MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mark Takano (D-Calif)

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Mark Pocan (2nd District of Wisconsin)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (WI-02), co-chair and co-founder of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, released the following statement after voting against final passage of the $890.6 billion FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill’s topline does not reflect the additional $150 billion added to the Pentagon’s budget through the Big Ugly Law this past July, pushing total military spending over $1 trillion for the first time. Rep. Pocan continues his streak of never having voted in favor of an NDAA since being elected to Congress in 2012.

“Once again, Congress is choosing to funnel exorbitant sums into a bloated defense department instead of investing in the everyday needs of working families, like housing, healthcare, and rising costs at the grocery store. The Pentagon remains the only major agency that continues to fail an audit year after year. Yet we keep writing essentially blank checks to defense contractors with little accountability and few results to show for it, while ignoring the needs of our troops who bravely serve our nation. Until lawmakers prioritize people over the Pentagon and demand real oversight, I will continue opposing these reckless, out-of-control defense bills.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jim Baird (R-IN-04)

Congressman Baird Statement on Passage of FY26 NDAA

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

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03), Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY-02), and Congressman Bob Onder (R-MO-03) introduced the bipartisan Student Financial Clarity Act to increase price transparency for American students as they navigate higher education opportunities. This legislation would create a Universal Net Price Calculator and bolster the College Scorecard to provide additional information about specific programs of study.

“Families deserve clear, accessible information when making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives,” said Congresswoman Trahan. “The Student Financial Clarity Act builds on years of work to strengthen Net Price Calculators and expands those reforms through a modernized College Scorecard with transparency on costs, aid, and student outcomes broken down by institution and program. This bill delivers on the simple idea that every student should know what they are paying for and what they can expect in return. I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation to help students and parents navigate the path to higher education with confidence.” “Today, America’s young people face the daunting task of navigating an increasingly complex higher education landscape. As a result of the skyrocketing cost of education, Americans now owe nearly $1.8 trillion in student loans,” said Congressman Guthrie. “My Student Financial Clarity Act would allow students to easily access information about the costs and outcomes at institutions and individual programs so they can evaluate the program that is best suited for their academic interests and financial means. This bill will bring much-needed clarity for the American student.”
“I am proud to join Congressman Guthrie in leading the Student Financial Clarity Act. With the cost of higher education continuing to rise, it is crucial that we help students thrive by creating transparency around institutions, programs, and costs. This is exactly what the Student Financial Clarity Act will accomplish. By creating an accurate Universal Net Price Calculator, this bill will empower students to compare universities and programs to help identify the best option not only for their educational future but also for their financial future,” said Congressman Bob Onder.
Since 2008, Congress has required institutions of higher education to provide Net Price Calculator tools on their websites as a part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act. However, this tool has been implemented inconsistently, resulting in students experiencing difficulty in accessing important information when making the most crucial decisions of their academic careers. If enacted, the Student Financial Clarity Act would:

Create a Universal Net Price Calculator, which would allow students to answer a set of financial and academic questions to receive personalized cost estimates for institutions and programs of study.

Provide a central location for students to compare costs at one or more schools and programs of study, specific to their financial situation.

Expand the College Scorecard to require additional information on program-level statistics, allowing students to compare student costs, outcomes, and financial aid at institutions and specific programs of study.

This legislation is expected to be marked up by the House Committee on Education and Workforce on December 11, 2025.
Trahan has consistently worked to increase transparency for students and families considering higher education dating back to her time as a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor during her first term. Last Congress, she reintroduced her Net Price Calculator Improvement Act, which would ensure that prospective students have the full picture of what it will cost to attend a higher education institution.
A copy of the legislation introduced yesterday can be accessed HERE.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman John Rutherford (4th District of Florida)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, U.S. Congressman John H. Rutherford (FL-05) released the following statement on the House passage of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):

“As our country faces growing threats worldwide, it is important that we ensure the men and women who defend our nation in uniform have the resources they need to fulfill their mission at home and abroad. That is why I was proud to vote YES to pass this year’s defense bill to improve our servicemembers’ quality of life, bolster our military readiness, strengthen recruitment and retention of our armed forces, and deliver for our military families. 

“This year’s defense bill furthers my commitment to supporting our troops and keeping America safe by:

• Providing a 3.8% military pay raise for all servicemembers
• Investing and improving military housing infrastructure to improve living conditions for our servicemembers and their families
• Codifying President Trump’s Executive Orders like the Golden Dome program
• Fully funding the deployment of National Guard and active-duty troops in support of Border Patrol activities at the southwest border
• Reforming military construction to increase efficiency and reduce costs
• Eliminating Biden administration-era DEI programs
• Authorizing the procurement of four E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes

“Additionally, this bill includes support for vital construction projects at Northeast Florida military installations that will improve readiness and servicemember quality of life. If we want to keep America safe, we must provide for our military and their families. I was proud to vote in favor of this year’s NDAA and look forward to seeing it signed into law.”

Please find the bill summary here.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

WASHINGTON — This week, House Republicans are advancing the FY26 NDAA — the centerpiece of President Trump’s Peace Through Strength Agenda and the plan to restore unmatched American military dominance. This legislation rebuilds a lethal warfighting edge, ends Biden’s woke agenda in the military, keeps the border secured, and reestablishes real deterrence after years of weakness.

It enacts key Trump executive actions, revitalizes the defense industrial base, strengthens servicemember quality of life — and still saves taxpayers nearly $20 billion.

CODIFYING PRESIDENT TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ACTIONS

The FY26 NDAA carries out President Trump’s commitment to rebuild American strength and deter aggression by codifying all or parts of 15 major executive actions, including:

1. Restoring America’s Fighting Force (EO 14185)
2. Ending Radical and Wasteful DEI Programs (EO 14151)
3. Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border (Proclamation 10886)
4. Securing Our Borders (EO 14165)
5. Clarifying the Military’s Role in Defending U.S. Territorial Integrity (EO 14167)
6. Modernizing Defense Acquisitions & Spurring Innovation (EO 14265) 
7. Building the Golden Dome for America (EO 14186)
8. Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security (EO 14299)
9. Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty (EO 14305)
10. Unleashing American Drone Dominance (EO 14307)

The bill also codifies 30 key legislative proposals requested by the Trump Administration, including:

• Eliminating statutory DEI provisions in the Department of War (DoW)
• Revising national missile defense policy to align with the Golden Dome for America
• Extending expiring bonus and special pay authorities
• Expanding joint counterterrorism and counter–transnational organized crime authorities
• Providing DoW support to protect U.S. airspace, maritime domain, and territory
• Extending authorities to assist partners combating ISIS in Iraq and Syria

AMERICA FIRST WINS

The FY26 NDAA delivers major conservative victories that restore mission focus:

• Ends wokeness and DEI by eliminating programs, offices, and training across DoW.
• Secures the border by expanding DoW support for DHS operations, National Guard deployments, and National Defense Areas.
• Improves quality of life for servicemembers: Delivers a 3.8% pay raise and better housing, food, health care, and childcare.
• Revitalizes the defense industrial base: Grows U.S. defense manufacturing jobs, onshore critical supply chains, and expands surge capacity.
• Ensures allies pay their fair share: Adds new tools to push allies to shoulder more of their own defense costs.
• Keeps terrorists locked up at Guantanamo: Extends the prohibition on closing the GITMO detention facility and blocks the transfer of terrorists to Afghanistan or any state sponsor of terrorism.
• Counters global threats: Strengthens counterterrorism tools, deters China in the Indo-Pacific, and ensures allies contribute more to collective defense.

BUDGET SAVINGS & REFORMS

The FY26 NDAA authorizes $900.6 billion in national defense spending — while saving nearly $20 billion through targeted reforms:

• $40.5 million from eliminating DEI activities
• $6.8 billion from reductions in unnecessary Pentagon bureaucracy
• $5.5 billion in cuts to consulting and service contracts  
• $3.7 billion in cuts to inefficient defense programs
• $1.6 billion in cuts to climate change-related spending 
• $1.2 billion from retiring obsolete aircraft and ships

The NDAA also advances President Trump’s civil service reforms by modernizing the DoW civilian workforce, promoting skills-based hiring and performance-based advancement, and cutting wasteful red tape.

READY, CAPABLE, AND LETHAL FIGHTING FORCE

The FY26 NDAA ensures the U.S. military remains ready, capable, and lethal by:

• Improving maintenance and spare-parts readiness for key systems like the F-35 and Navy ships.
• Preserving critical platforms while accelerating next-generation aircraft, ships, vehicles, and munitions.
• Authorizing major investments in shipbuilding, aircraft, munitions, and emerging technologies.
• Modernizing the nuclear triad and strengthening missile defense and space capabilities.
• Prioritizing innovation in AI, cyber, quantum, hypersonic, and biotechnology to keep America ahead of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

BOTTOM LINE:

With the NDAA, President Trump and Congressional Republicans are restoring American strength, defending our homeland, standing with our allies, and ensuring the United States remains the most powerful and capable military force the world has ever known.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

WASHINGTON — This afternoon, Speaker Johnson, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries hosted the third annual Capitol Menorah Lighting Ceremony to commemorate upcoming the eight-day festival of Hanukkah. Reps. Craig Goldman and Randy Fine and Rabbi Levi Shemtov joined Congressional leaders at the ceremony.

Watch Speaker Johnson’s full remarks here.

Below are Speaker Johnson’s remarks as delivered:

This is a special time of year, and we like to do this. We enjoy this because we gather here in the People’s House to celebrate our fellow Americans of all faiths. And this is an important one.

The Festival of Hanukkah, at its heart, is a celebration of course, of courage of the Jewish people’s steadfast defense of their faith over centuries of persecution. And we don’t ever forget that.

It was more than 2,000 years ago in the ancient land of Israel; the Jewish people were denied the most basic freedom to pray and to express their faith in the holiest of places. And it was then that a fearless patriot, known as Judah Maccabee, led a small band of brothers to reclaim the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

When the temple was restored, the menorah’s oil that should have lasted only one day, burned instead for eight miraculous days. I’m telling you this story as if Rabbi Shemtov didn’t cover it already, but for those who are tuning in late, this is the history.

It’s during Hanukkah that the Jewish people celebrate and commemorate this miracle by lighting the menorah each year. Today, that same light will shine here in the People’s House. And that’s what is important. It shines as a symbol of the resilience and the perseverance, the eternal hope of the Jewish people.

I don’t know if it was explained the significance of this particular menorah. Well, it was a gift to us, and it is made of the steel that came off of the bombs that were shot down over Israel, the missiles that the Iron Dome was taken down. So, it’s particularly meaningful and a poignant reminder of just what we’re talking about, the perseverance of the Jewish people over all these years.

And as we light the menorah, we’re grateful for the many freedoms we enjoy as Americans, and among them, the freedom to worship freely and without fear of persecution and injustice.

Yesterday, I entertained Speaker Ohana, my counterpart of the Israeli Knesset. He was in town, as many of you know, some of y’all met with him. He’s become a good friend and a colleague. And he was here because we jointly signed a letter to nominate our president, President Trump, for the next Nobel Peace Prize in 2026.

And it was Speaker Ohana’s idea, because he thought that this was an appropriate thing, having settled now eight conflicts and bloody wars conflicts around the world, that he and I would be co-signatories on this and that we would ask all of our colleagues, the other speakers and presidents of the great parliaments around the world to join us in that.

So, it’d be a joint nomination of the President of the United States for the Nobel Peace Prize. I think it’s very appropriate. I thanked him for that. We had a joint signing ceremony. But we exchanged gifts. And he gave to me a ninth-century clay pot. It was actually for oil. Priceless. I didn’t want to touch it. I said, everybody can stand away from that. It came from, I think the First Temple is what he told me, and it’s an incredible piece of history as a gift.

And what I gave to him in exchange, was a copy of the father of our country’s letter to the Hebrew Congregation that he wrote in 1790. The Jewish leaders there had had written to him, and they had concern about their protection in the United States in this new country of ours. And they asked the president of our country, would their religious freedom be respected?

And the president of our country, the father of our country, George Washington, said in his own hand, his own words, he said this is a natural right, that you are given this right by God, not by government, and the United States will jealously protect that. The right of every single person to have the religious liberty, the first freedom we call it, to worship and to live as you please.

And that’s has always been a part of our tradition. And we recognize that here. This cherished tradition is an ideal articulated in our earliest days as a young nation. And that’s what comes to mind when we do these things together.

I just want to say that we take heart in knowing that even in the face of generations of bigotry, bondage, persecution, and exile, the Jewish people have endured, and they have flourished. And that at its very essence is what we celebrate today.

That the light of faith and love and courage and conviction will always guide us on the path to brighter days ahead. We’re so very grateful to everybody here for joining us to celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah. May your candles burn bright this season, and may God bless you all. Thank you.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Earl L Buddy Carter (GA-01)

Headline: Carter introduces bill awarding Congressional Gold Medal to the fallen patriots of Thiokol

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) today introduced the Thiokol Memorial Gold Medal Act, a bill awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the Thiokol Memorial Museum in honor of the 30 fallen patriots of Thiokol.

On February 3, 1971, the Thiokol plant in Woodbine, Georgia, which manufactured trip flares during the Vietnam War, suffered a catastrophic explosion killing 29 people and injuring 50 others, many of whom were African American women. In a separate tragedy in May 1973, another worker who served two tours in Vietnam died in a mortar shell explosion at the same facility.

“These 30 men and women were unsung heroes of the Vietnam War, dying in service to their country. The tragedy at Thiokol claimed too many innocent lives too soon, and it is our responsibility to keep their memories alive. By awarding the fallen a Congressional Gold Medal, we are honoring their legacy, thanking them for their patriotic service, and remembering those who gave their lives in defense of our freedoms,” said Rep. Carter.                  

“I extend my sincere appreciation to Congressman Carter for his support in advancing this legislation. Honoring the sacrifices of these patriots ensures that the voices of the fallen, their families, and our community are recognized at the highest levels,” said Jannie Everette, CEO/President of the Thiokol Memorial Project.

Original co-sponsors of this bill include: Reps. Rich McCormick (R-GA), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), and Lucy McBath (D-GA).

The fallen patriots of Thiokol are:

1. Celia A. Alberta — Woodbine, GA
2. Ethel L. Banks — Woodbine, GA
3. Annie C. Booth — Kingsland, GA
4. Gloria W. Booth — Kingsland, GA
5. Bertha Walker Brunswick — Woodbine, GA
6. Bettie Dawson Burch — Kingsland, GA
7. Charles Burch — Kingsland, GA
8. James L. Chapman — Marshall, TX
9. Yvonne Marie Connelly — Kingsland, GA
10. Jack Cox — Longview, TX
11. Mae Hazel Davis — St. Marys, GA
12. Mildred Davis — Blackshear, GA
13. Howard Ellis, Sr. — Woodbine, GA
14. Willie Mae Austell-Fuller — Kingsland, GA
15. Pearlie Mae Young-Hutchinson — White Oak, GA
16. Annie Mae Hutchinson-James — Woodbine, GA
17. Mack Kennedy — White Oak, GA
18. Essie Diana Green-King — Kingsland, GA
19. Gracie Mae Small-Life — White Oak, GA
20. Bertha Mae Hill — Woodbine, GA
21. Charles T. Monak — Montgomery, AL
22. James Parland — Woodbine, GA
23. Sandra Regina Rauls — Kingsland, GA
24. Cyrus Emory Roberson — Nahunta, GA
25. Betty Jean Roberts — Yulee, FL
26. Lillie Bell Spells — St. Marys, GA
27. Cheryl N. Sullivan — Woodbine, GA
28. Mae Alice Taylor — Yulee, FL
29. Annie Loise Williams — St. Marys, GA
30. Joseph Eugene Wainwright — White Oak, GA

Read the full bill text here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green Ohio)

Today, Congressman Bob Latta (OH-5) re-introduced the Stop Penalizing Working Seniors Act, a bill to expand access to health savings accounts (HSAs) and fix a technicality prohibiting individuals who are receiving social security benefits from contributing to their HSA accounts. Congresswomen Stephanie Bice (OK-5) and Ashley Hinson (IA-2) are co-sponsors of this legislation.  

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) allow individuals to make tax-advantaged contributions and use the funds for qualified medical expenses. To contribute to an HSA, an individual must be enrolled in a High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). Under current law, once an individual begins collecting Social Security benefits, they are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A, which disqualifies them from making further contributions to an HSA. This bill would allow individuals enrolled only in Medicare Part A to continue contributing to an HSA.

“Seniors deserve the flexibility to keep saving for both their current and long-term health care needs. Right now, many seniors who are still working and enrolled in Medicare Part A are unfairly prevented from contributing to their Health Savings Accounts. This needless restriction reduces their health care choices. That’s why I introduced the Stop Penalizing Working Seniors Act, to give seniors the freedom to plan for and afford the care they need,” Latta said.  

“I am proud to once again be an original cosponsor of Congressman Latta’s legislation, the Stop Penalizing Working Seniors Act. This bill broadens eligibility for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and addresses a technical issue that prevents people receiving Social Security benefits from adding to their HSAs. I will continue to support legislation which provides relief for those living on fixed incomes,” Bice said.  

“Under current law, some seniors are unable to contribute to, or use, HSAs simply because they have chosen to remain in the workforce. This legislation fixes this technicality that unfairly punishes seniors who wish to use HSAs. I’ll continue working to lower costs and increase health care options for Iowans, especially our seniors,” Hinson said.  

NOTE: Congressman Latta first introduced this legislation during the 116th Congress after hearing directly from constituents impacted by the issue. He has since reintroduced the bill in the 117th and 118th Congresses.