Jose Ipita Hungry. And then after 10 years, I was like, I think I could do a little more soul searching. So I moved to Maryland. Maryland and I moved right across the street from Puget Plaza Mall and I found the room on Craigslist. I had about a week and a half to get up here so I just scrambled and we moved in like 4 a.m. and you know I've been in love with it ever since. So today I work at Metro. So it's the only tri-jurisdictional transit agency in America. So we work across state and district lines of DC, Maryland, and Virginia. capital planning, so I love my job. I get to take cold calls from people, like, should I need to replace six bathrooms? Okay, what does that mean? So I was like, you know, just being able to work with them and scope out, work through their problems, package it in a really nice way to go to executive leadership and like, hey, I need some money. So ⁓ that's what I do every day. I got my bachelor's in history from UMBC. I have my first Breaking The Meta: Ha ha ha ha! Hehehehehe Shavonne Hedgepeth: Masters in Library and Information Sciences from UMD, so go Terps. And then I have my second Masters in Public Administration from Cornell, so go Big Red. And so that is me in a little nutshell, I guess you could say. Yeah. Breaking The Meta: And what made you decide to run for Congress? Shavonne Hedgepeth: Yeah, absolutely. I'm going to try and give you the truncated version. I felt like I can't give you the truncated version. Ever since Obama, right? Ever since Obama, we've been reckoned like we've been wrestling with this concept of this rise in a very particular ideology. Breaking The Meta: Okay. Mm-hmm. Shavonne Hedgepeth: and they built off the infrastructure, they built off the fundraising, they built off the strategies, they built off the educational, you know, ⁓ groundworks. And when project 2025 happened, I'm like, okay, maybe we'll build out a plan. Maybe we'll be able to say line by line, this is how we're going to fight this, how we're going to combat this. And we didn't. And in my particular district, about 25 % of our residents are federal workers. And so they've already lived through to the longest government Breaking The Meta: Wow. Shavonne Hedgepeth: downs in history, Our TSA workers are sleeping in cars, selling their blood, know, nonprofit organizations, food banks are trying to scramble around to make sure that people have food to eat. And I think that we're beyond the tiptoeing around the preservation of people's stability. like, I think we're beyond, you know, the talking points and the value statements and just say that shit like it is, you know what I mean? Like, we're not doing a good job. But I know that I can do a better job, right? So that's why I'm running. Breaking The Meta: Hey, you know, I got mad respect for anyone willing to do it because that is not something that is not that is that I'll interview you guys. I'm good with that. ⁓ So could you give us a little just kind of ⁓ an overview of your district? And as you're walking around and talking to them, what people in the district, what kind of what kind of problems are they talking to you about? What's the common? Shavonne Hedgepeth: Haha You Breaking The Meta: pain points you're hearing that they could use your help in Congress with. Shavonne Hedgepeth: Yeah, great question. ⁓ So. They're about over 700,000 residents in District 4. And District 4 is a very unique ecosystem. So as I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of federal workers. So generational wealth has been built here for a lot of people in the district because they've worked in the federal government for a very long time. So you have some concerns outside the Beltway, which is what we like to say, that are focused on equitable development. They want a stronger commercial tax base. of leaving you know the district for I don't want to say parties but for fun right like to be able to have that third space with your family they're tired of that right so they're like I would like to just drive down the street or drive a couple of cities over in order to have a nice dinner with my family and then inside the beltway you know there's a little more of our working class it's a little more diverse in terms of income, right? So inside the Beltway, we are ⁓ plagued with food insecurity, ⁓ unaffordable housing development, we are actually 4800 units behind our goal of trying to have enough housing for everyone in the district. ⁓ So rent is high, gas is high, groceries are high, you know, ⁓ and so Breaking The Meta: Mm-hmm. Shavonne Hedgepeth: those issues are starting to kind of branch out across the district, right? They're starting to unify across those, I don't wanna say class lines, but across the lines, right? The geographic lines. We are in a healthcare desert, right? There's only one primary care doctor for every 2,020 residents in Prince George's County. So the big, beautiful bill really stagnates our ability to kind of close those gaps. We have a huge veteran population. Breaking The Meta: Wow. Shavonne Hedgepeth: Air Force Base, somewhat outside of my district. So we have a lot of people who've dedicated their lives to this country and their veteran benefits are being slashed. So there's so many concerns in the district that it's hard to kind of group them under one, but I would say stability, right? Having that aspect of, I know that I'm gonna be able to afford my groceries this week. I know I'm gonna be able to afford to put gas in my car this week. I know that I'm gonna be able to add money to my high-yield savings account or my savings account in general, right? Like the fact that we cannot provide that for people who have dedicated their lives, their mother's lives, their father's lives, their grandparents' lives to working in the federal government, making sure everyone across America is safe. That's a disservice that we're doing to them, right? Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Shavonne Hedgepeth: Like just last week, we had a pipe burst in the buoy. Residents are drinking brown water. And they've known about that pipe for five years. And so it's like, when you think about what did you care about? I care about clean water, right? If I'm paying my taxes, I would like to be able to, you know, like I would like to be able to drink water through a filter. And, know, so it's like, it's a lot of, it's not a big ask to have clean water, right? Breaking The Meta: Sure. Not a big ask. Not a big ask. ⁓ I think one of the other issues that comes up a lot. That's cross cross aisle. don't think it's a problem in conservative and progressive ⁓ circles is this idea of accountability or the lack thereof when it comes to all of our. Shavonne Hedgepeth: Mm-hmm. Breaking The Meta: all of our representatives, Democrat, Republican. It was nice to see a little bit of accountability coming through in Congress just recently, but in general, that still doesn't happen. What does accountability mean to you? What does being held accountable by your constituents look like as a Congresswoman? Shavonne Hedgepeth: Yeah, I actually have a really great answer to that. I'm not saying that to toot my own horn. But when I built my platform, I thought about how we build the budget, right? And as we are building this budget, we have to justify why we're this investment over this investment. Who is going to be impacted? Who's who's going to be at risk of not being intact, right? And we have to message that multiple times internally, externally, internally, externally, you know, and then make modifications, right? It's not just a straight shot. And we have to look across so many different departments. And so I thought about as a candidate, what does a platform look like for me? to make sure that I'm consistently held accountable and transparent about what I'm doing. So people who vote me in aren't looking at several different websites to understand how I voted or how I'm getting my money. So I built in two aspects of accountability. I have a constituent council where I'll have 12 members across the district, regardless of their employment that I will consult with quarterly. So we can sit down and talk about their concerns where I'm showing up strong. and where I'm showing up short, and then taking that feedback in and making adjustments where necessary. Second to that, as a budget girlie, I love a dashboard. So I plan on having a constituent dashboard where you don't have to wait to the end. of the year to see what my progress is. You don't have to wait for an Instagram video or a press release. You know, it's going to be updated quarterly as well. You know, how many constituents have spoken to, what's the general consensus of their issues, how I've solved those issues with, you know, obviously keeping everyone's information private. But it's like, if you know that someone's coming to me because they weren't able to get money from their veterans benefits, right, like you'll know that I've been working in the veteran space. So I can be a resource for that. One thing I really Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Shavonne Hedgepeth: want my office to be really, strong on is technical assistance. Because as that pocket of money goes smaller and smaller, it's going to be harder and harder to advocate for why you need this money over somebody in Michigan. It's going to be harder to advocate why District 4 needs this money over someone in New York. So making sure that we have that constant through point of this is what I'm working on. You don't like it? OK, I understand. This is why it matters, right? So being able to communicate that impact, that is accountability, right? Because getting money or passing legislation or voting a particular way without considering how it impacts your pupil, that's a problem, right? So that's those are the two main things that I feel it's into my campaign. So you can always go to us. I'm like, ⁓ OK, she's spoken to, you know, thirty five thousand constituents this month and they talked about affordability. So that means it's a priority for her. Right. This is on her radar. She's working on it. This is how she's voted on this bill. Do I agree? No. Let me reach out to someone on her constituent council so I can go to the next meeting and talk to her about it. Like being accessible with respect to the needs of the job. at the end of the day. constituents and voters are my boss. And the same way we have performance reviews, quarterly, mid-year, end of year, that's the same way that Congress should work. Because at the end of the day, after two years, you can be fired. You're not owed this job, right? You're owed the performance and how that aligns with the needs of the people that you're going to represent. Breaking The Meta: Yeah, I think one of the other things that has come up a lot over the last two, the 118th and the 119th Congress, especially, is this problem of a lot of promises and not a lot of doing. And, you know, we've got two parties that don't work well together, sometimes for good reason. I think a lot of times not, I think most of the times not. And regardless of whether there is good reason, in the end, the voters are the ones suffering. When you go around and are interacting with people and talking about what you want to do, how are you dealing with that problem of this knowledge that those of us that are in this space a lot know that just because... Shavonne Hedgepeth: Yeah. Breaking The Meta: you win just because let's say the Democrats get back the House, even if they get back the Senate, there is no guarantee that you will be able to do any of the stuff you want depending on what how you how you do it, especially if we keep doing things the exact same way we've always we've been doing it for the last four years, especially ⁓ how how has that been? Shavonne Hedgepeth: Yeah. Right, so I intentionally built out a small wins, I call myself a pragmatic progressive, right? So I built out small wins into my platform, like it's going to take years to undo the type of policy. We're still living through Reagan policy, right? We're still living through Woodrow Wilson policy, right? That we still have to push back and claw our way back from. And I actually did an interview yesterday and I mentioned, you know, the last time we had this number of people in Congress retiring, We ushered in the year of woman, we were able to pass ethanol. And so I said, we're not going be able to do that. But what we can do is start rebuilding what we've lost. And so being very, I'm not going to run on lowering the cost of gas and groceries. Right. That's outside of my purview in two year term. I can't deliver that. And that's what the incumbent ran on. Right. He ran on lowering the cost of gas and groceries because it sounds really, really nice. But where's the cost of gas and groceries right now? Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Yep. Shavonne Hedgepeth: Maryland became the first state to stop dynamic pricing on groceries. That had to do with Congress, right? So it's like being able to, I trust that voters are smart enough to see through the bullshit. And so me telling you that I'm going to lower the cost of gas and groceries is lying to you. And me saying that would be the loudest person on the floor for federal workers. That is something that I can accurately do. Me being the person in the house who reintroduces the immigration bill in 2024 that had bipartisan support that the Republicans dropped, said, we really need this. Like I can, I will do that for you. That is something I can do within a to you term saying that I will work across the district and find prioritized projects for community project funding. I will do that for you telling you that I will help put safeguards in place as I know that we're going to have a lot of issues with this fiscal year 27 budget right leading to more. I will do that for you, but I'm not going to promise you something that I know good and gosh darn well as a freshman congressperson. I cannot deliver. because I want to be held accountable for what I'm saying that I can and cannot do. I'm not going to able to undo four years of this administration in two years. I have to go in there, build coalitions, get on the right committees like we currently have the Appropriations Committee. It's the most powerful seat in the house. It's literally the most promising. You could do whatever you want to do, but there are other members saving federal institutions in disrepair. We didn't write in our budget letters to protect our civil servant workers. I don't believe in over-promising and under-deliberate for you to vote for me. I want people to vote for me because they're like, that's actually obtainable. That's actually something she can deliver until XYZ point. Breaking The Meta: Sure. Yeah. Well, speaking of stuff that you will, that you hopefully will get done in Congress, I would love to, let's assume that November 3rd goes your way, or even the primaries. Do you have primary opponents, I'm assuming? Okay. So let's assuming you win all of that, January 2nd comes along and you're sworn in as the Shavonne Hedgepeth: So Maryland, the primaries are the election year. Breaking The Meta: as the Congresswoman for the 4th District, what are the first things that you want to do as a Congresswoman? Shavonne Hedgepeth: ⁓ I have to file articles of impeachment, that's number one, right? Tackling Indian Citizens United, that's a huge one. ⁓ Supporting the Mommy Must Bill, it's a bill that addresses black maternal mortality, like showing my support behind that. ⁓ Finding inroads to actually expand Congress so it can actually represent the current population state of America, that's a huge one for me. know, advocating very vocally Breaking The Meta: Mm. Yeah. Shavonne Hedgepeth: to restore the Merit Service Protection Board because right now they don't have a quorum. And so they have 11,000 appeals from federal workers that can't be heard because it's been dismantled, right? So trying to restore some of the safeguards in place for our federal workers. I mentioned it, I think a question or two back, but writing sister legislation for the Immigration Act so we can actually get that updated, building out the system to abolish Breaking The Meta: Mm. Shavonne Hedgepeth: and then making sure that all of our courts and all of our processes in the back end are sustainable and we're treating people with humanity and supporting the reparations bill. That's really important to me, making sure that's scoped out and moving forward. There are a lot of things I would like to do in my first two years, but you know, making sure that Breaking The Meta: Amen. Shavonne Hedgepeth: I believe budgets are a moral document. So making sure that our budgets are aligned with where we are ⁓ as a nation and trying to restore some of the cuts that we are currently living under. ⁓ But those are the main priorities that I have, I think. Breaking The Meta: That is enough. That is more than enough. ⁓ The last 14 months have been a whirlwind in this country, a really bad whirlwind for lots of different reasons. One of the biggest results of the last 14 months has been the head of the table in which the United States has been at since World War II, this administration has summarily destroyed that. Shavonne Hedgepeth: Correct. Breaking The Meta: How do you see us going forward in terms of our foreign policy, knowing that even with our closest allies, there is a lack of trust, not just in this administration, but in some ways our country's ability to not put someone like this in again, if they decide to even make another treaty or another trade agreement or whatever with us? Shavonne Hedgepeth: I mean, I'm trying to think of how I can say this. I mean, I'm not mad at them, right? Like I don't have any qualms or side eyes to how people have tried to engage with us because we are living up to that. that idea that we may not have been like the head honcho in charge after all, right? So we have personally created that inroad for other countries to kind of be like, we'll take it from here, big guy. We don't need you anymore, right? So we are probably the most vulnerable we've been in a very long time. But in terms of restoring that trust, it's not gonna happen at the current state of the House or the Senate, to be honest. I think it's gonna take massive, massive strategy to show that Congress can actually Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Mm. Shavonne Hedgepeth: actually do their job, create a strategy to get people into necessary seats, and make sure that we have people in the positions to really put reins on the executive branch. I think it can't just be the person at the head of the table. ⁓ It has to be all of the entities that feed into it to make sure that it's being held in check and making sure that we are allowing our freedoms and our American people to be compromised in the pursuit of someone else's goals. So that is the only true pathway I see to them being like, right, girl, may have to have a talk with you again. But until then, changing the president would do nothing for trust because we're still allowing the same systems underneath it to percolate. So we would have to really have a comprehensive plan of like, do we rebuild, right? How do we rebuild what we've and how do we engender trust long-term. So the plan can't be in two years this is what we're doing. It's like we have to identify what steps we need to take to get to that plan and then find a way to retain. Breaking The Meta: It made me think while you were talking about just not the ability to really change things in the current House and Senate and stuff. In what ways do you think In what ways do you think we could start the process and what does that look like in changing at least the house if you get into it to a point where we can start writing that ship? Because I think there are a lot of parts of the House of Representatives that a lot of people are frustrated with are just, some days it feels like they're just doing things to... to look like they're being busy, but they're not actually doing anything. ⁓ Shavonne Hedgepeth: It would be an audit, right? I think we would have to audit ourselves. We'd have to audit the Democratic Party, right? Like we have people, like we have people in positions that should have retired and left a little bit ago, right? ⁓ We have a consultant class that provides advice from the 1990s and the 2000s. And that is where our inefficient ⁓ capacity comes into play. So we have to really talk about our efficacy. in the hold of the mirror and say that maybe we're not delivering the way that we should be delivering, right? Maybe we shouldn't have restrictions on who can work with whom, right? Because that closes off democracy. Because when you run against an incumbent, you don't get any help from the Democrat party, right? You're automatically cut off at the knees. And then it becomes this conversation of electability when you get kept your specific version or your specific definition of electability. So it would have to be an entire strategic overhaul of one, how campaigns are ranked. how we're grading people on their viability and their electability and how we're understanding their performance. if we're not course correcting in real time and say like, why are getting no community projects funded? Right, like why are you submitting these community projects? Why are you not passing no bills? Why do you vote that way? Like if we're not willing to interrogate the questions, then no one has to be lock and stamp, right? This is not a dictatorship. But being able to explain why you voted this way versus that way, knowing the impacts to your people, you deserve to be called to the action to that. Like the same way we get put on pips at work. Congress is doing a job and if you're failing you need to be put on a pit baby and that's that that's the only way you can really say okay you have no problem calling out this in your party like alliances be damned like you may have gotten me a clerkship 10 years ago be damned. You're not doing the job that is designed to protect and help the American people so we have to reevaluate your position in this party at this seat. Breaking The Meta: everyone that has listened up until this point, heard everything that we have talked about, what are one or two things that no matter what you'd want them to come away with knowing about you and your campaign? Shavonne Hedgepeth: am relentless in my pursuit of what's right. I do not give up. you give me the torch, I'm going run with it. Secondary, I'm just a girl, right? I work full time. I do this campaign afterward. So sometimes I'm a little tired. I may not be able respond to your posts on threads, but I promise I'm coming the next day. And thirdly... Breaking The Meta: Can confirm she does respond at some, she does, she does. Shavonne Hedgepeth: I do come. And thirdly, have faith that there are a lot of people across America who are doing their damnedest to fight back for democracy. There are lot more of us out there than there aren't. So if you're curious about who's running to fight for you, I'm quite sure. There's someone out there really to represent you. You just have to get behind them. And if you can't give them money, donate or not, excuse me, not donate, but give your time, right? Send out peer to peer texting, follow them on social media. Most of us, if we have under a thousand followers, we can't go live, right? So there are so many ways you can support a campaign in 2026 that is not always willing to act. So if you find someone that you're curious about, support them because we're all better together. So it's that's my third one. I guess I should have picked something for myself. But it's find someone that you're curious about who's ready to fight for you because there are a lot of us out there. And so just don't give up hope. I know it's easy to give up hope, but there are a lot of people out there. So find them if you can because we're our hardest as Brassroots candidates. Breaking The Meta: As someone who has interviewed over 100 already, yes, there are lots of them out there and they're all, you all are amazing people and I look forward to seeing what you guys can do in Congress. Speaking of support, for anyone that wants to learn more about you and donate whether it's time or volunteering, where can they find you? Shavonne Hedgepeth: So my name is long, so unfortunately my website is long. But it's, it's both Siobhan for spelled out, F-O-R, congress.com. And I will warn you, I did build a district first platform. So you'll see a lot of information about the district that I'm running in. Breaking The Meta: Hehehehehe Shavonne Hedgepeth: But overall, nationally, I do stand for Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, restoring public education funding, ending Citizens United, taxing billionaires. So those are all built into the platform. But I did want to prioritize the people that I'm asking to vote for me. ⁓ Because a lot of Congress people federalize their campaigns, and people don't get results. ⁓ that's where you can find me. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Siobhan, thank you so much for sitting down with us and spending some time letting us get to know you and what you hope to do for the district. appreciate it. Shavonne Hedgepeth: No, my pleasure. Thank you for creating this space for us. It means a lot. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. For everyone that has listened all the way up till now, thank you as well. Please hit all those buttons down below. Like, subscribe, share, comment, all of it. It helps to make it possible for me to keep doing what I'm doing, which is interviewing amazing people like Siobhan and so many other people that are doing things the way we want them to do. They're not taking PAC money. They want to be held accountable. They want to break the status quo on things. ⁓ They need visibility and name recognition because they don't have the money as Siobhan said, they don't have the money of the party behind them to get their name out. So please, if you're watching this, watch it, share it all the way through, it increases the chance that people in her district will get to see her, which will then increase the chance of her being able to go in and actually make the changes that we want. ⁓ And for everyone that may not know anything about this podcast, just so you know, Breaking the Met is about having hard conversations when necessary, fighting to break the status quo and the idea that all people no matter your race, religion, gender or identity, deserve rights, respect, dignity and safety. Siobhan, again, thank you so much for being here and everyone else will see you next time on Breaking the Meta. Bye guys. Shavonne Hedgepeth: Bye.