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

CHERRY HILL, NJ — Today, Representative Donald Norcross (NJ-01) earned recognition as the “2025 Public Servant of the Year” from Jersey Nurses Economic Security Organization (JNESO) District Council 1 IUOE-AFL-CIO, the professional healthcare union. JNESO presents this award to local lawmakers who support healthcare professionals.

“Healthcare workers keep our kids safe and our communities healthy. Let us never forget the sacrifices they made during the pandemic; healthcare heroes were on the frontlines putting their lives at risk every day for our families. I have been proud to work alongside JNESO and its members to advocate for healthcare workers to get fair wages, affordable healthcare benefits, and hard-earned retirement security. That’s why I’m honored to accept the Public Servant of the Year award and continue fighting to protect our healthcare workers,” said Congressman Norcross. “As the co-founder of the Congressional Labor Caucus, I will continue fighting in Congress to give healthcare workers the resources they need to be successful in their mission.”

“Congressman Donald Norcross has been a friend and supporter of JNESO for more than two decades, and we are proud to name him JNESO’s 2025 Public Servant of the Year,” said Douglas Placa, Executive Director of JNESO, which represents nearly 5,000 nurses and technologists in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. “He has made his mark both as a former labor leader and in Congress, standing up for workers’ rights, fighting for fair wages, and supporting the efforts of labor unions. He is a tremendous asset to N.J., and to the nurses and healthcare workers of our great state.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)

Washington, DC — Today, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, responded to reports of plans for potential mass reductions in force (RIF) at the Department of Energy, which could reduce the Department’s staffing levels by nearly 50% and affect even critical offices charged with protecting our nation’s nuclear security.

“Arbitrary staffing cuts across the Department of Energy would recklessly jeopardize its ability to fulfill its mission to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing our energy, environmental, and nuclear security challenges. Gutting the Department will raise energy costs for American families and businesses, slow innovation, and put our national and global security at risk,” said the Members. “It is extremely concerning that the Department is reportedly considering firing the very experts tasked with maintaining a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear weapons stockpile. These dangerous cuts should not transpire. We call for this foolishness to be set aside and for cooler heads to prevail for the sake of our communities, country, and world.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman David G Valadao (CA-21)

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman David Valadao (CA-22) announced his office is now accepting submissions for the 2025 Congressional Art Competition. Each spring, a nationwide high school art competition is sponsored by Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Congressional Art Competition is an opportunity to recognize and encourage creativity for students across the country.

“The Congressional Art Competition is a great opportunity for Central Valley students to demonstrate their creativity and artistic talent at the national level,” said Congressman Valadao. “This is a competition I always look forward to, and I can’t wait to review this year’s submissions.”

Students must submit their artwork and a student release form by 5:00 pm PST on Friday, April 25, 2025.

The winner of the 2025 Congressional Art Competition will have their artwork displayed for one year in the U.S capital and will be invited to attend a winner’s reception in Washington, D.C. during the summer of 2025. Students must be in high school (Grades 9-12) to participate.

Artwork must be two-dimensional. Each framed artwork can be no larger than 26 inches high, 26 inches wide, and 4 inches deep. No framed piece should weigh more than 15 pounds.

Accepted mediums for the two-dimensional artwork are as follows:

• Paintings: oil, acrylics, watercolor, etc.
• Drawings: colored pencil, pencil, ink, marker, pastels, charcoal. It is recommended that charcoal and pastel drawings be fixed.
• Collages: must be two-dimensional
• Prints: lithographs, silkscreen, block prints.
• Mixed media: use of more than two mediums such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc.
• Computer-generated art
• Photographs

All additional rules and regulations can be found here.

Before submitting their work, students should review the Student Submission Checklist here.

To submit your art, please send a high-resolution picture of your artwork (jpeg format) and the Student Release Form to William.Klepp@mail.house.gov by 5:00 pm PST on Friday, April 25, 2025. All submission or rule questions should be directed to William Klepp at William.Klepp@mail.house.gov or by calling (202) 225-4695.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE)

As we near the final days of tax season, customer service at the IRS is on the minds of many Americans. Most Americans work hard and pay their taxes in good faith, yet in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, 32 percent of customers said they were dissatisfied with their experience with the agency’s Independent Office of Appeals. Sadly, these rates have trended in the wrong direction since Democrats poured $80 billion into the IRS to hire 87,000 new agents in 2022. In FY21 just 19 percent of taxpayers reported dissatisfaction with the IRS.

I continue to champion efforts to hold the IRS accountable and focus on improving customer service. The most recent government funding legislation I supported reduced this funding by another $20.2 billion. In fact, I sponsored legislation previously passed by the House to reclaim the entire $80 billion. Rather than hiring agents to supersize “enforcement” and audits, the IRS should be doing everything possible to maximize efficiency and excellent service.

In March, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a report detailing how the IRS inappropriately diverted $4.6 million to maintain outdated technology systems. These funds had been designated for systems modernization and were legally prohibited from being redirected to legacy systems.

Updates to IRS technology are needed to better protect Americans’ personal data and serve taxpayers. The misuse of tax dollars to maintain business as usual was a hallmark of the Biden administration’s misaligned priorities. The past administration pursued unauthorized tax prep services and schemes to audit more Americans across the income spectrum, including the 1099-K Babysitter Tax and other new ways to audit tips received by service workers.

Another March TIGTA report found the IRS underreported the cost of its unauthorized pilot program to compete with existing free tax preparation providers. Through this program, the Biden administration sought to increase the IRS’s intrusion into the private finances of Americans to an unprecedented degree. This in-house tax preparation program has not been authorized by Congress, and having the tax enforcement and collection agency calculating how much a given taxpayer owes raises serious conflict of interest concerns.

Too often, the IRS and the taxpaying process are clouded by an air of suspicion. The last thing American taxpayers need is an IRS calculating tax liability with no incentive to ensure they are not accidentally overpaying, while simultaneously threatening to audit them. I am the lead sponsor of a bill to eliminate this so-called Direct File program.

We should be crafting policy which modernizes systems and improves customer service at the IRS, not creating costly redundancies which put the IRS into the role of both tax preparer and tax auditor. The IRS Free File program is an existing option for taxpayers who wish to file their taxes for free. More than 70 percent of American tax filers qualify to use Free File. I encourage you to visit irs.gov/FreeFile to confirm your eligibility and learn more.

Through Free File, which is authorized by Congress, Americans can file their federal taxes through private third parties without cost to themselves, virtually no cost to the federal government, and minimal administrative burden to the IRS.

Law-abiding middle-class taxpayers and small businesses should not live in fear of a burdensome, unnecessary audit from an overreaching IRS. Free File fills a need for taxpayers in an efficient, cost-effective way—just the sort of thing we should be doing more of in Washington.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steny H Hoyer (MD-05)

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Steny Hoyer (MD-05) joined Labor Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Mark Pocan (WI-02), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Steven Horsford (NV-04) and Debbie Dingell (MI-06), alongside Vice-Chairs Reps. Glenn Ivey (MD-04) and Stephen Lynch (MA-08), and every single House Democrat to call on President Trump to rescind his executive order stripping collective bargaing rights from over 1 million federal employees. The lawmakers highlighted the illegality of the order and called on the President to restore the collective bargaining rights that federal employees are statutorily entitled to.

“Collective bargaining is the strongest tool that workers have available to create a fair workplace,” wrote the lawmakers. “This action strips away those hard-earned rights – which have been upheld by presidents from both parties for decades – from federal workers who keep our country running, including nurses who care for veterans, inspectors who keep our food safe to eat, teachers who educate our children, and so many more.”

“Furthermore, this EO not only undermines the principles of fair labor practices but also threatens the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal government, jeopardizing the delivery of critical services to the American people,” continued the lawmakers. “The freedom to join a union and collectively bargain is central to achieving the American dream for millions of American workers. This action is the single most anti-worker and anti-union presidential action since Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers in 1981, and it must be reversed immediately.” 

“We urge you to immediately rescind this harmful, unlawful EO and to reaffirm the rights of federal workers to unionize and collectively bargain. The American people deserve a federal workforce that is protected, respected, and empowered to carry out its duties effectively,” concluded the lawmakers.

While Congress granted the President narrow authorities to exclude some agencies from collective bargaining, those exclusions can only be made if that agency has a primary function in intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work, and only if the statute cannot be applied “in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations.”  However, this Administration has made clear that the EO’s exclusions are not based on national security concerns, but instead as retaliation for labor unions defending their members’ rights and making it easier to fire federal employees.

A full copy of the letter can be found here. The letter was signed by every single House Democrat. 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03)

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03), a member of House Democratic leadership, led a bipartisan group of 36 lawmakers in writing a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Associate Deputy Director Kathleen Toomey urging them to rescind the Trump administration’s cuts to the retention pay of BOP correctional officers (COs) and healthcare professionals while simultaneously eliminating all future BOP recruitment incentives.
“We write to express our serious concern regarding the Bureau of Prison’s decision to cut the retention pay of hardworking Bureau of Prisons correctional officers and healthcare professionals and cancel all future BOP recruitment incentives. The decision to reduce or eliminate entirely the retention pay of over 23,000 BOP employees is dangerous and will cause our federal prison system to buckle under the weight of increasing numbers of incarcerated individuals and major staffing shortages. The brave correctional officers and healthcare professionals who show up to work each day play an integral part in ensuring the safety of employees, inmates, and our communities,” wrote the lawmakers.
In late February, more than half of the BOP workforce was told that their retention pay would be significantly reduced or eliminated entirely, with some employees seeing a pay decrease of up to 25%. Retention incentives serve as a crucial mechanism for upholding staffing levels at understaffed facilities. The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) annual report, issued last November, revealed that every BOP facility in the nation lacked sufficient staffing. The report also revealed that staffing shortages are directly tied to the safety of correctional officers, impairing their capacity to prevent inmate fatalities and leading to higher recidivism rates, which in turn threatens public safety.
“To make matters worse, BOP does not have an acting director or an acting deputy director. In fact, since President Donald Trump took office, the Director of BOP was fired, the Acting Director who took her place subsequently resigned, and five other senior leaders resigned. The lack of leadership and oversight from senior leaders at the agency further proves these cuts are counter to the agency’s stated mission. With some impacted correctional officers and healthcare professionals expecting to see a pay decrease of up to 25% of their current income, we are extremely alarmed by the lack of plan to address the increased staffing shortages these decisions will cause,” the lawmakers continue. 
Massachusetts’ sole federal corrections facility, Federal Medical Center (FMC) Devens in Ayer, houses 1,130 inmates and is just one of seven prisons across the country capable of caring for extremely ill inmates. However, a December 2024 report from the DOJ’s Inspector General found that just 81 percent of FMC Devens’ positions were filled, including 161 of 201 (80 percent) positions in the Correctional Services Department and 113 of 149 positions (76 percent) in the Health Services Department. The same report stressed the importance of recruitment and retention initiatives needed to fill these positions amid looming retirements likely to exacerbate the facility’s staffing shortage.
A copy of the letter sent yesterday can be accessed HERE.

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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 Steny H Hoyer (MD-05)

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) released the following statement today after President Donald Trump fired National Security Agency (NSA) Director General Timothy Haugh:

“Once again, Donald Trump puts his trust in far-right extremists over America’s foremost national security experts. This week, at the urging of Laura Loomer – a far-right conspiracy theorist with close ties to neo-Nazi and white supremacist organizations – Trump fired Commander of U.S. Cyber Command and National Security Agency Director General Timothy Haugh. He did so without cause. General Haugh has served our country with honor and distinction for decades. 

“We ought to entrust America’s national security to seasoned experts committed to defending our Constitution. Trump believes we ought to put the safety of the American people into the hands of lackeys who are loyal to him and him alone. In doing so, Trump continues to make America less safe.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Levin (CA-49)

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (12th District of Michigan)

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-06) led 40 of her House colleagues in sending a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding answers about the agency’s actions to pull back billions of dollars of funding sent to state and community health departments by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). 

“The agency rescinding $11.4 billion of authorized funding without any congressional action or input is extremely concerning. This funding includes support for state and local health department employees who work around vaccines which are paramount for defending our population from any disease,” the lawmakers wrote. “Especially with the outbreak of measles and avian flu, our nation needs a robust public health system for effectively investigating and tracking disease outbreak and disseminating that data. With the cuts to the agency, we are worried that sufficient support will no longer be available leading to a breakdown in our public health infrastructure.”

“We are also concerned about the future of vaccines. Funds supporting vaccine implementation were expected to expire in 2027, and we are alarmed that they could now be cut two years short. These immunization programs are used to educate people in communities about vaccines and preventable diseases and support surveillance and lab capacity to track infectious diseases. Inadequate funding will severely limit outreach to vulnerable populations including rural communities and nursing homes for vaccines. In addition, this funding supports staff who work on multiple projects, and it is unclear which other programs may be affected until staff have left,” the lawmakers continued.” Beyond infectious diseases control and prevention, the CDC also provides critical support for the management of other chronic diseases. This includes people with asthma, allergies, diabetes, and heart disease. These patients are at greater risk for more serious infection or hospitalization from infectious diseases, and they rely on a strong public health infrastructure with employees to carry out critical public health interventions tailored to the needs of the local community. We fear clawing back this funding will impact the health of people living with chronic conditions across the nation.”

“Regarding SAMHSA, we are concerned about $1 billion of grants that will be discontinued. Such cuts and restructuring will deteriorate our mental health infrastructure,”the lawmakers concluded. “We know that over 84.5 million American adults have a substance use or mental health condition, and we cannot cut resources for these services. Last year alone, SAMHSA distributed over $6.9 billion in grants to fight the opioid epidemic, end suicide deaths, and transform the lives of countless Americans facing substance use disorder and mental illness.”

Specifically, the lawmakers requested answers to the following questions: 

1. Does the Department certify that all the nearly $11.4B funds being rescinded from CDC are non-obligated, expired by statute funds? If so, please specify under which statue they are expired.
2. Does the Department certify that the $1B being rescinded from SAMHSA are nonobligated, expired by statue funds? If so, please specify under which statue they are expired.
3. Please provide a detailed list of the state, local, territorial, and tribal health departments that will be impacted, and how much funding they will lose and from which authorization or appropriation legislation the funding is being rescinded.
4. Has HHS determined how this funding cut will impact payroll or cause staff layoffs throughout local health departments? If so, how will HHS track this?
5. Please provide the agency’s plan to maintain FY2024 appropriated activities for the following diseases in light of the announced reduction in funds:
   1. COVID-19
   2. Measles
   3. H1N1
   4. RSV
   5. Whooping Cough
   6. Tuberculosis
   7. Avian Flu
   8. Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI)
   9. Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Programs

View the full text of the letter here.