Murkowski Speaks Out Against SAVE America Act on Senate Floor

Washington, DC—Today, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) delivered a speech on the Senate floor highlighting the challenges the SAVE America Act would pose for Alaskans and the state’s election processes if enacted.

Watch the speech here.

The speech as delivered below:

Mr. President, I come to the floor this evening to speak about the SAVE America Act. Before I do that, though, I want to take a pause for maybe a little break in the conversation about elections to update people on Alaska’s greatest sport, and that is the Iditarod. So just a moment here to update folks.

Yesterday, Jessie Holmes came into Nome after 9 days, 7 hours, 32 minutes, and 51 seconds on the trail. This is a 975-mile trail that he accomplished with his extraordinary team, led by Zeus and Polar, taking him all the way to Nome. He ended up with 12 dogs in the harness that were happy and barking and hungry and still ready to go. Truly an amazing feat.

Jessie—this is not his first winning the Iditarod. This is actually his second in a row. He is actually the fifth person in Iditarod history to win 2 years in a row.

I visited with him at the ceremonial start, and we talked about his focus on the race and how much it meant to those in rural Alaska and the culture of rural Alaska and how as someone originally from Alabama, he had embraced that with an enthusiasm that is really infectious.

So I am honored to be able to acknowledge his success and that of his team. I called him a couple times already—first to congratulate him just after he won, and then I called him again today because I read in the news that after this arduous 9 days on the trail, he was at the end of the Iditarod under the Burled Arch to greet every musher who was coming in. He has that much love for the Iditarod, that much love for his fellow mushers, and that much admiration for the teams that are on the road.

There are still 24 mushers that are out there on the trail. We are wishing them the best and safety along the way. The weather there is not good, but these are men and women and canine athletes that will take the toughest test.

Mr. President, it kind of segues a little bit into some of the points that I want to make here this evening about my State particularly. We all come to these debates about policy with the background and the unique circumstances from the places we call home.

I want to begin my comments this evening about the SAVE America Act and why I have spoken out in opposition to this measure—not because I disagree with what my colleague from Utah has shared—that it should be a privilege allowed to U.S. citizens, this privilege of the vote. I also would agree that asking for valid ID in order to participate in voting is not an unreasonable thing. In fact, my State certainly requires that, and I think most others do. But, as with so much that we deal with, it is not just in the headline; it is not just in the top line; it is, how would this apply in your given situation?

As a Senator that comes from a big State and some would say a very unique State, a very complicated State—I don’t think there are too many where you have dog races that go just about 1,000 miles. And we celebrate them. And the fact that the trail these animals and their mushers took goes through an area where, yes, people live but is not connected by any roads—the way we get around is just a little bit different from other folks.

So recognizing and appreciating the distinctions that come to bear when you take a measure that is good in purpose—citizens should be allowed to vote; valid ID should be required—but you have to peel back the cover here and see, how is this going to be implemented?

So I want to focus—I know there are multiple versions of the bill. The Senator from Utah just pointed to that. I want to speak to the substitute amendment to S. 1383, which we have now, and focus on the particular challenges and the practical challenges that it creates for a State like Alaska that is one-fifth the size of the United States, with a population of just over 700,000 people.

So it is the challenges we have specifically with registration, with the requirements for photo ID, and then I will speak a little bit to the mail-in voting limitation.

One of the first places to start is you are saying: All right. If you said, LISA, you don’t oppose the intent of this, and you come from a big State, and there may be logistical challenges in implementing it, when does all this come into play?

Well, that is an important consideration because, as the bill is drafted right now, these provisions are effective upon passage of the bill. So that means that Alaska and every other State is going to have to comply with a new set of laws that, in my State’s situation, contradict our State laws, and we are in the midst of an election cycle. We are less than 8 months away from our general election.

In addition to immediate implementation of the provisions under this bill, there is no support that comes to the State. When I say support, there are no Federal resources that come and say: All right, you need to figure out how you can get more photo identification mobile units out to remote areas where it is hard to do. You need resources. You need people in order to absorb this. The numbers that you will see when people come to your division of elections or your public assistance office with original documents—you need more folks. Well, here is the money.

Well, we are not helping with that, so the States would be forced to bear the entire cost of implementation right away—just right away. So this is a tall order. Again, you are trying to stand all of this up while we are in the midst of an active election year.

Certainly in my State, we would be redirecting—if we had to comply with the Federal law, we would redirect funds from elsewhere. But this is just— OK. It is a logistical challenge. Is it insurmountable? Maybe not. Is it going to be really hard to do in certain places? I think that is fair to say.

So maybe I am starting with the easiest point here, which is the implementation on the timeline that this bill outlines is pretty near impossible in a State like Alaska right now given the lack of infrastructure that we currently have.

So let me move to the next point, and this is with regard to the registration to vote. Requiring proof of citizenship—OK. We can figure this out.

I listened carefully to the Senator from Utah when he said: You know, when you have a name change, it may be complicated to get your documents, but ultimately you are going to figure out a way to get your documents.

But I am going to walk you through the challenge of what it means to meet a requirement that says you have to provide your proof of citizenship—you have to provide your documentation in person in order to register to vote.

Don’t get confused. That is not when you are actually voting. That is where the voter ID comes into place. What we are talking about right now is just the registration to vote.

This would be a major, major departure from how most Alaskans currently register to vote. Just setting the scene here, in 2024, over 80 percent of applicants registered by mail, they registered online, or they registered through our permanent fund dividend application. This is a process that every eligible Alaskan will go through each year at just about this time, and so we have set up a process that allows you to register when you are applying for your permanent fund dividend application.

In 2023, that number in terms of the applicants who used that process—either by mail, online, or through PFD— was more than 90 percent. So this is where people are going right now to register.

So what this would require is—you might be able to start the process online, but the requirement to present the documentation in person is still there. There were about 29,000 new voter registrations in 2024, and under the SAVE America Act, it would have effectively forced about 25,000 of these Alaskans to go to the Alaska Division of Elections offices to provide the documentation in order to certify their citizenship.

Now, people have said: Well, wait a minute, it is not just the division of elections that you can go to. There are potentially other agencies that you can take documentation to, whether it is State public assistance agency, the department of motor vehicles, or other locations that the State has designated as voter registration agencies.

Let me just walk you through. Again, I should have my map of Alaska overlaid on the continental United States. But we are one-fifth the size of the United States. These stars here are the six divisions of elections that we have in Alaska. We have six divisions of elections.

So, again, if you had my other big map, Alaska stretches from Florida to just about California, down from the southwest, practically up to the Canadian border. So it would be like, you know, going from Washington, DC, to Ohio to go—my map is probably off on that, so maybe I shouldn’t be using those States.

My point is that you have six divisions of elections that are throughout the State—Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Nome, Wasilla, and Kenai. So it is clear through the SAVE America Act that this is where Alaskans can present their documentary proof of citizenship. What is less clear is whether or not you can present that documentary proof if you go to a division of motor vehicles, if you go to a State public assistance office, or if you go to other locations that currently provide voter registration services, although pretty low levels.

But, again, don’t get excited to think that now we have stars all over the map in terms of where you can go to actually present your documentation because there are only 10 other locations around the State that then fall into this bucket of places that have a DMV, State public assistance offices. So what you are seeing here is a logistical reality in terms of how you would meet the requirement for production of your documents.

The SAVE America Act doesn’t change the Federal law that mandates that States designate public assistance and disability offices as what they are calling voter registration agencies. That might extend voter registration beyond, again, these six election regional offices, but the law is not consistently enforced. So that is an issue here.

For instance, down here in the southeast, in an unstarred area, the Sitka office is an area where public assistance is provided for, but that office is currently limited to what they call general inquiries only. So if that changes, it is unlikely to be feasible that you could actually present your documentations there.

In addition, none of these offices are equipped to handle in-person voter registration that the SAVE Act could force upon them. Again, you are talking about the need for additional resources. Most of these offices are places where you have one or two folks, oftentimes with limited hours, and quite honestly, they are trying to get out SNAP benefits, LIHEAP benefits. Now you are going to task them with not only registering somebody to vote, but now it is this confirmation of official documents that, again—you have a new private right of action and criminal penalties that could be imposed if you are not doing this right.

So States can also continue to designate other nongovernment offices as voter registration offices, but only—so you have to agree to do that. And, again, you have got resource challenges. OK.

But this issue that then comes with this new private right of action to a low-level employee who may be working in a one-person office, handling State public assistance—it is a concern that you have the ability to not only put an additional requirement to them, an additional responsibility that comes with certain liability. Also, the State is looking to, how are we training these folks, or are we going to hire new folks to help facilitate at any of these Agencies?

So I show you the stars. In most other States, you would be looking at how all these stars connect through a road. These three here are connected by a road. This one connects to this one by a road. That is it. That is it.

So I have got 83 percent—83 percent— of Alaska’s communities. This is 20 percent of our total population. So, again, there is not a lot of people out here, but you know what?—these folks, these folks have been here for a long time. Many of them Indigenous people in Native villages that have been there for generations, millennia they say.

So getting to the practical realities of forcing Alaskans to present documentation in order to vote, and the requirement that you have to present in one of six regional locations, possibly another location in the State. This is not only a logistical challenge, but it presents a fiscal challenge.

And I heard again the argument by my colleague from Utah, that we are not asking for fees to vote, but in order to get me to go, like, let’s start: I am 18 years old, I want to register to vote, how am I going to do that?

I was born down here in Ketchikan. There is no star in Ketchikan. Now there is a DMV in Ketchikan, so maybe I could start my application there in Ketchikan, but I am still going to have to go to Juneau to go present my documentation.

All of the southeast, there is no roads down there. There is a ferry. It is 20 hours from Ketchikan up to Juneau there. Or I take the Alaska Airlines jet. It is only an hour, but—I don’t know—it is $420 to get me from here to there.

If I am in Fairbanks, where I went to school, OK, I have got the ability to present my documentation there; but if I am in any of these North Slope communities here, this is where I have to fly to present my original documentation.

If I happen to live here in Kotzebue, big town, I have got to fly here to Nome to present my documentation. If I live here in this Bethel community over here, I am going all way to Anchorage to present my documentation.

So you are moving around. You are flying. You are flying to all these places. So this is going to be hard. This is going to be costly on Alaskans.

And, again, these are people who are eligible to vote. They are citizens of our country, but if they are looking at a situation where I am going to have to spend $1,000 to get me to where I can present my documentation to vote, they are not going to do it. They may do it. There will be many who will do it.

Let me say that. There will be many who will do it because these are proud Alaskans. These are proud Americans, and they want to vote.

But this is hard. This is hard. And so I fear that they won’t register because financially they won’t be able to register. And if they are not able to register, they can’t vote. And while disenfranchisement may not be the intent of the SAVE America Act—and I don’t think that it is—I think we will see that. In fact, I fully expect it to be an outcome of this.

So I am going to give you some specific examples. This is St. Lawrence Island. It is a little bit closer to Russia than it is to mainland Alaska, but there is great Alaskans that live out there. I have been out there many times.

So if you are a 17-year-old girl who lives in Savoonga, you are turning 18 in October. Super excited because you are going to be able to vote for the first time ever. So what is this young person going to have to do in order to register to vote?

She is going to have to book a flight to Nome—so it is not that far, but it is all across water. There is no boats that take you there. But that flight—that flight—we don’t have jets out of St. Lawrence Island, so it is a propjet. It is going to cost you $720 just to start. The flights, if there is one a day, you are lucky; that is good. But you are going to have to stay overnight because you can’t return on the same day.

There aren’t a lot of hotels in Nome. A night at the Aurora Inn is $310, but I would guess that since the Iditarod is going on right now and there is a lot of excitement there, it is probably a little over $310. Then you add in food for the day, cab fare. You are probably looking at, at least $1,000—at least $1,000—for a quick day trip to go to Nome to register so that you can present your documentation so that you have the privilege to vote.

And keep in mind, in my example, I am a 17-year-old girl, super excited about turning 18 and being able to vote, but I don’t have a $1,000. And the people in the village, fishing village of Savoogna or in the other community of Gambell, they don’t make this kind of money.

So this is probably the best case scenario for flying in and out of Savoogna because you have got weather that hits all the time. And, again, you are not in a jet; you are taking a prop. You can get weathered in or out. Your trip can last several days. Storms blow in; you are stuck there; you can’t move for a week or so.

This is not—this is not uncommon. And so it just, it adds—and I feel like these stories are important because, well, my example of a young 17-yearold who is excited to vote, there is no name. I haven’t talked to such a person, but these are the scenarios that people live with when your State is geographically blessed. I was going to say challenged, but I think we are blessed with our geography.

So you are saying: OK, Lisa, that is an extreme example because that is a big island out in the middle of the big ocean, but other places that are more connected, it is not that bad.

Let’s go to the largest fishing community in Alaska and the fishing community that brings in more fish per volume than any place else, Unalaska.

So we are sitting out here. We are right—actually we are right at the end here because, once again, we are so geographically blessed, we can’t have a map that actually shows that the Aleutians go all the way out here.

So you are in Unalaska. Say you are a fisherman or a teacher. The flight to Anchorage—because this is where you are going to have to go. You are going to have to go into Anchorage, 800 air miles. 800 air miles. The cost one way right now, if you can get a seat, is somewhere between $1,100 per seat, if you can maybe get on a charter, to possibly as much as $1,300. This is one way. This is one way to get you from here to there.

Now, granted, this is crab season going on, and so the tickets—you are not able to get many seats. But that is what we are talking about. So you have got—you have got over $1,000 just to get you there. Then you get to Anchorage, and you are not home free. It is not like the division of elections is sitting there at the Ted Stevens International Airport. You have a 5-mile drive to get into town. Maybe you rent a car. You probably don’t rent a car; you get a cab. But surprise, again, there is no return flight home to Dutch Harbor, Unalaska on the same day. This is not a one-and-done, in-andout. I have got to overnight. That means I have got to get a hotel. I am probably going to need to have something to eat.

So, again, the reality that we are looking at is it is costing thousands of dollars to just get me to the place so that I can register to vote. I have been spending a lot of time with the folks in the southwest region of the State that were impacted by ex-typhoon Halong in October.

It is a thousand-mile storm that just blasted through these communities, and the small village of Kipnuk was devastated. Homes literally floated off of their pilings and floated as many as 3 to 5 miles away. The homes are not—it is not possible to go back to those homes. So I have been talking to residents from Kipnuk who have said: I lost everything, and there is no way I can go back there. These villagers who, no doubt that they are U.S. citizens—no doubt that they are U.S. citizens—they no longer have the documentation to prove their citizenship. It is lost.

Now, it can be recreated, but it is going to take time. And, again, I take it back to my first point, which is all of this happens now when the bill is signed into law.

So another example. Lots of folks who have been in the State for a while are elders, lived in a time, were born in a time when being born in a hospital was not the norm. We didn’t become a State until 1959.

So say you are an 85- year-old man from Selawik. Selawik is right up here in the interior. He spent his entire life there. In Selawik there is no need for a driver’s license. You can’t get one in Selawik. You were born in your parents’ house. He certainly doesn’t have a passport.

Getting a certified copy of your birth certificate can be really, really difficult if you have never had one before. And we know because these are certain examples of some of the things that we do with casework in my office. It is not easy. It can be done, but it is not something that you can just say: Here is a copy of my passport. I have got a certified copy of my birth certificate.

I have mentioned just the logistics, the sheer logistics of trying to satisfy the requirements of the law when it comes to registration. It is so costly to get yourself there, and it is costly to secure the documents that you need to prove citizenship in the first place. It has been mentioned that passports are $130; applications take 4 to 6 weeks, unless you are paying an expedite fee.

We have got pretty good statistics in Alaska when it comes to those who actually have a passport, about 50 percent of Alaskans have one. Getting a certified copy of your birth certificate or marriage certificate, it is not free; that is $30. One of the problems that we found out in Alaska right now is our vital records department for the whole State has a notice on their website that says that there is a processing time of 1 to 2 months.

So, for instance, if I am coming out of Ketchikan here and I want to go to Juneau—fly to Juneau—so I can present my documentation, if I have got a copy of my birth certificate but it is not certified, I am either going to have to fly back to Ketchikan to see if it is possible to get one there or I can go to vital statistics. But then I am told you have got to wait a couple of months, perhaps. So now I have spent $420, and I am still not registered to vote.

I have shared how challenging it is to meet the requirements with, really, no advanced lead time to transition to allow for States to stand these up.

It has been mentioned before the challenges that women have with name changes. I have talked to women in domestic violence shelters who have shared with me that one of the scary things about their situations is knowing that the abuser in a domestic violence situation continues to hold the papers that will allow them to move about.

So whether it is a birth certificate, whether it is a passport, whether it is a Tribal ID card, in Alaska, we have got an estimated 155,000 female citizens, aged 15 years and older, who have names that don’t match their birth certificates due to a host of different reasons. It has been fascinating, with this whole discussion, the number of conversations that I have had with women, including myself, where we talk about how hard it was to get REAL IDs because of a name change or there has been a hyphen, and you can’t match up all of the documentation.

Again, is it impossible? No. Is it going to be really challenging? Absolutely, yes.

So I have talked about the registration part of that. Let’s assume now you are registered to vote. Now the SAVE Act is going to require a new photo ID with specifics attached to it.

So it is not only a photo ID. It has to have an expiration date on it. You have got to have this to vote. I have said I support voter ID. Alaska requires ID to vote, as I think they should. But I think what we have here is a very prescriptive approach to it.

Again, my fear is that it would result in disenfranchising voters who have been voting for decades simply because they can’t produce a piece of ID with a photo on it. There has been a lot of discussion about Tribal IDs, and don’t they qualify? They qualify for you to go through the TSA, but the act requires that you have a photo ID that has an expiration to it. Most Tribal IDs do not have expiration dates to them, and some of them do not have photos.

So it would be a significant challenge to so many not only in Alaska but within the lower 48 as well. Others are saying: Well, if what you need is just a photo ID, you can have a State ID. You can have your driver’s license. Keep in mind, in most of these communities—the 20 percent of Alaskans who do not live on the road system, the 83 percent of our communities that are not connected by the road—if you are not really connected by the road, that means we don’t really have a lot of roads in a lot of these place.

So why do you need a driver’s license? You don’t. You might live in a boardwalk community, where you really don’t have any roads, and you don’t have the ability, again, to provide for a department of motor vehicles in these communities.

So there is an exception, and I want to acknowledge that that recognizes that voters would be able to provide the last four digits of their Social Security number and an affidavit attesting that they are unable to obtain a copy of a valid photo ID, but it says, ‘‘after making reasonable efforts to obtain a copy.’’

So I want to know: What does that mean? What does ‘‘reasonable efforts’’ really mean? Because I worry that it might open the voter up to potential liability and result in different standards around the States.

So it matters when we say: Well, you can make ‘‘reasonable efforts.’’ But what does that really mean? What do I tell that person who comes from the boardwalk community that doesn’t have a driver’s license, who doesn’t have a State ID, or whose Tribal ID doesn’t include an expiration date? Does ‘‘reasonable efforts’’ mean that you have got to fly to Anchorage in order to get that? I don’t know. I don’t know.

This version also goes further and sets a new default rule for Federal elections of in-person voting. This contradicts Alaska’s long-allowed, no-excuse absentee voting by mail. In the way the amendment is drafted, absentee ballots would only be allowed if the voter were a member of the armed services or is stationed abroad or out of State, unable to vote in person due to illness, infirmity, hospitalization, or physical disability, is the primary caregiver of an individual who is medically incapacitated, or will be absent from the State due to verified travel.

Now, there is a fifth ‘‘hardship’’ category, but we understand that the drafters are pretty clear that this is meant to be construed narrowly. The bill then goes on to describe very different and specific chain-of-custody rules for a State’s handling of absentee ballots, on top of the other changes that SAVE America would mandate be implemented immediately.

In addition to the geography, I am going to introduce you to the climate and to the weather because, in November, when we hold our elections—along with everybody else in a Presidential year—the weather is notoriously not good in Alaska. I don’t care what part of the State you are in.

So what has happened is Alaskans have taken their voting responsibility very seriously, and they are, like, I am not going to be shut down by the weather because remember, a few years ago, we had that bad storm, and we weren’t even able to get out of the driveway to go to town.

So I am going to vote absentee. We have allowed no-excuse voting for a long time for lots of good reasons. Most notably, people want to make sure that they are able to participate in the vote, and when your conditions are shut in, you can’t do it, and you might not feel safe in doing it. So you are securing it early by being responsible.

One of the things that we have done in the State of Alaska is to make sure that the absentee process is very secure. We have got an ability to track your ballot once you have cast it. So we have worked this long and hard and well to accommodate the many, many tens of thousands of Alaskans who will vote by mail. In the 2024 general election, over 50,000 Alaskans voted by mail.

So believe me, when you tell Alaskans that you might not be able to do this, that is not something that sits very well. I will restate again that the goals of what we are talking about with the SAVE America Act I support. Only U.S. citizens should vote in our elections, and Federal law already—already—makes it a crime for noncitizens to vote in Federal elections. Voters should be required to present identification, which State law requires, and list specific forms of ID that work to provide that identification in the State.

But as I tried to share by way of a map and by way of some stories here, there are significant impediments that I see in the implementation of this act in my State. I do have additional issues with the reforms that the legislation would impose on States, including the federalization of the election process, as opposed to the State-driven process that is contemplated by the Constitution.

And one example is the requirement for States to run their voter rolls through a Federal database that was not designed for this. We have already had some legitimate issues in multiple States with regard to that.

So I have asked: Do we see evidence for the need of these sweeping changes, given the lack of credible evidence of noncitizens voting at a significant level, certainly, in my State? I have asked specifically, and we have had that review.

Over a 10-year period, there have been 70 instances that were flagged in terms of actually following through to determine whether or not it was illegal. But that is, basically, seven a year. So you look at what we are trying to chase here with this and balance it with disenfranchising so many who would be faced with almost insurmountable challenges in order to register and/or to vote.

So I look at this, and on balance, it doesn’t have weight. I am also not happy to see some provisions tucked into the substitute that target transgender individuals simply because there is, apparently, an opening to do so. I don’t know that that has anything to do with voting, but these provisions add to the opposition that I have.

Really, the practical impacts on Alaskan voters are the easiest things to express here. They have not been solved by the updated text. I have introduced over a dozen amendments— germane amendments—to make what, I think, would allow this bill to work better. But I think they are just kind of the tip of the iceberg of changes that need to be made.

Again, the SAVE America Act may be well-intended, but how its goals are achieved matters, and the implementation matters. We cannot create a situation that doesn’t work for Alaska, where so many who should be able to vote and who may have been voting for years—lawfully voting for years—are suddenly unable to do so.

The States should remain in charge of their own elections. They should set their own requirements based on what works for them because we can’t shift to a system that works for many rightful voters but not all, and particularly so close to election day and with no funding for the States to implement the new mandates.

I know Alaska is always a little bit unique, and you all know that Alaska is a little bit unique because I tell you so. But I appreciate the recognition of the distinctions that we have among our many amazing 50 States.

I yield the floor.

###


Murphy and Scanlon Introduce Bicameral Legislation to Protect Whistleblowers In the Health Care Industry

WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and U.S. Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.-05) on Monday introduced The Patient Safety and Whistleblower Protections Act, which provides legal protections for health care whistleblowers who speak out publicly on patient safety concerns.

While laws like the Federal Whistleblower Protection Act protect federal employees and contractors from retaliation, no such protections currently exist for health care workers who sound the alarm about threats to patient safety at health care facilities. As a result, health care workers put their jobs on the line when they choose to protect their patients and report on their employer. This legislation addresses a dangerous gap in legal protections at a time when the Trump administration’s cuts to health care and private equity’s takeover of hospitals and nursing homes has supercharged negligence and misconduct.

“When I was investigating the conditions at three Connecticut hospitals bought by a private equity firm, I relied on the nurses, doctors, and support staff to share the truth about what was happening inside those facilities,” said Murphy. “ As Donald Trump’s health care cuts push more hospitals and nursing homes into the arms of private equity, we need to make sure that workers feel safe coming forward and calling out the greed and corruption that is destroying their ability to care for patients.”

“Americans should be able to count on our hospitals and healthcare workers to prioritize patient care and safety,” said Scanlon. “At a time when the Trump administration continues to prioritize corporate profits over Americans’ health, healthcare workers should feel safe from employer retaliation when protecting patient care. I value Senator Murphy’s partnership in introducing the Patient Safety and Whistle Blower Protections Act to provide legal protections to hospital workers who prioritize patient safety concerns.”

Sen. Murphy’s introduction of the The Patient Safety and Whistleblower Protections Act comes as the Senator releases his latest report on private equity’s takeover of health care in the U.S. under the Trump administration: Aided and Abetted: How the Trump Administration is Helping Private Equity Take Over Health Care. The report details the Senator’s policy proposals to reduce private equity’s chokehold on our health care system, including protections for health care whistleblowers, and his bill The Take Back Our Hospitals Act, which Sen. Murphy also co-introduced with Rep. Scanlon to ban private equity from owning hospitals and nursing homes


Murphy Publishes New Report Exposing Trump’s Corrupt Alliance With Private Equity, Introduces Legislation To Boot Private Equity From Health Care

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Monday released, Aided and Abetted: How the Trump Administration is Helping Private Equity Take Over Health Care. The new report uncovers how the Trump administration mobilized the federal government, through legislation, rulemaking, and relaxed enforcement, to give handouts to one of the most destructive forces in American health care today: private equity. Murphy traces Trump’s giveaways to private equity to a corrupt, multimillion-dollar lobbying and donation campaign from the industry to buy influence with the administration and advances several policy proposals to curb private equity’s deadly impact on our health care.

In the report, Murphy details how President Trump’s unprecedented cuts to health care and Medicaid in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act opened the floodgates for private equity to dominate our health care system by gifting the industry new tax deductions to boost profits, and crippling revenue streams for health care providers nationwide. As hundreds of financially strained health care providers have been forced to either slash services or close their doors because of Trump’s draconian cuts, they have become perfect targets for private equity’s predatory takeovers – a disaster for patients and providers alike.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that private equity-owned nursing homes chronically understaff their facilities to cut costs – resulting in poor patient care and substantially higher mortality rates – Trump rolled back a Biden-era measure to ensure adequate staffing at nursing homes, and appointed an avowed defender of private equity, Andrew Ferguson, as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission. Murphy highlights how the FTC has since reversed non-compete clause protections, enabling private-equity firms to coerce health care workers into staying in their jobs, despite miserable working conditions and low pay.

In conjunction with this report, Murphy is also partnering with U.S. Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.-5) to introduce two new bills, the Taking Back Our Hospitals Act, and the Patient Safety and Whistleblower Protections Act, to ban private equity from owning hospitals and nursing homes, and to protect whistleblower employees at private equity-owned health care facilities who report misconduct and neglect.

The report made the following policy proposals to reduce private equity’s chokehold on our health care system:

Ban private equity ownership of hospitals and nursing homes.

Give workers federal protection when they report patient safety concerns.

Reinstate the Biden nursing home rule.

Crack down on private equity rollups.

Change tax policies that favor private equity.

Rally around the Health Over Wealth Act and Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act.

Murphy has emerged as one of the U.S. Senate’s leading voices against private equity’s increasing dominance of American health care. This report builds on Murphy’s previous report, A Dangerous Prospect: How Private Equity Decimated Connecticut Hospitals, chronicling how private equity employed a deliberately destructive ‘buy, strip, flip’ model and reaped millions in profits as they devastated three hospitals in Connecticut.


Murphy, Scanlon Introduce Bicameral Bill to Ban Private Equity From Owning Nurses and Hospitals

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and U.S. Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.-5) on Monday introduced the Take Back Our Hospitals Act, a bill to effectively ban private equity ownership of hospitals and nursing homes by making them ineligible to receive Medicare funding. U.S. U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) co-sponsored the legislation in the Senate.

More than 400 hospitals and nursing homes are currently owned and operated by private equity firms, despite overwhelming research revealing disastrous outcomes for patients and workers. After private equity takeovers, hospitals and nursing homes routinely slash services, staffing, and supplies, and upcharge patients while degrading the quality of care. Patients in private equity-owned hospitals are more likely to experience infections and complications while elderly patients living in nursing homes owned by private equity face a 11% higher mortality rate. Private equity firms follow a ‘buy, strip, flip’ playbook to reap short-term profits, and sell off what’s left, leaving patients and entire communities to deal with the life-or-death consequences.

As Trump’s health care cuts through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act continue to cause hospital, nursing home, and health care facility closures nationwide – totaling over 750 closures to date – private equity is in prime position to take over financially distressed providers throughout the country. The Take Back Our Hospitals Act would ensure private equity cannot wreak further havoc on patients and communities already reeling from the Trump administration’s health care catastrophe.

“Private equity’s general business model is pretty simple: find hospitals that are in dire financial straits, make promises to fix things and then squeeze every cent they can out of patients before leaving communities to deal with the wreckage," said Murphy. “I saw this happen in Connecticut and it was devastating for patients and for the doctors and nurses who were desperately trying to take care of people as facilities were falling apart and supplies ran short. Patient care, not profit, should be the priority in hospital and nursing home care, and my legislation would get these firms out of health care and allow hospitals and nursing homes to put care first.”

“What happened to Crozer Health is a cautionary tale for communities all over the country. Prospect Medical Holdings, a private equity firm, acquired the Crozer Health system, promising increased investment and better care. Instead, it drove Crozer into bankruptcy, closing four hospitals, laying off 2,600 health care professionals, and leaving Delaware County with just two hospitals to serve its 585,000 residents,” said Scanlon. “This is what happens when private equity treats our hospitals as cash cows. We cannot allow Wall Street’s race for profits to shutter more hospitals and nursing homes. The Take Back Our Hospitals Act will ensure that hospitals and nursing homes exist to serve patients, not Wall Street investors.”

“By preventing private equity-owned hospitals and nursing homes from qualifying for Medicare, this bill prioritizes health care facilities and ensures they can provide Americans with the quality care they deserve. Putting profits over patients, private equity firms are buying up hospitals and nursing homes and wreaking havoc on the facilities—slashing resources and staffing and leaving communities with inadequate care and services. With the Take Back Our Hospitals Act, we crack down on corporate greed devastating health care facilities and ensure hospitals and nursing homes receive the support they need to provide proper treatment for patients,” said Blumenthal.

“Sick patients should never be used to turn healthy profits. But that’s exactly what is happening in Oregon and across the nation as greedy corporate executives turn hospitals and nursing homes into profit centers,” said Merkley. “We must crack down on private equity, whose greed is destroying our health care system for executives’ and shareholders’ profit, while patients are stuck footing the bill.”

Senator Murphy has emerged as one of the U.S. Senate’s leading voices against private equity’s dominance of our health care system. This week, he published the report, Aided and Abetted: How the Trump Administration is Helping Private Equity Take Over Health Care, exposing the corrupt alliance between private equity and the Trump administration, which has given private equity firms carte blanche to expand and act without accountability. Alongside the Take Back Our Hospitals Act, Murphy and Scanlon are also introducing The Patient Safety and Whistleblower Protections Act to grant health care workers whistleblower protections, ensuring they can report misconduct and neglect at private equity-owned health care facilities without fear of retaliation.


Padilla Statement Opposing Confirmation of Markwayne Mullin to be Secretary of Homeland Security

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, issued the following statement after voting against Senator Markwayne Mullin’s (R-Okla.) confirmation to serve as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“I cannot in good conscience support Senator Mullin to be the next Secretary of Homeland Security. Over the past year, we have witnessed a lawless ICE and CBP — agencies that have operated without accountability or restraint. It’s one thing to change the name at the top of the agency; it’s another thing to change the agency’s practices and policies.

“We need more than just an openness and a willingness to talk — we need real change. We need reform. And we need leaders who will push back against Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s cruel and destructive mass deportation agenda.”

Earlier this month, Padilla issued a statement after President Trump announced that he would fire DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and nominate Senator Mullin to replace her.

###


Reed Criticizes Lifting Oil Sanctions on Iran & Gifting Regime Up to $14 Billion Windfall

WASHINGTON, DC -- On Friday, the Trump Administration waived sanctions on the purchase of Iranian oil at sea for 30 days, abruptly lifting oil sanctions on around 140 million barrels of Iranian oil, and opening up those barrels for sale to the entire world – including Americans – to buy.

Given current elevated oil prices stemming from the conflict, President Trump is potentially gifting a windfall of up to $14 billion to the Iranian regime that he attacked. At the same time, the Trump Administration’s policies have weakened anti-money laundering efforts and anti-terrorist financing initiatives and made it easier for bad actors across the globe to evade sanctions, including through the use of the Trump family’s own crypto ventures.

Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) criticized the Trump Administration’s short-sighted move, stating: “When President Trump irresponsibly launched this war -- and without support from Congress, the American people, or a strong coalition of allies -- it was a huge gamble. President Trump and Secretary Bessent failed to adequately plan for this scenario. Now, President Trump has sparked not only a regional conflict, but an economic conflagration that seems to be spreading and will continue to cause economic pain for Americans and our allies long after Trump declares an end to the bombing campaign. President Trump’s reckless decisions are literally fueling the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) ability to launch attacks, crack down on Iranians, and export terrorism.”

Reed also noted that the Trump Administration already temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil despite its invasion of Ukraine and threat to Europe. While Trump’s moves are enriching America’s adversaries, they are unlikely to relieve global consumption or significantly reduce gas prices.

“The Trump Administration failed to strategically prepare on the economic and diplomatic side of the equation of this war. And now all Americans are paying higher prices and President Trump appears to be grasping at straws,” said Senator Reed. “The most predictable part of this conflict is that the price of oil would skyrocket and now that it has, President Trump looks flustered and unprepared. Instead of threatening and insulting allies, he needs to change course, steady the ship of state, and start charting a sensible, sustainable, multi-faceted approach to bring down energy prices. That includes accelerating shovel ready renewable energy projects and keeping more U.S.-produced gas at home to benefit Americans instead of letting Big Oil and LNG companies pad their record profits.”


Reed Stands with Jewish Community After Antisemitic Graffiti Found at EG Schools

EAST GREENWICH, RI -- After antisemitic graffiti was found at three local schools -- Hanaford Elementary School; Cole Middle School; and East Greenwich High School – U.S. Senator Jack Reed issued a statement of support for the Jewish community:

“First off, the coward or cowards responsible need to be held accountable, and appropriate local investigations are underway.

“Second, while this type of mean-spirited and disrespectful action is meant to instill fear, it instead broadened community support from people of all faiths for our Jewish friends and neighbors. Good people are coming together to make it clear that this type of antisemitic hatred isn’t tolerated and that is reassuring. It is important that we all speak up.

“Every child deserves to go to a good school in a safe, accepting environment that respects people of all backgrounds and faiths. That principle seems to upset whoever is behind this graffiti. But it doesn’t change the fact that East Greenwich is a terrific place where Jewish people and religious freedom are respected and valued. Nobody should be intimidated by this graffiti, but whoever did it should be ashamed.”


Trump to GOP: Do Not Pay TSA or Reform ICE Unless Dems Cave on Anti-Voter SAVE Act

WASHINGTON, DC – President Donald Trump has posted a series of social media rants urging Congressional Republicans to avoid making any deals to fund the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unless Democrats hand him unprecedented power over U.S. elections in all fifty states.

The so-called SAVE America Act would wildly disrupt America’s long-standing election system run by the individuals states. Beyond sowing turmoil, it is also a partisan attempt to suppress the votes of eligible American voters.

President Trump has already promised Congressional Republicans that passing the so-called SAVE America Act would “guarantee the midterms,” despite the fact that Trump and Congressional Republicans have increased the cost of living, reduced access to affordable health care, tanked the U.S. economy, raised prices through tariff taxes, thrust America into an unauthorized war, and ran up the debt to record levels.

President Trump has also threatened to campaign against any Republican who doesn’t support the so-called SAVE Act, which even some red state leaders have denounced as problematic and impossible to implement.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) says finding a principled solution to fund TSA and reform ICE should be an urgent, bipartisan priority. Reed said Democrats have been pushing for weeks to reach a principled and long overdue agreement to get the federal government fully working and to rein in out of control ICE and CBP agents and ensure they are subject to the same, commonsense guardrails as other law enforcement agencies.

Today, in response to President Trump’s latest rants, Senator Reed stated:

“President Trump inadvertently confessed that he’s responsible for denying TSA workers their paychecks and imposing long lines at airports. No matter what Democrats offer – and we’ve already proposed paying TSA more than 10 times that Republicans have objected to - Trump will not allow a TSA solution unless Democrats cave on his unrelated, unworkable, and unwarranted voter-suppression gambit known as the so-called SAVE America Act. Even Republican leaders, lawmakers, and election officials have warned this bill would make it more difficult for eligible American citizens to legally vote.

“How do we know this is a terrible bill? Just listen to Republican election officials who are warning the bill is disastrous. Here is what Utah’s Lt. Governor – who is in charge of running elections in her state -- said about this proposed bill:

“If we want a federal law mandating voter ID or Documentary Proof of Citizenship, and it’s really not about disenfranchising a bunch of voters, then states and voters need an onramp with time to prepare — get the documents, obtain the right ID, set up the system,” Henderson wrote. “That’s not what’s happening with the SAVE America Act. This bill would be effective immediately in the middle of an election year.”

“The bill,” Henderson said, “would be impossible to implement, on top of all its other problems.”

“Red states and blue states alike have sounded the alarm that this bill would cause chaos. It took nearly two decades of runway to fully implement the REAL ID law. But now President Trump is trying to force this radical re-jiggering of registering and voting in a matter of weeks. He’s not trying to ‘save America,’ he is trying to save his Congressional majorities. He doesn’t want oversight or accountability, he wants to change rules in the middle of election season and seize new power. So he’s willing to torch America’s election system that has served the country well for 250 years and replace it with one that serves himself.

“The American people deserve better. They deserve elections that are fair and honest and administered with accuracy and integrity so that the vote of every eligible U.S. citizen is counted. And that is not what the so-called SAVE Act would do – it would hand President Trump unprecedented tools to try and disregard the votes of American citizens. I hope Republicans continue using precious floor time on this issue. Because the more Americans learn about the bill, the more they understand what is actually in it – the more facts they have, the more they oppose it. And thanks to President Trump’s oblivious admission, anyone stuck in a long line at the airport now knows that President Trump is the hold up. He is trying to leverage unnecessary airport delays against travelers unless Americans forfeit their rights or hand him more power. It won’t work.”


Ricketts Celebrates Markwayne Mullin’s Confirmation as Secretary of Homeland Security

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today,U.S.Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) released the following statement after voting to successfully confirm Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) as the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“Markwayne Mullin is a patriot and a good man. He’s been a great colleague and friend in the Senate. I know he will be a great Secretary at DHS. His job faces a tough path with Democrats unwilling to reconcile on a plan to reopen the Department of Homeland Security. But if anyone is up for the job, it’s Markwayne Mullin. Congratulations Secretary Mullin!”


Rosen, Curtis Call on State Department to Support Tibet

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and John Curtis (R-UT) sent a letter congratulating Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, Riley Barnes, on his appointment and urging him to prioritize and advance U.S. policy towards Tibet. Barnes also serves as the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. In his capacity as Special Coordinator, the Senators called on Barnes to work with Congress to promote Sino-Tibetan dialogue, support the people of Tibet no matter where they reside, and counter Chinese malign influence. A position created in 2002 by the Tibetan Policy Act, the Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues coordinates U.S. government policies, programs, and other projects concerning Tibetan issues.

“We congratulate you on your appointment as the U.S. State Department Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues. This position has long reflected bipartisan and unwavering U.S. support for the Tibetan people’s ongoing struggle for human rights and democratic freedoms—consistent with American values, universal human rights standards, and protecting U.S. interests from the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) influence,” wrote the Senators. “We know what is possible when the Administration and Congress work together to promote America’s interests regarding Tibet. We look forward to working with you as Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues to implement these laws and appropriations provided by Congress, to advance a renewed and reinvigorated push to peacefully resolve the dispute over Tibet’s future, and to continue the U.S. government’s unwavering support for our Tibetan allies.”

The full letter can be found HERE.

Senator Rosen has been a supporter of Tibet and its people. Last year, Senator Rosen urged the Trump Administration to quickly appoint a qualified Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues. Last October, she requested an expanded report on the Chinese military strategy on the Tibetan Plateau as part of the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Senator Rosen also supported a resolution commemorating the Dali Lama’s 90th birthday and expressing support for the human rights and cultural identity of the Tibetan people.


VIDEO: Senate Republicans Once Again Block Rosen’s Attempt to Pay TSA Workers

Watch Senator Rosen’s Full Remarks HERE.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Senate Republicans have once again blocked U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen’s (D-NV) attempt to pass her bill to pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers amidst the Republican shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. As the shutdown reaches its sixth week, travelers are forced to wait for hours in security lines at airports as TSA agents are forced to work without pay. Senator Rosen’s bill would ensure TSA agents get paid for their work, despite Washington Republicans holding DHS funding hostage over their unwillingness to put guardrails on ICE. Earlier this month, Senator Rosen tried to pass this bill but Senate Republicans blocked it.

Below is a transcript of Senator Rosen’s remarks:

As we enter spring and schools across the nation approach their Spring Breaks, millions of families will soon be traveling.

They’ll be relying on our airports to travel, to visit family, to go on vacation.

But unfortunately, they will be met with longer lines because Washington Republicans refuse to pay our TSA agents.

That’s right. The Department of Homeland Security is currently without funding because Washington Republicans would rather see it shut down than pass commonsense guardrails on ICE.

In fact, every Senate Republican present voted just this past weekend against paying our TSA agents.

As a result, the American people are paying the price.

And when TSA staffing levels drop because officers aren’t getting paid, wait times at airport security checkpoints stretch longer and longer.

This doesn’t just inconvenience travelers, it undermines security and directly threatens jobs and livelihoods.

The situation is so dire at our airports that the Trump Administration is going to send untrained ICE agents to our airports, untrained ICE agents to try to do the job of our highly trained TSA agents.

That’s why I rise yet again with a simple, practical proposal to pay our hardworking TSA agents, pay them right now. They deserve it.

If we cannot move forward with funding for the entire Department of Homeland Security, we should at least be able to come together on this.

The Trump Administration and Senate leadership are having ongoing negotiations on the guardrails on ICE, and TSA officers should not be caught in the middle of that fight.

So, today I’m asking my colleagues to take just a simple step: pass my legislation right now to pay TSA workers, so that commercial air travel remains safe and functional.

And let me just say this: claiming that you will not pay TSA agents because this bill doesn’t fund the entire Department, it is an excuse.

If Washington Republicans truly believe that, then why did they agree to fund literally everything else in our government except for DHS?

If it has to be all-or-nothing like they’re now claiming, then why agree to fund the parts of our government where we have an agreement and leave DHS unfunded?

I can tell you why: because they know it’s the right thing to do. They know that other government employees shouldn’t be penalized for the President’s mass deportation agenda.

And that’s why we’re asking for this today. Don’t penalize TSA and the traveling public for the fact that you refuse to rein in ICE and have them be accountable, have them be trained, transparent, and accountable like every other law enforcement agency in this country.


NEWS: Sanders Calls on Bezos to Testify before Congress on Plans to Replace Millions of Workers with Robots

WASHINGTON, March 23 — After public reporting that Jeff Bezos is seeking to raise $100 billion to replace millions of workers all over America with robots, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today called on Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) to hold a public hearing with Bezos regarding the impact of artificial intelligence and robotics on the working class.

“In my view, we must demand that Mr. Bezos come before our committee to explain to the American people why he believes it’s a good idea to replace millions of American workers with robots,” Sanders wrote. “We need to understand what will happen to these workers. Will Mr. Bezos be providing a generous severance package for them? Will these displaced workers be able to maintain their health care benefits? Will they be able to receive a decent retirement plan? Or will they simply be thrown out on the street in order to make Mr. Bezos even richer?”

Last week, the prominent information technology consulting firm Cognizant estimated that 93% of American jobs would face some disruption and 30% of all jobs would be wiped out by AI. This is a significant increase from the firm’s previous projections and a dire warning about the potential impact of these new technologies on workers and the U.S. economy.

“As you know, the pace of technological advancement in robotics, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly increased in just the past few years. These revolutionary technologies will have a profound impact on the lives of virtually every worker in America,” Sanders continued. “Our job is to ensure that this new technology benefits working families and is not simply used as another tool to make the wealthiest people in the world unimaginably richer… The American people are increasingly apprehensive about the impact that AI and robotics will have on the economy and their lives. Congress needs to act. The HELP committee needs to act.”


ICYMI: In Burbank, Sen. Schiff Holds Hearing with Film Industry Leaders on Promoting and Protecting American Film Production and Jobs

“This is not a Hollywood backlot story. It’s a main street story. It’s the story of an industry delivering America’s greatest cultural export to audiences around the world,” Schiff said at the hearing. “It’s also an industry that has faced very real challenges over the last few years.”

Burbank, CA – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) held a spotlight hearing with entertainment industry and labor leaders to hear testimony on challenges facing the film industry, from productions being moved overseas to the potential impacts of the proposed merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Schiff’s hearing, “Lights, Camera, Competition: Promoting American Film Production,” included guests Noah Wyle, Golden Globe and Emmy-Winning Actor and Star, Executive Producer, Writer, and Director of “The Pitt;” Matthew Loeb, International President of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE); Jax Deluca, Executive Director, Future Film Coalition and Research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy; Jim Acosta, Journalist, Author and Host of “The Jim Acosta Show” on Substack and YouTube, Former CNN Anchor and Chief White House Correspondent.

Schiff was also joined by U.S. Representatives Laura Friedman (D-Calif.-30), Lou Correa (D-Calif.-46), and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.-37).

Background: Schiff is working to advance bipartisan legislation to establish a federal film tax incentive, modeled after successful state programs like California’s, to help the United States remain competitive in the global market and encourage domestic filmmaking.

Schiff has previously voiced concern about how the sale of Warner Bros. Discovery could potentially impact domestic film production, the workforce, consumer costs, media consolidation, and theaters – including at a hearing with Warner Bros. executives before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year.

In February, Senator Schiff and Rep. Friedman sought answers from Paramount Skydance Corporation CEO David Ellison and Netflix Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, pressing for concrete commitments to protect California jobs and American workers as both companies were pursuing the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Ellison responded to the lawmakers’ inquiry here.

See coverage below:

Variety: Adam Schiff Touts Federal Film Incentive to Counter Hollywood Job Losses: ‘It Needs to Be Bipartisan’

Sen. Adam Schiff has drafted a bill to create a federal incentive for film and TV production, but said Friday that he [is] still working to gain Republican co-sponsors.

Schiff held a hearing at Burbank City Hall to build support for the measure, noting that Los Angeles County has lost 42,000 entertainment jobs in the last two years.

“These are great jobs and we want to keep them here at home,” he said. “It’s not rocket science how we do that. It’s largely drafted. It needs to be bipartisan. We are working to gather bipartisan support for this.”

Though he has been working on the idea for more than a year, Schiff had not previously spoken about it publicly in any detail.

He invited Noah Wyle, the star of “The Pitt,” and IATSE President Matt Loeb to testify at the hearing on the value of production jobs and the need for a federal incentive. He also highlighted concerns about the merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros., warning that it could lead to another wave off layoffs in the industry.

While few expect the merger to have much difficulty clearing federal antitrust review, state officials have said that they intend to take a hard look at it.

“We are engaged currently in a rigorous review and we have shown that we won’t hesitate when we think that the law is being broken,” said Rob Bonta, the California attorney general, after the hearing.

Bonta noted that his office filed to block the merger of Tegna and Nexstar, which the Federal Communications Commission approved on Thursday, and that it has continued to pursue an antitrust case against Ticketmaster and Live Nation, even after the federal government withdrew.

“We don’t expect the federal government to play the role that it should be playing,” Bonta said. “It could still, and so we hope it will. There’s always time to change course. But because they’ve withdrawn we’ve stepped into that vacuum and that gap and done more.”

Schiff was joined at the hearing by three Democratic members of Congress from Southern California. He also heard testimony from Jim Acosta, the former CNN correspondent, about the potential harms to the network if Paramount and Larry and David Ellison are able to take over.

Acosta did not hold back, blasting Paramount’s management of CBS under Bari Weiss, and calling the Ellisons a “MAGA-friendly oligarchic family.”

“You basically have partisan hacks running CBS News,” he said. “Imagine those editorial decisions moving over to CNN…. This is a full frontal assault on every type of media option we have.”

Loeb, whose union represents 130,000 below-the-line workers, noted that while Paramount has pledged to make 30 films a year after the merger, it has not pledged to make them in the U.S.

“Thirty pictures doesn’t mean anything unless they’re done here,” he said, adding that a federal incentive will be needed to keep those jobs from going overseas. “What is the future going to look like if we don’t put a tax incentive in place?”

Rep. Lou Correa, a Democrat from Orange County, asked the witnesses what guardrails could be placed on the merger to protect workers and media.

Jax Deluca, executive director of the Future Film Coalition, argued that conditions of approval would not be sufficient to protect jobs and independent filmmakers. Her group has launched a campaign to block the merger outright.

Acosta concurred.

“To me, if this merger goes through the guardrails are gone,” he said. “It seems to me the fix is in.”

Wyle was on hand to testify to the success of the California film and TV tax incentive. “The Pitt” received $12.2 million in tax credits for each of its first two seasons — shot at the Warner Bros. lot — and will receive $24.2 million for Season 3.

Before “The Pitt,” he worked around the country and in Canada as producers chased incentives in other jurisdictions.

“It’s hard on families. It’s hard to fracture your industry that way,” he said, noting that California’s subsidy allows productions to draw on a deep pool of local talent. “It’s vital to support these incentives. They are an investment in our city’s most precious commodity — they are an investment in its people.”

Speaking after the hearing, Schiff noted that President Trump has voiced support for tariffs on foreign-made films in order to bring production back to the U.S. While nobody in the industry supports that remedy, some have taken encouragement that Trump has at least acknowledged the problem.

“We — and I think the industry — think it makes sense to have a federal tax credit,” Schiff said. “But I think there’s great interest in this. I do expect it to be bipartisan. And it has to be.”

In his remarks, Loeb noted that the U.K. has lured Marvel productions that used to film in Georgia. Schiff said that that one idea being floated is to offer an added federal incentive to companies that bring back such jobs from overseas.

California has such a provision in its tax credit program, whereby TV shows that relocate from other states or countries are given a 5% bonus on top of the baseline credit.

Deadline: “The News Is Broken”: Ex-CNN Host Warns Of Potential Pro-Trump State Media With Paramount-WBD Merger; Noah Wyle, IATSE Chief & Others Push For Federal Film-TV Tax Credit

“The news is broken, we may not be able to put the pieces back together,” former CNN White House Correspondent Jim Acosta told a packed Burbank City Hall on Friday, warning of the rise of entertainment industry oligarchs and “media domination.”

“We need to talk about busting up big media,” Acosta insisted. “This is not America what we’re seeing now.”

Taking a swing at “partisan hacks” running CBS News and the probability of more job losses like we saw today, and “self-censoring,” the journalist was speaking Friday at Sen. Adam Schiff’s “Lights, Camera, Competition”: Promoting American Film Production event in the former home of the Tonight Show. With an event lineup that included The Pitt’s Noah Wyle, IATSE president Matthew Loeb, Jax Deluca, Executive Director of Future Film Coalition, longtime production incentive proponent Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) and HBO alum Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA) in attendance, the gathering toggled its split focus. California Attorney General Rob Bonta (who is investigating the Paramount-WBD deal & leading the multi-state suit against the Nexstar-Tegna merger) didn’t speak during the session, but was sitting in the front room with a smile on his face. At one point, as the benefits of a federal tax incentive were debated, Acosta threw in the idea of a tax credit for “independent journalism” to turn the consolidation and ideological tide.

With that, while there are few things on which Trump and Schiff agree, both are on the same page when it comes to keeping Hollywood production in the U.S. However, at the same time, the MAGA kingpin and the Democrat who reps Hollywood are in different places it seems when it comes to Paramount merging with Warner Bros Discovery.

Ellison has promised editorial independence for CNN, but with the direction CBS has gone under its news editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, those pledges strike many as the Paramount CEO saying what he needs to say to get his deal approved. Warning about the potential consequences of Skydance founder Ellison and his father, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, owning both CBS and CNN, Acosta’s remarks picked up on a placard quoting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week criticizing the media over its Iran war coverage.

“The public can sniff out what’s going on here,” Acosta proclaimed, pointing to a recent media hit list from Trump last week and payouts and other moves seemingly undertaken to placate the White House. They are “a shakedown to a wannabe dictator,” Acosta added, gathering a round of applause in the room.

Turning to the desire for a federal program though never letting the merger out of his sight, Schiff declared that the harsh decline in U.S. production “is not a Hollywood backlot story, it’s a Main Street story.”

Pushing for Congress to act on a federal program, Schiff wasn’t alone in pushing for greater initiative from DC to complement tax credit programs that exist in states like California, New York and Georgia. “Without a comprehensive federal policy response, the U.S. risks turning its back on a signature American industry,” IATSE chief Loeb said, with The Pitt’s Wyle by his side.

“Federal policymakers must act to level the playing field and make the U.S. film and television industry more competitive on the global stage,” Loeb added (read L his full remarks below). “A globally competitive, labor-based incentive for U.S. production that supplements state incentives is essential to return and maintain film and television jobs in America.

“We must ensure that the American film industry is not sacrificed for corporate scale and control,” the Future Film Coalition’s Deluca said to the assembled politicians and onlookers. “A stronger Hollywood is built not through consolidation, but through competition, fair markets, and policies that sustain independent storytelling.”

As various speakers differed over whether it was too late to turn things around, as well as the prospects of AI, Schiff noted the recent loss of more than 41,000 industry jobs in L.A. County and how 45% of American TV and film production was shot outside the country in 2025.

Looking at the importance of state programs and a proposed 15%-19% federal program, Emmy winner Wyle added: “It is vital to the strength of our industry and our city to support these incentives. It’s an investment on our city’s most precious commodity and biggest asset. It’s an investment in our people.” (Read his full remarks below.)

“It’s going to be all about the dollars,” Loeb said, cutting to the chase of a federal film/TV incentive program. “It’s all about money at the end of the day.”

The Hollywood Reporter: The U.S. Has Been Losing Movie and TV Production for Years. Where Have Lawmakers Been?

A few numbers to consider when thinking about the current state of Hollywood: Nearly half of all film and scripted series shot outside the United States last year; Los Angeles County lost more than 42,000 entertainment jobs from 2022 to 2024; and Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery made just 15 theatrical movies combined that filmed in the country over the last two years.

The narrative that the U.S. is losing its grip as the production capital of the world took centerstage at a hearing on Friday in Burbank City Hall convened by Sen. Adam Schiff, who’s looking to build support for a federal tax incentive to bring jobs back stateside. “The urgency cannot be greater,” he said, before proceeding to call out “unprecedented consolidation” in Hollywood as Paramount Skydance looks to acquire Warner Bros.

While the hearing was representative of the many issues plaguing the entertainment industry and Los Angeles-based film community, it also highlighted the lack of clarity and urgency by the federal government, state and city in how to address them. For years, observers have been ringing alarm bells of consolidation in Hollywood and the flight of productions to other countries for more generous filming subsidies. Workers in the industry, particularly those in L.A., are now paying the price.

“We’re always reacting,” said Rep. Lou Correa. “We’re not ahead of curve here. It’s going to hurt us.”

Up first, The Pitt star and executive producer Noah Wyle talked up the significance of instituting a federal tax incentive scheme. His show is “proof of concept,” he said, that productions will return to the U.S. if more subsidies are offered.

“It is vital to the strength of the industry and city to support these incentives,” Wyle added. “It’s an investment in the city’s most precious commodity and asset. it’s an investment in its people.”

A closer look at The Pitt‘s financials: With a 20 percent tax credit from California, the show got a rebate of roughly $760,000 per episode. That lowered its total first season spend from roughly $100 million to $88 million, a difference of the cost of roughly two episodes.

To some, film incentives are seen as an engine for jobs creation. When a production comes to town, it’s not just the crew members, hair stylists and electricians on the set that are hired. Money trickles down to workers from caterers to carpenters to dry cleaners.

IATSE has long advocated for a federal film and TV tax credit. While state subsidies are helpful, president Matt Loeb said, they’re not enough. “Without a comprehensive federal policy response, the U.S. risks turning its back on a signature American industry,” he added.

Since 2022, employment for below-the-line workers is down 45 million hours, according to the union. Over the same period, the U.S.’s share of global production dropped from 52 percent to 38 percent. Most major studio tentpoles — the kind that bring bucks — now shoot in the U.K.

One question that’s emerged since Paramount’s proposed deal to acquire Warner Bros. is where it will shoot the 30 movies per year the studios committed to producing. It likely won’t be in the U.S. without a federal subsidy, according to Loeb.

“A commitment to 30 pictures doesn’t mean anything unless they’re done here,” he said.

Still, he observed that it’s not too late, explaining that “they moved that fast and they can come back that fast.”

Los Angeles Times: California’s film and TV tax credit is working, but federal help is needed, lawmakers say

California’s economy might see a boost from the state’s expanded film tax credits, but local lawmakers say it’s not enough.

Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom authorizing a $750-million film and TV tax credit program last summer, the impending merger between Paramount and Warner Bros., and the projected budget cuts that are expected to follow, has reignited fears about Hollywood jobs and U.S.-based productions.

“State programs cannot simply substitute for the kind of global, federal and competitive tax incentives that are needed to bring production back to American soil and stop its offshoring,” U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said during a news conference Friday morning.

“We must act, and the urgency could not be greater,” he said. He revealed he is working on a bipartisan federal film incentive proposal that would be competitive with what other countries are offering for film productions.

He said the program isn’t about Hollywood’s stars; it’s about the jobs that productions create, including roles for set designers, carpenters and lighting crews.

“These are the people who make that magic happen. We want to keep those jobs here, and many of us are deeply concerned about what this potential merger will do to those jobs,” Schiff said.

Earlier this week, the California Film Commission revealed that 16 shows had recently received tax credits for filming in the state. The projects represent $871 million in qualified in-state spending and are expected to generate $1.3 billion in economic activity in California. Schiff said the state tax credit has generated more than $29.1 billion in motion picture production wages and supported more than 220,000 jobs.

Even as shows start to see gains in Southern California, Los Angeles film activity was still down 13.2% from July through September when compared with the same period in 2024. The downward trend extends the loss of 42,000 jobs in L.A. between 2022 and 2024, the continued suffering of local sound stages and the offshoring of productions internationally.

“Federal policymakers must act to level the playing field and make the U.S. film and television industry more competitive on the global stage,” said Matthew Loeb, the president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. “A globally competitive labor-based and tax incentive is. For us, production that supplements state incentives is essential to return and maintain film and television jobs in America.”

HBO Max’s medical drama “The Pitt” is filmed at one of Warner Bros. soundstages in Burbank and it’s one of the shows benefiting from California’s tax incentive.

Noah Wyle, the star and executive producer of the show, said during the news conference that “it’s really hard to shoot a TV show in Los Angeles, and it’s really expensive, prohibitively” — so adopting an economic model that allows productions to take full advantage of the California tax incentive was essential to “The Pitt” filming in L.A.

“As an Angeleno with generational roots to this city and as a seasoned member of its creative community, advocacy for Los Angeles-based production is something that is very close to my heart,” Wyle said.

“‘The Pitt’ has blessedly become proof of that speculative concept. I’m happy to report we’ll commence shooting season three this summer, and that a rising tide has indeed lifted all boats in season one under the 3.0 tax program,” he added.

The show received a 20% tax rebate on many above-the-line costs. The budget for one episode was approximately $6.6 million, so the show received a rebate of about $760,000 per episode. By the end of season one, the production was able to save over $11 million. Wyle estimated that the first season of “The Pitt” contributed around $125 million toward California’s gross domestic product.

Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), who is working with Schiff on production tax incentives, said that because California is already seeing benefits from the current program, there’s no reason it wouldn’t work nationally. Friedman added that tax incentives are a common practice among many industries in the U.S.

“Hollywood is not asking for special treatment. Whether it is computer chips, the energy sector or pharmaceuticals, this is something that is standard in the United States,” said Friedman. “In terms of our nation, Hollywood and its ability to tell the story of America, it is something worth saving.”

Associated Press: Noah Wyle tells hearing that ‘The Pitt’ shows TV and film production in the US can be revived

Burbank, Calif. — “The Pitt” has won praise — and a gurney full of Emmys — for bringing a dose of classic episodic TV to the prestige streaming era.

Its star, executive producer and sometimes director Noah Wyle said Friday that the HBO Max hospital series is also a throwback of a different sort — it actually shoots in Hollywood at a time when film and television production has shifted to other places with more favorable economic conditions. Wyle said “The Pitt,” which won the Emmy for best drama for last year’s first season, is “proof of concept” that the model can work.

Wyle spoke at a hearing organized by California Sen. Adam Schiff held at City Hall in Burbank, the Los Angeles-adjacent city that is home to most major studios, including the Warner Bros. lot where “The Pitt” shoots.

“I was asked to participate in today’s hearing to tell a success story,” Wyle said. “I’m happy to report we’ll commence shooting season three this summer, and that a rising tide has indeed lifted all boats.”

Wyle said California’s recent tax breaks for production made making the series in Burbank possible. He said the show’s first season brought nearly 600 production jobs, and its ripple effects brought $125 million to the state economy.

“That is proof of concept,” he said. “That is replicable. And it is vital to the strength of our industry and to our city to support these incentives.”

Wyle, 54, played a central character on NBC’s “ER” from 1994 to 2009. His return to a Hollywood hospital — fictionally in Pittsburgh — with “The Pitt” won him an Emmy for best actor in a drama.

Lean years came in between, when he had to go the increasingly far-off places smaller roles took him.

“I’ll speak from personal experience and say that I haven’t slept in my own bed in 15 years while I’ve been working as an actor. Since the end of ‘ER,’” Wyle said. “It’s hard on families, and I can speak to that. It is hard to fracture your industry that way.”

Schiff and other members of Congress who spoke said they are working on nationalizing production tax breaks that states have instituted.

U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman, whose district includes Burbank and its studios, addressed objections to cozy treatment for a business snuggled in wealth.

“We give tax credits to many industries. Hollywood is not asking for special treatment,” she said. “This is something that is standard across the United States for industries that we have determined that we care about.”

Matthew Loeb, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents most behind-the-scenes crew members, lamented Marvel recently moving its production hub from Georgia to England.

But he said the same project-by-project production model that can be difficult for his members can make change more possible. It’s not as hard for film to come back as it might be for other industries.

Paramount’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. was a running theme, with all expressing worry that its consolidation will mean loss of production and jobs

“This merger could define whether Los Angeles remains the entertainment capital of the world or becomes an afterthought,” Friedman said.

Paramount leaders have given a broad commitment to making 15 major motion pictures for both studios each year. That was welcomed, but skeptically.

“The big missing piece is that there is no commitment about where they’re going to shoot 30 films,” Loeb said.

Wyle,Schiff and others emphasized the jobs that thrive around entertainment entities, from hotel workers to equipment vendors to food servers to dry cleaners.

“All those livelihoods are tied to a production shop setting up in their community,” Schiff said.

U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove said workers of all sorts from her Los Angeles County district have an interest in Hollywood thriving.

“After my acupuncturist took the needles out of my back, she said, ‘Can you do anything to help bring back entertainment jobs?’” Kamlager-Dove said.

CBS LA: Sen. Schiff’s Entertainment Industry Hearing

Harvey: Los Angeles used to be the heartbeat of the movie industry, but it’s been facing challenges over the years.

Shahbazi: As CBS LA’s Joy Benedict explains tonight, some actors, including “The Pitt” star Noah Wyle, are hoping to rewrite the future of the business during a hearing in Burbank.

Benedict: They are the blockbusters America loves, but some in the film industry are concerned that Hollywood marriages are leading to the economy’s divorce.

Brown: I’ve lost my health insurance. I’ve basically got five days to up with some rent money.

Benedict: Jessica Brown attended a spotlight hearing at Burbank City Hall by California Senator Adam Schiff. She and many here are concerned about the expected merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers, and what it could mean to the entertainment industry.

Schiff: This is not a Hollywood backlot story. It’s a Main Street story.

Benedict: Schiff and Representatives Laura Friedman, Lou Correa, and Sydney Kamlager-Dove engaged in a panel discussion with industry leaders about what the merger could do.

Acosta: That would put CNN, together with CBS and TikTok, under the control or influence of one family that is closely aligned with the White House.

Schiff: The jobs are hugely important, but also, we are literally laying off the independence of the media. We are seeing the federal government exercise a level of censorship that we’ve never experienced in this country.

Benedict: At issue: news consolidation and a reduction in entertainment production.

Schiff: With past studio mergers, we’ve seen significant layoffs. We don’t want to see another wave of layoffs in the industry.

Benedict: Senator Schiff is in the process of putting together a bill for a federal film incentive to offer tax breaks to productions in the U.S., as he says last year, 45% of all scripted shows and films were shot overseas.

Wyle: I haven’t slept in my own bed in 15 years while I’ve been working as an actor, since the end of ER.

Benedict: And although many here are calling for change, it’s not clear what can be done, at least not fast enough to help the industry and the workers struggling to simply keep doing what they love.

Dinsmoor: The less competition, the less healthy it’s going to be.

Brown: This was not my reality two years ago. Two years ago, I was thriving, on just background acting.

Benedict: Paramount Skydance entered into a merger agreement to buy Warner Brothers at the end of February. That agreement is currently working its way through the regulatory process. CBS News, a product of Paramount Skydance, announced significant layoffs today.

ABC7 LA: Sen. Schiff Hosts Film and TV Hearing

Lara: How to Keep Hollywood in Hollywood. That was the focus of a hearing hosted by Senator Adam Schiff today.

Ono: It addressed everything from runaway production to media company consolidation, and now to Carlos Granda who is live in Burbank with the story. Carlos.

Granda: Well, that’s right, lawmakers and media executives gathered for that hearing to discuss the proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Brothers, which you see right there behind me. It’s a deal that could reshape the media landscape. The media industry hearing was held in Burbank, a city that is home to several TV and movie studios.

Schiff: This industry supports nearly 800,000 jobs.

Granda: This comes as Paramount Skydance, which owns CBS, is buying Warner Brothers, which owns CNN, and their concerns about keeping jobs in Southern California.

Wyle: Admittedly, it’s really hard to shoot a TV show in Los Angeles.

Granda: Actor Noah Wyle raised concerns that fewer studios could mean fewer opportunities.

Wyle: Over the last six years, the aggregate effect of projects leaving the state in search of tax credits, the pandemic and last year’s fires has been a near cratering of our once thriving industry. We lost 42,000 film and TV jobs in LA County.

Granda: Some lawmakers are pushing for a film tax credit nationwide to keep production in the United States.

Friedman: People in LA are really concerned about what this merger means. Two of the main legacy studios now merging together with the buyer talking about efficiencies, which we know means layoffs.

Granda: And all of this comes as CBS, which is owned by Paramount, announced layoffs across the company. After 100 years, CBS Radio would be shut down.

Schiff: How are we to expect that if CNN is acquired by the same parent, that we won’t see another round of layoffs and even more layoffs if there’s some kind of a merger between those news entities.

Granda: And today’s hearing is part of an ongoing review process that could take months.

NBC4 LA: Schiff Says Paramount Merger Threatens Independent News

Nolan: […] What’s the biggest concern with the takeover by Warner Brother Discovery by Paramount?

Schiff: Well, I think it’s two things. One, it could be the loss of thousands and thousands of jobs. It could mean more production heading outside the country. But there is also a grave risk, and we heard it today from Jim Acosta, that the editorial and news content at CNN will no longer be independent. That it will be essentially jaundiced to try to be favorable to the president. That that was the price of this merger for the administration.

Nolan: Right, and that’s because of David Ellison, the president of Paramount, Larry Ellison, his father, being friends with the president, essentially.

Schiff: Not just friends but, reportedly, promises that were made. And of course, the president, as well as Secretary Hegseth have made it very clear they understand, their own understanding, is that this merger is going to change CNN to make it more favorable to them, and we’ve already seen them criticize coverage by the media of the war in Iran. We’ve seen the FCC chair in a completely improper, and I would say, beyond that, illegal way, attempt to censor the media by threatening their licenses if they don’t cover the war more favorably. This is how democracies come to an end, and that is a profound concern too. That is what will happen to the editorial independence in reporting in places like CNN and CBS. […]

Spectrum News 1: Lawmakers Move to Keep Hollywood Jobs Local

Collins: Film and TV productions in LA have been in steady decline. To help revitalize Hollywood, state and local lawmakers are pushing for new incentives to keep studios from taking their projects elsewhere. This, as the Paramount, Warner Brothers mega merger looms large. Ryan Thompson was at today’s hearing with Senator Adam Schiff and industry figures as they look at the path ahead.

Thompson: Like many in Hollywood, Will Dinsmoor can’t help but check his phone, hoping for news about an audition that could change everything.

Dinsmoor: It is sparse right now.

Thompson: Since moving to California, the SAG-AFTRA union member has to struggled to book work.

Dinsmoor: A couple of short films here and there.

Thompson: And worries that the pending merger of Hollywood giants Warner Brothers and Paramount could make it even harder.

Dinsmoor: With consolidation, we’ll have less jobs, less opportunity, less projects that, not just above the line like myself and directors and all that, but just below the line, like production assistance, gaffers, hair and makeup.

Thompson: Both in front and behind the camera, many in Hollywood are watching that $111 billion dollar acquisition closely, after 2025 saw sharp declines in production that put total shoot days on par with pandemic-era lows, according to Film LA. This week, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison tried to reassure California lawmakers, promising the combined company will put out 30 movies a year and will help preserve good jobs and expand opportunities for workers in California and in the United States. But two recipients of that letter, Senator Adam Schiff and Representative Laura Friedman, still expressed skepticism at the deal, and Ellison’s ownership, during a Friday hearing focused on Hollywood.

Schiff: Paramount CEO David Ellison has since responded with a number of pledges, but many of them lack specificity, and we intend to examine them carefully.

Friedman: Paramount’s projecting $6 billion in “synergies,” and we know what that word means: it means cuts, it means layoffs, and LA workers are going to feel that first. […]

###


Senator Schmitt Applauds President Trump’s U.S. Marshal Nominees for Eastern and Western Missouri

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) released the following statement after President Trump announced his nominees for U.S. Marshal for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri. The nominees include Steven Lewis for the Eastern District and James Arnott for the Western District of Missouri.

“I am thrilled that President Trump nominated two extremely qualified Missourians to serve as U.S. Marshals for Missouri. Steven Lewis and James Arnott both have dedicated their lives to serving and protecting Missouri and their communities. As U.S. Marshals they will continue to restore law and order across Missouri. I am proud to support their nominations and look forward to seeing them swiftly confirmed in the Senate,” said Senator Schmitt.

###