MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (D-TX-29) and her Democratic colleagues walked out of a rare joint hearing between the House Financial Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee, after Republicans turned it into a platform to rubber-stamp President Trump’s latest scheme to enrich himself and his family through the power of his office.

“This wasn’t a fair hearing—it was a sham,” said Congresswoman Garcia. “While my constituents are worried about affording groceries, Donald Trump is trying to line his pockets. He is a grifter, plain and simple—and Republicans are helping him get away with it.”

The hearing, focused on cryptocurrency regulation, was convened under the unusual authority of both committees—required to unanimously agree to hold a joint session. At the start of the hearing, Democrats requested a single common sense safeguard: a simple amendment to bar the President, Members of Congress, and other public officials from personally profiting from the sale of cryptocurrencies. Republicans flat out refused.

This comes as a Trump business entity owns 60 percent of World Liberty Financial, a crypto startup, and is entitled to 75 percent of all revenue from coin sales. 

“Instead of prioritizing his job as our nation’s leader, President Trump is using his position to strip financial regulators of their independence, all to line the pockets of his friends and his family, many of whom are now listed as members of the World Liberty Financial team,” added Congresswoman Garcia. “This is such a direct, obvious, in-your-face conflict of interest, that it’s outrageous there is no bipartisan outrage against this. When a company lists the President of the United States as ‘Chief Crypto Advocate’ it’s a clear signal that the President and his family are cashing in.”

Rather than let their constituents’ voices be silenced in the Republican sham hearing, Congresswoman Garcia and her Democratic colleagues held their own session focused on the facts, the law, and the urgent need for ethical regulation of digital assets.
 

Watch the hearing HERE.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Chip Roy (R-TX)

Hays County, Texas — Representative Chip Roy (TX-21) offered his congratulations today to thirty-six stellar high school students across Texas’ 21^st congressional district who achieved the Exceptional Senior Award (ESA). This award is in its sixth year of existence. 

ESA winners have consistently displayed high levels of character, leadership, integrity, and diligence. These virtues are evident through their philanthropic activities, academic success, and reputations among peers and teachers.  

Congressman Roy said: “I am proud of all that the incredible young men and women of Texas’ 21st Congressional District have achieved. Texans have reason to be optimistic about our great state’s destiny with them as our future leaders.”

Rep. Roy is deeply grateful to the families of these exceptional seniors for their love and support throughout their educational journeys. He would also like to thank the faculty of schools across his district who recommended these individuals for the ESA.

The Exceptional Senior Award winners, Class of 2025:

Ms. Victoria Allen, Geneva School of Boerne

Ms. Sophia Arreguin, Memorial Early College High School (New Braunfels) 

Ms. Anneliese Bacon, Harper High School

Mr. Keegan Ballard, Dripping Springs High School

Ms. Kaitlyn Best, New Braunfels High School

Ms. Taylor Bloom, Our Lady of the Hills Catholic School (Kerrville)

Ms. Sienna Carter, Medina Secondary School

Mr. Stephen “Finn” Cone, Kerrville Christian Homeschoolers

Mr. Corey Cook, Boerne Champion High School

Mr. Jonathon Davenport, Wimberley High School

Ms. Perry Faught, Blanco High School

Ms. Evelyn Garrett, Tivy High School (Kerrville)

Ms. Jalyn Lamb, Bandera High School

Ms. Jillian Land, Bracken Christian School (Bulverde)

Mr. Cole Leidy, New Braunfels Christian Academy

Ms. Casey Loewer, LBJ High School (Johnson City)

Ms. Madeline McAdams, Regents School of Austin

Ms. Audrey McFarlane, Heritage School of Fredericksburg

Ms. Schreiner Meredith, Nueces Canyon High School

Mr. Aidan Nolen, San Marcos Academy

Ms. Kaylin O’Rourke, Boerne Area Christian Homeschoolers

Ms. Aven Ottmers, Fredericksburg High School

Ms. Katelynn Salazar, Leakey School

Ms. Kinsley Sawyer, Boerne High School

Ms. Abbigail Shultz, Hill Country Preparatory High School (New Braunfels) 

Ms. Athena Sorenson, Davenport High School (Garden Ridge)

Ms. Hailey Turner, Hill Country Christian Homeschool Association (Kerrville)

Mr. Brody Vanacker, Ingram Tom Moore High School

Ms. Hope Van Geffen, Comfort High School

Ms. Donna Verkamp, St. Anthony Catholic High School (San Antonio)

Mr. Aidan Williams, Gloria Deo Academy (Bulverde)

Ms. Peyton Wilson, Canyon High School (New Braunfels) 

Ms. Rachel Wood, Jack C.Hays High School (Buda)

Ms. Rylee Wunderlich, Canyon Lake High School

Ms. Eliana Wyche, Saint Mary’s Hall (San Antonio)

Mr. Elijah Yun, Alamo Heights High School

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Chip Roy (R-TX)

Washington, D.C. — Representative Chip Roy (TX-21) issued the following statement after the House passed The One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.

“After much deliberation, I voted yes on H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 
 
Months ago, I worked to ensure that any tax cuts or extensions would be connected to an equal or greater amount of spending cuts to force fiscal discipline.  The good news is that the bill technically held true to that framework by yielding modest deficit reduction over a 10-year budget window.  Importantly, it does this by cutting spending $1.5 trillion over 10 years, reforming programs like Medicaid and SNAP with work requirements, and improving healthcare freedom by expanding health savings accounts to allow use with Direct Primary Care.
 
But the good things didn’t just happen by accident. 
 
My fellow budget hawk colleagues and I, including many in the House Freedom Caucus, forced reforms that were critical to making the bill more responsible. We:

• Accelerated Medicaid work requirements 3 years from 2029 to 2026.
• Helped stave off further Obamacare expansion by aligning State Directed Payments (SDPs) in Medicaid to the rates of Medicare in Medicaid expansion states while allowing states that have not expanded Medicaid (ex., TX) to have SDPs at 110% of Medicare.
• Froze the state provider taxes to ensure states don’t grow their money laundering schemes.
• Paid Texas and other states back for their border efforts under the Biden administration.
• Began to claw back the “Green New Scam” put on steroids by the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) corrupt subsidies – namely by putting in place a required construction start within 60 days of enactment and a much earlier “in service” requirement of 12/31/28 – all designed to limit the reach of subsidies.

To be clear, I didn’t vote for the bill without significant reservations. 
 
For example, in classic Washington fashion, the bill produces sizable deficits in the first 5 years while achieving “savings” in the future, which means we’ve got to bring forward more savings than I already fought for.
 
And as with most major bills in Washington, this bill was rushed, mashed together, and crammed through the House without sufficient time to review every item carefully.  We should do better.
 
The Medicaid money laundering scam was not reformed sufficiently, and far too many of the new green scam subsidies continue to operate.
 
And inexplicably, we funded high-tax state jurisdictions with a $350 billion tax deduction for their “SALT” tax deductions – something I strongly oppose.
 
But even though I supported this bill out of the House, this bill needs massive improvements if we are to make a dent in our deficit or to change the trajectory of this country.  
 
We must reduce deficits much further, even as we continue to work to FULLY repeal the IRA’s unreliable energy subsidies and reduce the damage done by Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.  We can do this most efficiently with state block grants – but we can also reduce the 90% FMAP for able bodied people – ensuring states are not getting seven times more money for able bodied adults with no children over the most vulnerable in traditional Medicaid – and reducing provider taxes to end the unnecessary inflation of costs in healthcare.  
 
I stand ready to work with my colleagues in the Senate to continue to get this bill right before sending it to the President’s desk.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Chip Roy (R-TX)

Washington, D.C. — Representative Chip Roy (TX-21) issued the following statement tonight after the House Budget Committee voted to advance the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill”.

Congressman Roy said: “Tonight, after a great deal of work and engagement over the weekend, the Budget Committee advanced a reconciliation bill that lays the foundation for much needed tax relief, border security, and important spending reductions and reforms. Importantly the bill now will move Medicaid work requirements forward and reduces the availability of future subsidies under the green new scam.

But, the bill does not yet meet the moment – leaving almost half of the green new scam subsidies continuing. More, it fails to end the Medicaid money laundering scam and perverse funding structure that provides seven times more federal dollars for each dollar of state spending for the able-bodied relative to the vulnerable. This all ultimately increases the likelihood of continuing deficits and non-Obamacare-expansion states like Texas expanding in the future. We can and must do better before we pass the final product.

As such, I joined with 3 of my colleagues to vote “present” out of respect for the Republican Conference and the President to move the bill forward. It gives us the opportunity to work together this week to get the job done in light of the fact our bond rating was dropped yet again due to historic fiscal mismanagement by both parties. This bill is a strong step forward – and I am proud of Chairman Arrington, the Speaker, and my colleagues for the work we did to make progress with the White House. But we have to do more to deliver for the American people.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Chip Roy (R-TX)

Washington, D.C. — Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21) spoke in the House Budget Committee hearing this morning on the current state of reconciliation.

Rep. Roy said in Budget Committee:
 
“I appreciate my friend from Texas, the chairman, and you know, my Democratic colleagues keep telling things that are not true. The vast majority of Americans will get tax benefits under this bill. It’s just simply false to say that that’s not true. Hardworking Americans who will benefit from the standard deduction increase, hardworking Americans who will benefit from child tax credits and lower tax rates—stop saying things that aren’t true. Those things are true. The fact is, we have money in here for the border to undo the damage of Joe Biden. We have more money in here for defense to undo the damage of Joe Biden, but we also address Medicaid and Medicaid spending goes up. Stop lying. Medicaid spending goes up. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are profoundly unserious when it comes to being real about what’s happening with the numbers. I applaud Chairman Arrington. I applaud my colleagues on this side of the aisle for taking a step forward in dealing with the spending problem in this town.

But I have to now admonish my colleagues on this side of the aisle: this bill falls profoundly short. It does not do what we say it does with respect to deficits. The fact of the matter is, on the spending, what we’re dealing with here is tax cuts and spending a massive front-loaded deficit increase. That’s the truth. That’s the truth. Deficits will go up in the first half of the 10-year budget window. And we all know it’s true, and we shouldn’t do that. We shouldn’t say that we’re doing something we’re not doing.

The fact of the matter is, this bill has back-loaded savings and front-loaded spending, nowhere near the Senate Budget top line, by the way. The Senate Budget top line of six and a half trillion dollars, which, by the way, is what we were pre-COVID, inflation-adjusted, on interest, on Medicare and Social Security. And if we would reform Medicaid, we could actually get to the core of the problem, but we refuse to do it. And I’m not going to sit here and say that everything is hunky-dory when this is the Budget Committee. This is the Budget Committee. We are supposed to do something to actually result in balanced budgets, but we’re not doing it. Look at what happens under deficits… Only in Washington are we expected to bet on the come that in five years, everything will work, then we will solve the problem.

We have got to change the direction of this town, and to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: yes, that means touching Medicaid. It went from $400 billion in 2019 to $600 billion this year. It’ll be over a trillion in the 2030s. We are making promises that we cannot keep. We do need to reform it. We need to stop giving seven times as much money to the able-bodied over the vulnerable. Why are we sticking it to the vulnerable population, the disabled and the sick, to give money to single able-bodied male adults? We shouldn’t do that. We should reform it. But guess what? That message needs to be delivered to my colleagues on this side of the aisle too.

We are writing checks we cannot cash, and our children are going to pay the price. So I am a no on this bill unless serious reforms are made today, tomorrow, Sunday. We’re having conversations as we speak, but something needs to change, or you’re not going to get my support.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Chip Roy (R-TX)

On Medicaid Expansion:

“The President United States, President Trump, and his Secretary of Treasury, Treasury Bessent, are doing a fantastic job, and the Secretary has laid out a objective of obviously, getting our deficits down to 3% of GDP through strong economic growth, through the tax policy that we want to extend, that the President put forward. I believe that’s one piece of the puzzle that we must go do. But right now, we are not going to address the key drivers of spending that will make it impossible for the President and the Secretary to achieve that objective. Bond markets are on a knife’s edge. You know that, and I know that, and that is necessary for the free flow of capital to have that economic growth. If we continue to allow Medicaid to consume our budget and allow us to continue to drive that budget up so deficits go up, then we’re not going to be able to achieve those objectives.”

“Medicaid right now is now a trillion dollar higher baseline than when we came in under Biden. We are spending $620 billion a year on Medicaid, compared to $400 billion in 2019 and if we allow this to continue where we’re, as you said, continue to fund the able body in massive expansion states, heavily in blue states. If we were doing that at a seven times dollar value, imagine that, if you’re listening to this, we the federal government are funding Medicaid seven times higher for the able bodied than for those who need it, the vulnerable, the sick, the people who truly Medicaid was designed for. What kind of a country does that? It’s ridiculous.”

“And by the way, if we do this, we’re going to cement Obamacare, and the 10 non expansion states like Texas will have incredible pressure to expand, and that will eat up all of the so called savings in this bill, which, by the way, are back loaded. You know that, and I know that. And if you have back loaded savings, they never materialize. That means deficits go up, and under our bill, debt will be $56 trillion in a decade. That’s not winning. We’ve got to change it. Republicans should do better.”

On Flaws in Current Medicaid Reforms:

“I couldn’t believe it when I read those were the provisions that the work requirements were supposed to be the core engine of Medicaid reform, which isn’t good enough. You have to deal with Medicaid. You have to deal with the expansion population. You have to do with the you have to deal with the money laundering. But the work requirements were basic. They don’t kick into 2029 they have waivers even once they kick in.”

On Fiscal Responsibility and Medicaid Reform:

“We should do the right thing. Let’s do the fiscally responsible thing. But here’s what’s really important. Let’s make sure that people who are vulnerable and are sick they’re the ones that the program is focused on. Let’s preserve capital and free up our health care system so we can drive down health care prices and free it up for the average hard working American. We have plans to do that, strong, robust health savings accounts, getting the competition back into the system. We can do that, and you can do that by drawing down all these subsidies on Medicaid, which are subsidizing blue states and massive expansion states at the expense of the non expansion states and the vulnerable at the expense the expense of the vulnerable for the able body, I think that’s a mistake.”

“We should not be giving Medicaid to anyone who is ineligible, including those who are illegal, and we should kill all the scams the blue states are using to launder federal money to all of their ridiculous programs. Republicans should lead to support the president. They’re not right now. I can’t support the bill as it is.”

On Gaining Republican Support:

“There’s a good chunk of my colleagues that are with me on the fiscal conservative side, but they’re also struggling because they’re deferential to the president, which I understand.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07)

Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher Hosts Town Hall Meeting with Fort Bend County Commissioner Dexter McCoy

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07)

Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher Votes Against Disastrous Republican Budget Reconciliation Bill

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07)

Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Congresswoman Val Hoyle (OR-04), and Congressman Joe Neguse (CO-02) led 35 of their House colleagues in sending a letter to the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies requesting that Congress reject President Trump’s attempt to gut the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) and instead fund it at a level of at least $656 million in the upcoming appropriations package.  This funding would allow OAR to continue its critical mission to prepare our communities for life-threatening natural disasters and to keep the U.S. at the forefront of atmospheric and oceanic research and science. 

“Recent reporting on the President’s FY26 budget proposal shows that the Trump Administration plans to effectively eliminate OAR,” the members wrote.  “The proposal includes a $485 million cut to OAR’s budget, which is a nearly 75 percent cut, and a directive to transfer any remaining research funding to other divisions of NOAA.  The proposed budget would ‘eliminate all funding for climate, weather, and ocean laboratories and cooperative institutes.’  It also does not include funding for Regional Climate Data and Information, Climate Competitive Research, National Sea Grant College Program, or the National Oceanographic Partnership Program.  This shortsighted and dangerous proposal would cripple United States (U.S.) leadership in scientific research and leave our communities less prepared to face extreme weather events.  As hurricane season quickly approaches, OAR’s advancements in predicting extreme weather events are more important than ever.  The research and data resulting from the OAR Hurricane Research Division’s partnership with the U.S. National Hurricane Center have saved countless lives and nearly $5 billion per major U.S. hurricane landfall.” 

“Stronger science for forecasting severe weather and communicating impacts will protect communities and save lives,” the members continued.  “Robust funding will enable NOAA and its research institution partners to continue their long and proud history of partnering with industries and other government agencies to provide that cutting-edge research.” 

To read the full text of the letter, click here. 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07)

Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) spearheaded a letter joined by 72 of her House colleagues, to the House Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee requesting that Congress allocate funding for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).  The Trump Administration’s sweeping changes to our immigration system, termination of immigration judges, and mass deportation agenda threaten the integrity, operational efficiency, and fairness of our immigration courts. It is critical that EOIR has the resources to hire additional qualified immigration judges and provide them with sufficient case processing capacity—both to address the current backlog of more than 3.6 million pending immigration court cases and to ensure due process in an impartial and timely manner.

“Currently, our immigration courts face a staggering backlog of more than 3.6 million active pending cases, which EOIR has cited as the largest single issue facing the immigration courts today,” the members wrote.  “This growing backlog impedes our immigration system, creating significant barriers for people legally seeking asylum, migrants, pregnant women, and people with disabilities that seek to remain in the United States.  These complex cases can take up to seven years before receiving a hearing, leaving migrants, families, and communities in legal limbo as they await hearings and decisions.  At a time when President Trump is making sweeping changes to our immigration system that threaten the integrity, operational efficiency, and fairness of our immigration courts, adequately funding EOIR is essential to a well-functioning and fair immigration system. 

“It is crucial that Congress continues to support and invest in EOIR to ensure a well-functioning immigration system to adjudicate our immigration laws consistent with our values and address the growing backlog of pending cases,” the members continued.  “We strongly urge you to allocate the highest possible funding and include report language for EOIR funding to go towards the hiring of additional highly qualified judges, the hiring of additional judge teams, the modernization of case management system, the building and expansion of immigration courtroom spaces, and funding of the Legal Orientation Program.” 

In 2022, 2023, and 2024, Congresswoman Fletcher led similar letters requesting congressional funding to address the immigration courts’ backlog by hiring more highly qualified immigration judges. 

To read the full text of this year’s letter, click here.