Congressman DeSaulnier Highlights “Not Here” Gun Violence Prevention Initiative at Contra Costa County Legislative Reception

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Mark DeSaulnier Representing the 11th District of California

Walnut Creek, CA — Congressman DeSaulnier highlighted his multi-pronged “Not Here” gun violence prevention initiative to help local communities implement successful evidence-based solutions to firearm violence at the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors’ Legislative Delegation Reception in Martinez. 

“While Republicans in Congress have been blocking federal legislation to address the gun violence epidemic for far too long, local and state officials have stepped up and made Californians safer and less likely to be the victims of gun-related crimes,” saidRep. Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10). “The “Not Here” initiative builds on the successes implemented by health services, police departments, and community-based organizations in Contra Costa and across California to help localities around the countries enact these evidence-based policies more widely. I am proud that our community has been a trailblazer on this front, and we must share the keys to our progress so that all Americans are safe from gun violence regardless of what state they live in.”

In addition to discussing his gun violence prevention work, Congressman DeSaulnier also joined leaders from the County and California state legislature in underscoring the threats to CA-10 residents passed in the Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill, including deep cuts to Medicaid services.

Norton Applauds D.C. Lawsuit Against Trump Administration, Highlights D.C. Leadership’s United Resistance Against Unprecedented Attacks on Home Rule

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

On the same day D.C. sues Trump Administration, Norton introduces legislation to terminate the unlawful federalization of MPD with her colleagues in Congress.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After D.C. sued the Trump Administration over its unlawful federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) applauded the District’s assertion of its own rights in the court system and highlighted the united resistance D.C. is mounting against the Trump Administration’s unlawful and unprecedented attacks on home rule. 

“I applaud D.C. Attorney General Schwalb for taking legal action to end the president’s unlawful attempt to take control of MPD,” Norton said. “The Home Rule Act permits the president to direct D.C.’s mayor to provide the ‘services’ of MPD for ‘federal purposes’ when ‘an emergency nature exists,’ not to replace D.C.’s police chief with a federal political appointee and certainly not to supplant D.C.’s decisions on how to enforce its own local laws with the Administration’s directives. I’ve said repeatedly that the president’s actions are unlawful. I can attest the District has an excellent case against the unprecedented actions taken by the president, and I fully support D.C.’s defense of its own rights under the law.

“On the same day D.C. is asserting its rights in court, I introduced legislation with my colleagues in Congress to end the unlawful federalization of MPD. D.C. has both the moral and the legal right to govern its own local affairs, including controlling the police force that it pays for out of its own local tax dollars. District leaders are united in our cause and using every tool at our disposal to end the egregious, unprecedented, and unlawful attempt to take over MPD.”

In their resolution, Norton and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-CA), and Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) cited President Trump’s failure to identify any special conditions of an emergency nature that require the federalization of the MPD even for a specific purpose. Violent crime in D.C. is at a more than 30-year low, having decreased 26% compared to the same time period last year. 

###

Norton, Ranking Member Raskin, Ranking Member Garcia, Sen. Van Hollen Announce Introduction of Legislation Terminating Trump’s Unprecedented Federalization of MPD

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) announced introduction of a joint resolution terminating President Donald Trump’s unprecedented federalization of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in Washington, D.C., pursuant to the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973. 

The legislation would terminate the President’s unlawful federalization of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. In an effort to justify his outrageous move to federalize local police and militarize the streets of D.C., the President has concocted a false narrative around the city’s crime rates, which have been in decline for two years and just reached a 30-year low. While the President claims there is some sort of crime emergency in D.C., he seems to be more preoccupied with the state of grass in D.C. parks and medians and selecting honorees for the Kennedy Center. And while Trump claims that federal control of D.C. is necessary to combat crime, the President’s own actions are what is jeopardizing public safety in the District. He and his allies in Congress refuse to allow the District to access the $1 billion in locally-raised revenue that would have funded D.C. police, fire and emergency response services, and other public safety efforts. He fired and demoted dozens of D.C.’s most experienced career prosecutors, contributing to a larger backlog of criminal cases being held up in court and longer wait times for crime victims to obtain justice. He pardoned nearly 1,600 individuals who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, including hundreds convicted of assaulting police officers.

“President Trump’s incursions against D.C. are among the most egregious attacks on D.C. home rule in decades. D.C. residents are Americans, worthy of the same autonomy granted to residents of the states. Our local police force, paid for by D.C. residents, should not be subject to federalization, an action that wouldn’t be possible for any other police department in the country. No emergency exists in D.C. that the president did not create himself, and he is not using the D.C. Police for federal purposes, as required by law,” Norton said. “I appreciate Ranking Member Raskin’s enduring support for D.C. and for working with me to end this unprecedented, dangerous, and disgraceful violation of D.C.’s right to govern its own local affairs.”

“The only emergency here is a lawless president experiencing a growing public relations emergency because of his close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and his stubborn refusal to release the Epstein file despite his promise to do so,” said Ranking Member Raskin. “Trump has made clear that his efforts in D.C., where 700,000 taxpaying American citizens lack the protections of statehood, are part of a broader plan to militarize and federalize the streets of cities around America whose citizens voted against him. The legislation we are introducing today would stop this campaign by ending Trump’s hostile takeover of D.C.’s police force. Under the D.C. Home Rule Act, Congress has given the president the power only to direct the Mayor to make the Metropolitan Police Department available for a specific federal purpose but has given him no power simply to take over the Department. In any event, there is no federal emergency justifying such a takeover even if Congress sought to use its lawmaking power to effectuate it.” 

“Once again, President Trump is making every effort to distract America from Epstein. Republicans aren’t serious about public safety in D.C. If they were, they would not be blocking the city from using $1 billion of its own money, including funding meant to support the city’s law enforcement efforts,” said Ranking Member Garcia. “Today’s bill would end President Trump’s so-called ‘crime emergency’ and allow the 700,000 residents of D.C. to set their home’s public safety priorities.”

“Trump was AWOL when the District of Columbia actually needed support from the National Guard to protect it from an insurrectionist mob on January 6th. His current takeover is an abuse of power and nothing more than a raw power grab. It is a direct attack on the ability of the people of the District of Columbia to govern their own affairs. The District of Columbia has made important progress on public safety in recent years, and can do more if Trump and House Republicans get the hell out of their way and stop blocking D.C. from accessing $1 billion of its own funds to strengthen policing and provide other public services,” said Senator Van Hollen.

On Monday, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Declaring a crime emergency in the District of Columbia,” to federalize the city’s police department. Under the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973, Congress can terminate the President’s emergency control of MPD with a joint resolution.

In their resolution, the Members cited that President Trump has failed to identify any special conditions of an emergency nature that require the federalization of the MPD even for a specific purpose. Indeed, violent crime in D.C. has been decreasing for the past two years, reaching a 30-year low.

Read the text of the resolution here.

###

Norton Statement After Rep. Ogles Announces Bill to Allow President to Extend Federalization of D.C. Police Indefinitely

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) announced that he would introduce a bill to amend the Home Rule Act to allow the president to extend the federalization of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) indefinitely, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said, “Rep. Ogles’ bill is another in a series of extreme attacks on D.C. home rule. His strange and unseemly fixation on bullying D.C., a District of more than 700,000 Americans who must tolerate daily intrusions because of their geographic proximity to the federal government, is unacceptable and disgraceful to D.C. and to the Congress where he and I are both members. His bill would allow indefinite federal seizure of D.C.’s local police, which is funded by local D.C. tax dollars. 

“D.C. pays more federal taxes per capita than any state and more federal taxes overall than 19 states, while being denied the same voting representation in Congress or full local self-government accorded to residents of the 50 states. I will do everything in my power to block this bill’s progress and passage and prevent D.C. from suffering additional indignities at the hands of the federal government.”

President Trump federalized the D.C. Police for the first time in history this week and deployed the D.C. National Guard under the auspices of a crime emergency, despite data showing violent crime in D.C. reached a more than 30-year low in 2024 and is down 26 percent this year compared to the same period last year. Republicans have introduced bills in both chambers of Congress to repeal the Home Rule Act, which aim to abolish the D.C. Council and Mayor’s office, and would leave D.C. to depend on members of Congress elected by other jurisdictions to control the District.

###

Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi Demands Answers from Trump Administration on Billions in Higher Drug Costs Under “One Big Beautiful Bill”

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

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services, sent a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz demanding answers on how the Trump administration plans to lower prescription drug prices after passing legislation that will delay and exempt costly drugs from Medicare price negotiations, a move the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says will cost taxpayers at least $5 billion over the next decade.

“Americans are deeply concerned by the cost of prescription medications. The vast majority—including 70% of those who voted for Donald Trump—want to see costs come down,” Krishnamoorthi wrote in the letter. “President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill will delay or rescind CMS’s ability to negotiate the prices of costly, life-saving drugs and will actually increase the cost of prescription drugs.”

Under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Medicare gained the power to annually negotiate certain high-cost drugs, saving taxpayers tens of billions and reducing seniors’ out-of-pocket costs. But Congressman Krishnamoorthi warns that the Trump Administration’s new law, signed in July, guts those provisions by delaying negotiations for some of the most expensive drugs and exempting others entirely, including advanced cancer treatments.

“The Trump administration has gifted drug companies higher profit margins while stripping health care access from millions,” Krishnamoorthi said, noting the bill’s nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts could leave more than 15 million Americans without coverage, according to CBO analysis.

The congressman also criticized the legislation for failing to address the anti-competitive practices of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), despite President Trump’s earlier acknowledgment of the problem. “Addressing these PBM practices is a commonsense, bipartisan reform that could lower drug prices without cutting coverage or handing giveaways to Big Pharma,” Congressman Krishnamoorthi wrote.

In his letter, Congressman Krishnamoorthi requested CMS provide detailed information by August 29, 2025, including:

  • How the administration plans to achieve Trump’s claim of reducing drug prices by “500% to 1500%”

  • All communications with pharmaceutical companies regarding expanded Medicare drug negotiation exemptions

  • Plans to assist patients who cannot afford drugs now excluded from negotiations

  • All actionable steps to lower costs through PBM reform

Congressman Krishnamoorthi Visits HIRE360 Facility to Highlight Career Training, Workforce Development, and Green Economy Jobs

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

CHICAGO – Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) toured the HIRE360 Workforce Development & Green Economy Training Facility in Chicago’s South Loop, meeting with students, instructors, labor leaders, and contractors to discuss how career and technical education (CTE) is creating pathways to high-quality jobs across Illinois. The visit included stops in active classrooms, discussions with industry partners, and a tour of the solar training facility, which prepares workers for one of the nation’s fastest-growing industries.

In 2022, Congressman Krishnamoorthi secured $1 million in federal community project funding to help complete the HIRE360 facility, which now provides training, mentorship, and job placement services in more than 20 high-demand trades.

“HIRE360 shows what’s possible when government, labor, and private industry work together to open doors for working families and strengthen our economy,” Congressman Krishnamoorthi said. “I’m proud to have secured $1 million to complete this facility and authored the law delivering $1.4 billion annually for career and technical education nationwide. CTE isn’t just about skills; it’s about pathways to good-paying jobs, long-term careers, and an economy that works for all Americans.”

“Thanks to Congressman Krishnamoorthi’s leadership, our facility is a launchpad for careers in high-demand industries,” Jay Rowell, Executive Director of HIRE360, said. “By connecting workers to training, mentorship, and real job opportunities, we’re ensuring that communities across Illinois can access the good-paying, sustainable careers that will shape our economy for decades to come.”

A longtime champion of CTE, Congressman Krishnamoorthi authored the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, a bipartisan law that reformed CTE programs for the first time in over a decade and secured nearly $1.4 billion annually to support workforce training nationwide.

HIRE360’s facility hosts pre-apprenticeship training programs, including those under the Illinois Works and CEJA initiatives, and features classrooms, networking areas, and dedicated spaces for skills practice — all designed to equip residents with the certifications and experience needed for lasting careers in construction, clean energy, and related industries.

Wagner Slams St. Louis USPS Mismanagement, Calls for Immediate Firings

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO-02)

Ballwin, MO – Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO) released the following statement after the audit of St. Louis-area postal operations:

“The utter mismanagement of St. Louis area postal facilities has been a stain on our region that has severely impacted Missourians for too long.  I have repeatedly called for an audit and now that I have seen the results, it’s clear the problem is worse than we ever thought.  This goes beyond mere incompetence. Bad leadership and completely ineffective management have stopped Missourians from getting vital medications and legal documents and robbed citizens seeking to vote by mail of the opportunity to have their vote counted.  Our community deserves a Postal Service that fulfills its core responsibility—delivering mail—instead of abandoning basic job responsibilities like showing up and answering the phone.

“I have requested multiple meetings with previous and new leadership to address these issues.  The United States Postal Service serves the public, and such flagrant disregard for accountability is completely unacceptable.  The results of this audit demand an immediate and severe response: those in charge must be fired and new management must come in to clean house and ensure the Postal Service gets back to a level of service that families, workers, and small businesses can depend on for their day-to-day needs.  The people of Missouri deserve better, and they will get it.”   

Read the audit here

CBO Confirms Trump’s Big Ugly Law Forces Massive Medicare Cuts

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Brendan Boyle (13th District of Pennsylvania)

Analysis Requested by Ranking Member Boyle Confirms Republicans Voted for $536 Billion in Medicare Cuts

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (PA-02), Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, released the following statement in response to a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) showing that Trump’s Big Ugly Law adds so much to the deficit that it will trigger $536 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare. Today’s analysis is an updated report confirming the law’s Medicare cuts, which Ranking Member Boyle was the first to warn about in May.

“For months now, I have been sounding the alarm on the devastating Medicare cuts caused by Trump’s Big Ugly Law. Republicans knew their tax breaks for billionaires would force over half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts — and they did it anyway. American families simply cannot afford Donald Trump’s attacks on Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare.”

With far-right Republicans continuing to pursue even greater health care cuts than what is already in the Big Ugly Law, there is no reason to believe the members of the current Republican conference will disarm this budget time bomb.

A fact sheet on the Big Ugly Law’s Medicare cuts can be found here.

Read the full letter from the Congressional Budget Office here.

###
 

Boyle Statement on the 90th Anniversary of Social Security

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Brendan Boyle (13th District of Pennsylvania)

PHILADELPHIA, PACongressman Brendan F. Boyle (PA-02), Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, issued the following statement marking the 90th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act:

“For 90 years, Social Security has been one of America’s greatest accomplishments, guaranteeing working people the dignity of a secure retirement and keeping millions out of poverty. Despite Social Security’s success, Republicans — including President Trump and his billionaire Treasury Secretary — are scheming to privatize it, and their Big Ugly Law has already pushed the program closer to insolvency.

My Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act would require millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share so we can protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare for all generations. I’ll keep fighting for my bill’s passage — and I’ll fight like hell to make sure bedrock programs like Social Security are never dismantled.”

Background:

Congressman Boyle has introduced the Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act, legislation that would protect Social Security for all generations by making the nation’s highest earners contribute their fair share.

The independent actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Social Security Administration have confirmed Boyle’s legislation will extend solvency indefinitely.

To read more about Congressman Boyle’s Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act, click here.

Pallone Unveils Food Safety Bill as Kids Prepare to Head Back to School

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Frank Pallone (6th District of New Jersey)

NJ 6th District Congressman’s legislation would require independent review of chemicals in food products, including those marketed to children.

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—As kids head back to school, parents expect the food they put in their lunch boxes or that they get from the cafeteria and vending machines to be safe, but a loophole in federal law allows food additives into the food we eat without sufficient oversight. Congressman Pallone is introducing legislation to fix this and bring transparency back to the lunchroom and grocery store shelves. 

Pallone made the announcement at a Rutgers University roundtable titled “What’s in Their Lunch? Closing the Food Ingredient Loophole to Protect Kids.” The event brought together scientists, consumer advocates, and nutrition experts from the Environmental Working Group, Consumer Reports, and Rutgers University to discuss how the lack of oversight puts children’s health at risk, particularly in foods sold in school cafeterias and vending machines.

“With kids across the country heading back to school, parents shouldn’t have to worry that the food in their lunch boxes or in their cafeterias contains chemicals that were never reviewed for safety. Parents deserve to know the food they’re buying for their families is safe,” Pallone said. “Unfortunately, a law that is more than fifty years old is being used as a loophole by companies to evade scrutiny of the chemicals they’re putting in our food. That’s not how food safety should work, especially when it comes to products our kids eat every day. The Grocery Reform and Safety Act will close that loophole and require manufacturers to ensure the ingredients they put in our food are safe for families and Americans across the country.” 

H.R.4958, the Grocery Reform And Safety Act (GRAS Act) would change a law that has been on the books since 1958 that allows food companies to self-certify common ingredients as “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS. The designation was originally intended to provide a pathway to market a narrow set of commonplace, safe ingredients, like water, salt, and baking soda. However, in the decades since the category was created, it has been exploited as a loophole to bypass food safety review and introduce chemicals into food products. This leaves the American public and federal regulators in the dark as to what is in our food.

Pallone’s legislation would close the GRAS loophole, require companies to notify FDA prior to use of substances as GRAS and provide scientific evidence of safety, reassess the safety of certain ingredients such as color additives, and authorize FDA to collect user fees from food manufacturers to ensure the agency has the resources it needs to fulfill its food safety mission.

“No one has done more to make our food safe than Congressman Pallone,” said Scott Faber, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs for the Environmental Working Group. “His new legislation to ensure the safety of food chemicals builds on his remarkable consumer protection record. EWG is grateful that Congressman Pallone is once again putting our health and safety first. No one should have to worry about toxic chemicals in the food we serve to our families.”

“It feels particularly appropriate to have this discussion here at Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, where the vision that drives our teaching, research, and outreach is to build a healthy and sustainable future that balances the wellbeing of all living organisms with the health of the Earth. Assuring that our food is healthy and safe is central to what we do,” said Dr. Laura Lawson, Executive Dean of Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and Executive Director of the NJ Agricultural Experiment Station.

“When a new additive is introduced into foods, consumers have an expectation that the FDA has determined it to be safe,” said Brian Ronholm, Director of Food Policy for Consumer Reports. “Unfortunately, that’s not always the case and it demonstrates how broken our food regulatory system is when food chemical companies are essentially allowed to self-regulate and determine what is safe. The GRAS Act would close this dangerous loophole and provide more transparency so consumers have a better understanding of what’s in their food. We commend Rep. Pallone for his work on this bill and his continued leadership on this issue.”

“Making GRAS determinations supported by publicly available data ensures that decisions are grounded in sound science. As a microbial risk assessor, I value processes are based on sound scientific evidence,” Professor Don Schaffner, Chair, Department of Food Science, Rutgers University.

“Food is a leading source of exposure to numerous chemicals that can harm our health including forever chemicals, phthalates, pesticides, and more,” said Dr. Emily Barrett, Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Rutgers University. “For too long, the burden has been on consumers to navigate these confusing dietary exposures- it is time to enact policies that can protect everyone’s health by keeping harmful chemicals out of our food.”   

“As a mom and teacher, I was shocked to learn that new chemicals can be added to our food without being reviewed for safety by experts we all trust,” said Manisha Chawla, a New Jersey-based food blogger and advocate. “I was also shocked to learn that the people charged with protecting us do not review the chemicals we’re already eating to make sure they are safe. No wonder we are eating thousands of food chemicals that are not allowed in the same foods that eaten in Europe. Moms like me should not have to worry about the safety of the food we serve our families. The safety of our food should not be partisan or even political.”

Legislative text of The Grocery Reform And Safety Act is available HERE.

A section-by-section of the bill text is available HERE.