Tag: Appropriations

Merkley, Pingree Demand Trump Administration Halt Implementation of Reckless Reorganization at the Department of the Interior

April 22, 2025

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, and U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s move to significantly reorganize the

Merkley, Pingree: EPA’s Elimination of Scientific Research Arm Threatens Clean Air and Water for All

March 28, 2025

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-01), the top Democrats on the subcommittees that oversee funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), sounded the alarm over the EPA’s illegal plans to dismantle the Office of Research and Development (ORD) and fire hundreds of scientists nationwide.

Merkley, Pingree: EPA’s Reckless Gutting of Environmental Justice Programs Harms Communities

March 27, 2025

Washington, D.C. – Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Chellie Pingree (ME-01) denounced plans by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin to eliminate all of the agency’s offices and positions related to environmental justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Merkley: Won’t Give in to Bullies, Voted Against Republicans’ Dangerous Government Spending Bill

March 14, 2025

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after the Senate considered Republicans’ Continuing Resolution to fund the government until September 30: “You don’t stop a bully by giving him your lunch money, and you don’t stop tyrant Trump by giving him more power. The Republican spending bill

Merkley, Wyden, Colleagues Demand FEMA Responds to Questions about Disaster Victim Data, Mass Firings, and Funding Freezes

March 7, 2025

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden joined their colleagues to call on the leadership of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to respond to unanswered questions about Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) and its reported access to sensitive disaster victim data. The Senators

Merkley, Wyden: Trump Devastates Oregon’s Rural Communities with Federal Funding Cuts and Mass Firings

February 24, 2025

Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley, the former top Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Ron Wyden demanded recently confirmed U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins immediately reverse disastrous actions at the USDA that have harmed Oregon farmers and families. Their

Ranking Members Pingree, Merkley Condemn Indian Affairs Hiring Freeze, Firings as Violation of Tribal Sovereignty

February 20, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the top Democrats on the subcommittees that oversee funding for the Department of the Interior (DOI), demanded the Trump Administration immediately reinstate terminated Indian Affairs employees, lift the hiring freeze, and officially rescind the deferred resignation and early retirement offers. As

Merkley, Murray, Peters Seek Clarity on Scope, Reach of OMB Funding Cuts, Who Authored Disastrous Memo

February 13, 2025

WASHINGTON, DC – Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA), and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-MI) continued their Congressional oversight responsibilities of the Trump Administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) by seeking clarity

Trump Illegally Pulling EV Infrastructure Money Means More Pollution, Higher Fuel Costs—Merkley, EPW Colleagues Demand Answers, Funding Reinstatement

February 11, 2025

By banning the Department of Transportation from releasing previously approved National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funds, Trump is again violating the Constitution while putting his Big Oil donors’ interests above those of the American people Washington, D.C. –Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley—a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public

Heinrich, Murray, Merkley, Klobuchar Demand Answers from USDA on Wildfire Mitigation Projects, Firefighting Hiring Halted by Trump’s Funding Freeze