MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09)

WASHINTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) was named the fifth most effective Democratic member of the 118^th Congress (2022-2025) today by the Center for Effective Lawmaking. The assessment is made in a report by the Center’s Co-Directors, Craig Volden of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, and Alan Wiseman of the Department of Political Science at Vanderbilt University. Congressman Cohen is identified by the Center as ideologically “liberal” in his voting pattern.

In response, Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

“I am honored to be recognized for being an effective lawmaker, which has been my firm intention throughout my career in public office. Serving in the minority in the 118^th Congress posed challenges to reaching the kinds of bipartisan consensus that result in successful legislation, and I’m pleased to see that objective academic experts see that I was able to do that.”

The Legislative Effectiveness Scores presented by the Center were based on a combination of fifteen metrics capturing the bills that each member of Congress sponsored, how far they moved through the lawmaking process, and how substantial their policy proposals were.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Bryan Steil (Wisconsin-1)

WASHINGTON, DC – Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence Subcommittee Chairman Bryan Steil (WI-01) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (AR-02) today introduced the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy (STABLE) Act, legislation to establish a framework for the issuance and operation of dollar-denominated payment stablecoins in the United States.

Digital Assets Subcommittee Chairman Steil said, “It’s the Golden Age of digital assets in America. With the STABLE Act, we will secure the future of financial payments and continued dominance of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. This bill is the result of extensive collaboration with committee members, stakeholders, and the Administration. I look forward to passing this bill and implementing a clear regulatory structure for payment stablecoins.”

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Hill said, “Our STABLE Act is a strong continuation of our work on digital assets in the last Congress. Our legislation will provide a clear regulatory structure for payment stablecoins and represents the culmination of months of work with stakeholders and members this Congress. Subcommittee Chairman Steil and I look forward to continuing our efforts to ensure a successful markup next week”

House Majority Whip and Digital Assets Subcommittee Vice Chairman Tom Emmer (MN-06) said, “With the STABLE Act, the United States will lead in modernizing the global financial system. I’m beyond proud to support this legislative effort and I thank Representatives Hill and Steil for their leadership.”

Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) said, “Stablecoins represent the next frontier of financial technology, and the United States must lead in shaping a regulatory framework that fosters innovation while ensuring transparency and stability. The STABLE Act is a critical step toward integrating digital assets into our financial system in a responsible way. I’m proud to join my colleagues in advancing bipartisan legislation that strengthens U.S. leadership in the digital economy and protects consumers in the process.”

Background: 

·    This non-partisan legislation was sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats including Hill, Torres, Emmer, Huizenga, Meuser, Kim, Downing, Moore, Gottheimer, Haridopolos, and Liccardo. 

·    In February, Steil and Hill introduced a discussion draft establishing a framework for the issuance and operation of dollar-denominated payment stablecoins in the United States.

·    Over the past six weeks, members and stakeholders have provided feedback to improve the initial draft, including during separate hearings in both the Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence Subcommittee and the full Financial Services Committee.

·    President Trump recently reiterated support for stablecoin legislation to pass through Congress and come to his desk before the August recess. 

·    You can read the full text of the bill HERE

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Jesús Chuy García (IL-04)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04) issued the following statement on Trump’s Executive Order that limits the right to vote:

“The Executive Order issued yesterday by the White House does the opposite of ‘Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.’ It is an unconstitutional assault on the right to vote. Presidents cannot unilaterally override election laws duly enacted by Congress and the states.  

“Restricting vote-by-mail practices and imposing new proof of citizenship requirements for voter registration creates significant barriers that will disenfranchise voters all across our country—particularly in minority communities. This order would also empower DOGE to access sensitive personal data, raising concerns about privacy and the misuse of government power. 

“President Trump has been trying to undermine our democracy for years; he attempted to steal the 2020 election, incited an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and then issued blanket pardons for the January 6 rioters. He has zero credibility to talk about election integrity. We won’t let him steal our democracy. Congress and the courts must intervene to stop him, uphold the Constitution, and protect our right to vote.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02)

Hegseth shared sensitive details of pending military strike plans with a journalist on a nonsecure commercial messaging app

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif)

Santa Cruz, CA – United States Representative Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) convened a roundtable discussion with leaders, professors, and researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) to hear firsthand how the ongoing federal funding freeze is undermining scientific progress, educational opportunities, and workforce development in California’s 19th Congressional District and beyond.

During the listening session, UCSC faculty and researchers outlined the damaging effects of the Trump Administration’s funding freezes, executive orders, and arbitrary grant reviews, including delayed projects, halted research activities, frozen USDA NextGen grants, and disruptions to graduate student and faculty funding. Participants also expressed deep concern over the long-term impact on UCSC’s ability to compete for federal research dollars, attract talent, and sustain innovative, community-focused research in fields like climate science, agriculture, and public health.

“This federal funding freeze is more than a bureaucratic delay, it’s an assault on scientific discovery, education, and the hardworking researchers who power generational innovation in our communities,” said Rep. Panetta.  “The impacts we discussed today at UC Santa Cruz are a clear reminder that politics in Washington are jeopardizing the future of research and workforce development across our district.  I will continue to push back against these arbitrary and harmful actions, advocate for transparency and stability, and ensure that the voices of our research institutions are heard at the highest levels.”

“At UC Santa Cruz, we see firsthand the real-world impacts of federal research investment,” said UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive.  “With federal support, our faculty and staff are making groundbreaking advances in personalized medicine, sustainable agriculture and pioneering technologies like smart bandages.  Across the UC system and at research universities nationwide, federal dollars drive innovation, create jobs, and keep the U.S. at the forefront of discovery.  Slashing federal research funding threatens America’s economic foundation and its educational excellence.”

“NIH support fuels our local economy, supporting everyone from the researchers at UCSC and the employees who administer the grants to the small businesses they frequent — the coffee shops, the restaurants, even the construction workers building on campus and in the community,” said UC Santa Cruz Professors Susan Carpenter, Needhi Bhalla, and Carol Greider.  “Slashing this funding will have a devastating ripple effect, impacting jobs, local businesses and the overall prosperity of our community.  It’s not just about research; it’s about the economic livelihoods of our community members.”

Rep. Panetta has taken numerous actions to oppose the Administration’s funding freezes and attacks on higher education and research, including:

• Cosponsoring the Department of Education Protection Act to block any efforts to shutter the Department of Education.
• Demanding transparency on clean energy and infrastructure projects placed on hold.
• Joining congressional coalitions opposing the NIH’s proposed cap on administrative funding, which would slash vital resources for university research.
• Collecting stories from constituents, researchers, and institutions about funding challenges to inform his congressional advocacy.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Diana DeGette (First District of Colorado)

WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO-01) along with Reps. Dan Goldman (NY-10), Troy Carter (LA-02), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Linda Sánchez (CA-38) introduced the Data Of Government Health Entities must be Protected from Overreach by Unelected Nonsecure Disruption (or DOGE POUND) Act to prevent inappropriate intrusion into sensitive health care systems. 

“Over 1 million Coloradoans rely on Medicaid, and their health care and personal information must be protected from the illegal schemes of Elon Musk and DOGE,” Rep. DeGette said. “The federal government is entrusted with highly sensitive data, and we must ensure it stays in the hands of qualified public servants—not unelected billionaires like Musk. While Trump and his corrupt cronies are busy trying to dismantle our health care system for personal gain, this bill would put an end to their gross overstep of power and keep them from meddling in Americans’ health care and private information.”

“Americans’ personal and sensitive health information is not for sale, regardless of how much money Elon Musk paid Trump for unfettered access to it,” Rep. Goldman said. “Trump and Musk’s ‘special government employees’ are not exempt from the rule of law that mandates background checks and oversight for those who have access to our social security numbers, medical records, financial information, and more. This legislation will provide a necessary check on any administration’s ability to give unqualified, unvetted partisans access to our most sensitive personal and medical data, and I’m proud to fight for every American’s right to live free from DOGE’s invasion of our privacy.”

“The DOGE POUND Act is a critical safeguard against reckless interference in Louisianians health care. No one should have to worry that their private medical information or essential care decisions could be hijacked by political chaos or corporate overreach. This legislation ensures that only trusted, qualified civil servants—not unaccountable billionaires or rogue enterprises—can access sensitive health data. Protecting Medicare, Medicaid, and the ACA from corruption and abuse is not just common sense, it’s a necessity for the health and security of millions of Americans,” said Rep. Carter, Sr. 

“We can’t let Elon Musk and his DOGE bros dismantle our government and raid our personal and sensitive health data,” said Rep. Pressley. “With Trump and Republicans letting them do just that, our bill would protect our right to privacy and tell Musk and Doge: hands off!” 

“Elon Musk and DOGE are unlawfully accessing Americans’ most sensitive personal and medical data. It’s unacceptable for unelected and unvetted individuals to have such access to this private information. Our would put an end to this severe breach of privacy by strengthening protections that prevent anyone from accessing personal data for political purposes,” said Rep. Sánchez.

Americans deserve to know their private information and essential health care is safe from politically motivated chaos. To ensure their privacy, the DOGE POUND Act would: 

• ensure only trustworthy, established civil servants can access individually identifiable health information held by Medicare and other Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) entities,
• require the Inspector General of HHS to investigate each unauthorized access of such data and report to Congress on it, and 
• provide for penalties of up to five years in prison for ineligible individuals who access or use HHS data or individuals who allow HHS data to be accessed by unauthorized individuals. 

Background

In February, aides from DOGE were granted access to the payment and contracting systems at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS provides health coverage to more than 160 million Americans through various programs including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Recent polling shows that 63% of Americans are concerned about DOGE’s access to sensitive information, and 55% believe Elon Musk has too much power.

Read the full bill text here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressmen Brian Mast (FL-18)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Congressman Brian Mast (FL-21) introduced the National Garden for America’s 250th Anniversary Act, to establish President Trump’s National Garden of American heroes. This bill facilitates the creation and upkeep of this national site, establishes a tax-credit contribution fund, and enables the Secretary of the Interior to exchange and acquire land for the garden’s location.  

“I am proud to support President Trump’s celebration of American heroes on our great nation’s 250th anniversary,” said Rep. Brian Mast. “The National Garden will be a beautiful site to honor our history and recognize prominent American founders and generations of trailblazers. America’s past and present is filled with heroes from all walks of life and this new garden will soon be open to the public to forever remember their contributions.”

In January of 2021, President Trump issued an executive order establishing a statuary park named the National Garden of American Heroes (National Garden). To begin the process of building this new monument to our country’s greatness, he also created the Interagency Task Force for Building and Rebuilding Monuments to American Heroes and directed its members to plan for construction of the National Garden. 

According the the executive order, “the National Garden will feature a roll call of heroes who deserve honor, recognition, and lasting tribute because of the battles they won, the ideas they championed, the diseases they cured, the lives they saved, the heights they achieved, and the hope they passed down to all of us — that united as one American people trusting in God, there is no challenge that cannot be overcome and no dream that is beyond our reach.”

This new legislation pushes President Trump’s plan another step forward, bringing us closer to opening the site to the American public to enjoy.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Gerry Connolly (D-Va)

Today, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, Ranking of the Subcommittee on the Military and Foreign Affairs, Rep. Stephen Lynch, and Rep. Robert Garcia led Committee Democrats in sending a letter to Chairman Comer demanding the Committee uphold its duty to conduct real oversight and schedule a hearing with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.  Today’s letter follows this week’s report in The Atlantic that several members of the National Security Council and the White House Cabinet participated in a highly sensitive group chat on the Signal messaging application regarding a military operation in Yemen, which included a journalist not authorized to receive that information.

“I am attaching hereto a letter addressed to the National Security Adviser, Director of National Intelligence, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Secretaries of the Treasury, Defense, and State, and the Vice President demanding an immediate briefing on this matter.  We urge you to join us in this critical demand,” wrote the Members. “We also urge you to schedule hearing immediately with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to allow the Committee to assess the extent of the harm to American national security interests as a result of this shocking and reckless unauthorized disclosure of highly sensitive and potentially classified information.”

A former national security official who has worked in both Republican and Democratic administrations has observed with respect to the Signal breach that “[c]ommunicating sensitive, operational information in this manner increases the likelihood of inappropriate disclosure which places military personnel at risk,” and raises questions about violation of federal law governing the safeguarding and retention of government information.  

“Given the grave threat to American national security from these unsecured communications, as well as your repeatedly stated concern for the protection of classified information, we trust that you will enthusiastically join us in demanding immediate answers from the Trump Administration and will publicly announce your intention to hold a hearing in the near future to evaluate the harm resulting from the Signal chat,” the Members concluded. 

Click here to read the letter to Chairman Comer.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Gerry Connolly (D-Va)

Today, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee Military and Foreign Affairs, Rep. Stephen Lynch, and Rep. Robert Garcia led Committee Democrats in sending a letter to U.S. Vice President JD Vance, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding an immediate briefing on how and why America’s national security secrets ended up in a group chat on an unauthorized messaging app that included a journalist.   

“We write with great alarm regarding The Atlantic report that you, as members of the National Security Council and President’s Cabinet, participated in a series of highly sensitive conversations on the free and open-source Signal messaging application to plan a military operation in Yemen and shared highly sensitive, potentially classified information with a person who was not authorized to receive such information. We demand an immediate briefing to assist Congress in understanding the extent of the damage and intelligence exposure that this reckless and unrestricted transmission of highly sensitive national security information has caused, as well as the parameters and legality of senior officials using Signal to communicate and delete deliberative messages,” wrote the Members.

In the unclassified group chat, the senior officials discussed the merits of a strike on the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, including relevant concerns about U.S. national interests and impacts on American allies.  Hegseth outlined operational information about the current position and posture of actively deployed U.S. military forces that, had it been “read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel.”

Not only did the use of Signal pose a risk to the lives of men and women of the military, jeopardize the operation, and embarrassingly advertise to our adversaries the reckless attitude of our nation’s senior leaders, but the inclusion of Mr. Goldberg raises questions as to whether senior government officials in the chat acted in accordance with the Espionage Act.  

“This extraordinary breach of trust also raises questions as to whether Mr. Waltz and the other senior officials have failed to comply with federal recordkeeping requirements, given the fact that ‘Waltz set some of the messages in the Signal group to disappear after one week, and some after four.’  Accordingly, we request a briefing from each of you regarding the damage or intelligence risks caused by the use of Signal for the operation and the leak of highly sensitive or classified information, the factual timeline of events, the methods and protocol for handling critical national security information, as well as recordkeeping protocol no later than March 28, 2025,” concluded the Members.  
 

Click here to read the letter to U.S. Vice President JD Vance, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Gerry Connolly (D-Va)

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, reintroduced the Cameras in the Courtroom Act, legislation to ensure transparency and accountability in the judicial branch by televising open proceedings before the United States Supreme Court. Connolly originally introduced the Cameras in the Courtroom Act in the 112th Congress and has reintroduced it in nearly every Congress since. Bipartisan companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

“Our nation’s highest court is in desperate need of transparency and reform,” said Connolly. “The Supreme Court is not some mystical priesthood that can operate outside of the public view. It is a coequal branch of government and must be accountable to the American public. Our legislation strengthens efforts to restore trust in an institution that for too long has operated in the dark. It’s time for cameras in the courtroom.”

“It’s time to put cameras in the Supreme Court so Americans can finally see arguments and decisions in cases that will affect them for generations to come. This bipartisan bill shines a light into the judicial branch of government so more than just a few hundred lucky Americans can watch proceedings in the Court’s historic halls,” Durbin said.

“The judicial branch has a massive impact on our daily lives and the lives of generations to come, yet few Americans get the chance to see our nation’s courts in action,” Grassley said. “Allowing cameras access to the federal and Supreme Courts would boost transparency and help Americans grow in confidence and understanding of the judiciary.”

The Supreme Court currently allocates roughly 50 seats for the general public to witness cases. This significantly limits the public and the media to one-dimensional and sometimes distorted views of the Justices’ actions. State and federal courts, including all 50 state supreme courts, already allow recording equipment of various degrees.

Text of the legislation is available here.