Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (District of Columbia)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released her remarks from today’s Committee on Oversight & Government Reform (COGR) hearing on fraud and misuse of government funds in Minnesota. 

“My Republican colleagues have now held two hearings to talk about fraud in one single state.  But they have completely ignored the fact that the Trump administration is the most corrupt administration in history,” Norton said. “If Republicans really cared about fraud, abuse and holding criminals accountable, they would call out Donald Trump for firing 17 inspectors general. These internal watchdogs are the frontline of rooting out waste, fraud and abuse at federal agencies.”

Norton’s full remarks follow.

Remarks of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Hearing of the Committee on Oversight & Government Reform

March 4, 2026

It is critical that the federal government support people who need assistance with food, housing and health care. Unfortunately, as long as the government provides these services, there will be bad actors trying to take advantage of them.

We need to prevent and identify these fraudsters so that social services can reach those who need them. However, we cannot recklessly deny help to the many people who need these services because of a few bad actors. 

My Republican colleagues have now held two hearings to talk about fraud in one single state.  But they have completely ignored the fact that the Trump administration is the most corrupt administration in history.

If Republicans really cared about fraud, abuse and holding criminals accountable, they would call out Donald Trump for firing 17 inspectors general. These internal watchdogs are the frontline of rooting out waste, fraud and abuse at federal agencies.

The Trump administration has also retaliated against whistleblowers, and allowed administration officials to engage in serious conflicts of interest that often cross the line into outright corruption. 

We need inspectors general, whistleblower protections and rules prohibiting conflicts of interest to protect federal programs and make sure that people can get the services they need.

Across the country, Americans are struggling to afford their health care premiums and their groceries. The Trump administration should be strengthening the social safety net, not cutting the safeguards that catch fraudsters taking advantage of it.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (8th District of Illinois)

WASHINGTON — Following today’s classified briefing by Trump Administration officials on the conflict with Iran, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement:

Today’s briefing did nothing to justify the unauthorized war President Trump has thrown our country into against Iran. During the briefing, Trump Administration officials provided no compelling strategy, no measurable objectives, and no credible explanation of how this fighting is supposed to end. American service members have already lost their lives in this conflict, and more Americans in uniform remain deployed in an increasingly volatile region without a clear mission or endgame. President Trump should not have launched this war in Iran, he must not escalate it further, and I urge my colleagues to join me in doing everything in our power to end it before more American lives are lost.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (8th District of Illinois)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, today expressed grave concern following reports that a drone struck the parking lot of the U.S. Consulate in Dubai:

“The drone strike on our U.S. Consulate in Dubai is a stark reminder that President Trump’s continued escalation in Iran is putting American service members, diplomats, and civilians in danger. American service members have already lost their lives in this conflict, and others remain in harm’s way. The President owes Congress and the American people a clear strategy to protect our people and prevent this conflict from spiraling further. My office is actively assisting constituents seeking evacuation, and I will be pressing for concrete answers at tonight’s congressional briefing.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Gregory W Meeks (5th District of New York)

Washington, D.C. – Representatives Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Adam Smith, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee; Jim Himes, Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; Rosa DeLauro; Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee; and Betty McCollum, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense sent a letter to top Trump administration officials set to brief Congress today.

The letter, addressed to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe; and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, asked for direct and comprehensive answers on critical questions concerning ongoing U.S. military operations against Iran.

A PDF of the full letter can be found here.

“A number of our brave service members have already lost their lives in this conflict, and the American people are entitled to clear answers including why this conflict began, what objectives justify continued military engagement, and what guardrails are in place to prevent a broader or protracted regional war.

“Tomorrow, your classified briefing to Members of Congress regarding ongoing military operations must address strategy, intelligence, legal justification, and long-term consequences in concrete terms. Congress has a constitutional responsibility in matters of war and that requires complete and candid information.

“Accordingly, during the briefing tomorrow, we ask that you directly address the following: 

1. Imminent Threat Justification.  What is the Administration’s legal justification for initiating hostilities? What specific, imminent threat to U.S. personnel, territory, or vital national interests formed the basis for initiating this war?
2. Strategic Objectives and Victory.  What are the defined U.S. objectives in this conflict, what conditions would constitute mission success, and under what circumstances would operations cease?  Will this require American ground troops fighting in Iran?
3. Regime Change.  With the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, who is in control of the country today and who does the Administration expect to control key state institutions at the end of this conflict?
4. Nuclear Security.  Who currently controls Iran’s nuclear facilities and materials, and what safeguards are in place to prevent diversion or proliferation, or complete loss of control?
5. Strait of Hormuz and Maritime Security.  What is the long term risk to access to, and through the strait for commercial traffic? If oil flows do not resume shortly, it will have impact on Americans’ electric bills and gas bills in addition to global energy markets.
6. Costs and Impacts on Munitions Inventories.  What are the costs associated with this operation?  What are current U.S. munitions inventories in the region and globally? What is the impact of continued operations on overall U.S. contingency requirements?…”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA)

Griffith Announces $709,867 HHS Grant to Virginia Tech

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA)

Griffith Announces $368,800 HHS Grant to Virginia Tech

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34)

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Representatives Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), and Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) introduced a Resolution of Inquiry (ROI) demanding that the Department of Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) turn over all records related to the IRS’s illegal sharing of private taxpayer information with immigration enforcement.

This Resolution of Inquiry requires Treasury and DHS to provide a full accounting of how this data-sharing agreement was carried out and whether federal privacy laws were violated. The agencies would be required to turn over the records within 14 days of adoption.

For decades, federal law has made clear that taxpayer information is confidential and can’t be used for unrelated enforcement purposes. This agreement raises serious concerns about opening the door for sensitive tax records, including those filed by immigrants who pay into the system using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs), to be used for immigration enforcement.

The resolution focuses on the “Memorandum of Understanding for the Exchange of Information for Nontax Criminal Enforcement” between Treasury and DHS and seeks all related documents that show how taxpayer information was requested, accessed, or shared under that agreement, along with any safeguards that were supposed to protect confidentiality.

This effort builds on previous oversight and accountability work led by Reps. Gomez and Sánchez, who have repeatedly raised the alarm about the misuse of confidential tax information. They have previously pressed the administration for transparency around the agreement and sought accountability for improper disclosures.

“I introduced this resolution because I won’t allow confidential taxpayer information to be weaponized to fuel Trump’s personal national police force,” said Rep. Jimmy Gomez. “When immigrants are told to file their taxes, follow the law, and contribute to this country, they shouldn’t have to fear that the same information they provided in good faith will be handed over and used against them for an immigration raid. We aren’t going to stand by and allow our tax system to be hijacked and turned into an arm of Trump’s anti-immigrant deportation machine.”

“The Trump administration believes it can ignore the law and secretly pass along private taxpayer information,” said Rep. Sánchez. “Illegally using sensitive taxpayer data to advance the president’s cruel, anti-immigrant agenda is a blatant and dangerous abuse of power. Congress must investigate, determine the full extent of what was shared and hold those responsible for this breach accountable.”

“Last week, a court confirmed that the Trump administration illegally provided confidential taxpayer data to DHS, violating the law over 42,000 times. Trump officials’ willingness to so brazenly violate people’s basic privacy protections demonstrates that everyone’s tax data is at risk. Americans deserve answers about how this happened, the full extent of this arrangement, and what’s going to be done to prevent it from happening again. It is beyond the pale that Democrats are the only ones calling for oversight and accountability for this breach of data and trust,” said Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01).

The introduction of the resolution comes ahead of IRS CEO, Frank Bisignano, testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee and follows ongoing litigation over the legality of the IRS–DHS data-sharing agreement.

In addition to Gomez, Sánchez, and DelBene, the resolution is co-sponsored by Representatives Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), John Larson (D-Conn.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Don Beyer (D-Va.), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Terri Sewell (AL) and Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.).

View the full resolution here

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Don Beyer (D-VA)

Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), who previously served in the State Department as a U.S. Ambassador, today issued the following statement after Americans were instructed by the State Department to evacuate from a list of countries comprising nearly the entire Middle East:

“Today I have heard from constituents who are in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, the U.A.E., and Qatar or have family there and are frantically trying to get to safety. The State Department is instructing the approximately one million Americans in the Middle East to evacuate, but flights across the region are cancelled, airspaces are closed, and airports and consulates are shuttered or under attack. Americans stranded abroad are being told their embassies cannot help them.

“This Administration’s clumsiness and incompetence is putting American lives at risk. The President chose when to start a war with Iran, and has been deploying military assets there for over a month. Four days into this war of choice, the Administration is scrambling to help people caught in a situation they’ve long known was coming. The Administration had ample time to encourage people to leave the region, to reduce the presence of non-essential personnel at our consulates and diplomatic posts, and secure our embassies.

“Today it is clear that this Administration failed to adequately protect Americans abroad. The White House says they are ‘working on plans’ that the President himself admits they did not make in advance. We are told this as the Secretary of State claims on Capitol Hill that the war was necessary to protect American personnel overseas, something he and the President manifestly failed to do.

“The Trump Administration’s failure to plan ahead – itself reminiscent of when this Administration stranded fired USAID workers and contractors overseas after abruptly firing them – is also being made worse by the mass purges at the State Department and the Administration’s vacancies in key ambassadorial positions. The Administration must immediately do everything possible to get our people home, and Congress must investigate this shocking failure of leadership that needlessly put American lives in danger.”

To receive the latest security alerts, American citizens abroad are encouraged to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) at https://mytravel.state.gov/s/step and join the State Department WhatsApp channel for updates at https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029Var8szHInlqREVL5jC0g.

Americans in the Middle East who need to reach Consular Affairs can call 24/7 at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad) and +1-888-407-4747 (from the U.S. and Canada).

Constituents needing help communicating with State should call my office at 703-658-5403 for support. You can also fill out our digital privacy release form and someone on my staff will be in touch: https://beyer.house.gov/constituent-services/casework/casework.htm

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Grace Meng (6th District of New York)

With commercial flights canceled due to war with Iran, many Americans are unable to book trips back to the U.S.; Congressmembers call for Secretary of State Rubio to use charter flights, military operations and all other resources possible to help stranded Americans leave; lawmakers also criticize Administration for failing to have evacuation plan already in place

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH)

Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) led over 40 colleagues in a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought opposing the Department of Homeland Security’s reported request to purchase a $70 million luxury jet and calling on OMB to reject the request.

“At a time when Americans across the country are struggling with skyrocketing costs for health care, groceries, housing, and utility bills, the idea that the federal government would prioritize a taxpayer-funded luxury jet is fiscally and morally unjustifiable,” the lawmakers wrote.

Stressing how this purchase is being enabled by President Trump’s legislation that took away health care and food assistance for millions of Americans, they wrote, “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is the reported source of funds for the purchase of this luxury jet. That legislation will force millions of Americans off health care, raise health care costs, devastate rural hospitals, and slash funding for food assistance to finance more tax breaks for the very rich and biggest corporations.”

They continued, “The request to OMB to approve the purchase of a $70 million luxury jet – with three additional jets slated to be purchased – with these funds is the latest example of the Administration’s disregard for the real issues impacting everyday Americans and an irresponsible expenditure of taxpayer dollars.”

Read the full letter here.

Pappas has called on Secretary Kristi Noem to resign or be impeached for the violations of due process and our constitutional values, enforcement operations inconsistent with the law and accepted standards and protocols, and a failure to coordinate with local law enforcement under her leadership.