Amid National Cuts, Schatz Secures Nearly $75 Million In New Earmark Funding For Native Hawaiian Health, Education, Housing, Infrastructure Projects

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) secured nearly $75 million in new congressional directed spending, also known as earmarks, for Hawai‘i in a bipartisan funding package approved by the Senate today. The new funding follows nearly $34 million in earmark funding secured by Schatz for Hawai‘i in an appropriations deal signed into law earlier this month and another $38 million enacted last November.

“We secured nearly $75 million in new earmark funding to support Native Hawaiians and communities across Hawai‘i in critical areas, including health care, housing, and education,” said Senator Schatz, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “In spite of the challenges in Washington, we made sure that Hawai‘i got its fair share of federal resources.”

EARMARKS SECURED BY SENATOR SCHATZ INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

Collaborative Support Services (Hawai‘i Island, Kaua‘i, Moloka‘i, O‘ahu) – $1.3 million

The funding will be used to deliver new community-based early childhood kindergarten readiness programs in North Kohala, Kapa‘a, Moloka‘i, and Nanakuli. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

Hale Makua Health Services (Maui) – $1.9 million

The funding will be used to purchase and replace nursing home patient beds. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

Hawai‘i Island Community Health Center – $1.5 million

The funding will be used to construct a new satellite family health center in a medically-underserved area of Hilo. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

County of Maui – $1.2 million

This funding will support the first phase of an affordable housing development on Lana‘i. (Schatz and Tokuda joint request)

Moloka‘i Airport – $1 million

The funding will be used to rehabilitate the runway and taxiways at MKK to prevent future airport disruptions. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

Bishop Museum (O‘ahu) – $1.6 million

This funding supports the creation of a program at the Bishop Museum to digitize entire collections for use by academic institutions, other museums, and the public. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

Dynamic Community Solutions (O‘ahu) – $2 million

The funding will be used to construct water, sewer, and road infrastructure for additional phases of a permanent supportive housing site that will house 250 homeless individuals and provide wraparound services. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

County of Hawai‘i – $7.3 million

This funding supports the planning and design of a highway connecting the West terminus of Daniel K. Inouye Highway to the intersection of the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway with Waikoloa Beach Drive.

‘Aha Punana Leo – $1.3 million

The funding will be used to develop new early childhood education Hawaiian language materials, such as books and videos, based on literacy principles and building math skills. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

Hawai‘i Department of Education – $1 million

The funding will be used to enhance teacher recruitment, training, and retention in Hawaiian culture-based instruction.

Hawai‘i Food Bank (O‘ahu) – $1.6 million

The funding will be used to develop Hawai‘i Food Bank's Waipahu facility to increase food access and disaster resilience. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

The Food Basket Inc. (Hawai‘i Island) – $2 million

This funding will be used to construct a 7,000-square-foot steel Farmers Market Pavilion for local farmers, food vendors, and small businesses to sell produce.

Palama Settlement (O‘ahu) – $3 million

This funding will support construction of a new community center to primarily serve nearby public housing residents, with uses including a preschool, senior center, and youth center. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

Aloha United Way – $800,000

The funding will be used to expand the "211" statewide helpline to refer people in need to essential food, housing, and social services. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawai‘i – $1 million

The funding will be used to establish a college and career mentoring program to provide occupational support for youth.

Boys & Girls Club of Hawai‘i (O‘ahu and Kaua‘i) – $505,000

The funding will be used to deliver out-of-school programming for students, developing social-emotional learning (SEL) skills and increasing high school graduation rates. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

Boys & Girls Club of Maui – $800,000

The funding will be used to provide new mental health services, expanding supports available to Maui youth. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

KAMP Hawai‘i (O‘ahu) – $350,000

The funding will be used to deliver life mentoring programs for youth with special needs.

Maui Memorial Medical Center – $850,000

The funding will be used to purchase bedside monitors to improve patient safety in the intensive care unit, pediatric intensive care unit, and emergency department. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

Partners in Development Foundation – $2.3 million

The funding will be used to provide families with financial literacy training and seed funding for novel child investment accounts. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

Project Vision Hawai‘i – $810,000

The funding will be used to provide vision and hearing screening services to children at schools on Hawai‘i Island, O‘ahu and Maui. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific (O‘ahu) – $1.1 million

The funding will be used to purchase new beds to enhance care and safety. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

YouthLine (Maui) – $431,000

The funding will be used to develop a mental health support network delivered for and by community youth.

Hope Services Hawai‘i (Hawai’i Island) – $1 million

The funding will support site work and road and utility infrastructure for the first phase of a planned 59 modular units to serve as permanent supportive housing for the Hilo and West Hawai‘i homeless population.

Statewide Office on Homelessness and Housing Solutions (O‘ahu) – $1.2 million

The funding will be used to purchase and furnish mobile homelessness service units providing health care, social services, and links to resources for homeless residents.

Parents And Children Together (O‘ahu) – $2 million

The funding will be used to rehabilitate headquarters to deliver services that help children and families confront poverty, violence, abuse, and behavioral health needs.

County of Kaua‘i – $2.3 million

The funding will be used to create a shared use path connecting Waimea Town and Kekaha Town, providing safe access to Kekaha Elementary, Waimea Canyon Middle, and Waimea High School. It will also serve the Waimea 400 development when completed.

County of Maui – $2.5 million

The funding will be used to construct the shared use path for North-South Collector Road in Kihei. This project will construct the bike/ped component of a larger extension project to improve traffic circulation and vulnerable road user facilities in this area of Kihei.

Young Women's Christian Association (YMCA) of O‘ahu – $1 million

The funding will be used to renovate and repurpose the YWCA's recreational campsite into homeless transitional housing for women in the justice system or experiencing domestic violence.

Hawai‘i Department of Transportation – $2.4 million

This project will support shade structure, ice houses, and waterlines at Kawaihae, Hilo, Kahului, Honolulu, and Nawiliwili.

Lanakila Pacific (O‘ahu) – $1 million

The funding will be used to ensure a temperature-controlled environment in the food handling rooms for Lanakila Pacific's Meals on Wheels and food service programs for individuals with disabilities.

Helping Hands Hawai‘i (O‘ahu) – $2.1 million

The funding will be used to renovate Helping Hands Hawai‘i's facilities to provide household items and training to struggling families.

City and County of Honolulu – $2 million

This project will provide plumbing, electrical, and accessibility renovations for up to 30 properties that house 290 low-income people, including youth, individuals with mental illness, individuals with disabilities, and survivors of domestic violence.

Girl Scouts of Hawai‘i (Maui) – $1.1 million

The funding will be used to revitalize camp infrastructure to support girls' activities and empowerment programs. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

County of Hawai‘i – $1.9 million

This project will provide site work and utilities to build 50 one-bedroom housing units, walking and car paths, outdoor gathering areas, and associated supportive services to serve individuals and families experiencing homelessness or with very low incomes.

City and County of Honolulu – $7 million

This project will extend the Malaekahana bike path from its terminus at the beach through Kahuku town.

County of Kaua‘i – $2 million

This funding supports land clearing and grading for the Kilauea Town Expansion, a new subdivision of 350 affordable rental and for-sale homes (including single-family, multifamily, and duplexes) that is also planned to include mixed-use community expected to include park space, commercial and light industrial areas, and wastewater treatment.

Child & Family Service (Maui) – $5 million

This funding will be used to purchase a facility for family strengthening programs. (Schatz and Hirono joint request)

County of Maui – $250,000

This funding will be used to support the development of multifamily affordable and workforce housing. (Schatz, Hirono, Tokuda joint request)

City and County of Honolulu – $1 million

This funding will help renovate part of a former university building and convert some of its floors to dedicated shelter space and additional affordable housing. (Schatz and Case joint request)

County of Kaua‘i – $3.2 million

This funding will support the next phases of a county-owned master planned affordable housing subdivision. (Schatz, Hirono, Tokuda joint request)

Kaua‘i Economic Development Board – $124,000

This funding will support workforce development programs, entrepreneur services, and other training for Waimea High School and Waimea Canyon Middle School.

O‘ahu Resource Conservation and Development Council – $904,000

This funding will support technical assistance, business planning support, and other education to boost locally-led farming innovation.

City and County of Honolulu – $404,000

This funding will help expand small business services, including training, procurement education, coaching, financial planning, certification, regulatory compliance guidance, and language translation.

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Schatz: Hawai‘i Set To Receive Hundreds Of Millions In New Federal Funding In Appropriations Deal

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate today passed a bipartisan appropriations deal that will deliver hundreds of millions in federal funding for critical programs that benefit Hawai‘i. U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, successfully secured funding for Hawai‘i’s priorities in the final deal.

“Despite the tough politics over federal funding in Washington, we secured hundreds of millions of dollars for Hawai‘i. The new funding will improve our roads and infrastructure, and provide people with health care, housing, and other essential services,” said Senator Schatz, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The new package follows a deal that delivered millions of dollars for Hawai‘i to support clean energy, Native Hawaiian arts and culture, and protect wildlife, among other things. The bill today also separated new appropriations funding for the Department of Homeland Security from the package as negotiations over critical reforms to immigration enforcement continue.

FUNDING HIGHLIGHTS FOR HAWAI‘I INCLUDE:

Native Hawaiian Health – $27 million. Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems, as part of the Native Hawaiian Health Care Program, provide critical access to health education, promotion, disease prevention, and basic primary care services for thousands of Native Hawaiians. This funding will support five health centers on Hawai‘i Island, Kaua‘i, Moloka‘i, Maui, and O‘ahu, and Papa Ola Lokahi.

Native Hawaiian Housing – $22.3 million. As Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Senator Schatz worked to secure funding for the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant Program, which provides financial assistance for Native Hawaiian families to obtain new homes, make renovations, build community facilities, and receive housing services, including counseling, financial literacy and other critical resources to address housing disparities.

Native Hawaiian Education – $46 million, which includes $10 million for facility construction, renovation, and modernization. This funding supports programs that strengthen Native Hawaiian culture, improve levels of educational attainment, and enhance family and community involvement in education. Senator Schatz included a provision to allow funds to be used for construction, renovation, and modernization of public schools that predominantly serve Native Hawaiian students.

Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native-Serving Institutions – $25 million, a $300,000 increase from last year (Hawai‘i and Alaska). The funding provides competitive grants to Native Hawaiian-serving institutions to carry out education, applied research, and community development programs. The bill also provides new authorities to allow for construction and maintenance in classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and other instructional facilities.

Community Health Centers – $6.5 billion, a $300 million increase from last year (nationwide). The bill provides continued funding for 14 of Hawai‘i’s federally-qualified community health centers providing high-quality and affordable primary and preventive care, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, vision, and complementary services to rural and medically underserved communities.

Telehealth – $45.5 million, a $3.5 million increase from last year (nationwide). The Office for the Advancement of Telehealth is the major federal office dedicated to strengthening access to telehealth, including building the evidence base, supporting states as they develop infrastructure and regulations, promoting access, and providing direct technical assistance, including funding for telehealth programs in Hawai‘i.

Native Hawaiian Resource Center on Domestic Violence – $2 million. The Domestic Violence Resource Network, funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will fund a state resource center dedicated to reducing disparities and strengthening domestic violence intervention and prevention efforts for Native Hawaiians.

Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health – $6 million, a $2 million increase from last year (Hawai‘i and Oklahoma). The funding will support the University of Hawai‘i’s Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health, which is dedicated to advancing ancestral practices as a means to improve health in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.

Housing and Community Development – more than $3 billion (nationwide). Hawai‘i faces a critical housing shortage and this bill supports programs that will help Hawai‘i build more housing. Specifically, the bill includes:

$50 million for “Yes In My Back Yard” grant funding, a program Senator Schatz created to incentivize state and local governments to change their zoning and land use laws and regulations that often unfairly limit the amount of housing that can be built where it’s needed.

$3 billion for the Community Development Block Grant formula program, which supports development for low-income communities.

Bus and Transit – $16.6 billion (nationwide). This funding is distributed among the states and counties for the operation and capital costs associated with the operation of public transit systems, including the Maui Bus, TheBus, Kaua‘i Bus, Hele-On Bus, and TheHandi-Van fleets.

Highways and Bridges – $64.3 billion (nationwide). The funding is distributed from the Highway Trust Fund to states for highway maintenance and new construction of bridges, roads, and bike and pedestrian paths.

Air Traffic Control and FAA – $13.7 billion (nationwide). This funding will support the hiring and training of controllers, helping maintain the 2,500 air traffic controller hiring goal and keep air travel safe.

Homelessness Assistance – $4.4 billion, a $366 million increase (nationwide). Homelessness assistance programs provide funding to states and local governments and nonprofit providers to serve people across the country who are affected by homelessness.

Child Care – $8.8 billion, an $85 million increase (nationwide). The Child Care Development Block Grant provides subsidies for 1,900 children under six in Hawai‘i to access high quality child care.

Head Start – $12.4 billion, an $85 million increase (nationwide). Head Start provides high-quality, comprehensive early childhood development services to nearly 3,000 young children in Hawai‘i.

National Hansen’s Disease Program – $1.9 million. The funding is solely awarded to Hawai‘i for the care and treatment of patients with Hansen’s disease. Though Hansen’s disease is rare and treatable, Hawai‘i has among the highest prevalence in the country. This funding supports the Hawai‘i Department of Health to provide treatment for patients living in Kalaupapa and on O‘ahu.

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Health Research – $5 million, a $1 million increase. The funding advances a new health research office Senator Schatz established at the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities to support research, training, and community engagement that promote and improve the health of NHPI communities.

Native American Language Resource Center – $2.4 million (nationwide). This funding will continue to support the establishment of a Native American Language Resource Center to provide best practices and curricula development on Native American language education, including ‘Olelo Hawai‘i. Senator Schatz’s Native American Language Resource Center Act was signed into law in 2022.

Technology-Enabled Collaborative Learning – $8.5 million (nationwide). The bill funds programs under Senator Schatz’s ECHO Act to promote technology-enabled collaborative learning and capacity building to help clinicians provide expert-level care to patients wherever they live, increasing access to specialty treatment in rural and underserved areas.

Job Corps – $1.8 billion (nationwide). This funding provides a residential career training program to help younger workers complete their high school education, train them for meaningful careers, and assist them in obtaining employment.

DoD Impact Aid – $70 million (nationwide). The DoD Impact Aid and Aid for Children with Disabilities programs provide assistance to 82 public school districts nationwide that educate 170,000 children of military personnel.

Pacific Disaster Center – $3 million. PDC was established in 1992 after Hurricane Iniki to ensure the state had the best science and technology to support lifesaving decision-making for our island communities throughout the Pacific and beyond. PDC acts as a crucial integrator of information, data, and news to allow INDOPACOM and other national security leadership to be able to make informed decisions on developing crises. The breath of information that PDC can provide, collected across various news sources, data sets, and expertise can be integrated with the information national security leaders have to ensure they can respond to a crisis, like a tsunami or earthquake, with the best information available to save lives.

ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

Native Hawaiian Child Care. The deal includes a provision to improve oversight of the Administration for Children and Families’ $1 million cap on the Native Hawaiian Non-Profit Organization Child Care Grant.

Airspace Modernization. The funding package includes a measure directing the Federal Aviation Administration to advance the Hawai‘i airspace modernization project, which will enable Air Traffic Control upgrades, faster interisland flights, fewer flight delays and cancellations, and more reliable air service.

Prepositioning Response Medical Caches in Hawai‘i. The bill directs the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response to preposition emergency medical resources in Hawai‘i to mitigate risks during disrupted transportation networks, communications, and supply chains.

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander National Health Interview Survey. The bill includes language to ensure the inclusion of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders in the annual National Health Interview Study that is used to measure and report the state of Americans' health and the distribution of public health resources.

U.S. Department of Education. The bipartisan bill rejects the Trump Administration's efforts to eliminate the Department, including new prohibitions on transfer of funding to other federal agencies unless authority is provided, and requirements to maintain staffing levels to fulfill statutory responsibilities.

Post Office Preservation. The deal includes a provision language preventing the closure of small rural and other small post offices.

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Senate passes funding bills, advancing Sen. Tim Scott’s health, defense, and South Carolina priorities

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) issued the following statement regarding the Senate passage of a spending package to avoid a government shutdown. The appropriations bills include full year funding for the Departments of Defense, Financial Services and General Government, Labor, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs through September 2026 as well as continued funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

“This funding package delivers results on kitchen-table issues for patients, families, and service members by keeping our focus on affordability, access to care, and the safety of Americans,” said Sen. Scott. “I’m proud to see multiple policies I’ve worked on pass the Senate and move one step closer to becoming law, improving the lives of South Carolinians across our state.”

Key health care victories led by Sen. Scott

The Senate-passed appropriations package includes multiple provisions authored or co-led by Sen. Scott:

Telehealth Modernization Act: Extends telehealth flexibilities for Medicare beneficiaries through Dec. 31, 2027, expanding access to care for seniors and rural patients. The package also includes provisions improving in-home cardiopulmonary rehabilitation flexibility and telehealth services for individuals with limited English proficiency.

Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act: Extends the Hospital at Home program for five years, supporting South Carolina hospitals, including Roper St. Francis and Prisma Health, to provide hospital level care at patients’ homes. This bill continues the success of the program, which has routinely been demonstrated to reduce costs, improve patient outcomes, and lessen the burden on hospitals.

PREVENT DIABETES Act: Allows CDC-recognized virtual care providers to continue delivering diabetes prevention care under the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program Expanded Model through 2029.

Family-to-Family Reauthorization Act: Reauthorizes Family-to-Family Health Information Centers for two years, ensuring nonprofit, family-led organizations can continue to provide free services and resources to families with children and youth with special health care needs.

Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Demonstration Program: Reauthorizes the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Demonstration Program through fiscal year 2029, continuing investments in the treatment, education, and care for sickle cell disease.

The extension of health care programs, including telehealth, are funded without increasing the deficit through Pharmacy Benefit Manager reforms, which will ensure Americans pay less for pharmaceutical drugs.

Funding highlights

Labor, Health and Human Services, Education: Nearly $195 billion, including funding for federal sickle cell programs and about $20 million going to Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Program Account through September 2027 to help with repair, renovation, and construction.

Department of Defense: Nearly $839 billion to strengthen military readiness, increase munitions production, provide a 3.8% pay raise for service members, and invest in defense programs supported by South Carolina manufacturers, including BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and others.

Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development: Nearly $103 billion for critical projects including modernizing transportation infrastructure, improving aviation safety, and expanding housing assistance.

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Shaheen Statement on Appropriations Vote

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement:

“Over the past weeks, I, like millions of Americans have been horrified by the deaths of two Americans and images of ICE and CBP officers conducting chaotic and lawless enforcement operations in communities across the country.

“Like the overwhelming majority of Americans, I believe in a strong and secure border. And I believe that people who commit violent crimes or pose a threat to public safety should be held accountable. But that is not what we have seen from this Administration, which has engaged in sweeping and untargeted operations. That is why reform at DHS is so desperately needed and why Secretary Noem needs to go.

“Tonight I voted to advance five bipartisan bills that will allow us to fund 96% of our government. These bills will help keep rural hospitals open, support families battling addiction, ensure our service members and civil servants get paid and much more.

“This vote also begins a two-week clock on urgent, bipartisan talks, to ensure accountability for what happened in Minnesota and to put in place concrete reforms to prevent incidents like this from happening again. The American people have made it resoundingly clear they want Congress to get this done.”

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Tillis, Blumenthal Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Honor Law Enforcement and Strengthen Officer Safety

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) recently introduced the bipartisan National Law Enforcement Officers Remembrance, Support, and Community Outreach Act, legislation to establish a formal program within the U.S. Department of the Interior to support community outreach, public education, and officer safety and wellness initiatives of the National Law Enforcement Museum through grants to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

“Our law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe, and they deserve our full support,” said Senator Tillis. “This bipartisan legislation honors the sacrifice of fallen officers while strengthening officer safety, wellness, and public education through the National Law Enforcement Museum and Memorial. I’m proud to stand with our law enforcement officers to ensure these vital programs continue and grow.”

“Our bipartisan measure brings law enforcement closer to the communities they serve,” said Senator Blumenthal. “By investing in programs that support community outreach and honoring the service of fallen officers, our legislation fosters stronger bonds between law enforcement and the public.”

“On behalf of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF), I want to express our sincere thanks to Senators Tillis and Blumenthal for taking the lead in authoring the National Law Enforcement Remembrance, Support and Community Outreach Act,” said Lori Sharpe Day, Chair, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. “The fact that Congress saw fit to create the National Law Enforcement Memorial and the National Law Enforcement Museum set a powerful precedent for Congress recognizing the vital importance of our mission. This legislation is a logical next step for Congress to take to ensure that the vital mission of NLEOMF continues and, in these challenging times for law enforcement, that the important educational and outreach programs run by NLEOMF and the National Law Enforcement Museum are expanded and enhanced. This bill will save police lives and help forge a closer relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve. It's an important pro-law enforcement bill - one that we strongly endorse and support.”

Background:

The National Law Enforcement Officers Remembrance, Support, and Community Outreach Act would support initiatives to memorialize and honor law enforcement officers, collect and analyze data on law enforcement fatalities and injuries, increase public understanding of and support for law enforcement, enhance officer safety and wellness, and strengthen relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve. The legislation would authorize $6 million annually for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund over seven fiscal years.

The bill is supported by numerous law enforcement and public safety organizations including: The National Law Enforcement Remembrance, Support and Community Outreach Act is supported by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund's board member organizations, including the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Fraternal Order of Police, Fraternal Order of Police Auxiliary, International Brotherhood of Police Officers, International Union of Police Associations/AFL-CIO, Motorola Solutions, Verizon, National Association of Police Organizations, National Sheriffs’ Associations, COPS, DuPont, National Black Police Association, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, National Policing Institute, National Troopers Coalition, Police Executive Research Forum, Police Unity Tour, and the United Federation of Police Officers.

Full text of the bill is available HERE.

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Tillis Statement on the Nomination of Kevin Warsh for Federal Reserve Chairman

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, released the following statement regarding the nomination of Kevin Warsh to serve as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:

“Kevin Warsh is a qualified nominee with a deep understanding of monetary policy. However, the Department of Justice continues to pursue a criminal investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell based on committee testimony that no reasonable person could construe as possessing criminal intent. Protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve from political interference or legal intimidation is non-negotiable.

“My position has not changed: I will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of Chairman, until the DOJ’s inquiry into Chairman Powell is fully and transparently resolved.”


Van Hollen Joins Markey, Merkley, Wyden in Urging Trump to Keep Longstanding Ban on South Korean Nuclear Enrichment, Reprocessing

Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and co-chairs of the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), in writing to President Trump to urge the strongest possible non-proliferation measures in any revised nuclear cooperation agreement with South Korea. The Senators’ letter follows the White House’s release of a fact sheet on November 13 outlining the Trump administration’s plans to allow uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing for peaceful uses in South Korea. The Trump administration’s action reverses long-standing bipartisan U.S. policy to prevent the spread of enrichment and reprocessing technologies to limit the risk that those capabilities could be used to produce fissile materials for weapons.

In the letter, the senators wrote, “South Korea’s complicated history with nuclear weapons, and your role in that history, makes your policy shift particularly concerning. South Korea has had an interest in nuclear weapons stretching back to the 1970s and conducted illicit activities that were investigated by the United Nations. In 2016, you suggested that South Korea should develop nuclear weapons. In 2024, the Biden administration designated South Korea a ‘sensitive country,’ a term used for states that pose a proliferation risk. At the time, the former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was being impeached for declaring martial law. Yoon had suggested that South Korea may need to pursue nuclear weapons to deter North Korea.”

The lawmakers continued, “Providing latent nuclear capability to South Korea would also undermine U.S. non-proliferation efforts. For example, the United States is currently negotiating a 123 agreement with Saudi Arabia, which has also expressed nuclear weapons aspirations and is also seeking to enrich uranium. As some of us wrote to your State Department on November 17, 2025, the Administration should apply the strongest ‘gold standard’ protections to prohibit enrichment and reprocessing in all nuclear cooperation agreements. Agreeing to weaker nonproliferation measures with South Korea would make it harder to hold the line on Saudi Arabia, undermining the existing global nonproliferation regime and exacerbating tensions across the Middle East.”

The senators request answers to the following questions by February 13, 2026:

Does the Administration intend to revise its 123 agreement with South Korea? If so, what revisions will be made? Is the Administration seeking “gold standard protections”?

Will the Administration inform the Senate Foreign Relations and the House Foreign Affairs committees about its intentions with respect to a revised 123 agreement with South Korea?

What nuclear technology is the Administration planning to provide to South Korea, who will provide it, when will it be transferred, and under what terms?

Is the United States considering constructing and operating enrichment and reprocessing facilities on South Korean soil?

Who will build the nuclear-powered attack submarines, where will they be built, what type of fuel will they use, and where will that fuel be produced?

Text of the letter can be viewed here and below:

Dear President Trump:

Last year, in a major reversal in policy, you pledged U.S. support for South Korea to enrich uranium and separate plutonium, the key ingredients for nuclear weapons. Seoul, an important U.S. ally, says this shift is necessary to advance its civil nuclear program and that it has no interest in nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, South Korean leaders have long been interested in keeping the nuclear option open, a possibility that you have encouraged. We are greatly concerned that giving Seoul the tools to make nuclear weapons will increase the risks of proliferation and a dangerous arms race, both in the region and beyond. Instead, we urge the Administration to apply the strongest possible “gold standard” non-proliferation measures in any revised nuclear cooperation agreement with South Korea.

South Korea has long sought approval from the United States to develop enrichment and reprocessing capabilities for civil purposes. The United States has repeatedly denied Seoul’s requests—until now. According to a November 13 White House factsheet, during your October 29 meeting with South Korea, the United States said it “supports the process that will lead to [South Korea’s] civil uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing for peaceful uses.” This reverses Washington’s long-standing bipartisan policy to prevent the spread of enrichment and reprocessing technologies to limit the risk that those capabilities could be used to produce fissile materials for weapons.

The November 13 factsheet says that any enrichment and reprocessing must be consistent with the existing “123 agreement” between the two countries. Named after section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, the bilateral agreement requires Seoul to obtain U.S. consent before enriching or reprocessing nuclear materials transferred under the deal or produced by technology transferred under the deal.

Seoul originally agreed to forgo enrichment and reprocessing when it first signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Washington in 1972, but it pushed to revisit the issue when the agreement was renewed in 2015. The 2015 agreement did not give consent for enrichment and reprocessing, but it did create a high-level bilateral commission to explore options for doing so.

South Korea’s complicated history with nuclear weapons, and your role in that history, makes your policy shift particularly concerning. South Korea has had an interest in nuclear weapons stretching back to the 1970s and conducted illicit activities that were investigated by the United Nations. In 2016, you suggested that South Korea should develop nuclear weapons. In 2024, the Biden administration designated South Korea a “sensitive country,” a term used for states that pose a proliferation risk. At the time, the former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was being impeached for declaring martial law. Yoon had suggested that South Korea may need to pursue nuclear weapons to deter North Korea.

The current South Korean president, Lee Jae-Myung, is not calling for nuclear weapons development, but there is still an active debate in South Korea regarding the security value of nuclear weapons. Surveys have found as many as 70 percent of all South Koreans supporting an independent nuclear arsenal, fueled in part by doubts about whether the United States is still committed to Seoul’s defense. South Korea also has ballistic missiles powerful enough to deliver nuclear warheads and has an advanced nuclear industry that it could leverage if it decides to go nuclear. Allowing South Korea to develop a “latent” nuclear weapons capability would be highly destabilizing on the Peninsula. North Korea responded to the announcement by accusing the United States of giving South Korea the “green light” to become a “quasi-nuclear weapons state.”

Providing latent nuclear capability to South Korea would also undermine U.S. nonproliferation efforts. For example, the United States is currently negotiating a 123 agreement with Saudi Arabia, which has also expressed nuclear weapons aspirations and is also seeking to enrich uranium. As some of us wrote to your State Department on November 17, 2025, the Administration should apply the strongest “gold standard” protections to prohibit enrichment and reprocessing in all nuclear cooperation agreements. Agreeing to weaker nonproliferation measures with South Korea would make it harder to hold the line on Saudi Arabia, undermining the existing global nonproliferation regime and exacerbating tensions across the Middle East.

You have also announced support for South Korea’s plan to build nuclear-powered attack submarines. The November 13 factsheet did not contain details on the location of construction or where the nuclear fuel would come from. The bilateral nuclear agreement prohibits South Korea from using any U.S. origin nuclear material “for any military purposes,” including submarine propulsion.

In light of our concerns, we request that you answer the questions below in writing by February 13, 2026:

1. Does the Administration intend to revise its 123 agreement with South Korea? If so, what revisions will be made? Is the Administration seeking “gold standard protections”? If not, why not?

2. Will the Administration inform the Senate Foreign Relations and the House Foreign Affairs committees about its intentions with respect to a revised 123 agreement with South Korea? If so, when? If not, why not?

3. What nuclear technology is the Administration planning to provide to South Korea, who will provide it, when will it be transferred, and under what terms? Who will pay for the technology and how much will it cost?

4. Is the United States considering constructing and operating enrichment and reprocessing facilities on South Korean soil? If so, under what terms?

5. Who will build the nuclear-powered attack submarines, where will they be built, what type of fuel will they use, and where will that fuel be produced? We urge the Administration to include the strongest possible non-proliferation measures in any revised nuclear cooperation agreement with South Korea. The security of the United States and our allies depends on it. Thank you in advance for your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,


Warner Statement on the Nomination of Kevin Warsh

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, released the following statement:

“The independence of the Federal Reserve isn’t optional – it’s the foundation of our economy. It stabilizes borrowing prices so families can buy homes, afford everyday necessities, and run small businesses.

“It is difficult to trust that any Chair of the Federal Reserve selected by this president will be able to act with the independence required of the position, knowing that this administration will levy charges against any leader who makes interest rate decisions based on facts and the needs of our economy rather than Trump’s personal preferences."

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* High-quality photographs of Sen. Mark R. Warner are available for downloadhere*


Warnock Centers Investments in Future Generations in Aspen Institute Speech

Today, Senator Reverend Warnock delivered remarks at the Aspen Forum on Children and Families, hosted by the Aspen Institute

Senator Warnock highlighted that the well-being of all children is deeply tied to our collective success as Americans

Senator Reverend Warnock: “I stand here as an example and embodiment of that very idea, the belief that we can build a future where each generation does a little bit better than their parents”

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) delivered remarks at the Aspen Institute’s Forum on Children and Families. The Senator highlighted the that the well-being of all children is deeply tied to our collective success as Americans, urging representatives to dream big and create a future worthy of our children.

During his remarks, Senator Warnock reflected on his own journey, which was possible due to federal programs like Pell Grants, Head Start, and low-interest student loans.

“I stand here as an example and embodiment of that very idea, the belief that we can build a future where each generation does a little bit better than their parents,” said Senator Warnock.

“Every single day, when I think about the blessings that have attended my life, I’m fighting for that kid or a world where your parents’ income doesn’t determine your outcome, because God raises up genius and talent all over the world, and they’re Cape streets from Atlanta to Appalachia, Cape streets all around us,” Senator Warnock continued.

Senator Warnock also discussed the spiritual and moral crisis in America, advocating a shift from viewing your neighbors as competitors to a belief that success for one is success for all. He argues that America does not have a lack of resources but a shortage of moral imagination.

“This idea that we’re in competition with each other for scarce resources, that’s part of the trip. This idea where we operate in the narrowest realm of the possible. What can get 60 votes? What can get past corporate special interests and lobbyists? What won’t hurt us in the very next election? It’s a poverty of moral imagination, and everyday Americans can sniff it out,” Senator Warnock concluded.

A transcript of Senator Warnock’s remarks can be viewed below:

“It’s great to be back here at the Aspen Institute as part of this Forum on Children and Families.

I’m especially honored to see members of my class and cohort from Ascend, the greatest class among the folks. Give them a great big round of applause. Don’t pretend to be shy, stand up!

This forum, of course, is inspired by the very American ideal that our country succeeds when our children succeed. Indeed, I stand here as an example and embodiment of that very idea, the belief that we can build a future where each generation does a little bit better than their parents, all of us who are parents, that certainly is our prayer, grandparents, that is your hope, and I have lived that dream yet, I and all of us are living through a time when we feel that dream slipping away.

We all feel it, people on the left and on the right, Democrats, Republicans and Independents. We may not agree on how to fix it, but we all feel it, and the stakes could not be higher, because at root, is a question about whether we can build a future that is worthy of our children.

I’ve been reflecting these days on the Gospel passage in the book of Isaiah where the prophet says ‘the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and the little child shall lead them.’ Even as a preacher, even as a kid who grew up in Sunday school, son of a pastor or two pastors, I often thought that that passage was a little bit too ideally.

What do you mean? The Lion and the Lamb will lie next to each other, will live and a little child shall lead them. I think what the Prophet is saying to us is that here’s the thing that even adversaries have in common, with very, very few exceptions, we love our children. That’s what adversaries have in common. We all love our children.

The Prophet is challenging us to look into the eyes of other people’s children and see our own and know that Dr. King was right, that we’re tied in a single garment of destiny, that the only way for my children, whose father is a United States Senator, in a real sense, the only way for Chloé and Caleb to be okay is for other people’s children to be okay.

And that’s what guides my work every single day in the Senate, and in the church, and in the public square, and it’s the thesis that I hope would guide our conversations here and in other spaces.

We may not always agree on the policy prescription, but if we could start with that basic idea, which is itself fraught in American life today, that other people’s children and their destiny is connected to your own.

I always try to center children because there’s a kid that I’m always fighting for. Long before I was the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, long before the people of Georgia sent me to be their voice in the halls of power, I was a kid growing up in the housing projects of Savannah, Georgia.

I grew up on Cape Street, number 11 of 12 children. Clearly my folks, who are Pentecost, the preachers read the scriptures: Be fruitful and multiply. There’s not much money in my house, but there was plenty of love and plenty of laughter, and I learned the lessons, like the importance of hard work, and my family and my community convinced me that a kid growing up on Cape Street could fly, and that’s why I decided to attend Morehouse College.

I often say that I went to college on a full faith scholarship. Full Faith scholarship, that means you don’t have enough money for the first semester, but you go on faith.

But I was determined that I was going to Martin Luther King Jr’s alma mater. Dr King captured my imagination from childhood. I’m a post-civil rights generation baby, but his voice summoned and captured my imagination as a kid, I just wanted to go to Dr King’s School.

I didn’t know I would leave the church. God always dreams a dream bigger than a dream we’ve been dreaming for ourselves.

But when I got there, I didn’t have enough money, but through hard work and discipline, I was able to finish, but that’s only half of the truth, it was Pell grants and low interest student loans that gave a kid a chance. Work Study.

I’m also a Head Start baby, a good federal program that provides preschool education for children, and then as a high school student, Upward Bound put me on a college campus so I didn’t have to wonder if I belong there. I was already there.

I am an example of what happens when we invest just a little bit. I know what good federal public policy can do for America’s children. And what keeps me up at night is a recognition that it would be harder now for that kid to make it, than it was back then.

And so, every single day, when I think about the blessings that have attended my life, I’m fighting for that kid or a world where your parents’ income doesn’t determine your outcome, because God raises up genius and talent all over the world, and they’re Cape streets from Atlanta to Appalachia, Cape streets all around us.

Places where there are everyday heroes, like the superheroes of my childhood, Superman and the Cape Crusaders, the ordinary heroes, teachers and janitors and aunts and uncles, everyday heroes all around us in plain view, but there’s a sense in our country right now that there is something broken and in need of repair.

I was in Minneapolis yesterday, and it was hard getting back here, but while I was there, I met faith leaders who serve the Twin Cities communities, and they are horrified, as is the rest of the nation, by the two killings in their backyards.

In the Big Ugly Bill, my colleagues increased funding for ICE by $75 billion, making it the biggest federal law enforcement agency in America, bigger than all of the other federal law enforcement entities combined.

That’s the FBI, DEA, US Marshal Service, Bureau of Prisons, ICE is now larger in funding than all of those entities combined, $10 billion, now $75 billion. With $75 billion, we could have provided universal preschool for every four-year-old in America.

And so, as I often say, our country suffers not from a poverty of resources, but a paucity of moral imagination, a lack of commitment to building a future worthy of our children.

So, when you see those ugly scenes in Minneapolis, see what happened to Alex Pretti, who, in the best of the Civil Rights tradition, laid his body on the line.

If you’re raised like I was raised. You watch that video, and you know that the moment they shoved that woman on the street, his fate was already sealed, because there was no way anybody raised like I was raised is going to stand there and allow that to happen and not try to protect her? His faith was already sealed.

Renee Good could have lived; she could have lived within her privilege. It’s not difficult for her to find safety, but she saw what was happening to her neighbors, and she paid the ultimate price for it.

And then we saw the photo of little Liam Conejo Ramos, a five-year-old kidnapped by the government, used as bait.

You think about what they’ve invested in ICE, I think about it in terms of America’s carceral state. You can’t talk about police brutality without talking about the size of our incarceration system. We warehouse more people in prison than any nation in the world; America does. We warehouse a greater percentage of our people than any nation in the world, even those nations whose human rights regimes we deplore. Nobody even comes close.

And when you build a beast that big, it’s got to eat. You got a big dog; it eats what big dogs eat. It doesn’t eat like small dogs. And so, I fear that we’re going to see this played out all across our country if the people of this country don’t stand up and demand something different.

You’re going to see this all over the country because they built this monstrosity of an operation that they claim was a law enforcement operation. But then I heard the Attorney General say, we’ll leave the city. Just give us your voting records.

I’m just telling you what they said. I’m not being partisan. I’m just reporting the news. That’s what they said.

And so, there’s a sense of trauma in this moment, but if we tell the truth, we’ve been feeling this brokenness for a long time. Across Republican and Democratic administrations. Over the last 50 years, there’s been a growing chasm between how hard folks are working and the lives that they’re able to provide for themselves and their families.

It’s created a drag on the American spirit. The opportunity we were promised that has not actualized. Real wages for working families have been stagnant, and today, the price of everything from health care to housing to energy bills to childcare is becoming more expensive. People are working harder and harder, but seeing less and less from the work they’re putting in.

And young people are wondering if they’ll ever be able to afford a home, and an economy where the average age for buying your first home is 40. Older people are wondering if they’ll ever be able to retire with dignity. And workers are seeing that they’re creating wealth for others, yet they’re barely able to get by. And when you have that kind of increasing disconnect between the promise and the lived reality of everyday people, that is not only a problem for your material well-being, I submit that it creates a gnawing feeling that things are amiss. It is a spiritual problem.

See if I can make that plain. Have you ever awakened in the morning, and you just didn’t feel good? You couldn’t quite put your finger on it. You didn’t necessarily feel terrible, but you just, you said, I don’t feel good. We all have different ways of saying, I don’t feel like myself today. And then you sort of stumble around because you feel this ache of fogginess and the fatigue, and you discover that you have a low-grade fever.

America has a low-grade fever and has been in this place of spiritual weariness a long time now, and this decade’s issues left untreated has brought us to where we are today, a nation in crisis. A nation disconnected from the values that make us who we are at our best, therefore a nation where we no longer see our neighbors as crucial to our own success, but as competitors and a competition for scarce resources.

These deficits in a wealthy nation and on a plentiful planet speak to a spiritual deficit that is At its core, a lapse in the covenant that we have with one another, and so suddenly, using your tax dollars towards programs to help some kid you’ll never meet doesn’t feel like a priority, because you’re struggling to set up your own children’s success.

And if people can’t believe in the promise of opportunity, they may choose to put their faith in people who make false promises and provide targets for their anger and their frustration. It is precisely the kind of context that authoritarians love, because people who have no vision, traffic in division. They don’t know how to lead us, and so they try to divide us.

So, what we saw on the streets of Minneapolis, what we’re seeing all across this country, is just that cynical powers are trying to convince us through the iconography and liturgy and machinery of war, that we are at war with one another. That it’s your neighbor who is the problem.

Yesterday, I saw the folks in Minneapolis up close. They’re standing in the freezing cold because in this case, they’re like, ‘I actually know that person. I know that family.’ Proximity is its own medicine. There’s something that happens if we’d actually find enough courage to get close to the people whom we imagine to be something that we’ve created.

And so, the conclusion that our country is in the midst of a spiritual crisis is not something that I came to lightly. It’s a conclusion that I’ve come to as a pastor who has spent decades counseling people drowning in deep cynicism and despair. I prayed with families in hospitals as they make critical decisions around the care of their loved ones while also worrying, how are they going to pay the bill? As a pastor and a senator, I’ve delivered aid to people who work every day but still can’t pay the rent because housing is unaffordable.

This low-grade fever didn’t just appear. It has been festering for decades across Republican and Democratic administrations. For too long, politicians in both parties have failed to center the people, and the cycle of despair has led us further into the spiritual abyss.

So, part of how we get out of it is we dare to dream big.

This idea that we’re in competition with each other for scarce resources, that’s part of the trick. This idea where we operate in the narrowest realm of the possible. What can get 60 votes? What can get past corporate special interests and lobbyists? What won’t hurt us in the very next election? It’s a poverty of moral imagination, and everyday Americans can sniff it out.

You all know when politicians’ obsession with self-preservation is getting in the way of chasing real solutions, you feel it. So, the cynicism sets in. The American people know that folks in power more focused on themselves than the people who sent them to Washington.

And so today, here at the Aspen Institute forum, we can choose a different path. I would dare us to dream big. All of a sudden, enough money devoted to ICE to provide a universal pre-K is just one example of what I mean. It is an issue of priorities.

So, in closing, and nobody believes a Baptist preacher when he says in closing.

One of the proudest moments I’ve had in this work in the Senate is the day we confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the United States Supreme Court. Regardless of your politics, we all recognize that it was a grand and historic moment, which kind of bearing witness to the American covenant. E pluribus unum. Out of many, one.

So, the chamber was full that day, on both sides of the aisle, and there I was standing, talking to my colleague, Cory Booker, and sitting in the chair was the Vice President Kamala Harris. The three of us standing there talking to each other, with her sitting in the chair. At that time, we were more than a quarter of the Black United States senators who’ve ever served in the history of the Republic, three Black people having a conversation on the floor of the Senate. They’ve now been 14 at the time they’ve been elected.

And as we were sitting there, Vice President said, ‘guys, this is quite a moment.’ I said, ‘yes, it is.’ She said, ‘you know what you ought to do. You ought to write a letter to somebody you’re thinking about in this historic moment’, she made that suggestion, in the way that Black women make suggestions; If you know, you know.

Anyways, then she handed each of us a sheet of paper! But it wasn’t just any sheet of paper, it was the letterhead of the Vice President of the United States. And I actually went back to my office, and I sat down and I wrote a letter, because the only job I love more than being a pastor and a Senator is father to my two little children. And I wrote a letter to my daughter.

I said, Dear Chloe, today we confirm to the United States Supreme Court Ketanji Brown Jackson. In the long history of our country, she’s the first Supreme Court Justice who looks like you, with hair like yours. As we were confirming her, a friend of mine, the Vice President, suggested that I write a letter. In the long history of our republic, she’s the first Vice President who looks like you. I write to you to say that in America, you can become whatever you set your heart and your head to become. Love, Dad.

That was my letter to my own little daughter, who, at the time, was five years old. I was so moved by the moment and its implications for her and kids like her all across our country, red, yellow, brown, Black and white, poor kids everywhere, that I couldn’t mail the letter or wait till I got home. I called her on FaceTime and I read the letter; she listened to the letter.

She was not impressed.

She said, can I go out and play now? She didn’t understand it then. She was just five years old, but she’ll understand it better, as we say in my church, by and by.

As I close, I would say to us at this forum that public policy is a letter that we write to our children. We ought to ask ourselves what we want that letter to say, and a little child shall read it.”

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Welch to Noem: “A mission as important as protecting our homeland cannot be placed under your leadership.”

Welch leads Senators in demanding Noem’s immediate resignation as DHS Secretary

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, led his colleagues in demanding that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem immediately resign as head of DHS, citing her deplorable leadership of DHS. In their letter to Secretary Noem, Senators Welch, Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) emphasize how the horrifying conduct of immigration agents in Minnesota has led to a complete loss of confidence in Secretary Noem’s ability to serve as DHS Secretary.

“Immigration enforcement plays a central role in securing our border and ensuring non-citizens convicted of violent offenses are removed from our country. At your direction, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has become entirely unmoored from this mission,” wrote the Senators. “The Department’s violent immigration enforcement in Minnesota underscores just how far the agency has strayed. This month, immigration agents fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The shootings of these two U.S. citizens were made possible by the culture—devoid of leadership or training—that you have created at DHS.”

The Senators continued: “Under your management, immigration agents’ behavior has been consistently brutal and overzealous. Since September 2025, ICE agents have shot 12 people, resulting in four deaths. You have presided over the highest number of in-custody deaths in two decades. In 2025, 32 people died in ICE custody. During that time, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported 17 deaths. This month alone, six people have died in detention centers.”

The Senators write that the abhorrent conduct at DHS is rooted in Noem’s insufficient training and policy changes, which have created a culture of impunity: “You directed a recruitment effort that has led to thousands of hastily trained immigration officers being placed into our communities. Since January 2025, DHS has hired over 12,000 new ICE officers. To accommodate this hiring spree, officer training has been reduced from 16 weeks to approximately 6.5 weeks. These trainings are essential to ensure safe, lawful interactions for agents and community members alike.”

“You also approved new guidance at DHS that violates federal law and the Constitution. In May 2025, but only publicly reported recently, ICE issued a memo directing agents to enter residences—without a judicial warrant—to arrest unauthorized immigrants. The Fourth Amendment prohibits searches and seizures without judicial warrants,” the Senators continued. “DHS has also ignored federal court orders. In Minnesota, the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court recently accused ICE of having ‘dozens of court orders with which [they] have failed to comply’ during Operation Metro Surge.”

The Senators slammed Noem’s statements condemning the victims of officers’ misconduct as undermining accountability: “After agents shot Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti, you immediately downplayed these killings and sought to blame the victims for their deaths. You falsely described Ms. Good, a wife and mother of three, as a domestic terrorist. You claimed that Mr. Pretti brandished a firearm before his death, which is directly contradicted by video evidence. Your statements—made prior to the completion of an investigation and contrary to evidence—have resulted in a massive loss of confidence in your ability to lead DHS.”

“Taken together, your tenure represents a profound failure to uphold the responsibilities of your position. You have displayed a complete disregard for public safety, due process, civil liberties, and constitutional safeguards. A mission as important as protecting our homeland cannot be placed under your leadership. We call on you to resign immediately,” the Senators concluded.

Read and download the Senators’ full letter to Secretary Noem.

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Welch Votes to Begin DHS Reform Process

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today voted to begin debate on critical reforms to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Continuing Resolution avoids a multi-agency shutdown, and separates DHS funding for a future vote in two weeks:

Senator Welch released the following statement:

“The Department of Homeland Security, under the direction of Secretary Noem, is terrorizing communities. ICE’s actions in Minnesota are horrific and must stop: Two people in the state were killed this month—a young mother and an ICU nurse lawfully observing and protesting. People have been rounded up based on the color of their skin. ICE has raided schools, farms, and workplaces. Young children have been deported. The agency is out of control—Secretary Noem has turned DHS and ICE into a paramilitary force. The American people oppose these outrageous and lawless tactics, and I share their strong opposition. This reckless, cruel agenda of roving patrols, mass roundups and excessive force is dangerous. The violence and intimidation by ICE is a direct result of this administration’s cruel mass deportation policy.

“In two weeks, Democrats in Congress will fight to enact reforms that stop ICE’s tactics and rein in DHS: ICE agents who violate civil rights must be held accountable; The Trump-Noem policy of mass roundups, roving patrols and racial profiling arrests must end; ICE must leave Minnesota; ICE must be held to the same standards as our local law enforcement; ICE agents must take off their masks and turn on their body cameras; And the $75 billion in funding Republicans’ gave ICE in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ must be clawed back and redirected. These reforms are the bare minimum. I will continue to vote against any additional budget funding for ICE.”

This legislation separates out five bipartisan bills—which will help Vermont by funding community hospitals, childcare, education, and transportation projects—isolating the Homeland Security funding bill for debate and floor consideration in two weeks. This will allow Senators to focus exclusively on stopping ICE’s rampant and continuous abuses. By passing the other five appropriations bills, this bill funds projects and initiatives important to Vermont—including support for small business impacted by the trade war, funds to help build affordable housing and improve home weatherization efforts, and continued support for substance abuse and prevention.

Senate Democrats are requesting reforms to the isolated DHS bill, which will:

End ICE’s indiscriminate and unlawful mass targeting of communities: Citizens are entitled to the protection of a judicial warrant. ICE cannot go into homes without a warrant. ICE cannot interfere with local law enforcement.

Enforce accountability for ICE and Secretary Noem: ICE needs a uniform code of conduct, the same basic standards as law enforcement. America needs independent investigations, not ICE-led ‘investigations.’ Secretary Neom should resign or be impeached.

Require ICE agents take their masks off and turn body cameras on: Officers must have visible identification. The public deserves transparency.

Senator Welch called on Secretary Noem to resign in July and reiterated his call for her ouster from the Senate Floor this week.

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Wicker Questions Commandant of the Coast Guard at Commerce Hearing

Click here for video

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., questioned Admiral Kevin Lunday, Commandant of the Coast Guard at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing. Senator Wicker asked Admiral Lunday about the service’s plans for implementing the historic investment Congress provided the Coast Guard in 2025. The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Senator Wicker began by highlighting the importance of Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (Junior ROTC).

“Let me mention Junior ROTC. You and I spoke about this, Admiral Lunday. Thank you for whatever role you may have played in directing that two new units be established in April of this year: one in Oregon and one in Alaska. I think Junior ROTC is a great citizenship builder and helps our readiness. I just wish we could have twice as many.

Secondly, Senator Schatz and I have legislation that would require an annual plan and budget display for Coast Guard operations in the Pacific. Please speak to the relationship that the Coast Guard and DOD have. Tell us what extra you need from this topline, that you mentioned, to increase our operational tempo in the Indo-Pacific,” said Senator Wicker.

“Mr. Chairman, thank you for your question on the Indo-Pacific. First of all, the United States is not only a Pacific nation. We're a Pacific island nation because of Hawaii and our three territories there. So, the Coast Guard's been present in the Pacific for a very long time, and we work very closely with the Department of War there. Our presence has increased in the Pacific since I served out there as the commander of the Oceania District. We've added nine additional cutters. Congress has funded, in the FY24 appropriation, the addition of two more fast-response cutters to go to Guam. We shifted a medium-endurance cutter permanently to the Pacific to increase our operations there. And the FY26 appropriation that is pending now would add another $116 million in operating funds to improve training, engagement teams throughout the Pacific Island nations, and to strengthen U.S. national security and defense in the Indo-Pacific. And so, it's a vital area of operations, and we continue to expand our commitment and our footprint into the Indo-Pacific. Because that's not just somewhere over there. The Indo-Pacific for us is also the U.S. homeland, because of Hawaii and our three territories,” said Admiral Lunday.

“Do I take it from your testimony, and the answer to the question, that we've made a good start, [but] we've got a lot more to do?” asked Senator Wicker.

“Yes, sir, we do. We've made a good start, but we have much more to do to strengthen our presence in the Indo-Pacific,” responded Admiral Lunday.

“Are you also suggesting that our plus-ups really should be part of the regular appropriations process, ideally, rather than going through the reconciliation process? Or do you have a position on that?” asked Senator Wicker.

“Yes, sir, certainly the reconciliation process infuses an investment that's needed. But it really must be supported by sustained investment in the capitalization money and also our operating funds, because these assets are badly needed. But it's the crews that operate them that make the Coast Guard able to do what it does,” said Admiral Lunday.

“And the annual topline does matter, doesn't it?” asked Senator Wicker.

“It does, yes, sir,” responded Admiral Lunday.

“Tell us about where we are on helicopters. We put some money in for the Jayhawks. Apparently, we're phasing out the Dolphins—actually the MH-60 Jayhawks. Are we moving, then, to a combination of that, just simply called the Jayhawk and not the MH-60? Where are we on that?” asked Senator Wicker.

“Yes, sir. Senator, the MH-60. We call our variant the Jayhawk. We…have been on a road to move to a 60 rotary-wing fleet. We are continuing to look at other options, and the reconciliation investment has given that. Because the older 65 short-range helicopter is approaching obsolescence,” replied Admiral Lunday.

“’The Dolphin?” clarified Senator Wicker.

“The Dolphin. Much harder to maintain. The original equipment manufacturer doesn't supply parts. So, we're phasing those out. The original [plan] was to phase them out by 2037, but we think the sunset's going to come much faster given the obsolescence,” replied Admiral Lunday.

“Because of the reality there. Well, keep us posted on that. And again, I think we got $2 billion dollars in last year's reconciliation for the Jayhawks. So, keep telling us what you need. Will we be returning to full-response operations according to your plans at Coast Guard Station Pascagoula?” asked Senator Wicker.

“Yes sir, we will. I made a decision in December to restore that to a full-mission response station. We had downgraded it in 2023 when I commanded Atlantic Area. I was part of that because of our severe personnel shortages. And now we're in a position where we need to restore it to full response operations, and we're going to do that in 2026. This was something we had to do because we were so short of personnel. But based on recruiting successes over the last several years, we're now in a position to restore it to full operations,” replied Admiral Lunday.

“How important are autonomous systems going to be going forward?” asked Senator Wicker.

“They're critical, Senator. And we've made investments in those systems, especially fueled by the budget reconciliation investment. In fact, we've already, in that 0.8 billion that we've already obligated, we've purchased a number of short-range and medium-range autonomous systems, both air and surface and even subsurface. They're providing us an ability and a capability we didn't have before to perform our missions. And there's also funding for long-range UAS that we haven't yet obligated, but we're on track to do,” replied Admiral Lunday.


Wyden, Dexter Press Pepsi and Trump Administration  Over Price Discrimination Scheme

Oregon lawmakers raise concerns over politically-motivated dismissal of price discrimination lawsuit by FTC just months after Pepsi donated $500,000 to Trump’s inauguration

Washington, D.C. – Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Maxine Dexter today said they are pressing PepsiCo about its discriminatory pricing practices that favored Walmart over small retailers and increased costs for consumers nationwide.

In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, the Oregon lawmakers also raised concerns about possible political motivations in the FTC’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit regarding Pepsi’s discriminatory pricing, following a significant donation by the company to Donald Trump’s inauguration.

In January 2025, just days before Trump took office, the FTC sued Pepsi for giving Walmart preferential pricing of its products that was not offered to smaller retailers across the country. An unredacted copy of the FTC complaint, unsealed last month, revealed that Pepsi gave Walmart unique promotional payments.

“This newly disclosed information reveals new details about Pepsi’s troubling pricing practices, and also appears to indicate that Pepsi’s responses to our previous inquiry into this matter were evasive and inaccurate,” wrote the lawmakers to Pepsi Chair and CEO Ramon Laguarta.

“As food prices remain sky-high, the FTC should be enforcing the [law] to promote fair competition in the food industry, rather than giving dominant retailers and suppliers a free pass to continue discriminatory pricing practices that reduce consumer choices and raise prices,” wrote the lawmakers to FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson.

In their letter to the FTC, the lawmakers raised questions about why the FTC dismissed the complaint before the internal Pepsi documents cited in the complaint became public and whether the FTC dismissed the complaint due to political motivations. The lawmakers also urge the FTC to reopen its lawsuit against Pepsi and vigorously enforce the Robinson-Patman Act against other suppliers and retailers engaging in similar practices.

The letters were led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Representative Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. In addition to Wyden and Dexter, the letters were signed by Representatives Becca Balint, D-Vt., Summer Lee, D-Pa., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

The letter to Pepsi is here.


Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Probe Collapse in IRS Investigations of Wealthy Tax Cheats Under Trump

Senators: IRS investigations into abusive tax schemes plummeted last year to lowest levels in the past decade

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today joined Senate colleagues to demand answers on how Republican funding clawbacks and DOGE staff cuts have gutted the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division’s ability to investigate sophisticated tax schemes used by wealthy tax cheats.

“As one former head of the shuttered Justice Department Tax Division put it, ‘There is usual ebb and flow, but you can't ignore this number.’ We write to ask how staffing cuts and other factors contributed to this decline, what impact it will have on revenues and deterring tax cheats, and how the IRS will adequately enforce the law in the face of substantial staffing and budget cuts,” the senators wrote to Treasury Secretary and Acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Division Chief Guy Ficco.

The IRS-CI 2025 Annual Report found that investigations into abusive tax schemes dropped 63 percent last year to a level roughly 40 percent below any other year in the past decade. This decline comes as sophisticated tax avoidance schemes have become more common, leaving billions in revenue uncollected while honest taxpayers foot the bill.

The letter details how IRS enforcement capacity has been systematically dismantled. Between January and May 2025, the IRS workforce shrank by 25 percent, and IRS-CI lost about 10 percent of its staff. The IRS-CI special agent workforce has been slashed by more than 20 percent since 2010. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration has pulled IRS-CI special agents away from tax enforcement to work on immigration efforts and crime task forces.

The senators noted that IRS-CI has a proven track record of recovering billions by taking down major schemes—including a $2 billion unreported income case involving the late billionaire Robert Brockman that recovered $750 million, and an offshore banking scheme where Credit Suisse helped conceal $4 billion in undeclared accounts, recovering $511 million. For every dollar spent, IRS-CI brings in $16 in direct returns, even before considering dollars saved through deterrence.

“Aggressive tax avoidance and abusive schemes are getting more sophisticated. When the IRS can’t pursue these cases, honest taxpayers pay the price,” the senators added. “Tax shelter promoters are watching. As one former Justice Department Tax Division leader warned, ‘Tax shelter schemes are a pretty lucrative business. If I’m a promoter, I'm watching press releases, reading the report, listening to try to hear the footsteps of enforcement coming up behind me.’ When those footsteps grow quieter, cheaters grow bolder.”

The senators concluded by requesting answers no later than February 27, 2026 to their questions about what caused the collapse and how IRS-CI plans to maintain enforcement capacity as it braces for another 20 percent loss in special agents over the next two years.

In May 2025, Wyden and nine Democratic colleagues wrote to Treasury Secretary Bessent asking whether the Department had analyzed how slashing the IRS workforce by up to 40 percent would likely allow ultra-wealthy tax cheats off the hook and hamper customer service for working families.

The letter was led by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the letter is signed by U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Angus King, I-Maine, Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.


U.S. Senate Passes Resolution Honoring National Champion IU Football Team

WASHINGTON – The Senate unanimously passed a resolution introduced by U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) congratulating the Indiana Hoosiers on winning the College Football Playoff National Championship and completing an undefeated 16-0 season.

“As an IU fan since the Bill Mallory era, I’m proud to lead this Senate resolution celebrating the national champion Indiana Hoosiers. Congressional recognition will give IU fans one more way to Google the wins from this historic season.Thank you to the players, Coach Cignetti, and the entire IU staff for such a special season that will be cherished in our state for generations,” said Senator Young.

“Indiana is so proud of this team and their historic 16-0 championship season. The whole country was cheering for Coach Cignetti, Fernando Mendoza, and the Hoosiers as they showed incredible class, teamwork, and grit. As an alum and Indiana’s new U.S. Senator I couldn’t be more proud and I can’t wait to see them do it again next season,” said Senator Banks.


Zinke Honors Montana World War II Home Front Pioneer Donna Roberts in Congressional Record

Washington, D.C. - Each month of 2026, the 250th year after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Western Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke will join the rest of the Montana delegation and the Montana 250th Commission in honoring individuals who have made their mark as extraordinary Montanans. This January, Congressman Zinke is recognizing Donna Stageman Roberts of Swan Lake, Montana, in the Congressional Record for her role on the World War II home front and her lifelong contributions to Montana’s communities.

Donna Roberts recently celebrated her 100th birthday and is the only Montanan to have played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, a professional league formed during World War II to sustain America’s pastime while Major League Baseball players served overseas. Her story reflects the resilience, adaptability, and service that defined the American home front during a time of global conflict.

Read Congressman Zinke’s Congressional Record submission below:

Mr. Speaker, as our Nation marks the 250th anniversary of American independence, I rise to recognize a remarkable Montanan whose life story reflects both the resilience of this Nation during World War II and the enduring spirit of service that defines the Treasure State.

Today I honor Donna Stageman Roberts, born January 1, 1926, in Randolph, Nebraska, and now a resident of Swan Lake, Montana. On New Year’s Day, Donna celebrated her 100th birthday, a milestone befitting a life that spans a century of change and achievement.

Donna’s life is interwoven with one of the most extraordinary chapters in American sports history and our home front effort during World War II. In 1946, at the age of 20 and living in Billings, she read about tryouts for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, a professional league created in 1943 to sustain America’s pastime while many major league players served overseas during the war.

After submitting her application and being selected from hundreds of hopefuls, Donna earned a contract with the Peoria Redwings, joining their inaugural 1946 season as a shortstop and outfielder. During that era, these teams kept baseball alive in communities across the Midwest, giving Americans a source of normalcy and pride as so many families worried about loved ones on distant battlefields. While her professional career with Peoria was brief, the experience marked a rare and historic contribution to both the sport and the wartime cultural landscape of the United States.

Upon returning to Montana, Donna invested her earnings in her education at Eastern Montana College, later dedicating 35 years as an elementary school teacher in Helena, shaping generations of young Montanans. She and her late husband raised two children, and she remained an active and cherished member of her community for decades.

Donna’s story connects Montana to a pivotal moment in American history, when the home front adapted to global conflict and extraordinary opportunities emerged from national necessity. Her journey from the sandlots of Billings to the professional diamonds of the Midwest and back again exemplifies Montana’s contribution to the broader American story.

On this 250th anniversary of our Nation, we honor Donna Roberts for her athletic achievement and longevity and for embodying the character of service and community that has sustained this country through war and peace.

I congratulate Donna Roberts on her 100th birthday and thank her for a life of remarkable dedication and enduring impact on Montana and the Nation.


Congressman Aderholt Announces $520,000 EPA Grant for Garden City Water System Improvements

This office is located on the backside of the Cullman Dental Arts building up the handicap ramp. It serves Cullman and Winston Counties.

We encourage you to make an appointment before coming into the office so that our constituent services representatives can pull up relevant information beforehand to help with your request of a federal agency.

This office serves Marshall, DeKalb, and Blount Counties.

We encourage you to make an appointment before coming into the office so that our constituent services representatives can pull up relevant information beforehand to help with your request of a federal agency.

This office serves Fayette, Lamar, Marion and Walker Counties. It also serves the portion of Tuscaloosa County north of the Black Warrior River, but also down the western side of the county to include the Ralph, Fosters areas.

We encourage you to make an appointment before coming into the office so that our constituent services representatives can pull up relevant information beforehand to help with your request of a federal agency.

This office serves Colbert and Franklin Counties. It also serves residents of Lauderdale County from roughly Center Star, west to the Mississippi line.

We encourage you to make an appointment before coming into the office so that our constituent services representatives can pull up relevant information beforehand to help with your request of a federal agency.

This office is located on the backside of the Cullman Dental Arts building up the handicap ramp. It serves Cullman and Winston Counties.

We encourage you to make an appointment before coming into the office so that our constituent services representatives can pull up relevant information beforehand to help with your request of a federal agency.

This office serves Marshall, DeKalb, and Blount Counties.

We encourage you to make an appointment before coming into the office so that our constituent services representatives can pull up relevant information beforehand to help with your request of a federal agency.

This office serves Fayette, Lamar, Marion and Walker Counties. It also serves the portion of Tuscaloosa County north of the Black Warrior River, but also down the western side of the county to include the Ralph, Fosters areas.

We encourage you to make an appointment before coming into the office so that our constituent services representatives can pull up relevant information beforehand to help with your request of a federal agency.

This office serves Colbert and Franklin Counties. It also serves residents of Lauderdale County from roughly Center Star, west to the Mississippi line.

We encourage you to make an appointment before coming into the office so that our constituent services representatives can pull up relevant information beforehand to help with your request of a federal agency.


Congressman Aderholt Convenes Second Annual AUKUS Defense Industry Forum in Huntsville

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Friday, January 30, 2026, Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL-04) hosted the second annual AUKUS defense industry event in Huntsville, Alabama, bringing together defense and national security leaders from Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States to discuss advanced defense capabilities, strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific, and the role Alabama plays in the future of allied security cooperation.

The forum builds on the Congressman’s inaugural AUKUS gathering held in 2024 and continues a first-of-its-kind opportunity to connect experts and innovators responsible for one of the most ambitious defense cooperation initiatives of this generation.

“Huntsville is the Rocket City — the town that helped win the space race — and today, the men and women shaping the future of defense cooperation and deterrence are gathered right here in Alabama,” Congressman Aderholt said. “AUKUS is about maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific, but at its core it reflects something even deeper: trust among allies. That trust must now be translated into real capabilities, delivered with urgency.”

Congressman Aderholt was joined by Congressman Dale Strong (AL-05), who also participated in today’s event and emphasized North Alabama’s strategic importance to allied defense innovation.

“There are few better places to bring the stated goals of AUKUS Pillar Two to life than North Alabama and Redstone Arsenal,” Strong said. “Our region has long been a key national security player, and this trilateral agreement is no different. This second annual forum is just another example of how Alabama continues to lead the way in increasing defense cooperation, innovation, and information sharing between the United States and our allies.”

Congressman Aderholt emphasized that the advanced capabilities central to AUKUS align directly with Alabama’s strengths and the work already being done across the state’s defense and technology sectors, including cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence and autonomy, quantum technologies, undersea capabilities, hypersonic and counter-hypersonic development, electronic warfare, innovation and information sharing, and deep space radar.

During remarks, the Congressman also underscored the need for the United States and its allies to modernize the way defense capabilities are developed and fielded, warning that outdated processes and bureaucracy risk slowing progress at a time when speed and innovation are essential.

“The tools that won the 20th century could cost us victory in the 21st if we fail to adapt,” Aderholt said. “Bureaucracy is a luxury we can no longer afford. AUKUS can help drive a new way of doing business — moving faster, thinking bigger, and delivering results with the urgency this moment demands.”

As a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations, Congressman Aderholt highlighted Congress’s responsibility to ensure the Department of Defense has the flexibility needed to plan, fund, and field joint capabilities in a timely and innovative manner, while maintaining accountability.

The Congressman also introduced Alabama native Major General Terry Grisham, who has been named to lead the transition of the United States Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville. Major General Grisham will oversee the relocation of U.S. Space Command from its temporary headquarters in Colorado Springs to its permanent home in Alabama.

“Alabama has long been at the forefront of America’s defense and space leadership,” Aderholt said. “With Major General Grisham’s leadership, our state will continue to play a critical role in the next chapter of national security and space operations.”

The event reaffirmed Huntsville’s role as a national hub for defense innovation and underscored Alabama’s growing leadership in emerging technologies vital to U.S. and allied deterrence in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.


Congressman Bean: “Another Senate Shutdown”

In response, U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean (FL-04) said, “House Republicans did our job. We negotiated in good faith, passed all twelve appropriations bills, and delivered funding to protect our military, first responders, law enforcement, and hardworking families across this country from the harmful impacts of yet another government shutdown. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats abandoned our agreement and waited until the last minute to demand new changes, ensuring a partial government shutdown. Americans deserve a government that works, not one that threatens shutdowns and chaos. House Republicans are standing up for hardworking Americans, and we expect the Senate to do the same.”

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Castro Statement on Judge’s Order to Release Five-Year-Old Liam and Father

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) released the following statement on Judge Biery’s order to release five-year-old Liam and his dad, Adrian:

“Judge Biery ordered ICE to release Liam. I’ve reached out to Liam’s mom and lawyers to let them know I will continue to do everything I can to make sure he is safe. Thank you to folks all across the country and around the world for speaking out in support of Liam and so many other children in detention.”


Congressman Cohen Asks Governor Lee to Seek FEMA Aid for Shelby County after Recent Snowstorm

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) wrote to Governor Bill Lee on Friday evening asking him to seek Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance for Shelby County for expenses incurred in response to the recent snowstorm. Congressman Cohen noted that the preliminary damage assessment of $4.7 million exceeds the minimum requirement for seeking the assistance.

The letter reads in part:

“I kindly request that you amend your January 28 request for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), under the provisions of Section 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5121-5207 (Stafford Act), and implemented by 44 CFR 206.35, to include Shelby County in response to the severe snow and ice storm that hit our region starting on January 22, 2026. This winter storm included a mixture of sleet, snow, and freezing rain, which resulted in damages to buildings and equipment, utilities, and costs incurred for emergency protective measures.

“As of January 30, the preliminary damage assessment reports from the Shelby County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency is $4.7 million including $2.5 million from MLGW, $1.7 million from the City of Memphis, $448,520 for Memphis Shelby County Schools, and $35,738 for the City of Millington. Since the amount of damages from this storm has exceeded the minimum requirement, I ask that you amend your request to include Shelby County.

“This request is prudent to ensure that our county can receive the necessary support to adequately address the damages that have been incurred. I appreciate your swift action and attention to this matter.”

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