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

WASHINGTON — Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) today introduced the Kids Need Lunch Act, legislation to guarantee that every child in Illinois and across the country has access to a free school lunch so no student is forced to go hungry while they are trying to learn. With food insecurity continuing to affect families across Illinois, many children rely on school meals as their most dependable source of food during the day.

“No American child should go hungry when they should be focused on learning in school,” Congressman Krishnamoorthi said. “Yet in communities across Illinois, too many students attend school hungry. This bill ensures every child can count on a meal at school, without stigma or barriers, so they can focus on learning and growing. Feeding children is not just an act of compassion — it is a commitment to their education and our future.”

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, roughly one in nine Illinois children experiences food insecurity, highlighting the critical role school meals play in helping students learn without hunger. The Kids Need Lunch Act amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to expand access to free lunches for all students and provide lasting stability for schools and families. By making school lunch a universal guarantee, the Kids Need Lunch Act helps ensure Illinois children have what they need to learn, grow, and succeed — regardless of their family’s income.

The Kids Need Lunch Act would:

• Guarantee free school lunches for all students, eliminating income-based eligibility requirements and ensuring universal access.

• Ensure schools are fully reimbursed for meals served, with federal payment rates adjusted annually to keep pace with rising food costs.

• Reimburse schools for existing unpaid meal balances, relieving districts of accumulated school meal debt.

• Prohibit schools from collecting unpaid lunch charges from students or families, ending harmful and stigmatizing practices. 

The text of the legislation is available here.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman John Moolenaar (4th District of Michigan)

Headline: Moolenaar Announces 2026 Art Competition

Congressman John Moolenaar invites all high school students from Michigan’s Second Congressional District to enter their artwork in the 2026 Congressional Art Competition. 

The winning student from the Second District will have his or her art displayed in the U.S. Capitol for a year and be invited to attend a reception in Washington, D.C. with other winners from across the country. Additionally, two regional winners from the Second District will have the opportunity for their art to be displayed in Congressman Moolenaar’s offices in Caledonia and Clare. 

The deadline for students to submit their work is Tuesday, March 31st. Entries should be mailed or personally delivered to Congressman Moolenaar’s Caledonia office at 8980 North Rodgers Court, SE Suite H, Caledonia MI 49316 or his Clare office at 431 North McEwan Street, Clare, MI 48617. 

More information on the rules and how to enter the Art Competition can be found online at Moolenaar.house.gov. Interested students who need assistance transporting their art to Caledonia or who have additional questions on the competition should contact Congressman Moolenaar’s office at 616-528-7100. 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Joaquin Castro (20th District of Texas)

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (1st District of Washington)

Today, Representatives Suzan DelBene (WA-01) Kim Schrier, MD (WA-08), Brad Schneider (IL-10), and Kelly Morrison, MD (MN-03) led 44 of their colleagues calling for the removal of two recently appointed anti-vax OB/GYNs to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). In January, Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appointed OB/GYNs Dr. Adam Urato and Dr. Kimberly Biss to ACIP, both of whom are well-documented anti-vaxers.

“What was once a trusted panel of vaccine experts has become a hand-selected group of unqualified vaccine skeptics who have undermined years of scientific integrity and vetted public health practices,” the lawmakers wrote to Kennedy.

Urato has said that vaccine science is not “long-settled.” In 2023, he posted a link to a study that looked at vaccines and breastfeeding, saying, “we don’t know the risks this poses.” Studies show that breastfeeding after COVID-19 vaccines is safe.

Dr. Biss said that after COVID-19 she was now “anti-vaccine.” At a congressional hearing in November 2023, Dr. Biss repeated the false claim that taking the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy increased the risk of miscarriage.

“We are deeply concerned that the addition of Dr. Urato and Dr. Biss to ACIP do not make pregnant women and their children healthier. Instead, their false, harmful ideologies put women and their children’s lives at risk. The opinions of Dr. Urato and Dr. Biss are not founded in evidence-based science, but in anti-vaccine rhetoric that harms public health as a whole,” the letter continues.

The medical community broadly rejects the connection between COVID-19 and miscarriages. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends that all pregnant and breastfeeding women receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine or booster. The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) also strongly recommends that pregnant women receive the vaccine.

In June 2025, Sec. Kennedy fired all 17 sitting ACIP members, which has put all Americans at risk from vaccine-preventable diseases, like measles, COVID-19, and even polio.

“We urge you to remove vaccine skeptics from ACIP and reinstate the 17 experts who were previously fired,” the lawmakers conclude.

The letter is joined by Representatives Becca Balint (VT‑AL), Nanette Díaz Barragán (CA‑44), Sean Casten (IL‑06), Emanuel Cleaver (MO‑05), Steve Cohen (TN‑09), Herbert Conaway (NJ‑03), Angie Craig (MN‑02), April McClain Delaney (MD‑06), Maxine Dexter (OR‑03), Debbie Dingell (MI‑06), Lizzie Fletcher (TX‑07), John Garamendi (CA‑08), Robert Garcia (CA‑42), Jimmy Gomez (CA‑34), Pramila Jayapal (WA‑07), Julie Johnson (TX-32), Robin Kelly (IL-2), Rick Larsen (WA‑02), Summer Lee (PA-12), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Lucy McBath (GA-06), Jennifer McClellan (VA‑04), Seth Moulton (MA‑06), Donald Norcross (NJ‑01), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC‑AL), Jimmy Panetta (CA‑19), Brittany Pettersen (CO‑07), Emily Randall (WA-06), Luz Rivas (CA‑29), Deborah Ross (NC-02, Jan Schakowsky (IL‑09), Terri Sewell (AL‑07), Brad Sherman (CA‑32), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Greg Stanton (AZ‑04), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Mark Takano (CA-39), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Paul Tonko (NY-20), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25). 

You can read the full letter here. 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Alma Adams (12th District of North Carolina)

Washington, D.C. (February 12, 2026) – Today, Congresswomen Alma Adams (NC-12),  Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Summer Lee (PA-12), and Lateefah Simon (CA-12) reintroduced the Improving Access to Nutrition Act tolift the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s (SNAP) three-month limit and ensure that all Americans have access to nutritious food and the ability to stay healthy in everyday life. 

“Hunger is on the rise across the country while Republicans have made the largest cuts to SNAP in history,” said Congresswoman Alma Adams. “The Improving Access to NutritionAct puts people over politics and ensures that we keep all families healthy and fed, so they can pursue a career, continuing education, job training, and take care of themselves.”

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the One Big Ugly Bill has cut $186 billion from SNAP through 2034. Under current law, most working adults without dependents are limited to three months of benefits within a three-year period unless they meet strict work requirements. The bill tightens these rules even further by eliminating long-standing exemptions for United States veterans, young adults ages 18 to 24 who have aged out of foster care, and people experiencing homelessness. As a result, individuals already facing housing instability, trauma, or inconsistent employment could lose access to food assistance through no fault of their own. 

These reductions come as food insecurity remains persistently high. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that 47.9 million people, including 14.1 million children, struggled with food insecurity in 2024. In 2025, after the Republican SNAP cuts became law, the USDA cut their Food Security Report. 

At the same time, economic conditions are making it harder for people to secure steady work. The labor market has slowed significantly amid tariff-driven uncertainty, with companies scaling back hiring. Job openings have fallen to 6.54 million, the lowest level since September 2020, underscoring the growing gap between stricter SNAP requirements and the availability of jobs.

“Hungry people should not be punished because they lose their job or their hours get cut,” said Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, “SNAP is an important lifeline to getting a working person back on their feet. No person, doing the best they can, should go hungry; the Improving Access to Nutrition Act is a step in accomplishing this goal.” 

“In communities across Western Pennsylvania and the country, people are already doing everything they can to get by, yet Republicans in Congress are doubling down on failed policies that don’t create jobs but do take food off families’ tables,” said Congresswoman Summer Lee, “The Improving Access to Nutrition Act is about dignity and survival, ensuring people can eat and care for their families without needless barriers. I will always fight to center our communities and ensure no one is forced to go hungry in the richest country in the world.”

“I am proud to champion this legislation alongside Congresswomen Adams, Hayes, and Lee to end outdated SNAP rules that cut off food assistance after just three months for adults deemed ‘able-bodied’ with no dependents,” said Congresswoman Lateefah Simon. “No one should be denied nutrition benefits because of punitive rules. Cuts to SNAP drives families deeper into hunger and hardship. We need policies like the Improving Access to Nutrition Act that uphold dignity and expand opportunity, not ones that criminalize being poor.”

You can read the full text of the bill below.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Ilhan Omar (DFL-MN)

MINNEAPOLIS — Following Border Czar Tom Homan’s announcement that Operation Metro Surge is ending, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) released the following statement:

“Two of my constituents, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed by federal immigration enforcement agents. A third was shot under questionable circumstances. Thousands were tear-gassed and shot with less-lethal weapons and harassed by masked agents. What we witnessed was not law enforcement — it was militarized racial terror unleashed on the streets of Minnesota as a deliberate attempt to demonize the Somali community.

“Operation ‘Metro Surge’ has exposed just how far ICE is willing to go to intimidate and terrorize Black, Brown, and immigrant communities in our state. Nearly all Somalis in Minnesota are citizens, yet ICE agents harassed residents demanding proof of papers and, when citizens sought to document these unlawful stops, they were met with lethal force. Latino, Asian, and other communities of color were forced into hiding regardless of their status, and those who dared to live their lives, were often arrested with no cause. That was not public safety. That was an authoritarian abuse of power.

“Nothing about what we witnessed was normal. Businesses are reeling from the economic devastation. Families are shattered. Children will carry the trauma of federal agents descending on their neighborhoods for the rest of their lives. The pain inflicted on this community will not fade — it will remain etched in their memory as the moment their own government turned against them.

“Minnesotans are resilient, and the world has seen what makes our state strong: compassion, solidarity, and justice. But I am outraged and heartbroken that our state was forced to endure unfathomable suffering at the hands of this administration. The American people saw clearly that fear and cruelty were not side effects, they were the point.

“It is past time for ICE operations to leave Minnesota. And it is time to move to abolish this rogue agency so that no community in America is ever terrorized like this again. But ending this operation is not enough. There must be justice and accountability. This administration must fully cooperate with independent investigations into the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Congress must withhold funding for unlawful actions and ensure federal dollars never bankroll civil-rights violations. We should be hauling cabinet secretaries and agency heads before congressional committees and demanding sworn testimony. They must explain who authorized these actions, what legal justifications were used, and why constitutional protections were ignored. Our businesses deserve economic restitution for the harm done. I won’t rest until we can ensure this abuse of power and terror can never happen again.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA)

SHERMAN OAKS, CA — On February 11th, over 5,000 residents joined Congressman Brad Sherman (CA-32) for another live Telephone Town Hall to discuss the key fights underway in Washington — including efforts to combat what Sherman described as President Donald Trump’s reckless policies and to hold U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) accountable after a string of deadly incidents across the country. 

“I’m grateful to the thousands of constituents who continue to join our Town Halls,” said Congressman Sherman. “In this moment — when Washington is gripped by the chaos and decisions of Donald Trump — staying connected and engaged is more important than ever. I will continue fighting to protect our rights and hold this administration accountable at every level.”

During the event, Sherman provided updates on congressional efforts to push back against aggressive immigration enforcement actions by ICE that have generated fear in communities across Los Angeles and around the country. Sherman reiterated his position that Congress must exercise stronger oversight of ICE and emphasized his opposition to funding what he described as an “out of control organization” that has violated constitutional protections and undermined public trust.

Sherman also spoke about broader concerns over the country’s direction amid what he described as the chaos and recklessness of the Trump administration — pointing to economic uncertainty, rising costs, and the integrity of future elections. As a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he addressed recent developments in Iran, where thousands have rallied against a brutally repressive regime, and the situation surrounding Greenland in light of Trump’s threats, emphasizing the need to strengthen alliances and protect America’s global leadership.

Participants had the opportunity to ask live questions and respond to interactive survey prompts about their top concerns. Issues raised by callers included immigration enforcement, civil rights protections, affordability, and the future of democratic norms.

Sherman concluded the event by reaffirming his commitment to holding the administration accountable and making sure the voices of our communities are heard — loud and clear — in an increasingly chaotic and dysfunctional Washington.

During the Town Hall, Sherman requested input from residents by asking a series of survey questions about their thoughts and concerns.

The results of the survey questions are as follows:

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-Do you approve of President Trump’s performance as President so far?

• Approve: 5%
• Disapprove: : 92%
• Unsure: 1%

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-Should your Member of Congress vote in favor of the Department of Homeland Security budget, which includes funding for ICE?

• Yes, with significant reforms to ICE: 38%
• No, even if it does include reforms to ICE: 49%
• Unsure: 13%

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-Do you support Trump’s tariffs on Canada?

• Support: 3%
• Oppose: 93%
• Unsure: 3%

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), a member of the Congressional Coal Caucus, joined President Donald Trump, industry leaders, and other members of Congress at the White House as the President signed an executive order directing the Department of War to prioritize long-term Power Purchase Agreements with America’s beautiful, clean coal fleet to ensure military installations and critical defense facilities have uninterrupted, on-demand baseload power.

Pennsylvania produces the 6.7% of all U.S. coal, the third-most of any state in the country, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The executive order aims to strengthen national defense, ensure a resilient electric grid, and make America more energy dominant.

“This executive order is a big win for Pennsylvania’s coal industry and our hardworking coal miners,” said Rep. Kelly. “From day one, President Trump has committed to common sense energy policy and to expanding American energy production. This executive order delivers on that promise.”

You can read more about the President’s announcement here.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Sharice Davids (KS-3)

Last night, members from both parties in the U.S. House voted to end President Trump’s reckless tariffs on Canada. For a year, Representative Sharice Davids has fought back against these extreme tariff policies that are raising costs for hardworking Kansans, eliminating markets for farmers, and forcing local small businesses to shut their doors. Davids released the following statement:

“Reckless tariffs are a direct tax on Kansas families that forces them to pay higher prices on everything from groceries to gas,” said Davids. “For the past year, I’ve heard from farmers, small business owners, and families across our state who are struggling with higher costs because of these chaotic policies. Ending these tariffs — in a notably bipartisan vote that brought members of both parties together — is a step toward restoring stability and lowering costs for hardworking folks. I’ll keep working toward trade policies that strengthen our economy without putting the burden on Kansas families and small businesses.”

Background:

Davids has consistently pushed back on the President’s tariffs and supported bipartisan approaches to trade that balance competitiveness with consumer protection. She spoke during a U.S. House Agriculture Committee hearing on the trade disruptions Kansas agricultural producers will face due to these tariffs — a concern echoed by Kansas Farm Bureau President Joe Newland. She also visited a local toy store and manufacturer who are being hit hard by these unstable policies and hosted a press conference on her efforts to push back on tariffs that are raising prices for hardworking families.

Kansas families are feeling the pinch of Trump’s tariff policies. The Budget Lab at Yale University estimates the average American household will pay $2,400 more annually because of tariffs, with clothing and textiles seeing the biggest spikes. Contrary to claims that tariffs will strengthen the economy, experts warn they will instead lead to higher inflation and slower job growth.

According to Harvard Business School data, tariffs added roughly 0.7 percentage points to inflation in 2025, raising the cost of both imported and domestic goods. Popular items are more expensive, including:

• Clothing accessories: +15 percent
• Jewelry: +8 percent
• Household tools: +6.2 percent
• Appliances: +5.6 percent
• Meat: +6.2 percent
• Fruit: +5.5 percent
• Coffee and tea: +9.2 percent
• Household supplies like toilet paper: +4.7 percent

Many retailers — including Walmart, Dollar General, and major food producers — have announced or implemented price hikes to cover tariff costs. American families are footing the bill for the administration’s reckless trade policies.

These chaotic tariffs also threaten key industries in Kansas, including agriculture and manufacturing, by increasing the cost of imported equipment and materials and by inviting retaliatory tariffs on exports. This reckless approach to trade policy underscores the need for thoughtful, bipartisan solutions that promote fair trade without harming American consumers and businesses.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Dan Newhouse (4th District of Washington)

Headline: Newhouse Selected to Chair House Agriculture Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04) released the following statement on being selected as the next Chairman for the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture. 

“It’s truly a privilege to receive the gavel for the Forestry and Horticulture Subcommittee,” said Rep. Newhouse. “These are two issues that are at the center of our agriculture industry and natural resources in the State of Washington, and I look forward to working closely with Chairman Thompson on moving the Farm Bill this Congress. 

It is also an honor to fill the shoes of my late friend, Doug LaMalfa, who led this subcommittee as a fighter for these issues in Northern California. I am thankful for this opportunity and ready to get to work.” 

House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson said, “Rep. Newhouse is a valued and engaged member of our committee, and I am proud to see him stepping up to lead the Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture. He has proven himself to be a true advocate for our country’s working lands and specialty crop producers, and I know this subcommittee will thrive under his leadership. Mr. LaMalfa left big shoes to fill, but I have no doubt in my mind that Rep. Newhouse is the right person to carry on his legacy.” 

The subcommittee is responsible for policies and statutes relating to forestry and all forests under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Agriculture; regulatory issues impacting national forests; and related oversight of such issues; policies, statutes, and markets relating to horticulture, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and ornamentals; bees; and organic agriculture.

The late Rep. Doug LaMalfa (CA-01) chaired the Subcommittee before he passed away on January 6, 2026. 

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