Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jared Huffman Representing the 2nd District of California

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Raul Ruiz (36th District of California)

Palm Desert, CA — Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz (CA-25), released the following statement regarding reports that Senate Republicans plan to send the House of Representatives a government funding bill that fails to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits:

“Regardless of how the Senate votes, I will continue fighting to lower costs, protect health care, and prevent skyrocketing insurance premiums caused by the expiration of ACA tax credits. Too many people I serve are already struggling with rising costs driven by Trump’s tariff tax on the American people, a worsening economy, and the Republicans’ Big Ugly Law — which makes the largest cuts to Medicaid, hospitals, clinics, and SNAP in our nation’s history, all to fund massive tax breaks for billionaires.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Raul Ruiz (36th District of California)

Beaumont, CA — Last week, Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz (CA-25), joined the City of Beaumont and Mayor Mike Lara, to celebrate the ribbon-cutting of the Second Street Extension, a major infrastructure project designed to ease traffic congestion and improve safety across the region.

The new extension will provide relief from frequent Union Pacific train stoppages that have long caused traffic backups and delays along key transportation corridors. The project will improve traffic flow, enhance public safety, and support continued economic growth for the Pass Area and surrounding communities.

“By improving accessibility and reducing delays, this project will help families spend less time in traffic and more time where it matters most,” said Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz (CA-25). “I’m proud to have secured $1 million in federal funding to make this project a reality for the people of Beaumont and our entire region.”

“We are grateful to Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D., a steadfast champion for Beaumont, whose support helped make projects like Pennsylvania Avenue and the 2nd Street Extension possible. He is investing in real projects that make a tangible difference for our residents.” – Mike Lara, Mayor, City of Beaumont

Beaumont’s rapid growth in population and commercial activity has increased pressure on key routes like First Street between Highland Springs Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue. Heavy congestion, combined with train stoppages, created significant delays for drivers, emergency responders, and local businesses.

The Second Street Extension now provides an alternate east-west route, improving response times, reducing congestion, and keeping the city moving safely and efficiently.

Footage of the event can be found here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, where he reiterated that Democrats are focused on protecting the healthcare of the American people as negotiations in the House begin on reopening the government.

CHRIS HAYES: Joining me now is House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries from New York’s 8th Congressional District. Congressman, you will be back in session tomorrow. Mike Johnson has decided that he’s going to call the House back into session. How will you be, will leadership be whipping votes on this vote to basically pass what the Senate passed, continuing funding for the government?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, House Democrats will strongly oppose the bill that’s come over from the Senate because we continue to make clear that we have to decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis. I’m thankful that Republicans have finally decided to end their seven-plus-week taxpayer-funded vacation, which was outrageous. They’ve been on the run, but they can no longer hide. And in just a few moments from now, myself and Katherine Clark will offer an amendment before the Rules Committee to change the bill so that it extends the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years, and we’re going to put Republicans on record. They’ve been saying, many of them, for the last several weeks, that they actually do want to deal with this healthcare crisis situation, the fact that, for tens of millions of people, their premiums, copays and deductibles are about to skyrocket. These are working-class Americans. But now we’re going to force them to actually see, are they willing to do it, or will they continue to do the bidding of Donald J. Trump?

CHRIS HAYES: How did you hear about the Senate deal?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I think I learned about the Senate deal maybe an hour or two before it officially came together. And certainly, I think there’s a lot of disappointment as it relates to what those seven or eight Senate Democrats decided to do. I am thankful for what we’ve seen from Leader Schumer and the overwhelming majority of Senate Democrats who, for seven-plus weeks, held the line and continue to stand against this Republican spending bill because, as we’ve indicated, we were not going to support anything that guts the healthcare of the American people. And as you’ve indicated also as well, Chris, over the last several weeks, we have elevated successfully the issue of the Republican healthcare crisis, and we’re not backing away from it. We’re gonna press them tonight, we’re gonna press them on the House Floor tomorrow and we’re going to continue to press them until these Affordable Care Act tax credits are extended.

CHRIS HAYES: I want to ask one more question just about the deal and how it came together. So you know, legislative leaders like yourself, Senator Schumer, you’re not people’s boss, right? I mean, everyone’s elected. They get to vote their conscience. You try to whip them, but they, you know, they get to do what they want to do. But is it not an indictment of the majority, the Minority Leader’s leadership in the Senate if it’s the fact that on something so high stakes and so high leverage, there’s basically a breakaway caucus that hammers the deal?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, it was my understanding that this was a somewhat rogue group of individuals in terms of how they approached this negotiation, and they broke away from the overwhelming majority of their colleagues, both progressive senators and moderate senators, and, you know, that’s unfortunate, but they’re going to have to explain themselves. I think our fight right now, Chris, is the reality that there are at least 25 different Republicans who, in different ways, in the House, have been on record saying that we have to address this healthcare crisis because it’s out of control. And we know the cost of living in this country is out of control, and Republicans, these people, these extremists, they lied to the American people. They said they were gonna lower costs on day one, but costs haven’t gone down. They’ve gone up. Housing costs through the roof, grocery costs through the roof, utility bills, electricity prices through the roof. And now, because of their refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, in some instances, we know that everyday Americans are going to experience insurance costs that increase by $1,000 or $2,000 per month. That is unsustainable. That’s why we’re in this fight, Chris, until we win this fight for the American people.

CHRIS HAYES: So I don’t know if people quite have gotten their head around this. The bill that’s going to be before the House and pass the Senate will extend funding through January. We’re in the second week of November. That’ll be here before you know it. So Laura Ingraham interviewed Donald Trump and asked basically, well, what’s going to happen in January? I want to play you what he had to say.

RECORDING OF LAURA INGRAHAM: How do Republicans avoid this shutdown saga from re-occurring on January 30th when this deal ends?

RECORDING OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’re trying to put in a bill, as you know, the bill or a bill that you can never do that again. You can’t just shut down the government because you’re trying to renegotiate a deal.

CHRIS HAYES: I don’t think that’s in the bill, and I don’t think you could even—do you even understand what he’s talking about?

LEADER JEFFRIES: No, I have no idea what he’s saying, and I don’t think Donald Trump has any idea what he’s saying either. But here’s what I do know, is that the Affordable Care Act tax credits are going to expire on December 31.

CHRIS HAYES: Right.

LEADER JEFFRIES: And so, the Republicans are not going to be able to run away from this issue. We’re in open enrollment right now. Tens of millions of people are seeing the reality that their premiums, copays and deductibles are about to skyrocket. People are not gonna be able to afford to go see a doctor when they need one. So, this has been a very real fight for us as Democrats, and this affordability fight is going to continue. It’s the reason why great candidates, my colleague Mikie Sherrill, won a decisive victory in New Jersey and Abigail. We won in New York, we won in Pennsylvania, we won in Georgia, we won in Mississippi, we won in California. That’s the momentum that will allow us to continue to stay in the fight, to lower the high cost of living, fix our broken health care system, clean up the corruption mess that Donald Trump and Republicans have created and then go back and take control of the House of Representatives next November so we can start the process, Chris, of ending this national nightmare.

CHRIS HAYES: What do you say to people who—and I’ve seen a lot of people say this, that yes, Democrats won everywhere, coast to coast, small, you know, swing counties and statewide elections, and they won because they were fighting. And then once they won, they stopped fighting. Why did they do that?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, that’s a question, really, that the eight or so Democrats in the Senate are going to have to answer. I can tell you that House Democrats are committed to fighting on all the things, fighting to make sure we push back against the extremism that Donald Trump has unleashed on the American people, fighting the make sure that we actually improve the quality of life of everyday Americans. We’ve said from the beginning, look, we want to find a bipartisan spending agreement approach that actually makes life better for working-class Americans, that lowers the high cost of living, that improves their quality of life, that addresses the Republican healthcare crisis. These are reasonable things, but Republicans refuse to do anything about it. Why? Because these people, these extremists, they’re only concerned with making life better for the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected. That’s what their One Big Ugly Bill was all about. They can’t find a dime to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for everyday Americans, middle-class Americans, and working-class Americans. But somehow, in the midst of this shutdown, they found $40 billion to bail out their right-wing dictator friend in Argentina. It’s extraordinary. The American people see these extremists now for who they are. That’s become even clearer over the last several weeks, and we’re going to continue to wage this fight on behalf of the people we’re privileged to represent.

CHRIS HAYES: Javier Millet in Argentina, whose party did just win re-election in those elections, and who was elected to begin that term. Final question for you. Adelita Grijalva gets sworn in tomorrow. Everyone’s back. Do you think that there’s some bell that can’t be unrung in terms of the constitutional structure of governance vis-a-vis Mike Johnson just canceling the House for eight weeks, like something that we’ve never seen before?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, it’s extraordinary that, as you indicated, Mike Johnson did cancel the House for eight weeks. They were missing in action, taxpayer-funded vacation. Some of them, you know, were hiking in mountains and documented this. Others were traveling Europe. This is extraordinary stuff. But here’s the thing, that basically, House Republicans have canceled the Congress, the House of Representatives, since the very beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency. These people don’t function as a separate and co-equal branch of government. They are puppets to Donald Trump, who’s their puppet master. When he says jump, they say how high. All they do is serve as a reckless rubber stamp to Donald Trump’s extreme agenda. And the American people have had enough. They see it. And that’s why I’m pretty confident that we’re going to take back control of the House so we actually have a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch and an affirmative agenda that makes life better for the American people, beginning by lowering the high cost of living.

CHRIS HAYES: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you very much.

Full interview can be watched here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jared Huffman Representing the 2nd District of California

In their latest attack on public lands, the admin restricted efforts to protect and restore BLM land. Public comment on the proposed rescission ends today

November 10, 2025

Washington, D.C. — Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02) and U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) led 59 of their congressional colleagues to demand the Trump administration protect public lands and end its plans to overturn the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Public Lands Rule.

“The American people overwhelmingly support the Public Lands Rule,” wrote the lawmakers in their letter to Interior Doug Burgum and BLM Acting Director Bill Groffy. “Rescinding the Public Lands Rule would undermine the long-term resilience of BLM lands at a time when wide-ranging stressors – including climate change, biodiversity and habitat loss, and increasing public demand for access to public lands – require stronger, not weaker, management frameworks.”

The Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, or Public Lands Rule, provides the BLM with modern, science-based tools needed to protect the more than 245 million acres of public lands, including 8.3 million acres in Colorado, that the agency manages. Specifically, the rule helps BLM restore degraded landscapes, conserve intact habitats, plan for responsible development, and protect cultural and natural resources.
The Trump administration’s announcement to rescind the Public Lands Rule follows their consistent efforts to undermine our public lands and national parks. This summer Democrats defeated congressional Republicans’ last-ditch effort to sell off millions of acres of public lands to pay for their tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy.

In their letter, the lawmakers highlighted the broad public support for the BLM rule when it was originally proposed. Roughly 92 percent of the more than 150,000 comments submitted were in support and numerous local and state officials, Tribal governments, scientists, businesses, and other stakeholders throughout the West advocated for the rule.

The Wilderness Society, Conservation Lands Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, The Conservation Alliance, Colorado Wildlands Project, CalWild, and more support the lawmakers’ effort against the rule change.

“Our support of the Public Lands Rule, which gives BLM the tools for responsible, balanced stewardship of America’s public lands, remains unchanged. Rolling this rule back is part of a broader intention to incite chaos and ruin our public lands via sell-offs, expanded oil and gas leasing, and the erosion of management plans that protect public access and wildlife habitat,” said Jocelyn Torres, Chief Conservation Officer at the Conservation Lands Foundation. “It shows utter disregard and disrespect to everyone who supports the rule–including Congress, legal experts, former BLM leaders, local officials, nonprofits, and businesses. Instead of pushing this unpopular repeal through during the longest shutdown in American history, BLM ought to be fulfilling its obligation to the public and conservation and move forward with implementing the Public Lands Rule.”

“Interior’s rationale for repeal is on shaky footing – stating that it believes the rule is unnecessary and violates statutory direction. To the contrary, the Public Lands Rule was informed by many months of thoughtful public engagement and review, and it has solid grounding in a nearly 50-year-old directive from Congress,” Alison Flint, Senior Legal Director, The Wilderness Society. “Indeed, it is necessary to ensure compliance with long-standing direction from Congress that protecting undeveloped landscapes, wildlife habitat, and cultural resources is central to BLM’s mission. The administration cannot simply overthrow that statutory authority because they would prefer to let drilling and mining companies call the shots.”

Full text of the letter available HERE and below.

Dear Secretary Burgum and Acting Director Groffy:

As members of Congress collectively representing twenty-one states and over 112.3 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, we write to express our strong opposition to the Department’s proposal to rescind the conservation and Landscape Health Rule, also known as the Public Lands Rule. The Public Lands Rule provides BLM with modern, science-based tools needed to restore degraded landscapes, conserve intact habitats, plan for responsible development, and protect cultural and natural resources on the more than 245 million acres of public land managed by BLM.

Passed by Congress in 1976, the Federal Land Management and Policy Act (FLPMA) mandates that BLM manage its lands for multiple use and sustained yield, which explicitly includes conservation. The clear language of FLPMA states that allowed uses of BLM land include “recreation, range, timber, minerals, watershed, wildlife and fish, and natural scenic, scientific and historical values…”. The Public Lands Rule fully reflects this mandate and does not come at the expense of other uses, including grazing and energy development. By providing an updated framework in which grazing, energy development, recreation, timber, wildlife, watershed protection and conservation can all be sustained together, the Public Lands Rule follows the law established by Congress almost 50 years ago and ensures that BLM lands continue to provide a balance of benefits for present and future generations.

Specifically, the Public Lands Rule:

• Advances planning standards for responsible development by establishing fundamentals for land health and watershed assessments, so BLM is able to advance science-based decisions based on high-quality data.
• Fulfills statutory obligations to address Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), as set by Congress nearly 50 years ago through FLPMA.
• Recognizes and reinforces Tribal sovereignty and co-stewardship, allowing Tribes increased opportunity to meaningfully shape conservation leasing, monitoring programs, and restoration projects on BLM land. The Rule also requires the BLM to consider Indigenous Knowledge when advancing land health standards, monitoring, and decision making.
• Supports and strengthens the $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy by ensuring that recreation and ecological health work hand in hand, allowing hunting and fishing outfitters, the broader outdoor recreation industry, rural communities, and main street businesses that rely on healthy public lands to thrive.

The American people overwhelmingly support the Public Lands Rule. The Rule was promulgated in 2024 following extensive public engagement during a 90-day comment period, which garnered 150,000 comments, with 92 percent supporting the adoption of the Rule. In addition to a vast majority of comments being supportive, the Rule also received letters and statements of support from numerous local and state officials, Tribal governments, scientists, businesses, and other stakeholders throughout the West.

Rescinding the Public Lands Rule would undermine the long-term resilience of BLM lands at a time when wide-ranging stressors – including climate change, biodiversity and habitat loss, and increasing public demand for access to public lands – require stronger, not weaker, management frameworks. Rescinding the Rule would also create greater uncertainty for a wide range of stakeholders, including ranchers who rely on healthy rangelands and hunters and anglers, who depend on intact wildlife habitats across BLM lands. Finally, rescinding the Rule would increase administrative strain and reintroduce regulatory gaps, running counter to the Administration’s stated goal of improving government efficiency.

We urge you to withdraw the proposed rescission and continue to fully implement the Public Lands Rule. The Rule is critical to meeting BLM’s statutory obligations, sustaining and realizing the benefits of multiple uses compatible with public lands, and ensuring these special landscapes remain healthy and productive for all Americans to enjoy for years to come.

Sincerely,

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jared Huffman Representing the 2nd District of California

Lead sponsors of West Coast Ocean Protection Act and Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism (COAST) Anti-Drilling Act condemn efforts that would devastate coastal communities

October 30, 2025

Washington, D.C. — Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02) and House Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.-06), along with U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), led over 100 lawmakers in demanding President Trump and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum immediately cease any plans to open new offshore oil and gas leases in U.S. federal waters off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, in the Arctic Ocean and northern Bering Sea off of Alaska, and in the Eastern Gulf. The lawmakers warned that opening these untouched coastlines to new offshore drilling would devastate coastal economies, jeopardize our national security, ravage coastal ecosystems, and put millions of Americans’ health and safety at risk, hurting people across the political spectrum.

By reversing long-standing legal protections for vulnerable coastal waters, new offshore leases would cause significant environmental damage to communities already reeling from natural disasters and recent oil spills. Oil spills not only cause irreparable environmental damage, but also suppress the value of coastal homes, harm tourism economies, and weaken coastal infrastructure. Already, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is forced to respond to over 150 oil and chemical spills each year. One disastrous spill can cost taxpayers billions in lost revenue, cleanup costs, and ecosystem restoration.

These threats of expanded oil drilling come as the Administration already dismantled NOAA’s oil spill prevention and response programs, as almost 30 percent of the team in charge of addressing oil spills has been laid off or took early retirement. The Emergency Response Division team and the oil spill program are slated to lose half their fundingfrom the Administration’s proposed FY 2026 budget.

“This is a matter of national consequence for coastal communities across the country, regardless of political affiliation. It puts our economies, national security, and our most vulnerable ecosystems at severe risk,” wrote the lawmakers. “… Expanded oil and gas leasing poses risks to the health and livelihoods of our constituents, jeopardizes our tourism, fishing, and recreation economies, and threatens the marine life that inhabits our coastlines.”

“The United States already leads the world in oil and gas production. The industry currently holds more than 2,000 offshore leases covering over 12 million acres of federal waters —yet fewer than 500 of those leases are actively producing oil and gas,” continued the lawmakers. “There is no justification for opening vast swaths of our oceans to leasing when existing leases remain largely unused, while imposing mounting environmental and economic costs on coastal communities.”
Additionally, the Department of Defense (DOD) previously warned that oil and gas leases in portions of the Eastern Gulf would impact areas critical to our military readiness, including for military training and testing opportunities and assets. DOD has also signaled that parts of the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic Planning Areas are “not compatible with oil and gas activities and infrastructure.”

The lawmakers condemned the potential expansion of offshore drilling while the Administration simultaneously curtails offshore wind and clean energy development. This year, the Trump Administration has withdrawn all outer continental offshore wind leases, rescinded all designated Wind Energy Areas, and eliminated $679 million in offshore-wind-related port infrastructure funding, including over $426 million for Humboldt Bay offshore wind infrastructure.
Specifically, the lawmakers demanded that President Trump and Secretary Burgum:

• Halt any steps toward new offshore oil and gas leasing in the Atlantic, Pacific, off the coast the Arctic and Bering Sea coasts of Alaska, and the Eastern Gulf;
• Limit offshore drilling, consistent with previous statutory and agency protections;
• Prioritize coastal resilience, including expanded storm-surge and flood protection, restoration of wetlands and sand dunes, and early-warning systems, so that communities in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, New Jersey, Alaska, and beyond are better protected; and
• Restore a credible pathway for offshore wind and other clean-energy projects by rescinding the OCS wind-leasing withdrawal and rescinded WEAs, enabling science-based projects that support jobs and coastal economies.

“Our coastal communities, fishermen, small business owners, Tribal Nations, tourism operators, and families cannot be sacrificed in the name of short-term drilling booms,” concluded the lawmakers. “Opening new offshore lease areas while cancelling clean energy progress is potentially illegal, a failure of leadership, and a dereliction of the public trust.”

In addition to Huffman, Pallone, Padilla, and Booker, the letter is also signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.-11) and U.S. Representatives Gabe Amo (D-R.I.-01), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.-03), Becca Balint (D-Vt.-AL), Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.-44), Wesley Bell (D-Mo.-01), Donald Beyer (D-Va.-08), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.-01), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.-26), Janelle Bynum (D-Ore.-05), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.-24), André Carson (D-Ind.-07), Ed Case (D-Hawaii-01), Sean Casten (D-Ill.-06), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.-14), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.-20), Judy Chu (D-Calif.-28), Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.-31), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.-09), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.-05), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.-09), Herbert Conaway (D-N.J.-03), Danny Davis (D-Ill.-07), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.-04), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.-01), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.-01), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.-03), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.-06), Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.-03), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.-03), Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.-04), John Garamendi (D-Calif.-08), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (D-Ill.-04), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.-42), Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.-10), Jim Himes (D-Conn.-04), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.-51), Henry “Hank” Johnson (D-Ga.-04), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.-37), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.-17), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.-08), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.-02), George Latimer (D-N.Y.-16), Mike Levin (D-Calif.-49), Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.-16), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.-36), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.-08), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.-07), Sarah McBride (D-Del.-AL), LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.-10), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.-04), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.-04), James McGovern (D-Mass.-02), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.-08), Dave Min (D-Calif.-47), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.-06), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.-15), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.-12), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.-02), Donald Norcross (D-N.J.-01), Eleanor Norton (D-D.C.-AL), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.-14), Johnny Olszewski (D-Md.-02), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.-19), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine-01), Nellie Pou (D-N.J.-09), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.-05), Delia C. Ramirez (D-Ill.-03), Emily Randall (D-Wash.-06), Luz Rivas (D-Calif.-29), Deborah Ross (D-N.C.-02), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.-06), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.-05), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.-09), Kim Schrier (D-Wash.-08), Robert “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.-03), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.-12), Adam Smith (D-Wash.-09), Darren Soto (D-Fla.-09), Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.-03), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.-02), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.-12), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii-02), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.-20), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.-03), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.-52), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.-07), James Walkinshaw (D-Va.-11), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.-12), and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.-24) also signed the letter.
Environmental advocates including Food & Water Watch, Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Surfrider Foundation, Earthjustice, and Alaska Wilderness League supported the letter.

“These reckless offshore drilling plans would put coastal communities and workers directly in harm’s way, risking new oil spills, worsening climate disasters, and erasing decades of progress toward clean energy,” said Jim Walsh, Policy Director for Food & Water Watch. “We cannot keep sacrificing people and places for fossil fuel profits. Protecting our coasts isn’t just sound policy, it’s a moral obligation necessary for a livable future.”

“Offshore drilling is a threat to the lifeblood of our coastal communities,” said Oceana Campaign Director Joseph Gordon. “The people who live and work along our coasts depend on healthy oceans for their economic security and way of life. Oceana commends Sen. Padilla, Sen. Booker, Rep. Huffman, Rep. Pallone, and the many lawmakers across the country who are working to protect our coasts from more drilling and spilling. There’s too much at stake to gamble our future on deadly oil spills that can last for generations to come.”

“Selling off our ocean to the fossil fuel industry is wholly inconsistent with a livable future,” said Taryn Kiekow Heimer, Director, Ocean Energy at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). “Despite the urgency of ramping down fossil fuel production to address the climate and biodiversity crises, Interior is putting forth an outrageous proposal to offer up our coastal waters from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and the Gulf to the High Arctic to Big Oil. It’s inconceivable we would put polluter profits above coastal communities and wildlife.”

“The federal administration’s offshore oil drilling plan will damage coastlines and communities, while threatening coastal recreation and tourism industries that contribute billions of dollars to our nation’s economy,” said Pete Stauffer, ocean protection manager of the Surfrider Foundation. “New drilling will also increase the likelihood of yet another destructive oil spill off our coasts.”

“The Trump administration should abandon its misguided plan to force offshore drilling on coastal communities that have made it clear they don’t want it,” said Laura M. Esquivel, Senior Legislative Representative, Earthjustice. “This reckless proposal threatens the way of life, health, and livelihoods of millions of people along America’s coastlines—regardless of political affiliation. The last thing Americans need is yet another threat to their wellbeing and economic security. Voters will remember who tried to bring this deeply unpopular plan to their communities.”

“Alaska Wilderness League stands firmly against this Administration’s push for offshore drilling in Alaska’s coastal waters and the Arctic Ocean,” said Andy Moderow, Senior Director of Policy at Alaska Wilderness League. “For years, industry has shown no interest in drilling Arctic waters, and an oil spill in these fragile waters would be a global catastrophe with irreversible consequences for the coastal communities, marine wildlife, and the climate.”

On Earth Day, Huffman, Pallone, Padilla, Booker, and Reed announced a pair of bills to permanently protect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans from the dangers of fossil fuel drilling. Padilla and Huffman’s West Coast Ocean Protection Act would permanently prohibit new oil and gas leases for offshore drilling off the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington, while Booker, Reed, and Pallone’s Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism (COAST) Anti-Drilling Act would permanently prohibit the U.S. Department of the Interior from issuing leases for the exploration, development, or production of oil and gas in the North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Straits of Florida Planning Areas of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Mr. President and Secretary Burgum:

We write to express our strongest opposition to any effort to open new offshore oil and gas leasing in federal waters off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, in the Arctic Ocean and northern Bering Sea off of Alaska, and in the Eastern Gulf. This is a matter of national consequence for coastal communities across the country, regardless of political affiliation. It puts our economies, national security, and our most vulnerable ecosystems at severe risk. These reported proposals would reverse long-standing protections that shield sensitive coastal waters from new drilling, including withdrawals under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, statutory moratoria, and agency restrictions.

Expanded oil and gas leasing poses risks to the health and livelihoods of our constituents, jeopardizes our tourism, fishing, and recreation economies, and threatens the marine life that inhabits our coastlines. Many of these communities are already reeling from compounded disasters: hurricanes, sea-level rise, storm surge, and the lingering legacy of oil-spill disasters. Since 1980, hurricanes alone have generated well over $1.5 trillion in damage in the United States. Expanding offshore leasing increases the likelihood that future storms, oil spills, or other disasters will impose even greater burdens on front-line coastal communities.

In addition to storms, the threat of oil spills remains real and costly. For example, the U.S. Coast Guard reported a spill of more than 30,000 gallons of “oily-watery mixture” off Louisiana’s coast earlier this year. Oil spill damage threatens not just the environment, but the value of coastal homes, the health of tourism economies, and the resilience of coastal infrastructure. A single catastrophic spill could cost taxpayers, states, and local communities tens of billions of dollars in cleanup costs, lost revenue, and degraded ecosystems. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) already responds to over 150 oil and chemical spills in U.S. waters every year. Under the administration’s proposed plan, every part of the United States’ coastline would be at risk of disaster.

These risks are magnified by the administration’s dismantling of NOAA and its oil spill prevention and response programs. Nearly 30 percent of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration Emergency Response Division staff—the team that addresses oil spills—were already laid off or took early retirement as part of the administration’s ongoing reductions in force. The administration’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget would cut in half funding for the oil spill program and the Emergency Response Division.

Under the administration’s reported plans, harmful seismic testing could take place across every coast. NOAA Fisheries recently concluded that oil and gas activities like seismic exploration in the Gulf of Mexico could drive the endangered Rice’s whale—of which only a few dozen individuals remain—to extinction. Seismic testing for oil and gas disrupts communication, navigation, and breeding among whales, fish, and other marine species, inflicting irreversible harm on ocean ecosystems.
The administration’s reported plans would also open up oil and gas leasing in areas the Department of Defense (DOD) has previously stated would be problematic for military readiness. Leaked documents report that the administration will conduct leasing in parts of the Eastern Gulf, which includes irreplaceable military training and testing opportunities and assets. The DOD has similarly labeled portions of the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic Planning Areas “not compatible with oil and gas activities and infrastructure.”

The United States already leads the world in oil and gas production. The industry currently holds more than 2,000 offshore leases covering over 12 million acres of federal waters —yet fewer than 500 of those leases are actively producing oil and gas. There is no justification for opening vast swaths of our oceans to leasing when existing leases remain largely unused, while imposing mounting environmental and economic costs on coastal communities.

While the administration prepares to expand offshore drilling, it is simultaneously undermining offshore wind and clean energy development, thereby reducing our ability to expand energy supplies and build resilient coastal economies. On January 20, 2025, the President issued a memorandum withdrawing all areas of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) from offshore wind leasing, pending review. On July 30, 2025, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) rescinded all designated Wind Energy Areas (WEAs). The Department of the Interior has issued directives curbing so-called “preferential treatment” for wind and solar, and the U.S. Department of Transportation withdrew $679 million in offshore-wind-related port infrastructure funding. These actions raise electricity costs for families, make our coastlines less safe, and our communities more vulnerable.

We therefore urge your administration to take the following actions to reverse course immediately:

1. Halt any steps toward new offshore oil and gas leasing in the Atlantic, Pacific, off the coast the Arctic and Bering Sea coasts of Alaska, and the Eastern Gulf;
2. Limit offshore drilling, consistent with previous statutory and agency protections;
3. Prioritize coastal resilience, including expanded storm-surge and flood protection, restoration of wetlands and sand dunes, and early-warning systems, so that communities in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, New Jersey, Alaska, and beyond are better protected; and
4. Restore a credible pathway for offshore wind and other clean-energy projects by rescinding the OCS wind-leasing withdrawal and rescinded WEAs, enabling science-based projects that support jobs and coastal economies.
Protecting our waters from offshore drilling is broadly supported by the American public. Nearly two-thirds of registered voters oppose new offshore drilling, and hundreds of municipalities along the Atlantic, Pacific, the eastern Gulf, and these regions of Alaska have passed formal resolutions against its expansion. These communities have made clear that safeguarding their coastal economies, fisheries, and way of life must take precedence over short-term fossil fuel interests.

Our coastal communities, fishermen, small business owners, Tribal Nations, tourism operators, and families cannot be sacrificed in the name of short-term drilling booms. Opening new offshore lease areas while cancelling clean energy progress is potentially illegal, a failure of leadership, and a dereliction of the public trust.

We look forward to your prompt response detailing what specific steps the Administration will take to halt this course of action and recommit to safeguarding our nation’s shores, economy, and shared future.

Sincerely,

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green Ohio)

Today, a new op-ed by Congressman Bob Latta (OH-5), appeared in The Courier regarding the brave men and women who have served our country.

Below, please find an excerpt from the op-ed:

Honoring Those Who’ve Served This Veterans Day

The Courier

By: Congressman Bob Latta

November 10, 2025

“Every Veterans Day, I’m reminded of the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who served our nation with honor. From our revolutionary heroes to the newest generation of service members, their stories of courage and resilience continue to inspire us here in Ohio’s Fifth Congressional District and beyond. 

“This year, I had the privilege of welcoming every Flag City Honor Flight that traveled from Ohio to Washington, DC. Each visit was filled with stories and conversations full of powerful reminders of the courage, sacrifice, and sense of duty that define our veterans. As these heroes visited the memorials constructed in their honor, you could see the pride and emotion on their faces, many reflecting on servicemembers who never made it home. One of the greatest honors I have is to shake the hands of those who served us, thank them personally, and ensure they know that their service will never be forgotten…”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Marc Veasey (33rd District of Texas)

Headline: Food Assistance Resources for Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex

In Light of SNAP’s Lapse in Funding, Office of Congressman Veasey Puts Forward a List of Resources

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Donald Norcross (1st District of New Jersey)

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01) released the following statement on the Senate’s government funding agreement.

“I will not support the Senate’s proposed government funding bill, which raises healthcare costs for working families. In my congressional district alone, more than 24,000 people are at risk of seeing their premiums skyrocket if we don’t extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. Across New Jersey, healthcare premiums will rise by an average of 175 percent. That’s unacceptable to every hardworking American trying to make ends meet.

“Let me be clear; this fight is about standing up for the people who punch the clock every day, not for the corporate interests or Washington insiders who think these numbers are just statistics. The money needed to significantly lower healthcare costs for millions of Americans pales in comparison to the massive tax cuts for billionaires in Trump’s Big Ugly Bill.

“These are real families who will be forced to choose between putting food on the table and keeping their health coverage. I came to Congress to fight for working men and women, and that is exactly what I’m doing. I will not sit by while our neighbors are squeezed to the breaking point. I’m voting no on this bill, and I’ll keep fighting until every American can afford the healthcare they deserve.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL)

WASHINGTON – Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10), a member of the House Ways and Means and Foreign Affairs Committees, released the following statement on government spending legislation under debate in the United States Senate:

“Forty-eight days ago, I voted ‘No’ on giving President Trump unconstrained power to continue raising the cost of living for and ripping healthcare away from millions of hard-working Americans and their families. 

“My position has not changed. I will, as I always have, support a bipartisan government spending bill that reflects good faith negotiations between Republicans and Democrats. I will not, however, support a hyper-partisan bill that continues to cut investments in infrastructure, cuts funding for rural broadband, cuts programs helping small businesses, and knowingly forces people to pay double or triple their current healthcare premiums, forcing millions of people, including children, off their insurance altogether. Supporting such cynical and harmful policy would be a dereliction of duty. 

“That’s why I introduced legislation this week to responsibly extend ACA premium tax credits and prevent this entirely avoidable, Republican-manufactured healthcare crisis. With my Republican colleagues finally returning from their seven-week paid vacation, it’s now time for them to join Democrats and negotiate in good faith to reach a commonsense compromise that keeps healthcare affordable and funds our government responsibly for the year.

“If House Republicans still choose to refuse to work across the aisle, that is their prerogative. But, let me be very clear: the consequences are on them. They will be responsible for kicking more than four million people off their health insurance and driving up the cost of living for us all.”

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