Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (1st District of Maine)
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Ranking Member of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, spoke out against Republicans’ funding bill for the 2026 fiscal year during the Appropriations Committee’s markup today. In her opening remarks, Pingree called the entire appropriations process into question as the Trump Administration continues to undermine previous funding bills with cuts and rescissions.
“Now, as we Democrats are in the minority, we don’t expect to have a lot of power. But for all of us on this Appropriations Committee, why are we here and what is our role now as appropriators? Last week, the majority passed the Rescissions …and that bill eliminated spending that we had negotiated over the prior years,” Pingree said. “The hard work that we do every day in this committee, the hard work you’re doing right now—that is all gone when we pass the Rescissions bill. And how will it be any different once we pass this bill, or the other bills we intend to pass this week?”
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Watch Pingree’s full remarks here; Watch the Appropriations Committee markup here.
Pingree also called out the reckless cuts this bill makes to the EPA, National Parks, and the arts and humanities, as well as 72 riders that undermine climate policies and add to the deficit.
A transcript of Pingree’s opening remarks is copied below.
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Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for yielding me the time.
First, I want to thank the Chair, Mr. Simpson, for the great working relationship we have on this committee. And thank you to Chairman Cole as well. Also, Rosa DeLauro, the Ranking Member of the full committee, for her amazing hard work on this committee, and to the staff on both sides of the aisle who work so hard to put together this legislation, and in particular the minority staff of this committee, Rita Culp, Jocelyn Hunn, and Michael Schmeltz. Thank you so much for all the work to get us here today.
But I guess the first question I’d have to ask of the appropriators on this committee is, why are we actually here today? What is our role now as appropriators? In the last six months, we’ve seen President Trump propose a dramatic diminishment in the power of this committee and of the Congress.
Now, as we Democrats are in the minority, we don’t expect to have a lot of power. But for all of us on this Appropriations Committee, why are we here and what is our role now as appropriators? You know, everyone is so fond of saying they’re Republicans and Democrats and appropriators, but really, are there appropriators anymore? Do we actually have a role in this Congress? Do we have any more power? Last week, the majority passed the Rescissions package to the House, the Senate, back to the House again.
And that bill eliminated spending that we had negotiated over the prior years. The hard work that we do every day in this committee, the hard work you’re doing right now—the snacks that you eat, the candy that’s going into your mouth, the amount of time that we take—that is all gone when we pass the Rescissions bill. And how will it be any different once we pass this bill, or the other bills we intend to pass this week?
I truly appreciate Chairman Cole’s efforts to have this committee work through these bills and pass these bills. But the question is, what are we doing? And do we have any power left anymore? Now, this bill, like so many others, will continue the damage and the cuts that this President has done over the first six months of his presidency.
I believe what he has done is illegal. These funding freezes and rescissions—and the compound damage he has done to our agencies and our states and communities—is something we will be dealing with for years. This bill—in particular at the EPA—cuts the funding to the states for water infrastructure by 62%. Cuts grant programs that fund our state environmental programs, and slashes the EPA by 23%.
Nobody benefits when we make those levels of cuts. Our states still have to do the work—on water infrastructure, on permitting. But the cuts in this bill, coupled with the rescissions in the Big Ugly bill, will debilitate America’s ability to address the climate crisis or to address our infrastructure needs, or to make sure our vital needs in our states of permitting will be enacted.
This presidency, this administration, is no longer just in denial. It is actively dismissing the government’s climate work and our vital environmental work. And this is work that needs to be done if we want to make sure we have a planet to hand over to our children and grandchildren.
Now, at the National Park Service, this bill cuts $213 million. And this is in addition to what happened in the Big Ugly bill, where nearly half a billion was rescinded from our national parks and our public lands. This is money that’s meant to go to conservation projects and habitat restoration, habitat restoration and critical staffing at our national parks. This is our vital season for national parks. And Americans want to be there.
And it is all compounded because we have not reauthorized the Great American Outdoors Act, which is another $1.3 billion that should be going for the maintenance backlog. This bill also funds the arts, but what a mess this administration has made of that. It was appalling to watch this administration illegally terminate thousands of grants at the NEA and the NEH.
They fired nearly 80% of the NEH staff, and they revoked funding for our State Humanities Council. This is money that’s meant to go to our communities, to our artists and workers, to kids in rural schools, to local economies that rely on cultural institutions and a don’t have a lot of other sources for funding. They’ve cut the Smithsonian by 12%, the National Gallery by 11%.
[They’re] gutting these funds, by cutting these funds and sidelining anything that they deem artistically and culturally offensive. They are gutting our arts and cultural institutions. I am relieved—and I’m grateful to the chair of the subcommittee and the full committee—that funding for tribal programs didn’t suffer the same cuts. And I appreciate that bipartisan cooperation and understanding of our treaty and trust obligation.
This bill also has 72 poison pill riders going after environmental protection, undermining our climate policies, and adding to our deficit. And overall, these cuts will only contribute to our struggling agencies. At the same time, this administration is redirecting funds to tax cuts and increasing our deficit by $3.4 trillion.
So I just want to go back to ending as I started this opening, OMB Director Vought has promised to send us more rescission packages. Each time we pass a rescission package, we undo—we wipe out—all the hard work we do negotiating in this committee. He said he’s looking to change the paradigm in appropriations, and that appropriations has to be less bipartisan.
When’s the last time one of your constituents came up to you and said, you people should be less bipartisan. You people should fight more, bicker more, and do less of what we ask you to do. How often do you hear that?
Now we’re appropriators, and we’re all proud to get to this moment when we actually get to serve on this committee. So let’s do our job. Let’s be appropriators, and let’s fight back for the power that goes to this committee and to our Congress. I encourage you to oppose this bill, unfortunately, and I yield back my time.
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