Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
Former Congressman Billy Long, Trump Nominee for IRS Commissioner, Partnered with Promoters of Fraudulent “Tribal Tax Credits,” Other Tax Scams
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called for a criminal investigation into promoters involved in a tax evasion scheme selling investors fraudulent “tribal tax credits,” including firms that had close financial ties with former Congressman Billy Long, the Trump nominee for IRS Commissioner.
“As you are aware, the IRS recently confirmed to Senate Finance Committee investigators that these ‘tribal tax credits’ do not exist and that promoters of these credits could face civil and criminal penalties,” the Senators wrote. “It appears that White River Energy Corporation, like other promoters involved in this scheme, used the identity and image of Native American tribes without their knowledge to dupe investors into spending millions to purchase fake tax credits. Given IRS Commissioner nominee Billy Long’s direct financial ties to White River and other entities implicated in this scheme, we are concerned that if confirmed Long could undermine enforcement actions related to this fraudulent scheme.”
In response to an inquiry by Democratic Finance Committee staff seeking to better understand the legal mechanisms under which White River and other promoters were able to buy and sell these tribal tax credits, the IRS said the following:
“We can confirm that these tax credits do not exist. Taxpayers who claim credits that don’t exist are subject to penalties and possible examination. Furthermore, promoters of these credits may be subject to civil or criminal penalties. The IRS reminds all taxpayers to be aware of tax scams and encourages taxpayers consult with a reputable tax advisor.”
“Promoters engaged in fraudulent ‘tribal tax credits’ schemes must face criminal consequences,” the Senators continue. “The IRS must promptly investigate this matter to send the message that no one is above the law, regardless of whether they have powerful friends in high places.”
Read the full letter here.
Senator Cortez Masto has pushed multiple Departments under the Trump Administration for detailed, public information regarding the impacts of President Trump and Elon Musk’s chaotic actions on Nevada – including at the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, and General Services Administration. The Senator has also been a vocal opponent of many of Trump’s dangerous nominations to lead federal agencies.
Source: United States Senator for New York Charles E Schumer
Thousands Of Vets & VA Workers Were Already Fired, Including In The Rochester-Finger Lakes; Canandaigua VA Workers Say Cuts Creating Chaos, With Local Vet Suicide Crisis Line Workers Even Being Mistakenly Fired & Rehired, Elsewhere NY Addiction Services Staff & Other VA Programs Staff Have Been Slashed
Now With ‘DOGE’ Plan To Slash 80,000+ VA Jobs– NEARLY ONE-FIFTH OF ALL VA WORKERS – Schumer Says Places Like Canandaigua VA, Which He Saved From Being Closed, Could Face Devastating Damage
Schumer: We Can’t Let ‘DOGE’ Attack Health Care For Over 33,000 Vets In Finger Lakes
With ‘DOGE’ and the Trump administration’s plans to fire over 80,000 workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) looming, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today stood outside the Canandaigua VA to sound the alarm on the devastating impacts for the over 33,000 veterans in the Rochester-Finger Lakes region. The senator said across Upstate NY, VA workers, many of whom are veterans, have already been fired, creating chaos in the workforce and new massive cuts would spell disaster for both the Canandaigua VA and the care for vets across NY. Schumer called on the Trump administration to restore fired veterans and VA workers and stop any plans to further decimate the VA workforce.
“This is not how you treat our veterans – it’s not just unacceptable, it’s un-American. Firing over 80,000 VA workers, many of whom are veterans themselves, will undoubtedly hurt the healthcare and benefits for the 33,000 veterans here in the Rochester-Finger Lakes. We have already seen the chaos firsthand, VA workers fired without warning across Upstate NY, chaos across the VA workforce. Here in Canandaigua they even fired workers on the veterans suicide crisis hotline before reversing themselves after public outcry. It is gut wrenching to think this is how we are treating the services of those who defended our freedoms,” said Senator Schumer. “Make no mistake, these cuts are a direct assault on our veterans here in Upstate NY. These cuts don’t just mean fewer VA workers, they mean longer wait times for our veterans to get the help they need. It means they won’t get the most advanced treatment, and ultimately it means many will likely be denied healthcare they deserve. Our nation told our veterans that if they put their lives and health on the line to protect our freedoms, we would take care of them, and the Trump administration is breaking that promise by cutting the VA to the bone. We need to make sure these cuts never happen. Not in Canandaigua or at any VA across America, and that they rehire all the veterans and VA workers who only were trying to serve those who served our country.”
“Canandaigua VA workers, including our Veteran Crisis Line professionals are literally on the front lines every day saving veterans lives minute by minute, all while now dealing with the additional stress of their own jobs needlessly being as risk of termination. They are fielding an increasing number of calls from stressed veterans worried that the VA cuts will affect their care or worse,” said Ronnie Orlowski, Canandaigua VA employee and President of AFGE Local 3306 that represents Canandaigua VA workers including Veteran Crisis Line workers. “A significant number of our VA workers are veterans themselves, and they bring a personal commitment and empathy to their jobs which is why it was unconscionable that dozens of Canandaigua VA workers on the Veteran Crisis Line and Homeless Veterans Hotline -several veterans themselves – were terminated earlier this year. This includes workers who alert first responders to dispatch ambulances and police in real time to the location of a veteran in crisis calling on the line who needs immediate emergency intervention. We fought back and while they were eventually reinstated, many do not feel their jobs are safe with the looming threat of 83,000 additional layoffs. These proposed layoffs strike at the very heart of services that are essential to our veteran’s wellbeing, including those who have shared how the VA has been crucial in their post-service lives, from critical medical procedures and PTSD therapy to ongoing support. I thank Senator Schumer for his steadfast opposition to the proposed staffing cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and urge others to stand firm with him in ensuring our nation’s continued commitment to its veterans.”
Schumer said ‘DOGE’ has already fired thousands of veterans across the country, many of whom have service-connected disabilities. 2,400 VA employees, many of whom are veterans themselves, have already been terminated. The VA, however, has refused to even explain where all these cuts have been in New York, leading to chaos, and with 80,000 more looming, the senator said it could turn into a real crisis.
Schumer said these broader ‘DOGE’ firings are especially cruel as veterans make up 30% of the federal workforce, with approximately 640,000 veterans working in federal agencies. The federal government has long made it a priority to hire veterans and military spouses, encouraging them to do so as a continuation of public service, making these cuts by the Trump Administration uniquely hurtful. Schumer has repeatedly highlighted this, including bringing a Western NY disabled Army veteran who served in Afghanistan who was fired from the Buffalo VA, as his personal guest to attend President Trump’s Joint Session of Congress
Dozens of workers in the VA Finger Lakes Healthcare System have already been caught in the crossfire of Trump’s firing chaos:
Last February according to the AFGE, 9 Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) workers at the Canandaigua VA were fired, only to be reinstated days later after public outcry across the country. These included workers whose job is to call local first responders to dispatch intervention rescues when a veteran on the line is in crisis.
10 workers in the Finger Lakes VA system were fired.
Additionally, VA union officials report that VA Homeless Hotline workers hired through Canandaigua VA as remote workers are under a pending return-to-work order which has already led the call center to lose 30 percent of its workforce which will reduce the line’s effectiveness.
An office manager at the Veteran’s Mental Health Center in Rochester was fired, and though the manager was rehired, a supervisor has been fired since then.
Spectrum News reported layoffs at the Bath VA’s Detox and Substance Use Rehab Center, risking its shutdown due to staffing shortages. Every Veteran Court in Monroe County sends their defendants to Bath for rehab, and the Bath facility is one of the only facilities that can provide in-patient detox care in the greater Rochester-Finger Lakes region.
‘DOGE’ has also directed the VA to cancel over 800 contracts that support chemotherapy treatment, screenings for veterans suffering from toxic exposure, detecting and preventing waste, fraud, and abuse, digitizing veterans’ disability claim records, and more. Schumer said these cuts have already hurt health care services that the VA can offer veterans and are just a small example of what’s to come. While Secretary Collins claimed the contract cancellations will have no negative impact on veterans’ health care, VA employees claim the contracts being cancelled are “central to patient safety.”
Schumer added, “I am all for cutting out inefficiency, but you use a scalpel, not a chainsaw. Jobs and care for our veterans in Upstate NY is not government waste – full stop. This will hurt our veterans and their families.”
These cuts also come at potentially the worst time, as more veterans had just started receiving healthcare than ever before thanks to Schumer leading the PACT Act to passage through Congress, which after years of denying vets treatment extended health coverage for exposure to burn pit smoke and other environmental hazards that caused cancers and other illnesses during their service In 2023 alone, the VA hired more than 60,000 new employees to serve thousands of new patients seeking care after the passage of the PACT Act. Trump’s plan to gut the VA workforce will reverse progress made in recent years to provide quality and continuous care to veterans suffering from diseases brought on by exposure to toxic burn pits. Schumer said if proposed firings go through, health care services for 33,000 veterans in the Finger Lakes and millions more across the country will be at risk.
These drastic workforce cuts to the VA will cripple the agency’s ability to serve the 400,000 veterans enrolled in benefits between March 2023 and March 2024. VA employees and advocates indicate when these cuts take place, wait times, as well as delays or denial in care, will worsen as the longstanding staffing shortage problem at the VA will be significantly exacerbated. Cuts to the VA research workforce will prevent VA from delivering enhanced, tailored care to the veterans they are still able to serve, undoubtedly resulting in worse health outcomes for veterans suffering from service-connected illnesses.
Ontario County U.S. Marine Corps and Vietnam Era Veteran Wayne Thompson said, “As a veteran, I know firsthand how important the role VA services and programs play in supporting those of us who have served. The proposed staffing cuts would be detrimental, not only to veterans in need of assistance but also to the remaining employees who provide these vital services. Reductions like these are likely to overburden the already dedicated staff and risk leaving many veterans without the support they desperately need. The current White House’s chaotic administration of multiple aspects of citizens lives is raising havoc with Veterans and the general public’s mental and physical wellbeing. It needs to stop before it’s too late! I join Senator Schumer to oppose these proposed cuts and to protect our access to essential VA services.”
Nick Stefanovic, Director of the Monroe County Veterans Service Agency said, “The Department of Veterans Affairs is crucial in providing life-saving rehabilitation and mental health services to our veterans, and any cuts to this vital resource could have devastating consequences. With positions at critical medical facilities already being lost, I am very concerned about the direct impact on the care our veterans receive. I am thankful for Senator Schumer’s strong stance against these reductions. His commitment is vital in our fight to ensure that our veterans continue to have access to the care they need.”
Senator Schumer has a long history both fighting to keep the Canandaigua VA Medical Campus open, and delivering robust federal funding to modernize the campus to boost the quality of care for Finger Lakes veterans. In 2003, the VA released its Capital Asset Realignment for Enhancement Services (CARES) Draft National Plan which recommended closing the Canandaigua Veteran’s Medical Campus, which would have forced local veterans to travel much farther to VA hospitals in other cities to receive the care they needed, and removing one of the region’s major employers. Schumer launched an all-out campaign to keep the Canandaigua Medical Campus open, even convincing the former VA secretary to visit in person. Since then, Schumer has secured hundreds of millions of federal dollars to modernize and expand the facility to provide Rochester-area veterans with the new state-of-art medical facilities and housing they have long deserved.
Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
April 16, 2025
HARTFORD—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Wednesday announced a resolution congratulating the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team for winning the 2025 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Women’s Basketball Championship. The resolution commends the Huskies’ dominant and record-breaking performance on their way to their twelfth national title since 1995, a feat no other college team has surpassed. The senators also recognize Azzi Fudd for being named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament and congratulate UConn fans, students, and faculty for the incredible accomplishment.
“The UConn women’s team’s run through the tournament was dominant, and as usual, they made our state so proud as they won their record 12th national championship. Watching Sarah Strong, Paige Bueckers, and Azzi Fudd all playing at the top of their game with the brightest lights on them was so inspiring,” said Murphy. “Congratulations to the team and all the support staff that make our women’s team such a force.”
“The Huskies have solidified Connecticut’s title as the Basketball Capital of the World with their record-breaking win – filling our entire state with immense joy and pride,” said Blumenthal. “This resolution honors the teamwork, tenacity, and talent of the UConn Women’s team and its coaches, and celebrates the devotion of their fans. Congratulations Huskies!”
Full text of the resolution is available HERE.
Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
***PHOTOS, B-ROLL HERE***
Lakewood, WA — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, toured Clover Park Technical College (CPTC) in Lakewood, met with students, educators and workforce readiness partners, and heard about how the college utilizes essential federal funding streams to support their students—support that could now be at risk with the Trump administration’s all-out assault on American education and their plans to dismantle the Department of Education, which provides critical resources for students and colleges in Washington state and across the country. Last year, the Department of Education distributed over $40 million in annual funding for career and technical education and workforce development in Washington state, and over $100 million in federal financial aid and support to help students across Washington attend and complete college.
During the visit, Senator Murray spoke with educators and their partner workforce readiness organizations about the programs that teach students transferrable professional skills that are vital for today’s workforce. Senator Murray met with educators and students in the college’s manufacturing, welding, and health sciences programs to learn about the hands-on approach their classes have been taking to prepare them for jobs. Clover Park receives over $3.2 million in annual federal financial aid and $1.1 million in federal loans to support students, through Pell Grants and programs including the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Emergency Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (EFSEOG) and Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program (CCAMPIS), which Senator Murray has long championed.
“It’s important to hear about and see firsthand the many unique workforce training programs Clover Park Technical College offers—and how students from different backgrounds are succeeding and integrating into the local workforce. It is schools and programs like these that help make Washington state’s economy stronger and prepare our students for the future,” said Senator Murray. “Right now, President Trump is taking a wrecking ball to education in America and trying to dismantle the Department of Education—which provides critical support to students and colleges, everything from Pell Grants to workforce development programs. The billionaires running our government may not understand why federal funding for our students and colleges matters—but the students and educators I met with today do. I will not sit back quietly while Trump tries to destroy public education in America.”
“We are thankful to Senator Patty Murray for visiting Clover Park’s Lakewood campus. We always welcome the opportunity to demonstrate our programs and to provide real-life examples of how education in a technical field can change students’ lives. Federal support for higher education not only allows our students to access the means to fund their education, it also builds capacity for small colleges like ours to equip our faculty to become exceptional teachers,” said Joyce Loveday, President of Clover Park Technical College. Joyce has been President since June 2016 and has been working with the CPTC community since 2002.
A senior member and former chair of the HELP Committee, Senator Murray has championed students and families at every stage of her career—fighting to help ensure every child in America can get a high-quality public education. Among other things, Senator Murray negotiated the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), landmark legislation that she got signed into law, replacing the broken No Child Left Behind Act. As a longtime appropriator, she has successfully fought to boost funding to support students and invest in our nation’s K-12 schools, and she has secured significant increases to the Pell Grant so that it goes further for students pursuing a higher education. Senator Murray also successfully negotiated the FAFSA Simplification Act, bipartisan legislation to reform the financial aid application process, simplify the FAFSA form for students and parents, and significantly expand eligibility for federal aid.
Earlier this month, Senator Murray led a letter to Secretary Linda McMahon demanding a reversal of a new policy the Department of Education announced recently that suddenly upended departmental policy and imposed new red tape on states, which will prevent them from accessing pandemic relief funds they are counting on to support students’ learning. Senator Murray also led a letter demanding detailed answers from the Department of Education about the mass firings and other detrimental actions which risk major reductions in support for and oversight of federal investments in our nation’s K-12 schools and institutions of higher education and threaten vital support for students with disabilities, access to Pell Grants and other financial aid, oversight of student loan servicers, scrutiny of for-profit colleges, and more. The letter follows an earlier March 6 letter Senator Murray sent alongside colleagues demanding answers about the chaotic, harmful actions taken by ED since January—which the Department has yet to respond to.
During Secretary Linda McMahon’s confirmation hearing, Senator Murray pressed McMahon on whether she will ensure approved funding gets out to serve students as the law requires and whether she would protect students’ data from DOGE. She also asked McMahon to name a single requirement of ESSA—and McMahon couldn’t name any. Ahead of McMahon’s confirmation, Senator Murray spoke out on the Senate floor against her nomination and sounded the alarm over President Trump and Elon Musk’s plans to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
A fact sheet outlining how the Department of Education supports students in Washington state is HERE.
Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
Washington, D.C. – As President Trump finalizes his proposal to eliminate Head Start, shutters half of the regional offices running the program, and fires scores of staff who ensure Head Start centers can serve kids and families—new data shows his administration has issued nearly $1 billion less in federal grants to Head Start centers nationwide so far this year compared to the same period last year (a steep -37% decline year-over-year).
The Trump administration’s withholding of nearly $1 billion in Head Start funding is impacting Head Start centers nationwide—already forcing center closures, which hurt families and teachers, and risking many more. Just this week, news broke that a Head Start program in Lower Yakima Valley, Washington state, is indefinitely closing—impacting more than 400 young children and 70 staff—because it has not yet received the Head Start award it typically receives and depends on from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
In response, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), said:
“As he works to give more tax breaks to billionaires like himself, Donald Trump is doing everything he can to destroy Head Start—without a care in the world for the hundreds of thousands of working families across the country who depend on it.
“So far this year, Trump has slow-walked $1 billion in funding from going out the door to Head Start programs, and we are beginning to see the devastating consequences: centers closing, kids kicked out of the classroom, teachers losing their jobs, and entire communities losing out. In Washington state, hundreds of kids will be kicked out of Head Start programs—sending their parents scrambling—if this isn’t immediately rectified.
“But Trump isn’t content to simply hold up funding for Head Start—he wants to eliminate the program altogether and rip pre-K and essential support away from families nationwide. Democrats won’t let a proposal like that go anywhere in Congress—but make no mistake: Trump is already doing all he can to wreck the program on his own, withholding funding and shuttering the offices and firing the people who get local Head Start centers what they need to serve families. Now, we’re seeing the ruinous consequences. I’m going to keep fighting back with all I’ve got—because we’ve got to keep mobilizing and opposing this administration’s cruel agenda to help billionaires and hurt working families.”
Head Start programs’ grants are generally renewed at the same time each year, and Head Start programs depend on these strict funding cycles to continue serving kids and families. In fiscal years 2024 and 2025, Head Start has been funded at $12.27 billion. In 2024, $2.548 billion in Head Start funding went out from the start of the year through April 15. But during the same period this year, only $1.604 billion has so far gone out—a $943 million, or -37%, decline. Any delays in funding going out the door can have devastating consequences for Head Start programs.
A state-by-state breakdown of the Head Start funding being slow-walked by the Trump administration is below:
Head Start currently serves over 750,000 kids nationwide, and the program has served nearly 40 million children and their families nationwide since its inception in 1965. There are over 17,000 Head Start centers nationwide that help kids and families thrive, and these centers are particularly important in serving rural communities with fewer options for care.
A state-by-state breakdown of the number of kids and families served by Head Start is available HERE.
Since taking office, President Trump has gutted the offices that keep Head Start centers and child care programs across the country running. In late February, the Trump administration fired scores of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care. Earlier this month, Trump continued to hollow out HHS, including by shuttering half of the regional offices at the Office of Head Start, which are responsible for ensuring high-quality Head Start services are available to families nationwide. The Trump administration has failed to articulate how it will ensure that uninterrupted services are available to families and that appropriate oversight will be carried out despite gutting the very offices charged with these responsibilities.
Source: United States Senator for North Carolina Thom Tillis
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) recently introduced the National Nursing Workforce Center Act, bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would support nursing workforce centers across the country and help address nursing workforce shortages.
“Nurses play a crucial role in providing accessible, high-quality care to Americans. Resolving existing nursing workforce challenges, the increased demand for health care services and the aging workforce requires innovative approaches that support and strengthen every aspect of the nursing workforce pipeline,” said Senator Tillis. “I’m proud to co-introduce the bipartisan National Nursing Workforce Center Act which will enhance collaboration and coordination, enabling state and local experts to identify and address unique challenges to increase the resiliency of the nursing workforce.”
“Access to care in American communities depends on having well-prepared, caring, and safety-centered nurses in every U.S. county, ensuring workforce stability and addressing the economic impact of healthcare,” said the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers Board of Directors. “Strengthening and investing in the nursing workforce is essential to safeguarding the health and safety of all Americans, regardless of where they live, and securing equitable access to care across both rural and urban areas.”
Background:
As the nation’s largest healthcare profession, nurses play a vital role in improving health outcomes in virtually every community. However, the demand for nurses is greatly outpacing supply, and by 2027, the country will face a 10% shortage of registered nurses. Fewer practicing nurses can lead to delays in treatments or procedures, longer hospital stays and increased adverse patient events.
It is now abundantly clear that improved federal and state coordination is needed to monitor nursing shortages, coordinate strategies to alleviate the pressures on the nursing workforce, and advise policymakers, health care leaders, and educators. This legislation aims to address the nursing workforce shortage by supporting the data, research, and training capabilities of nursing workforce centers both nationally and locally so that patients get the care they need.
The National Nursing Workforce Center Act would:
Make a small technical correction to enable HRSA to establish a federal nursing-focused health workforce research and technical assistance center;
Establish a pilot program through HRSA to support state-based nursing workforce centers, which often report underfunding and lack of technical capabilities; and
Deliver reports assessing the impact of this partnership and if and how it should be expanded nationwide.
A one-pager of the bill is available HERE.
Full text of the bill is available HERE.
Source: United States Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock – Georgia
As Washington Considers Tax Cuts for Millionaires and Billionaires, Senator Reverend Warnock Calls for Tax Breaks for Working and Middle-Class Families in Capitol Hill Rally
Senator Reverend Warnock joined a crowd of hundreds at the “Say NO to Tax Breaks for Billionaires & Corporations” rally
Senator Reverend Warnock: “Everybody likes tax cuts. The debate is about who ought to get one and who really needs one, and what’s the best way to move our economy forward. [Washington Republicans] want to give a tax cut to millionaires and billionaires”
Watch Senator Reverend Warnock’s rally remarks HERE
Washington, D.C. – Last week, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) spoke in front of a crowd of hundreds about the need for Congress to provide a tax break to working and middle-class families during the “Say NO to Tax Breaks for Billionaires & Corporations” rally on Capitol Hill.
“Everybody likes tax cuts. The debate is about who ought to get one and who really needs one, and what’s the best way to move our economy forward. [Washington Republicans] want to give a tax cut to millionaires and billionaires […] You’re not trying to cut taxes, you’re not trying to cut waste and fraud and abuse, because if you were trying to cut waste and fraud and abuse, I know an unelected billionaire who’s received $40 billion in federal aid and support and loans, I know where you can find some waste and fraud and abuse,” said Senator Warnock.
As a new voice on the Senate Finance committee, Senator Warnock is committed to championing tax policies that support working families and put more money back into the pockets of middle-class families. In 2021, Senator Warnock fought to secure the Expanded Child Tax Credit as part of the American Rescue Plan. Senator Warnock recently introduced the American Family Act, which would nearly double the Child Tax Credit (CTC) from its current amount and help working moms and dads in a moment where the cost of groceries, housing, and child care is on the rise.
A transcript of Senator Warnock’s remarks during therallycan be found below:
“I just want to say thank you for coming to Washington, D.C. Give yourselves a round of applause just for being here. Mama said, ‘Half a life is showing up’. And I cannot stress to you enough how important it is and how impactful it is for you to show up.”
“Politicians – whether they are Republicans, Democrats or Independents – when you show up, they pay attention. When you call our offices, we pay attention. When you write letters, we pay attention. And when you have the unmitigated audacity to come here and remind the folks over there that that’s not their house, it’s the People’s House, it makes a huge difference. You keep showing up, and I promise you that I and my colleagues are going to keep showing up for you.”
“Give my brother Ben Ray Luján a big round of applause. He and I are both alumni of Head Start., and I probably don’t have to tell you that in the United States Senate, which historically has been a place for the sons of American aristocracy, and I do mean sons, because that weren’t many women, you’re not going to run into many United States Senators who are alums of Head Start. But that’s a program that gives poor children a chance. It inspires them, exposes them to literature and reading and a love of learning, because all children are naturally curious, and if you bump into a child who doesn’t have that, believe me, something or somebody stole it from them. The trauma of being poor [can]rob them of the natural intellectual curiosity about the world that all children have.”
“I’ve got a word for you. God raises up genius and brilliance and talent all over the world, on all sides of town, on both sides of the railroad track. God is an equal opportunity employer, and it makes sense to invest in children because we don’t know what they’re going to contribute.”
“So the folk who want to run roughshod over Head Start don’t get it, and the reason why so many of them don’t get it is not simply because they were born rich. I’m not going to hate on anybody because they were born rich because I didn’t decide to be born poor. But you ought to at least spend enough time with ordinary people so you don’t end up saying dumb things. Like [as Commerce Secretary Lutnick remarked] if my mother-in-law misses one social security check, big deal. Of course, it’s no big deal to her. Her son-in-law is a billionaire. That’s not my story. That’s not the story of the people who are in this crowd.”
“In the words of that great prophet, that poet, Kendrick Lamar, they not like us.”
“We need people in government who, regardless of their background and where they were born, are sensitive to the concerns of ordinary people, hard-working Americans, for people that so many in our government, over the last 40 years, most of my life, have been busy maligning, criminalizing poor people for being poor. That’s why we’re in this mess. That’s why they’re obsessed with giving a tax cut to those who don’t need it, while taking resources away from those who need it so desperately just to survive.”
“And so here’s the thing, here’s the thing that all of us apparently have in common: we all like tax cuts. Everybody likes tax cuts. The debate is about who ought to get one and who really needs one, and what’s the best way to move our economy forward. They want to give a tax cut to millionaires and billionaires, and they’ve been engaged over the last few weeks in creating a lot of theater, tragic theater that has implications for people’s ability to actually live: firing federal workers and making them the enemy, firing folks at the CDC, closing down Social Security offices across Georgia and across our country, and announcing that they were going to do it on the DOGE website. And when I called them out for it, they were at least a little bit embarrassing, because they took it off their website and acted like they didn’t say it. But my staff took screenshots of that website. Yes, you said it. We know what you said, and we know what you are trying to do. You’re not trying to cut taxes, you’re not trying to cut waste and fraud and abuse, because if you were trying to cut waste and fraud and abuse, I know an unelected billionaire who’s received $40 billion in federal aid and support and loans, I know where you can find some waste and fraud and abuse, and his name is Elon Musk!”
“So all of this is a distraction, because Donald Trump is just trying to pay off his friends, trying to pay off millionaires and billionaires. I’m not mad at you because you have money. I just believe that strong hearted bear the infirmities of the weak. I just believe that we are all in this together. The pandemic taught us that, right that we were in a deadly pandemic. We didn’t have the vaccine at the time, it’s an airborne disease. That means that if my neighbor got sick. Even though she was sick, I was potentially in peril because it’s an airborne disease. The pandemic taught us that we didn’t already know that that doesn’t make my neighbor my enemy because she’s sick, that just means that it is in my enlightened self-interest to make sure that she has what she needs, that she has a mask, that she has a vaccine.”
“In other words, my neighbor’s health care coverage is good for my health. It is good for all of us, for everybody to have healthcare. It is good for all of us, no matter how much money you have for children in Georgia to have Medicaid. So that’s what this fight is all about.”
“So keep showing up. Keep fighting the good fight. Keep raising your voice, because this is not about the people who have power. We’ve proven in America over and over again that it’s really about the power in the people, and when the people raise their voices, when the people show up, the people can make a difference!”
“Do you believe that?”
“Are you ready to make some noise?”
“Are you ready to show up?”
“Are you ready to fight for our children?”
“Are you ready to defend Social Security?”
“Are you ready to defend Medicaid?”
“Let do this work y’all!”
“The budget is not just a fiscal document, it’s a moral document. Budget is not just dollars and cents, it’s good morals and common sense. Show me your budget and I’ll show you who you think matters and who you think is dispensable. Show me your budget and I’ll show you what you think about children, what you think about workers, and what you think made America great, and if this budget that they are trying to pass were an EKG, it would suggest that the Congress has a heart problem and is in need of moral surgery. So let’s get the room ready. I know you may not be surgeons, but just help us get the room ready, because the Congress needs an operation, and it’s the people who bring about the change.”
“So you keep showing up over and over again. Don’t give it to those who are trying to weaponize despair. Don’t believe them when they want to convince you that he’s already a king. We have no king! This is the United States of America, and we’re not about to roll over to somebody who wants to be an oligarch.”
“I’m going to stand up for my children. Are you going to stand up for yours? I’m going to stand up for my mother who needs her Social Security. I’m going to stand up for everybody’s children, so that my children are alright. So let’s stand together. Let’s work together. Let’s vote together. Let’s fight together. Let’s pray together. Let’s stay together. Don’t give in to the demagogues. Don’t give in to the division. We rise together.”
“God bless all of you, keep the faith and keep looking up.”
Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, today released the following statement on President Trump’s Executive Order targeting the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, a major long-term cost-saving feature of the Inflation Reduction Act which grants Medicare the authority to negotiate prices for up to 60 medications and help make life-saving drugs more affordable to patients:
“Since day one, Big Pharma has been trying to tear down the Inflation Reduction Act‘s drug pricing provisions—they’re trying to increase their profits. And now, President Trump is bending to Big Pharma’s will and giving them exactly what they want in this Executive Order,” said Senator Welch. “Attacking a program which 85% of Americans support isn’t a win for patients—it’s a win for the pharmaceutical industry. We’ll keep fighting to protect Medicare’s negotiating powers to ensure the federal government follows through on its obligation to care for people and patients.”
Senator Welch has long supported initiatives to lower prescription drug prices for Vermonters. In September, Senators Welch and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) led colleagues in filing an amicus brief in AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals v. Becerra; Bristol Myers Squibb Co. v. Becerra; and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Becerra in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit urging the court to uphold the constitutionality of Congress empowering Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for consumers.
Last Congress, Sens. Welch and Klobuchar also introduced the Strengthening Medicare and Reducing Taxpayer (SMART) Prices Act to build on the success of the Inflation Reduction Act to increase the number of drugs eligible for negotiation and unlock the ability of the U.S. Government to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. Provisions from Sen. Welch’s bill to end the ban on Medicare negotiating lower prescription drug prices for Medicare’s 50 million seniors, introduced during his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives, were incorporated into the Inflation Reduction Act.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Brian Babin (R-Texas-36) led a bicameral coalition of federal lawmakers representing Texas communities in sending a letter to President Trump urging his administration to move the headquarters for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from Washington, D.C. to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. The lease for NASA’s current DC office expires in 2028.
In the letter, the lawmakers argue that NASA is disconnected from the day-to-day work of its centers and hindered by bureaucratic micromanagement in Washington, D.C. Houston is well suited for NASA’s headquarters because of JSC’s substantial involvement in nearly everything that makes America a leader in space exploration. JSC maintains the largest NASA workforce, accommodates extensive research and development partnerships, and houses Mission Control, the NASA astronaut corps, and the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility.
Additionally, Texas boasts a strong business environment, low government regulation, a robust commercial space sector, and a cost of living that is less than half of the Washington, D.C. area. Moving the NASA headquarters to Texas will create more jobs, save taxpayer dollars, and reinvigorate America’s space agency.
Joining Sen. Cruz and Rep. Babin in sending the letter are Sen. John Cornyn and Reps. Jodey Arrington, John Carter, Michael Cloud, Dan Crenshaw, Monica De La Cruz, Jake Ellzey, Pat Fallon, Brandon Gill, Craig Goldman, Tony Gonzales, Lance Gooden, Wesley Hunt, Ronny Jackson, Morgan Luttrell, Michael McCaul, Nathaniel Moran, Troy E. Nehls, August Pfluger, Chip Roy, Keith Self, Pete Sessions, Beth Van Duyne, Randy Weber, and Roger Williams.
As the lawmakers wrote:
“From its founding in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a storied history of exploring new frontiers, making transformational discoveries, and reaching far into the great beyond. However, as NASA’s leadership has languished in our nation’s capital, the core missions of this critical agency are more divided than ever before. This seismic disconnect between NASA’s headquarters and its missions has opened the door to bureaucratic micromanagement and an erosion of centers’ interdependence. For NASA to return to its core mission of excellence in exploration, its headquarters should be located at a place where NASA’s most critical missions are and where transformational leadership from the ground up can be provided. In 2028 the lease for NASA’s current headquarters building in Washington, D.C. expires. We write to urge you to use this opportunity to reinvigorate our national space agency and move NASA’s headquarters from Washington D.C. to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.
“Perhaps no city is more closely linked to America’s space program than ‘Space City.’ Some of the first words spoken on the surface of the moon called out to Houston which is home to numerous aerospace businesses. JSC in particular is the largest home of the NASA workforce, with more than 12,000 employees across its 1,620-acre facility and supporting more than 52,000 public and private jobs. As the pinnacle of human spaceflight development, Houston is home to Mission Control, the NASA astronaut corps, the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility, commercial space agreements, and extensive research and development partnerships. JSC plays a role in nearly everything that makes America a leader in space exploration.
“Houston is particularly well suited for NASA’s headquarters due in part to the unique strengths of the city and the state. Texas is the eighth largest economy in the world, with low government regulation and a strong business environment. Houston boasts a cost of living that is less than half that of the Washington, D.C. area ; three ‘R1: Doctoral Universities’ producing the high caliber professionals necessary for human spaceflight; and two major commercial service airports for easy connectivity around the country. In contrast, NASA’s current headquarters in Washington, D.C. is disconnected from the NASA centers across the country and thus much of the day-to-day work. Consolidating greater and greater levels of work and authority in Washington, D.C. has been a decades-long trend, resulting in decision making funneled up to bureaucrats at headquarters rather than empowering scientists and astronauts across the centers. This strategy has separated decision makers from the actual workforce and stands antithetical to NASA’s core function.
“Relatedly, for the United States to reach the surface of Mars, NASA must rely on a robust commercial space sector. Towards that end, no state offers greater economic and geographic benefits than Texas. The Lone Star State is home to more than 2,000 aerospace, aviation, and defense-related companies, with 18 of the 20 largest aerospace companies based in Texas. Notably, SpaceX relocated their entire company to Texas, establishing the town of Starbase, Texas, to develop, test, and launch SpaceX vehicles. Similarly, Blue Origin develops engines and rockets in West Texas, leading a new generation of spaceflight, and conducts its commercial sub-orbital flights there. Firefly Aerospace, in Cedar Park, recently sent photos of Earth from its Blue Ghost lunar lander on its voyage to explore the surface of the moon. Axiom Space, based in Houston, is building the next generation spacesuit for NASA and a commercial space station to succeed the International Space Station. In addition, the State of Texas recently stood up the Texas Space Commission to promote innovation in space operations and commercial aerospace and to attract commercial space ventures to the state. These are just a few of the ways Texas aerospace companies, projects, and institutions are transforming our nation’s leadership in the space economy.
“A central location among NASA’s centers and the geographical center of the United States, Houston offers the ideal location for NASA to return to its core mission of space exploration and to do so at a substantially lower operating cost than in Washington, D.C. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the great servants of NASA — who are focused on recommitting America’s space agency to its roots and exploring the final frontier — by relocating NASA’s headquarters from Washington, D.C. to the Johnson Space Center.”
Read the full text of the letter HERE.
Source: United States Senator for Maine Susan Collins
Washington, D.C. – In an effort to make more homes energy efficient and help residents save on their utility bills, U.S. Senators Susan Collins, Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Coons (D-DE) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced the Weatherization Assistance Program Improvements Act. This bipartisan bill seeks to improve public health and lower household energy costs by expanding the federal Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), which covers home weatherization, window replacement, sealing air leaks, ventilation improvements, and other key energy-saving measures.
“The Weatherization Assistance Program is a proven, cost-effective way to permanently decrease energy usage while reducing low-income Americans’ energy bills,” saidSenator Collins. “This bipartisan bill would help build on the significant investments we have secured for the Weatherization Assistance Program so that more Americans are able to make improvements that will allow them to affordably heat their homes.”
Since 1976, the Weatherization Assistance Program has helped more than 7.4 million low-income families reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient. The U.S Department of Energy estimates that these upgrades help each household save $372 in energy bills annually.
The bill would authorize a Weatherization Readiness Fund to help those in need repair structural issues and prepare homes for weatherization assistance, increasing the number of homes the program is able to serve. It also seeks to raise the amount of funding allowed to be spent on each home to keep up with current labor and material costs, and will raise the cap on the amount of funding allowed to be spent on renewable energy upgrades in each home. These provisions are essential updates to a program that has helped so many families over the past few decades.
“We applaud Senators Reed, Collins, Coons and Shaheen for introducing this important bipartisan piece of legislation, which will help low-income and elderly Americans. The sponsoring senators are continuing their long-time support of energy efficiency programs that reduce costs for the public,” said David Terry, the President of the National Association of State Energy Officials.
“The Weatherization Assistance Program Improvements Act keeps hundreds of community teams hard at work with streamlined processes and up to date technology. It will help make older homes safer and sturdier, so retirees and working families can stay in their communities; energy bills will be lower; residents will be healthier and even make fewer emergency hospital visits. Thousands of contractors and crew members will be trained in valuable specialty skills of measuring and improving building performance. The unwavering leadership of Senators Jack Reed, Susan Collins, Chris Coons and Jeanne Shaheen keeps the Weatherization Assistance Program robust and relevant through changing times,” said David Bradley, CEO of the National Community Action Foundation.
“NASCSP is thrilled to support the Weatherization Assistance Program Improvements Act, introduced by Senators Reed, Collins, Coons, and Shaheen, long time champions of weatherization. This legislation paves the way toward decreasing energy burdens and improving the health and safety of low-income households, while supporting more than 8,500 highly skilled jobs across the country,” said Cheryl Williams, Executive Director of the National Association for State Community Services Programs.
Senators Collins and Reed spearheaded the bipartisan effort to include $3.5 billion in WAP funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Source: United States Senator for Maine Susan Collins
The Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act addresses the threats posed to our elections by the use of AI to generate materially deceptive content.
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins, Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Michael Bennet (D-CO) introduced the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act, bipartisan legislation to ban the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate materially deceptive content falsely depicting federal candidates in political ads to influence federal elections.
“In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, we must ensure that voters are not manipulated by purposely misleading AI-generated content,” said Senator Collins. “This bill is a necessary step to strengthen the integrity of our elections while also protecting First Amendment rights.”
The bill would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to prohibit the distribution of materially deceptive AI-generated audio, images, or video relating to federal candidates in political ads or certain issue ads to influence a federal election or fundraise. The bill allows federal candidates targeted by this materially deceptive content to have content taken down and enables them to seek damages in federal court. This ban extends to a person, political committee, or other entity that distributes materially deceptive content intended to influence an election or raise money fraudulently. Consistent with the First Amendment, the bill has exceptions for parody, satire, and the use of AI-generated content in news broadcasts.
Last year, after Senators Collins and Klobuchar sent a letter calling on the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to take action to address AI-generated disinformation in elections, members of the EAC voted unanimously to allow election officials to use federal election funds to counter disinformation in our elections generated by AI.
Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
April 16, 2025
Washington, D.C. – In response to the Trump administration’s proposal to defund Head Start programs, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released the following statement:
“Head Start is a lifeline for families in Massachusetts and across the country. It means families don’t have to choose between breaking the budget or being forced to cut back work hours just to make sure their kids have good quality care. Donald Trump and Elon Musk want to rip that away to pay for giant tax giveaways for billionaires and billionaire corporations. On behalf of our kids, families, and teachers, I’m fighting back.”
Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
April 16, 2025
“Republicans’ agenda, as their votes have repeatedly shown, is simple: billionaires win, families lose. The American people deserve to know who President Trump and Congressional Republicans truly represent.”
Text of Letter (PDF)
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a member of the Joint Economic Committee, and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, sent a letter requesting that the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) calculate and publish the number of wealthy individuals and corporations who might benefit from tax giveaways under Congressional Republicans’ tax plan.
As part of the budget reconciliation process, Senate Democrats led by Senator Warren forced Republicans to go on the record with their plans to give massive tax handouts to the wealthiest Americans and giant corporations. Democrats asked whether Republicans would oppose more tax cuts for people making over $100 million, $500 million, or even $1 billion in a single year; Republicans voted no. When asked whether Republicans would oppose additional tax cuts for corporations making over $1 billion in a single year—including corporations like Amazon, Tesla, and ExxonMobil—Republicans voted no again.
“While Republicans have claimed that these tax breaks are meant to help working people, their votes don’t lie,” wrote the lawmakers.
The lawmakers asked the committee to share the following information by April 30, 2025:
The number and percentage of individual taxpayers who, in the past three tax years, made at least $10 million, $100 million, $500 million, or $1 billion each year.
The number and percentage of corporations who, in the past three tax years, made at least $100 million, $500 million, $1 billion, or $10 billion each year.
Source: United States Senator for Vermont – Bernie Sanders
BURLINGTON, Vt., April 16 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will hold his third annual Youth Chess Day for students grades 1-12 on Saturday, April 19 at Vermont State University in Randolph. Over the first two years of this event, more than 250 young Vermonters from across the state have come out to learn the game and compete.
“Chess is a game that I think all young people should have the opportunity to learn,” said Sanders. “It’s a game of strategy and quick thinking. Our Youth Chess Day gives young Vermonters the chance to improve their skills, make friends, and build community. I’m so glad we are holding this event for the third time. I look forward to seeing some familiar faces, seeing how players have progressed their skills over the last year, and to meeting some new students of the game.”
The day starts with a Learn-To-Play session for students in Grades 1-8 to learn how to play and to hone their skills. Lunch will be served and is free for all attendees. In the afternoon, more experienced players in grades 1-12 can test their knowledge in a recreational tournament. Students with all levels of experience are welcome and highly encouraged to attend.
Vermont students can register to participate by 12:00 p.m. on April 18 at https://www.sanders.senate.gov/events/. Advance registration is required.
Details:
What: Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Third Annual Youth Chess Day
Where: Judd Hall, Vermont State University – Randolph, 124 Admin Drive, Randolph Center, VT
Participant RSVP: Vermont students, grades 1-12, can register to participate at https://www.sanders.senate.gov/events/. Students are strongly encouraged to register by 12:00 pm on April 18.
Press RSVP: Attendance is limited to student participants, their invited guests, and members of the press. Media members must RSVP by contacting press@sanders.senate.gov.
Details: All attendees are expected to follow Vermont Department of Health guidance, monitor symptoms, and are encouraged to take a rapid COVID-19 test prior to the event.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) introduced the Deterring External Threats and Ensuring Robust Responses to Egregious and Nefarious Criminal Endeavors Act (DETERRENCE) Act to strengthen criminal penalties for individuals who commit, or attempt to commit, violent crimes in the United States on behalf of foreign adversaries.
Last month, two eastern European organized crime leaders were convicted of targeting an American journalist in a murder-for-hire scheme on behalf of the Iranian government.
“We cannot allow foreign adversaries, like Iran, to fund crimes against Americans on our own soil,” said Ernst. “Criminals are on notice, anyone helping to carry out Tehran’s malign ‘death to America’ will face severe consequences. The DETERRENCE Act is another peace through strength action that will make bad actors think twice before targeting our citizens.”
“Foreign adversaries are working with gangs and criminals in the United States to try to kill people on our soil, which is a national security risk,” said Hassan. “This bipartisan legislation will crack down on criminals who commit violence on behalf of a foreign government. I urge my colleagues in Congress to quickly take up and pass this legislation and send a clear message to our foreign adversaries that they will face particularly serious consequences if they expand their criminal activity to American soil.”
“The United States is the home of liberty and freedom of expression. Everyone, from the President to every-day citizens, are threatened when rogue regimes like Iran attempt to infiltrate our borders and commit crimes against us,” said Carrie Filipetti, Executive Director of the Vandenberg Coalition. “Enforcing higher punishments for those doing these rogue regime’s bidding is an important step in the right direction to deter would-be criminals. States like Iran need to get the message that America is back, and their rules don’t work in our country.”
The DETERRENCE Act increases criminal penalties for the following federal crimes when the crimes are committed under U.S. jurisdiction on behalf of foreign governments, including:
Engaging in a murder-for-hire scheme;
Murdering or attempting to murder certain federal officials, including Presidents-elect;
Murdering or attempting to murder certain former federal officials, or their families, because of their official actions;
Assaulting certain former federal officials, or their families, because of their official actions;
Kidnapping or attempted kidnapping;
Threats of violence using a dangerous weapon against certain current and former federal officials, as well as their families, because of their official actions; and
Stalking.
Source: United States Senator for Washington Maria Cantwell
04.16.25
Cantwell Joins WA Small Business Owners at Port of Seattle to Explain Harms of Trump Trade Wars
Trump’s chaotic tariffs drive up costs for local companies and threatens to put them out of business; “Congress needs to get back in the game,” says Cantwell; her bipartisan bill would reassert Congressional role in U.S. trade policy
SEATTLE – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined nine local business owners and leaders at the Port of Seattle to push back against the Trump administration’s tariffs-first trade policy.
“These businesses here today are reminding us what we already should know: that this kind of tariff policy disrupts an integrated economy, hurts small businesses, and basically disrupts what is an important opportunity for the United States to grow more jobs for the future,” said Sen. Cantwell. “Building alliances and [strengthening] our innovation economy is what we should be doing.”
“In my 32 years of designing and manufacturing KAVU has survived tough times, but nothing close to this,” said Barry Barr, CEO of KAVU. “Due to the extreme spikes in prices, we are expecting that many if not all of our 2,000 independent outdoor retailers … will cancel their orders, leaving us with no sales and at the precipice of shutting down.”
“I never thought geopolitics would get in the way of making delicious pizza, yet here were are,” said Joe Fugere, CEO of Tutta Bella. “People in the United States should not have to travel overseas to enjoy the religious experience of great Italian pizza. We can have it right here at home. But only if we’re smart about how we unlock access to the world’s best products.”
“Last month we brought in a container with a value of about $200,000, and we had to pay an extra $20,000 to bring that in with the 10% [tariff],” said Jeff Demir, COO of SwaddleDesigns. “This month we’re bringing in another container, that container will cost us an extra $40,000 because the China tariffs went from 10% to 20%. … We have a container that’s right now sitting in China ready to ship, that container would cost us $300,000 of extra tariffs given the 145% [tariff]. Obviously that container is going to stay in China and it’s not going to be brought over here. Our company will have to operate with the product that we have until this gets resolved.”
Also appearing at today’s event were: Northwest Seaport Alliance and Northwest Seaport Alliance Co-Chair and Port of Tacoma Commissioner John McCarthy; Port of Seattle Commissioner Sam Cho; Gordon Bluechel, CEO of Access Laser; Chris Stone, Deputy Director of the Washington State Wine Commission; Blas Alfaro, Partner at Fulcrum Coffee Roasters; and Molly Neitzel, CEO of Molly Moon’s.
Sen. Cantwell recently introduced the bipartisan Trade Review Act of 2025 to reaffirm Congress’ key role in setting and approving U.S. trade policy, and reestablish limits on the president’s ability to impose unilateral tariffs. Since the introduction, Sen. Cantwell has appeared on CNN International, CNBC , CBS’s Face the Nation, MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, to discuss the bill.
Sen. Cantwell’s bill has since picked up 12 additional cosponsors – an equal mix of Republicans and Democrats – and been endorsed by multiple major U.S. business organizations, including the National Retail Federation, which is the largest retail trade association in the world. Last week, a bipartisan House companion bill was introduced.
In Washington state, two out of every five jobs are tied to trade and trade-related industries. More information about how those tariffs will affect consumers and businesses in the State of Washington can be found HERE.
For the past three months, President Trump has been sowing economic chaos across the country with unpredictable and ever-changing tariff announcements. His back-and-forth announcements and actions, which have whipsawed American businesses and consumers, as well as close neighbors and allies, include:
On January 31 — citing punishment for failing to crack down on fentanyl trafficking — the Trump administration announced plans to impose a 25% tax on many goods imported into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tax on goods imported from China, then abruptly postponed those tariffs.
In February, he doubled down, announcing an additional 25% tax on all steel and aluminum imports.
At 12:01 a.m. ET on March 4, President Trump’s long-promised 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10% tariff increase on goods from China took effect, causing stock prices in the United States to plummet.
Then, on March 5, he announced that automobiles from Canada and Mexico would be exempt from his tariffs for one month.
The morning of March 6, he announced that he would suspend the tariffs for some products from Mexico. Then, later that same afternoon, he announced he was suspending most new tariffs on products from both Mexico and Canada until April 2.
On March 11, Trump threatened to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum – increasing them to 50% – before reversing himself later the same day.
On March 13, he threatened 200% tariffs on alcoholic products from the European Union, including all wine and Champagne.
On March 27, he announced plans to impose a 25% tax on all imported sedans, SUVs, crossovers, minivans, cargo vans, and light trucks, as well as some auto parts, beginning on April 2.
On March 29, President Trump said, “I couldn’t care less,” if automakers raise the price of cars in response to his tariffs.
On April 2, he announced a “National Economic Emergency,” and signed an executive order declaring a 10% minimum baseline tariff on all countries as well as additional tariffs on nearly 60 countries.
On April 7, he threatened to impose an additional 50% tariff on China.
On April 9, he announced a rollback of his April 2 tariffs down to the 10% baseline across the board, with the exception of China, which he increased to 125%.
On April 11, the administration announced that electronics, including smartphones and laptops, would be exempt from the 125% rate.
Video of today’s press conference is HERE; photos are HERE; video of Sen. Cantwell’s remarks is HERE; audio of Sen. Cantwell’s remarks is HERE; and a transcript of Sen. Cantwell’s remarks is HERE.
Source: United States Senator for Texas John Cornyn
AUSTIN – Today, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), along with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Congressman Brian Babin (TX-36), led a letter to President Trump urging his administration to move the headquarters for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from Washington, D.C. to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, when the D.C. office lease expires in 2028. For decades, Houston has been a leader in space exploration and innovation, and the lawmakers argue that relocating NASA’s headquarters to the Lone Star State will help save American taxpayer dollars and spur growth in the nation’s space sector.
The full text of the letter is available here and below.
The lawmakers wrote: “From its founding in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a storied history of exploring new frontiers, making transformational discoveries, and reaching far into the great beyond. However, as NASA’s leadership has languished in our nation’s capital, the core missions of this critical agency are more divided than ever before. This seismic disconnect between NASA’s headquarters and its missions has opened the door to bureaucratic micromanagement and an erosion of centers’ interdependence. For NASA to return to its core mission of excellence in exploration, its headquarters should be located at a place where NASA’s most critical missions are and where transformational leadership from the ground up can be provided. In 2028 the lease for NASA’s current headquarters building in Washington, D.C. expires. We write to urge you to use this opportunity to reinvigorate our national space agency and move NASA’s headquarters from Washington D.C. to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.”
“Perhaps no city is more closely linked to America’s space program than ‘Space City.’ Some of the first words spoken on the surface of the moon called out to Houston which is home to numerous aerospace businesses. JSC in particular is the largest home of the NASA workforce, with more than 12,000 employees across its 1,620-acre facility and supporting more than 52,000 public and private jobs. As the pinnacle of human spaceflight development, Houston is home to Mission Control, the NASA astronaut corps, the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility, commercial space agreements, and extensive research and development partnerships. JSC plays a role in nearly everything that makes America a leader in space exploration.”
U.S. Representatives Jodey Arrington (TX-19), John Carter (TX-31), Michael Cloud (TX-27), Dan Crenshaw (TX-02), Monica De La Cruz (TX-15), Jake Ellzey (TX-06), Pat Fallon (TX-04), Brandon Gill (TX-26), Craig Goldman (TX-12), Tony Gonzales (TX-23), Lance Gooden (TX-05), Wesley Hunt (TX-38), Ronny Jackson (TX-14), Morgan Luttrell (TX-08) , Michael McCaul (TX-10), Nathaniel Moran (TX-01), Troy E. Nehls (TX-22), August Pfluger (TX-11), Chip Roy (21), Keith Self (TX-03), Pete Sessions (TX-17) , Beth Van Duyne (TX-24), Randy Weber (TX-14), and Roger Williams (TX-25) also joined the letter.
April 16, 2025
President Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
From its founding in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a storied history of exploring new frontiers, making transformational discoveries, and reaching far into the great beyond. However, as NASA’s leadership has languished in our nation’s capital, the core missions of this critical agency are more divided than ever before. This seismic disconnect between NASA’s headquarters and its missions has opened the door to bureaucratic micromanagement and an erosion of centers’ interdependence. For NASA to return to its core mission of excellence in exploration, its headquarters should be located at a place where NASA’s most critical missions are and where transformational leadership from the ground up can be provided. In 2028 the lease for NASA’s current headquarters building in Washington, D.C. expires. We write to urge you to use this opportunity to reinvigorate our national space agency and move NASA’s headquarters from Washington, D.C. to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.
Perhaps no city is more closely linked to America’s space program than “Space City.” Some of the first words spoken on the surface of the moon called out to Houston which is home to numerous aerospace businesses. JSC in particular is the largest home of the NASA workforce, with more than 12,000 employees across its 1,620-acre facility and supporting more than 52,000 public and private jobs. As the pinnacle of human spaceflight development, Houston is home to Mission Control, the NASA astronaut corps, the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility, commercial space agreements, and extensive research and development partnerships. JSC plays a role in nearly everything that makes America a leader in space exploration.
Houston is particularly well suited for NASA’s headquarters due in part to the unique strengths of the city and the state. Texas is the eighth largest economy in the world, with low government regulation and a strong business environment. Houston boasts a cost of living that is less than half that of the Washington, D.C. area; three “R1: Doctoral Universities” producing the high caliber professionals necessary for human spaceflight; and two major commercial service airports for easy connectivity around the country. In contrast, NASA’s current headquarters in Washington, D.C. is disconnected from the NASA centers across the country and thus much of the day-to-day work. Consolidating greater and greater levels of work and authority in Washington, D.C. has been a decades-long trend, resulting in decision making funneled up to bureaucrats at headquarters rather than empowering scientists and astronauts across the centers. This strategy has separated decision makers from the actual workforce and stands antithetical to NASA’s core function.
Relatedly, for the United States to reach the surface of Mars, NASA must rely on a robust commercial space sector. Towards that end, no state offers greater economic and geographic benefits than Texas. The Lone Star State is home to more than 2,000 aerospace, aviation, and defense-related companies, with 18 of the 20 largest aerospace companies based in Texas. Notably, SpaceX relocated their entire company to Texas, establishing the town of Starbase, Texas, to develop, test, and launch SpaceX vehicles. Similarly, Blue Origin develops engines and rockets in West Texas, leading a new generation of spaceflight, and conducts its commercial sub-orbital flights there. Firefly Aerospace, in Cedar Park, recently sent photos of Earth from its Blue Ghost lunar lander on its voyage to explore the surface of the moon. Axiom Space, based in Houston, is building the next generation spacesuit for NASA and a commercial space station to succeed the International Space Station. In addition, the State of Texas recently stood up the Texas Space Commission to promote innovation in space operations and commercial aerospace and to attract commercial space ventures to the state. These are just a few of the ways Texas aerospace companies, projects, and institutions are transforming our nation’s leadership in the space economy.
A central location among NASA’s centers and the geographical center of the United States, Houston offers the ideal location for NASA to return to its core mission of space exploration and to do so at a substantially lower operating cost than in Washington, D.C. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the great servants of NASA — who are focused on recommitting America’s space agency to its roots and exploring the final frontier — by relocating NASA’s headquarters from Washington, D.C. to the Johnson Space Center.
Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Cory Booker
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) led colleagues in writing a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. regarding the suspension of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), leaving states, researchers, and health care providers without access to this vital data.
Last month, Senator Booker and Representative Kelly led colleagues in writing a letter to CDC Acting Director Susan Monarez regarding reports that suggested the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) had stopped operations. The CDC has not responded to the concerns outlined in the March 12, 2025 letter.
“Since our initial correspondence on March 12, 2025, additional troubling developments have come to light that deepen our concerns. According to an April 1, 2025, STAT News report, the CDC has laid off all of its PRAMS staff. The loss of staff and data collection functions is a tremendous setback that will severely undermine our work on understanding and improving maternal health outcomes,” the lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers requested answers to the following questions, and a response to their questions from their original correspondence last month:
What was the rationale behind the decision to terminate CDC personnel working on PRAMS?
Were these terminations part of a broader restructuring effort, and if so, does the CDC intend to preserve its maternal health surveillance capacity amid these changes?
Were state or local public health agencies given advance notice about the PRAMS staff layoffs?
Is PRAMS currently collecting data? If so, what department is responsible for that collection? If not, when will it resume?
Is there a staffing or funding plan in development to ensure PRAMS can resume and continue operations?
How has funding to state, territorial or local health departments to support PRAMS been affected?
“We have an ongoing maternal health crisis marked by rising mortality rates and barriers to access to quality care. As we stated in our previous letter, the absence of PRAMS jeopardizes the nation’s ability to monitor maternal and infant health trends and inform both broad programs and policies to improve maternal and child health. PRAMS was developed in 1987 and for the last 38 years the program has been the sole source of standardized, population-based data on maternal experiences before, during, and after pregnancy. Therefore, we urge the CDC to ensure the continuity of PRAMS in full immediately. This includes restoring its staffing capacity, resuming data collection and analysis, and reestablishing partnerships with state, territorial and local health departments,” the lawmakers concluded.
The letter is cosigned by U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and U.S. Representatives Alma Adams (D-NC-12), Yvette Clark (D-NY-09), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Terri Sewell (D-AL-07), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA-04), Diane Degette (D-CO-01), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY-07), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ-10), Kelly Morrison (D-MN-03), and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC-AL).
To read the full text of the letter, click here.
Source: United States Senator Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)
AUBURN – U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) penned an op-ed in Newsweek about how President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs are already delivering results for Alabama manufacturers, businesses, workers, and producers.
Read excerpts from the piece below or read the full piece here.
“It’s been two weeks since President Donald Trump announced tariffs on more than 180 countries and territories that have been ripping us off for decades. A full-blown meltdown followed that day. But those of us who have been following President Trump for a long time knew better than to panic. The president is a master negotiator—and if there’s one thing he understands, it’s how to create leverage.
That leverage is clearly working, as more than 75 countries have come crawling to the United States begging to negotiate better trade deals in exchange for the president lowering tariffs. Only Democrats and their friends in the media would find a reason to be upset about that. Sadly, I’m convinced that many Democrats and woke media would rather see America fail than watch us succeed with President Trump. It’s clear that the president is using tariffs as a bargaining chip to level the playing field with our trade partners. Trump is a skilled dealmaker, and his strategy is already delivering results for the American people.
President Trump understands that America boasts the strongest economy in the world—and other countries would fall apart without trade deals with the United States. But President Trump also, like me, believes that America has been taken advantage of by unfair trade deals for decades.
The truth is, the international trade system has been stacked against the United States for years. Since 1976, $20 trillion of American wealth has been transferred into foreign hands. That’s more than 60 percent of the U.S. GDP in 2024. Can you believe that? This country is getting robbed in broad daylight.
Countries like Vietnam and India are prime examples of ‘trade partners’ who have been ripping us off. In Alabama, we have seen some of the effects firsthand. For years, Vietnamese and Indian exporters have been adulterating honey with cane, rice, and corn sweeteners before dumping it on the U.S. domestic market. Additionally, Vietnam has been dumping billions of dollars’ worth of catfish from sewage-polluted water into U.S. markets, while India is doing the same with shrimp—flooding the markets and driving down prices for our high-quality domestic products. Alabama’s honey, catfish, and shrimp producers have had a hard time competing as a result.
With simply the threat of President Trump imposing various tariff rates, Vietnam and India are crawling to the negotiating table. The end result will hopefully give Alabama producers a fair shot to compete. Vietnam and India aren’t the only countries caving to President Trump, however. More than 75 have announced their intention to negotiate with the U.S., leading President Trump to announce a 90-day pause on most tariffs, with a 10 percent blanket duty on almost all U.S. imports. The president’s plan is unfolding just as he expected.
China is a different beast. When President Trump levied heavy tariffs on China, he made it clear that if Beijing retaliated, the tariffs will escalate. Predictably, China didn’t back down—it imposed steep retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. But if China thinks it can intimidate President Trump, it should think again. China has a choice here—it can either renegotiate a fair trade deal, or it can pay the piper. My money is on President Trump to win in the end.”
MORE:
Tuberville Celebrates President Trump’s “Liberation Day” on Senate Floor
ICYMI: Tuberville Joins Kudlow to Discuss How President Trump’s Tariffs Strategy is Working for Alabama
Yellowhammer News: Tuberville says tariffs will help Alabama’s catfish farmers
ICYMI: Tuberville in Yellowhammer: President Trump’s tariffs are Making America Great Again
Tuberville Praises President Trump for Making Tariffs Great Again
Newsmax: Sen. Tuberville: Cut Spending, Boost Manufacturing to Cut Debt
Tuberville Speaks on Importance of Boosting U.S. Economy to Help Struggling Seniors
1819 News: ‘A big relief’: Tuberville claims victory, says Alabama’s catfish industry safe from Biden administration proposal
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.
Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, led a letter to the White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles asking for additional details regarding their decision to close the case on the disclosure of sensitive information after The Atlantic revealed senior Trump Administration defense officials included a journalist in a Signal group chat about plans for U.S. strikes in Yemen.
Last month, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg published a series of articles detailing his inclusion in a Signal chat with high-ranking Trump administration officials about upcoming military strikes conducted in Yemen. Despite lawmakers on both sides of the aisle calling for investigations into the officials and circumstances around the group chat, the White House said that this “case has been closed.” However, shortly after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made those comments, the press reported that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and his aides used personal Gmail accounts for government business.
The senators wrote, “It is unclear to us if this White House review included the existence of additional Signal group chats, or their contents, or the use of personal email accounts for government business.”
In their letter, the Senators requested that Wiles answer the following questions:
Did the White House review identify other instances in which Signal, or other unapproved personal applications such as Gmail, were used to conduct official business?
How many additional Signal group chats were created to conduct official business? What topics were discussed? Have those chats been archived in compliance with the Presidential Records Act? Were subsequent classification reviews of the material conducted?
What steps have been taken to ensure that the National Security Council’s archives directorate has accessed all communication on Signal, or other unapproved applications, to preserve the content of these deliberations in compliance with the Presidential Records Act?
What, if any, disciplinary actions were taken as a result of the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive military information to a journalist?
Was a formal classification review conducted of the messages included in the “Houthi PC small group” Signal group chat? Did the Department of Defense and the United States Central Command concur with the proposed portion-markings contained in any classification review?
Did this classification review assess the risk of adversary detection of U.S. aircraft if the adversary were able to obtain the precise take-off location of inbound aircraft?
Is Signal an approved messaging application for the transmission of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)?
What specific steps have been taken “to ensure that something like that can, obviously, never happen again?
In addition to Senator Coons, the letter is signed by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair; Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.); Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee; and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations (SFOPS).
Last month, Senator Coons led his fellow democratic ranking members in sending a letter to the Acting Inspectors General of the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Department of State calling for an investigation into the matter.
Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, published an op-ed in the National Catholic Reporter during Holy Week, discussing how the Trump Administration’s dismantling of U.S. foreign assistance directly contradicts Jesus’ teaching about loving our neighbors.
During Holy Week, Senator Coons is reflecting on the sacrifice of Jesus, and how U.S. foreign policy measures up to His teachings. Key to this reflection is the Trump Administration’s continued effort to dismantle foreign aid programs, which for decades have prevented hunger, sickness, and suffering for millions around the world. He wrote that while Scripture doesn’t align with a political party, messages in both the Old and New Testament are rooted in service to the poor and marginalized.
Since Trump took office, his Administration has canceled billions of dollars to United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the main U.S. humanitarian aid agency. Senator Coons highlighted that faith-based organizations like Catholic Relief Services, Samaritan’s Purse, and World Vision — all known for helping those in need in Jesus’ name — have been forced to lay off workers or shut down programs due to slashed funding, leaving millions without aid.
Senator Coons said that Easter offers us, and America, a chance for redemption and revival — a chance to urge the Trump Administration to feed the hungry, respond to disasters and help those in need, and to live up to the true meaning of loving our neighbors.
National Catholic Reporter: Trump’s USAID cuts contradict Jesus’ call to love thy neighbor
Jesus taught that the two greatest commandments are to love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor as yourself — and His parables worked to dramatically redefine who is our neighbor. From the good Samaritan to the woman at the well, Christ’s parables over and over push believers to embrace the widest understanding of neighbor, to see all people as God’s children, even those of different nations, races, languages and faiths.
This administration has missed that core message. Nowhere is this more glaring than its destruction of our nation’s global network of partnerships that deliver foreign aid. For just 1% of our total federal spending, we have for years fought disease, fed the hungry and improved the lives of millions around the world.
…
It’s a stark departure from the golden rule of my faith, and nearly every other one: that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Until this year, we sought to demonstrate by our actions that we were capable of kindness. Through that aid, we showed hundreds of millions of people across scores of countries that we are a nation who cared about others. What are we showing them now? How should we expect them to treat us in return?
We are days from Easter Sunday, and the Resurrection that brings redemption. It is never too late for redemption, whether for ourselves or our country. We can draw on our faith to restore America’s compassion, to call on the Trump administration to use a small fraction of our federal budget to feed the hungry, to care for the widow and the orphan, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. After all, whose golden rule would we rather our nation aspire to?
Source: United States Senator for New York Charles E Schumer
JUST LAST WEEK Congressional Republicans Voted To Advance The Biggest Medicaid Cut In History — $880 BILLION — Which Could Force Nursing Homes Across Upstate NY To Close Or Lay Off Staff, As Well As Hospitals, Health Centers, Addiction Treatment Centers, Kicking Patients To The Curb
Lancaster’s Greenfield Health & Rehab Center Is 50% Funded By Medicaid, Paying For Seniors’ Care; GOP’s Dangerous Medicaid Cuts Would Impact 370,000+ WNYers, Forcing Families To Pick Up The Whole Bill To Keep Loved Ones In Facilities
Schumer: We Are In A Fight Of A Lifetime To Protect WNY Seniors & Their Families From Looming GOP Medicaid Cuts
Just a week after Congressional Republicans voted to advance the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer stood with Western NY seniors and nurses at GreenField Health & Rehabilitation Center to call on Congressional Republicans to block Trump’s plan to decimate Medicaid. The Republican plan to cut $880 billion from Medicaid would hurt more than 370,000 Western New Yorkers and millions more across the nation, forcing families to choose between taking their loved ones out of their homes and covering all the costs to keep them in facilities.
“Last week, House Republicans voted to advance the biggest Medicaid cut in history, putting places like GreenField that care for our seniors in danger. Buffalo’s nursing homes, addiction treatment centers, hospitals and more all depend on Medicaid to provide care. If these cuts go through, it would risk care for over 370,000 in Western NY,” said Senator Schumer. “This proposal to decimate Medicaid is not just heartless, it would mean Western NY’s seniors can’t get the care they need and might face the prospect of being kicked out of homes like this. It would be a gut punch to our hospitals like Erie County Medical Center, jeopardize funding to addiction treatment centers worsening the opioid crisis here in Western NY. We are in the fight of a lifetime to block the Republican plan to gut Medicaid by $880 BILLION. That’s why I’m demanding Congressional Republicans stand up and protect Western NY’s seniors and their families from this awful choice.”
Schumer said Western New York’s seniors and their families will face the worst when Republicans cut Medicaid. Over 370,000 people in Western New York have Medicaid for their insurance, and many of them are seniors who could be discharged from local nursing homes, rehab facilities, and assisted living care if Congressional Republicans Medicaid. Schumer explained that once Medicaid is forced to stop paying for senior care in these facilities, and once the facilities exhaust every possible way to keep seniors in place, many families could face a grueling dilemma: pay thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to keep ‘mom’ or ‘dad’ in care, or move them back home.
In Western New York’s 23rd congressional district, Medicaid is a lifeline, covering nearly 70% of nursing home residents, 38% of children, close to half of all births, and nearly one-third of ER visits, outpatient surgeries, and clinic care. At Lancaster’s GreenField Health and Rehabilitation Center –50% of funding comes from Medicaid to ensure seniors can live there with dignity – the proposed cuts would deal a serious financial blow, not only to GreenField, but also to its parent organization, Lineage, which operates multiple senior care and health services across the region. Erie County Medical Center relies on over $800 million in revenue from Medicaid every year, which is 48% of the funding for Western NY’s premier Level 1 trauma center. For Catholic Health, Medicaid covers over $200 million in healthcare for patients across its four nursing homes and six hospital campuses. It would also risk some of the region’s most critical medical services, like addiction treatment which heavily relies on Medicaid, and experts say would be among the hardest hit under the GOP cuts worsening the opioid crisis.
The Congressional Republican proposal to cut $880 billion from Medicaid would mean that the costs of care shifts to states, which would result in slashed services, benefits, eligibility, and reimbursement rates. These agonizing decisions would happen at the state and local level, with county executives and state legislators forced to decide where to make up for the huge budget hole caused by Republicans slashing federal funding for Medicaid. Counties could even be forced to shoulder the burden of increased costs in Medicaid, using more local dollars to provide coverage because less federal funding will be coming in. This means legislators and county executives will have to decide who loses their Medicaid, what services will no longer be covered, or how much doctors will be paid. The senator said while some Congressional Republicans claim that this plan won’t cut Medicaid, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found the GOP plan could not be reached without reducing the funding that goes to Medicaid. There is no way to protect Medicaid benefits if Republicans move ahead with these cuts.
Schumer added, “Trump wants these cuts for one reason: to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. It’s not looking out for your parents or grandparents. They have tried to hide their Medicaid cuts, use smoke and mirrors and claim this isn’t a cut, but the math shows this would hurt our seniors and families Medicaid, and places like Western NY the most.”
“New York State Nursing homes face a Medicaid deficit in funding of over $100 per day per resident. Nearly 70,000 nursing home beds in New York are at risk for closing under this growing funding deficit. Without proper reimbursement, the post acute system will crumble, and residents of our community not be able to get the care they need. Further cuts to the Medicaid system will put the entire health care system at risk. We need others at the Federal level to follow Senator Schumer’s lead in making sure these cuts are stopped,” saidDr. Christopher Koenig, President of Lineage Care Group.
“This idea to cut Medicaid is a shame. It shows we don’t value our elders. We don’t value our caregivers. If we did, we wouldn’t be talking about cutting this massively important funding—we’d be fighting to strengthen it. Cutting long term care Medicaid is a moral failure, not just a policy debate. I thank Senator Schumer for being here today and going to bat for healthcare workers and seniors all across Western New York and New York State,” said Sheri Scavone, Board Member of Niagara Lutheran and family member of affected patient.
“Medicaid is an essential part of the healthcare of millions of Americans and thousands of Erie County residents in nursing homes, rehab facilities and elsewhere, helping them to live dignified and meaningful lives. Under this cruel and heartless GOP plan, our loved ones who rely on Medicaid will be sacrificed, healthcare workers could lose their jobs, and healthcare facilities could close all so that billionaires can get more tax breaks,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “All Americans should be gravely concerned about this brazen theft, the biggest Medicaid cut in history, and all should stand and speak against it. An administration that robs from the poor to give to the rich, aided and abetted by a craven GOP majority that has abandoned American principles, is actively working to hurt Americans and we cannot just stand by and let it happen.”
Schumer detailed the scope of Medicaid enrollment throughout the country and warned that Medicaid serves as a lifeline for millions of seniors. More than 7 million New Yorkers are enrolled in Medicaid, and it is the primary payer for long-term care in the United States, including at nursing homes and for people living at home. Medicaid pays for services for 2 in 3 nursing home residents. Additionally, close to 4.5 million people across the country rely on Medicaid for home- and community-based services. Families will have nowhere else to turn if Medicaid is cut, and millions of people will be left trying to figure out how to access the care and services they rely on everyday.
Major reductions in Medicaid spending will have serious consequences for seniors and people with disabilities. Nearly 1 in 4 Medicaid enrollees are eligible for the program because they are ages 65 and older or have a disability. Proposals to limit federal spending on Medicaid will force states to consider dropping or limiting eligibility or coverage for seniors and people with disabilities to make up for a huge budget hole with fewer federal dollars coming to New York. Loss of Medicaid coverage poses unique challenges for seniors and people with disabilities, people who are likely to live on fixed incomes, have high health care spending, and rely on Medicaid for help with everyday life and for coverage of long-term care.
Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
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Las Vegas, Nev. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) highlighted the devastating impacts the chaos of the Trump Administration’s tariffs have had on the cost of operating small businesses and on the American economy itself. President Donald Trump recently implemented sweeping new tariffs that will raise the cost of groceries, energy, and household goods for Nevada businesses and families and are impacting travel and tourism to Nevada. The Senator was joined by Co-Founder of Tacotarian Kristen Corral, CEO and Founder of Mothership Coffee Juanny Romero, and Owner of BAMBU Dessert Drinks Santy Luangpraseuth.
“In his first 100 days, President Trump has done nothing but create chaos and uncertainty, impacting hardworking families across the country,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “Nevada’s small businesses know better than anyone just how hard it has been to operate right now. I will never stop fighting for our small business owners.”
Senator Cortez Masto has continued to push the Trump Administration to address the impacts of Trump’s tariffs on working families. Earlier this month, the Senator wrote a letter to the Administration demanding they provide their plan to mitigate the economic stress caused by the implementation of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and other executive actions. During a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Cortez Masto pressed U.S. Trade Representative Greer about the impacts of President Trump’s blanket tariffs on Nevadans, particularly those employed in the tourism and hospitality industry. The Senator introduced the Tariff Transparency Act to require the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate how Donald Trump’s recent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will impact the American people and make that information public.
Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a top member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth detailing her concerns about the impact of President Trump’s trade war on America’s national defense and military readiness. Specifically, Shaheen expressed how the administration’s announced tariffs on imports from virtually every country in the world will increase prices for the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) defense acquisitions – harming DOD’s purchasing power, weakening supply chains and raising costs on small businesses. Shaheen called on Secretary Hegseth to explain how DOD is addressing the threats to military readiness and preventing cost overruns no later than April 30.
Senator Shaheen wrote, in part: “In the short term, the announced tariffs alone will increase costs for U.S. defense industrial supply chain companies. […] In the long term, tariffs will drive up DOD’s contracting and procurement costs, limit DOD buying power and ultimately harm the warfighter and our military readiness.”
She continued: “Additionally, we are concerned about DOD’s ability to secure its own supply chains and fully assess how much of its industrial base is foreign-sourced. […] With the globalization of supply chains, these suppliers and their goods come from a wide array of places. Some foundational industrial supply chain sectors, like optical instruments, mechanical gears, welding equipment and printed circuit boards source a large part of their components from outside North America.”
Senator Shaheen concluded: “I request answers to the following questions no later than April 30, 2025: 1.) What critical imported supplies are currently subject to new tariffs this year? 2.) How do you calculate the monetary impact of tariffs on DOD contracts? 3.) How is DOD factoring increased costs due to tariffs into fixed-price contracts? 4.) What is the impact of increased costs due to tariffs on DOD’s purchasing power? 5.) Can DOD defense industrial base contractors continue to use Chapter 98 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to purchase critical materials without duties under all tariff actions this year? If not, which actions does this apply to?”
The full text of the letter can be foundhereand below.
Dear Secretary Hegseth:
I write out of concern regarding the impact of President Trump’s trade war on our defense industrial base (DIB) and military readiness. So far this year, new tariffs have been placed on imports from virtually every country in the world, including allies like Canada, the European Union and Japan, in addition to product-specific tariffs on aluminum, and more tariffs are expected. According to the Chamber of Commerce’s Defense and Aerospace Council, “prices will increase” for DOD’s defense acquisitions due to these tariffs, and I am concerned these increased costs will hurt both DOD’s purchasing power and small contractors.
As you may know, these tariffs would come on top of the pressing budgetary pressures highlighted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in a November 2024 report on the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) for Fiscal Year 2025. According to CBO, if the Department’s costs grow at rates consistent with CBO’s economic forecast (in areas such as compensation) or historical trends (in areas such as weapons acquisition), they would be about 4 percent higher from 2025 to 2029 and about 5 percent higher from 2025 to 2039. To accommodate those higher costs, CBO said the Department of Defense (DOD) would need to scale back its plans or request larger budgets than are anticipated in the 2025 FYDP.
Adding unexpected tariffs on top of the budgetary risks cited by CBO will place even more unnecessary burdens on the DIB. In the past decade, more than 40 percent of small businesses left the DIB supply chain, and over 15,000 U.S. suppliers are at risk of leaving the defense industrial supply chain in the next decade, according to the Government Accountability Office. In the short term, the announced tariffs alone will increase costs for U.S. defense industrial supply chain companies. DIB companies and their suppliers may be forced to absorb those costs which could drive more companies and jobs out of the defense industrial supply chain, stifling innovation. In the long term, tariffs will drive up DOD’s contracting and procurement costs, limit DOD buying power and ultimately harm the warfighter and our military readiness.
Moreover, without proper planning and thoughtful consideration of U.S. productive capacity, these tariffs have the potential to balloon the DOD budget far beyond CBO’s expected increases. According to a former Pentagon acquisition official, “[t]here’s going to be shortages of supplies… [s]ome potentially vital supplies are either going to cost a whole heck of a lot more than what they did or they’re just not going to be available.”
Additionally, we are concerned about DOD’s ability to secure its own supply chains and fully assess how much of its industrial base is foreign-sourced. The average American aerospace company relies on roughly 200 first tier suppliers. The second and third tiers have more than 12,000 companies. With the globalization of supply chains, these suppliers and their goods come from a wide array of places. Some foundational industrial supply chain sectors, like optical instruments, mechanical gears, welding equipment and printed circuit boards source a large part of their components from outside North America.
Lastly, Chapter 98 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule typically allows for duty-free entry of material procured by authorized agencies and certified by the Commissioner of Customs. However, given the number of different tariff actions announced this year, it is unclear how widely Chapter 98 applies. Providing clarity on this front would help businesses throughout the defense supply chain.
Therefore, it is critical that the Department keep an account of these actions to prevent cost overruns. I request answers to the following questions no later than April 30, 2025:
What critical imported supplies are currently subject to new tariffs this year?
How do you calculate the monetary impact of tariffs on DOD contracts?
How is DOD factoring increased costs due to tariffs into fixed-price contracts?
What is the impact of increased costs due to tariffs on DOD’s purchasing power?
Can DOD defense industrial base contractors continue to use Chapter 98 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to purchase critical materials without duties under all tariff actions this year? If not, which actions does this apply to?
Thank you for your timely response to my questions.
Senator Shaheen is helping lead efforts in Congress to mitigate the harmful impacts of President Trump’s tariffs. Earlier this month, Shaheen took to the Senate floor to highlight the devastating impacts that President Trump’s tariffs and trade war will have on American families and the economy. In January, Shaheen introduced the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes on Imported Goods Act which would limit the president’s ability to leverage sweeping tariffs that increase costs for American consumers and families. Her effort to pass this bill by unanimous consent was blocked by Senate Republicans. In recent months, Shaheen has traveled across the Granite State to visit businesses including Chatila’s Bakery, C&J, DCI Furniture, Mount Cabot Maple and American Calan Inc. to hear directly from Granite Staters impacted by the administration’s tariffs.
Santa Fe, N.M. – Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) delivered remarks at the Energy, Technology & Environmental Business Association’s New Mexico Federal Business Opportunities Forum to highlight federal investments in energy, innovation, and sustainability, as well as the success of New Mexico businesses in energy, technology, and environmental issues. Senator Luján specifically highlighted investments he helped secure for the National Labs located in New Mexico through the Inflation Reduction Act and efforts he championed in the CHIPS and Science Act to drive scientific innovation in underserved areas in rural New Mexico.
“New Mexico’s business owners, engineers, scientists, and advocates are helping drive innovation and economic growth right here at home and across the country,” said Senator Luján. “It was a privilege to join industry leaders today at the Energy, Technology & Environmental Business Association’s New Mexico Federal Business Opportunities Forum and recognize all the work that is happening to build a sustainable, competitive, and secure future. I have long fought to make sure New Mexico is front and center in every conversation about energy, innovation, and sustainability, and will continue to do so. I look forward to working together with these industry leaders, small businesses, and entrepreneurs to shape the future of innovation in New Mexico.”
The Energy, Technology & Environmental Business Association’s New Mexico Federal Business Forum connects industry leaders, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and federal partners to forge new partnerships, share knowledge, and shape the future of innovation in New Mexico.
Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey
Boston (April 16, 2025) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and co-Chair of the Senate Climate Change Task Force, released the following statement after President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and more to sunset environmental regulations. Several of these regulations were championed by Senator Markey to make America’s appliances more efficient, save families money at the pump, and curb dangerous climate pollution.
“Donald Trump doesn’t just want to roll back the environmental and climate gains we’ve made over the past four years, he wants to erase the progress we’ve made over 150 years —all to boost the bottom lines of Big Oil and Big Gas,” said Senator Markey. “We cannot sacrifice public health for industry wealth.
“I’ve fought for years, even decades, to put laws on the books to keep the people of Massachusetts and the entire country safe, healthy, and prosperous. I will not let Trump and his Big Oil boosters undo these hard-earned gains. I will continue fighting to stop this Administration from putting polluters over people and our planet.”
The order affects multiple pieces of keystone energy and environment legislation led by Senator Markey, including:
the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987, which established mandatory nationwide appliance efficiency standards;
the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which created the fuel economy standards that save families money;
the Energy Policy Act of 1992, in which Senator Markey successfully included an open-access transmission requirement that created the modern grid; and
the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, which regulates the safe and responsible storage of nuclear waste and in which Senator Markey authored the provision that gives states the power to deny the siting of nuclear waste within their borders.
Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and U.S. Representatives Joe Courtney (D-Conn.-02), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.-03), and Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.-05) joined 171 members of Congress and 85 organizations from across the country in introducing the Raise the Wage Act of 2025. This bicameral legislation would ensure American workers make a living wage, drive economic growth, and reduce income inequality by raising the minimum wage to $17 for all workers and gradually eliminating subminimum wages for tipped workers, workers with disabilities, and youth workers. The minimum wage in Connecticut is $16.35 per hour.
“It’s shameful that there are millions of people in this country who work full-time jobs and yet they can’t afford rent or pay for their groceries. Raising the federal minimum wage to $17 would help 42,000 workers in Connecticut keep up with the cost of living, but it’s just a start. Our economy is failing working people, and I will keep fighting for a future where hard work gives everyone in this country a fair shot at the American Dream,” said Murphy.
“Low wages have impoverished workers in our country for too long. Raising the minimum wage would drive much-needed economic growth, reduce wealth inequality, and raise 22 million Americans across the country out of poverty. I’m proud to support the Raise the Wage Act and I urge my colleagues to do the same because working class Americans deserve economic security,” said Blumenthal.
“American workers have gone for more than a decade without a raise in the federal minimum wage,” said Courtney. “At a pitiful $7.25 an hour, the current federal minimum wage does not provide working people with a paycheck that meets the true cost of living. Increasing the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation will go a long way to helping 42,000 Connecticut workers meet their basic needs. ”
“Working-class Americans are struggling with the high cost of living, and Democrats are moving policies to put more money in their pockets right now,” said DeLauro. “The Raise the Wage Act would ensure the minimum wage is $17 for all workers, strengthening economic security for workers across America – including the 42,000 minimum wage earners in Connecticut. I am proud to join my colleagues in championing this critical legislation.”
“Connecticut has been ahead of the curve in providing workers with a livable wage,” said Hayes. “The benefits of raising the federal minimum wage would be far-reaching, as there has been no change since 2009 at the federal level. A person who works should be paid a living wage that meets their basic needs.”
Last year, nearly one in four workers in the U.S. made less than $17 per hour. The Raise the Wage Act of 2025 would raise the federal minimum wage to $17 over five years, eliminate the tipped subminimum wage over seven years, eliminate the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities over five years, and eliminate the subminimum wage for youth workers over seven years. According to analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), passing the Raise the Wage Act of 2025 would provide raises to over 22 million workers across the country by 2030.
In 2024, voters in Missouri and Alaska overwhelmingly voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. In 2022, voters in Nebraska voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. In 2020, Florida voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. As a result of inflation, $15 an hour a couple of years ago would be over $18 an hour today. Moreover, if the minimum wage had increased with worker productivity over the last 57 years, it would be over $23 an hour today, not $7.25 an hour.
Over the last 50 years, nearly $80 trillion in wealth has been redistributed from the bottom 90 percent of America to the top one percent. Today, the value of the current federal minimum wage – $7.25 per hour – is the lowest it has been since 1956 and has declined by over 32 percent since it was last increased in 2009. While approximately four million tipped workers in the U.S. depend on tips for as much as half of their income or more, the tipped sub-minimum wage has remained stagnant at just $2.13 per hour since 1991. The current median wage for at least 37,000 workers with disabilities is just $3.50 per hour.
Meanwhile, across every state in the country, a living wage for a worker in a family with two working adults and one child is greater than $17 per hour, according to the Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI) Family Budget Calculator. Many of these low-wage workers face persistent economic insecurity, struggling to put food on the table and afford basic necessities, including housing, health care, and childcare.
Black and Hispanic workers disproportionately feel the burden of these low wages as compared to their white counterparts, and that disparity is even worse for women of color. Nearly 40 percent of Hispanic women and 35 percent of Black women make less than $17 per hour.
U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also cosponsored the legislation.
More than 85 organizations endorsed the Raise the Wage Act of 2025, including Service Employees International Union (SEIU), AFL-CIO, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, Communications Workers of America (CWA), Economic Policy Institute (EPI), Equal Pay Today, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), National Education Association (NEA), National Employment Law Project (NELP), The National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), One Fair Wage, Oxfam America, Patriotic Millionaires, UNITE HERE, United Autoworkers (UAW), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), United for Respect, and United Steelworkers (USW).
The full bill text is available HERE and a fact sheet is available HERE.
Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
April 16, 2025
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined 43 of their Senate colleagues in introducing the Tax Cut for Workers Act to give millions of working Americans a much-needed tax break. The bill is part of Senate Democrats’ comprehensive plan to bring relief to the American people, and it is being introduced with the senators’ American Families Act to permanently expand the Child Tax Credit.
“Donald Trump and Republicans’ sole priority is passing a massive tax break for the billionaires and corporations, while ordinary Americans get table scraps. This bill would give a tax break to the working families who actually need it – not billionaires trying to buy their seventh home or second yacht,” said Murphy.
“Connecticut workers deserve a break. They are struggling with soaring grocery prices, exorbitant electricity costs, and a myriad of challenges to their everyday budgets. Hard-working Americans need help, not Trump’s billionaire buddies. This bill makes sure tax breaks go to people who really need them,” said Blumenthal.
The existing Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – the Worker Tax Cut – has been delivering tax relief for millions of workers for decades. This legislation would cut taxes for working class Americans without children, who currently receive a much smaller EITC than workers with children. It also extends eligibility for the tax cut to workers under the age of 25 and over the age of 64.
U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), 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.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), 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.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), 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.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also cosponsored the legislation.
Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
April 16, 2025
For almost two decades, the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act prevented gun manufacturers from being held accountable for their role in the uniquely American epidemic of gun violence. Josh Koskoff, a feisty, public-interest-minded lawyer in Connecticut, dared to challenge what was believed to be an impenetrable shield—and won.
When Josh agreed to help the families of Sandy Hook victims take on Remington, the company that manufactured and marketed the AR-15-style rifle used to murder 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Conn., he knew it would be an uphill battle. But in 2022, his novel approach won a $73?million settlement for the families.
Josh’s arguments—focused on corporate misconduct, not the Second Amendment—have become the model for holding the gun industry to account. In May, he filed lawsuits on behalf of Uvalde, Texas, families against gun manufacturer Daniel Defense, Meta, and Activision for their alleged roles in marketing AR-15-style rifles to a teenager who turned 18 just minutes before purchasing that rifle. No amount of money will bring back loved ones. But Josh gives the families he represents a real chance to seek justice.
Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
April 16, 2025
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined 27 of their Senate colleagues in introducing the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Enhancement Act, legislation to help more working families cover a greater share of the high cost of childcare.
The senators’ bill would help ease the burden of high childcare costs for working families by permanently expanding the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, raising the maximum credit to $4,000 per child and up to $8,000 per family to offset up to $16,000 in expenses. It would also make the credit refundable to ensure low-income working families can benefit. The credit would be indexed to inflation to retain its value over time.
“The cost of child care in this country is astronomical, even for millions of Americans who are working full-time to provide for their family. Permanently expanding the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit would offer some relief to parents in Connecticut and across the country trying to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of care,” said Murphy.
“As the Trump Administration slashes child care funding, we need to fight for even greater investment in this critical resource – sadly unaffordable for countless families. Expanding access to high quality child care is a tremendous boon not only for young children, but also for families, enabling parents to be breadwinners and assets to the workforce. It’s a sound investment and force multiplier for the economy at a time when businesses need more workers,” said Blumenthal.
The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Enhancement Act would:
Increase the maximum credit amount to $4,000 per child, allowing families to receive up to $8,000 in tax credits to offset up to $16,000 in expenses;
Automatically adjust it to keep pace with inflation;
Save money by phasing out the credit for families making more than $400,000; and
Ensure low-income families can benefit from the tax credit by making it refundable.
U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Angus King (I-Maine), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) also cosponsored the legislation.
The bill is also endorsed by the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, Child Care Aware of America, Save the Children, First Focus Campaign for Children, First Five Years Fund, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Moms Rising, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Zero to Three, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Early Care and Education Consortium (ECEC).