Press Releases

Forty-One Senators Push to Keep Harmful Environmental Riders Out of Appropriations Bills

Senators warn that inclusion of poison pills harming the environment would undermine Senate’s ability to pass bipartisan spending bills Washington, D.C. – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works; Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior,

Merkley, Salinas, Pacific Northwest Democrats to Secretary Rollins: Act Quickly to Hire Agricultural Research Staff Across the Region

Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Representative Andrea Salinas (OR-06) led a group of their Pacific Northwest colleagues in pressing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins over her commitment to promptly fill critical staff positions that remain vacant at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service

Senators to Introduce Amendment to GENIUS Act to Prevent Trump Corruption 

Washington, D.C. –  Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-MI), Senate Armed Services Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI), and Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Michael Bennet (D-CO)

Merkley Statement After Republican Reconciliation Bill Passed Out of the House

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the below statement following House passage of the Republican reconciliation bill. “House Republicans have just passed Trump’s so called ‘big, beautiful bill.’ There is nothing beautiful about it. It is: families lose, billionaires

Governor Kotek Applauds $16 Million USDA Purchase of Oregon Pink Shrimp

USDA’s letter recognizes value of high-quality Pacific pink shrimp to the economic health of the United States Today, Governor Tina Kotek released the following statement in response to the USDA announcement of a $16 million purchase of Oregon Pink Shrimp: “As a coastal state with major ports, we move billions

Merkley to Burgum: Our Public Lands Are Not for Sale

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, released the following statement after a hearing on the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the U.S. Department of the Interior with Secretary Doug Burgum: “Secretary Burgum testified

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