Reed Statement on Bipartisan Deal to End DHS Shutdown

WASHINGTON, DC – A little after 2:00 a.m. this morning, the U.S. Senate approved by unanimous consent an agreement to end the nearly six-week-long shutdown of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The funding bill passed by the full U.S. Senate mirrors the legislation Democrats offered on March 5—and have repeatedly tried to pass through unanimous consent, but before today, Republicans routinely objected and President Trump urged them not to reach an agreement.

The Senate-passed bill would fund the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), and customs officers at border checkpoints, while excluding ICE and the Border Patrol as Democrats continue to press for needed reforms in the wake of the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. ICE and the Border Patrol, which were involved in those incidents and have yet to be held accountable, receive no new appropriations in the bill. The agreement guarantees backpay to federal workers who went without pay during the shutdown.

Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed urged House Republican leaders to quickly pass the bill and issued the following statement:

“Throughout this process Democrats have prioritized listening to the American people and upholding our shared values. Republicans have sought to use airport chaos as cover to try to punish federal employees, force through a voter-suppression bill, nuke the filibuster, and jam in other partisan items. It didn't work.

“Now we finally have an overdue agreement that was on the table for weeks. Republicans gave up: There’s no money for ICE and nothing for Border Patrol.

“Democrats will continue pushing for commonsense reforms to rein in out of control ICE and Border Patrol employees and hold them accountable for unjustified and unconstitutional actions. Republicans ignore the American people's call for reform at their peril.

“We must continue working to safeguard our airports and our homeland. This agreement moves us along to the next round and we’ve got to keep standing up and standing together for what is right. Now the House needs to do its job and pass this agreement.”


Ricketts Issues Statement on Senate’s DHS Deal

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) issued the following statement after the Senate reached a deal late last night to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“After waiting over a month to even meet, Democrats finally agreed to work with Republicans on a deal that reopens most of the Department of Homeland Security. This does not yet mean the end of the shutdown, as it still has to go through the House. DHS has been shutdown for over forty days. It took over thirty days for Chuck Schumer and Democrat leadership to even consider negotiating with Republicans. This has to stop. It’s time for Democrats to put these games aside and work with Republicans to do what’s best for the American people.”


Rosen Statement on Senate Republicans Coming to Their Senses, Paying TSA Agents And Reopening Most of Department of Homeland Security

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) released the following statement after Senate Republicans decided to finally reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security and pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents.

“For weeks, Senate Democrats have been trying to reopen and fund the parts of the Department of Homeland Security where we have agreement — particularly paying TSA agents. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans refused every time,” said Senator Rosen. “After more than a month of a partial government shutdown, I’m glad to see Senate Republicans have finally come to their senses and have agreed to fund most of the department — paying our TSA agents and making sure our Coast Guard and disaster response agency have the resources they need. I’ll continue fighting to rein in ICE and ensure they abide by the same standards that other law enforcement officers have to follow.”

Senator Rosen has been fighting to pay TSA agents while continuing to push for guardrails for ICE. Earlier this year, she called for reforms to rein in ICE officers following the killings of two Americans in Minneapolis. During the Republican shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, Senator Rosen tried to pass her bill to pay TSA agents but Republicans blocked it multiple times.

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Rosen, Young Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Boost Housing Supply and Lower Costs by Helping Housing Small Businesses

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Todd Young (R-IN) introduced a bill to help boost the housing supply and lower housing costs by supporting small businesses in the housing industry. The bipartisan Boosting Housing Supply through Small Business Act would help increase the housing supply while expanding support for small businesses. The bill would require the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to create an interagency plan that identifies gaps in assistance and opportunities to improve and streamline counseling and lending to housing small businesses, such as homebuilders, contractors, and home improvement and repair businesses.

“As housing prices continue to skyrocket across the country, I’m doing everything I can to lower housing costs through different approaches,” said Senator Rosen. “By supporting small businesses in the housing industry, we have the opportunity to boost the housing supply and lower costs, making the dream of buying a home for hardworking Americans a possibility. I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan bill to do just that, and I’ll keep working to lower costs for Nevada families.”

“We need to find innovative ways to increase the number of affordable homes in Indiana and across the country,” said Senator Young. “Our bill will reduce barriers for small businesses involved in the housing industry, which will help increase housing supply and affordability for all Americans.”

“The Nevada Housing Coalition proudly supports the Boosting Housing Supply through Small Businesses Act of 2026, an important step toward strengthening our housing ecosystem by empowering the small businesses that build and sustain our communities.” said Maurice Page, Executive Director of the Nevada Housing Coalition. “We thank Senator Rosen for her forward-thinking leadership and continued commitment to expanding housing opportunities and working hard for all Nevadans.”

“The Reno + Sparks Chamber of Commerce is pleased to support Senator Rosen’s BOOSTING HOUSING SUPPLY through SMALL BUSINESS ACT,” said Ann Silver, CEO at Reno + Sparks Chamber of Commerce. “Providing resources, opportunities, and lending to small contractors will not only increase in-demand housing in Washoe County, but help smaller builders to hire local workers and contribute to the overall economy of our area. More affordable housing is a must and small business owners can make that happen.”

“At a time when small businesses across all sectors are struggling with rising costs and having difficulty accessing the capital they need to grow, it’s encouraging to see legislation that would help homebuilders and other small business contractors gain greater access to resources that provide educational as well as funding opportunities,” said Alexis D’Amato Falvey, Senior Director of Federal Government Affairs at Small Business Majority.

Senator Rosen is actively looking for new solutions to the housing crisis in Nevada. This month, Senator Rosen helped pass the Housing for the 21st Century Act in the Senate, which would lower housing costs and create federal incentives for home building. She also introduced legislation to exclude homebuilding materials from Trump’s tariffs, reducing the cost of homebuilding. Her bipartisan CONSTRUCTS Act would fund education and skills training programs for residential housing construction in order to address the shortage of construction workers, a key barrier to building more homes.


Schatz, Colleagues Introduce Legislation To Repeal Trump’s AI Moratorium

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led a group of six senators in introducing the Guaranteeing and Upholding Americans’ Right to Decide Responsible AI Laws and Standards (GUARDRAILS) Act to repeal President Trump’s executive order seeking to prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence. The Trump administration renewed its call for a preemption of state-level AI laws as part of its National AI Policy Framework which was released last week.

“Embracing the amazing possibilities of AI can’t come at the cost of leaving Americans vulnerable to its profound risks, which is exactly what President Trump’s Executive Order tries to do,” said Senator Schatz, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. “Discouraging states from enacting common-sense regulation that protects people from potential AI harms is dangerous. Congress has a responsibility to get this technology right, but states must not be penalized for acting in the public interest in the meantime.”

The GUARDRAILS Act would prohibit the executive order issued in December 2025 from taking effect so that states do not have federal funds withheld for enacting commonsense safeguards around AI.

In addition to Schatz, the bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.). Companion legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (D-Va.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), and April McClain Delaney (D-Md.).

The text of the legislation is available here.

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Schatz, HUD Secretary Discuss Impact Of Hawai‘i Storms, Federal Support For Recovery

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement on his call with U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner regarding the recent storms in Hawai‘i.

“I spoke with Secretary Turner today about the recent storms across Hawai‘i, and we agreed to keep working together as recovery efforts continue. Rebuilding after a disaster of this magnitude requires significant resources, and we’re going to continue doing everything we can at all levels of government to help people get back on their feet in the months ahead.”

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NEWS: Sen. Schiff Joins Sens. Slotkin, Young, Curtis on Bipartisan Bill to Stop Insider Trading by Government Officials on Prediction Markets

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), and John Curtis (R-Utah) to introduce the bipartisan Public Integrity in Financial Markets Act of 2026. The bill prohibits federally elected officials and government employees from using insider information to bet on a prediction market contract.

As noted in multiple news reports around the Iran war strikes, elected and government officials at all levels are privy to confidential information that could appear on a prediction market. This legislation would ban them from using non-material public information of any kind on any event contract.

“The prediction markets industry can’t be left alone to self-police,” said Senator Schiff. “That’s why we need strong rules to protect against elected officials exploiting insider information to profit on prediction markets. I’m proud to join this bipartisan effort to crack down on this insidious form of insider trading.”

“No one should be profiting off the information and knowledge gained as a public servant, period,” said Senator Slotkin. “This bill is an important first step in placing common sense rules around prediction markets, and it has real teeth to ensure those who break these rules face real consequences. I am proud of our bipartisan coalition, and I thank Senators Young, Schiff and Curtis for working with me to move this important bill forward.”

“Public service should never be a pathway to personal profit based on insider information,” said Senator Young. “Recent activity in prediction markets has raised real concerns that individuals with access to sensitive, nonpublic information could exploit that advantage for financial gain. Our bill will prohibit elected officials, staff, and executive branch employees from trading prediction market event contracts based on information acquired as part of their official duties. This is a sensible step to protect taxpayers and promote integrity in government.”

“Our bipartisan legislation makes clear that public service is not a pathway to private gain,” said Senator Curtis. “As financial markets evolve, so too must our ethics laws. By extending long-standing insider trading principles to prediction markets, this bill closes a dangerous loophole and reinforces a basic expectation: those entrusted with sensitive information cannot use it to bet on the future for personal profit.”

The details of the Public Integrity in Financial Markets Act of 2026:

Covered individuals: President, Vice President, Members of Congress, employees of the House of Representatives and Senate, political appointees (including the President’s cabinet), employees of an Executive agency or independent regulatory agency.

Insider information: Any information that a reasonable investor would consider important in making a decision related to a prediction market contract and is not publicly available.

Covered transactions: The purchase, sale, or exchange of any prediction market contract that is offered on a U.S. or foreign domiciled platform.

Penalties: Any covered individual who violates the prohibition shall be fined the greater of either $500, or the amount equal to double the profit made in the transaction.

Enforcing body: No later than 180 days after date of enactment the Office of Government Ethics, Select Committee on Ethics, and Committee on Ethics of the House of Representatives will: impose and collect penalties, establish procedures and standards, issue rules and guidelines in consultation with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission – and publish such information on a website.

Reporting Requirements: No later than 30 days after a covered transaction over $250, the covered individual must submit a report to the supervising ethics office and include the number of contracts purchased, price of contract, date and time of transaction, name of contract, position taken on contract, name of trading platform used, profit or loss made on transaction. If the contract is not settled within 30 days of purchasing the contract an additional report shall be submitted after the contract closes or covered persons exits the position.

The full text of the bill is available here.

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NEWS: Sens. Schiff, Padilla Join Kaine, Gallego and Colleagues to Press Trump Administration about Decision to Ease Sanctions on Russia and Iran

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla (both D-Calif.) joined Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) in pressing the Trump administration about its decision to ease sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil exports and its lack of planning regarding the economic fallout of President Donald Trump’s war of choice against Iran.

Since the war began, the price of U.S. crude oil has risen by more than 40 percent, and the average price of gasoline has risen by more than a dollar per gallon as a result of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz—something that President Trump and his top national security advisers were warned about prior to the start of the war. In California, the average price of gas reached $5.84, as of March 27.

“These actions speak once again to the troubling lack of strategic foresight that has marked your administration’s decision-making prior to and during its war of choice with Iran, jeopardizing the lives of our servicemembers across the region and raising costs for Americans here at home,” the Senators wrote.

“Open source reporting suggests that prior to starting this war of choice, you and your administration were regularly briefed on, and dismissed, the potential economic fallout of a conflict with Iran. These warnings included the regime’s likely closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting severe spike in global oil prices,” the Senators continued. “Now that those impacts are being felt in Americans’ pocketbooks, your administration is scrambling – and failing – to contain this fallout.”

In the letter, the senators also raise concerns about easing Russian sanctions given recent reporting that Russia has been sharing intelligence with Iran regarding the movements of U.S. forces in the Middle East, and the risks both of these decisions pose to U.S. servicemembers.

The Senators wrote, “The economic effects of the war are already raising costs, with Americans being asked to pay even more for gas, groceries, and travel. Relieving sanctions on U.S. adversaries during an active conflict is just the most recent indicator of an incoherent and disordered policy approach.”

“We demand that you make senior officials of your Administration immediately available for public hearings in order to fully explain to the American people the rationale behind the decision to release these funds to the Russian and Iranian regimes,” the Senators concluded.

In addition to Schiff, Padilla, Kaine, and Gallego, the letter was signed by Senators Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Angus King (I-Maine), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai’i).

The full text of the letter can be found here and below.

Dear President Trump:

We write with deep concern and confusion over your administration’s recent decision to ease sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil exports. These actions speak once again to the troubling lack of strategic foresight that has marked your administration’s decision-making prior to and during its war of choice with Iran, jeopardizing the lives of our servicemembers across the region and raising costs for Americans here at home.

The administration’s lack of strategic cohesion on the war in Iran is having a direct impact on the economy and is endangering our servicemembers. Open source reporting suggests that prior to starting this war of choice, you and your administration were regularly briefed on, and dismissed, the potential economic fallout of a conflict with Iran. These warnings included the regime’s likely closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting severe spike in global oil prices. Now that those impacts are being felt in Americans’ pocketbooks, your administration is scrambling – and failing – to contain this fallout. The administration’s abrupt March 20 decision to waive certain sanctions on Iranian oil sales will do little to mitigate rising costs even while opening a massive source of new revenue – per press reports, as much as $14 billion – for the very regime that U.S. servicemembers are risking their lives to strike.

Open source reporting also suggests Russia began sharing sensitive intelligence with the Iranian military within the first days of the start of this conflict, including targeting information for U.S. military forces in the Middle East. Russia’s direct military support for Iran would alone make shocking your decision to ease sanctions on their oil exports, but Russia is already set to make as much as $4.9 billion from surging oil prices alone- your sanctions waiver will undoubtedly add to that sum, enabling Russian President Vladimir Putin to redouble and extend pressure on our Ukrainian partners as they struggle to defend their country against his aggression.

The war in Iran is deeply unpopular, and Americans have made clear that they do not want another costly, protracted conflict in the Middle East. The economic effects of the war are already raising costs, with Americans being asked to pay even more for gas, groceries, and travel. Relieving sanctions on U.S. adversaries during an active conflict is just the most recent indicator of an incoherent and disordered policy approach. Economic relief for Americans starts with the cessation of wars of choice, not the continuation of them.

We demand that you make senior officials of your Administration immediately available for public hearings in order to fully explain to the American people the rationale behind the decision to release these funds to the Russian and Iranian regimes.

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STATEMENT: Sen. Schiff on Senate Vote to Fund DHS

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) released the following statement on the Senate vote to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

This vote comes after Republicans voted to block 11 funding bills offered by Senate Democrats to pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers. Earlier this month, Senate Republicans blocked the passage of Schiff’s and Padilla’s bill to renew funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and reopen the agency.

“Early this morning, the Senate passed legislation funding TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, cybersecurity, security at the border, and other critical components within the Department of Homeland Security. As Republicans refused to reform ICE, the bill provides it no funding.

“The House must now take this up without delay. For six weeks, we have seen growing chaos at our airports, as Republicans refused to fund TSA unless they could force more money on an out-of-control ICE and CBP. We urged them to take the deal they accepted last night and for weeks they refused. As a result of their inability to govern, TSA workers went unpaid and the public suffered.

“For weeks, Democrats made it clear that we would not support funding for ICE without significant reforms, given the chaos in our streets. We kept that promise.

“Democrats also put up 11 different bills to fund TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard and other parts of DHS to stop the chaos of another Trump shutdown. Had they accepted the deal we offered weeks ago — instead of this morning — all of this could have been avoided.

“While we continue to push for much-needed guardrails on Trump’s immigration agenda, we are finally funding the critical agencies that Republicans have held hostage while dragging their feet on our push for a simple commonsense reform: holding federal immigration agents to the same standard as other law enforcement agencies.

“This fight is not over and we will keep pushing for these reforms. But as soon as the House acts, we can finally end snarled airport security lines, and get TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard and other critical federal workers their overdue paychecks.”

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Sen. Tim Scott leads bicameral letter urging FDA to reconsider gene therapy decision

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) penned a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the agency to reconsider and reverse a prior decision denying a Pediatric Rare Disease Priority Review Voucher (PRV) for a gene therapy treating sickle cell disease (SCD). Sen. Scott was joined on the letter by Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12), Mike Kelly (R-PA-16), Rick Allen (R-GA-12), and Buddy Carter (R-GA-1).

In the letter, lawmakers highlight the devastating toll of sickle cell disease, which affects approximately 100,000 Americans, more than 90% of whom are African American, and underscore the importance of advancing curative treatments.

“We write regarding the administration of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Pediatric Rare Disease Priority Review Voucher (PRV) program, particularly the decision by the previous administration to deny a PRV for a one-time administered novel curative gene therapy that treats sickle cell disease,” the lawmakers wrote.

They continued, “This chronic, debilitating disease causes severe pain episodes often resulting in hospitalization, progressive organ damage, and serious acute events like strokes… The approvals in December 2023 of two curative gene therapies represented a transformative moment for Americans…living with SCD.”

The lawmakers also argue the FDA’s denial was based on a flawed interpretation of statute, writing that the agency “applied a newly created, extra-statutory definition of “active ingredient’” to determine that the therapy was not eligible for a PRV.

“The previous administration ignored this guidance, inexplicably choosing to treat the modified cell types of patients with Betathalassemia and those with SCD as the same ‘active ingredient,’” they wrote, noting that this approach conflicts with both FDA precedent and congressional intent behind the program.

They warned that maintaining this interpretation could have far-reaching consequences for innovation.“Upholding this arbitrary decision… risks jeopardizing the viability of an industry intent on creating novel treatments for pediatric patients with sickle cell disease and other rare, severe genetic diseases,” the lawmakers continued.

The letter emphasizes that the PRV program, established by Congress in 2012, was designed to incentivize development of treatments for rare pediatric diseases without taxpayer cost, and that reversing the decision would restore those incentives. “Revisiting, and ultimately reversing, this decision… will further support [ongoing efforts to advance gene therapies]… and do so at no cost to the federal government,” they wrote.

The lawmakers conclude by urging FDA leadership to take a fresh look at the decision. “We are grateful for your leadership… and we kindly ask that you take this opportunity to correct this decision made by the previous Administration,” they concluded.

Read the full letter here.

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Shaheen, Murkowski Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Hold E-Cigarette Companies Accountable for the Youth Vaping Crisis

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) are introducing bipartisan legislation to hold e-cigarette companies accountable for the youth vaping crisis. The Resources to Prevent Youth Vaping Act would require e-cigarette manufacturers to pay user fees to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help conduct stronger oversight of the e-cigarette industry and increase awareness of the danger of e-cigarettes.

“E-cigarettes are dangerous and addictive, and while there’s been significant progress in curbing use among our youth, there’s more we can do in Congress to protect future generations of children from the manipulative practices used by e-cigarette companies for profit,” said Senator Shaheen. “Our commonsense legislation would close a key loophole that has allowed e-cigarette manufacturers to put products on the market without paying their dues to FDA, giving the agency more funding to deploy tools to continue to crack down on the youth vaping epidemic and protect the health and well-being of children across the nation.”

“Allowing the FDA to collect user fees on e-cigarette manufacturers and using those resources to educate on the dangers of vaping will help promote the health of America’s young people,” said Senator Murkowski. “While we have made meaningful progress in reducing youth e-cigarette use in Alaska and across the country, we cannot afford to become complacent. We must continue building on that progress and ensure young people understand the dangers of these addictive products.”

Unlike traditional cigarette manufacturers, e-cigarette companies do not pay any user fees to FDA. By closing this loophole, the Resources to Prevent Youth Vaping Act would give FDA more funding to conduct safety reviews of vaping products, prevent sales of e-cigarettes to minors, help support efforts to educate youth on the dangers of e-cigarettes and increase the agency’s oversight and enforcement capabilities.

The American Lung Association, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the American Academy of Pediatrics have endorsed the legislation. In addition to Shaheen and Murkowski, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are cosponsors of the legislation.

A copy of the bill text can be found HERE.

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Support Grows for Bipartisan Bill to Cap Monthly Insulin Costs at $35 Led by Shaheen, Collins, Warnock, Kennedy

**Eight additional Senators—four from each party—signed on to the Shaheen-led bill to make insulin more affordable for Americans with diabetes**

(Washington, DC) – Bipartisan legislation to make insulin more affordable for Americans living with diabetes introduced this week by U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Susan Collins (R-ME), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and John Kennedy (R-LA) is gaining support on and off Capitol Hill.

There is growing momentum behind the proposal on both sides of the aisle. In addition to Shaheen, Collins, Warnock and Kennedy, U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Angus King (I-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Katie Britt (R-AL) now cosponsor the legislation.

The Improving Needed Safeguards for Users of Lifesaving Insulin Now (INSULIN) Act would cap the cost of insulin at $35 per month for Americans on private and employer insurance and create a pilot program to provide insulin at the same cost to Americans without insurance. Senator Shaheen published a video speaking to the importance of the legislation.

Endorsements of the bipartisan INSULIN Act:

“Breakthrough T1D commends Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Susan Collins, Raphael Warnock, and John Kennedy for introducing this bipartisan bill to lower the cost of insulin for the millions of Americans who rely on it to live,” said Lynn Starr, Breakthrough T1D’s Chief Global Advocacy Officer. “The INSULIN Act builds on the meaningful progress made in recent years to reduce insulin prices and includes several long-standing priorities for which Breakthrough T1D has advocated. We are proud to support this legislation and urge the Senate to move swiftly to advance it.”

“The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has fought to make insulin affordable across the U.S. Unfortunately, insulin remains unaffordable for almost 30 percent of individuals according to an October 2025 national survey by the American Diabetes Association. Too many individuals have to choose between paying for life-saving insulin or paying for other life necessities like rent or food. The American Diabetes Association is proud to endorse the bipartisan INSULIN Act,” said Lisa Murdock, ADA Chief Advocacy Officer. “This legislation takes critical steps to improve access to and limit-out-of-pocket costs for people with private insurance who rely on insulin to live. The ADA strongly urges Congress to act without delay to pass the INSULIN Act.”

“Making insulin more affordable for people living with diabetes is a top priority for the members of the Endocrine Society,” said the Endocrine Society’s Chief Medical Officer Robert W. Lash, M.D. “We applaud the leadership of Senators Shaheen, Collins, Warnock and Kennedy to address this ongoing crisis. For years, our members have been alarmed about the lack of access to affordable insulin. We are pleased to endorse this historic legislation, which will make insulin more affordable for people enrolled in private insurance and people who are uninsured and need access to this lifesaving medication. This legislation will change and save lives. We stand ready to work with you to pass this critically important legislation.”

Click HERE to view bill text.

INSULIN Act in the news:

Semafor: Senators reach deal on capping insulin costs at $35

Union Leader: Shaheen bill would extend $35 monthly insulin cap to private/employer health care plans

The Hill: Senate deal reached to cap insulin costs

Fox News: Bipartisan Senate bill to cap insulin for Americans at $35 has new momentum

Politico: Bipartisan bill seeks to cap insulin costs for private insurance

Politico Playbook PM: BIPARTISAN BREAKTHROUGH

Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) announced they reached a deal to cap insulin costs at $35, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. The goal is for the legislation to pass before Shaheen’s retirement, but they’ll need to get Thune and Trump on board.

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Sheehy Introduces Bipartisan Veterans Health Administration Novel Therapeutics Preparedness Act

U.S. SENATE – Senator Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) introduced the pro-veteran, bipartisan Veterans Health Administration Novel Therapeutics Preparedness Act to increase veterans’ access to innovative health care and ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is prepared to better care for veterans with emerging mental health therapies.

“After young Americans who signed up to fight for our nation and were willing to give up their own lives for others come home, we better make sure the VA is ready to care for them and that they have access to the best, most innovative care available. The VA’s core mission is to care for veterans, and this bipartisan bill will help the hardworking men and women at the VA fulfill that critical mission,” said Senator Sheehy.

This bill would establish a dedicated Office of Novel Therapeutics within the VA and ensure the department is prepared to safely evaluate and implement emerging therapies by establishing centralized governance, workforce readiness planning, and clinical implementation infrastructure within the Veterans Health Administration.

Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), and John Boozman (R-Ark.) joined Senator Sheehy in introducing the bill.

“Veterans suffering from invisible wounds like PTSD and depression deserve the same level of care from their VA as those with physical wounds, and it’s past time we do more to ensure our VA is equipped and prepared to navigate these Veterans’ unique needs. Our bipartisan legislation recognizes that the VA is uniquely positioned to oversee and administer this care as our Veterans’ medical center home and would cut red tape and establish groundbreaking infrastructure to more quickly review and approve emerging therapeutics for our wounded warriors. Equally important, it would require annual reports to Congress on clinical outcomes, research and success from innovative therapies so we could evaluate what works and establish those best practices Department-wide. Our bill is about making our VA work better for our heroes, and that should always be a bipartisan matter,” said Senator Duckworth.

“When I got back from Iraq, I saw fellow Marines struggle in ways we weren’t prepared to treat. There’s no one way to address veterans’ mental health, and for those who don’t respond to existing treatments, we need to look at new ones. Emerging therapies like psychedelic treatment may offer real hope for veterans with PTSD when nothing else has. This bill makes sure we’re exploring every option to support them,” said Senator Gallego.

“We owe it to veterans to ensure the VA can effectively facilitate access to new therapies and care upon FDA approval. Doing so will give them more options to improve their health, including recovering from the invisible wounds that represent a unique challenge to their well-being. I am proud of this bipartisan, proactive effort to meet the needs of our former servicemembers who have earned this support for all they have given to defend our nation and freedoms,” said Senator Boozman.

Statements of Support:

“As innovation in alternative therapies accelerates and studies on their effectiveness show increasingly clear results, our healthcare system has not kept pace and veterans are the ones paying the price: physically, mentally, and too often, financially. After 20 years of war, the post-9/11 generation is still carrying invisible and visible wounds, and we owe them access to the most effective care available today, not years from now. We welcome Senator Sheehy’s VHA Novel Therapeutics Preparedness Act, which lays the foundation needed to responsibly deliver breakthrough treatments to veterans effectively and efficiently. After two decades of war, we owe them more than promises—we owe them delivery. This legislation moves innovation into real access for veterans now and we applaud this meaningful action.” – Dr. Kyleanne Hunter, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

“Veterans suffering from PTSD, treatment-resistant depression, and other complex mental health conditions deserve access to the most promising emerging therapies—and they deserve a VA that is prepared to deliver them safely and effectively. This legislation takes a critical step by building the necessary infrastructure, workforce capacity, and clinical standards before these therapies arrive—not after. We thank Sens. Sheehy, Boozman, Duckworth, and Gallego for their leadership on this important legislation, which will help ensure veterans can access cutting-edge treatments when they need them most—especially as they transition from the battlefield, rather than decades later.” – Jim Marszalek, Executive Director, Disabled American Veterans Washington Headquarters

Background:

Emerging therapeutic interventions, including certain psychedelic-assisted therapies currently under FDA review, may significantly change how conditions such as PTSD, treatment-resistant depression, substance use disorders, traumatic brain injury, and chronic pain are treated. These therapies often require intensive clinical oversight, interdisciplinary care teams, and structured preparation and integration that differ from traditional outpatient care.

The bill aims to ensure the VA is prepared to safely implement emerging mental health treatments as they become available; strengthen coordination between research, clinical operations, and workforce training within VA; position the VA to lead the responsible evaluation and implementation of innovative therapies for veterans with complex mental health and brain health conditions; and help ensure veterans can access emerging treatments within VA’s integrated healthcare system rather than relying on costly or fragmented care outside the Department.

Read more on the bill HERE.


U.S. Senator Smith, Rep. Davids Reintroduce Legislation to Tackle Maternal Mortality Crisis Through Improved Data, Research

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) and Representative Sharice Davids (D-KS-03) re-introduced legislation to address America’s worsening maternal mortality crisis through expanding research and improving maternal health care. The Data to Save Moms Act aims to better understand the root causes of the maternal mortality crisis by improving data collection on maternal mortality and morbidity.

“It’s not radical to believe that every pregnant woman should be able to get high-quality health care, and that we should focus on areas where we see the biggest disparities in health outcomes,” said Senator Smith. “By funding research on maternal health, this legislation will help to understand the root causes of health complications from pregnancy and labor so we can tackle them head on.”

“The U.S. is falling desperately short on the issue of maternal health, and frankly, it is shameful — but we can’t fix a problem we don’t fully understand,” said Davids. “By listening to the physicians and mothers who are on the front lines of this crisis and improving our existing data collection methods, we can take informed action and save lives.”

The United States remains the only industrialized country with a rising maternal mortality rate, with the crisis disproportionately impacting communities of color. In Minnesota, Black mothers are dying at more than twice the rate of the state average, and Native Americans are more than twelve times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than the state average.

The Data to Save Moms Act critically strengthens Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs), multidisciplinary panels, composed of experts such as obstetricians, forensic pathologists, and community representatives, which operate across the country to review deaths occurring during or within one year of pregnancy and identify opportunities for prevention.

The legislation would enhance the effectiveness of MMRCs and expand maternal health research by:

Establishing a grant program to promote representative community engagement in MMRCs in states across the country.

Commissioning the first-ever comprehensive study to understand the scope of the Native American maternal health crisis.

Providing funding to establish the first Tribal MMRC.

Conducting a comprehensive review of maternal health data collection, emphasizing the importance of listening to the stories of pregnant women.

Investing in maternal health research at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AAPISIs).

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Tuberville Promotes His New Bill to Rein in Transfer Portal During HELP Hearing

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) spoke at a U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing about how Congress can reform college athletics to better protect students and ensure they have opportunities to succeed.

During his remarks, Sen. Tuberville discussed the Student-Athlete Act, his new legislation to rein in the transfer portal and clarify eligibility rules for student-athletes.

Sen. Tuberville exchanged questions with two witnesses: Abby Lynch who is a former soccer player and track athlete at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Collis Temple Jr. who is a member of the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors.

Excerpts from Sen. Tuberville’s remarks can be found below or viewed on YouTube or Rumble.

TUBERVILLE: “Yeah. Houston, we have a problem, and it’s getting worse every day. Thank you all for being here. Thank you for what you do. We got huge problems in a lot of areas. This year, we will have 10,000 football players at all levels signed up for the transfer portal—10,000. 5,000 men and women’s basketball players were signed up for the transfer portal. I just wanna go through this. I’ve got a bill I put up […] We’re all talking about the NCAA—which has been a disaster, by the way—after 35 years of dealing with them. They’re a big part of the problem. But it seems like we can’t solve that problem.

So, at the end of the day, the issue to me is pretty simple, okay? The question is whether we still believe student-athletes are supposed to be students […] I’m all for athletes being paid every dime that they can get. Please go out there and raise your money and take every dime people wanna pay you. I’m all for that. I’ve always said that. As you said—I forget who said it—but it is a full-time job. My God. Sports is full-time. Meetings, weightlifting, study halls. You name it. I did it [for] 35 years, and I couldn’t believe that we weren’t paying student-athletes. But that’s behind us.

Young men and women have worked hard and have earned that opportunity. They ought to be able to benefit from this opportunity. We don’t even talk about scholarships anymore. My God, that’s what we used to talk about. Now we talk about money. The system is so far away from [education], it’s embarrassing. College [athletics is] starting to look less like a pathway to a degree, and more like a revolving door, as I said, [because] of all this transfer[ing]. Athletes are bouncing from school to school chasing the next deal. We all know that. They’re not paying taxes on that next deal either, by the way. And that’s the next thing that’s coming…It ought to concern everybody. Everybody […] 98% of the young men and women that go to college do not play pro sports. We need to get away from that. The future is going to depend on the education—the education part of going to school. If you wanna play in the NFL or pros, go. Go get it done. But if you wanna learn something […]—95, 98% of the thousands of kids I coached that got a degree thank me all the time. ‘Thank you for making me go to class.’

This week, I’m introducing the Student Athlete Act. I mean, we all got problems—collective bargaining, ‘We don’t get enough healthcare,’ and all that, hey, we’re gonna have those problems. This bill that I’m putting out is a basic idea. […] But at the end of the day, we gotta start somewhere, folks. Or we’re gonna lose it. We’re gonna lose Olympic sports. We’re gonna lose women’s sports. Because there’s not gonna be any money. It’s gonna be club sports. I got news for y’all: it’s coming. The money’s not gonna be there. You can forget about Title IX. You can have all the lawsuits you want. If the money’s not there, it’s not there. Money’s gonna go to athletes that get on television.

So, student-athletes, to me, should have a five-year-window. You start, you got five years. I’m sick of these 28, 29-year-olds playing in a young-person’s sport and taking your money. I’m sick of that. Five years [to] play—no waivers, no excuses. Once you start, you got five years. At the end of that five years, you go and do whatever you need to do the rest of your life. It’s pretty simple. I mean, you can get a degree in those five years. If you transfer one time, the likelihood of you getting a degree is almost zero. Think about that. Unless you wanna go to school seven, eight years and pay for a lot of that yourself. So, I’m for a one-year transfer. One time, you get it—freebie. If your coach leaves, [something] happens in your family, you transfer. After that, you pay the penalty of what we used to do. You transfer, you sit [out] a year. But you got a one-[time] transfer. One year.

Folks, we can’t do this transfer portal [in its current form]. If we do it, we’re gonna as I said, we’re gonna lose men’s sports, women’s sports, and we’re gonna have just a couple [sports] out there that’s going to be on television, and that is it. And there’s not gonna be any scholarships. So, I don’t have a lot of—can I ask a couple of questions while I’m at it? Ms. Lynch, my bill would solve the issue pretty quick in in terms of transferring, but is it realistic for somebody to transfer and get a degree?”

LYNCH: “Thank you so much for your question, Senator Tuberville. Also, War Eagle. I would say that the realistic capability of a student to transfer and still get a degree, it depends where they transfer. Obviously, we deal with quarter schools and semester schools in the Big Ten, and that is a really complex thing in terms of transferring credits, academic progress, progress towards degree. Also, the timing of transfer portals isn’t always the most helpful. Like, the football transfer portal is now January 2nd to January 16th, and that sits right in the middle of when quarter schools start their new semester. And that’s really problematic for getting student-athletes—particularly football—student-athletes enrolled in their next institution, which really puts them back academically. So, transferring does inhibit academic progress, especially when you’re transferring multiple, multiple times. I appreciate your question. Thank you.”

TUBERVILLE: “Mr. Temple, how do we keep integrity in this nonsense?”

TEMPLE: “Well, before I address the integrity question, I just wanna make some highlighted comments. As most of us know, South Carolina is a special—super special—women’s basketball venue. They average 18,000 folks a game in their stadium. There’s another super basketball venue for women. It’s called LSU [with] Kim Mulkey. We average about 14,000, 13,000 persons a game. Here’s the reality of what’s gonna happen in the world of athletics as it relates to Title IX and women’s sports. The year Kim Mulkey won the national championship with what was the young lady’s name? […] Angel Reese? Yeah. Angel Reese. LSU lost six million dollars in the basketball arena for women. This past year, at the University of South Carolina, women’s basketball lost eight million dollars. It’s unsustainable. It’s unsustainable. Now, the answer is, okay, what do you do with Title IX and women’s sports? I submit to you, there’s not a total of eight to ten million dollars that’s been generated and earned to sustain women’s sports.

So, as you move forward to work on this very complex circumstance, you gotta take it all into full consideration. You gotta take it all. It’s mostly about the money. Because of it being mostly about the money, it is vitally important that we figure out a way to make sure that these student-athletes participate in the college experience, which is the academic piece first.

Now, you say that we probably need to give them five years. I understand. Five years is a redshirt year, plus four to play. Senator Tuberville, I would ask you to consider a six-year deal. A six-year-deal would involve a grayshirt, which is something that you’re familiar with, and then a redshirt, which is something you’re also familiar with, and then give them four years to play. So, when you’re talking about 18-year-old freshman, 19-year-old sophomore, 20-year-old junior, 21-year-old senior, and you give them a couple of extra years to get it together, I think it’ll work a lot better than just five years. Now, what the hell was your question?”

TUBERVILLE: “Integrity.”

TEMPLE: “Integrity.”

TUBERVILLE: “[How can] we keep the integrity?”

TEMPLE: “It will absolutely keep the integrity. We need to move forward on your concept because as you indicated, we have to start somewhere. We don’t wanna throw the baby out with the bath water. We have to start somewhere. And I think your concepts and your perspective about how this thing has to work is healthy and must be done. The NCAA is not going to fix it. They’re not gonna fix it. We have to move forward with you senators.”

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

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Van Hollen Statement on Funding Deal to Reopen TSA, FEMA, Coast Guard

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) made this statement on Senate Republicans finally agreeing to pass a funding bill for the entities within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that do not carry out immigration enforcement while negotiations over reforms to ICE and CBP continue.

“For weeks, we have been urging Republicans to stop blocking funding for TSA, FEMA, CISA, and the Coast Guard and restore pay for these civil servants. After Republicans rejected 14 of our attempts on the Senate Floor to do just that, today they finally relented – but only after their inaction led to worsening chaos at airports across the country and considerable hardship for unpaid federal workers. Also as we demanded, this funding agreement includes no funding for Trump’s ICE and Border Patrol – operations that have instilled fear in communities across the country, violated individuals’ constitutional rights on an unprecedented scale, and left U.S. citizens dead. As I have said repeatedly, I will not support even one more dime for this Administration’s out-of-control immigration agencies so long as their lawlessness and violence continues.”

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Warner Welcomes Court Pausing Hegseth's Designation of Anthropic as a Supply Chain Risk

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in Anthropic’s lawsuit against the Trump administration:

“The preliminary injunction barring the improper designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk is a victory for national security. I applaud the tech sector employees and companies, civil society advocates, and retired military leaders who spoke out against the Trump administration’s dangerous, punitive overreach. There is clear alignment across the court, technology sector, and the private sector on this issue and I look forward to working alongside America’s technology leaders to ensure the responsible use of AI in military operations. The stakes go far beyond a single company, with real consequences for the American economy and our national security, especially as the Trump administration sends thousands of servicemembers to war with Iran.”

Earlier this year, Secretary Hegseth declared Anthropic a supply chain risk following its efforts to ensure its models wouldn’t be used to power fully autonomous AI weapons systems or mass domestic surveillance. This would be the first time an American company has publicly received this designation, which is generally reserved for companies affiliated with foreign adversaries, and would prevent agencies across the federal government, and a number of American companies, from using Anthropic’s technology.

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Welch Statement on Government Funding

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) released the following statement after the Senate voted unanimously to fund the TSA, Coast Guard, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and FEMA without funding for ICE and parts of Customs and Border Protection:

“Vermonters made their voice clear: no more ICE or Border Patrol funding unless reforms are made. This unanimous vote by the Senate to fund everything but ICE delivers on that promise.

“Since this shutdown began, we have urged our colleagues across the aisle to fund the TSA, Coast Guard, CISA, and FEMA. There is no reason these workers should have been without pay for so long.

“ICE and Border Protection have acted with impunity under President Trump. I won’t back down in the fight against President Trump and Stephen Miller’s mass deportation campaign.

“I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass this legislation without delay, help us reopen our airports, and pay government workers.”

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ICYMI: In Budget Committee, Whitehouse Calls on Congress to Shore Up Social Security and Medicare Forever

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Budget Committee and co-founder of the Expand Social Security Caucus, delivered an opening statement earlier this week calling on Congress to pass his Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act at a Senate Budget Committee hearing on the future of Social Security. Whitehouse’s statement comes as the program faces troubling solvency projections, unprecedented administrative and staffing disruptions, and the ransacking of recipients’ personal data by former DOGE staff.

Last month, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released new estimates projecting that without new revenue, Social Security’s main trust fund will be exhausted one year earlier than anticipated in 2032, in part due to the Republican Big, Beautiful-for-Billionaires bill, and will only cover 72 percent of benefits thereafter.

“We all remember President Biden’s State of the Union address, when Republicans joined Democrats in a standing ovation applauding the statement that cutting Social Security and Medicare was off the table. The only way to extend solvency without cutting benefits or borrowing money, which would be also very dangerous, is to raise more revenue,” said Whitehouse. “If we still agree on that, there are win-win common sense solutions that would both extend Social Security solvency indefinitely without benefit cuts and make our corrupt tax system fairer. Right now, the cap on Social Security contributions means a tech exec making $1 million effectively stops paying into the program at the beginning of March, while a schoolteacher making far less contributes through every single paycheck all year. My Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act would fix that by requiring contributions to Social Security on wages above $400,000.”

The Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act, introduced by Whitehouse and Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (D-PA-02), would require taxpayers earning more than $400,000 to contribute a fairer share to Social Security and Medicare. The Social Security and Medicare actuaries each found that the legislation would extend the solvency of both programs by at least 75 years – the full actuarial window.

Social Security is a bedrock pillar of economic fairness and retirement security, providing a lifeline to older Americans and their children, and disabled workers. In 2024, Social Security alone lifted 22 million Americans out of poverty, and nearly half of seniors live in households that receive at least 50 percent of their family income from Social Security benefits that they have earned after a lifetime of work.

Whitehouse’s full statement is below and video is available here.

Chairman Graham, let me first thank you for holding this hearing and showing leadership on this issue. You are definitely not a senator who is afraid of big ideas, and we have a big problem that is going to require some big ideas. Fortunately, they are pretty simple ideas.

Protecting Social Security has only grown more urgent since our last Budget Committee hearing on the topic two years ago. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Social Security Trust fund will be exhausted one year earlier than previously predicted, in part due to the Republican Big Beautiful-for-Billionaires Bill enacted last year. 2032 is that year – just six years away.

As we meet today, insolvency is not the only threat facing Social Security. The Trump administration has shrunk the Social Security Administration’s workforce by thousands, reassigned technical experts to the phone line with minimal training, closed regional offices, made the agency’s website less reliable, and made it harder to access services.

Then the Washington Post reported that one of Elon’s little Musk-rats allegedly planned to take the personal information of millions of Americans to use at his new private employer. I predicted that granting unfettered access to the nation’s most sensitive data to unqualified, unvetted staffers picked by Elon Musk could lead to this, and now we need to get to the bottom of it.

Social Security is the bedrock of America’s retirement security. It’s our most effective anti-poverty program. It’s a lifeline for millions of seniors, their children, and people with disabilities. That lifeline reached about 20% of the entire U.S. population every month last year. And almost every senior in this country will receive payments from Social Security – benefits seniors have earned that let them retire in dignity.

Without new revenue, Social Security will not be able to cover full benefits starting in 2032, and will cover only 72% of benefits on average after that, according to CBO.

We all remember President Biden’s State of the Union address, when Republicans joined Democrats in a standing ovation applauding the statement that cutting Social Security and Medicare was off the table. The only way to extend solvency without cutting benefits or borrowing money, which would be also very dangerous, is to raise more revenue.

If we still agree on that, there are win-win common sense solutions that would both extend Social Security solvency indefinitely without benefit cuts and make our corrupt tax system fairer.

Right now, the cap on Social Security contributions means a tech exec making $1 million effectively stops paying into the program at the beginning of March, while a schoolteacher making far less contributes through every single paycheck all year.

My Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act would fix that by requiring contributions to Social Security on wages above $400,000.

Right now, people living off of income from their wealth make no Social Security contributions. My bill would require those making more than $400,000 in investment income to contribute just like those who are working for their income.

Right now, wealthy owners of pass-through businesses like hedge funds and private equity firms can avoid paying Medicare taxes entirely. My bill would close that loophole.

These reforms raise enough revenue to make Social Security solvent for the entire 75-year actuarial window, according to the Social Security Actuary. That is as far as the actuarial eye can see. And the Medicare Actuary found it would also extend Medicare solvency for as far as the actuarial eye can see.

So we can protect Social Security for all without cutting benefits. And we also get to end unfair tax dodges that let those at the top play by a different set of rules than everyone else. It is a twofer.

So to Chairman Graham, let me say we can do this. It’s big, but it’s actually not all that hard or complicated, and the sooner we do it, the better off everyone will be.

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Warner Joins Whitehouse’s “Making the Case” Podcast to Take New Look at FBI Seizure of Election Records in Fulton County

Latest episode of Making the Case available now on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee, today released the ninth episode of season two of his podcast, Making the Case. In the new episode, Whitehouse is joined by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, to dive into the FBI’s insidious seizure of 2020 election records in Fulton County, Georgia, in January.

The senators discussed the unprecedented presence of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the FBI’s search and her testimony to Warner last week in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, where she claimed she was instructed by President Trump to attend the search. Whitehouse and Warner also discussed DNI Gabbard’s participation in Trump’s “Weaponization Working Group,” the crowd of election deniers behind the Fulton County search warrant, and what the Trump administration’s hostility to the rule of law could mean for the security of the 2026 elections.

“One of the things we like to do on this podcast is to pull on a thread and see where it leads. The thread of this bizarre search warrant execution in Fulton County leads us to a question: was this the worst incompetence in the history of search warrant execution, or something far more sinister? If the seizure of the documents themselves was the FBI’s goal, that opens up an avenue of election interference,” said Whitehouse. “I’m grateful to Senator Warner for closely following DNI Gabbard as she operates across the firewall that’s supposed to keep our intelligence community out of domestic affairs. Join us as we break down exactly what this mischief could mean for future elections.”

Earlier this month, Whitehouse and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter requesting that the Department of Justice’s Inspector General open an investigation into the FBI’s Fulton County raid.

The ninth episode of season two of Making the Case is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and other podcast platforms.

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Whitehouse Calls for Leadership Change at EPA

In ‘Time to Wake Up’ speech on Senate Floor, Senator Whitehouse detailed EPA Administrator Zeldin’s lies to Congress and the American people as he serves fossil fuel polluters

Whitehouse was joined on the Senate floor by Senator Markey

Washington, DC – Last night, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) delivered his 305th speech urging his colleagues to wake up to the threat of climate change, during which he called for a change in leadership at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Senator Whitehouse presented a review of thousands of pages of sworn court filings, internal EPA emails and other communications, and documents produced under the Freedom of Information Act demonstrating that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin likely lied, including once under oath, before two Congressional Committees in May of 2025 when he made claims about an “individualized review” of Congressionally obligated EPA grants totaling over $1.7 billion.

“All the evidence points plainly in one direction: Zeldin didn’t follow the law—he lied about having followed the law. But why? Why lie about that? Here’s why. Trump demands two things from his Cabinet: one, fawning flattery; and two, slavish implementation of his political instructions. Zeldin admitting that he messed up the grant cancellation process would batter EPA’s chances in litigation. He’d be guilty of failure to execute on Trump’s big donors’ political agenda. He’d have to face the White House’s ire,” said Senator Whitehouse in last night’s speech. “So Administrator Zeldin became Lyin’ Lee, desperate to keep Trump’s illegal plans alive to carry out the political purge of clean-energy grants, all to satisfy that Audience of One by rewarding Trump’s thuggish fossil fuel kingmakers.”

“Today, I am calling on Lee Zeldin to go. It is bad enough that he has weaponized the EPA to do the bidding of the giant fossil fuel and chemical corporations that donated to Trump’s campaign,” continued Whitehouse last night. “But if he can’t be relied upon to tell the simple truth to Congress, to answer simple questions honestly, how can anyone in this body believe him? Or is the new rule that lying is okay if it’s done for polluters?”

U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also called for Zeldin to step down.

“EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has failed in his duty to protect American families from the harms of pollution and climate change. As part of Trump’s corrupt bargain with the fossil fuel industry, Zeldin has gutted protections for clean air and water, rolled back oversight of dangerous chemicals, and overturned the endangerment finding, the legal bedrock for federal climate action. As he puts us on the fast track to climate disaster, he is making families sicker, polluting our country, and driving up health care and energy costs—all to benefit Trump’s billionaire donors. Zeldin is a disgrace, and it is beyond time for him to go,” wrote Leader Schumer.

Whitehouse was joined on the Senate floor by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA).

“When someone’s track record is as full of failure as Lee Zeldin’s, they should flunk out of the class. He has failed to carry out the basic mission of the agency he was appointed to lead—to protect human health and the environment—and has instead ensured that under his leadership, all the EPA has protected are the polluters. For kids struggling with asthma, for moms worried about toxic chemicals in their food, for young people worried about their future under climate change, and for all Americans who deserve a safe and healthy environment: Lee Zeldin must go,” said Senator Markey.

On Tuesday, more than 160 climate, environmental justice, and public health organizations also called for EPA Administrator Zeldin’s resignation or removal, citing his systematic dismantling of the agency’s core mission to protect public health and the environment. The advocates, led by the Climate Action Campaign and Moms Clean Air Force, released a letter signed by 163 organizations demanding Administrator Zeldin leave or be fired.

Whitehouse, Markey and 31 other Senators previously called out the Trump Administration for unlawfully rescinding Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) grants. Whitehouse previously condemned EPA’s illegal termination of the Solar for All program and its illegal attempts to use the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as justification for clawing back already obligated funds. He has also led colleagues in demanding answers from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin about the agency’s lawless crusade to terminate GGRF, including a previous freeze on Solar for All funding. The lawmakers have received no substantive responses to those inquiries. Administrator Zeldin gaslit the American public, fabricating claims of fraud in those programs without producing any evidence, and he lacks the legal authority to terminate agreements with GGRF grantees in all three programs absent a clear record of waste, fraud, or abuse—something multiple courts have said he has failed to provide. Litigation against the Trump Administration for freezing and attempting to terminate legally obligated GGRF grants remains ongoing.

Ranking Member Whitehouse and Leader Schumer previously led the entire caucus in opposing the EPA’s proposed rollback of the 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding. The endangerment finding repeal was finalized on February 12, 2026, in what Whitehouse and Schumer called a “shameful abdication” of the agency’s duty to protect the American people, and one that will “harm Americans’ health, homes, and economic well-being.”

The text of Whitehouse’s speech, as-prepared for delivery, is below and video of the floor speech is available here.

Mr. President, I rise for the 305th time with my increasingly weathered, yet ever more relevant “Time to Wake Up” chart to warn this chamber about a corrupt danger to our country. A danger powered by fossil fuel industry money, orchestrated by myriad dark money front groups, and now executed at the highest levels of a corrupted Executive Branch.

In previous speeches, I described the Four Phases of Climate Denial.

Phase One: bury the evidence.

Phase Two: lie about the evidence.

Phase Three: flood our politics with dark money to protect fossil fuels’ pollute-for-free business model.

And now Phase Four, the most dangerous phase yet: weaponize the government itself to attack clean energy, protect polluters, and steamroll lawful process.

Today’s story is about a lie. We are now so deep in Phase Four that heads of executive agencies feel entitled to lie to Congress if it helps carry out President Trump’s fossil-fuel-captured agenda.

Notice what distinguishes Phase Four from the earlier phases. Phase One involved buried evidence in secret. Phase Two involved lies filtered through think-tank reports with plausible deniability for the fossil fuel interests behind the front groups. Phase Three flooded politics with dark money through anonymous front groups. All hidden.

But Phase Four—using the government itself to execute the polluters’ agenda against the law, against Congress, and against the courts—must be defended out loud, under oath, before judges, and before this body. In Phase Four, the lying becomes official. Brazen. On the record.

There once was a time when lying to Congress mattered. When swearing an oath to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” meant exactly that. When, if someone lied to Congress, even members of the liar’s own party would hold them to account.

Unfortunately, those days are gone. But truth should still matter. So today, I present to you the story of Lyin’ Lee Zeldin. I’ll show you what happened when EPA Administrator Zeldin came before two Congressional Committees in May of last year. Our review of thousands of pages of sworn court filings, internal EPA emails and other communications, and documents produced under the Freedom of Information Act proves it.

Let me walk you through the saga.

At the beginning of his term, Trump—following the Project 2025 blueprint—instructed agencies to cut off funding that his fossil fuel donors disfavored. Remember, Candidate Trump promised Big Oil a massive return on their investment if they’d donate $1 billion dollars to get him elected. The companies indeed donated massively, hundreds of millions, and Trump dutifully provided the payback, in innumerable policies benefitting fossil fuel and kneecapping its clean energy competitors. The heavy hand of government was put to work for fossil fuel.

As soon as Zeldin arrived at EPA, he diligently obeyed President Trump by freezing and then terminating as many as 781 grants with awards totaling over $1.7 billion. These grants were Congressionally appropriated, and obligated to grantees, to fund projects in clean energy, coastal resilience, lead pipe removal, and improving air quality for children. EPA’s own Inspector General recently found, after reviewing one of the grant programs that had awarded $1.5 billion in cancelled funds, that EPA had done so in a fair, transparent, and legally compliant way. There was simply no excuse to claw back this money.

You will not be shocked to learn that it is illegal for the executive branch to unilaterally roll back appropriated and obligated congressional grants, so it prompted a swath of lawsuits against the EPA.

From Washington, DC, to Rhode Island, from Maryland to South Carolina, from Biden judge to Trump judge alike, federal courts reached the same conclusion: the grant freezes and terminations were likely illegal, and the grant money should go to the recipients.

One federal court ruled that EPA had to conduct individualized, grant-by-grant reviews, and could only cancel grants based on specific findings related to the unique characteristics of each grant. It’s a simple rule, grounded in separation of powers: the Executive Branch cannot veto Congressionally appropriated funds outside the veto process, particularly not based on political resentments.

That’s the law: to cancel a grant, EPA must review the grant itself, its terms and conditions and obligations, and have a specific reason.

Note here the difference between individually reviewing grants, versus reviewing grant programs, under which may fall dozens, even hundreds, of individual grants—the review has to be grant by grant.

In response to the court order, EPA made a huge production of documents. After sifting through the “thousands of documents” EPA offered up, the court found that “[n]ot one document showed any individualized review.” No grant-by-grant analysis. Nothing that met the legal “individualized review” requirement.

Instead, the Court found illegal targeting based on general terms like “climate,” “Greenhouse Gas Emissions,” and “Environmental Justice.” Entire grant programs were cancelled en masse. Internal emails said, “cancel them all.” It was the opposite of what the law required.

In short: the court, after extensive review, found that EPA did not follow the law.

Administrator Zeldin then made an astonishing move.

That same day, May 20, 2025, that the court rejected EPA’s claims as “hard to believe,” Zeldin walked into a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing and repeated the same discredited story he had try to sell the court, with an added new twist. He claimed that he personally conducted the individualized review of “every single grant” before cancelling them.

The court, based on evidence, hadn’t bought EPA’s story; but Zeldin figured a Republican-controlled Congress just might.

The very next day, Zeldin came before our Environment and Public Works Committee here in the Senate and—under oath—told me the same false story: that he had personally reviewed every grant, this time adding that his deputy also individually reviewed “every single grant.”

The problem with all of this? The evidence shows the opposite is true. Remember what the court found, after reviewing thousands of pages EPA had produced: “Not one document showed any individualized review.”

But wait, there’s more. That deputy that Zeldin claimed had also reviewed every single grant individually? He filed a sworn declaration to that same court averring only that he had conducted a review of grant programs—not of individual grants. Let that sink in: under oath in court, the deputy in charge of coordinating the grant review would only swear his name to a declaration about a review of programs, not of individual grants.

Other circumstantial evidence against Zeldin is also strong. Detailed EPA calendars obtained via FOIA requests demonstrate that the Administrator held 5 meetings with EPA staff related to grants, totaling 2 hours and 45 minutes. The calendars show no entries for other personal time to review grants. 2 hours and 45 minutes to review 781 grants individually? That’s about 13 seconds per grant. The math ain’t mathing, as they say.

And look at what eventually happened within the five grant programs at issue. Every single grant in every single program was cancelled, except one: a government-to-government grant, the only one to a single State.

Another tell here is Zeldin’s behavior: the yelling, accusing, and fist-banging at the EPW hearing. It’s Trump Administration SOP to yell, shout, and accuse when they can’t answer questions. We’ve seen this play run over and over.

All the evidence points plainly in one direction: Zeldin didn’t follow the law—he lied about following it.

But why? Why lie about this? Here’s why. Trump demands two things from his Cabinet: one, fawning flattery; and two, slavish implementation of political instructions.

Zeldin admitting that he messed up the grant cancellation process would batter EPA’s chances in litigation. He’d be guilty of failure to execute on Trump’s political agenda. He’d have to face Trump’s ire.

So Administrator Zeldin became Lyin’ Lee, desperate to keep Trump’s illegal plan alive to carry out a political purge of clean-energy grants, all to satisfy that Audience of One by rewarding Trump’s thuggish fossil fuel kingmakers.

This kind of gangster and gong show absurdity—this kind of brazenness—shows what happens when fossil fuel interests own the Executive Branch.

Follow the money. This is Phase Four. This is what it looks like when government is captured by polluters and put to their service. This was not an inadvertent misstatement. This was a calculated stratagem by Zeldin to lie and try to shout his way out of the pickle he was in.

Let’s be clear about the real costs here. Lying to a court is bad. Lying to Congress is bad. Lying to frustrate judicial review is bad. Lying to thwart Congress’ constitutional power of the purse is bad. All of that is bad.

But don’t forget, real people trying to earn a living were on the other end of those grants that Zeldin lied about. Those grants funded tangible projects that would cut people’s energy costs, protect people from natural disasters, and create real jobs for people. Real stuff.

Here’s some of the real stuff the illegal grant cancellations held up:

In North Carolina, residents were relying on a nearly $20 million grant to replace residential water service lines to get dangerous lead out of their drinking water. Other lead clean-up projects were cancelled in Indiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

Kipnuk, Alaska, lost a nearly $20 million grant to stabilize its riverbank. The consequences were real and immediate. In October 2025, the remnants of Typhoon Halong swept through, flooding the river, leveling the town, killing one person and displacing over 1,500 people. Tribal members must decide whether to permanently abandon their ancestral village. A climate specialist at the University of Alaska noted the pattern—three devastating ex-typhoon storms hitting Western Alaska in four years the grant was addressing. Zeldin’s canceled grant did not just fail to prevent a flood. It may have contributed to the permanent erasure of a Native community’s home; just last week, Kipnuk Tribal members voted to relocate altogether.

The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe was planning to use nearly $20 million to create a Tribal Resilience Hub that would have provided essential services during emergencies. Anybody who has had to evacuate in an emergency knows how important that is. Gone.

Texas A&M University would have received $14 million to install wastewater treatment systems throughout 17 counties in Alabama without adequate plumbing capacity, whose residents suffer from preventable conditions like hookworm—but that was too woke for Lyin’ Lee.

A $500,000 grant for the Childhood Lead Action Project—a project launched in 2018 to reduce lead exposure in children—also gone.

The list goes on, but the mass cancellations share the same characteristic: Zeldin and his merry band of DOGE-boys killed off grant programs based on ideas and phrases they wanted to cancel: “environmental justice,” “DEI,” and “climate change”—not based on any “individualized review” he pretends to have done.

That’s the lie under oath, the lie that is sanctionable. But it’s not the Big Lie. The Big Lie is that, on February 12, 2026, Zeldin signed a final rule repealing EPA’s 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding—the bedrock scientific and legal determination that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare. He boasted it was “the single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history.”

What he did not say is this: EPA’s own scientists disagreed. The National Academies of Science had just reaffirmed the Endangerment Finding, saying it “was accurate, has stood the test of time, and is now reinforced by even stronger evidence.” So EPA, rather than challenge the science—which it could not do honestly—argued that the Clean Air Act does not authorize EPA to regulate greenhouse gases at all, an argument the Supreme Court rejected in 2007 in Massachusetts v. EPA.

The science has not changed. The law has not changed. The fossil fuel industry’s complete infiltration of our government is what changed. Lying to Congress about grant reviews is serious, but lying about science? That’s big.

Even bigger, and even more consequential for the American people, is the Enormous Lie, which Zeldin, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and DOE Secretary Chris Wright spout constantly. The Enormous Lie is that clean energy is more expensive than dirty, polluting fossil fuel energy. The fact of the matter is that it is not.

The easiest way to prove that is to look at what’s called the “generation stack” of the electric grid. As we all turn on lights and air conditioners and electric appliances, and demand grows on the grid, power plants get called up to provide the power to meet the demand. For obvious reasons, the grid operators call up the lowest cost power first.

Here’s what that looks like for two of our electric grids. ERCOT covers Texas, and PJM runs westward from the mid-Atlantic to the Midwest. This is the order in which in real life they actually call up their power plants, least expensive first. In real life, based on real prices bid into the grid, here’s how they stack up: solar, wind, and other renewables come first.

So it’s obvious that Zeldin, Burgum, and Wright are lying.

Here’s a time series, comparing costs on the Texas grid at various levels of demand in 2018, with the same for 2024, after 17.6 GW of new clean energy joined the grid. It’s a before-and-after for a big clean energy deployment. Look at the cost at 68 GW of demand: with all that new clean energy, costs dropped by two-thirds. Power costs down when clean energy up; more evidence that Zeldin, Burgum and Wright are lying.

Australia is loading up on clean energy, to the point where their grid now proposes to offer three hours of scheduled free electricity every day, from Australia’s abundant clean power. Clean power so cheap it makes electricity free.

One last data point: the court filings of the U.S. state attorneys general, industry, and grid operators fighting the illegal Trump “stop work” orders against wind construction off Rhode Island and Connecticut. Here’s what our states asserted about Revolution Wind in court documents, where lying is sanctionable:

I quote here, “Once operational, Revolution Wind alone will provide hundreds of millions of dollars each year in energy bill savings to New England.”

ISO, the New England power grid operator, wrote that, had offshore wind been online, it would have saved regional production costs by $80 to $85 million over a roughly two-week cold snap in 2017-2018, resulting in $11 to $13 per megawatt hour reduction in what the grid charged ratepayers.

Zeldin, Burgum, and Wright were free to offer evidence to the contrary, to file affidavits asserting the cost savings of fossil fuel. It was a great opportunity for them to make the case. They chose not to, in the forum where their lies would have been subject to court sanction. The Trump Administration attack on clean energy may reward Trump’s big polluter donors, but people are already facing affordability problems will see costs get worse.

When the Big Oil cartel hikes prices, families pay the cost. When volatile natural gas prices spike, families pay the cost. When cheaper clean power is blocked from the grid, families pay the cost. In this Trump scam, money goes from customers’ pockets straight to Trump’s big fossil fuel donors.

Banning clean energy hurts homeowners and renters. As climate disasters surge, insurance markets falter. The Economist has warned of a potential $25 trillion collapse in global real estate value. Fed Chair Powell testified that entire regions of the U.S. may soon become uninsurable. The chief economist of mortgage giant Freddie Mac predicted a cascade: climate risk makes regions uninsurable, which makes properties there un-mortgageable, which crashes property values, which all collapses into economic recession. Cancelling clean-energy investments in favor of polluting fuels accelerates that dangerous trajectory.

Clean energy is where the jobs are—over 400,000 had been created since 2020 with a faster growth rate than the rest of the energy sector. Fossil-fueled sabotage of this sector means fewer of those jobs in America, more in China, and a shrinking economic future for American workers.

And yes, attacking clean energy means more emissions, more disasters, more billion-dollar storms, more hits to communities like Kipnuk. NOAA shows that Americans suffered over $100 billion per year in disaster costs in each of the past five years. That cost gets worse.

The harm cascades: from the family struggling with a soaring property insurance bill, to the worker whose clean-energy job never materializes, to the taxpayer footing the bill for ever-more costly disasters. These are the real consequences of government by falsehood. When truth is denied, when science is ignored, when courts are defied, the public bears the cost. And that cost grows every day that the polluters’ evil machinery is left to run unchecked.

Zeldin lying about his review of grant programs is obviously a lesser matter than the wholesale lies designed to mislead the public to prop up failing fossil fuel. But the lies to Congress were under oath, and that should matter. There is no exception to the duty to tell us the truth for lies that benefit Trump’s big fossil fuel donors.

For years, fossil fuel interests believed they could pollute for free, deceive the public, and buy elections with dark money, all without consequence.

They have bought and paid for this Administration and now run the federal government from the inside. The brazenness of executive branch officials on the polluter payroll is there for everyone to see.

Zeldin’s own EPA colleagues are saying so too. Over 1,200 EPA employees—career scientists, lawyers, and enforcement staff—have signed a public letter to Zeldin laying out their concerns: that he has spread misinformation through official EPA channels, promoted a culture of fear among his own staff, and redirected the agency’s mission from protecting public health to serving polluters. Separately, a watchdog organization sued EPA in federal court after the agency failed to produce any documentation backing up Zeldin’s claims—made in front of the President in a Cabinet meeting—that EPA employees were absent or were “ghost workers.” Zeldin doesn’t just lie to Congress. He lies about his own people.

Accountability is coming. The courts are waking up. The public is waking up. Even some in the business community are waking up.

And President Trump is losing steam—losing cases, losing credibility, losing the illusion of invincibility that has cowed so many into silence.

It is long past time for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to rediscover their oaths of office, to stand up for the constitution and Congress as an institution, and to defend their constituents from Trump and his gangster government.

One place to start is with a simple rule for witnesses: You. Do. Not. Lie.

So for that reason, today, I am calling on Lee Zeldin to go. It is bad enough that he has weaponized the EPA to do the bidding of the giant fossil fuel and chemical corporations that donated to Trump’s campaign. But if he can’t be relied upon to tell the truth to Congress, to answer simple questions honestly, how can anyone in this body believe him? Or is the new rule that lying is okay if it’s done for polluters?

Late last year, Mom’s Clean Air Force and their 1.6 million members called on Zeldin to resign. Earlier this week, a coalition of over 160 environmental NGOs demanded that Zeldin resign or be fired. Even Moms Across America and many others in the Make America Healthy Again movement are fed up with Zeldin flip flopping on toxics regulations and failing to respect the core mission of EPA—to keep Americans healthy and safe. People across America, on both the left and the right, are waking up to the danger of Lyin’ Lee Zeldin. It’s time for us to do the same.

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Wyden and Balint Introduce Bill to Strengthen Protections for Journalists Against Unreasonable Government Searches

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., today introduced a bill to strengthen privacy protections against unreasonable government searches and seizures that could chill reporting critical of the government. The bill follows Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) raiding the home of a Washington Post reporter.

“My father was a journalist who escaped Nazi Germany. He taught me you can’t have a functioning democracy without a free press,” Wyden said. “Our bill sends a clear message that government agents have no business seizing the notes and electronic devices of reporters who are just doing their jobs. Congress must once again step up to protect journalists against attempts to intimidate reporters and chill sources who could blow the whistle on government wrongdoing.”

“This is the most corrupt administration in history, and we only know that because journalists have been doing the tireless work of delivering truth and transparency to the American people,” Balint said. “A free press serves an essential role in our democracy, which is why it is protected by our Constitution. We need to close the loopholes that have allowed administrations to strong-arm and intimidate journalists, and I am proud to work with Senator Wyden to do just that.”

Under the Privacy Protection Act of 1980, the government cannot search or seize journalists’ documentary or work-product materials, except in certain narrow circumstances. Congress passed that law out of concern about the chilling effect of government raids on the press, and required the government to use less intrusive methods. Unfortunately, the law contains numerous loopholes that have been exploited across presidential administrations. The government never needs to prove an exception to the law before obtaining a search warrant, or even mention that the law exists. Even if a judge finds that a search or seizure is illegal under the Privacy Protection Act, the government can still use those illegally obtained materials in court.

Wyden and Balint’s bill would strengthen protections for journalists and close these loopholes. The Privacy Protection Updates Act would:

Require the government to disclose the existence of the Privacy Protection Act and prove that an exception applies, if the government wants to search or seize a journalist’s materials with a warrant.

Maintain the existing exception for exigent circumstances, but establish a new process for mandatory judicial review within 48 hours of the emergency seizures of a journalist’s materials to determine whether the search or seizure was justified.

Create a process for suppression of journalist records that are illegally searched or seized.

Clarify that the Privacy Protection Act applies to journalist records stored on the cloud.

The Privacy Protection Updates Act is endorsed by the Committee to Protect Journalists, Demand Progress, Freedom of the Press Foundation, and Protect the 1st Foundation.

“Free people rely on a free press, and the press is only free if it is unrestricted by government spying and intimidation. Sen. Wyden and Rep. Balint’s update to the Privacy Protection Act is a much-needed safeguard that removes incentives to ransack the notes and sources of reporters. This bill corrects the law to ensure that the government cannot suppress free journalism and speech,” said Bob Goodlatte, former Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and Senior Policy Advisor for Protect the 1st.

“Ignorance of the law is no defense, unless you're a prosecutor looking for a warrant to ransack a journalist's files. At least six times in recent years -- most recently, the raid of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson -- prosecutors seeking such warrants have failed to disclose to judges that, subject to a few narrow exceptions, they're illegal under the Privacy Protection Act of 1980. By the time the judge figures it out, it's too late -- the journalist's sources are compromised, and they can't publish any stories or investigations stored on seized devices. We commend Sen. Wyden and Rep. Balint for recognizing this intolerable status quo and taking action to give the PPA some teeth and protect journalists' ability to inform the public. Lawmakers from across the political spectrum have opposed journalist surveillance in the past and we hope this bill receives the enthusiastic bipartisan support it deserves,”wrote Seth Stern, Chief of Advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation.

“The Privacy Protection Updates Act is what it looks like to take press freedom seriously. This necessary bill transforms a well-intentioned but outdated law into a modernized framework for a free and independent press with real consequences—establishing a powerful exclusionary rule, requiring greater transparency from the government in warrant applications, and ending the weak damages-only civil remedy that left journalists unprotected. Press freedoms are too vital to be left to the government's honor system, especially when the White House keeps eroding our core civil liberties. We thank Sen. Wyden and Rep. Balint for their leadership and urge all members of Congress to get behind this needed bill,” said Kate Oh, Special Advisor at Demand Progress.

“The government needs guardrails to prevent overreach. Reforms to the Privacy Protection Act will strengthen protections, enabling journalists to do their job and keep the public informed,” said Katherine Jacobsen, U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The one-pager of the bill is here.

The full bill text is here.

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Wyden, Merkley Call for Automatic and Swift Tariff Tax Refunds, Real Relief for Small Businesses and Families

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) led several Senate Democrats today, including U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), in calling on the Trump administration to put in place an automatic tariff refund process that does not create more pain for U.S. small businesses and families in Oregon and nationwide.

In a letter to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney S. Scott, the lawmakers wrote that the administration’s proposed refund process --

the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) system -- places an unnecessary burden on small businesses and individual importers.

“There is no principled reason for the Trump administration to conduct the refund process this way,” the senators wrote. “CBP already has the payment records it needs to issue refunds. As of March 4, 2026, CBP reported that more than 330,000 importers had paid or deposited approximately $166 billion in IEEPA tariffs across more than 53 million entries.”

The lawmakers ask the administration to use existing CBP records to automatically refund small businesses instead of forcing small businesses to opt-in. The letter comes as small businesses in Oregon and nationwide have not yet received their tariff refund following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariff taxes last month.

“If the government has records of every entry on which illegal tariffs were collected, it necessarily has records of every entry on which a refund is owed,” they wrote. “Requiring businesses to file declarations to identify those entries is an unnecessary process that seems designed to discourage and reduce the number of refunds the government must ultimately pay.”

“Every cent of illegal IEEPA tariffs must be returned,” they continued. “The only question is whether CBP will make that process as simple and equitable as possible, or whether it will implement a complicated and unfair system through which large corporations and Wall Street will benefit financially.”

The lawmakers requested answers to the following questions by April 8, 2026

How does CAPE comply with the CIT order that the government issue tariff refunds?

How does CAPE comply with representations from Administration attorneys in court that it would promptly, and at no cost to businesses, issue refunds if the tariffs were struck down?

Why did CBP develop CAPE rather than repurpose the existing ACE system to automatically issue refunds? Please provide any documents analyzing the shortcomings of repurposing the ACE system to automatically issue refunds.

Why is CAPE “opt-in,” requiring affirmative action by tariff payers?

Why does CAPE require importers to identify entry summaries when CBP already has that information?

How will CBP ensure that each step of the refund process is transparent and accessible to small businesses?

Will there be a formal appeal system for businesses that dispute the amount of the refund issued by CBP?

The letter is co-signed by Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).