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Category: US Senate

  • MIL-OSI USA: “This is Groundhog Day!” – Cortez Masto Presses Forest Service Chief on Reversal of Ruby Mountains Speculative Drilling Ban

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
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    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) pressed U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz for answers about the Trump administration’s decision to reopen the Ruby Mountains to speculative oil and gas drilling. She emphasized the broad opposition to this reversal in Nevada. Cortez Masto led the push that resulted in the Biden administration protecting the Rubies from speculative drilling in 2024.
    Sen. Cortez Masto questioned Chief Schultz on why the Forest Service made this sudden reversal on the Ruby Mountains: “The Biden administration announced it was establishing a 20-year administrative withdrawal process to protect Ruby Mountain area from oil and gas leasing. However, this administration, the Trump administration, reversed these protections for the Rubies. […] Let me just be clear: Nevadans don’t want drilling in the Ruby Mountains. So, I’m curious, what production of critical minerals does the Forest Service expect to develop in the Ruby Mountains?”
    Chief Schultz responded, “Typically what happens with leasing of minerals, the Forest Service isn’t out there trying to basically promote a certain activity or not, but it would be made available if someone deemed there was a resource there, that would be available for leasing.”
    In 2019, during President Trump’s first term, the Forest Service had already deemed the Ruby Mountains unsuitable for speculative leasing. Senator Cortez Masto called out the absurdity of Schultz’s suggestion: “But that’s already been done, that is my point. It seems like everything that has been done in the past, including the speculative leasing that has been denied in the past, is being ignored because it was done under a previous administration. It makes no sense. We’re wasting the resources of your men and women […] because this administration thinks they have to start from scratch. […] This is Groundhog Day! I mean, literally, we are repeating this over and over again. What is going on?”
    Senator Cortez Masto has been a champion for Nevada’s great outdoor spaces and public lands. She passed critical legislation to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which protects public lands in Nevada and across the U.S., and her bipartisan, bicameral legislation to restore Lake Tahoe was passed into law last year. She delivered critical funding to protect Lake Tahoe in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Cortez Masto also helped pass the historic Great American Outdoors Act, which was signed into law and provides robust funding to preserve and maintain public lands across the country. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cortez Masto Secures More than $5 Million to Increase the Supply of Affordable Housing in Nevada

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) secured $5.1 million from the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) of San Francisco to assist with the construction or preservation of 273 affordable housing units in Nevada. This funding follows a push by Cortez Masto to ensure that the FHLBank of San Francisco live up to its mission of funding housing for working families and supporting community development.
    “I appreciate that the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco continues to support the Nevada Targeted Fund,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “I’m proud of the partnership that we have built with the Bank to address housing needs in the Silver State, and I will continue to seek opportunities for the FHLBank to use its resources to meet more of our housing and community development needs.”
    “The shortage of affordable housing is one of the most pressing challenges our country faces, and the need is especially acute in Nevada,” said Joseph E. Amato, interim president and CEO of FHLBank San Francisco. “As one of the nation’s least densely populated states, Nevada is home to a wide range of communities — urban, rural, and tribal — all experiencing significant housing challenges. We’re proud to support five impactful projects across the state that will help address this crisis and expand access to affordable housing.”
    The FHLBank will provide gap funding for the following projects:
    Construction of Visions Park (Blind Center of Nevada): A 100-unit affordable housing complex in Las Vegas for people who are blind and visually impaired. ($1,250,000 grant)
    Expansion of Hoving Home Las Vegas (Walter Hoving Home, Inc.): A residential non-profit organization serving women recovering from addiction. ($1,250,000 grant)
    Construction of PuraVida Senior Living (Foresight Housing Partners): A 74-unit, 14-building affordable housing community in North Las Vegas for seniors. ($1,117,295 grant)
    Construction of Southern Pines (Nevada H.A.N.D. Inc.): A 240-unit affordable housing complex in Las Vegas for low-income families. ($960,000 grant)
    Construction of The Gen Den Intergenerational Housing (Truckee Meadows Housing Solutions):Affordable housing for young adults and seniors in Reno. ($500,000 grant)
    Throughout her time representing Nevada, Senator Cortez Masto has made reforming the FHLBanks a cornerstone of her work. Senator Cortez Masto has highlighted the fact that Nevada has been treated unfairly by the system. She sought critical investment in Nevada by the FHLBank of San Francisco, resulting in the first-in-the nation targeted Affordable Housing Program for the state.
    Following a 2022 letter Senator Cortez Masto sent to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Sandra Thompson, the FHFA announced a review of the Federal Home Loan Bank system. In late 2023, the FHFA released a comprehensive report calling for mission-focused reform of the FHLBanks. Last year, Cortez Masto sent letters to each of the 11 FHLBanks urging them to contribute at least 20% of their net income to affordable housing and other community grant programs.
    In response to years of Senator Cortez Masto’s work, the FHLBank of San Francisco has increased its investment in Nevada, including by making this $5.1 million award and supporting other investments. Earlier this year, the senator secured a $10 million investment from the FHLBank of San Francisco into the Nevada Housing Division’s (NHD) single-family bond program. Thanks to pressure by Cortez Masto, the FHLBank System also invested $528 million in voluntary contributions for housing and economic development across the country in 2024, less than the Senator and others requested but more than the minimum from prior years. Senator Cortez Masto maintains that the FHLBanks should use their resources to meet their mission requirements by financing housing and community development projects nationwide.  

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: After Securing Key New Hampshire and National Security Priorities, Shaheen Helps Advance Annual Defense Bill

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
    **A top member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Shaheen built on her years-long legacy of securing key New Hampshire priorities, as well as measures that address America’s top security challenges**
    (Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a top member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, helped advance the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – annual defense legislation that authorizes Pentagon priorities and programs for the next fiscal year. The bill was approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) in a bipartisan vote. 
    As a senior member of SASC, Senator Shaheen’s additions to the defense bill address both America’s top national security objectives, while also enhancing New Hampshire’s role in support of our national defense.
    “With Secretary Hegseth at the helm of the Pentagon, it’s more critical this year than ever that Congress uses the annual defense bill to assert its oversight authority and advance policy to improve the lives of service members. The legislation cleared by the Senate Armed Services Committee this week is not perfect but includes many of my provisions to put guardrails on Secretary Hegseth’s harmful policies, including to protect the shipyard workforce from hiring freezes, ensure President Trump’s trade war isn’t passing the price of defense contracts onto the taxpayer, to make sure promised military assistance continues to flow to Ukraine in their fight for democracy and freedom and protect U.S. basing in Europe, the Middle East and the Indo Pacific.” said Senator Shaheen. “I was also proud to secure provisions that support New Hampshire’s defense industry and good-paying jobs, improve service members’ access to affordable child care and housing, invest in Portsmouth Naval Shipyard’s capacity and more.”
    The Committee-passed bill now moves to the full Senate before it is conferenced with the U.S. House of Representatives. Below is a summary of top New Hampshire and national security priorities secured by Shaheen in the FY 2026 NDAA.
    Protecting the Public Shipyard Workforce
    Senator Shaheen led a provision to ensure the chaos and confusion that ensued from Secretary Hegseth’s Department of Defense (DoD) civilian hiring freeze does not happen again. The legislation will protect thousands of jobs integral to America’s national security at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and public shipyards across the nation.
    The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is a key economic driver in the region, supporting thousands of jobs integral to America’s national security. After calls from Shaheen and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), DoD claimed to have exempted the shipyard workforce from the civilian hiring freeze, but issues persist in implementation. Shaheen’s provision will make this exemption final and addresses hiring delays that Portsmouth Naval Shipyard has continued to face.
    Reassuring America’s Allies and Partners
    Standing with Ukraine:
    Senator Shaheen has consistently worked to ensure the delivery of military, humanitarian and economic assistance to Ukraine as they fight for their freedom and democracy amid Putin’s war of aggression.
    The Committee-passed NDAA includes a reauthorization of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, Department of Defense’s authority to equip the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Shaheen also secured language prohibiting the diversion of military equipment obligated for Ukraine after the Pentagon’s misguided decision, since overruled by President Trump.
    The Committee-passed bill also includes Shaheen-authored amendments that allow the continued sharing of U.S. information, intelligence and imagery to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the battlefield and prevent cuts to security cooperation funding for U.S. forces in Europe.
    Supporting NATO Allies and Enhancing Global Partnerships:
    Shaheen also secured provisions that send a strong message of commitment to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Allies and other U.S. partners abroad. Her legislation requires the executive branch to consult with Congress and our NATO Allies before any attempt to abdicate the Commander of U.S. European Command’s dual role of Supreme Allied Commander Europe. This comes after Shaheen pressed senior U.S. military officials on the importance of this U.S. responsibility at NATO. An American general has also served as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Forces in Europe since General Dwight Eisenhower assumed the role following the establishment of the NATO alliance.
    The bill includes legislation led by Shaheen requiring the Pentagon to consult with Congress before making changes to U.S. military force posture in Europe and on the Korean Peninsula. U.S. presence in Europe and the Indo Pacific deters adversaries and strengthens our alliances. This legislation will require the Secretary of Defense to certify to Congress that he has consulted the Secretary of State, Director of National Intelligence, senior U.S. military officers in the theaters and officials from regional governments—including NATO Allies, South Korea, Japan and others—before reducing our force presence in Europe or South Korea.
    Shaheen also prevented the further consolidation of U.S. military bases in Syria—a move that helps to prevent a resurgence of ISIS influence in the region following the establishment of a new, post-Assad Syrian government.
    Protecting Defense Supply Chains from Reckless Tariffs
    The bill includes Senator Shaheen’s amendment that would require the Department of Defense to assess the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs on the defense supply chain and protect current regulations that are providing relief to small businesses in the defense industrial base.
    Shaheen has been vocal in her concerns about the administration’s trade war and its impacts on America’s national defense and military readiness, including by calling on Secretary Hegseth to address how tariffs are impacting the Department’s purchasing power, weakening supply chains and raising costs on small businesses.  This provision in the NDAA comes after Shaheen’s third annual bipartisan Congressional delegation to the largest trade show in the world, the Paris Air Show, where she heard concerns about the President’s trade war from allies, partners and the defense and civil aerospace industry. Following the Air Show, Shaheen penned an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal..
    Supporting Jobs and the New Hampshire National Guard
    To bolster the civilian defense and national security workforce, Senator Shaheen secured an amendment in line with her Defense Workforce Integration Act. The bipartisan, bicameral Shaheen-led bill would leverage existing programs and best practices within the Department of Defense to address persistent workforce shortages by retaining the talent and motivation of those who desire to serve in uniform but are found to be medically disqualified.
    As co-chair of the bipartisan U.S. Senate National Guard Caucus, Shaheen has long advocated on behalf of National Guard members. To strengthen the National Guard’s ability to protect and aid New Hampshire in times of crisis, Shaheen secured a provision in this year’s NDAA to help the National Guard retain quality commissioned and warrant officers and maintain increased levels of personnel readiness. Specifically, the amendment allows officers and warrant officers to transfer from active status in the Reserves to the Inactive National Guard.
    Confronting the Challenges Posed by PFAS Contamination
    Senator Shaheen successfully added an amendment to respond more quickly to the spread of PFAS contamination at certain military installations and surrounding communities where PFAS are discovered in existing water sources as a result of military activities. The policy requires the Department of Defense to take action to address contamination hotspots and provide safe drinking water to communities while the lengthier remedial investigation process moves forward. Shaheen also secured adoption of an amendment to clarify that DoD can use innovative technologies for destroying PFAS to provide more tools to address contamination.
    Shaheen opposed amendments that were ultimately adopted to rescind the moratorium on PFAS incineration and prohibit the military from procuring a variety of items containing PFAS, including cookware used to prepare food in military galleys and furniture upholstery and carpeting for military installations. These provisions add unnecessary exposure to harmful toxins for service members and their families, increasing their chances of long-term health impacts.
    Shaheen has worked for more than a decade to hold the Department of Defense responsible for remediation of PFAS contamination at military bases and ensure transparency for affected communities. Shaheen spearheaded the first nationwide PFAS health impact study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) that is in its final stages. Shaheen leads efforts in Congress to uncover the potential health effects related to PFAS contamination. Because of her efforts, Pease served as a model site for the nationwide study. Shaheen has also led efforts to improve the Defense Department’s transparency and engagement with local communities, improve safety of firefighting gear, phase out use of PFAS-laden firefighting foam and expand blood-testing for military firefighters exposed to PFAS. Shaheen also secured record funding to upgrade drinking water and wastewater infrastructure to address PFAS contamination in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021.
    Defending and Strengthening Support for America’s Service Members and Their Families
    Addressing Sexual Assault in the Military:
    Senator Shaheen successfully fought for a provision to increase accountability and transparency for investigations into military sexual assault cases. The Committee-passed NDAA includes Shaheen’s amendment requiring the National Guard Bureau to provide an annual report on the number of Guardsmen who participate in Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) training each year.
    Shaheen has championed efforts in the Senate to respond to and address sexual assault in the military. In the FY23 NDAA, she helped secure reforms that expanded the types of sexual misconduct offenses and addressed the role of military commanders’ convening authority power. She played a pivotal role in the adoption of historic reforms to the Uniform Code of Military Justice to address sexual assault in the military, including taking those offenses out of a service member’s chain of command.
    Expanding Access to Child Care for Military Families:
    Shaheen helped secure inclusion of a provision to expand child care access for military families by directing the Department of Defense to support the recruitment and retention of providers in order to build a future child care workforce and make long-term investments in child care providers. The provision also authorizes the Department of Defense to enter into an interagency partnership with a federal agency, such as AmeriCorps, to place national service participants and volunteers trained in education services at military child care centers.
    The provision is based on bipartisan legislation Shaheen co-leads with Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), the Expanding Access to Child Care for Military Families Act, to support workforce development opportunities for child care providers and to add capacity to the child care sector.
    Addressing Service Members and Military Families’ Quality of Life:
    To help service members and their families navigate the nation’s housing affordability crisis, Shaheen secured an amendment in the NDAA to improve DoD’s financial counseling offerings. To ensure service members learn about fees and other costs associated with homebuying, the provision allows Service Secretaries to work with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development certified housing counselors and other qualified counselors to help service members and families.
    Bolstering Mental Health Resources and Responses:
    Shaheen helped secure a provision in line with her National Adverse Childhood Experiences Response Team (ACERT) Grant Program Authorization Act directing the DoD to study and report on establishing a program to address adverse childhood experiences associated with exposure to trauma by connecting law enforcement and first responders with local child specialists and professionals.
    The legislation also includes Shaheen’s amendment to address the shortage of quality, accessible mental and behavioral health care for service members. Her provision requires DoD to assess where there are shortages in providers and the impact of those staffing shortages on service members. 
    Investing in Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and New England’s Shipbuilding Workforce
    Senator Shaheen built on her long legacy of support for New England’s shipbuilding industry and workforce, including through authorizing funding and workforce development for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The Committee-approved FY26 NDAA includes full authorization for the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) investments at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which will expand the Shipyard’s capacity to maintain America’s fast-attack submarine fleet. As a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations and Armed Services Committees, Senator Shaheen helped secure this funding beginning in the fiscal year 2019 funding legislation, which she has continued in ensuing years.
    Shaheen also helped to authorize funding for increased reliability, resiliency and capacity to the existing electric and water utility systems primarily responsible for the nuclear support facilities at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Additionally, the bill authorizes $26 million for the construction of a new, state-of-the-art Readiness Center to support the New Hampshire National Guard in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
    In addition, the bill reauthorizes funding for Virginia-class submarines, which are repaired at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Shaheen is a steadfast supporter of the Virginia-class program and is a fierce advocate for Shipyard priorities.
    Shaheen also secured a provision aimed at improving the quality of life and bolstering recruitment and retention of employees at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and the country’s three other public shipyards. The Shaheen amendment requires DoD to assess the feasibility, costs and benefits of providing civilian employees with apartment-style or dormitory housing options.  Shaheen also secured report language to encourage DoD to explore the feasibility of low-interest loans for maritime industrial base (MIB) suppliers. 
    Finally, the bill includes Shaheen’s legislation to extend direct hire authority to the Navy Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair (SUPSHIP), which will give Navy the ability to fill these positions quickly, address workforce delays and reduce delays in submarine construction and maintenance.
    Supporting Americans Affected by Directed Energy Attacks
    Senator Shaheen built on her progress to ensure that all U.S. personnel and their loved ones suffering from anomalous health incidents (AHIs) – also known as “Havana Syndrome” or directed-energy attacks – get the medical attention they deserve. Shaheen successfully secured a provision that encourages the Department of Defense to supply the cross-functional team addressing AHIs with the resources that they need to provide those affected with necessary treatment and timely compensation under the Helping American Victims Affected by Neurological Attacks (HAVANA) Act of 2021. The amendment also urges the Department to redouble its efforts to identify emerging directed energy threats, understand their origin and develop countermeasures to defend against them.
    Shaheen has been a leader in supporting American public servants who have incurred AHIs. In October 2021, President Biden signed legislation Shaheen helped lead, the Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks (HAVANA Act), into law. The law authorizes financial support to ensure medical care for those affected by AHIs. In the FY21 NDAA, Shaheen successfully included language to expand a provision in law that she previously wrote to provide long-term, emergency care benefits to all U.S. government employees and their dependents who were mysteriously injured while working in China and Cuba.
    Bolstering Congressional Oversight and Reining in Wasteful Spending
    In this year’s NDAA, Senator Shaheen secured several provisions to assert Congress’s oversight authority over the Trump administration and prohibit wasteful spending, including the use of Department of Defense resources for immigration enforcement activities. The bill requires DoD to notify Congress before using military airlift for immigration enforcement purposes and expands existing notifications to include requests for assistance in support of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at Guantanamo Bay. In the first five months of migrant operations at Guantanamo Bay, DoD has already spent over $40 million providing non-reimbursable support to DHS.
    Additionally, Shaheen included language in the NDAA urging DoD not to downgrade the U.S. Naval Hospital at Guantanamo Bay to a clinic. The hospital is the only source of health care for the over 6,000 active duty personnel, DoD civilians, family members, contract personnel and local and foreign national employees stationed at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay (NSGB).
    The provisions come after Shaheen joined a Congressional delegation to Guantanamo Bay in March of this year after the Pentagon refused to answer Congressional oversight questions on its support to DHS’s new migrant operations there.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Shaheen Secures Exemption to Protect Jobs at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Committee-Passed Annual Defense Bill

    US Senate News:

    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, secured a provision exempting Portsmouth Naval Shipyard employees from the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) deferred resignation program for federal employees, the Department of Defense’s (DOD) current civilian hiring freeze and any future hiring freezes in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that was advanced out of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is a key economic driver in the region, supporting thousands of jobs integral to America’s national security.
    “The administration’s ill-considered hiring freeze and layoffs created uncertainty that swept through shipyards across the country and resulted in real damage to an essential component of our national defense and preparedness,” said Senator Shaheen. “My provision rights this wrong and prevents further hiring delays by taking OPM out of the equation so that public shipyards jobs, which are vital to national security, are exempt from current and future hiring freezes. I’m pleased that the amendment received bipartisan support and I look forward to its passage by the full Senate.”
    After calls from Shaheen and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), the U.S. Department of Defense exempted the shipyard workforce from the civilian hiring freeze – but issues persist in its implementation. Shaheen, Collins and Angus King (I-ME) recently visited Portsmouth Shipyard with Navy Secretary Phelan, and subsequently sent a letter to OPM urging the agency to process personnel that have been hired and are awaiting onboarding into jobs. Shaheen secured Secretary Hegseth’s commitment to investigate these hiring delays at a recent SASC hearing.
    Senator Shaheen has long advocated for New England’s shipbuilding industry and workforce, including through authorizing funding and workforce development for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. In the Committee-approved FY26 NDAA, Shaheen secured full authorization for the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) investments at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. She also secured a number of other provisions to increase capacity at the Shipyard and improve quality of life.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Shaheen Applauds Inclusion of Her Provision to Safeguard Ukraine Assistance in Committee-Passed Annual Defense Bill

    US Senate News:

    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. Foreign Relations Committee, applauded the inclusion of her provision that would put up guardrails to prevent the Pentagon from diverting assistance to Ukraine in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that advanced out of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). The amendment comes after the Pentagon’s misguided decision to divert vital military aid for Ukraine last week and eventual reversal by President Trump.  
    Specifically, Shaheen’s amendment prevents the U.S. Department of Defense from accepting back into stock or diverting equipment that was put on contract for Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). The Committee-passed bill also includes Shaheen-authored amendments that allow the continued sharing of U.S. information, intelligence and imagery to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the battlefield and prevent cuts to security cooperation funding for U.S. forces in Europe.   
    “As Russia continues to pummel Ukraine, it’s absolutely critical that the United States provides Ukraine with the military assistance it has been promised. That’s why it was deeply troubling to see Secretary Hegseth’s unilateral attempt to abruptly halt munitions shipments to Ukraine last week. While the administration ultimately reversed course on this short-sighted decision, it’s clear that Congress needs to establish stronger guardrails to prevent the Secretary from diverting assistance again—Ukrainian lives cannot be vulnerable to short-sighted, unilateral actions.  
    “I was pleased to see my amendment to prohibit the Pentagon from diverting military aid meant for Ukraine clear the Senate Armed Services Committee with bipartisan support. If we’re going to get Putin to the negotiating table, the United States has to uphold its commitment and deliver the equipment we’ve pledged for Ukraine. We must help Ukraine defend its skies and protect civilians from Russia’s continuous aerial assaults. Congress’ support for Ukraine and a lasting peace remains strong, and I look forward to seeing my provision clear the full Senate and then signed into law by the President.”
    The Committee-passed NDAA also includes the following Shaheen-led amendments: 
    To allow the continued sharing of U.S. information, intelligence and imagery to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the battlefield and prevent cuts to security cooperation funding for U.S. forces in Europe; 
    To require the executive branch to consult with Congress and NATO Allies before any attempt to withdraw U.S. forces from Europe or abdicate the Commander of U.S. European Command’s dual role of Supreme Allied Commander Europe;  
    To require the Pentagon to consult with Congress before making changes to U.S. military force posture in Europe and on the Korean Peninsula. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: PHOTOS: Peters Participates in Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for New Main Gate & Entrance Facility at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Michigan Gary Peters

    BATTLE CREEK, MI – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new main gate and entrance facility at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base. Peters secured $10 million in federal funding for the project in the 2022 national defense bill through his role on the Armed Services Committee. The new, state-of-the-art gate and entry control facility, which has been relocated to a roadway experiencing less traffic, will enhance base security, improve traffic safety for the surrounding community, and enable a more efficient flow of vehicles in and out of the base. In 2023, Peters participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for the project.

    “Battle Creek Air National Guard Base operates critical, specialized missions that are essential to combatting the emerging threats we face today,” said Senator Peters, a former Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. “I was proud to fight for the funding needed to construct this new, modernized gate and entrance facility, which will help ensure servicemembers can carry out their work both safely and efficiently.”

    “The New Main Gate at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base is a win-win for the Michigan National Guard and the City of Battle Creek,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul D. Rogers, adjutant general and director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. “Thanks to strong advocacy from Governor Whitmer, Senator Gary Peters and our congressional delegation, the gate is a testament to the powerful partnership between local, state and federal leaders and their unwavering support for the Michigan National Guard.”

    “The new main gate modernizes our security infrastructure, enhancing personnel safety and streamlining base access,” said Colonel James M. Rossi, Commander of the 110th Wing. “The Battle Creek community’s support made this new main gate possible. It’s an investment in our mission and personnel safety, ensuring we continue to serve our nation while remaining a strong and valued partner within the Battle Creek community.”

    To download a photo from the event, click here.

    As a former Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve and a member of the Armed Services Committee, supporting Michigan’s servicemembers and military facilities has been among Peters’ top priorities in the Senate. In addition to securing the $10 million needed to construct the new gate and entrance facility, Peters secured an additional $49 million in funding to support construction of a new, state-of-the-art training facility at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base for Marine Corps reservists as well as a new vehicle maintenance facility that will help extend the life of the vehicles they house. This funding will help ensure the Marine Corps maintains presence at Battle Creek for decades to come. In the national defense bill signed into law in 2023, Peters secured an additional $24 million for new supply and storage facilities for the Marine Corps Reserve Unit at Battle Creek.

    Battle Creek Air National Guard Base, which has been in the Battle Creek community since 1947, is the home station for nearly 1,000 Airmen. The base supports a diverse portfolio of missions, including an elite cyber defense squadron, MQ-9 “Reaper” drone flying operation, and Command and Control support for U.S. Air Forces Europe – Air Forces Africa. This project will not only make needed upgrades to critical infrastructure but also help to bolster the base’s future and economic growth in the local community.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: PHOTOS: Peters Participates in Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for New Main Gate & Entrance Facility at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Michigan Gary Peters

    BATTLE CREEK, MI – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new main gate and entrance facility at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base. Peters secured $10 million in federal funding for the project in the 2022 national defense bill through his role on the Armed Services Committee. The new, state-of-the-art gate and entry control facility, which has been relocated to a roadway experiencing less traffic, will enhance base security, improve traffic safety for the surrounding community, and enable a more efficient flow of vehicles in and out of the base. In 2023, Peters participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for the project.

    “Battle Creek Air National Guard Base operates critical, specialized missions that are essential to combatting the emerging threats we face today,” said Senator Peters, a former Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. “I was proud to fight for the funding needed to construct this new, modernized gate and entrance facility, which will help ensure servicemembers can carry out their work both safely and efficiently.”

    “The New Main Gate at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base is a win-win for the Michigan National Guard and the City of Battle Creek,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul D. Rogers, adjutant general and director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. “Thanks to strong advocacy from Governor Whitmer, Senator Gary Peters and our congressional delegation, the gate is a testament to the powerful partnership between local, state and federal leaders and their unwavering support for the Michigan National Guard.”

    “The new main gate modernizes our security infrastructure, enhancing personnel safety and streamlining base access,” said Colonel James M. Rossi, Commander of the 110th Wing. “The Battle Creek community’s support made this new main gate possible. It’s an investment in our mission and personnel safety, ensuring we continue to serve our nation while remaining a strong and valued partner within the Battle Creek community.”

    To download a photo from the event, click here.

    As a former Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve and a member of the Armed Services Committee, supporting Michigan’s servicemembers and military facilities has been among Peters’ top priorities in the Senate. In addition to securing the $10 million needed to construct the new gate and entrance facility, Peters secured an additional $49 million in funding to support construction of a new, state-of-the-art training facility at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base for Marine Corps reservists as well as a new vehicle maintenance facility that will help extend the life of the vehicles they house. This funding will help ensure the Marine Corps maintains presence at Battle Creek for decades to come. In the national defense bill signed into law in 2023, Peters secured an additional $24 million for new supply and storage facilities for the Marine Corps Reserve Unit at Battle Creek.

    Battle Creek Air National Guard Base, which has been in the Battle Creek community since 1947, is the home station for nearly 1,000 Airmen. The base supports a diverse portfolio of missions, including an elite cyber defense squadron, MQ-9 “Reaper” drone flying operation, and Command and Control support for U.S. Air Forces Europe – Air Forces Africa. This project will not only make needed upgrades to critical infrastructure but also help to bolster the base’s future and economic growth in the local community.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: PHOTOS: Peters Participates in Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for New Main Gate & Entrance Facility at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Michigan Gary Peters

    BATTLE CREEK, MI – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new main gate and entrance facility at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base. Peters secured $10 million in federal funding for the project in the 2022 national defense bill through his role on the Armed Services Committee. The new, state-of-the-art gate and entry control facility, which has been relocated to a roadway experiencing less traffic, will enhance base security, improve traffic safety for the surrounding community, and enable a more efficient flow of vehicles in and out of the base. In 2023, Peters participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for the project.

    “Battle Creek Air National Guard Base operates critical, specialized missions that are essential to combatting the emerging threats we face today,” said Senator Peters, a former Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. “I was proud to fight for the funding needed to construct this new, modernized gate and entrance facility, which will help ensure servicemembers can carry out their work both safely and efficiently.”

    “The New Main Gate at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base is a win-win for the Michigan National Guard and the City of Battle Creek,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul D. Rogers, adjutant general and director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. “Thanks to strong advocacy from Governor Whitmer, Senator Gary Peters and our congressional delegation, the gate is a testament to the powerful partnership between local, state and federal leaders and their unwavering support for the Michigan National Guard.”

    “The new main gate modernizes our security infrastructure, enhancing personnel safety and streamlining base access,” said Colonel James M. Rossi, Commander of the 110th Wing. “The Battle Creek community’s support made this new main gate possible. It’s an investment in our mission and personnel safety, ensuring we continue to serve our nation while remaining a strong and valued partner within the Battle Creek community.”

    To download a photo from the event, click here.

    As a former Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve and a member of the Armed Services Committee, supporting Michigan’s servicemembers and military facilities has been among Peters’ top priorities in the Senate. In addition to securing the $10 million needed to construct the new gate and entrance facility, Peters secured an additional $49 million in funding to support construction of a new, state-of-the-art training facility at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base for Marine Corps reservists as well as a new vehicle maintenance facility that will help extend the life of the vehicles they house. This funding will help ensure the Marine Corps maintains presence at Battle Creek for decades to come. In the national defense bill signed into law in 2023, Peters secured an additional $24 million for new supply and storage facilities for the Marine Corps Reserve Unit at Battle Creek.

    Battle Creek Air National Guard Base, which has been in the Battle Creek community since 1947, is the home station for nearly 1,000 Airmen. The base supports a diverse portfolio of missions, including an elite cyber defense squadron, MQ-9 “Reaper” drone flying operation, and Command and Control support for U.S. Air Forces Europe – Air Forces Africa. This project will not only make needed upgrades to critical infrastructure but also help to bolster the base’s future and economic growth in the local community.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Wyden, Colleagues Lead Amicus Brief Challenging Trump Administration Abuse of Emergency Powers to Impose Tariffs

    US Senate News:

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

    July 11, 2025

    Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said today he is leading Senate and House colleagues in filing an amicus brief in a key case, Oregon, et al., v. Trump, et al., challenging the Trump Administration’s abuse of emergency powers to impose tariffs. 

    The brief opposes the Administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to levy sweeping tariffs as IEEPA is not a tariff statute.

    In June, Wyden and Senators Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Democratic Leader, led 33 senators including Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., in filing an amicus brief at an earlier stage of this case urging the immediate suspension of the tariffs imposed under IEEPA. However, the Federal Circuit declined to suspend the illegal tariffs while it considers the merits of the appeal. 

    “This isn’t a close call – IEEPA doesn’t give the president ANY tariff authority, let alone the power to slap sweeping tariffs on products from almost every country on earth,” said Wyden,  Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee,. “The courts should strike down Trump’s illegal tariffs, which are hiking prices for American families and threatening American jobs.” 

    “IEEPA contains none of the hallmarks of legislation delegating tariff power to the executive such as limitations tied to specific products or countries, caps on the amount of tariff increases, procedural safeguards, public input, collaboration with Congress, or time limitations,” the lawmakers wrote. “In the five decades since IEEPA’s enactment, no President from either party, aside from the current President, has ever claimed that IEEPA conferred any authority to impose tariffs.” 

    “Unmoored from the structural safeguards Congress built into actual tariff statutes, the President’s unlawful ’emergency’ tariffs under IEEPA have led to chaos and uncertainty,” the lawmakers continued. 

    “This is dysregulation, not delegation,” the lawmakers concluded. “The President’s actions are not consistent with the lawful power Congress granted in IEEPA in 1977 nor America’s constitutional structure. If the President believes that imposing, removing, or amending tariffs are an appropriate policy measure, Congress has given him tools to pursue those goals. But IEEPA is not one of them. This Court should affirm the CIT’s judgment and hold that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs.”

    In addition to Wyden, this latest amicus brief was led by Shaheen, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Representatives Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y., Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Joe Neguse, D-Colo., Chair of the House Democrats’ Litigation Task Force, Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

    The full text of the brief is here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Americans Celebrate the One Big Beautiful Bill’s Transformational Policies

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Whitehouse
    A week after President Donald J. Trump signed the historic One Big Beautiful Bill into law, Americans across the country are celebrating its many benefits. From farmers securing their family legacies to service workers gaining financial breathing room, the bill’s bold policies will make a real difference in Americans’ lives.
    In Iowa, fifth-generation farmer Dennis Friest says it “feels like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders” now that the One Big Beautiful Bill prevents the death tax from hitting his farm: “One of my goals when I started farming was to be able to pass this farm onto the next generation, and I’m doing that. I feel very good about that.”
    In Georgia, a restaurant worker says No Tax on Tips will have countless benefits: “I believe it’s going to generate more spending around the town and maybe even travel in the future, or people can start saving and make bigger purchases along the way. I think it’s great.”
    In California, a waitress says No Tax on Tips will help her save for the future: “Over the previous years, I’ve owed quite a bit — so hopefully this can go into a college fund instead.”
    In South Carolina, Greenville County Coroner Mike Ellis says No Tax on Overtime will help his deputies better plan how to spend their money: “They work extremely hard and have an extremely tragic job — every one of them.”
    In Hawaii, a restaurant owner says No Tax on Tips will be a boon for his employees: “I think any amount of money saved will have great impact … that would affect absolutely every non-manager in the house. Everybody’s tipped here.”
    In Nevada, a service worker says No Tax on Tips will make a huge difference for hardworking people like her: “It definitely will be a couple of hundred dollars in our paychecks — which it goes far.”
    In Texas, a fourth-generation farmer says the pro-agriculture provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill will be difference-maker: “We definitely need a strong safety net for America’s farmers.”
    In Michigan, a waitress says the extra money as a result of No Tax on Tips will help care for her four children: “It would either go towards them or towards my house bills.”
    In Wisconsin, the vice president of the state’s restaurant association says No Tax on Tips will have a direct impact on peoples’ lives: “Many of our folks are part-time, either supplemental income to the family or are students putting themselves through school … this will help them achieve their goals.”
    In Florida, a Miami bartender says No Tax on Tips will be a big help since tips are 90% of his income: “A little bit more money in the working people’s pocket, and that just allows us the opportunity to get to enjoy our cities a little bit more.”
    In Minnesota, a bartender praises No Tax on Tips: “Any more money on our checks is going to be better — that we don’t have to give to the government.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: On Senate Floor, Murray Slams Rescissions Package, Warning Against Senselessly Abandoning Communities at Home and Leadership Abroad

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    FACT SHEET: Trump’s Rescission Package Would Gut Bipartisan Foreign Policy Investments

    FACT SHEET: Trump’s Rescission Package Would Devastate Local Public Radio, TV Stations Across America

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

    Murray on claims passing the bill is about fiscal responsibility: “You could cut the equivalent of this bill every single day, for an entire year, and it still would not match the cost of the billionaire tax cuts Republicans passed last week.”

    ***WATCH: Senator Murray’s floor remarks***

    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor laying out the devastation President Trump’s rescission package would cause for local news stations nationwide and their emergency preparedness systems and underscoring how it will gut bipartisan foreign policy investments, ceding America’s global leadership—all while doing nothing to get our “fiscal house in order.”

    Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:

    [HYPOCRISY ON DEBTS, DEFICITS, AND “FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY”]

    “Mr. President, last week Republicans made the wrong kind of history. That is because, last week, they passed what may well be the single most expensive piece of legislation in the history of our country—all to help the rich and hurt the poor. This should go in the Guinness Book of World Records.

    “And let’s not forget, the history doesn’t end there. Because they passed the biggest bill in the history of the Senate with the biggest gimmick in the history of the Senate—basically saying that trillions of dollars in tax cuts for billionaires are free.

    “This farce is only getting worse—because do you know what Republicans are turning to now? Do you know what the next order of business in the Senate is? They are going to take up President Trump’s request to slash local news and bipartisan foreign policy investments, in order to ‘balance the debt.’

    “That is a serious case of amnesia. Republicans just saddled the national credit card with a $4 trillion in debt—that’s trillions with a ‘T’—so they could give massive tax breaks to the richest people in the country. And they would have added even more to that debt if they didn’t cut over a trillion in health care and nutrition assistance for millions of Americans.

    “But now that it is passed, now that they’ve saddled the next generation with loads of debt to help billionaire donors, many Republicans want to return to talking now about ‘getting the nation’s fiscal house in order.’

    “Are you kidding me? Do you really think we don’t remember what just happened last week? Well thank goodness for C-SPAN, and we all should review the tape.

    “One week ago, Republicans were pretending trillions in debt for tax giveaways to their corporate buddies and mega donors was nothing—literally nothing.

    “And now, these same Republicans say local news, which provides crucial information in emergencies, is just too expensive to support.

    “Now, these same Republicans say we just can’t afford to continue lifesaving aid that prevents famine and epidemics.

    “Even though—keep in mind—we are talking about a sum total of less than 0.14 percent of our overall federal budget.

    “The irony is almost as rich as the corporate CEOs who made out like bandits in that big, awful, mess Republicans passed last week.

    [DEVASTATING CUTS TO PUBLIC BROADCASTING]

    “And this rescissions package is not just bad because many Republicans are trying to have it both ways on deficits and debt now. It’s just plain ole bad on the substance. These cuts would hurt our communities, and they hurt our country. 

    “Let’s start with local news. Republicans are trying to rip away investments that support over 1,500 local public TV and radio stations. These are stations that serve rural areas, and they give them local news you simply can’t find anywhere else.

    “Coverage that matters to people like what community events are coming up, how the school board is preparing for next year, weather and market reports for our farmers, not to mention emergency alerts when a disaster strikes.

    “You do not have to look hard to find an example of how important it is we get disaster warnings right. When the devastating wildfires hit southern California earlier this year, public radio broadcasts let millions of people know how to stay safe. When Hurricane Helene battered North Carolina, a local public radio station was the only source of information for many people. And, of course, the recent tragedy in Texas, and the flooding in New Mexico.

    “These were incredibly deadly floods—my heart goes out to all the families who are affected, especially those who lost loved ones. And my deep gratitude goes out to the first responders. I’m committed to helping these communities recover. To coming together like we always do as a nation after tragedy.

    “And while we learn more about what they needed, one thing all of our communities need, is strong emergency response systems. And one thing I can tell you, when dangers arise cutting local news stations, silencing trusted sources that can push out important warnings when cell towers fail, and your home internet connection goes out—that won’t make anything better.

    “And Mr. President, don’t even get me started on how this rescissions bill will hurt free, educational programming for countless kids. We’re talking about shows kids and parents love. But after saddling our country with trillions in debt for billionaires, many Republicans are saying there’s just not a penny left for our kids.

    “‘Sorry—we’re going to feed Big Bird to the Fat Cats.’

    “That’s the message Republicans are sending. This isn’t quite how they’d put it on Sesame Street, but America knows that message is brought to you by the letters BS. And it is so dangerously short sighted.

    “Talk to any parent, they will warn you: If Republican cuts end up canceling free, high-quality programming that is thoughtfully developed to get kids thinking and grow their curiosity, there’s an alarming amount of low-quality junk to fill that void. Content that is instead, carefully engineered to keep kids watching, and shorten their attention spans. 

    “Actually, you know what? It makes sense. Maybe getting our kids hooked on brain-rot TV is part of the Republican plan. After all, if our children are watching PBS, they might learn to count. And if our kids learn to count how will Republicans ever convince anyone that trillions of dollars in tax cuts are free?

    [GUTTING BIPARTISAN FOREIGN POLICY INVESTMENTS]

    “I know, let’s not forget President Trump wants Senate Republicans to rip up investments they themselves—they themselves—helped secure to advance America’s global leadership. Apparently being the leader of the free world is now just too expensive.

    “The reality of the matter is that these are investments are investments that pay off for our own country. From supporting American farmers and companies who provide the food assistance that saves lives; to stopping dangerous viruses and epidemics while they are still far overseas before they have a chance to threaten American lives; to preventing conflict, avoiding chaos and crisis that can cause a dangerous spiral; to strengthening our ties with key partners and defending our interests in international organizations.

    “We don’t just make these investments because they are the right thing to do, we do it because it is the smart thing to do for America.

    “But it’s worth saying Mr. President, it’s the right thing to do as well. And it is unthinkably wrong that this president is willing to shell out trillions for some of the richest people in the world, only to turn around and say that less than a penny a day is too expensive to protect hundreds of thousands of little girls from HIV.

    “It is wrong for Republicans to say, ‘oh we’ve got to get those corporate executives a big bonus,’ only to turn around and say: ‘oh we don’t really have to worry about the work our farmers do to help those starving kids.’

    “It is also foolish to think this is just a luxury, or charitable work. Our farmers know better. Americans who contract infectious diseases abroad know better. The companies in our states who work overseas to stabilize conflict-affected communities alongside DOD, they know better. It is bad strategy and a surefire way to hand China the upper hand.

    “But we cannot lose sight of the fact that it is just plain wrong.

    “Let’s be clear, if they cut this funding Republicans will not just be turning America away from the world, they will be turning the world away from America.

    “Do Republicans really want to cause needless suffering, or slash bipartisan funding, and break commitments we already made together to save a quick buck? Is America’s credibility so cheap to them?

    “They talk about peace through strength as if they are carrying on Ronald Reagan’s legacy. Reagan spent about half-a-percent of our GDP on foreign assistance. Today we spend less than half that. 

    “And keep in mind, the cuts proposed here are really, they are a drop in the bucket compared to the tsunami of spending and tax giveaways Republicans just passed. I mean, you could cut every single penny the U.S. has spent of foreign assistance since World War II and it would not add up to the cost of the tax cuts Republicans passed last week.

    [UNDERMINING BIPARTISAN APPROPRIATIONS PROCESS]

    “And that’s all saying nothing about how pushing this through won’t just cut bipartisan investments, it will cut out the heart of the basic principles that make bipartisan deals possible.

    “How are we supposed to negotiate a bipartisan deal if Republicans will turn around and put it through the shredder in a partisan vote. This entire package next week should be rejected outright. There is nothing about it that is serious—except for the threat it poses to our communities.

    “To suggest, even for a second, Republicans are doing this to address the debt is laughable. And I encourage the American people to laugh at anyone who pretends as much. Because you could cut the equivalent of this bill every single day, for an entire year, and it still would not match the cost of the billionaire tax cuts Republicans passed last week.

    “So, to my Republican colleagues, instead of doing Trump’s dirty work, instead of doing Russell Vought’s bidding, let’s do our jobs. Reject these partisan cuts to bipartisan funding, turn our focus squarely to the job ahead—writing bipartisan full funding appropriations bills.

    “And you know what? If there’s a discrete pot of funding that is not being spent well, if there are cuts that makes sense to include, if there are things that need to be updated, things that need to be reformed, let’s a have a conversation about what makes sense to rescind and improve as we write those bills in committee—the way we’ve always done.

    “My Democratic colleagues and I have said for months we are willing to discuss rescissions in our bipartisan spending bills. We have done this in a bipartisan fashion for years—no matter who is in the White House, or which party has had the majority in either chamber. 

    “My commitment to Chair Collins and my colleagues on other side of the aisle remains the same. I’m willing to work with you to include rescissions in our bipartisan spending bills as we continue to work on the fiscal year 2026 process. 

    “Instead of moving forward with this partisan rescission package, let’s reject that package and have these discussions and work together. Let’s move forward on the bipartisan appropriations process and address all of those decision there.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: As School Year Nears, Reed, Whitehouse & Colleagues Demand Trump Admin. End Blockade on Funding for Afterschool Programs, K-12 Schools Across America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – Approximately $30 million for Rhode Island public schools and educational programs is in limbo after the Trump Administration froze federal funding that had previously been approved by Congress.

    Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and twenty-nine colleagues in sending a letter to President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon demanding the immediate release of nearly $7 billion in funding for K-12 schools and adult literacy programs across America that the Trump administration abruptly let states and school districts know it would indefinitely block last week.

    The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold the funding has sent school districts nationwide scrambling to determine how they could fill the massive budget hole and whether they’ll have to lay off teachers or end after school programs in the coming weeks.

    Rhode Island faces the potential loss of nearly $30 million in federal education as a result of the abrupt cutoff of education funds by the Trump Administration and may be forced to end afterschool programs, specialized literacy programs, educator training, and support for English language learners as a result of this misguided executive maneuver.

    The funding was expected to be disbursed by the federal government on July 1 and impacts every school district across the state.

    Nationwide, school districts have already told parents to prepare backup options, and adult literacy programs have already been forced to lay off staff.

    “We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities,” write the 32 U.S. Senators. “These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque ‘programmatic review’ of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states.”

    The lawmakers blasted the administration for its abrupt notice and illegal freeze of the funds, which has sent school districts and programs nationwide scrambling: “We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration.”

    They note that blocking funding for before and after school programs, as well as summer learning programs, is already hurting families nationwide: “By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning.  These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.”

    Warning of how denying these funds will cause schools to lay off teachers and cut back on teacher training, they write: “This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.”

    The lawmakers also detail how the move affects adult learners nationwide: “This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.”

    The Trump administration has confirmed it is blocking funding for the following programs—all of which are programs President Trump has requested to eliminate in his budget request, raising serious concerns about this administration’s intentions to simply impound the funding:

    1. Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II-A), which support professional development and other activities to improve the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders, including reducing class size.
    2. 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV-B), which support high-quality before and after-school programs focused on providing academic enrichment opportunities for students.
    3. Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV-A), which provide flexible funding for school districts for a wide range of activities including supporting STEM education, accelerated learning courses, college and career counseling, school-based mental health services, and improving school technology, among many others.
    4. English Language Acquisition (Title III-A), which supports language instruction to help English language learners become proficient in English.
    5. Migrant Education (Title I-C), which supports the educational needs of migratory children, including children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
    6. Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants (including Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education State Grants), which support adult education and literacy programs to provide the basic skills to help prepare adults and out-of-school youth for success in the workforce.

    In addition to Senators Murray, Reed, and Whitehouse, the letter was also signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Maize Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-NM), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

    Full text of the letter follows:

    Dear Director Vought and Secretary McMahon:

    We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities. These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque “programmatic review” of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states. This delay not only undermines effective state and local planning for using these funds to address student needs consistent with federal education law, which often takes place months before these funds become available, but also flies in the face of the nation’s education laws which confers state and local educational agency discretion on permissible uses of federal formula grant funds.

    We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration. Late on June 30, 2025, the Department of Education (“Department”) informed states that it would not release fiscal year 2025 funds expected on July 1 before completing a “review” of six programs. The Department even noted ironically that it “remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.” Apparently, the Department needs a refresher course on its statutory responsibilities.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law requires funds to be allocated under the terms and conditions of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations law. This includes a requirement that “$1,329,673,000 shall be for part B of title IV”, which is the authority for the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. This authority requires the Secretary to allot funds to each state for subgrants for before, after, and summer school programming. The law further describes the allotment formula, authorized state and local activities, and other program requirements. By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning. These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law also requires the Department to use $890 million to carry out part A of title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The purpose of the program is to ensure English learners (ELs) and immigrant students have access to the resources they need to attain English language proficiency and reach the same challenging academic standards as their English-proficient peers, which will prepare them to fully participate in society and the workforce as they grow older. Part A of title III specifies the allotment formula, permissible uses of funds and other program requirements for this program serving more than 5 million EL students enrolled in the nation’s public schools. Yet, the administration’s review will disrupt school hiring decisions and cause real and immediate harm to EL students.

    The Department issued preliminary allocations to states on May 29, 2025, stating that “The Full Year Appropriations and Extension Act, 2025 provides $629,600,400 for formula grants to States to carry out adult education and literacy activities.” Just more than a month later, the Department issued its curt memo indicating that the funds would not go out on July 1, 2025, as

    just promised in the May preliminary allocations. This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.

    The withholding also extends to more than $2 billion for Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants. According to the Department’s latest report, more than half of these funds are used for professional development for teachers and other educators, and nearly one-third of school districts used the funds to recruit, hire, and retain effective educators.12 Nearly $1.4 billion is being withheld for Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants and $375 million for Migrant Education programs. All these programs were funded in fiscal year 2024 and continued by the Full-Year Appropriations Act. This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.

    It is unacceptable that the administration is picking and choosing what parts of the appropriations law to follow, and you must immediately implement the entire law as Congress intended and as the oaths you swore require you to do. While the administration continues to deny federal funds to our states and local communities that they are expecting as the law requires, it has found time to move expeditiously to award funding to the Kennedy Center and acknowledged it is required to do so by the appropriations law. In its action here, the Department stated in a recent waiver proposal, “The waiver will allow the Department to issue a continuation award in FY 2025, as directed by Congress to the currently funded 84.351A AENP [Arts in Education National Program] project at an amount consistent with the amount awarded in FY 2024.” While it’s true the appropriations law requires such an action, it does so as well for billions in funding for state grants the Department recently informed states it will not release.

    The administration’s “programmatic review”—with no public information about what the review entails, what data the administration is examining, or a timeline for such review—appears to be an intentional delay that will result in school budget cuts in every State. In multiple statutes, Congress has prohibited the Federal government from directing or controlling state and local education decisions with these dollars. This programmatic review may be in violation of these longstanding and bipartisan prohibitions.

    We might be more inclined to believe the administration’s stated interest in ensuring federal funds were properly used if its actions to date didn’t tell a different story. The Department has impeded a review by the Office of Inspector General, which is charged with promoting the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Department’s programs and operations. Earlier this year, the administration terminated contracts for regional educational laboratories and grants required for comprehensive centers, which help states and districts use research and evidence in addressing local challenges of policy and practice. It has also halted evaluations of federal literacy programs, adult learning strategies, and strategies to help teens with disabilities transition from high school to college or work.

    We insist you immediately reverse your decision to illegally withhold federal education funding appropriated by Congress and provide the funds as the law requires. Such an action would represent a faithful execution of the law as required by the Constitution and a benefit to the tens of millions of students and adult learners that are intended to benefit from these federal education investments.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: As School Year Nears, Reed, Whitehouse & Colleagues Demand Trump Admin. End Blockade on Funding for Afterschool Programs, K-12 Schools Across America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – Approximately $30 million for Rhode Island public schools and educational programs is in limbo after the Trump Administration froze federal funding that had previously been approved by Congress.

    Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and twenty-nine colleagues in sending a letter to President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon demanding the immediate release of nearly $7 billion in funding for K-12 schools and adult literacy programs across America that the Trump administration abruptly let states and school districts know it would indefinitely block last week.

    The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold the funding has sent school districts nationwide scrambling to determine how they could fill the massive budget hole and whether they’ll have to lay off teachers or end after school programs in the coming weeks.

    Rhode Island faces the potential loss of nearly $30 million in federal education as a result of the abrupt cutoff of education funds by the Trump Administration and may be forced to end afterschool programs, specialized literacy programs, educator training, and support for English language learners as a result of this misguided executive maneuver.

    The funding was expected to be disbursed by the federal government on July 1 and impacts every school district across the state.

    Nationwide, school districts have already told parents to prepare backup options, and adult literacy programs have already been forced to lay off staff.

    “We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities,” write the 32 U.S. Senators. “These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque ‘programmatic review’ of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states.”

    The lawmakers blasted the administration for its abrupt notice and illegal freeze of the funds, which has sent school districts and programs nationwide scrambling: “We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration.”

    They note that blocking funding for before and after school programs, as well as summer learning programs, is already hurting families nationwide: “By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning.  These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.”

    Warning of how denying these funds will cause schools to lay off teachers and cut back on teacher training, they write: “This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.”

    The lawmakers also detail how the move affects adult learners nationwide: “This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.”

    The Trump administration has confirmed it is blocking funding for the following programs—all of which are programs President Trump has requested to eliminate in his budget request, raising serious concerns about this administration’s intentions to simply impound the funding:

    1. Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II-A), which support professional development and other activities to improve the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders, including reducing class size.
    2. 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV-B), which support high-quality before and after-school programs focused on providing academic enrichment opportunities for students.
    3. Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV-A), which provide flexible funding for school districts for a wide range of activities including supporting STEM education, accelerated learning courses, college and career counseling, school-based mental health services, and improving school technology, among many others.
    4. English Language Acquisition (Title III-A), which supports language instruction to help English language learners become proficient in English.
    5. Migrant Education (Title I-C), which supports the educational needs of migratory children, including children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
    6. Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants (including Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education State Grants), which support adult education and literacy programs to provide the basic skills to help prepare adults and out-of-school youth for success in the workforce.

    In addition to Senators Murray, Reed, and Whitehouse, the letter was also signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Maize Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-NM), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

    Full text of the letter follows:

    Dear Director Vought and Secretary McMahon:

    We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities. These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque “programmatic review” of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states. This delay not only undermines effective state and local planning for using these funds to address student needs consistent with federal education law, which often takes place months before these funds become available, but also flies in the face of the nation’s education laws which confers state and local educational agency discretion on permissible uses of federal formula grant funds.

    We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration. Late on June 30, 2025, the Department of Education (“Department”) informed states that it would not release fiscal year 2025 funds expected on July 1 before completing a “review” of six programs. The Department even noted ironically that it “remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.” Apparently, the Department needs a refresher course on its statutory responsibilities.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law requires funds to be allocated under the terms and conditions of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations law. This includes a requirement that “$1,329,673,000 shall be for part B of title IV”, which is the authority for the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. This authority requires the Secretary to allot funds to each state for subgrants for before, after, and summer school programming. The law further describes the allotment formula, authorized state and local activities, and other program requirements. By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning. These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law also requires the Department to use $890 million to carry out part A of title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The purpose of the program is to ensure English learners (ELs) and immigrant students have access to the resources they need to attain English language proficiency and reach the same challenging academic standards as their English-proficient peers, which will prepare them to fully participate in society and the workforce as they grow older. Part A of title III specifies the allotment formula, permissible uses of funds and other program requirements for this program serving more than 5 million EL students enrolled in the nation’s public schools. Yet, the administration’s review will disrupt school hiring decisions and cause real and immediate harm to EL students.

    The Department issued preliminary allocations to states on May 29, 2025, stating that “The Full Year Appropriations and Extension Act, 2025 provides $629,600,400 for formula grants to States to carry out adult education and literacy activities.” Just more than a month later, the Department issued its curt memo indicating that the funds would not go out on July 1, 2025, as

    just promised in the May preliminary allocations. This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.

    The withholding also extends to more than $2 billion for Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants. According to the Department’s latest report, more than half of these funds are used for professional development for teachers and other educators, and nearly one-third of school districts used the funds to recruit, hire, and retain effective educators.12 Nearly $1.4 billion is being withheld for Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants and $375 million for Migrant Education programs. All these programs were funded in fiscal year 2024 and continued by the Full-Year Appropriations Act. This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.

    It is unacceptable that the administration is picking and choosing what parts of the appropriations law to follow, and you must immediately implement the entire law as Congress intended and as the oaths you swore require you to do. While the administration continues to deny federal funds to our states and local communities that they are expecting as the law requires, it has found time to move expeditiously to award funding to the Kennedy Center and acknowledged it is required to do so by the appropriations law. In its action here, the Department stated in a recent waiver proposal, “The waiver will allow the Department to issue a continuation award in FY 2025, as directed by Congress to the currently funded 84.351A AENP [Arts in Education National Program] project at an amount consistent with the amount awarded in FY 2024.” While it’s true the appropriations law requires such an action, it does so as well for billions in funding for state grants the Department recently informed states it will not release.

    The administration’s “programmatic review”—with no public information about what the review entails, what data the administration is examining, or a timeline for such review—appears to be an intentional delay that will result in school budget cuts in every State. In multiple statutes, Congress has prohibited the Federal government from directing or controlling state and local education decisions with these dollars. This programmatic review may be in violation of these longstanding and bipartisan prohibitions.

    We might be more inclined to believe the administration’s stated interest in ensuring federal funds were properly used if its actions to date didn’t tell a different story. The Department has impeded a review by the Office of Inspector General, which is charged with promoting the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Department’s programs and operations. Earlier this year, the administration terminated contracts for regional educational laboratories and grants required for comprehensive centers, which help states and districts use research and evidence in addressing local challenges of policy and practice. It has also halted evaluations of federal literacy programs, adult learning strategies, and strategies to help teens with disabilities transition from high school to college or work.

    We insist you immediately reverse your decision to illegally withhold federal education funding appropriated by Congress and provide the funds as the law requires. Such an action would represent a faithful execution of the law as required by the Constitution and a benefit to the tens of millions of students and adult learners that are intended to benefit from these federal education investments.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: As School Year Nears, Reed, Whitehouse & Colleagues Demand Trump Admin. End Blockade on Funding for Afterschool Programs, K-12 Schools Across America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – Approximately $30 million for Rhode Island public schools and educational programs is in limbo after the Trump Administration froze federal funding that had previously been approved by Congress.

    Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and twenty-nine colleagues in sending a letter to President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon demanding the immediate release of nearly $7 billion in funding for K-12 schools and adult literacy programs across America that the Trump administration abruptly let states and school districts know it would indefinitely block last week.

    The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold the funding has sent school districts nationwide scrambling to determine how they could fill the massive budget hole and whether they’ll have to lay off teachers or end after school programs in the coming weeks.

    Rhode Island faces the potential loss of nearly $30 million in federal education as a result of the abrupt cutoff of education funds by the Trump Administration and may be forced to end afterschool programs, specialized literacy programs, educator training, and support for English language learners as a result of this misguided executive maneuver.

    The funding was expected to be disbursed by the federal government on July 1 and impacts every school district across the state.

    Nationwide, school districts have already told parents to prepare backup options, and adult literacy programs have already been forced to lay off staff.

    “We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities,” write the 32 U.S. Senators. “These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque ‘programmatic review’ of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states.”

    The lawmakers blasted the administration for its abrupt notice and illegal freeze of the funds, which has sent school districts and programs nationwide scrambling: “We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration.”

    They note that blocking funding for before and after school programs, as well as summer learning programs, is already hurting families nationwide: “By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning.  These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.”

    Warning of how denying these funds will cause schools to lay off teachers and cut back on teacher training, they write: “This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.”

    The lawmakers also detail how the move affects adult learners nationwide: “This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.”

    The Trump administration has confirmed it is blocking funding for the following programs—all of which are programs President Trump has requested to eliminate in his budget request, raising serious concerns about this administration’s intentions to simply impound the funding:

    1. Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II-A), which support professional development and other activities to improve the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders, including reducing class size.
    2. 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV-B), which support high-quality before and after-school programs focused on providing academic enrichment opportunities for students.
    3. Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV-A), which provide flexible funding for school districts for a wide range of activities including supporting STEM education, accelerated learning courses, college and career counseling, school-based mental health services, and improving school technology, among many others.
    4. English Language Acquisition (Title III-A), which supports language instruction to help English language learners become proficient in English.
    5. Migrant Education (Title I-C), which supports the educational needs of migratory children, including children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
    6. Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants (including Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education State Grants), which support adult education and literacy programs to provide the basic skills to help prepare adults and out-of-school youth for success in the workforce.

    In addition to Senators Murray, Reed, and Whitehouse, the letter was also signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Maize Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-NM), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

    Full text of the letter follows:

    Dear Director Vought and Secretary McMahon:

    We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities. These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque “programmatic review” of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states. This delay not only undermines effective state and local planning for using these funds to address student needs consistent with federal education law, which often takes place months before these funds become available, but also flies in the face of the nation’s education laws which confers state and local educational agency discretion on permissible uses of federal formula grant funds.

    We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration. Late on June 30, 2025, the Department of Education (“Department”) informed states that it would not release fiscal year 2025 funds expected on July 1 before completing a “review” of six programs. The Department even noted ironically that it “remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.” Apparently, the Department needs a refresher course on its statutory responsibilities.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law requires funds to be allocated under the terms and conditions of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations law. This includes a requirement that “$1,329,673,000 shall be for part B of title IV”, which is the authority for the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. This authority requires the Secretary to allot funds to each state for subgrants for before, after, and summer school programming. The law further describes the allotment formula, authorized state and local activities, and other program requirements. By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning. These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law also requires the Department to use $890 million to carry out part A of title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The purpose of the program is to ensure English learners (ELs) and immigrant students have access to the resources they need to attain English language proficiency and reach the same challenging academic standards as their English-proficient peers, which will prepare them to fully participate in society and the workforce as they grow older. Part A of title III specifies the allotment formula, permissible uses of funds and other program requirements for this program serving more than 5 million EL students enrolled in the nation’s public schools. Yet, the administration’s review will disrupt school hiring decisions and cause real and immediate harm to EL students.

    The Department issued preliminary allocations to states on May 29, 2025, stating that “The Full Year Appropriations and Extension Act, 2025 provides $629,600,400 for formula grants to States to carry out adult education and literacy activities.” Just more than a month later, the Department issued its curt memo indicating that the funds would not go out on July 1, 2025, as

    just promised in the May preliminary allocations. This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.

    The withholding also extends to more than $2 billion for Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants. According to the Department’s latest report, more than half of these funds are used for professional development for teachers and other educators, and nearly one-third of school districts used the funds to recruit, hire, and retain effective educators.12 Nearly $1.4 billion is being withheld for Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants and $375 million for Migrant Education programs. All these programs were funded in fiscal year 2024 and continued by the Full-Year Appropriations Act. This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.

    It is unacceptable that the administration is picking and choosing what parts of the appropriations law to follow, and you must immediately implement the entire law as Congress intended and as the oaths you swore require you to do. While the administration continues to deny federal funds to our states and local communities that they are expecting as the law requires, it has found time to move expeditiously to award funding to the Kennedy Center and acknowledged it is required to do so by the appropriations law. In its action here, the Department stated in a recent waiver proposal, “The waiver will allow the Department to issue a continuation award in FY 2025, as directed by Congress to the currently funded 84.351A AENP [Arts in Education National Program] project at an amount consistent with the amount awarded in FY 2024.” While it’s true the appropriations law requires such an action, it does so as well for billions in funding for state grants the Department recently informed states it will not release.

    The administration’s “programmatic review”—with no public information about what the review entails, what data the administration is examining, or a timeline for such review—appears to be an intentional delay that will result in school budget cuts in every State. In multiple statutes, Congress has prohibited the Federal government from directing or controlling state and local education decisions with these dollars. This programmatic review may be in violation of these longstanding and bipartisan prohibitions.

    We might be more inclined to believe the administration’s stated interest in ensuring federal funds were properly used if its actions to date didn’t tell a different story. The Department has impeded a review by the Office of Inspector General, which is charged with promoting the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Department’s programs and operations. Earlier this year, the administration terminated contracts for regional educational laboratories and grants required for comprehensive centers, which help states and districts use research and evidence in addressing local challenges of policy and practice. It has also halted evaluations of federal literacy programs, adult learning strategies, and strategies to help teens with disabilities transition from high school to college or work.

    We insist you immediately reverse your decision to illegally withhold federal education funding appropriated by Congress and provide the funds as the law requires. Such an action would represent a faithful execution of the law as required by the Constitution and a benefit to the tens of millions of students and adult learners that are intended to benefit from these federal education investments.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: As School Year Nears, Reed, Whitehouse & Colleagues Demand Trump Admin. End Blockade on Funding for Afterschool Programs, K-12 Schools Across America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – Approximately $30 million for Rhode Island public schools and educational programs is in limbo after the Trump Administration froze federal funding that had previously been approved by Congress.

    Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and twenty-nine colleagues in sending a letter to President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon demanding the immediate release of nearly $7 billion in funding for K-12 schools and adult literacy programs across America that the Trump administration abruptly let states and school districts know it would indefinitely block last week.

    The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold the funding has sent school districts nationwide scrambling to determine how they could fill the massive budget hole and whether they’ll have to lay off teachers or end after school programs in the coming weeks.

    Rhode Island faces the potential loss of nearly $30 million in federal education as a result of the abrupt cutoff of education funds by the Trump Administration and may be forced to end afterschool programs, specialized literacy programs, educator training, and support for English language learners as a result of this misguided executive maneuver.

    The funding was expected to be disbursed by the federal government on July 1 and impacts every school district across the state.

    Nationwide, school districts have already told parents to prepare backup options, and adult literacy programs have already been forced to lay off staff.

    “We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities,” write the 32 U.S. Senators. “These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque ‘programmatic review’ of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states.”

    The lawmakers blasted the administration for its abrupt notice and illegal freeze of the funds, which has sent school districts and programs nationwide scrambling: “We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration.”

    They note that blocking funding for before and after school programs, as well as summer learning programs, is already hurting families nationwide: “By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning.  These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.”

    Warning of how denying these funds will cause schools to lay off teachers and cut back on teacher training, they write: “This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.”

    The lawmakers also detail how the move affects adult learners nationwide: “This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.”

    The Trump administration has confirmed it is blocking funding for the following programs—all of which are programs President Trump has requested to eliminate in his budget request, raising serious concerns about this administration’s intentions to simply impound the funding:

    1. Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II-A), which support professional development and other activities to improve the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders, including reducing class size.
    2. 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV-B), which support high-quality before and after-school programs focused on providing academic enrichment opportunities for students.
    3. Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV-A), which provide flexible funding for school districts for a wide range of activities including supporting STEM education, accelerated learning courses, college and career counseling, school-based mental health services, and improving school technology, among many others.
    4. English Language Acquisition (Title III-A), which supports language instruction to help English language learners become proficient in English.
    5. Migrant Education (Title I-C), which supports the educational needs of migratory children, including children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
    6. Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants (including Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education State Grants), which support adult education and literacy programs to provide the basic skills to help prepare adults and out-of-school youth for success in the workforce.

    In addition to Senators Murray, Reed, and Whitehouse, the letter was also signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Maize Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-NM), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

    Full text of the letter follows:

    Dear Director Vought and Secretary McMahon:

    We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities. These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque “programmatic review” of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states. This delay not only undermines effective state and local planning for using these funds to address student needs consistent with federal education law, which often takes place months before these funds become available, but also flies in the face of the nation’s education laws which confers state and local educational agency discretion on permissible uses of federal formula grant funds.

    We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration. Late on June 30, 2025, the Department of Education (“Department”) informed states that it would not release fiscal year 2025 funds expected on July 1 before completing a “review” of six programs. The Department even noted ironically that it “remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.” Apparently, the Department needs a refresher course on its statutory responsibilities.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law requires funds to be allocated under the terms and conditions of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations law. This includes a requirement that “$1,329,673,000 shall be for part B of title IV”, which is the authority for the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. This authority requires the Secretary to allot funds to each state for subgrants for before, after, and summer school programming. The law further describes the allotment formula, authorized state and local activities, and other program requirements. By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning. These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law also requires the Department to use $890 million to carry out part A of title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The purpose of the program is to ensure English learners (ELs) and immigrant students have access to the resources they need to attain English language proficiency and reach the same challenging academic standards as their English-proficient peers, which will prepare them to fully participate in society and the workforce as they grow older. Part A of title III specifies the allotment formula, permissible uses of funds and other program requirements for this program serving more than 5 million EL students enrolled in the nation’s public schools. Yet, the administration’s review will disrupt school hiring decisions and cause real and immediate harm to EL students.

    The Department issued preliminary allocations to states on May 29, 2025, stating that “The Full Year Appropriations and Extension Act, 2025 provides $629,600,400 for formula grants to States to carry out adult education and literacy activities.” Just more than a month later, the Department issued its curt memo indicating that the funds would not go out on July 1, 2025, as

    just promised in the May preliminary allocations. This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.

    The withholding also extends to more than $2 billion for Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants. According to the Department’s latest report, more than half of these funds are used for professional development for teachers and other educators, and nearly one-third of school districts used the funds to recruit, hire, and retain effective educators.12 Nearly $1.4 billion is being withheld for Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants and $375 million for Migrant Education programs. All these programs were funded in fiscal year 2024 and continued by the Full-Year Appropriations Act. This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.

    It is unacceptable that the administration is picking and choosing what parts of the appropriations law to follow, and you must immediately implement the entire law as Congress intended and as the oaths you swore require you to do. While the administration continues to deny federal funds to our states and local communities that they are expecting as the law requires, it has found time to move expeditiously to award funding to the Kennedy Center and acknowledged it is required to do so by the appropriations law. In its action here, the Department stated in a recent waiver proposal, “The waiver will allow the Department to issue a continuation award in FY 2025, as directed by Congress to the currently funded 84.351A AENP [Arts in Education National Program] project at an amount consistent with the amount awarded in FY 2024.” While it’s true the appropriations law requires such an action, it does so as well for billions in funding for state grants the Department recently informed states it will not release.

    The administration’s “programmatic review”—with no public information about what the review entails, what data the administration is examining, or a timeline for such review—appears to be an intentional delay that will result in school budget cuts in every State. In multiple statutes, Congress has prohibited the Federal government from directing or controlling state and local education decisions with these dollars. This programmatic review may be in violation of these longstanding and bipartisan prohibitions.

    We might be more inclined to believe the administration’s stated interest in ensuring federal funds were properly used if its actions to date didn’t tell a different story. The Department has impeded a review by the Office of Inspector General, which is charged with promoting the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Department’s programs and operations. Earlier this year, the administration terminated contracts for regional educational laboratories and grants required for comprehensive centers, which help states and districts use research and evidence in addressing local challenges of policy and practice. It has also halted evaluations of federal literacy programs, adult learning strategies, and strategies to help teens with disabilities transition from high school to college or work.

    We insist you immediately reverse your decision to illegally withhold federal education funding appropriated by Congress and provide the funds as the law requires. Such an action would represent a faithful execution of the law as required by the Constitution and a benefit to the tens of millions of students and adult learners that are intended to benefit from these federal education investments.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: As School Year Nears, Reed, Whitehouse & Colleagues Demand Trump Admin. End Blockade on Funding for Afterschool Programs, K-12 Schools Across America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – Approximately $30 million for Rhode Island public schools and educational programs is in limbo after the Trump Administration froze federal funding that had previously been approved by Congress.

    Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and twenty-nine colleagues in sending a letter to President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon demanding the immediate release of nearly $7 billion in funding for K-12 schools and adult literacy programs across America that the Trump administration abruptly let states and school districts know it would indefinitely block last week.

    The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold the funding has sent school districts nationwide scrambling to determine how they could fill the massive budget hole and whether they’ll have to lay off teachers or end after school programs in the coming weeks.

    Rhode Island faces the potential loss of nearly $30 million in federal education as a result of the abrupt cutoff of education funds by the Trump Administration and may be forced to end afterschool programs, specialized literacy programs, educator training, and support for English language learners as a result of this misguided executive maneuver.

    The funding was expected to be disbursed by the federal government on July 1 and impacts every school district across the state.

    Nationwide, school districts have already told parents to prepare backup options, and adult literacy programs have already been forced to lay off staff.

    “We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities,” write the 32 U.S. Senators. “These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque ‘programmatic review’ of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states.”

    The lawmakers blasted the administration for its abrupt notice and illegal freeze of the funds, which has sent school districts and programs nationwide scrambling: “We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration.”

    They note that blocking funding for before and after school programs, as well as summer learning programs, is already hurting families nationwide: “By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning.  These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.”

    Warning of how denying these funds will cause schools to lay off teachers and cut back on teacher training, they write: “This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.”

    The lawmakers also detail how the move affects adult learners nationwide: “This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.”

    The Trump administration has confirmed it is blocking funding for the following programs—all of which are programs President Trump has requested to eliminate in his budget request, raising serious concerns about this administration’s intentions to simply impound the funding:

    1. Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II-A), which support professional development and other activities to improve the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders, including reducing class size.
    2. 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV-B), which support high-quality before and after-school programs focused on providing academic enrichment opportunities for students.
    3. Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV-A), which provide flexible funding for school districts for a wide range of activities including supporting STEM education, accelerated learning courses, college and career counseling, school-based mental health services, and improving school technology, among many others.
    4. English Language Acquisition (Title III-A), which supports language instruction to help English language learners become proficient in English.
    5. Migrant Education (Title I-C), which supports the educational needs of migratory children, including children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
    6. Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants (including Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education State Grants), which support adult education and literacy programs to provide the basic skills to help prepare adults and out-of-school youth for success in the workforce.

    In addition to Senators Murray, Reed, and Whitehouse, the letter was also signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Maize Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-NM), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

    Full text of the letter follows:

    Dear Director Vought and Secretary McMahon:

    We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities. These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque “programmatic review” of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states. This delay not only undermines effective state and local planning for using these funds to address student needs consistent with federal education law, which often takes place months before these funds become available, but also flies in the face of the nation’s education laws which confers state and local educational agency discretion on permissible uses of federal formula grant funds.

    We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration. Late on June 30, 2025, the Department of Education (“Department”) informed states that it would not release fiscal year 2025 funds expected on July 1 before completing a “review” of six programs. The Department even noted ironically that it “remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.” Apparently, the Department needs a refresher course on its statutory responsibilities.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law requires funds to be allocated under the terms and conditions of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations law. This includes a requirement that “$1,329,673,000 shall be for part B of title IV”, which is the authority for the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. This authority requires the Secretary to allot funds to each state for subgrants for before, after, and summer school programming. The law further describes the allotment formula, authorized state and local activities, and other program requirements. By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning. These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law also requires the Department to use $890 million to carry out part A of title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The purpose of the program is to ensure English learners (ELs) and immigrant students have access to the resources they need to attain English language proficiency and reach the same challenging academic standards as their English-proficient peers, which will prepare them to fully participate in society and the workforce as they grow older. Part A of title III specifies the allotment formula, permissible uses of funds and other program requirements for this program serving more than 5 million EL students enrolled in the nation’s public schools. Yet, the administration’s review will disrupt school hiring decisions and cause real and immediate harm to EL students.

    The Department issued preliminary allocations to states on May 29, 2025, stating that “The Full Year Appropriations and Extension Act, 2025 provides $629,600,400 for formula grants to States to carry out adult education and literacy activities.” Just more than a month later, the Department issued its curt memo indicating that the funds would not go out on July 1, 2025, as

    just promised in the May preliminary allocations. This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.

    The withholding also extends to more than $2 billion for Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants. According to the Department’s latest report, more than half of these funds are used for professional development for teachers and other educators, and nearly one-third of school districts used the funds to recruit, hire, and retain effective educators.12 Nearly $1.4 billion is being withheld for Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants and $375 million for Migrant Education programs. All these programs were funded in fiscal year 2024 and continued by the Full-Year Appropriations Act. This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.

    It is unacceptable that the administration is picking and choosing what parts of the appropriations law to follow, and you must immediately implement the entire law as Congress intended and as the oaths you swore require you to do. While the administration continues to deny federal funds to our states and local communities that they are expecting as the law requires, it has found time to move expeditiously to award funding to the Kennedy Center and acknowledged it is required to do so by the appropriations law. In its action here, the Department stated in a recent waiver proposal, “The waiver will allow the Department to issue a continuation award in FY 2025, as directed by Congress to the currently funded 84.351A AENP [Arts in Education National Program] project at an amount consistent with the amount awarded in FY 2024.” While it’s true the appropriations law requires such an action, it does so as well for billions in funding for state grants the Department recently informed states it will not release.

    The administration’s “programmatic review”—with no public information about what the review entails, what data the administration is examining, or a timeline for such review—appears to be an intentional delay that will result in school budget cuts in every State. In multiple statutes, Congress has prohibited the Federal government from directing or controlling state and local education decisions with these dollars. This programmatic review may be in violation of these longstanding and bipartisan prohibitions.

    We might be more inclined to believe the administration’s stated interest in ensuring federal funds were properly used if its actions to date didn’t tell a different story. The Department has impeded a review by the Office of Inspector General, which is charged with promoting the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Department’s programs and operations. Earlier this year, the administration terminated contracts for regional educational laboratories and grants required for comprehensive centers, which help states and districts use research and evidence in addressing local challenges of policy and practice. It has also halted evaluations of federal literacy programs, adult learning strategies, and strategies to help teens with disabilities transition from high school to college or work.

    We insist you immediately reverse your decision to illegally withhold federal education funding appropriated by Congress and provide the funds as the law requires. Such an action would represent a faithful execution of the law as required by the Constitution and a benefit to the tens of millions of students and adult learners that are intended to benefit from these federal education investments.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: As School Year Nears, Reed, Whitehouse & Colleagues Demand Trump Admin. End Blockade on Funding for Afterschool Programs, K-12 Schools Across America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – Approximately $30 million for Rhode Island public schools and educational programs is in limbo after the Trump Administration froze federal funding that had previously been approved by Congress.

    Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and twenty-nine colleagues in sending a letter to President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon demanding the immediate release of nearly $7 billion in funding for K-12 schools and adult literacy programs across America that the Trump administration abruptly let states and school districts know it would indefinitely block last week.

    The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold the funding has sent school districts nationwide scrambling to determine how they could fill the massive budget hole and whether they’ll have to lay off teachers or end after school programs in the coming weeks.

    Rhode Island faces the potential loss of nearly $30 million in federal education as a result of the abrupt cutoff of education funds by the Trump Administration and may be forced to end afterschool programs, specialized literacy programs, educator training, and support for English language learners as a result of this misguided executive maneuver.

    The funding was expected to be disbursed by the federal government on July 1 and impacts every school district across the state.

    Nationwide, school districts have already told parents to prepare backup options, and adult literacy programs have already been forced to lay off staff.

    “We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities,” write the 32 U.S. Senators. “These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque ‘programmatic review’ of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states.”

    The lawmakers blasted the administration for its abrupt notice and illegal freeze of the funds, which has sent school districts and programs nationwide scrambling: “We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration.”

    They note that blocking funding for before and after school programs, as well as summer learning programs, is already hurting families nationwide: “By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning.  These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.”

    Warning of how denying these funds will cause schools to lay off teachers and cut back on teacher training, they write: “This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.”

    The lawmakers also detail how the move affects adult learners nationwide: “This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.”

    The Trump administration has confirmed it is blocking funding for the following programs—all of which are programs President Trump has requested to eliminate in his budget request, raising serious concerns about this administration’s intentions to simply impound the funding:

    1. Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II-A), which support professional development and other activities to improve the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders, including reducing class size.
    2. 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV-B), which support high-quality before and after-school programs focused on providing academic enrichment opportunities for students.
    3. Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV-A), which provide flexible funding for school districts for a wide range of activities including supporting STEM education, accelerated learning courses, college and career counseling, school-based mental health services, and improving school technology, among many others.
    4. English Language Acquisition (Title III-A), which supports language instruction to help English language learners become proficient in English.
    5. Migrant Education (Title I-C), which supports the educational needs of migratory children, including children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
    6. Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants (including Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education State Grants), which support adult education and literacy programs to provide the basic skills to help prepare adults and out-of-school youth for success in the workforce.

    In addition to Senators Murray, Reed, and Whitehouse, the letter was also signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Maize Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-NM), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

    Full text of the letter follows:

    Dear Director Vought and Secretary McMahon:

    We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities. These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque “programmatic review” of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states. This delay not only undermines effective state and local planning for using these funds to address student needs consistent with federal education law, which often takes place months before these funds become available, but also flies in the face of the nation’s education laws which confers state and local educational agency discretion on permissible uses of federal formula grant funds.

    We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration. Late on June 30, 2025, the Department of Education (“Department”) informed states that it would not release fiscal year 2025 funds expected on July 1 before completing a “review” of six programs. The Department even noted ironically that it “remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.” Apparently, the Department needs a refresher course on its statutory responsibilities.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law requires funds to be allocated under the terms and conditions of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations law. This includes a requirement that “$1,329,673,000 shall be for part B of title IV”, which is the authority for the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. This authority requires the Secretary to allot funds to each state for subgrants for before, after, and summer school programming. The law further describes the allotment formula, authorized state and local activities, and other program requirements. By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning. These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law also requires the Department to use $890 million to carry out part A of title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The purpose of the program is to ensure English learners (ELs) and immigrant students have access to the resources they need to attain English language proficiency and reach the same challenging academic standards as their English-proficient peers, which will prepare them to fully participate in society and the workforce as they grow older. Part A of title III specifies the allotment formula, permissible uses of funds and other program requirements for this program serving more than 5 million EL students enrolled in the nation’s public schools. Yet, the administration’s review will disrupt school hiring decisions and cause real and immediate harm to EL students.

    The Department issued preliminary allocations to states on May 29, 2025, stating that “The Full Year Appropriations and Extension Act, 2025 provides $629,600,400 for formula grants to States to carry out adult education and literacy activities.” Just more than a month later, the Department issued its curt memo indicating that the funds would not go out on July 1, 2025, as

    just promised in the May preliminary allocations. This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.

    The withholding also extends to more than $2 billion for Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants. According to the Department’s latest report, more than half of these funds are used for professional development for teachers and other educators, and nearly one-third of school districts used the funds to recruit, hire, and retain effective educators.12 Nearly $1.4 billion is being withheld for Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants and $375 million for Migrant Education programs. All these programs were funded in fiscal year 2024 and continued by the Full-Year Appropriations Act. This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.

    It is unacceptable that the administration is picking and choosing what parts of the appropriations law to follow, and you must immediately implement the entire law as Congress intended and as the oaths you swore require you to do. While the administration continues to deny federal funds to our states and local communities that they are expecting as the law requires, it has found time to move expeditiously to award funding to the Kennedy Center and acknowledged it is required to do so by the appropriations law. In its action here, the Department stated in a recent waiver proposal, “The waiver will allow the Department to issue a continuation award in FY 2025, as directed by Congress to the currently funded 84.351A AENP [Arts in Education National Program] project at an amount consistent with the amount awarded in FY 2024.” While it’s true the appropriations law requires such an action, it does so as well for billions in funding for state grants the Department recently informed states it will not release.

    The administration’s “programmatic review”—with no public information about what the review entails, what data the administration is examining, or a timeline for such review—appears to be an intentional delay that will result in school budget cuts in every State. In multiple statutes, Congress has prohibited the Federal government from directing or controlling state and local education decisions with these dollars. This programmatic review may be in violation of these longstanding and bipartisan prohibitions.

    We might be more inclined to believe the administration’s stated interest in ensuring federal funds were properly used if its actions to date didn’t tell a different story. The Department has impeded a review by the Office of Inspector General, which is charged with promoting the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Department’s programs and operations. Earlier this year, the administration terminated contracts for regional educational laboratories and grants required for comprehensive centers, which help states and districts use research and evidence in addressing local challenges of policy and practice. It has also halted evaluations of federal literacy programs, adult learning strategies, and strategies to help teens with disabilities transition from high school to college or work.

    We insist you immediately reverse your decision to illegally withhold federal education funding appropriated by Congress and provide the funds as the law requires. Such an action would represent a faithful execution of the law as required by the Constitution and a benefit to the tens of millions of students and adult learners that are intended to benefit from these federal education investments.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: As School Year Nears, Reed, Whitehouse & Colleagues Demand Trump Admin. End Blockade on Funding for Afterschool Programs, K-12 Schools Across America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – Approximately $30 million for Rhode Island public schools and educational programs is in limbo after the Trump Administration froze federal funding that had previously been approved by Congress.

    Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and twenty-nine colleagues in sending a letter to President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon demanding the immediate release of nearly $7 billion in funding for K-12 schools and adult literacy programs across America that the Trump administration abruptly let states and school districts know it would indefinitely block last week.

    The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold the funding has sent school districts nationwide scrambling to determine how they could fill the massive budget hole and whether they’ll have to lay off teachers or end after school programs in the coming weeks.

    Rhode Island faces the potential loss of nearly $30 million in federal education as a result of the abrupt cutoff of education funds by the Trump Administration and may be forced to end afterschool programs, specialized literacy programs, educator training, and support for English language learners as a result of this misguided executive maneuver.

    The funding was expected to be disbursed by the federal government on July 1 and impacts every school district across the state.

    Nationwide, school districts have already told parents to prepare backup options, and adult literacy programs have already been forced to lay off staff.

    “We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities,” write the 32 U.S. Senators. “These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque ‘programmatic review’ of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states.”

    The lawmakers blasted the administration for its abrupt notice and illegal freeze of the funds, which has sent school districts and programs nationwide scrambling: “We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration.”

    They note that blocking funding for before and after school programs, as well as summer learning programs, is already hurting families nationwide: “By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning.  These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.”

    Warning of how denying these funds will cause schools to lay off teachers and cut back on teacher training, they write: “This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.”

    The lawmakers also detail how the move affects adult learners nationwide: “This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.”

    The Trump administration has confirmed it is blocking funding for the following programs—all of which are programs President Trump has requested to eliminate in his budget request, raising serious concerns about this administration’s intentions to simply impound the funding:

    1. Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II-A), which support professional development and other activities to improve the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders, including reducing class size.
    2. 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV-B), which support high-quality before and after-school programs focused on providing academic enrichment opportunities for students.
    3. Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV-A), which provide flexible funding for school districts for a wide range of activities including supporting STEM education, accelerated learning courses, college and career counseling, school-based mental health services, and improving school technology, among many others.
    4. English Language Acquisition (Title III-A), which supports language instruction to help English language learners become proficient in English.
    5. Migrant Education (Title I-C), which supports the educational needs of migratory children, including children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
    6. Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants (including Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education State Grants), which support adult education and literacy programs to provide the basic skills to help prepare adults and out-of-school youth for success in the workforce.

    In addition to Senators Murray, Reed, and Whitehouse, the letter was also signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Maize Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-NM), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

    Full text of the letter follows:

    Dear Director Vought and Secretary McMahon:

    We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities. These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque “programmatic review” of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states. This delay not only undermines effective state and local planning for using these funds to address student needs consistent with federal education law, which often takes place months before these funds become available, but also flies in the face of the nation’s education laws which confers state and local educational agency discretion on permissible uses of federal formula grant funds.

    We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration. Late on June 30, 2025, the Department of Education (“Department”) informed states that it would not release fiscal year 2025 funds expected on July 1 before completing a “review” of six programs. The Department even noted ironically that it “remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.” Apparently, the Department needs a refresher course on its statutory responsibilities.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law requires funds to be allocated under the terms and conditions of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations law. This includes a requirement that “$1,329,673,000 shall be for part B of title IV”, which is the authority for the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. This authority requires the Secretary to allot funds to each state for subgrants for before, after, and summer school programming. The law further describes the allotment formula, authorized state and local activities, and other program requirements. By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning. These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law also requires the Department to use $890 million to carry out part A of title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The purpose of the program is to ensure English learners (ELs) and immigrant students have access to the resources they need to attain English language proficiency and reach the same challenging academic standards as their English-proficient peers, which will prepare them to fully participate in society and the workforce as they grow older. Part A of title III specifies the allotment formula, permissible uses of funds and other program requirements for this program serving more than 5 million EL students enrolled in the nation’s public schools. Yet, the administration’s review will disrupt school hiring decisions and cause real and immediate harm to EL students.

    The Department issued preliminary allocations to states on May 29, 2025, stating that “The Full Year Appropriations and Extension Act, 2025 provides $629,600,400 for formula grants to States to carry out adult education and literacy activities.” Just more than a month later, the Department issued its curt memo indicating that the funds would not go out on July 1, 2025, as

    just promised in the May preliminary allocations. This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.

    The withholding also extends to more than $2 billion for Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants. According to the Department’s latest report, more than half of these funds are used for professional development for teachers and other educators, and nearly one-third of school districts used the funds to recruit, hire, and retain effective educators.12 Nearly $1.4 billion is being withheld for Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants and $375 million for Migrant Education programs. All these programs were funded in fiscal year 2024 and continued by the Full-Year Appropriations Act. This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.

    It is unacceptable that the administration is picking and choosing what parts of the appropriations law to follow, and you must immediately implement the entire law as Congress intended and as the oaths you swore require you to do. While the administration continues to deny federal funds to our states and local communities that they are expecting as the law requires, it has found time to move expeditiously to award funding to the Kennedy Center and acknowledged it is required to do so by the appropriations law. In its action here, the Department stated in a recent waiver proposal, “The waiver will allow the Department to issue a continuation award in FY 2025, as directed by Congress to the currently funded 84.351A AENP [Arts in Education National Program] project at an amount consistent with the amount awarded in FY 2024.” While it’s true the appropriations law requires such an action, it does so as well for billions in funding for state grants the Department recently informed states it will not release.

    The administration’s “programmatic review”—with no public information about what the review entails, what data the administration is examining, or a timeline for such review—appears to be an intentional delay that will result in school budget cuts in every State. In multiple statutes, Congress has prohibited the Federal government from directing or controlling state and local education decisions with these dollars. This programmatic review may be in violation of these longstanding and bipartisan prohibitions.

    We might be more inclined to believe the administration’s stated interest in ensuring federal funds were properly used if its actions to date didn’t tell a different story. The Department has impeded a review by the Office of Inspector General, which is charged with promoting the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Department’s programs and operations. Earlier this year, the administration terminated contracts for regional educational laboratories and grants required for comprehensive centers, which help states and districts use research and evidence in addressing local challenges of policy and practice. It has also halted evaluations of federal literacy programs, adult learning strategies, and strategies to help teens with disabilities transition from high school to college or work.

    We insist you immediately reverse your decision to illegally withhold federal education funding appropriated by Congress and provide the funds as the law requires. Such an action would represent a faithful execution of the law as required by the Constitution and a benefit to the tens of millions of students and adult learners that are intended to benefit from these federal education investments.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: As School Year Nears, Reed, Whitehouse & Colleagues Demand Trump Admin. End Blockade on Funding for Afterschool Programs, K-12 Schools Across America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – Approximately $30 million for Rhode Island public schools and educational programs is in limbo after the Trump Administration froze federal funding that had previously been approved by Congress.

    Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and twenty-nine colleagues in sending a letter to President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon demanding the immediate release of nearly $7 billion in funding for K-12 schools and adult literacy programs across America that the Trump administration abruptly let states and school districts know it would indefinitely block last week.

    The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold the funding has sent school districts nationwide scrambling to determine how they could fill the massive budget hole and whether they’ll have to lay off teachers or end after school programs in the coming weeks.

    Rhode Island faces the potential loss of nearly $30 million in federal education as a result of the abrupt cutoff of education funds by the Trump Administration and may be forced to end afterschool programs, specialized literacy programs, educator training, and support for English language learners as a result of this misguided executive maneuver.

    The funding was expected to be disbursed by the federal government on July 1 and impacts every school district across the state.

    Nationwide, school districts have already told parents to prepare backup options, and adult literacy programs have already been forced to lay off staff.

    “We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities,” write the 32 U.S. Senators. “These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque ‘programmatic review’ of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states.”

    The lawmakers blasted the administration for its abrupt notice and illegal freeze of the funds, which has sent school districts and programs nationwide scrambling: “We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration.”

    They note that blocking funding for before and after school programs, as well as summer learning programs, is already hurting families nationwide: “By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning.  These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.”

    Warning of how denying these funds will cause schools to lay off teachers and cut back on teacher training, they write: “This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.”

    The lawmakers also detail how the move affects adult learners nationwide: “This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.”

    The Trump administration has confirmed it is blocking funding for the following programs—all of which are programs President Trump has requested to eliminate in his budget request, raising serious concerns about this administration’s intentions to simply impound the funding:

    1. Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II-A), which support professional development and other activities to improve the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders, including reducing class size.
    2. 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV-B), which support high-quality before and after-school programs focused on providing academic enrichment opportunities for students.
    3. Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV-A), which provide flexible funding for school districts for a wide range of activities including supporting STEM education, accelerated learning courses, college and career counseling, school-based mental health services, and improving school technology, among many others.
    4. English Language Acquisition (Title III-A), which supports language instruction to help English language learners become proficient in English.
    5. Migrant Education (Title I-C), which supports the educational needs of migratory children, including children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
    6. Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants (including Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education State Grants), which support adult education and literacy programs to provide the basic skills to help prepare adults and out-of-school youth for success in the workforce.

    In addition to Senators Murray, Reed, and Whitehouse, the letter was also signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Maize Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-NM), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

    Full text of the letter follows:

    Dear Director Vought and Secretary McMahon:

    We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities. These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque “programmatic review” of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states. This delay not only undermines effective state and local planning for using these funds to address student needs consistent with federal education law, which often takes place months before these funds become available, but also flies in the face of the nation’s education laws which confers state and local educational agency discretion on permissible uses of federal formula grant funds.

    We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration. Late on June 30, 2025, the Department of Education (“Department”) informed states that it would not release fiscal year 2025 funds expected on July 1 before completing a “review” of six programs. The Department even noted ironically that it “remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.” Apparently, the Department needs a refresher course on its statutory responsibilities.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law requires funds to be allocated under the terms and conditions of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations law. This includes a requirement that “$1,329,673,000 shall be for part B of title IV”, which is the authority for the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. This authority requires the Secretary to allot funds to each state for subgrants for before, after, and summer school programming. The law further describes the allotment formula, authorized state and local activities, and other program requirements. By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning. These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law also requires the Department to use $890 million to carry out part A of title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The purpose of the program is to ensure English learners (ELs) and immigrant students have access to the resources they need to attain English language proficiency and reach the same challenging academic standards as their English-proficient peers, which will prepare them to fully participate in society and the workforce as they grow older. Part A of title III specifies the allotment formula, permissible uses of funds and other program requirements for this program serving more than 5 million EL students enrolled in the nation’s public schools. Yet, the administration’s review will disrupt school hiring decisions and cause real and immediate harm to EL students.

    The Department issued preliminary allocations to states on May 29, 2025, stating that “The Full Year Appropriations and Extension Act, 2025 provides $629,600,400 for formula grants to States to carry out adult education and literacy activities.” Just more than a month later, the Department issued its curt memo indicating that the funds would not go out on July 1, 2025, as

    just promised in the May preliminary allocations. This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.

    The withholding also extends to more than $2 billion for Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants. According to the Department’s latest report, more than half of these funds are used for professional development for teachers and other educators, and nearly one-third of school districts used the funds to recruit, hire, and retain effective educators.12 Nearly $1.4 billion is being withheld for Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants and $375 million for Migrant Education programs. All these programs were funded in fiscal year 2024 and continued by the Full-Year Appropriations Act. This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.

    It is unacceptable that the administration is picking and choosing what parts of the appropriations law to follow, and you must immediately implement the entire law as Congress intended and as the oaths you swore require you to do. While the administration continues to deny federal funds to our states and local communities that they are expecting as the law requires, it has found time to move expeditiously to award funding to the Kennedy Center and acknowledged it is required to do so by the appropriations law. In its action here, the Department stated in a recent waiver proposal, “The waiver will allow the Department to issue a continuation award in FY 2025, as directed by Congress to the currently funded 84.351A AENP [Arts in Education National Program] project at an amount consistent with the amount awarded in FY 2024.” While it’s true the appropriations law requires such an action, it does so as well for billions in funding for state grants the Department recently informed states it will not release.

    The administration’s “programmatic review”—with no public information about what the review entails, what data the administration is examining, or a timeline for such review—appears to be an intentional delay that will result in school budget cuts in every State. In multiple statutes, Congress has prohibited the Federal government from directing or controlling state and local education decisions with these dollars. This programmatic review may be in violation of these longstanding and bipartisan prohibitions.

    We might be more inclined to believe the administration’s stated interest in ensuring federal funds were properly used if its actions to date didn’t tell a different story. The Department has impeded a review by the Office of Inspector General, which is charged with promoting the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Department’s programs and operations. Earlier this year, the administration terminated contracts for regional educational laboratories and grants required for comprehensive centers, which help states and districts use research and evidence in addressing local challenges of policy and practice. It has also halted evaluations of federal literacy programs, adult learning strategies, and strategies to help teens with disabilities transition from high school to college or work.

    We insist you immediately reverse your decision to illegally withhold federal education funding appropriated by Congress and provide the funds as the law requires. Such an action would represent a faithful execution of the law as required by the Constitution and a benefit to the tens of millions of students and adult learners that are intended to benefit from these federal education investments.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: As School Year Nears, Reed, Whitehouse & Colleagues Demand Trump Admin. End Blockade on Funding for Afterschool Programs, K-12 Schools Across America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – Approximately $30 million for Rhode Island public schools and educational programs is in limbo after the Trump Administration froze federal funding that had previously been approved by Congress.

    Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and twenty-nine colleagues in sending a letter to President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon demanding the immediate release of nearly $7 billion in funding for K-12 schools and adult literacy programs across America that the Trump administration abruptly let states and school districts know it would indefinitely block last week.

    The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold the funding has sent school districts nationwide scrambling to determine how they could fill the massive budget hole and whether they’ll have to lay off teachers or end after school programs in the coming weeks.

    Rhode Island faces the potential loss of nearly $30 million in federal education as a result of the abrupt cutoff of education funds by the Trump Administration and may be forced to end afterschool programs, specialized literacy programs, educator training, and support for English language learners as a result of this misguided executive maneuver.

    The funding was expected to be disbursed by the federal government on July 1 and impacts every school district across the state.

    Nationwide, school districts have already told parents to prepare backup options, and adult literacy programs have already been forced to lay off staff.

    “We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities,” write the 32 U.S. Senators. “These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque ‘programmatic review’ of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states.”

    The lawmakers blasted the administration for its abrupt notice and illegal freeze of the funds, which has sent school districts and programs nationwide scrambling: “We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration.”

    They note that blocking funding for before and after school programs, as well as summer learning programs, is already hurting families nationwide: “By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning.  These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.”

    Warning of how denying these funds will cause schools to lay off teachers and cut back on teacher training, they write: “This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.”

    The lawmakers also detail how the move affects adult learners nationwide: “This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.”

    The Trump administration has confirmed it is blocking funding for the following programs—all of which are programs President Trump has requested to eliminate in his budget request, raising serious concerns about this administration’s intentions to simply impound the funding:

    1. Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II-A), which support professional development and other activities to improve the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders, including reducing class size.
    2. 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV-B), which support high-quality before and after-school programs focused on providing academic enrichment opportunities for students.
    3. Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV-A), which provide flexible funding for school districts for a wide range of activities including supporting STEM education, accelerated learning courses, college and career counseling, school-based mental health services, and improving school technology, among many others.
    4. English Language Acquisition (Title III-A), which supports language instruction to help English language learners become proficient in English.
    5. Migrant Education (Title I-C), which supports the educational needs of migratory children, including children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
    6. Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants (including Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education State Grants), which support adult education and literacy programs to provide the basic skills to help prepare adults and out-of-school youth for success in the workforce.

    In addition to Senators Murray, Reed, and Whitehouse, the letter was also signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Maize Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-NM), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

    Full text of the letter follows:

    Dear Director Vought and Secretary McMahon:

    We are writing to demand an immediate end to the illegal withholding of nearly $7 billion in federal education formula grant funds our states and communities are expecting for the coming school year, which is set to begin in just a few weeks in some communities. These funds were made available by the bipartisan Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, signed into law on March 15, 2025. Yet, instead of supporting the tens of millions of students and adult learners intended to benefit from these investments, the administration has chosen to continue an unprecedented and opaque “programmatic review” of these formula grant funds past the July 1, 2025, date these funds became available for allotment to states. This delay not only undermines effective state and local planning for using these funds to address student needs consistent with federal education law, which often takes place months before these funds become available, but also flies in the face of the nation’s education laws which confers state and local educational agency discretion on permissible uses of federal formula grant funds.

    We are shocked by the continued lack of respect for states and local schools evidenced by this latest action by the administration. Late on June 30, 2025, the Department of Education (“Department”) informed states that it would not release fiscal year 2025 funds expected on July 1 before completing a “review” of six programs. The Department even noted ironically that it “remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.” Apparently, the Department needs a refresher course on its statutory responsibilities.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law requires funds to be allocated under the terms and conditions of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations law. This includes a requirement that “$1,329,673,000 shall be for part B of title IV”, which is the authority for the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. This authority requires the Secretary to allot funds to each state for subgrants for before, after, and summer school programming. The law further describes the allotment formula, authorized state and local activities, and other program requirements. By withholding these funds from states, the Department will impact programs for nearly 1.4 million students served by 10,000 summer and before and afterschool programs around the nation, which the Department’s latest performance report showed supported significant improvements in student attendance, grades, and teacher reports of student engagement in learning. These centers also help working parents by providing a safe and productive place for their children to be after the school day ends and during the summer months. It is beyond comprehension why the administration would want to jeopardize these outcomes.

    The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations law also requires the Department to use $890 million to carry out part A of title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The purpose of the program is to ensure English learners (ELs) and immigrant students have access to the resources they need to attain English language proficiency and reach the same challenging academic standards as their English-proficient peers, which will prepare them to fully participate in society and the workforce as they grow older. Part A of title III specifies the allotment formula, permissible uses of funds and other program requirements for this program serving more than 5 million EL students enrolled in the nation’s public schools. Yet, the administration’s review will disrupt school hiring decisions and cause real and immediate harm to EL students.

    The Department issued preliminary allocations to states on May 29, 2025, stating that “The Full Year Appropriations and Extension Act, 2025 provides $629,600,400 for formula grants to States to carry out adult education and literacy activities.” Just more than a month later, the Department issued its curt memo indicating that the funds would not go out on July 1, 2025, as

    just promised in the May preliminary allocations. This pause could jeopardize services to more than 1.2 million adult learners working to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed to enter and succeed in workforce training and health, financial, digital, and information literacy skills necessary for full participation in community and civic life. The withholding will have an even more significant impact on 12 states that rely on these funds for 70 to 75 percent of their adult education programs.

    The withholding also extends to more than $2 billion for Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants. According to the Department’s latest report, more than half of these funds are used for professional development for teachers and other educators, and nearly one-third of school districts used the funds to recruit, hire, and retain effective educators.12 Nearly $1.4 billion is being withheld for Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants and $375 million for Migrant Education programs. All these programs were funded in fiscal year 2024 and continued by the Full-Year Appropriations Act. This rash decision will only worsen school working conditions and teacher shortages.

    It is unacceptable that the administration is picking and choosing what parts of the appropriations law to follow, and you must immediately implement the entire law as Congress intended and as the oaths you swore require you to do. While the administration continues to deny federal funds to our states and local communities that they are expecting as the law requires, it has found time to move expeditiously to award funding to the Kennedy Center and acknowledged it is required to do so by the appropriations law. In its action here, the Department stated in a recent waiver proposal, “The waiver will allow the Department to issue a continuation award in FY 2025, as directed by Congress to the currently funded 84.351A AENP [Arts in Education National Program] project at an amount consistent with the amount awarded in FY 2024.” While it’s true the appropriations law requires such an action, it does so as well for billions in funding for state grants the Department recently informed states it will not release.

    The administration’s “programmatic review”—with no public information about what the review entails, what data the administration is examining, or a timeline for such review—appears to be an intentional delay that will result in school budget cuts in every State. In multiple statutes, Congress has prohibited the Federal government from directing or controlling state and local education decisions with these dollars. This programmatic review may be in violation of these longstanding and bipartisan prohibitions.

    We might be more inclined to believe the administration’s stated interest in ensuring federal funds were properly used if its actions to date didn’t tell a different story. The Department has impeded a review by the Office of Inspector General, which is charged with promoting the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Department’s programs and operations. Earlier this year, the administration terminated contracts for regional educational laboratories and grants required for comprehensive centers, which help states and districts use research and evidence in addressing local challenges of policy and practice. It has also halted evaluations of federal literacy programs, adult learning strategies, and strategies to help teens with disabilities transition from high school to college or work.

    We insist you immediately reverse your decision to illegally withhold federal education funding appropriated by Congress and provide the funds as the law requires. Such an action would represent a faithful execution of the law as required by the Constitution and a benefit to the tens of millions of students and adult learners that are intended to benefit from these federal education investments.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hawley Reintroduces Bill Banning Chinese Ownership of American Land, Homes

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo)

    Thursday, July 10, 2025

    Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) reintroduced legislation to ban Chinese corporations and individuals associated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from owning American agricultural land and homes. The Senator’s introduction of the Protecting Our Farms and Homes from China Act comes after the Trump Administration recently unveiled its National Farm Security Action Plan, a comprehensive strategy to respond to this challenge and protect our farmland and food supply chains.
    “China’s ownership of U.S. farmland poses a direct threat to American interests,”said Senator Hawley. “We should never let our nation’s greatest adversary have access to our vital resources, including our housing supply. That’s why I’m reintroducing legislation to protect American assets from the CCP once and for all.”
    According to the USDA, Chinese entities own around 278,000 acres of agricultural land across the country, a total that has spiked 350 percent since 2010. The ownership of so much acreage by our nation’s greatest geopolitical adversary undermines the integrity of our food supply and creates unacceptable national security risks, particularly given the proximity of much of this land to sensitive military installations.
    The Protecting Our Farms and Homes from China Act would:
    Prohibit Chinese corporations and individuals affiliated with the CCP from acquiring or leasing United States’ agricultural land;
    Prohibit Chinese corporations and individuals associated with the CCP from purchasing residential real estate in the United States for a period of at least two years, with an option for the President to renew the prohibition biennially;
    Require Chinese corporations and individuals affiliated with the CCP to divest ownership of United States’ agricultural land and residential real estate within one year;
    Establish civil fines and criminal penalties for noncompliance, including forfeiture.
    Read the full bill here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Collins Welcomes Bowdoin Student as a Summer Intern in Her Washington Office

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Maine Susan Collins
    Published: July 11, 2025

    Click HERE for a high-resolution photo
    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced that Nelson Dorsey, a student-athlete at Bowdoin College, has been awarded a summer internship in her Washington office. 
    “Nelson’s academic achievements and his commitment as a student-athlete are a testament to his drive and dedication,” said Senator Collins. “I am confident that he will make valuable contributions to Maine during his internship.”
    Nelson is a rising sophomore at Bowdoin, where he is majoring in Government and Legal Studies, and Psychology. He is a worship leader for the Bowdoin Christian Students Alliance and will also be the starting running back on the football team next year.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Collins Welcomes Islesboro Native as a Summer Intern in Her Washington Office

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Maine Susan Collins
    Published: July 11, 2025

    Click HERE for a high-resolution photo
    Washington, D.C.  – U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced that Charles Jagger, an Islesboro native, has been awarded a summer internship in her Washington office.  Charles is a graduate of Islesboro Central School.
    “Charles is a dedicated student whose strong academic background makes him well-suited for this role serving the people of Maine,” said Senator Collins. “I am glad to welcome him to my Washington office to assist my staff with important legislative work.”
    Charles is a rising senior at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, where he is majoring in Finance. On campus, he is co-president of the Investment and Business networking clubs. Upon graduation, Charles plans to work in the finance sector or fiscal policy industry.
    Maine students who are interested in applying for future sessions of the internship program can do so through Senator Collins’ website at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/services/students.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Collins Welcomes Kennebunk Native as a Summer Intern in Her Washington Office

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Maine Susan Collins
    Published: July 11, 2025

    Click HERE for a high-resolution photo
    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced that Renee Bergeon, a Kennebunk native, has been awarded a summer internship in her Washington office.  Renee is a graduate of Kennebunk High School.
    “It is a pleasure to give Mainers an opportunity to serve their state,” said Senator Collins. “Renee has a strong work ethic and impressive leadership skills. I am glad she will have the opportunity to learn more about the legislative process through this internship.”
    Renee is a rising junior at the George Washington University, where she is majoring in International Affairs, concentrating in Security Policy. On campus, she is the President of the Rotary-sponsored Rotaract Club. Upon graduation, Renee plans to pursue a career in security policy.
    Maine students who are interested in applying for future sessions of the internship program can do so through Senator Collins’ website at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/services/students.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Collins Welcomes Gorham Native as a Summer Intern in Her Washington Office

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Maine Susan Collins
    Published: July 11, 2025

    Click HERE for a high-resolution photo
    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced that Charles Hubbard, a Gorham native, has been awarded a summer internship in her Washington office. Charles is a graduate of Gorham High School.
    “I am delighted to welcome Charles to my Washington, D.C., office,” said Senator Collins. “Charles is very diligent in his work, and I am pleased that he will have the opportunity to see the legislative process firsthand as well as serve his fellow Mainers.”
    Charles graduated from the University of Maine, where he majored in Political Science. Charles plans to continue his education and pursue a career in law.
    Maine students who are interested in applying for future sessions of the internship program can do so through Senator Collins’ website at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/services/students.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: REPORT: Wisconsin Hospitals Will Lose $264 Million Annually Under Republicans’ Budget Bill

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new report was released projecting that hospitals in Wisconsin will lose $264.6 million a year because of the Republicans’ budget bill. Senator Baldwin voted against the bill, which will terminate health care for over 270,000 Wisconsinites, increase costs for working families, and jeopardize the ability of hospitals and clinics to remain open.

    “At a time when Wisconsin families are asking us to bring down the skyrocketing costs of health care and prescription drugs, Republicans pushed through a bill that has devastating consequences to Wisconsin’s working families and hospitals,” said Senator Baldwin. “While the top 0.1% get their tax cuts, Republicans’ bill will shutter hospitals, increase drive and wait times for everyone, and put a tremendous strain on our already overworked doctors and nurses.”

    The Republicans’ bill, which every Congressional Republican from Wisconsin supported, is projected to terminate health care for 17 million Americans, including 270,000 Wisconsinites. One-fifth of total spending on hospital care comes from Medicaid, and one in three Wisconsin hospitals was operating at a loss. Over 300 rural hospitals across the country are at disproportionate risk of closure, conversion, or service reductions due to health care cuts in the bill, including 3 in Wisconsin.

    Read the full report here.  

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warren Secures Wins on Right to Repair, Service Member Safety, Military Housing, Transparency at Defense Department in Senate Version of FY 2026 Defense Policy Bill

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren

    July 11, 2025

    Executive Summary of Senate FY26 NDAA (Website)

    Washington, D.C. — During the Senate Armed Services Committee’s (SASC) markup of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (FY26 NDAA) this week, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, secured key wins, including on right to repair, transparency on the removal of top military officials, troop health and safety, boosting competition among defense contractors, improved housing protections for American troops, and education. All were secured with bipartisan support in the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

    Senator Warren secured the following provisions in SASC’s version of the FY26 NDAA: 

    Right to Repair

    “It’s common sense for members of the military to be able to fix their own weapons. Senator Sheehy and I fought hard to secure this provision that will improve military readiness and save taxpayers billions of dollars. It’s about time we stand up to Pentagon contractors that are squeezing every last cent from us at the expense of our national security,” said Senator Warren.

    • A provision, which includes portions of Senator Warren’s bipartisan Warrior Right to Repair Act, to guarantee all branches of the military the right to repair their equipment and requires contractors to provide any information needed to repair the equipment.

    In January, Senator Warren secured Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s support for taking on costly right to repair restrictions. She has also questioned defense contractors directly for their opposition to right to repair reform and introduced separate bicameral legislation to require contractors to provide repair materials in a timely and reasonable manner. 

    Promoting Transparency

    “Secretary Hegseth’s attack on independent legal advisors doesn’t make anyone safer. I’m fighting to rein in this abuse of power and ensure transparency from this administration,” said Senator Warren.

    • A provision requiring DoD to notify Congress five days before the removal of a Judge Advocate General (JAG), top legal officers for the military services, and provide a justification.

    Senator Warren, along with several of her SASC colleagues, sent a letter to Secretary Hegseth earlier this year raising concerns about how his firings of these top military lawyers would damage public trust and the apolitical foundation of the military legal system. In a March 2025 hearing, Senator Warren also highlighted, and a Trump defense nominee agreed with, the importance of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, whom American troops rely on for legal advice and Senator Lindsey Graham has praised as “the conscience of the military.”

    Service Member Health and Safety

    “I’ve heard so many stories of service members suffering from the devastating effects of blast overpressure – cases of depression, suicide, and seizures. I led historic, bipartisan reforms in last year’s NDAA and will keep pushing DoD to do more,” said Senator Warren. “I’ve been fighting on this issue for years, and a long-term study on exposure would help us better ensure troops get the care and support they deserve.”

    • A provision providing an additional $5 million for blast overpressure analysis and mitigation beyond the Trump administration’s request; 
    • A provision requiring DoD to provide a Congressional briefing on the feasibility of conducting a study on the long-term effects of blast overpressure exposure in partnership with a non-profit medical center specializing in Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and with experience working with Special Operators; 
    • A provision requiring the Government Accountability Office to study DoD’s compliance with blast overpressure reforms passed in last year’s NDAA, as well as DoD’s efforts to use cognitive assessments to track brain health, to document service member exposure, and to address the potential link between exposure and risks of suicide; and 
    • A provision requiring the Joint Safety Council to provide Congress the executive summaries of Safety Investigation Boards (SIBs) conducted for the past three years and any corrective actions that were taken. 

    For over seven years, Senator Warren has led efforts to measure blast exposure and develop protocols that protect our military. She’s introduced bipartisan legislation to track service members’ exposure to and mitigate the effects of blast overpressure. She’s also hosted a hearing and a forum to highlight service members’ and veterans’ experiences with getting care for these injuries. In last year’s NDAA, Senator Warren secured historic reforms to improve access to care after exposure to blast overpressure and mitigate exposure risks. 

    Senator Warren has also highlighted the need for transparency around military accidents, the crash that killed Staff Sergeant Jacob Galliher– a young father from Pittsfield, Massachusetts. 

    Increasing Competition 

    “Increasing competition for our military’s AI and cloud computing programs creates better tools, saves money, and protects our national security. I’ll keep fighting to protect our military from being ripped off while keeping our markets fair and our information secure,” said Senator Warren. 

    • Based on Senator Warren’s bipartisan Protecting AI and Cloud Competition Act, the bill requires DoD to produce a report on competition dynamics between AI and commercial cloud providers, the impacts of competition on overall innovation in AI, barriers to entry for small and new performers, and the impact of potential or perceived concentrations of market power or market share on competition; 
    • A provision requiring the DoD Inspector General to review sole source cloud computing contracts awarded under the Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability program, including justifications, approvals, and systemic challenges to competition. 
    • A provision requiring DoD to provide its strategy to monitor and mitigate the risks of future mergers and acquisitions; 
    • A provision requiring DoD to maintain multiple sources as soon as possible, and no later than fiscal year 2031, for products in critical sectors; and
    • A provision tackling consolidation in the defense contracting industry by requiring that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a review of mergers in the previous 10 years to determine if changes to defense merger review laws and policies are necessary. 

    Senator Warren has urged the Defense Department to ensure its AI contracting processes will protect government data, save taxpayer funds, and promote competition. She’s also introduced bipartisan legislation to help rein in Big Tech companies and prevent them from cutting out competitors in the AI and cloud computing markets when it comes to defense contracting. 

    Drug Supply Chains and Health Care

    “The DoD’s overreliance on overseas manufacturers gives our adversaries the power to restrict our access to the critical drugs we need to treat our men and women in uniform,” said Senator Warren. “Congress can save lives and save money by strengthening our domestic pharmaceutical supply to ensure we have access to the medicines necessary to treat service members in the field.” 

    “One of the nation’s biggest drug middlemen may be ripping off our military to boost its profits–and trying to hide this information from Congress. My provision ensures Congress has the information we need to hold contractors accountable for price-gouging on the backs of our servicemembers and taxpayers,” said Senator Warren.

    • A provision requiring DoD to report on how shortages and supply challenges for drugs and medical countermeasures have impacted military readiness and the ability for DoD to obtain the pharmaceuticals it needs for its personnel; and 
    • A provision requiring DoD to provide a confidential briefing to the Armed Services Committee every six months on the differences in reimbursement rates or practices, direct and indirect remuneration fees or other price concessions, and clawbacks between pharmacies that are affiliates of TRICARE’s contracted Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) and pharmacies that are not affiliates of TRICARE’s contracted PBM. 

    Senator Warren has long sounded the alarm on the danger of overly relying on foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers, for both the military and civilians. She has led bipartisan oversight and urged the Defense Department to reform acquisition rules to give preference to American-made products. She has also filed legislation to end the country’s reliance on foreign countries for critical drugs and a bipartisan bill to study the impacts of foreign investment in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. Senator Warren has also called for audits into pharmacy benefit managers that price gouge the military. 

    Military Housing and Childcare

    “Military families deserve safe, affordable housing. Congress must investigate the potential use of rent-setting algorithms used to price gouge military families and ban abusive landlords’ use of NDAs meant to keep military tenants quiet,” said Senator Warren. 

    • A provision requiring DoD to provide a report and briefing to SASC on the extent to which privatized military housing companies are using algorithmic software, including RealPage, to set apartment rents for service members paid by basic allowance for housing (BAH); 
    • A provision banning landlords from requesting that tenants sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in privatized military housing; 
    • A provision to establish a pilot program for increasing child development center employee wages on at least three military installations; and
    • A provision increasing the transparency of landlord financial practices by requiring privatized military housing companies to report their liability insurance coverage and the amounts of payments to tenants to resolve dispute resolutions. 

    Senator Warren has been a leader in raising concerns about problems with privatized military housing and led the push to protect military families. She has led oversight into landlords’ use of algorithmic pricing tools like RealPage to hike rents on servicemembers. She has also introduced legislation to address private military housing landlords’ use of NDAs and unsafe housing conditions. At an April 2025 hearing, Senator Warren secured a commitment from a Trump defense nominee to hold military housing contractors accountable, if needed.  

    Education

    “Service members put their lives on the line for this country, so there’s no excuse for our government to fall short of its promises to them. Helping service members afford quality education is how our country recruits and maintains a fighting force,” said Senator Warren.

    • A provision requiring DoD to issue a report on the status of a data match to ensure service members can automatically receive Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF); and  
    • A provision directing GAO to issue a report on challenges service members face in student loan repayment, including scams, repayment procedures, and servicer misconduct.

    Senator Warren has been a leading voice in fighting for strong education benefits for service members and families, fighting to restore benefits to veterans cheated by for-profit colleges and pushing the Defense Department to release data on the Postsecondary Education Complaint System (PECS), a centralized database to track complaints against schools who participate in tuition assistance programs. At an April 2025 hearing, she pressed military leaders on the impact of the Defense Department’s shortcomings on education benefits.  

    The House Armed Services Committee will convene to mark up its version of the NDAA next week. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: In Joint CBS Interview, Warren, Sheehy Highlight Bipartisan Fight For Military’s Right to Repair Its Own Equipment

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren

    July 11, 2025

    Warren: “The choice will belong to our military to make the right economic decision to purchase and then the right economic decisions down the line on how to repair it.”

    Sheehy: “We’re at a point where we’ll have systems that are not ready for missions overseas in war zones, on ships, at forward-deployed bases, and we can’t conduct basic repairs to those systems.”

    Full Interview (YouTube)

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), who are both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sat down with CBS’s Caitlin Huey-Burns to highlight their Warrior Right to Repair Act of 2025, which would require contractors to provide the Department of Defense access to technical data and materials the military needs to repair and maintain its own equipment. This legislation aims to reduce government spending, promote competition, and improve military readiness. Portions of the bill are included in the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act of 2026.

    Watch the interview here and read the full transcript below: 

    CBS News: Why Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Tim Sheehy are teaming up to tame Pentagon spending
    July 10, 2025

    Caitlin Huey-Burns: Why can’t the military fix its own equipment? 

    Senator Elizabeth Warren: You want to go first, Tim? 

    Senator Tim Sheehy: Well, we’ve had decades of bureaucratic sclerosis that have created a really broken system that’s rife with perverse incentives. It’s also rife with requirements that aren’t always grounded in what the warfighter actually needs, and a huge focus on process over outcome. We’re at a point where we’ll have systems that are not ready for missions overseas in war zones, on ships, at forward-deployed bases, and we can’t conduct basic repairs to those systems. And I think we’re at a point now where we’ve seen multiple theaters of war, from Iraq to Afghanistan to Israel to Ukraine. We’re understanding the limits of this current defense acquisition paradigm, and it’s about time we fix it. So, it’s not one thing that happened. It’s an accumulation of 30 years of bureaucracy that’s kind of led to where we’re at now.

    Senator Warren: And I would just add to what Senator Sheehy says here by pointing out that the defense contractors have figured out they get two bites at every apple this way. So, they sell you the initial product, whether it’s an oven on a submarine or it’s a fancy piece of warfighting equipment—that’s one—and they negotiate a price for that, but they hold back in the fine print. You can’t fix it yourself. So, when the safety clip breaks, when you get sand down in the equipment, and you need to mess with it some more, the answer is, too often, because of what’s in that contract that the military says to our service member, don’t touch that thing. You’ve got to retire, in effect, the piece of equipment, hold it over there, call a contractor, have the contractor fly in from a long, long way away, charge us for flying in, take the delay and charge us whatever they want to charge us to come in and fix that thing. That has turned out to be a very profitable model for some of the defense contractors. And what our bill says is no more, no more. The Defense Department, going forward, if our bill is signed into law, it basically says, here’s the deal: you negotiate the price to buy the thing, and if the thing breaks, we may fix it ourselves. We may go to another small business, a startup, some guy who set up shop to be able to fix just that kind of thing. Or we may come back to the manufacturer. But the choice will belong to our military to make the right economic decision to purchase and then the right economic decisions down the line on how to repair it.

    Caitlin Huey-Burns: What about the argument, though, that the contractor knows the equipment better than anyone else has the ability to fix it better than anyone? Why shouldn’t they be allowed to be the ones?

    Senator Warren: Let them compete. They want to offer. They want to say, “Hey, we can fix that.” You know what? I’ll bet if that happened, that the price of fixing it would go down, if there were competition—that is, if other little guys were in there saying, “Hey, we can fix this.” Or, let’s face it, the servicemember, himself or herself, who actually also knows this stuff. Let’s have that open competition. That’s what we need here on the military side, and frankly, it’s what we need throughout the country, whether we’re talking about cars or tractors or telephones, or anything else. But we’re starting here. 

    Caitlin Huey-Burns: So, you’re saying—you’re not saying that the contractor won’t be able to fix the equipment, they just can’t have a monopoly in it?

    Senator Warren: That’s right, that they negotiated up front in fine print when nobody was looking and nobody was pricing it in. That’s where they’re making off like bandits.

    Caitlin Huey-Burns: And Senator Sheehy, you approach this issue as a former seal officer. What kind of impact—Senator Warren talked about the financial aspects of this. What kind of impact has this had on the battlefield, on training, on our soldiers out there? What does it mean for military readiness?

    Senator Sheehy: Less. Less readiness, to put it bluntly. We’ve had less readiness as a result of this. Now, our acquisition paradigm was really designed in the 1950s and 60s and hasn’t really changed since then. And in fairness to the Pentagon individuals and the contractors together, much of that’s been on us. We have not forced an upgrade to our DFARS, defense acquisition regulations, that govern the entire federal acquisition environment. We have not forced them to upgrade those, and it’s about time we do, because the systems simply were not as complicated. Software. Software is becoming one of the core pieces of functional equipment that we have.

    Caitlin Huey-Burns: You two come from very different parties. You’re a very conservative Republican. You’re a very progressive Democrat. How is it that you two found this common ground? How is it that you guys came together on this piece of legislation? 

    Senator Sheehy: Well, I was making the rounds as a freshman who’s never served in any political office before, when I got here, I said, the first thing I do is I’m trying to meet with every single member I can, on both parties, and just introduce myself and get some advice and wisdom. And in our first meeting, you know, we just—she said, “Well, what do you want to do when you’re here?” And I listed the handful of things I wanted to focus on. One of them was defense acquisition reform. And I kind of went on my riff about how frustrated I was.

    Caitlin Huey-Burns: Your eyes light up.

    Senator Warren: I did. 

    Senator Sheehy: She popped up like an aerobics video, like, “That, we’re going to do it.” And we dug into it.

    Caitlin Huey-Burns: “That’s my language.” 

    Senator Warren: Exactly, I said, “Another nerd, we can do this. We can do this.” But it is, there are these places that this isn’t political. This is about doing what is right.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warnock Pushes Trump Admin For Answers on FEMA Cuts

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock – Georgia
    Senator Reverend Warnock first pressed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem for answers on major cuts to FEMA over a month ago. Secretary Noem has yet to respond to critical questions, even in the midst of hurricane season.
    Senator Reverend Warnock: “Know that I will not sit idly by while Georgia lives and livelihoods are endangered. This is about our safety, and we deserve answers.”
    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) is escalating his fight to get answers from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on FEMA’s ability to respond to hurricanes in Georgia this storm season. Senator Warnock renewed his call for answers on social media after Noem failed to respond to his inquiry at the beginning of hurricane season in June. 
    Senator Warnock first pressed Secretary Noem for answers after leaked internal assessments revealed that FEMA is unprepared for the current storm season that began on June 1. The Senator’s calls also follow Secretary Noem’s recent statement in which she doubled down on the administration’s plan to eliminate the agency all together.
    Senator Warnock asked Secretary Noem to commit to ensuring that FEMA’s Region IV office in Atlanta, which oversees disaster response for all of Georgia and much of the southeast, remains fully staffed and resourced for the 2025 hurricane season. 
    “We have seen the devastation and the impact of hurricanes and big storms in Georgia, time and time again,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “We need to know if the administration is taking this seriously. We do know based on internal reports that much of the agency has been hollowed out. The evidence suggests that we do not have the personnel to respond at the beginning of hurricane season” 
    This is Senator Warnock’s latest effort to ensure that FEMA has the resources needed to protect Georgians from natural disasters and assist with recovery. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Senator Warnock led a bipartisan, bicameral effort to secure billions of dollars in federal funding for disaster recovery efforts in Georgia. The Senator also introduced bipartisan legislation to extend the tax deadline for Georgians impacted by Hurricane Helene and other natural disasters. Senator Warnock also joined a bipartisan effort to demand that the Trump Administration reinstate the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which supports local disaster mitigation projects including a $30 million award to Savannah for flood reduction measures that was canceled earlier this year. 
    Full text of the letter can be found HERE and below:
    Dear Secretary Noem,
    As the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season begins this week, and following Acting Administrator Richardson’s stunning and disturbing reported admission that he was unaware the United States has a hurricane season, I write with deep concern about the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the potentially devastating consequences for Georgia communities.
    Nearly a year ago, in September 2024, Georgia and the entire southeast were bombarded by Hurricane Helene – a multi-state major disaster and the deadliest storm to strike the mainland United States in 20 years. At its peak, Hurricane Helene left more than 1 million Georgians without power, demanded 300 boil water advisories across the state, damaged over 200,000 homes, and left thousands of families displaced.
    Fortunately, thanks to an early presence in Georgia and a “great” working relationship with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and state leadership, FEMA was prepared to quickly mobilize assistance teams, deliver meals and water to the hardest-hit areas, and coordinate response and recovery efforts with state, local, and nonprofit leaders. Most importantly, FEMA remained in Georgia long after the national cameras left, helping Georgians along their road to recovery and hosting resource fairs for impacted communities on everything from applications for individual assistance to small business loans to housing needs. To date, FEMA has provided over $360 million to survivors and more than $400 million to local governments and communities in Georgia. Though not perfect, this effort required a level of coordination across state lines, rapid mobilization of personnel and supplies, and deep experience that only the federal government and FEMA can provide.
    According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season will likely be “above normal” and feature up to ten hurricanes, including five major storms that will threaten Georgia and much of the southeast. However, instead of working with state and local governments, nonprofits, and federal partners to prepare for the 2025 hurricane season, the Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have haphazardly and irresponsibly worked to dismantle the nation’s lead disaster response agency without any workable alternative or sense of direction.
    These reckless actions include:
    Proposing a $646 million budget cut to FEMA in Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, along with the cancellation of billions in disaster relief and mitigation grants that help states prepare for future disasters;
    Gutting FEMA’s workforce by nearly 30 percent, including more than 1,800 voluntary buyouts, 200 terminations, a hiring freeze, the departure of 16 senior officials, as well as the abject firing of FEMA’s administrator who warned against eliminating the agency;
    Pursuing ill-conceived, shortsighted, and abrupt changes to longstanding FEMA policy, including quadrupling the damage threshold for Georgia communities to receive federal assistance from roughly $21 million to more than $84 million;
    Canceling hurricane readiness trainings for state and local emergency managers in Georgia and across the country; and,
    Eliminating the disaster resiliency-focused Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, including a $30 million award to reduce flooding in Savannah, Georgia.
    I am always open to considering thoughtful, transparent reforms developed in close partnership with Congress, states, and local officials, but these unilateral actions are gambling with the lives and livelihoods of millions of Georgians. As DHS’s own internal agency review states, “FEMA is not ready” for the upcoming hurricane season – a frightening assessment that I fear will soon have severe consequences in Georgia and southeastern coastal states.
    To that end, I request answers to the following questions by June 26, 2025, so that Georgians may better understand how your actions will affect their safety during the 2025 hurricane season:
    How would a budget cut of $646 million, as proposed in your FY26 budget request, help FEMA better prepare for and respond to future disasters in Georgia?
    What analyses did DHS conduct to ensure that these budget cuts will not diminish the safety of Americans during hurricane season?

    Please provide any policy justification or budget analysis supporting the cancellation of hurricane readiness trainings for state and local officials, including how such cancellations better prepare local communities for hurricane season.[1] In the absence of such trainings, how does DHS intend to ensure that local officials are prepared for hurricane season?
    Of the FEMA employees who were terminated or accepted voluntary buyouts, how many performed a hurricane preparedness, logistic, or safety function, including those who collaborated with state and local governments before, during, and after a disaster?
    What analyses, if any, has DHS conducted to assess the impact of implemented and proposed workforce reductions on FEMA’s ability to perform its emergency management functions? Please provide copies of any written communications, analyses, and other documentation concerning how workforce reductions will limit FEMA’s ability to carry out its core functions.
    How many counties in Georgia that received federal assistance in the aftermath of previous disasters would have been denied that assistance if FEMA’s proposal to quadruple the damage threshold had been implemented prior to those disasters? Please provide a list of affected disasters and Georgia counties, including how much federal disaster assistance would have been lost by each county under FEMA’s new proposed threshold.
    What public process or consultation, if any, did FEMA conduct before proposing an increase to the per capita impact indicator threshold?
    Please provide a cost-benefit analysis supporting the cancellation of the BRIC program and awarded projects like Savannah, Georgia’s flood reduction measures, including how such cancellations make communities like Savannah more resilient and safer in the event of a severe storm.
    What contingency plans are in place if FEMA staff and resources are overwhelmed during the 2025 hurricane season?
    Are there plans to further adjust or reduce staffing at FEMA’s Region IV office in Atlanta, Georgia, which oversees disaster response for all of Georgia and much of the southeast?
    Will you commit to ensuring this office remains fully staffed and resourced for the duration of the 2025 hurricane season?

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: WATCH: “Sh*t that ain’t true” — Padilla, Booker Call Out Trump’s Lies and Attacks, Explain How VISIBLE Act Will Make Americans, Law Enforcement Safer

    US Senate News:

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

    WATCH: “Sh*t that ain’t true” — Padilla, Booker Call Out Trump’s Lies and Attacks, Explain How VISIBLE Act Will Make Americans, Law Enforcement Safer

    WATCH: Padilla, Booker push for immigration enforcement agents to display clear identificationWASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) recently released a video on Instagram calling out President Donald Trump’s false claims and explaining the facts about how their legislation, the VISIBLE Act, would make Americans and law enforcement officials safer.
    Trump’s attacks came a day after the Senators introduced legislation that would require officers conducting immigration enforcement to clearly identify themselves, and prohibit them from obscuring their identity with a facial covering while conducting their duties, with exceptions for environmental hazards and covert operations.
    More information on the VISIBLE Act is available here.

    Watch the full video here.
    Earlier this week, Senator Padilla also led 13 Democratic Senators in a letter criticizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for engaging in counterproductive, theatrical enforcement activities — including raids on courthouses and restaurants — and requesting information from the agency on its mask and uniform policies. The Senators argued that these tactics are designed to sow fear and chaos and that allowing masked, plainclothes officers to engage in public raids creates situations where bad actors can commit crimes while claiming to be ICE agents.

    MIL OSI USA News –