Press Releases

The Litigation and Rapid Response Task Force led 192 House Democrats in filing an amicus brief challenging the Trump Administration’s efforts to close the Department of Education in the matter of the State of New York v. Linda McMahon. A case in which 20 states moved to sue the administration for its plans to place fifty percent of the Department’s workforce on administrative leave, effectively shuttering a congressionally authorized agency by way of executive fiat.

House Appropriations Committee and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s draft 2026 Department of Health and Human Services budget.

WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) issued the following statement in response to President Trump reportedly considering eliminating all funding for Head Start in his fiscal year 2026 budget request.

Toledo, Ohio — Today, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting it review whether a recent order issued by Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright that seeks to accelerate project execution might actually lead to more cost overruns, project delays and failures, and waste, fraud, and abuse at America’s national labs.

WASHINGTON — Today, House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) issued the following statement after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sued Russell Vought and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for unlawfully hiding the administration’s use of trillions of dollars in taxpayer money, by destroying a website that had publicly displayed all of these decisions, known as apportionments.

Elon Musk and President Trump are making life harder for middle-class families by freezing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds they desperately need following flooding, tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes, and other major disasters. They have already illegally frozen $10 billion in disaster aid, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told President Trump in a cabinet meeting: “We’re going to eliminate FEMA.” Additionally, on Friday, the Trump administration canceled FEMA’s lifesaving Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program making their end goal crystal clear: destroy FEMA and leave States and territories on their own for the next disaster.

Today, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, led a letter to Secretary Linda McMahon demanding a reversal of a new policy the Department of Education announced recently that suddenly upended departmental policy and imposed new red tape on states, which will prevent them from accessing pandemic relief funds they are counting on to support students’ learning.

Today, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, responded to reports of plans for potential mass reductions in force (RIF) at the Department of Energy, which could reduce the Department’s staffing levels by nearly 50% and affect even critical offices charged with protecting our nation’s nuclear security.