NewzIntel.com

Category: Trump administration

  • MIL-OSI USA: FACT SHEET: Trump’s Rescission Package Would Devastate Local Public Radio, TV Stations Across America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    Rescissions package that Senate Republicans are debating—and House Republicans passed—would rescind every dollar of federal support for 1500+ local public radio and TV stations nationwide 

    Sweeping cuts would hit rural stations hardest, force layoffs nationwide, and even jeopardize lifesaving emergency alerts people count on 

    Washington, D.C. – Ahead of a hearing on President Trump’s $9.4 billion rescissions request with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released a new fact sheet detailing how the request to zero out $1.1 billion in funding Congress has already appropriated on a bipartisan basis for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) would hurt communities nationwide who count on the programming offered by the over 1500+ public radio and TV stations the funding supports.

    1500+ STATIONS ACROSS AMERICA SET TO LOSE CRITICAL SUPPORT IF PACKAGE PASSES 

     [Full map and CPB data available here] 

    The rescissions package requested by President Trump that the House of Representatives passed in full earlier this month would rescind two years of advance funding Congress has provided for CPB to support public media in fiscal years 2026 and 2027—ripping away support that over 1500 public radio and TV stations all over the country rely on to keep broadcasts on air and deliver impartial news and critical updates that people count on every day.  

    For 50+ years, Congress has provided advance appropriations for CPB to help insulate stations’ programming decisions from politics—and to provide them with the certainty they need to keep the lights on. 

    ALL 50 STATES TO LOSE OUT SIGNIFICANTLY 

    Every state in the country is set to lose critical funding for local public radio and TV stations if the CPB funding is rescinded.  

    FUNDING ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK 

    State  Funding 
    Alabama  $5,408,997  
    Alaska  $12,023,34  
    Arizona  $7,424,661  
    Arkansas  $3,187,528  
    California  $57,105,735 
    Colorado  $7,655,017  
    Connecticut  $3,017,018  
    Delaware  $133,048  
    District of Columbia  $18,275,757 
    Florida  $24,944,99  
    Georgia  $6,558,857  
    Hawaii  $4,292,969  
    Idaho  $3,341,916  
    Illinois  $12,818,816 
    Indiana  $9,388,508  
    Iowa  $4,723,772  
    Kansas  $3,989,434  
    Kentucky  $6,627,021  
    Louisiana  $6,530,752  
    Maine  $2,895,498  
    Maryland  $6,357,641  
    Massachusetts  $22,549,33  
    Michigan  $11,818,761  
    Minnesota  $17,228,752 
    Mississippi  $2,824,520  
    Missouri  $8,677,805  
    Montana  $2,837,807  
    Nebraska  $6,297,290  
    Nevada  $3,881,471  
    New Hampshire  $1,795,240  
    New Jersey  $2,282,024  
    New Mexico  $5,841,697  
    New York  $42,556,210  
    North Carolina  $8,236,216  
    North Dakota  $2,564,579  
    Ohio  $13,341,101  
    Oklahoma  $3,485,600  
    Oregon  $7,468,534  
    Pennsylvania  $14,492,945  
    Rhode Island  $1,082,244  
    South Carolina  $3,488,714  
    South Dakota  $3,038,524  
    Tennessee  $7,365,199  
    Texas  $17,719,507  
    Utah  $7,103,835  
    Vermont  $2,043,510  
    Virginia  $99,465,449  
    Washington  $10,106,644  
    West Virginia  $1,790,242  
    Wisconsin  $8,498,812  
    Wyoming  $1,870,865 

    The totals above detail the funding each state received in fiscal year 2024—the latest full year of data available. [CPB DATA] 

    LIFESAVING EMERGENCY ALERTS IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY 

    When disasters and other threats strike, public radio and TV stations nationwide not only provide critical updates to those affected who may be cut off from other communications channels, they also play an instrumental role in delivering emergency alerts. 

    Since 2013, public TV stations have helped the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system deliver emergency alerts to people’s cell phones via the stations’ own transmitters when cell companies’ connections fail. In 2024, over 11,000 alerts were issued by federal, state, and local authorities via the PBS WARN system. 

    Similarly, the Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS), which is managed by NPR, helps send presidential emergency alerts to local public radio stations nationwide—allowing critical communications to reach people, even when the internet or cellular connections fail.  

    Here are just a few recent examples of how CPB-funded stations and systems have helped disaster survivors: 

    • When wildfires ravaged southern California earlier this year, public media stations provided real-time updates and information to over 18 million people—and issued 100+ geo-targeted Wireless Emergency Alerts, like fire weather warnings, evacuation warnings and orders, and curfew notices. 
    • When Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina, one local public radio station provided essential real-time updates and news as internet and cell services were down. 
    • When severe floods swept across central and eastern Kentucky this year—causing people to lose power and internet connections—local public radio let people know the latest weather reports, evacuation orders, where to take shelter, and how to apply for aid. 

    Zeroing out all CPB funding will seriously jeopardize stations’ ability to continue serving critical, lifesaving alerts and cut resources specifically provided to maintain and strengthen these emergency alert systems. 

    RURAL COMMUNITIES HIT HARDEST 

    Nearly half of all CPB grantees serve rural communities—and these rural stations are disproportionately reliant on CPB funding to keep their broadcast on air. Federal funding supports an average of 17% of rural stations’ revenue versus 9% for non-rural stations.  

    In total, 120 rural stations rely on federal funding for at least 25% of their revenue—and over 30 stations count on it for at least half. Some stations in the most remote parts of the country depend on federal support for even more of their revenue and could be forced to immediately shut down operations if CPB is defunded. 

    If this support is ripped away, stations will be forced to cut back on programming, lay off staff, and even take their broadcasts off the air.  

    “Should the Senate go along with the House and claw back this funding,

    we’re going to see probably a third of our public radio stations go dark.” 

    — Ed Ulman, CEO of Alaska Public Media 

    “We are in a rural area, so a lot of areas don’t have cellphone service.  

    A lot of people do rely on the radio to get much of their information.”  

    — Station Manager at KGVA 88.1 in Montana 

    EDUCATIONAL TOOLS FOR KIDS DEFUNDED 

    Rescinding all CPB funding would rip away federal investments in all manner of educational programming for kids. CPB grants support local programming across the country to educate young Americans about civics, provide educational tools and programming, and much more. Rescinding the funding would also cut off all federal support for PBS LearningMedia, a free digital learning website accessed by more than 1.4 million users each month, which supports teachers and helps students learn and understand new and complex concepts. 

    AMERICANS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORT THIS FUNDING 

    A recent survey from the Pew Research Center found that by a two-to-one margin, the American people overwhelmingly favor continuing federal funding for NPR and PBS, which receive support via CPB grants.  

    CUTTING THIS SUPPORT WILL DO NOTHING TO TACKLE OUR NATIONAL DEBT 

    Eliminating support for these stations will do next to nothing to address our annual deficit or growing national debt. The $1.1 billion Congress has already provided for two years of funding for public media represents less than 0.16% of all federal spending in fiscal year 2025 alone.  

    If President Trump and congressional Republicans want to tackle the deficit and our national debt, they can start by not passing their so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which will add $4 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Vought Refuses to Rule Out More Illegal End-Runs Around Congress & Refuses to Detail How Trump Will Execute Cuts If Rescissions Bill Passes—Murray Urges Congress to Reject Package in its Entirety

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    ***WATCH and READ: Senator Murray’s opening remarks***

    ***WATCH: Senator Murray questioning Director Vought***

    ***WATCH and READ: Senator Schatz’s testimony***

    ***FACT SHEET: Rescission Package Would Devastate Local Public Radio, TV Stations Across America***

    ***FACT-FICTION: Trump’s Rescission Package Would Gut Bipartisan Foreign Policy Investments***

    Washington, D.C. — Today, during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Trump’s $9.4 billion rescission request—U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, underscored in how Republicans passing the package would devastate local public radio and TV stations nationwide, gut investments Congress has made to support longstanding bipartisan foreign policy objectives, and undermine the bipartisan annual appropriations process.

    Senator Murray and her colleagues pressed Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought on all manner of details on the request and this administration’s actions, and Senator Murray specifically pressed Vought on his plans for future rescissions requests, lack of details about the current rescission package, and his plans to illegally withhold even more funding.

    Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ranking Member of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee, and Eric Schmitt (R-MO) also provided testimony on President Trump’s $9.4 billion rescission request.

    [KEY TAKEAWAYS]

    Throughout the hearing, Director Vought faced bipartisan pushback over the sweeping cuts in the package, his refusal to provide detail about what exactly the administration will cut if the package passes, and his insistence on justifying the proposed cuts with a highly-selective list of previously funded projects despite the fact that this administration now has discretion over how funding is allocated—and President Trump himself signed a majority of the funding into law himself.

    Among much else, Director Vought:

    • Refused to rule out doing an end-run around Congress through his illegal notion of a “pocket rescission.”
    • Refused to rule out doing an end-run around Congress through an illegal scheme to request sweeping deferrals under the Impoundment Control Act, run out the clock, and then unilaterally impound funding.
    • Refused to commit to getting out the funding that the Government Accountability Office has determined he is illegally impounding.
    • Repeatedly lied about this administration’s and his own office’s actions—even going so far as to absurdly claim: “We have not impounded any funding.” This despite the fact that the Government Accountability Office has now twice ruled he has illegally impounded funds in its first investigation findings (not to mention courts across America)—and despite the fact that at the very same hearing, Vought insisted impoundment is an option on the table.
    • Refused to spell out exactly how the Trump administration will cut specific programs if the rescissions package passes.

    [MURRAY’S OPENING REMARKS]

    “After Congress failed to pass full-year bills in the FY25, it is so important we pass full-year spending bills that deliver the investments that our communities need. And this hearing today asks a very important question: will Congress stand up and protect its constitutional power of the purse—and will this Committee band together to finally say, ‘enough is enough,’ and show bipartisanship still matters? Or will we, for the first time ever, pass an entirely partisan rescissions package and jeopardize the bipartisan work? I hate to be blunt—but that question is at the heart of this first rescissions request, which would gut bipartisan investments in foreign assistance, reliable local news, and high-quality educational programming,” said Senator Murray in her opening remarks. “I have offered to the Chair and others in this room to do what this Committee has always done: consider bipartisan rescissions in our bills through the annual process, which is the right way to do it. …. If President Trump and Director Vought get their way—and Republicans pass this package—they will not only gut the heart of compromise that this Committee is built around, but zero out longstanding bipartisan investments.”

    [TRUMP’S PLANS FOR MORE RESCISSION PACKAGES]

    Senator Murray began her questioning by emphasizing that Congress passes funding bills after bipartisan negotiations, and partisan rescissions packages that cut up bipartisan spending deals undermine that bipartisan negotiation process: “When I cut a deal with Chair Collins, or Senator Graham, or any of my Republican colleagues, there may be parts of it I do not like or they do not like—but we know what we agreed to and passed into law is something we can count on. And that is absolutely essential to getting the 60 votes to make this Appropriations process work. But what we are here today talking about is one party rescinding funding provided with 60 votes with just a simple majority. And if that becomes the new normal for how this body operates, that is going to make Appropriations bills extremely hard to negotiate. So, as we consider this package, this committee deserves to understand the whole picture of this administration’s plans before making a decision on this request.”

    Senator Murray asked, “So, if this package passes, do you intend to send more rescission requests to Congress?”

    Director Vought declined to rule the possibility out, stating, “Senator, that’s up to the President. It’s certainly an option that I’ve stated publicly that we will strongly consider but that’s up to the President. And you know, we will take that on a week-by-week basis. But there is more honestly than $9.4 billion that we have identified. There’s $163 billion in fiscal year 26 that we have identified for less spending than prior budgets.”

    “So, these were bills that this Committee approved on a bipartisan basis, how many packages are you talking about? And what they are?” pressed Senator Murray.

    “Again, we have—no decisions on those have been made. But we do want to see how successful this effort is,” said Director Vought, in part.

    Senator Murray said: “Correct, and I will just remind all of us that the Appropriations Committee worked on those in a bipartisan way. They were not partisan packages that were sent up. So, what I’m hearing you answer me is that there will be more. You don’t know how many more but there will be more so this Committee and this Congress could spend a lot of time going forward on requests for cuts if this package passes.”

    [VOUGHT REFUSES TO RULE OUT “POCKET RESCISSIONS,” MASS DEFERRALS]

    Senator Murray continued by pressing Director Vought on his plans to continue illegally impounding funds already appropriated by Congress, “Director Vought, when asked about this request, you have said that no matter how Congress acts on this request, impoundment is still ‘on the table.’ And, in an acknowledgement of how unpopular your cuts to bipartisan priorities are, you even publicly said you may well try to do an end-run around Congress by requesting rescissions in the last 45 days of the fiscal year, and then pretending that even if Congress fails to approve them, you can rescind those funds anyway. So, let me tell you: that is not how the law works. The President does not have a line-item-veto—much less a retroactive line-item veto. Your notion of this ‘pocket rescission’ defies common sense—and by the way the plain text of the law.”

    Senator Murray asked, “Director Vought, will you commit to this Committee that you will not attempt to do an end-run around Congress with this so-called ‘pocket rescission’—something members on both sides of this dais have made clear is outright illegal?”

    Director Vought refused to commit to not attempt the tactic, instead defending its potential use: “Senator, there’s a lot of mischaracterizations into my previous comments. I would just say that we believe that we have, under the law, numerous options with regards to how to achieve savings including rescissions that are timed at the end of the fiscal year. General Accounting Office has articulated that earlier in the life of the Impoundment Control Act.”

    “This should be a yes or no, and what I hear from you is all kinds of word salad to make sure you are letting us know that you intend to do things that are outside the intent of the law,” pushed back Senator Murray.

    “And it has also been reported that you are considering sending Congress a massive ‘deferral’ package under the ICA in an attempt to run out the clock and avoid legal scrutiny of this administration’s illegal freeze before ultimately impounding the funds at the end of the fiscal year,” Senator Murray said. “Can you commit to this Committee that there be no deferral package?”

    “We certainly are aware of the deferral provisions in the Impoundment Control Act. There are specific statutory requirements there. That if we are in a situation where funds may meet those definitions. They are certainly on the table but again we have made no decisions. The President has not made any decisions with regard to those different tools that exist. And so I’m here to talk about one package and there’s been one decision on one package, $9.4 billion,” responded Director Vought.

    “Director Vought, I just want to be clear to all of us about what’s going on here: you are actually telling Congress, in total disregard for Congress’s Article 1 powers, you and the president will just impound or rescind funds that you don’t agree with on your own,” said Senator Murray. “And Congress, I will say to all of my committee, should not stand that from this President or any President in the future. And I think that’s really important as we consider this. ”

    [REFUSAL TO PROVIDE DETAILS ON HOW ADMIN WILL MAKE CUTS]

    Senator Murray ended her questioning by addressing the complete lack of information that the Trump administration has provided about how it will seek to make the sweeping cuts it proposes: “Director Vought, to justify the $8.3 billion you propose in foreign assistance, you’ve argued that these funds were used by the Biden Administration for ‘woke’ programs or things not aligned to Trump priorities. That’s not how this works. Whatever the Biden Administration may or may not have done, most of what you are proposing, as has been talked about here, to rescind is Congress provided this Administration in the FY25 CR—the same CR that President Trump signed into law in March. And while Congress has provided instructions for target countries, and sectors, and purposes, this administration has flexibility to determine how best to meet those bipartisan objectives. So, you are waving around a tiny, cherry-picked list of past initiatives funded by those accounts. It’s irrelevant when the simple fact is you and this administration now determine how those funds are being provided by Congress and are specifically put to use. And yet, conveniently, you have not spelled out for this Committee and the public what you plan to cut if this package passes, even if you ask us to vote on it.”

    “So, will you tell us specifically, and I’m going to ask you two questions, tell us specifically which global health programs—malaria, TB, polio, funding for GAVI—are you going to cut?” inquired Senator Murray.

    Director Vought replied, “We have two main reductions in global health.”

    Senator Murray pressed, “Can you tell us specifically on any of those today?”

    “We have $500 million for family planning and $400 million to PEPFAR,” said Director Vought, again not noting specific programs or initiatives he plans to cut.

    Senator Murray continued, “But you’re not going to tell us what programs—ok. Will you tell us specifically where—the Philippines, Pacific Islands, Jordan—you’re planning to undermine American interests?”

    Director Vought replied: “Of course not. We have been very clear in all the administration’s priorities that all of our commitments in regard to Jordan and Egypt are maintained,” Director Vought said in part.

    “I assume you are unwilling to share which humanitarian crises this administration plans to walk away with, which is what we would be voting on—and that is critical information,” said Senator Murray.

    [MURRAY’S CLOSING STATEMENT]

    In closing, Senator Murray said:

    “Thank you very much Chair Collins for holding this hearing. This really is an important discussion with really enormous stakes for our communities, with local news that they rely on, whether they’ll go dark. For the world, will America keep its commitments and continue leading on the global stage? And for this Committee, will we keep focused on bipartisan funding bills or will we give that up to spend our time on a wave of partisan rescissions?

    “I’ve made really clear where I stand. I want us to keep working together to write bipartisan bills that allow us to be a strong voice for our constituents. That’s going to prove very difficult, and maybe even impossible, if this body goes down the path Trump is now calling for, a path that would let partisan rescissions rip up our bipartisan agreements.

    “I hope my colleagues will join me in rejecting this destructive request outright, and ensuring decisions about what we fund, and even potential rescissions, are made by us through the annual appropriations process.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Vought Refuses to Rule Out More Illegal End-Runs Around Congress & Refuses to Detail How Trump Will Execute Cuts If Rescissions Bill Passes—Murray Urges Congress to Reject Package in its Entirety

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    ***WATCH and READ: Senator Murray’s opening remarks***

    ***WATCH: Senator Murray questioning Director Vought***

    ***WATCH and READ: Senator Schatz’s testimony***

    ***FACT SHEET: Rescission Package Would Devastate Local Public Radio, TV Stations Across America***

    ***FACT-FICTION: Trump’s Rescission Package Would Gut Bipartisan Foreign Policy Investments***

    Washington, D.C. — Today, during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Trump’s $9.4 billion rescission request—U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, underscored in how Republicans passing the package would devastate local public radio and TV stations nationwide, gut investments Congress has made to support longstanding bipartisan foreign policy objectives, and undermine the bipartisan annual appropriations process.

    Senator Murray and her colleagues pressed Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought on all manner of details on the request and this administration’s actions, and Senator Murray specifically pressed Vought on his plans for future rescissions requests, lack of details about the current rescission package, and his plans to illegally withhold even more funding.

    Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ranking Member of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee, and Eric Schmitt (R-MO) also provided testimony on President Trump’s $9.4 billion rescission request.

    [KEY TAKEAWAYS]

    Throughout the hearing, Director Vought faced bipartisan pushback over the sweeping cuts in the package, his refusal to provide detail about what exactly the administration will cut if the package passes, and his insistence on justifying the proposed cuts with a highly-selective list of previously funded projects despite the fact that this administration now has discretion over how funding is allocated—and President Trump himself signed a majority of the funding into law himself.

    Among much else, Director Vought:

    • Refused to rule out doing an end-run around Congress through his illegal notion of a “pocket rescission.”
    • Refused to rule out doing an end-run around Congress through an illegal scheme to request sweeping deferrals under the Impoundment Control Act, run out the clock, and then unilaterally impound funding.
    • Refused to commit to getting out the funding that the Government Accountability Office has determined he is illegally impounding.
    • Repeatedly lied about this administration’s and his own office’s actions—even going so far as to absurdly claim: “We have not impounded any funding.” This despite the fact that the Government Accountability Office has now twice ruled he has illegally impounded funds in its first investigation findings (not to mention courts across America)—and despite the fact that at the very same hearing, Vought insisted impoundment is an option on the table.
    • Refused to spell out exactly how the Trump administration will cut specific programs if the rescissions package passes.

    [MURRAY’S OPENING REMARKS]

    “After Congress failed to pass full-year bills in the FY25, it is so important we pass full-year spending bills that deliver the investments that our communities need. And this hearing today asks a very important question: will Congress stand up and protect its constitutional power of the purse—and will this Committee band together to finally say, ‘enough is enough,’ and show bipartisanship still matters? Or will we, for the first time ever, pass an entirely partisan rescissions package and jeopardize the bipartisan work? I hate to be blunt—but that question is at the heart of this first rescissions request, which would gut bipartisan investments in foreign assistance, reliable local news, and high-quality educational programming,” said Senator Murray in her opening remarks. “I have offered to the Chair and others in this room to do what this Committee has always done: consider bipartisan rescissions in our bills through the annual process, which is the right way to do it. …. If President Trump and Director Vought get their way—and Republicans pass this package—they will not only gut the heart of compromise that this Committee is built around, but zero out longstanding bipartisan investments.”

    [TRUMP’S PLANS FOR MORE RESCISSION PACKAGES]

    Senator Murray began her questioning by emphasizing that Congress passes funding bills after bipartisan negotiations, and partisan rescissions packages that cut up bipartisan spending deals undermine that bipartisan negotiation process: “When I cut a deal with Chair Collins, or Senator Graham, or any of my Republican colleagues, there may be parts of it I do not like or they do not like—but we know what we agreed to and passed into law is something we can count on. And that is absolutely essential to getting the 60 votes to make this Appropriations process work. But what we are here today talking about is one party rescinding funding provided with 60 votes with just a simple majority. And if that becomes the new normal for how this body operates, that is going to make Appropriations bills extremely hard to negotiate. So, as we consider this package, this committee deserves to understand the whole picture of this administration’s plans before making a decision on this request.”

    Senator Murray asked, “So, if this package passes, do you intend to send more rescission requests to Congress?”

    Director Vought declined to rule the possibility out, stating, “Senator, that’s up to the President. It’s certainly an option that I’ve stated publicly that we will strongly consider but that’s up to the President. And you know, we will take that on a week-by-week basis. But there is more honestly than $9.4 billion that we have identified. There’s $163 billion in fiscal year 26 that we have identified for less spending than prior budgets.”

    “So, these were bills that this Committee approved on a bipartisan basis, how many packages are you talking about? And what they are?” pressed Senator Murray.

    “Again, we have—no decisions on those have been made. But we do want to see how successful this effort is,” said Director Vought, in part.

    Senator Murray said: “Correct, and I will just remind all of us that the Appropriations Committee worked on those in a bipartisan way. They were not partisan packages that were sent up. So, what I’m hearing you answer me is that there will be more. You don’t know how many more but there will be more so this Committee and this Congress could spend a lot of time going forward on requests for cuts if this package passes.”

    [VOUGHT REFUSES TO RULE OUT “POCKET RESCISSIONS,” MASS DEFERRALS]

    Senator Murray continued by pressing Director Vought on his plans to continue illegally impounding funds already appropriated by Congress, “Director Vought, when asked about this request, you have said that no matter how Congress acts on this request, impoundment is still ‘on the table.’ And, in an acknowledgement of how unpopular your cuts to bipartisan priorities are, you even publicly said you may well try to do an end-run around Congress by requesting rescissions in the last 45 days of the fiscal year, and then pretending that even if Congress fails to approve them, you can rescind those funds anyway. So, let me tell you: that is not how the law works. The President does not have a line-item-veto—much less a retroactive line-item veto. Your notion of this ‘pocket rescission’ defies common sense—and by the way the plain text of the law.”

    Senator Murray asked, “Director Vought, will you commit to this Committee that you will not attempt to do an end-run around Congress with this so-called ‘pocket rescission’—something members on both sides of this dais have made clear is outright illegal?”

    Director Vought refused to commit to not attempt the tactic, instead defending its potential use: “Senator, there’s a lot of mischaracterizations into my previous comments. I would just say that we believe that we have, under the law, numerous options with regards to how to achieve savings including rescissions that are timed at the end of the fiscal year. General Accounting Office has articulated that earlier in the life of the Impoundment Control Act.”

    “This should be a yes or no, and what I hear from you is all kinds of word salad to make sure you are letting us know that you intend to do things that are outside the intent of the law,” pushed back Senator Murray.

    “And it has also been reported that you are considering sending Congress a massive ‘deferral’ package under the ICA in an attempt to run out the clock and avoid legal scrutiny of this administration’s illegal freeze before ultimately impounding the funds at the end of the fiscal year,” Senator Murray said. “Can you commit to this Committee that there be no deferral package?”

    “We certainly are aware of the deferral provisions in the Impoundment Control Act. There are specific statutory requirements there. That if we are in a situation where funds may meet those definitions. They are certainly on the table but again we have made no decisions. The President has not made any decisions with regard to those different tools that exist. And so I’m here to talk about one package and there’s been one decision on one package, $9.4 billion,” responded Director Vought.

    “Director Vought, I just want to be clear to all of us about what’s going on here: you are actually telling Congress, in total disregard for Congress’s Article 1 powers, you and the president will just impound or rescind funds that you don’t agree with on your own,” said Senator Murray. “And Congress, I will say to all of my committee, should not stand that from this President or any President in the future. And I think that’s really important as we consider this. ”

    [REFUSAL TO PROVIDE DETAILS ON HOW ADMIN WILL MAKE CUTS]

    Senator Murray ended her questioning by addressing the complete lack of information that the Trump administration has provided about how it will seek to make the sweeping cuts it proposes: “Director Vought, to justify the $8.3 billion you propose in foreign assistance, you’ve argued that these funds were used by the Biden Administration for ‘woke’ programs or things not aligned to Trump priorities. That’s not how this works. Whatever the Biden Administration may or may not have done, most of what you are proposing, as has been talked about here, to rescind is Congress provided this Administration in the FY25 CR—the same CR that President Trump signed into law in March. And while Congress has provided instructions for target countries, and sectors, and purposes, this administration has flexibility to determine how best to meet those bipartisan objectives. So, you are waving around a tiny, cherry-picked list of past initiatives funded by those accounts. It’s irrelevant when the simple fact is you and this administration now determine how those funds are being provided by Congress and are specifically put to use. And yet, conveniently, you have not spelled out for this Committee and the public what you plan to cut if this package passes, even if you ask us to vote on it.”

    “So, will you tell us specifically, and I’m going to ask you two questions, tell us specifically which global health programs—malaria, TB, polio, funding for GAVI—are you going to cut?” inquired Senator Murray.

    Director Vought replied, “We have two main reductions in global health.”

    Senator Murray pressed, “Can you tell us specifically on any of those today?”

    “We have $500 million for family planning and $400 million to PEPFAR,” said Director Vought, again not noting specific programs or initiatives he plans to cut.

    Senator Murray continued, “But you’re not going to tell us what programs—ok. Will you tell us specifically where—the Philippines, Pacific Islands, Jordan—you’re planning to undermine American interests?”

    Director Vought replied: “Of course not. We have been very clear in all the administration’s priorities that all of our commitments in regard to Jordan and Egypt are maintained,” Director Vought said in part.

    “I assume you are unwilling to share which humanitarian crises this administration plans to walk away with, which is what we would be voting on—and that is critical information,” said Senator Murray.

    [MURRAY’S CLOSING STATEMENT]

    In closing, Senator Murray said:

    “Thank you very much Chair Collins for holding this hearing. This really is an important discussion with really enormous stakes for our communities, with local news that they rely on, whether they’ll go dark. For the world, will America keep its commitments and continue leading on the global stage? And for this Committee, will we keep focused on bipartisan funding bills or will we give that up to spend our time on a wave of partisan rescissions?

    “I’ve made really clear where I stand. I want us to keep working together to write bipartisan bills that allow us to be a strong voice for our constituents. That’s going to prove very difficult, and maybe even impossible, if this body goes down the path Trump is now calling for, a path that would let partisan rescissions rip up our bipartisan agreements.

    “I hope my colleagues will join me in rejecting this destructive request outright, and ensuring decisions about what we fund, and even potential rescissions, are made by us through the annual appropriations process.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: 06.17.2025 Sen. Cruz Applauds Approval of Presidential Permit for the Laredo-Colombia Solidarity International Bridge

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Texas Ted Cruz

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) released a statement following President Trump’s approval of a presidential permit to expand and maintain a commercial international bridge between Laredo, Texas, and Colombia, Nuevo León, Mexico. This authorization will increase economic success in our border communities by promoting trade, business, and tourism.
    Upon approval Sen. Cruz said, “After tireless work in Congress, I would like to thank President Trump for approving this important presidential permit for the expansion and continued maintenance of the Laredo-Colombia Solidarity International Bridge. This permit is a direct result of the legislation I authorized and passed in the National Defense Authorization Act, and I remain committed to securing additional permits that promote economic growth and benefit in Texas.  I look forward to working with President Trump and his administration to promote U.S. trade and jobs throughout the Lone Star State.”
    Sen. Cruz has led the charge in the U.S. Senate to expedite bridge permitting.
    In May 2025, Sens. Cruz and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) introduced the International Bridge and Port of Entry Modernization Act. This legislation expedites the presidential permitting process for all international bridges and land ports of entry and expands on legislation written and passed into law by Senator Cruz that streamlined permits for international bridges in Eagle Pass, Laredo, and Brownsville.
    Sen. Cruz was the first elected Republican member to be awarded the Key to the City of Laredo for his leadership in streamlining the presidential permitting process and securing permits to build and expand four major international bridges in South Texas, including two in Laredo.
    In October 2024, Sens. Cruz and Cornyn secured a presidential permit for the Laredo 4/5 International Bridge (Bridge 4/5) in Webb County.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Wyden, Merkley Demand Trump Administration Resume Processing DACA Applications

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

    June 25, 2025

    Over 100,000 initial applications are pending with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore., today joined Senate colleagues to urge U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to immediately resume processing DACA applications

    “Noncitizens brought to the United States as children, often known as Dreamers, are American in every way but their immigration status,” the lawmakers wrote to Acting Director Angelica Alfonso-Royals.  “Americans overwhelmingly support providing Dreamers a path to citizenship, and in December 2024, President Trump stated that he supported protections for Dreamers to remain in the United States.” 

    The DACA program has been paused since 2021 after a Texas judge ruled that the federal government must stop processing applications. Earlier this year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals limited that ruling to apply to Texas only, allowing the Trump administration to resume processing applications until the courts come to a final decision. The senators strongly urged Acting Director Alfonso-Royals to resume processing DACA applications, emphasizing that over 100,000 initial applications are currently pending with USCIS.

    “Consistent with this statement, we implore you to use your authority at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to resume processing initial applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and provide such protections for Dreamers immediately,” the senators wrote.

    The letter was led by Senators Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo. Along with Wyden and Merkley, the letter was also signed by Senators Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Peter Welch, D-Vt., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Chris Coons, D-Del., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., John Fetterman, D-Pa., Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Tim Kaine, D-Va., Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Andy Kim, D-N.J., Angus King, I-Maine, Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Ed Markey, D-Mass., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Gary Peters, D-Mich., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Mark Warner, D-Va., Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.

    The text of the letter is here. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cassidy Applauds Commonwealth’s Authorization for $11 Billion LNG Investment in Louisiana

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) applauded the announcement that the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final order upholding authorization for Commonwealth’s 9.5 million tonnes per annum liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Calcasieu Ship Channel near Cameron, Louisiana. In May, Cassidy urged FERC Chairman Mark Christie to give swift consideration to Commonwealth’s application.
    “This project is a huge win for our state—creating jobs, investing in the community, and unleashing American energy,” said Dr. Cassidy. “President Trump and Republicans want to reestablish American energy dominance. That starts in Louisiana.”
    Background
    Commonwealth LNG’s terminal is an important project that will contribute to American energy dominance due to its capacity to process up to 9.5 million tonnes per year of LNG upon project completion. Furthermore, the Commonwealth project represents a direct investment of $11 billion in Louisiana, and construction of the terminal will generate 2,000 jobs during peak construction and maintain 200 jobs during regular operations. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Trump says US to hold talks with Iran next week

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States will hold talks with Iran next week.

    “We’re going to talk to them next week, with Iran. We may sign an agreement,” Trump said during a press conference in The Hague following the NATO summit.

    Earlier on Wednesday, Trump said that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel is going “very good.”

    “I think it’s (going) very good. Israel came back yesterday,” Trump told reporters at the NATO summit in The Hague, referring to his Tuesday warning to Israel to halt airstrikes on Iran.

    On June 13, Israel launched major airstrikes on different areas in Iran, including nuclear and military sites, killing senior commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. Iran responded by launching several waves of missile and drone attacks on Israel, inflicting casualties and heavy damage.

    On Saturday, the U.S. Air Force bombed three Iranian nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. In retaliation, Iran on Monday attacked the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar with missiles.

    Following Iran’s attack, Trump announced that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel would begin around 0400 GMT on Tuesday. Both sides later confirmed the start of the ceasefire.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Americans more cautious on spending amid tariffs

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    Mark Reynolds, 48, a marketing professional outside of Washington, D.C., said he and his family used to take a lot of trips once the lockdowns were lifted after the COVID-19 pandemic — to Asia, Europe and in the United States.

    Over the last four years he and his family took about five trips a year. “We’ve cut that to two trips per year,” he told Xinhua.

    He has also canceled an expensive gym membership and cut his time with a personal trainer in half, and is now focusing on retirement savings.

    Since U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs in April, Americans have become increasingly cautious about opening their wallets.

    Consumer spending rose by a sluggish 0.2 percent in April, down from a 0.7 percent rise in the month prior, amid Americans’ concerns over how tariffs would impact the economy, according to data released last month by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

    Many Americans seek to increase their savings, after splurging for several years after the pandemic. The personal savings rate rose to 4.9 percent in April from 4.3 percent in March, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

    Since taking office, Trump has announced a slew of sweeping tariffs, including a general 10 percent duty on all goods coming into the United States. That has caused some products to go up in price.

    Gary Clyde Hufbauer, a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told Xinhua that he expects Americans to continue making cutbacks.

    “Late payment rates on credit cards are high, and many households are buying food on short-term credit, housing sales are weak. All these indicate the financial problems average Americans are facing,” Hufbauer said.

    Sharon Erdhart, 68, a retiree in the U.S. state of New Jersey, said she shops at cheaper supermarkets even though she has to drive outside of her area a little further.

    “I don’t dine out anymore because of price increases. I have curtailed my credit card use,” she told Xinhua.

    U.S. retail sales declined 0.9 percent in May, exceeding the 0.6 percent drop that economists had forecast, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

    Accounting firm KPMG’s recent consumer pulse report showed that in response to tariffs, “50 percent are cutting back on purchases, and 49 percent are actively seeking deals and discounts.”

    “We’re seeing a more selective and cost-conscious summer travel season,” said Duleep Rodrigo, KPMG’s consumer and retail leader.

    Joe Chance, a retired security professional in Philadelphia, told Xinhua he continues to take his family on vacation, but is taking bargain airlines now.

    “They don’t get movies or anything on board even like meals, but it’s cheap,” he said.

    Meanwhile, discount stores, such as Dollar Tree, Walmart, and TJX Companies — the firm that owns T.J. Maxx and Marshalls — have been gaining steam in the retail sector.

    Shoppers are opting toward lower prices, and consumers are more likely to seek bargains on goods ranging from beauty products to clothing.

    Hufbauer said he expects discount stores to do well in this environment.

    Dean Baker, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told Xinhua: “Wage growth seems to have slowed, so that will slow spending and cause people to look to discount stores.”

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Op-ed from Sen. Lummis & Anne Bradbury: Bad tax policy is holding back America’s energy engine. Let’s fix it.

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wyoming Cynthia Lummis

    Washington, D.C. – Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Anne Bradbury (CEO of the American Exploration & Production Council) published an op-ed this week in Oil City News highlighting how we can fulfill President Trump’s pledge to unleash Wyoming and American energy by fixing tax policy surrounding Intangible Drilling Cost (IDCs).

    Read the full op-ed here and below.

    Oil City News- Bad tax policy is holding back America’s energy engine. Let’s fix it

    As the Senate works to advance reconciliation legislation known as “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” one critical piece of America’s energy production engine must be addressed: the tax treatment of Intangible Drilling Costs for America’s independent oil and natural gas producers. Allowing for the immediate expensing of IDCs powered domestic energy production for over a century and fixing their treatment remains vital to sustaining the success of energy-rich states like Wyoming — and to U.S. energy security.

    IDCs are ordinary business expenses incurred in the exploration, development, and drilling of new wells, including wages, repairs, supplies, fuel, surveying and ground clearing. They can account for up to 80% of a producer’s total costs, the bulk of which are tied to jobs and labor. These costs are real capital outlays that nearly every capital-intensive industry can deduct immediately and, in turn, redeploy as investment. For America’s independent producers, that means hiring more workers, drilling new wells, and expanding energy production.

    For decades, the U.S. tax code appropriately allowed independent producers to deduct these essential capital costs in the year they’re incurred. But the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act abruptly changed that by reintroducing the corporate alternative minimum tax and penalizing America’s energy producers as a result. In short, under the CAMT, independent producers can’t immediately deduct their IDCs anymore, resulting in less capital for reinvestment, fewer jobs, lower production, and higher energy costs.

    This Biden-era policy not only singles out America’s energy producers but also hurts states like Wyoming that are essential to securing our energy dominance. A targeted legislative fix would restore fair, equitable treatment of these capital expenses that are essential to American energy production and help ensure the long-term strength of American-made oil and gas.

    Wyoming is one of the most important energy exporters in the country, producing nearly 12 times the energy it consumes. The state ranks eighth in both crude oil and natural gas production and is the second-largest producer of both oil and gas on federal lands. When Washington changes national energy tax policy, Wyoming’s energy industry and its workers are disproportionally hit.

    In 2021, the oil and natural gas industry supported over 58,000 jobs in Wyoming and contributed $5.7 billion in labor income. In 2022 alone, oil and gas generated over $1.7 billion in property and severance taxes for the state. That revenue funds our schools, roads, emergency services, and more. Over the past six years, the industry has delivered more than $11 billion to support Wyoming’s public needs — amounting to about $4,143 in direct benefits per Wyoming resident in 2023. That’s money that helps keep individual taxpayers’ burdens lower than many other states.

    These benefits depend on continued investment, which in turn depends on stable, competitive tax policies like the ability to immediately deduct IDCs. Imposing this tax penalty through the IRA made it significantly more expensive to drill new wells – hurting domestic operators, reducing projects, and making us more dependent on foreign sources of energy.

    It also hits the American worker. Over 90% of U.S. oil and gas wells are developed by independent producers. Here in Wyoming, that means the operators across our energy-rich counties — like Campbell, Johnson, Laramie, Sublette, and more — that are hiring local workers, reinvesting into their communities, and building the infrastructure that brings reliable energy to American homes and businesses. In Wyoming and across the country, these jobs form the backbone of rural economies and energy communities.

    Restoring the immediate expensing of IDCs as the Senate Finance Committee has proposed, is one of the smartest things we can do to ensure our country remains energy independent, economically strong, and geopolitically resilient. It’s critical Congress recognizes the importance of including this tax provision in The One, Big, Beautiful Bill — not just for Wyoming, but for all of America.

    —

    Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-WY

    Anne Bradbury, CEO of the American Exploration & Production Council

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Op-ed from Sen. Lummis & Anne Bradbury: Bad tax policy is holding back America’s energy engine. Let’s fix it.

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wyoming Cynthia Lummis
    Washington, D.C. – Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Anne Bradbury (CEO of the American Exploration & Production Council) published an op-ed this week in Oil City News highlighting how we can fulfill President Trump’s pledge to unleash Wyoming and American energy by fixing tax policy surrounding Intangible Drilling Cost (IDCs).
    Read the full op-ed here and below.
    Oil City News- Bad tax policy is holding back America’s energy engine. Let’s fix it
    As the Senate works to advance reconciliation legislation known as “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” one critical piece of America’s energy production engine must be addressed: the tax treatment of Intangible Drilling Costs for America’s independent oil and natural gas producers. Allowing for the immediate expensing of IDCs powered domestic energy production for over a century and fixing their treatment remains vital to sustaining the success of energy-rich states like Wyoming — and to U.S. energy security.
    IDCs are ordinary business expenses incurred in the exploration, development, and drilling of new wells, including wages, repairs, supplies, fuel, surveying and ground clearing. They can account for up to 80% of a producer’s total costs, the bulk of which are tied to jobs and labor. These costs are real capital outlays that nearly every capital-intensive industry can deduct immediately and, in turn, redeploy as investment. For America’s independent producers, that means hiring more workers, drilling new wells, and expanding energy production.
    For decades, the U.S. tax code appropriately allowed independent producers to deduct these essential capital costs in the year they’re incurred. But the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act abruptly changed that by reintroducing the corporate alternative minimum tax and penalizing America’s energy producers as a result. In short, under the CAMT, independent producers can’t immediately deduct their IDCs anymore, resulting in less capital for reinvestment, fewer jobs, lower production, and higher energy costs.
    This Biden-era policy not only singles out America’s energy producers but also hurts states like Wyoming that are essential to securing our energy dominance. A targeted legislative fix would restore fair, equitable treatment of these capital expenses that are essential to American energy production and help ensure the long-term strength of American-made oil and gas.
    Wyoming is one of the most important energy exporters in the country, producing nearly 12 times the energy it consumes. The state ranks eighth in both crude oil and natural gas production and is the second-largest producer of both oil and gas on federal lands. When Washington changes national energy tax policy, Wyoming’s energy industry and its workers are disproportionally hit.
    In 2021, the oil and natural gas industry supported over 58,000 jobs in Wyoming and contributed $5.7 billion in labor income. In 2022 alone, oil and gas generated over $1.7 billion in property and severance taxes for the state. That revenue funds our schools, roads, emergency services, and more. Over the past six years, the industry has delivered more than $11 billion to support Wyoming’s public needs — amounting to about $4,143 in direct benefits per Wyoming resident in 2023. That’s money that helps keep individual taxpayers’ burdens lower than many other states.
    These benefits depend on continued investment, which in turn depends on stable, competitive tax policies like the ability to immediately deduct IDCs. Imposing this tax penalty through the IRA made it significantly more expensive to drill new wells – hurting domestic operators, reducing projects, and making us more dependent on foreign sources of energy.
    It also hits the American worker. Over 90% of U.S. oil and gas wells are developed by independent producers. Here in Wyoming, that means the operators across our energy-rich counties — like Campbell, Johnson, Laramie, Sublette, and more — that are hiring local workers, reinvesting into their communities, and building the infrastructure that brings reliable energy to American homes and businesses. In Wyoming and across the country, these jobs form the backbone of rural economies and energy communities.
    Restoring the immediate expensing of IDCs as the Senate Finance Committee has proposed, is one of the smartest things we can do to ensure our country remains energy independent, economically strong, and geopolitically resilient. It’s critical Congress recognizes the importance of including this tax provision in The One, Big, Beautiful Bill — not just for Wyoming, but for all of America.
    —
    Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-WY
    Anne Bradbury, CEO of the American Exploration & Production Council

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Op-ed from Sen. Lummis & Anne Bradbury: Bad tax policy is holding back America’s energy engine. Let’s fix it.

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wyoming Cynthia Lummis

    Washington, D.C. – Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Anne Bradbury (CEO of the American Exploration & Production Council) published an op-ed this week in Oil City News highlighting how we can fulfill President Trump’s pledge to unleash Wyoming and American energy by fixing tax policy surrounding Intangible Drilling Cost (IDCs).

    Read the full op-ed here and below.

    Oil City News- Bad tax policy is holding back America’s energy engine. Let’s fix it

    As the Senate works to advance reconciliation legislation known as “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” one critical piece of America’s energy production engine must be addressed: the tax treatment of Intangible Drilling Costs for America’s independent oil and natural gas producers. Allowing for the immediate expensing of IDCs powered domestic energy production for over a century and fixing their treatment remains vital to sustaining the success of energy-rich states like Wyoming — and to U.S. energy security.

    IDCs are ordinary business expenses incurred in the exploration, development, and drilling of new wells, including wages, repairs, supplies, fuel, surveying and ground clearing. They can account for up to 80% of a producer’s total costs, the bulk of which are tied to jobs and labor. These costs are real capital outlays that nearly every capital-intensive industry can deduct immediately and, in turn, redeploy as investment. For America’s independent producers, that means hiring more workers, drilling new wells, and expanding energy production.

    For decades, the U.S. tax code appropriately allowed independent producers to deduct these essential capital costs in the year they’re incurred. But the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act abruptly changed that by reintroducing the corporate alternative minimum tax and penalizing America’s energy producers as a result. In short, under the CAMT, independent producers can’t immediately deduct their IDCs anymore, resulting in less capital for reinvestment, fewer jobs, lower production, and higher energy costs.

    This Biden-era policy not only singles out America’s energy producers but also hurts states like Wyoming that are essential to securing our energy dominance. A targeted legislative fix would restore fair, equitable treatment of these capital expenses that are essential to American energy production and help ensure the long-term strength of American-made oil and gas.

    Wyoming is one of the most important energy exporters in the country, producing nearly 12 times the energy it consumes. The state ranks eighth in both crude oil and natural gas production and is the second-largest producer of both oil and gas on federal lands. When Washington changes national energy tax policy, Wyoming’s energy industry and its workers are disproportionally hit.

    In 2021, the oil and natural gas industry supported over 58,000 jobs in Wyoming and contributed $5.7 billion in labor income. In 2022 alone, oil and gas generated over $1.7 billion in property and severance taxes for the state. That revenue funds our schools, roads, emergency services, and more. Over the past six years, the industry has delivered more than $11 billion to support Wyoming’s public needs — amounting to about $4,143 in direct benefits per Wyoming resident in 2023. That’s money that helps keep individual taxpayers’ burdens lower than many other states.

    These benefits depend on continued investment, which in turn depends on stable, competitive tax policies like the ability to immediately deduct IDCs. Imposing this tax penalty through the IRA made it significantly more expensive to drill new wells – hurting domestic operators, reducing projects, and making us more dependent on foreign sources of energy.

    It also hits the American worker. Over 90% of U.S. oil and gas wells are developed by independent producers. Here in Wyoming, that means the operators across our energy-rich counties — like Campbell, Johnson, Laramie, Sublette, and more — that are hiring local workers, reinvesting into their communities, and building the infrastructure that brings reliable energy to American homes and businesses. In Wyoming and across the country, these jobs form the backbone of rural economies and energy communities.

    Restoring the immediate expensing of IDCs as the Senate Finance Committee has proposed, is one of the smartest things we can do to ensure our country remains energy independent, economically strong, and geopolitically resilient. It’s critical Congress recognizes the importance of including this tax provision in The One, Big, Beautiful Bill — not just for Wyoming, but for all of America.

    —

    Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-WY

    Anne Bradbury, CEO of the American Exploration & Production Council

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Padilla Blasts Judicial Nominee Emil Bove for Holding Loyalty to Trump Above the Rule of Law

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    Padilla Blasts Judicial Nominee Emil Bove for Holding Loyalty to Trump Above the Rule of Law

    WATCH: Padilla presses Bove on his repeated lies and abuse of power

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) pressed Third Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Emil Bove on his extensive track record of lies, poor temperament, and political retribution during his Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing. Padilla slammed Bove for his role in firing dozens of Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases and the DOJ’s decision to drop the corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for assistance with President Trump’s mass deportations.

    Bove joined the Trump Administration’s DOJ in January 2025, first as Principal Deputy Attorney General and then Acting Deputy Attorney General, and has been integrally involved in some of the most significant Trump DOJ scandals. He also recently served as Trump’s personal lawyer in Trump’s classified documents case, a 2020 election interference case, and the Stormy Daniels hush money case.

    Padilla underscored that Bove’s nomination represents the latest example of Trump picking nominees not based on qualifications, but based on personal loyalty. He highlighted Bove’s consistent pattern of undermining the rule of law for political purposes, including purging the DOJ of employees prosecuting the January 6 rioters. Bove, who had himself worked on January 6 cases while an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, called the January 6 prosecutions “a grave national injustice,” and ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to produce a list of everyone involved in them.

    • “It’s become clear that President Trump clearly has one litmus test when selecting people to appoint: it’s not experience, it’s not dedication to our country or the rule of law, it’s whether or not the potential nominee is willing to bend or ignore the law to satisfy the President’s whims. Now, I understand that elections have consequences, and one consequence is that a president who is elected will get to nominate judges for the duration of his term or her term, but selecting someone with such a deep track record of vindictive, duplicitous behavior, of abuse of power — that is and must be treated as unacceptable.”
    • “From Mr. Bove’s time with the Southern District of New York, to his time representing Donald Trump, to his time at the Trump Justice Department, it’s been demonstrated that he will not let the law stand in the way of doing what he wants. That’s why, as soon as Mr. Bove joined the Justice Department in an acting, unconfirmed capacity, he began an effort to purge the Department of Justice of perceived, ‘enemies,’ like the January 6 prosecutors.”

    Bove repeatedly sidestepped Senator Padilla’s questions on the January 6 insurrection, admitting he did not even know how many of the January 6 prosecutors were fired, and how many January 6 rioters President Trump pardoned. Padilla emphasized that Trump himself did not know the exact number of pardons, but estimated around 1,500 people — an impossible number to thoroughly vet before pardoning them. He warned of the dangerous message the condoning of political violence sends to the American people.

    • “To think that on the first day in office, he would have considered case by case, that volume of files to make the determination that they should be pardoned — that’s clearly not believable, and we know that dozens of those pardoned had prior criminal records, including rape, sexual abuse of a minor, domestic violence, and more.”

    Padilla also blasted Bove for his involvement in the decision to dismiss criminal corruption charges against Mayor Adams in exchange for his assistance in enacting the Trump Administration’s cruel anti-immigrant agenda.

    • “Mr. Bove’s actions in this case led eight prosecutors, eight, including the interim U.S. attorney Danielle Sassoon, who had clerked for Justice Scalia, to resign. But instead of firing him, Donald Trump plans to give him a lifetime appointment to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in New Jersey, a state that Mr. Bove has very, very little ties to.”

    Watch Senator Padilla’s questioning of Bove here.

    Additionally, Padilla asked a second panel of four Trump judicial nominees, all nominated to the District Courts in Florida, a series of questions about whether the Executive Branch — including the President — must follow court orders.

    Earlier this week, Senator Padilla joined Senate Judiciary Democrats in requesting personnel records relevant to Emil Bove from Interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton. Padilla and Senate Judiciary Democrats previously filed a professional misconduct complaint against Bove with the New York State Bar, citing reported misconduct in moving to dismiss charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The Senators expressed grave concern over Bove’s actions and requested a disciplinary investigation.

    More information on the hearing is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Padilla Blasts Judicial Nominee Emil Bove for Holding Loyalty to Trump Above the Rule of Law

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    Padilla Blasts Judicial Nominee Emil Bove for Holding Loyalty to Trump Above the Rule of Law

    WATCH: Padilla presses Bove on his repeated lies and abuse of power

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) pressed Third Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Emil Bove on his extensive track record of lies, poor temperament, and political retribution during his Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing. Padilla slammed Bove for his role in firing dozens of Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases and the DOJ’s decision to drop the corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for assistance with President Trump’s mass deportations.

    Bove joined the Trump Administration’s DOJ in January 2025, first as Principal Deputy Attorney General and then Acting Deputy Attorney General, and has been integrally involved in some of the most significant Trump DOJ scandals. He also recently served as Trump’s personal lawyer in Trump’s classified documents case, a 2020 election interference case, and the Stormy Daniels hush money case.

    Padilla underscored that Bove’s nomination represents the latest example of Trump picking nominees not based on qualifications, but based on personal loyalty. He highlighted Bove’s consistent pattern of undermining the rule of law for political purposes, including purging the DOJ of employees prosecuting the January 6 rioters. Bove, who had himself worked on January 6 cases while an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, called the January 6 prosecutions “a grave national injustice,” and ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to produce a list of everyone involved in them.

    • “It’s become clear that President Trump clearly has one litmus test when selecting people to appoint: it’s not experience, it’s not dedication to our country or the rule of law, it’s whether or not the potential nominee is willing to bend or ignore the law to satisfy the President’s whims. Now, I understand that elections have consequences, and one consequence is that a president who is elected will get to nominate judges for the duration of his term or her term, but selecting someone with such a deep track record of vindictive, duplicitous behavior, of abuse of power — that is and must be treated as unacceptable.”
    • “From Mr. Bove’s time with the Southern District of New York, to his time representing Donald Trump, to his time at the Trump Justice Department, it’s been demonstrated that he will not let the law stand in the way of doing what he wants. That’s why, as soon as Mr. Bove joined the Justice Department in an acting, unconfirmed capacity, he began an effort to purge the Department of Justice of perceived, ‘enemies,’ like the January 6 prosecutors.”

    Bove repeatedly sidestepped Senator Padilla’s questions on the January 6 insurrection, admitting he did not even know how many of the January 6 prosecutors were fired, and how many January 6 rioters President Trump pardoned. Padilla emphasized that Trump himself did not know the exact number of pardons, but estimated around 1,500 people — an impossible number to thoroughly vet before pardoning them. He warned of the dangerous message the condoning of political violence sends to the American people.

    • “To think that on the first day in office, he would have considered case by case, that volume of files to make the determination that they should be pardoned — that’s clearly not believable, and we know that dozens of those pardoned had prior criminal records, including rape, sexual abuse of a minor, domestic violence, and more.”

    Padilla also blasted Bove for his involvement in the decision to dismiss criminal corruption charges against Mayor Adams in exchange for his assistance in enacting the Trump Administration’s cruel anti-immigrant agenda.

    • “Mr. Bove’s actions in this case led eight prosecutors, eight, including the interim U.S. attorney Danielle Sassoon, who had clerked for Justice Scalia, to resign. But instead of firing him, Donald Trump plans to give him a lifetime appointment to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in New Jersey, a state that Mr. Bove has very, very little ties to.”

    Watch Senator Padilla’s questioning of Bove here.

    Additionally, Padilla asked a second panel of four Trump judicial nominees, all nominated to the District Courts in Florida, a series of questions about whether the Executive Branch — including the President — must follow court orders.

    Earlier this week, Senator Padilla joined Senate Judiciary Democrats in requesting personnel records relevant to Emil Bove from Interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton. Padilla and Senate Judiciary Democrats previously filed a professional misconduct complaint against Bove with the New York State Bar, citing reported misconduct in moving to dismiss charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The Senators expressed grave concern over Bove’s actions and requested a disciplinary investigation.

    More information on the hearing is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Tuberville Joins Colleagues in Press Conference on the Golden Dome

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)

    “We send billions of dollars overseas, and it’s past time that we make an investment in our national security.”

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) joined U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) for a press conference to speak on the importance of developing the Golden Dome for America’s national security. He emphasized the need to invest in securing our airspace and ensure the U.S. is constantly on the cutting edge of defense technology. Sen. Tuberville also highlighted the capabilities of Redstone Arsenal and various defense companies in Huntsville, Alabama, as major leaders in the future development of the Golden Dome.

    Sens. Tuberville and Sullivan were joined by Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), John Hoeven (R-ND), and Tim Sheehy (R-MT). Representative Mark Messmer (R-IN-08) also joined the press conference. 

    Read Sen. Tuberville’s remarks below or watch on YouTube or Rumble.

    Vision and leadership. We couldn’t do that— this project—without President Trump. I don’t think anybody else you put in this situation would even have the tenacity to step up and do something like this. But, you know, the world has been amazed at the effectiveness of the Iron Dome [in Israel].


    They’ve been able to shoot down 90% of incoming threats. Think about that—90%—incredible. President Trump is exactly right. There is no reason why we shouldn’t have the same technology right here at home. This is a dangerous world, and it’s getting more dangerous every day. People made fun of President Reagan with his Star Wars program. And it was amazing. They laughed at him. They said it wouldn’t work. But he understood the growing danger that the American people really didn’t know. But now we’re all finding out. No other president since has been bold enough […] to step up and say, ‘we’ve got to have something to protect this country,’ and     thank God for President Trump.


    Now that the president is forcing our NATO partners to start paying their own share, we can focus on our own defense, and it’s about time. We need to do that. We can’t count on anybody else. It’s gonna have to be us, and the American taxpayers, and our military.


    We send billions of dollars overseas, and it’s past time that we make an investment in our national security. Thanks to President Trump, peace through strength is back. You know, the Senate is proposing nearly $2    5 billion dollars in a reconciliation package as a down payment to begin construction on this massive project, $25 billion. That’s just as I said—a down payment.


    That’s why getting the President’s One Big Beautiful Bill passed is critical for national security. Countries like Iran are openly chanting ‘Death to America,’ and we have to be able to protect ourselves. You know, there’s no better place to help design this and build and operate than in my home     state—Redstone Arsenal [in] Huntsville, Alabama.


    And let me tell you something. It is probably the best kept secret in this country. […    ] For more than 80 years, Redstone Arsenal has been leading the way in space, cybersecurity, and national defense. Huntsville’s talent, facilities, and resources are second to none all over the world. According to Forbes, Huntsville has the most engineers per capita in the world. That’s why you see more and more agencies expanding their footprint in Huntsville and the surrounding area—including: Missile Defense Agency, NASA, FBI, Missile and Space Intelligence Center, Defense Intelligence Agency, [and] the Army’s Material Command. Huntsville is also home to more than 500 defense contractors: Blue Origin, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance. We will be big in building a lot of this Golden Dome. Huntsville helped put the first person on the moon. What a better place to help begin the origination of Golden Dome than Huntsville, Alabama. 

    So, thanks to President Trump, American dominance and deterrence his back. The Big Beautiful Bill is a down payment on the Golden Dome. It will help make sure America remains the strongest, most secure nation in the world. The Golden Dome Act will advance our security even further with critical investment in emerging technologies, many of which will be developed in my home state of Alabama. Thank you very much.”

    Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Tuberville on The Bottom Line: “Today’s a great day to fire Jerome Powell”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)

    WASHINGTON – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) joined Dagen McDowell and Guy Benson on The Bottom Line to discuss his recent calls for President Trump to fire the Chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell. 

    Excerpts from Senator Tuberville’s interview can be found below, or viewed on YouTube or Rumble.

    McDOWELL: “Our next guest says, ‘Today’s a great day to fire Jerome Powell.’”

    BENSON: “He is Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, and he joins us right now. Alright, Senator. So clearly, the President is very frustrated with Jay Powell. Powell was saying that he’s expecting this inflation to show up at some point. I guess the question that I have is: what if it doesn’t? How long does he wait?”

    TUBERVILLE: “Yeah. Well, he’s playing god, is what he’s doing. And inflation is as low as it’s been in months. And by the way, he did lower rates right before the election—for Kamala Harris. But, yeah, FJP– ‘Fire Jerome Powell’. We put that out every day online, and we’ve gotten a lot of hits from that. He’s killing our farmers, our small businesses, and the middle class, because there’s no homes for sale. The problem is people liked that 3% interest rate they got years ago–back before everything went to hell in a handbasket. And now, it’s up to 7-8%. Nobody wants to sell. There’s no homes out there. So, he’s putting the middle class and small businesses and farmers in tough shape.”

    McDOWELL: “Well, even the stock market, Senator, is telling him to cut rates, because the 2-year Treasury is well below–it’s at like 3.8%–well below the overnight lending rate that the Federal Reserve controls, which is at 4.25-4.5 [%]. I’ll tell you who’s gonna push him out. You don’t need to fire him and rattle the market. [Who is going to] push him out will be […] fellow Fed governors like Bowman, Waller, and Austan Goolsbee have all come out and said, ‘Yeah, we’re probably gonna need to cut rates in July.’ They’re pushing him and embarrassing him. And I venture a guess, they might want his job, and I can’t wait to see the infighting develop. That will just be the most delicious soap opera.” 

    BENSON: “Like Conclave.” 

    TUBERVILLE: “Yeah. Yeah. They’re pushing back right and left. We had Scott Bessent, the Secretary of Treasury, here for lunch today, and he spoke about the very same thing. They’re starting to infight a little bit. But at the end of the day, he’s playing politics. And he’s played politics. When I first got here 5 years ago, he came to my office and I asked him, you know, ‘Are you ever gonna raise rates?’ He waited forever to raise rates, you know, when Joe Biden went in, and then he kept raising. Now, he’s not not even thinking about lowering the rates. Miki Bowman, by the way–she’s Vice Chair of the [Federal Reserve]. I’ve known her for a long time. She’s very, very good. But she did not vote for those rate increases before the election. And, of course, she knew politics were involved. But we got to get politics out of all this mess. If he would drop 100 points down–which is basically one point today–that would save $300 or $400 billion dollars for the American taxpayers for a year. That’s a lot of money, and our debt is so high. We’ve got to find some way to pay it off.”

    Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Fact check: Claims swirling on California gas prices

    Source: US State of California Governor

    Jun 25, 2025

    What you need to know: There are many disingenuous claims swirling about California gas prices “set to soar” – the truth is that gas prices won’t come anywhere close to increasing by 65 cents, as many would have you believe.  

    SACRAMENTO – California gas prices are 20 cents lower than one month ago and 17 cents lower than one year ago – despite a swirl of misinformation drawing attention to current prices.

    According to a 2024 report, thanks to major improvements in fuel efficiency, California drivers rank 45th in the nation for gasoline consumption and 21st in spending on gasoline per capita. Trump’s tariffs and policies impacting the price of crude oil stand to swing gas prices far more than any state policy. 

    Driven by misinformation pushed by Republican lawmakers and the oil industry, there remains a lot of speculation about California gas prices. Here are the facts.

    CLAIM: California gas prices will go up by 65 cents or higher on July 1. 

    FALSE. There are two separate changes to fuel prices expected on or around July 1 – a legislatively mandated and voter-approved gas tax increase of 1.6 cents and updated fuel standards that could, according to experts, translate to 5 to 8 cents. 

    • Gas tax: California’s gasoline tax will increase by 1.6 cents per gallon, starting July 1, as required by law. This annual inflation increase was enacted by the Legislature in 2017 to help pay for road repairs – and overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2018 when they rejected a repeal attempt. 
    • Fuel standard: Additionally, changes to the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) – which is not a tax – have been requested to go into effect on July 1. Experts at UC Davis estimate this program, first established by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, could add between 5 and 8 cents per gallon – well below one extreme projection that showed 65 cents. In the long term, LCFS is estimated to reduce fuel costs for Californians per mile by 42% – translating to savings of over $20 billion in gasoline costs every year by 2045. Studies also show that LCFS credit prices have no correlation with gasoline prices.

    CLAIM: Gas prices could top $8 a gallon by next year.  

    FALSE. That number – widely reported in the media – comes from an unscientific analysis whose author has close ties with the oil industry and has been on the payroll of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The author fails to provide evidence to support his main claim and only relies on vague references to models with no details on what those models are based on. Other experts, such as these Stanford economists, say gas price increases based on recent refinery announcements are likely to be negligible. 

    Correcting the record

    Republican lawmakers in Congress recently echoed false claims about California gas prices in a letter. Here’s what they got wrong. (View full-size here.)

    Press releases, Recent news

    Recent news

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    Jun 25, 2025

    News What you need to know: As part of California Jobs First, the state is awarding $15 million through the Regional Investment Initiative to support California Native American tribal partners in creating jobs and developing high-paying and fulfilling careers….

    Jun 25, 2025

    News What you need to know: The First Partner launched her annual Book Club today, which features great kids’ reads curated by librarians across California, as well as investments to support library community programming. SACRAMENTO – California First Partner Jennifer…

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: AG Brown applauds court order against the Trump administration for blocking funds for electric vehicle chargers

    Source: Washington State News

    SEATTLE — Attorney General Nick Brown and 13 other attorneys general have won a court order blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to withhold about $1 billion in funding for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure directed by Congress to the plaintiff states.

    U.S. District Court Judge Tana Lin said the Trump administration must restore the states’ Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plans to their previous legal status and stop withholding previously authorized National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) funds. She stayed the order for seven days, saying it would go into effect on July 2 if the defendants do not file an appeal.

    “Congress invested in forward-looking, clean electric vehicle infrastructure – exactly the future that Washington wants,” Brown said. “The court has now confirmed that Donald Trump can’t just wish that future away because he likes fossil fuels.”

    Lin opened her order by quoting a 1995 episode of The Simpsons, in which “Homer must cut short a tearful goodbye with his long-lost mother after her traveling companions protest that their `electric van only has 20 minutes of juice left!’” That episode foretold the “range anxiety” many drivers of electric vehicles feel when trying to figure out where to charge their cars.

    In the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Congress appropriated $5 billion for the NEVI Formula Program to fund states’ nationwide deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure to improve reliability for the public. The plaintiff states moved forward with developing plans to identify sites, solicit bids, and begin building EV charging stations.

    On Jan. 20, President Trump mandated federal agencies pause disbursement of all funds appropriated under the IIJA and the Inflation Reduction Act, including NEVI program funding. Despite being mandated by Congress to fund the NEVI program, the Federal Highway Administration notified states in February the agency was unlawfully revoking previous state plan approvals and withholding NEVI program funds from the states.

    On May 7, Brown and a coalition of attorneys general from 15 other states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration for illegally withholding NEVI funding, arguing the administration engaged in overreach and violated the Constitution, which grants the power of the purse to Congress. Brown co-led the lawsuit along with attorneys general from California and Colorado.

    Lin, of the Western District of Washington, said that even beyond the matter of EV charging stations, the case centers on the “bedrock doctrines of separation of powers and agency accountability, as enshrined in Constitution and statute.”

    “When the Executive Branch treads upon the will of the Legislative Branch, and when an administrative agency acts contrary to law, it is the Court’s responsibility to remediate the situation and restore the balance of power,” she wrote.

    Lin granted the preliminary injunction to the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.

    Lin said she excluded the District of Columbia, Minnesota, and Vermont from her preliminary injunction because they did not submit declarations that attested to the Federal Highway Administration’s approval and re-approval of their state deployment plans.

    A copy of Lin’s order can be found here.

    -30-

     

    Washington’s Attorney General serves the people and the state of Washington. As the state’s largest law firm, the Attorney General’s Office provides legal representation to every state agency, board, and commission in Washington. Additionally, the Office serves the people directly by enforcing consumer protection, civil rights, and environmental protection laws. The Office also prosecutes elder abuse, Medicaid fraud, and handles sexually violent predator cases in 38 of Washington’s 39 counties.

    Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.

    Media Contact:

    Email: press@atg.wa.gov

    Phone: (360) 753-2727

    General contacts: Click here

    Media Resource Guide & Attorney General’s Office FAQ

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ranking Member McCollum Statement on Unconstitutional Bombing of Iranian Nuclear Sites

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn)

    SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, released the following statement after President Trump’s unauthorized bombing of three Iranian Nuclear sites: 

    “I am shocked that President Trump made the decision to bomb three nuclear sites in Iran without authorization from Congress. I believe the President’s action to be unconstitutional because Iran did not pose an immediate or direct threat to the United States. The President publicly stated that there was a two-week window for diplomacy. It appears the President had no intention of honoring that public timeline. This decision by President Trump has now put U.S. forces in the region at grave risk of retaliation by Iran and its proxies. At the very least, the President owes an immediate explanation to the American people for why he has taken direct military action against Iran absent Congressional authorization.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Statement on Impeachment Resolution Vote

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Dean of the Minnesota Congressional Delegation, issued the following statement after voting in favor of the motion to table an impeachment resolution introduced by Congressman Al Green (D-TX).

    “I voted to impeach President Trump twice during his first term. I presided over the second impeachment proceeding during which the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump for attempting a coup and inciting an insurrection on the United States Congress. I believed he was unfit to serve in office then, as I still do now. But impeachment is a serious process. Today’s vote failed to follow that process. If Congress is to consider impeachment proceedings, we must do so methodically, not rush it through using a privileged motion without proper notice.”

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Alford Applauds House Passage of Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Funding Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mark Alford (Missouri 4th District)

    Alford Applauds House Passage of Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Funding Bill

    Washington, June 25, 2025

    Today, Congressman Mark Alford (MO-04), the Vice Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3944, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2026.

    Watch Rep. Alford’s remarks on the House floor in support of H.R. 3944 here or by clicking the image above.

    “The House took the first of twelve steps to restore strong, responsible governance under the Golden Age of the Trump Administration,” said Congressman Alford. “This bill is a win for our veterans, service members, and their families. Despite constant gaslighting by the left, Republicans are fully funding veterans’ healthcare, benefits, and programs. We are also expanding funding for community care and improving the Veterans Crisis Line. Our veterans fought for us, and this bill delivers for them. I was proud to support it.”

    Background:

    H.R. 3944 champions our veterans by:

    • Fully funding veterans’ health care programs.
    • Fully funding veterans’ benefits and VA programs.
    • Supporting President Trump’s efforts to combat veteran homelessness by investing in the new Bridging Rental Assistance for Veteran Empowerment program.
    • Maintaining funding levels for research, mental health programs and other programs relied upon by veterans.

    H.R. 3944 supports the Trump Administration and the mandate of the American people by:

    • Protecting the 2nd Amendment rights of veterans, preventing the VA from sending information to the FBI about veterans without a judge’s consent.
    • Syncing up with President Trump’s Executive Orders on no funds for DEI, gender affirming care, and protecting Hyde-like language at the VA.
    • Prohibiting the VA from processing medical care claims for illegal aliens.

    H.R. 3944 bolsters U.S. national security and border protections by:

    • Providing robust funding for military construction, enabling continued investment in the Indo-Pacific region and infrastructure necessary to support United States advanced weapons systems.
    • Maintaining the prohibitions on the closure of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the use of military construction funds to build facilities for detainees on U.S. soil.
    • Prohibiting the VA from purchasing resources directly or indirectly from the People’s Republic of China.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Alford Applauds House Passage of Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Funding Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mark Alford (Missouri 4th District)

    Alford Applauds House Passage of Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Funding Bill

    Washington, June 25, 2025

    Today, Congressman Mark Alford (MO-04), the Vice Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3944, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2026.

    Watch Rep. Alford’s remarks on the House floor in support of H.R. 3944 here or by clicking the image above.

    “The House took the first of twelve steps to restore strong, responsible governance under the Golden Age of the Trump Administration,” said Congressman Alford. “This bill is a win for our veterans, service members, and their families. Despite constant gaslighting by the left, Republicans are fully funding veterans’ healthcare, benefits, and programs. We are also expanding funding for community care and improving the Veterans Crisis Line. Our veterans fought for us, and this bill delivers for them. I was proud to support it.”

    Background:

    H.R. 3944 champions our veterans by:

    • Fully funding veterans’ health care programs.
    • Fully funding veterans’ benefits and VA programs.
    • Supporting President Trump’s efforts to combat veteran homelessness by investing in the new Bridging Rental Assistance for Veteran Empowerment program.
    • Maintaining funding levels for research, mental health programs and other programs relied upon by veterans.

    H.R. 3944 supports the Trump Administration and the mandate of the American people by:

    • Protecting the 2nd Amendment rights of veterans, preventing the VA from sending information to the FBI about veterans without a judge’s consent.
    • Syncing up with President Trump’s Executive Orders on no funds for DEI, gender affirming care, and protecting Hyde-like language at the VA.
    • Prohibiting the VA from processing medical care claims for illegal aliens.

    H.R. 3944 bolsters U.S. national security and border protections by:

    • Providing robust funding for military construction, enabling continued investment in the Indo-Pacific region and infrastructure necessary to support United States advanced weapons systems.
    • Maintaining the prohibitions on the closure of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the use of military construction funds to build facilities for detainees on U.S. soil.
    • Prohibiting the VA from purchasing resources directly or indirectly from the People’s Republic of China.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Vice Ranking Member Amo Statement on Stopping Trump from Marching America into War

    Source: US Congressman Gabe Amo (Rhode Island 1st District)

    Amo declares Presidents do not get a blank check to engage in endless foreign conflicts.

    “Our Constitution says that only Congress has the authority to declare war. Presidents do not get a blank check to engage in endless foreign conflicts. Urgent, sustained diplomacy is needed to achieve our strategic goals of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and securing peace in the region.

    Unfortunately, President Trump has accelerated the entry of America into another disastrous war — by his own description — in the Middle East. His unilateral strikes against Iran, escalatory rhetoric, and erratic promises put American troops at risk and civilians in grave danger. Trump acted without a clear plan and has offered shifting rationales, objectives, and assessments of the outcomes of his decisions. 

    I’m joining a bipartisan coalition in the House seeking to enforce the War Powers Act, to reassert Congressional authority, uphold the Constitution, and stop Trump from marching America into another war based on falsehoods and unverifiable claims. Anything less endangers the lives of our brave, selfless troops and Americans across the world.”

    Vice Ranking Member Amo is a Co-Sponsor on H.Con.Res.40 and H.Con.Res.38.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Vice Ranking Member Amo Statement on Stopping Trump from Marching America into War

    Source: US Congressman Gabe Amo (Rhode Island 1st District)

    Amo declares Presidents do not get a blank check to engage in endless foreign conflicts.

    “Our Constitution says that only Congress has the authority to declare war. Presidents do not get a blank check to engage in endless foreign conflicts. Urgent, sustained diplomacy is needed to achieve our strategic goals of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and securing peace in the region.

    Unfortunately, President Trump has accelerated the entry of America into another disastrous war — by his own description — in the Middle East. His unilateral strikes against Iran, escalatory rhetoric, and erratic promises put American troops at risk and civilians in grave danger. Trump acted without a clear plan and has offered shifting rationales, objectives, and assessments of the outcomes of his decisions. 

    I’m joining a bipartisan coalition in the House seeking to enforce the War Powers Act, to reassert Congressional authority, uphold the Constitution, and stop Trump from marching America into another war based on falsehoods and unverifiable claims. Anything less endangers the lives of our brave, selfless troops and Americans across the world.”

    Vice Ranking Member Amo is a Co-Sponsor on H.Con.Res.40 and H.Con.Res.38.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Warren Raises Concerns On Risks of Endless War Against Iran, Presses Commander Nominee for Answers on Military Preparations

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
    June 25, 2025
    Warren: “Donald Trump is once again playing red light, green light. This time, war with Iran.” 
    Warren: “Only Congress can declare war, and the Senate must vote immediately to prevent another endless war.”
    Video of Exchange (YouTube)
    Washington, D.C. – At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) expressed her concerns to Vice Admiral Charles B. Cooper II, nominee for Commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), regarding President Trump’s dragging the United States into a war with Iran without Congressional approval. 
    On June 21, President Trump ordered strikes against three nuclear facilities in Iran, warning that there were “many targets left to strike” and threatening “tragedy” if Iran did not surrender immediately. Prior to the strikes, the U.S. intelligence community was in agreement that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States and that Iran was not close to building a nuclear weapon. The president is claiming the war is “over,” but the ceasefire continues to change every few hours. 
    Senator Warren questioned Vice Admiral Cooper on if President Trump has communicated any plans for American troops in Iran, pressing for an answer on whether plans for troop deployment are being made and if the U.S. is preparing for a protracted war. Vice Admiral Cooper refused to provide specific answers but confirmed that the military is always prepared for various contingencies.
    President Trump and his administration initially stated that the goal was to end Iran’s nuclear program, not regime change, and declared victory while providing no evidence to support that claim. On Sunday, the president reversed course, posting, “If the current Iranian regime is unable to make Iran great again, why wouldn’t there be regime change?” 
    “Our service members who volunteer to give so much have a right to know that the President of the United States values their lives and sends them into harm’s way only when we clearly have a plan to understand how this protects the United States of America,” said Senator Warren. 
    “I’m very concerned about the president’s on-again, off-again explanations of why this bombing has taken place and that he’s doing it with no constitutional authority,” continued Senator Warren. 
    Senator Warren also criticized reports that the current Trump administration is considering dismantling all institutions that mitigate and reduce civilian harm. Vice Admiral Cooper committed to prioritizing preventing civilian harm, saying failing to do so “risks degrading our credibility and trust and puts troops at risk,” and if confirmed, “I’ll continue to take an organization that has moved, I believe, from compliance to having civilian harm risk mitigation as part of our culture.” 
    Senator Warren reaffirmed that only Congress can declare war and called on her colleagues in the Senate to vote against another endless war.
    Transcript: Hearings to examine the nominations of Vice Admiral Charles B. Cooper II, USN, to be admiral and Commander, United States Central Command, and Lieutenant General Alexus G. Grynkewich, USAF, to be general and Commander, United States European Command and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, both of the Department of DefenseSenate Armed Services CommitteeJune 24, 2025
    Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and congratulations to both of you on your nominations. So, it seems like Donald Trump is once again playing red light, green light. This time, war with Iran. 
    Three nights ago, he bombed three sites and warned of, quote, “many targets left to strike” and threatened, quote, “tragedy,” if Iran did not immediately capitulate. Last night, he declared the war is over. But now the ceasefire seems to be changing every few hours, and no one seems to know if it will hold. Now, no one wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon, but experts in intelligence have told us time and time again, Iran’s nuclear program cannot be bombed out of existence. 
    So, the question is, what is President Trump’s plan? Another endless war in the Middle East? 
    Vice Admiral Cooper, you are currently the Deputy Commander of U.S. Central Command. You are nominated to be commander, but you’re already there. You don’t decide policy. Obviously, you carry out the president’s orders. So today, I just want to ask you, if you have any clarity from President Trump, the commander in chief who chose this war, on what comes next. 
    So, Vice Admiral Cooper, has President Trump communicated to you whether or not he could contemplate American troops fighting in Iran?
    Vice Admiral Charles B. Cooper II: Senator, as we sit here today, as has been well described, a very dynamic time, literally right now, as we’re sitting here. The military’s number one priority is the safety and security of our men and women in the Middle East. That remains our priority. As I look to the future with the prospect of confirmation, my obligation, and in fact, my duty, would be to provide the Secretary of Defense and the President a range of options to deal with policies that he would lead.
    Senator Warren: So, are you working on plans to deploy troops if the president orders it? 
    Vice Admiral Cooper: Senator, as you well know, we are working on plans every single day. I think this forum isn’t the appropriate forum to talk about specific plans on force posture or what we’re doing today. Certainly could capture that in a classified environment that, I understand, is later this afternoon.
    Senator Warren: So, I’m just trying to get whether or not there are plans. I’m not asking for what the plans are in particular, but I take it from what you’re saying the president has not ruled out American boots on the ground in Iran?
    Vice Admiral Cooper: Senator, I think from a military perspective, it’s critically important today that we provide the maximum latitude and decision space to the Secretary of Defense and the president to decide on key plans and directions, and we’ll be standing by to execute those as is our duty to do.
    Senator Warren: So, on Saturday, President Trump and his administration claimed that the goal was to end Iran’s nuclear program, not regime change, and declared complete victory with no evidence to support that. And then on Sunday, the president reversed course, posting, quote, that, “If the current Iranian regime is unable to make Iran great again, why wouldn’t there be regime change?” And yesterday, he congratulated everyone on a ceasefire and said, quote, “God bless Iran.” 
    Vice Admiral Cooper, has President Trump communicated to you how long he intends this war could go on if the ceasefire breaks? 
    Vice Admiral Cooper: Senator, our role, from a military perspective, is to remain ready for a wide range of contingencies and protect our people, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. 
    Senator Warren: So that means you’re preparing for a protracted war. Is that right?
    Vice Admiral Cooper: I think it would be inappropriate to comment on any specific action, but we’re prepared for a wide range of contingencies, which is what would be expected.
    Senator Warren: Well, I’m just asking about your preparations. I’m not asking what actions you will take. Our service members who volunteer to give so much have a right to know that the President of the United States values their lives and sends them into harm’s way only when we clearly have a plan to understand how this protects the United States of America. I’m very concerned about the president’s on-again, off-again explanations of why this bombing has taken place and that he’s doing it with no constitutional authority. Only Congress can declare war, and the Senate must vote immediately to prevent another endless war. 
    So, I want to raise one more question, and that is reports that the Trump administration now wants to dismantle reforms developed under the first Trump administration to prevent civilian harm. Killing civilians is not only wrong, it threatens national security. General Stanley McChrystal called it insurgent math, meaning that for every civilian you kill, you create 10 new enemies. 
    Vice Admiral Cooper, why is it important to U.S. national security to prevent civilian harm?
    Vice Admiral Cooper: Well, Senator, first, thank you for your advocacy and passion on this issue. I share your same passion. I think it’s a national security issue. It risks degrading our credibility and trust and puts troops at risk. And if confirmed, I’ll continue to do what I do today, which is take an organization that has moved, I believe, from compliance to having civilian harm risk mitigation as part of our culture. It’s important.
    Senator Warren: I appreciate that. Thank you.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: MEDIA ADVISORY: Welch to Mark July 2023 and July 2024 Flood Anniversaries with Tour, New Bill to Fix FEMA 

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)

    On the tour, Welch will unveil the Disaster AID Act, new legislation to improve FEMA and cut red tape 
    Welch to host Listening Sessions for Vermonters in Burke, Killington, and Barre 
    MONTPELIER, VT — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) will travel across Vermont next week to discuss his new bill to fix the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). 
    Senator Welch will visit nine towns and cities—Hardwick, Lyndon, Barton, Burke, Killington, Ludlow, Weston, Barre, and Montpelier—and meet with community leaders and flood-impacted Vermonters. He will also hold Listening Sessions in Burke, Killington, and Barre. The Senator’s tour and introduction of the Disaster Assistance Improvement and Decentralization (AID) Act will mark the anniversary of catastrophic flooding across Vermont in July 2023 and July 2024. 
    Senator Welch’s new Disaster AID Act will cut red tape and empower state and local governments, make the delivery of disaster aid more efficient and effective, provide assistance to small towns and communities impacted by natural disasters, and block the White House from withholding funding for disaster recovery.  
    This tour is open to the media, and every stop will be considered on-the-record. Please plan to wear weather-appropriate clothing.  
    LOGISTICS:  
    WHAT: Senator Peter Welch’s tour of nine flood-impacted towns across Vermont and the unveiling of the Disaster Assistance Improvement and Decentralization (AID) Act.  
    TOUR SCHEDULE: 
    Tuesday, July 1: Hardwick; Lyndon, Barton, Burke 

    In the Northeast Kingdom, Senator Welch will convene community leaders to discuss the importance of supporting hazard mitigation and protecting disaster aid funding. He will also discuss the need to improve FEMA staffing issues. 

    Wednesday, July 2: Killington; Ludlow; Weston 

    In Southern Vermont, Senator Welch will discuss the need to make the application and aid delivery processes more efficient and effective.  

    Monday, July 7: Central Vermont: Barre, Montpelier 

    In Central Vermont, Senator Welch will meet with community leaders to discuss the importance of cutting through red tape and empowering state and local governments in the long-term disaster recovery process.  

    LISTENING SESSIONS: 
    Senator Welch invites flood-impacted Vermonters to join him on Tuesday, July 1 in Burke; Wednesday, July 2 in Killington; or in Barre on Monday, July 7.  

    *** Locations and timing provided upon request and subject to change. Space is limited. Media interested in attending these events are kindly asked to RSVP to Aaron_White@welch.senate.gov; 202-960-0677 *** 
    ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:  
    Senator Welch has been outspoken in opposing any attempt by the Trump Administration to dismantle FEMA. Earlier this year, Senator Welch published a guest essay in The New York Times entitled: “Don’t Kill FEMA. Fix It.” In his piece, Senator Welch outlined why President Trump’s actions to undermine and potentially dissolve FEMA are misguided—but also committed to working with the President on good faith efforts to reform the agency’s long-term recovery process.  
    In December 2024, Senator Welch helped shape and pass a comprehensive disaster aid package, which delivered more than $100.4 billion of relief for states like Vermont recovering from climate disasters. The disaster aid package contained many of Senator Welch’s top priorities for the State: dedicated help for Vermont’s flood-impacted farmers, flexible spending through the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Relief fund, money for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, and support for businesses, among many other important provisions. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rutherford Statement on FY26 MilCon-VA Appropriations Act House Passage

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman John Rutherford (4th District of Florida)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, U.S. Congressman John H. Rutherford (FL-05), member of the Houe Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on the House passage of H.R. 3844 – Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Act, 2026:

    “President Trump promised the American people that over the next four years we would refocus our fighting force on keeping our country safe, champion our veterans, support military families, and honor our American heroes. I was proud to vote for this year’s MilCon-VA Appropriations bill in the House to deliver on our promises to combat veteran homelessness, protect Second Amendment rights of veterans, eliminate woke policies from our military, invest in critical military infrastructure, and improve military housing.

    “As appropriators, we are focused on delivering real results for the American people by eliminating waste, demanding accountability, and funding American priorities to keep our country strong and promote fiscally responsible. This legislation is worthy of the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform, our veterans, and their families and should make all Americans proud.”

    Included in the bill are Rutherford’s priorities to:

    • Fully fund veteran health care programs and benefits

    • Provide investment for military construction, specifically in the Indo-Pacific region, and improve military family housing

    • Support President Trump’s efforts to combat veteran homelessness

    • Protect the Second Amendment rights of our veterans

    • Codify President Trump’s Executive Orders by removing DEI and gender affirming care and protecting Hyde Amendment-like language at the VA

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hoyer Statement on U.S. Strike on Nuclear Facilities in Iran

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steny H Hoyer (MD-05)

    WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) released the following statement today after the United States carried out a strike on nuclear facilities in Iran:

    “The U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan yesterday was essential to preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

    “Every American president since Jimmy Carter, regardless of party, as well as multiple generations of both Democratic and Republican leadership in Congress, articulated the bipartisan policy that allowing Iran to develop nuclear weapons was unacceptable. They made it clear that the United States would take whatever action necessary to prevent that outcome and counter the dire threat a nuclear-armed Iran would pose to the world, the Middle East, and directly to America and Israel.

    “In the past few weeks, the International Atomic Energy Agency censured Iran for continuing its nuclear weapons program. Iranian leaders sent a clear message that they were ignoring our longstanding policy. Israel believed that Iran was on the verge of achieving its goal and struck Iranian nuclear sites. Yesterday, the United States did the same, bombing Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. That was in keeping with our stated position against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

    “I am relieved that our service members were able to conduct this limited, one-time operation safely, and I thank them for their courage. These strikes were designed to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, but neither the U.S., nor Israel, nor any other nation wants to go to war with the Iranian people, or Iran itself. We don’t know what the coming days will hold, but we must do everything possible to protect U.S. and allied forces from Iranian retaliation.

    “Sadly, the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran became this dire because the Trump Administration chose to back out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018. Yesterday’s operation helped counter that threat, but America must continue working to close Iran’s path to nuclear weapons permanently.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hoyer Leads Hospital Roundtable to Highlight Damage of Trump’s Cuts to Medicaid and Health Care Services

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steny H Hoyer (MD-05)

    PRINCE FREDERICK, MD — As part of House Democrats’ Save Our Hospitals Week of Action, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) hosted a roundtable with doctors, medical professionals, and hospitals to discuss the implications of Trump and House Republicans’ cuts to Medicaid and health care services. Congressman Hoyer and roundtable participants highlighted how nearly 17 million Americans stand to lose their health care coverage and millions more will pay higher premiums, copays, and deductibles under the reconciliation bill that House Republicans passed. Experts predict over 21,000 people in the MD-05 alone will lose coverage by 2034 because of this bill. That includes over 8,000 people losing ACA coverage and 13,000 losing Medicaid coverage in MD-05.

    The discussion took place at the Calvert Health Medical Center in Calvert County. Participants included the CalvertHealth Medical Center, Maryland Department of Health, Maryland Hospital Association, MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital, MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center, and the University of Maryland Medical System.

    “Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are laser focused on making health care unaffordable for millions of Americans in order to give a tax break to the wealthiest 0.1% of Americans,” Congressman Hoyer said. “As Trump’s administration decimates federal health care services and fires the federal employees providing those services, more pain will befall Maryland households. Seniors might have to ration medications; families with disabled children may have to forgo treatment; hospitals will be squeezed; and the number of uninsured Americans will rise. That’s why I will not stop working to protect Americans’ access to quality, affordable health care.”

    “The Maryland Department of Health was proud to join Congressman Hoyer to hear directly from hospitals on how changes at the federal level will impact Maryland’s health care delivery system. Maryland has been a national model for innovation and population health improvement, paving the way for other states to learn from our system that has both improved health and reduced overall health care costs,” said Ryan Moran, Deputy Secretary of Healthcare Financing and Medicaid Director, Maryland Department of Health.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hoyer Opening Remarks During Briefing on Trump Administration’s Cuts to the Internal Revenue Service with Former IRS Commissioners

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steny H Hoyer (MD-05)

    WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) delivered opening remarks at a briefing on the consequences of the Trump Administration’s cuts to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Below is a video of the full briefing and a transcript of his opening remarks:
     

                                                                                                                 Click here to watch a full video of the briefing.

    “This shadow hearing — or briefing — is called because of my great concern about what is happening at IRS, my great concern of what’s happening in Treasury generally. Beyond that, my general concern as to what is being done to undermine the effectiveness and responsiveness of the federal government to and for the people. I talked to Richie Neal, who’s a relatively short-timer for this place for, I think, for 5 years and who has become of my close friends over the years, and Mike Thompson will be coming as well and Don Beyer who’s on the IRS Subcommittee in Ways and Means is here as well. Mark Pocan and Sanford Bishop, we expect the others who are named, who have said they would be here. Hopefully they will be. There’s a lot going on, as you know, much of which is not very good.

    “But it’s my premise that the IRS is underfunded, understaffed, and underappreciated. The good news is — not underappreciated by the lady who’s coming in the room who is the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee [Rep. Rosa DeLauro]. Tom Suozzi is now coming in the room who is a member of the Ways and Means Committee and a member of the IRS Subcommittee.

    “So, this is an unusual hearing. I got this idea really from Chair DeLauro, who had a similar hearing on education subjects and children’s subjects not too long ago. I asked the Chair of the Committee — Chairman of the Subcommittee of which I serve, the Financial Services and General Government Committee, to have a hearing and have the IRS Commissioner present. It was an acting IRS Commissioner who is also the Deputy Secretary, as I think most of you know. And frankly, I say as an aside, with the new IRS Commissioner, it may have been an entertaining hearing, a little long, very funny. But I thought it was absolutely essential for us to have a better knowledge of what we’re doing. My conviction is, Musk and DOGE knew how to do it, they knew nothing about the consequences. I’m not talking just an IRS or Treasury, I’m talking across the board. So, I talked to Richie Neal, and I talked to my Chair, DeLauro, and to Mike Thompson and they all agreed that this was something that we needed to do to inform the public. Now, I showed all of you, this is, I think, the first hearing — I’ve been here 44 years. This is the first hearing where I’ve read every word of all of your testimonies. And I think it’s extraordinarily instructive. Let me make a few brief remarks, and then, we’re going to get underway, because this is not a hearing in the formal sense. I just wanted to set parameters. Ms. DeLauro, obviously, wants to say something briefly at the beginning, and Mr. Neal does. He’ll be here about 20 minutes later, he said.

    “I want to thank all of you for being here. Members, you will be impressed not only with the verbal testimony, but you ought to take as a primer course on what we’re doing on IRS and Treasury, and read, as I have, this testimony because everybody at this table spent time preparing testimony, knowing full well this is not — I want to tell everybody we are going to have a video recording of this. We’re not going to have a direct record at first, but everything you say will be recorded. The reason is, I want that preserved so that we can give that or show that to other members.

    “Our Republican colleagues have been reluctant to hold public hearings on the Trump Administration’s assault on the IRS, so we decided to host our own briefing. The American people deserve answers, and we hope to provide them with some today. And I wanted this to be the authorizers, who think they’re the most important, and the appropriators, who clearly know we’re the most important. So, there’s not full agreement on that question, but there’s full agreement that we need to make sure we get IRS right. We believe in fiscal responsibility. A number of you mentioned the debt in your comments and what we have to do to address that. We know that fiscal responsibility certainly involves looking at spending, but also, crucially, at revenue.

    “For years, the IRS has been desperately underfunded and understaffed, leaving hundreds of billions of dollars in legally-owed taxes uncollected. And therefore, placing more of a burden on those taxpayers who do fully comply. Ms. Olson, you made that comment a number of times, as did I. (Gestures toward poster on an easel) Now, this graph shows how we have in effect tanked enforcement, particularly on the wealthy. Filers have gone way up, and the budget has gone way down. And this is, if you’re over a million dollars, you’ve gone from an approximately nine percent chance of being audited to six tenths of a percent. While 85 plus percent of our filers paid their taxes every week, every bi-week, or every month. And they are almost 100% compliant. All of you know that, I just say that for whatever record will ultimately be brought. As this graph shows — I told you what it shows — the agency has more work and fewer resources to do it. (Gestures toward poster on an easel) That’s on this graph. Again, the budget, and this is the real budget if you count for inflation. That’s what’s happened to the budget.

    “Though annual IRS appropriations have nominally stayed even, in reality, they have not. And I want to call everybody’s attention here to page four of Ms. Olson’s testimony, in which she points out that taxpayer services in this budget, counting for the [Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)] expectation, and one of you mentioned the necessity for a longer term, at least three years. I don’t remember which one of you, I just, I read it, sustained spending. Taxpayer services have been down 7.4%. Enforcement services down 45.9% — cut in half to what the IRA provided. Technology and operations, which they claim is going to solve the problem, 58.2% down in actual funding. Overall, a 44% reduction in IRS’s resources, both in staff and in money. In 2010, the IRS examination rate appeal, I told you, 1 million more was near 9%, now down [to] 0.6% percent. In Fiscal Year 2022, that figure ticked up to 1%. There was a new administration, and there was a little bit of an increase. But not where it needs to be. Even still, an estimated $606 billion. Now, very frankly, we have anywhere from $200 billion at a very low end to a significantly higher figure than $600 billion in legally owed taxes, which go uncollected every year.

    “Now, as I point out all the time, I know Mike, you do, Rosa I’m sure, and the members of the committee, we keep spending. Somebody’s got to pay that bill, and you pay that bill either in interest — which is now about a trillion dollars more than we spend on our national security — so that if the people who owe don’t pay, the people who we voluntarily take money [from] pay more. I say involuntarily, they have to pay it, in that sense; we pay our taxes because it’s withdrawn from our wages. IRS data suggests that every $1 dollar invested in enforcement yields $7 of revenue in return. Your testimony will reflect that is perhaps an average, but it can go as high as $12 or more, depending upon the level of taxpayers’ income.

    “Crucially, research from Harvard and the Treasury Accounts found that when it’s targeted at the top 10% earners, $1 gets you $12 back. There’s nobody in the Congress of the United States who wouldn’t make that kind of investment, except in IRS. That yield is so high in part because of the deterrent effect, (gestures to witness table) which you speak to, and you speak to as well, and the two of you. Everybody probably speaks to that. The problem with reading all five [testimonies], I don’t have them absolutely catalogued in my brain. Democrats took action to address this issue. The Yale budget estimated that the $80 billion we include in the Inflation Reduction Act for the IRS would have led to a net increase in revenue of $637 billion over the next decade. And that, I think, is at the low side.

    “Republicans, however, sought to undo this progress at this turn. This hearing is not about going after the Trump Administration or going after Republicans. This hearing is to get information so that we can be well informed and explain to them and to the American people what we’re leaving on the table that is owed, no tax increases. Trump’s recent purge of nonpartisan federal employees has also badly hurt the IRS. Now there’s some in, some out, some came back, so we’re not sure exactly where it’s going to land, but we’ll see what the courts do, and we’ll see what the administration does, and see what Secretary Bessent does. Yale Budget Lab, an extraordinary organization, headed up by Dr. Sarin. Yale Budget Lab estimates that doing so will lead to between $395 billion and $2.4 trillion in lost revenue over the next decade. To put that in perspective, the Senate Tax Budget and Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill costs $4.2 trillion over the next decade. Evidently, it wasn’t enough for Trump to lower taxes on the wealthy, they also want to make sure that no more than 0.6% of their returns — otherwise known as 99.4% of those who have over a million dollars, not having their taxes looked at all. What does that mean? I made the analogy that day in committee about, you see a cop on the side of the road, there’s not one of us that doesn’t automatically, just knee jerk, Pavlovian-like, lift our foot off the accelerator. Same thing’s going to happen when you hear six tenths of a percent. I’ll take that chance. All of this to a vital agency that’s already desperately under-resourced. An attack on the IRS is an attack on America’s fiscal health. As the Administration exploded the debt of the American people —and I say, ‘this Administration,’ we have all been responsible for exploding this debt. [We] just want to spend money on different things. And a tax expenditure is an expense.

    “So, I thank all of you, and I thank the Members, and I yield quickly to Ms. DeLauro and then to Mr. Thompson.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hoyer Opening Remarks During Full Committee Markup of Fiscal Year 2026 Homeland Security Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steny H Hoyer (MD-05)

    WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (FSGG), delivered opening remarks at the House Appropriations Full Committee Markup of the Fiscal Year 2026 Homeland Security Bill. Below is a video and transcript of his remarks:
     

    Click here to watch a full video of his remarks.

    “Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. In his speech on election night in 2024, President Trump promised to, and I quote, ‘make America safer and stronger than it has ever been before.’ I wonder if the American people feel safer and stronger now [that] the Administration has purged a third of the staff of [the] Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, as was discussed by the Ranking Member, including almost all of the senior leadership. DOGE also cut roughly a third of the staff at FEMA. My remarks will be redundant, I presume they will get more redundant because these are the concerns that the American people have. Does that make America feel more secure, as floodwaters rise, wildfires blaze, and storms rage through their community?

    “I well remember when Superstorm Sandy hit the northeast, 58 million people were at risk. We had a vote on the Floor of the House of Representatives, only I think 49 – it may have been 50 – Republicans voted for Sandy relief out of some 200 members of Republicans there were in the House. Do Americans sleep better at night knowing that Trump has fired numerous top generals and intelligence officials at the behest of Laura Loomer, a far-right conspiracy theorist with close ties to neo-Nazi organizations? I certainly don’t. I doubt Americans do either.

    “This bill will make us even less secure and safe. It underfunds our cyber security efforts to stop our adversary hackers from stealing Americans’ data, spreading misinformation, and infiltrating our critical systems and infrastructure. How interesting it is that most experts said that one of the responses Iran could have to our attack would have been cybersecurity attacks, and yet we are making that less secure. This legislation also fails to address the $8 billion shortfall, which has been already referenced to by the Chair and the Ranking Member, in FEMA’s disaster relief fund. Sort of like Superstorm Sandy. You’re on your own.

    “Crucially, it leaves our people vulnerable to violent extremism. I’ve also been [a] proud friend of Israel and the Jewish community. Jews in America and around the world have feared for their safety and the vile spike in antisemitism following the October 7 terror attacks. That is especially true these past few weeks since the murder of two Israeli embassy staffers just blocks away from our Capitol, as well as the vicious antisemitic attacks in Boulder, Colorado. Jewish leaders across the country have been calling on this Congress to provide at least $500 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant program, which helps synagogues and Jewish communities and other people of faith and organizations protect themselves and their people. While I’m pleased the manager’s amendments provided another $30 million for this program – and I want to thank the Chairman, Mr. Amodei, I want to thank you for adding $30 million back to that. I think it is a very good step to take, but the bill falls $170 million short of the request, and the danger rises and the money has been going down. But I do thank you for the increase that you did do. 

    “These groups need this funding now more than ever, especially considering those security grants were paused earlier this year as part of the Administration’s funding freeze at FEMA. Fighting antisemitism, stopping terrorists, upholding our cybersecurity and responding to disasters are not partisan issues, but this is a partisan bill. I hope at the end of this process I can support it, but if it is not significantly changed and the security enhanced, I will not be able to. And I yield back the balance of my time.”

    MIL OSI USA News –