Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Levin (CA-49)
February 20, 2026
Washington D.C.—Today, Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump striking down President Trump’s tariffs:
“I’ve opposed Trump’s tariff scheme from day one, and not just because it’s illegal, but because it’s an economic disaster.
“These tariffs are a tax on every American consumer, raising prices and hurting businesses. Congress, and only Congress, has the authority to impose taxes, and when presidents trample that, we all pay the price.
“This decision is a win for the rule of law and a reminder that when this or any president undermines constitutional checks, whether by overstepping on tariffs, defying the Congressional power of the purse, or other obvious abuses, it’s our job to stop it.
“I applaud the Court majority for affirming Congress’s clear authority, and I hope this is just the first step in ending blatant constitutional violations by this Administration.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Sean Casten (IL-06)
February 20, 2026
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) introduced the Powering Productivity Act and the Energy – Modernizing EIA Tracking and Reporting to Increase Consistency (Energy METRIC) Act, a pair of bills designed to improve transparency, planning, and decision-making in the U.S. energy system. Together, the bills modernize how the federal government measures energy use and productivity, providing the data needed to lower costs, strengthen competitiveness, and plan responsibly for rising demand.
“Energy demand in the United States is rapidly increasing. At the same time, energy costs remain elevated and volatile,” said Rep. Sean Casten. “Despite energy being a core input into every sector of our economy, policymakers lack basic, standardized tools to measure how efficiently energy is being used. The Powering Productivity Act and the Energy METRIC Act address this problem head-on and provide the insights necessary to help lower costs and increase stability.”
“In this time of historic load growth, it’s more important than ever that our country uses energy as efficiently and productively as possible,” said Jennifer Layke, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. “These two bills would fill critical gaps in current data collection efforts, modernizing energy accounting and reporting to better understand primary energy use and energy productivity. As we make needed investments in the grid, data like this will allow policymakers and grid operators to make informed decisions to ensure that energy is affordable and reliable for Americans.”
“Improving how we measure energy is essential to improving how we use it. Congressman Casten’s Powering Productivity Act and Energy METRIC Act fill long-standing data and transparency gaps that limit the nation’s ability to fully capitalize on energy efficiency,” said Paula Glover, president of Alliance to Save Energy. “Better data means better policy and ultimately lower costs, improved reliability, and a more competitive U.S. economy. These commonsense reforms directly support the Alliance’s mission to advance energy efficiency as the cheapest, cleanest, and fastest way to meet our growing energy needs.”
Powering Productivity Act
Economic growth is driven by four core inputs: labor, capital, natural resources, and energy. The United States has spent decades systematically measuring and improving the productivity of labor, capital, and natural resources. But despite being a foundational input to every sector of the economy, the economic productivity of energy remains largely unmeasured.
The Powering Productivity Act directs the Department of Energy to establish:
The first national baseline of U.S. energy productivity, measuring how effectively energy inputs generate economic value across sectors and regions;
An Energy Information Administration (EIA)-led quarterly Energy Productivity Report aligned with the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Labor Productivity Reports;
A triennial Comprehensive Energy Productivity and Competitiveness Assessment evaluating impacts of increased energy productivity on costs, emissions, environmental impacts, health, resilience, and U.S. industrial competitiveness.
Text of the Powering Productivity Act can be found here.
Energy METRIC Act
The Energy METRIC Act modernizes how EIA measures and reports national energy use by examining the limitations of legacy “primary energy” metrics (i.e. metrics developed for a fossil-dominated economy) and directing EIA to develop technology-neutral energy accounting approaches.
By improving comparability across energy sources, this bill provides policymakers, researchers, and markets with a more accurate picture of system efficiency, electrification trends, and energy performance as the energy mix evolves.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Sean Casten (IL-06)
February 20, 2026
Oak Lawn, IL — U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) recently delivered valentines to veterans at Johnson-Phelps VFW Post #5220 in Oak Lawn.
“I am honored to organize my Valentines for Veterans card drive every year,” said Rep. Sean Casten. “It is amazing to see the creativity and generosity of our community. We are forever indebted to the sacrifices our veterans have made for our country, and these cards are a small way to thank them.”
In recent weeks, Rep. Casten’s office has collected over 2,700 valentines from community members to deliver to local veterans. Cards were made by constituents across the 6th Congressional District, including students at Southwest Cook County Cooperative Association for Special Education, Downers Grove South High School, Methodist Preschool of La Grange, and Our Lady of the Woods School in Orland Park.
In addition to Johnson-Phelps VFW Post #5220 in Oak Lawn, Rep. Casten’s office has delivered valentines at 22 local VFWs, American Legions, medical facilities, and other community centers.
Photos of Rep. Casten’s visit to Johnson-Phelps VFW Post #5220 can be found here.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE)
Today, Congressman Adrian Smith (NE-03), Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the scope of the President’s authority under theInternational Emergency Economic Powers Act: “Since day one, President Trump has been committed to leveling the playing field for American farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and workers. In light of the Supreme Court’s decision, we must ensure our trading partners uphold the market access commitments already secured and continue advancing policies which promote fair competition worldwide. “Nebraska’s farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers create world-leading products and deserve reliable access to global markets. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Trade for the House Ways and Means Committee, I am committed to working with the administration to deliver long-term certainty through comprehensive and enforceable trade agreements. The President has made clear his intention to use every available tool to secure strong deals, but only Congress can ensure that these agreements provide lasting stability beyond any single administration.”
Washington, D.C.—Today, U.S Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin), an active member of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling concerning Trump’s tariff authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) inLearning Resources vs Trump:
“While finally stopping Trump’s abuse of one law, the Supreme Court cannot undo the real damage that abuse has already inflicted on American families and small businesses. Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ may be over, but prices driven up by his reckless tariff taxes will not suddenly come down. Nor are those ultimate consumers, who have already paid for tariffs with higher prices, assured any benefit. Any refunds go to corporations, some of whom will pocket a windfall if they have already passed on tariff costs to consumers.
“And Trump’s tariff abuse is far from over. Under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, he will justify tariffs for most anything as necessary to protect our national security like his ridiculous recent security claim for sofas and kitchen cabinets. Trump lost this important case, but the real losers are American families who continue to pay more for a costly, chaotic, and lawless trade war not grounded in economic reality.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)
Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries released the following statement:
Donald Trump and congressional Republicans promised to lower the high cost of living on day one. The extremists have failed.
Instead, Republicans have worsened the affordability crisis, forcing the American people to pay thousands of dollars in additional costs per year because of the disastrous Trump Tariffs. Donald Trump’s failed economic policies and global trade war waged with irresponsible, on-again, off-again tariffs on our allies and trading partners have generated massive uncertainty, threatened the economic well-being of the American people and damaged our country’s standing around the world.
Unfortunately, Republican sycophants refuse to serve as a check-and-balance on an increasingly out-of-control executive branch. House Democrats will continue to push back aggressively in the Congress, in the courts and in our communities to protect the American people from the right-wing extremism being jammed down our throats.
The President must refrain from any further unilateral action on tariffs. Donald Trump’s my-way-or-the-highway approach to economic policy has been a complete and total failure.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box, where he highlighted how Democrats are standing up to make life better for hardworking American taxpayers in the face of the chaos, crisis and confusion being inflicted by the Trump administration.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Welcome back to Squawk Box. It has been seven days since the Department of Homeland Security funding ran out. Democrats are still unwilling to compromise without what our next guest has called dramatic, bold and meaningful reforms. Joining us right now is House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Good morning to you. Where do you see these talks standing? And when you say dramatic and bold changes, let’s walk through what those are and where the fault lines stand.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, good morning. Great to be with you. ICE is out of control and needs to be reined in, and the American people know it. And our value proposition is pretty simple. Taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for the American people, particularly in the midst of a crushing affordability crisis that the President has not solved. He’s made worse. But instead, we know taxpayer dollars are actually being used to unleash violence and brutality on the American people, and in some instances, kill American citizens, like Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. And so, yes, dramatic reforms are necessary, including judicial warrants, which, of course, should be required before ICE can storm private property or break into homes and rip people out of those homes. We believe that independent investigations should take place when there are ICE agents who violate the law, often very violently, but are not being held accountable by the so-called Department of Justice. We think that sensitive locations like houses of worship, schools, hospitals and polling sites should be off-limits and that ICE should actually be focused on targeting violent felons who are here illegally, as opposed to law-abiding immigrant families or American citizens.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Okay, so you’ve walked through the issue. The question that I have is, where there is going to be some form of a compromise. We haven’t talked about masks, by the way, cameras, and all of that. But to the extent that you think that there’s a way to get to a compromise with the Republicans on this, it is where?
LEADER JEFFRIES: I think, one, we need Republicans to agree with the proposition that ICE should conduct itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country. We can start there, which is a pretty basic premise that Republicans seem to believe is not one that should be implemented. For instance, as it relates to masks, police officers don’t wear masks, county sheriffs don’t wear masks and state troopers don’t wear masks. And so, we don’t believe there’s been any justification that has been articulated for people being unleashed in an unidentifiable fashion, brutalizing folks, using taxpayer dollars and not even targeting the worst of the worst, which is what Donald Trump promised was going to take place.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Look, here’s the question. The other side says the following. They say, look, these officers are getting doxed. They’re going into states that are—cities that are sanctuary cities. They are not getting the help that they’re supposed to get. As a result, they are putting themselves in danger in ways that they are not in states or cities that aren’t sanctuary cities. And that they’re taking these steps to protect themselves and that you care more about protecting illegal immigrants than you do protecting officers of the law. That is sort of a quick rendition, I think, of the other side of this.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, so the other side spent weeks during the 43-day Trump-Republican government shutdown in the fall trying to claim that Democrats were actually fighting to provide healthcare to undocumented immigrants. The American people didn’t buy that argument and they understood that we were actually fighting to make healthcare more affordable for them. And that’s part of the reason why the American people appropriately blamed Donald Trump and Republicans for shutting the government down in the fall. And now we find ourselves back in the same situation where we’re supposed to believe an administration that told the American people that Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti were domestic terrorists when the American saw these citizens killed in cold blood without justification by ICE agents who are supposed to be protecting and serving the nation. And so, I’m not concerned about the administration’s spin. We just want to deal with fact and reality. And the American people know that immigration enforcement in this country, it should be fair, it should be just and it should humane. And that is not what they’re seeing. And that’s what we’re trying to accomplish.
JOE KERNEN: Leader Jeffries, good to see you. Last time you were on, I think I read these same six or seven things and the numbers have actually gotten a little bit better even from last time. So I want to ask you again and see if we can drill down on it. We’re going to get a State of the Union on Tuesday. If you were a Trump supporter, this is what you would say. New highs in the stock market almost every week. We’re at full employment at 4.3%. Inflation’s at 2.4% in the most recent reading. You know, obviously still too high, it’s not going, you know, affordability is still an issue, but it’s down from 9%, the high for Biden. GDP, we’re going to get a reading today, is expected to come in at multi-year highs. Real wages are rising. During the Biden administration, real wages fell over the four-year period. Nobody got a raise, a real weekly average raise. Gas prices are dropping after soaring under Biden, and we have a secure southern border. Are any of those things not something that Trump could at least tout on Tuesday? Where’s the calamity that Democrats see at this point?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, it’s not Democrats. It’s the American people. And we know that everyday Americans believe that life hasn’t gotten better for them under the Trump presidency. It’s actually gotten worse. Donald Trump set the standard. He said that he was going to lower costs on day one. Costs haven’t gone down in the United States of America. Costs have gone up. Housing costs are out of control. Grocery costs, out of control. Healthcare costs, out of control. Utility bills, skyrocketing through the roof. Child care costs, out of control. And Donald Trump hasn’t done a thing about it. And the center of his economic policy has been tariffs. We haven’t seen the trade deficit be reduced in any meaningful way. We haven’t seen reshoring take place. Manufacturing jobs aren’t coming back. They’re moving in the wrong direction. And on top of it, to make matters worse, everyday Americans are paying thousands of dollars more because of the Trump tariffs. So yes, his economic policy anchored around his inaction on the affordability crisis and in fact making things worse, so-called Liberation Day was a disaster of a day and has been getting worse ever since. Yes, that’s a problem for the American people and they know it.
JOE KERNEN: Leader Jeffries, the affordability that you’re talking about and the prices you’re talking about, it is true they continue to go up, and the number is 2.4%. But it was 21.5% increases, the total cumulative, during the Biden administration that got prices to where they are. Now, we’re 2.5% above there, which they’re not going down, but the affordability crisis was really engendered in the previous four years during that administration.
LEADER JEFFRIES: The affordability crisis began, we all understand, as a result of a once-in-a-century pandemic and the impact that that, of course, had on the economy moving forward. And we all are committed to trying to resolve it, to deal with the affordability crisis. We have a President who just yesterday said the affordability crisis has been solved. So if he wants to show up on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and make that argument to the American people, have at it. The American people, of course, understand that that is not their daily experience. That’s not their lived experience. That’s not what themselves and their families are going through, and it’s why the President’s polling numbers are suffering mightily.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Where do you think the American public ultimately is on ICE and how they’ve reacted or behaved? I’ve, by the way, proposed something a little bit different, which is just a different training regime, which is to say, I don’t think that most of these ICE officers are trained to deal with protesters or even what might be described as professional protesters. And the question is, how that should be solved.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, they’re definitely untrained officers. Understand that what the administration has done, they enacted their One Big Ugly Bill, largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripped healthcare away from about 14 million Americans. In the same bill, they cut SNAP by $186 billion, largest cut to nutritional assistance ever. Literally, they ripped food from the mouths of hungry children, seniors and veterans. And they did all of this so they could provide massive tax breaks to their billionaire donors, skyrocket the debt and the deficit and at the same period of time give a $75 billion slush fund to ICE so they could unleash masked and untrained officers in American communities to brutalize them and, in some cases, kill American citizens. That’s all unacceptable, and the American people have articulated that forcefully. So we’ve talked about, as part of the demands that we’ve set forth, of course, the need to institute an excessive use of force prohibition policy to dramatically reform the way in which these ICE agents are trained so that they are professional. Again, all anchored in the premise that ICE should conduct themselves like every other law enforcement agency in the country, not like a rogue private police force being unleashed with violence and brutality on the American people and law-abiding immigrant families.
JOE KERNEN: Do you think there should be sanctuary cities in the first place, Leader Jeffries? Is that—and does federal law—you can at least see that does set up an inherent conflict that unfortunately has ended in these tragic events. Some people might even say that it was inevitable, and the protestors, that’s—they are trained, a lot of the protesters. And to almost—
LEADER JEFFRIES: The protesters have been peaceful and patriotic—
JOE KERNEN: Not always.
LEADER JEFFRIES: And no one is arguing otherwise. No one is arguing otherwise. And the administration hasn’t even tried to blame those peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, right to petition the government to change policy. That’s part of the DNA, the constitutional fabric of America. And you have these brutal ICE agents who are violently targeting people. Protests had nothing to do with the cold-blooded killing of Alex Pretti, and then the fact that the administration turned around and called an ICU nurse who dedicated his life to helping out veterans a domestic terrorist. And so the American people aren’t buying the spin of Donald Trump, Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller or the administration. We just want immigration enforcement that is fair, just and humane. We also have an immigration system, of course, we understand that is broken, and we need to fix it. But we should fix it in a comprehensive and bipartisan way, not by trying to jam extreme right-wing, violent policies down the throats of the American people.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Okay, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, I want to thank you for joining us this morning and engaging in the discussion and the debate, and we look forward to talking to you again very, very soon.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose)
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) made the following statement on the NASA Program Investigation Team report for the Starliner crewed flight test:
“While I am still reviewing the Program Investigation Team report released today on the Starliner crewed flight test, I am deeply concerned about the breach of NASA’s safety culture. The fact that the risks could have led to catastrophe and the loss of our dedicated NASA astronauts is alarming. It is imperative that NASA and Boeing immediately ingest the lessons from the failures involved in the Starliner mishap, and that the entire agency and contractor community take lessons from this, especially as we stand on the cusp of Artemis II and seek to maximize progress on the even more challenging goal of again landing our astronauts on the surface of the Moon. I appreciate that NASA is treating this with the level of seriousness that it deserves. As Ranking Member, I commit to carrying out oversight of NASA’s and Boeing’s actions to make the necessary changes and address the multiple failures identified in the report.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose)
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-MD) sent a letterto National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Acting Under Secretary Craig Burkhardt demanding answers regarding rumors that NIST has begun taking steps to implement a policy that would limit the ability of foreign-born researchers to conduct their work at NIST. An article was published on February 12, 2026, describing an alleged new three-year limit on international graduate students and postdoctoral researchers working at NIST. This cuts the U.S. scientific and industrial sectors off from worldwide talent that directly contributes to excellence in cutting-edge fields.
“While this Administration often finds it difficult to make its legally questionable policies stick, it frequently achieves its goals by intimidating its intended victims. Without clear communication about whom the new policies apply to, when they will take place, and how such policies will impact the work of the affected labs, visiting researchers may very well choose to leave before they get kicked out. The United States’ scientific enterprise would suffer greatly. Our scientific excellence depends upon attracting the best and brightest from around the world,” the Members wrote in their letter.
“There is a right way to handle this issue. And instead, has NIST opted for secretive, slapdash policy changes that pull the rug out from visiting researchers for no clear rhyme or reason?” the Members continued. “You must be transparent with Congress and with the NIST community about the policies that have been put in place thus far. You must cease implementation until Congress can weigh in on whether these changes are necessary at all.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Maxine Waters (43rd District of California)
A Statement from Congresswoman Maxine Waters
The very Reverend Jesse Jackson, presidential candidate and civil rights leader, was not only my close friend and confidant, he was my longtime political ally and mentor. Rev. Jesse Jacskson was my idol and spiritual and political leader. He was a brilliant, gifted and courageous civil rights leader who inspired millions. He registered millions to vote and challenged and changed Democratic Party politics.
Rev. Jackson was one of the youngest followers and supporters of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and spent his life continuing to protect and save the gains that were made during the civil rights movement. I became a dedicated and committed follower of Jesse Jackson. I worked with Rev. Jackson in both the 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns. I was a top advisor on the national campaign and was appointed by Rev. Jackson to Chair and lead the California campaign.
I was a closeup witness to Rev. Jackson’s brilliant campaign strategies and developments. He used his voice and his organizing skills to create the beautiful Rainbow Coalition. Long before there was any understanding or appreciation for diversity, equity, and inclusion, for all intents and purposes, Rev. Jackson created diversity, equity, and inclusion in his campaign. His campaign included Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, Whites, women, LGBTQ, organized labor and others. He brought together pastors, preachers, and multi-faith leaders from all over the country. I recall his work and his outreach to small farmers in rural areas and to Native Americans on reservations.
He was responsible for cracking open the doors of America’s corporate community and those in Silicon Valley. Rev. Jackson was also an international ambassador for peace. He used his tremendous influence to champion human rights. I worked with him in the Free South Africa movement where we helped free Nelson Mandela and bring an end to apartheid in South Africa. We had a wonderful experience of attending the inauguration when Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa. And of course, Rev. Jackson helped to secure the release of U.S. hostages around the world, but the one that stands out to me is when he went to Syria and negotiated the release of U.S. Navy Lt. Robert. Goodman Jr.
Rev. Jackson has more than earned his place in history and rightfully so. His work will never be forgotten and will be taught in communities all over the world, in places low and high, in our schools and universities. I will live the rest of my life with the memories I cherish for the time, the effort, and the phenomenal work that I experienced with The Reverend Jesse Jackson, presidential candidate and civil rights leader.