{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where chamber = \"Senate\", state = \"WA\" and year = 2025 sorted by date descending", "rows": [["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-trump-administration-quietly-banning-abortion-care-for-veterans-families/", "Senator Murray Statement on Trump Administration Quietly Banning Abortion Care for Veterans & Families", "2025-12-23", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Approximately 300,000 women veterans of reproductive age are enrolled in VA health care, 155,000 live in states that have enacted abortion bans or restrictions\n\nSenator Murray, longtime leader on reproductive rights and veterans issues, grilled Secretary Collins on preserving access to abortion care at VA during his nomination hearing in January\n\nICYMI FROM AUGUST: Senator Murray Statement on Trump Ripping Away Access to Abortion Care for Women Veterans Who Were Raped or Whose Health is in Danger\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs, released the following statement on the news that the Trump administration has quietly implemented a near-total abortion ban at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), banning abortion care for veterans and their dependents\u2014even when a woman\u2019s health is in danger, or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.\n\nA Department of Justice (DOJ) memo issued last week, which regional VA leaders were told to comply with in an internal directive Monday, (screenshots here and here) shows the Trump administration is making this shift before VA even finished finalizing a proposed rule regarding this policy change and without allowing any public comment or consultation. Senator Murray forcefully condemned the Trump administration\u2019s initial move to ban abortion at VA facilities in August\u2014the new DOJ memo is a workaround by the Trump administration to implement their VA abortion ban even sooner, and as of this week, the policy is now fully in effect at VA facilities across the country.\n\nThe policy is a near-total ban on abortion care at VA, with only an exception for care when \u201ca physician certifies that the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term\u201d\u2014and no exceptions for the health of the veteran or for rape or incest. The policy also bans VA providers from even discussing abortion with their veteran patients\u2014even in life-threatening situations. There are approximately 300,000 women veterans of reproductive age who are enrolled in VA health care, and VA estimates that over 155,000 of them live in states that have enacted abortion bans or restrictions. Senator Murray pressed VA Secretary Doug Collins at his nomination hearing in January on whether he would eliminate access to abortion care at VA for veterans who are victims of rape, and he refused to give a straight answer.\n\n\u201cThis backdoor move by the Trump administration to impose a near-total abortion ban at VA is an outrageous assault on veterans\u2019 health care and a profound betrayal of veterans who have put their lives on the line for our country,\u201d Senator Murray said. \u201cVA already prohibits abortion care except in incredibly limited circumstances\u2014this change goes even further, blocking women veterans whose health is in danger, or who are survivors of rape or incest, from getting the basic care they need. It\u2019s shameful and indefensible.\u201d\n\n\u201cOver the past year, Trump and Republicans have shown they will do everything in their power to restrict abortion access so they can ultimately ban abortion nationwide. President Trump can pretend all he wants that he supports exceptions for rape and incest, but the reality is that his administration is right now banning abortion care in exactly those circumstances,\u201d Murray continued.\n\n\u201cThe Trump administration may think they can quietly rip away women veterans\u2019 health care and avoid accountability\u2014they are wrong. I will never stop speaking out against Republican attacks on reproductive freedom or fighting back to protect veterans\u2019 health care.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee\u2014and advocating for women veterans and their access to reproductive health care has been a longtime focus for Senator Murray. Senator Murray called on VA to provide abortion care to veterans early in the Biden administration, and she applauded the Biden administration\u2019s announcement later in the year that would begin to provide abortion care for veterans and their eligible dependents to protect the health and life of the individual and in cases of rape or incest. Murray has helped lead the charge in calling out Republicans for their attacks on, and attempts to undo, this limited and commonsense policy. Senator Murray also leads the Veteran Families Health Services Act, comprehensive legislation that would expand fertility treatments\u2014including IVF\u2014and family-building services for servicemembers and veterans who are unable to conceive without assistance, and she has sought unanimous consent to pass the legislation on multiple occasions. She introduced new legislation this summer with Senator Duckworth to help cover IVF costs for servicemembers and military families\u2014and slammed Speaker Johnson from working behind the scenes to strip an amendment mirroring that legislation from the final National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026. Senator Murray voted against the NDAA earlier this month, citing\u2014among other things\u2014the failure to include her provision to expand IVF care for servicemembers and veterans.\n\nSenator Murray is also a longtime leader in the fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care and abortion rights, and she has led Congressional efforts to fight back after the Supreme Court\u2019s disastrous decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Murray has introduced more than a dozen pieces of legislation to protect reproductive rights from further attacks, protect providers, and help ensure women get the care they need; Murray has led efforts to push for passage of these bills on the floor multiple times. Last January, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Murray led her colleagues in hosting a \u201cState of Abortion Rights\u201d briefing with women who have suffered firsthand from Republican abortion bans, and last June, she chaired a HELP Committee hearing titled \u201cThe Assault on Women\u2019s Freedoms: How Abortion Bans Have Created a Health Care Nightmare Across America.\u201d Murray helped lead efforts to force Republicans on the record on votes to protect access to contraception and access to IVF (twice), and she led her colleagues in raising the alarm about the threat a second Trump administration would pose to reproductive rights and abortion access in every state, as outlined in Project 2025. At a forum Senator Murray held at the beginning of this year on the anniversary of the Dobbs decision, Senator Murray spoke about Republicans\u2019 plan to institute a backdoor nationwide abortion ban, including by defunding Planned Parenthood.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-blumenthal-colleagues-demand-answers-on-trump-vas-plan-to-eliminate-tens-of-thousands-of-health-care-jobs/", "Murray,\u00a0Blumenthal, Colleagues Demand Answers on Trump VA\u2019s Plan to Eliminate Tens of Thousands of Health Care Jobs", "2025-12-22", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Senators: \u201cAt a time when veterans are already facing widespread cuts in their access to health care from H.R. 1, skyrocketing health insurance premiums from expiring enhanced premium tax credits, and forced closures of rural hospitals, VA needs to be expanding its capacity and staffing levels, not reducing them.\u201d\n\nICYMI: VIDEO FROM SENATOR MURRAY: \u201cExactly zero veterans think the problem with the VA health care system is that there are *too many* staff providing care. But Trump\u2019s VA has now decided it won\u2019t fill thousands of open positions. We need answers about what this will mean for veterans.\u201d\n\n***LETTER HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee, joined Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and 36 of their Senate Democratic colleagues in a letter demanding answers about the Trump administration\u2019s plans to eliminate as many as 35,000 jobs at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This follows recent reporting from The Washington Post detailing the Trump administration\u2019s plans to eliminate tens of thousands of unfilled mission-critical health care positions at VA, including for doctors, nurses, and support staff.\n\n\u201cWe write to express our concern following the December 13, 2025, Washington Post article \u2018VA plans to abruptly eliminate tens of thousands of health care jobs,\u2019 which spotlights the Department\u2019s plan to cut as many as 35,000 vacant positions from its workforce rolls before the end of the calendar year,\u201d the senators wrote in a letter to VA Secretary Collins. \u201cCompounded by the exodus of more than 40,000 Department employees in fiscal year (FY) 2025, any unjustified cuts to existing vacancies would further disrupt a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) workforce that is already stretched dangerously thin and under assault.\u201d\n\nThe senators pushed back on Secretary Collins\u2019 claims that cutting these jobs will have \u201cno impact\u201d on VA health care, pointing to data that even if cuts were focused on non-clinical and administrative vacancies, VA would still have to cut 18,000 vacancies from essential, veteran-facing positions to meet their 35,000 number. They pressed Collins to provide additional information on VA\u2019s plans to eliminate these positions, including asking for the list of positions removed; the names and titles of staff involved in making this decision; what evidence VA used to support this removal of vacancies; and what data was used to inform individual facility staffing baselines.\n\nThe senators concluded, emphasizing the gravity of this plan amid Republicans\u2019 health care-cutting agenda across the government: \u201cUnfilled positions are not reflective of unnecessary positions, and the length of time a position is vacant is not a suitable data point for determining need. At a time when veterans are already facing widespread cuts in their access to health care from H.R. 1, skyrocketing health insurance premiums from expiring enhanced premium tax credits, and forced closures of rural hospitals, VA needs to be expanding its capacity and staffing levels, not reducing them. Veterans deserve a VA staffed according to their needs and a Secretary who works to fill needed positions, not abolish them.\u201d\n\nVA already lost more than 40,000 employees between January and September of this year as a result of President Trump and VA Secretary Collins\u2019 hiring freeze, deferred resignations, early retirements, and the significant number of VA staff who have quit since the Trump administration took office due to draconian workforce policies. In addition, VA had at least 42,000 vacancies across the Department as of March 31, 2025, and that number is estimated to have grown significantly since then. The removal of these positions would put VA at pre-PACT Act staffing levels. More than one million veterans newly enrolled in VA health care as a result of expanded eligibility under the PACT Act, and millions more have increased reliance on VA because of toxic exposure-related illnesses and injuries.\n\nThese continued cuts of VA health care follow widespread health care cuts initiated by Republicans across the government. Senate Republicans have failed to join Democratic efforts to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits, which 267,000 veterans rely on to afford health care. Coupled with Medicare and Medicaid cuts from the \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill\u201d that go into effect next year, Americans, including millions of veterans and veteran family members, are facing skyrocketing premiums and a looming health care crisis.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray and Blumenthal, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elisa Slotkin (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).\n\nSenator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee\u2014as the daughter of a World War II veteran, supporting veterans and their families has always been an important priority for her. Senator Murray has been outspoken in standing up for veterans, VA employees, and VA researchers against Trump and Elon Musk\u2019s indiscriminate mass layoffs that will undermine critical services our nation\u2019s veterans rely on every day. In January, Murray called on President Trump to exempt all VA employees from the hiring freeze issued as part of his Day One Executive Orders. Senator Murray, was among the first to raise the alarm about the layoffs of VA researchers and called on President Trump to immediately reverse the firings. She pressed VA Deputy Secretary nominee Dr. Paul Lawrence on the firings of VA researchers at the hearing on his nomination, and held multiple press conferences with VA employees and veterans in Washington state who were abruptly laid off for no reason as part of the Trump administration\u2019s mass firings at VA. Earlier this year, Senator Murray forcefully denounced the Trump administration\u2019s initial plan to fire 80,000 employees at VA.\n\nLast week, Senator Murray released a video slamming the Trump administration\u2019s plan not to fill thousands of open positions at VA, and demanding answers.\n\nThe lawmakers\u2019 full letter is available HERE and below:\n\nDear Secretary Collins:\n\nWe write to express our concern following the December 13, 2025, Washington Post article \u201cVA plans to abruptly eliminate tens of thousands of health care jobs,\u201d which spotlights the Department\u2019s plan to cut as many as 35,000 vacant positions from its workforce rolls before the end of the calendar year. Compounded by the exodus of more than 40,000 Department employees in fiscal year (FY) 2025, any unjustified cuts to existing vacancies would further disrupt a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) workforce that is already stretched dangerously thin and under assault.\n\nBased on data mandated by Section 505 of Public Law 115-182, the VA MISSION Act of 2018, as of quarter two of FY 2025, the Department had a total of 42,518 vacancies. These vacant positions included 7,560 nurses, 4,400 schedulers, 2,800 physicians, 1,900 social workers, 1,650 nursing assistants, 1,630 practical nurses, 1,230 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, 1,080 health technicians, 860 veterans claims examiners, 760 police, and 710 psychologists \u2013 totaling more than 24,500 of the 42,500 vacancies. If the Department cut every other vacancy outside of these roles \u2013 which would still include cuts to various clinical and veteran-facing roles \u2013 VA would still have to cut 18,000 vacancies from essential, veteran-facing positions in order to meet the 35,000 number. These cannot all be \u201cCOVID-era roles,\u201d as VA has claimed, nor can these cuts be downplayed because some have been vacant for longer than one year.\n\nWe request the following information regarding VA\u2019s elimination of these positions:\n\nPlease provide a list of vacant positions removed, disaggregated by facility and job series.\n\nPlease provide a list of positions removed, disaggregated by job series and then by length of time since they were last encumbered or the position was created based on these categories of time: less than 30 days, greater than 30 days, greater than 90 days, greater than 180 days, greater than 365 days, and greater than 730 days.\n\nPlease provide the titles of VA Central Office staff and the offices or departments involved in making this decision.\n\nVA already regularly adds and removes positions based on need as part of its normal recruitment and budgeting processes. What evidence was there to support this significantly larger removal of vacancies?\n\nMemos from the Department planning for this removal of vacancies reference a baseline number of positions used to inform individual facility staffing numbers. What is that baseline, and how was that number decided upon? How were individual facility baselines calculated based on that number?\n\nWhy did the Department choose to use number of positions instead of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions to establish these baselines? How were positions that typically do not occupy one FTE for each individual staff member, such as researchers, accounted for in the baseline and the cuts?\n\nPlease detail the approval process for a facility or hiring manager to request new vacancies, roles, or recruitment processes beyond the new baseline.\n\nBased on what criteria can a facility or hiring manager request a new position or vacancy above the baseline?\n\nIn VA\u2019s FY 2026 budget request, the Department requested funding for 396,000 total FTE. As such, Congress provided $167 billion for the treatment of 7.7 million patients and 162.6 million outpatient visits to VA for FY 2026. Please provide an updated staffing and workload projection for FY 2026 that accounts for these vacancy cuts.\n\nHow did the Department account for minimum staffing ratios when making these cuts, especially those required for nursing, long-term care, spinal cord injury and disorder teams, and mental health care?\n\nUnfilled positions are not reflective of unnecessary positions, and the length of time a position is vacant is not a suitable data point for determining need. At a time when veterans are already facing widespread cuts in their access to health care from H.R. 1, skyrocketing health insurance premiums from expiring enhanced premium tax credits, and forced closures of rural hospitals, VA needs to be expanding its capacity and staffing levels, not reducing them. Veterans deserve a VA staffed according to their needs and a Secretary who works to fill needed positions, not abolish them.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-markey-senate-democrats-request-answers-from-sba-on-new-draconian-citizenship-verification-requirements-for-lending-programs-hurting-small-businesses-across-the-country/", "Murray, Markey, Senate Democrats Request Answers from SBA on New Draconian Citizenship Verification Requirements for Lending Programs\u2014Hurting Small Businesses Across the Country", "2025-12-19", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Recent Trump administration SBA policy changes have led to a 46% reduction in small business lending.\n\nA one-pager on how the Trump administration\u2019s SBA policies are making it harder to start and run small businesses is HERE.\n\n***LETTER HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Small Business & Entrepreneurship Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and 17 Democratic colleagues, in a letter to Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler to request answers about the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to limit economic opportunity for American entrepreneurs, including immigrants, and to highlight the impact that the SBA\u2019s draconian citizenship verification requirements are having on SBA lending programs.\n\nThese new requirements, implemented by the Trump administration in June 2025, prevent loans from going to small businesses whose owners, investors, or key employees are foreign nationals; have deferred action, such as recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA); or have certain kinds of lawful noncitizen status, including refugees, asylees, visa holders, and conditional green card holders \u2013 even if the business is majority owned by U.S. citizens. SBA\u2019s policy changes that include the citizenship verification requirements, increased minimum credit scores, and more stringent underwriting requirements have contributed to a drastic 46% drop in small business lending from June to August 2025.\n\n\u201cThese new requirements hurt any small business owned or operated even in small part by noncitizens, even when the business employs Americans and operates wholly in the United States. Small businesses use SBA loans to create jobs and invest in their operations. Unfortunately, the Trump administration is demonizing immigrant communities and picking winners and losers, rather than basing lending decisions on a small business\u2019s ability to repay a loan,\u201d the senators wrote.\n\nThe lawmakers continue, \u201cWe have heard concerns that these requirements unduly bar small businesses with certain lawfully present, noncitizen owners and employees from receiving financing. For example, entrepreneurs stand to lose eligibility for SBA loans if they accept a small amount of start-up funding from friends or family members who aren\u2019t U.S. citizens. Despite the Trump administration\u2019s solicitation of foreign investment in the United States, small businesses with even one percent of foreign ownership can no longer receive an SBA loan. In some instances, businesses that previously received SBA loans have lost eligibility solely based on these new requirements. Lenders have informed us that borrowers may not even bother applying due to confusion or fear around the new requirements.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe urge the SBA to restore its policy of allowing SBA financing for businesses that are majority-owned and controlled by U.S. citizens, nationals, and lawful permanent residents\u2026Without changes, the SBA\u2019s draconian citizenship verification requirements will continue to hurt small businesses, local communities, and the U.S. economy,\u201d the senators concluded\n\nThe lawmakers request responses by January 8, 2026, to questions, including:\n\nHow many small businesses applying for SBA financing have been denied a loan because of the new citizenship verification requirements?\n\nWhat has SBA communicated to its lenders about complying with these requirements and when will the agency update relevant borrower forms?\n\nWhy has SBA made individuals with lawful immigration statuses, including several protected classes under the Immigration and Nationality Act, ineligible for SBA loans?\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray and Markey, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Chris Coons (D-DE), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and John Hickenlooper (D-CO).\n\nThe lawmakers\u2019 full letter is available HERE and below:\n\nDear Administrator Loeffler,\n\nRestrictive citizenship requirements recently issued by the Small Business Administration (SBA) are cutting off access to SBA loans for American entrepreneurs, which is hurting the U.S. economy, small businesses, and immigrants lawfully in the U.S. These changes and others made by SBA contributed to a significant 46% reduction in small business lending from June-August 2025. We write with questions about the impact of these ill-conceived requirements on SBA lending and urge the SBA to restore its previous guidance.\n\nOn June 1, 2025, the SBA implemented harmful changes to two of its main lending programs, the 7(a) and 504 loan programs. 2 These draconian changes prevent loans from going to small businesses whose owners, investors, or key employees are foreign nationals; have deferred action, such as recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA); or have certain kinds of lawful noncitizen status, including refugees, asylees, visa holders, and conditional green card holders\u2014even if the business is majority-owned by U.S. citizens. The new requirements reverse at least a quarter century of SBA policy that allowed small businesses to receive SBA loans if they were majority-owned by U.S. citizens, nationals, and lawful permanent residents.\n\nWe have heard concerns that these requirements unduly bar small businesses with certain lawfully present, noncitizen owners and employees from receiving financing. For example, entrepreneurs stand to lose eligibility for SBA loans if they accept a small amount of start-up funding from friends or family members who aren\u2019t U.S. citizens. Despite the Trump administration\u2019s solicitation of foreign investment in the United States, small businesses with even one percent of foreign ownership can no longer receive an SBA loan. In some instances, businesses that previously received SBA loans have lost eligibility solely based on these new requirements. Lenders have informed us that borrowers may not even bother applying due to confusion or fear around the new requirements.\n\nBelow are examples of how these requirements are affecting small businesses:\n\nA small manufacturer, which produces components to retrofit vans for disabled individuals, has received three SBA loans that created jobs. Two minority shareholders who are not citizens own 13% of the business, making the business ineligible for another loan.\n\nA third-generation, family-owned manufacturing business relocated from Canada to the United States to expand its American manufacturing operations. The business was an eligible borrower when it applied for a loan but is no longer eligible under the new requirements because Canadian citizens have a minority stake in the business. As a result, the family\u2019s plans to invest in their manufacturing operations in the United States have been halted.\n\nA small business planned to use an SBA loan to help acquire another U.S. small business whose owner is retiring. Although two of the three owners of the acquiring business who own a majority of the business are U.S. citizens, the third is waiting to receive a green card\u2014making the business ineligible for a loan.\n\nA small business owner interested in an SBA loan was likely eligible as a green card holder, but their lawyer recently advised against applying out of fear that submitted paperwork \u201ccould be used against them.\u201d\n\nIn sum, these new requirements hurt any small business owned or operated even in small part by noncitizens, even when the business employs Americans and operates wholly in the United States. Small businesses use SBA loans to create jobs and invest in their operations. Unfortunately, the Trump administration is demonizing immigrant communities and picking winners and losers, rather than basing lending decisions on a small business\u2019s ability to repay a loan.\n\nWe urge the SBA to restore its policy of allowing SBA financing for businesses that are majority-owned and controlled by U.S. citizens, nationals, and lawful permanent residents and ask for written responses to the following questions by January 8, 2026:\n\n1. How many small businesses applying for SBA financing have been denied a loan because of the new citizenship verification requirements?\n\n2. What has SBA communicated to its lenders about complying with these requirements and when will the agency update relevant borrower forms? Please provide any memoranda, guidance, or other documents that have been provided to SBA lenders on the citizenship verification requirements.\n\n3. SBA\u2019s press release states that the new requirements are to \u201censure only legal, eligible applicants can access SBA program . . . [and] confirm that applicant businesses are not owned in whole or in part by an illegal alien.\u201d However, since 1994, the SBA has already prohibited the use of SBA funds for individuals not lawfully present in the United States. Why has SBA made individuals with lawful immigration statuses, including several protected classes under the Immigration and Nationality Act, ineligible for SBA loans? Please provide any research, memoranda, or other documents detailing SBA\u2019s rationale for the citizenship verification requirements.\n\nWithout changes, the SBA\u2019s draconian citizenship verification requirements will continue to hurt small businesses, local communities, and the U.S. economy. We look forward to your response addressing these important concerns.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-sanders-baldwin-demand-reversal-explanation-of-trump-admins-banned-word-list-that-threatens-families-access-to-head-start-programs-nationwide/", "Murray, Sanders, Baldwin Demand Reversal, Explanation of Trump Admin\u2019s \u201cBanned Word\u201d List That Threatens Families\u2019 Access to Head Start Programs Nationwide", "2025-12-19", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 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, sent a letter to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calling on him to immediately reverse and explain the Department of Health and Human Services\u2019 (HHS) guidance prohibiting the use of nearly 200 words associated with \u201cDEI\u201d in Head Start funding applications\u2014including words like \u201cwomen,\u201d \u201cdisability,\u201d \u201cTribal,\u201d and \u201cmental health.\u201d The Department has threatened that funding could be denied for Head Start centers if these words are used\u2014despite the fact that the bipartisan statute authorizing the Head Start program specifically requires Head Start centers to work to meet goals associated with these words.\n\n\u201cWe write to express our outrage at recent U.S. Health and Human Services actions to prohibit Head Start grantees from providing services that are clearly permitted under the law, like training teachers on how best to care for children with disabilities or enabling Tribes to serve their own members. As part of enforcing your illegal guidance banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the Office of Head Start has now prohibited nearly 200 words and phrases,\u201d write the Senators. \u201cYour actions directly conflict with the statutory requirements established by Congress on a bipartisan basis under the Head Start Act to provide community-driven services and supportive classrooms for children with disabilities, and they force Head Start grantees to make an impossible and unacceptable choice between complying with the law or bending to the Administration\u2019s unlawful DEI ban to keep their funding. The chaos you are creating is already jeopardizing services for nearly 700,000 young children across this country.\u201d\n\nThe Senators note that a Trump administration policy banning \u201cDEI\u201d initiatives \u201cwas accompanied by a list of nearly 200 banned words and phrases, such as \u2018disability,\u2019 \u2018women,\u2019 \u2018Tribal,\u2019 and \u2018mental health\u2019\u2014all words that are explicitly referenced in the Head Start Act and that are integral to fulfilling the program\u2019s statutory purpose.\u201d\n\nHHS has claimed in court that there is no \u201ccredible threat of enforcement\u201d in regard to their own policy banning DEI, but the American Civil Liberties Union has found evidence that the Trump Administration has been enforcing the \u201cbanned words\u201d\u2014actively rejecting or modifying grant applications based on the policy. The Senators further detail: \u201cCourt filings document instances in which programs were instructed to remove trainings on supporting children with autism, and in which Tribal programs were directed to remove preferences for Tribal members from their eligibility criteria. These directives directly contradict the Head Start Act, which explicitly permits American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start programs to prioritize Tribal membership or other criteria selected by the Tribe. Further news reporting show that OHS has been directing Head Start programs to remove phrases that the Administration interprets as similar to DEI, creating additional, arbitrary hurdles for grant applications.\u201d\n\nThe Senators continue, explaining how banning specific words and phrases is fundamentally at odds with the clear requirements and permissible activities outlined in the Head Start Act. The Senators detail multiple examples of how the policy threatens to impact families served by the program: \u201cBanning the usage of the words \u2018disability,\u2019 \u2018inclusive,\u2019 and \u2018accessibility\u2019 conflicts with Head Start programs\u2019 requirements in meeting the needs of children with disabilities and \u2018providing disability-related services for children\u2019 as required in Sections 645 and 650 of the Head Start Act.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis ban is the latest in a long series of attacks from this administration on Head Start and early childhood education programs, which have created chaos and uncertainty for families nationwide,\u201d the Senators continue\u2014noting that the Trump administration illegally impounded funding for the programs earlier this year, which cause centers to temporarily close.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s be clear: banning these words and restricting the ability of Head Start programs to provide the services and support they are obligated to by law\u2014all in an attempt to ban \u2018DEI\u2019\u2014doesn\u2019t only defy federal law and mandates that Congress created and funds on a bipartisan basis, it puts the vital support that kids and families across the country count on at serious risk. This is unacceptable. For more than 60 years, Head Start has provided high-quality early education and comprehensive services to more than 40 million children and working-class families. Your actions threaten that legacy and the families who rely on these services today,\u201d the Senators conclude.\n\nFull text of the letter is available HERE and below:\n\nDear Secretary Kennedy:\n\nWe write to express our outrage at recent U.S. Health and Human Services (Department) actions to prohibit Head Start grantees from providing services that are clearly permitted under the law, like training teachers on how best to care for children with disabilities or enabling Tribes to serve their own members. As part of enforcing your illegal guidance banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the Office of Head Start has now prohibited nearly 200 words and phrases. Your actions directly conflict with the statutory requirements established by Congress on a bipartisan basis under the Head Start Act to provide community-driven services and supportive classrooms for children with disabilities, and they force Head Start grantees to make an impossible and unacceptable choice between complying with the law or bending to the Administration\u2019s unlawful DEI ban to keep their funding. The chaos you are creating is already jeopardizing services for nearly 700,000 young children across this country.\n\nOn March 18, 2025, the Office of Head Start (OHS) notified all Head Start programs that \u201cthe use of federal funding for any training and technical assistance or other program expenditures that promote or take part in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives\u201d will not be approved and that any questions should be directed to regional offices. The policy was accompanied by a list of nearly 200 banned words and phrases, such as \u201cdisability,\u201d \u201cwomen,\u201d \u201cTribal,\u201d and \u201cmental health\u201d\u2014all words that are explicitly referenced in the Head Start Act and that are integral to fulfilling the program\u2019s statutory purpose. The ambiguous policy was not accompanied by clarification on what the Administration considers \u201cDEI,\u201d and Head Start programs were left with no meaningful guidance on compliance. Meanwhile, the Administration eliminated staff in regional offices, leaving 800 Head Start programs across 22 states without dedicated support staff to assist with grant applications and local day-to-day operations.\n\nWhile the Department has claimed in court that there is no \u201ccredible threat of enforcement,\u201d the facts demonstrate otherwise. On December 5, 2025, the American Civil Liberties Union provided additional evidence that the Trump Administration has been enforcing the banned words policy and rejecting or modifying grant applications as a result. Court filings document instances in which programs were instructed to remove trainings on supporting children with autism, and in which Tribal programs were directed to remove preferences for Tribal members from their eligibility criteria. These directives directly contradict the Head Start Act, which explicitly permits American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start programs to prioritize Tribal membership or other criteria selected by the Tribe. Further news reporting show that OHS has been directing Head Start programs to remove phrases that the Administration interprets as similar to DEI, creating additional, arbitrary hurdles for grant applications.\n\nThe list of banned words is fundamentally at odds with the clear requirements and permissible activities outlined in the Head Start Act. For example:\n\nBanning the usage of the word \u201cwomen\u201d from Head Start grant applications conflicts with the statutory requirement for Early Head Start programs to serve pregnant women. Head Start agencies need to submit \u201c\u2026a description of how the needs of pregnant women, and of infants and toddlers, will be addressed\u2026\u201d in their application, as outlined under section 645 of the Head Start Act.\n\nBanning the usage of the words \u201cdisability,\u201d \u201cinclusive,\u201d and \u201caccessibility\u201d conflicts with Head Start programs\u2019 requirements in meeting the needs of children with disabilities and \u201cproviding disability-related services for children\u201d as required in Sections 645 and 650 of the Head Start Act.\n\nBanning \u201cculturally appropriate\u201d conflicts with the Secretary\u2019s role in establishing Head Start program performance standards with measures that are \u201c\u2026developmentally, linguistically, and culturally appropriate services for the population served\u2026\u201d as required under section 641A of the Head Start Act.\n\nBanning the use of \u201cmental health\u201d will undermine the statutory obligations of programs to provide mental health services and promote partnerships with substance abuse and mental health treatment agencies to strengthen family and community environments under section 642B of the Head Start Act.\n\nBanning the word \u201cTribal\u201d is an egregious violation of Tribal sovereignty and contradicts many of the explicit requirements to consult Tribal governments, Indian Tribes, or Tribal organizations in administering the American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start programs, the Head Start Act, such as sections 641, 645, 649, 658D, and 658O.\n\nThis ban is the latest in a long series of attacks from this administration on Head Start and early childhood education programs, which have created chaos and uncertainty for families nationwide. On July 23, 2025, the Government Accountability Office found that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services violated the Impoundment Control Act by withholding over $825 million of Head Start funding between January and April. This administration\u2019s decision to block funding for Head Start created chaos, forced programs to draw up plans to lay off staff, forced parents to stress about back up plans, and even caused some programs to temporarily close their doors. The constant chaos and uncertainty facing 1,600 Head Start grantees undermines the early education and care of tens of thousands of children and their families nationwide.\n\nLet\u2019s be clear: banning these words and restricting the ability of Head Start programs to provide the services and support they are obligated to by law\u2014all in an attempt to ban \u201cDEI\u201d\u2014doesn\u2019t only defy federal law and mandates that Congress created and funds on a bipartisan basis, it puts the vital support that kids and families across the country count on at serious risk. This is unacceptable. For more than 60 years, Head Start has provided high-quality early education and comprehensive services to more than 40 million children and working-class families. Your actions threaten that legacy and the families who rely on these services today.\n\nAs Secretary, you are legally obligated to administer Head Start in accordance with the statute Congress enacted, not to condition funding on compliance with unlawful and undefined policy directives.\n\nHead Start grantees, educators, young children, and families deserve answers. Please provide a written response to the questions no later than 10 days from receipt:\n\nPlease provide all guidance, directives and communications related to banned words and phrases and other anti-DEI policies, pursuant to the January 20 executive order \u201cEnding Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,\u201d that have been communicated to Head Start grantees.\n\nHow did the Administration decide on the banned words list and how did it evaluate the list\u2019s contradictions with the statutory requirements of the Head Start Act?\n\nFor each term, please provide the Administration\u2019s analysis explaining how its inclusion does not conflict with the Head Start Act.\n\nHow many Head Start grantees have been instructed to remove words or content from their grant applications as a result of this guidance?\n\nHow many grantees have had to wait for funding beyond the first day of the annual funding cycle because of banned words?\n\nTo what extent does the Administration rely on artificial intelligence to review grant applications and identify banned words?\n\nHow many drawdown requests in the Payment Management System have required modification to comply with the banned words policy?\n\nHave any grantees been denied funding due to the Administration\u2019s banned DEI list? If so, how many and under what circumstances?\n\nWhen did the Administration begin implementing the banned words list in its grant review process?\n\nDoes HHS apply or plan to apply the banned words policy to other HHS-administered grant programs, including the Child Care and Development Block Grant?\n\nIf not, please explain why Head Start has been singled out for this policy.\n\nIf so, please identify each affected program and provide the corresponding guidance.\n\nHow has HHS assessed the impact of the banned words policy on American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start programs administered by Tribes and Tribal organizations?\n\nDid HHS consult with Tribes prior to implementing this policy, as required under the Head Start Act and federal Tribal consultation obligations?\n\nIf not, why not?\n\nWe expect the Department to immediately reverse course, comply with the bipartisan law Congress enacted, and ensure Head Start programs can continue providing comprehensive services to children and families without fear of arbitrary enforcement or funding retaliation.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-release-of-partisan-homeland-security-appropriations-bill/", "Senator Murray Statement on Release of Partisan Homeland Security Appropriations Bill", "2025-12-19", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "\u201cUnfortunately, Senate Republicans have chosen to release a partisan bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security instead of working with Senate Democrats to finalize a negotiated bill. We need more accountability from President Trump\u2019s out-of-control Department of Homeland Security, and as we proceed to conference negotiations on this bill and the remainder of our bills, I am going to keep working to produce the strongest possible legislation. American families should be able to count on their own government to support them through serious natural disasters and to enforce our immigration laws humanely and in accordance with the law.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/as-open-enrollment-ends-in-idaho-and-thousands-of-idahoans-cancel-coverage-murray-decries-republican-health-care-sabotage-idaho-is-the-canary-in-the-coal-mine/", "As Open Enrollment Ends in Idaho and Thousands of Idahoans Cancel Coverage, Murray Decries Republican Health Care Sabotage: \u201cIdaho is the Canary in the Coal Mine\u201d", "2025-12-18", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Idaho Capital Sun: Thousands of Idahoans cancel health insurance plans on exchange ahead of subsidies ending\n\nIdaho Statesman: Obamacare subsidies are set to expire. Dems call Idaho \u2018ground zero\u2019 for crisis\n\nICYMI: Days Before Open Enrollment Begins, Senator Murray Joins Idaho Leaders, Residents Who Rely on ACA Tax Credits to Call on Republicans to Come to the Table to Prevent Health Care Costs from Skyrocketing\n\nIdaho\u2019s open enrollment data\u2014first in the nation\u2014shows twice as many people disenrolled from health insurance during this year\u2019s open enrollment period, new enrollments fell by 24 percent, and more people shifted to lower-quality plans\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement on new data from Idaho\u2019s health insurance marketplace showing the very real consequences of Republicans\u2019 refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits and letting health care premiums skyrocket for families across the country.\n\nIdaho\u2019s open enrollment period ended on Monday\u2014the first in the nation to close, making it a key bellwether of how Republican health care sabotage is affecting families\u2019 decisions around health care coverage for next year. Yesterday, Idaho\u2019s exchange marketplace reported that twice as many people disenrolled in health insurance during this year\u2019s open enrollment period, new enrollments fell by 24 percent, and more people shifted to lower-quality insurance plans, where the cost of care is higher. The Executive Director of Idaho\u2019s insurance marketplace, Your Health Idaho, cited affordability as a key concern for Idahoans signing up for health care this year\u2014and said they expect an additional 20,000 people to cancel their coverage in the coming months because they won\u2019t be able to afford their monthly premiums.\n\n\u201cIdaho is the canary in the coal mine on Republican health care sabotage. This week, we got our first look at the very real\u2014and likely irreversible\u2014damage Republicans have caused by refusing to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits all year, and sending health care costs skyrocketing.\n\n\u201cWhile Republicans have been wasting time, ignoring the problem, and voting down legislation to extend the tax credits time and time again, their constituents have been getting priced out of their health care and shouting for help. What we\u2019re seeing now in Idaho isn\u2019t pretty: twice as many people disenrolling from their health insurance plans, 24 percent fewer enrollments, and more people shifting to lower-quality plans where the cost of care is higher. And we haven\u2019t even seen the full scope of the damage yet\u2014another 20,000 Idahoans are expected to cancel coverage in the coming months because they won\u2019t be able to keep up with the higher payments Republicans set in motion.\n\n\u201cThe worst part is, this was completely avoidable. Republicans could have chosen to act at any point this entire year to stop their own constituents from getting priced out of their health care\u2014instead, they shoveled new tax breaks at billionaires and declined to do a single thing to stop families\u2019 premiums from doubling, tripling, or worse. I have never seen anything like the complete disregard Republicans are showing their own constituents on this issue\u2014no one should forget this.\n\n\u201cIf Republicans want to burn down the health system, Democrats are going to make sure every single person holds them accountable for that decision next fall. And we are going to turn our attention to what comes next\u2014how we rebuild a stronger health care system for everyone.\u201d\n\nMore than 3 in 4 people who get their health care through the ACA marketplaces live in states President Trump won in 2024, including Idaho, where over 100,000 people rely on the ACA tax credits to afford health care. In Idaho, the ACA tax credits\u2013which 87 percent of Idahoans who get health insurance through the marketplace receive\u2014have lowered average monthly premiums by $407. A typical 60-year-old couple making $85,000 in Idaho is facing a whopping $17,900 increase in their annual premium costs next year due to Republicans\u2019 refusal to extend the tax credits.\n\nSenator Murray has been speaking out nonstop about the importance and urgency of extending the ACA tax credits and stopping health care costs from skyrocketing, and she has been calling on Republicans this entire year to come to the negotiating table to work out a bipartisan deal to extend the tax credits\u2014which they have refused to do. She has spoken on the Senate floor time and time again making the case for extending the ACA tax credits, and has held numerous virtual press conferences with Washingtonians\u2014as well as residents of neighboring red states Idaho and Montana, warning that Republicans\u2019 refusal to save the tax credits will hurt people in red states the most.\n\nAs the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray led legislation supported by the Democratic caucus that would have addressed the health care crisis and prevented the government shutdown. Senator Murray played a critical role in passing the enhanced premium tax credits in the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and she has been fighting for months to make sure these important health care tax credits don\u2019t expire, including cosponsoring multiple pieces of legislation\u2014the Health Care Affordability Act and the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act\u2014that would make them permanent.\n\nA timeline detailing how Senator Murray has been fighting for years to extend the ACA tax credits, and calling on Republicans to come to the table and negotiate, is HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-blumenthal-democrats-call-on-independent-watchdog-to-investigate-impact-of-republicans-health-care-cutting-agenda-on-veterans-their-families/", "Murray, Blumenthal, Democrats Call on Independent Watchdog to Investigate Impact of Republicans\u2019 Health Care-Cutting Agenda on Veterans & Their Families", "2025-12-18", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Senators call on Government Accountability Office to examine impact on veterans from Republican health care cuts and skyrocketing health care premiums\n\nLetter comes after Republicans failed to join Democrat efforts to extend Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits that allow 267,000 veterans to afford health care\n\n***LETTER HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), and 25 of their colleagues in a letter calling on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate how Republicans\u2019 health care-cutting agenda will affect veterans and their families.\n\nThis follows Senate Republicans\u2019 failure to join Democrats in extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits, which 267,000 veterans rely on to afford health care. Coupled with Republicans\u2019 Medicaid and ACA cuts in their disastrous reconciliation bill, 15 million Americans are expected to lose health coverage and millions will face higher health care costs, including veterans and their families.\n\n\u201cThe 2025 budget reconciliation bill, Public Law 119-21, or the \u2018One Big Beautiful Bill Act\u2019 (BBB), will reduce access to essential health care and supportive services for millions of Americans, including veterans and their families. Compounded with expiring enhanced premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and extended by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, veterans are facing a life-threatening reduction in access to health care and other essential benefits. These reductions in access to private health insurance, Medicaid, and funding for community health services will result in more veterans relying more heavily on their Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care and benefits,\u201d the senators wrote.\n\n1.6 million veterans and four million veteran family members utilize Medicaid or the Children\u2019s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and are at risk of losing Medicaid or CHIP coverage because of Republicans\u2019 \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill.\u201d One in ten veterans under the age of 65 relies on Medicaid, and forty percent of these veterans rely on Medicaid as their sole coverage. In addition, recent analysis found 267,000 veterans who rely on ACA enhanced premium tax credits will no longer be able to afford ACA marketplace coverage if these credits are not extended. Generally, veterans who benefit from ACA tax credits are not eligible to get some or all of their health care through VA, nor are they eligible for Medicaid, TRICARE, or Medicare.\n\nThe Senators emphasized their concerns with these widespread health care cuts amid the Trump administration\u2019s ongoing efforts to shrink VA: \u201cBecause of the recent catastrophic, unnecessary cuts to VA\u2019s workforce and resources since January 20, 2025, we are deeply concerned about the Department\u2019s capability to support this potential spike in utilization. We write to request you review how these widespread cuts to health care access for all Americans will also impact veterans and their families and to what extent VA will be able to support an influx of veterans relying on the Department for health care more than ever before.\u201d\n\nRecent reporting exposed the Trump administration\u2019s plan to eliminate as many as 35,000 health care jobs at VA this month, including unfilled positions for doctors, nurses, and support staff. In addition, VA already lost more than 30,000 employees between January and September of this year as a result of President Trump and VA Secretary Collins\u2019 hiring freeze, deferred resignations, early retirements, and the significant number of VA staff who have quit due to Trump and Collins\u2019 draconian workforce policies.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray, Blumenthal, and Schumer, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).\n\nSenator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee\u2014as the daughter of a World War II veteran, supporting veterans and their families has always been an important priority for her. Senator Murray has been outspoken in standing up for veterans, VA employees, and VA researchers against Trump and Elon Musk\u2019s indiscriminate mass layoffs this year\u2014forcefully denouncing the administration\u2019s plans, pressing administration witnesses at every opportunity, and holding multiple press conferences with VA employees and veterans in Washington state who were abruptly laid off for no reason. Earlier this year, Senator Murray forcefully denounced the Trump administration\u2019s initial plan to fire 80,000 employees at VA. This week, Senator Murray released a video slamming the Trump administration\u2019s new plan not to fill thousands of open positions at VA, and demanding answers.\n\nSenator Murray, a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has also been a leading voice throughout this year fighting back against Republicans\u2019 health care sabotage\u2014from the passage of their partisan \u201cBig Beautiful Bill\u201d that made the largest cuts to Medicaid and the ACA in history, to Republicans\u2019 ongoing refusal to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, forcing premium costs to skyrocket for millions of families.\n\nThe lawmakers\u2019 full letter is available HERE and below:\n\nDear Mr. Dodaro:\n\nThe 2025 budget reconciliation bill, Public Law 119-21, or the \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act\u201d (BBB), will reduce access to essential health care and supportive services for millions of Americans, including veterans and their families. Compounded with expiring enhanced premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and extended by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, veterans are facing a life-threatening reduction in access to health care and other essential benefits. These reductions in access to private health insurance, Medicaid, and funding for community health services will result in more veterans relying more heavily on their Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care and benefits. Because of the recent catastrophic, unnecessary cuts to VA\u2019s workforce and resources since January 20, 2025, we are deeply concerned about the Department\u2019s capability to support this potential spike in utilization. We write to request you review how these widespread cuts to health care access for all Americans will also impact veterans, and their families and to what extent VA will be able to support an influx of veterans relying on the Department for health care more than ever before.\n\nUp to 5.6 million veterans and their family members rely on Medicaid or the Children\u2019s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and are at risk of losing coverage as a result of funding cuts and further restrictions on eligibility enacted in the BBB. Nearly one in ten veterans under 65 rely on Medicaid, with forty percent of those veterans relying on Medicaid as their sole coverage \u2013 often due to ineligibility for Medicare or VA health care. Medicaid helps ensure regular access to care for veterans and their families, especially those who have diverse heath care needs or require care with high out-of-pocket costs, both of which can pose a barrier to care. Regardless of VA\u2019s capacity to absorb these veterans that may now need to rely on the Department for more of their care, many of them are ineligible or were using Medicaid as a supplement because the Department couldn\u2019t provide access to the care they required.\n\nThe 140,000 women veterans currently utilizing Medicaid will be particularly impacted by the cuts to this program. This includes nearly one in nine women veterans nationwide and more than one in five women veterans with disabilities, nearly one in seven rural women veterans, and 12.4 percent (54,000) of women veterans who are mothers. Nearly four in ten women veterans rely solely on Medicaid for their health care coverage. For those who are ineligible for Medicare or VA health care, the cuts made in the BBB will likely leave them uninsured resulting in high vulnerability to medical debt or being barred from accessing care altogether.\n\nThe Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was also severely harmed by the BBB. Currently, 1.2 million veteran households rely on SNAP benefits. The sixty-three percent of veterans on SNAP who are under 65 will be newly subject to so-called work requirements to maintain access to SNAP. Exemptions from these punishing requirements for disabling conditions are not clearly defined in the BBB, leaving uncertainty regarding whether veterans with disabilities limiting their ability to sustain regular employment will have the requirement waived. For example, a veteran with a traumatic brain injury or severe post-traumatic stress disorder \u2013 both conditions more common in veterans than non-veterans and which often require more complex accommodations \u2013 may not be exempt despite being unable to maintain the focus or manage the stressors required by many employers. Because of these changes, many veteran households will experience reduced access to SNAP and, therefore, because there is no equivalent alternative service available through VA or any other federal program, their main source of food.\n\nLike the harmful and ineffectual work reporting requirements added to SNAP, the BBB also added these so-called work requirements for certain adults, including veterans, to access Medicaid. The BBB mandates Medicaid enrollees aged 19-64 who are covered through the ACA\u2019s Medicaid expansion must engage in employment, education, a work program, or community service to maintain their Medicaid eligibility. This requirement cannot be waived. Though there are exemptions allowed for certain individuals, including disabled veterans \u2013 defined as veterans with a disability rated as total under section 1155 of Title 38, United States Code \u2013 and caregivers of children thirteen years of age and under or disabled individuals, the gray areas of life and disabilities often do not align with these black and white requirements. Applying for or updating veteran disability ratings or caregiver status is already a significant challenge and can take years to establish, which, under these new bureaucratic requirements, could leave veterans or their loved ones without health care.\n\nEven veterans who will not lose their coverage due to these Medicaid cuts may no longer be able to access health care because of their reliance on ACA premium tax credits. Since the ACA coverage provisions took effect, the number of uninsured, non-elderly veterans has decreased by more than one-third, from 9.6 percent to 5.9 percent. As Congress expanded the premium tax credits starting in 2021, the ACA marketplace enrollment more than doubled by 2025. However, these enhanced premium tax credits are set to expire at the end of this year, and without them many veterans will be forced to withdraw from their health care coverage because they can no longer afford it. This may increase their reliance on VA for their care if they\u2019re eligible, but many veterans who are ineligible for VA care and benefits will lose access to health care entirely. Furthermore, VA\u2019s actuarial firm has indicated that for every one percent of increased reliance on the Department for care, VA can expect its costs to increase by $2.6 billion \u2013 a cost unaccounted for in the BBB or VA\u2019s budget request for fiscal year 2026, when these changes will start to take effect.\n\nIt is critical for Congress, VA, and, most importantly, veteran households to understand how these recent changes will impact their access to essential health care and nutrition services. With a better understanding of these impacts, Congress and the veteran community can better advocate for swift and effective changes to mitigate the truly catastrophic future created by the BBB. To that end, we request you conduct a review of the potential and actual impacts of this bill and the expiration of the enhanced ACA tax credits on veterans and their families.\n\nTo expedite access to this data and improve Congress\u2019 ability to act proactively, we request an initial review and estimation of potential harmful impacts based on current utilization, followed by a subsequent review of the actual impacts to veterans as they unfold from 2026-2028. To the extent practicable, please disaggregate your findings by age, gender, household size, employment status, average income, and any other categories you deem appropriate. In particular, we request you address the following questions as they pertain to veterans and their families, to the extent data are available:\n\nHow many utilize SNAP or Medicaid and are impacted by the BBB?\n\nHow many will lose access to affordable health care or health care altogether due to expiration of ACA enhanced premium tax credits?\n\nHow many are subject to work reporting requirements set for Medicaid? How many are eligible for exceptions to those requirements?\n\nHow many are subject to work reporting requirements set for SNAP? How many are eligible for exceptions to those requirements?\n\nHow many veterans impacted by changes to SNAP, Medicaid, and ACA enhanced premium tax credits are currently, have recently, or are at risk of experiencing homelessness?\n\nWe look forward to working with you to conduct oversight on this important issue. If you have any questions about this request, please have your staff contact the office of the Senate Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs, Minority Staff.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-colleagues-urge-trump-administration-to-end-staffing-crisis-at-fish-and-wildlife-service-warn-of-harms-to-ecosystems-and-public-lands/", "Murray, \u00a0Colleagues Urge Trump Administration to End Staffing Crisis at Fish and Wildlife Service, Warn of Harms to Ecosystems and Public Lands", "2025-12-18", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "***LETTER HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife, and 18 of their Senate colleagues in a letter urging the Trump administration to immediately address and reverse the staffing crisis at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which has lost the capacity to properly manage most of America\u2019s wildlife refuges \u2014 putting in jeopardy the ability to protect endangered wildlife species under the Service\u2019s care.\n\nIn their letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and FWS Director Brian Nesvik, the Senators highlight the direct impacts cuts in staffing are having on the 573 national wildlife refuges across the country \u2014 with almost 60 percent of them lacking the resources and staff needed to fulfill their missions.\n\n\u201cAmericans of all backgrounds love their public lands, and protecting wildlife refuges is a bipartisan cause that brings together environmentalists, sportsmen, and all who enjoy the outdoor recreation opportunities provided by America\u2019s National Wildlife Refuge System. The Refuge System is the only federal network of public lands that is primarily dedicated to the conservation, management, and restoration of fish, wildlife, and plant species and their habitats,\u201d the senators wrote.\n\nThe senators also emphasized that operating with few or no employees has also hurt disaster resilience because FWS employees carry out projects to control flooding and prevent catastrophic wildfires. \u201cThis downward trend did not begin under the Trump administration. Yet the current administration has not only shown an unwillingness to address the problem\u2014it has made the situation far worse. The President\u2019s Fiscal Year 26 budget request slashed funding for FWS\u2019s overall Resource Management account, which included a proposed 22 percent cut to the National Wildlife Refuge System. Moreover, the administration has indicated that it is planning more firings for public land agencies,\u201d the senators continued. \u201cThe consequences of slashing the FWS workforce are already being felt across the nation. The collapse of staffing capacity within the Refuge System leaves refuges open to damage, vandalism, flooding, fire, and loss of protection and conservation measures for threatened and endangered wildlife species who rely on these refuges for survival. FWS staffing losses also hurt resilience because FWS employees carry out projects to control flooding and prevent catastrophic wildfires.\u201d\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray and Schiff, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Edward Markey (D-MA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR).\n\nSenator Murray is a leading voice pushing back against the Trump administration\u2019s attacks on federal agencies. In February, she released a fact sheet on how staffing cuts at federal agencies under the Trump administration would jeopardize critical functions of agencies, including the 2,300 employees laid off at the Department of the Interior and FWS at the beginning of this year. She and U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (D, WA-02) led the Washington Democratic Congressional delegation in a letter to Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in August, urging him to reverse the Trump administration\u2019s disastrous decision to eliminate funding for Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups (RFEGs), a blow to widely supported salmon recovery and habitat restoration efforts that also impacted FWS staffing. As Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray has consistently fought to secure funding for fish and wildlife conservation projects in Washington state and across the country.\n\nThe lawmakers\u2019 full letter is available HERE and below:\n\nDear Secretary Burgum and Director Nesvik:\n\nWe write to sound the alarm on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service\u2019s (FWS) staffing crisis, which is causing particular harm to the National Wildlife Refuge System. A startling amount of staff and expertise needed to manage the Refuge System and protect America\u2019s wildlife have been lost due to the administration\u2019s firings, early retirement programs, and other efforts to push staff out of FWS. The agency is losing the capacity to manage America\u2019s wildlife refuges and struggling to even keep them open. We ask that you provide Congress with your plan to address FWS\u2019s staffing crisis and immediately act to ensure that FWS and the Refuge System have the staff and resources needed to guarantee a safe, quality experience for visitors to the Refuge System and to protect the invaluable wildlife species under the agency\u2019s care.\n\nAmericans of all backgrounds love their public lands, and protecting wildlife refuges is a bipartisan cause that brings together environmentalists, sportsmen, and all who enjoy the outdoor recreation opportunities provided by America\u2019s National Wildlife Refuge System. The Refuge System is the only federal network of public lands that is primarily dedicated to the conservation, management, and restoration of fish, wildlife, and plant species and their habitats. There are 573 national wildlife refuges across the country, with a footprint in every state. The Refuge System also utilizes a unique conservation approach through community-based initiatives that provide recreational and sporting opportunities and other localized needs. According to FWS, wildlife refuge recreation generates $3.2 billion in local economic activity each year. Every dollar that is invested in the Refuge System generates $3.12 in U.S. economic activity, a tremendous return on investment for the American taxpayer.\n\nHowever, according to recently released internal agency documents, almost 60 percent of the nation\u2019s wildlife refuges lack the resources and staff needed to fulfill their missions. FWS has experienced a staggering 29 percent loss of employees who work for the Refuge System. This downward trend did not begin under the Trump administration. Yet the current administration has not only shown an unwillingness to address the problem\u2014it has made the situation far worse. The President\u2019s Fiscal Year 26 budget request slashed funding for FWS\u2019s overall Resource Management account, which included a proposed 22 percent cut to the National Wildlife Refuge System. Moreover, the administration has indicated that it is planning more firings for public land agencies.\n\nStaffing reductions have negatively impacted national wildlife refuges across the country, forcing multiple wildlife refuges to operate with few or no employees. FWS\u2019s internal estimates indicate that 9 percent of wildlife refuges are now classified as \u201cshuttered.\u201d It appears that FWS has abandoned these refuges, as there may not be a single employee on the ground to manage the refuge.\n\nThe consequences of slashing the FWS workforce are already being felt across the nation. The collapse of staffing capacity within the Refuge System leaves refuges open to damage, vandalism, flooding, fire, and loss of protection and conservation measures for threatened and endangered wildlife species who rely on these refuges for survival. FWS staffing losses also hurt resilience because FWS employees carry out projects to control flooding and prevent catastrophic wildfires.\n\nIt has also become more difficult for the agency to meet deadlines to list species as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, an already challenging but essential obligation. This delay in work pushes endangered species closer to extinction and prevents infrastructure projects from moving forward, as they may encounter difficulties with acquiring needed permits amid such regulatory uncertainty.\n\nConsidering the alarming scale of FWS\u2019s staffing crisis, we request answers to the following by January 2, 2026:\n\n1. Will you commit to reversing the staffing losses at FWS? What is your plan to address FWS\u2019s debilitating loss in capacity?\n\n2. Has the Administration considered the impact of decimating the FWS workforce on the economics of gateway communities?\n\n3. Does the Administration still plan on moving forward with firing more FWS employees, even as those firings are being stopped by federal courts?\n\n4. How is FWS planning to meet deadlines to list species as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act?\n\nProtecting natural resources for Americans has always been a bipartisan effort and it is important that FWS has the workforce required to meet its core mandates. Thank you, and we look forward to your response.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-leads-wa-democratic-members-in-demanding-answers-from-ice-on-deteriorating-conditions-and-inadequate-food-medical-care-and-access-to-legal-counsel-at-nwipc/", "Murray Leads WA Democratic Members in Demanding Answers from ICE on Deteriorating Conditions and Inadequate Food, Medical Care, and Access to Legal Counsel at NWIPC", "2025-12-17", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray, lawmakers: \u201cWe urge you to promptly review these concerns and take immediate steps to improve conditions and practices at NWIPC\u2026 Violations of the law or any abuse of human rights will not go unnoticed or unchallenged.\u201d\n\nICYMI: Senator Murray Condemns Egregious Use of Force by ICE as Constituent is Mauled by Attack Dog, Demands Release from NWIPC to Receive Appropriate Medical Care\n\nKUOW: Inside the black box of ICE detention in Tacoma, she watched her wedding day come and go\n\n***LETTER HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, led Members of the Washington state Congressional delegation in a letter to Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons, expressing grave concerns with conditions at the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) in Tacoma, Washington and demanding answers to a long list of questions regarding overcrowding and lack of access to medical services, food, and legal counsel for individuals detained at the facility. The population at NWIPC has ballooned over the past year under the Trump administration\u2019s indiscriminate and cruel mass deportation campaign, nearing\u2014and at times exceeding\u2014the facility\u2019s maximum capacity of 1,575.\n\nJoining Senator Murray in sending the letter to ICE were: Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and U.S. Representatives Suzan DelBene (D, WA-01), Rick Larsen (D, WA-02), Emily Randall (D, WA-06), Pramila Jayapal (D, WA-07), Kim Schrier (D, WA-08), Adam Smith (D, WA-09), and Marilyn Strickland (D, WA-10).\n\n\u201cOur offices have received reports from local service providers and advocates that conditions and access to services at NWIPC have deteriorated in the last year as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has chosen to detain more individuals at the facility,\u201d the Members wrote in their letter. \u201cIn June, detained individuals were reportedly transferred to Alaska\u2014far away from their families and legal representatives\u2014because NWIPC reached capacity. None of this is remotely acceptable\u2014you and the entire Trump administration have a basic moral and legal obligation to the people who have been detained and are under your care.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well established at this point that this administration is not prioritizing detaining violent criminals, but instead is detaining mostly peaceful, law-abiding immigrants with no criminal record who work hard and contribute to our communities,\u201d the lawmakers continued. \u201cWith this in mind, we urge ICE to release noncitizens who do not pose a threat to public safety and to ensure necessary staff levels at NWIPC to protect the safety and basic dignity of the people in its custody.\u201d\n\nIn the letter, the Members raise concern over the lack of medical care for individuals detained at NWIPC and other ICE facilities, writing: \u201cWe are deeply concerned that the facility does not have sufficient medical staff and dedicated space to adequately provide medical care to the increased number of detained noncitizens. Additionally, we are incredibly concerned about challenges detainees face in accessing behavioral health care and other specialty care.\u201d\n\nRecently, Senator Murray called attention to the violent assault of Wilmer Toledo-Martinez in Vancouver, Washington\u2014condemning the officers who sicced an attack dog on Wilmer, despite him not resisting arrest, and calling for Wilmer to be immediately released from ICE custody. Wilmer is currently being held at NWIPC, where he has been unable to obtain adequate medical care. In a visit to NWIPC by Senator Murray\u2019s staff in August, facility staff indicated that NWIPC only employed four behavioral health staffers for a population of approximately 1,500 detainees. There were reports of at least two suicide attempts at NWIPC in April. In July 2024, after the death of a man detained at NWIPC, Senator Murray requested a comprehensive review of the quality and accessibility of medical services for individuals in ICE custody from the Government Accountability Office (GAO)\u2014that review is currently underway.\n\nThe lawmakers\u2019 letter also draws attention to reports from advocates that at least three pregnant women detained at NWIPC over the past year have been unable to receive appropriate medical care. Advocates also shared that at least one pregnant woman was shackled during transportation, which violates agency policy and raises concerns that medical information, such as whether a woman is pregnant, is not being properly documented by the facility. Senator Murray has long fought against the mistreatment of pregnant women in detention, including by pushing for her legislation\u2014the Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act\u2014to end the practice of shackling pregnant women in ICE detention. Murray also led an oversight letter to ICE in September demanding answers and accountability about the mistreatment of pregnant women in detention facilities under the Trump administration.\n\nThe Members continued by raising concerns over the inadequate provision of meals at NWIPC and difficulty that detained individuals have in accessing legal counsel, writing: \u201cAttorneys have faced significant delays to meet with their clients, making adequate legal counsel more difficult. This has become especially challenging when immigration courts advance noncitizens\u2019 hearings by months without sufficient warning. At times, attorneys have had to wait at the facility for up to 6 hours to see their clients.\u201d\n\nThe letter concludes by requesting answers to a list of questions by January 16th regarding capacity and staffing levels at NWIPC, the provision of food and medical care, access to legal counsel, treatment of pregnant women, and recent facility visits. \u201cPlease understand that we are paying close attention to the conditions at NWIPC\u2014and your management of this facility,\u201d the Members wrote. \u201cWe urge you to promptly review these concerns and take immediate steps to improve conditions and practices at NWIPC to comply with existing standards and laws and ensure that people in immigration detention are being treated with basic dignity and respect. Violations of the law or any abuse of human rights will not go unnoticed or unchallenged.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray and other members of Washington state\u2019s Congressional delegation have been conducting oversight of NWIPC throughout this year, despite the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to block Congressional oversight of federal immigration detention facilities. After a protracted legal battle over Washington state\u2019s ability to enforce health and safety standards at NWIPC, a federal appeals court ruled in August that the state should be allowed to enforce such standards at the detention center, and that failure to comply could result in fines of up to $10,000 per violation.\n\nSenator Murray has championed comprehensive and humane immigration reform throughout her time in Congress, and has consistently pushed for greater oversight of conditions at NWIPC. In 2024 at a Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing, Murray asked then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to commit to an independent investigation of conditions at NWIPC and pressed him on the overuse of solitary confinement at ICE detention facilities\u2014which Senator Murray has consistently spoken out against. While Chair of Appropriations, Senator Murray secured language in the Homeland Security Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2024\u2014which was signed into law in March 2024\u2014to ensure stronger oversight of federal detention facilities and provisions to increase transparency. Senator Murray is also an original cosponsor of the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, which would set humane standards for detention facilities and increase oversight. Murray was outspoken in her opposition to the Laken Riley Act earlier this year, arguing it threatened civil liberties and would divert resources away from detaining true threats to public safety.\n\nThe lawmakers\u2019 full letter to ICE is available HERE and below:\n\nDear Acting Director Lyons:\n\nWe are writing to share our grave concerns with conditions at the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) in Tacoma, Washington and to request information about access to medical services, food, and legal counsel for detained noncitizens at the facility. Our offices have received reports from local service providers and advocates that conditions and access to services at NWIPC have deteriorated in the last year as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has chosen to detain more individuals at the facility. In June, detained individuals were reportedly transferred to Alaska\u2014far away from their families and legal representatives\u2014because NWIPC reached capacity.\n\nNone of this is remotely acceptable\u2014you and the entire Trump administration have a basic moral and legal obligation to the people who have been detained and are under your care.\n\nYou must ensure the facility complies with the 2011 Performance-Based National Detention Standards as revised in 2016 (PBNDS 2011) to keep detained noncitizens safe and healthy while protecting the rights they are entitled to under law.\n\nIt is well established at this point that this administration is not prioritizing detaining violent criminals, but instead is detaining mostly peaceful, law-abiding immigrants with no criminal record who work hard and contribute to our communities. With this in mind, we urge ICE to release noncitizens who do not pose a threat to public safety and to ensure necessary staff levels at NWIPC to protect the safety and basic dignity of the people in its custody.\n\nMedical Care\n\nThe federal government has a moral and legal obligation to protect the health of individuals in its custody. We have had long-standing concerns about access to medical services in ICE detention facilities. In recent years, several members of the Washington Congressional delegation requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a comprehensive review of the quality and accessibility of medical services for individuals in ICE custody. At times this year, NWIPC has exceeded 1,500 individuals in custody, nearing the facility\u2019s maximum capacity of 1,575 individuals. We are deeply concerned that the facility does not have sufficient medical staff and dedicated space to adequately provide medical care to the increased number of detained noncitizens.\n\nAdditionally, we are incredibly concerned about challenges detainees face in accessing behavioral health care and other specialty care. During an August 2025 site visit, facility staff indicated the facility employed only four behavioral health staffers. There were reports of at least two suicide attempts at NWIPC in April. It is plainly inadequate to have four behavioral health staff serving the 1,500 detainees under the facility\u2019s care, especially given the fact that serious behavioral health issues frequently emerge under the severe stress of detention. We are also alarmed by reports from advocates with access to the facility that at least three detained pregnant women at NWIPC have been unable to receive appropriate medical care, even after they request specialty prenatal care appointments. Regular exams such as ultrasounds are necessary to monitor development and ensure a healthy pregnancy. Advocates also shared that at least one pregnant woman was shackled during transportation, which violates agency policy and raises concerns that medical information, such as whether a woman is pregnant, is not being properly documented by the facility.\n\nFood\n\nThe Seattle Times recently reported on the inadequate provision of meals at NWIPC as the detained population has increased. Advocates who speak with detainees have shared that meals are provided late and, in some cases, detainees did not receive three meals per day. Detainees have made complaints about food and sanitation for many years, and we urge the facility to be responsive to the nutritional needs of individuals in its custody. Legal service providers with access to the facility have also shared that detainees waiting for video teleconferencing (VTC) hearings may miss meals. We urge the facility to ensure that all detained noncitizens, including those awaiting hearings or visits, are provided a minimum of three meals per day, as required by national detention standards (PBNDS 2011).\n\nAccess to Legal Counsel\n\nAccess to legal resources for noncitizens in immigration detention supports their ability to understand their rights and navigate immigration court, preventing backlogs in the immigration court system. Detained noncitizens at NWIPC face several concerning barriers to accessing legal counsel. Attorneys have faced significant delays to meet with their clients, making adequate legal counsel more difficult. This has become especially challenging when immigration courts advance noncitizens\u2019 hearings by months without sufficient warning. At times, attorneys have had to wait at the facility for up to 6 hours to see their clients. This August, two of the seven attorney visitation rooms were being used as Virtual Attorney Visitation rooms (VAVs) and two were being used for video teleconferencing (VTC) hearings, leaving only three rooms available for attorneys to meet with their clients in person. We have also heard from advocates with access to the facility that, at times, only one visitation room was available and interviews for facility staff were being conducted in these attorney visitation rooms.\n\nIn the Fiscal Year 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Congress provided $10,000,000 for ICE to improve legal resources for noncitizen detainees, including to expand video attorney visitation. During an August 2025 site visit, NWIPC staff indicated that the facility recently implemented a new scheduling system to reserve attorney visitation rooms. We ask that the facility work with attorneys to resolve any issues that arise with the new system expeditiously so as not to delay access to legal counsel. We urge you to improve access to legal counsel by ensuring attorney visitation rooms remain available for attorneys to meet with their clients.\n\nGiven these concerns, we request answers to the following questions by January 16, 2026:\n\nWhat is the maximum capacity of NWIPC, as determined by the fire marshal? As of November 1, 2025, how many individuals were detained at the facility?\n\nHow many staff were employed by NWIPC on January 20, 2025? Of this cohort, how many were trained and certified medical services providers who routinely provided direct medical services?\n\nAs of November 1, 2025, how many staff were employed by NWIPC? Of this cohort, how many were trained and certified medical services providers who routinely provide direct medical services?\n\nAs of November 1, 2025, how many pregnant women were detained at NWIPC? How often have these women requested, and how often have they received, prenatal care appointments with a specialist?\n\nHow many days in the last six months has the facility not provided three meals each day to every noncitizen in its custody?\n\nWhy did the facility not provide three meals each day to every noncitizen?\n\nFor each day, for how many noncitizens were three meals not provided?\n\nWhat is the current status of the Legal Orientation Program (LOP) at NWIPC? Are noncitizens able to access LOP daily? What are the hours of availability each day? Outside of hours, are there any other restrictions on daily LOP access, and if so, what are they and why are they in place?\n\nHow many attorney visitation rooms are currently available for in-person attorney meetings? How many attorney visitation rooms are currently available for virtual attorney meetings?\n\nIn the last six months, have the attorney visitation rooms been used for a purpose other than attorney-client meetings (in-person or virtual) or video teleconferencing (VTC) hearings?\n\nWhen were the most recent facility visits by the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s (DHS) Office of Inspector General, DHS Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO), the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and ICE oversight personnel (whether the Office of Professional Responsibility or otherwise)? What, if any, recommendations were made after each visit? What progress has been made to implement such recommendations?\n\nOIDO issued a report in November 2024 following an inspection of NWIPC. While 11 of the recommendations have been addressed, one remains outstanding. What progress has been made on implementing the remaining recommendation?\n\nThank you for your attention to this matter.\n\nPlease understand that we are paying close attention to the conditions at NWIPC\u2014and your management of this facility.\n\nWe urge you to promptly review these concerns and take immediate steps to improve conditions and practices at NWIPC to comply with existing standards and laws and ensure that people in immigration detention are being treated with basic dignity and respect.\n\nViolations of the law or any abuse of human rights will not go unnoticed or unchallenged.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-opposing-final-fiscal-year-2026-ndaa/", "Senator Murray Statement on Opposing Final Fiscal Year 2026 NDAA", "2025-12-17", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "ICYMI: Senator Murray Responds to Speaker Johnson Working to Strip IVF Coverage for Servicemembers from NDAA, Betraying Trump Promise to Increase Access to IVF\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, voted against final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (NDAA), and issued the following statement:\n\n\u201cI will always fight to support our troops and make sure our country has their back\u2014as the daughter of a World War II veteran, that is a responsibility I have always taken seriously and always will.\n\n\u201cHowever, this bill does not do enough to curb a lawless administration at a moment when President Trump is threatening to turn the military on American citizens, and drag us into a war with Venezuela. While the NDAA takes some steps toward oversight into this administration\u2019s actions in the Caribbean, full video of the lethal second strike that is currently being withheld needs to be made available to all senators\u2014and this is just one in a very long list of things this administration needs to answer for. The politicization and weaponization of our military under this administration should alarm and frighten us all. Our Secretary of Defense is a national embarrassment who denigrates women in the military and put servicemembers\u2019 lives in jeopardy by sharing sensitive war plans in a group chat\u2014Secretary Hegseth is dangerously incompetent and must be fired.\n\n\u201cFurthermore, it is shameful that Speaker Johnson stripped the provision I worked on with Senator Duckworth to help our servicemembers access IVF. Servicemembers face higher rates of infertility and we should be doing everything we can to help them build their families\u2014it\u2019s outrageous that Republicans are denying servicemembers that opportunity. Republicans also cut a very straightforward provision I worked on\u2014that was included in the Senate bill\u2014to expand menopause research at VA and DOD. Menopause is one of the most important yet under-researched areas of women\u2019s health, and I cannot fathom why this bipartisan, commonsense provision did not get included.\n\n\u201cIt is also outrageous that Republicans, at the behest of this White House, stripped out a bipartisan agreement to reverse Trump\u2019s disgraceful renaming of Army bases after Confederate traitors who went to war against this country to fight for slavery. The final legislation also rips away important protections against discrimination in the military and sets a dangerous precedent in acquiescing to Trump\u2019s hateful pro-discrimination agenda. This is an affront to all of us.\n\n\u201cFinally, while I cannot support this legislation, I am glad it includes several important measures for Washington state. The final NDAA includes my legislation with Congressman Smith to bring relief to homeowners living near the Sea-Tac Airport whose properties were soundproofed with faulty equipment decades ago and are in urgent need of repairs.\n\n\u201cThe bill also includes my language to prevent the Trump administration from cutting out Washington state and violating the recently finalized holistic agreement made it into the final bill. This heads off a major threat to the Hanford cleanup mission that was proposed in Project 2025, and that it became clear the Trump administration was quietly working toward. The Trump administration has proven it cannot be trusted when it comes to the Hanford cleanup. This language is an important check after DOE\u2019s 11th hour attempt to stall progress on the Waste Treatment Plant earlier this year, and I want to thank Congressman Smith for partnering with me to advance this important work.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/in-senate-floor-speech-senator-murray-commends-rescue-efforts-and-response-to-devastating-flooding-across-wa-vows-to-continue-fighting-for-support-needed-to-rebuild-recover/", "In Senate Floor Speech, Senator Murray Commends Rescue Efforts and Response to Devastating Flooding Across WA, Vows to Continue Fighting for Support Needed to Rebuild & Recover", "2025-12-16", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray: \u201cHere\u2019s my message to everyone back in Washington state who is dealing with the aftermath of these devastating floods: I know you have a long road ahead. But I promise you will not walk that road alone. I\u2019ll be with you every step of the way. I\u2019ll be your voice here in Washington D.C. And I will fight tooth and nail to make sure you get the support you need to build and to recover.\u201d\n\nTRI-CITY HERALD: \u2018Just what we do.\u2019 Tri-Cities neighbors come together in Yakima River flood\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s full floor speech; DOWNLOAD HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, took to the Senate floor to deliver remarks on the historic flooding and extreme weather that has wreaked havoc in communities across Washington state over the past week, and to praise the heroic efforts of first responders, members of the Coast Guard and National Guard, local officials, meteorologists, and everyday citizens who have stepped up to respond to the flooding and help people on the frontlines.\n\n\u201cEarlier this morning, we saw the first reported death connected to the flooding\u2014a tragic and sobering reminder of what is at stake,\u201d Senator Murray said on the Senate floor today. \u201cAnd as response and recovery efforts continue across my state, I want to take a moment to recognize the valiant effort of first responders, and teams at all levels coming together to get lifesaving information out to our communities so people can prepare and evacuate, and to go in and rescue people whenever and wherever needed.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis flooding showed, plain as day, how the decisions we make here in D.C. really matter for families back home,\u201d Murray continued. \u201cTwenty years ago, I fought for funding so the City of Mount Vernon could secure a flood wall. This week, that wall paid off big time\u2014preventing major flooding from devastating downtown Mount Vernon. We also saw how other flood prevention infrastructure made a huge difference protecting communities all around my state. That\u2019s an important reminder I want all of my colleagues to remember as we work on these funding bills. Prevention matters. Preparedness matters. Having strong infrastructure and a quick response saves lives\u2026 Because the only thing we ever know about the next crisis is that we need to be ready before it strikes.\u201d\n\nMurray concluded by saying, \u201cHere\u2019s my message to everyone back in Washington state who is dealing with the aftermath of these devastating floods: I know you have a long road ahead. But I promise you will not walk that road alone. I\u2019ll be with you every step of the way. I\u2019ll be your voice here in Washington, D.C. And I will fight tooth and nail to make sure you get the support you need to build and recover.\u201d\n\nLast weekend, Senator Murray visited Snohomish and Skagit Counties to hear about ongoing response efforts and speak with local communities that have been hit hard by major flooding and extreme weather. In Snohomish County, Senator Murray heard from local first responders and emergency management officials and also toured affected areas around the city of Monroe including Tualco Valley and Ben Howard Road. In Skagit County, Senator Murray met with Mount Vernon Mayor Peter Donovan to discuss the ongoing response efforts in the region and to see firsthand how the Skagit County Flood Wall protected downtown Mount Vernon during the historic flooding\u2014Murray secured the federal funds to help build the flood wall back in 2006. Senator Murray also visited the FEMA response center in Bothell to thank the staff for working around the clock to help coordinate local response efforts.\n\nLast Thursday, Senator Murray led Washington state\u2019s entire Congressional delegation in a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to approve Governor Ferguson\u2019s request for an expedited Emergency Declaration for the devastating storms and severe flooding hitting Washington state\u2014that request was approved last Friday. Back in May, Senator Murray led a bipartisan, bicameral letter with over 80 of her colleagues urging Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to reinstate the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which supports local efforts to protect and harden our communities from natural disaster. Just recently, Washington and a multistate coalition won their lawsuit against the Trump administration over its unlawful attempt to shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s (FEMA) BRIC program. As a longtime senior appropriator, Senator Murray has always fought to secure the federal resources Washington state needs to recover and rebuild from natural disasters\u2014Senator Murray has worked hard to impress upon her colleagues that disaster relief should never be impeded by politics.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered on the Senate floor today, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you, M. President.\n\n\u201cYou know, over the past week, my home state of Washington has experienced catastrophic and record-breaking flooding due to an ongoing atmospheric and winter weather event. It has been devastating, and with more rain coming, and further evacuations underway today, it remains dangerous.\n\n\u201cEarlier this morning, we saw the first reported death connected to the flooding\u2014a tragic and sobering reminder of what is at stake.\n\n\u201cAnd as response and recovery efforts continue across my state, I want to take a moment to recognize the valiant effort of first responders, and teams at all levels coming together to get lifesaving information out to our communities so people can prepare and evacuate, and to go in and rescue people whenever and wherever needed.\n\n\u201cLast week, I led the Washington state delegation in requesting an expedited Emergency Declaration to get federal disaster response resources out to our state.\n\n\u201cI was glad to see that request quickly approved by FEMA. That\u2019s how it should always work. We should always come together in times of tragedy and focus on helping people.\n\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s exactly what I saw happening this past weekend, when I was on the ground in Washington state.\n\n\u201cI met with local officials, businessowners, and families. I saw, up close and personal, what our communities are facing and how they are responding.\n\n\u201cAnd I want to share a few things that were very clear to me this weekend. This flooding showed\u2014plain as day\u2014how the decisions we make here in D.C. really matter for families back home.\n\n\u201cTwenty years ago, I fought for funding so the City of Mount Vernon could secure a flood wall.\n\n\u201cThis week, that wall paid off, big time\u2014preventing major flooding from devastating downtown Mount Vernon.\n\n\u201cWe also saw how flood prevention infrastructure made a huge difference protecting communities all around my state.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s an important reminder I want all of my colleagues to remember as we work on these funding bills. Prevention matters. Preparedness matters. Having strong infrastructure and a quick response saves lives.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why I champion these kinds of investments every year: top notch weather forecasting, resilient infrastructure, disaster preparedness and response, and more.\n\n\u201cBecause the only thing we ever know about the next crisis is that we need to be ready before it strikes.\n\n\u201cAnother thing I saw when I was visiting the frontlines of the flooding this past weekend is how our local, state, tribal, and federal officials are all coming together to do incredible work.\n\n\u201cI really can\u2019t say enough how grateful I am to all the experts and heroes who have been putting in very long hours, solving hard problems, and even putting themselves at risk to save lives and protect our communities during these floods.\n\n\u201cFrom the meteorologists and experts\u2014monitoring and updating all of us on constantly changing conditions.\n\n\u201cLocal officials, firefighters, and police departments\u2014getting out important warnings, and getting people out of harm\u2019s way.\n\n\u201cTo the Coast Guard\u2014doing search operations and flyovers to help evacuate people in danger.\n\n\u201cTo the National Guard\u2014supporting rescue and response missions, staffing traffic control points, and filling sandbags to divert floodwater.\n\n\u201cAnd of course, neighbors\u2014everyday people\u2014stepping up and lending a hand wherever they can help.\n\n\u201cIt truly is inspiring to see.\n\n\u201cNow, one of the most important things I saw this weekend, when I\u2019m hearing from folks about the flood damage, is that we are not out of the woods yet in Washington state, not even close.\n\n\u201cNot when it comes to the immediate threat of these floods, since the rain is continuing this week. Just this morning we saw a levee breach on the White River, and \u2018GO NOW\u2019 evacuations were issued for the City of Pacific in South King County.\n\n\u201cNot when it comes to landslides\u2014which remain a huge risk at the moment.\n\n\u201cAnd certainly not when it comes to recovery. Mitigating disaster, responding to disaster\u2014that is crucial, and we have done a good job so far.\n\n\u201cBut our work is not done until we have tackled recovery.\n\n\u201cAnd while we still don\u2019t know the full scope of this destruction, what we do know is the damage that has already been done is massive.\n\n\u201cEntire neighborhoods and huge swaths of farmland have been flooded. Some roads have buckled, some are covered in debris, some were just simply swept away. Businesses owners are returning to flooded shops and ruined inventory.\n\n\u201cThere are families coming home only to find their house is gone. We have downed trees, we have downed powerlines, damaged wastewater facilities, and breached levees, and again, there will be more destructive flooding to come.\n\n\u201cThe painful truth is: we have a lot of broken pieces floating across Washington state right now.\n\n\u201cIt will be a slow, hard process to put this all back together again and help people get their lives back on track.\n\n\u201cSo, here\u2019s my message to everyone back in Washington state who\u2019s dealing with the tremendous aftermath of these devastating floods: I know you have a long road ahead. But I promise you will not walk that road alone.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll be with you every step of the way. I\u2019ll be your voice here in Washington, D.C. And I will fight tooth and nail to make sure you get the support you need to build and to recover.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-colleagues-demand-answers-from-ice-on-racial-profiling-of-tribal-members-refusal-to-accept-tribal-ids-2/", "Murray, Colleagues Demand Answers from ICE on Racial Profiling of Tribal Members, Refusal to Accept Tribal IDs", "2025-12-16", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "SEATTLE TIMES: Indigenous actor Elaine Miles says ICE called her tribal ID \u2018fake\u2019\n\nSenators: \u201cThe disrespect and harassment of U.S.-born Tribal citizens by ICE is outrageous and inexcusable, and we request that you take immediate steps to put an end to it.\u201d\n\n***LETTER HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, led 11 of her Senate colleagues in a new letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem demanding answers regarding the outrageous mistreatment of Tribal citizens by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a number of recent incidents, including in Washington state. In their letter, the lawmakers called out reports of ICE improperly stopping or detaining Tribal citizens for no apparent reason aside from their physical appearance, and urged Secretary Noem to develop policy and trainings to ensure that all ICE agents are trained to recognize Tribal IDs, regardless of whether they are working on Tribal lands.\n\nJoining Senator Murray in sending the letter were U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).\n\n\u201cWe write to share our alarm over the completely unacceptable treatment of U.S.-born citizens of federally recognized Tribes, who have been stopped and questioned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on suspicion of being undocumented,\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cIn February, several Senators wrote to you following reports of ICE agents improperly stopping or detaining Tribal citizens. In June, you replied with a letter in which you failed to respond to the majority of the questions raised in the letter. Over the past month, we have heard additional alarming reports of ICE improperly stopping or detaining Tribal citizens for no apparent reason aside from their physical appearance. The disrespect and harassment of U.S.-born Tribal citizens by ICE is outrageous and inexcusable, and we request that you take immediate steps to put an end to it.\u201d\n\nIn November, Elaine Miles, an Indigenous actor, was approached by four men who identified themselves as ICE agents while waiting for a bus in Redmond, Washington. When she handed them her Tribal ID issued by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, the immigration agents reportedly claimed that her ID was \u201cfake\u201d and that \u201canyone can make that.\u201d When she attempted to call the Umatilla Tribal enrollment office phone number to verify her ID to the officers, an officer tried unsuccessfully to pry her phone out of her hands, then departed with his counterparts in unmarked vehicles. Miles alleges that her son and uncle were also both detained by ICE agents who initially did not accept their Tribal IDs before eventually releasing them. In response, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin\u2014a frequent liar\u2014said in an emailed statement that allegations that DHS law enforcement officers engage in racial profiling \u201ccategorically FALSE.\u201d\n\nThe senators referenced this incident in their letter, noting that ICE had previously told Members of Congress that \u201cThe ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Academy does not train ERO officers to require any specific document to prove U.S. citizenship.\u201d \u201cThe experience of these Tribal citizens in Washington suggests that this is false: ICE agents are demanding certain documents to prove citizenship and are unaware of different forms of Tribal ID,\u201d the Members wrote.\n\nIn another recent incident, a member of Arizona\u2019s Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Leticia Jacobo, was nearly deported after an Iowa jail mistakenly issued an ICE detainer for another inmate. Despite the fact that Jacobo was in possession of her Tribal ID and had her Social Security number on file with the jail, her family had to scramble to prove her identity and Tribal citizenship to the jail staff, who released her just hours before she would have been transferred into federal custody. At least 15 Indigenous people in Arizona and New Mexico reported being questioned or detained by ICE agents in January of 2025. Harassment of Navajo Nation citizens by ICE has been so widespread that Navajo President Buu Nygren took to the airwaves to advise his members to carry identification, driver\u2019s licenses and their Certificate of Indian Blood on their person at all times.\n\n\u201cYou have an obligation to uphold the federal government\u2019s trust and treaty obligations to Tribes and to treat Tribal citizens with respect\u2014this is not optional. In light of recent incidents, we urge you to develop policy and trainings to ensure that all ICE agents are trained to recognize Tribal IDs, regardless of whether they are working on Tribal lands,\u201d the senators concluded. The Members also demanded answers by January 11th to a number of questions about DHS policies regarding interactions with Tribal citizens and Tribal ID, and how the Department is working with its Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to review and investigate allegations of civil rights violations.\n\nSenator Murray has spoken out forcefully and constantly throughout this year against the Trump administration\u2019s cruel and counterproductive mass deportation campaign and the egregious treatment by ICE and DHS of American citizens, legal immigrants, and undocumented immigrants. Recently, Murray called attention to the violent assault of Wilmer Toledo-Martinez in Vancouver, Washington and she has called for his immediate release from the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC). Wilmer was lured out of his home under false pretenses, violently detained by federal agents, and mauled by an attack dog despite not resisting arrest or attempting to flee. Murray also recently called attention to the case of Jose Paniagua Calder\u00f3n, whose foot was run over by agents in Vancouver.\n\nLast month, Senator Murray joined 48 of her colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives in introducing the Restoring Access to Detainees Act, which would mandate that DHS allow people who have been detained to contact their legal counsel and families. In February, Senator Murray signed onto a letter led by Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) demanding that DHS end wrongful searches and interrogations of Tribal members. She and Senator Richard Blumenthal led 27 of their Senate colleagues earlier this year in a letter expressing concern with prevalence and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in ICE detention, and she also joined recent a letter led by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) calling for ICE to end the misuse of solitary confinement in immigration detention.\n\nThe full text of the letter is available HERE and below.\n\nDear Secretary Noem:\n\nWe write to share our alarm over the completely unacceptable treatment of U.S.-born citizens of federally recognized Tribes, who have been stopped and questioned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on suspicion of being undocumented. In February, several Senators wrote to you following reports of ICE agents improperly stopping or detaining Tribal citizens. In June, you replied with a letter in which you failed to respond to the majority of the questions raised in the letter. Over the past month, we have heard additional alarming reports of ICE improperly stopping or detaining Tribal citizens for no apparent reason aside from their physical appearance. The disrespect and harassment of U.S.-born Tribal citizens by ICE is outrageous and inexcusable, and we request that you take immediate steps to put an end to it.\n\nIn one recent incident, several Tribal citizens were stopped by ICE agents at a bus stop in Redmond, Washington. These agents reportedly questioned the validity of their Tribal ID, with agents allegedly telling one Tribal citizen that her Tribal ID was \u201cfake\u201d and that \u201canyone can make that.\u201d ICE agents also reportedly refused an offer to contact her Tribal government to verify these individuals\u2019 enrollment and identification documents.\n\nIn our February letter, you were asked to supply information about the training offered to ICE agents about different forms of valid identification and documentation of United States citizenship for enrolled members of federally recognized Tribes. In response, you wrote, \u201cThe ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Academy does not train ERO officers to require any specific document to prove U.S. citizenship.\u201d The experience of these Tribal citizens in Washington suggests that this is false: ICE agents are demanding certain documents to prove citizenship and are unaware of different forms of Tribal ID.\n\nYou have an obligation to uphold the federal government\u2019s trust and treaty obligations to Tribes and to treat Tribal citizens with respect\u2014this is not optional. In light of recent incidents, we urge you to develop policy and trainings to ensure that all ICE agents are trained to recognize Tribal IDs, regardless of whether they are working on Tribal lands. Additionally, we request that you answer the following questions:\n\nWhat steps, if any, has your Department taken to develop new or change existing policies regarding its interactions with Tribal citizens and governments this year?\n\nPlease provide a detailed description of how agents are trained to respond when presented with a Tribally-issued identification card or document.\n\nDoes the Department require additional resources to develop training and policies for ICE agents to recognize identification documents issued by Tribal governments?\n\nPlease provide a detailed description of how the Department is working with its Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to review and investigate any allegations of civil rights and civil liberties violations as it pertains to ICE\u2019s treatment of United States-born citizens of federally recognized Tribes.\n\nIn both your June letter and in the Department\u2019s public response to the Redmond incident, your Department has denied that it racially profiles Tribal members. How do explain the pattern of ICE agents stopping and detaining Tribal citizens under the current Administration?\n\nWe appreciate your attention to this request and ask that you respond to these questions no later than January 11, 2026.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-wyden-gillibrand-lead-democrats-in-new-bill-to-halt-trump-administrations-looming-medicare-ai-prior-authorization-takeover-democrats-fight-to-save-medicare/", "Murray, Wyden, Gillibrand Lead Democrats in New Bill to Halt Trump Administration\u2019s Looming Medicare AI Prior Authorization Takeover\u2014Democrats Fight to Save Medicare", "2025-12-15", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington state is one of six states selected by the Trump administration to take part in untested new program adding new red tape to Traditional Medicare by allowing AI to approve or deny medical procedures for seniors\n\nAs Republicans double down on health care sabotage, Senators lead effort to protect Medicare benefits from an AI experiment\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ranking Member of the Senate Aging Committee, led their colleagues in introducing the Seniors Deserve SMARTER (Streamlined Medical Approvals for Timely, Efficient Recovery) Care Act, legislation that would prohibit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from implementing the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) model that is set to begin January 1, 2026 and last for six years.\n\nThe Trump administration\u2019s WISeR model will introduce prior authorization requirements into Traditional Medicare for the first time ever\u2014allowing private companies to use artificial intelligence (AI) to decide whether to approve or deny certain medical procedures for patients on Traditional Medicare. The model will impose new burdensome requirements on health care providers, especially those working in small or low-resource settings, and create new roadblocks for patients\u2014meaning that AI will get to decide what care patients receive, even after their doctors have recommended a particular procedure or medication. Most concerningly, the third-party AI companies involved in the program will be compensated based on a share of \u201caverted expenditures\u201d\u2014rewarding companies based on the volume or cost of care they deny to seniors on Medicare. According to CMS, human clinicians will review any denials made by AI\u2014but the Trump administration has failed to provide clear guidance to providers and the public about what this will look like, despite implementation being mere weeks away. The Trump administration has provided little detail on how patients will be notified, supported, or protected if prior authorization requests are denied.\n\nThe Trump administration plans for the WISeR model to run as a pilot program for six years beginning January 1, 2026 in six selected states\u2014including Washington state. About 1.6 million are enrolled in Medicare in Washington state, just over half are enrolled in Traditional Medicare, with the remainder enrolled in Medicare Advantage. The model is described as voluntary, but it is effectively mandatory for health care providers and their patients with Traditional Medicare in the six selected states: Washington, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Arizona.\n\nIn November, U.S. Representative Suzan DelBene (D, WA-01) introduced companion legislation alongside Reps. Kim Schrier (D, WA-08), Rick Larsen (D, WA-02), Greg Landsman (D, OH-01), Ami Bera (D, CA-06), and Mark Pocan (D, WI-02) in the House of Representatives.\n\n\u201cThe Trump administration is gearing up to use AI to delay and deny Medicare benefits for seniors\u2014this is outrageous and should be a national scandal,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cSeniors already face painful delays when it comes to getting health care, and Republicans have plunged our nation\u2019s health care system further into crisis by passing the largest-ever cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act\u2014leaving many hospitals hanging on by a thread. The very last thing this administration should be doing is strangling already overworked providers in new red tape and letting AI decide who gets health care and who doesn\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe already know that prior authorization creates major burdens and delays for patients and providers, and expanding it to Traditional Medicare will just force seniors to wait longer and navigate mountains of paperwork to get the care their doctor says they need,\u201d Senator Murray continued. \u201cMake no mistake: this is a backdoor effort to privatize Medicare and cut benefits. My message to seniors in Washington state: I will fight with everything I\u2019ve got to stop this morally bankrupt AI takeover of Medicare and make sure you can get the health care you need.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Trump Administration is pushing automated care denials on seniors in Traditional Medicare, which is the last thing Americans want for their health care,\u201d Senator Wyden said. \u201cInstead of improving Traditional Medicare to give seniors the health care they\u2019ve earned, Donald Trump and his cronies are empowering insurance companies and AI special interests. It\u2019s time to stop this experiment on seniors.\u201d\n\n\u201cArtificial intelligence should not delay or deny seniors\u2019 health care. The Trump administration\u2019s new program would force seniors to jump through unnecessary hoops just to get the care they need and impose new, unnecessary burdens on health care providers,\u201d said Senator Gillibrand. \u201cAs the top Democrat on the Senate Aging Committee, protecting and expanding access to Medicare is one of my top priorities, and I will keep fighting to ensure that health care decisions are made by patients and their doctors, not untested, profit-driven AI programs.\u201d\n\nThe Seniors Deserve SMARTER Care Act would prohibit CMS from implementing the WISeR model. Specifically, the bill reads: \u201cThe Secretary of Health and Human Services shall not implement the innovative payment and service delivery model described in the notice titled \u201cMedicare Program; Implementation of Prior Authorization for Select Services for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction (WISeR) Model\u201d (90 Fed. Reg. 28749 (July 1, 2025)), or any substantially similar model.\u201d\n\nIn September, Senator Murray and other Senate Democrats sent a letter to CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and CMMI Director Abe Sutton, urging CMS to halt implementation of the model until a full analysis is conducted of the program\u2019s impact on patient access\u2014which, they argued, should include input from beneficiaries and their families, consumer and patient advocates, health care providers and suppliers. The senators\u2019 letter asks CMS for more information on the rationale for the selected six states, the plan for collaborating with the third-party vendors on AI, the reason for a lack of notice-and-comment rulemaking, and more. There have been very few details even to this day about the WISeR model rollout. Senator Murray is also an original cosponsor of the bipartisan Improving Seniors\u2019 Timely Access to Care Act of 2025 to streamline and crack down on prior authorization practices in Medicare Advantage plans.\n\nSenator Murray has championed Medicare and fought to protect the program throughout her entire career\u2014including as the top Democrat on the Senate Health Committee from 2017-2022\u2014alongside other efforts to bring down the cost of health care and make care more accessible to families. She championed efforts to allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for seniors for years, and worked hard with her Democratic colleagues to make lower drug costs for seniors a reality as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which every Republican voted against. Senator Murray is committed to getting answers about the WISeR model, holding the Trump administration accountable through any implementation, and protecting Americans\u2019 Medicare benefits from Trump\u2019s AI experiment.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray, Wyden, and Gillibrand, the Seniors Deserve SMARTER Care Act is cosponsored bySenators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Peter Welch (D-VT).\n\nThe Seniors Deserve SMARTER Care Act is endorsed by: Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA), Washington State Medical Association (WSMA), Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action (PSARA), Physicians for a National Health Program, the Center for Health and Democracy, Social Security Works, Just Care USA, Washington Community Action Network, Healthcare is a Human Right Coalition, Health Care for All \u2013 Washington, Social Security Works Washington, National Nurses United, Public Citizen, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, American Osteopathic Association, American Podiatric Medical Association, Mental Health Liaison Group, and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.\n\n\u201cMedicare was built on a promise that seniors can access timely, quality care guided by their doctors, not profit-driven algorithms. The WISeR model introduces AI-powered prior authorization and outsources critical decisions to private contractors, creating barriers that undermine trust and delay treatment. The Seniors Deserve SMARTER Care Act is essential to preserve the integrity of Traditional Medicare, protect patients from harmful delays and keep clinical decisions where they belong: in the hands of providers. Washington\u2019s seniors deserve care that prioritizes health outcomes, not cost-cutting,\u201d said Cassie Sauer, CEO of the Washington State Hospital Association.\n\n\u201cThe Washington State Medical Association applauds Senator Murray for introducing the Seniors Deserve SMARTER Care Act \u2014 a necessary step toward protecting patients from burdensome prior authorization policies. The proposed legislation recognizes what physicians and patients have long warned about: the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services\u2019 WISeR pilot would impose unnecessary delays, expand administrative waste, and ultimately jeopardize patient access to care. We stand firmly with Senator Murray in calling for a complete prohibition on implementation of the WISeR Model and urge lawmakers to enact the SMARTER Care Act swiftly to ensure timely, patient-centered care remains the priority,\u201d said Bridget Bush, MD, FASA, President, Washington State Medical Association (WSMA).\n\n\u201cPSARA and all Medicare beneficiaries in Washington State appreciate Senator Murray for stepping up to defend Original Medicare from attacks like the WISeR program, that will incentivize delays and denials of needed medical care,\u201d said Mike Andrew, Executive Director of the Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action (PSARA).\n\nText of the legislation is available HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-leads-entire-wa-delegation-in-requesting-expedited-emergency-declaration-for-devastating-storms-atmospheric-rivers-hitting-washington-state-2/", "Senator Murray Leads Entire WA Delegation in Requesting Expedited Emergency Declaration for Devastating Storms, Atmospheric Rivers Hitting Washington State", "2025-12-13", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "SEATTLE TIMES LIVE UPDATES: Skagit County officials ordered \u201cGO NOW\u201d evacuations for entire Skagit River valley 100-year floodplain; 100,000 people expected to be evacuated statewide\n\nSEATTLE TIMES: 4 WA rivers might break major flooding records from atmospheric river\n\n***LETTER HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, led Washington state\u2019s entire Congressional delegation in a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to approve Washington state Governor Bob Ferguson\u2019s request last night for an expedited Emergency Declaration for the devastating storms and severe flooding hitting Washington state this week.\n\nThe latest flood hazard outlook from the National Weather Service forecasts \u201ccatastrophic\u201d river flooding in parts of Northwest Washington, and \u201cconsiderable flooding\u201d in a wide stretch of land from Bellingham to south of Olympia. State authorities have ordered \u201cGO NOW\u201d evacuations for the entire 100-year floodplain of the Skagit River valley. On Wednesday, Governor Ferguson said an estimated 100,000 Washingtonians could face evacuation orders, and declared a statewide emergency alongside his request for a federal Emergency Declaration. An Emergency Declaration would supplement state, local, and Tribal responders and allow the federal government to assist with debris removal and emergency protective measures.\n\n\u201cWe write in support of Washington state\u2019s December 10, 2025 request for an expedited Emergency Declaration due to the devastating extreme rainfall, high winds, heavy snowfall, ice accumulation, and major coastal, river, and localized flooding caused by an extreme atmospheric river and winter weather event that struck the state beginning on December 2, 2025. We urge you to approve this request for assistance as quickly as possible,\u201d Murray and the other members of the delegation wrote. \u201cThis storm is threatening lives, property, and livestock in every corner of Washington. The storm has had severe and widespread impacts on our transportation system, with major highways closed due to mudslides and communities cut off by rising water. The National Weather Service forecasts that more than a dozen Washington rivers will see major flooding in the coming days, leading to further and worsening impacts.\u201d\n\nJoining Senator Murray in the letter to President Trump were Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and U.S. Representatives Suzan DelBene (D, WA-01), U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (D, WA-02), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D, WA-03), Dan Newhouse (R, WA-04), Michael Baumgartner (R, WA-05), Emily Randall (D, WA-06), Pramila Jayapal (D, WA-07), Kim Schrier (D, WA-08), Adam Smith (D, WA-09), and Marilyn Strickland (D, WA-10).\n\n\u201cOn the Cowlitz River, water has overtopped Highway 12, isolating the communities of Randle and Packwood. Most major routes through the Cascade Mountains connecting western Washington to the rest of the state have been closed or seen landslides and other severe impacts. In Skagit County alone, local government officials expect to issue evacuation orders for over 75,000 residents, over half of the county\u2019s total population. The county is bracing for significant loss of life, infrastructure, and property, with a full recovery expected to take years or even decades. Some areas on the Skagit River may see floodwaters rise five feet higher than the existing record,\u201d the Members continued.\n\n\u201cWe are grateful to the local, state, Tribal, and federal officials who have quickly mobilized to respond to this storm. Our first responders and emergency personnel are working around the clock and in dangerous conditions to protect lives, provide essential services, and keep our communities safe. It is essential that the federal government steps in to provide the resources necessary to allow our state to respond to this disaster and begin the road to recovery as soon as possible,\u201d Murray and the delegation concluded. \u201cAn expedited Emergency Declaration is critical to help with debris removal and emergency protection measures.\u201d\n\nThe full letter is available HERE and below:\n\nDear Mr. President:\n\nAs members of the Washington state delegation, we write in support of Washington state\u2019s December 10, 2025 request for an expedited Emergency Declaration due to the devastating extreme rainfall, high winds, heavy snowfall, ice accumulation, and major coastal, river, and localized flooding caused by an extreme atmospheric river and winter weather event that struck the state beginning on December 2, 2025. We urge you to approve this request for assistance as quickly as possible.\n\nThis storm is threatening lives, property, and livestock in every corner of Washington. The storm has had severe and widespread impacts on our transportation system, with major highways closed due to mudslides and communities cut off by rising water. The National Weather Service forecasts that more than a dozen Washington rivers will see major flooding in the coming days, leading to further and worsening impacts.\n\nOn the Cowlitz River, water has overtopped Highway 12, isolating the communities of Randle and Packwood. Most major routes through the Cascade Mountains connecting western Washington to the rest of the state have been closed or seen landslides and other severe impacts. In Skagit County alone, local government officials expect to issue evacuation orders for over 75,000 residents, over half of the county\u2019s total population. The county is bracing for significant loss of life, infrastructure, and property, with a full recovery expected to take years or even decades. Some areas on the Skagit River may see floodwaters rise five feet higher than the existing record.\n\nWe are grateful to the local, state, Tribal, and federal officials who have quickly mobilized to respond to this storm. Our first responders and emergency personnel are working around the clock and in dangerous conditions to protect lives, provide essential services, and keep our communities safe. It is essential that the federal government steps in to provide the resources necessary to allow our state to respond to this disaster and begin the road to recovery as soon as possible.\n\nAn expedited Emergency Declaration is critical to help with debris removal and emergency protection measures. We appreciate your prompt attention to this request.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-meets-with-snohomish-county-first-responders-tours-recent-flooding-visits-skagit-county-flood-wall-affirms-she-will-fight-to-deliver-federal-resources-to-support-recovery/", "Senator Murray Meets with Snohomish County First Responders, Tours Recent Flooding; Visits Skagit County Flood Wall, Affirms She Will Fight to Deliver Federal Resources to Support Recovery", "2025-12-13", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Senator Murray: \u201cWe have a long road ahead to ensure our communities can recover and rebuild\u2014rest assured I will fight tooth and nail to make certain that Washington state gets the federal resources it needs.\u201d\n\n***VIDEO OF THE MEDIA AVAILABILITY IN MOUNT VERNON AVAILABLE HERE***\n\nMount Vernon, WA \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, visited Snohomish and Skagit Counties to hear about ongoing response efforts and witness firsthand the current state of local communities that have been hit hard by major flooding and extreme weather.\n\nIn Snohomish County, Senator Murray was joined by Governor Bob Ferguson, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA-01), Congresswoman Kim Schrier (D-WA-08), Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, and other local elected officials. At this stop, the Senator heard from local first responders and emergency management officials and also toured affected areas around the city of Monroe including Tualco Valley and Ben Howard Road.\n\nIn Skagit County, Senator Murray was joined by Governor Ferguson and Senator Cantwell. She met with Mount Vernon Mayor Peter Donovan to discuss the ongoing response efforts in the region and to see firsthand how the Skagit County Flood Wall protected downtown Mount Vernon during the historic flooding\u2014Murray secured the federal funds to help build the flood wall back in 2006. Senator Murray also heard from National Weather Service (NWS) staff about the forecast for next week where they underscored that further precipitation is expected and that flood waters could continue to rise in certain areas even as they recede in others.\n\n\u201cCommunities across our state have been hit hard by this flooding and we aren\u2019t out of the woods yet\u2014I continue to urge everyone to stay alert and listen closely to local officials for urgent updates to keep themselves and first responders safe,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cThese past few days have been difficult, and there are a lot more tough days ahead\u2014but I am really heartened by how our state has come together, with so many incredible stories of ordinary people stepping up to help their neighbors. In particular, I am so grateful to our local first responders, our Coast Guard, our National Guard, and absolutely everyone working around the clock to keep folks safe and save lives\u2014the video of rescue missions happening across Washington state have been nothing short of inspiring. As we continue to respond to ongoing flooding and other extreme weather, we have a long road ahead to ensure our communities can recover and rebuild\u2014rest assured I will fight tooth and nail to make certain that Washington state gets the federal resources it needs.\u201d\n\nYesterday, Senator Murray visited the FEMA response center in Bothell to thank the staff for working around the clock to help coordinate local response efforts. On Thursday, Senator Murray led Washington state\u2019s entire Congressional delegation in a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to approve Governor Ferguson\u2019s request for an expedited Emergency Declaration for the devastating storms and severe flooding hitting Washington state\u2014that request was approved yesterday.\n\nIn visiting the Skagit County Flood Wall, Murray\u2014who secured the federal funding for the project in 2006\u2014reiterated that Congress should support more, not less, investments in climate resilience. Back in May, Senator Murray led a bipartisan, bicameral letter with over 80 of her colleagues urging Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to reinstate the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which supports local efforts to protect and harden our communities from natural disaster. Just recently, Washington and a multistate coalition won their lawsuit against the Trump administration over its unlawful attempt to shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s (FEMA) BRIC program. As a longtime senior appropriator, Murray has always fought to secure the federal resources Washington state needs to recover and rebuild from natural disasters\u2014in Congress, Murray has worked hard to impress upon her colleagues that disaster relief should never be impeded by politics.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/ahead-of-final-opportunity-to-save-aca-tax-credits-senator-murray-urges-republicans-to-stop-maga-health-care-hike-slams-unserious-and-harmful-republican-proposals-that-would-do-nothing-to-stop-premi/", "Ahead of Final Opportunity to Save ACA Tax Credits, Senator Murray Urges Republicans to Stop MAGA Health Care Hike, Slams Unserious and Harmful Republican Proposals That Would Do Nothing to Stop Premiums from Skyrocketing", "2025-12-10", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray: \u201cThe Republican plan is like Squid Games for health care. You can\u2019t afford quality health coverage? Here\u2019s a coupon\u2014spin the wheel and see if you make it through the year. If you lose\u2014if you get cancer, if you get pregnant, or if you have any sort of medical emergency more expensive than a thousand bucks, you get buried in debt.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray has been sounding the alarm on the looming health care cost cliff and calling on Republicans to work with Democrats to extend the ACA tax credits well over a year\u2014FULL TIMELINE HERE\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s full floor speech; DOWNLOAD HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, spoke forcefully on the Senate floor, calling on Republicans to support legislation to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits and prevent the massive premium hikes families are facing beginning January 1st because of Republicans\u2019 refusal to act all year.\n\nMurray laid out how, at this point\u2014well over a month into Open Enrollment\u2014it is simply too late to pass anything more complicated than a clean extension of the tax credits, which is what Democrats\u2019 bill does. Republicans had all year to propose and pass reforms to the tax credits\u2014they chose not to\u2014and proposals requiring the implementation of major reforms to the tax credits less than three weeks before coverage begins January 1st are not serious and would not stop health care premiums from skyrocketing. The latest polling from KFF found one in four ACA marketplace enrollees said they are very likely to go uninsured if the ACA tax credits aren\u2019t extended, and one in three enrollees said they are very likely to shop for a plan with higher deductibles and out-of-pocket costs.\n\nTomorrow, alongside a vote on Democrats\u2019 legislation that would provide a clean, three-year extension of the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, the Senate will also vote on a Crapo-Cassidy proposal that would kill the ACA enhanced premium tax credits\u2014doing nothing to stop premiums from spiking. The Crapo-Cassidy bill also includes extreme new anti-abortion restrictions, including blocking ACA Marketplace plans that provide abortion coverage from receiving cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments\u2014which would effectively force them out of the marketplace and make it even more difficult for people to get this essential care when they need it.\n\nOpen enrollment began on November 1st\u2014and ends on Monday, December 15 for coverage effective January 1 (for coverage effective February 1, open enrollment ends on January 15). Nationwide, 22 million Americans are seeing their health care costs skyrocket because of Republican inaction\u2014premiums are more than doubling on average for people who buy health coverage on the exchanges, and these higher costs will push 4.8 million people off their health insurance coverage over the next decade. A Washington-state specific fact sheet on the ACA tax credits is HERE.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered on the Senate floor today, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you, M. President. Right now, right now, families are trying to get health coverage for next year, a few weeks away. And they are coming face-to-face with the MAGA health care hike.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s not some theory, or talking point. That is the stone-cold reality.\n\n\u201cJust talk to folks back home and they will tell you. Premiums are doubling, on average, for people losing the ACA enhanced premium tax credits. In some cases, they are tripling, or quadrupling\u2014or even worse.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve heard from seniors who will see their premium jump more than a thousand dollars a month. I\u2019ve heard from a family in Washington state whose premium will jump two thousand dollars a month.\n\n\u201cA new KFF poll found one in four people will just go without health coverage if their premium doubles\u2014again, that\u2019s the average increase families are facing because of Republican inaction. That\u2019s the reality that we are staring down this very moment.\n\n\u201cThis is hitting seniors, who are too young for Medicare but can\u2019t afford to roll the dice on their health. This is hitting small businesses, who rely on the exchanges and tax credits to get coverage for themselves and their employees. It\u2019s hitting farmers, many of whom are covered on the exchanges.\n\n\u201cAnd I have to say, the reason I call this the MAGA health care hike? Is because it is going to hit MAGA states the hardest. Even as Trump calls affordability a \u2018scam!\u2019\n\n\u201cThe ten states where premiums are jumping by the highest percentage? All Republican states. Every single one.\n\n\u201cThe vast majority of these dollars go to Republican states. And yet, the vast majority of my Republican colleagues couldn\u2019t be bothered when it came to saving the health tax credits, and stopping folks back home from losing coverage.\n\n\u201cNot only are most Republicans not serious about stopping the MAGA health care hike\u2014many of them are cheering it on!\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t have to take my word for it. Just look at what Republican leaders said about saving the health care tax credits earlier this year.\n\n\u201cRepublican leaders said, and I quote: nothing. Nothing! Or just look at the only health care plan Republicans ever rallied around: cutting a trillion dollars from health care. Or just listen to Speaker Johnson argue Republicans \u2018strengthened\u2019 health care\u2014by making the biggest cut in Medicaid in history!\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s like saying you strengthened a ship by throwing the passengers overboard! That is the one thing they all agree on. That is the one health policy they are all proud of.\n\n\u201cDo Republicans want an award for all the hospitals that are now going to shutter? Do they want a thank you card from all the families that get priced out of their health coverage?\n\n\u201cAnd another clear sign Republicans are not serious about health care: their message has been all over the place. Everywhere from hypocritical, to nonsensical, to straight-up lies.\n\n\u201cOne of the first Republican talking points we saw was the outright lie that all this money is for illegal immigrants. Their latest spin is just as ridiculous.\n\n\u201cBecause now Republicans, the same party that proudly brought you the biggest billionaire tax giveaway in the history of our country, the same Republicans who have never met a corporate CEO they didn\u2019t want to shower with tax cuts, are scandalized to learn health insurance is provided by health insurance companies. That\u2019s pretty darn rich.\n\n\u201cWhen Republicans were just giving money away this summer\u2014literally a billionaire free-for-all\u2014it was so important that they cut health care. But when Democrats want to help families buy health coverage\u2014that is a bridge too far!\n\n\u201cIf Republicans, the party of Trump and Elon, want to play \u2018who is buddies with billionaires,\u2019 go ahead. Make my day.\n\n\u201cRemember, Republicans made tax breaks for billionaires permanent. Permanent! They exploded the national debt by trillions to do it. They cut health care to do that! And they pretended it cost zero dollars by using ridiculous, make-believe budget gimmicks.\n\n\u201cBut saving health care for a few years is too expensive?\n\n\u201cRepublicans don\u2019t see anything outrageous about Trump shoveling billions of dollars at Argentina. They have no objection with a new private jet for Secretary Noem, or bulldozing the White House for Trump\u2019s latest gold-plated vanity project.\n\n\u201cBut they can\u2019t imagine making sure their own constituents have health care?\n\n\u201cAnd please, when Republicans try and pretend it\u2019s unthinkable we want to do this for three years, don\u2019t forget they already voted down doing it for one year.\n\n\u201cIn fact, one Republican actually called it, \u2018political terrorism.\u2019 Give me a break.\n\n\u201cTrump can post a video where he bombs protesters with feces. He can repost someone calling to hang Democrats. But when Democrats want to save health care for working families, that is \u2018political terrorism.\u2019 M. President.\n\n\u201cAnd let\u2019s not forget one of the most incredible Republican excuses for letting premiums double\u2014they never wanted to lower health care costs with these tax credits in the first place!\n\n\u201cThey say, \u2018Look, Democrats passed these tax credits without a single Republican vote.\u2019 Well, you bet we did! And that really does show the difference in priorities, doesn\u2019t it?\n\n\u201cWhen Democrats were in power, we passed the strongest, longest tax credit we had the votes for to help working families get health care. Because Democrats actually think it\u2019s a problem that millions of people are going to lose coverage.\n\n\u201cBut Republicans think the real problem is too many people were able to get coverage in the first place. They are even doubling down on that in their new, half-baked proposal to pretend they have some kind of health care agenda.\n\n\u201cJust look at the ideas that Republicans are putting forward.\n\n\u201cThe Republican health care plan is to bring back\u2014back\u2014the bad old days of \u2018high risk pools\u2019\u2014when pre-existing conditions weren\u2019t protected, and a cancer diagnosis meant you couldn\u2019t get health coverage.\n\n\u201cThe Republicans health care plan is more junk health plans that bury patients in debt when they have an accident, or they get sick.\n\n\u201cThe Republican plan is finding new ways to attack access to abortion and block women from getting the care they need.\n\n\u201cThe Republican health care plan is \u2018just let mom shop around for health care\u2019\u2014as if moms didn\u2019t have enough to worry about. And as if shopping is even an option when you need urgent care, or specialty care that\u2019s hard to find, or you only have one hospital for miles.\n\n\u201cAnd\u2014here\u2019s a doozy\u2014the health care plan Republicans put forward this week does not even bring down premiums\u2014not a single cent!\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s right\u2014their plan does nothing about skyrocketing premiums. So if your premium is too high for you to afford coverage in the first place, the Republican plan for you is \u2018tough luck.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey want to replace tax credits that actually make sure people can enroll in a quality health plan, with a mere pittance that you can only get if you\u2019re poor enough to qualify, but still make enough to afford health coverage in the first place. And only if you buy the lowest quality plan, even if that\u2019s not what you want.\n\n\u201cOnly then are Republicans offering you a meager $83 or $125 dollars a month which comes, by the way, nowhere close to covering your deductible, and does nothing to keep families out-of-pocket health care costs from going through the roof.\n\n\u201cInstead of reducing the uninsured rate or getting people quality coverage, Republicans are saying to you, \u2018what if we only gave money to people who can afford health coverage, instead of supporting those who cannot, and what if we spent that money pushing people toward the worst coverage that leaves them on the hook for huge deductibles?\u2019\n\n\u201cInstead of bringing premiums down, Republicans are saying, \u2018What if we spend this same funding in a way that doesn\u2019t lower premiums at all\u2014but just leaves them sky high?\u2019 And even ends up with them soaring for patients with pre-existing conditions by driving younger, healthier people into lower quality plans or out of the market entirely.\n\n\u201cThe Republican plan is like Squid Games for health care.\n\n\u201cYou can\u2019t afford quality health coverage? Here\u2019s a coupon\u2014spin the wheel and see if you make it through the year. If you lose\u2014if you get cancer, if you get pregnant, or if you have any sort of medical emergency more expensive than a thousand bucks, you get buried in debt.\n\n\u201cAnd win or lose, you are going to have to play the same, twisted game again, year after year, for the rest of your life. And one year, you are going to lose. Because we all get sick eventually. We all get older eventually.\n\n\u201cWhat Republicans have put forward is not a health care plan\u2014it\u2019s a sick joke. I can hardly believe they can say it with a straight face.\n\n\u201cAnd speaking of jokes, are Republicans going to stand up this newfangled disaster before Open Enrollment begins? Well, wait, guess what\u2014it\u2019s too late for that. This is not just out of touch with families, it is out of touch with reality.\n\n\u201cAnd even if these plans were not a joke, there\u2019s scarcely time left to do something half as complicated.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the kicker, M. President. If Republicans were serious about reforming the tax credits, the time to do that was before we were a month into Open Enrollment.\n\n\u201cDemocrats were at the table all year. Republicans were nowhere to be found.\n\n\u201cThe truth is, if Republicans actually wanted to reform the tax credits, they could have done that without Democrats! They could have done that, actually, in their Big Ugly Bill! They could have extended those ACA tax credits completely on their own terms if that was important to them.\n\n\u201cBut they did not. Because they did not care. And when Democrats insisted, and insisted, and insisted, \u2018Republicans, just come to the table,\u2019 they chose to shut down the government rather than talk about health care.\n\n\u201cBut now, when rates have already been set, and families have days to get coverage for January, a few weeks away, Republicans are not just trying to pretend they care about stopping the MAGA health care hike. They are now trying to pretend it is realistic to negotiate major changes and new programs in time for January 1st.\n\n\u201cWhat are they talking about?\n\n\u201cForget how long negotiations take, even if we passed that bill today, there is not time to implement anything more complicated than a clean extension.\n\n\u201cNow, I am always at the table to talk about how we can save health care. I am happy to sit down next year and negotiate serious bipartisan reforms for the 2027 season.\n\n\u201cBut the key word here is serious. It is not serious for Republicans to act like they care about health care now, when they were silent on this during their tax-cutting bonanza.\n\n\u201cIt is not serious for Republicans to act like there is time for major negotiations and reforms now\u2014when we are over halfway through open enrollment.\n\n\u201cAnd it is not serious for Republicans to act like they just want simple tweaks\u2014when they are actually demanding new abortion coverage bans they know are a nonstarter.\n\n\u201cM. President, let me close with this. If Republicans truly want to have a serious, bipartisan conversation about health care, we can do that. Democrats are happy to do that. But there is a fire burning right now, and a lot of people are about to get burned if we don\u2019t put it out.\n\n\u201cSo the first step has to be: passing the bill Democrats have put forward, extending the tax credits, and saving health care for millions of families in the country.\n\n\u201cWe could have talked about reforms earlier. And once we do this, we can still talk about reforms later. But right now, we have to put this fire out. And we have a bill that does that.\n\n\u201cNow, I am hoping, against hope and against history, that reason wins out and Republicans join us to pass this bill.\n\n\u201cBut I will say, if Republicans refuse to do the right thing, the thing their own constituents are begging all of us to do, they should know: Democrats are not going to walk away from this fight.\n\n\u201cI am going to continue holding Republicans accountable. And more importantly, the American people are going to hold Republicans accountable too, with their voices and their votes.\n\n\u201cDemocrats will also keep sharing a vision for how we do rebuild a stronger health care system after this Republican wreckage.\n\n\u201cBecause as much as we want to save these health tax credits, I think everyone knows, that is a starting point. It is a bare minimum.\n\n\u201cWe still need universal health care in America. We have needed it for a very long time. It is what I have always been fighting for.\n\n\u201cAnd, whatever happens in the next few days, I am going to keep pushing for reforms that make high-quality health care that\u2019s actually affordable a reality for every American.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/at-hearing-senator-murray-calls-out-republicans-for-blocking-ivf-coverage-for-servicemembers-applauds-consideration-of-two-commonsense-veterans-bills-to-help-constituents-in-wa-state/", "At Hearing, Senator Murray Calls Out Republicans for Blocking IVF Coverage for Servicemembers, Applauds Consideration of Two Commonsense Veterans Bills to Help Constituents in WA State", "2025-12-10", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Senator Murray: \u201cNot only has the President not done a thing to lower the cost of IVF, he stood by as Speaker Johnson cut a very straightforward provision to make IVF more affordable for servicemembers as part of this year\u2019s NDAA.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s Purple Heart Veterans Education Act and Molly R. Loomis Research for Descendants of Toxic Exposed Veterans Act among legislation considered at today\u2019s hearing\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s exchange at the hearing***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, at a Senate Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs hearing on pending legislation, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a former chair and senior member of the committee, spoke about how two of her bills on the hearing agenda would close critical gaps in current law to better serve veterans and their families. She also pressed witnesses on President Trump and Republicans\u2019 deliberate efforts to deny servicemembers and veterans access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), after House Speaker Mike Johnson worked behind the scenes to strip a provision, based on Senator Murray\u2019s legislation, that would ensure health care coverage for fertility services, including IVF, for all active-duty servicemembers.\n\n[IVF FOR SERVICEMEMBERS]\n\nIn opening comments, Senator Murray said:\n\n\u201cPresident Trump came into office saying that he would make IVF free.\n\n\u201cInstead, not only has the President not done a thing to lower the cost of IVF, he stood by now as Speaker Johnson cut a very straightforward provision to make IVF more affordable for servicemembers as part of this year\u2019s NDAA.\n\n\u201cAnd on that note, I am really disappointed to see that my Veteran Families Health Services Act was left off of the agenda today. That bill would give more servicemembers and veterans the opportunity to grow their families\u2014including through IVF\u2014by expanding the fertility services that are covered under VA and DOD health care.\n\n\u201cIt just seems like Republicans and this administration really talk a big game about IVF. But when it comes to actual policy, it\u2019s pretty clear who is in the driver\u2019s seat: anti-abortion extremists like Speaker Johnson.\n\n\u201cSo I just want to make it clear, I think it\u2019s pretty outrageous that Republicans won\u2019t lift a finger to help our servicemembers\u2014or anyone for that matter\u2014access IVF. And I think it is really important everyone here understands that.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray continued by asking Dr. Thomas O\u2019Toole, Acting Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Clinical Services at the Veterans Health Administration, about the higher rates of infertility servicemembers face, in large part because of their time serving our country in uniform: \u201cDr. O\u2019Toole, are you aware that servicemembers face a higher rate of infertility compared to the rest of the population?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not directly familiar with it, ma\u2019am, but I take your word on it,\u201d answered Dr. O\u2019Toole.\n\n\u201cWell it is true, and our servicemembers, as we all know, lay their life on the line for our country. And I really believe\u2014and I think many people do\u2014that the least we can do is help them start their families when they come home. So again, I\u2019m registering my deep disappointment and hope that that can change,\u201d said Senator Murray.\n\n[PURPLE HEART EDUCATION BENEFITS]\n\nSenator Murray continued by discussing her bipartisan Purple Heart Veterans Education Act, one of the bills under consideration at the hearing today. Murray\u2019s legislation would close a gap in current law that has denied Purple Heart recipients who received their award after they were discharged the ability to transfer their GI bill benefits to their dependents. Murray first introduced the legislation last Congress after a constituent and Purple Heart veteran from Washington state reached out to share how he had been unable to transfer his GI benefits to his daughter when she going to college.\n\n\u201cAs the daughter of a Purple Heart veteran, I know how much they sacrifice for our country. I take seriously our responsibility to be there for them when they need it the most,\u201d Senator Murray said. \u201cUnfortunately, right now, not all Purple Heart veterans are treated equally when it comes to their benefits. For example, post-9/11 veterans can transfer their GI benefits to their descendants while they\u2019re still in service. However, one of my constituents reached out to tell me about problem he was facing: because he received his Purple Heart after his service and was unable to transfer his GI bill benefits to his daughter when she was looking to go to college. So the bill that I\u2019m offering, which I\u2019m glad to see on the agenda today, would fix that loophole.\u201d\n\n\u201cMs. Devlin, you mentioned you wanted to see some changes, but let me just ask you: are you supportive of this legislation?\u201d Senator Murray asked Margarita Devlin, Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Benefits at VA.\n\n\u201cWe do support the intent of this, and it\u2019s really technical amendments to ensure Department of War is involved in the process, as\u2026 they\u2019re responsible for the process of transferring eligibility,\u201d Ms. Devlin replied.\n\n\u201cWell I\u2019m happy to talk with you about what your recommendations are, but I think this is a really important piece of legislation; I hope we can move on it,\u201d Senator Murray said.\n\n[RESEARCH FOR DESCENDANTS OF TOXIC-EXPOSED VETERANS]\n\nMurray continued by asking Ms. Devlin about her Molly R. Loomis Research for Descendants of Toxic Exposed Veterans Act\u2014also under consideration at today\u2019s hearing. This legislation, led by Senator Murray and Veterans\u2019 Committee Chair Blumenthal (D-CT), would commission first-of-its-kind, landmark research on birth defects among descendants of toxic-exposed veterans. While there has been some research on the link between birth defects and generational exposure to toxins and chemicals, there has yet to be comprehensive, government-led studies into the effects of toxic exposure on descendants of toxic-exposed veterans.\n\n\u201cThis is a bill that\u2019s really near and dear to me,\u201d Senator Murray said. \u201cMolly is a Washington state resident. She was born with spina bifida, it\u2019s believed to be caused by her father\u2019s exposure to Agent Orange when he served in Vietnam. And despite research showing descendants of toxic-exposed veterans experience lifelong medical issues, there has yet to be a comprehensive government-led study of this issue. So my bill simply takes a very critical step forward by requiring research on health conditions that are prevalent in the descendants of veterans who were exposed to toxic substances during their service.\u201d\n\n\u201cMs. Devlin, talk a little bit first about how this research would prepare VA to help future generations of veterans who have been affected by toxic exposure?\u201d asked Senator Murray.\n\n\u201cThere has been no significant association that we\u2019ve seen through the National Academy of Science research to indicate\u2026 that are generational impacts based on toxic exposures, but we do have the infrastructure in place. And in fact, with the PACT Act, we have the infrastructure in place to determine which research objectives to take on with the working groups that exist already.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s my understanding that there is research showing that descendants of toxic-exposed veterans do experience lifelong medical issues. I think it is really important for us to look at this to make sure they are getting the support they need,\u201d Senator Murray replied.\n\nAs the daughter of a disabled World War II veteran, Senator Murray knows firsthand the sacrifice that military service demands. She has been fighting for over a decade to expand access to IVF care and other fertility services for veterans and servicemembers, and to protect servicemembers\u2019 and veterans\u2019 access to the reproductive care they deserve. She has introduced multiple pieces of legislation to address the challenges veterans face when starting a family after their service, and in 2012, Senator Murray secured Senate passage of a provision to end the ban on IVF services at VA. Recently, Senator Murray has helped lead the charge in the Senate to protect IVF from Republican attacks for the millions of Americans\u2014including servicemembers and veterans\u2014who rely on it to grow their families. Last Congress, Murray introduced the Right to IVF Actin the Senate\u2014which would establish a nationwide right to IVF and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) and lower the costs of IVF treatment for middle-class families, and includes the Veteran Families Health Services Act. Despite many Republicans publicly claiming to support IVF, nearly every Senate Republican voted against the Right to IVF Act on two separate occasions last year. Overall, Republicans blocked legislation that would protect IVF nationwide three separate times in 2024.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/at-help-hearing-senator-murray-lays-out-how-trump-is-driving-up-costs-for-seniors-attacking-the-social-security-administration/", "At HELP Hearing, Senator Murray Lays Out How Trump is Driving Up Costs for Seniors, Attacking the Social Security Administration", "2025-12-10", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Senator Murray: \u201cSo we can\u2019t talk about retirement without talking about how President Trump is driving up those costs and the uncertainty so many seniors are seeing across the board. I don\u2019t think we can talk about retirement without talking about the health care crisis that is now causing premiums to skyrocket for families who rely on the ACA premium tax credits.\u201d\n\nLos Angeles Times: \u2018It\u2019s a shambles\u2019: DOGE cuts bring chaos, long waits at Social Security for seniors\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray Q&A with witnesses***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing titled \u201cThe Future of Retirement,\u201d U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)\u2014a senior member and former chair of the HELP Committee\u2014questioned witnesses on how Trump administration policies and Republicans\u2019 One Big Beautiful Bill Act have undermined seniors\u2019 ability to afford health care and other basics, and receive the Social Security benefits that they earned. Senator Murray also asked witnesses about how rising prices across the board have made it harder for working Americans to save for retirement, and how the Trump administration\u2019s cuts to the Social Security Administration (SSA) workforce is making it harder for seniors to get the help they need to access their Social Security benefits.\n\nWitnesses at the hearing included: Chad Williams, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones; Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans; and James R. Copland, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.\n\nIn opening comments, Senator Muray said:\n\n\u201cThe future of retirement is really an important topic\u2014but I do think we have to acknowledge the elephant in the room.\n\n\u201cBecause if Trump keeps driving up prices, and sabotaging health care, Social Security, and much more, then the future of retirement won\u2019t even exist for many Americans. I mean, how many Americans will actually get to retire when everything in their lives is more expensive?\n\n\u201cSo we can\u2019t talk about retirement without talking about how President Trump is driving up those costs and the uncertainty so many seniors are seeing across the board.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think we can talk about retirement without talking about the health care crisis that is now causing premiums to skyrocket for families who rely on the ACA premium tax credits.\n\n\u201cI have spoken to seniors in my state who are not yet old enough for Medicare and they are seeing their premiums jump by over a thousand dollars a month, right now, starting in a few weeks.\n\n\u201cAnd that is just really unaffordable for so many families\u2014let alone seniors on a fixed income.\n\n\u201cI talked to a woman a few days ago who had just retired. She planned all her life to make sure she had the right thing. She\u2019s on the ACA, she\u2019s expecting the tax credits, they\u2019re gone now. Now she\u2019s talking about going back to work. So much for retirement.\n\n\u201cAnd I think we also need to talk about the other elephant, is that Trump took an axe to the Social Security Administration this year. He cut 7,000 staffers, which makes it really hard for seniors who need help accessing the Social Security they earned.\n\n\u201cInstead of focusing on pushing legislation that will help seniors afford those basic necessities\u2014food, electricity\u2014instead of fixing the mess he caused with those SSA cuts, or the chaos that is now being caused by the tariffs, Trump\u2019s top priority was to cut taxes for billionaires, not for seniors.\n\n\u201cSo, what I think we all have to recognize, that\u2019s the picture that many seniors are looking at today.\u201d\n\n[AFFORDABILITY AND RETIREMENT]\n\nSenator Murray began by asking Mr. Williams, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones, about how rising prices under President Trump are affecting his clients\u2019 ability to save for retirement. \u201cMr. Williams, let me start with you. More than 55 million Americans don\u2019t have an easy way to save for retirement at work. It just doesn\u2019t exist for them. Instead of having a portion of each paycheck automatically saved, tens of millions of Americans receive their paycheck, pay their bills, and then they figure out how much they can save for retirement.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen prices are spiking across the board for everything from health care to electricity, how does that impact your clients\u2019 ability to save for retirement?\u201d asked Senator Murray.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s an important question Senator Murray. Healthcare specifically, we, you know, in every financial plan that comes out of my office, we dedicate a significant amount of time and attention to that and include it in financial plans. And we empathize with, you know, families that are experiencing changes in the healthcare system, but as a financial planning practitioner, I will stay in my lane and avoid public policy and say that I welcome additional tools as a financial planning practitioner that helps us address this important issue,\u201d answered Mr. Williams.\n\n[SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION WAIT TIMES]\n\nSenator Murray continued her questioning by asking Mr. Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, about the difficulties that his members have experienced in receiving assistance from the Social Security Administration (SSA) over the last year. \u201cWell, Mr. Fiesta, seniors spend their working lives paying into Social Security. And nearly 40 percent of seniors rely on Social Security for a majority of their income. Yet, the Trump administration is really intent on making it harder for seniors to access their hard-earned benefits. My constituents in Washington state are waiting on the phone with the Social Security Administration for hours, getting dumped off, having to call back in, still not talking, just unable to reach an actual person that can hear them and help them through this.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat have you heard from your members about their experiences with the Social Security Administration over the last year?\u201d asked Senator Murray.\n\nMr. Fiesta answered, \u201cSadly, the same, Senator. We\u2019ve heard similar stories on waiting. It used to be a year or so ago, you could go into a Social Security office if you needed a new card, prove who you were, the new card appeared in the mail within 10 days or so. Now, if you can even get to an office, you can\u2019t do that, and they\u2019ll give you an appointment in two, three months for something so simple as that. The number of offices that have lost staff, these local offices, which were designed to help local people, have seen some, 100% of their people leave, take an early buyout, or were fired. We\u2019re also very worried about who is guarding the technology and the security systems at the Social Security Administration too, given potential breaches and the like there.\n\n\u201cSo, we\u2019re hearing it every day, just on the retail of trying to get simple service again. We\u2019re at a point in our history where 11,400 people are turning 65 every day, and have the lowest number of staff at Social Security in 50 years. So, we\u2019re in the demographic crisis, but for individuals who need those services, which we paid for, because all those workers are paid out of the Social Security Trust Fund, aren\u2019t getting it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, that is what I am hearing from a lot of people in my state as well. This needs to be fixed. They need, SSA needs more support, not less,\u201d Senator Murray concluded.\n\nSenator Murray has fought throughout her career\u2014including as top Democrat on the HELP Committee from 2017-2022\u2014to ensure a secure retirement for all Americans for decades. She was instrumental in establishing a special financial assistance program to the Central States Pension Fund in the American Rescue Plan, saving the pensions of over half a million workers and retirees in 2022. Murray also helped pass theSocial Security Fairness Act, which restored full Social Security benefits for 3 million public servants across the country\u2014including firefighters, law enforcement officers, teachers, and other state and local government workers\u2014by repealing two provisions of the Social Security Act that unfairly reduce the Social Security benefits of some public employees. Senator Murray has been outspoken about the many ways the Trump administration is sowing chaos at the Social Security Administration and forcing seniors to wait longer for help on the phone and in person, and how President Trump\u2019s chaotic tariffs are raising grocery and energy costs for families across America.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-responds-to-new-congressional-report-showing-trumps-tariffs-on-canada-are-hurting-wa-businesses-and-causing-steep-decline-in-tourism-from-canada/", "Senator Murray Responds to New Congressional Report Showing Trump\u2019s Tariffs on Canada are Hurting WA Businesses and Causing Steep Decline in Tourism from Canada", "2025-12-10", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "NEW FROM JEC: Declining Canadian Tourism is Harming American Businesses in States Along the United States-Canada Border\n\nICYMI THIS WEEK: Senator Murray Grills Trump\u2019s Trade Representative Over Administration\u2019s Reckless Tariffs Driving Up Prices, Devastating Small Businesses\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement in response to a new report from the U.S Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC) which found that Trump\u2019s tariffs on Canada and trade war provocations with our neighbor and close ally have led to a steep drop in Canadian tourism that is harming American businesses in Washington state and other states along the United States-Canada border.\n\nThe JEC report found that every state along the United States-Canada border is facing declines in tourism and rising economic pressures. Many states along the border, like Washington state, are home to hundreds of businesses that rely on Canadian tourism to survive. Canadian tourism contributed $20.5 billion to the U.S. economy and supported 140,000 jobs in 2024. In 2025, between January and October, the number of passenger vehicles crossing the United States-Canada border declined by nearly 20 percent compared to 2024. In Washington state, passenger vehicle border crossings were down more than 24 percent for that time period.\n\n\u201cWhile Trump hikes up tariffs via tweet and threatens to annex our close allies\u2014businesses and communities in the United States are the ones who suffer. It\u2019s both stupid and wrong. In Washington state, so many small businesses along the border rely on Canadian tourism and trade to survive\u2014but Trump\u2019s attacks on Canada have pushed our neighbors away and forced business and tourism to plummet.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve heard firsthand this year how many small businesses in our state are being forced to raise prices or close their doors altogether. This isn\u2019t just bad economic policy, it is real American families\u2019 livelihoods being hurt, lost revenue for local businesses, less hotel demand, fewer visitors at events, lost jobs, and fewer dollars being invested into our Northern border communities. Trump doesn\u2019t know the first thing about trade, and businesses and consumers in Washington state are being forced to pay the price. Here\u2019s what people need to understand: we could end this pointless trade war with Canada tomorrow if Republicans would stop blocking a simple vote to reverse Trump\u2019s tariffs and reclaim Congress\u2019 power over trade. Republicans need to stop bending the knee to Trump and start listening to their own constituents who are begging them to put an end to these tariffs.\u201d\n\nIn Washington state, the JEC report found:\n\nEstimates have found Seattle will see an almost 27 percent decrease in international overnight stays in 2025 compared to 2024, almost exclusively driven by the loss of Canadian tourists.\n\nSpokane saw 33 percent fewer visitors in March 2025 than in March 2024.\n\nRidership on the Clipper between Victoria and Seattle is down 30 percent this year, causing Clipper Navigation to have to lay off a quarter of its workforce.\n\nOver 30 businesses in Bellingham reported losses due to a decline in cross-border travel.\n\nThe Bellingham Chamber of Commerce has found the city has seen a drop in visits, overnight stays, and spending by Canadian travelers\u2014a downturn which has been devastating for many businesses.\n\nKevin Coleman, Executive Director of SeaFeast in Whatcom County, told JEC that the area has seen a drastic decline in Canadian traffic: \u201cSince March of this year, we have not only seen Canadian traffic drop drastically, but we have also seen a drop in our number of attendees at our festival this year in late September. We knew that after March, we could not rely on our Canadian business because of fear at the border and lack of understanding of what is happening with tariffs and Canada drawing a strong line of promoting Canada first.\u201d\n\nA nonpartisan analysis by the Washington State Office of Financial Management found that if the current Trump tariffs stay in effect for the next four years, they will cost Washington state up to 25,000 jobs\u2014and if Trump\u2019s \u201cLiberation Day\u201d tariffs are fully implemented, they would cost Washington state $2.2 billion and 31,900 jobs over the next four years and significantly drive up the cost of food, clothing, cars, and much more.\n\nWashington state has one of the most trade-dependent economies of any state in the country, with 40 percent of jobs in the state tied to international commerce. In 2024, Washington exported $57.8 billion of goods to the world, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), making Washington state the 9th-largest state exporter of goods last year. Washington state is also the top U.S. producer of apples, blueberries, hops, pears, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries\u2014all of which risk losing vital export markets due to retaliatory tariffs from key trading partners, including Canada.\n\nSenator Murray has been vocal in responding to Trump\u2019s trade war, holding events in every part of Washington state, and hammering the Trump administration for driving up the cost of just about everything through their chaotic and thoughtless trade policies. When Trump first announced new tariffs, Senator Murray brought together leaders across Washington state to discuss how Trump\u2019s trade war threatens Washington state\u2019s economy, and spoke out on the Senate floor against Trump\u2019s chaotic trade war, calling on Republicans in Congress to join Democrats in reasserting Congress\u2019s power over trade. She has held several events across Washington state to hear directly from constituents and small business owners about how Trump\u2019s tariffs are harming them\u2014including in Tacoma, Yakima, Vancouver, Seattle, Skagit County, and Blaine, just across the border from Canada. On August 1st, as Trump hiked \u201creciprocal\u201d tariffs on some of our closest trading partners, Senator Murray held another virtual press conference with Washington state businesses to sound the alarm. She held another roundtable with small business owners in Vancouver in September, and slammed Trump for the new port fees that had been hitting ships at West Coast Ports as a result of Trump\u2019s trade war with China. Last month, Senator Murray released a statement criticizing Trump\u2019s tariffs and calling on Republicans to step up to put an end to them after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the legality of Trump\u2019s disastrous tariffs.\n\nEarlier this week at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing, Senator Murray grilled U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on how President Trump\u2019s trade war with Canada is hurting Washington state businesses and consumers\u2014VIDEO HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/at-hearing-on-career-and-technical-education-senator-murray-calls-out-trump-admins-illegal-scheme-to-transfer-key-education-responsibilities-to-other-agencies-jeopardizing-support-students/", "At Hearing on Career and Technical Education, Senator Murray Calls Out Trump Admin\u2019s Illegal Scheme to Transfer Key Education Responsibilities to Other Agencies, Jeopardizing Support Students Count On", "2025-12-09", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "ICYMI from Politico: The Education Department gave another agency power to distribute its money. It hasn\u2019t gone well.\n\nICYMI from Gov Exec: Trump admin acknowledges difficulties in transferring Education programs to other agencies, internal documents show\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray questions witnesses on how the Trump administration has increased bureaucratic hurdles for educators and harmed career and technical education***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) subcommittee hearing on career and technical education (CTE), U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)\u2014a former chair and senior member of the HELP Committee\u2014questioned witnesses on how the Trump administration\u2019s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education (ED) by spinning off critical education responsibilities to other agencies are harming students and threatening education programs across the nation.\n\nPresident Trump signed an executive order in March seeking to eliminate the Department of Education. Federal law requires an act of Congress to close the department, and Secretary McMahon has repeatedly affirmed that only Congress can shut down the department. Knowing that Congress will not pass a law to abolish the Department of Education, she has nonetheless worked hard to dismantle the department from within. In July, Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced that she planned to illegally transfer responsibility of CTE and adult education programs to the Department of Labor\u2013leading to technical problems, communications breakdowns, bureaucratic hurdles, and logistical issues at the agency. Despite these problems, last month, the Trump administration announced that it would double down on this failure and attempt to illegally shutter even more of the Department of Education by moving significant responsibilities of almost all K-12 education programs and the majority of higher education grantmaking to other agencies with little to no education expertise\u2014causing early literacy programs, preschool programs, and college access programs to be administered out of an agency whose primary task is to implement workforce training and labor protections. Now, K-12 and higher education grantees will need to work with multiple federal agencies, instead of one, in the administration of these programs, creating new bureaucratic hurdles for states and school districts in the process. Senator Murray hosted a roundtable last month with parents, educators, and advocates in Seattle decrying the administration\u2019 latest actions to dismantle ED.\n\nIn opening comments, Senator Murray said:\n\n\u201cThank you, Chair Tuberville. I\u2019m really glad that we are having this important conversation.\n\n\u201cI want to take this opportunity to say how outraged I am by how callously the Trump Administration has mishandled our education programs, as it is taking a wrecking ball to the Department of Education.\n\n\u201cEarlier this year, Secretary McMahon cast off much of her Department\u2019s responsibility for career and technical education and adult education programs to the Labor Department, with basically no notice, no planning\u2014which has resulted in funding delays and other problems.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, that was just a preview of what was to come.\n\n\u201cThree weeks ago, President Trump and Secretary McMahon announced they are moving almost all K-12 education programs, and many higher education programs, to DOL, and they are moving others to HHS, Interior, State.\n\n\u201cAnd they also promised to keep moving more programs\u2014including Special Education\u2014to other agencies, all without consulting Congress. That should be unacceptable to every one of us.\n\n\u201cCongress has repeatedly and clearly authorized those programs at the Department of Education and provided funding to the Department of Education to carry them out. Moving programs to agencies without the experience nor the capacity to administer them is really a disservice to our students and to our schools.\n\n\u201cThe Department of Labor is not used to administering the number of programs administered by the Department of Education. We saw chaos earlier this year when the CTE and Adult Education programs were moved from the Department of Education to DOL.\n\n\u201cHow much worse is it going to be when DOL is saddled with thousands of education grants, like TRIO, when they have never administered anything near that scale? How are they going to administer Impact Aid programs with zero experience doing that? Why is the Department of Labor administering programs for preschoolers and elementary school students at all?\n\n\u201cThe Trump administration has not answered those questions or even consulted Congress. The Secretary of Labor has never testified to how she would administer any of these new programs\u2014and she even failed to explain how she\u2019s meeting her existing responsibilities.\n\n\u201cThis is not saving money. It is not reducing bureaucracy. It is increasing chaos. DOL is already charging McMahon over a million additional dollars to now do the CTE work her employees were doing.\n\n\u201cTaking over significantly larger and complex programs will surely cost significantly more\u2014but of course, the administration hasn\u2019t told us how much it\u2019s going to be. And now we will have two separate Departments \u2018co-managing\u2019 all of these programs.\n\n\u201cHow is that going to reduce bureaucracy? States, school districts, and families are going to have to deal with multiple federal agencies now when they used to deal with one.\n\n\u201cSo I want to make clear: I am always ready for a conversation about how we improve these federal programs. But that couldn\u2019t be further from what is happening with this administration.\n\n\u201cAnd again, they aren\u2019t even bothering to talk to Congress about it and how they can pursue these ideas legally\u2014by passing a law to do it. They\u2019re just doing it, which tells you pretty much how serious they are about doing anything.\n\n\u201cSo I appreciate this hearing, but I needed this opportunity to express my dismay at what is happening in this administration to our schools, to our students, and really, to the future of our country with all this mismanaging going on.\u201d\n\nWitnesses at the hearing included: Mr. Luke Rhine, Vice President, Rodel Foundation; Chris Cox, Deputy Chancellor for Instruction, Research, and Development, Alabama Community College System; Ms. Chelle Travis, Executive Director, SkillsUSA; and Mr. Joel Stadtlander, Director of Human Resources, ArcelorMittal Calvert.\n\n[TRUMP ADMIN UNDERMINING EDUCATION]\n\nSenator Murray began by asking Mr. Rhine about the inter-agency agreements Secretary McMahon announced last month, which are intended to further dismantle the Department without any concern for how to best manage these programs and help students, \u201cBut Mr. Rhine, let me ask you, and I wanted to ask you given your expertise: can Education and DOL collaborate on these programs without an inter-agency agreement, and have they collaborated on CTE before?\u201d\n\n\u201cSo, there is a long history of collaboration between the Department of Education and the Department of Labor. And what that history tells us is that it does not require major structural realignment. Where states have partnered, where federal agencies have partnered, is essentially through a number of instances. So, the implementation of WIOA, Titles I and III exist at the U.S. Department of Labor. Titles II and IV, which are inherently education programs, exist at the Department of Education\u2014used to exist at the Department of Education. There was an inter-agency working group that worked directly with states and across federal agencies to manage the implementation of WIOA and ensure that our nation\u2019s adult education and workforce system was responsive to states. There are also examples where the Departments of Education and Labor have partnered to offer and support things like career and technical education. When I worked federally, we offered a number of joint issue, we jointly issued a number of guidance documents to states that help them think about the integration of CTE, the expansion of post-secondary CTE to include registered apprenticeship as well as short term credential programs. How states could modify their post-secondary funding formula, which states are given the authority to do under the Act to include at the time programs that were not Pell-eligible. So, there are many instances where the Departments of Education and Labor have cooperatively worked together, but in past instances, they\u2019ve essentially centered states\u2019 needs as part of their joint collaboration. And I think that\u2019s one thing that we\u2019re missing right now, is really working hand in glove with states to make sure that they have the information that they need to lead effectively,\u201d answered Mr. Rhine.\n\n\u201cThank you. I\u2019m over my time, but Mr. Chairman, I really think Congress needs to look at what is happening here, what\u2019s happening to our programs, what\u2019s happening to families\u2019 access, whether there\u2019s any collaboration, how they\u2019re putting this together. And clearly, again, it\u2019s up to Congress to pass the law. The administration cannot do this without Congress having their input,\u201d Senator Murray concluded.\n\nA senior member and former chair of the HELP Committee, Senator Murray has championed students and families at every stage of her career\u2014fighting to help ensure every child in America can get a high-quality public education. Among other things, Senator Murray negotiated the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), landmark legislation that she got signed into law, replacing the broken No Child Left Behind Act. In June, she wrote a letter to Department of Education (ED) Secretary Linda McMahon with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D, CT-03), Congressman Robert C. \u201cBobby\u201d Scott (D, VA-03), and Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), calling out the Department\u2019s illegal efforts to attempt to transfer responsibility over CTE programs to the Department of Labor (DOL). The lawmakers also called out the moves in a July statement, and Senator Murray joined Congresswoman DeLauro and Senator Baldwin to condemn the Department of Education\u2019s continued attempts to illegally transfer CTE responsibility to the DOL in September. Last week, Senator Murray led her colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary McMahon slamming ED\u2019s recent announcement that it has signed interagency agreements (IAAs) to illegally outsource core functions that students and their families rely on\u2014and calling on her to reverse these latest steps to dismantle ED.\n\nSenator Murray also helped pass the bipartisan Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act in 2018, which updated and reauthorized the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Act to update job training and CTE programs to meet the needs of local economies in the 21st century.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-grills-trumps-trade-representative-over-administrations-reckless-tariffs-driving-up-prices-devastating-small-businesses/", "Senator Murray Grills Trump\u2019s Trade Representative Over Administration\u2019s Reckless Tariffs Driving Up Prices, Devastating Small Businesses", "2025-12-09", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray raises example of Tacoma-made Almond Roca while pressing Trump administration on effect of trade war on American businesses\n\nSenator Murray has been outspoken about the harm Trump\u2019s tariffs are causing in WA\u2014one of the most trade-dependent states in the country; Murray has held numerous events in every corner of the state to hear from businesses, farmers, and border communities about effects of Trump\u2019s trade war\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray exchange with U.S. Trade Representative on Trump\u2019s tariffs***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, pressed U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on how President Trump\u2019s unprecedented, chaotic, and ill-conceived tariffs are hurting American consumers and small businesses.\n\nRight now, the effective tariff rate in the U.S. is 16.8 percent, the highest tariff rate since 1934. Trump\u2019s tariffs have already raised retail prices for families by 5 percent, and this year alone, Trump\u2019s tariffs are expected to cost American households an additional $1,700 on average. One analysis found Trump\u2019s tariffs will could push nearly 1 million Americans into poverty in 2026. In September, a nonpartisan analysis by the Washington State Office of Financial Management found that if the current Trump tariffs stay in effect for the next four years, they will cost Washington state up to 25,000 jobs\u2014and if Trump\u2019s \u201cLiberation Day\u201d tariffs are fully implemented, Washington state would lose $2.2 billion in economic output and 31,900 jobs over the next four years, and significantly drive up the cost of groceries, clothing, cars, and much more.\n\nWashington state has one of the most trade-dependent economies of any state in the country, with 40 percent of jobs in the state tied to international commerce. In 2024, Washington exported $57.8 billion of goods, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), making Washington state the 9th-largest state exporter of goods last year. Washington state is also the top U.S. producer of apples, blueberries, hops, pears, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries\u2014all of which risk losing vital export markets due to retaliatory tariffs from key trading partners including Canada.\n\n[AFFORDABILITY]\n\nSenator Murray began her questioning by grilling Ambassador Greer about the effect Trump\u2019s tariffs are having on the prices American consumers are paying every day. \u201cI know when it comes to trade and tariffs this Committee has strong bipartisan concerns, so I am glad that we\u2019ll have the opportunity to hear directly from you, Ambassador Greer.\u201d\n\n\u201cPresident Trump promised to lower costs on day one. Instead, he slapped unprecedented new taxes on nearly everything Americans buy from abroad. And now that prices are rising, he\u2019s calling affordability a \u2018Democratic scam.\u2019\n\n\u201cAmbassador let me just ask you, yes or no: do tariffs raise prices for American consumers?\u201d asked Senator Murray.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think they do when you look at all the data. I think they have a very limited impact,\u201d answered U.S. Trade Representative Greer.\n\n\u201cWell, I disagree, and Secretary Bessent said on Fox News that exempting products from tariffs would, \u2018bring the prices down very quickly.\u2019 Wouldn\u2019t that mean then that tariffs increase prices?\u201d Senator Murray pushed back.\n\n\u201cI think again, the general answer is no. I think with some of those products he was referencing; bananas, coffee, things we don\u2019t necessarily make, there you\u2019re going to get more of a chance of a price impact from tariffs. Other stuff that we make, or have a lot of producers, you don\u2019t have the flow through. But I think with those you could see an impact so,\u201d replied U.S. Trade Representative Greer.\n\nSenator Murray said, \u201cWell, I think my consumers, people in my state, are seeing price increases, and they know what\u2019s happening. I don\u2019t see how anybody with a straight face can\u2019t say that tariffs raise prices but somehow ending them lowers the prices. So, I think we all need to be honest.\u201d\n\n[TARIFF IMPACTS ON WA STATE BUSINESSES]\n\nSenator Murray continued by discussing how the Trump administration\u2019s trade policy is affecting small businesses, raising the example of a local business in Tacoma she visited in April that has faced devastating fallout from Trump\u2019s tariffs. \u201cIn April, I visited a local candy company in my home state in Tacoma, Washington, they are called Brown and Haley. They\u2019ve been in business for 112 years and employ 150 people. They are known for Almond Roca, which they export to 65 countries in the world. Brown and Haley told me that Trump\u2019s tariffs and trade wars have cost them half of their export business. Half! They worked hard for years to become a net exporter to China, and then Trump\u2019s trade war came along and their China exports dropped to zero. Now, to keep their business alive in China, they\u2019ve been forced to license their brand to other products made in China\u2014literally helping Chinese manufacturers at the expense of the American ones.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are their trade representative. What have you done to ensure American small businesses who rely on sales to China are able to sell their products and grow the economy here at home?\u201d asked Senator Murray.\n\nU.S. Trade Representative Greer answered, \u201cFirst of all, we\u2019re opening market access all over the world, in places like Southeast Asia and even in Europe, places where everyone thinks we\u2019ve had market access for a long time, but we haven\u2019t. So, we\u2019re opening billions and billions of dollars of markets. I\u2019d be interested in talking to the company that makes Almond Roca. I think that\u2019s, you know, that is, that is news to me that they had an issue in China.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re one of many in my home state, and actually, in this country, who are facing the same kind of thing. And in fact, we have farmers and growers who are trying to expand into other markets, as you well know, and they\u2019re being thrown one-time, limited relief, but our small businesses and our farmers want to trade, they don\u2019t want aid. And they tell me that this is really creating chaos, including Brown and Haley, but other companies as well. And I\u2019d love to have you take a look at that, because it has had a serious impact to them,\u201d Senator Murray replied.\n\n[CHAOTIC TARIFF EXEMPTIONS]\n\nSenator Murray continued her questioning by pressing Ambassador Greer on the lack of strategy or common sense behind the rollout of the Trump\u2019s tariffs, noting how the U.S. cannot produce coffee at scale, and coffee was only finally made exempt from tariffs last month. \u201cI do understand tariffs can be strategic. But there seems to be no strategy to me when it comes to this trade war. Coffee is a great example. We consume nearly 800 times as much coffee as we produce, as you know, and I doubt that\u2019s going to change anytime soon. And I\u2019m glad that coffee is now exempt from some of these tariffs, but I cannot understand why this administration forced Americans to pay higher for months.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, what did the coffee tariffs actually achieve?\u201d asked Senator Murray.\n\nU.S. Trade Representative Greer answered, \u201cSo first of all, coffee prices were going up for two years. I can\u2019t affect the weather in Brazil and these other places. Second of all, all the tariffs that were imposed, some of them are in place to protect domestic supply chains. Some of them are in place for leverage. So, in early September, the President announced that he was going to take the tariffs off of coffee and bananas and other things. And then once we had the deals with the kind of countries that send us coffee and bananas, Ecuador, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc., then we had used that leverage and we removed it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy did it take so long to exempt coffee?\u201d Senator Murray inquired.\n\nU.S. Trade Representative Greer answered, \u201cBecause, you know, TPP was negotiated for eight years under Obama, and it never came to fruition. We did deals with Southeast Asia in six months to get all the tariffs down. So, I think that\u2019s really, really fast.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, my opinion is those kinds of issues should have been worked out before we slapped tariffs on anybody,\u201d Senator Murray responded.\n\n[CANADIAN TOURISM]\n\nIn concluding her questioning, Senator Murray said:\n\n\u201cCanada is Washington state\u2019s, my state, second-largest export partner and our largest source of international visitors.\n\n\u201cAnd I want you to know this, President Trump\u2019s trade war and insults have driven away Canadian visitors to my state and to other states, it has delivered a huge blow to our economy.\n\n\u201cPassenger vehicle border crossings in my state are down more than 24 percent in the first ten months of this year. Spokane, Washington, in Eastern Washington, saw a 33 percent drop in visitors this year.\n\n\u201cThe operator of a ferry between Seattle and Victoria, B.C. has been forced to lay off now a quarter of its workforce because ridership is down 30 percent.\n\n\u201cIn my state, Americans are losing their jobs and our businesses are struggling.\n\n\u201cAnd I just really believe Mr. Ambassador, we should not be picking fights with our close allies and neighbors like Canada. This trade war has been a terrible blow to American small businesses, and I hope it ends, it has to end. If it could end tomorrow, it would be so much better for my state and so many other people. I want you to know that. Especially with Canada, this is hurting my state.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray has been vocal in responding to Trump\u2019s trade war, holding events in every part of Washington state, and hammering the Trump administration for driving up the cost of just about everything through their chaotic and thoughtless trade policies. When Trump first announced new tariffs, Senator Murray brought together leaders across Washington state to discuss how Trump\u2019s trade war threatens Washington state\u2019s economy, and spoke out on the Senate floor against Trump\u2019s chaotic trade war, calling on Republicans in Congress to join Democrats in reasserting Congress\u2019s power over trade. She has held several events across Washington state to hear directly from constituents and small business owners about how Trump\u2019s tariffs are harming them\u2014including in Tacoma, Yakima, Vancouver, Seattle, Skagit County, and Blaine, just across the border from Canada. On August 1st, as Trump hiked \u201creciprocal\u201d tariffs on some of our closest trading partners, Senator Murray held another virtual press conference with Washington state businesses to sound the alarm. She held another roundtable with small business owners in Vancouver in September, and slammed Trump for the new port fees that had been hitting ships at West Coast Ports as a result of Trump\u2019s trade war with China. Last month, Senator Murray released a statement criticizing Trump\u2019s tariffs and calling on Republicans to step up to put an end to them after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the legality of Trump\u2019s disastrous tariffs.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/ahead-of-this-weeks-vote-on-extending-aca-tax-credits-senator-murray-lays-out-the-stakes-urges-republicans-to-vote-yes-in-final-opportunity-to-stop-health-care-premiums-from-skyrocketi/", "Ahead of This Week\u2019s Vote on Extending ACA Tax Credits, Senator Murray Lays Out the Stakes & Urges Republicans to Vote Yes in Final Opportunity to Stop Health Care Premiums from Skyrocketing Next Year", "2025-12-08", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "SEATTLE TIMES: WA health insurance buyers fret as ACA subsidies remain in limbo\n\nNEW YORK TIMES: Running Out of Time, Republicans in Congress Still Lack a Health Plan\n\nSenator Murray has been sounding the alarm on the looming health care cost cliff and calling on Republicans to work with Democrats to extend the ACA tax credits well over a year\u2014FULL TIMELINE HERE\n\n***WATCH PRESS CONFERENCE HERE, DOWNLOAD HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a virtual press conference on the fight to save the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits ahead of the critical vote this week on a proposal to extend the tax credits for three years. Joining Senator Murray for the press conference were Ingrid Ulrey, CEO of the Washington State Health Benefit Exchange, and Lisa, a Washington resident of King County who buys her health care through the Marketplace and is facing skyrocketing premiums with the looming expiration of the ACA enhanced premium tax credits.\n\nAt the press conference, Senator Murray discussed how inaction by Republican Members of Congress will force Washingtonians to pay significantly more for health care next year, and how this week\u2019s vote on a clean, three-year extension of the ACA tax credits is the last chance to prevent skyrocketing health care premiums starting in January, when the tax credits expire. Due to Republicans\u2019 refusal to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, 22 million Americans\u2014including over 216,000 in Washington state\u2014are seeing their health care costs for next year skyrocket. Premiums are more than doubling on average for people who buy health coverage on the ACA Marketplace (Washington Healthplanfinder in Washington state), and these higher costs will push 4.8 million people off their health insurance coverage over the next decade. A Washington-state specific fact sheet on the ACA enhanced premium tax credits is HERE.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve heard from families across the country who are staring down unthinkable health care hikes. Premiums doubling, tripling, and worse. I am talking to people who learned their monthly premium is jumping by hundreds\u2014in some cases thousands\u2014of dollars a month. Americans who are making painful decisions wondering how they can cut down on groceries, gas, and other essentials to cover their rising premiums, or whether they will just roll the dice and go without coverage, even if it means skipping checkups or rationing their prescriptions,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cThese stories are so important to drive home the reality for Republicans who keep trying to bury their heads in the sand. This is not some talking point. It is not some thought exercise. The MAGA health care hike is a reality that millions of families are facing in this country right now. And unless we take action\u2014decisive, quick action this week\u2014to stop it, higher premium costs for millions of American families will be getting locked in for good.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray played a critical role in passing the ACA enhanced premium tax credits into law in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. Since then, she has called on Republicans to extend the enhanced premium tax credits dozens of times, calling attention to the tax credit cliff and how millions of Americans will see their health care costs jump dramatically if Republicans don\u2019t work with Democrats on an extension.\n\nSenator Murray has been speaking out nonstop about the urgent need to save the ACA tax credits and stop health care costs from skyrocketing and calling on Republicans to come to the negotiating table to work out a bipartisan deal to extend the tax credits\u2014which they have so far refused to do. She has spoken on the Senate floor numerous times to call for an extension of the ACA tax credits, and has held numerous virtual press conferences with Washingtonians, as well as residents of neighboring states Idaho and Montana, to sound the alarm and highlight the stakes of the health care fight. As the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray led legislation supported by the Democratic caucus that would have addressed the health care crisis and prevented the government shutdown. Senator Murray has also cosponsored multiple pieces of legislation over the past year\u2014the Health Care Affordability Actand the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act\u2014that would make the ACA tax credits permanent.\n\n\u201cOpen enrollment is really tough right now. People, as you said, are experiencing sticker shock. And I really want to emphasize what you said about a clean extension\u2014we\u2019re overdue, we need this to happen. Literally, our customers are suffering and experiencing so much worry and anxiety about how they\u2019re going to afford something so basic and meaningful and important as health insurance. As you said, we need a clean extension, that\u2019s important. That means extending the existing policy as is, not changing into some other kind of policy, because we want to act quickly to pass on relief to our customers as soon as possible,\u201d saidIngrid Ulrey, CEO of the Washington State Health Benefit Exchange. \u201cOur average customer coming in who will no longer be eligible in that income bracket, the increase will be up to $800 a month, is what they\u2019ll be seeing versus last year, a policy that cost $450 a month. And that\u2019s just the average. Many people are experiencing tens of thousands of dollar increases. So overall [they are] thinking about what kind of choices am I going to make? How am I going to afford to pay for health insurance at $10,000, $20,000, or even $30,000 a year?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen I went on Washington Healthplanfinder to get insurance for 2026, I found that the premium for continuing my current plan is now over $1,600 a month. That is an increase of nearly $9,000 for the calendar year \u2013 all to continue the same coverage with no increase in my health care needs. As a person living on a fixed retirement income, I do not have that extra money\u2026 I have been planning for my retirement for 30 years. I have been responsible with my spending. I waited to retire until I had savings and retirement income that allowed me to be self-sufficient and also pay for some modest recreation, travel and occasional gestures for my adult children. That\u2019s now gone,\u201d said Lisa Riveland, a resident of King County, Washington. \u201cIn the past year, my fixed income has already been stretched by skyrocketing prices for food, housing and basic services. Now the loss of the health care tax credit, and accompanying increased healthcare premium rates, has tipped my carefully planned budget on its head. This is my story. I expect every member of Congress is hearing similar stories. I hope these stories will translate to immediate action in Congress to secure affordable health care.\u201d\n\nA timeline detailing how Senator Murray has been fighting for years to extend the ACA tax credits, and calling on Republicans to come to the table and negotiate, is HERE.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered on today\u2019s press call, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you all for joining me as we keep the spotlight on the MAGA health care hike, and give Republicans one last chance to join us and stop these premiums from skyrocketing across the country.\n\n\u201cI have been raising the alarm about this all year long, and Republicans have been trying to ignore it all year long. Literally, they chose to shut down the government rather than even talk with us about health care.\n\n\u201cStill, just because Republicans don\u2019t want to talk about something, that\u2019s never going to stop me from talking to my constituents about it, and lifting up their stories and concerns loud and clear in the other Washington.\n\n\u201cAnd I will tell you\u2014I have heard so many heartbreaking stories from so many concerned families when it comes to skyrocketing health care costs. I\u2019ve heard from families across the country who are staring down unthinkable health care hikes. Premiums doubling, tripling, worse. I am talking to people who learned their monthly premium is jumping by hundreds, and in some cases thousands\u2014of dollars a month.\n\n\u201cAmericans who are making painful decisions wondering how they can cut down on groceries, gas, and other essentials to cover their rising premiums, or whether they will just roll the dice and go without coverage, even if it means skipping checkups or rationing prescriptions.\n\n\u201cLater on this call, Lisa from Washington state is going to share her story and talk about the health care price hike she\u2019s facing next year because of this Republican inaction.\n\n\u201cThese stories are so important to drive home the reality for Republicans who keep trying to bury their heads in the sand. This is not some talking point. It is not some thought exercise. The MAGA health care hike is a reality that millions of families are facing in this county right now.\n\n\u201cAnd unless we take action\u2014decisive, quick action this week\u2014to stop it, higher premium costs for millions of American families will be getting locked in for good.\n\n\u201cSo, time is of the absolute essence right now. The fact of the matter is, this should have been happening months ago. We should not be having this conversation in the middle of December. If Republicans wanted to make reforms to the tax credits, the time for that was before open enrollment.\n\n\u201cBut right now, the only thing we have time for is a clean extension of the tax credits\u2014which is exactly what Democrats will be forcing a vote on this week.\n\n\u201cWe need to stop the health care hike right now, and we need to save health care for the tens of millions of American families who are counting on us. We are way past the deadline\u2014we are in overtime.\n\n\u201cRepublicans need to understand that it\u2019s literally now or never for stopping these premium hikes families are facing next year. And by refusing a clean extension and running out the clock, Republicans are choosing: the never.\n\n\u201cBut I\u2019m not going to stop pushing. I am not going to stop sharing families\u2019 stories, and keeping up the pressure. So long as there is even a chance we can stop premiums from skyrocketing, and save millions of patients from getting priced out of their health coverage. I am going to push with everything I\u2019ve got to make sure we get it done.\n\n\u201cAnd if Republicans refuse to do the right thing, the obvious thing, the thing their own constituents are begging us to do, if they refuse to stop this MAGA health care hike, well, our fight doesn\u2019t end at the end of this year.\n\n\u201cI am going to continue sharing these stories. I am going to continue holding Republicans accountable. And more importantly, the American people are going to hold Republicans accountable too\u2014with their voices and their votes.\n\n\u201cAnd listen, looking past this fight to save the ACA tax credits, which is so crucial, we still need universal health care in America. We have needed that for a very long time. It\u2019s always what I\u2019ve fought for. So I am going to keep pushing for reforms that make high-quality health care\u2014that\u2019s actually affordable\u2014a reality for every American.\n\n\u201cAnd now, I\u2019ll turn it over to Ingrid, CEO of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange to share some remarks.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-senate-democrats-condemn-neo-nazi-hate-in-the-face-of-rising-antisemitism-and-mainstreaming-of-white-supremacists/", "Murray, Senate Democrats Condemn Neo-Nazi Hate in the Face of Rising Antisemitism and Mainstreaming of White Supremacists", "2025-12-08", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to introduce a resolution\u2014co-sponsored by every Senate Democrat\u2014that strongly rejects the views of and platforming of Nick Fuentes and condemns Tucker Carlson\u2019s platforming of Fuentes. The resolution, \u201cCondemning white supremacy, hate, and antisemitism, and efforts to give a platform to these dangerous ideologies\u201d condemns Nazism and white supremacy in all its forms and urges all elected officials to condemn them as well.\n\nThe text of the resolution lays out numerous examples of Nick Fuentes\u2019 dangerous white supremacist ideology, noting that he is a Holocaust denier and supporter of Hitler who has expressed support for killing Jews and repeatedly peddled the dangerous \u201cGreat Replacement Theory\u201d that claims that Jews are orchestrating the replacement of native white Europeans from their countries by non-white immigrants. The resolution also notes that, during Tucker Carlson\u2019s lengthy interview with Fuentes on October 27, 2025, Fuentes perpetuated antisemitic conspiracy theories and Carlson did not push back on or reject the claims made by Fuentes during the interview, at times even validating his framing.\n\nSenate Democrats\u2019 resolution concludes: \u201cResolved, That the Senate\u2014(1) strongly rejects the views of and platforming of Nick Fuentes; (2) condemns the effort by Tucker Carlson to platform and mainstream Fuentes; (3) condemns Nazism, honors the sacrifices of the United States Armed Forces who gave their lives to defeat the Nazis, and affirms that Nazi Germany and its collaborators murdered 6,000,000 Jews in the Holocaust; (4) unequivocally condemns antisemitism and white supremacy whenever and wherever they occur; and (5) urges all elected officials, thought leaders, and community leaders to reject and condemn white supremacy and antisemitism whenever and wherever they occur.\u201d\n\nThe full list of endorsing organizations includes: Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA), Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), Jewish Women International (JWI), National Council of Jewish Women, Hadassah, and The Women\u2019s Zionist Organization of America.\n\nThe full text of the resolution can be found HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-condemns-egregious-use-of-force-by-ice-as-constituent-is-mauled-by-attack-dog-demands-release-from-nwipc-to-receive-appropriate-medical-care/", "Senator Murray Condemns Egregious Use of Force by ICE as Constituent is Mauled by Attack Dog, Demands Release from NWIPC to Receive Appropriate Medical Care", "2025-12-05", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "***(WARNING: Graphic Content) Photos of Wilmer\u2019s injuries, photos of Wilmer and his children, and partial video of his detainment are available to the press HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) issued the following statement condemning the violent and unwarranted assault of her constituent, Wilmer Toledo-Martinez, and calling for his immediate release from the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC).\n\n\u201cOn November 14, 2025, my constituent Wilmer was mauled by an ICE attack dog even though he has consistently explained that he was not resisting arrest or attempting to flee. His wife and two of his young children, ages two and three, all U.S. citizens, were forced to watch helplessly as he was violently attacked and dragged away. For hours afterward, he was denied even basic medical care following this unprovoked assault. The photos documenting his injuries are horrific. This should shock the conscience of every one of us. I do not want to live in an America where federal agents can sic attack dogs on peaceful residents with impunity and face no consequences.\n\n\u201cWhile Donald Trump\u2019s entire mass deportation agenda has been nothing short of depraved, this is especially sickening. By now, everyone should realize, Trump is not going after violent criminals or the worst of the worst\u2014he is terrorizing everyone, including U.S. citizens and their loved ones.\n\n\u201cI am calling for Wilmer\u2019s immediate release from NWIPC\u2014he has no criminal convictions, he poses no threat to the community, and he urgently needs appropriate medical care since ICE is denying him the treatment he requires. I am grateful for Wilmer\u2019s willingness to let me share his story\u2014there\u2019s no telling how many similar stories are not being told for fear of retaliation. Every one of us must demand justice and accountability and every one of us must speak out against these kinds of human rights abuses.\u201d\n\nAccording to his attorney, Wilmer was violently detained by ICE and mauled by an attack dog despite not resisting arrest or attempting to flee. An ICE agent lured Wilmer out of his home under false pretenses, posing as a construction worker who claimed to have hit Wilmer\u2019s car and needed him to step outside to verify. Another agent, accompanied by a dog, was hiding nearby and released the dog on Wilmer shortly after he stepped outside. Following the attack, Wilmer was left shaking and dizzy, and at one point his vision went black, yet he was denied medical care for hours. He was eventually taken to a hospital, where he received stitches for his injuries. He was prescribed antibiotics and additional medication, but the antibiotics were not provided immediately, and the other medication was never provided. Throughout his detention, Wilmer has repeatedly reported that obtaining adequate medical care has been extremely difficult. Wilmer, who is currently undocumented, was brought to the United States at the age of 15. Wilmer is married to a U.S. citizen and is the father of three U.S. born children, ages two, three, and seven, and this brutality has devastated the entire family.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-rfk-jr-s-hand-picked-anti-vax-panel-has-destroyed-any-shred-of-credibility-with-dangerous-removal-of-universal-hep-b-vaccine-recommendation/", "Senator Murray: RFK Jr.\u2019s Hand-Picked Anti-Vax Panel has \u201cDestroyed Any Shred of Credibility\u201d with Dangerous Removal of Universal Hep B Vaccine Recommendation", "2025-12-05", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "CDC vaccine advisory panel ends universal recommendation of Hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, unless mother\u2019s status is positive or unknown\n\nOne in four children with chronic Hepatitis B will later die from liver disease\n\nMurray: \u201cRFK Jr. should never have been confirmed, and until he does the only responsible thing and resigns\u2014we should be working aggressively to push back against his parade of nonsense that is putting families in danger.\u201d\n\nICYMI: Senator Murray Slams Planned Changes to Hepatitis B Vaccine at Upcoming ACIP Meeting\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement after vaccine advisors handpicked by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to end the recommendation of vaccinating all newborns for hepatitis B at birth, without any new evidence prompting the change. Senator Murray has been a sharp critic of Secretary Kennedy, even before his confirmation\u2014and has repeatedly called for him to be fired. This vaccine recommendation change comes despite robust evidence that the hepatitis B vaccine is safe and effective, and has reduced infant hepatitis B infections by 99 percent since the U.S. first began recommending the first dose at-birth in 1991.\n\n\u201cRFK Jr.\u2019s hand-picked anti-vax panel has removed any doubt about their obvious bias, and destroyed any shred of credibility for their decision-making process. In their singled-minded march to end the long established Hepatitis B vaccine recommendation that has saved countless lives, they discarded decades of established science, misrepresented medical studies, and ignored all critics. CDC should reject this dangerous suggestion that will simply mean more babies die in the United States.\n\n\u201cThe painful truth is, much like Hepatitis B infections, this outcome was completely avoidable to anyone willing to look seriously at the facts. RFK Jr. has spent decades crusading against vaccines, and it has been clear from the start that he would use all the power available to him as Health Secretary to continue this dangerous campaign. In this case, a mere recommendation\u2014not a mandate\u2014that parents get newborns a lifesaving vaccine, was too much for RFK Jr. and his anti-vax cronies to stomach.\n\n\u201cThe hard truth is that right now our Secretary of Health is one of our nation\u2019s biggest health threats and largest sources of health disinformation, and we must demand accountability. RFK Jr. should never have been confirmed, and until he does the only responsible thing and resigns\u2014we should be working aggressively to push back against his parade of nonsense that is putting families in danger, and that should start with a long-overdue hearing before the HELP Committee.\u201d\n\nThe American Academy of Pediatrics continues to recommend routine Hepatitis B vaccination for all newborns: All babies should receive a first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, a second dose at one to two months, and a third dose at six months. The pacing of these doses has been rigorously tested and proven to be safe and effective over several decades.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-baldwin-sanders-schumer-colleagues-slam-latest-efforts-to-dismantle-the-department-of-education-call-on-mcmahon-to-reverse-illegal-moves-that-weaken-support-for-students/", "Murray, Baldwin, Sanders, Schumer, Colleagues Slam Latest Efforts to Dismantle the Department of Education; Call on McMahon to Reverse Illegal Moves That Weaken Support for Students", "2025-12-04", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP); and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) led their colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary Linda McMahon slamming the Department of Education\u2019s recent announcement that it has signed interagency agreements (IAAs) to illegally outsource core functions that students and their families rely on\u2014and calling on her to reverse these latest steps to dismantle the Department of Education.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray, Baldwin, Sanders, and Schumer, the letter was signed by Senators Andy Kim (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Tina Smith (D-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ed Markey (D-MA), Angus King (I-ME), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chris Coons (D-DE), Alex Padilla (D-CA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mark Warner (D-VA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Gary Peters (D-MI), and John Hickenlooper (D-CO).\n\n\u201cThe actions you announced on November 18th to continue hollowing out the U.S. Department of Education are outrageous, illegal, and will jeopardize the funding and support that tens of millions of students, teachers, and families across the country rely on,\u201d write the Senators. \u201cYour brazen attempt to dismantle the Department by transferring to other federal agencies complex and foundational responsibilities that Congress specifically charged to the Department\u2014including more than half of all federal funds for elementary and secondary education programs and billions in higher education funding\u2014will undermine public education.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s be very clear: You are choosing to create even more bureaucracy that states, school districts, and educational institutions across America will have to expend time and resources navigating at the expense of students and families,\u201d the Senators add. \u201cWe urge you to immediately reverse course and to focus your time and attention on actions that actually help states, school districts and educational institutions improve educational outcomes and support for students.\u201d\n\nIn the letter, the Senators make clear that, as McMahon has previously acknowledged, dismantling the Department would require an act of Congress, which has not been proposed\u2014or even seriously pursued\u2014by the administration: \u201cWe expect you to work with Congress to pursue any ideas to streamline programs and improve public education, as the law and the Constitution require, and you have yourself stated you would do in your confirmation hearing. \u2026 Congress has unambiguously authorized dozens of education programs to be administered by the Department through numerous laws and has clearly appropriated funding on a bipartisan basis for decades to the Department to carry out those programs. Appropriations law prohibits the transfer of funds to another federal agency unless expressly authorized in appropriations law, which it has not done in this case.\u201d\n\nThe lawmakers detail how the myriad departmental responsibilities McMahon is now seeking to spin off to other agencies that lack the expertise, capacity, and legal mandate to successfully administer key programs will risk support, funding, and oversight that our laws provide to students and families across America. They note, in particular, that: \u201cUnfortunately, we have already seen negative consequences for states, schools, colleges, and students as these IAAs roll out: the first IAA inked earlier this year between the Department and DOL on career and technical education and adult education has been plagued with serious challenges\u2014and it is but a small fraction of what is now being transferred to DOL.\u201d\n\nFull text of the letter is available HERE and below:\n\nDear Secretary McMahon:\n\nThe actions you announced on November 18 to continue hollowing out the U.S. Department of Education (\u201cthe Department\u201d) are outrageous, illegal, and will jeopardize the funding and support that tens of millions of students, teachers, and families across the country rely on. Your brazen attempt to dismantle the Department by transferring to other federal agencies complex and foundational responsibilities that Congress specifically charged to the Department\u2014including more than half of all federal funds for elementary and secondary education programs and billions in higher education funding\u2014will undermine public education. This is the latest example of this administration\u2019s complete lack of regard for our laws and its failure to provide the certainty, clarity, and stability that students and schools deserve when it comes to the federal government\u2019s approach and commitment to properly implementing federal education laws and appropriations.\n\nLet\u2019s be very clear: You are choosing to create even more bureaucracy that states, school districts, and educational institutions across America will have to expend time and resources navigating at the expense of students and families. We urge you to immediately reverse course and to focus your time and attention on actions that actually help states, school districts and educational institutions improve educational outcomes and support for students. We expect you to work with Congress to pursue any ideas to streamline programs and improve public education, as the law and the Constitution require, and you have yourself stated you would do in your confirmation hearing.\n\nThe Department of Education is the only federal agency whose sole mission is to help children learn and improve their educational outcomes. The Department delivers much-needed federal funding and enforces basic educational guardrails and civil rights protections so that every child can get the quality public education that they are entitled to under the law, no matter who they are or where they live. Congress has unambiguously authorized dozens of education programs to be administered by the Department through numerous laws and has clearly appropriated funding on a bipartisan basis for decades to the Department to carry out those programs. Appropriations law prohibits the transfer of funds to another federal agency unless expressly authorized in appropriations law, which it has not done in this case. When Congress wants another agency to administer a program or function, it has expressly said so\u2014and in some cases, it has provided authority to transfer funds to allow this to happen. By contrast, Congress has not expressly authorized any other agency to administer the programs established under the previously mentioned laws, nor has it provided the authority for the Department to transfer these programs and associated funding to another agency.\n\nThe November 18 announcement outlines six interagency agreements (IAAs) with the Departments of Labor, Interior, Health and Human Services, and State to transfer major responsibilities out of the Department of Education. The authorities cited in the IAAs do not enable the Department to do an end-run around the relevant authorizing and appropriating statutes. For example, the Department cites the Economy Act to justify its use of the IAA framework. While the Economy Act is routinely used by other federal agencies to enter into IAAs for the procurement of discrete goods and services that a particular agency might have expertise in and authority to provide, such as DOJ\u2019s fingerprinting authority, this authority was never contemplated to allow the transfer of major program functions or entire offices to another agency with the express stated purpose of eventually dismantling the agency or putting the Secretary \u201cout of a job.\u201d Federal resources outlining the purpose of the Economy Act make this clear. This view is further affirmed by the Department\u2019s inability to cite a single instance of using this statute or any others in a similar way prior to this year.\n\nYou have expressed your interest in working with Congress on these issues, but these IAAs were developed in secret without outside input. The fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Department makes no reference to administering these programs at other agencies and the fiscal year 2026 budget request for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), for example, makes no reference to administering them either. The Secretaries of Labor, Interior, State, and HHS have similarly never testified to Congress on how they would carry out and administer these critical education programs.\n\nSince you were nominated to lead the Department, you have routinely misled the public about the level of involvement the Department has long had in the day-to-day management of schools\u2014inaccurately suggesting that the Department was depriving states and families from making choices about their children\u2019s education, shackling teachers with burdensome regulations and paperwork and causing K-12 and college students to experience \u201cdrudgery caused by administrative burdens.\u201d On the basis of these false assertions, you have strangely claimed that we need to \u201cReturn Education to the States.\u201d In fact, states and local communities have\u2014since the founding of our republic\u2014had the primary responsibility for educating our students and the establishment of the Department in 1979 did nothing to change that fact. In fact, there are numerous federal laws that prevent the Department from being involved in the day-to-day decision making in schools and colleges as it relates to curriculum, teaching, and programs.\n\nUntil your arrival at the Department, its role has been to provide funding, support, and oversight as authorized by federal education laws to ensure students from all walks of life and in every part of the country can get a high-quality public education. The Department\u2019s programs ensure that parents get timely, accessible information about how their kids\u2019 schools are doing. They ensure students with disabilities\u2019 rights are enforced, so that they can get the education they are entitled to. The Department administers programs to help under-resourced rural school districts and allocates Impact Aid for more than 1,000 school districts with a reduced revenue base or increased costs due to a federal presence, such as a military base. It also administers programs to help first-generation and low-income students pursue and succeed in college. These are just a select few examples of the indispensable supporting role that the federal government\u2014and the Department, in particular\u2014plays in advancing educational outcomes for students.\n\nTo justify these new IAA\u2019s, you say federal funding will keep flowing to states, school districts, and colleges. But we have already seen funding held up and seriously delayed because of this administration\u2019s chaotic changes\u2014and its extreme policies\u2014and the moves you announced last week are certain to further jeopardize these funds.\n\nYou claim these actions will improve student achievement, yet your actions will significantly weaken federal monitoring of states\u2019 K-12 accountability and school improvement systems. Before Congress mandated that states develop these systems with key guardrails in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, several states had weak or no school improvement systems, which allowed vulnerable students to slip through the cracks. As part of ESEA and subsequent appropriations directives, Congress has charged OESE with improving state compliance in state and local school report cards requirements, school improvement, and more. But without the staff expertise from OESE, it is likely that DOL will be ineffective in holding states accountable for improving student outcomes.\n\nThe Department also provides deep policy expertise to ensure programs support improved student outcomes, such as through expert guidance to colleges and universities to improve college access, retention, and completion through programs like TRIO, GEAR UP, the Postsecondary Student Success Grant Program, and others. Now, DOL, who lacks the necessary expertise, is tasked with managing these programs and students will suffer as a result.\n\nDOL has no prior experience in administering education programs at this scale and complexity and will need to develop the capacity and processes to allot billions of dollars in funding to state and local educational agencies. States will also have to make changes to receive any funds distributed through DOL\u2019s grant system while continuing to draw down prior year grant funding in the Department\u2019s system. Your IAA also seems to suggest the Department will still retain some authorities over Title I-A, which means that states will now have to work with two federal agencies when they need help navigating this complex and absolutely critical program. These changes solve exactly zero problems but manage to create an onslaught of new ones. We are very concerned that these changes will mean funds our constituents rely on will not continue to flow as intended under federal education laws.\n\nIn addition to its scope and complexity, the Title I-A program primarily funds instruction and activities in elementary schools. We do not believe kindergartners or other elementary school students should be the focus of efforts to integrate workforce programming and education activities, activities that are better suited to older students. Instead of improving students\u2019 readiness for the workforce, the move of Title I-A to DOL is much more likely to deprive states and school districts of the technical assistance and support they need to effectively implement federal education funding in their schools and provide high-quality educational opportunities to all students.\n\nDOL already has a comprehensive workload to support the nation\u2019s workers and workforce programs. It is authorized and funded to administer workforce training and enforce worker protection programs for which Congress appropriates $13.5 billion in discretionary funding annually, including for roughly a dozen workforce training grant programs totaling approximately $4 billion in annual funding. In addition to lacking the subject area expertise needed to administer the Department\u2019s programs, DOL does not have the grant administration capacity to take on the work outlined in the IAA; the approximately $30 billion in the Department\u2019s funding across approximately 50 discrete formula and competitive education grant programs that you seek to transfer now to DOL dwarf its current grant administration and oversight work. Transferring basic and significant responsibilities for administering education programs to DOL creates very significant risks of delays in funding and other administrative challenges for states, school districts, institutions of higher education, and other organizations through Impact Aid, rural education programs, afterschool programs, TRIO, and foundational education formula grant programs that tens of thousands of schools count on to help provide a quality education to millions of students.\n\nUnfortunately, we have already seen negative consequences for states, schools, colleges, and students as these IAAs roll out: the first IAA inked earlier this year between the Department and DOL on career and technical education and adult education has been plagued with serious challenges\u2014and it is but a small fraction of what is now being transferred to DOL. In fact, as your own staff reportedly concluded in its analysis after this transfer, \u201cThe size and scope of OCTAE\u2019s programs are miniscule [sic] compared to other [Education Principal Operating Components] and programs\u2026Larger formula grants and competitive grants are going to be much more difficult to migrate.\u201d States and districts faced delays in accessing their Perkins CTE funding, and advocates report delays in guidance and training issued by DOL. Moreover, a CTE expert recently testified before the House of Representatives, \u201cAt a time of scarce resources, it\u2019s hard to understand why the Department is paying Labor to do work that it can do for itself.\u201d The fiscal year 2025 funding level for Perkins CTE and adult education was $2.18 billion, whereas the other programs DOL will now be responsible for are funded at roughly $30 billion. If the administrative costs balloon under these new IAAs as the administrative costs under the CTE IAA have, not only will these IAAs be terrible for students, their families, and educators, they will also be a catastrophic waste of time and money for the American taxpayer.\n\nThe Department has provided no substantive detail or even basic information about how the significant changes envisioned by these IAAs would be implemented. The other federal agencies that will suddenly have significant responsibilities in administering billions in education funding\u2014have provided no information about their roles or their capacity to carry out these programs and activities. The plan seems clear\u2014to jam these changes through for a talking point, whatever the consequences may be for states, school districts, schools, students, and families.\n\nWe once again demand that you reverse these detrimental plans and refocus your efforts on supporting state and local efforts by properly implementing federal laws intended to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for all students, especially those who count on the Department doing its job most.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-responds-to-speaker-johnson-working-to-strip-ivf-coverage-for-servicemembers-from-ndaa-betraying-trump-promise-to-increase-access-to-ivf/", "Senator Murray Responds to Speaker Johnson Working to Strip IVF Coverage for Servicemembers from NDAA, Betraying Trump Promise to Increase Access to IVF", "2025-12-04", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "The NDAA provision is based on legislation Senator Murray helped introduce in April; Murray has worked for decades to make IVF more accessible for veterans and servicemembers, leads legislation to help veterans grow their families\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement in response to reporting in MS NOW that House Speaker Mike Johnson is working behind the scenes to strip a provision\u2014based on legislation Senator Murray helped introduce earlier this year\u2014 that would mandate TRICARE health care coverage for fertility services, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), for all active-duty servicemembers.\n\n\u201cRight now, servicemembers who risk their lives for our country can\u2019t get the same IVF coverage that\u2019s available to other federal employees\u2014that\u2019s plain wrong, and it\u2019s outrageous that once again, Speaker Johnson and his anti-abortion allies are standing in the way of a simple legislative fix. Members of the military face a higher rate of infertility often because of their service to our country, but Republicans want to deny these servicemembers the ability to grow their families.\n\n\u201cSpeaker Johnson is among the most extreme anti-abortion radicals in Congress who believes embryos should have the same rights as living, breathing human beings\u2014it\u2019s disgraceful but not surprising that he is working behind the scenes to force servicemembers to suffer through infertility rather than grow their families through IVF.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll keep pushing to protect every servicemember\u2019s right to IVF\u2014and Donald Trump, who purports to support IVF, should join with Democrats to protect this provision.\u201d\n\nIn April, Senator Murray joined Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) in introducing the IVF for Military Families Act, new bicameral legislation that would require TRICARE\u2014which provides health coverage to active duty military servicemembers, retirees, and their families\u2014to cover fertility services, including IVF, for servicemembers and their families. The Senate-passed NDAA included a provision that mirrors the IVF for Military Families Act\u2014Speaker Johnson is reportedly working to remove that provision from the final NDAA legislation.\n\nAs the daughter of a disabled World War II veteran, Senator Murray knows firsthand the sacrifice that military service demands and has been fighting for over a decade to expand access to IVF care and other fertility services for veterans and servicemembers, and to protect servicemembers\u2019 and veterans\u2019 access to the reproductive care they deserve. She has introduced multiple pieces of legislation to address the challenges veterans face when starting a family after their service, and in 2012, Senator Murray secured Senate passage of a provision to end the ban on IVF services at VA.\n\nSenator Murray has helped lead the charge in the Senate to protect IVF from Republican attacks for the millions of Americans\u2014including servicemembers and veterans\u2014who rely on it to grow their families. Last Congress, Murray introduced the Right to IVF Act in the Senate\u2014which would establish a nationwide right to IVF and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) and lower the costs of IVF treatment for middle-class families, and includes the Veteran Families Health Services Act. Despite many Republicans publicly claiming to support IVF, nearly every Senate Republican voted against the Right to IVF Act on two separate occasions last year. Overall, Republicans blocked legislation that would protect IVF nationwide three separate times last year.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-following-briefing-on-lethal-second-strike-of-boat-in-the-caribbean/", "Senator Murray Statement Following Briefing on Lethal Second Strike of Boat in the Caribbean", "2025-12-04", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement following a bipartisan briefing on the Trump administration\u2019s follow-up strike of a boat it attacked in the Caribbean on September 2, which killed all remaining survivors.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m glad there is finally some bipartisan oversight of actions taken by this administration. That must continue.\n\n\u201cWhat we heard today was truly disturbing, and more accountability and answers must be provided\u2014not only on this second strike, but on the Trump administration\u2019s broader unauthorized military campaign in the Caribbean. Full, unedited video of the second strike must be made public by the Department of Defense as soon as possible.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s also clear to me is that Pete Hegseth should be fired. Between overseeing this campaign in the Caribbean, risking U.S. servicemembers\u2019 lives by sharing war plans on Signal, and so much else, it could not be more obvious that Secretary Hegseth is unfit for the role, and it is past time for him to go.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/at-hearing-on-health-care-affordability-senator-murray-slams-republicans-for-massive-health-care-cuts-and-refusal-to-stop-premiums-from-skyrocketing-next-year-urges-extension-of-aca-tax-credits/", "At Hearing on Health Care Affordability, Senator Murray Slams Republicans for Massive Health Care Cuts and Refusal to Stop Premiums from Skyrocketing Next Year, Urges Extension of ACA Tax Credits", "2025-12-03", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Senator Murray: \u201cSaying \u2018let\u2019s start talking about fixing this now,\u2019 a month into open enrollment, instead of at any point earlier this year when we actually had time to stop premiums from skyrocketing or look at some of these different reforms\u2014well, that is about as serious as expressing concern about RFK Jr.\u2019s anti-vax crusade after voting to make him the most powerful public health official in the country.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray: \u201cI do want to note that tomorrow, CDC\u2019s Vaccine Committee is meeting to discuss the childhood vaccine schedule, and the Hepatitis B vaccines\u2014something the chair of this Committee has said many times save lives. The CDC Advisory Committee is going to hear from who-knows-who\u2026 I am deeply alarmed that this Committee has not done more oversight, and we still have not done a thing to force RFK Jr. to come here and answer questions about his decision to fire the CDC Director Monarez and limit access to lifesaving vaccines. I hope that will change.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray has been sounding the alarm on the looming health care cost cliff and calling on Republicans to work with Democrats to extend the ACA tax credits for YEARS\u2014FULL TIMELINE HERE\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s remarks on health care and Q&A with witnesses***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on health care affordability, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)\u2014a former chair and senior member of the HELP Committee\u2014slammed Republican hypocrisy on health care affordability and called on Republicans to support a clean extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits to curb at least some of the damage from the massive health care premium hikes Republicans have already set in motion by refusing to lift a finger to extend the ACA tax credits earlier this year.\n\nBecause of Republicans\u2019 refusal to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, 22 million Americans\u2014including over 216,000 in Washington state\u2014are seeing their health care costs for next year skyrocket. Premiums are more than doubling on average for people who buy health coverage on the Marketplace (Washington Healthplanfinder in Washington state), and these higher costs will push 4.8 million people off their health insurance coverage over the next decade. A Washington-state specific fact sheet on the ACA enhanced premium tax credits is HERE.\n\nIn opening remarks, Senator Murray said:\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got to be real here: We are a month into open enrollment. A full month. The time to save people from these huge increases in cost that they\u2019re going to see because the ACA tax credits was before those premium hikes were all-but locked in.\n\n\u201cSaying \u2018let\u2019s start talking about fixing this now,\u2019a month into open enrollment, instead of any point earlier this year when we actually had time to stop premiums from skyrocketing or look at some of these different reforms\u2014well, this is about as serious as expressing concern about RFK Jr.\u2019s anti-vax crusade after voting to make him the most powerful public health official in the country.\n\n\u201cThe time is out. Realistically, the only way, the only way now we can still stop people from seeing these huge increases is a clean extension and a longer open enrollment. And I think we should be honest about that.\n\n\u201cI appreciate the ideas being tossed around, even if I have some concerns with some of the proposals. But if Republicans had come to the table at any point this year, there would still be time to sit down and talk.\n\n\u201cBut we have now seen Republicans run out the clock. They blew right past the start of open enrollment! Forget about time spent negotiating\u2014even if we passed a bill today, there is not time to implement anything more complicated than a clean extension.\n\n\u201cSo, if Republicans are serious about preventing the MAGA health care hike, they should work with us right now to pass a clean, one-year extension\u2014as fast as possible. Literally right now.\n\n\u201cAnd if their call for reforming tax credits is serious, we should look at that. We can talk about reforms\u2014ahead of the 2027 year.\n\n\u201cBut I have to say, I am not optimistic that most Republicans are serious about saving people from exploding costs, because they refused to talk about this problem before right now, and I have been down this road before.\n\n\u201cDuring the first Trump administration, I sat across from Chair Alexander and we hammered out a bipartisan plan to lower costs. We were on the one-yard line. Then the call came down from Trump and Republican leaders: they didn\u2019t want a deal. They didn\u2019t want to lower health care costs.\n\n\u201cAnd they started demanding restrictions on abortion\u2014something that had never been an issue in our talks until then\u2014and used that pretext to torpedo months of bipartisan negotiations. So, excuse my skepticism today when we have seen this tired playbook.\n\n\u201cIf Republicans want to talk health care, great. Unfortunately, we\u2019ve heard many Republicans make it clear they are not serious. But if that changes, I am at the table. I\u2019m ready to talk about our health care system in this country.\u201d\n\nAppearing at the hearing as witnesses were: Joel White, President, Council for Affordable Health Coverage; Marcie Strouse, Owner and Partner, Capitol Benefits Group; and Claudia M. Fegan, MD, National Coordinator, Physicians for a National Health Program.\n\n[MEDICAID AND ACA CUTS]\n\nSenator Murray began her questioning by asking Dr. Fegan about the gigantic cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act that Republicans passed into law this summer as part of their partisan reconciliation bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: \u201cSo Dr. Fegan, let me talk to you. Did any of the cuts Republicans made in their reconciliation bill this summer make health care more affordable for American families?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey did not,\u201d answered Dr. Fegan.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve heard a lot of discussion about making coverage more affordable for small businesses and employers,\u201d Senator Murray continued. \u201cI think what is important to acknowledge is that nearly half of adults within the ACA Marketplace are small business owners or employees, and letting these tax credits expire is going to hurt them dramatically.\u201d\n\n[UPCOMING CDC ACIP MEETING]\n\nIn concluding her questioning, Senator Murray said: \u201cBefore my time is almost up, I do want to note that tomorrow, CDC\u2019s Vaccine Committee is meeting to discuss the childhood vaccine schedule, and the Hepatitis B vaccines\u2014something the chair of this Committee has said many times save lives. The CDC Advisory Committee is going to hear from who-knows-who.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut based on the fact CDC\u2019s own website now spreads anti-vax disinformation, I want to state for the record, I am deeply alarmed that this Committee has not done more oversight, and we still have not done a thing to force RFK Jr. to come here and answer questions about his decision to fire the CDC Director Monarez and limit access to lifesaving vaccines. I hope that will change.\u201d\n\nJust yesterday, Senator Murray released a statement in response to reporting by the Washington Post that, in their upcoming meeting this week, vaccine advisors handpicked by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kennedy for the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) are planning to vote on ending the practice of vaccinating all newborns for Hepatitis B. \u201cEnding the decades-long recommendation that babies born in the U.S. get vaccinated against Hepatitis B is a heartless choice to allow babies to die in the United States,\u201d Murray said, calling on HELP Chairman Cassidy to compel RFK Jr. to testify before the HELP Committee.\n\nSenator Murray has been speaking out nonstop about the urgent need to save health care and calling on Republicans to come to the negotiating table to work out a bipartisan deal to extend the ACA tax credits\u2014which they have so far refused to do. She took to the Senate floor in November with her Democratic colleagues in November to call for a clean one-year extension of the ACA tax credits, and has held numerous virtual press conferences with Washingtonians, as well as residents of neighboring states Idaho and Montana, about the exploding health care premiums that Americans are seeing due to the expiration of the tax credits. As the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray led legislation supported by the Democratic caucus that would have addressed the health care crisis during the government shutdown. Senator Murray has also cosponsored multiple pieces of legislation over the past year\u2014the Health Care Affordability Actand the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act\u2014that would make the ACA tax credits permanent.\n\nSenator Murray played a critical role in passing the ACA enhanced premium tax credits into law in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. Since then, she has called on Republicans to extend the enhanced premium tax credits dozens of times, calling attention to the tax credit cliff and how millions of Americans will see their health care costs jump dramatically if Republicans don\u2019t work with Democrats on an extension.\n\nA timeline detailing how Senator Murray has been fighting for years to extend the ACA tax credits, and calling on Republicans to come to the table and negotiate, is HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/at-hearing-senator-murray-highlights-russias-barbaric-kidnapping-of-ukrainian-children-slams-trump-for-eliminating-funding-for-efforts-to-track-victims/", "At Hearing, Senator Murray Highlights Russia\u2019s Barbaric Kidnapping of Ukrainian Children, Slams Trump for Eliminating Funding for Efforts to Track Victims", "2025-12-03", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Senator Murray: \u201cUnfortunately, we simply cannot have this conversation without talking about the fact that, as Ranking Member Schatz mentioned, earlier this year the Trump Administration abruptly cut off funding to help track victims of Russian kidnapping and deliver justice.\u201d\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray questions witnesses on holding Russia accountable for kidnapping of thousands of Ukrainian children***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs hearing titled \u201cThe Abduction of Ukrainian Children by the Russian Federation,\u201d U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned witnesses on how the United States can support efforts to hold Russia accountable for the kidnapping and forced re-education of thousands of Ukrainian children.\n\nA report from the Yale School of Public Health\u2019s Humanitarian Research Lab concluded this September that Russia has kidnapped thousands of children from Ukraine to at least 210 facilities inside Russia and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine and subjected them to re-education or militarization at many of the facilities. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Children\u2019s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of the war crime of illegally deporting and transferring children from Ukraine.\n\nEarlier this year, the Trump administration abruptly terminated funding for the Yale lab\u2019s ongoing research tracking Russia\u2019s abduction of children, and there is still no ongoing funding from the United States for this specific research.\n\nIn opening comments, Senator Murray said:\n\n\u201cThank you very much Mr. Chairman. I\u2019m really glad that this hearing is being held to help shine a light on one of the darkest aspects of Russia\u2019s bloody and unjustified war in Ukraine.\n\n\u201cThousands of Ukrainian children that you\u2019ve talked about have been kidnapped by Russia since this terrible war began. They\u2019ve been abducted from their homes, they\u2019ve been ripped out of their parents\u2019 arms, they\u2019ve been sent, as we\u2019ve heard, to forced re-education programs, military training camps, and worse.\n\n\u201cThe horror of this sort of crime is really hard to even fathom, and that is why it resulted in Putin being charged for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. It is the height of barbarity.\n\n\u201cSo I really appreciate all of the witnesses for joining us today to share their powerful testimony, and discuss the steps we can take to secure justice for this ongoing atrocity and provide healing for the victims and survivors.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, we simply cannot have this conversation without talking about the fact that, as Ranking Member Schatz mentioned, earlier this year the Trump Administration abruptly cut off funding to help track victims of Russian kidnapping and deliver justice.\n\n\u201cAnd as noted already, that data was almost all lost, and was delayed in being sent to the proper authorities. That was absolutely senseless. And today, there is still no ongoing U.S. funding for this specific work.\n\n\u201cNow, I wish that we had Trump administration officials here with us to explain why that program was terminated and to talk about efforts in this space moving forward. I understand Mr. Chairman that they were invited, but they are not here today. That is inexplicable to me.\n\n\u201cWe have also seen the Trump Administration put forward drafts of so-called peace plans that read more like Russian wish lists than a serious plan.\n\n\u201cWe really need better from this administration. We all need to stand firm by our allies in Ukraine. And we need to stand firm for basic principles like accountability and justice. Especially for something as fundamentally immoral as kidnapping children.\n\n\u201cWhich is why it is critical that we push back against careless cuts like the one I just talked about. We need to reverse course and restore the bipartisan tradition of support for investments that uphold our values, support our allies, and strengthen our leadership.\n\n\u201cAnd if we want a peace deal to end this war, we have to make sure that Putin understands that our resolve to stand by our allies will not waver, war crimes cannot be swept under the rug, and he cannot get a better deal by walking away from the table and waiting us out.\n\n\u201cMr. Chairman, I\u2019m pleased that we\u2019re having this hearing today and to be here with so many others who are sending a message in a bipartisan way with our voices.\n\n\u201cAnd I hope that we can send that same message with our laws as well, by writing a very strong, SFOPS bill that restores funding to help identify, track, and return victims of kidnapping, and restores support to so many other worthy NGOs that have a long history of good work, and bipartisan support, and that maintains robust support to Ukraine at this very critical moment.\u201d\n\nAppearing at the hearing as witnesses were: The Honorable Olha Stefanishyna, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States; Mykola Kuleba, Save Ukraine; Maksym Maksymov, Bring Kids Back; and Kateryna Rashevska, Regional Center for Human Rights.\n\n[ROLE OF NGOS]\n\nSenator Murray began by asking Mr. Kuleba about the important efforts of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in efforts to recover kidnapped Ukrainian children: \u201cCan you talk a little bit more about the work you do to return Ukrainian children to their families? And how governmental funding and coordination helps expand your ability to do so?\u201d asked Senator Murray.\n\n\u201cWe built our system beginning from the investigators team who are searching for these kids. Then as I mentioned before, after rescuing these kids we are provided with more information and we can find more information about the kids who stayed in occupied territories. Very often these kids whose parents were killed or arrested or disappeared. We have a little limit of time just to extract them from that territory,\u201d answered Mr. Kuleba. \u201cWe built a holistic system for the search, rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration. We have rehabilitation centers with more than 800 beds\u2026 both for families and children of the reunification and for unaccompanied minors and orphans. Because many children who have been rescued have a draft notice for the Russian army. It is a huge risk. We have kids who have been rescued from Russian foster families, rescued from Russian military academies, even from the Russian army\u2026 they testify how they have been forcibly taken to the Russian army. Thousands of Ukrainian children in such risk. Many of them who when taken, forcibly conscripted, and are now fighting with us. That is why it is so important for us to find these kids and rescue them in time\u2026and they have to fight, they must fight, because if not they will be jailed or killed.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t even imagine. What you said, \u2018in time,\u2019 is really critical. Because if you take the picture you had of two-year-olds and 11-years later, that has been their life, they don\u2019t remember much else, and rehabilitation must be extremely difficult. So \u2018in time,\u2019 is critically important and why funding Mr. Chairman, is so important as well,\u201d Senator Murray replied.\n\n[RUSSIA\u2019S OBSTRUCTION AND MOTIVATION]\n\nSenator Murray continued her questioning by asking Mr. Maksymov about difficulties getting Russia to return the abducted Ukrainian children. \u201cMr. Maksymov, what is the single greatest obstacle the United States will faces in trying to compel Russia to return these abducted children?\u201d\n\nMr. Maksymov answered, \u201cThe reality is that for Russians to return the kids, it is the same as testifying to committing a crime. Every single child returned has been a victim of a war crime. They can tell what happened to them. They can tell law enforcement authorities what happened to peers of theirs and what happened to their friends and what happened to family members\u2026 that is very counter instinctive for them to return the witnesses who will testify against them. Another huge obstacle\u2026 we face is they tried to downplay the crime. Despite hundreds and hundreds of names that have been submitted to Ukraine from different channels\u2026 there has never been a return of 20 kids even\u2026 That goes against the very logic for them to release the witnesses to their crime.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray has been a steadfast supporter of Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s unprovoked invasion in 2022. As Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee in the 118th Congress, she played an instrumental role in marshalling through additional support to aid Ukraine in its defense against Putin\u2019s war.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-cortez-masto-colleagues-introduce-legislation-to-reverse-harmful-provisions-in-republican-tax-law-and-protect-unaccompanied-immigrant-children/", "Murray, Cortez Masto, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Reverse Harmful Provisions in Republican Tax Law and Protect Unaccompanied Immigrant Children", "2025-12-03", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Representative Dan Goldman (D, NY-10), and Representative Delia C. Ramirez (D, IL-03) in introducing the Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act. This legislation would reverse provisions in the Republican tax law (H.R. 1) that harm unaccompanied children who are seeking safety from trafficking, abuse, and exploitation in their home countries.\n\n\u201cMaking a child pay an exorbitant amount of money just to escape human trafficking or violence is beyond cruel\u2014it\u2019s heartless,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cThe Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act reverses provisions that should have never made it into law and takes an important step to protect the safety of unaccompanied children fleeing the most horrific of situations.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs members of Congress, it\u2019s our duty to stand up for those who can\u2019t stand up for themselves,\u201d said Senator Cortez Masto. \u201cThat includes the unaccompanied children who come to the United States after escaping trafficking and abuse. It\u2019s essential that we reverse the Republican tax law\u2019s cruel provisions and protect these kids.\u201d\n\nPassed in July, H.R. 1 imposed a new $5,000 Border Apprehension Fee on any child who arrives to the United States between ports of entry. This law also requires children to pay a mandatory asylum application fee, as well as new annual asylum maintenance fees for every year their case remains pending in the government\u2019s yearslong backlog. For children fleeing human trafficking and extreme violence, these fees are often impossible to pay.\n\nAdditionally, H.R. 1 provides funding for intrusive body examinations of minors who are often the victims of abuse and trafficking. H.R. 1 also provides funding for deporting unaccompanied children who have not been screened for signs of trafficking or allowed a full review of their case before an immigration judge.\n\nTo reverse these provisions in the Republican tax law and protect unaccompanied children, the Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act would:\n\nExempt unaccompanied children from all H.R. 1 fees tied to humanitarian protection, including asylum fees, annual maintenance fees, immigration court fees, and the $5,000 Border Apprehension Fee.\n\nEliminate H.R. 1\u2019s fee on abandoned, abused, or neglected children applying for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.\n\nRepeal the H.R. 1 provision funding deportations of \u201cspecified unaccompanied children\u201d without robust trafficking screenings or full review before an immigration judge.\n\nRepeal H.R. 1 provisions funding intrusive body examinations of children in federal custody.\n\nProhibit the use of Office of Refugee Resettlement funds to share children\u2019s sponsor information with the Department of Homeland Security for enforcement purposes.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray and Cortez Masto, the bill is co-sponsored by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).\n\nThe full text of the bill can be found HERE.\n\nSenator Murray has championed comprehensive and humane immigration reform throughout her Senate career, repeatedly pushing for legislative solutions that would offer a fair pathway to citizenship for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living in America, including Dreamers, farmworkers, and those with Temporary Protected Status. During Trump\u2019s first administration, Senator Murray helped lead the charge in pushing back against Trump\u2019s appalling treatment of migrant children and families at the southern border\u2014cosponsoring the Fair Day in Court for Kids Act, which would require unaccompanied children and vulnerable individuals to be provided with legal assistance during immigration court proceedings, the Stop Cruelty to Migrant Children Act to end family separations at the border, and legislation to prevent the separation of families at sensitive locations such as schools, religious institutions, and hospitals, among many other efforts.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-floodplain-bill-picks-up-dozens-of-key-endorsements-momentum-grows-as-commonsense-bipartisan-legislation-is-introduced-in-the-house/", "Murray Floodplain Bill Picks Up Dozens of Key Endorsements, Momentum Grows as Commonsense Bipartisan Legislation Is Introduced in the House", "2025-12-03", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced dozens of endorsements from key stakeholders for the Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act\u2014bipartisan legislation Senator Murray introduced with Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) this past May. The Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act is a straightforward, commonsense bill that would create a new pathway for ecosystem restoration projects in floodplains that meet specific low-risk criteria\u2014simplifying the approval for important restoration work while still upholding flood safety standards. On November 21st, U.S. Representatives Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D, WA-03), Troy Downing (R, MT-02), Janelle Bynum (D, OR-02), and Bryan Steil (R, WI-01), introduced identical companion legislation in the House of Representatives.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m delighted to see momentum growing behind the bipartisan bill Senator Daines and I introduced earlier this year to simplify the approval process for critical ecosystem restoration projects in floodplains,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to see why everyone from environmental organizations, to Tribes, to local city and community partners, are excited about this legislation: it\u2019s a simple, zero-cost fix that will cut red tape and allow critical environment restoration efforts across the country to move forward. The federal government should be making it easier to complete locally-supported environmental restoration projects\u2014not harder. Passing this commonsense bill is one simple step we can take now to protect critical ecosystems and make government more efficient.\u201d\n\n\u201cCritical ecosystem restoration projects across Montana have been abandoned due to FEMA\u2019s onerous and costly \u2018No Rise\u2019 rule,\u201d said Senator Daines. \u201cThis commonsense, bipartisan bill will reduce unnecessary burdens on important conservation and restoration work, while continuing to keep our communities safe from flooding. I\u2019m glad to see companion legislation introduced by our colleagues in the House of Representatives and am thrilled that the bill garnered bipartisan support.\u201d\n\n\u201cRestoring regulated floodplains that meet low-risk criteria is one of the most effective ways to strengthen disaster resilience,\u201d said Chris Brown, Executive Director of the SmarterSafer Coalition. \u201cWe appreciate the bipartisan leadership behind this effort and thank U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) for advancing this legislation. SmarterSafer welcomes this common-sense step and the long-term savings it can deliver.\u201d\n\nThe following organizations have now endorsed Senator Murray and Daines\u2019 Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act: Smarter Safer Coalition; American Rivers; Association of State Floodplain Managers; National Association of Conservation Districts; Bonneville Environmental Foundation; City of Kenmore; City of Sammamish; City of Seattle; Seattle Public Utilities; Environmental Policy Innovation Center; Environmental Science Center; Island County; King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks; Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe; Montana Trout Unlimited; National Wildlife Federation; Puget Sound Partnership; Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council; River Alliance of Wisconsin; Southern Environmental Law Center; The Nature Conservancy; Trout Unlimited; Upper Deschutes Watershed Council; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Wild Salmon Center; Wisconsin Council of Trout Unlimited; Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association; Wisconsin Wetlands Association; WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council (Lake Sammamish, Lake Washington, Cedar River Watersheds); City of Shoreline; Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust; Rock River Coalition; and Clean Wisconsin.\n\nBackground on the Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act:\n\nUnder the current Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) policy, any proposed development in a regulated floodway, whether it\u2019s a shopping mall or salmon habitat, must prove that it will not increase the base flood elevation (BFE) of the area. This requirement is commonly referred to as the \u201cNo Rise\u201d rule. While important for protecting communities from increased flood risks, it has had major unintended consequences on important environmental restoration in Washington state and across the country.\n\nIn Washington state, many salmon habitat restoration projects involve placing woody debris in a waterway to slow water and make safe spaces for juvenile salmon to develop. These projects, and many others, often fail the \u201cNo Rise\u201d rule. Currently, the only way around the rule is to first update FEMA\u2019s flood maps with the projected BFE impacts. This requires extensive and very expensive hydrologic and hydraulic analyses, often performed by a third-party engineer. FEMA then reviews the analyses, replicates them, and approves them internally before giving the okay to move forward, which has taken up to three years to complete. While this process often makes sense in an urbanized, flood-prone community, it is an unnecessary exercise for restoration in remote areas.\n\nMany communities in Washington state have avoided doing restoration work in regulated floodways\u2014which makes up much of the state\u2014to avoid the associated costs. This bill would allow for a more efficient process for ecosystem restoration in a regulated floodplain and addresses the issue of \u201cNo Rise,\u201d which has been a priority concern for a number of Tribal communities and salmon advocates in states like Washington and across the country.\n\nSenator Murray has been a champion for protecting and strengthening critical salmon and fish populations throughout her time in the Senate. Senator Murray secured a historic $2.85 billion investment in salmon and ecosystem restoration programs\u2014including $400 million for a new community-based restoration program focused on removing fish passage barriers in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law\u2014and in the Inflation Reduction Act, Murray secured hundreds of millions for Washington state priorities including $15 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, $3 million to support facilities at the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, $27 million for Pacific salmon research, and more.\n\nLast Congress, as then-Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Murray protected critical funding for salmon recovery and fishery projects in the Fiscal Year 2024 government spending bills she negotiated and passed into law, including securing: $50 million in the construction of the Howard Hanson Dam Fish Passage facility; $75 million for the Pacific Salmon account at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), $65 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, $54 million for the EPA\u2019s Puget Sound Geographic Program, and more.\n\nThe text of the Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act is available HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-schiff-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-prevent-inexperienced-temporary-immigration-judge-appointments-close-loopholes-exploited-by-trump-administration/", "Murray, Schiff, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Prevent Inexperienced Temporary Immigration Judge Appointments, Close Loopholes Exploited by Trump Administration", "2025-12-03", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) to introduce the Temporary Immigration Judge Integrity Act, legislation to prevent inexperienced temporary immigration judge appointments in light of the Trump administration\u2019s abuse of loopholes in current regulations. U.S. Representative Juan Vargas (D, CA-52) is introducing companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.\n\nFollowing the Trump administration\u2019s mass firing of immigration judges and authorizing of up to 600 military lawyers to serve as temporary immigration judges, the bill aims to close the loopholes the administration has been utilizing to speed up their mass deportation agenda \u2013 such as the lack of due process protections for individuals in immigration court proceedings.\n\n\u201cThe Trump administration has already fired or forced out over 100 immigration judges across the country as part of their callous anti-immigrant crusade, and now they are allowing attorneys with zero prior immigration law experience to serve as temporary judges in immigration cases, making hugely consequential decisions about families\u2019 futures,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cEvery person deserves a fair hearing. The Temporary Immigration Judge Integrity Act is about making sure anyone serving as a judge in an immigration hearing has the basic qualifications to do the job, and that the Trump administration can\u2019t keep unqualified temporary judges in place indefinitely.\u201d\n\nThe bill would:\n\nCap temporary immigration judge appointments at four consecutive six-month terms: 2-year maximum service limit with at least a 3-year break in between services;\n\nPrevent military attorneys and Judge Advocate Generals (JAGs) from being appointed as temporary immigration judges;\n\nAuthorize appointments of attorneys at the Department of Justice (DOJ) who meet the eligibility requirements;\n\nEstablish basic training requirements.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray and Schiff, the bill is co-sponsored by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).\n\nThe full text of the bill can be found HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-slams-planned-changes-to-hepatitis-b-vaccine-at-upcoming-acip-meeting-calls-on-chair-cassidy-to-demand-rfk-jr-testify-on-vaccine-changes-before-help-committee/", "Senator Murray Slams Planned Changes to Hepatitis B Vaccine at Upcoming ACIP Meeting, Calls on Chair Cassidy to Demand RFK Jr. Testify on Vaccine Changes Before HELP Committee", "2025-12-02", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "ICYMI: In Response to Murray Questioning at HELP, Former CDC Director Says She Would Be \u201cVery Nervous\u201d to Tell Parents to Trust Recommendations From New ACIP Panel\n\nICYMI: Murray requests HHS Inspector General Review of recent actions limiting access to vaccines\n\nICYMI from September: Senator Murray Statement on RFK Jr.\u2019s ACIP Voting to Further Restrict Access to COVID-19 Shots, Creating Chaos Around Vaccines\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement on new reporting by the Washington Post that, in their upcoming meeting this week, vaccine advisors handpicked by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kennedy for the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) are planning to vote on ending the practice of vaccinating all newborns for hepatitis B and to relitigate the childhood immunization schedule based on Secretary Kennedy\u2019s unproven anti-vaccine claims.\n\n\u201cEnding the decades-long recommendation that babies born in the U.S. get vaccinated against hepatitis B is a heartless choice to allow babies to die in the United States. It can\u2019t be said enough: we\u2019re not talking about a mandate\u2014we\u2019re talking about a simple recommendation that saves lives\u2014one based on solid science, and that has led to a dramatic 99 percent drop in preventable infections, lifelong health complications, and deaths. RFK Jr. and his handpicked anti-vaccine advisors are careening our country backward to a time when thousands of moms and babies died each year of preventable illnesses that we now have the tools to stop. It\u2019s unfathomable to me that people are actively peddling dangerous misinformation and looking for ways to make it harder for moms and babies to get vaccines they want\u2014vaccines that could save their lives.\n\n\u201cAnyone who knows anything about medicine knows this move is nothing short of catastrophic. Chairman Cassidy is exactly right that getting rid of this recommendation will only make America sicker. This is the exact kind of health care sabotage I warned my colleagues about when I voted against Secretary Kennedy\u2019s confirmation. We need accountability from the top, and once again I am calling on Chairman Cassidy to compel RFK Jr. to testify before the HELP Committee without delay.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray, a longtime congressional leader on health care who has led hearings on addressing vaccine hesitancy, has been a leader in raising the alarm over RFK Jr.\u2019s nomination and handling of HHS since the beginning\u2014speaking out on the Senate floor, holding numerous events, raising the alarm after meeting with him, and hammering the threat he poses to Americans\u2019 health nonstop. She led the opposition to the Trump administration\u2019s disastrous plan to dismantle HHS and fire tens of thousands of staff in critical positions across CDC, NIH, FDA, and other agencies, and spoke out forcefully against RFK Jr.\u2019s ousting of the entire ACIP panel, including one ACIP member from Washington state. Senator Murray has held countless events across Washington state and in Washington, D.C. with doctors, patients, and former HHS officials to lift up how Trump and Republicans\u2019 attacks on health care will be devastating for families.\n\nIn early September, Senator Murray took to the Senate floor to reiterate her call for RFK Jr. to be fired after he pushed former CDC Director Susan Monarez out of her job for refusing to rubber-stamp vaccine recommendations without evidence. On September 8th, Senator Murray called on Chairman Cassidy to compel RFK Jr. to testify publicly before the HELP Committee. At the September 17th HELP committee hearing with former CDC Director Susan Monarez and former CDC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Deb Houry, Senator Murray pressed both witnesses on whether they would feel confident telling parents to trust ACIP\u2019s vaccine recommendations now, after RFK Jr. purged the entire panel of experts and replaced them with unqualified anti-vaccine skeptics\u2014Former CDC Director Monarez replied that she would be \u201cvery nervous\u201d to tell parents to trust any recommendations coming from the new ACIP panel.\n\nSenator Murray also requested in September an independent, comprehensive Inspector General review by the HHS Acting Inspector General of recent actions taken at HHS to limit access to vaccines, and recent personnel changes at the CDC.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murrays-wild-olympics-bill-advances-through-key-senate-hearing-on-wave-of-new-sportsmen-endorsements-calling-for-permanent-protection-of-wild-olympics/", "Senator Murray\u2019s Wild Olympics Bill Advances Through Key Senate Hearing on Wave of New Sportsmen Endorsements Calling for Permanent Protection of Wild Olympics", "2025-12-02", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "ICYMI IN AUGUST: Senator Murray Champions Wild Olympics Bill on Senate Floor \u2014VIDEO HERE\n\nICYMI: Senator Murray & Representative Randall Reintroduce Wild Olympics Bill to Permanently Protect Wild Olympics Wilderness and Rivers\n\nPhotos of Wild Olympics available for use HERE\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) advanced her Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act through a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Public Lands Subcommittee, a key milestone in the legislative process toward becoming law. The hearing came after a wave of new endorsements from sportsmen organizations\u2014including the Washington Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and the Washington Council of Trout Unlimited\u2014who sent a letter urging the Committee to pass Wild Olympics to protect hunting, fishing and salmon streams for the future against the increasing threats to public land. The new endorsements bring the total number of sportsmen organizations backing Wild Olympics to nearly 40.The Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, which Senator Murray reintroduced in May with U.S. Representative Emily Randall (D, WA-06) would permanently protect approximately 125,000 acres of Olympic National Forest as wilderness and 19 rivers and their major tributaries\u2014a total of 464 river miles\u2014as Wild and Scenic Rivers.\n\n\u201cThe movement behind our Wild Olympics legislation continues to grow year after year thanks to the tireless work of our coalition of sportsmen, conservationists, Tribes, businesses, local leaders, timber communities, shellfish growers, and so many others,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cToday\u2019s Senate hearing is a significant step forward for our effort to permanently protect key areas of the Olympic National Forest\u2014a crown jewel in Washington state\u2014while preserving world-class recreation opportunities and supporting local economies. As long as I\u2019m in the Senate, I won\u2019t stop fighting to win the support we need to get our Wild Olympics bill across the finish line and protect these treasured areas on the Olympic Peninsula for generations to come.\u201d\n\nThe bill\u2019s inclusion in the hearing came after Senator Murray took to the Senate floor in August to block a public lands package that did not include the Wild Olympics bill. On the Senate floor, Murray said about the Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act: \u201cIt is a carefully drafted, it\u2019s a thoughtful piece of legislation and the grassroots support for this bill has only grown over the years. That is exactly the kind of bill which should be included in a bipartisan public lands package. I would invite the Senior Senator of Utah to visit the land this bill covers to help protect our Olympic National Forest\u2026 I hope in the future we can work together in drafting a public lands bill that does include legislation like my Wild Olympics bill.\u201d Video of Senator Murray\u2019s remarks on the Senate floor is HERE.\n\nDesigned through extensive community input to conserve ancient forests and pristine rivers, protect clean water and salmon habitat, and enhance outdoor recreation, the Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act would set aside the first new wilderness on Olympic National Forest in over four decades and the first-ever protected wild and scenic rivers on the Olympic Peninsula. With a strong foundation of overwhelming local support, the bill has made steady progress each successive Congress\u2014passing the House with bipartisan support twice before and passing out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last Congress for the first time in the bill\u2019s history.\n\n\u201cThe forests, rivers, and wilderness of our region shape how we live, work, and play. And for communities around the Olympic Peninsula, access to these resources can make or break local economies,\u201d said Representative Randall when the bill was introduced in May. \u201cThis bill protects the remote wilderness we treasure while ensuring access where it is essential for livelihoods, recreation, emergency response, and cultural practices. Protecting our natural resources also means protecting local economies, livelihoods, and Tribal Sovereignty. I\u2019m grateful to all who have shaped this bill and Senator Murray for her leadership to secure the future of the community we proudly call home.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray and former U.S. Representatives Norm Dicks and Derek Kilmer spent years gathering extensive community input on the Olympic Peninsula to craft the carefully balanced legislation, which was first introduced in 2012. It would permanently preserve ancient and mature forests, critical salmon habitat, and sources of clean drinking water for local communities, while also protecting and expanding world-class outdoor recreation opportunities like hiking, camping, boating, hunting, and fishing. No roads would be closed, and trailhead access would not be affected.\n\nSenator Murray worked extensively with local and regional timber interests to remove any currently viable timber base from the proposal to ensure the legislation would have no impact on existing timber jobs, as confirmed in a 2012 Timber Impact Study by the respected independent Forester Derek Churchill.\n\nAberdeen Forest Products Consultant and Former Timber CEO Roy Nott said in his July 10th 2019 testimony before the House Natural Resources Committee, \u201cMy own experience as a CEO and Entrepreneur is that our area\u2019s natural treasures\u2014which provide world-class outdoor recreation, clean water and our area\u2019s high quality of living\u2014are what give us a competitive edge over other regions in attracting and retaining the talented people new companies require. Wilderness and wild and scenic river protections would help protect and grow the local jobs that depend on our ability to compete for talent against other regions, and they would enhance our recruitment efforts as we work to grow new businesses in the future. And as a former Timber Industry Executive, I appreciate that (the) final compromise proposal was scaled-back to ensure it would not impact current timber jobs.\u201d\n\nToday\u2019s committee hearing came on a recent wave of other new local endorsements also rallying behind the Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild & Scenic Rivers Act against the backdrop of increasing threats to public land. The new additions bring the total number of local Olympic Peninsula & Hood Canal region endorsements to more than 800 endorsers, including the Quinault Indian Nation, Quileute, Lower Elwha Klallam and Jamestown S\u2019Klallam Tribes; now nearly 40 local sportsmen organizations and fishing guides; the mayors of Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Westport and other local elected officials; businesses and CEOs; farms and faith leaders; conservation and outdoor recreation groups; and many others. Additionally, more than 14,000 local residents have signed petitions in support.\n\nBelow are just a few of many local testimonials in support of the Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act:\n\nChairman Ron Allen, Jamestown S\u2019Klallam Tribe: \u201cAs stated in the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission\u2019s \u201cTreaty Rights at Risk\u201d report, \u201cSalmon recovery is based on the crucial premise that we can protect what habitat remains while we restore previously degraded habitat conditions. Unfortunately, significant investments in recovery may not be realized because the rate of habitat loss continues to outpace restoration. The resulting net decline in habitat demonstrates the federal government\u2019s failure to protect the Tribes\u2019 treaty-reserved rights.\u201d In an era where we are witnessing unprecedented rollbacks of environmental safeguards on federal public lands, the Wild Olympics legislation would permanently protect some of the healthiest, intact salmon habitat left on the Peninsula. It is our heritage and cultural principles to protect the lands and waters Nature provides, as well as the natural resources she sustains. Therefore, we do continue to support and urge swift passage of the Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.\u201d\n\nChairwoman Frances Charles, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe: \u201cThe Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (\u201cLower Elwha\u201d) strongly supports the proposed Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. We believe that it represents a fair compromise between potentially competing interests of preservation, economic use, and recreation. This legislation creates 126,600 acres of new wilderness and nineteen new wild and scenic rivers designations in the Olympic National Forest, the Olympic National Park and Washington State Department of Natural Resource-managed land. For Lower Elwha, the most important aspect of these new designations is the increased protection for salmon habitat. And we appreciate that it expressly acknowledges the fundamental interests and expertise of all treaty tribes in the restoration of fish habitat. This is an important complement to our ongoing successes, along with our federal and State partners, in restoring Elwha River fisheries in the aftermath of dam removal.\u201d\n\nConnie Gallant, Chair, Wild Olympics Campaign (Quilcene): \u201cWe are so grateful for Senator Murray and Representative Randall\u2019s leadership at this critical time for our public lands. The local momentum for the Wild Olympics Act has never been stronger and the need for its protections for our ancient forests & salmon streams has never been greater.\u201d\n\nBill Taylor, President of Taylor Shellfish Farms (Shelton): \u201cThe Wild Olympics legislation will help protect our state\u2019s shellfish industry, including hundreds of shell fishing jobs in Hood Canal alone \u2013 and many more in related industries like processing, shipping, and sales. It protects the rivers and streams vital to the health of our hatcheries and to the health and restoration of Puget Sound. Our oyster beds depend on the clean, cold, silt-free water that drains off Olympic National Forest into Hood Canal. Protecting these watersheds allows our industry to grow, expand and continue to benefit the economy and ecology of Washington State.\u201d\n\nAshley Nichole Lewis, Bad Ash Outdoors (Taholah), Sportsmen For Wild Olympics and Member of the Quinault Indian Nation: \u201cWild Olympics protects the Olympic Peninsula\u2019s ancient forests, free-flowing rivers and salmon streams for the future,\u201d Nichole Lewis stressed. \u201cIt will protect fishing, boating and hunting access without closing any roads, but it also permanently protects some of the last healthy upstream salmon and steelhead habitat left on the peninsula.\u201d\n\nState Representative Steve Tharinger, 24th Legislative District (Sequim): \u201cIt is easy to see and understand the ecological value of the Wild Olympics idea, conserving clean and free-flowing rivers, but what is sometimes missed is the economic value that maintaining places like Wild Olympics brings by attracting people to the special outdoors of the Olympic region. I want to thank REI and Patagonia for engaging local community leaders like myself to help design the map, and for recognizing that encouraging people to get out and enjoy the special places in the Wild Olympics proposal brings economic benefits to the communities I represent.\u201d\n\nFred Rakevich, Retired logger and 49-year veteran of the timber industry (Elma): \u201cI am a retired logger who worked for fifty years in the timber industry. I have also fished and kayaked most of the major rivers in the Olympics. I was born and raised in Grays Harbor, but have traveled halfway around the world. In all my travels, nothing impressed me more than the natural beauty of the Olympic Mountain Range and the clear running waters that begin their journey flowing toward the lands below. Timber is and always will be part of the Olympic Peninsula\u2019s proud heritage. But our ancient forests and wild rivers are the natural legacies we will leave to our children and grandchildren. The bill protects our natural heritage while respecting our timber heritage.\u201d\n\nCasey Weigel, Owner & Head Guide of Waters West Guide Service (Montesano) and member of Sportsmen for Wild Olympics: \u201cThrough hard work and our passion for our rivers and fishing, my wife and I have grown our small business enough to be able to help 3 other year-round and seasonal local guides support families, who love fishing just as much as we do. I support the Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild & Scenic Rivers Act because our rivers and our salmon are our lifeblood and, without them, businesses like ours, the local jobs they support, and the dollars they bring into our local economy would dry up. The Wild Olympics proposal would simply make the current safeguards protecting our rivers on the Olympic National Forest permanent. That\u2019s all it does. It doesn\u2019t change access or cost timber jobs. And if it did, I wouldn\u2019t support it, because my family works in the timber industry. There are many challenges facing our rivers and salmon, with lots of debate and millions of dollars spent trying to help restore clean water and habitat downstream. But one basic, simple piece of the foundation we can put in place now that won\u2019t cost any of us anything, is to permanently protect the healthy habitat on the federal lands upstream against any misguided attempts to develop them in the future. That\u2019s why I am a proud supporter of the Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. For Our Future.\u201d\n\nState Senator Mike Chapman, 24th Legislative District (Port Angeles): \u201cI have been very excited about the economic & recreational opportunities Wild Olympics will bring to the Olympic Peninsula. With REI and Patagonia\u2019s support, our corner of the world is now attracting visitors from all over. Wild Olympics is our future, for fresh air, clean water, pristine forests, and future generations!\u201d\n\nDave Bailey, former President of the Grey Wolf Fly Fishing Club in Sequim, WA & co-founder of Sportsmen for Wild Olympics: \u201cPeople think that because our salmon streams on Olympic National Forest appear as they\u2019ve always been, that they are safe. Unfortunately, that\u2019s the furthest thing from the truth. There are determined threats underway to sell-off public land, roll back current safeguards and open these sensitive spawning streams to small hydropower development, industrial clear-cutting and more road building once more. That\u2019s bad for fish, game, and sportsmen. This legislation is critical to preserve what we have.\u201d\n\nDouglas Scott, Owner of Exotic Hikes and The Outdoor Society (Hood Canal): \u201cOutside my door, the river, forests and mountains of the Olympic Peninsula beckon me to hike and climb. In the Northwest corner of the contiguous United States, far from the hustle and bustle of the big cities, our glacial-fed rivers, full of salmon and surrounded by majestic eagles constantly inspire millions of locals and visitors to the region. Each year, over four million outdoor recreation enthusiasts head to the region, hoping to find a slice of natural beauty in pristine forests and impossibly gorgeous river valleys. As an author, tour guide and advocate for the Olympic Peninsula, I have witnessed the importance of nature and outdoor recreation in the Pacific Northwest. Thanks to the support outdoor enthusiasts from all walks of life, passing the Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act will help ensure that even more of the stunning scenery will be protected and accessible for all. I am proud to Support the Wild Olympics. Come visit and fall in love with the beauty of rainforests, wild rivers, and breathtaking adventures and you will too.\u201d\n\nA fact sheet on the Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act is available HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-lujan-colleagues-introduce-legislation-to-reverse-snap-cuts-and-restore-food-security-for-millions-of-americans/", "Murray, Luj\u00e1n, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Reverse SNAP Cuts and Restore Food Security for Millions of Americans", "2025-11-25", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Bicameral introduction follows Trump administration\u2019s shutdown chaos and effort to strip food assistance from millions of Americans; 1 in 9 Washingtonians rely on SNAP benefits to put food on the table\n\nICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on House Passage of \u201cBig, Ugly Betrayal\u201d Cutting Health Care & SNAP for WA State Families to Fund Tax Cuts for Billionaires\n\nSenator Murray briefly relied on food stamps as a child and has always fought to fully fund SNAP benefits; Murray fiercely opposed Republicans when they passed the largest cuts to SNAP in American history this summer by passing their Big Ugly Bill.\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senator Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM) and other Democratic colleagues in introducing the Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act of 2025. The legislation would repeal all the devastating cuts made by Republicans to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the so-called \u201cBig Beautiful Bill,\u201d the partisan Republican reconciliation bill that was signed into law in July. U.S. Representatives Jahana Hayes (D-CT) and Angie Craig (D-MN) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.\n\nRepublicans\u2019 partisan One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the largest SNAP cuts in history\u2014breaking a 50-year bipartisan commitment\u2014in order to fund new tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. Congressional Republicans approved cuts that the Congressional Budget Office estimates will eliminate $187 billion in food assistance over the next decade\u2014as grocery prices rise and President Trump\u2019s tariffs raise costs on Americans across the board. These Republican SNAP cuts will take meals from millions of Americans, including children, seniors, veterans, workers, and people with disabilities, while harming farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and grocers who rely on SNAP dollars. Additionally, the Republican legislation creates a massive unfunded mandate on state governments that could force deep cuts or even eliminate SNAP entirely in some states. SNAP is a lifeline for over 42 million Americans, including 16 million children, 8 million seniors, 4 million people with disabilities, and 1.2 million veterans. In Washington state, over 888,000 residents received SNAP benefits in Fiscal Year 2024\u2014approximately 11 percent of the state\u2019s population, or one in nine Washingtonians.\n\n\u201cSNAP is an investment in people and a commitment we make that, in the richest country on earth, kids and families should not be forced to go hungry,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cBut Republicans broke that commitment with their Big Ugly Bill that made the largest cuts to SNAP in history\u2014taking food away from families who need it the most, to fund new tax breaks for billionaires who need them the least. And during the Republican shutdown, the Trump administration did everything they could to deny SNAP benefits to struggling families\u2014even going to court to block benefits from reaching people who needed them. I\u2019m proud to join my colleagues in introducing this bill to fully repeal Republican cuts to SNAP and I will keep doing everything in my power to speak out and fight back against these terrible cuts to programs Americans rely on to meet their basic needs.\u201d\n\nAdditionally, nearly 1,500 national, state, and community-based organizations joined a letter voicing support for this effort.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray, Luj\u00e1n, Klobuchar, and Merkley, and Leader Schumer, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA.), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).\n\nThe full text of the bill can be found HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-colleagues-urge-trump-administration-to-help-end-humanitarian-crisis-in-gaza-and-re-establish-medical-corridor/", "Murray, Colleagues Urge Trump Administration to Help End Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza and Re-Establish Medical Corridor", "2025-11-24", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representative Maxine Dexter (OR-03) as part of a group of 100 Members of Congress sending a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging the United States work with both Israeli authorities and international partners to push toward rebuilding accessible hospitals and medical infrastructure in Gaza. After two years of brutal conflict, Gaza\u2019s medical infrastructure lies in ruins, leaving millions unable to seek even basic care and thousands suffering from life-threatening injuries. The United States has the ability to help rebuild this infrastructure and usher an end to this humanitarian crisis.\n\nIn the letter, the lawmakers write, \u201cGaza\u2019s health system is in dire straits, leaving civilians without access to the most basic medical care. It is crucial that accessible hospitals and medical infrastructure be rebuilt, and that medical aid and healthcare professionals be allowed to enter Gaza without delay. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 94 percent of Gaza\u2019s hospitals have been damaged or destroyed, and those that remain are overwhelmed. With more than half of all essential drugs and two-thirds of medical disposables completely depleted, Gaza\u2019s few functioning hospitals are unable to perform basic surgeries, treat chronic diseases, or care for malnourished children. The WHO estimates that more than 15,600 patients, including 3,800 children, require urgent medical evacuation to receive life-saving care; and at least 700 people have already died while awaiting transfer.\u201d\n\n\u201cEnsuring that children and families devastated by this war have access to medical treatment is indispensable to rebuilding trust and hope. The next generation cannot build peace without healing from the physical and emotional scars of this conflict. By pressing for the release of Gaza\u2019s detained medical workers, rebuilding accessible hospitals and medical infrastructure, and reopening pathways to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, the United States can help alleviate immense suffering, advance regional stability, and reaffirm our nation\u2019s role as a credible partner for peace,\u201d the lawmakers continued.\n\nThe lawmakers request the following information by December 1, 2025:\n\nWhat steps is the State Department taking to facilitate medical evacuations for critically ill and injured Palestinians?\n\nWhat actions has the State Department taken to secure unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza to deliver desperately needed medical supplies, food, and water?\n\nWhat actions will the State Department pursue to secure the release of detained health workers held without charge?\n\nHow will the State Department facilitate the reopening of the medical corridor between Gaza and the East Jerusalem Hospital Network and other facilities with the assurance that patients be allowed to return to Gaza when able?\n\nHow will the State Department assist in rebuilding accessible hospitals and medical infrastructure in Gaza?\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray and Markey, the letter was signed by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tina Smith (D-MN), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Angela D. Alsobrooks (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).\n\nIn the House, the letter was signed by Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Cleo Fields (LA-06), Robert Garcia (CA-49), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Jerry Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Mark Takano (CA-41), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Andre Carson (IN-07), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Al Green (TX-09), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Danny Davis (IL-07), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Derek Tran (CA-45), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Emily Randall (WA-06), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Dave Min (CA-47), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Becca Balint (VT-At Large), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Greg Casar (TX-35), Henry C. Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01), Troy A. Carter, Sr. (LA-02), Maxine Waters (CA-43), Gwen S. Moore (WI-04), Sean Casten (IL-06), Jennifer L. McClellan (VA-04), Robin L. Kelly (IL-02), Adam Smith (WA-09), Nydia M. Vel\u00e1zquez (NY-07), Jes\u00fas G. Garcia (IL-04), Don Beyer, Jr. (VA-08), Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Valerie P. Foushee (NC-04), Dwight Evans (PA-03), John Garamendi (CA-08), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Julie Johnson (TX-07), Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-03), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Gabe Amo (RI-01), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Suzan K. DelBene (WA-01), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Nanette Diaz Barrag\u00e1n (CA-44), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Judy Chu (CA-28), Terri A. Sewell (AL-07), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Robert J. Menendez (NJ-08), and Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03).\n\nThe full text of the letter to Secretary Rubio is available HERE and below.\n\nDear Secretary Rubio:\n\nGaza\u2019s medical infrastructure remains devastated after two years of conflict, leaving tens of thousands of critically ill and injured people without access to lifesaving treatment. As Israel\u2019s closest ally, the United States is uniquely positioned to help reestablish access to vital medical services. Addressing the dire medical situation gripping Gaza is not only the right thing to do but essential in any effort to stabilize the region and ensure a path towards peace. We urge the State Department to work with Israeli authorities and international partners to rebuild accessible hospitals and medical infrastructure in Gaza, reopen safe and reliable medical corridors\u2014particularly those connecting to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network (EJHN)\u2014and press for the release of Palestinian medical workers detained without charge, whose absence has further crippled Gaza\u2019s ability to provide care.\n\nGaza\u2019s health system is in dire straits, leaving civilians without access to the most basic medical care. It is crucial that accessible hospitals and medical infrastructure be rebuilt, and that medical aid and healthcare professionals be allowed to enter Gaza without delay. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 94 percent of Gaza\u2019s hospitals have been damaged or destroyed, and those that remain are overwhelmed. With more than half of all essential drug and two-thirds of medical disposables completely depleted, Gaza\u2019s few functioning hospitals are unable to perform basic surgeries, treat chronic diseases, or care for malnourished children. The WHO estimates that more than 15,600 patients, including 3,800 children, require urgent medical evacuation to receive life-saving care; and at least 700 people have already died while awaiting transfer. The need for medical evacuations is only rising, far outpacing any relief effort. At the same time, more than half a million people in Gaza are enduring famine, while over 1.5 million face severe food insecurity, placing additional pressure on the Gazan medical sector.\n\nThe conditions on the ground paint a clear picture: Gaza\u2019s health care system lies in ruins. There is a humanitarian emergency. The United States must act decisively to help restore access to medical care and prevent further loss of life.\n\nRebuilding accessible hospitals and medical infrastructure in Gaza, in addition to reestablishing the medical corridor to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, is essential to saving lives and restoring regional stability. The EJHN is a group of six hospitals that has the doctors, facilities, and capacity to provide advanced care to those in need of immediate medical attention. It is uniquely equipped to treat Gaza\u2019s most critical cases. Before October 2023. Palestinians from Gaza regularly received care in these hospitals through an established referral system. Restoring this access would be the most efficient way to relieve Gaza\u2019s failing health system, reduce civilian suffering, and reinforce long-standing U.S. humanitarian commitments.\n\nThe EJHN has long received bipartisan-supported U.S. investment through congressional foreign aid appropriations. Between 2014 and 2024, the United States provided $202 million to the EJHN, all of which was delivered in compliance with oversight, vetting, and anti-terrorism requirements. A renewed humanitarian medical corridor, facilitated through the WHO\u2019s established patient referral mechanisms and coordinated with Israel and regional partners, would save lives and demonstrate America\u2019s commitment to humanitarian assistance.\n\nWe are also deeply alarmed by the continued detention of Palestinian medical workers by Israeli forces, which has further weakened Gaza\u2019s ability to deliver life-saving care. According to reports, at least 115 doctors, nurses, and paramedics remain in Israeli custody, along with the remains of four other health professionals who died while being held. These individuals are being incarcerated under \u201cadministrative detention,\u201d a practice that allows them to be imprisoned indefinitely without charge, trial, or access to evidence, in violation of basic due process and international humanitarian norms.\n\nDetaining medical personnel not only contravenes the principle of medical neutrality, which protects healthcare workers in conflict zones, but also deprives Gaza\u2019s civilians of desperately needed medical care. We urge you to press the Israeli government to immediately release all medical professionals being held under administrative detention and reaffirm that the protection of doctors and nurses is a fundamental obligation under international law.\n\nAlleviating Gaza\u2019s health crisis is not only a moral imperative; it is essential to the success of the administration\u2019s 20-Point Peace Plan. Restoring access to care through a medical evacuation corridor and facilitating the release of detained Palestinian medical personnel will save lives, help contain the spread of disease, and strengthen the foundation for a durable ceasefire. These steps are critical to achieving the plan\u2019s vision for long-term stability and coexistence.\n\nEnsuring that children and families devastated by this war have access to medical treatment is indispensable to rebuilding trust and hope. The next generation cannot build peace without healing from the physical and emotional scars of this conflict. By pressing for the release of Gaza\u2019s detained medical workers, rebuilding accessible hospitals and medical infrastructure, and reopening pathways to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, the United States can help alleviate immense suffering, advance regional stability, and reaffirm our nation\u2019s role as a credible partner for peace.\n\nGiven our concerns about Gaza\u2019s medical infrastructure and detained Palestinian medical workers, please respond to the following questions in writing by December 1, 2025:\n\n1. What steps is the State Department taking to facilitate medical evacuations for critically ill and injured Palestinians?\n\n2. What actions has the State Department taken to secure unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza to deliver desperately needed medical supplies, food, and water?\n\n3. What actions will the State Department pursue to secure the release of detained health workers held without charge?\n\n4. How will the State Department facilitate the reopening of the medical corridor between Gaza and the East Jerusalem Hospital Network and other facilities with the assurance that patients be allowed to return to Gaza when able?\n\n5. How will the State Department assist in rebuilding accessible hospitals and medical infrastructure in Gaza?\n\nWe appreciate your attention to this urgent issue and stand ready to support efforts that reflect our country\u2019s commitment to humanitarian values.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-release-of-partisan-energy-and-water-development-bill/", "Senator Murray Statement on Release of Partisan Energy and Water Development Bill", "2025-11-24", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "\u201cWhile I am disappointed that Senate Republicans released a partisan bill instead of working with Senate Democrats\u2014and I am especially disappointed by the cuts to critical clean energy programs\u2014there are some important priorities I strongly advocated for that are addressed by the bill released today.\n\n\u201cThe bill provides $3.5 billion from the Harbor Maintenance Trust fund to support our nation\u2019s ports and harbors, which are so critical to our economy\u2014and that includes nearly half a billion dollars for donor and energy ports, like the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma. It also delivers critical funding for the Office of Science and supports national labs across the U.S. with the funding needed to continue their critical, cutting-edge work and prevent devastating layoffs. It blocks the Department of Energy\u2019s senseless plan to slash critical research with its indirect cost policy. The bill provides nearly $10 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers, including $190 million to get the Howard Hanson Dam Project in Washington state back on track, along with so many other projects that were defunded by Russ Vought in a brazen and corrupt act of political retribution.\n\n\u201cPassing a full-year Energy and Water Development bill is critical in preventing President Trump and Vought from having the power to unilaterally decide where taxpayer dollars go, and I am committed to reaching bipartisan agreement with my colleagues on this bill and the remainder of our funding bills\u2014and to getting them signed into law.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-release-of-partisan-financial-services-and-general-government-bill/", "Senator Murray Statement on Release of Partisan Financial Services and General Government Bill", "2025-11-24", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "\u201cIt\u2019s disappointing that Senate Republicans chose to release a partisan bill instead of working with Senate Democrats to reach a final compromise. While the FSGG bill funds critical functions of government, I wish this bill had addressed additional important issues. I remain committed to reaching a bipartisan agreement on the bill in conference in the coming weeks, alongside the remainder of our funding bills, and I\u2019ll continue fighting for working families at every step of the way.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-wa-educators-advocates-parents-slam-trumps-latest-efforts-to-abolish-department-of-education-lay-out-stakes-for-students-nationwide/", "Senator Murray, WA Educators, Advocates & Parents Slam Trump\u2019s Latest Efforts to Abolish Department of Education, Lay Out Stakes for Students Nationwide", "2025-11-21", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on Trump\u2019s Latest Steps to Keep Illegally Dismantling the Department of Education\u2014Abandoning Students Nationwide\n\n***FULL VIDEO HERE, PHOTOS AND B-ROLL HERE***\n\nSeattle, WA \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a roundtable discussion at North Seattle College with parents, advocates, and education leaders in Washington state to discuss the many ways President Trump and his administration are attacking Americans\u2019 public education and trying to illegally abolish the U.S. Department of Education\u2014from terminating important grants to hollowing out the Department of Education and, now, spinning off key functions to other agencies.\n\nThis week, the Trump administration announced plans to further dismantle the Department of Education\u2014the only federal agency solely focused ensuring children can get a quality education\u2014by transferring the administration of key Department functions administered by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Office of Postsecondary Education, the Office of Indian Education, and various other programs to federal agencies with little to no expertise in education.\n\nJoining Senator Murray for the roundtable discussion were: Dr. Rachel Solemsaas, President of North Seattle College; Gina Topp, Seattle School Board President; Melinda Dyer, former Assistant Director of Homeless Education at the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI); Rachel Gittleman, President of AFGE Local 252 which represents Department of Education employees\u2014and a former Ed employee herself whose office was RIFed this year; and Ann Simonson, a Seattle-area mom of a young adult daughter with disabilities.\n\n\u201cTrump and Secretary McMahon know their plan to get rid of the Department of Education is deeply unpopular. It could never pass Congress\u2014even with Republicans in control. So they decided to forget about our laws and just do everything they possibly can to destroy the Department on their own,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cSince March, Trump has fired or pushed out about half of all employees at the Department. They\u2019ve left critical offices with barely enough staff to keep the lights on. Not only have they gotten rid of the people who keep the Department running, but they have also cut off billions in funding our students and schools depend on. And this week, they went another step further by basically trying to spin off entire Department of Education offices and programs to other agencies who don\u2019t have the expertise to administer them\u2014disrupting programs that support some of our most vulnerable students. We\u2019re talking about offices that are responsible for supporting the effective use of tens of billions of dollars distributed to states, providing grants to make college more accessible, and enforcing federal education law. There are real stakes to this kind of chaos\u2014our students\u2019 futures are on the line. I\u2019m going to keep doing everything I can to fight back against Trump\u2019s attacks on public education and lift up the voices of people who know firsthand how important it is that we have a functioning Department of Education to stand up for students in this country.\u201d\n\nA former preschool teacher and local school board member herself, Senator Murray has been a longtime champion for education and believes that every student deserves a high-quality public education and access to an affordable higher education. Senator Murray has been leading the fight in Congress to push back against President Trump\u2019s reckless efforts to abolish the Department of Education and hurt students and families nationwide. Over the last few months, Senator Murray has:\n\nStrongly opposed Linda McMahon\u2019s nomination to be Secretary of Education right at the outset\u2014and encouraged her colleagues to do the same, arguing: \u201cWe Cannot Have a Secretary of Education Who Doesn\u2019t Believe in Having a Secretary of Education.\u201d\n\nForcefully warned of President Trump\u2019s plans to illegally abolish the Department of Education\u2014and raised alarm bells about the steps he\u2019s taken to do just that, including by hosting a forum on Trump\u2019s decimation of the Department and demanding a halt to the administration\u2019s illegal plans to transfer key Department of Education responsibilities to other departments.\n\nSlamming President Trump and Secretary McMahon\u2019s mass firings that have hollowed out the Department and weakened support for students, teachers, and families across the country\u2014including at the Office for Civil Rights\u2014and holding Secretary McMahon\u2019s feet to the fire over the firings.\n\nDemanding the reversal of a policy that prevents funding from reaching schools nationwide.\n\nBlasting President Trump\u2019s budget request to slash education funding.\n\nHolding key Department of Education nominees to account.\n\nLeading the charge to push the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in funding for K-12 schools and adult education programs that it had been blocking for weeks.\n\nCalling out the Department of Education\u2019s abrupt, unilateral decision to slash or eliminate key funding for teacher training, magnet schools, minority-serving institutions of higher education, and international education programs to instead fund its own priorities.\n\n\u201cAny proposal that disrupts the core and essential services of the Department of Education sends a message to students that their future does not matter. Education is the foundation of a strong economy and thriving communities. Undermining that foundation hurts everyone: businesses, families, and the next generation of leaders. Because when we invest in education, we invest in hope, in opportunity, and in the strength of our nation,\u201d said Rachel Solemsaas, EdD, President of North Seattle College.\n\n\u201cParents and families don\u2019t want political chaos\u2014they want schools that work,\u201d said Gina Topp, President, Seattle School Board. \u201cWe need a federal partner that wants to strengthen public education, instead of tearing it apart. Because, without a functioning Department of Education, our Title I funding is at risk, special education support is at risk, civil protections are at risk, technical assistance and oversight disappear, and the highest-need students are the ones who are going to lose the most.\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause the program I worked in for 30 years is directly tied to the U.S. Department of Education, I can speak to the efficiency, the kindness, the dedication, the effectiveness of the staff that work at the Department of Education and what an insult it is to those hardworking individuals that this effort to dismantle the Department of Ed has been happening. To my knowledge, the Department of Labor doesn\u2019t have a lot of connection to the education of homeless children and youth, and that is the program that I worked in for many, many years,\u201d said Melinda Dyer, former Assistant Director of Homeless Education at the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). \u201cThe McKinney-Vento program is the only federal program that is dedicated to providing access to school for students who are experiencing homelessness\u2026 This year, when we did a competition for McKinney-Vento grant funding, we had 84 school districts that applied. That\u2019s more than twice the number of districts that typically apply for this funding. Districts need the money, they want to support the kids, they want to be able to pay their local school district liaisons. These kinds of services and supports are in jeopardy. Without direct support from the Department of Ed, our vulnerable children and families will be harmed because the oversight of programs will be shifted to agencies that are unfamiliar with the federal protections of the McKinney-Vento Act\u2026 It is very nuanced. This is not the kind of program that you can plug into a different agency that is not familiar with the work.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe U.S. Department of Education and its hardworking staff deliver vital resources and support to students and families across the country, from early learning through graduate programs. The Department\u2019s flagship programs are specifically designed to serve those historically underserved by our education system \u2014 including students of color, low- and moderate-income students, students with disabilities, English learners, and students in rural communities. Yet the Trump Administration has shown it will stop at nothing \u2014 not even ignoring court orders or violating federal law \u2014 to dismantle the Department and undermine the careers of thousands of dedicated public servants who work every day to support students and families,\u201d said Rachel Gittleman, President of AFGE Local 252, which represents Department of Education employees. Rachel is also a former Ed employee who worked in the Ombudsman\u2019s Office of Federal Student Aid, before her office was RIFed this year. \u201cStudents, families and communities are the ones paying the price for this.\u201d\n\nAnn Simonson, a Seattle-area mom whose youngest daughter, Erika, has Tuberous Sclerosis, said: \u201cErika has been a student in the Seattle Public Schools since kindergarten, and she graduated from Franklin High School a year and a half ago. During those years we were well aware of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, passed in 1975, which guarantees Erika an education\u2014a free and appropriate education. We knew that it was the Department of Ed that supported and enforced the IDEA. When Erika was in 2nd grade, we had enough trouble to cause us to consult a lawyer, which we could do because of the IDEA, we knew we had the law on our side, and we knew the Department of Ed had our backs.\u201d Ann also spoke about how her husband works for the Washington State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), which receives 80 percent of its funding from the Rehabilitation Services Administration, which falls under the Department of Education. \u201cThere is the fear that cuts will affect the agency and their ability to do their work,\u201d Ann continued. \u201cDVR helps an enormous portion of our society find jobs\u2014people with disabilities like Erika, and people who\u2019ve had accidents which cause disabilities, people struggling with mental health issues\u2026. The threat to the Department of Ed is a threat to people. What has happened to us as a nation if we can rip programs for people like Erika out from under her? What has happened to us as a people, where is our humanity? Where is our care for those less fortunate than us?\u201d\n\nAccording to data compiled by AFGE, under Trump, the Department of Education has gone from 4,000 employees in January 2025, to 2,700 as of today\u2014through thoughtless mass firings, buyouts, and early retirements. Six offices within ED have been moved either entirely or partially to other federal agencies, agencies that don\u2019t have the expertise or historical infrastructure to handle ED requests and needs. Billions in grant funds to state and local organizations have been canceled, blocked, or delayed. In July, $6.8 billion in formula funding was withheld from states for weeks, leaving school districts scrambling. ED has a $268 billion total budget, with $160 billion of that going toward federal student aid.\n\nWhen Trump threatens that funding and carelessly cuts thousands of employees, he is putting millions of students and families\u2019 public education and support services at risk:\n\n26 million students from low-income backgrounds served under Title I of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)\n\n9.8 million students enrolled in rural schools\n\n7.4 million students with disabilities served by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act\n\n5 million English learner students served under Title III of ESEA\n\n1.1 million students experiencing homelessness served by the McKinney-Vento program\n\nNearly 800,000 children living near military bases, Native American reservations, and other Federal properties served by Impact Aid\n\nMore than 1 million students served in Full-Service Community Schools\n\n200,000 students served by 21st Century Community Learning Centers\n\n87 million students and parents receiving federal student aid\n\n6.6 million Pell Grant recipients\n\n8.1 million secondary and 3.3 million postsecondary students served in Perkins career technical education\n\n1.2 million out-of-school youth and adult learners served under Title II of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act\n\n870,000 first generation and low-income students served under the college accessibility program, TRIO.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-alsobrooks-waston-coleman-introduce-legislation-to-improve-health-care-access-for-pregnant-women/", "Murray, Alsobrooks, Waston Coleman Introduce Legislation to Improve Health Care Access for Pregnant Women", "2025-11-20", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Senator Murray has long been a leading Congressional champion of efforts to expand health care, improve access to care for pregnant women\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)\u2014a former chair and senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee\u2014joined Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) and Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D, NJ-12) to introduce the Healthy Maternal and Obstetric Medicine (MOM) Act. The Healthy MOM Act would ensure that all women eligible for coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance marketplaces, as well as women eligible for other individual or group health plan coverage, can access affordable health care coverage throughout their pregnancies. The bill would establish a special enrollment period (SEP) for expectant mothers. Currently, marriage, divorce, having a baby, adoption, and changing jobs are considered qualifying life events that trigger a special enrollment period; however, becoming pregnant is not considered a qualifying event. The Healthy MOM Act would change that.\n\n\u201cWhen a woman gets pregnant, she should be able to enroll in or change health coverage, no matter what time of year it is. But right now, pregnancy isn\u2019t a qualifying life event\u2014and that blocks women across the country from signing up for health coverage when they find out they\u2019re expecting, or changing plans for coverage that better meets their needs,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cOur Healthy MOM Act will fix this gap and take a small but important step to help more women get the prenatal care they need to stay healthy.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have a responsibility to ensure pregnant women have access to the best health care. The Healthy MOM Act would trigger a special enrollment period so expectant mothers can get critical health care coverage for themselves and their baby, building on the example of my own state of Maryland. As Republicans try to rip away health care from Americans, including mothers, I\u2019m proud to fight back and partner with Congresswoman Watson Coleman to expand access to affordable care for new mothers,\u201d said Senator Alsobrooks.\n\n\u201cEvents like the birth or adoption of a child, marriage, divorce, or even moving to a new state all trigger a special window to get or change your health insurance. Meanwhile, pregnancy, one of the most life-altering events a mother can experience, doesn\u2019t,\u201d said Congresswoman Watson Coleman. \u201cWe\u2019re dealing with maternal mortality rates that are, in some places and among some groups, worse than developing nations. It is inexcusable that the United States, the wealthiest nation on Earth, has such a high maternal mortality rate. Ensuring every woman can access the care she needs during pregnancy and after giving birth is a critical part of ending this crisis. This is a simple, logical way to make sure that happens.\u201d\n\nThe Healthy MOM Act is endorsed by Chamber of Mothers, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, National Partnership for Women and Families, MomsRising, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and March of Dimes.\n\nIn addition to Murray, Alsobrooks, and Waston Coleman, the legislation is cosponsored by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).\n\nThe full text of the bill can be found HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/new-video-murray-slams-trump-for-calling-for-members-of-congress-to-be-arrested-and-hanged-demands-republican-colleagues-unequivocally-condemn-political-violence/", "NEW VIDEO: Murray Slams Trump for Calling for Members of Congress to Be Arrested and Hanged, Demands Republican Colleagues Unequivocally Condemn Political Violence", "2025-11-20", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray responds to outrageous posts from President Trump: \u201cI am calling on every one of my Republican colleagues: show some courage. Don\u2019t just brush this one off yet again. State plainly that the President is not above the law\u2014it\u2019s right there in the constitution. Don\u2019t mince words: make it clear that calls for political violence are unacceptable.\u201d\n\n*** WATCH VIDEO HERE; DOWNLOAD HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released a new video message condemning President Trump\u2019s recent post calling for members of Congress to be arrested for stating that the President is not above the law and his later repost of a call to hang members of Congress.\n\nWATCH HERE; DOWNLOAD HERE\n\nIn the video message, Senator Murray slams President Trump for endorsing political violence against elected members of Congress, saying:\n\n\u201cJust think about this, the President of the United States is using his platform to lift up people calling for political violence. And then, in his own words, he called this video: \u2018Seditious behavior, punishable by death.\u2019 This is twisted, dangerous stuff.\n\n\u201cAs my colleagues, on both sides have said there is no room in our democracy for political violence, or for rhetoric that champions political violence. And as every single one of us remembers from our own oath, in this country we swear loyalty to the constitution, not to the President. The danger here should be obvious. Every single one of my colleagues should be here with me saying: President Trump\u2019s behavior\u2014his choice to amplify a dangerous call for violence\u2014is completely unacceptable.\n\n\u201cThere is a whole lot more I could say about how clearly unfit this President is for office. Believe me, I have some choice words. But in the interest of unity\u2014I\u2019ve tried to keep my message simple and restrained in the hopes that members on both sides will join me in saying this loud and clear. Because it\u2019s clear the President needs to hear this message, but he needs to hear it from all of us. And frankly\u2014I need to hear it from my colleagues too. I need to know my colleagues, who I work with every day, actually agree with me about the basic bedrock of our democracy.\u201d\n\nA full transcript of Senator Murray\u2019s remarks in the video message is below:\n\n\u201cI was disturbed\u2014genuinely horrified\u2014to see President Trump call for members of Congress to be arrested for simply stating the fact that no one is above the law\u2014not even the President. It is infuriating. It is enough to make your blood boil.\n\n\u201cI mean\u2014I can\u2019t think of anything more un-American, at least I couldn\u2019t until Trump went further and reposted a call to hang members of Congress. All because Members of this Congress\u2014veterans who served this country selflessly and proudly\u2014did nothing other than simply state the plain letter of the law.\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s what they said: \u2018Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders\u2026 No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our constitution.\u2019\n\n\u201cI whole-heartedly agree. I\u2019ll say it myself. To the soldiers bravely serving our nation\u2014thank you. As a voice for many servicemembers from Washington state let me state unequivocally: you can refuse illegal orders.\n\n\u201cJust think about this, the President of the United States is using his platform to lift up people calling for political violence. And then, in his own words, he called this video: \u2018Seditious behavior, punishable by death.\u2019 This is twisted, dangerous stuff.\n\n\u201cAs my colleagues, on both sides have said there is no room in our democracy for political violence, or for rhetoric that champions political violence.\n\n\u201cAnd as every single one of us remembers from our own oath, in this country we swear loyalty to the constitution, not to the President. The danger here should be obvious.\n\n\u201cEvery single one of my colleagues should be here with me saying: President Trump\u2019s behavior\u2014his choice to amplify a dangerous call for violence\u2014is completely unacceptable.\n\n\u201cThere is a whole lot more I could say about how clearly unfit this President is for office. Believe me, I have some choice words. But in the interest of unity\u2014I\u2019ve tried to keep my message simple and restrained in the hopes that members on both sides will join me in saying this loud and clear.\n\n\u201cBecause it\u2019s clear the President needs to hear this message, but he needs to hear it from all of us.\n\n\u201cAnd frankly\u2014I need to hear it from my colleagues too. I need to know my colleagues, who I work with every day, actually agree with me about the basic bedrock of our democracy. Because how am I supposed to sit across the table from people who are silent when the President lifts up voices saying Democrats should be hanged?\n\n\u201cA President who calls a simple recitation of the law \u2018treasonous behavior, punishable by death?\u2019\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve seen where this path goes\u2014where silence in the face of escalating calls for violence can lead. I was here on January 6th, as were many of my colleagues. I was here while they built a gallows outside and chanted \u2018hang Mike Pence.\u2019\n\n\u201cAre we going to sit here and say nothing while the President riles up another crowd? Lifts up new calls for violence? Are we going to say nothing as they build another gallows?\n\n\u201cWhat exactly do my colleagues think they will be chanting this time? And why exactly do they think the President will care to stop the crowd when today he is the one lifting up calls for violence?\n\n\u201cWe cannot wait. We cannot pretend we don\u2019t know how serious President Trump\u2019s actions are.\n\n\u201cNow, I know we may not all be in perfect agreement on how to respond, but this moment really requires us to speak with one voice.\n\n\u201cI am calling on every one of my Republican colleagues: show some courage.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t just brush this one off yet again. State plainly that the President is not above the law\u2014it\u2019s right there in the constitution. Don\u2019t mince words: make it clear that calls for political violence are unacceptable. Something I have heard members on both sides of the aisle speak passionately about recently.\n\n\u201cNone of that should be controversial. This is not a moment where our democracy can afford cowards and sycophants.\n\n\u201cI really hope every Member of Congress, every CEO, every community leader lifts up their voice.\n\n\u201cSay it plain: this kind of rhetoric is a disgrace\u2014it\u2019s not even close to acceptable coming from an American President. That is the bare minimum.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-heinrich-kelly-introduce-anti-cash-grab-act-to-repeal-provision-allowing-a-handful-of-republican-senators-to-receive-payouts/", "Murray, Heinrich, Kelly Introduce Anti-Cash Grab Act to Repeal Provision Allowing a Handful of Republican Senators to Receive Payouts", "2025-11-18", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "The Anti-Cash Grab Act repeals last-minute provision allowing Republican senators to collect $500,000 per lawfully subpoenaed phone record\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) to introduce the Anti-Cash Grab Act, legislation that will repeal a provision \u2014 quietly added into the government funding bill by U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) at the last minute \u2014 that allows senators to collect $500,000 for every phone record lawfully obtained.\n\n\u201cWhile I was fighting alongside my Democratic colleagues to prevent people\u2019s health care premiums from exploding, Senate Republicans were adding an outrageous provision into the spending bill to give millions of taxpayer dollars to just a handful of Republican senators,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cThis corrupt cash grab should be repealed\u2014and quickly.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhile Democrats were fighting to make health care more affordable and help working families put food on the table, Senate Republicans were focused on taxpayer-funded windfalls for themselves. Let\u2019s be crystal clear: negotiating a $500,000 windfall for yourself while refusing to help everyday Americans is wrong and deserves to be called out,\u201d said Senator Heinrich. \u201cOur bill is about accountability, transparency, and fighting for working families. The Senate must take this bill up and pass it now.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhile we were fighting to lower health care costs and keep food on the table for hardworking Americans, Senate Republicans were slipping a taxpayer-funded payout for themselves into the government funding bill,\u201d said Senator Kelly. \u201cIt\u2019s a political cash grab \u2014 plain and simple, and our bill puts an end to it. Republicans and Democrats should be able to agree that ripping off American taxpayers is bad policy.\u201d\n\nIn addition to Murray, Heinrich, and Kelly, the legislation is cosponsored by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).\n\nA one-page summary of the bill can be found HERE.\n\nThe full text of the bill can be found HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-hirono-bicameral-colleagues-file-amicus-brief-opposing-bans-on-transgender-students-in-school-sports/", "Murray, Hirono, Bicameral Colleagues File Amicus Brief Opposing Bans on Transgender Students in School Sports", "2025-11-18", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a former chair and senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Congressional Equality Caucus Co-Chair Representative Becca Balint (D-VT), and Democratic Women\u2019s Caucus Chair Representative Teresa Leger Fern\u00e1ndez (D-NM), and 129 members of Congress in filing an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in the cases of West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, where the Court will be considering whether categorical bans on transgender students participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity violate Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause.\n\nThe brief, which argues that categorical bans on transgender students participating in school sports violate Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, was joined by seven of Senator Murray and Senator Hirono\u2019s colleagues in the Senate, and over 120 Representatives.\n\n\u201cCategorical bans\u2014such as the bans in West Virginia and Idaho\u2014undermine those protections and the ability of transgender students to be part of their school community,\u201d wrote the lawmakers, who are referred to as Amici in the brief. \u201cAmici believe that categorical bans preventing transgender students from participating on sports teams consistent with their gender identity impose significant harm on all children\u2014especially girls. On top of that, such categorical bans do not meet the standards this Court has put in place to assess discrimination based on sex\u2014whether as a matter of Title IX or under the Equal Protection Clause. This Court should not permit states to legalize sex discrimination against children who merely want to play sports with their friends on teams matching their gender identity.\u201d\n\nThe brief highlights:\n\nHow categorical bans harm all girls and women\u2014including cisgender girls and women\u2014through harassment and policing of children\u2019s \u201creproductive biology;\u201d\n\nHow categorical bans both undermine the ability of transgender students to participate in their school community and are not substantially related to an important government interest; and\n\nThe recent failures to amend Title IX to enact a categorical ban.\n\nThe brief includes examples of the harm posed by these bans, including where a school athletic association secretly investigated a cisgender female student without telling her parents, where a school board member falsely suggested that a high school basketball athlete was transgender\u2014subjecting her to relentless harassment and bullying, and another example where investigators repeatedly asked individuals to describe a student in various stages of undress.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray and Hirono, the amicus brief was joined by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).\n\nThe full text of the amicus brief is available HERE.\n\nSenator Murray is a strong supporter of\u2014and fighting to pass\u2014the Equality Act, which would expand federal civil rights laws to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in employment, housing, credit, jury service, and federally-funded programs. Senator Murray is also a lead sponsor of legislation to ban conversion therapy in the United States, working to pass her Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act. Under the Trump administration, Senator Murray repeatedly fought back against Trump\u2019s attempts to roll back protections for LGBTQ+ Americans and stood up against judicial nominees who had troubling anti-LGBTQ+ records. Senator Murray reintroduced the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act in September, legislation that would address bullying and harassment\u2014including cyberbullying\u2014at colleges and universities around the country. The legislation is named after a freshman at Rutgers University, who tragically lost his life to suicide in 2010 after his roommate and another student invaded his privacy and harassed him due to his sexual orientation.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-peters-schumer-durbin-merkley-and-democratic-colleagues-call-on-leader-thune-to-quickly-bring-the-epstein-files-transparency-act-to-floor-for-vote/", "Murray, Peters, Schumer, Durbin, Merkley, and Democratic Colleagues Call on Leader Thune to Quickly Bring the Epstein Files Transparency Act to Floor for Vote", "2025-11-18", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader, Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Budget Committee, in leading their Senate Democratic colleagues in calling on Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to immediately bring the Epstein Files Transparency Act to the Senate floor for a vote, without delay or unnecessary process distractions. Their letter follows the U.S. House of Representatives\u2019 overwhelming bipartisan approval of the measure by a vote of 427-1.For two decades, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have sought justice and accountability for his alleged sexual crimes involving underage girls. The bipartisan legislation would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all documents and records related to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, ensuring transparency and providing the American people with access to critical information.\n\n\u201cThe victims of Jeffrey Epstein \u2013 and the American people \u2013 deserve answers, accountability and the truth,\u201d wrote the senators. \u201cSo far, they have only seen empty promises from President Trump and his Administration. Now that a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives has acted to provide transparency on this matter \u2013 we call on you to quickly hold a vote in the U.S. Senate to help deliver the accountability that was promised and that so many Americans are demanding.\u201d\n\n\u201cDespite multiple Senate oversight requests and House subpoenas for release of the full and complete Epstein files, the DOJ and FBI have refused to produce any information to the Senate and have failed to provide the complete set of files to the House,\u201d wrote the senators.\n\nIn a social media post over the weekend, President Donald J. Trump abruptly changed course and encouraged House Republicans to vote for the bill, despite having tried for months to prevent the complete release of the files. Given longstanding efforts by President Trump and his Administration to slow walk or discourage the release of these files, the Senate must take action to provide transparency and help restore the public\u2019s trust.\n\n\u201cThe U.S. Senate has the chance to show strong leadership and swiftly pass this legislation,\u201d concluded the senators. \u201cWe urge you to promptly proceed to the consideration of H.R. 4405 on the Senate floor pursuant to Senate Rule XIV, so that the legislation can be immediately placed on the Senate Calendar.\u201d\n\nJoining Murray, Peters, Schumer, Durbin and Merkley in sending the letter were U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).\n\nThe full text of the letter is available here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-trumps-latest-steps-to-keep-illegally-dismantling-the-department-of-education-abandoning-students-nationwide/", "Senator Murray Statement on Trump\u2019s Latest Steps to Keep Illegally Dismantling the Department of Education\u2014Abandoning Students Nationwide", "2025-11-18", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), issued the following statement on plans announced today to further dismantle the Department of Education\u2014the only federal agency solely focused ensuring children can get a quality education\u2014by transferring the administration of key Department functions administered by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Office of Postsecondary Education, the Office of Indian Education, and various other programs to federal agencies with little to no expertise in education. Under the new agreements, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Interior, and State will now be responsible for administering core functions of critical education programs.\n\n\u201cDonald Trump and Linda McMahon are lawlessly trying to fulfill Project 2025\u2019s goal to abolish the Department of Education and pull the rug out from students in every part of the country.\n\n\u201cBut instead of seeking congressional approval of their reckless actions to weaken our education system\u2014which McMahon has acknowledged is necessary\u2014Trump and McMahon are now pretending that our laws and the constitutional separation of powers are a mere suggestion.\n\n\u201cThis is an outright illegal effort to continue dismantling the Department of Education, and it is students and families who will suffer the consequences as key programs that help students learn to read or that strengthen ties between schools and families are spun off to agencies with little to no relevant expertise and are gravely weakened\u2014or even completely broken\u2014in the process.\n\n\u201cI have spent my career working to improve educational outcomes for students. I am always ready and willing to talk about reforms to our education laws to improve educational outcomes for students\u2014but this isn\u2019t a plan to improve outcomes; it\u2019s a plan to abandon students and families, rip away resources and support, and leave kids who are simply looking to get a good education to fend for themselves. The fact that Trump and McMahon are choosing to break the law to do this on their own\u2014despite having unified Republican control of Washington\u2014tells us they know just how unpopular their plans are and can\u2019t win the approval of members of their own party.\n\n\u201cRepublicans should join Democrats in insisting that the laws we have worked together to pass are followed\u2014and to stand up for students and families nationwide in the face of this administration\u2019s nonstop attacks on our public education system.\u201d\n\nA former preschool teacher and local school board member herself, Senator Murray has been a longtime champion for education and believes that every student deserves a high-quality public education and access to an affordable higher education. Senator Murray has been leading the fight in Congress to push back against President Trump\u2019s reckless efforts to abolish the Department of Education and hurt students and families nationwide. Over the last few months, Senator Murray has:\n\nStrongly opposed Linda McMahon\u2019s nomination to be Secretary of Education right at the outset\u2014and encouraged her colleagues to do the same, arguing: \u201cWe Cannot Have a Secretary of Education Who Doesn\u2019t Believe in Having a Secretary of Education.\u201d\n\nForcefully warned of President Trump\u2019s plans to illegally abolish the Department of Education\u2014and raised alarm bells about the steps he\u2019s taken to do just that, including by hosting a forum on Trump\u2019s decimation of the Department and demanding a halt to the administration\u2019s illegal plans to transfer key Department of Education responsibilities to other departments.\n\nSlamming President Trump and Secretary McMahon\u2019s mass firings that have hollowed out the Department and weakened support for students, teachers, and families across the country\u2014including at the Office for Civil Rights\u2014and holding Secretary McMahon\u2019s feet to the fire over the firings.\n\nDemanding the reversal of a policy that prevents funding from reaching schools nationwide.\n\nBlasting President Trump\u2019s budget request to slash education funding.\n\nHolding key Department of Education nominees to account.\n\nLeading the charge to push the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in funding for K-12 schools and adult education programs that it had been blocking for weeks.\n\nCalling out the Department of Education\u2019s abrupt, unilateral decision to slash or eliminate key funding for teacher training, magnet schools, minority-serving institutions of higher education, and international education programs to instead fund its own priorities.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-colleagues-urge-trump-administration-to-swiftly-release-liheap-home-heating-aid/", "Murray, Colleagues Urge Trump Administration to Swiftly Release LIHEAP Home Heating Aid", "2025-11-14", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jack Reed (D-RI), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in a bipartisan push for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to release funds for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) as swiftly and at the highest level possible. Currently, the Trump Administration is sitting on $4 billion in federal LIHEAP dollars that have yet to be distributed this year.\n\n\u201cAs Congress works to finalize the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services, we urge you to immediately release the highest amount of Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding available under the Continuing Resolution,\u201d the senators wrote.\n\nThe bipartisan group of Senators say the federal LIHEAP funding is a crucial lifeline that keeps vulnerable citizens safe and warm during winter by helping low-income households and seniors on fixed incomes pay their energy bills. The program also helps reduce energy costs through improved energy efficiency initiatives. Nationwide, an estimated 6 million households received assistance with heating and cooling costs through LIHEAP over the last year. States and tribes typically receive their LIHEAP allocations from HHS by early November. Eligibility for LIHEAP is based on income, family size, and the availability of resources. While eligibility varies by state, most applicants must have a household income below 150 percent of the federal poverty guideline or 60 percent of the state median income.\n\nThe Trump Administration has proposed eliminating LIHEAP\u2014a proposal that Senator Murray has forcefully pushed back on. The Senate\u2019s Labor-HHS-Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for FY26 that Senator Murray helped negotiate, would provide a $20 million increase for LIHEAP to $4.045 billion. LIHEAP applications are now open for all income-eligible households. Senior citizens and those receiving Social Security Disability or SSI benefits are encouraged to apply as early as possible, but applications will be open to everyone through spring of 2026 \u2014 or until the funding is exhausted. To find out if you are eligible and apply for LIHEAP, visit the Washington Department of Commerce website.\n\nAccording to a new forecast from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, home heating costs are estimated to rise nearly 8 percent over last winter on average, with costs for heating with electricity forecasted to increase even higher\u2013to 10 percent above last year\u2014as the Trump administration pushes clean energy cuts that are driving energy costs up.\n\nIn addition to Murray, Schumer, Reed, Collins, and Murkowski, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).\n\nThe full text of the letter to HHS Secretary Kennedy is available HERE and below.\n\nDear Secretary Kennedy:\n\nAs Congress works to finalize the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services, we urge you to immediately release the highest amount of Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding available under the Continuing Resolution.\n\nAs the main federal program that helps low-income households and seniors with their energy bills, LIHEAP provides critical assistance during the cold winter and hot summer months. October marked the start of the heating season for many states, and with temperatures already dropping, low-income families and seniors are feeling additional strains on their household budgets.\n\nAs state agencies and tribes activate their LIHEAP programs for the coming winter, it is crucial that they have the resources on hand to help low-income households and seniors as soon as possible. As such, we request that you quickly release LIHEAP funds at the highest level possible, so that low-income households do not have to choose between paying for heat and affording other necessities like food or medicine.\n\nWe look forward to working with you on this critical program, and thank you for your attention to our concerns and those of our constituents.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-slams-outrageous-political-retaliation-at-nih-demands-answers-from-trump-administration/", "Senator Murray Slams Outrageous Political Retaliation at NIH, Demands Answers from Trump Administration", "2025-11-14", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Vice Chair Murray in June to NIH Director Bhattacharya: \u201cYou just received a letter signed by hundreds of your own staff who believe this administration\u2019s actions risk breaking NIH and the lifesaving work it does. I really hope you heed their warning, and it should go without saying, but I expect none of them to face retaliation for raising those concerns.\u201d\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)\u2014Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a former chair and senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee\u2014released the following statement on the news that the Trump administration has placed on administrative leave a National Institutes of Health (NIH) employee who helped organize The Bethesda Declaration, an open letter signed by nearly five hundred NIH employees in June protesting the Trump administration\u2019s politicization of science and research funding at the NIH.\n\n\u201cThe Trump administration is burning down our country\u2019s most important public health agencies from the inside and pushing out anyone who dares to pull the fire alarm. Standing up for science is not a fireable offense and it should be seriously troubling to everyone who wants America to remain the world leader in biomedical research that this administration is not only running the NIH into the ground, but punishing anyone who has the courage to speak up about their concerns. When Director Bhattacharya testified before Congress in June, I made clear that not one employee who signed the Bethesda Declaration should face retaliation\u2014yet that\u2019s exactly what appears to be happening this week.\n\n\u201cIf this administration thinks that summarily ousting NIH employees whose only offense is calling on the agency to respect science and academic freedom will go unnoticed, they can think again. I am demanding answers from the Trump Administration and Secretary Kennedy about NIH employees who signed the Bethesda Declaration being placed on administrative leave and any further plans for retaliation\u2014we need answers immediately.\u201d\n\nIn June, at a Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the president\u2019s fiscal year 2026 budget request for NIH, Senator Murray grilled NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya on the staff reductions and abrupt termination of clinical trials and grant funding at NIH, and warned him against retaliating against employees who signed The Bethesda Declaration, saying: \u201cYou just received a letter signed by hundreds of your own staff who believe this administration\u2019s actions risk breaking NIH and the lifesaving work it does. I really hope you heed their warning, and it should go without saying, but I expect none of them to face retaliation for raising those concerns.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray, a longtime congressional leader on health care, has been fighting back tirelessly against the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to gut lifesaving research at NIH and push out nearly 4,000 skilled scientists, grants administrators, and other employees at the agency. She led the entire Democratic caucus in a letter in February raising the alarm over the Trump administration\u2019s actions to threaten American biomedical research infrastructure and set us back generations. Senator Murray released a statement decrying the Trump administration\u2019s all-out assault on the NIH upon meeting with Bhattacharya in February, and at his nomination hearing in March, she pressed Dr. Bhattacharya on the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to cut billions from biomedical research through an illegal cap on indirect costs, and their unprecedented halt on NIH Advisory Council Meetings, among other issues. She has sent numerous oversight letters and hosted numerous press conferences and events to lay out how the administration\u2019s reckless gutting of HHS is risking Americans health and safety and will set our country back decades, and lifting up the voices of HHS employees who were fired for no reason and through no fault of their own. In September, Senator Murray took to the Senate floor to slam the Trump administration for abandoning the fight to end cancer by cutting vital NIH grants for cancer research and clinical trials.\n\nThroughout her career, Senator Murray has led Congressional efforts to boost biomedical research. Over her years as Chair of the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, she secured billions of dollars in increases for biomedical research at NIH, and during her time as Chair of the HELP Committee she established the new ARPA-H research agency as part of her PREVENT Pandemics Act to advance some of the most cutting-edge research in the field. Senator Murray was also the lead Democratic negotiator of the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, which delivered a major federal investment to boost NIH research, among many other investments.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/in-letter-murray-voices-concern-over-dod-delaying-pfas-cleanup-at-hundreds-of-military-bases-including-across-wa-state-threatening-drinking-water-safety-for-servicemembers-and-families-nearby/", "In Letter, Murray Voices Concern over DoD Delaying PFAS Cleanup at Hundreds of Military Bases Including Across WA State, Threatening Drinking Water Safety for Servicemembers and Families Nearby", "2025-11-13", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray: \u201cEliminating toxic PFAS contamination at our military bases and ensuring military families have safe drinking water must be a top priority for the Department\u2014any attempt to delay or slow-walk this important cleanup work is unacceptable.\u201d\n\n***LETTER HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of Defense Dale R. Marks expressing her concern over recent reports that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is delaying its planned investigations and remediation efforts for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as \u201cforever chemicals.\u201d\n\nIn her letter, Murray called on DoD to resume its previously planned efforts to address toxic PFAS at military installations across the country, including in Washington state. Murray also requested a briefing with an explanation for the recent delays, an overview of DoD\u2019s actions to address PFAS contamination, and answers to a detailed list of questions regarding the recent delays and cleanup efforts.\n\n\u201cPFAS contamination has been a serious issue at hundreds of military installations and communities nationwide, including Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island, Naval Base Kitsap, Joint Base Lewis McChord, Yakima Training Center, and Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB) in my home state of Washington. Any delay in remediation efforts is a setback to the progress the Department has made to provide clean drinking water for servicemembers, their families, and the surrounding communities,\u201d Senator Murray wrote in her letter Thursday to Assistant Secretary of Defense Dale Marks.\n\nThe National Institutes of Health has linked exposure to PFAS to deadly cancers, impacts to the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children. PFAS contamination has been a serious issue at over seven hundred military installations and communities nationwide, including at a number of installations in Washington state. In 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard to protect communities from exposure to harmful PFAS. To help implement the rule, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced nearly $1 billion\u2014including $17.321 million for Washington state\u2014in newly-available funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help states implement PFAS testing and treatment at public water systems. Despite the myriad of funding sources available for DoD to continue PFAS cleanup, the New York Times reported last month that the Department of Defense has quietly issued directives delaying its cleanup of PFAS at nearly 140 military installations across the country, including at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.\n\nMurray continued in her letter, \u201cThis administration\u2019s delay is already hurting many of the installations in my home state of Washington, including at Fairchild Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. For example, in the initial investigation and planning for PFAS cleanup at Fairchild Air Force Base, it was determined that the forever chemical cleanup would be completed by 2026. That date has since been pushed to June 2032 for Fairchild and March 2034 for Whidbey, without public announcement or consultation with community leaders. The Spokane and Whidbey Island communities have long partnered with their respective installations in a spirit of mutual support; however, this delay means that at least 15 years will pass between the initial discovery of contamination in 2017 at both Fairchild AFB and NAS Whidbey Island and the beginning of cleanup. The lack of communication is eroding trust between the communities and the military installations they have proudly supported for more than 80 years.\u201d\n\n\u201cEliminating toxic PFAS contamination at our military bases and ensuring military families have safe drinking water must be a top priority for the Department\u2014any attempt to delay or slow-walk this important cleanup work is unacceptable,\u201d Senator Murray concluded.\n\nSenator Murray has been dogged in pushing for oversight and resources to address PFAS contamination over many years and, as the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, she has secured major investments in reducing PFAS pollution through annual appropriations bills.\n\nLast Congress, when Senator Murray chaired the Appropriations Committee, she secured $473.6 million for PFAS and aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) clean up and remediation in the Fiscal Year 2024 defense funding bill, and an additional $50 million above the President\u2019s budget request for PFAS-related cleanup activities at former military installations in the Fiscal Year 2024 Military Construction funding bill\u2014both bills were signed into law in March 2024. In a previous letter sent in October 2024, Murray urged DoD to use the funding she helped secure to meet new EPA standards on PFAS contamination and redouble their efforts to address PFAS at military bases.\n\nThis year, Senator Murray is fighting to secure additional resources for PFAS cleanup. In the draft Senate defense funding bill for Fiscal Year 2026, Senator Murray secured $407.8 million for PFAS and AFFF clean up. In the Senate Military Construction funding bill for Fiscal Year 2026\u2014which was signed into law Wednesday night\u2014Senator Murray secured an additional $50 million above the President\u2019s budget request for PFAS remediation and cleanup.\n\nOver the years, Murray has called on the EPA to deliver on its PFAS Action Plan, pressed DoD and EPA for answers on reports of efforts to weaken contamination standards and pushed for additional federal resources to address water contamination near military bases. Senator Murray has also fought to include firefighters in studies on the effects on workers exposed to PFAS on the job, and demanded that the Navy take every step necessary to address PFAS contamination in Kitsap County, among much else.\n\nThe full letter is available HERE and below:\n\nDear Assistant Secretary Marks:\n\nI am writing today to voice my concern over recent reports that the Department will be delaying its planned investigations and remediation efforts for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS contamination has been a serious issue at hundreds of military installations and communities nationwide, including Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island, Naval Base Kitsap, Joint Base Lewis McChord, Yakima Training Center, and Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB) in my home state of Washington. Any delay in remediation efforts is a setback to the progress the Department has made to provide clean drinking water for servicemembers, their families, and the surrounding communities.\n\nSince 2017, Congress has appropriated nearly $2.5 billion to address the crisis created by the use of aqueous film-forming foam in and around military communities and enacted several measures to support remediation efforts. Annual appropriations bills have included PFAS remediation funding, and every National Defense Authorization Act has granted new authorities to help the Department meet its responsibility to clean up more than 500 identified locations where PFAS chemicals have been detected. Given the urgency of addressing toxic PFAS contamination and the funding Congress has provided for this work, I am alarmed by the Department\u2019s abrupt decision to delay cleanup efforts. Americans deserve to know why the Department is suddenly delaying efforts to provide clean drinking water for military families and the communities that support them.\n\nThis administration\u2019s delay is already hurting many of the installations in my home state of Washington, including at Fairchild Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. For example, in the initial investigation and planning for PFAS cleanup at Fairchild Air Force Base, it was determined that the forever chemical cleanup would be completed by 2026. That date has since been pushed to June 2032 for Fairchild and March 2034 for Whidbey, without public announcement or consultation with community leaders. The Spokane and Whidbey Island communities have long partnered with their respective installations in a spirit of mutual support; however, this delay means that at least 15 years will pass between the initial discovery of contamination in 2017 at both Fairchild AFB and NAS Whidbey Island and the beginning of cleanup. The lack of communication is eroding trust between the communities and the military installations they have proudly supported for more than 80 years.\n\nIn order to provide greater clarity for residents affected by these delays, I request a briefing no later than December 15with an explanation for the recent delays and an overview of the Department\u2019s current actions to address PFAS contamination. Additionally, please provide written responses to the following questions:\n\nWhy did the Department extend the timelines in the investigation of PFAS contamination at Fairchild AFB and Whidbey NAS?\n\nHow was it determined which bases would be impacted by the delay?\n\nHow is the Department working in the short-term and the long-term to support the communities impacted by the delays in PFAS clean up?\n\nDoes the Department plan to continue funding the cleanup of toxic sites?\n\nHow has the Department spent the $2.5 billion dedicated to PFAS contamination remediation over the last eight years?\n\nHas any of the funding been redirected to other priorities unrelated to PFAS?\n\nWill the Department still ban the purchase and use of PFAS firefighting foam by September 30, 2026?\n\nWhat is the Department doing to research less harmful chemicals that can be used to put out fires on the airfield in lieu of PFAS?\n\nHow were the changes in timelines associated with PFAS investigations communicated to the affected military installations?\n\nWho was notified of the timeline changes?\n\nWhen do you plan to reach out to the community leaders near affected installations?\n\nWhy was there no public announcement prior to the adjustment of the timelines?\n\nEliminating toxic PFAS contamination at our military bases and ensuring military families have safe drinking water must be a top priority for the Department\u2014any attempt to delay or slow-walk this important cleanup work is unacceptable. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to your response.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-warren-gillibrand-smith-lead-senate-democrats-in-calling-on-trumps-hud-to-immediately-halt-plans-to-upend-key-homelessness-program-which-would-force-200000-people-back-o/", "Murray, Warren, Gillibrand, Smith Lead Senate Democrats in Calling on Trump\u2019s HUD to Immediately Halt Plans to Upend Key Homelessness Program, Which Would Force 200,000\u00a0People\u00a0Back Onto the Streets", "2025-11-13", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies; and Senator Tina Smith, Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development led a letter alongside their Democratic colleagues to Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner calling on him to immediately halt reported plans to make drastic changes to the Continuum of Care (CoC) program, which could result in nearly 200,000 Americans being forced out of their housing and back into homelessness.\n\nThe 42 Senate Democrats call on Secretary Turner to instead use the authorities that Congress already gave him to expeditiously renew existing CoC grants for fiscal year 2025 to prevent massive disruption and frightening uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Americans in the coming months.\n\n\u201cWe write to express our deep concerns regarding the instability the entire homeless support system could face if funding delays, uncertainty, and rushed policy changes continue,\u201d write the Senators. \u201cHUD must immediately reconsider these harmful and potentially illegal changes that could result in nearly 200,000 older adults, chronically homeless Americans with disabilities, veterans, and families being forced back onto the streets. As Secretary, you have the authority to avoid this worst-case scenario by carrying out the previously planned and Congressionally authorized two-year NOFO, and we strongly urge you to do so expeditiously.\u201d\n\nThe lawmakers note that the reported and potentially illegal plans to upend the program, which is the largest source of federal grant funding to prevent homelessness, would cause sudden and significant shortfalls and real pain across the country. Specifically, they write: \u201cThe most troubling of these changes is a new, arbitrary cap on the amount of funds that may be used for permanent housing. Currently, 87 percent of CoC funds support permanent housing, but the new NOFO reportedly limits the amount of funding for permanent housing to only 30 percent. This appears to be in contravention of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, undermines local decision-making authority, and ignores decades of research that has proven that permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing are less costly and more likely to be successful in providing long-term stability than other strategies, particularly for chronically homeless people and families.\u201d\n\n\u201cEach new administration can make policy changes when they take office,\u201d they continue.\u201cWhile we may not always agree on those policy changes, we should never have to question whether agency officials will faithfully follow the law and work to minimize harm to our constituents and communities when implementing those new policies. Reports of HUD intentionally blocking staff from examining the legality of the fiscal year 2025 NOFO changes with its own attorneys are deeply troubling.\u201d\n\nThe Senators note that, since January 20, repeated, chaotic policy changes affecting the program have created needless, costly uncertainty for communities across the country\u2014and the Department has failed to communicate clearly with stakeholders and Congress about its plans. \u201cFor months, our staffs have sent HUD countless questions about its intents and actions around CoC funding that have remained unanswered, undermining Congress\u2019s ability to carry out its legislative and oversight functions. Real people in every community across the country rely on these funds to address homelessness. The funding competition process for fiscal year 2025 has not begun, and with CoC project awards beginning to expire in less than two months, HUD is simply out of time.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is a better way forward,\u201d they conclude. \u201cHUD\u2019s current path risks causing a dangerous spike in street homelessness and creating chaos in urban, suburban, and rural communities alike by forcing nearly 200,000 chronically homeless Americans with disabilities and families back onto the streets. We implore you to make the better choice and expeditiously renew current CoC grants for fiscal year 2025 as authorized by Congress to protect communities and avoid displacing thousands of our nation\u2019s most vulnerable individuals.\u201d\n\nThe full letter is available HERE and below:\n\nThe Honorable Scott Turner\n\nSecretary\n\nU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development\n\n451 7th Street S.W.\n\nWashington, D.C. 20410\n\nDear Secretary Turner:\n\nWe write to express our deep concerns regarding the instability the entire homeless support system could face if funding delays, uncertainty, and rushed policy changes continue. Reports indicate that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) intends to issue a new fiscal year 2025 Continuum of Care (CoC) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and make substantial changes to how funds are awarded. HUD must immediately reconsider these harmful and potentially illegal changes that could result in nearly 200,000 older adults, chronically homeless Americans with disabilities, veterans, and families being forced back onto the streets. As Secretary, you have the authority to avoid this worst-case scenario by carrying out the previously planned and Congressionally authorized two-year NOFO[1], and we strongly urge you to do so expeditiously.\n\nThe Continuum of Care program is the largest source of Federal grant funds for providing a wide range of housing and services for individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness that are responsive to local community needs. On September 29, 2025, Politico reported that the Department intends to make wholesale changes to the fiscal year 2025 CoC NOFO.[2] The most troubling of these changes is a new, arbitrary cap on the amount of funds that may be used for permanent housing. Currently, 87 percent of CoC funds support permanent housing, but the new NOFO reportedly limits the amount of funding for permanent housing to only 30 percent. This appears to be in contravention of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act[3], undermines local decision-making authority, and ignores decades of research that has proven that permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing are less costly and more likely to be successful in providing long-term stability than other strategies, particularly for chronically homeless people and families. Today, CoC funds serve over 750,000 Americans experiencing homelessness each year, and every community will feel the impact of this dramatic cut. The cut will be largest for major cities in absolute terms, but rural communities\u2014who experienced a 12 percent increase in homelessness between 2023 and 2024[4] and are more reliant on Federal funding\u2014are likely to feel the impacts most severely[5].\n\nIn your written testimony for the June 2025 Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on HUD\u2019s fiscal year 2026 budget request, you stated that your budget aimed to \u201cbetter serve the American people while maintaining necessary assistance for the elderly and disabled.\u201d[6] However, seniors are the fastest-growing demographic among people experiencing homelessness. The share of the homeless population aged 60 years and older in 2020 was 2.6 times higher than it was in 1990.[7] By dramatically cutting funding for permanent housing, tens of thousands of older adults and people with disabilities who currently reside in CoC funded permanent supportive housing could soon lose their homes and lose access to the supportive services they need to take care of their physical and mental health needs.\n\nEach new administration can make policy changes when they take office. While we may not always agree on those policy changes, we should never have to question whether agency officials will faithfully follow the law and work to minimize harm to our constituents and communities when implementing those new policies. Reports of HUD intentionally blocking staff from examining the legality of the fiscal year 2025 NOFO changes with its own attorneys are deeply troubling. We are also concerned by HUD\u2019s lack of communication with grantees, especially as any new NOFO at this point in the year would not provide grantees with adequate time or opportunity to plan for sweeping changes before some projects begin to run out of CoC funds in January 2026. Over the past decade, HUD has always issued the annual CoC NOFO by mid-August and provided on average 82 days for CoCs to develop applications. Without a NOFO published as of November 12, 2025, thousands of CoC project grants that expire between January and June 2026 will be at risk of funding disruptions or shuttering operations.\n\nFurther, HUD has taken several steps since January 20, 2025 to spark chaos and disrupt grantee operations, including applying new and likely illegal conditions to previously awarded CoC grants[8], repeatedly recompeting the fiscal year 2023 CoC Builds funding[9], proposing to eliminate the CoC program altogether[10], repeating rhetoric used by the President to villainize homeless people, and gutting the HUD workforce that implements the CoC and other community development programs[11]. All these actions raise serious questions and concerns about whether HUD is intentionally violating the law to prevent Congressionally appropriated funds from reaching the people and communities they were intended to support.\n\nFor months, we have heard from countless front-line workers, faith-based and non-profit service providers, mayors, and governors who have been frantically attempting to navigate HUD\u2019s actions and anxiously waiting for HUD to provide details around the fiscal year 2025 NOFO changes. For months, our staffs have sent HUD countless questions about its intents and actions around CoC funding that have remained unanswered, undermining Congress\u2019s ability to carry out its legislative and oversight functions. Real people in every community across the country rely on these funds to address homelessness. The funding competition process for fiscal year 2025 has not begun, and with CoC project awards beginning to expire in less than two months, HUD is simply out of time.\n\nThere is a better way forward. Congress already authorized HUD to compete CoC funds on a two-year basis for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, and communities already went through a two-year planning process. The shift to a two-year funding cycle had strong bipartisan support and aimed to reduce the burden on communities and provide greater predictability of funding, and members on both sides of the aisle support this approach.[12] HUD should make the responsible choice to renew current CoC grants, proactively work with communities to promote other proven strategies \u201cbased on research and after notice and public comment\u201d[13], and work to ensure any policy changes meet all legal requirements to avoid more funding delays.\n\nHUD\u2019s current path risks causing a dangerous spike in street homelessness and creating chaos in urban, suburban, and rural communities alike by forcing nearly 200,000 chronically homeless Americans with disabilities and families back onto the streets. We implore you to make the better choice and expeditiously renew current CoC grants for fiscal year 2025 as authorized by Congress to protect communities and avoid displacing thousands of our nation\u2019s most vulnerable individuals.\n\nThank you for your attention to this matter.\n\n###\n\n[1] Section 242 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118-42) provided: \u201cFor fiscal years 2024 and 2025, the Secretary may issue a 2-year notification of funding opportunity, including any alternative procedures or requirements as may be necessary to allocate future appropriations in the second year, for the award of amounts made available for the continuum of care program under subtitle C of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.), notwithstanding any conflict with the requirements of the continuum of care program.\u201d\n\n[2] Hapgood, Katherine. \u201cTrump admin looks at deep cuts to homeless housing program.\u201d Politico, September 29, 2025. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/29/trump-admin-looks-at-deep-cuts-to-homeless-housing-program-00585770?nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&nname=playbook&nrid=029a6cb0-ce47-467b-b7ef-0a38ceb899fd.\n\n[3] 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 11381 et seq.\n\n[4] HUD. \u201cThe 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress\u201d. December 2024. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2024-AHAR-Part-1.pdf\n\n[5] National Alliance to End Homelessness. \u201cVisualizing the Impact of the Presidents\u2019 FY2026 Budget: Returns to Homelessness and Major Setbacks Could Be Ahead\u201d. June 3, 2025. https://endhomelessness.org/resources/research-and-analysis/visualizing-the-impacts-of-the-presidents-fy2026-budget-returns-to-homelessness-and-major-setbacks-could-be-ahead/\n\n[6] Turner, E. Scott. Statement Before the Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. June 11, 2025. https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/secretary_scott_turner_testimony.pdf.\n\n[7] Byrne, Thomas. \u201cPersistence of a Birth Cohort Effect in the US Among the Adult Homeless Population.\u201d December 26, 2024. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2828494\n\n[8] King County v. Turner (2:25-cv-00814)\n\n[9] National Alliance to End Homelessness v. Turner (1:25-cv-00447)\n\n[10] HUD. \u201cCongressional Justifications for the FY2026 Budget, Office of Community Planning and Development \u2013 Homeless Assistance \u2013 Emergency Solutions Grants.\u201d https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/CFO/documents/2026_CJ_Program_HAG.pdf.\n\n[11] According to data provided to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, the Office of Community Planning and Development lost 37 percent of its workforce between January 2025 and June 2025.\n\n[12] Letter to Secretary Scott Turner from 22 Republican Members of the House of Representatives. October 28, 2025. https://endhomelessness.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GOP-Letter-to-HUD-on-the-CoC-Grant-Final-w-Signatures-10.28.25.pdf", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/in-letter-to-starbucks-ceo-senator-murray-urges-starbucks-to-negotiate-with-starbucks-workers-united-and-ahead-of-upcoming-strike/", "In Letter to Starbucks CEO, Senator Murray Urges Starbucks to Negotiate with Starbucks Workers United and Ahead of Upcoming Strike", "2025-11-12", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray: \u201cI ask that Starbucks return to the table to negotiate in good faith, so that the workers at the 655 unionized stores, including 38 stores in Washington, can realize their first collective bargaining agreement\u2026 I look forward to a serious agreement that provides the over 12,000 unionized Starbucks workers across the country with fair pay and working conditions.\u201d\n\nStarbucks workers are set to begin nationwide strike tomorrow on Red Cup Day\u2014one of Starbucks\u2019 biggest sales days of the year\n\nIn 2023 at a Congressional hearing, Murray pressed former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on the company\u2019s anti-union efforts\u2014MORE HERE\n\n***LETTER HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, sent a letter to Brian Niccol, CEO of the Starbucks Corporation, urging Starbucks to return to the negotiating table and negotiate in good faith with Starbucks Workers United (SBWU), the union representing Starbucks workers. The letter comes ahead of a nationwide strike set to begin tomorrow\u2014Thursday, November 13th\u2014to coincide with Starbucks\u2019 \u201cRed Cup Day\u201d promotion, which is one of Starbucks\u2019 biggest sales days of the year.\n\nStarbucks\u2019 workers\u2019 fight for union recognition began with the first Starbucks location\u2019s unionization vote in 2021. During Starbucks Workers United\u2019s organizing drive, the union filed more than 1,000 unfair labor practice charges against the company. Contract negotiations have been ongoing since earlier this year, when union delegates rejected the company\u2019s contract offer, citing the fact that it didn\u2019t contain wage increases and benefits that they had asked for in negotiations. Since April, Starbucks has not provided the union with a new contract proposal. Following this six-month wait, 92 percent of the union\u2019s members voted earlier this month to authorize the open-ended strike set to begin November 13th.\n\n\u201cI write to you today regarding the status of collective bargaining negotiations between Starbucks Corporation (Starbucks) and Starbucks Workers United (SBWU),\u201d Murray wrote in her letter to Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol. \u201cI was cautiously optimistic that Starbucks and SWU would come to an agreement following the February 27, 2024 announcement that the company and union had agreed to a \u2018Path Forward\u2019 on negotiations. However, more than a year and a half later, a completed collective bargaining agreement has yet to be finalized. I ask that Starbucks return to the table to negotiate in good faith, so that the workers at the 655 unionized stores, including 38 stores in Washington, can realize their first collective bargaining agreement.\u201d\n\nMurray continued, \u201cReports indicate that while the parties have made progress on negotiations\u2014reaching 33 tentative agreements\u2014these negotiations have largely stalled with no agreement on compensation nor on resolving the outstanding unfair labor practice charges. Throughout this period, I\u2019ve heard from constituents, who exercised their right to come together to advocate for better pay and safe working conditions. The urgency of continuing negotiations has only become greater with the November 5, 2025 announcement of SBWU successful strike authorization vote ahead of the holiday season.\u201d\n\nMurray concluded her letter by urging Mr. Niccol to negotiate in good faith with Starbucks Workers United to come to a completed collective bargaining agreement: \u201cI believe that the time to come to an agreement has long passed and urge you to immediately come to the table. I look forward to a serious agreement that provides the over 12,000 unionized Starbucks workers across the country with fair pay and working conditions.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray has been a leading champion of workers\u2019 rights and the right to organize throughout her Senate career, including while serving as the top Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee from 2015-2022. In 2023 at a HELP Committee hearing, Senator Murray pressed former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on his company\u2019s anti-union efforts, raising troubling reports from Starbucks workers and making clear that federal labor laws are not optional. Senator Murray helped author and introduce the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act in the 116th Congress, and she\u2019s helped reintroduce the legislation in every successive Congress, including most recently this past May. The PRO Act is comprehensive legislation to protect workers\u2019 right to come together and bargain for fairer wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces. Among many other pieces of pro-worker legislation, Murray also leads the Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act to combat wage discrimination and help close the pay gap, and has helped lead the fight for paid family and medical leave since she first joined Congress.\n\nImportantly, Senator Murray has also long supported the vital work of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). As HELP Chair, Murray led the efforts to confirm a historic pro-worker majority to the NLRB under President Biden, and secured the confirmation of former NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. In January, Senator Murray forcefully condemned President Trump\u2019s illegal firing of NLRB Member Gwynne Wilcox and the firing of Jennifer Abruzzo.\n\nThe full letter is available HERE and below:\n\nDear Mr. Niccol,\n\nI write to you today regarding the status of collective bargaining negotiations between Starbucks Corporation (Starbucks) and Starbucks Workers United (SBWU). I was cautiously optimistic that Starbucks and SBWU would come to an agreement following the February 27, 2024 announcement that the company and union had agreed to a \u201cPath Forward\u201d on negotiations. However, more than a year and a half later, a completed collective bargaining agreement has yet to be finalized. I ask that Starbucks return to the table to negotiate in good faith, so that the workers at the 655 unionized stores, including 38 stores in Washington, can realize their first collective bargaining agreement.\n\nThe fight for union recognition began almost four years ago with the first Starbucks location\u2019s unionization vote in 2021. During its organizing drive, the union filed more than 1,000 unfair labor practice charges against the company. Reports indicate that while the parties have made progress on negotiations\u2014reaching 33 tentative agreements\u2014these negotiations have stalled with no agreement on compensation nor on resolving the outstanding unfair labor practice charges. Throughout this period, I\u2019ve heard from constituents, who exercised their right to come together to advocate for better pay and safe working conditions. The urgency of continuing negotiations has only become greater with the November 5, 2025 announcement of SBWU successful strike authorization vote ahead of the holiday season.\n\nI believe that the time to come to an agreement has long passed and urge you to immediately come to the table. I look forward to a serious agreement that provides over 12,000 unionized Starbucks workers across the country with fair pay and working conditions. I appreciate your timely consideration of this important matter.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-speaks-on-the-senate-floor-ahead-of-government-funding-votes-explains-vote-against-package-that-fails-to-address-spiking-health-care-costs/", "Senator Murray Speaks on the Senate Floor Ahead of Government Funding Votes, Explains Vote Against Package That Fails to Address Spiking Health Care Costs", "2025-11-10", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray on voting NO on legislation that doesn\u2019t address premium hikes: \u201cI believe we do need to address health care costs before we move forward. There is simply no time left to kick the can down the road when it comes to saving the ACA tax credits\u2026 No one should doubt for a single second who is to blame for skyrocketing health care costs: Republicans and Republicans alone.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray has been sounding the alarm on the looming health care cost cliff and calling on Republicans to work with Democrats to extend the ACA tax credits for YEARS\u2014FULL TIMELINE HERE\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s remarks***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor about President Trump and Republicans\u2019 refusal to prevent Americans\u2019 health care costs from spiking and about the bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) and three-bill appropriations package that was released on Sunday and is expected to be voted on by the full Senate shortly.\n\nBecause of Republicans\u2019 refusal to extend the ACA tax credits, 22 million Americans\u2014including over 216,000 in Washington state\u2014are seeing their health care costs for next year skyrocket. Premiums are more than doubling on average for people who buy health coverage on the exchange marketplaces (Washington Healthplanfinder in Washington state), and these higher costs will push 4.8 million people off their health insurance coverage over the next decade. A Washington-state specific fact sheet on the ACA enhanced premium tax credits is HERE.\n\nA timeline detailing how Senator Murray has been fighting for years to extend the ACA tax credits, and calling on Republicans to come to the table and negotiate, is HERE.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s full remarks, as delivered, are below and HERE:\n\n\u201cMr. President, like so many people in this country, I am outraged by the fact Republicans have refused to lift a finger to save so many families from the skyrocketing health care premiums all year long.\n\n\u201cAnd I voted no on last night\u2019s vote because I believe we do need to address health care costs before we move forward. There is simply no time left to kick the can down the road when it comes to saving the ACA tax credits.\n\n\u201cWe are already ten days into enrollment. Yet we have Republicans saying, \u2018why should we stop premiums from skyrocketing when we never really wanted to lower premiums in the first place?\u2019\n\n\u201cWe have Republicans talking about going back to the good ole days of high-risk pools, which meant that people with cancer couldn\u2019t get health insurance.\n\n\u201cWe have Speaker Johnson bragging that Republicans strengthened health care by making the biggest cut to Medicaid in history! That\u2019s like saying you strengthened a ship\u2014by throwing the passengers overboard!\n\n\u201cAnd when Democrats offered a clean one-year extension of the tax credits\u2014which is truly the most straightforward and common-sense thing we can do for people facing gigantic premium hikes this year\u2014Republicans said \u2018never, ever, ever, ever.\u2019 They called it \u2018political terrorism.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd to really put a fine point on it\u2014they fired up the old bad ideas machine to try and find a new way to repeal the ACA.\n\n\u201cRepublicans have gone from saying nothing about health care costs all year long, to saying \u2018later, later, later,\u2019 even after we are over a week into open enrollment and wasting every bit of time we had for real negotiations. Then\u2014incredibly\u2014Republicans started saying: \u2018let\u2019s scrap the Affordable Care Act altogether, let\u2019s end protections for pre-existing conditions.\u2019\n\n\u201cBy refusing to work with Democrats on a solution before open enrollment started, Republicans have already pushed millions of Americans off the health care cliff.\n\n\u201cThe only question was\u2014and is\u2014could we throw them a rope back up? Could Congress get something done and stem some of the bleeding Republicans have already caused?\n\n\u201cYes! By passing a clean, one-year extension of the ACA tax credits. But right away, Republicans said they wouldn\u2019t even consider it.\n\n\u201cI believe that we should keep pressing on that fight, as time is of the essence and the clock has nearly run out.\n\n\u201cThe reality is, there is a point where it will be too late to make a meaningful difference on the health care premiums. And I don\u2019t believe there is some magical date set in stone, but Mr. President, that\u2019s coming up pretty fast. It\u2019s pretty much now or never\u2014and Republicans are essentially saying \u2018never\u2019 to stopping the worst of the MAGA health care hike.\n\n\u201cNow here\u2019s the important thing: This fight is far from over\u2014because I, and many of us, have no intention of letting Republicans off the hook. No one should doubt for a single second who is to blame for skyrocketing health care costs: Republicans and Republicans alone.\n\n\u201cWhen families across America are paying the price that they will see for Republican inaction every month, I\u2019ll make sure every single one of them remembers: the same Republicans who did everything in their power to make tax breaks for billionaires permanent, refused to even negotiate one year of health care tax credits for our working families, at a tiny fraction of the cost.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, here we are, and it seems clear Republicans are feeling no urgency to act on health care before it\u2019s too late\u2014even a quick, simple extension to help families.\n\n\u201cBut Mr. President, I want to be clear. While I cannot vote for this overall deal today, not when we still need to address health care, I do absolutely support the appropriations bills and CR that we will move forward\u2014which do take meaningful steps to reject drastic cuts and extreme policies pushed by both Trump and House Republicans and make sure that Congress\u2014not Trump\u2014is in charge of federal spending.\n\n\u201cIt is important that Democrats were at the table on the CR and our first three funding bills, and used our spot at that table to fight for hardworking families in America.\n\n\u201cThe difference is clear in the sharp contrast between the bills we released yesterday, and the bills written by the House Republicans and the budget put forward by President Trump.\n\n\u201cIn our bills, Democrats were able to secure real wins for folks back home, and fight off [painful], senseless cuts, and extreme policy.\n\n\u201cOn the CR, we made sure to protect federal workers, both by ensuring that they receive backpay they are owed\u2014something that has been debated extensively\u2014and by reversing the punitive RIFs done by this administration\u2026 and blocking them from doing more this year.\n\n\u201cIn the Agriculture appropriations bill, while Trump and House Republicans fought to make steep cuts to WIC that would have seriously cut benefits for millions of women and kids, we successfully fought together to keep WIC fully funded.\n\n\u201cThis bill ensures that seven million moms and babies will get the full nutrition benefits they rely on.\n\n\u201cWe also sustained key investments in our rural communities. Because we rejected a Trump funding takeover, we protected housing support in rural communities, and vital agriculture research happening across the country, including in my home state of Washington at WSU.\n\n\u201cWe stopped Trump from blowing a truly massive hole in FDA\u2019s budget\u2014which would have slowed drug approvals, and seriously endangered our food supply.\n\n\u201cNone of this is inconsequential\u2014all of this matters.\n\nAnd I want to thank Chair Hoeven and Ranking Member Shaheen for all of their good work on that vital bill for our communities.\n\nIn the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs bill we were able to secure funding to ensure that we are taking care of our veterans and our servicemembers.\n\n\u201cAnd ensure that this administration keep its promises to our veterans by ensuring staffing of critical services such as the crisis hotline centers. I want to thank Chair Boozman and Ranking Member Ossoff for all their good work on this critical bill for our veterans and servicemembers.\n\n\u201cAnd lastly, on the Legislative Branch bill, while it is smallest bill, it covers the important needs of this institution. From protecting GAO, and CBO, the Architect of the Capitol, our Capitol police and other agencies that actually make this place work.\n\n\u201cTo make sure our offices have what they need to take care of our constituents and keep our campus safe. We should all appreciate the hard work that went into completing that bill. And I want to thank Chair Mullin and Ranking Member Heinrich for all their work on that important bill and the critical matters within it to every senator in this chamber.\n\n\u201cNow, obviously those are not the bills I would\u2019ve written on my own. I have concerns we were not able to address in these bills, and Republicans were not open to some of them.\n\n\u201cBut I still want to do more, Mr. President, when it comes to delivering critical investments for our communities in our country. And I will\u2014as always\u2014keep pushing my colleagues every day.\n\n\u201cBut we did secure real wins for folks back home when Democrats and Republicans were able to sit down at the table together on funding. And they are immeasurably better than Trump and Vought holding the pen\u2014which is what the slush fund CR that we have been operating on this year has allowed.\n\n\u201cI am proud of what we have been able to negotiate to protect key programs families and communities rely on, and protect our authority as lawmakers who are here to be a voice for our constituents.\n\n\u201cI want to emphasize that I really appreciate the work of my counterpart, the senior Senator from Maine, Susan Collins, who has done incredible work on all these bills. I want to thank our subcommittee chairs and ranking members, and all of our staff who worked hard to put these bills together.\n\n\u201cAnd I want to make clear I deeply appreciate the partnership of my colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Committee who\u2019ve all worked in good faith during these very difficult times and these very difficult negotiations.\n\n\u201cNo matter what, these bills need to get done\u2014and our staff put in late nights, and our Chairs and Ranking Members held countless conversations to compromise and work towards solutions.\n\n\u201cI hope to continue building on that progress, and showing what it does look like when we come together and put families before politics.\n\n\u201cI look forward to getting our next minibus up on the floor to move multiple needs bills along that we have marked up in the Committee and get those to conference. And I hope we can be on that package as soon as possible.\n\n\u201cAnd I look forward to the Senator from Maine and working to get those final bills completed so they too can be conferenced with the House as soon as possible. And I want to thank all of our Committee members and our staffs for their incredible work on these critical bills. We have a lot of work ahead and I know we can get there.\n\n\u201cPassing full-year funding bills ensure[s] that Congress\u2014not Trump or Russ Vought\u2014decides how taxpayer dollars are spent. We should not turn the keys over to Trump and his cabinet secretaries, allowing them to make unilateral cuts and to shift funding around how they please.\n\n\u201cEvery day, they prove in some new way how critical it is that Congress assert its authority, and rein in their chaos\u2014and I will continue working to do that on the Appropriations Committee.\n\n\u201cBut I will, Mr. President, need to continue fighting to stop the MAGA health care hike for as long as there is still time left on this clock to fix this.\n\n\u201cThe reality is, there is a point where it will be too late to make a meaningful difference.\n\n\u201cBut until we reach that point of no return\u2014we do have to fight tooth and nail to force Republicans to actually work with us on that issue.\n\n\u201cAnd because, in this package, Republicans have [refused] to address the health care crisis families are facing right now\u2014a crisis that gets worse, and harder to fix every single day\u2014I will be voting no.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-government-funding-vote-the-fight-for-health-care-does-not-end-tonight-this-is-the-maga-health-care-hike/", "Senator Murray Statement on Government Funding Vote: \u201cThe Fight for Health Care Does Not End Tonight\u2014This is the MAGA Health Care Hike\u201d", "2025-11-09", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on her vote against proceeding to consideration of the bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) and three-bill appropriations package that was released on Sunday.\n\n\u201cI voted no on cloture on the motion to proceed because, as long as there is still any time left to reverse the MAGA health care hike, I believe we must do everything we can to force Republicans to the negotiating table\u2014the fight for health care does not end tonight. While I am frustrated by the outcome of this vote, I have no intention of letting Republicans off the hook: Republicans moved heaven and earth to pass new tax breaks for billionaires and the largest health care cuts in history, but refused to either reform or extend the ACA tax credits on their own terms. They could have; they simply didn\u2019t care. As open enrollment is well underway, it was Republicans who pushed millions of Americans off the health care cliff. We are already over a week in and countless Americans have already decided to go uninsured in the face of exploding health care costs.\n\n\u201cThe MAGA health care hike is already here. But instead of working with Democrats to do the bare minimum\u2014passing a clean, one-year extension of the ACA tax credits\u2014Republicans flat-out rejected that last-ditch proposal, and are now talking instead about ending the Affordable Care Act. More than 40 days into this shutdown, Republicans have done nothing to save health care for their own constituents, choosing to only pay lip service to the American people.\n\n\u201cI am adamantly opposed to ceding more of Congress\u2019 power of the purse to the president. We should not let Donald Trump or Russ Vought decide how taxpayer dollars get spent, and that\u2019s why passing full-year spending bills that provide detailed congressional directives instead of another slush-fund year-long CR is so important. The three-bill package released today is an important step forward in doing just that. Throughout negotiations on these bills, Democrats fought to protect key programs like WIC and SNAP that help families and communities across America get by. Importantly, Democrats managed to reject destructive cuts and extreme policies championed by President Trump and House Republicans\u2014and to secure legislative language that ensures furloughed workers get backpay, reverses President Trump\u2019s punitive shutdown mass firings and that prevents new mass firings for the foreseeable future.\n\n\u201cI will continue to hold Republicans accountable for their catastrophic health care cuts and never-ending attacks on the Affordable Care Act\u2014and I will do everything I can to ensure Trump and Vought do not decide how taxpayer dollars are spent.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-leads-entire-senate-democratic-caucus-in-demanding-answers-from-trump-admin-on-new-review-of-mifepristone-despite-decades-of-evidence-proving-its-safety-efficacy-rai/", "Murray Leads Entire Senate Democratic Caucus in Demanding Answers from Trump Admin on New \u201cReview\u201d of Mifepristone Despite Decades of Evidence Proving its Safety & Efficacy\u2014Raises Alarm Over Looming Efforts to Restrict Medication Abortion", "2025-11-07", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray and all Senate Democrats: \u201cWe are seriously alarmed by this administration\u2019s obvious attempts to interfere with the science and politicize the drug review process in order to restrict abortion access.\u201d\n\nMurray has led Senate Democrats in fighting back against Republican attacks on mifepristone\u2014leading amicus briefs, holding events, and repeatedly pressing FDA Commissioner Makary on mifepristone access\n\nNEW FROM GUTTMACHER: The War on Mifepristone: How Junk Science and False Narratives Threaten US Abortion Access\n\n***LETTER HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, led the entire Senate Democratic caucus in a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kennedy and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Makary expressing alarm over the Trump administration\u2019s plans to conduct \u201cits own review of the evidence\u201d on the safety and effectiveness of mifepristone.\n\nMifepristone was approved by the FDA in 2000 and is used in the overwhelming majority of abortions in the United States. Access to medication abortion is more critical than ever in the aftermath of the Supreme Court\u2019s disastrous Dobbs decision that overturned the Constitutional right to abortion and allowed dozens of states to enact extreme abortion bans that threaten women\u2019s health and lives. According to data from Guttmacher, medication abortion accounted for nearly two-thirds of abortions in the U.S. in 2023, the first year after the Dobbs decision.\n\n\u201cDecades of evidence and hundreds of studies prove the safety and efficacy of mifepristone, which is not only the most common method of abortion in the U.S., but is also frequently prescribed to women to help manage early pregnancy loss or miscarriage. We are alarmed by the Department\u2019s obvious attempts to politicize the review, regulation, and approval of mifepristone at the FDA, and we write to request more information,\u201d Murray and the entire Senate Democratic caucus wrote in their letter to HHS and FDA.\n\nThe letter lays into a recent junk science \u201creport\u201d put out by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), an avowedly anti-abortion think tank, that appears to be the basis for the Trump administration\u2019s announced review of mifepristone. The EPPC report parrots anti-abortion disinformation, was not peer-reviewed or published in any medical journal, and has been widely criticized by reputable health organizations since its release. \u201cBy elevating the sham EPPC report as rationale for restricting access to mifepristone, HHS is blatantly undermining well-established science and weaponizing disinformation to fit the Trump administration\u2019s clear agenda to cut off abortion access in any way possible,\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cFDA relying on a partisan, sham report as part of the evidence review for any drug is deeply concerning\u2014and in this case, it\u2019s clear that the Trump administration is downright eager to do away with established science if it helps further their extreme anti-abortion agenda.\u201d\n\nMifepristone is already subject to burdensome Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirements that must be followed for prescribing and dispensing mifepristone\u2014in fact, FDA already restricts mifepristone more heavily than 99.5% of the over 20,000 prescription drugs it regulates. On October 30th, a federal court ruled that the FDA\u2019s explanation for its current restrictions on mifepristone is unreasoned, unsupported, and illogical. In their letter, the senators ask how the administration plans to comply with this ruling and ensure any review of mifepristone is consistent with the court order. \u201cThat court order reinforces that, in conducting this new review, FDA may not cherry-pick junk science serving an anti-abortion agenda, but must instead look at the full body of evidence both confirming mifepristone\u2019s safety and underscoring the harms of the FDA\u2019s onerous restrictions,\u201d the senators wrote.\n\n\u201cThe bottom line is that access to mifepristone allows patients to receive time-sensitive, essential health care, including abortion care and miscarriage management,\u201d the senators continued. \u201cIf HHS insists on rejecting the science that clearly proves mifepristone is safe and effective, and instead decides to impose additional restrictions on its use, this will force countless women to carry pregnancies to term against their will\u2014regardless of the consequences for their health or lives.\u201d\n\nMurray and Senate Democrats concluded by demanding answers to a number of detailed questions, including what exactly prompted the administration to initiate the review, what process will be used to conduct it, whether there is any unreported data on adverse events it is considering, and how FDA will ensure compliance with the court order in Purcell v. Kennedy. \u201cThe American people need to be able to trust that any reviews, regulations, and approvals of medication by HHS and FDA are based on science and evidence\u2014not on partisan attempts to attack abortion access,\u201d the senators concluded. \u201cIt is critical that scientific experts and evidence are central to any FDA review or REMS initiative. Mifepristone has long been shown to be safe and effective, and there is no new evidence to justify burdensome restrictions that block women from getting the health care they need.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray leads the Democratic caucus on reproductive health care issues, and she has led the fight in Congress to protect and expand access to mifepristone. Senator Murray led the Congressional response to FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a lawsuit brought by Republican anti-abortion extremists trying to rip away access to mifepristone\u2014Murray led multiple amicus briefs, organized her colleagues, and raised the alarm at every turn. In June 2024, the Supreme Court dismissed the case on standing, but Murray made clear that \u201cthe nationwide threat to medication abortion has not gone away\u2014far from it. If Donald Trump and his anti-abortion allies return to power, they will do everything they can to rip away access to mifepristone and ban abortion nationwide.\u201d Senator Murray has grilled Trump\u2019s FDA Commissioner, Marty Makary, on access to mifepristone at every opportunity she\u2019s had\u2014including at a HELP Committee hearing on his nomination in March, and an Appropriations Agriculture-FDA subcommittee hearing in May. In 2023, Senator Murray pressed national pharmacies including Costco to ensure access to mifepristone, and in August, when Costco announced it would no longer sell mifepristone at its stores, Murray spoke out to demand they reverse course.\n\nThroughout her career, Murray has beat back countless Republican attacks on reproductive care and other family planning services\u2014and she is widely credited with successfully pushing the Bush administration\u2019s FDA to follow the science and make Plan B available over the counter.\n\nThe full letter is available HERE and below:\n\nDear Secretary Kennedy and Commissioner Makary,\n\nWe write today with serious concerns about the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services\u2019 (HHS or the Department) announcement that it will conduct, through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), \u201cits own review of the evidence\u201d on the safety and effectiveness of mifepristone, which has been approved by the FDA since 2000 for the medical termination of pregnancy. Decades of evidence and hundreds of studies prove the safety and efficacy of mifepristone, which is not only the most common method of abortion in the U.S., but is also frequently prescribed to women to help manage early pregnancy loss or miscarriage. We are alarmed by the Department\u2019s obvious attempts to politicize the review, regulation, and approval of mifepristone at the FDA, and we write to request more information on the details of the review of mifepristone. We are especially troubled by this administration\u2019s clear intent to tee up further restrictions on medication abortion, in light of a recent federal court order holding that the agency has failed to justify its current extreme restrictions on mifepristone and must consider lifting them.\n\nIn an April 28, 2025 letter, Senator Hawley called on the FDA to revisit its existing restrictions on mifepristone, alleging the \u201cresearch showing the safety risks\u201d of medication abortion are \u201cfar greater than the FDA currently acknowledges.\u201d The same day, the avowedly anti-abortion think tank Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) published a junk science \u201creport\u201d that parrots anti-abortion disinformation, was not peer-reviewed or published in any medical journal, and has been widely criticized by reputable health organizations. Based on apparently nothing but the nakedly partisan and easily debunked EPPC report, Commissioner Makary committed to conducting a new review of mifepristone in a June 2, 2025 letter. Secretary Kennedy and Commissioner Makary similarly sent a September 19, 2025 letter to Republican attorneys general, highlighting the EPPC report as alleged evidence of the \u201cpotential dangers that may attend offering mifepristone without sufficient medical support or supervision.\u201d By elevating the sham EPPC report as rationale for restricting access to mifepristone, HHS is blatantly undermining well-established science and weaponizing disinformation to fit the Trump administration\u2019s clear agenda to cut off abortion access in any way possible.\n\nMifepristone has been proven to be safe and effective in hundreds of studies over more than two decades, and this has been backed up by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)\u2014which represents more than 90% of the nation\u2019s OBGYNs, the American Medical Association (AMA), the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and the Society of Family Planning. While the EPPC report makes unsubstantiated claims about the rate of adverse events following medication abortion, the safety label for mifepristone clearly states that \u201cserious adverse reactions were reported in <0.5% of women\u201d in accordance with the data from 10 clinical trials of more than 30,000 women in settings in the U.S. and abroad. And, the FDA\u2019s own website states that \u201cthe FDA\u2019s periodic reviews of the postmarketing data for Mifeprex and its approved generic have not identified any new safety concerns with the use of mifepristone for medical termination of pregnancy through 70 days.\u201d\n\nThere are numerous serious methodological issues with the EPPC report, whose analyses cannot be verified or replicated due to EPPC\u2019s failure to transparently share its data sources. As the Society of Family Planning stated in a May letter to Commissioner Makary, \u201cthis paper is not a methodologically rigorous, evidence-based resource, and does not warrant consideration, particularly in scientific spaces.\u201d The FDA should be using gold-standard science and evidence when making decisions about medication access for the American people. Typically, the FDA relies on its Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) or other postmarketing surveillance data to consider the safety risk of a particular drug, not unverified claims from a debunked report. FDA relying on a partisan, sham report as part of the evidence review for any drug is deeply concerning\u2014and in this case, it\u2019s clear that the Trump administration is downright eager to do away with established science if it helps further their extreme anti-abortion agenda.\n\nIt is also important to note that mifepristone is already subject to burdensome Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirements that must be followed for prescribing and dispensing mifepristone. The REMS already restricts the number of providers who can prescribe or dispense the drug, and the FDA already restricts mifepristone more heavily than 99.5% of the over 20,000 prescription drugs it regulates, making it more difficult for women to receive the timely access to care they need. On January 3, 2023, the FDA approved a modification to the mifepristone REMS, which included permanent removal of the requirement that the drug be dispensed in-person, and the addition of a new pharmacy certification process to allow qualified retail pharmacies to dispense mifepristone to patients with a prescription. These commonsense changes allow for improved access to mifepristone, yet the REMS criteria continues to impose unnecessary restrictions that cause administrative burdens for providers, which may impede their ability to provide the medication, thus impacting patient access.\n\nLeading health experts, including ACOG and the AMA, have long advocated for removal of the mifepristone REMS, given that the restrictions do not make care safer and are not based on medical evidence or need. ACOG argues these restrictions only create further barriers to abortion care and medical management of early pregnancy loss, particularly for communities that already face structural barriers to care.\n\nAbortion opponents are particularly focused on reinstating an \u201cin-person dispensing\u201d requirement for mifepristone. This would force every patient in the country to travel, in some cases hundreds of miles, to pick up the medication in-person at a health center. This mandate would apply even when the patient has been thoroughly evaluated and counseled by a licensed provider via telemedicine and there is no clinical reason to necessitate a health center visit, and even when it would be extremely burdensome or impossible to arrange the transportation, childcare, and time off work necessary for that in-person trip. Yet, as the FDA itself found, \u201cthere does not appear to be a difference in adverse events between periods when the in-person dispensing requirement was being enforced and periods when the in-person dispensing requirement was not being enforced. This suggests that mifepristone may be safely used without an in-person dispensing requirement.\u201d\n\nOn October 30, 2025, a federal court ruled in Purcell v. Kennedy that the FDA\u2019s explanation for its current restrictions on mifepristone is unreasoned, unsupported, and illogical; that the FDA did not engage with the objections of preeminent medical associations like ACOG and AMA that the mifepristone REMS is medically unnecessary and harmful; and that the FDA ignored peer-reviewed research showing both that mifepristone remains extremely safe when regulated like other prescription drugs and that the FDA\u2019s restrictions significantly reduce patient access. The court also found that the FDA failed to meaningfully address the guardrails that Congress imposed on the agency\u2019s authority to impose a REMS. That court order reinforces that, in conducting this new review, FDA may not cherry-pick junk science serving an anti-abortion agenda, but must instead look at the full body of evidence both confirming mifepristone\u2019s safety and underscoring the harms of the FDA\u2019s onerous restrictions.\n\nThe bottom line is that access to mifepristone allows patients to receive time-sensitive, essential health care, including abortion care and miscarriage management. Medication abortion is a critical option for patients who want to end their pregnancy in a place of their choosing, with access to the medical support and information they need. This option is particularly essential for patients who live in remote or rural areas and those who already face barriers to care due to inequities in our country\u2019s health care system. If HHS insists on rejecting the science that clearly proves mifepristone is safe and effective, and instead decides to impose additional restrictions on its use, this will force countless women to carry pregnancies to term against their will\u2014regardless of the consequences for their health or lives.\n\nAs you review the evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of mifepristone, we request responses to the following questions by November 28, 2025:\n\nFollowing the March 6, 2025 HELP Committee hearing to consider Dr. Makary\u2019s nomination to be FDA Commissioner, he was asked, in a question for the record, if he planned to make any changes to how mifepristone can be prescribed, dispensed, or accessed. He responded: \u201cI have no immediate plans to make changes to regulation of any specific products and would not do so without a fulsome review of safety and efficacy data.\u201d What qualifies as a \u201cfulsome review of safety and efficacy data?\u201d\n\nWhat prompted the Department to initiate the recent review of mifepristone?\n\nWhat studies or data are HHS or FDA relying on to justify restrictions on mifepristone, including but not limited to, initiating a new review of mifepristone?\n\nHave any mifepristone manufacturers communicated to HHS or FDA any changes in the safety and efficacy data for their products?\n\nWhat process will you use to conduct this review?\n\nWill you solicit unbiased expert review and public comment through advisory committees, expert review panels, public workshops, a request for information, the federal rulemaking process, or other avenues? If utilizing an expert review panel, how will you establish that members have relevant expertise, including recent experience prescribing mifepristone? If utilizing an advisory committee, does HHS commit to following all statutory requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA; 5 U.S.C. Chapter 10)?\n\nPlease list all procedural steps you intend to take in the review of mifepristone to ensure public participation and review of all relevant data.\n\nHow will you ensure that this review is based on the best available science? For example, will the agency consider only studies that have undergone peer review?\n\nHow will you ensure that the review is consistent with the court order in Purcell v. Kennedy and FDA\u2019s limited authority under 21 U.S.C \u00a7 355-1(a), (f), and (g)?\n\nThe FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) documents any reported adverse events to specific prescription drugs approved by the FDA. Does the agency have additional unreported data on adverse events that it is considering in initiating its new review of mifepristone? If yes, will the agency release the unreported data to the public and to the signatories of this letter?\n\nA recent letter led by Senator Cassidy documented several statements from Secretary Kennedy on mifepristone in a September 4, 2025 Finance Committee hearing. Secretary Kennedy claimed the Biden administration \u201ctwisted the data\u201d to bury one of the safety signals for mifepristone and that the signal showed an approximately 11% adverse event risk. Please respond to this letter with the same information you provide in response to Senator Cassidy\u2019s letter.\n\nSenator Cassidy asked a question regarding a statement by Secretary Kennedy in the same Finance Committee hearing, indicating studies relating to the safety of mifepristone are \u201cprogressing and that they\u2019re ongoing.\u201d Please respond to this letter with the same answer you provide to Senator Cassidy regarding the details of these studies, including the scope, expected timeframe, agencies involved, and type of study.\n\nAt the close of the same Finance Committee hearing, Ranking Member Wyden inquired about Secretary Kennedy\u2019s planned mifepristone review which is \u201cnot based on new clinical trials or data from the scientific community,\u201d but based on one non-peer-reviewed paper from an anti-abortion political organization. Secretary Kennedy responded by committing to \u201cgood science and good scientists\u201d as part of this needless safety review. Please explain how the Secretary intends to meet this commitment and if the preeminent medical professional associations (i.e. ACOG, AMA) will be consulted as part of the review.\n\nThe American people need to be able to trust that any reviews, regulations, and approvals of medication by HHS and FDA are based on science and evidence\u2014not on partisan attempts to attack abortion access. We are seriously alarmed by this administration\u2019s obvious attempts to interfere with the science and politicize the drug review process in order to restrict abortion access. It is critical that scientific experts and evidence are central to any FDA review or REMS initiative. Mifepristone has long been shown to be safe and effective, and there is no new evidence to justify burdensome restrictions that block women from getting the health care they need.\n\nThank you for your prompt attention to this matter and we look forward to your response.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-murphy-dexter-colleagues-introduce-bicameral-bill-to-ensure-dhs-detainees-can-speak-to-a-lawyer-contact-their-families/", "Murray, Murphy, Dexter, Colleagues Introduce Bicameral Bill to Ensure DHS Detainees Can Speak to a Lawyer, Contact their Families", "2025-11-07", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "ICYMI: Senator Murray Leads Colleagues in Reintroducing Legislation to Prevent the Shackling and Mistreatment of Pregnant Women in ICE and CBP Custody\n\nICYMI: Murray, Durbin, Senate Democrats Urge President Trump to Abandon Use Of Family Detention\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), Representative Maxine Dexter (D, OR-03), and 47 of their Senate and House colleagues in introducing the Restoring Access to Detainees Act, a bill to ensure the Department of Homeland Security allows noncitizens who have been detained to contact their legal counsel and families. The bill comes after months of credible reporting that ICE and CBP have deprived detainees\u2014including children and longtime legal residents\u2014of the ability to access a lawyer, sometimes for months at a time. People have also reportedly been taken into custody and, in some cases, transferred to facilities in other countries, without being allowed to contact their families.\n\n\u201cWhile our immigration enforcement should be focused on deporting violent or dangerous criminals, this administration is instead focused on locking up American citizens and terrorizing law-abiding immigrants\u2014it\u2019s morally bankrupt and all of us should be outraged at this abuse of our taxpayer dollars. Everyone detained in this country has the right to access a lawyer and contact their families, regardless of their immigration status,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cIt is sickening that DHS has chosen to deprive detainees\u2014including children\u2014of the opportunity to pursue legal counsel or let their worried families know why they won\u2019t be coming home at night. This bill is an important step toward ensuring due process for our own citizens and everyone who calls America home\u2014we\u2019re talking about basic human rights here and America must do better.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor months now, Americans have watched the horrific videos of CBP and ICE agents violently snatching people off the street at schools, workplaces, and grocery stores. But what happens after people are taken into custody is equally disturbing,\u201d said Senator Murphy. \u201cDHS has repeatedly refused to allow people to contact their families and lawyers, traumatizing children and families who are left searching for answers when their loved one suddenly misses after-school pickup or just doesn\u2019t come home for dinner. It\u2019s heartless and deeply un-American. This bill protects the basic right of people in this country to call their family \u2013 which often includes American citizens \u2013 when they are taken into custody. DHS has proven time and again they cannot be trusted to follow basic humanitarian principles, and it\u2019s on Congress to step in and hold them accountable.\u201d\n\n\u201cI saw with my own eyes the reality of Trump\u2019s immigration system: a mother and her four U.S. citizen children disappeared and locked in a windowless cell unable to contact a lawyer or their loved ones. The inhumanity was staggering. If we allow this to continue, we will lose who we are,\u201d said Representative Dexter. \u201cI\u2019m proud to join Senator Chris Murphy in defending the simple truth that access to legal counsel and communication with loved ones isn\u2019t a luxury, it is a fundamental human right.\u201d\n\nThe Restoring Access to Detainees Act would ensure:\n\nPeople detained, or transferred to a new facility, have the right to call their families to let them know where they are;\n\nPeople detained have an opportunity to speak confidentially with their legal counsel or to find competent legal counsel while in custody;\n\nPeople detained have an opportunity to communicate confidentially with existing oversight entities, if applicable; and\n\nThe restoration of a program from the first Trump Administration which established a process for noncitizens to call their families while they are in deportation proceedings.\n\nNotable instances of the Trump Administration cutting off detainees from legal counsel include:\n\nJackie Merlos, a 44-year-old mother with a U-visa and her four U.S. citizen children, who were detained for weeks in a windowless cell without access to legal counsel and unable to contact family or friends.\n\nLuis Peralta, who has lived in the U.S. since he was a child, was detained and transferred from Miami to Tacoma. Officers denied him access to his personal documents, leaving him unable to contact his family or attorney.\n\nMahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old Columbia University graduate and U.S. permanent resident, was arrested without a warrant and transferred across three states \u2014 from New Jersey to New York to Louisiana \u2014 where he spent more than three months in a detention center with limited access to legal counsel.\n\nKilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old from El Salvador living in Maryland, was arrested without a warrant and detained in Texas. Days later, he called his wife to tell her that he was being sent to El Salvador\u2019s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT \u2014 which turned out to be the last time his family heard from him until his return to the U.S. in June.\n\nA 13-year-old Brazilian national was arrested in Everett, MA and transferred to a Virginia detention center. His family and lawyers were left in the dark for days about his location or the reason for his arrest.\n\nGeorge Retes, a U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE agents and held incommunicado, leaving him unable to contact his family \u2014 who only learned what happened to him after his release.\n\nRamon Eduardo Contreras-Hernandez was denied access to legal representation after being transferred from an ICE detention center to a county jail, cutting him off from information about his own case.\n\nA ProPublica investigation found that more than 20 U.S. citizens have reported being detained for over a day without being able to call their loved ones or an attorney.\n\nCivil rights attorneys representing detainees in \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d filed for a temporary restraining order against the detention center, citing systemic violations of detainees\u2019 constitutional rights to legal representation and due process.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray and Murphy, and Congresswoman Dexter, the bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Edward Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Peter Welch (D-VT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Judy Chu (D-CA), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Dave Min (D-CA), Nellie Pou (D-NJ), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), Jill Tokuda (D-HI), Becca Balint (D-VT), Emily Randall (D-WA), Jesus \u201cChuy\u201d Garc\u00eda (D-IL), Gil Cisneros (D-CA), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Laura Friedman (D-CA), Frederica Wilson (D-FL), Julie Johnson (D-TX), Nikema Williams (D-GA), Robin Kelley (D-IL), and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA).\n\nThe full text of the bill is available HERE.\n\nA one-pager for the bill is available HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-joins-democratic-colleagues-in-calling-on-republicans-to-do-the-right-thing-pass-clean-one-year-extension-of-aca-tax-credits-and-reopen-the-government/", "Senator Murray Joins Democratic Colleagues in Calling on Republicans to Do The Right Thing: Pass Clean One-Year Extension of ACA Tax Credits and Reopen the Government", "2025-11-07", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "NEW FROM ABC NEWS: \u2018It\u2019s insane\u2019: ACA policyholders say soaring premiums are jeopardizing lives\n\nMurray: \u201cI am here today fighting with my heart and soul. I am giving Republicans every opportunity in the world to do the right thing. \u201cI have been out here on the floor, I\u2019ve spoken ad nauseum how letting these tax credits expire will actually hurt people in Republican states the most. So, we\u2019re here today to say our hand is outstretched. We are ready to go: a one-year clean extension, and we can reopen the government, and save so many families misery in this country.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray has been sounding the alarm on the looming health care cost cliff and calling on Republicans to work with Democrats to extend the ACA tax credits for YEARS\u2014FULL TIMELINE HERE\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s full floor speech***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke forcefully on the Senate floor on the thirty-eighth day of the Republican shutdown, calling on Republicans to work with Democrats as quickly as possible to pass a clean, one-year extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits that 22 million Americans rely on to afford health insurance\u2014and work with Democrats to pass bipartisan legislation to reopen the government.\n\nOpen enrollment across the country began Saturday, November 1st. Right now, Americans are shopping for health insurance coverage for next year on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces (Washington Healthplanfinder in Washington state) and seeing dramatic increases in their premiums because of Republicans\u2019 refusal to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits that help Americans afford health insurance. Nationwide, 22 million Americans are seeing their health care costs skyrocket because of Republican inaction\u2014premiums are more than doubling on average for people who buy health coverage on the exchanges, and these higher costs will push 4.8 million people off their health insurance coverage over the next decade. A Washington-state specific fact sheet on the ACA tax credits is HERE.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered on the Senate floor today, are below:\n\n\u201cMr. President, I join all of my Democratic colleagues here today to offer this proposal on the health care issue that has been holding all of us here, and all of the American public for weeks now. Because after Republicans refused to work to save the premium tax credits all this past year, what we hear Republican leaders saying now is they maybe, possibly, will talk about health care\u2014it just has to be \u2018later.\u2019\n\n\u201cWe are so far past that. Open enrollment is happening right now. Republicans have already pushed millions of Americans off that tax credit cliff.\n\n\u201cIf we truly want to help these people, Republicans need to work with us as fast as possible to pass this clean, one-year extension.\n\n\u201cThat is not some pie-in-the-sky request.As [the] previous speaker alluded to, if Republicans have no problem with Trump shoveling nearly twice as much money at Argentina, why would they oppose giving this kind of support to our own American families?\n\n\u201cIs there no time for working families? Are there no funds for health care? Mr. President, I cannot accept that. We cannot accept that.\n\n\u201cWe can act\u2014but we have to do it now. Every day that passes, this damage gets worse\u2014and, by the way, harder to reverse.\n\n\u201cThe best and quickest way to address the MAGA health care hike is this clean, one-year extension of the enhanced premium tax credits, written into the CR that we ultimately will vote on to reopen the government.\n\n\u201cLike my colleagues, I have heard so many heartbreaking stories from people in my state who are not political\u2014they don\u2019t care about Democrats or Republicans.\n\n\u201cBut I will tell you, they are at the breaking point. Some of them have been on the verge of tears as they talked to me, explaining how they simply cannot afford to buy health care for next year.\n\n\u201cThat weighs heavily on me and all of my colleagues. We carry their stories with us, their words are on repeat in my mind every minute I walk through these halls.\n\n\u201cI am here today fighting with my heart and soul. I am giving Republicans every opportunity in the world to do the right thing.\n\n\u201cI have been out here on the floor, I\u2019ve spoken ad nauseum how letting these tax credits expire will actually hurt people in Republican states the most.\n\n\u201cSo, we\u2019re here today to say our hand is outstretched. We are ready to go: a one-year clean extension, and we can reopen the government, and save so many families misery in this country.\u201d\n\nA timeline detailing how Senator Murray has been fighting for years to extend the ACA tax credits, and calling on Republicans to come to the table and negotiate, is below and HERE.\n\nSenator Murray played a critical role in passing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits into law in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. Since then, she has called on Republicans to extend the enhanced premium tax credits dozens of times, calling attention to the tax credit cliff and how millions of Americans will see their health care costs jump dramatically if Republicans don\u2019t work with Democrats on an extension.\n\nA non-exhaustive timeline of key moments:\n\nMarch 11, 2021 \u2013 The American Rescue Plan Act is signed into law; Senator Murray plays a key role in negotiating the health care provisions of the legislation, which includes new Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits to dramatically reduce premium costs for Americans who buy health insurance through the exchanges.\n\nAugust 16, 2022 \u2013 The Inflation Reduction Act is signed into law; among many other things, the legislation extends the ACA enhanced premium tax credits through December 2025.\n\nMarch 21, 2024 \u2013 At a press conference with Senate and House leaders to highlight record-breaking ACA enrollment, Murray highlights how Democrats made health care more affordable with the Inflation Reduction Act while Republicans double down on ACA repeal.\n\nMarch 21, 2024 \u2013 Murray and Senate Democrats tout record-breaking ACA enrollment\u2014boosted by the ACA tax credits\u2014ahead of the 14th anniversary of the ACA.\n\nOctober 31, 2024 \u2013 Murray states: \u201cMillions of families are saving thousands of dollars on their health insurance thanks to tax credits that Democrats passed\u2014and every Republican voted against. These credits expire at the end of 2025. We need a Democratic Senate majority to extend them and save families money.\u201d\n\nJanuary 9, 2025 \u2013 Murray joins her colleagues in reintroducing the Health Care Affordability Act to make the ACA tax credits permanent, saying: \u201cOn average, these tax credits are saving families over $800 a year. But unless Congress takes action, the health care tax credits will expire at the end of this year. Renewing these tax credits is a big deal for patients, and if Republicans, who never wanted them in the first place, get their way and let them expire, it will be a big problem\u2014an $800-a-year problem, saddled onto struggling working families who can least afford it.\u201d\n\nJanuary 25, 2025 \u2013 Murray states: \u201cTrump and Republicans are STILL hell-bent on rolling back the Affordable Care Act. This time, they\u2019re proposing cutting tax credits and other programs that help millions of patients afford health care so they can pay for tax cuts for billionaires.\u201d\n\nFebruary 19, 2025 \u2013 At a press conference with Senate Democrats on Republicans\u2019 plans to slash Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for billionaires, Murray warns about the ACA tax credit cliff: \u201cIt\u2019s bad enough that they are ignoring the health care cliff coming this year\u2014because remember, right now, we have millions of people, saving thousands of dollars a year on health care because of the tax credits that Democrats passed. Have Republicans said a peep about extending that aid with their own signature bill? Of course not. They are perfectly content to let help for working families expire and let health care costs skyrocket. But the second a multi-billionaire like Elon Musk is at risk of losing a cent in tax breaks, Republicans, apparently, will move heaven and earth.\u201d\n\nMay 14, 2025 \u2013 At a press conference on Republicans\u2019 reconciliation bill, Murray calls out Republicans for refusing to lift a finger to save the tax credits: \u201cAnd while they are moving heaven and earth to extend tax cuts for the richest people on the planet, they are not so much as lifting a finger to save the health plan tax credits for working families, something that will push yet another 4 million people off their insurance.\u201d\n\nMay 27, 2025 \u2013 At a press conference in Seattle on House Republicans\u2019 reconciliation bill, Murray sounds the alarm on the tax credits: \u201cIn Washington state, we are looking at: at least 194,000 people losing their Apple Health coverage under this bill. And that number rises to a quarter of a million people in our state getting kicked off their health care if you include all the ways Republicans are sabotaging the ACA in this bill and letting important health care tax credits for middle class families expire.\u201d\n\nJune 5, 2025 \u2013 While hosting a virtual press conference on the Republican reconciliation bill, Murray warns: \u201cRepublicans are refusing to extend critical tax credits that lower people\u2019s health insurance premiums\u2014which will make another 4.2 million people lose coverage. And that will raise costs for everyone.\u201d\n\nJune 13, 2025 \u2013 At an event in Seattle with constituents, Murray calls out Republicans for refusing to talk about extending the ACA tax credits as part of their reconciliation bill: \u201cWhen it comes to health care tax credits Democrats passed for everyday Americans, when it comes to extending relief that is saving millions of families thousands of dollars a year? Crickets. Republicans simply can\u2019t be bothered.\u201d\n\nJuly 18, 2025 \u2013 On a virtual press conference with Washington state hospital CEOs, Murray sounds the alarm on the looming expiration of the tax credits, saying: \u201cAs many as 150,000 more are going to be priced out of our state\u2019s health care exchange because Republicans outright refused to extend important tax credits that lower the cost of health care for middle-class families and small business owners.\u201d\n\nJuly 29, 2025 \u2013 Murray rails against the Republican reconciliation bill on the Senate floor, pointing out: \u201cThere is nothing\u2014a big, fat zero\u2014when it comes to renewing the tax credits Democrats passed to lower your health care costs. That\u2019s right\u2014while Republicans are showering their billionaire donors in new tax breaks, they will not lift a finger to extend health care tax credits that are saving millions of families thousands of dollars a year on health coverage.\u201d\n\nJuly 30, 2025 \u2013 Murray joins Senate Democrats in introducing legislation to repeal the enormous health care cuts in Republicans\u2019 partisan reconciliation bill and permanently extend the ACA tax credits, saying: \u201cIt is not too late for the Republicans to reverse course and save healthcare for millions.\u201d\n\nJuly 30, 2025 \u2013 Murray hosts a press conference with Washington Health Benefit Exchange CEO Ingrid Ulrey to call on Republicans to extend the ACA tax credits, warning health care premiums will spike for millions if the tax credits expire.\n\nAugust 6, 2025 \u2013 At a press conference in the Tri-Cities, WA, Murray calls on Republicans to extend the ACA tax credits: \u201cI\u2019ve introduced legislation with my colleagues to reverse the painful cuts to Medicaid\u2014and I\u2019m also working to extend the ACA health care tax credits. Republicans either need to work with us to fix this, or they are going to be held accountable.\u201d\n\nAugust 7, 2025 \u2013 At a roundtable on health care in Walla Walla, WA, Murray said: \u201cWe are here because Eastern Washington is going to get hit especially hard by this\u2026 This is an area with lots of families who benefit from health care tax credits,\u201d and spoke about how she\u2019s working to extend them.\n\nSeptember 3, 2025 \u2013 At a Senate Democratic leadership press conference, Murray calls on Republicans to work with Democrats to stop health care premiums from skyrocketing: \u201cWill Republicans work with us to stop the health care premiums from skyrocketing this fall for millions of Americans? So far, Republicans have refused to lift a finger to extend the tax credits and save families from massive new health care costs. For many, higher premiums will mean cuts to the family budget. For others, it will mean giving up their health insurance entirely. That is wrong. Republicans are choosing right now to let that happen. They could easily extend that policy and stop premiums from spiking \u2014 Democrats have already written the bill to do just that.\u201d\n\nSeptember 10, 2025 \u2013 In response to the news that marketplace insurers had been approved for a 21% rate hike on average, Murray says in part: \u201cRepublicans made a choice a few months ago: they decided to shovel trillions of dollars at the richest people in the world, while doing jack-squat for the millions of families who rely on health care tax credits that expire this year. This latest announcement of a brutal 21 percent average rate hike for health insurers in Washington state just goes to show that if Republicans continue to refuse to work with Democrats to extend these tax credits, working families will quite literally pay the price. If we are going to avert disaster and stop the largest health insurance price increases in years, then Republicans need to do the right thing and work with Democrats to extend these tax credits for working families.\u201d\n\nSeptember 17, 2025 \u2013 In a speech on the Senate floor, Murray underscores the importance of extending the ACA health care tax credit, saying: \u201cI am fighting to undo damaging Medicaid cuts Republicans passed, and to extend the health care tax credits that are helping millions of families afford coverage right now.\u201d\n\nSeptember 30, 2025 \u2013 At a Senate Democratic leadership press conference, Murray calls out Republicans for refusing to work with Democrats to save health care, saying: \u201cHere are the facts: health care rates are being set right now. Open enrollment is weeks away\u2026 American citizens are about to see their premiums skyrocket\u2026 [Trump] is choosing to shut down the government rather than work with Democrats to fix the health care crisis Republicans created.\u201d\n\nSeptember 30, 2025 \u2013 Speaking on the Senate floor before votes on dueling proposals to fund the government, Murray hammers the urgency of the situation, making clear: \u201cAmerican citizens across the country are starting to get letters warning their premiums are set to double! Hospitals are already closing or laying off staff. And not for no reason in particular\u2014this health care crisis is happening explicitly because of Republican policy decisions. Instead of talking with us about addressing health care from the start, Republicans decided to pass a partisan CR. And they decided they would do nothing about the fact that health care premiums are about to skyrocket. They decided they preferred a shutdown because they don\u2019t want to act in time to prevent families from paying dearly with exploding health care costs.\u201d\n\nSeptember 30, 2025 \u2013 Murray speaks alongside Senate Democratic leadership after failed votes on Republicans\u2019 partisan CR and Democrats\u2019 bill to fund the governmentand address the health care crisis, saying: \u201cWe have been calling for Republicans to work with us to keep the government funded, to address the health care crisis they created, and to stop people\u2019s premiums from skyrocketing. Republicans haven\u2019t just stuck their heads in the sand, they\u2019ve outright refused to get serious about a solution. Well, health care rates for next year are being finalized right now. Rate hikes will be in the mail any day. Open enrollment is weeks away. And still, Republicans have refused to lift a finger to prevent millions of families from being hit with massive costs.\u201d\n\nOctober 1, 2025 \u2013 In a speech on the Senate floor, Murray slams Republicans for choosing to shut the government down rather than negotiate with Democrats and called on them to act, saying: \u201cIt is not \u2018honest\u2019 for Republicans to try and just say \u2018Oh, well we can just talk about health care later, we pinky promise.\u2019 Rate hikes are being finalized right now. Notices with massive price increases will land in our families\u2019 mailboxes this month. Open enrollment starts in a matter of a few weeks. That means families are going to start seeing their premiums double. People are going to get priced out of coverage. That is, unless we act now.\u201d\n\nOctober 1, 2025 \u2013 Murray holds a virtual press conference with the Washington state Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer, and a constituent who relies on the ACA tax credits, to call on Republicans to work with Democrats to extend the tax credits: \u201cI don\u2019t know why Republicans think they can just sweep the health care crisis they created under the rug. But we are here to say: we are forcing this issue\u2026 The American people are demanding action, and they are demanding it now. Why? Because the new, higher health care rates\u2014those are being set right now. Notifications to families? Those are in the mail now. Open enrollment is weeks away, and families are panicking.\u201d\n\nOctober 2, 2025 \u2013 Murray holds a virtual press conference with Washington state hospital leaders on the urgency of saving the ACA tax credits, saying: \u201cWe are talking about the highest premium increases in years, and Republicans think they can ignore this? Here in Washington state, nearly a quarter of a million people rely on the tax credits Republicans are killing.\u201d\n\nOctober 3, 2025 \u2013 On the Senate floor, Murray slams Republicans for choosing to shut the government instead of address health care and extend the tax credits, saying: \u201cIf Republicans talk to everyday families, and fewer rich billionaires, they would understand: the health care crisis Republicans are ignoring is going to devastate folks back home. Millions of people are going to be priced out of their insurance. They will skip their basic health care. They will skimp on their medication. They will miss out on lifesaving treatments. It is no exaggeration to say: people will die.\u201d\n\nOctober 3, 2025 \u2013 Murray hosts a virtual press conference with small business owners in Washington state who rely on the tax credits, calling on Republicans to act, saying: \u201cRepublicans would rather shut down the government than address a health care crisis that is threatening to shut down small businesses across the country. Right now, health care premiums are being locked in for next year. And because Republicans have refused to save the health care tax credits that millions of people rely on, health care costs are about to more than double for families across the country. And small businesses are going to be among those hardest hit by Republican inaction.\u201d\n\nOctober 7, 2025 \u2013 On the Senate floor, Murray blasts the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to hurt federal workers and calls on Republicans to get serious about the health care cliff: \u201cTo every Republican who thinks they can keep sitting on their hands and waiting this out, you need to understand: this is not some distant crisis you can ignore. Premiums are being locked in right now. Letters are going out to families announcing shocking price increases this month. In Idaho, open enrollment actually starts next week. How is that not urgent?\u201d\n\nOctober 7, 2025 \u2013 At a Senate Democratic leadership press conference, Murray calls on Republicans to get serious and work with Democrats to stop premium hikes: \u201cThere is nothing Republican leaders are doing that even suggests they are serious about ending the shutdown or preventing health care price hikes. We are at the table. Democrats are at the table\u2014where we have been actually for weeks. So, the message is simple: let\u2019s work out a deal to end this shutdown and save families those massive premium hikes.\u201d\n\nOctober 8, 2025 \u2013 Murray holds a virtual press conference with constituents who rely on the ACA tax credits and calls on Republicans to save health care for middle-class Americans, saying: \u201cIf Republican leaders don\u2019t want to talk with Democrats about opening the government and stopping premiums from doubling, well, we are going to talk to the American people about what is at stake.\u201d\n\nOctober 9, 2025 \u2013 Murray holds a virtual press conference with Idaho State Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow and Idahoans who rely on the ACA tax credits. Murray highlights the urgency of the health care cliff ahead of the October 15th beginning of Open Enrollment in Idaho, saying in part: \u201cRepublicans have chosen to shut down the government rather than work with Democrats on a solution to stop this from happening. So here\u2019s my feeling on this: if Republicans don\u2019t want to level with their own constituents about what is at stake, I am happy to do it.\u201d\n\nOctober 9, 2025 \u2013 On the Senate floor, Murray calls on Republican leaders to sit down with Democrats to prevent Americans\u2019 health care costs from exploding, saying: \u201cThe clock is ticking. Republicans would rather sit on their hands than sit down at the table. When we ask to talk about health care, the only word that the Republican Leader seems to know is \u2018later.\u2019 Excuse me, but why shouldn\u2019t we address this challenge any earlier? The Republican leader bent over backwards to shovel new tax cuts at billionaires earlier this year\u2026 Why is he telling families to wait when rates are being set now?\u201d\n\nOctober 13, 2025 \u2013 Murray visits Sea Mar Community Health Centers in Oak Harbor, WA to hear directly from providers about how Republicans\u2019 refusal to extend the tax credits will affect their community, saying: \u201cI won\u2019t stand by while Republicans continue to attack our health care system and risk the health of Americans. I\u2019ll keep raising the alarm, pushing back, and fighting every way I can to stop Republicans\u2019 health care sabotage.\n\nOctober 15, 2025 \u2013 Murray holds a virtual press conference with Montana State Senator Cora Neumann, Montana Nurses Association CEO Vicky Byrd, and Montanans who rely on the ACA tax credits, warning in part: \u201cIf Republicans continue refusing to act, in a few weeks, families across Montana are going to come face to face with premiums they cannot afford.\n\nOctober 15, 2025 \u2013 Murray takes to the Senate floor to call on Republicans to finally listen to their constituents and prevent health care costs from exploding. \u201cWhy do they want to wait until those rates are locked in? And for all the talk of \u2018later,\u2019 why on earth wouldn\u2019t Republican leaders work with us earlier on this? This is not some surprise. We\u2019ve been raising the alarm for months. Republican leaders just didn\u2019t care earlier. And apparently, they still don\u2019t care now.\u201d\n\nOctober 15, 2025 \u2013 Murray speaks at a Senate Democratic leadership press conference and highlights how Americans are seeing massive price hikes as Open Enrollment begins in Idaho and Republicans continue refusing to act: \u201cIt\u2019s happening right now in Idaho. And it is coming to states across the country in two weeks\u2026 Folks in my state have already gotten notices about premiums doubling. And yet, all the while, Republican leaders are trying to stick their heads in the sand and trying to pretend that everything is fine.\u201d\n\nOctober 16, 2025 \u2013 Murray joins Leader Schumer for a virtual press conference with Protect Our Care and Americans who rely on the tax credits, hammering Republicans again on their refusal to acknowledge the health care cliff: \u201cRepublicans can\u2019t just stick their heads in the sand. They can\u2019t just say we will worry about it later. Families are facing this right now. Notices are in the mail at this very moment, telling families: \u2018Hey, I\u2019m sorry, but your monthly premium is going up by hundreds\u2014maybe even thousands\u2014of dollars.\u2019\u2026 People are logging on right now to see if the news is true, and they are seeing some eye-popping price hikes. This is happening across the country.\u201d\n\nOctober 16, 2025 \u2013 On the Senate floor, Murray implores Republicans to stop hiding from their constituents and act to prevent health care costs from skyrocketing: \u201cDemocrats have been calling for action on this for months. And where were Republicans? Why wouldn\u2019t Republicans sit down with us to talk health care in September? Why wouldn\u2019t they talk health care in August? Why couldn\u2019t they find a single minute to work with us on health care in July? Or June? Or even May?\u201d\n\nOctober 21, 2025 \u2013 In remarks at a Senate Democratic leadership press conference, Murray urges Republicans to stop ignoring the problem and come to the table to prevent the health care cost cliff: \u201cDon\u2019t tell us to wait. Don\u2019t tell us to ignore this problem. Republicans have had all year to get serious about health care. Instead, they focused on tax cuts for billionaires, and they did not tell them to wait for new tax breaks.\u201d\n\nOctober 21, 2025 \u2013 As window shopping for marketplace health care plans begins in WA, Murray takes to the Senate floor to call on Republicans to stop ignoring skyrocketing health care costs, and start working on a solution, saying: \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t talk about it before the shutdown. And, as a matter of fact, I think they\u2019ve talked about health care more during the shutdown than they had all year! They have been ignoring this issue. And now, their only offer to Democrats right now is to say we should ignore the issue too! No deal. I will not ignore my constituents. And to my Republican colleagues: I will not let you ignore yours either. So join us at the table, and let\u2019s get serious about ending this shutdown, and stopping premiums from skyrocketing.\u201d\n\nOctober 23, 2025 \u2013 Murray hosts a virtual press conference with Washington State Health Benefit Exchange CEO Ingrid Ulrey, and a constituent who relies on the ACA tax credits, explaining: \u201cWe tried to pass an extension while Republicans were shoveling tax breaks at billionaires when they passed their Big Ugly Bill, but they voted it down three times, and Republican leaders have refused to talk about this with us\u2026 The most important thing families can do right now is speak up.\u201d\n\nOctober 28, 2025 \u2013 Murray speaks at the weekly Senate Democratic leadership press conference on families seeing skyrocketing premiums while window-shopping for coverage on the ACA marketplace, saying: \u201cRepublicans keep saying, \u2018later, later, later,\u2019 but there is no later. This is happening right now. Republicans keep saying, \u2018we\u2019ll talk about, maybe, possibly doing something after the shutdown ends.\u2019 But they were totally unwilling to say or do a thing this entire year when the government was open!\u201d\n\nOctober 29, 2025 \u2013 Murray responds to Majority Leader Thune on the Senate floor and shares stories of Washington state families whose premiums are spiking thanks to Republican inaction, saying: \u201cThere are so many stories. I have talked with small business owners, I have talked with patients and I have talked with parents, and lifted up their concerns here on the Senate floor. And I am going to keep doing everything I can to shout out these stories from the rooftops. Because right now Republicans are doing everything they can to ignore this, and to say, \u2018deal with it later.\u2019 And what is \u2018later\u2019? Well, \u2018later\u2019 never comes. Why do I know that? Because we brought up this issue time and time again throughout the summer when the Republicans were giving away tax breaks to billionaires and saying, \u2018This is an issue that is confronting us.\u2019 And it was \u2018later\u2019 then, it\u2019s \u2018later\u2019 now, and \u2018later\u2019 is way too late.\u201d\n\nOctober 30, 2025 \u2013 Murray holds a virtual press conference with Washington State Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer, and a constituent who relies on the ACA tax credits, to highlight the high cost of Republican inaction on health care, saying: \u201cI am going to keep shouting it from the rooftops: later is too late. People are window shopping for health plans now. Open enrollment is this Saturday. That\u2019s when these price hikes really become a reality, and families who feel priced out of their coverage may just give up. Every single day Republicans waste, this problem is going to get worse and harder to solve.\u201d\n\nOctober 31, 2025 \u2013 Murray releases a video message slamming Republicans for their failure to act ahead of the health care cliff, saying in part: \u201cThis weekend, 22 million people are going to see their premiums skyrocket when open enrollment begins. Some will double. Some will triple. Some will quadruple, and even worse. But Republicans don\u2019t want to talk about that. They haven\u2019t wanted to talk about it all year long.\u201d\n\nNovember 4, 2025 \u2013 Murray speaks at a Senate Democratic leadership press conference, highlights the cost of the MAGA health care hike, and calls on Republicans to act: \u201cI have heard one painful story after the next\u2026 Every day, the MAGA health care hike gets harder to fix. But the House is on vacation\u2014seven weeks and counting!\u2026 Republicans need to get it into their head: families will not forget this, because they are going to be paying the cost of the MAGA health care hike. Every. Single. Month. So they need to get serious. They need to come to the table. And they need to work with us to stop the MAGA health care hike and reopen the government.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/at-hearing-senator-murray-slams-trump-and-republicans-for-abandoning-veterans-who-rely-on-snap-discusses-support-for-veterans-transition-to-civilian-life/", "At Hearing, Senator Murray Slams Trump and Republicans for Abandoning Veterans Who Rely On SNAP, Discusses Support for Veterans\u2019 Transition to Civilian Life", "2025-11-05", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Trump is refusing to allow SNAP benefits to flow despite available funding\u20141.2 million veterans rely on SNAP, 40 percent of whom are disabled\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s exchange at the hearing***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, at a Senate Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs hearing to examine efforts to support transitioning servicemembers, veterans and their families, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)\u2014a former chair and senior member of the committee\u2014emphasized how veterans who rely on SNAP are being hurt by President Trump blocking SNAP benefits despite available funding, and questioned witnesses on how the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) can provide better support to veterans during their transition to civilian life.\n\nAppearing at the hearing as witnesses were: Jason Galui, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.), Director, George W. Bush Institute; Mike Hutchings, CEO, Combined Arms; Jared Lyon, National President & CEO, Student Veterans of America; Barbara Carson, Colonel (Ret.), U.S. Air Force Reserve Managing Director, D\u2019Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University; Elizabeth O\u2019Brien, Director, Hiring Our Heroes; and Holly Hermes, Yale University Liaison for Veteran and Military Affairs.\n\n[TRUMP BLOCKING SNAP, HURTING VETERANS]\n\n\u201cLet me echo something Senator Blumenthal talked about, and really point out something that I think has not gotten enough attention, and that is that 1.2 million veterans rely on SNAP. That is, about a third of them are over the age of 65, and forty percent are disabled.\n\n\u201cWe know right now that President Trump is blocking them from getting the SNAP benefits they need so they don\u2019t go hungry.\n\n\u201cThe money to fund SNAP exists. Trump has chosen not to use that funding, and his administration said they\u2019re going to do partial benefits\u2014they\u2019d be late\u2014and then he posted yesterday on Truth Social that he\u2019s decided to block benefits altogether.\n\n\u201cSo now we are, of course, hearing reports of veterans flocking to food banks. They\u2019re not sure where their next meal is going to come from.\n\n\u201cMr. Chairman, my family was one of those families. My dad was a veteran. He got multiple sclerosis, and we had to rely on food stamps for a while, so this is not something we should tolerate.\n\n\u201cThe money exists. It is supposed to go out, and I hope every member of this committee lets the administration know that they need that money to get out.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray continued by asking Jared Lyon, National President & CEO of Student Veterans of America, about the impact that President Trump\u2019s refusal to fund SNAP benefits is having on student veterans in particular: \u201cSo Mr. Lyon, let me just ask you about that. What are you hearing from your members who do rely on SNAP, and tell me why it\u2019s so important to student veterans in particular?\u201d\n\n\u201cAt Student Veterans of America, we leverage a lot of research, and basic needs has been something that we\u2019ve been looking into for the better part of the last five years. Food and housing insecurity are remaining challenges for veterans in higher education,\u201d Mr. Lyon replied. \u201cThe GI bill is designed for a single person that heads back to school, and when you look at the modern student veteran, over half are married or in a committed relationship with children when they head back to school. Another 20 percent of us are single parents when we\u2019re back in school, and over 75 percent of us are working full-time while we are in school, just trying to make ends meet. It is very difficult to transition without a military pension, without health care for life, and that is what the average veteran is doing when they head back to school. So, it\u2019s no surprise to see benefits like SNAP and other things being relied on while you\u2019re back in school and trying to make ends meet. When those benefits go away, veterans are impacted\u2014and more than that, their family members that rely on these benefits are impacted as well.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you for sharing that. And again, I urge all of our committee members to let the Administration know that money\u2019s there. They\u2019re legally required to obligate it. Get it out. We have people who need that,\u201d Senator Murray replied.\n\n[BARRIERS FACING WOMEN VETERANS]\n\nSenator Murray continued her questioning by asking Colonel Hermes about the barriers female veterans face when seeking civilian employment: \u201cLet me ask about, Colonel Hermes, about women veterans. They are the fastest-growing demographic of veterans. And I personally have heard from many women veterans that when they return home to civilian life, people don\u2019t respect their service or assume that they are a military spouse, not the actual veteran. And it is disturbing that we now have a Secretary of Defense who takes every opportunity to insult women who\u2019ve been in the military. And that really, I believe, adds to the barriers that women face now when they return to civilian life. So, talk to us a little bit about some of the barriers that women veterans in particular face when they come home and seek civilian employment.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a very important question for our society to wrestle with,\u201d Colonel Hermes replied. \u201cIn our group of enlisted student veterans\u2026 we have a very small number of women, and I even say parents, or families, because it is very difficult, just like Mr. Lyon mentioned, to support a family while you\u2019re going to college. The GI benefits, the federal benefits that we\u2019re able to give even institutionally, can\u2019t support some families as they leave the military. So that\u2019s a huge challenge, and I think that\u2019s something that our society needs to keep wrestling with. And we could talk to the VA about programs that could support that in the future nationwide, not just at one school or another.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you very much. I have run out of time, but this is something I\u2019m very concerned about\u2014when we hear discussions about DEI, and then it impacts women who we need in our in our military. And not just then, but when they come home and they are veteran, they actually don\u2019t want to identify as a veteran, or don\u2019t see themselves as a veteran, and they then don\u2019t get the services and benefits that they\u2019ve earned,\u201d Senator Murray said.\n\nSenator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee\u2014as the daughter of a World War II veteran, supporting veterans and their families has always been an important priority for her. Senator Murray has been a leading voice in the Senate speaking out forcefully against President Trump and Elon Musk\u2019s mass firing of VA employees and VA researchers across the country and Elon Musk and DOGE\u2019s infiltration of the VA, including accessing veterans\u2019 sensitive personal information. After pressing Doug Collins on EHR and protecting women\u2019s access to VA health care, including lifesaving abortion care, at his nomination hearing, Senator Murray voted against Doug Collins\u2019s nomination to be VA Secretary\u2014sounding the alarm over Elon Musk and DOGE\u2019s activities at the VA and making clear that the Trump administration\u2019s lawlessness is putting our national security and our veterans at risk. Senator Murray released a report earlier this year on how Trump\u2019s mass firings at VA are hurting veterans\u2019 services and health care in Washington state and across the country. And in August, Senator Murray slammed the Trump administration\u2019s move to ban abortion care at VA, even when a veteran\u2019s pregnancy is putting their health at risk or is the result of rape or incest.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-trumps-disastrous-tariffs-following-supreme-court-oral-arguments/", "Senator Murray Statement on Trump\u2019s Disastrous Tariffs Following Supreme Court Oral Arguments", "2025-11-05", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Last week in bipartisan votes, the Senate passed three separate resolutions to end Trump\u2019s tariffs on nearly every country; Speaker Johnson refuses to allow House vote on ending tariffs\n\nCurrent effective tariff rate is 18 percent\u2014the highest since 1934; Trump\u2019s tariffs could push nearly one million Americans below the poverty line next year\n\n***ICYMI: WATCH & DOWNLOAD:Murray speaks out on Senate floor against Trump tariffs***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on Trump\u2019s tariffs shortly after today\u2019s oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court on the legality of President Trump\u2019s steep tariffs on goods from nearly every country:\n\n\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s tariffs have been an unmitigated disaster for small businesses in Washington state who are being forced to raise prices or close their doors, families who are facing higher costs on nearly everything, farmers who are hurting from retaliation in critical export markets\u2014and the list goes on. I\u2019ve traveled across Washington state this year listening to the painful stories of small business owners and families who are being crushed by Trump\u2019s taxes, and whose lives are being upended by this President who doesn\u2019t know the first thing about how trade works. Everyone can see there is no strategy behind Trump\u2019s tariffs\u2014and every American is being forced to pay the price.\n\n\u201cI hope the Supreme Court will recognize the shoddy legal ground these tariffs stand on and rule accordingly, but either way, Republicans should join Democrats and exercise Congress\u2019s constitutional power to end Trump\u2019s tariffs. Last week, we saw a handful of Senate Republicans vote with Democrats to scrap these disastrous tariffs\u2014that\u2019s a start, but we need a lot more Republicans to stand with us. Congress could put a stop to Trump\u2019s tariffs tomorrow if Republicans wanted to\u2014and every American who wants these taxes to end should continue to speak up and make their voices heard.\u201d\n\nLast week, the Senate passed\u2014in three separate bipartisan votes\u2014three Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to end the vast majority of the tariffs President Trump has arbitrarily imposed, which are costing American families thousands of dollars and crushing small businesses across the country. Specifically, the Senate passed resolutions to cancel Trump\u2019s 40 percent tariffs on Brazil, his 35 percent tariffs on Canadian goods, and his across-the-board tariffs on nearly all countries by canceling the emergency declarations that underpin them. In the House, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to hold a vote on ending Trump\u2019s job-killing tariffs.\n\nRight now, the effective tariff rate in the U.S. is 18 percent, which is the highest tariff rate since 1934. Trump\u2019s tariffs have already raised retail prices for families by 5 percent, and this year alone, Trump\u2019s tariffs are expected to cost American households an additional $1,800 on average. A recent analysis from Yale Budget Lab found that Trump\u2019s tariffs will likely increase the number of Americans living in poverty by 875,000 in 2026. Last month, a nonpartisan analysis by the Washington State Office of Financial Management found that if the current Trump tariffs stay in effect for the next four years, they will cost Washington state up to 25,000 jobs\u2014and if Trump\u2019s \u201cLiberation Day\u201d tariffs are fully implemented, they would cost Washington state $2.2 billion and 31,900 jobs over the next four years and significantly drive up the cost of food, clothing, cars, and much more.\n\nWashington state has one of the most trade-dependent economies of any state in the country, with 40 percent of jobs in the state tied to international commerce. In 2024, Washington exported $57.8 billion of goods to the world, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), making Washington state the 9th-largest state exporter of goods last year. Washington state is also the top U.S. producer of apples, blueberries, hops, pears, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries\u2014all of which risk losing vital export markets due to retaliatory tariffs from key trading partners, including Canada.\n\nSenator Murray has been vocal in responding to Trump\u2019s harmful trade war since the very beginning, holding events in every part of Washington state, and hammering the Trump administration for driving up the cost of just about everything through their chaotic and thoughtless trade policies. When Trump first announced new tariffs, Senator Murray brought together leaders across Washington state to discuss how Trump\u2019s trade war threatens Washington state\u2019s economy, and spoke out on the Senate floor against Trump\u2019s chaotic trade war, calling on Republicans in Congress to join Democrats in reasserting Congress\u2019s power over trade. She has held several events across Washington state to hear directly from constituents and small business owners about how Trump\u2019s tariffs are harming them\u2014including in Tacoma, Yakima, Vancouver, Seattle, Skagit County, and Blaine, just across the border from Canada. On August 1st, as Trump hiked \u201creciprocal\u201d tariffs on some of our closest trading partners, Senator Murray held another virtual press conference with Washington state businesses to sound the alarm. She held another roundtable with small business owners in Vancouver in September, and last week, Senator Murray slammed Trump for the new port fees hitting ships at West Coast Ports as a result of Trump\u2019s trade war with China.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-35-senator-murray-slams-trump-for-refusing-to-fully-fund-snap-calls-out-republicans-for-doing-nothing-to-stop-maga-health-care-hike/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 35: Senator Murray Slams Trump for Refusing to Fully Fund SNAP, Calls Out Republicans for Doing Nothing to Stop MAGA Health Care Hike", "2025-11-04", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "REUTERS: Obamacare premiums double, adding post Halloween fright for US health insurance shoppers\n\nABC: Trump hosted \u2018Great Gatsby\u2019 Halloween party hours before SNAP funding lapsed\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s remarks***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks on government funding at this afternoon\u2019s Senate Democratic leadership press conference on the thirty-fifth day of President Trump and Republicans\u2019 shutdown.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cAs we all know, right now, open enrollment is underway, and Americans are now seeing the true cost of the MAGA health care hike.\n\n\u201cAnd look, it\u2019s not just the \u2018MAGA health care hike\u2019 because Republican leaders are refusing to do anything. Four out of five people who rely on the ACA enhanced premium health care tax credits live in states that Trump won. That is why it\u2019s a MAGA health care hike.\n\n\u201cAnd over 80 percent of the people who will end up uninsured if these expire are in Trump states. That is why this is a MAGA health care hike.\n\n\u201cThe five states with the largest percentage increases, where premiums are quadrupling? All Trump states. The next five, where premiums are tripling? All Trump states. The next five after that? You guessed it, all Trump states. That is why this is a MAGA health care hike. But Republicans won\u2019t lift a finger.\n\n\u201cI have heard one painful story after the next. Dianne in Wenatchee said she is going to see her premium increase by fourteen hundred dollars a month. Damian told me his family faces a $2,000 monthly increase.\n\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s just my state. A senior in Idaho told me his premium is increasing nearly eightfold. There\u2019s a woman in Tennessee whose premium will jump from $10 a month to well over a thousand.\n\n\u201cEvery day, the MAGA health care hike gets harder to fix. But the House is on vacation\u2014seven weeks and counting! Republican leaders are openly saying, \u2018Don\u2019t look to us, we never wanted to lower health care costs in the first place.\u2019\n\n\u201cAs for President Trump, he\u2019s throwing a blow-out Gatsby party down in Mar-a-Lago. He is pardoning people who helped terrorists launder money\u2014all while he refuses to work on reopening the government, and actively chooses to break the law and ignore the courts to force 42 million Americans to go hungry.\n\n\u201cRemember, USDA had a plan to keep SNAP running longer, even before this shutdown started. Then Trump scrapped it, pulled it off their website. And now he\u2019s proudly posting about blocking SNAP. I mean, he\u2019s basically taking credit, promising it won\u2019t go out.\n\n\u201cAnd as Speaker Johnson put it\u2014they don\u2019t want to release the \u2018pressure.\u2019 They are using the American people as leverage.\n\n\u201cTrump still has the funds to keep benefits going out in full and on time right now. He is choosing not to use them\u2014all while he chooses to build himself a new ballroom.\n\n\u201cDo Republicans not realize that all those families who cannot afford to put food on the table, all those families facing the MAGA health care hike\u2014they are watching as Trump guilds his office in gold and bulldozes the East Wing to build a fancy new ballroom. As he jacks up costs for working families with tariffs and shovels billions at Argentina. And as he showers goodies, pardons, and party favors on his friends, and Republicans shower tax breaks on billionaires.\n\n\u201cThese families that are getting hurt are watching us. Their grocery bills rise, their premiums double, and the Republican lawmakers are doing nothing.\n\n\u201cRepublicans need to get it into their head: families will not forget this, because they are going to be paying the cost of the MAGA health care hike. Every. Single. Month.\n\n\u201cSo they need to get serious. They need to come to the table. And they need to work with us to stop the MAGA health care hike and reopen the government.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-schumer-top-democrats-on-national-security-committees-urge-trump-administration-to-immediately-brief-senate-on-military-action-in-the-caribbean-and-pacific/", "Murray, Schumer, Top Democrats on National Security Committees Urge Trump Administration to Immediately Brief Senate on Military Action in the Caribbean and Pacific", "2025-10-31", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY); Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee; Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee; Chris Coons (D-DE) Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense; and Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs in writing a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard calling for an immediate briefing for all Senators on military strikes against alleged narcotraffickers in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.\n\nIn the letter, Senator Murray, Leader Schumer, and the top Democrats on the Senate\u2019s national security committees questioned the Trump administration\u2019s lack of transparency with Congress and the public as strikes continue to escalate, potentially dragging America into open armed conflict and putting our men and women in uniform at risk.\n\n\u201cTo date, the Administration has failed to provide the full Senate with the basic information necessary to carry out its oversight responsibilities, including the identities of the groups against which the President has authorized the use of military force\u2014even as reports increase that the Administration is planning additional strikes inside Venezuela,\u201d wrote the senators.\n\nThe senators also demanded answers for why the Trump administration provided partisan briefings on a significant national security matter. They reminded the secretaries of their obligation to keep Congress informed so it can fulfill its constitutionally mandated oversight role and ensure the Trump administration\u2019s actions are lawful, align with U.S. national security interests, and don\u2019t risk dragging our country into open-ended conflict.\n\n\u201cThe Administration\u2019s actions also threaten to destabilize the region and put U.S. service members in harm\u2019s way,\u201d concluded the senators. \u201cThe American people deserve straight answers about the details of these operations, their legal basis, and the Administration\u2019s broader goals before we find ourselves entangled in yet another endless conflict.\u201d\n\nThe full text of the letter is available HERE and below.\n\nDear Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, and Director Gabbard:\n\nWe write to request that you immediately brief the full Senate on military strikes against alleged narcotraffickers in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. We also request that you provide all legal opinions related to these strikes and a list of the groups or other entities the President has deemed targetable.\n\nTo date, the Administration has failed to provide the full Senate with the basic information necessary to carry out its oversight responsibilities, including the identities of the groups against which the President has authorized the use of military force\u2014even as reports increase that the Administration is planning additional strikes inside Venezuela. Additional information is vital for the public and Congress as the Administration draws us deeper and deeper towards open conflict\u2014putting our men and women in uniform at risk.\n\nThe Administration has already conducted more than one dozen strikes, killing at least 61 people, without providing answers to fundamental questions about the policy rationale, domestic and international legal justification, or long-term consequences. Instead, the Administration has selectively shared what has at times been contradictory information with certain Members of Congress, while excluding others. Even more concerning, in a breach of longstanding practice, on at least one occasion the Administration has conducted a partisan briefing exclusively for Members of the Majority party.\n\nThe Administration has also failed to provide the full Senate with basic details surrounding these operations routinely provided by past Administrations during similar conflicts. Here, the Administration has yet to provide the full Senate with a list of the groups it has designated as targetable, the identities of the individuals targeted and killed or intelligence (including unedited video of the strikes) confirming these groups and individuals were lawful targets. Nor has it provided information demonstrating the individuals killed were in fact drug traffickers, the types and quantities of drugs destroyed or any justification for why more cost-effective and legally justifiable measures were not pursued, such as interdiction.\n\nDuring other significant national security developments, including the counter ISIS campaign in Syria under the first Trump Administration, prior Administrations provided cabinet-level, bipartisan briefings to all Members of Congress\u2014at a regular cadence. This Administration, unfortunately, has been absent.\n\nWe support working to stop cartels and drug traffickers from transporting drugs to the United States; however, the Administration has shared no information to suggest that its military operations in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean are effective. As you know, the overwhelming majority of fentanyl trafficked into the United States is not transported through the Caribbean or Eastern Pacific, but throughout ports of entry along the Southwest border with Mexico.\n\nThe Administration\u2019s actions also threaten to destabilize the region and put U.S. service members in harm\u2019s way. The American people deserve straight answers about the details of these operations, their legal basis, and the Administration\u2019s broader goals before we find ourselves entangled in yet another endless conflict.\n\nWe urge you to promptly brief the full Senate on the Administration\u2019s actions to date, its future plans for the region, and to answer fully questions that we and the American public have about these operations.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/new-video-murray-highlights-how-republican-states-will-be-hit-hardest-by-maga-health-care-hike-when-open-enrollment-begins-saturday-lays-out-state-of-play-on-health-care-snap/", "NEW VIDEO: Murray Highlights How *Republican* States Will be Hit Hardest By MAGA Health Care Hike When Open Enrollment Begins Saturday; Lays Out State of Play on Health Care & SNAP", "2025-10-31", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray responds to absurd Dr. Oz lie: \u201cRepublicans have no plan to stop the MAGA health care hike. The only idea they have seems to be to lie and pretend it is just going to cost families $13 extra next year. I mean, go back home and try that with your constituents! They will shout you out of the room!\u201d\n\nMore than three-quarters of the people who rely on ACA tax credits for health insurance live in red states\n\n***DOWNLOAD RAW VIDEO HERE; WATCH HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Ahead of the start of open enrollment nationwide tomorrow, Saturday November 1st, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)\u2014Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee\u2014released a new video message on how 22 million Americans will see massive price hikes when they begin shopping online for health insurance coverage on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchange marketplaces tomorrow, whether on Washington Healthplanfinder or the national HealthCare.gov site.\n\nSenator Murray called out Republicans for causing a \u201cMAGA health care hike\u201d and highlighted how Republicans\u2019 refusal to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits\u2014the reason prices are skyrocketing\u2014is going to hurt people in Republican states harder than anywhere else. Among other proof points, Murray pointed out that 80 percent of the funding for the ACA tax credits that Republicans refuse to save goes to states Trump won.\n\nDOWNLOAD HERE; WATCH HERE\n\nSenator Murray has been warning nonstop, every day, for weeks about how Republicans\u2019 refusal to save the ACA enhanced premium tax credits will cause premiums to explode\u2014and how the harm will be felt most in states that voted for Trump. She has forcefully warned that the 10 states facing the largest premium hikes are red states, and she took her case directly to Idahoans and Montanans in separate press calls in recent weeks.\n\nOpen enrollment in Washington state and nationwide begins this Saturday, November 1st. Last week, Washington state\u2019s ACA marketplace, Washington Healthplanfinder, opened its \u201cwindow shopping\u201d period, allowing Washingtonians to look at plans for next year\u2014and most are seeing dramatic increases in their premiums thanks to Republican inaction. On average, premiums for ACA plans in Washington state are spiking by 21 percent. Nationwide, 22 million Americans who buy health care through the ACA exchanges will see their health care costs skyrocket next year without the tax credits, premiums are more than doubling on average, and these higher costs will push 4.8 million people off their health coverage over the next decade. A Washington-state specific fact sheet on the ACA tax credits is HERE.\n\nIn the video message (TIMESTAMP: 0:52), Senator Murray also lays out how Republicans have callously decided to cut off SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans beginning November 1st, saying:\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s be clear: this weekend, SNAP benefits will run dry. Not because there is no money left to keep families fed, but because Trump is choosing not to tap contingency funds. He is choosing to let kids go hungry. It\u2019s also not because Congress can\u2019t possibly reach an agreement to fund SNAP. There is a Republican bill specifically to keep SNAP going that we could pass, no problem. In fact, there is a Republican bill with fourteen Republican cosponsors to keep SNAP going. But the Republican leader won\u2019t even hold a vote on it. He is sending everyone home rather than hold a vote on a bill he knows will pass. Now, keep in mind: he\u2019s happy to vote 14 times on a bill he knows won\u2019t pass. But he won\u2019t vote once on a bill he knows will pass. Someone explain that to me. Someone explain that to folks back home\u2014who are going to go hungry because of the Republican Leader\u2019s decision.\u201d\n\nThis week, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced legislation to ensure SNAP funding does not run dry\u2014the bill has Democratic support and 10 Republican cosponsors, and as Murray notes, Republican Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) chose to send the Senate home rather than hold a vote on the bill\u2014which would have passed. In addition, Democrats introduced and tried to pass this week a separate bill to ensure continued funding for both SNAP and WIC\u2014but Leader Thune blocked it.\n\nMeanwhile, President Trump has outright refused to tap billions of dollars in the SNAP contingency fund to pay out November benefits\u2014ignoring the law, bipartisan calls to tap the contingency fund to disburse benefits, and USDA\u2019s own September 30th shutdown contingency plan. The September document makes clear the SNAP contingency fund not only can be used to keep SNAP running, but that it was the Department\u2019s plan to do just that before Trump inexplicably reversed course and decided to let 42 million Americans go hungry this month. Yesterday, Politico reported that a federal judge appeared likely to rule in favor of a lawsuit brought by Democratic states arguing that the Trump administration must use emergency funds to fund SNAP benefits in November. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said in part: \u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to understand how this isn\u2019t an emergency when there\u2019s no money and a lot of people need their SNAP benefits.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray briefly relied on food stamps as a child and has always fought to fully fund SNAP benefits, and she forcefully opposed Republicans when they made the largest cut to SNAP in history this summer\u2014kicking roughly 1 million kids off their SNAP benefits or substantially cutting them in their Big Ugly Bill.\n\nA full transcript of Senator Murray\u2019s remarks in the video message is below:\n\n\u201cThis weekend, 22 million people are going to see their premiums skyrocket when open enrollment begins. Some will double. Some will triple. Some will quadruple, and even worse.\n\n\u201cBut Republicans don\u2019t want to talk about that. They haven\u2019t wanted to talk about it all year long. Never mind the fact that 80 percent of this funding goes to states Trump won. Never mind the fact that the biggest price hikes are all in Republican states.\n\n\u201cAnd make no mistake, this is the MAGA health care hike. Not just because Republicans are causing it\u2014though they are\u2014but because this price hike is going to hit MAGA states harder than anyone.\n\n\u201cAnd yet, even our most MAGA Senators have done nothing about this all year. They were too busy shoveling tax breaks at billionaires!\n\n\u201cAlso, let\u2019s be clear: this weekend, SNAP benefits will run dry. Not because there is no money left to keep families fed, but because Trump is choosing not to tap contingency funds. He is choosing to let kids go hungry.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s also not because Congress can\u2019t possibly reach an agreement to fund SNAP. There is a Republican bill specifically to keep SNAP going that we could pass, no problem. In fact, there is a Republican bill with fourteen Republican cosponsors to keep SNAP going.\n\n\u201cBut the Republican leader won\u2019t even hold a vote on it. He is sending everyone home rather than hold a vote on a bill he knows will pass. Now, keep in mind: he\u2019s happy to vote 14 times on a bill he knows won\u2019t pass. But he won\u2019t vote once on a bill he knows will pass.\n\n\u201cSomeone explain that to me. Someone explain that to folks back home who are going to go hungry because of the Republican Leader\u2019s decision. And then, can someone explain to me why Republicans have refused, all year long, to talk about health care tax credits that overwhelmingly help Republican states?\n\n\u201cI just cannot get over, I just cannot understand, how Democrats are the only ones fighting to save these health care tax credits, even as Trump states are the ones facing the worst of the crisis to come.\n\n\u201cInstead, we have Dr. Oz trying to say it\u2019s going to be just a $13 dollar increase. Do you think that is going to fool families? There is a woman in Tennessee whose premium is going to go from $10 a month to over $1,000 a month\u2014and she is not alone. Do Republicans think they can convince her $1,000 is $13?\n\n\u201cI know when it comes to helping billionaires, Republicans are happy to use magic math and say trillions in tax breaks are free\u2014but these families live in the real world. Their premiums are really jumping by hundreds, even thousands, of dollars a month.\n\n\u201cThat is not a theory. That is not spin. They are window shopping right now. They are seeing the price hikes in real time. And come Saturday, when Open Enrollment begins, those sky high, unaffordable prices are going to become a reality. And not just for the 220,000 people back in Washington state I am fighting for every single day.\n\n\u201cThe MAGA health care hike is going to hit nearly half a million people in Alabama, more than half a million in Ohio, and more than 600,000 people in South Carolina and Tennessee.\n\n\u201cThe MAGA health care hike is going to hit nearly four million people in Texas, and over four million people in Florida. But all Republicans have to say is \u2018wait\u2019 and \u2018later.\u2019\n\n\u201cRepublicans should be begging us to stop the MAGA health care hike. They should be coming to us with their own plans to stop the MAGA health care hike. But they have been silent all year.\n\n\u201cAnd what are they saying now? Some Republicans arguing it\u2019s not their problem because they never wanted to lower health care costs in the first place. Some Republicans are saying they still wish we repealed Obamacare.\n\n\u201cI even heard one Republican saying they want to bring back high-risk pools. You know what that means? That means gutting the protections for people with pre-existing conditions. \u2018You have cancer? Well, no health insurance for you.\u2019\n\n\u201cFamilies are about to see premiums double, or worse, and every Republican idea I\u2019ve heard so far is just, \u2018What if we made the problem worse?\u2019 And mind you, none of these ideas\u2014bad, awful ideas\u2014would actually do a single thing to stop the price hikes that are going into effect Saturday.\n\n\u201cThe fact of the matter is: Republicans have no plan to stop the MAGA health care hike. The only idea they have seems to be to lie and pretend it is just going to cost families $13 extra next year. I mean, go back home and try that with your constituents! They will shout you out of the room. $13 dollars? The gall.\n\n\u201cI truly could not be more frustrated. I truly cannot understand why Democrats can sit at the table all year long, asking to stop this MAGA health care price hike, and Republicans would never even give us the time of day.\n\n\u201cRepublicans would literally rather shut down the government than stop these premium hikes. And even now, the only thing they will say is \u2018later,\u2019 even when later is too late.\n\n\u201cEvery day this drags on, the damage gets worse. There is not a second to waste. There has never been a second to waste. Open enrollment is all but here. Price hikes are all but locked in.\n\n\u201cFrom start to finish, Democrats have been at the table, and we still are not going anywhere. But from start to finish, Republicans have been missing in action. And what do they want to do now? Send us all home and ignore the train as it crashes in front of them. It\u2019s disgraceful. And they should be ashamed.\n\n\u201cAnd they should know families will not forget this, because they are going to be paying the cost of the MAGA health care hike. Every. Single. Month.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-30-days-away-from-open-enrollment-senator-murray-joins-wa-insurance-commissioner-constituent-to-highlight-high-cost-of-republican-inaction-for-families-buying-health-care/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 30: Days Away from Open Enrollment, Senator Murray Joins WA Insurance Commissioner & Constituent to Highlight High Cost of Republican Inaction for Families Buying Health Care", "2025-10-30", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "NEW FROM NEW YORK TIMES: Obamacare Prices Become Public, Highlighting Big Increases\n\nNEW FROM KFF: ACA Insurers Are Raising Premiums by an Estimated 26%, but Most Enrollees Could See Sharper Increases in What They Pay\n\nSEATTLE TIMES: WA residents shopping for health insurance hit with sticker shock\n\n***WATCH PRESS CONFERENCE HERE, DOWNLOAD HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, on the 30th day of the Republican government shutdown and ahead of Open Enrollment beginning nationwide this Saturday, November 1st, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)\u2014Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee\u2014held a virtual press conference with Washington State Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer and constituent Bridget Provalenko of Bellingham, whose family relies on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits to afford health insurance.\n\nAt the press conference, Senator Murray discussed how inaction by Republican Members of Congress will force Washingtonians to pay significantly more for health care next year. Last week, Washington state\u2019s ACA marketplace, Washington Healthplanfinder, opened its \u201cwindow shopping\u201d period, allowing Washingtonians to look at health coverage plans for next year\u2014and most are seeing dramatic increases in their premiums thanks to Republican inaction. Customers can start signing up for a plan and officially shopping for coverage through Washington Healthplanfinder once Open Enrollment begins on November 1st. On average, premiums for ACA plans in Washington state are spiking by 21 percent. Nationwide, 22 million Americans who buy health care through the ACA exchanges will see their health care costs skyrocket next year without the tax credits, premiums are more than doubling on average, and these higher costs will push 4.8 million people off their health coverage over the next decade. A Washington-state specific fact sheet on the ACA tax credits is HERE.\n\n\u201cRepublicans don\u2019t even have the tiniest inkling of an actual health care plan! They never have. But Democrats have a pretty simple plan to address the immediate crisis: save these tax credits, and stop premiums from doubling, tripling, quadrupling, or worse. Now, Republicans may have shut down the government over this, but they will not shut down the debate. People in Washington state and across the country are not going to be silent when they log on and see their monthly premium is going to go through the roof. They are already speaking out,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cThere are over 220,000 people in Washington state alone who rely on the premium tax credits to afford health insurance. And that is literally just one percent of the 22 million people in the country who rely on them. In our state, families who lose their support are going to see their premiums more than double on average. I am hearing from families who have done the math and gotten their notices. They check online, and learn that their health insurance plans will cost hundreds\u2014in some cases thousands\u2014more each month\u2026 I am going to keep shouting it from the rooftops: later is too late. People are window shopping for health plans now. Open enrollment is this Saturday. That is when these price hikes really become a reality, and families who feel priced out of their coverage may just give up.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray played a critical role in passing the enhanced premium tax credits in the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and she has been fighting for months to make sure these important health care tax credits don\u2019t expire, including cosponsoring multiple pieces of legislation\u2014the Health Care Affordability Act and theProtecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act\u2014that would make them permanent.\n\n\u201cHard working people have relied on these tax credits to buy health insurance for themselves and their families. Some of these people have serious health conditions. For them, the idea of going without coverage can literally mean the difference between life and death, unless Congress takes immediate action to extend them the enhanced premium tax credits will expire at the end of the year,\u201d saidWashington State Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer. \u201cMore than 216,000 Washingtonians in the individual market qualified for enhanced premium tax credits. That\u2019s about two thirds of our enrollees. These subsidies are what help people afford and keep coverage. If Republicans let the enhanced premium tax credits expire, the exchange estimates that up to 80,000 Washingtonians will drop their health insurance. I\u2019m afraid this will cause us to backslide on our state\u2019s historically low 4.8 percent uninsured rate. That means higher costs and strains on our health care system. As people put off preventative care, these effects will be felt by people across the state, but will hurt some of our rural communities.\u201d\n\n\u201cBeing self-employed, we have to go out and find our own insurance, which we have done over the past few years. Fortunately, last year, we qualified for the credits on the ACA, and it\u2019s made a huge difference. It was able to keep our premium the same as it was the prior year, which was amazing for us,\u201d said Bridget Provalenko of Bellingham, whose family uses the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Exchange to afford health insurance. \u201cHealth insurance isn\u2019t a Democrat or Republican issue, it\u2019s an American issue\u2026 I just want people to understand that health insurance is very important to people. We need it. We need to make it affordable.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered on today\u2019s press call, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you all for joining this call today, because right now, families in Washington state and across the country are window shopping for health insurance coverage for next year. And they are coming face-to-face with the reality that their monthly premiums are set to skyrocket, all because of Republicans\u2019 inaction.\n\n\u201cDemocrats have been clear, all year long: we want to stop these price hikes and we want to save the ACA tax credits that millions of families rely on.\n\n\u201cBut Republicans have been silent. Or worse, they\u2019ve shrugged their shoulders. They\u2019ve essentially said, \u2018Don\u2019t look at me, I never wanted to lower health care costs in the first place.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo they have literally now shut the government down instead of talking with Democrats about health care. Which is probably because Republicans don\u2019t even have the tiniest inkling of an actual health care plan! They never have!\n\n\u201cBut Democrats have a pretty simple plan to address the immediate crisis: save the tax credits, and stop premiums from doubling, tripling, quadrupling, or worse.\n\n\u201cNow, Republicans may have shut down the government over this, but they will not shut down the debate. People in Washington state and across the country are not going to be silent when they log on and see their monthly premium is going to go through the roof. They are already speaking out.\n\n\u201cThere are over 220,000 people in Washington state alone who rely on the premium tax credits so they can afford their health insurance. And that is literally just one percent of the 22 million people in the country who rely on them.\n\n\u201cIn our state, families who lose their support are going to see their premiums more than double on average. I\u2019m hearing from families who have done the math and gotten their notices. They check online and learn that their health insurance plans will cost hundreds\u2014in some cases thousands\u2014more each month.\n\n\u201cI have heard from families trying to figure out if they can go without daily necessities\u2014maybe have fewer, smaller meals. I have heard from small business owners wondering if they will just have to close up shop and look for a job with employer-sponsored coverage.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve heard from people who simply can\u2019t afford it no matter what and are just preparing to just go without health insurance entirely next year. They\u2019re skipping checkups, they\u2019re rationing prescriptions, and they\u2019re rolling the dice on their health.\n\n\u201cThis is heartbreaking. It is happening nationwide and it is completely unacceptable to me. The Republican response has been silence. The Republican solution is \u2018later.\u2019\n\n\u201cI am going to keep shouting it from the rooftops: later is too late. People are window shopping for health plans now. Open enrollment is this Saturday. That\u2019s when these price hikes really become a reality, and families who feel priced out of their coverage may just give up.\n\n\u201cEvery single day Republicans waste, this problem is going to get worse and harder to solve. Every day.\n\n\u201cSo we are not going to stop sounding the alarm. We are not going to stop lifting up the stories of real families who are facing the real price hikes Republicans want to pretend don\u2019t exist. And we are not going to stop demanding they join us at the table, and work on actually solving this and reopening the government as soon as possible.\n\n\u201cIf Republicans want to bury their heads in the sand or plug their ears, that\u2019s their choice. But guess what? We are going to bring a shovel. We will bring a megaphone. And we will do everything we can to make sure the American people are heard.\n\n\u201cSo thank you all for being here, and I\u2019m glad to be joined by two people who can speak about this issue firsthand: Patty Kuderer, our Insurance Commissioner in Washington state; and Bridget from Bellingham. Bridget, thank you for being here to share your story.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/at-hearing-experts-confirm-costly-toll-of-trump-cuts-at-nih-and-fda-senator-murray-blasts-trump-for-upending-biomedical-research-grants-canceling-clinical-trials/", "At Hearing, Experts Confirm Costly Toll of Trump Cuts at NIH and FDA, Senator Murray Blasts Trump for Upending Biomedical Research Grants & Canceling Clinical Trials", "2025-10-29", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Senator Murray: \u201cSince President Trump took office and Secretary Kennedy was confirmed, the Trump administration has terminated $2.3 billion in life-saving research that was funded by the NIH. They tried to cut billions more from our medical research labs in every state.\u201d\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray on how Trump has jeopardized treatments and cures for rare diseases***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing titled \u201cThe Future of Biotech: Maintaining U.S. Competitiveness and Delivering Lifesaving Cures to Patients,\u201d U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)\u2014a former chair and senior member of the HELP Committee\u2014spoke forcefully on how Trump\u2019s cuts at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have cost countless families their hope for treatments and cures for rare diseases, and severely set back American competitiveness in biomedical research and development.\n\nWitnesses at the hearing included: Dr. Aaron S. Kesselheim, a physician and health policy researcher at Harvard University; Dr. Reshma Ramachandran, a physician and professor of medicine at Yale University; John Crowley, President and CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization; Lowell Schiller, Nonresident Senior Scholar at the USC Schaeffer Institute; and Dr. Josh Makower, Yock Family Professor of Medicine and of Bioengineering, Stanford University Schools of Medicine and Engineering.\n\n[BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH COMPETITIVENESS]\n\nSenator Murray began by asking Drs. Aaron Kesselheim and Reshma Ramachandran about how the Trump administration\u2019s cancellations of NIH grants and staffing cuts at the NIH and FDA have taken a severe toll on American biomedical research and competitiveness. \u201cSince President Trump took office and Secretary Kennedy was confirmed, the Trump administration has terminated $2.3 billion in life-saving research that was funded by the NIH. They tried to cut billions more from our medical research labs in every state by illegally implementing a new indirect cost policy. They proposed gutting the NIH budget by 43 percent\u2014that\u2019s about $20 billion dollars. They laid off thousands of scientists and grant administrators at NIH and across HHS,\u201d Senator Murray said. \u201cThey have slowed the FDA\u2019s review of drugs and medical products by firing thousands of staff at the agency, and they have halted more than 100 clinical trials that were working discover promising new treatments and cures. So, it seems to me that this administration has declared war on public health\u2014and those examples are just a few of many.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo, Dr. Kesselheim, I wanted to ask you, does canceling more than five thousand NIH grants\u2014on everything from cancer to Alzheimer\u2019s disease\u2014increase or decrease American competitiveness in biomedical research and innovation?\u201d asked Senator Murray.\n\n\u201cIt substantially decreases it, because we will lose the competitive battle that we have with academic institutions and research institutions in other countries if we don\u2019t continue to have that level of support, and more, that we need in this country,\u201d Dr. Kesselheim replied. \u201cThe support for research at those centers that ultimately then lead to spin-off companies or other development, that\u2019s where we get our cures from, and we really need that in order to stay competitive with science that\u2019s going on around the world.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray continued, \u201cYes, and I think we should note that more than 99 percent of all new drugs approved by the FDA from 2010 through 2019 were actually built on a foundation of NIH-funded research. So, it\u2019s pretty clear our country\u2019s historical success that you\u2019ve all talked about relied on a strong pipeline from basic research through pharmaceutical development, and our investments that we make here.\u201d\n\n\u201cDr. Ramachandran, what do the Trump administration\u2019s cuts at NIH and the FDA mean for pharmaceutical companies\u2019 ability to bring new treatments and medicines to patients?\u201d asked Senator Murray.\n\nDr. Ramachandran responded: \u201cThere\u2019s both a long-term and short-term problem. Obviously, in the short term, you mentioned clinical trials being canceled. These are oftentimes kind of the late-stage development steps for us to be able to see, is a therapy potentially safe and effective for patients. And that is not happening as often, and there\u2019s been delays in terms of awarding also grants as well.\n\n\u201cAnd then the cuts you mentioned to FDA is causing real time effects in terms of getting new therapies reviewed in a timely manner, much less approved. So that means treatments potentially that are safe and effective, that are not reaching patients.\n\n\u201cOn a long-term perspective, NIH is the agency responsible for the foundational research that leads to the startup companies that Mr. Crowley was talking about, that other senators have also mentioned before, that have come across various states as well, and that is really kind of the catalyst for innovation in the first place. If we don\u2019t have that sort of investment in NIH, in five, ten years down the line, we\u2019re not going to be seeing new treatments that would be transformative for our patients. And we\u2019ve heard from the biotech industry, they do not have the resources to make up for any sort of shortfalls from the NIH, nor do they have the compulsion to do so, because they have shareholders who want to see short term returns\u2026 On top of that, our trainees that we\u2019re seeing in our academic institutions, in particular, are leaving the United States to go to other countries because they are not seeing opportunities\u2014both in the public sector and academic institutions\u2014to continue this research, much less in also the private sector. There have been huge job cuts also there as well.\u201d\n\n[RARE DISEASE CLINICAL TRIALS]\n\nSenator Murray continued her questioning by asking Mr. John Crowley, who shared his family\u2019s personal experience fighting a rare disease, about the consequences of canceling rare disease clinical trials and suspending future funding for NIH\u2019s Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network, \u201cMr. Crowley, first of all, thank you for sharing your family\u2019s personal experience. That was, I think, a story many of us need to remember, that these investments that we make pay off for individuals, and we cannot ignore that. I hope everybody recognizes that. I wanted to ask you specifically because NIH operates the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network, and their chaotic policy changes and firing of more than 1,600 scientists and grant administrators at NIH has upended many of the Network\u2019s clinical trials, researchers are hearing they might not be able to reapply for some of this funding for more than five years from now.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo, talk to me about how canceling rare disease clinical trials and suspending future funding impacts rare disease patients and their families?\u201d\n\nMr. Crowley answered, \u201cI think it has a direct impact, Senator. Again, in that virtuous circle of innovation, the NIH plays a very, very important role in foundational research and facilitating translational research as well. So, for us, for the entire industry and biotechnology, it remains incredibly important as well, and we\u2019d support continued funding of the NIH well.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think we all need to, as Members of Congress, recognize we have a responsibility here to fund those critical agencies and not decimate the future with these layoffs and mass firings and losing the funding,\u201d Senator Murray concluded.\n\nSenator Murray, a longtime congressional leader on health care, has been fighting back tirelessly against the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to gut lifesaving research at NIH and push out nearly 4,000 skilled scientists, grants administrators, and other employees at the agency. She led the entire Democratic caucus in a letter in February raising the alarm over the Trump administration\u2019s actions to threaten American biomedical research infrastructure and set us back generations. Senator Murray released a statement decrying the Trump administration\u2019s all-out assault on the NIH upon meeting with Bhattacharya in February, and at his nomination hearing in March, she pressed Dr. Bhattacharya on the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to cut billions from biomedical research through an illegal cap on indirect costs, and their unprecedented halt on NIH Advisory Council Meetings, among other issues. She has sent numerous oversight letters and hosted numerous press conferences and events to lay out how the administration\u2019s reckless gutting of HHS is risking Americans health and safety and will set our country back decades, and lifting up the voices of HHS employees who were fired for no reason and through no fault of their own. Last month, Senator Murray took to the Senate floor to slam the Trump administration for abandoning the fight to end cancer by cutting vital NIH grants for cancer research and clinical trials.\n\nThroughout her career, Senator Murray has led Congressional efforts to boost biomedical research. Over her years as Chair of the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, she secured billions of dollars in increases for biomedical research at NIH, and during her time as Chair of the HELP Committee she established the new ARPA-H research agency as part of her PREVENT Pandemics Act to advance some of the most cutting-edge research in the field. Senator Murray was also the lead Democratic negotiator of the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, which delivered a major federal investment to boost NIH research, among many other investments.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-29-murray-responds-to-thune-on-the-senate-floor-shares-stories-of-american-families-seeing-devastating-premium-hikes-slams-republicans-for-ignoring-their-own-constituents/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 29: Murray Responds to Thune on the Senate Floor, Shares Stories of American Families Seeing Devastating Premium Hikes, Slams Republicans for Ignoring their Own Constituents", "2025-10-29", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "NEW FROM NEW YORK TIMES: Obamacare Prices Become Public, Highlighting Big Increases\n\nNEW FROM KFF: ACA Insurers Are Raising Premiums by an Estimated 26%, but Most Enrollees Could See Sharper Increases in What They Pay\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s full floor speech***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor\u2014responding directly to remarks from Majority Leader Thune\u2014on the twenty-ninth day of President Trump and Republicans\u2019 government shutdown, just three days before Open Enrollment begins this Saturday, November 1st.\n\nNationwide, 22 million Americans who buy health care through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces will see their health care costs skyrocket next year because of Republicans\u2019 refusal to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits that help Americans afford health insurance. Because of Republican inaction, premiums are more than doubling on average for people who buy health coverage on the exchanges, and these higher costs will push 4.8 million people off their health insurance coverage over the next decade.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cI heard the Majority Leader just now say, \u2018They\u2019re not going to operate with a gun to their head.\u2019 I would say to the majority party that the gun to the head is to all of these people who are opening up their health care notices this week and finding out that their costs are skyrocketing.\n\n\u201cWhy? Because what the Republicans have said, and just said again, is that they want to talk about it. Talk about it is going to do absolutely nothing for those people who are getting those bills and those payments today.\n\n\u201cSo, I wanted to come to the floor today and talk about that. And I would say to my Republican colleagues, yeah, we all want to have bipartisan bills. We want to work on bipartisan appropriations. But what we have in front of us is a CR that is partisan. That says, \u2018Do it my way or the high way,\u2019 and doesn\u2019t discuss the priorities of the Democrats.\n\n\u201cWhen you are asking us for votes, when you are asking for Democratic votes, you can\u2019t just demand whatever you want and say if you don\u2019t do it, then we\u2019re going to sit here, which is what the Republicans have done. I would ask the Republican leader, as I\u2019ve done so many times, talk to the Democratic leader, bring the President in the room.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been here many, many times, when we have had to find a way out of a challenging situation, and you know who\u2019s always been at the table? The President, the Majority Leader, and the Speaker of the House and the Minority Leaders, on both sides of the aisle\u2014and that has not happened yet and that\u2019s why we are sitting where we are.\n\n\u201cWhere today my constituents, who are hurting, are saying to me, \u2018Where are the Republicans and why are they not talking to you about how we solve this issue?\u2019 The Majority Leader said, \u2018Well, there\u2019s problems with it, you know, it covers,\u2019\u2014they could have done this months ago, and they say, \u2018Oh, now we can open up the government and talk about it.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhat does \u2018talk about it\u2019 do to my constituents? Because, M. President, last week, window shopping for next year\u2019s health plans actually started in my home state, and this week, Open Enrollment begins nationwide.\n\n\u201cI am hearing from families in my state today who are panicked. Because while Republicans are refusing to act on this and just saying they are going to talk about it, their premiums, their families\u2019 premiums, are going through the roof, and their health coverage is slipping out of reach.\n\n\u201cThere are so many stories. I have talked with small business owners, I have talked with patients and I have talked with parents, and lifted up their concerns here on the Senate floor. And I am going to keep doing everything I can to shout out these stories from the rooftops.\n\n\u201cBecause right now Republicans are doing everything they can to ignore this, and to say, \u2018deal with it later.\u2019 And what is \u2018later\u2019? Well, \u2018later\u2019 never comes.\n\n\u201cWhy do I know that? Because we brought up this issue time and time again throughout the summer when the Republicans were giving away tax breaks to billionaires and saying, \u2018This is an issue that is confronting us.\u2019 And it was \u2018later\u2019 then, it\u2019s \u2018later\u2019 now, and \u2018later\u2019 is way too late.\n\n\u201cThere are many stories about this, M. President, too awful to ignore. There are millions of families facing absolutely catastrophic price increases. I\u2019ve heard from seniors whose premiums are increasing eight-fold!\n\n\u201cSo, M. President, in order to make clear the scope and scale of the problem Republicans want to ignore and talk about later, I thought I would share a list\u2014just the toplines!\u2014of what I am hearing from constituents about how their health care costs are going to skyrocket. And if Republicans refuse to work with us and even talk to us about this issue and help us find a solution so we can all move on by saving the health care tax credits, I\u2019m going to share some of those stories today.\n\n\u201cThere is Kathleen. She lives in Bellingham. Now, if Republicans refuse to act, she is going to see her monthly premium triple.\n\n\u201cSharon, Thurston County in my state. If Republicans refuse to act, her premium is going to double, increasing by over $100 a month. And we are just getting started, because if Republicans refuse to act, Nanette, in Tumwater, and Stacya, in Seattle, will see their premiums increase by $400 a month. Not a year, a month.\n\n\u201cIf Republicans refuse to act, Leslie\u2019s husband in Brewster is going to see his premium increase by $780 a month. Tom will see his premium increase by over $800 a month. Jennifer will see her premium go up by at least $890 a month.\n\n\u201cAnd I have to emphasize\u2014we are talking about families, seniors, small businesses owners. People who cannot afford that kind of increase.\n\n\u201cAnd yet, if Republicans refuse to act, Jason in Seattle will see his premium increase by over $900 a month. Maya in Woodinville, $1,000 a month. I can\u2019t even imagine that!\n\n\u201cBut if you think that is outrageous? Well, Republicans don\u2019t think it\u2019s worth talking about! Or talking about it later, when it\u2019s way too late. Or pretending that they\u2019re going to do something about it, but not really.\n\n\u201cTalk about a gun to their head! If we do not act, Diane in Wenatchee is going to see her premium increase by over fourteen hundred dollars a month. Leighann? Told me fifteen hundred dollars a month, her premium will increase.\n\n\u201cTerry will see his premium increase by nearly sixteen hundred dollars a month. And the Banergee family? Told me they will see their premium go up by more than sixteen hundred dollars. Every. Single. Month. The Republican plan? Talk about it. Do nothing.\n\n\u201cM. President, for all of us who have been here, we\u2019ve been waiting for the plan and have never seen it. Never seen it. It\u2019s always just a \u2018plan.\u2019\n\n\u201cRebecca, in Seattle, will see her premium increase by more than seventeen hundred dollars a month. And by the way, that plan is not in writing, it\u2019s in somebody\u2019s head that has never been told to anybody. So, what do we have here today? Republican silence.\n\n\u201cJames and his wife are going to see their premium go up by a completely unreasonable eighteen hundred dollars a month. Damian said his are going to go up $2,000 a month. Why? Because Republicans are refusing to act. That is who we are fighting for here today!\n\n\u201cNow, I could go on, and on, but those cases I just told you about all came from Washington state. This is a drop in the bucket.\n\n\u201cThere are several million more examples just like this in red states across the country. Bob in Idaho will see his premium jump by nearly $1,900 a month. Nancy in Florida, $1000 more a month. Cheri in Tennessee will see her monthly costs go from $10 to $1140.\n\n\u201cI mean, we could do this all day\u2014and yet Republicans can\u2019t be bothered to do it at all!? These are their constituents! 4 million people in Texas rely on these tax credits Republicans don\u2019t want to save. Over four million in Florida.\n\n\u201cAnd the increases they are going to face? It\u2019s unthinkable. In five states\u2014all red states\u2014families who rely on these tax credits are going to see prices more than quadruple. That is on average.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s unthinkable, it\u2019s unconscionable, and totally untethered from reality for Republican leaders to think they can just ignore this tsunami of a price hike.\n\n\u201cSo, I say to my Republican friends: you\u2019ve got to get your heads out of the sand. This is a real problem for families. Later is way too late, and I don\u2019t think it exists.\n\n\u201cM. President, the Majority Leader just said that families don\u2019t know that they get this. Is there something wrong with that? They find out that their health care, that they are being helped by their neighbors and their friends and the people in this country that think it\u2019s important for all of us that our health care premiums are lower?\n\n\u201cI would say to my Republican colleagues, listen to your constituents. It\u2019s their health. It\u2019s their lives. They are telling you that. They want action.\n\n\u201cOpen enrollment for this country starts Saturday. The time to act is now. So, I hope they start listening\u2014please, join us at a negotiating table, not out here on the floor just throwing things around\u2014join us! The Majority Leader can call the Minority Leader, and the President, and get them in the room which is what we always do when we have a challenge in front of us!\n\n\u201cAnd that has not happened. And that is unconscionable. Because people in this country are hurting.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/ahead-of-senate-votes-on-trump-tariffs-senator-murray-calls-on-republicans-to-end-trumps-taxes-on-middle-class-lays-out-painful-consequences-of-trumps-reckless-trade-war-in-wa/", "Ahead of Senate Votes on Trump Tariffs, Senator Murray Calls on Republicans to End Trump\u2019s Taxes on Middle Class; Lays Out Painful Consequences of Trump\u2019s Reckless Trade War in WA", "2025-10-28", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray: \u201cPeople across America\u2014across party lines, across economic backgrounds, and across nearly every divide imaginable\u2014are now speaking out\u2026 The time has come to hold President Trump accountable for raising prices on families across the board.\u201d\n\nCurrent effective tariff rate is 18 percent\u2014the highest since 1934; Trump\u2019s tariffs could push nearly one million Americans below the poverty line next year\n\nTrump\u2019s tariffs will cost WA state nearly 32,000 jobs; $2.2 billion in revenue over the next four years if fully implemented\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s full floor speech***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor ahead of upcoming Senate votes on three Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to end the vast majority of the tariffs President Trump has arbitrarily imposed, which are costing American families thousands of dollars and crushing small businesses across the country.\n\nTonight, the Senate will vote on S.J.Res.81, which would cancel Trump\u2019s 40 percent tariffs on Brazil by terminating the emergency declaration that provides the legal basis for the tariffs. Later this week, the Senate will vote on two more Joint Resolutions of Disapproval that would similarly revoke Trump\u2019s tariffs by canceling the emergency declarations that underpin them: S.J.Res.77, which would end Trump\u2019s 35 percent tariffs on Canadian goods, and S.J.Res.88, which would terminate Trump\u2019s across-the-board tariffs on nearly all countries\u2014which include 10 percent tariffs on imports from nearly all countries and tariffs of up to 40 percent on more than 60 countries.\n\nOn the Senate floor, Senator Murray hammered Republicans in Congress for their outright refusal to put an end to Trump\u2019s pointless trade war and price hikes on American families, and their willingness to hand over Congress\u2019 constitutionally-granted power to impose tariffs.\n\n\u201cPresident Trump has single-handedly raised taxes more than any President in my lifetime. He has, without any consultation or approval from Congress, imposed billions of dollars in new tariffs,\u201d Senator Murray said. \u201cThese are taxes paid for by the American people. They hurt small business owners who need raw materials that just aren\u2019t available here in the United States. They cut off crucial export markets for our farmers when other nations inevitably retaliate. And they are sending prices soaring across the board, from big things like cars, to everyday essentials like groceries. Trump\u2019s tariffs have already raised retail prices for families by 5 percent, and this year alone, his tariffs are expected to cost American households an average of $1,800. That is staggering. Still, nearly every single Senate Republican has refused to vote with us to end this chaos\u2026 People across America\u2014across party lines, across economic backgrounds, and across nearly every divide imaginable\u2014are now speaking out. The time has come for Republicans to actually listen. The time has come to hold President Trump accountable for raising prices on families across the board. The time has come to end President Trump\u2019s new taxes on everything.\u201d\n\nAfter the government of Ontario, Canada ran a TV commercial featuring a speech by President Ronald Reagan denouncing tariffs Saturday night during the World Series, President Trump announced an additional 10% tariff on Canadian imports and said that he was halting ongoing trade talks launched earlier this month.\n\nRight now, the effective tariff rate in the U.S. is 18 percent, the highest tariff rate since 1934. Trump\u2019s tariffs have already raised retail prices for families by 5 percent, and this year alone, Trump\u2019s tariffs are expected to cost American households an additional $1,800 on average. A recent analysis from Yale Budget Lab found that Trump\u2019s tariffs will likely increase the number of Americans living in poverty by 875,000 in 2026. Last month, a nonpartisan analysis by the Washington State Office of Financial Management found that if the current Trump tariffs stay in effect for the next four years, they will cost Washington state up to 25,000 jobs\u2014and if Trump\u2019s \u201cLiberation Day\u201d tariffs are fully implemented, they would cost Washington state $2.2 billion and 31,900 jobs over the next four years and significantly drive up the cost of food, clothing, cars, and much more.\n\nWashington state has one of the most trade-dependent economies of any state in the country, with 40 percent of jobs in the state tied to international commerce. In 2024, Washington exported $57.8 billion of goods to the world, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), making Washington state the 9th-largest state exporter of goods last year. Washington state is also the top U.S. producer of apples, blueberries, hops, pears, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries\u2014all of which risk losing vital export markets due to retaliatory tariffs from key trading partners including Canada.\n\nSenator Murray has been vocal in responding to Trump\u2019s trade war, holding events in every part of Washington state, and hammering the Trump administration for driving up the cost of just about everything through their chaotic and thoughtless trade policies. When Trump first announced new tariffs, Senator Murray brought together leaders across Washington state to discuss how Trump\u2019s trade war threatens Washington state\u2019s economy, and spoke out on the Senate floor against Trump\u2019s chaotic trade war, calling on Republicans in Congress to join Democrats in reasserting Congress\u2019s power over trade. She has held several events across Washington state to hear directly from constituents and small business owners about how Trump\u2019s tariffs are harming them\u2014including in Tacoma, Yakima, Vancouver, Seattle, Skagit County, and Blaine, just across the border from Canada. On August 1st, as Trump hiked \u201creciprocal\u201d tariffs on some of our closest trading partners, Senator Murray held another virtual press conference with Washington state businesses to sound the alarm. She held another roundtable with small business owners in Vancouver in September, and last week, Senator Murray slammed Trump for the new port fees hitting ships at West Coast Ports as a result of Trump\u2019s trade war with China.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cPresident Trump has single-handedly raised taxes more than any President in my lifetime. He has, without any consultation or approval from Congress, imposed billions of dollars in new tariffs.\n\n\u201cThese are taxes paid for by the American people. They hurt small business owners who need raw materials that just aren\u2019t available here in the United States. They cut off crucial export markets for our farmers when other nations inevitably retaliate. And they are sending prices soaring across the board, from big things like cars, to everyday essentials like groceries.\n\n\u201cTrump\u2019s tariffs have already raised retail prices for families by 5 percent, and this year alone, his tariffs are expected to cost American households an average of $1,800. That is staggering. Still, nearly every single Senate Republican has refused to vote with us to end this chaos.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll say it another way: Republicans are refusing to stop President Trump from raising taxes on working families.\n\n\u201cNow, we all saw Republicans move heaven and earth this year to shovel more tax breaks at billionaires. But when it comes to taxes on working families, well, they are downright eager to force families to pay more every time they go to the supermarket.\n\n\u201cI am not going to let this get swept under the rug. Especially not when Trump shows us every day that his tariffs are not about any sort of economic strategy, or any real \u2018emergency.\u2019\n\n\u201cTrump\u2019s tariff policy is as strategic as a toddler who plays with a light switch.\n\n\u201cLast week, we saw Trump raise taxes on Americans because he was mad that Canada ran an ad quoting Ronald Reagan. That\u2019s about as ridiculous as it gets.\n\n\u201cMy state shares a border with Canada. There are countless families, and businesses that span our northern border. People who have built businesses that rely on strong trade relationships, from farmers who send their crops up north, to shops that bring in products, to towns that serve tourists and visitors that come down from our neighbors.\n\n\u201cAnd these Washington business owners are all having their livelihoods completely turned upside on a whim by President Trump.\n\n\u201cAnd again, let\u2019s be clear: all Canada did to unleash more blind fury and boneheaded tariffs from President Trump was quote President Ronald Reagan.\n\n\u201cNow, for all the policies I disagree with, Reagan at least had enough sense to understand that we, the American people, are the ones who pay those tariffs.\n\n\u201cFor my colleagues, these are the words Donald Trump doesn\u2019t want you to hear. This is what Reagan had to say about tariffs\u2014verbatim: \u2018Over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer.\u2019 \u2018Then the worst happens: markets shrink and collapse; businesses and industries shut down; and millions of people lose their jobs.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut you know what? If Republicans don\u2019t want to listen to Reagan this time\u2014well, then how about they start listening to American families, farmers, and small businesses back in their own home states.\n\n\u201cBecause, as someone who has had countless discussions about tariffs with the people I represent back home, I have no doubt that Republicans\u2019 own constituents will tell them firsthand just how painful Trump\u2019s trade war has been for them.\n\n\u201cI have heard from business across my home state of Washington who are getting crushed by Trump\u2019s tariffs. An Asian grocery store that sells goods you simply have to source from abroad, like green tea. Coffee shops that are getting hit, since most of our country can\u2019t even grow coffee beans. Clothing stores that tell me they are struggling with higher prices for cotton canvas, zippers, threads, and buckles.\n\n\u201cAnd then there are farmers, across my state and across the country, that are getting boxed out of key markets by the trade wars Trump is starting left and right for no reason.\n\n\u201cAnd there the jobs at our ports that are threatened as every new chaotic tariff Trump decides to tweet out whittles away at imports and exports alike, grinds our bustling ports to an absolute standstill, and puts thousands of jobs in jeopardy.\n\n\u201cForeign imports are down by a third at the Port of Seattle and Tacoma. The reality of Trump\u2019s tariffs is painfully obvious to families and business owners who are bearing the brunt of this ham-fisted trade war.\n\n\u201cYou can\u2019t just \u2018make it in America\u2019 when the \u2018it\u2019 in question is fruits and vegetables we cannot grow at scale here in the U.S. You can\u2019t just \u2018make it in America\u2019 when even making something here requires parts and raw materials from across the globe.\n\n\u201cThere are just higher prices for working families, tighter margins for our struggling businesses, and even more worry for families and businesses being pushed to the edge. Families are feeling those price hikes every single day. Small businesses in my state and across the country are facing difficult decisions, and deciding whether they can afford to keep their doors open, right now.\n\n\u201cPeople across America\u2014across party lines, across economic backgrounds, and across nearly every divide imaginable\u2014are now speaking out. The time has come for Republicans to actually listen.\n\n\u201cThe time has come to hold President Trump accountable for raising prices on families across the board.\n\n\u201cThe time has come to end President Trump\u2019s new taxes on everything.\n\n\u201cThe time has come for Congress, us, to start asserting our authority on tariffs, instead of ceding every single part of our job to a President who has already joked he is the Speaker of the House.\n\n\u201cIs he going to start calling himself the Majority Leader too?\n\n\u201cI urge all of my colleagues: join me in voting for this resolution so we can start rolling back Trump\u2019s taxes on Americans, and take some pressure off our families and small businesses in the states we are all here to represent.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-kaptur-blast-russ-voughts-move-to-block-funding-for-army-corps-projects-in-democratic-states-and-cities/", "Murray, Kaptur Blast Russ Vought\u2019s Move to Block Funding for Army Corps Projects in Democratic States and Cities", "2025-10-28", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Top energy appropriators outline how funding \u201cpause\u201d risks leaving communities vulnerable to storms and floods and places political retribution above public safety\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers blasting the recent announcement from Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought that the Trump administration will immediately pause over $11 billion in funding for essential Corps projects in blue states and cities and will be \u201cconsidering them for cancellation.\u201d\n\nIn their letter, Murray and Kaptur slam the purported rationale for the politically-motivated \u201cfreeze,\u201d writing: \u201cDirector Vought justified this \u2018pause\u2019 by absurdly claiming it was necessary because the government shutdown \u2018has drained the Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 ability to manage billions of dollars in projects.\u2019 That is not how this works\u2014and everyone knows it. Director Vought is once again recklessly threatening communities\u2019 safety and treating the American people as pawns in his political games. Earlier in the week, the Trump administration warned of more political retribution against Democrats, and yet again, Vought has delivered, seeking to inflict more pain on the American people.\u201d\n\nThe top water development appropriators underscore what\u2019s at risk with the pause: \u201cLet\u2019s be clear: undermining these critical infrastructure projects jeopardizes public safety and will inflict serious economic harm on communities that depend on these vital investments. The Corps protects communities by providing flood control, ensuring safe navigation of the nation\u2019s waterways, environmental restoration, and emergency response\u2014work that saves lives and supports local economies.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis craven political threat betrays working families and our nation\u2019s obligation to protect life and property,\u201d they write. \u201cIt risks leaving communities more vulnerable to storms and floods\u2014and puts at risk the projects that literally save lives\u2014levees, floodwalls, wastewater upgrades, coastal protections, and so much more.\u201d\n\nMurray and Kaptur also note that neither Vought nor the Corps nor OMB has provided any transparency to date about the projects that the Trump administration says it has paused funding for: \u201cIncredibly, despite this administration\u2019s claims to be the \u201cmost transparent administration,\u201d neither OMB nor the Corps of Engineers has publicly released\u2014or provided to Congress\u2014a list of the projects that Director Vought says he is targeting with his action. That, too, is unacceptable. The American people deserve transparency about how their taxpayer dollars are being spent\u2014and how this administration is hurting public safety in their own communities.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe demand that you immediately unpause all projects that have been halted since Director Vought\u2019s announcement and restore them to their previous operational status, provide details about all projects that have been affected thus far, and explain what statutory or regulatory authority the Corps claims to have to pause or cancel work on congressionally authorized and appropriated projects,\u201d they conclude.\n\nThe full letter is available HERE and below:\n\nThe Honorable Adam Telle\n\nAssistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works\n\nU.S. Department of the Army\n\nOffice of the Assistant Secretary (Civil Works)\n\n104 Army Pentagon\n\nWashington, DC 20310\n\nLieutenant General William H. Graham\n\nCommanding General and Chief of Engineers\n\nU.S. Army Corps of Engineers\n\n441 G Street NW\n\nWashington, DC 20314\n\nDear Assistant Secretary Telle and General Graham:\n\nThe Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought posted on X that the Army Corps of Engineers will immediately pause over $11 billion in funding for essential Corps projects, including in \u201cNew York, San Francisco, Boston, and Baltimore\u201d and will be \u201cconsidering them for cancellation.\u201d Director Vought justified this \u201cpause\u201d by absurdly claiming it was necessary because the government shutdown \u201chas drained the Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 ability to manage billions of dollars in projects.\u201d That is not how this works\u2014and everyone knows it. Director Vought is once again recklessly threatening communities\u2019 safety and treating the American people as pawns in his political games. Earlier in the week, the Trump administration warned of more political retribution against Democrats, and yet again, Vought has delivered, seeking to inflict more pain on the American people.\n\nLet\u2019s be clear: undermining these critical infrastructure projects jeopardizes public safety and will inflict serious economic harm on communities that depend on these vital investments. The Corps protects communities by providing flood control, ensuring safe navigation of the nation\u2019s waterways, environmental restoration, and emergency response\u2014work that saves lives and supports local economies. This craven political threat betrays working families and our nation\u2019s obligation to protect life and property. It risks leaving communities more vulnerable to storms and floods\u2014and puts at risk the projects that literally save lives\u2014levees, floodwalls, wastewater upgrades, coastal protections, and so much more.\n\nIt has not escaped anyone\u2019s notice that the states and cities Director Vought has said he is targeting are cities represented by Democrats. This transparent political targeting of American communities is unconscionable, and unfortunately, it is par for the course for this White House. The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from using their official authority for partisan political purposes, and this prohibition extends to all federal agencies, including the Office of Management and Budget and the Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Corps of Engineers is a professional, non-partisan organization with a proud history of dutifully serving the American public over two centuries\u2014and once again, its proud mission is being corrupted by President Trump and Director Vought.\n\nFederal infrastructure investments should be based on engineering merit, cost-benefit analysis, community need, and statutory authorization\u2014not political retribution. Every American, regardless of how their neighbors vote, deserves federal flood protection, safe navigation channels, and clean waterways. Weaponizing the Army Corps of Engineers against political opposition degrades this essential institution and betrays its mission.\n\nIncredibly, despite this administration\u2019s claims to be the \u201cmost transparent administration,\u201d neither OMB nor the Corps of Engineers has publicly released\u2014or provided to Congress\u2014a list of the projects that Director Vought says he is targeting with his action. That, too, is unacceptable. The American people deserve transparency about how their taxpayer dollars are being spent\u2014and how this administration is hurting public safety in their own communities.\n\nFurther, Congress appropriated these funds through the lawful legislative process. The executive branch lacks the authority to unilaterally cancel congressionally authorized and funded projects. We demand that you immediately unpause all projects that have been halted since Director Vought\u2019s announcement and restore them to their previous operational status, provide details about all projects that have been affected thus far, and explain what statutory or regulatory authority the Corps claims to have to pause or cancel work on congressionally authorized and appropriated projects.\n\nMake no mistake\u2014this pause is already doing damage. The uncertainty harms local governments, unions, small businesses, and families. It weakens our nation\u2019s resilience against floods and disaster. It places political considerations above public safety. That is unacceptable.\n\nWe expect your prompt response no later than October 29 and look forward to working together to ensure that the Army Corps of Engineers can continue its vital mission of serving all Americans.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-28-senator-murray-blasts-republicans-for-ignoring-families-being-priced-out-of-health-insurance-refusing-to-join-democrats-at-the-negotiating-table-to-reopen-government/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 28: Senator Murray Blasts Republicans for Ignoring Families Being Priced Out of Health Insurance, Refusing to Join Democrats at the Negotiating Table to Reopen Government", "2025-10-28", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "AP: 6 in 10 Americans are \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d concerned about their health costs going up in the next year\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s Remarks***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks on government funding at this afternoon\u2019s Senate Democratic leadership press conference on the twenty-eighth day of President Trump and Republicans\u2019 shutdown.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cRight now, families are window shopping for their health insurance coverage next year and seeing their premiums are set to double, triple, and in some cases, even quadruple.\n\n\u201cWhy? Because Republicans are refusing to so much as negotiate about saving the ACA tax credits. And on Saturday, a few days from now, things will get very real for families\u2014because open enrollment begins.\n\n\u201cRepublicans keep saying, \u2018later, later, later,\u2019 but there is no later. This is happening right now.\n\n\u201cRepublicans keep saying, \u2018we\u2019ll talk about, maybe, possibly doing something after the shutdown ends.\u2019 But they were totally unwilling to say or do a thing this entire year when the government was open!\n\n\u201cIt is painfully clear that Republicans are not listening to folks back at home. Because what families nationwide are saying is: \u2018Please stop my premiums from doubling.\u2019 And what Republican leaders are saying? \u2018Not our problem, we never wanted to lower health care costs in the first place.\u2019\n\n\u201cYou know, people back home are saying: \u2018Please help! I am going to be priced out of my health insurance.\u2019 And some Republicans here are saying, essentially: \u2018If only Democrats never protected those pre-existing conditions and never expanded Medicaid, we\u2019d all be better off!\u2019\n\n\u201cSee, Democrats think it is a problem that people are going to lose their health coverage. Meanwhile, some Republicans seem to think it\u2019s a problem that people got covered in the first place. Genuinely, some of my colleagues across the aisle can\u2019t open their mouth without saying, \u2018repeal Obamacare.\u2019\n\n\u201cMaybe that\u2019s why Republican leaders are more serious about avoiding the health care debate than they have ever been about funding the government. House Republicans have been on vacation for six weeks in a row. They\u2019re scared to negotiate, and scared to stand up to Trump, who\u2019s even joking he\u2019s the Speaker of the House now.\n\n\u201cAs for Trump\u2019s shutdown approach, he is gleefully firing people en masse, he is gloating over cutting \u2018Democrat\u2019 priorities, shoveling $40 billion at Argentina\u2014while refusing to tap emergency funds for SNAP benefits and letting kids go hungry.\n\n\u201cNot to mention, he is obliterating the East Wing of the White House for his gold-plated ballroom, he is raising taxes on Americans out of spite, he is asking taxpayers to pay him a quarter of a billion dollars, and, all the while, posting nonstop AI slop, anti-vaxx nonsense, and more.\n\n\u201cIt is very obvious Trump doesn\u2019t care about ending this shutdown, or stopping massive premium hikes. I mean, if Republicans passed their partisan CR, President Trump is not even in the country to sign it. Does that sound like a president interested in ending this shutdown? Does that sound like a president who actually cares if millions of families lose that health care coverage?\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s long past time for Republican leaders to get serious. Get serious! I could not be more frustrated that they refuse to fix this so we can reopen the government, and save our families from Republicans\u2019 health care crisis.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-booker-klobuchar-lujan-42-colleagues-urge-trump-usda-to-immediately-release-november-snap-benefits/", "Murray, Booker, Klobuchar, Luj\u00e1n, 42 Colleagues Urge Trump USDA to Immediately Release November SNAP Benefits", "2025-10-23", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on House Passage of \u201cBig, Ugly Betrayal\u201d Cutting Health Care & SNAP for WA State Families to Fund Tax Cuts for Billionaires\n\nSenator Murray briefly relied on food stamps as a child and has always fought to fully fund SNAP benefits; Murray fiercely opposed Republicans when they passed the largest cuts to SNAP in American history this summer by passing their Big Ugly Bill.\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), and 42 of their colleagues to send a letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins calling on the USDA to release the billions of dollars at its disposal to ensure Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits continue in November.\n\nThe senators raised the alarm about the USDA\u2019s failure to use available funding to continue SNAP, writing: \u201cWe were deeply disturbed to hear that the USDA has instructed states to stop processing SNAP benefits for November and were surprised by your recent comments that the program will \u2018run out of money in two weeks.\u2019 In fact, the USDA has several tools available which would enable SNAP benefits to be paid through or close to the end of November.\u201d\n\n\u201cFirst, the USDA must, at a minimum under the law, use the contingency funding that is available for SNAP, as noted by USDA officials. Second, the USDA has interchange authority under 7 U.S.C. 2257 that permits the transfer of funds from other USDA nutrition programs. In fact, this authority was recently used by the USDA when it transferred money from child nutrition programs to the WIC account to maintain WIC benefits during the shutdown,\u201d the senators continued.\n\n\u201cIn the event that more resources are needed than what is available in contingency funding, the USDA should explore all legal means to augment funds to pay the full amount of SNAP benefits in November. Americans are already struggling with the rising cost of groceries, and they cannot afford a sudden lapse in grocery assistance. We urge you to immediately communicate to states and committees of jurisdiction the USDA\u2019s plans to disburse the contingency funding to state agencies and utilize all available legal authorities so that American families can get benefits without interruption. Democrats remain at the table and ready to negotiate reopening the government,\u201d the senators concluded.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray, Booker, Klobuchar, and Luj\u00e1n, Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Edward Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) signed the letter.\n\nThe full text of the letter to Secretary Rollins is available HERE and below.\n\nThe Honorable Brooke Rollins\n\nSecretary U.S. Department of Agriculture\n\n1400 Independence Avenue, SW\n\nWashington, DC 20250\n\nDear Secretary Rollins,\n\nThe Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is our nation\u2019s largest food assistance program, serving 42 million people, including 16 million children, 8 million seniors, and 4 million people with disabilities. Any halt in SNAP funding will have devastating impacts for program beneficiaries, increasing food insecurity and undermining family budgets. Given the critical importance of SNAP benefits, the USDA must take all steps possible to ensure that families do not go hungry.\n\nWe were deeply disturbed to hear that the USDA has instructed states to stop processing SNAP benefits for November and were surprised by your recent comments that the program will \u201crun out of money in two weeks.\u201d In fact, the USDA has several tools available which would enable SNAP benefits to be paid through or close to the end of November. First, the USDA must, at a minimum under the law, use the contingency funding that is available for SNAP, as noted by USDA officials. Second, the USDA has interchange authority under 7 U.S.C. 2257 that permits the transfer of funds from other USDA nutrition programs. In fact, this authority was recently used by the USDA when it transferred money from child nutrition programs to the WIC account to maintain WIC benefits during the shutdown. In the event that more resources are needed than what is available in contingency funding, the USDA should explore all legal means to augment funds to pay the full amount of SNAP benefits in November.\n\nAmericans are already struggling with the rising cost of groceries, and they cannot afford a sudden lapse in grocery assistance. We urge you to immediately communicate to states and committees of jurisdiction the USDA\u2019s plans to disburse the contingency funding to state agencies and utilize all available legal authorities so that American families can get benefits without interruption. Democrats remain at the table and ready to negotiate reopening the government.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-23-as-window-shopping-opens-in-wa-senator-murray-joins-wa-state-health-benefit-exchange-ceo-washingtonian-to-discuss-exploding-health-care-costs/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 23: As Window Shopping Opens in WA, Senator Murray Joins WA State Health Benefit Exchange CEO, Washingtonian to Discuss Exploding Health Care Costs", "2025-10-23", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "NEW FROM AP: 6 in 10 Americans are \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d concerned about their health costs going up in the next year\n\nNEW FROM SEATTLE TIMES: WA residents shopping for health insurance hit with sticker shock\n\nNEW FROM TRI-CITY HERALD: Health insurance could double for thousands in Tri-Cities and Eastern WA\n\n***WATCH press conference HERE, download HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, on the 23rd day of the Republican shutdown, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a virtual press conference with Ingrid Ulrey, CEO of the Washington State Health Benefit Exchange, and Nanette Smith, a retiree from Tumwater who uses the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Exchange to get her health insurance.\n\nAt the press conference, Senator Murray explained how inaction by Republican members of Congress will force Washingtonians to pay significantly more for health care. On Tuesday, Washington state\u2019s ACA marketplace, Washington Healthplanfinder, opened to allow Washingtonians to window shop for health care coverage, and multiple reports have already found that people in Washington state are seeing their premiums dramatically increase as they begin shopping for plans. The over 220,000 Washingtonians who buy health insurance through the marketplace and rely on the ACA tax credits to afford health care will see an average increase of 21% in their health care premiums thanks to Republicans\u2019 refusal to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits. This drastic cost increase will push an estimated 80,000 Washingtonians off their health coverage over the next decade. A Washington-state specific fact sheet on the ACA tax credits is HERE.\n\nRight now, Democrats are fighting to save the ACA tax credits, which expire at the end of the year. Without them, 22 million Americans will see their health care costs skyrocket. Premiums will more than double, on average, for Americans who buy health care through the ACA exchanges, and these higher costs will push 4.8 million people off their health coverage over the next decade.\n\nSenator Murray implored Republican leaders to come to the negotiating table as new signs indicate that Republicans are feeling the heat for ignoring the health care crisis and allowing the ACA enhanced premium tax credits to expire at the end of the year. Reporting has uncovered that the White House is privately fretting about the issue, and President Trump signaled openness to cutting a deal. Meanwhile, some House Republicans have called out Republican leadership for causing the shutdown and failing to have a solution or plan to prevent people\u2019s premiums from exploding.\n\n\u201cRight now, window shopping is underway in Washington state and other states across the country. That means people are logging in, looking for a health plan for next year, and coming face-to-face with some eye-popping price hikes. We are talking about people learning their premiums will double, triple, and in some cases, quadruple. I\u2019ve heard from parents and small business owners who were told their monthly payment would increase by a thousand dollars or more per month,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cWhy is this happening? Simply put: Republicans have refused to stop it. Democrats have been calling all year for action on this. We tried to pass an extension while Republicans were shoveling tax breaks at billionaires when they passed their Big Ugly Bill, but they voted it down three times, and Republican leaders have refused to talk about this with us\u2026 The most important thing families can do right now is speak up. Let\u2019s be clear, Republicans are sticking their heads as deep in the sand as they can manage. And they would literally rather shut down the government than talk about this!\u201d\n\nSenator Murray played a critical role in passing the enhanced premium tax credits in the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and she has been fighting for months to make sure these important health care tax credits don\u2019t expire, including cosponsoring multiple pieces of legislation\u2014the Health Care Affordability Act and theProtecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act\u2014that would make them permanent.\n\n\u201cSince 2021 the Enhanced ACA tax credits have been a lifeline for our customers, enabling them to keep up with rising premiums and stay covered. This year, as mentioned, we have approximately 220,000 Washingtonians who are benefiting from these ACA tax credits. And without them, our actuaries have predicted that up to 80,000 of our customers may experience price hikes so high that they will make a very difficult decision to just drop coverage. So right now the folks and in our market who we are most concerned about include those who are our middle income customers, who are approximately, you know, a modest annual salary of $62,000 or more per individual, or $85,000 or more for a couple who will no longer receive any level of tax credit or support if Congress doesn\u2019t take action, and they will be the most affected,\u201d said Ingrid Ulrey, CEO of the Washington State Health Benefit Exchange. \u201cThese customers who are most affected and are feeling it the most include many small business owners, gig workers, and individuals who are self-employed, as well as older adults who are 50 plus but not yet on Medicare. We predict that many of these customers will experience increases of up to $5,000 per year, and for some even the doubling and tripling that Senator Murray that you called out, and it\u2019s at that level that becomes the breaking point when people think about, I have my mortgage, I have my groceries, I have all my essential expenses, and feel that they just can\u2019t hang on\u2026 So if and when Congress can come to an agreement to extend the tax credits, the Exchange stands ready to pass on this relief to our customers. While this is not going to be as easy as flipping a switch, we will work with our partners, including the office of the insurance commissioner and our carriers, to make the necessary changes in our system as soon as possible. The sooner that Congress acts, the sooner that Washingtonians will benefit.\u201d\n\n\u201cI was shocked when I got an email on Tuesday this week about my premiums and how it would increase. My husband and I are retired. He\u2019s already on Medicare, but I\u2019m only 64 so I\u2019ve got another year ago. And the estimate for our premiums was going to include a $400 a month increase, that\u2019s close to $5,000 a year. On a fixed income that is really, really going to hurt us. That\u2019s going to cut into our already very, very, very tight budget. One of the points I want to make is that this is not political. This is not about Republicans and Democrats. This is about a moral issue. This is about taking care of American citizens. You know, I pay my taxes, I pay my premiums, and I do all the things that responsible citizens do. And this is a moral issue. This really crosses party lines,\u201d said Nanette Smith, a retiree from Tumwater who uses the ACA Exchange to get her health insurance. \u201cThis is a really tight time of year coming up anyway. I just am in recovery from a pretty significant back surgery. So I have ongoing medical bills that I\u2019m still dealing with. My husband has issues coming up that he\u2019s going to have to deal with in medical things. And so these are things we tried to plan ahead for, trying to think ahead for, but we just could not imagine a $400 a month additional hit to our income. Gas prices are high, groceries are high, utilities are going to be even higher going into the winter. So, you know, we try to be responsible. We try to be frugal. We don\u2019t go out to dinner, frankly. We don\u2019t buy new things. We have older vehicles. And this is really something that is going to hit us pretty hard. And not just us, but many, many, many other people. I\u2019ve never done anything like this before. I\u2019ve never spoken out publicly before, but I really just felt like not only for me, but for anyone else in this situation, it\u2019s just very important to tell my story and hopefully, maybe the politicians across the aisle will be able to work things out and do what\u2019s right for the American people.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered on today\u2019s press call, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you all for joining me. We are just a week away from Open Enrollment kicking off nationwide. And as of this week, window shopping is now underway in Washington state. And people across our state, and the country, are talking about the massive premium hikes they are seeing when they log in.\n\n\u201cWell, everyone except Republicans in Congress, who are trying to duck their heads in the sand. And in the case of House Republicans, who have literally been on vacation for over a month.\n\n\u201cRepublicans are still refusing to even talk about, let alone address, the fact that premiums are about to double for millions of families if they do not work with us to save the ACA enhanced tax credits.\n\n\u201cThere are hundreds of thousands of families across Washington state who rely on the ACA tax credits to afford their health plan. Over 220,000, to be exact.\n\n\u201cAnd that is just the tip of the iceberg. Literally just one percent of how many people this will hit nationwide. There are over 22 million people who rely on these tax credits that Republicans are refusing to save. Nearly 5 million of them will end up uninsured if we don\u2019t do something.\n\n\u201cIn other words, we are a week away from a complete health care disaster. But today, right now, we already have a clear view of the train that is coming down the tracks. And people are panicking.\n\n\u201cBecause right now, window shopping is underway in Washington state and other states across the country.\n\n\u201cThat means that people are logging in, looking for a health plan for next year, and coming face-to-face with some eye-popping price hikes. We are talking about people learning that their premiums will double, triple, and in some cases, quadruple.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve heard from parents and small business owners who were told their monthly payment would increase by a thousand dollars or more a month. And I know there are lots of families just now tuning into this issue, as they get ready to shop for health care plans for next year.\n\n\u201cSo here\u2019s a quick rundown for everyone who is wondering: what exactly is it Republicans are so determined to avoid talking about? Why is my premium going through the roof?\n\n\u201cWhat is happening? Window shopping for health care plans has already started in Washington state and across the country in many places. Families are logging on to the health care exchange to see massive price hikes. Monthly premiums doubling, and tripling, and worse.\n\n\u201cWhy is this happening? Simply put: Republicans have refused to stop it. Democrats have been calling all year for action on this. We tried to pass an extension while Republicans were shoveling tax breaks at billionaires when they passed their Big Ugly Bill, but they voted it down three times, and Republican leaders have refused to talk about this with us.\n\n\u201cWhere can you learn more? Families in Washington state can go to WAhealthpathfinder.org to see what their health plan options will cost for 2026.\n\n\u201cWhat can you do about this? The most important thing families can do right now is speak up. Let\u2019s be clear, Republicans are sticking their heads as deep in the sand as they can manage. And they would literally rather shut down the government than talk about this!\n\n\u201cWe have to make sure we are so loud they cannot ignore us, no matter how hard they try.\n\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s exactly why I am holding calls like this, and lifting up stories on the ground about the massive price hikes families are facing. I\u2019m going to try to use my megaphone to amplify the stories Republicans are so determined to ignore.\n\n\u201cFrom the stories here in Washington, and even the stories of some of our Republican neighbors that they are trying to ignore in their own states.\n\n\u201cAnd now is a critical moment to make sure those voices are echoing loud and clear. Because as I said, window shopping is open, and even more families are seeing what this means for them, and speaking out, demanding action.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/sen-murray-joins-sen-merkley-during-landmark-20-hour-speech-calls-out-trumps-authoritarian-power-grab/", "Sen. Murray Joins Sen. Merkley During Landmark 20+ Hour Speech, Calls Out Trump\u2019s Authoritarian Power Grab", "2025-10-22", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "***WATCH floor remarks HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, on the 22nd day of the Republican shutdown, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) on the Senate floor during his twenty hour-long and counting speech sounding the alarm on how President Trump is acting like a king, following an authoritarian playbook, and seeking to control more aspects of Americans\u2019 lives.\n\nThe exchange between Senator Murray and Senator Merkley, as delivered on the floor today, is below:\n\n\u201cI see the Senator from Washington state is on the floor, and I would be very happy to yield to a question,\u201d Senator Merkley said.\n\n[RINGING THE ALARM BELLS ON TRUMP\u2019S ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL AMERICANS\u2019 LIVES]\n\n\u201cI thank the Senator from Oregon. And first, let me just commend you for what you are doing here, throughout the night, throughout today, calling attention to a really critical issue in this country,\u201d Senator Murray replied.\n\n\u201cSo many people come up to me. And you know, because we go back and forth to the West Coast all the time, how many people walk up to us and say, \u2018What can I do about this?\u2019 And each one of us has to say, here\u2019s what I can do.\n\n\u201cAnd I want to thank you for doing what you are doing today, because you\u2019re going above and beyond to point out to people that, as your chart says, authoritarianism is here and it is here now, and we can ignore it or we can speak out. And you have spent all night long, all day, standing on your feet, and at, I\u2019m sure, great personal sacrifice, to fight for everyone in this country and to sound the alarms you\u2019ve been talking about. And so I just personally want to, want to thank you.\n\n\u201cAnd I want to reiterate something that you have said for all of these hours and actually many times to me over the past few months, the fact that Trump is using his place in government to control every aspect of our life. Whether it\u2019s what our schools are teaching or not teaching, it\u2019s whether or not he\u2019s prosecuting his enemies, which he is doing, it\u2019s cutting off projects and funding to punish the political opposition.\n\n\u201cAnd as you and I both know, we represent \u2018blue states,\u2019 but we have a lot of red counties and cities and neighborhoods, and even within all of our blue districts. And you can\u2019t just randomly say \u2018I\u2019m hurting blue without hurting red,\u2019 because these are all Americans. But he is using his power to do that.\n\n\u201cWe are seeing him, as you know well, in your home state deploying troops to intimidate Democrats. And I listened to you late last night talk about what is happening in Portland. And the misuse of this kind of power should be frightening to every single American, and we need to stand up and we need to call it out, which is what you are doing today. And even dictating what late night TV hosts is doing is part of this whole picture that you\u2019ve been describing.\u201d\n\n[TRUMP TRAMPLING ON CONGRESS\u2019 POWER OF THE PURSE]\n\n\u201cBut I came to the floor today as your partner on the Appropriations Committee,\u201d Senator Murray continued. \u201cWe serve on that together, and we all know in this body how important that committee is, because we decide where the funding is going to go in the country. Now I\u2019ve been out on this floor, I\u2019ve been at home, I\u2019ve been everywhere talking about the power of the purse, which sounds kind of like this quaint little phrase, but it is really important for anybody who has a family. You know that the person who writes the checks in the checkbook decides where the money is going to go? Well, that power of that checkbook, that power of the purse, it is, as it is called, lands in this side of the aisle, on this side of the White House and Congress, we have the power of the purse. Why is that? Because we represent our constituents from across the country. I from Washington State, you from Oregon, people from Illinois and Alabama and Florida all come here to be a voice for their constituents on where their taxpayers\u2019 [dollars] are going to go. And within this country, the power of the purse means we have the ability to decide where the money is going to go, because we represent our constituents. That\u2019s what they call on us to do, and I am seeing Trump doing an all-out assault on Congress\u2019 power of the purse.\n\n\u201cSo, I wanted to come here today and ask you your thoughts on how this President is undermining the power of the purse, and how it plays into your ringing the bells about authoritarianism?\u201d asked Senator Murray.\n\nSenator Merkley responded, \u201cRinging the alarm bells for the authoritarian power of the purse is one of those fundamental ways that, in fact, the President is concentrating his power. The difference between a democracy\u2014in a democracy the legislature says, \u2018here are the programs, here\u2019s how we want to run them, and here\u2019s how we\u2019re going to fund them.\u2019 And it brings together the collective wisdom of a large group that comes from every portion of the nation, like we do here our 100 Senators from 50 states. And we not only bring our geographic differences, we bring our life differences and our life skills and all of that helps us form a pretty complex set of decisions about the programs that need more support because of the challenges we\u2019re facing as a nation at that moment and those that can do with less support. And that\u2019s our responsibility. But all those voices together are just so central to that.\n\n\u201cIn an authoritarian nation, all of that responsibility\u2014design the program, fund the program, choose whether the program will happen\u2014it\u2019s all transferred to the executive. So, we\u2019re thinking authoritarians over here, power of the purse with the executive, democracy over here, power of the purse of the legislature. So, Russell Vought, the current head of OMB, he\u2019s a well-trained, clever man, and he\u2019s saying, \u2018Well, let\u2019s see how we can actually take the power of the purse. You passed a bill for fiscal year [20]25 and now we\u2019re in. Now we\u2019re not now, we\u2019re no longer in fiscal year [20]25, but let\u2019s say we were, \u2018Hmm, well, maybe I can just slow off the funds for the programs I don\u2019t want to fund. That way, the decision is transferred to the executive. Maybe I can freeze them, maybe I can impound them, basically permanently take them off the table, see if I can get away with that. Maybe I can send over a request to have Congress formally undo the programs that they have funded,\u2019 and they did send one of those over, and it was voted and needed a majority vote in both chambers. But the problem with that is, you have a bipartisan vision to serve the entire depth\u2014this job to me is representing the geography of the United States, to serve the entire breadth and depth of our nation with all of our differences, and then on a partisan basis, meaning half the room, they decide what programs to cut. And that means a deal was done in the beginning between Democrats and Republicans, and then it was undone, and the programs that were cut were the programs by and large the Democrats had advocated for. How do you do the next deal in that situation? And then we have Mr. Vought saying, \u2018Hmm, what I\u2019ll do is pretend I\u2019m going to spend it, but then in the last 45 days, I\u2019ll send a notification that I\u2019d like Congress to undo it, but there is a waiting period, so therefore I know what I have done is set it up so that before those 45 days are out, the end of the fiscal year comes, and that bucket that goes to that program goes poof into thin air.\u2019 And that\u2019s the fancy term he\u2019s used for the pocket rescission. And so here, we are saying to our Republican colleagues: if you\u2019re negotiating in good faith to serve the interests and concerns that all 100 senators bring here, that a bill forged in that bipartisan manner can only be undone in a bipartisan manner. And we do rescissions in a bipartisan manner. We do undo funding. We take one year two, year three, year funding that turned out not to be needed or better spent elsewhere, and we pull it back and we put it into a different program, but we do that readjustment in the same bipartisan way we did the initial program,\u201d Senator Merkley continued.\n\n\u201cSo, we\u2019re saying to our colleagues across the aisle, if the power of the purse means something, and it does\u2014the difference between an authoritarian government and a democracy, then work with us to defend our Constitution. Defend that what we have done together cannot be undone by the executive. And so far, we have not received a \u2018Yes, we will defend the Constitution.\u2019 And what I hear is mainly, \u2018Yeah, President Trump would never go for that.\u2019 When you hear that, you know you\u2019re trapped in an authoritarian because the vision of our nation is that we the Congress will forge these programs and decide how to fund them, how much and when it\u2019s like, \u2018Can\u2019t do that, because Trump would be upset,\u2019 well, that just confirms we are in authoritarianism now, and it\u2019s not just the power of the purse, of course, it\u2019s an attack on due process. It\u2019s an attack on free press. It\u2019s an attack on the freedom of speech. It is the weaponization of the Department of Justice. It is the ignoring the laws that apply to the executive completely, like firing all the IGs, getting rid of all the referees. In the book that I really spent the night trying to use as a framework in order to say, \u2018Hey, experts who have studied how democracies die\u2014they don\u2019t die with people with guns anymore. They die when people get elected, and then they follow the authoritarian playbook on how to basically undo the checks and balances and amplify the power.\u2019\u201d\n\n[NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENTS IN OREGON]\n\n\u201cAnd another piece of that that we should be very concerned about in the Northwest right now, more in Portland, but who knows what happens in Seattle, is trying to carve a path in which Trump has court decisions that say he can put troops into the street whenever he wants, and that is a massively dangerous amplification of authoritarian power. And that\u2019s why what we do this year makes such a such a difference that we have to protest and say, \u2018This is not normal.\u2019 We have to ring the alarm bells. We have to praise the 7 million people who got out there and said, \u2018No Kings\u2019 in the United States. And that\u2019s such a beautiful, short way of saying, \u2018No authoritarianism. We want our republic back, and we\u2019re willing to fight to make that happen,\u2019\u201d Senator Merkley said.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what you\u2019re doing. And I thank the Senator from Oregon, for all he\u2019s been doing for so long\u2014for so many years, but especially for the last 20 plus hours that you\u2019ve been on the floor, many, too many hours on the floor\u2014reminding us all of why this is so critical,\u201d concluded Senator Murray.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-schiff-44-senate-democrats-urge-donald-trump-to-reinforce-opposition-to-west-bank-annexation/", "Murray, Schiff, 44 Senate Democrats Urge Donald Trump to Reinforce Opposition to West Bank Annexation", "2025-10-21", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal\n\nSenators press President to reinforce opposition to territorial annexation after Gaza ceasefire plan omits mention of West Bank\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) and 44 other Senate Democrats to urge President Donald Trump to reinforce his stated opposition to the State of Israel\u2019s annexation of territory in the West Bank amidst ongoing focus on implementing and sustaining the much-needed ceasefire in Gaza.\n\nPresident Trump previously expressed his opposition to annexations, saying that he would \u201cnot allow Israel to annex the West Bank.\u201d The recent ceasefire plan for Gaza omits any mention of the West Bank.\n\n\u201cIn this moment, it is essential that the United States reject measures that undermine the viability of a negotiated resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,\u201d the senators wrote in a letter signed by almost the entire Senate Democratic Caucus.\n\n\u201cAs longstanding supporters of Israel\u2019s security and Palestinian aspirations for statehood, we are unified in our opposition to unilateral measures by either party that undermine the prospect of lasting peace through negotiations to achieve a two-state solution. That includes any steps by Israel to annex territory or expand settlements that prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state,\u201d the senators continued.\n\nThe senators also reiterate their relief at the long-sought release of Israeli hostages from Gaza and the need for humanitarian aid to surge into Gaza, for the remains of all deceased hostages to be returned to their families, and for the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to be sustained.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray and Schiff, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt-Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO) Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Edward Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) signed the letter.\n\nThe full text of the letter to President Trump is available HERE and below.\n\nDear President Trump:\n\nWe write to express support for your comments opposing any efforts by the Government of Israel to annex territory in the West Bank and to urge your Administration to promote steps to preserve the viability of a two-state solution and the success of the Abraham Accords.\n\nSince your plan for Gaza does not address the West Bank, it is imperative that your Administration reinforce your comments and emphasize its opposition to annexation. As longstanding supporters of Israel\u2019s security and Palestinian aspirations for statehood, we are unified in our opposition to unilateral measures by either party that undermine the prospect of lasting peace through negotiations to achieve a two-state solution. That includes any steps by Israel to annex territory or expand settlements that prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. Such steps have elicited deep concern and opposition from Arab partners and place at risk your past achievements under the Abraham Accords and the possibility of expanding them further. At the same time, terrorism, including the horrific terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, must be uniformly condemned and will not bring the region closer to peace.\n\nWe are relieved that the hostages have been released, and it is vital that humanitarian aid surge into Gaza; the remains of deceased hostages, including Americans Omer Neutra and Itay Chen, be returned to their families; and that the ceasefire be sustained. In this moment, it is essential that the United States reject measures that undermine the viability of a negotiated resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-schumer-sanders-baldwin-colleagues-blast-latest-hhs-firings-underscoring-how-cuts-will-gravely-weaken-work-to-tackle-fentanyl-crisis-address-maternal-mortality-much-more/", "Murray, Schumer, Sanders, Baldwin, Colleagues Blast Latest HHS Firings\u2014Underscoring How Cuts Will Gravely Weaken Work to Tackle Fentanyl Crisis, Address Maternal Mortality, & Much More", "2025-10-21", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "31 Democratic senators lay out how Trump and RFK Jr.\u2019s latest, illegal mass firings will make America less healthy\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY); 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 alongside Democratic colleagues to Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laying out how the Department\u2019s most recent reckless mass firings will hurt Americans in every part of the country.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray, Schumer, Sanders, and Baldwin, the letter was also signed by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA).\n\n\u201cWe write with outrage at the Department of Health and Human Services\u2019 illegal reductions in force of approximately 1,000 employees carried out during the government shutdown. A government shutdown does not compel the Department to fire workers, nor does it provide any additional authority to do so. The Department is choosing to do this, further putting Americans\u2019 health and well-being at risk,\u201d write the senators. \u201cDespite what the President claims about going after \u2018Democratic programs,\u2019 HHS programs touch the lives of nearly every American. Firing employees responsible for administering substance use and mental health programs and programs protecting against emerging and infectious diseases, as well as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, hurts and endangers all Americans in every state, in communities across the country.\u201d\n\nThe lawmakers note that the mass firings ordered October 10th are just the latest in a long string of chaotic, haphazard, and detrimental firings at HHS this year: \u201cThis is just the latest in a pattern of reckless, vindictive, and poorly planned actions that the Department has undertaken in secret. This latest round of RIFs was so poorly executed that the Department acknowledged it made mistakes and has already rescinded hundreds of RIF notices it sent to employees on October 10.\u201d\n\nIn particular, the senators underscore how the hollowing out of key offices will gravely set back America\u2019s public health preparedness and federal efforts to tackle the fentanyl and substance use disorder crisis, address infant and maternal mortality, and much more:\n\nOn public health efforts, they state: \u201cThe most recent round of RIFs within the Department was particularly reckless with regard to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). \u2026. The nearly 600 CDC employees that remain fired by the latest RIFs include data scientists and health statisticians, chronic disease experts, and communications personnel who keep states and the public informed about critical health information.\u201d\n\nOn substance use disorder work, the lawmakers write: \u201cDespite the administration\u2019s supposed priority to address the fentanyl crisis, it chose to fire more than 100 people from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, gutting the agency responsible for addressing our nation\u2019s mental health care and substance use crises to half the size it was at the beginning of the year. These cuts decimated the Division of Children and School Mental Health, leaving no staff to improve youth mental health outcomes, and included staff from the Mental Health Promotion Branch, State and Consumer Protection Branch, and the Division of Primary Prevention. These firings undermine our recent progress in reducing the number of drug overdose deaths and will negatively impact our ability to address the mental health crisis.\u201d\n\nOn women\u2019s health, they note that: \u201cSimilarly, the administration has seemingly forgotten its purported commitment to the health of women and families as they have pursued layoffs that will worsen the existing maternal health crisis and make it harder for women to access cancer screenings. In this latest round of RIFs, the administration chose to decimate the division of Healthy Start at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a critical program focused on preventing maternal deaths and reducing infant mortality. \u2026. Additionally, the administration fired the HRSA staff tasked with operating the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for Children program which prevents pediatric deaths by ensuring our emergency medicine providers and departments are equipped to care for infants and children facing medical emergencies, including in rural communities. \u2026. They also fired 55 people working in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), including all staff working to oversee the Title X family planning program, which last year provided cancer screenings, STI testing, and contraceptives for almost four million people.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe reckless and harmful actions the Department and this administration have taken over the last several months undermines the critical role HHS plays in ensuring the health and well-being of all Americans,\u201d the senators conclude. \u201cUnfortunately, this latest action to fire employees during a government shutdown clearly demonstrates how this administration has no interest in a funded, functional government and prefers a shutdown rather than working on solutions to problems facing American families, including addressing the impending rise in health care costs for millions of Americans.\u201d\n\nFull text of the letter is available HERE and below:\n\nThe Honorable Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.\n\nSecretary of Health and Human Services\n\n200 Independence Avenue SW\n\nWashington, DC 20201\n\nDear Secretary Kennedy:\n\nWe write with outrage at the Department of Health and Human Services\u2019 (the \u201cDepartment\u201d) illegal reductions in force (RIF) of approximately 1,000 employees carried out during the government shutdown. A government shutdown does not compel the Department to fire workers, nor does it provide any additional authority to do so. The Department is choosing to do this, further putting Americans\u2019 health and well-being at risk, in clear violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, among other federal laws.\n\nPunitive and reckless actions like these latest firings demonstrate how President Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought are relishing the government shutdown they created to play politics with Americans\u2019 health and well-being. Despite what the President claims about going after \u201cDemocratic programs\u201d, HHS programs touch the lives of nearly every American. Firing employees responsible for administering substance use and mental health programs and programs protecting against emerging and infectious diseases, as well as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, hurts and endangers all Americans in every state, in communities across the country.\n\nThis is just the latest in a pattern of reckless, vindictive, and poorly planned actions that the Department has undertaken in secret. The Department has yet to justify the RIFs and other staff reductions it implemented earlier this year when the Department fired and forced out 20,000 HHS employees. We are deeply concerned these latest RIFs, on top of other actions taken by the Department, will further negatively impact the ability of HHS to provide critical services to the American people and carry out its statutory responsibilities, including the timely awarding of funding provided in annual appropriations acts. Last fiscal year, HHS impounded billions of dollars, including funding for lifesaving cancer research and comprehensive early childhood care and education, and created completely unnecessary and burdensome delays for grant recipients and service providers across the country.\n\nThis latest round of RIFs was so poorly executed that the Department acknowledged it made mistakes and has already rescinded hundreds of RIF notices it sent to employees on October 10th. In some instances, employees learned that they were fired not through official notices but through an inability to use their credentials to log into their agency accounts. Continuing to fire employees who administer and oversee critical HHS programs in every state does not make the government more efficient\u2014it will only lead to more funding delays this year, less effective use of taxpayer dollars, and more risk of fraud and abuse. This leaves the United States less prepared in the face of a public health emergency and puts the health and well-being of every American at risk.\n\nThe most recent round of RIFs within the Department was particularly reckless with regard to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Within CDC, approximately 1,300 employees received RIF notices across dozens of programs charged with keeping Americans safe, including experts in disease surveillance, infectious diseases like measles, and nearly all the editors of the agency\u2019s flagship publication, its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Yet in a clear sign of the haphazard nature in which HHS is implementing such significant changes, approximately 700 of the 1,300 CDC employees who received RIF notices were reinstated the next day. This follows the pattern of earlier staff reductions where HHS has fired employees only to later reinstate them. The nearly 600 CDC employees that remain fired by the latest RIFs include data scientists and health statisticians, chronic disease experts, and communications personnel who keep states and the public informed about critical health information. These RIFs are the latest example of an administration that continues to attack public health programs in an effort to silence career scientists, which will put American lives at risk.\n\nDespite the administration\u2019s supposed priority to address the fentanyl crisis, it chose to fire more than 100 people from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, gutting the agency responsible for addressing our nation\u2019s mental health care and substance use crises to half the size it was at the beginning of the year. These cuts decimated the Division of Children and School Mental Health, leaving no staff to improve youth mental health outcomes, and included staff from the Mental Health Promotion Branch, State and Consumer Protection Branch, and the Division of Primary Prevention. These firings undermine our recent progress in reducing the number of drug overdose deaths and will negatively impact our ability to address the mental health crisis.\n\nSimilarly, the administration has seemingly forgotten its purported commitment to the health of women and families as they have pursued layoffs that will worsen the existing maternal health crisis and make it harder for women to access cancer screenings. In this latest round of RIFs, the administration chose to decimate the division of Healthy Start at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a critical program focused on preventing maternal deaths and reducing infant mortality. These staff supported grantees around the country who trained and certified doulas, screened women for depression and intimate partner violence, and provided mental health and public benefit referrals and support, all of which lowered the infant mortality rate. Additionally, the administration fired the HRSA staff tasked with operating the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for Children program which prevents pediatric deaths by ensuring our emergency medicine providers and departments are equipped to care for infants and children facing medical emergencies, including in rural communities. They are further decimating our health care workforce\u2019s ability to care for the American people by firing staff that run nursing workforce development programs and help train new nurses to practice in underserved communities. They also fired 55 people working in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), including all staff working to oversee the Title X family planning program, which last year provided cancer screenings, STI testing, and contraceptives for almost four million people.\n\nThe administration also fired more than 40 employees from the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), including from its center for preparedness, cybersecurity, and information management offices. ASPR leads the nation\u2019s medical and public health preparedness for, response to, and recovery from disasters and public health emergencies. ASPR\u2019s Preparedness and Emergency Operations program leads the Department\u2019s preparedness, support, and coordination functions. When disaster strikes a community and the response and recovery needs exceed a state or local jurisdiction\u2019s capabilities, ASPR deploys medical teams, provides medical supplies and services, and coordinates emergency medical care as needed. These latest firings put our nation\u2019s health preparedness at risk, by effectively eliminating entire programs that identify health incidents, determine response needs, and coordinate Federal health care surge operations before, during, and after a public health emergency or disaster.\n\nWithin the Administration for Children and Families, nearly 50 employees received RIF notices who are responsible for reducing poverty, supporting families and vulnerable youth, and evaluating the effectiveness of these programs. These cuts reportedly include staff within the Office of Community Services that provide assistance and support to states to reduce poverty, provide housing and energy assistance, and provide emergency assistance for at-risk Americans. The administration also reduced staff in the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation that ensure federal funds are being used effectively to improve access to child care, reduce poverty, and improve employment outcomes. Further, RIF notices reportedly included all employees responsible for the Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five program in the Office of Early Childhood Development, which will further undermine states\u2019 early childhood education and child care systems. These reductions show the administration is unconcerned with finding the most effective programs to move children, individuals and families out of poverty.\n\nThe reckless and harmful actions the Department and this administration have taken over the last several months undermines the critical role HHS plays in ensuring the health and well-being of all Americans. Unfortunately, this latest action to fire employees during a government shutdown clearly demonstrates how this administration has no interest in a funded, functional government and prefers a shutdown rather than working on solutions to problems facing American families, including addressing the impending rise in health care costs for millions of Americans.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-schumer-sanders-baldwin-colleagues-lay-out-how-new-mass-firings-at-department-of-education-will-hurt-students-nationwide/", "Murray, Schumer, Sanders, Baldwin, Colleagues Lay Out How New Mass Firings at Department of Education Will Hurt Students Nationwide", "2025-10-21", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "31 Democratic senators blast Trump and McMahon\u2019s latest steps to hurt students and families, dismantle the Department of Education\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY); 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 alongside Democratic colleagues to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon slamming the Department of Education\u2019s latest mass firings and underscoring how they will hurt students nationwide.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray, Schumer, Sanders, and Baldwin, the letter was also signed by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Mark Warner (D-VA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA).\n\n\u201cWe write with outrage at the Department of Education\u2019s latest, illegal reductions in force of 465 employees\u2014approximately 20 percent of the Department\u2019s remaining workforce\u2014which have been carried out during the government shutdown. A shutdown does not compel the Department to fire workers, nor does it provide any additional authority to do so,\u201d write the senators. \u201cPunitive, reckless actions like these latest firings demonstrate how President Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought are relishing the government shutdown they caused\u2014and are treating students as political pawns. That is outrageous\u2014and flatly unacceptable.\u201d\n\nResponding to President Trump\u2019s claims that he is merely using the shutdown as an opportunity to cut \u201cDemocratic programs,\u201d the lawmakers note that: \u201cDespite what the President claims about going after \u2018Democratic programs,\u2019 the simple fact of the matter is that the Department\u2019s actions to hollow out key offices responsible for supporting students with disabilities, rural students, students experiencing homelessness, school districts that serve low-income students or military families doesn\u2019t just hurt \u2018Democrats,\u2019 it hurts students and families in every part of the country.\u201d\n\nIn their letter, the senators note that the latest round of RIFs compounds the already-catastrophic hollowing out of the Department that Secretary McMahon oversaw earlier this year\u2014which weakens oversight and weakens support for students in every part of the country.\n\n\u201cImportantly, these RIFs are the latest in a pattern of reckless, vindictive, and poorly planned actions that the Department has undertaken in secret,\u201d they write to Secretary McMahon. \u201cWe are deeply concerned these latest RIFs will severely degrade the ability of the Department to carry out its most basic statutory responsibilities, including the timely awarding of funding provided in annual appropriations acts. In fact, that seems to be your intent. In justifying these detrimental, unnecessary RIFs earlier this week, you posted online that: \u2018the federal Department of Education is unnecessary.\u2019\u201d\n\nImportantly, the lawmakers note that the latest mass firings mean that several essential offices will be almost entirely hollowed out, including, among others, the Office of Special Education Programs, the Office of Higher Education Programs, and the Rehabilitation Services Administration\u2014gravely jeopardizing the essential role these staff serve in ensuring Americans with disabilities can get an education, proper oversight and functioning of key higher education programs, and much more.\n\n\u201cThis most recent round of RIFs include a near dismantling of the Office of Special Education Programs. \u2026. We are alarmed that the administration is now walking back from its commitment to millions of children with disabilities and their families and the education and services they are entitled to under federal law by laying off \u2018people the Democrats want,\u2019 according to President Trump.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlso included in the latest round of RIFs was nearly everyone in the Rehabilitation Services Administration.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe administration also chose to RIF nearly everyone in the office of Higher Education Programs.\u201d\n\n\u201cContinuing to fire employees working on bipartisan programs that provide students with additional educational resources or confer educational rights on children does not serve these students better or make the government more efficient,\u201d write the senators. \u201cInstead, it will mean students with disabilities cannot access services they are guaranteed, other students will not be able to have their rights enforced, schools may not be held accountable for the academic achievement of their students, taxpayer dollars will be used less effectively, and more waste, fraud and abuse will occur. All of this leaves our children worse off, harms American competitiveness, and wastes taxpayer money.\u201d\n\nFull text of the letter is available HERE and below:\n\nThe Honorable Linda McMahon\n\nSecretary\n\nDepartment of Education\n\n400 Maryland Ave, SW\n\nWashington, DC 20202\n\nDear Secretary McMahon:\n\nWe write with outrage at the Department of Education\u2019s (\u201cthe Department\u201d) latest, illegal reductions in force (\u201cRIF\u201d) of 465 employees\u2014approximately 20 percent of the Department\u2019s remaining workforce\u2014which have been carried out during the government shutdown. A shutdown does not compel the Department to fire workers, nor does it provide any additional authority to do so. The Department is choosing to conduct these mass firings, further degrading support for students nationwide, in clear violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, among other federal laws.\n\nPunitive, reckless actions like these latest firings demonstrate how President Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought are relishing the government shutdown they caused\u2014and are treating students as political pawns. That is outrageous\u2014and flatly unacceptable. Despite what the President claims about going after \u201cDemocratic programs,\u201d the simple fact of the matter is that the Department\u2019s actions to hollow out key offices responsible for supporting students with disabilities, rural students, students experiencing homelessness, school districts that serve low-income students or military families doesn\u2019t just hurt \u201cDemocrats,\u201d it hurts students and families in every part of the country.\n\nImportantly, these RIFs are the latest in a pattern of reckless, vindictive, and poorly planned actions that the Department has undertaken in secret. The Department has yet to justify the RIFs it implemented earlier this year that has already severely impeded the Department\u2019s ability to carry out its statutory functions. We are deeply concerned these latest RIFs will severely degrade the ability of the Department to carry out its most basic statutory responsibilities, including the timely awarding of funding provided in annual appropriations acts. In fact, that seems to be your intent. In justifying these detrimental, unnecessary RIFs earlier this week, you posted online that: \u201cthe federal Department of Education is unnecessary.\u201d\n\nThis administration has cancelled or discontinued funding for hundreds of school-based mental health programs, teacher training programs to address teacher shortages around the country, and critical education research that would help more states and districts improve academic outcomes, and created completely unnecessary and burdensome delays for grant recipients and service providers across the country. Continuing to fire employees working on bipartisan programs that provide students with additional educational resources or confer educational rights on children does not serve these students better or make the government more efficient. Instead, it will mean students with disabilities cannot access services they are guaranteed, other students will not be able to have their rights enforced, schools may not be held accountable for the academic achievement of their students, taxpayer dollars will be used less effectively, and more waste, fraud and abuse will occur. All of this leaves our children worse off, harms American competitiveness, and wastes taxpayer money.\n\nThis most recent round of RIFs include a near dismantling of the Office of Special Education Programs (\u201cOSEP\u201d). OSEP administers $15 billion in formula and discretionary grant programs authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (\u201cIDEA\u201d) intended to improve results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities ages birth through 21. Advocates and experts have raised the alarm over the impact of these massive workforce terminations on more than 8 million children with disabilities and their families served through programs authorized by the IDEA and funded in annual appropriations legislation, with one even stating that \u201cEliminating federal capacity to support IDEA is harmful to people with disabilities, their families, and the professionals who serve them, and it runs counter to everything our members work toward every day.\u201d\n\nThis mass firing of professionals at the Department dedicated to ensuring federal law is implemented as required at the state and local level runs counter to your stated commitment to implement federal law. In fact, in response to questions about fulfilling the Secretary\u2019s responsibilities for monitoring, technical assistance and enforcement under section 616 of the IDEA, you stated, \u201cOSEP has successfully completed its statutory obligations in FY 2025, as noted above, and plans to have a similar number of staff complete similar statutory obligations in FY 2026.\u201d We are alarmed that the administration is now walking back from its commitment to millions of children with disabilities and their families and the education and services they are entitled to under federal law by laying off \u201cpeople the Democrats want\u201d according to President Trump.\n\nThe administration has also fired staff in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (\u201cOESE\u201d), including personnel involved in administering key federal programs and responsibilities authorized by several federal laws. This includes the staff responsible for the approval and monitoring of state accountability and improvement systems to ensure they are compliant with federal law and address the needs of the most vulnerable student groups. Fired staff also worked to ensure the compliance of state and local report cards so parents and the public have accurate, timely, and thorough information on school performance. The administration also chose to fire staff administering the Education for Homeless Children and Youth program, which guarantees important education rights for more than 1.3 million students experiencing homelessness. Finally, the administration reportedly also chose to turn its back on more than 1,000 school districts serving our military communities, Tribal treaty, federal trust and Alaska Land Settlement Act lands by firing staff in the Impact Aid office. This could delay the timely release of future funding for the current and next school year.\n\nWhen a student is denied their right to an education, the Department\u2019s Office for Civil Rights (\u201cOCR\u201d) is supposed to be there to ensure they are able to access the education to which they are entitled under law. However, we are extremely concerned that the reported reductions will further compromise OCR\u2019s ability to carry out its mission. As you are aware, earlier this year, the Department reduced OCR\u2019s workforce by more than half and closed more than half of all of its regional offices. Those reductions left OCR\u2019s workforce with an unprecedented and unmanageable number of open investigations per OCR staff of 168:1. Additional staff reductions will simply worsen an already unreasonable burden for remaining staff and deny timely remedy for students and families.\n\nAlso included in the latest round of RIFs was nearly everyone in the Rehabilitation Services Administration (\u201cRSA\u201d). RSA is the primary agency responsible for carrying out activities under various titles of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that are funded through the Department. The Rehabilitation Act helps states provide critical employment services to individuals with disabilities. These services improve employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and assist in helping such individuals live independently in their communities. The Department is responsible for implementing these mandatory programs, including carrying out monitoring activities for these programs, providing technical assistance to grantees, and publishing information to organizations to ensure the effective implementation of the programs funded under the Rehabilitation Act. In FY25, Congress provided approximately $4.4 billion for programs funded through the Department under the Rehabilitation Act. By firing nearly everyone that works on these programs, the administration is showing it does not care about community integration for people with disabilities or improving the employment opportunities of such individuals.\n\nThe administration also chose to RIF nearly everyone in the Office of Higher Education Programs. This office is responsible for implementing many different higher education grant programs, including TRIO, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, grant programs for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges, and other Minority-Serving Institutions, the Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program, the Basic Needs for Postsecondary Students Program, Postsecondary Student Success Grant Program, and the Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development Program. These bipartisan programs received over $2.9 billion in FY25. Much of this funding was awarded right before September 30th after a bungled obligation process during which grantees did not receive continuation awards for legally dubious reasons and then, because of the Department\u2019s refusal to run timely, new FY25 grant competitions, it instead front-loaded resources or funded old grant slates. The latest round of RIFs will compound the destruction of the first round of RIFs and further ensure that the Department does not have adequate staff to carry out the statutory requirements covering these programs or ensure grantees fulfill all their responsibilities as stewards of these taxpayer resources.\n\nIn addition, the Department still has hundreds of millions of dollars in already appropriated funds to obligate before December 31st of this year. These RIFs will make it extraordinarily difficult to meet that deadline\u2014and in a way that ensures taxpayer dollars are put to the best use. The programs funded through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education\u2014 including the Basic Needs Systems Grants program, the Postsecondary Student Success Grants program, the Research and Development Infrastructure Investments program, the Open Textbook Pilot, the Centers of Excellence for Veteran Student Success program, and the Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development Grant program\u2014all help improve postsecondary access and completion for students attending college, many of whom are low-income or first-generation. The Department also recently issued notices inviting applications for $270 million of funding for two school-based mental health programs. State and local educational agencies must submit their applications by the end of the month before Department staff and peer reviewers take additional actions required before awards can be made by December 31st. These RIFs will put the Department at risk of letting these funds expire, harming students and families who count on these programs.\n\nThe Department is essential to protecting the rights of our nation\u2019s students and ensuring billions in taxpayer funding is spent effectively and as Congress intended \u2013 to improve the academic outcomes of students and prepare them for success in school and life. But illegally firing employees during a government shutdown clearly demonstrates how this administration has no interest in a funded, functional government and prefers a government shutdown in order to score political points while pursing the goal of destroying federal education programs and eliminating the Department of Education.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-van-hollen-merkley-22-bicameral-colleagues-press-trump-administration-on-efforts-to-secure-release-of-16-year-old-u-s-citizen-in-israeli-detention/", "Murray, Van Hollen, Merkley, 22 Bicameral Colleagues Press Trump Administration on Efforts to Secure Release of 16-year-old U.S. Citizen in Israeli Detention", "2025-10-21", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Lawmakers were joined by over 20 additional members in seeking update on release of Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined 14 Senate Colleagues and 12 House colleagues in pressing the Trump Administration on the detention of Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim, a 16-year-old American citizen who has been held in Israeli custody since February 16, 2025.\n\n\u201cWe write with grave concern regarding the detention without trial of Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim. Mohammed is a U.S. citizen from Florida who was reportedly blindfolded, handcuffed, and arrested on February 16th, 2025 when Israeli forces reportedly entered his family home in al-Mazra\u2019a ash-Sharqiya at 3 a.m. He was detained when he was 15 years old and turned 16 in prison. He has been accused of throwing rocks at Israeli settlers, but no evidence has been publicly provided to support this allegation,\u201d the lawmakers began.\n\n\u201cWhile U.S. embassy officials have been able to conduct visits, Mohammed has been denied all other contact with the outside world and his family has not been able to contact him since his detention. Senators Van Hollen and Merkley met with Mohammed\u2019s family in the West Bank, and Rep. Castor, Rep. Frost, and other members also met with his family separately. His family has received updates from U.S. embassy staff and former detainees who described his alarming weight loss, deteriorating health, and signs of torture as his court hearings continue to be routinely postponed. His family reports that Mohammed has lost nearly a quarter of his body weight and contracted scabies after being detained in Megiddo Prison and now in Ofer Prison,\u201d the lawmakers continued.\n\n\u201cWe are concerned about reports of the mistreatment of Palestinians in Israeli detention facilities and prisons, including both of the prisons that have held Mohammed. The mistreatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons was recently corroborated in Israel\u2019s September 7th Supreme Court ruling, which stated the Israeli government has deprived Palestinian detainees of even a minimum subsistence diet and ordered authorities to increase the amount and quality of food served to inmates,\u201d they continued.\n\n\u201cAs we have been told repeatedly, \u2018the Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad.\u2019 We share that view and urge you to fulfill this responsibility by engaging the Israeli government directly to secure the swift release of this American boy,\u201d the lawmakers concluded.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray, Van Hollen, and Merkley, the letter was signed by Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Peter Welch (D-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL). Representatives Kathy Castor (D, FL-14), Maxwell Frost (D, FL-10), Maxine Dexter (D, OR-3), Greg Casar (D, TX-35), Jim McGovern (D, TX-35), Gwen Moore (D, WI-4), Rashida Tlaib (D, MI-12), Jes\u00fas Garc\u00eda (D, IL-04), Pramila Jayapal (D, WA-7), Jerrold Nadler (D, NY-12), Adam Smith (D, WA-9), and Delia Ramirez (D, IL-3) also signed the letter.\n\nThe full text of the letter to Secretary Rubio and Ambassador Huckabee is available HERE and below.\n\nDear Secretary Rubio and Ambassador Huckabee,\n\nWe write with grave concern regarding the detention without trial of Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim. Mohammed is a U.S. citizen from Florida who was reportedly blindfolded, handcuffed, and arrested on February 16th, 2025 when Israeli forces reportedly entered his family home in al-Mazra\u2019a ash-Sharqiya at 3 a.m. He was detained when he was 15 years old and turned 16 in prison. He has been accused of throwing rocks at Israeli settlers, but no evidence has been publicly provided to support this allegation. As you know, Palestinians are subject to military law in the West Bank and are tried in military courts where there have been well-documented concerns about Palestinians not receiving fair due process. Mohammed is also the first cousin of Saifullah Kamel Musallet, the 20-year-old U.S. citizen who was reportedly beaten to death by Israeli settlers in July 2025. To date, no one has been arrested concerning his killing.\n\nWhile U.S. embassy officials have been able to conduct visits, Mohammed has been denied all other contact with the outside world and his family has not been able to contact him since his detention. Senators Van Hollen and Merkley met with Mohammed\u2019s family in the West Bank, and Rep. Castor, Rep. Frost, and other members also met with his family separately. His family has received updates from U.S. embassy staff and former detainees who described his alarming weight loss, deteriorating health, and signs of torture as his court hearings continue to be routinely postponed. His family reports that Mohammed has lost nearly a quarter of his body weight and contracted scabies after being detained in Megiddo Prison and now in Ofer Prison.\n\nWe are concerned about reports of the mistreatment of Palestinians in Israeli detention facilities and prisons, including both of the prisons that have held Mohammed. The mistreatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons was recently corroborated in Israel\u2019s September 7th Supreme Court ruling, which stated the Israeli government has deprived Palestinian detainees of even a minimum subsistence diet and ordered authorities to increase the amount and quality of food served to inmates.\n\nIn a disturbingly similar case, and underscoring our urgency concerning Mohammed\u2019s continued pre-trial detention, 17-year-old Palestinian Walid Ahmad collapsed and died in Megiddo Prison on March 22nd, 2025 after also being detained for six months without charges or trial for allegedly throwing rocks. Walid\u2019s post-mortem examination indicates that he died from a combination of abuse and mistreatment that led to him collapsing and hitting his head, including extreme malnutrition, torture, scabies, and the denial of medical intervention. It is the responsibility of the U.S. government to ensure that this recent tragedy does not repeat itself with Mohammed.\n\nAs we have been told repeatedly, \u201cthe Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad.\u201d We share that view and urge you to fulfill this responsibility by engaging the Israeli government directly to secure the swift release of this American boy.\n\nWe request a response to this letter by November 3rd, including what efforts you have made on Mohammed\u2019s case.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-21-senator-murray-calls-on-president-trump-republicans-to-stop-wasting-time-finally-come-to-the-table-to-reopen-government-and-prevent-health-care-cost-crisis/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 21: Senator Murray Calls on President Trump, Republicans to Stop Wasting Time, Finally Come to the Table to Reopen Government and Prevent Health Care Cost Crisis", "2025-10-21", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "NEW FROM AP: 6 in 10 Americans are \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d concerned about their health costs going up in the next year\n\nWindow shopping period begins today for Washington state ACA exchange\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s Remarks***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks on government funding at this afternoon\u2019s Senate Democratic leadership press conference on the twenty-first day of President Trump and Republicans\u2019 shutdown.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cWell, President Trump could not be less focused on reopening the government or preventing premiums from exploding. But he is very focused on bailing out Argentina, and buying private jets for Secretary Noem, and bulldozing the White House so he can build a fancy new ballroom\u2014even in the middle of a shutdown.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, Republican leaders are sticking their heads in the sand and doing nothing beyond the same, failed partisan vote over and over.\n\n\u201cIn a shock to no one, Republicans\u2019 decision to ignore reality has done nothing to change it.\n\n\u201cWhile House Republicans can\u2019t even be bothered to come back and do their jobs\u2014for over a month now, over a month\u2014health care premiums are, right now, going through the roof.\n\n\u201cAnd you don\u2019t have to take my word for it. Window shopping started in my state of Washington today, and it\u2019s going to start in many other states as well.\n\n\u201cThat means, today, families are logging on, looking for health coverage for next year, and coming face to face with massive price hikes because Republicans downright refuse to work with us to do something about it.\n\n\u201cI have heard from families whose premiums are doubling, or even worse.\n\n\u201cI have spoken to small businesses. Their owners are realizing they may have to close up their shop or give up their health care.\n\n\u201cAnd this is not just happening in Washington state. I know, because I\u2019ve been talking to people in Idaho and Montana as well. This crisis is hitting them just as hard, and in many ways, even harder.\n\n\u201cSo reminder for my Republican colleagues: the majority of people who rely on the premium tax credits? Are in red states. And the states where these families will see premiums jump the most? Again, all red states.\n\n\u201cThese are your voters, and you are not listening to them. Instead, what is the Republican response? Silence. What is the Republican solution? Wait. Where are the House Republicans? Oh, on a month-long vacation that has no end in sight.\n\n\u201cThat is not even remotely close to good enough.\n\n\u201cNot when open enrollment starts nationwide next week.\n\n\u201cNot when it has started in Idaho already.\n\n\u201cAnd not when families are window shopping right now and seeing astronomical prices.\n\n\u201cThe Republican leaders\u2019 plan is to do nothing while those prices get locked in, and people get priced out of their health care.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t tell us to wait. Don\u2019t tell us to ignore this problem. Republicans have had all year to get serious about health care.\n\n\u201cInstead, they focused on tax cuts for billionaires, and they did not tell them to wait for new tax breaks. But now they are forcing working families to wait until those devastating price hikes are unavoidable.\n\n\u201cI mean, Republicans have actually talked more about health care during this shutdown than they have all year.\n\n\u201cBut they are still refusing to talk about solutions. \u2018Wait\u2019 is not a solution. \u2018Maybe we should have repealed Obamacare\u2019\u2014that is not a solution. Saying \u2018we have a plan\u2019 over and over again\u2014is not a plan!\n\n\u201cHere is my clear message to Republican leadership: stop wasting time, stop ignoring your constituents, and come to the negotiating table so we can work out a bill to reopen the government and prevent the health care cost crisis.\n\n\u201cDemocrats are here, we are ready to get this done. But with window shopping under way, and open enrollment right around the corner, Republicans need to understand there is no time to waste.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-21-senator-murray-slams-republicans-for-ignoring-skyrocketing-health-care-costs-on-first-day-of-washington-state-window-shopping/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 21: Senator Murray Slams Republicans for Ignoring Skyrocketing Health Care Costs on First Day of Washington State Window Shopping", "2025-10-21", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "NEW FROM AP: 6 in 10 Americans are \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d concerned about their health costs going up in the next year\n\nKFF: Most Republicans and MAGA Supporters Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s full floor speech***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered remarks on the Senate floor on the twenty-first day of President Trump and Republicans\u2019 shutdown and the first day that Washingtonians can window shop for health care coverage on the state\u2019s Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace, Washington Healthplanfinder.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n[REPUBLICANS\u2019 REFUSAL TO PREVENT PREMIUMS FROM EXPLODING]\n\n\u201cWe are now on week four of Republicans insisting that they would rather keep the government shut down than talk about how we stop health care premiums from skyrocketing. And in a sign of how serious Republicans are taking all this, House Republicans are still not even here. They are still on a vacation that has now lasted over a month.\n\n\u201cSenate Republican leaders are still refusing to sit down with us and do anything other than hold the same failed vote on their partisan bill over, and over, and over.\n\n\u201cAnd President Trump is gloating and lying about having more power than ever. He is illegally mass firing people that do important work for the American people, he is illegally hacking away at \u2018Democratic\u2019 programs, and he is tweeting out more lies and truly obscene videos.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s be clear: President Trump does not have to fire people and slash funding. He didn\u2019t do any of this during the last shutdown he caused. Instead, Trump is choosing to cause pain and chaos because he wants to use the American people as leverage.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, he is doing nothing about the fact that millions of Americans\u2014the majority in red states, by the way\u2014are about to see their premiums double.\n\n\u201cOpen enrollment starts next week. In fact, it already began in Idaho.\n\n\u201cAnd where are Republicans? They are on week four of sticking their heads in the sand. Again, House Republicans are not even here.\n\n\u201cBut in a shock to no one, Republicans ignoring reality has done nothing to change it.\n\n\u201cAnd that became even more obvious today as health plan window shopping started in my home state of Washington, and it\u2019s going on in many other states as well.\n\n\u201cWhich means right now, today, families are logging on, looking for plans for 2026, and seeing the full cost of Republicans\u2019 inaction.\n\n\u201cFor millions of families, they are seeing for the first time that their premiums are going to double next year, because Republicans are refusing to act. And for many families? It will be even worse. Premiums will triple, or even quadruple!\n\n\u201cI have heard from seniors, not yet old enough for Medicare, who learned their premiums will jump by more than a thousand dollars a month.\n\n\u201cI have heard from many small business owners, trying to figure out if they are going to give up on their dream job, or risk going without health care.\n\n\u201cAnd the Republican response? Silence. The Republican solution? Just wait.\n\n\u201cTo my colleagues: what are you talking about? Wait? Until what? Until premiums get locked in? Until people are officially priced out of coverage?\n\n\u201cThe billionaires did not have to wait for their tax cuts. Republicans made sure to pass that last July. Why do working families have to wait for you to talk about health care? It is completely absurd to me that Republicans are trying to say they won\u2019t talk about this during a shutdown, but \u2018Trust us. Because later we may possibly, think about, or talk about something that is going to be way too late.\u2019\n\n\u201cIt is just not credible for Republican leaders to insist they won\u2019t talk about health care until this shutdown ends.\n\n\u201cAfter all, they wouldn\u2019t talk about it before the shutdown. And, as a matter of fact, I think they\u2019ve talked about health care more during the shutdown than they had all year!\n\n\u201cThey have been ignoring this issue. And now, their only offer to Democrats right now is to say we should ignore the issue too!\n\n\u201cNo deal. I will not ignore my constituents. And to my Republican colleagues: I will not let you ignore yours either. So join us at the table, and let\u2019s get serious about ending this shutdown, and stopping premiums from skyrocketing.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve already heard from families and small businesses in Washington state about how painful this is going to be, and I\u2019ve also heard from my neighbors in Idaho, and Montana as well. Why is it so hard for Republican leaders to listen to these stories? Why is it so hard for them to listen to the voices of their constituents?\n\n[TRUMP & REPUBLICANS\u2019 DISGRACEFUL RESPONSE TO NO KINGS PROTESTS]\n\n\u201cWe saw that same issue with the protests last weekend.\n\n\u201cThe No Kings protests were possibly the most massive peaceful day of action in our nation\u2019s history. From city to city, large and small, images poured in of massive crowds. A grassroots movement with hand-made signs, colorful outfits, and Americans of every stripe.\n\n\u201cOut in the crowds, you could see parents that were out to protest with kids on their shoulders, showing the next generation this is how we make our voices heard in this country: loudly, proudly, and peacefully. You could see seniors out marching, determined to stand up for the rights they have cherished for decades, and stop this country from becoming something they no longer recognize. And you could see young adults, getting together with their friends, getting involved, and exercising their birthright as Americans: to have a say in the future of this country.\n\n\u201cIt was an inspiring celebration of how we advocate for change in this country. Americans from every walk of life, every stage of life, and every corner of our country, came together to speak with one voice, and send one message: \u2018No Kings.\u2019 That is about as fundamentally American as it gets.\n\n\u201cAnd yet, how did my colleagues across the aisle respond to these people, many of their own constituents?\n\n\u201cRepublicans spent weeks slandering these peaceful protesters. They spent weeks saying this was a \u2018Hate America\u2019 rally. They actually said that, repeatedly, proudly, to the press.\n\n\u201cDo you think those kids hate America? Or those seniors, do you think they hate America? Do they think their constituents hate America? That\u2019s disgraceful. Republicans who\u2019ve spouted these lies should apologize.\n\n\u201cAnd let\u2019s not forget President Trump\u2019s response, because it deserves to live in shame for all of history.\n\n\u201cThe President of the United States, responded to peaceful protesters across this country with a video of himself wearing a crown, driving a fighter jet, and bombing peaceful protestors with human waste. Are you kidding me? No one over there says anything about this? That is shameful. Speaker Johnson said he thinks that is Trump being an \u2018effective communicator.\u2019 Really?\n\n\u201cWhat on earth is effective about the president of the United States dropping waste on American families, and seniors, and our cities? It was a vulgar, ugly, and fundamentally unstable display. It was in many ways a perfect mirror reflection of the peaceful protests.\n\n\u201cBecause President Trump\u2019s response showing himself donning a crown, soaring above the common people, and dropping waste on American cities and peaceful protestors, that is as fundamentally un-American as it gets.\n\n\u201cSo when are Republicans going to apologize for smearing peaceful protestors?\n\n\u201cWhen are they going to apologize for saying this weekend was a \u2018Hate America\u2019 rally?\n\n\u201cWhen are they going to apologize for all the rhetoric saying Democrats are terrorists?\n\n\u201cAnd while we are at it, when are they going to criticize Trump\u2019s completely unhinged response? What is it going to take to tell President Trump he\u2019s crossed a line? Millions of people can peacefully protest, and Republican leaders slander it for weeks as a \u2018Hate America\u2019 rally, but not a squeak of criticism for the President fantasizing about bombing people with feces.\n\n\u201cM. President, Republicans may be determined to cover their ears when it comes to families speaking out about the health care crisis. They may be determined to cover their eyes when it comes to Trump tweeting out unhinged, un-American AI slop.\n\n\u201cBut Democrats are not going to let them cover up the truth. We are not going to let them ignore the health care crisis. We are going to continue to speak out, and lift up stories from families, in our states and theirs.\n\n\u201cAnd we are going to remain at the table, ready to work on real solutions to end this shutdown, and address this health care crisis.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/in-new-letter-murray-kaptur-blast-latest-mass-firings-at-doe/", "In New Letter, Murray, Kaptur Blast Latest Mass Firings at DOE", "2025-10-20", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Top energy appropriators underscore how Trump\u2019s shutdown RIFs will weaken efforts to lower Americans\u2019 energy costs and weaken oversight to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, sent a letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright blasting the latest reductions in force (RIF) ordered during the government shutdown.\n\n\u201cWe write with outrage over the Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE) decision to move forward with reductions in force (RIFs) across critical program offices during the government shutdown in a clear act of political retribution that will hurt communities across the country,\u201d write Murray and Kaptur.\n\n\u201cThese actions, which reportedly affect 179 employees, appear to be part of a broader effort to implement the administration\u2019s budget request without congressional approval\u2014circumventing the appropriations process and undermining congressional intent,\u201d they continue. \u201cThe Department\u2019s actions will raise energy prices for American families by disrupting the implementation of key programs that increase supply and reduce costs for hard-working Americans. We are also alarmed by how your mass firings might allow waste, fraud, and abuse as you eliminate key staff conducting oversight of programs.\u201d\n\nIn the letter, Murray and Kaptur note that the planned RIFs \u201cwould effectively dismantle the very offices responsible for lowering energy costs for American families and communities.\u201d\n\nNoting that DOE has so far refused to provide any detailed information about the RIFs or a justification for them, the lawmakers conclude by calling on Secretary Wright to halt all planned firings: \u201cWe demand you immediately halt all RIF actions and provide the Committee with detailed information about the scope, timing, and justification of these reductions.\u201d\n\nThe full letter is available HERE and below:\n\nThe Honorable Christopher Wright\n\nSecretary of Energy\n\nU.S. Department of Energy\n\n1000 Independence Avenue SW\n\nWashington, DC 20585\n\nDear Secretary Wright:\n\nWe write with outrage over the Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE) decision to move forward with reductions in force (RIFs) across critical program offices during the government shutdown in a clear act of political retribution that will hurt communities across the country. These actions, which reportedly affect 179 employees, appear to be part of a broader effort to implement the administration\u2019s budget request without congressional approval\u2014circumventing the appropriations process and undermining congressional intent. The Department\u2019s actions will raise energy prices for American families by disrupting the implementation of key programs that increase supply and reduce costs for hard-working Americans. We are also alarmed by how your mass firings might allow waste, fraud, and abuse as you eliminate key staff conducting oversight of programs.\n\nThe Department has refused to provide information about the specific distribution of RIFs across affected offices, which include the Offices of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), and Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). We understand that employees have been notified of impending terminations with no set date, creating confusion and uncertainty throughout the Department. Further, a U.S. District Court recently temporarily halted RIFs across federal agencies, finding they will likely be determined to be illegal.\n\nThese RIFs would effectively dismantle the very offices responsible for lowering energy costs for American families and communities. Eliminating staff in SCEP jeopardizes work to distribute $366 million annually through the Weatherization Assistance Program\u2014saving households an average of $372 per year\u2014and $105 million annually through state and community programs, which cut costs through renewable energy and efficiency upgrades. Similarly, the mass firings at EERE would end research and deployment programs in solar, wind, and hydrogen technologies that make clean energy more affordable and reliable, strengthen domestic supply chains, and reduce long-term energy costs for consumers nationwide.\n\nRecent reports from the DOE Office of Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office have identified persistent gaps in program oversight and have recommended increased monitoring and staffing to ensure proper stewardship of federal funds. These RIFs would directly undermine those recommendations\u2014eliminating institutional knowledge and capacity at a time when stronger oversight is clearly needed. With fewer career oversight and program management staff, the Department risks weaker grant monitoring, delayed audits, reduced ability to detect misconduct, and diminished follow-through on corrective actions.\n\nCompounding these concerns, OCED and SCEP are responsible for implementing and overseeing billions of dollars in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act funds\u2014funds that support demonstration projects, state energy programs, and community level deployments. It is unclear who would manage these programs and carry out required monitoring and compliance functions if these RIFs proceed\u2014further heightening the risk of inadequate oversight and mismanagement.\n\nWe demand you immediately halt all RIF actions and provide the Committee with detailed information about the scope, timing, and justification of these reductions. Please provide DOE\u2019s plan for implementing and overseeing the programs managed by these offices, as well as details on how DOE plans to implement the court order.\n\nDOE should be advancing America\u2019s clean energy future and reducing energy costs for consumers\u2014not dismantling the offices that make it possible. We look forward to your responses by October 23, 2025.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/icymi-idaho-begins-open-enrollment-senator-murray-warns-red-states-of-exploding-health-care-costs-if-republicans-keep-refusing-to-act/", "ICYMI: Idaho Begins Open Enrollment, Senator Murray Warns Red States of Exploding Health Care Costs if Republicans Keep Refusing to Act", "2025-10-17", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "More than three-quarters of the people who rely on ACA tax credits for health insurance live in red states\n\nMurray takes case directly to Idahoans and Montanans as new signs indicate Republicans are feeling the heat over their refusal to take action to prevent people\u2019s costs from spiking\n\nMurray: \u201cIf Republicans don\u2019t want to level with their own constituents about what is at stake, I am happy to do it. Because Republicans may well be able to shut down the government, but they cannot shut down the debate, and they cannot shut out the voices of families who are facing the harsh reality of their inaction.\u201d\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 As open enrollment on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace began in Idaho this week\u2014with open enrollment beginning in the rest of the country on November 1\u2014Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has been warning how Republicans\u2019 refusal to save the ACA enhanced premium tax credits will cause premiums to explode, particularly in red states. She warned that the 10 states facing the largest hikes are red states and has now taken her case directly to Idahoans and Montanans in separate press calls.\n\n______________\n\nWATCH: Murray Lays Out Which States Will See Highest Premium Increases Due to Republican Inaction\n\n[WATCH: Morning Joe panel discusses which states will be most hurt by Republican inaction.]\n\n______________\n\nIdahoans Face Sticker Shock as Open Enrollment Began on Wednesday\n\nTV & RADIO\n\nKXLY (Northern Idaho & Spokane, WA)\n\nANCHOR: \u201cIn a press conference today, Washington state Senator Patty Murray argued ensuring these tax credits are extended indefinitely is the first step to make rising health insurance premiums attainable for Americans. Americans like Bob McMichael, a retired schoolteacher from a rural part of Idaho. He and his wife are senior citizens living on a fixed income. They don\u2019t qualify for Medicaid, but they\u2019ve been able to find an affordable health insurance plan using the Affordable Care Act exchange system. But last week, Bob received a letter about his insurance plan, which is set to increase by more than 250 dollars a month. Bob says taking these tax credits on and off the bargaining table is making it difficult to plan for the future. Bob McMichael relies on ACA tax credits. \u2018If they reinstate the ACA credits or if they are still on the table for us in 2026, it\u2019s going to be hard. But if they don\u2019t reinstate then, then we simply won\u2019t be able to afford any health care at all.\u2019 Today, a Republican stopgap funding bill failed to pass in the Senate once again. The vote was 54 to 45. The government shutdown is inching closer and closer to the open enrollment period, where people like bob can compare plans and make changes to their health coverage. Idaho\u2019s open enrollment is just days away on October 15th. In Washington, the date is November 1st.\u201d [10/9/25]\n\nKBOI (Boise, ID)\n\nANCHOR: \u201cIf those credits expire, health insurance premiums will skyrocket in 2026. A senator from Washington, Patty Murray, is holding a conference with Idahoans about them. \u2018And if those credits expire, a 55 year old earning about $63,000 a year in Idaho will see their annual premiums increase nearly $4,000. No one can afford that.\u2019 That\u2019s Idaho Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow. She urges Congress to make the credits permanent, saying it would cost a fraction of the billions given in tax cuts.\u201d [10/10/25]\n\nPRINT\n\nIdaho Capital Sun: Democratic Idaho legislator calls on Congress to extend health insurance tax credits\n\nWith open enrollment on Idaho\u2019s health insurance exchange starting next week, Idaho State Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow called on Congress to extend health insurance tax credits and end the shutdown of the U.S. government.\n\nWintrow, D-Boise, participated in an online press conference Thursday with U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, as the partial shutdown of the federal government was in its ninth day.\n\n\u201cI am overwhelmed with calls from people all over the state who are frustrated and afraid about the things that are happening in their health care,\u201d Wintrow said.\n\nOpen enrollment on the Your Health Idaho health insurance exchange, where Idahoans can apply for a tax credit and enroll in a health insurance plan for next year, opens Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 15.\n\nMurray warned that unless Congress extends the tax credits originally passed in 2021, thousands of Idahoans on the state\u2019s health exchange will see \u201ca huge spike in their health care costs.\u201d Without those credits, 25,000 Idahoans are likely to cancel their insurance policies \u2014 as average premiums are expected to double, Pat Kelly, executive director of Your Health Idaho, previously told the Idaho Capital Sun.\n\n\u201cBut Republicans don\u2019t want to talk about it. And they have refused to do anything about it. In fact, Republicans have chosen to shut down the government rather than work with Democrats on a solution to stop this from happening. So here\u2019s my feeling on this: if Republicans don\u2019t want to level with their own constituents about what is at stake, I am happy to do it,\u201d Murray said. [10/9/25]\n\nIdaho Statesman: \u2018People are going to die\u2019: Idahoans fear spike in insurance costs\n\nAt 59, Susan Wood, a longtime Boise, Idaho, resident, was too young to qualify for Medicare when she retired in July. So she signed up for a marketplace plan under the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nWith the help of federal subsidies, which get paid out to insurance companies, she has to cover only $72 of her monthly premium. Wood said she\u2019d be on the hook for her plan\u2019s full $700 monthly premium without the subsidies. Those payments would surpass what she spends on her mortgage or on food. [10/7/25]\n\nNBC News: Idaho kicks off Affordable Care Act open enrollment as premiums are set to rise nationwide:\n\nMany Idahoans will have to decide whether they\u2019ll be able to afford coverage once the enhanced subsidies that kept premiums lower for many middle-class families expire at the end of the year.\n\nBob McMichael, 63, and his wife, Leslie, 62, already know they won\u2019t.\n\nBoth are retired and make about $42,000 a year. They currently pay $51 a month for their ACA plan. Late last month, they got a notice that their monthly premium would increase to $2,232 next year without the subsidies.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re facing a stratospheric increase in health care and probably don\u2019t have any option to stay on health care as of January 2026,\u201d McMichael said. [10/15/25]\n\nSpokesman-Review: Murray puts spotlight on Idaho as shutdown fight over health care drags on\n\nWith the government shutdown in its ninth day and no sign of serious negotiations between the parties to end it, Democrats are counting on sticker shock putting pressure on Republicans when Americans start seeing rising health insurance costs during this fall\u2019s open enrollment period.\n\nThat period beings Oct. 15 in Idaho, earlier than every other state, a fact Sen. Patty Murray of Washington sought to highlight in a virtual news conference on Thursday with Idaho State Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, a fellow Democrat.\n\n\u201cIf Republican leaders don\u2019t want to talk with Democrats about opening the government and stopping premiums from doubling, well, we\u2019re going to talk to the American people about what\u2019s at stake,\u201d Murray said. \u201cWe will lift up the voices of families who are worried their premiums will double.\u201d\n\nWintrow, speaking from the Idaho State Capitol, pointed blame at the Gem State\u2019s all-GOP congressional delegation: Reps. Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson and Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch. Simpson leads a subcommittee responsible for government funding, and Crapo chairs the Senate Finance Committee, but none of the four men have publicly engaged in talks to end the impasse.\n\n\u201cI am overwhelmed with calls from people all over the state who are frustrated and afraid about the things that are happening in their health care,\u201d she said. \u201cTheir stories are remarkably similar. They\u2019re worried, they\u2019re frustrated and they\u2019re asking, \u2018Why aren\u2019t the people we send to Washington helping us?\u2019 \u201d\n\n[\u2026]\n\n\u201cI think Republicans think that this is just going to go away,\u201d [Murray] said. \u201cBut I have to tell you, people are getting those letters in the mail \u2014 in Idaho starting in just a few days, in Washington state in a few weeks, every state across the country.\u201d [10/9/25]\n\nNOTUS: A Democratic Senator Is Taking Shutdown Health Care Messaging to Deep-Red Idaho\n\nSen. Patty Murray of Washington state, the upper chamber\u2019s top Democratic appropriator, will conduct a press call Thursday with local media in neighboring Idaho, according to her office. Murray, alongside Idaho state Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow and two Idaho retirees, is expected to argue that congressional Republicans are responsible for a potential rise in Idaho health care premiums. [\u2026] In a floor speech Tuesday, Murray said the 10 states where insurance premiums would spike the most if the subsidies expire were all ones that went for Trump in 2024 and have Republican senators. \u201cIf you\u2019re gonna not talk with us, then I beg my colleagues: At least talk to your constituents. See what this health care crisis looks for them,\u201d Murray said on the Senate floor. [10/8/25]\n\n______________\n\nMurray Warns of Skyrocketing Premiums in Montana\n\nTV & RADIO\n\nNonStop Local (Billings, Butte-Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena, Missoula, MT) (KULR, KWYB, KFBB, KHBB, KTMF)\n\nANCHOR: \u201cBradley Warren shows us from The Pulse studios: the Democrats feel like they are fighting for the American people, and protecting our healthcare.\u201d\n\nCORRESPONDENT: \u201cWell, today, Senator Murray was joined by State Senator Cora Neumann to stress the importance of the ACA subsidies. Open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans started today in Idaho and gave us sort of a glimpse as to what the future of health care in the country could look like without the tax credits. Now, Senator Patty Murray says the Democrats are pushing for these because the average out of pocket premium is expected just in the state of Idaho to rise by $1,200 a year. And that\u2019s a 75% increase, according to the state health officials that we reached out today. Senator Neumann also tells us without the subsidies, the impact on her rural district in the state of Montana, which stretches from Bozeman all the way down to West Yellowstone, could be significant.\u201d\n\nSENATOR CORA NEUMANN: \u201cI think we\u2019re actually over 70,000 Montanans that have enrolled in the ACA marketplace in 2025. In 2020, it was only 42,000. So, if that gives you a sense of how many people have taken advantage of this and how high the rates are across the state, just as an example of how, how critical and crucial it has come to, has become within our health care system.\u201d\n\nCORRESPONDENT: \u201cSo she said, there are some people who could make the decision to forgo insurance because of the price of it, which could overwhelm our rural health care system. And of course, the emergency rooms, because that\u2019s where people would be going if they don\u2019t have insurance. I spoke to the senior senator, the Democratic Senator from the state of Washington who hosted this press conference today with leaders from the state of Montana, Patty Murray. And she says that she wants to see these health care subsidies get across the finish line. I asked her about remarks made from the Montana Republican delegation that has spoken with me, saying that Democrats need to reopen the government and negotiate later. She said that\u2019s not going to work for her. \u201cWe repeatedly asked them to extend these tax credits, for the ACA, and they refused to do so. This is not a new request. This is a legislative request and it needs to be done now.\u201d [10/15/25]\n\nKGEZ (Missoula, MT)\n\nHOST: \u201cWashington state Senator Patty Murray is doing a virtual news conference tomorrow afternoon with Bozeman State Senter Cora Neumann and Montana Nurses Association CEO Vicki Byrd. Now, they\u2019re going to be talking about the impending rise in health care costs for Montanans. Senator Murray is the Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee. The main point of contention of this current government shutdown, now on its sixteenth day, is the loss of the Affordable Care Act tax credits which underwrite a majority of health care premiums for those Montanans. Senator Murray gives us this as an example: Montanans pay an average monthly premium of a hundred and forty-five dollars with tax credits; without them, it rises to six hundred thirty-five dollars. She says a married couple in Helena could see their premiums rise by nearly twenty thousand dollars annually. Senator Murray reminds us that over sixty seven thousand Montanans rely on the Affordable Care Act credits in order to afford their health care insurance. Democrats in Congress say the government shutdown would end immediately if this issue was resolved.\u201d [10/15/25]\n\nPRINT\n\nDaily Montanan: Washington senator hosts forum with Montanans on health subsidies, shutdown\n\nMontanans can\u2019t afford the exploding costs of health insurance coming their way if Republicans in the U.S. Senate won\u2019t work with Democrats to protect Affordable Care Act tax credits \u2014 that was the message Wednesday from a video call hosted by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.\n\nMurray said she held the call because families in red states such as Montana are being affected, Republicans in the U.S. Senate are dodging the issue, and Republican lawmakers need to negotiate.\n\n[\u2026]\n\n[State Senator Cora Neumann] said Montana\u2019s own Republican state auditor James Brown signed onto a letter with other auditors across the country calling on Congress to continue the enhanced tax credits that started during the pandemic.\n\n\u201cAuditors know intimately how dangerous these cuts are,\u201d Neumann said.\n\nBut Neumann said the federal delegation is not listening to Montanans.\n\nShe also said the delegation \u201chas phenomenal health care coverage,\u201d and their intransigence on the matter for others confused her.\n\n\u201cFor them to sit pretty in Washington and accept some of the best health care coverage in the country while Montanans lose their coverage just reminds me of how out of touch they are with Montana,\u201d Neumann said.[10/15/25]\n\nBillings Gazette: Medicare open enrollment kicks off in Montana \u2014 and plans are more expensive than ever\n\n[\u2026]\n\nMost Montanans on the ACA exchange receive monthly subsidies that make premiums more affordable. A pandemic-era federal policy expanded those subsidies, giving many consumers a financial buffer during an economically uncertain time.\n\nThose ACA enhanced premium tax credits will lapse at the end of the year without congressional action, and are at the center of the federal government shutdown fight. The impasse is largely due to Democrats\u2019 insistence on renewing the subsidies and the Republicans\u2019 refusal to do so as a condition of reopening.\n\nThe average monthly subsidy for a Montana resident is currently $545. Jacobs said he works with some families who currently pay $350 a month with the ACA tax credit but could pay around $2,200 a month without it.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nDemocrats counter that people are feeling financial strain and could choose to go without insurance rather than pay a high price, which will ultimately cost the system more down the line when they seek emergency room care.\n\n\u201cWe are talking about families with kids, we\u2019re talking about seniors, retirees who aren\u2019t old enough for Medicare but desperately need healthcare coverage, countless farmers, ranchers, small business owners and freelancers,\u201d said U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, in a press call earlier this week.\n\nMurray, one of the lone Senate Democrats in the otherwise deep red geographic pocket, hosted a press conference on Wednesday with a handful of Montanans. Murray claimed she\u2019s heard from Montana residents with concerns about the potential surge in health costs.\n\nMontana Sen. Cora Neumann, D-Bozeman, also participated in the event. She expressed concern that Montana\u2019s GOP lawmakers in D.C. were \u201cout of touch\u201d with the impact that the price increases could have on the average family.\n\nWith less than three weeks until the marketplace opens for business and no clear path forward in sight, many people are left to wonder what this all means for them. [10/17/25]\n\nNonStop Local, Montana Right Now: Senator Murray and Montana leaders urge action to save healthcare tax credits\n\nThis is a situation where Congress needs to act now with legislation to extend the tax credits,\u201d Murray said. [\u2026] \u201cI will go back to this summer when Republicans passed their \u2018Big Beautiful Bill.\u2019 One of the tax extenders in that was for billionaires which they moved heaven and earth to do within a few short weeks. We repeatedly asked them to extend these tax credits for the ACA and they refused to do so. This is not a new request. This is a legislative request. And it needs to be done now. [10/16/25]\n\nSEMAFOR: Top Senate Democrat takes health care fight to red states\n\nAs the government shutdown enters its second week, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is taking her party\u2019s fight for enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies to the neighboring red state of Idaho. \u201cIf the Republican lawmakers \u2026 are not going to level with their constituents about what is at stake in this fight, I will,\u201d Murray, who is planning a virtual press conference Thursday with Idaho Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow and Idahoans who use the subsidies, told Semafor. She added that an estimated 100,000 Idahoans will see premiums go up by an average of almost $1,000 a year when the state\u2019s open enrollment period \u2014 the earliest in the country \u2014 begins next week. [10/8/25]\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-durbin-colleagues-request-department-of-defense-inspector-general-inquiry-into-domestic-deployment-of-military-in-american-cities/", "Murray, Durbin, Colleagues Request Department of Defense Inspector General Inquiry into Domestic Deployment of Military in American Cities", "2025-10-17", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on Trump Ordering National Guard to Washington, D.C. and Taking Control of Metropolitan Police Department\n\n\u201cWe urgently request that you initiate an inquiry into the cumulative effects of these domestic deployments of U.S. active-duty troops and the National Guard\u2026 on military readiness, resources, personnel, and our military as an institution,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL); Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY); Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee; U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense; and combat veteran U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Defense Acting Inspector General (DOD IG) Steven Stebbins to call for an inquiry into the recent domestic deployments of active-duty and National Guard troops to Chicago; Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; Portland; and Memphis. In the letter, the senators lay out the illegality of the domestic troop deployments, which undermines military readiness and politicizes the nation\u2019s military.\n\n\u201cWe write to express our concern about the deployment of U.S. troops to American cities, including in Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Portland; Chicago; and Memphis. The military\u2019s expanded use to support immigration operations and domestic law enforcement activities at home is fundamentally un-Constitutional, dangerous for American civil rights, and risks straining military readiness and resources, weakening troop morale, undermining recruitment and retention, and eroding public trust in the military,\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cNeither the active-duty military nor the National Guard are intended or trained at scale for the purposes that the Administration has claimed they are used for, including \u2018crime-fighting.\u2019 We are concerned that these domestic deployments erode the military\u2019s and National Guard\u2019s ability to prepare for their critical missions.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe urgently request that you initiate an inquiry into the cumulative effects of these domestic deployments of U.S. active-duty troops and the National Guard\u2014over the objections of state and local officials\u2014on military readiness, resources, personnel, and our military as an institution,\u201d continued the senators.\n\nThe senators made clear that pulling National Guard troops away from their assigned duties to assist in law enforcement operations erodes public trust; diverts critical resources from communities in need, including those impacted by natural disasters; and costs American taxpayers millions of dollars. As the senators note, the Pentagon has estimated the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles costs approximately $170 million for a 60-day deployment.\n\n\u201cWhen military and Guard units are pulled away from scheduled training or mission preparation, the consequences extend beyond individual units and erode operational strength across the force, leaving the military less prepared for overseas operations and crisis response. The Guard\u2019s unique role as both a state and federal force makes it particularly vulnerable to strain, which could impact the ability of the Guard to protect and save local communities during natural disasters at home,\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cService members commit to service with the understanding that their sacrifices will aid communities in times of disaster and defend our nation overseas. They are not trained nor prepared to act as a domestic police force.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe domestic deployment of military personnel also is a significant waste of resources\u2026 The Washington, DC, National Guard deployment is estimated to cost $2.5 million per day. Many of the Guard units deployed to Washington, DC, to \u2018help restore law and order\u2019 are now tasked with \u2018beautification projects\u2019 such as picking up trash and spreading mulch\u2026 Diverting military personnel and defense funds to such missions is inconsistent with the Constitution, congressional intent and responsible stewardship of resources entrusted to the Department of Defense,\u201d the senators continued.\n\nThe senators then laid out the illegality of using the nation\u2019s military as civilian law enforcement under the Posse Comitatus Act.\n\n\u201cThese domestic deployments also risk normalizing military involvement in contentious civilian law enforcement, which apart from being deeply contrary to the Constitution, raises serious concerns about the apolitical character of our armed forces and compliance with the Posse Comitatus Act. The Posse Comitatus Act reflects the founding principle\u2014reflected in the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments\u2014that separating civilian law enforcement from the military protects both individual liberties and states\u2019 rights,\u201d the senators continued in their letter.\n\n\u201cSeveral federal courts have found no credible evidence that the Administration\u2019s use of the military in this way is justified, finding that conditions on the ground have not reached the high threshold of crisis that merits such a militarized response, especially over the objection of local officials. Further, the Trump Administration\u2019s unprecedented deployment of out-of-state Guard personnel into a non-consenting jurisdiction is a significant overreach of executive power,\u201d the senators wrote.\n\nThe senators concluded their letter by reiterating their call for an inquiry into the domestic deployments of troops to American cities.\n\n\u201cThese deployments place a burden on the military and create national security risks when defense funding and personnel are diverted from their core purpose. We urge your office to examine the matter of these military deployments to Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Portland; Chicago; and Memphis as well as the potential for further deployments to additional American cities, and report your findings to Congress no later than November 21, 2025,\u201d the senators concluded.\n\nIn addition to Senators Murray, Durbin, Schumer, Reed, Coons, and Duckworth, Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Alex Padilla (D-CA). Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Angela D. Alsobrooks (D-MD), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tina Smith (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Edward Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) signed the letter.\n\nThe full text of the letter to the Acting Inspector General Stebbins is available HERE and below.\n\nDear Acting Inspector General Stebbins,\n\nWe write to express our concern about the deployment of U.S. troops to American cities, including in Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Portland; Chicago; and Memphis. The military\u2019s expanded use to support immigration operations and domestic law enforcement activities at home is fundamentally un-Constitutional, dangerous for American civil rights, and risks straining military readiness and resources, weakening troop morale, undermining recruitment and retention, and eroding public trust in the military. Neither the active-duty military nor the National Guard are intended or trained at scale for the purposes that the Administration has claimed they are used for, including \u201ccrime-fighting.\u201d We are concerned that these domestic deployments erode the military\u2019s and National Guard\u2019s ability to prepare for their critical missions. We urgently request that you initiate an inquiry into the cumulative effects of these domestic deployments of U.S. active-duty troops and the National Guard\u2014over the objections of state and local officials\u2014on military readiness, resources, personnel, and our military as an institution.\n\nReadiness is the cornerstone of our national defense, yet repeated politicized domestic deployments place that readiness at risk. When military and Guard units are pulled away from scheduled training or mission preparation, the consequences extend beyond individual units and erode operational strength across the force, leaving the military less prepared for overseas operations and crisis response. The Guard\u2019s unique role as both a state and federal force makes it particularly vulnerable to strain, which could impact the ability of the Guard to protect and save local communities during natural disasters at home.\n\nService members commit to service with the understanding that their sacrifices will aid communities in times of disaster and defend our nation overseas. They are not trained nor prepared to act as a domestic police force. Assignments in support of politically charged law enforcement operations in Los Angeles; Portland; Washington, DC; Memphis; or Chicago erode trust in leadership and accelerate burnout. Military personnel who feel their service has strayed from its intended purpose may question their continued commitment, compounding the Army and the Guard\u2019s already significant retention challenges. At the same time, successfully recruiting new personnel depends on a clear, apolitical mission that honors the history of the active-duty force and the Guard. Associating military service with domestic law enforcement duties\u2014fundamentally contrary to our Constitution\u2014may deter recruits and shrink the pipeline of talent needed to sustain force levels essential to our national security. We cannot afford to drive out servicemembers by normalizing putting them in highly political and fraught conditions, including by forcing troops to confront fellow Americans as opposed to prepare for war, and forcing military officers to navigate unprecedented legal territory and worry about whether they are upholding their oath.\n\nThe domestic deployment of military personnel also is a significant waste of resources. The Pentagon initially estimated the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles to be approximately $170 million for a 60-day deployment. The Washington, DC, National Guard deployment is estimated to cost $2.5 million per day. Many of the Guard units deployed to Washington, DC, to \u201chelp restore law and order\u201d are now tasked with \u201cbeautification projects\u201d such as picking up trash and spreading mulch. These assignments are a misuse of military personnel and resources, trivialize the professionalism of our service members, and damage morale. Diverting military personnel and defense funds to such missions is inconsistent with the Constitution, congressional intent and responsible stewardship of resources entrusted to the Department of Defense (Department).\n\nThese domestic deployments also risk normalizing military involvement in contentious civilian law enforcement, which apart from being deeply contrary to the Constitution, raises serious concerns about the apolitical character of our armed forces and compliance with the Posse Comitatus Act. The Posse Comitatus Act reflects the founding principle\u2014reflected in the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments\u2014that separating civilian law enforcement from the military protects both individual liberties and states\u2019 rights. Several federal courts have found no credible evidence that the Administration\u2019s use of the military in this way is justified, finding that conditions on the ground have not reached the high threshold of crisis that merits such a militarized response, especially over the objection of local officials. Further, the Trump Administration\u2019s unprecedented deployment of out-of-state Guard personnel into a non-consenting jurisdiction is a significant overreach of executive power.\n\nAs such, we request that your office conduct an inquiry into these recent domestic deployments of active-duty and National Guard troops to Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Portland; Chicago; and Memphis. As part of that inquiry, we ask that you provide us with responses to the following:\n\nWhat assessment, if any, did the Department complete to examine whether the domestic deployment of active-duty or National Guard personnel to American cities fully complies with all applicable statutes, including but not limited to 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1385, 10 U.S.C. \u00a7 12406, and 32 U.S.C. \u00a7 502, and Department directives, instructions, manuals, and other policy guidance?\n\nIs the Department adhering to its own directives, instructions, manuals, and other policy guidance regarding the permissible scope of support under the applicable statutes?\n\nHave the interpretations of applicable statutes been applied consistently and in accordance with established legal standards, or have there been deviations from standard practice in these deployments?\n\nWhat assessments, if any, did the Department complete to examine the impact to readiness, resources, personnel, and the Armed Forces as an institution, of the deployment of military personnel to American cities for domestic law enforcement activities?\n\nHow does the Department plan to evaluate the cumulative effects of these prolonged or indefinite domestic deployments on the Guard?\n\nTo what extent have these deployments disrupted military training schedules, delayed certification or qualification milestones, or otherwise degraded overall readiness for federal missions or overseas operations?\n\nHow have DoD funds, personnel, and facilities allocated for military readiness and training been redirected to support these domestic deployments of the military for law enforcement activities?\n\nWhat specific fund or funds are paying for the deployments of each active-duty or federalized National Guard unit?\n\nWhat impact has their diversion had on the Department\u2019s ability to fulfil its core defense responsibilities?\n\nPlease provide a full accounting of DoD equipment and facilities within the United States that has been redirected for support to federal law enforcement since January 20, 2025.\n\nHow have readiness rates of each category of such redirected DoD equipment (e.g., airlift, surveillance equipment) been affected by these diversions?\n\nHow many DoD facilities or installations have been directed to support federal law enforcement and what impact has their diversion had on the installations\u2019 or facilities\u2019 ability to fulfil their core missions?\n\nTo what extent have military installations or facilities been used to support the training, staging, or housing of active-duty or National Guard personnel during these deployments, and what impact have these uses had on the day-to-day operations, training schedules, and readiness of those installations?\n\nPrior to deployment, what form of legal instruction or training does the Department provide military and Guard personnel regarding the lawful scope of their mission and limitations on their authority while deployed domestically? At what level within the Department are any such decisions about instruction or training made?\n\nDoes any such training or instruction include rules for the use of force, training in de-escalation, training in crowd or protest management, or training in community engagement? Please provide any written materials or documents used to convey this information.\n\nDoes any such training include instruction on the limitations imposed by the Posse Comitatus Act? Please provide any written materials or documents used to convey this information.\n\nHow is the Department ensuring service members operating in U.S. cities are not placed in direct law enforcement roles in violation of law and the Posse Comitatus Act?\n\nWhat benchmarks have been established to determine when the deployments will conclude?\n\nWho within the Department is responsible for assessing whether those conditions have been met and authorizing the termination or extension of the mission?\n\nWhat steps, if any, has the Department taken since these deployments began to clarify or strengthen policies preventing military personnel from being used in a civilian law enforcement capacity in American cities?\n\nWhat assessment or review, if any, has the Department completed regarding the legal liability for the Department of deploying military personnel into American cities, including over the objections of state and local leaders, and in instances of out-of-state Guard personnel deployed to a non-consenting jurisdiction?\n\nWhat assessment or review, if any, has the Department completed regarding the potential legal liability for service members who may be placed at risk of violating 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1385?\n\nThese deployments place a burden on the military and create national security risks when defense funding and personnel are diverted from their core purpose. We urge your office to examine the matter of these military deployments to Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Portland; Chicago; and Memphis as well as the potential for further deployments to additional American cities, and report your findings to Congress no later than November 21, 2025.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-16-senator-murray-calls-on-republicans-to-quit-hiding-from-their-constituents-and-prevent-health-care-costs-from-skyrocketing/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 16: Senator Murray Calls on Republicans to Quit Hiding from Their Constituents and Prevent Health Care Costs from Skyrocketing", "2025-10-16", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "KFF: Most Republicans and MAGA Supporters Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s full floor speech***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered remarks on the Senate floor on the sixteenth day of President Trump and Republicans\u2019 shutdown.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you, M. President.\n\n\u201cWhile Republican leaders are continuing trying to ignore this health care crisis, and insisting on shutting down the government rather than even considering talking with us about how we prevent premiums from doubling across the country, I have been listening to folks back home\u2014who are painfully aware health care premiums are about to skyrocket, and who are deeply concerned about what it is going to mean for their families and communities.\n\n\u201cSo, last week, when the Republican Leader sent us home, yet again, instead of working with us to end this shut down and address the health care crisis, I made a visit to Sea Mar Community Health Centers\u2019 Oak Harbor Clinic. Why? To hear from doctors and health care providers about what is just beyond the horizon if Republicans insist on inaction.\n\n\u201cI heard about how health care cuts Republicans passed are going to devastate our hospitals, devastate our clinics, and health centers.\n\n\u201cAnd I heard about how the massive premium hikes that are being announced right now\u2014the ones Republicans are trying very hard to ignore\u2014are going to push millions of people off their health plans.\n\n\u201cOne person I spoke with serves on the board of an insurer on the Washington Health Benefit Exchange.\n\n\u201cHe warned me, that if we do not save the ACA tax credits, they are anticipating so many customers will be priced out that the number of individuals they cover through the marketplace will drop 35 to 50 percent.\n\n\u201cYou know, there is already a loud chorus of people speaking out concerned about this\u2014in my state, and all across the country.\n\n\u201cI have spoken with small businesses owners who are going to see their premiums double, even triple, and some quadruple, and who are having to rethink whether they try to keep their small business doors open, and maybe go without coverage, or alternatively, just pack it in and try to find a job with an employer-sponsored plan.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve spoken with retirees who are not yet old enough for Medicare who have gotten notices that their monthly premiums are about to go through the roof. In some cases, we are talking about thousands of dollars a month.\n\n\u201cAnd here\u2019s the thing: not only do I know there are more stories like this across the country, I also know there are going to be many more stories pouring in very shortly.\n\n\u201cBecause the reality is, there are rate hikes in the mail right now going out to people who had no idea about the Republicans\u2019 health care crisis and that it was going to hit them in the end.\n\n\u201cRates are being set now. People are window shopping in many states and panicking from the sticker shock.\n\n\u201cIn Idaho, open enrollment is now underway. It has started.\n\n\u201cThat means, right now, families are seeing the cold hard numbers, and the sharp increase it will cost them to stay covered.\n\n\u201cAnd in two weeks, that same nightmare is coming to every state in the country.\n\n\u201cWho do Republicans think they are fooling when they try to just ignore this?\n\n\u201cWhat in the world are they talking about when they say deal with it \u2018later?\u2019\n\n\u201cThese price hikes are about to get locked in. There is no later. We need to act now.\n\nThere was an earlier though. Perhaps we should talk about that for a minute.\n\n\u201cBecause Democrats have been calling for action on this for months. And where were Republicans?\n\n\u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t Republicans sit down with us to talk health care in September?\n\n\u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t they talk health care in August?\n\n\u201cWhy couldn\u2019t they find a single minute to work with us on health care in July? Or June? Or even May?\n\n\u201cAfter all, they had plenty of time this summer to shovel tax breaks at billionaires, and put over $1 trillion in health care funding on the chopping block. They spent months on billionaires!\n\n\u201cBut they can\u2019t be bothered when it comes to health care. They can\u2019t be bothered to help our working families.\n\n\u201cThey would rather shut down the government than sit down and talk about preventing these premiums from doubling.\n\n\u201cBut Democrats are going to talk about health care, whether Republicans want to or not.\n\n\u201cHouse Republicans have been hiding from this issue for a month.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not kidding: they have literally been on vacation for nearly a month now!\n\n\u201cHiding from this problem won\u2019t make it go away.\n\n\u201cThose rate hikes are in the mail; they are going out to our constituents.\n\n\u201cWindow shopping is going live. Folks can go online in many states and see the exact cost of Republican inaction.\n\n\u201cAnd open enrollment is still marching ahead. It is underway in Idaho right now, and in a few weeks, it\u2019s going to be across the nation.\n\n\u201cIf you are a Republican who thinks that somehow families aren\u2019t going to notice their premium doubling, somehow they won\u2019t mind their health care costs jumping a couple hundred dollars a month\u2014or, in some cases, by the way, a couple thousand a month\u2014here\u2019s some advice: stop taking your marching orders from billionaires like President Trump, and start listening to those people back home.\n\n\u201cTalk to the farmers, actually, a quarter of them are covered on the exchanges. Talk to small business owners, like I have, and employees, many of whom are covered through the exchanges.\n\n\u201cBecause they are the ones who are going to feel the pain from this. And they know it, and they are begging Congress to act.\n\n\u201cAnd do you know what? Three-fourths of the people who rely on the ACA tax credits live in red states.\n\n\u201cAnd the ten states where folks who lose those tax credits will see the largest premium increases? They are all red states.\n\n\u201cSo, shutdown or not, Republicans can only ignore this issue if they ignore their own constituents.\n\n\u201cSo to Republican leaders, don\u2019t hide from your constituents, don\u2019t hide from the health care crisis you\u2019re causing, quit hiding from the negotiating table.\n\n\u201cThe clock is not just ticking\u2014the alarm is going off. We need to act now, before these premium hikes become unavoidable.\n\n\u201cDemocrats are the table. We have always been at the table. We are ready to work out a deal that reopens the government and addresses the health care crisis.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senators-murray-and-schumer-americans-who-rely-on-aca-tax-credits-call-on-republicans-to-prevent-premiums-from-skyrocketing-for-millions/", "Senators Murray and Schumer, Americans Who Rely on ACA Tax Credits Call on Republicans to Prevent Premiums from Skyrocketing for Millions", "2025-10-16", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "KFF: Most Republicans and MAGA Supporters Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year\n\nKFF: ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Will More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire\n\n***WATCH: full press conference***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for a virtual press conference on the 16th day of the Republican shutdown with Protect Our Care, and Washington state and New York residents who rely on Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits to afford health care.\n\n\u201cRepublicans can\u2019t just stick their heads in the sand. They can\u2019t just say we will worry about it later. Families are facing this right now. Notices are in the mail at this very moment, telling families: \u2018Hey, I\u2019m sorry, but your monthly premium is going up by hundreds\u2014maybe even thousands\u2014of dollars.\u2019 Window shopping begins in Washington state next week and is already underway in several states. People are logging on right now to see if the news is true, and they are seeing some eye-popping price hikes. This is happening across the country. Right now. I\u2019ve spoken to people back in Washington state who are seeing the numbers and have no idea how they are going to afford health care if Republicans let their premiums double,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cSo Republicans who think they can just stick their heads in the sand and ignore the chaos they caused are fooling no one except themselves. Certainly not the American people.\u201d\n\nFor months, Republicans have refused to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, and if they are not extended soon, 22 million Americans across the country\u2014including more than 216,000 people in Washington state\u2014will see their health care costs spike in January. According to KFF, premiums will more than double for Americans who buy health care through the ACA exchanges, and these higher costs will push 4.2 million people off their health coverage over the next decade\u2014including an estimated 80,000 people in Washington state, where health insurers have been approved for an average rate hike of 21 percent. A Washington-state specific fact sheet on the ACA tax credits is HERE.\n\nMore than 3 in 4 people who get their health care through the ACA marketplaces\u201418.7 million out of 24.3 million\u2014live in states President Trump won in 2024. The vast majority of Americans want Congress to renew the ACA tax credits, according to recent polling from KFF\u2014including six in ten Republicans and a majority of Republicans who identify as MAGA. At the press conference, Senator Murray made it clear how inaction Republicans will force health care premiums to explode next year. She implored Republican leaders to come to the table as new signs indicate that Republicans are feeling that heat on their deeply unpopular position. In recent days, reporting has indicated that the White House is privately fretting about the issue, and President Trump signaled openness to cutting a deal. Meanwhile, some House Republicans have called out Republican leadership for causing the shutdown and failing to have a solution or plan to prevent people\u2019s premiums from exploding.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m a Commissioner for Three Rivers Hospital, a nonprofit, critical access, rural hospital in Brewster, Washington. Our diverse hospital district serves about 70% Medicare and Medicaid dependent patients and many more who rely upon insurance through the Affordable Care Act. So naturally, I\u2019m quite concerned about extending the ACA tax credits for our patients, my constituents, my friends and neighbors. But it also hits me quite close to home, as for the past 40 years, my husband has worked now as the sole employee of a third generation mom-and-pop style building supply store and lumber yard. About a month ago, he received an email warning him that his ACA insurance was likely ending on December 31st due to a lack of funding and that the subsidized payments would not be extended. Currently, his subsidized out of pocket premiums are around $250 a month, which they tell us will increase to $349 a month, even if the credits are extended. Here\u2019s the kicker: that amount would increase threefold to $1,131 a month if the credits are not extended. This is around 25% of our combined monthly income just for his personal health care insurance. We simply can\u2019t afford this, so like many others, because, believe me, we\u2019re not alone, we will likely have to make the tough choice to go uninsured,\u201d Leslie McNamara, Elected Commissioner of Three Rivers Hospital, whose husband is a small business owner in Brewster who relies on ACA tax credits to afford health care. \u201cUltimately, everyone suffers and everyone pays, and why? Because we can\u2019t balance the budget. Please find somewhere else to cut. Health care should be our number one priority\u2026 We claim to be a society of caring and compassionate people. Well, let\u2019s see President Trump and our elected legislators should care more about the affordability and needs of every citizen for health care in the United States, so I urge our politicians to join forces and give the American people a written guarantee to ensure affordable health care for all.\u201d\n\n\u201cRepublicans didn\u2019t see a problem in giving a massive tax break to people who don\u2019t need the money, but they\u2019re more than happy to shut down the government to force working people to lose their health insurance or make difficult choices about what they can afford in their lives,\u201d said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. \u201cThis is a very simple problem to solve if Republicans are willing to solve it, but apparently they\u2019re not, and the American people are going to burn with anger over this.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray has been speaking out nonstop about the urgent need to save health care and keep the government open and calling on Republicans to come to the negotiating table to work out a bipartisan deal\u2014which they have so far refused to do. As the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray leads legislation supported by the Democratic caucus that would reopen the government, address the health care crisis, and protect Congress\u2019 power of the purse from Donald Trump and Russ Vought\u2019s nonstop, lawless efforts to block funding from reaching communities across the country.\n\nSenator Murray played a critical role in passing the enhanced premium tax credits in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and she has been fighting for months to make sure these important health care tax credits don\u2019t expire, including cosponsoring multiple pieces of legislation\u2014the Health Care Affordability Act and the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act\u2014that would make them permanent.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered on today\u2019s press call, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you to our leader, Senator Schumer, for heading up this fight, and thank you to Protect Our Care for organizing this hearing. It is so important to hear about the personal impact that these tax credits have on people.\n\n\u201cRepublicans may have shut down the government to avoid talking about health care.\n\n\u201cBut you know what is not shut down? Open enrollment. It started in Idaho yesterday.\n\n\u201cThat means families across that state are staring down the cold hard cost of Republicans\u2019 health care sabotage.\n\n\u201cThere are 100,000 people in that state who rely on premium tax credits to afford their health care. And now, they are seeing these massive price hikes for their health care coverage because Republicans are refusing to act.\n\n\u201cThey are seeing premiums double, triple, even quadruple for some families.\n\n\u201cAnd Idaho is really the canary in the coalmine, because open enrollment starts nationwide in just two weeks.\n\n\u201cAnd then this nightmare that Republicans are trying to just ignore will be a reality for families across the country.\n\n\u201cSo, Republicans can\u2019t just stick their head in the sand. They can\u2019t just say we will worry about this later. Because families are facing this right now.\n\n\u201cNotices are in the mail at this very moment. Telling families: \u2018Hey, I\u2019m sorry, but your premium is going up by hundreds\u2014maybe even thousands of dollars\u2014a month.\u2019\n\n\u201cWindow shopping begins in Washington state next week and is already underway in several states.\n\n\u201cPeople are logging on right now to see if the news is true, and they are seeing some eye-popping price hikes. This is happening across the country, right now.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve spoken to many people back in Washington state who are seeing the numbers and they really have no idea how they are going to afford health care if Republicans let their premiums double.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve spoken to people in Idaho, and Montana, some of my Northwest neighbors, and I can tell you they are really worried.\n\n\u201cI would say this is hitting red states and blue states alike, but it\u2019s actually hitting red states especially hard!\n\n\u201cThree-fourths of the people who rely on the ACA premium tax credits are in red states. And the ten states that families will see the highest price increases are red states.\n\n\u201cSo Republicans who think they can just stick their heads in the sand and ignore the chaos they caused are fooling no one except themselves. And they are certainly not fooling the American people.\n\n\u201cRepublicans cannot just ignore this problem, put their hands over their ears and shout, \u2018later,\u2019 \u2018later,\u2019 \u2018later!\u2019\n\n\u201cWe have been warning them about this for months. It is too late for \u2018later!\u2019\n\n\u201cNotices are in the mail. Window shoppers are logging on right now. Open enrollment is starting.\n\n\u201cEvery second that Republicans continue to delay, this problem will get harder to solve.\n\n\u201cWe are here today to make sure they understand that. And to remind them that Democrats have always been at the table, ready to work on a solution. We want to reopen the government and address this health care crisis.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/on-first-day-of-open-enrollment-in-idaho-senator-murray-calls-on-republicans-to-come-to-the-table-to-prevent-health-care-costs-from-skyrocketing/", "On First Day of Open Enrollment in Idaho, Senator Murray Calls on Republicans to Come to the Table to Prevent Health Care Costs from Skyrocketing", "2025-10-15", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "KFF: Most Republicans and MAGA Supporters Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year\n\nTypical 60-year-old couple in Idaho making $85,000 will face a $17,900 spike in annual premiums\n\n***RSVP: Murray hosts call with Montanans who rely on ACA tax credits at 5 PM ET today as she takes case directly to red states over Republicans\u2019 refusal to prevent people\u2019s costs from skyrocketing***\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s Remarks***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks on government funding at this afternoon\u2019s Senate Democratic leadership press conference on the fifteenth day of President Trump and Republicans\u2019 shutdown.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cYou know, for weeks, I\u2019ve been hearing a lot of heart-breaking stories from folks back home in my home state of Washington: families who are absolutely panicking about their premiums that are doubling, the small business owners who are having to think about abandoning the job they love to get employer-sponsored health care elsewhere, or just forgoing coverage altogether.\n\n\u201cBut today, I actually want to talk about our neighbors: Idaho. Because today is the first day of open enrollment in Idaho. Which means today\u2014right now\u2014families are getting their first real look at the cost of Republicans\u2019 inaction on health care.\n\n\u201cRepublicans don\u2019t seem very eager to talk about that. But there is no running from the fact that these hikes are going to crush people.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why last week, I actually held a call with people in Idaho who are watching their health care costs go through the roof. And here is what I heard.\n\n\u201cOne retiree, who\u2019s not old enough yet to be on Medicare, told me about how her premiums are going to jump by 173 percent. Almost triple.\n\n\u201cYou think that\u2019s bad? Another Idahoan I spoke with had learned that with tax credits, his premium will be $367 a month. Without tax credits? A whopping $2,232 a month.\n\n\u201cBut Bob and Susan are far from alone. There are more than 100,000 people in Idaho who rely on the ACA tax credits to help them afford their health care coverage.\n\n\u201cToday those families will log on to shop for a health plan, and feel their heart drop as they see these prices have skyrocketed. They are wondering if they can even afford health care now.\n\n\u201cIt is terrifying. And it\u2019s happening right now in Idaho. And it is coming to states across the country in two weeks. Several other states already have window shopping for these health plans.\n\n\u201cFolks in my state have already gotten notices about premiums doubling.\n\n\u201cAnd yet, all the while, Republican leaders are trying to stick their heads in the sand and trying to pretend that everything is fine.\n\n\u201cOn one hand, we have many Republicans saying, \u2018what\u2019s the rush? We can talk about maybe doing something on health care later.\u2019 Never mind the fact they refused to talk about this earlier, even as they rushed to jam through tax breaks for billionaires a few months ago.\n\n\u201cAnd on the other hand, we have some Republicans basically saying they don\u2019t want to do anything. In fact, some Republicans still wish they could repeal the Affordable Care Act.\n\n\u201cHow detached from reality can Republicans get?\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s bad enough so many of them can see the iceberg coming, and are saying, \u2018eh, we\u2019ll worry about that after the ship goes down.\u2019 But we\u2019ve also got Republicans saying, \u2018bet, you wish this ship had sunk earlier?\u2019 Some Republicans are all but cheering for higher premiums.\n\n\u201cRepublicans may have chosen to shut down the government rather than address health care, but Idaho just opened up enrollment, and the rest of the nation is around the bend.\n\n\u201cPresident Trump and Republican Leadership may try to bury their heads in the sand, but they are not going to be able to bury the headline here: health care premiums are doubling, tripling, and even in some places, quadrupling.\n\n\u201cFamilies don\u2019t have the luxury of ignoring health care.\n\n\u201cBut instead of putting a single penny forward to help people afford health care, Donald Trump is giving twenty billion dollars, taxpayer money, to Argentina in a bailout?\n\n\u201cWhat happened to America First?\n\n\u201cSo the bottom line hasn\u2019t changed: when Republicans are ready to get serious, Democrats will be at the negotiating table\u2014where we have been for weeks\u2014ready to reach a bipartisan deal that opens up the government, and addresses this health care crisis.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-15-senator-murray-calls-on-republicans-to-finally-listen-to-their-constituents-prevent-health-care-costs-from-exploding/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 15: Senator Murray Calls on Republicans to Finally Listen to Their Constituents & Prevent Health Care Costs from Exploding", "2025-10-15", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "KFF: Most Republicans and MAGA Supporters Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year\n\nMurray takes case directly to red states as Republicans feel the heat over their refusal to take action to prevent people\u2019s costs from spiking\n\n***RSVP: Murray hosts call with Montanans who rely on ACA tax credits at 5 PM ET today***\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s full floor speech***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered remarks on the Senate floor on the fifteenth day of President Trump and Republicans\u2019 shutdown.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you, M. President.\n\n[TRUMP USING HIS SHUTDOWN AS PRETEXT TO HURT PEOPLE]\n\n\u201cLet me be clear: shutdowns do not require presidents to fire people en masse. They actually do not require presidents to cancel projects and raise energy prices. Nor do they give presidents new, magical powers to destroy programs they don\u2019t like, or to target political opposition.\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t have to take my word for it, because this is not our first government shutdown. It is just the first time that a President has blatantly and gleefully tried to use a shutdown against the American people.\n\n\u201cSo when President Trump fires hundreds of public health workers at CDC, without thinking twice about if it will put lives in jeopardy, that is a choice he is making.\n\n\u201cWhen President Trump puts at risk special education programs through mass layoffs, that is a choice he is making to abandon students with disabilities and their families, and weaken their access to rights under our special education laws.\n\n\u201cWhen Trump outright shutters a key community development fund, which has strong bipartisan support and finances housing, and health care, and other community projects across the country, that is a choice he is making.\n\n\u201cPresident Trump is choosing to fire as many people as he thinks he can get away with, to break as much of the government as is possible, to hurt the American people as much as he can, because he thinks he can use regular people as leverage.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the cold hard reality, and it is plain as day.\n\n\u201cThat is why Trump is governing by a principle of maximum pain.\n\n\u201cIt is not because he \u2018had to,\u2019 it is because he \u2018wanted to.\u2019\n\n\u201cIt is not because he is following any law, it is because he is ignoring countless laws.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s not because he held off on layoffs, it is because he is eager to continue to break our government, bend it to his will, and enrich himself in this process.\n\n\u201cTrump knows perfectly well, just as my Republican colleagues know, that shutdowns don\u2019t give him any new power, and they don\u2019t just let him fire people with reckless abandon.\n\n\u201cAfter all, Trump was President for the longest shutdown in American history.\n\n\u201cAnd guess what? Trump didn\u2019t \u2018have\u2019 to fire thousands and thousands of workers when he caused that longest shutdown in history. He didn\u2019t get to run roughshod over our laws when he kept the government shut down for over a month.\n\n\u201cSo don\u2019t let any Republican tell you he simply \u2018had\u2019 to now.\n\n[REPUBLICANS\u2019 REFUSAL TO PREVENT PREMIUMS FROM EXPLODING]\n\n\u201cAnd M. President, let me put another obvious falsehood to rest: Leader Thune keeps saying Democrats are \u2018in thrall to the radical left.\u2019 But here\u2019s the thing: we actually are the ones talking to Republican voters!\n\n\u201cBecause the majority of Republicans, and the overwhelming majority of the American people, do not want to see premiums double, triple, or even quadruple for millions of families.\n\n\u201cAnd many Republicans are starting to realize that too. Look at Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has made clear she thinks Republicans need to look at how to stop these premium hikes. Just look at the growing chorus of Republican members begging Speaker Johnson to bring them back so we can solve this issue.\n\n\u201cClearly, Republicans are feeling the heat.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re suddenly hearing Republican leaders absurdly pretend they\u2019ve always meant to focus on health care, even if they would never talk about it before, and even if the only thing they are saying right now is \u2018no, no, no\u2014we can\u2019t do anything on this right now. We can just think about, possibly talking about it, potentially, maybe, do something, someday.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo House Republicans may not be in DC to talk about this issue with Democrats.\n\n\u201cBut here\u2019s the thing: they are still hearing about it back at home.\n\n\u201cFamilies are staring down massive premium hikes, and they want Republicans to return and finally work on solutions.\n\n\u201cLook, the Republican leader can shut down the government if he is really that desperate to avoid addressing the health care crisis Republicans caused. But he cannot shut down the debate, and he cannot shut down the voices of families who are speaking out about how their premiums are about to skyrocket.\n\n\u201cI have been constantly hearing from folks back home in Washington state. Letters and calls are pouring into my office from families who are worried about how their premiums will double if Republicans refuse to act.\n\n\u201cA woman called into my office to share her husband already received notices that their insurance are going to double in cost.\n\n\u201cA mother whose son has a traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, she called, she\u2019s terrified that she has no idea how they are going to afford the care he needs if health care gets more expensive.\n\n\u201cYou know, last week, I spoke with a freelancer in Seattle who\u2019s worried their monthly payments will increase\u2014monthly\u2014by at least $1,300, and a video producer who told me his premiums would more than double\u2014and be about 60 percent of his mortgage payment.\n\n\u201cThe week before that, I spoke with small businesses owners. They have no idea what they are going to do if the tax credits expire and their health care costs go up.\n\n\u201cMany of them are rethinking whether they can even afford to keep their small businesses, or if they\u2019d choose to just go for catastrophic coverage instead.\n\n\u201cOne small business owner would see his premiums triple, as his wife told me, and that is simply not affordable.\n\n\u201cAnd this is not just happening in Washington state. This health care crisis is about to hammer families across the country, in red and blue states alike.\n\n\u201cIn fact, the biggest rate increases are all in red states. And three-fourths of the people who rely on these tax credits are, too.\n\n\u201cSo why don\u2019t Republicans go home and talk to their constituents about this? And if the Republican Leader doesn\u2019t want to sit down with Democrats to work on a solution?\n\n\u201cHow about he sits down and listens to folks back home who are getting notices this month with massive price hikes for their health insurance.\n\n\u201cIf the Republican leader won\u2019t sit down with Democrats to save people from losing their health care coverage, how about he sits down with small business owners, since nearly half of the people on the marketplaces are small business owners, employees, or self-employed.\n\n\u201cIf he won\u2019t sit down with Democrats to stop premiums from tripling for some families in his state, how about he sits down with farmers, since over a quarter of farmers in this country are covered through the ACA exchanges.\n\n\u201cDoes Leader Thune think farmers are now the radical left?\n\n\u201cDoes he think small businesses are the radical left? Because that is who is about to get crushed by these higher premiums. That is who is watching this debate and hoping, and praying, for action.\n\n\u201cIt is unbelievable that the best the Republican Leader can offer to families worried about the health care crisis is \u2018Wait,\u2019 \u2018Later.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat is really out of touch\u2014with families, and with reality. Rates are being set now. Massive hikes are being announced now.\n\n\u201cOpen enrollment is in a few weeks. In fact, by the way, Idaho open enrollment starts today. Today!\n\n\u201cEvery single Senator needs to watch what is happening in Idaho today, because folks in Idaho are in for a very rude awakening when they log in today and see the rates for the coming year. And that rude awakening is coming to the rest of the country on November 1st if Republicans keep refusing to act.\n\n\u201cSo, every single Senator needs to listen to the families who speak out about these massive rate hikes that are becoming reality.\n\n\u201cI actually spoke to some Idahoans last week. One retiree told me about how her premiums are going to jump 173 percent\u2014that is almost triple.\n\n\u201cYou think that\u2019s bad? Another retiree I spoke with had learned that with tax credits his premium will be $367 a month. Without those tax credits? A whopping $2,232 a month. That\u2019s astounding.\n\n\u201cAnd yet, if Republicans refuse to act, that is the reality that is going to come crashing down on families across our nation.\n\n\u201cThis is not an \u2018end of the year\u2019 problem like Speaker Johnson keeps saying. It is a right now problem.\n\n\u201cThere is a train coming. Families are tied to the tracks.\n\n\u201cWhy on earth would Republican leaders insist on standing by?\n\n\u201cWhy are they twiddling their thumbs?\n\n\u201cWhy do they want to wait until those rates are locked in? And for all the talk of \u2018later,\u2019 why on earth wouldn\u2019t Republican leaders work with us earlier on this?\n\n\u201cThis is not some surprise. We\u2019ve been raising the alarm for months.\n\n\u201cRepublican leaders just didn\u2019t care earlier. And apparently, they still don\u2019t care now.\n\n\u201cWhat a contrast to Republicans\u2019 billionaire tax breaks just a few months ago. Republicans were full speed ahead when it came to shoveling money at some of the richest people on the planet. Remember that?\n\n\u201cMoved heaven and earth. They used magic math. They slashed over a trillion in health care for patients and hospitals. They used every trick in the book for the billionaires!\n\n\u201cBut now? Nothing when it comes to working families. Nothing when it comes to health care.\n\n\u201cM. President, Republicans can either go back home and explain to their own constituents why they think their premiums should double. Or they can come to the table, where Democrats have been this whole time, and work with us to reach a serious deal that reopens the government and responds to this health care crisis.\n\n\u201cDemocrats are not going anywhere. We are staying at the table.\n\n\u201cRight now, Republican Leadership is refusing to take the shutdown or the health care crisis seriously.\n\n\u201cSpeaker Johnson is still refusing to bring his members back from vacation, despite the growing mutiny among Republicans.\n\n\u201cLeader Thune is still refusing to do anything other than vote on the same, failed, partisan CR, over and over.\n\n\u201cAnd President Trump is still treating a government shutdown like his own personal jamboree, tweeting out sombreros, and promising to cut \u2018Democratic programs.\u2019\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s be clear: Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress. And they are basically missing in action when it comes to finding a real solution to reopen the government and save millions of Americans from health care bills that will break the bank.\n\n\u201cWhen will President Trump get serious about a solution?\n\n\u201cWhen will Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune do their jobs and get to the negotiating table?\n\n\u201cWhen will House Republicans end this month-long vacation? Today? Tomorrow? Next week?\n\n\u201cM. President, the American people are waiting.\n\n\u201cBut, of course, Republican leadership isn\u2019t the end-all-be-all. Because Republican voters have made clear: they do not want to see their premiums skyrocket.\n\n\u201cAnd Republican members in the House and Senate alike are hearing from those families back at home who will not let them ignore this, and starting to realize: we actually do need to address this health care issue now.\n\n\u201cBut M. President, the clock is ticking. Rate hikes are going out in the mail. Open enrollment starting today in Idaho. Time is running out.\n\n\u201cThat message is breaking through. I think even Republican leaders are starting to realize there is no spinning their way out of premiums doubling in our country.\n\n\u201cIf they want to get serious about stopping that, and ending this shutdown, all they have to do is say so. Mr. President, our door is open.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/sen-murray-montana-leaders-montanans-who-rely-on-aca-tax-credits-lay-out-cost-of-republican-health-care-sabotage-in-red-states-why-republicans-must-come-to-the-table-to-prevent-costs-from-skyrock/", "Sen. Murray, Montana Leaders, Montanans Who Rely on ACA Tax Credits, Lay Out Cost of Republican Health Care Sabotage in Red States, Why Republicans Must Come to the Table to Prevent Costs from Skyrocketing", "2025-10-15", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "KFF: Most Republicans and MAGA Supporters Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year\n\nICYMI: Wall Street Journal \u2013 White House Senses Political Risk on Healthcare Despite Shutdown Bravado\n\nMurray takes case directly to red states as new signs indicate Republicans are feeling the heat over their refusal to take action to prevent people\u2019s costs from spiking\n\nMore than 67,000 Montanans rely on ACA tax credits; average annual premium increase is $1,092 if ACA tax credits expire\n\n***DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE; video to come later***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a virtual press conference on the 15th day of the Republican shutdown with Montana State Senator Cora Neumann, Montana Nurses Association CEO Vicky Byrd, and Montanans who rely on Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits to afford health care.\n\nRight now, Democrats are fighting to save the ACA tax credits, which expire at the end of the year. Without them, 22 million Americans\u2014mostly in red states\u2014will see their health care costs skyrocket. Premiums will more than double, on average, for Americans who buy health care through the ACA exchanges, and these higher costs will push 4.2 million people off their health coverage over the next decade. In Montana, over 67,000 people rely on the ACA tax credits to afford their health insurance. Montanans with the tax credits pay an average monthly premium of $145, compared to $635 without the credit. A married couple in Helena, Montana could see their premiums rise by nearly $20,000 annually next year.\n\nMore than 3 in 4 people who get their health care through the ACA marketplaces\u201418.7 million out of 24.3 million\u2014live in states President Trump won in 2024. The vast majority of Americans want Congress to renew the ACA tax credits, according to recent polling from KFF\u2014including six in ten Republicans and a majority of Republicans who identify as MAGA. At the press conference, Senator Murray made her case directly to Montanans, explaining how inaction by their Republican members of Congress will force health care premiums to explode next year. She implored Republican leaders to come to the table as new signs indicate that Republicans are feeling that heat on their deeply unpopular position. In recent days, reporting has indicated that the White House is privately fretting about the issue, and President Trump signaled openness to cutting a deal. Meanwhile, some House Republicans have called out Republican leadership for causing the shutdown and failing to have a solution or plan to prevent people\u2019s premiums from exploding.\n\n\u201cRight now, in many states, families are window shopping for health insurance online, and they\u2019re logging in and seeing astronomical price hikes for the upcoming year, with the ACA tax credits disappearing. Right now, more than 67,000 people in Montana rely on the ACA tax credits to help them afford their health coverage. That is tens of thousands of people who will see their health care costs skyrocket if Republicans let these tax credits expire. Many families will see their costs for next year double, triple, or even quadruple. According to the Montana Nurses Association, a married couple in Helena could see premiums rise by nearly $20,000 a year. Do Republicans seriously think people can afford that? The reality is, they can\u2019t,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cIf the tax credits expire, thousands of people in Montana will be forced off their health coverage because they won\u2019t be able to afford it anymore. We are talking about families with kids. We are talking about seniors, retirees who aren\u2019t old enough for Medicare but desperately need health coverage. We are talking about countless farmers and ranchers, small business owners, and freelancers. If Republicans continue refusing to act, in a few weeks, families across Montana are going to come face to face with premiums they cannot afford.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray played a critical role in passing the enhanced premium tax credits in the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and she has been fighting for months to make sure these important health care tax credits don\u2019t expire, including cosponsoring multiple pieces of legislation\u2014the Health Care Affordability Act and theProtecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act\u2014that would make them permanent.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re talking about real lives that could be lost if we don\u2019t extend these subsidies and protect our system\u2026 A household with $20,000 a year of increased costs in health care, that will put our health care system into a death spiral. I know first-hand from my work in health care, that when people lose coverage, they stop seeking care. When they stop seeking care, they go to the ER for care. When they go to the ER, the hospital, it\u2019s this vicious cycle, the hospital eats the costs. The hospital can\u2019t stay open because they have to\u2026 absorb those costs. The hospital shuts down, and the entire community suffers, the economy and the health,\u201d said Montana State Senator Cora Neumann. \u201cIt really is our neighbors and our friends and our family. Over 50% of Montana small businesses rely on Marketplace and Medicaid for coverage for their employees, so these small businesses could also collapse without this coverage\u2026 I want to ask our federal delegation, who are you working for?\u2026 Montanans overwhelmingly, across the state, want to extend these subsidies. And especially Senator Daines and Senator Sheehy, they have the power to call on their fellow Senators to sit down and have a conversation, and they are just turning the other way. So, I\u2019m just I\u2019m sickened by this, because I know what this means to my constituents, how much they\u2019re already struggling to cover their health care costs. And I\u2019m asking our delegation to answer to your constituents, not to your Republican bosses in Washington, because your bosses are the people of Montana.\u201d\n\n\u201cRight now, we\u2019re fighting to protect the ACA premium tax credits. This serves as a lifeline for our rural communities, especially our farmers, our ranchers, our small businesses owners, but also their families. These subsidies just don\u2019t help people afford coverage, they keep our hospitals open. When a farmer has insurance and comes in for care, this brings critical revenue that allows rural hospitals to stay afloat, pay the nurses, the providers, all the staff who care for our communities every day. The stakes couldn\u2019t be higher\u2026 The vast majority of our rural families, many living miles from the nearest clinic or emergency room, depend on this support to stay insured and stay healthy. If Congress doesn\u2019t act, these consequences will be devastating for Montanans. As you heard, upwards of 60,000 or more of them rely on these credits,\u201d said Vicky Byrd, CEO of the Montana Nurses Association. \u201cWhen health care disappears, so does the stability of our rural life. That\u2019s just a bridge too far. These are not just numbers. These are real people, hardworking Montanans who don\u2019t have lobbyists in Washington, but count on all of us to fight for all of them. The human cost of delayed care or denied care is real. Without subsidies, the ER becomes the only option\u2014patients arrive sicker, more fragile and harder to save, often with conditions that could have been prevented or treated earlier\u2026 We must put patients above profits and fight for dignity, opportunity and respect. If these credits expire, dozens of Montana rural hospitals and clinics will feel this inner strain. We must extend them or make them permanent, because in Montana and in rural America, these communities look out for each other.\u201d\n\n\u201cI was not expecting this going into retirement, you know, funding that much. I knew Trump might make some changes. I knew the GOP might make some changes, but I didn\u2019t think they would do anything this dumb. I\u2019m a middle-class person. I\u2019m a former small business owner, retired. The GOP is supposed to be representing people like me, but they\u2019re throwing me under the bus, and they\u2019re doing it for a really dumb reason. I think if they really sat down and talked to other people, they would realize that this is a big mistake not extending these enhanced premium tax credits,\u201d said Bob Gregoire, a Montanan from Bozeman who relies on ACA tax credits to afford health care.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered on today\u2019s press call, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you all for joining me. I\u2019m so glad we could have this discussion today.\n\n\u201cBecause President Trump and Republican lawmakers have been desperate to ignore the fact that health care premiums are about to skyrocket for millions of Americans, all because of their own refusal to act.\n\n\u201cAcross the country, premiums are going to more than double for millions of families, unless Congress saves the tax credits that help people afford insurance on the ACA exchanges.\n\n\u201cIn Montana, that means the overwhelming majority of people who buy health insurance through the ACA marketplace are about to see a huge spike in their health care costs.\n\n\u201cBut Republicans don\u2019t want to talk about it. And they have refused to do anything about it. In fact, Republicans have chosen to shut down the government rather than work with Democrats on a solution to stop this from happening.\n\n\u201cSo, here\u2019s my feeling on this: if Republicans don\u2019t want to level with their own constituents about what is at stake, I am happy to do it. Because Republicans may well be able to shut down the government, but they cannot shut down the debate, and they cannot shut out the voices of families who are facing the harsh reality of their inaction.\n\n\u201cNow, when Republican leaders here in D.C. have been asked about addressing this urgent problem, the only word they seem to know is \u2018later.\u2019 But there is no \u2018later.\u2019 Open enrollment starts on November 1st\u2014that\u2019s less than a month away!\n\n\u201cRight now, in many states, families are window shopping for health insurance online, and they\u2019re logging in and seeing astronomical price hikes for the upcoming year, with the ACA tax credits disappearing.\n\n\u201cRight now, more than 67,000 people in Montana rely on the ACA tax credits to help them afford their health care coverage. That is tens of thousands of people who will see their health care costs skyrocket if Republicans let these tax credits expire.\n\n\u201cMany families will see their costs for next year double, triple, or even quadruple. According to the Montana Nurses Association, a married couple in Helena could see premiums rise by nearly $20,000 a year.\n\n\u201cDo Republicans seriously think people can afford that? The reality is, they can\u2019t.\n\n\u201cIf the tax credits expire, thousands of people in Montana will be forced off their health coverage because they won\u2019t be able to afford it anymore.\n\n\u201cWe are talking about families with kids. We are talking about seniors, retirees who aren\u2019t old enough for Medicare but desperately need health coverage. We are talking about countless farmers and ranchers, small business owners, and freelancers.\n\n\u201cIf Republicans continue refusing to act, in a few weeks, families across Montana are going to come face to face with premiums they cannot afford.\n\n\u201cPeople are going to go online to buy health coverage, take a look at the sky-high prices on the marketplace\u2014price hikes Republicans refused to stop\u2014and say, \u2018What am I going to do?\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd they are going to ask, \u2018Why aren\u2019t the people who represent me talking about this?\u2019 \u2018Why did they refuse to lift a finger to stop this?\u2019\n\n\u201cSo that\u2019s my warning to my Republican colleagues who are trying to dodge even sitting down to talk about health care right now. This issue is not going to magically disappear. It is only going to become more and more real for the people you represent.\n\n\u201cDemocrats are fighting to save these tax credits and prevent your health care costs from exploding next year. Democrats are pushing to reopen the government. But we need Republicans to finally come to the table and negotiate to hammer out a solution.\n\n\u201cAnd Montana? Your lawmakers need to hear from you.\n\n\u201cSo I\u2019m going to keep lifting up the voices Republicans are struggling to hear with their heads in the sand. I\u2019m going to keep making sure the problem is plain as day.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m going to keep letting my Republican colleagues know: I am at the table and more than ready to get working on a solution.\n\n\u201cThe clock is ticking. Open enrollment is weeks away. And it\u2019s past time Republicans sit down and start working with us.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-celebrates-key-milestone-nuclear-waste-officially-being-turned-into-glass-at-hanford/", "Senator Murray Celebrates KEY MILESTONE: Nuclear Waste OFFICIALLY Being Turned Into Glass at Hanford", "2025-10-15", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on DOE Signing Paperwork to Allow Go-Live at Hanford Waste Treatment Plant After Trump Administration Threatened to Upend Cleanup Efforts\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement in response to news that Hanford\u2019s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) facility at the Waste Treatment Plant began to solidify Hanford tank waste into glass for the very first time.\n\nThe Waste Treatment Plant at Hanford has been in the works for decades and is the largest and most technically sophisticated radioactive waste treatment plant in the world.\n\n\u201cThis is really a historic breakthrough. After decades of effort, we are officially turning nuclear waste into glass at Hanford. This is a monumental achievement that belongs to quite literally generations of Hanford workers. When it comes to Hanford, you can\u2019t cut corners\u2014and that\u2019s part of why I\u2019ve always fought to secure the federal resources needed to move this cleanup forward. I\u2019ll always fight to support the Hanford cleanup and the workers who power this mission. The federal government has a moral and legal obligation to follow through on the Hanford cleanup\u2014and I\u2019ll never let any President forget it. This is just the start and we\u2019ve still got a ways to go before we\u2019re anywhere near done, but today\u2019s success is worth celebrating\u2014let\u2019s make glass!\u201d\n\nOn September 17th, the Department of Energy (DOE) finally signed the required paperwork ensuring radioactive tank waste could be introduced into the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) facility at the Waste Treatment Plant. The Project Management Risk Committee unanimously endorsed moving forward to project completion in July.\n\nAccording to reporting and other sources, DOE leadership had been interested in axing the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant Project at the Hanford Site altogether, with DOE Secretary Chris Wright reportedly wanting to go in a \u201cdifferent direction\u201d on the Hanford cleanup. Senator Murray spoke to Secretary Wright on September 10th, and on that call, Wright admitted that the Trump administration was actively stalling progress at the Waste Treatment Plant\u2014claiming that moving forward was somehow a safety issue, although records did not corroborate his assertion. In response, Senator Murray released a statement emphasizing that Secretary Wright\u2019s comments \u201cwere in stark contrast to the positive news we received today that safety reviews and technical tests at one melter at the Waste Treatment Plant have been completed\u2014some of the final steps before the plant can begin turning nuclear waste into glass via completion of hot commissioning by October 15th.\u201d\n\nLater, DOE released a statement in response claiming they are \u201ccommitted to beginning operations by October 15th\u201d at the DFLAW facility. Senator Murray responded in part, \u201cI need to see real evidence that this administration is moving forward on our decades-long effort to turn nuclear waste into glass at Hanford. I also need an explanation for the conflicting information I have gotten from the Department over the last 48 hours\u2014and I need the Deputy Secretary to sign off on key documents so the completion of hot commissioning at the Waste Treatment Plant can move forward.\u201d Senator Murray\u2019s staff followed up with DOE on when they would sign the required paperwork to move forward\u2014DOE finally signed the paperwork on September 17th.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-slams-trumps-flailing-tariff-strategy-driving-up-costs-and-creating-chaos-at-ports/", "Senator Murray Slams Trump\u2019s Flailing Tariff Strategy, Driving Up Costs and Creating Chaos at Ports", "2025-10-14", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "As of September 26, the current effective tariff rate is 17.9 percent\u2014the highest since 1934\n\nTrump\u2019s tariffs will cost Washington state nearly 32,000 jobs; $2.2 billion in revenue over the next four years if fully implemented\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) issued the following statement on the new port fees being implemented as Trump escalates a trade war against China with no direction or strategy by threatening an additional 100% increase on top of the current tariffs against China.\n\n\u201cTrump\u2019s tariffs are already hitting consumers and small businesses hard. But Trump\u2019s latest escalation of his trade war with China reminds us that the President is always one angry Tweet away from making things more expensive and worse for regular Americans. These retaliatory port fees are going to hurt our West Coast Ports while helping our foreign competitors. Every day we\u2019re stuck on this chaotic seesaw of unpredictable tariff hikes\u2014toward China or anywhere else. For months, small businesses have been crunched by rising costs or the sheer uncertainty of our federal tariff policy. It is well past time for Republicans in Congress to join Democrats in reasserting Congress\u2019s authority over tariffs\u2014we need to put an end to this self-inflicted economic arson.\u201d\n\nRight now, the effective tariff rate in America is 17.9 percent, the highest tariff rate since 1934. A nonpartisan analysis by the Washington State Office of Financial Management found that if the current tariffs stay in effect for the next four years, they will cost Washington state up to 25,000 jobs\u2014and if Trump\u2019s August 1st \u201cLiberation Day\u201d tariffs are fully implemented, they would cost Washington state $2.2 billion and 31,900 jobs over the next four years and significantly drive up the cost of food, clothing, cars, and much more.\n\nWashington state has one of the most trade-dependent economies of any state in the country, with 40 percent of jobs in the state tied to international commerce. In 2024, Washington exported $57.8 billion of goods to the world, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), making Washington state the 9th-largest state exporter of goods last year. Washington state is also the top U.S. producer of apples, blueberries, hops, pears, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries\u2014all of which risk losing vital export markets due to retaliatory tariffs from key trading partners including Canada.\n\nSenator Murray has been vocal in responding to Trump\u2019s trade war, holding events in every part of Washington state, and hammering the Trump administration for forcing up the cost of just about everything through their chaotic and thoughtless trade policies.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-13-senator-murray-meets-with-doctors-in-oak-harbor-to-discuss-how-republicans-are-forcing-health-care-costs-to-skyrocket-threatening-community-health-centers/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 13: Senator Murray Meets With Doctors in Oak Harbor to Discuss How Republicans are Forcing Health Care Costs to Skyrocket, Threatening Community Health Centers", "2025-10-13", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "KFF: ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Will More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire\n\nSenator Murray has been holding nonstop events with Washingtonians who will see their premiums skyrocket next year to lift up their stories, demand Republicans come to the negotiating table and act to save health care\n\n*** PHOTOS AND B-ROLL HERE***\n\nOak Harbor, WA \u2014 Today,U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, visited Sea Mar Community Health Centers\u2019 Oak Harbor Clinic to hear directly from doctors and health care providers about how they are being affected by Republicans\u2019 recent attacks on health care\u2014including cutting Medicaid by the largest amount in history, and letting millions of Americans\u2019 health care premiums more than double by refusing to extend critical Affordable Care Act (ACA) health care tax credits for middle-class families.\n\nRight now, Democrats are fighting in Congress to stop health care costs from skyrocketing\u2014urging Republicans to join them at the negotiating table to hammer out compromise legislation to reopen the government and prevent people\u2019s health care costs from skyrocketing. For months, Republicans have refused to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, and if they are not extended soon, 22 million Americans across the country\u2014including more than 216,000 people in Washington state\u2014will see their health care costs spike in January. According to KFF, premiums will more than double for Americans who buy health care through the ACA exchanges, and these higher costs will push 4.2 million people off their health coverage over the next decade\u2014including an estimated 80,000 people in Washington state, where health insurers have been approved for an average rate hike of 21 percent.\n\nSenator Murray has been speaking out nonstop about the urgent need to save health care and keep the government open and calling on Republicans to come to the table to negotiate a bipartisan deal\u2014which they have so far refused to do. As the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray leads legislation supported by the Democratic caucus that would reopen the government, address the health care crisis, and protect Congress\u2019 power of the purse from Donald Trump and Russ Vought\u2019s nonstop, lawless efforts to block funding from reaching communities across the country.\n\n\u201cPresident Trump and Republicans have created a full-blown health care crisis, and they aren\u2019t willing to lift a finger to clean up their own mess,\u201d Senator Murray said. \u201cRepublicans have gutted Medicaid and our hospitals and community health centers are going to be forced to make staffing and service cuts. And, after forcing a completely avoidable government shutdown, Republicans are still refusing to come to the table to extend critical tax credits to stop health care premiums from skyrocketing for millions of Americans. Right now, people across Washington state are getting letters in the mail saying their premiums are set to double\u2014or go up by even more next year. Millions of Americans will be forced to go without health insurance, including an estimated 80,000 people in Washington state. This is unacceptable\u2014I won\u2019t stand by while Republicans continue to attack our health care system and risk the health of Americans. I\u2019ll keep raising the alarm, pushing back, and fighting every way I can to stop Republicans\u2019 health care sabotage.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray played a critical role in passing the enhanced premium tax credits in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and she has been fighting for months to make sure these important health care tax credits don\u2019t expire, including cosponsoring multiple pieces of legislation\u2014the Health Care Affordability Act and the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act\u2014that would make them permanent. She has held countless recent events across Washington state and in Washington, D.C. with doctors, patients, and former HHS officials to highlight their stories and bring attention to how Trump and Republicans\u2019 attacks on health care are devastating American families.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-trump-and-vought-saying-theyve-started-more-mass-firings/", "Senator Murray Statement on Trump and Vought Saying They\u2019ve Started More Mass Firings", "2025-10-10", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "ICYMI: WSJ \u2013 Republicans Caution White House on Inflicting Shutdown Pain\n\nICYMI: NYT \u2013 Year Will End With 300,000 Fewer Federal Workers, Trump Official Says (August 22, 2025)\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on White House Office of Management and Budget Director (OMB) Russ Vought announcing that: \u201cThe RIFs have begun.\u201d\n\n\u201cOnce again, when President Trump and his self-described \u2018grim reaper\u2019 decide to ignore the pleas of congressional Republicans and conduct more mass firings, they are choosing to inflict more pain on the American people.\n\n\u201cNo one is making Trump and Vought hurt American workers\u2014they just want to.\n\n\u201cA shutdown does not give Trump or Vought new, special powers to cause more chaos or permanently weaken more basic services for the American people, and the simple fact is this administration has been recklessly firing\u2014and rehiring\u2014essential workers all year. This is nothing new, and no one should be intimidated by these crooks.\n\n\u201cRepublican leadership shut down the government because they refuse to even sit down and talk with Democrats about how we keep the government funded and keep health care premiums from more than doubling next year. The way we reopen government is compromise, a simple concept every American understands\u2014and no amount of threats will change that. It\u2019s past time President Trump and Republicans get serious about a solution to reopen the government and address exploding health care costs\u2014and join us at the negotiating table.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/vice-chair-murray-ranking-member-heinrich-35-senators-demand-trump-administration-restore-8-billion-in-funding-for-energy-projects-they-illegally-canceled/", "Vice Chair Murray, Ranking Member Heinrich, 35 Senators Demand Trump Administration Restore $8 Billion in Funding for Energy Projects They Illegally Canceled", "2025-10-10", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Senators to Trump Administration officials: \u201cSatisfying the President\u2019s desire for political revenge and intimidation is not a lawful basis for your actions. It also betrays the callous indifference of this administration to the impacts of its decisions on everyday Americans. These are impacts that will be felt by Americans, regardless of their political views.\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, were joined by 35 senators in sending a letter demanding that U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought restore funding for 223 energy projects in Democrat-led states that were unlawfully canceled. The funding for these projects was approved and appropriated by Congress.\n\nAlongside Murray and Heinrich, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Alex Padilla (D-CA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Brian Schatz (D- HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Peter Welch (D-VT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mark Kelly (AZ), Michael Bennett (D-CO), Tina Smith (D-MN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Cory Booker (D-NJ). All 34 Democratic Senators from states with canceled grants and funding signed the letter.\n\n\u201cWe write in strong opposition to the Trump administration unlawfully cancelling $8 billion in federal investments in 223 energy projects,\u201d the senators began. \u201cFor the 21 states with impacted projects, your cancellations will mean thousands of lost jobs for Americans, many of whom had every reason to rely on the stability of their jobs before these cancellations and all of whom will face uncertain job markets in our increasingly slowing economy.\u201d\n\n\u201c218 out of 223 projects that were terminated are in states with Democratic leadership. Even in programs where awards were made across all 50 states, such as the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program, only projects in Democratically led states were cancelled\u2014while similar projects in \u201cred states\u201d remain,\u201d the senators wrote, slamming the Trump Administration for playing politics.\n\n\u201cThese are impacts that will be felt by Americans, regardless of their political views,\u201d the senators concluded. \u201cFor the good of our country, the rule of law, and the American people, we demand that you change course and restore the previously awarded funding.\u201d\n\nThe full text of the letter is available HERE and below.\n\nDear Secretary Wright and Director Vought:\n\nWe write in strong opposition to the Trump administration unlawfully cancelling $8 billion in federal investments in 223 energy projects.\n\nYour cancellation of these projects will irreparably harm Americans in all the 21 states with impacted projects, and all additional states that rely on those projects. For the 21 states with impacted projects, your cancellations will mean thousands of lost jobs for Americans, many of whom had every reason to rely on the stability of their jobs before these cancellations and all of whom will face uncertain job markets in our increasingly slowing economy. It will mean lost educational opportunities for countless students at the now-cancelled university-led projects. It will mean difficulty obtaining private financing for impacted developers and utilities, not just on the now-cancelled grants but on other future opportunities that depend in any way on the stability of government permits, investments, and grants. It will mean less domestic manufacturing and innovation, all while diminishing America\u2019s competitive leadership globally. And it will mean higher energy bills for households and businesses across the country, all of whom are already stretched thin thanks to the affordability crisis instigated by this administration\u2019s tariffs and economic policy.\n\nThe illegality of your cancellations is the only thing as indisputable as the harm your cancellations will wreak. The grants you terminated were authorized and appropriated under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and annual appropriation bills which were passed by Congress and signed into law. The Department must expend these funds and faithfully execute the law, including many programs that have strict requirements for the timing of fund expenditure, purposes, and contractual expectations. In cancelling these awards, the Department points to authority to cancel these awards under 2 C.F.R. \u00a7 200.340, which provides very limited circumstances under which federal awards may be terminated, such as if an entity fails to comply with the conditions of the award, if the federal government and the entity mutually agree to terminate the award, or if the entity notifies the government of its intent to terminate the award . You have provided no indication that these conditions apply here.\n\nGiven the states impacted by these cancellations, the only criterion for cancelling the impacted projects appears to have been whether they were within Democratically led states. On this, the numbers do not lie: 218 out of 223 projects that were terminated are in states with Democratic leadership. Even in programs where awards were made across all 50 states, such as the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program, only projects in Democratically led states were cancelled\u2014while similar projects in \u201cred states\u201d remain.\n\nSatisfying the President\u2019s desire for political revenge and intimidation is not a lawful basis for your actions. It also betrays the callous indifference of this administration to the impacts of its decisions on everyday Americans. These are impacts that will be felt by Americans, regardless of their political views.\n\nFor the good of our country, the rule of law, and the American people, we demand that you change course and restore the previously awarded funding.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/days-before-open-enrollment-begins-senator-murray-joins-idaho-leaders-residents-who-rely-on-aca-tax-credits-to-call-on-republicans-to-come-to-the-table-to-prevent-health-care-costs-from-skyrocketing/", "Days Before Open Enrollment Begins, Senator Murray Joins Idaho Leaders, Residents Who Rely on ACA Tax Credits to Call on Republicans to Come to the Table to Prevent Health Care Costs from Skyrocketing", "2025-10-09", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "KFF: Most Republicans and MAGA Supporters Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year\n\nICYMI: Wall Street Journal \u2013 White House Senses Political Risk on Healthcare Despite Shutdown Bravado; Murray takes case directly to Idahoans as new signs indicate Republicans are feeling the heat over their refusal to take action to prevent people\u2019s costs from spiking\n\nTypical 60-year old couple in Idaho making $85,000 will face a $17,900 spike in annual premiums\n\nOpen enrollment in Idaho begins October 15th; More than 100,000 Idahoans rely on ACA tax credits\n\n***WATCH press conference HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, on the ninth day of the Republican shutdown, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a virtual press conference with Idaho State Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow and Idahoans who rely on Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits to afford health care: Bob McMichael, an author and retired teacher from Council, ID, and Susan Wood, a retiree from Boise.\n\nRight now, Democrats are fighting to save the ACA tax credits, which expire at the end of the year. Without them, 22 million Americans\u2014mostly in red states\u2014will see their health care costs skyrocket. Premiums will more than double, on average, for Americans who buy health care through the ACA exchanges, and these higher costs will push 4.2 million people off their health coverage over the next decade. In Idaho, over 100,000 people rely on the ACA tax credits\u2014and without them, the average increase in annual premiums is expected to be at least $975. If the ACA tax credits aren\u2019t extended, a typical 60-year-old couple making $85,000 in Idaho will face a whopping $17,900 increase in their annual premium costs next year and 25,000 Idahoans are likely to forgo health insurance altogether.\n\nMore than 3 in 4 people who get their health care through the ACA marketplaces\u201418.7 million out of 24.3 million\u2014live in states President Trump won in 2024. The vast majority of Americans want Congress to renew the ACA tax credits, according to recent polling from KFF\u2014including six in ten Republicans and a majority of Republicans who identify as MAGA. At the press conference, Senator Murray made her case directly to Idahoans, explaining how inaction by their Republican members of Congress will force their health care premiums to explode next year. She implored Republican leaders to come to the table as new signs indicate that Republicans are feeling the heat on their deeply unpopular position. In recent days, reporting has indicated that the White House is privately fretting about the issue, and President Trump signaled openness to cutting a deal.\n\n\u201cAcross the country, premiums are going to more than double for millions of families, unless Congress saves the tax credits that help people afford insurance on the ACA exchanges. In Idaho, that means pretty much everyone who buys health insurance through the Your Health Idaho online marketplace is about to see a huge spike in their health care costs. But Republicans don\u2019t want to talk about it. And they have refused to do anything about it. In fact, Republicans have chosen to shut down the government rather than work with Democrats on a solution to stop this from happening. So here\u2019s my feeling on this: if Republicans don\u2019t want to level with their own constituents about what is at stake, I am happy to do it,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cIf the tax credits expire, an estimated 25,000 people in Idaho will be forced off their health coverage because they won\u2019t be able to afford it anymore. We are talking about families with kids. We are talking about seniors, retirees who aren\u2019t old enough for Medicare but desperately need health coverage. We are talking about countless farmers, small business owners, and freelancers. If Republicans continue refusing to act, then next week, families across Idaho are going to come face to face with premiums they simply cannot afford.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray played a critical role in passing the enhanced premium tax credits in the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and she has been fighting for months to make sure these important health care tax credits don\u2019t expire, including cosponsoring multiple pieces of legislation\u2014the Health Care Affordability Act and theProtecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act\u2014that would make them permanent.\n\n\u201cI am overwhelmed with calls every day, from Idahoans who are worried about their health care and frustrated by what they see coming out of Washington. Farmers in the Magic Valley, teachers in Sandpoint, small business owners in Boise. Their stories are remarkably similar. They are worried. They are frustrated. And more than anything, they are asking, \u201cWhy are the people we send to Washington making our lives harder? In less than a week, Idaho\u2019s health insurance exchange opens for enrollment. But instead of certainty, families are facing the threat of skyrocketing premiums. That is because Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have shut down the government rather than working with Democrats to extend the Affordable Care Act\u2019s premium tax credits,\u201d said Idaho State Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow. \u201cWe are all hearing stories from Idahoans across the state. Parents who have delayed surgeries. Retirees who are counting pills to stretch their prescriptions. Young couples trying to decide whether they can even afford to start a family. And what is often overlooked is that more than one in four Idaho farmers and ranchers buy their health care through the ACA marketplace. They do not have employer plans. They depend on these credits to protect their families and keep their operations running. Times are already tough for farmers due to Trump tariffs, and they don\u2019t need any more challenges as they try to put food on their tables and ours\u2026 Making these tax credits permanent would cost less than one-tenth of the price tag of the billionaire tax cut they passed earlier this year. Less than a tenth. If Congress can afford to hand out massive tax breaks to billionaires and corporations, it can certainly afford to help working families keep their health insurance.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo my wife and I are both retired\u2026 We are kind of not at all unique in that we are finally though one of those couples who are senior citizens on a fixed income. I never, ever thought I would say that, but that\u2019s a fact for us now. Our annual income is about $42,000, that\u2019s some pensions, and my wife elected to take Social Security early. With the Social Security that she elected to take, and at age 62 that put us over the threshold to receive Medicaid for our health care. And so we, last year, chose a health plan on the exchange under the Affordable Care Act and qualified for the tax credits. And our tax credit was about $1,865 and our health plan this year, the premium was $1,916, so that left us to have to pay $51 a month for our coverage,\u201d said Bob McMichael, an author and retired teacher from Council, Idaho. \u201cBut last week, I received a letter from the healthcare plan informing us that in January 2026 our health plan premium would increase by $367 to $2,232. So, if the tax credit stayed the same our monthly premium would have gone from $51 to $367 and that is almost unaffordable for us. It\u2019s going to really hurt. That\u2019s assuming the tax credits don\u2019t get taken away. If the tax credits do get taken away, the annual cost of the plan that we are on will be almost $27,000. So even if they keep the tax credits and they somehow get put back in, our increase in our premium is going to be almost 800% per month. 800% that\u2019s eight times. And so, a lot of the reporting that I\u2019ve seen saying that might double just seems confusing to me. So, I\u2019m not an expert by any means, but it seems crazy that our congress people who are supposed to represent their constituents in Idaho, are completely tone deaf and ignoring this. Basically, our option is even if they reinstate the tax credits, or if they if they are still on the table for us in 2026, it\u2019s going to be hard. But if they don\u2019t reinstate them, then we simply won\u2019t be able to afford any health care at all.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy premium is set to go up by 173% next year. While that\u2019s a significant difference for someone at my retirement income level, for someone under age 65 who makes $65,000 or more, whether retired or self-employed, my same plan would be over $700 month, or an almost a 900% increase,\u201d said Susan Wood, a Boise resident since 1992 who retired in July. \u201cNo one can afford a 900% increase on any one item, let alone the exponentially rising costs of groceries, rent, homeowner\u2019s insurance, auto insurance, and it just goes on. And, here is the snowball effect: the healthy risk pool will elect to drop coverage, the insurance companies are left with a pool of individuals who have ongoing medical conditions, claims go up, premiums go up, insurance companies drop out of the market, and those who are healthy and dropped coverage risk a health crisis with no coverage. This is an impossible situation that needs to be fixed for the long term.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-9-sen-murray-calls-on-republican-leaders-to-finally-sit-down-to-prevent-americans-health-care-costs-from-exploding/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 9: Sen. Murray Calls on Republican Leaders to Finally Sit Down to Prevent Americans\u2019 Health Care Costs from Exploding", "2025-10-09", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "KFF: 8 in 10 Americans Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year, Including 6 in 10 Republicans\n\nKFF: ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire\n\nICYMI: Politico \u2013 Republicans Are in Disarray One Week Into the Shutdown\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s full floor speech***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered remarks on the Senate floor on the ninth day of President Trump and Republicans\u2019 shutdown.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you, Mr. President. We are just over a week into Republicans\u2019 shutdown. And just over three weeks from open enrollment, when massive premium hikes become a stone-cold reality for our families. And yet, Republican leaders refuse to sit down and talk with us about addressing both of those challenges.\n\n\u201cPresident Trump and Russ Vought are just openly\u2014gleefully\u2014plotting how they can make this shutdown as painful as possible.\n\n\u201cHouse Republicans are not even here, for the third week in a row.\n\n\u201cAnd Leader Thune has refused to do anything other than vote on the same failed partisan CR over, and over, and over.\n\n\u201cThe clock is ticking. Republicans would rather sit on their hands than sit down at the table.\n\n\u201cWhen we ask to talk about health care, the only word that the Republican Leader seems to know is \u2018later.\u2019 Excuse me, but why shouldn\u2019t we address this challenge any earlier?\n\n\u201cThe Republican leader bent over backwards to shovel new tax cuts at billionaires earlier this year. He did not tell CEOs to \u2018wait\u2019 when it came to Republican tax breaks that expired at the end of the year.\n\n\u201cWhy is he telling families to wait when rates are being set now? When price announcements will be in the mail any day now? And when open enrollment is right around the corner?\n\n\u201cWhy do Republicans want to wait until higher rates are locked in, and families are priced out of health care? We have got to tackle this before those rates are locked.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been warning for months about what this will mean for Washington state, and for our country. Maybe the Republican leader needs to hear about what this means for his constituents. In South Dakota, there are 50,000 people who rely on the health care tax credits to get their health coverage. On average, these South Dakota families will see their premiums more than triple if Republicans refuse to save the tax credits.\n\n\u201cThese are hard working families, including many farmers. And that\u2019s not just a challenge in South Dakota. Over a quarter of farmers in our country are covered through the exchanges.\n\n\u201cDo any of my colleagues think we should do nothing while farmers lose their health care? Do any of my colleagues want to stand by while families across the country see their premiums double?\n\n\u201cYou know, we have common ground here, but that doesn\u2019t do any good when Republicans refuse, outright refuse, to come to the table and negotiate.\n\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t do a lot of good when House Republicans are out on vacation for the third week in a row.\n\n\u201cYou know, this clock has been ticking all year long, and the time to avoid massive premiums is just about up. There is no waiting. There is no later.\n\n\u201cYou can either start talking with us now to reopen the government, and act to stop premium hikes before the open enrollment. Or you can talk to your constituents about why you decided to sit on your hands and do diddly-squat as their premiums went through the roof.\n\n\u201cThe choice is yours. Democrats are here. We are still at the table. We have always been here. We have never left. And we are ready today\u2014today\u2014to work out a serious deal to address the health care crisis and reopen the government.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-israel-hamas-ceasefire-deal/", "Senator Murray Statement on Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal", "2025-10-09", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), released the following statement on Israel and Hamas agreeing to the first phase of a ceasefire and hostage release deal:\n\n\u201cI am heartened by the news that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire deal, and am hopeful this will finally mean the end of this terrible war, which began with the deadliest terrorist attack in Israeli history. Over the past two years, tens of thousands of innocent people have been killed, entire communities have been destroyed, and there has been incalculable human suffering in Gaza\u2014in no small part because Prime Minister Netanyahu chose to prolong this awful war to stay in power.\n\n\u201cI am hopeful that this agreement will finally mean a real and lasting end to the conflict, a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza to feed starving families, and the safe return of all hostages, who have endured unimaginable suffering.\n\n\u201cThe Trump administration must now do everything in its power to ensure both Israel and Hamas uphold the terms of this agreement during final negotiations and implementation. And to ensure sustainable peace, we cannot ignore what has been unfolding in the West Bank, where the Netanyahu government continues to take steps that undermine stability today and in the long term. We must continue to affirm America\u2019s commitment to a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians alike can live in peace, with dignity and security\u2014I will always do everything I can to push to make that a reality.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-opposing-national-defense-authorization-act/", "Senator Murray Statement on Opposing National Defense Authorization Act", "2025-10-09", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, voted against final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (NDAA), and issued the following statement:\n\n\u201cI strongly support our troops\u2014I have for my entire career. As the daughter of a WWII veteran, I take the mission of our military very seriously, and I will always do everything I can to keep our troops safe.\n\n\u201cHowever, in a moment when this President suggests that Democratic led cities should be used as \u2018training grounds\u2019 for the military and that there\u2019s a \u2018war from within,\u2019 I simply don\u2019t see how I can vote for this bill. Portland and Chicago are not \u2018war zones\u2019 that require military intervention. The President is lying about chaos on our streets to deploy the military against our own citizens.\n\n\u201cAt the same time, the least qualified Secretary of Defense in our history is wrongly firing senior women military leaders and denigrating the countless women servicemembers who put their lives on the line for our country, demonstrating nothing short of outright hostility toward women soldiers\u2014it\u2019s a disgrace.\n\n\u201cThe way this President is trying to weaponize and politicize our military should outrage every American. America is not a country where the military takes aim at the very people our soldiers swear an oath to protect\u2014and it never should be. It\u2019s on every one of us to stand up for this democracy\u2014I cannot and will not support the passage of this defense bill right now. Moreover, it is absurd for Republican Leadership to press ahead with floor votes on this year\u2019s defense policy bill while they continue to refuse to meet with Democrats to hammer out a deal to actually pay our troops, reopen government, and protect health care.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-8-senator-murray-joins-washingtonians-who-rely-on-aca-tax-credits-to-call-on-republicans-to-prevent-premiums-from-doubling-for-millions-of-americans/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 8: Senator Murray Joins Washingtonians Who Rely on ACA Tax Credits to Call on Republicans to Prevent Premiums from Doubling for Millions of Americans", "2025-10-08", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "KFF: 8 in 10 Americans Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year, Including Most Republicans and MAGA Supporters\n\nKFF: ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Will More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire\n\n***WATCH full press conference HERE; DOWNLOAD HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today,U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a virtual press conference on the eighth day of the Republican shutdown with Washington state residents and small business owners who rely on Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits to afford health care. Joining Senator Murray for the press conference were Rebecca Staffel, a freelancer in Seattle, and Jason Lohr-Johnson, a self-employed video producer in Seattle, both of whom rely on the ACA tax credits to afford health insurance.\n\nAt the press conference, Senator Murray called out Republicans for refusing to come to the table to negotiate a deal with Democrats to protect Americans\u2019 health care. For months, Republicans have refused to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, and if they are not extended soon, 22 million Americans across the country\u2014including more than 216,000 people in Washington state\u2014will see their health care costs spike in January. According to KFF, premiums will more than double for Americans who buy health care through the ACA exchanges, and these higher costs will push 4.2 million people off their health coverage over the next decade\u2014including an estimated 80,000 people in Washington state, where health insurers have been approved for an average rate hike of 21 percent. A Washington-state specific fact sheet on the ACA tax credits is HERE.\n\nSenator Murray has been speaking out nonstop about the urgent need to save health care and keep the government open and calling on Republicans to come to the negotiating table to work out a bipartisan deal\u2014which they have so far refused to do. As the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray leads legislation supported by the Democratic caucus that would reopen the government, address the health care crisis, and protect Congress\u2019 power of the purse from Donald Trump and Russ Vought\u2019s nonstop, lawless efforts to block funding from reaching communities across the country.\n\n\u201cOn average, families who lose these tax credits are going to see their monthly premiums more than double. Some people will see their premiums costs triple, even quadruple. For many people, premiums will jump by over a thousand dollars a month. There are going to be millions of people who simply will not be able to stay uninsured, including an estimated 80,000 people in Washington state. In fact, there\u2019s a new poll this week found that seven out of ten families would not be able to afford their coverage if premiums double, and four in ten would likely just go uninsured,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cThat is the reality Republicans are now refusing to address. And if Republicans continue this refusal to act, it will mean people across America skip basic care, or skimp on prescriptions, or miss out on life-saving treatments. This was completely avoidable. It is completely avoidable. But only if Republican leaders stop sitting on their hands and start sitting at the negotiating table.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray played a critical role in passing the enhanced premium tax credits in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and she has been fighting for months to make sure these important health care tax credits don\u2019t expire, including cosponsoring multiple pieces of legislation\u2014the Health Care Affordability Act and the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act\u2014that would make them permanent.\n\n\u201cI left the corporate world to go out on my own and try consulting and freelancing, giving me the flexibility to be available to my aging parents and to our 20-something year-old daughter as she launches into her own adult life. If we didn\u2019t have the possibility of getting individual coverage, we wouldn\u2019t be able to create jobs, pay those taxes, or be available to our family\u2026 I am terrified about the loss of the extended premium tax credits. My estimate is that our payments will increase more than $1300 a month for our current Bronze plan coverage, and that\u2019s before any increases in premiums\u2013honestly, I haven\u2019t had the stomach to figure out what our true cost is going to be next year. It feels crazy to spend $22,000 per year just so we can each see the doctor once and get a couple of screenings,\u201d said Rebecca Staffel, a freelance worker in Seattle who relies on ACA tax credits to afford health insurance. \u201cThe loss of the tax credits means we will have to look for a super basic catastrophic plan next year or just opt to go without and hope for the best. $22,000 is a lot of money. We are going to make sure we have final appointments with our doctors in the next couple months with this assumption in mind. Frankly, I think this situation is devastating and anti-small-business. It makes no sense at all in a country where we say we value innovation and entrepreneurs.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve looked into the numbers and they will more than double if this tax credit is removed, and it ends up being almost 60 percent of our mortgage payment every month,\u201d said Jason Lohr-Johnson, a self-employed video producer in Seattle who relies on ACA tax credits to afford health insurance. \u201cThere are so many more millions and millions of Americans across the country that are going to be even more negatively impacted by this than we are\u2014and it will be a struggle for us. We\u2019ve considered going to just a catastrophic version of insurance, because then, if we have to pay that $22,000 plus annually, will it cost us less to just have catastrophic and pay out of pocket for things\u2014that\u2019s a scary place to be. The system is definitely broken, and it\u2019s infuriating that this administration and the Republicans in Congress think that it\u2019s more important to extend and give more tax breaks to the wealthy on the backs and the health of tax paying Americans who are just working to get by and participate in their democracy. It\u2019s infuriating.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered on today\u2019s press call, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you all for joining me today for this important conversation. Right now, Republicans are doing everything they can to distract from and ignore the health care crisis that is inching closer every single day.\n\n\u201cBut no matter how far they stick their heads in the sand, it is not going to change the fact that health care tax credits that millions of families rely on to afford their coverage are about to disappear.\n\n\u201cIt won\u2019t change the fact that right now, insurance companies are finalizing massive premium hikes for next year. And it won\u2019t change the fact that states are going to be sending out notices of eye-popping price hikes to families across the country in the coming days and weeks.\n\n\u201cThat is going to be so devastating\u2014some of the biggest health care price increases for families in our nation\u2019s history.\n\n\u201cOn average, families who lose these tax credits are going to see their monthly premiums more than double. Some people will see their premiums costs triple, even quadruple. For many people, premiums will jump by over a thousand dollars a month.\n\n\u201cThere are going to be millions of people who simply will not be able to stay uninsured, including an estimated 80,000 people in Washington state.\n\n\u201cIn fact, there\u2019s a new poll this week found that seven out of ten families would not be able to afford their coverage if premiums double, and four in ten would likely just go uninsured.\n\n\u201cThat is the reality Republicans are now refusing to address. And if Republicans continue this refusal to act, it will mean people across America skip basic care, or skimp on prescriptions, or miss out on life-saving treatments.\n\n\u201cThis was completely avoidable. It is completely avoidable. But only if Republican leaders stop sitting on their hands, and start sitting at the negotiating table.\n\n\u201cHowever, right now, they are refusing to budge. So far, all they\u2019ll say is \u2018later,\u2019 as if we haven\u2019t been asking them for months to work with us to address this. As if we weren\u2019t already at the midnight hour.\n\n\u201cSeriously, open enrollment in Idaho starts next week!\n\n\u201cRepublican leaders are so determined to dodge this issue, they would rather shut down the government than work on solutions.\n\n\u201cBut Republicans should know: they can shut down the government, but they cannot shut down debate. And they can\u2019t shut out the voices of families who are so worried about skyrocketing health care costs.\n\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s what conversations like this are about.\n\n\u201cIf Republican leaders don\u2019t want to talk with Democrats about opening the government and stopping premiums from doubling, well, we are going to talk to the American people about what is at stake.\n\n\u201cWe are going to lift up the voices of families who are worried their premiums will double. We are going to lift up the voices of patients worried they won\u2019t be able to afford the care they need. We are going to lift up the voices of people worried they won\u2019t be able to fill their prescription.\n\n\u201cAnd we will have the conversations Republicans are trying to avoid, make your voices heard in the halls of Congress, and fight tooth and nail, to address this health care crisis that Republicans have caused.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-senate-vote-for-caribbean-sea-war-powers-resolution/", "Senator Murray Statement on Senate Vote for Caribbean Sea War Powers Resolution", "2025-10-08", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement on her vote for S.J.Res.83, a Joint Resolution that would terminate the use of the U.S. Armed Forces for hostilities in the Latin American region, including against vessels in the Caribbean Sea, unless Congress explicitly authorizes the use of force through a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force (AUMF).\n\nSince September 2nd, President Trump has directed four lethal strikes against small boats in the Caribbean region without Congressional authorization\u2014killing at least 21 unidentified individuals. The Joint Resolution senators voted on today does not constrain the President\u2019s authority to otherwise use the U.S. Armed Forces in support of civilian authorities for counternarcotics operations, or to defend the U.S. from an imminent threat or armed attack.\n\n\u201cThe Constitution is clear: no President can go to war without Congress\u2014but over the past month, President Trump has been directing lethal strikes in the Caribbean, killing 21 people without justification or evidence these strikes were necessary for self-defense. These dangerous and illegal abuses of power put all Americans at risk and they cannot continue.\n\n\u201cWe are not at war with Venezuela, and Americans do not want to be dragged into a war with Venezuela because this White House wrongly believes they can kill anyone they want, without regard for the law or Congress. The President does not have unlimited legal authority to conduct military action\u2014this White House is once again taking our country down a perilous slippery slope that no senator should accept. President Trump is not above the law and Republicans need to grow a spine and join Democrats to end these illegal abuses of power.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-7-senator-murray-blasts-trump-and-voughts-latest-threats-slams-republicans-refusal-to-get-serious-about-tackling-health-care-costs/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 7: Senator Murray Blasts Trump and Vought\u2019s Latest Threats, Slams Republicans\u2019 Refusal to Get Serious About Tackling Health Care Costs", "2025-10-07", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray: \u201cI know Republican leaders desperately want to ignore the looming health care crisis they caused. They have put their heads in the sand for months. They have spun wild lies to try to bury the truth. And they are hoping that people stop talking about it. But every day, that gets just harder. Because every day, another warning light goes off showing just how devastating it will be if Republicans refuse to extend the ACA tax credits and let people\u2019s premiums skyrocket.\u201d\n\nKFF: 8 in 10 Americans Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year, Including 6 in 10 Republicans\n\nKFF: ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s full floor speech***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor on the seventh day of President Trump and Republicans\u2019 shutdown.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you, Mr. President.\n\n[TRUMP THREATS TO NOT PAY BACKPAY IN DEFIANCE OF LAW]\n\n\u201cLet me just start by giving our lawless President and OMB Director a little primer on the letter of the law.\n\n\u201cBecause this morning we learned they\u2019re plotting to try and rob furloughed federal workers of back pay at the end of this shutdown.\n\n\u201cThis flies in the face of the plain text of the law, which could not be more clear.\n\n\u201cPresident Trump should actually know this: he\u2019s caused more shutdowns than any other President after all. And he signed the law that guaranteed their pay.\n\n\u201cThis isn\u2019t new. This isn\u2019t surprising.\n\n\u201cAnd in fact, the OPM guidance the Administration actually issued last month reaffirmed that furloughed employees will be paid.\n\n\u201cTrump doesn\u2019t get to change the rules and rob workers just because he\u2019s worried his shutdown is backfiring. Scaring and intimidating workers won\u2019t work. He is not fooling anyone.\n\n[REPUBLICANS\u2019 HEALTH CARE CRISIS]\n\n\u201cNow, Mr. President, I know Republican Leaders desperately want to ignore the looming health care crisis they caused.\n\n\u201cThey have put their heads in the sand for months. They have spun wild lies to try to bury the truth. And they are hoping that people stop talking about it.\n\n\u201cBut every day, that gets just harder.\n\n\u201cBecause every day, another warning light goes off showing just how devastating it will be if Republicans refuse to extend the ACA tax credits and let people\u2019s premiums skyrocket.\n\n\u201cA new Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that seven out of ten families would not be able to afford their coverage if premiums double. And four in ten would likely to just go uninsured.\n\n\u201cThat means people will skip basic care, they will skimp on prescriptions, they will miss life-saving treatments.\n\n\u201cAnd the hard reality is: people will die. People who otherwise would have sought the care they needed.\n\n\u201cTo every Republican who thinks they can keep sitting on their hands and waiting this out, you need to understand: this is not some distant crisis you can ignore.\n\n\u201cPremiums are being locked in right now.\n\n\u201cLetters are going out to families announcing shocking price increases this month.\n\n\u201cIn Idaho, open enrollment actually starts next week.\n\n\u201cHow is that not urgent?\n\n\u201cTo every Republican who keeps trying to say, \u2018we can talk about this later,\u2019 later is simply too late.\n\n\u201cAnd by the way, why wouldn\u2019t Republican leaders talk about this earlier?\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been asking to fix this for months, and months, and months.\n\n\u201cFor all the talk of, \u2018Oh, we can\u2019t discuss health care while government is shut down.\u2019\n\n\u201cWell, you didn\u2019t discuss it when government was open, either!\n\n\u201cWhere have you been?\n\n\u201cAnd where are you right now for that matter? House Republicans are not even here, and they have not been here for three weeks.\n\n\u201cI cannot help but note the stark contrast between how little House Republicans seem to care about opening up the government and preventing massive health care hikes, and how much they cared about shoveling trillions in tax breaks at some of richest people in the world earlier this year.\n\n\u201cWhere is that urgency now?\n\n\u201cI mean, when the tax breaks for billionaires were set to expire in December, that was the same time as these health care credits expire. Republicans made that priority number one.\n\n\u201cYou can bet they fast-tracked relief for the big wigs and fat cats. Because heaven forbid billionaires like Trump have to worry about filling up their private jets!\n\n\u201cBut families worried about health care? Republican leaders refuse to talk about it.\n\n\u201cThey voted down efforts to save these tax credits three times before government funding was even in question!\n\n\u201cAnd they have spent the last few weeks saying our insistence on preventing people\u2019s premiums from doubling is \u2018unreasonable.\u2019 Unreasonable!\n\n\u201cAnd even now, the best Republicans can offer is \u2018later we can maybe, possibly, talk about, potentially doing something someday?\u2019\n\n\u201cThat is pretty cold comfort to families who are staring down thousands upon thousands in higher health care costs next year.\n\n\u201cThose premium hikes? They aren\u2019t maybe happening someday. They are for real, and they are getting finalized right now.\n\n\u201cIf the Republican Leader would rather send us home for the weekend than have a serious conversation, if House Republicans want to keep hiding as far as they can from the negotiating table, if you are going to not talk with us, then I beg my colleagues: at least talk to your constituents. See what this health care crisis looks like for them.\n\n\u201cBecause here\u2019s the thing Republicans seem especially keen to ignore: this is a problem where inaction will overwhelmingly hurt their own constituents.\n\n\u201cNewsflash for my colleagues: over three-quarters of the families with health care coverage through the ACA marketplace are in red states.\n\n\u201cDo you know which five states will see the highest health care rate hikes next year?\n\n\u201cWest Virginia, looking at a 387 percent rate hike for families that rely on ACA tax credits. Wyoming: 382 percent. Alaska: 346 percent rate hike. Tennessee: 320 percent. Mississippi: 314 percent.\n\n\u201cThat is five red states where premiums are going to more than quadruple for families that rely on those tax credits.\n\nBut you know what, let\u2019s keep going!\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s do the next five. These are states where the average premium will more than triple for families relying on the tax credits. Texas: 289 percent increase. South Carolina: 285 percent. Alabama: 284 percent. South Dakota: 235 percent. North Dakota: 234 percent.\n\n\u201cSo there you have it. The ten states facing the biggest health care increases if Republicans refuse to act are red states.\n\n\u201cAnd you know what, I can still go on.\n\n\u201cPremiums are going to more than double for families relying on the tax credits in states like Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, literally every other red state.\n\n\u201cSo, Mr. President, the bottom line is a lot of people who are going to be hurt if Republicans refuse to save health care and they are represented by Republicans.\n\n\u201cAt least they would be represented by Republicans, but our House colleagues nowhere to be found.\n\n\u201cThey have been gone for three weeks.\n\n\u201cSo, my message to Republican leaders: You need to get serious about opening up the government, and addressing the health care crisis before those premiums double for families across the country.\n\n\u201cYou need to get serious now before those higher costs are locked in, and before families back home decide they can\u2019t afford to stay covered.\n\n\u201cAnd you know, even if House Republicans want to hide from the negotiating table, they are not going to be able to hide from this issue.\n\n\u201cBecause if they stay home, and refuse to come back to DC to hammer out a solution, the people they represent back home are going to make their voices heard about this.\n\n\u201cThey are going to say, \u2018Hey! My monthly premium is going up by over a thousand bucks\u2014monthly premium\u2014what are you doing about it?\u2019\n\n\u201cThey are going to say, \u2018Hey! I am going to lose my health care, what am I supposed to do?\u2019\n\n\u201cThey are going to say, \u2018Hey! If you care so much about opening the government like you say, if you care so much about lowering costs, why don\u2019t you go back and get to work?\u2019\n\n\u201cMr. President, when that message finally breaks through to all the Republicans who are trying to ignore it, as I think it\u2019s clear it is beginning to, here\u2019s another message for them: Democrats are still here. We are still at the table. And we are still ready to work together on a bipartisan deal to reopen the government and address this health care crisis.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-slams-republicans-for-refusing-to-get-serious-about-solving-health-care-crisis-ending-republican-shutdown/", "Senator Murray Slams Republicans for Refusing to Get Serious About Solving Health Care Crisis, Ending Republican Shutdown", "2025-10-07", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s Remarks***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks on government funding at this afternoon\u2019s Senate Democratic leadership press conference.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cWell, less than two weeks ago, Leader Thune said that Democrats\u2019 insistence on addressing the Republican health care crisis was\u2014and I quote\u2014 \u2018completely unhinged and unreasonable and unserious.\u2019 Somehow, according to Republicans, saving Americans from paying thousands of dollars more for health care is \u2018unreasonable.\u2019\n\n\u201cWell, clearly Republicans are feeling the heat from folks back home, because in just the last 24 hours we have seen the Speaker go out and say that \u2018Republicans are the ones concerned about health care,\u2019 after they just cut more than $1 trillion from health care in their Big Ugly Bill. And we saw the President, in a major break from his Congressional leadership, tell reporters he was ready to cut a deal.\n\n\u201cI know Republicans would rather not talk about health care\u2014but Democrats are forcing them to talk about health care. Because when Republicans insist they will talk about health care \u2018later,\u2019 they know perfectly well that will be too late.\n\n\u201cPremium increases are getting locked in right now, letters are going out in the mail to families this month, open enrollment actually begins in Idaho next week. Americans cannot wait, they need us to act\u2014to end this shutdown and to address this health care crisis before those higher prices are locked in.\n\n\u201cBut House Republicans are missing in action\u2014for the third week in a row.\n\n\u201cYou want to know who is serious about solving problems? You want to know who is serious about ending the shutdown? It\u2019s the people who are actually here. And House Republicans\u2014they\u2019re just not here!\n\n\u201cIf House Republicans were here, I would make sure they understood half of the people who get health care on the ACA exchanges are small business owners, workers, or self-employed people.\n\n\u201cIf House Republicans were here, I would make sure they understood a quarter of American farmers are covered on the exchanges.\n\n\u201cIf House Republicans were here, I would make sure that they understand over three quarters of the families on the exchanges actually live in Republican states!\n\n\u201cAnd I would make sure that they understand that the ten states where families will face the biggest average premium increase hikes when the ACA tax credits they rely on expire are all Republican states.\n\n\u201cBut House Republicans are not here. They couldn\u2019t be bothered to show up, or sit down, or talk to Democrats about how we prevent those premiums from doubling for millions of families.\n\n\u201cAnd here in the Senate, Leader Thune is holding the same failed vote over and over on Republicans\u2019 partisan bill and refusing to entertain or engage in discussions about health care.\n\n\u201cAnd of course, back in the White House, Trump is having the time of his life tweeting sombreros and deepfakes, and pretending his budget director is the grim reaper, and threatening to ignore the plain letter of the law to deny federal workers back pay\u2014which I\u2019ll tell you right now is not going to fly.\n\n\u201cThere is nothing Republican leaders are doing that even suggests they are serious about ending the shutdown or preventing health care price hikes.\n\n\u201cWe are at the table. Democrats are at the table\u2014where we have been actually for weeks. So, the message is simple: let\u2019s work out a deal to end this shutdown and save families those massive premium hikes.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-3-senator-murray-calls-out-trump-republicans-cruelty-refusal-to-get-serious-about-reopening-government-addressing-health-care-costs/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 3: Senator Murray Calls Out Trump, Republicans\u2019 Cruelty & Refusal to Get Serious About Reopening Government, Addressing Health Care Costs", "2025-10-03", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray: \u201cPresident Trump has made clear he doesn\u2019t see this shutdown as a problem to solve. He sees a shutdown as an opportunity to hurt people.\u201d\n\nMurray: \u201cThe irony of Republicans telling us to wait on health care is as rich as the people they shoveled tax breaks on earlier this year. Because let\u2019s not forget: earlier this year, Republicans chose to spend a lot of time here and a lot of effort extending tax cuts for wealthy CEOs. Those tax cuts were set to expire at the end of the year, just like the ACA tax credits we\u2019re talking about now. What did Republicans do? Did they tell the billionaires to wait? No! Republicans moved heaven and earth to save the tax cuts for those billionaires. But now, they won\u2019t move a muscle to save families from skyrocketing health care costs.\u201d\n\nMurray: \u201cNo one can believe Republican leadership is serious about ending this shutdown either, when Senate Republicans are holding the same vote over and over, while refusing to start serious negotiations. And by the way, House Republicans are not even here in town.\u201d\n\nNEW THIS MORNING FROM KFF: 8 in 10 Americans Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year, Including 6 in 10 Republicans\n\nKFF: ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s floor speech***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor ahead of floor votes on Republicans\u2019 partisan continuing resolution and Democrats\u2019 bill to fund the government, address the health care crisis, and protect Congress\u2019 power of the purse. In her remarks, Senator Murray slams Republicans for choosing to shut the government down rather than negotiating with Democrats, and calls on them to finally join Democrats at the negotiating table to prevent American families\u2019 health care costs from skyrocketing. More information on the Democratic bill is available HERE.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cWe are three days into a government shutdown, and we are in the middle of a health care crisis entirely of Republicans\u2019 making.\n\n\u201cAnd a new poll, shows nearly 80 percent of Americans\u2014that is four in five\u2014want Republicans to work with us to stop their premiums from doubling.\n\n\u201cSo what is the hold up?\n\n\u201cAfter all, as we speak, health plans are in the middle of locking in massive rate increases. Those notices will be in the mail any day now.\n\n\u201cThese are two serious issues facing our country, and yet Trump and Republican leaders are refusing to take any of them seriously.\n\n\u201cOn health care, Republicans have decided to shut down the government rather than work with us.\n\n\u201cAnd they have decided they would rather make up lies about illegal immigrants than talk about the actual issue at stake\u2014the reality that Republicans are letting premiums more than double.\n\n\u201cNewsflash: Republican areas are actually going to face some of the biggest price jumps if they refuse to save health care.\n\n\u201cSmall businesses are going to take a hit.\n\n\u201cNot to mention farmers, one quarter of our farmers are covered on the ACA exchanges, so this health care crisis is a big concern for them.\n\n\u201cMillions of families, across the country, are about to see their monthly health care costs jump by hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.\n\n\u201cAnd the Republicans plan seems to be: \u2018I hope no one notices.\u2019 That is out of touch.\n\n\u201cMaybe a couple thousand dollars here and there seems like no big deal when you take your marching orders from billionaires like Donald Trump.\n\n\u201cBut if Republicans talk to everyday families, and fewer rich billionaires, they would understand: the health care crisis Republicans are ignoring is going to devastate folks back home.\n\n\u201cMillions of people are going to be priced out of their insurance. They will skip their basic health care. They will skimp on their medication. They will miss out on lifesaving treatments.\n\n\u201cIt is no exaggeration to say: people will die.\n\n\u201cThere is no avoiding that reality, though Republicans seem determined to try.\n\n\u201cAnd on the shutdown? Trump and Republican leadership are not taking this seriously.\n\n\u201cPresident Trump has made clear he doesn\u2019t see this shutdown as a problem to solve.\n\n\u201cHe sees a shutdown as an opportunity to hurt people.\n\n\u201cHe sees a shutdown as an opening to make good on even more of the awful promises of Project 2025.\n\n\u201cTrump sees a shutdown as an excuse to harm whoever he wants, and do whatever he wants, even\u2014and maybe especially\u2014if it hurts folks back home.\n\n\u201cThe Trump Administration actually isn\u2019t even trying to hide the fact: they\u2019re targeting cuts to blue states, they\u2019re talking about canceling Democratic priorities, and they\u2019re threatening our constituents if we don\u2019t bend the knee.\n\n\u201cNo one can believe President Trump is serious about ending this shutdown when he is more focused on tweeting out fake sombrero pictures, and showing Russ Vought as the Grim Reaper, than he is on working out a deal.\n\n\u201cNo one can believe President Trump seriously cares whether he is hurting everyday Americans, when the only thing he is focused on is taking the opportunity to punish the American people with cruel cuts and cruel firings, which don\u2019t just hurt Democrats\u2014they hurt his own voters as well.\n\n\u201cAnd, I should mention, no one can believe Republican leadership is serious about ending this shutdown either when Senate Republicans are holding the same vote over and over, while refusing to start serious negotiations. And by the way, House Republicans are not even here in town.\n\n\u201cAnd instead of talking about addressing health care, they are saying just \u201cwait\u201d and \u201clater.\u201d\n\n\u201cDemocrats have been waiting. We\u2019ve been trying to save the health care tax credits for months.\n\n\u201cWe cannot wait any longer. Later is too late.\n\n\u201cThe irony of Republicans telling us to wait on health care is as rich as the people they shoveled tax breaks on earlier this year.\n\n\u201cBecause let\u2019s not forget: earlier this year, Republicans choose to spend a lot of time here and a lot of effort extending tax cuts for wealthy CEOs. Those tax cuts were set to expire at the end of the year, just like the ACA tax credits we\u2019re talking about now. What did Republicans do? Did they tell the billionaires to wait? No!\u201d\n\n\u201cRepublicans moved heaven and earth to save the tax cuts for those billionaires. But now, they won\u2019t move a muscle to save families from skyrocketing health care costs. Republican leaders can\u2019t be bothered.\n\n\u201cWhen billionaires have a tax cut expiring at the end of the year, it is all hands on deck for Republican leadership, even if it means throwing working families overboard with a trillion dollars in health cuts families will need to cover out of their own pocket\u2014or go without coverage.\n\n\u201cBut when health care is on the brink, when health premiums are being locked in right now, right now, and when they are going to double for families, Republicans are nowhere to be found.\n\n\u201cAnd I mean that literally. House Republicans have not been here all week.\n\n\u201cThey are missing in action.\n\n\u201cThey should be rushing back to work on a solution.\n\n\u201cBut Republican leaders seem to be moving in the opposite direction, forcing a vote on the same failed partisan bill, for the fourth time.\n\n\u201cMr. President, we are at the table. We want to be here, we are ready to find a solution, we are ready to reopen the government, and we want to prevent families\u2019 costs from skyrocketing.\n\n\u201cI hope Republicans decide that they are ready to join us.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-3-senator-murray-wa-small-business-owners-who-rely-on-aca-tax-credits-lay-out-how-republican-inaction-will-cause-their-premiums-to-skyrocket/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 3: Senator Murray, WA Small Business Owners Who Rely on ACA Tax Credits Lay Out How Republican Inaction Will Cause Their Premiums to Skyrocket", "2025-10-03", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "NEW THIS MORNING FROM KFF: 8 in 10 Americans Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year, Including Most Republicans and MAGA Supporters\n\nKFF: ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire\n\nICYMI: REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 2: Senator Murray, WA Hospital Leaders Lay Out How the Republican Health Care Crisis is Defunding Hospitals, Forcing Premiums to Skyrocket, Kicking People Off Health Care\n\n***WATCH full press conference HERE; DOWNLOAD HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today,on the third day of the Republican shutdown, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, hosted a virtual press conference with Washington small business owners to discuss how the health care crisis that Republicans have created will impact their small businesses and how Democrats are fighting to save critical Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that working families in Washington state and across the country rely on to be able to afford health insurance. Joining Senator Murray for the press conference were Leslie McNamara, Elected Commissioner of Three Rivers Hospital, whose husband is a small business owner who relies on ACA tax credits to afford health care, and Stacya Silverman, a small business owner in Seattle who relies on ACA tax credits to afford health care.\n\nAt the press conference, Senator Murray and Washington state small business owners emphasized how many small business owners around the country, and their employees, are reliant on ACA tax credits to receive health care\u2014and how the expiration of ACA tax credits could force them to go without health insurance and is terrible for the American economy. Senator Murray has been speaking out nonstop about the urgent need to save health care and keep the government open, and calling on Republicans to come to the negotiating table to work out a bipartisan deal\u2014which they have so far refused to do, jeopardizing health care coverage for millions of people and putting Washington\u2019s entire health care system at risk.\n\nFor months, Republicans have refused to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, and if they are left to expire, 22 million Americans across the country\u2014including more than 216,000 people in Washington state\u2014will see their health care costs and premiums skyrocket. Premiums will more than double for Americans who buy health care through the ACA exchanges, and these higher costs will push 4.2 million people off their health coverage over the next decade\u2014including an estimated 80,000 people in Washington state, where health insurers have been approved for an average rate hike of 21 percent for 2026. A fact sheet on what the expiration of the ACA tax credits would mean for people in Washington state is HERE.\n\nAs the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray leads legislation supported by the Democratic caucus that would reopen the government, address the health care crisis, and protect Congress\u2019 power of the purse from Donald Trump and Russ Vought\u2019s nonstop, lawless efforts to block funding from reaching communities across the country.\n\n\u201cRepublicans would rather shut down the government than address a health care crisis that is threatening to shut down small businesses across the country. Right now, health care premiums are being locked in for next year. And because Republicans have refused to save the health care tax credits that millions of people rely on, health care costs are about to more than double for families across the country. And small businesses are going to be among those hardest hit by Republican inaction. Small business workers and employees are far more likely to get their coverage through the ACA exchanges. In fact, half of the people enrolled through the health care marketplace are small business owners, small business workers, or self-employed people,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cSmall business owners know what is coming if Republicans don\u2019t sit down with us and figure this out soon. The rate hikes are coming, and for small businesses who have tight margins, those hikes are going to mean hard decisions. Some will have to offer plans with worse benefits, and their employees will have to pay higher premiums. Some will stop offering coverage to their employees altogether. And many small businesses, which account for half of job growth, will have to stop hiring. Many will have to let people go. Some small business owners may just have to close their doors entirely. That is the crisis we are facing, and Republicans would rather shut down the government than sit down and talk about it.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray played a critical role in passing the enhanced premium tax credits in the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and she has been fighting for months to make sure these important health care tax credits don\u2019t expire, including cosponsoring multiple pieces of legislation\u2014the Health Care Affordability Act and the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act\u2014that would make them permanent.\n\n\u201cI am a commissioner at Three Rivers Hospital in Brewster, Washington. We are a nonprofit, rural, critical access hospital, and so I am very concerned about the ACA and naturally for my constituents and friends, but also it hits me personally, because my husband is the sole employee of a third-generation hardware store and lumber yard. And he received an email a few weeks back warning that his ACA insurance was ending on December 31st due to a lack of funding and the subsidized payments that would not be extended. That\u2019s all part of this budget cut. So currently, his subsidized out of pocket premiums are around $349 a month, or that\u2019s what it would be if we extended it. Without his subsidized payments, his premiums would be $1,131 a month. That\u2019s more than triple. And I\u2019m telling you right now that\u2019s 25% of our combined income. That\u2019s not affordable. It\u2019s simply not affordable. So, what are we going to do?\u201d said Leslie McNamara, Elected Commissioner of Three Rivers Hospital, whose husband is a small business owner in Brewster who relies on ACA tax credits to afford health care. \u201cLikely, like many others, we might have to make the hard decision not to have health insurance for him at all. And having uninsured people, and not just him, it\u2019s a strain on his business. It\u2019s a strain on our hospital. It\u2019s a strain on every American, because when hospitals are faced with patients who cannot cover their care, that debt and charity care increase, and likely all insurance premiums will increase, and that\u2019s everybody, not just people who need subsidized health care. And so, it\u2019s just bad for the economy. It\u2019s bad for people completely. I don\u2019t know what people are going to do. We\u2019re going to have a lot of uninsured people, and that\u2019s just bad because instead of people having regular health care, they\u2019ll end up in the ER.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have been in business for over 30 years, and I\u2019m a sole proprietor, and I get my health care through the exchange. My husband\u2019s retired, so he doesn\u2019t work, he\u2019s on Medicare, and he doesn\u2019t get insurance through a company or a corporation. I chose Regence, and without the exchange, I\u2019d be paying over $1,200 a month. And with the tax credit, I pay $772 a month. And if that goes away, even though I have preexisting conditions, I\u2019ll have to find cheaper insurance somehow. I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m going to do, I really don\u2019t. And this is the first time that I wondered, should I have gone into business for myself? Was that a mistake?\u201d said Stacya Silverman, a small business owner in Seattle who relies on ACA tax credits to afford health care. \u201cThe most stressful thing about my business is around October when I have to figure out what insurance I\u2019m going to get and what I\u2019m going to have to pay. And that does not that price does not include visual or dental. So, it\u2019s expensive, and I agree with Leslie, it\u2019s terrible for the economy. It\u2019s terrible for all Americans, not just sole proprietors, and not just people who have children who are disabled. It\u2019s terrible for everybody. It\u2019ll trickle down to everybody. If we have to use the emergency room for our health care no one will be able to get into the emergency room and thinking of a country like that is very stressful.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered on today\u2019s press call, are below:\n\n\u201cWe are here because Republicans would rather shut down the government than address a health care crisis that is threatening to shut down small businesses across the country.\n\n\u201cRight now, health care premiums are being locked in for next year. And because Republicans have refused to save the health care tax credits that millions of people rely on, health care costs are about to more than double for families in our country. And small businesses are going to be among those hardest hit by Republican inaction.\n\n\u201cSmall business workers and employees are far more likely to get their coverage through the ACA exchanges. In fact, half of the people enrolled through the health care marketplace are small business owners, small business workers, or self-employed people.\n\n\u201cHere in Washington state, there are 50,000 small businesses, employees, and people who are self-employed, who are enrolled through our exchange.\n\n\u201cOne in four farmers get their coverage through the marketplace. Same goes for dentists, real estate brokers, manicurists, and that is just the tip of the iceberg that Republicans are refusing to avoid.\n\n\u201cSmall business owners know what is coming if Republicans don\u2019t sit down with us and figure this out soon.\n\n\u201cThe rate hikes are coming, and for small businesses who have tight margins, those hikes are going to mean hard decisions. Some will have to offer plans with worse benefits, and their employees will have to pay higher premiums. Some will stop offering coverage to their employees altogether.\n\n\u201cAnd many small businesses, which account for half of job growth, will have to stop hiring. Many will have to let people go. Some small business owners may just have to close their doors entirely.\n\n\u201cThat is the crisis we are facing, and Republicans would rather shutdown the government than sit down and talk about it.\n\n\u201cAnd as I keep saying: Republicans might have shut down the government, but they cannot shut down debate. And they cannot shut out the voices of people across the country who are on the frontlines of this health care crisis.\n\n\u201cWhich is why I\u2019m very pleased to be joined today by some Washington state voices who know exactly what is at stake for small businesses if Republicans refuse to save the health care tax credits.\n\n\u201cThese stories are exactly what this fight is about. This is who I am fighting for.\n\n\u201cAnd I am going to keep your stories in the spotlight, and keep your voices echoing in the halls of power, until Republicans finally acknowledge the reality of this health care crisis\u2014and work with us on solutions to reopen the government, and avoid forcing a huge health care cost increase on families and small businesses.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"], ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-2-senator-murray-wa-hospital-leaders-lay-out-how-the-republican-health-care-crisis-is-defunding-hospitals-forcing-premiums-to-skyrocket-kicking-people-off-health-care/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 2: Senator Murray, WA Hospital Leaders Lay Out\u00a0How the Republican Health Care Crisis is Defunding Hospitals, Forcing Premiums to Skyrocket, Kicking People Off Health Care", "2025-10-02", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "NEW FROM KFF: ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Next Year if Republicans Refuse to Join Democrats to Save Enhanced Premium Tax Credits\n\nNEW FROM WASHINGTON POST: More Americans blame Trump and Republicans than Democrats for Shutdown\n\nICYMI: Senator Murray Joins WA State Insurance Commissioner, WA Small Business Owner Who Relies on ACA Tax Credits to Drive Home Why Democrats are Fighting to Prevent Health Care Costs from Skyrocketing\n\n***WATCH full press conference HERE; DOWNLOAD HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today,U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a virtual press conference on how Democrats are fighting to reverse Republicans\u2019 catastrophic health care cuts and save critical Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that hard working families in Washington state and across the country rely on to be able to afford health insurance. Joining Senator Murray for the press conference were Dr. David Zonies, Chief Medical Officer at Harborview Medical Center/University of Washington School of Medicine and Dr. Ettore Palazzo, CEO of EvergreenHealth.\n\nAt the press conference, Senator Murray and Washington state health care leaders slammed Republicans for refusing to come to the table to negotiate a deal to address the Republican health care crisis and save the ACA tax credits, jeopardizing health care coverage for millions of people and putting Washington state\u2019s entire health care system at risk. Senator Murray has been speaking out nonstop about the urgent need to save health care and keep the government open, and calling on Republicans to come to the negotiating table to work out a bipartisan deal \u2014which they have so far refused to do. As the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray leads legislation supported by the Democratic caucus that would reopen the government, address the health care crisis, and protect Congress\u2019 power of the purse from Donald Trump and Russ Vought\u2019s nonstop, lawless efforts to block funding from reaching communities across the country.\n\nWashington state is among the states hit hardest by Republicans\u2019 Medicaid cuts\u2014 about 350,000 people who rely on Apple Health are estimated to lose coverage because of the cuts, and hospitals in Washington state could lose $662 million in Medicaid revenue every year, forcing them to lay off staff, cut services, or close their doors entirely. Overall, Washington state is expected to lose between $28 billion and $46 billion in federal Medicaid dollars over the next decade. In addition, for months, Republicans have refused to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, and if they are left to expire, 22 million Americans across the country\u2014including more than 216,000 people in Washington state\u2014will see their health care costs and premiums skyrocket. Premiums will more than double for Americans who buy health care through the ACA exchanges, and these higher costs will push 4.2 million people off their health coverage over the next decade\u2014including an estimated 80,000 people in Washington state, where health insurers have been approved for an average rate hike of 21 percent. A fact sheet on what the expiration of the ACA tax credits would mean for people in Washington state is HERE.\n\n\u201cRepublicans can shut down the government, but they cannot shut down debate, and they can\u2019t shut out the voices of people across the country who have been staring down the health care crisis Republicans can\u2019t bear to look at. That is why we are here today. We are going to talk about what Republicans want us to ignore, because here is what is happening right now, health care premiums are being set for next year. And because Republicans have refused to act to extend critical ACA tax credits, they are being set higher than ever,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cFamilies are going to start getting some eye-popping announcements in the mail about their health care rates this month. We are talking about the highest premium increases in years, and Republicans think they can ignore this? Here in Washington state, nearly a quarter of a million people rely on the tax credits Republicans are killing. On average, these families save $1,300 dollars a year. And it\u2019s worth noting, Republican areas in our state have some of the highest rates of people relying on these tax credits. So, Republicans are shutting down the government because they don\u2019t want to help their own constituents. Think about that.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray played a critical role in passing the enhanced premium tax credits in the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and she has been fighting for months to make sure these important health care tax credits don\u2019t expire, including cosponsoring multiple pieces of legislation\u2014the Health Care Affordability Act and the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act\u2014that would make them permanent.\n\n\u201cThe expiration of the ACA premium tax credits will have significantly negative impacts on our public hospital system and on all the providers that are caring for our patients. Most importantly, I, as a clinician, am very concerned about the clinical impact it\u2019s going to have, and the direct impacts it will have to our patients, their ability to access care, the stability of our health care system across our state to continue to care for all of them,\u201d said Dr. David Zonies, Chief Medical Officer at Harborview Medical Center/University of Washington School of Medicine. \u201cThe financial hardship that is a result from these higher [premiums,] or in many cases loss of coverage altogether, will often force our patients to ration or forgo essential medical care, which will ultimately lead to worse health outcomes, and it increases the strain on our already stretched system. Our hospital in particular will face significant increases to uncompensated care because patients become more uninsured or underinsured because of the higher premium costs that they just can no longer afford. In addition to the loss of the tax credits at the end of this year, the major cuts to Medicaid will absolutely negatively impact patients that we treat at Harborview and really all safety nets. Harborview stands as Washington\u2019s leading safety net care hospital, 34% of our patients rely on Medicaid for their health care coverage, and another 5% of our patients are uninsured despite having a Medicaid availability\u2026 From a public health perspective, this is extremely concerning, because more and more people will be accessing the care they need in our emergency departments, which further strains our health care system\u2019s capacity and will limit access to other patients who also need those services. These significant increases in the premiums, the uncompensated care and the impending Medicaid cuts will put our ability to care for our safety net population in jeopardy. There\u2019s no doubt in my mind that this will worsen their health care outcomes and will make it far worse for those who can just no longer access the coverage and the care that they need.\u201d\n\n\u201cEvergreenHealth is a community-owned hospital, and since we opened our doors more than 50 years ago, we have been an advocate for ensuring everyone in our community has access to high-quality, affordable care close to home,\u201d said EvergreenHealth CEO Ettore Palazzo, MD, FACP. \u201cThe impending loss of the ACA enhanced premium tax credits would lead to a coverage gap for community members, causing them to defer care and experience worsening outcomes. The resulting uncompensated costs would also place a significant financial strain on hospitals and other health care providers throughout our region and across the entire country.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered on today\u2019s press call, are below:\n\n\u201cYou know, Republicans want to talk about anything except the health care crisis they created. Republican leaders would literally rather shut down the government than talk about how we need to act to prevent health care premiums from more than doubling.\n\n\u201cRepublicans do not want to talk about families getting priced out of their health care coverage, or skimping on prescriptions, or missing out on preventive care\u2014or even lifesaving treatments. They do not want to talk about the families they chose to kick off Medicaid in their big ugly bill.\n\n\u201cAnd Republicans definitely do not want to talk about hospitals being pushed to the brink\u2014even shutting their doors\u2014because of cuts Republicans passed to pay for billionaire tax breaks.\n\n\u201cWell, you know what? Too bad.\n\n\u201cRepublicans can shut down the government, but they cannot shut down debate, and they can\u2019t shut out the voices of people across the country who have been staring down the health care crisis Republicans can\u2019t bear to look at.\n\n\u201cThat is why we are here today. We are going to talk about what Republicans want us to ignore, because here is what is happening, right now, health care premiums are being set for next year.\n\n\u201cAnd because Republicans have refused to act to extend critical ACA tax credits, they are being set higher than ever.\n\n\u201cFamilies are going to start getting some eye-popping announcements in the mail about their health care rates this month. We are talking about the highest premium increases in years, and Republicans think they can ignore this?\n\n\u201cHere in Washington state, nearly a quarter of a million people rely on the tax credits Republicans are killing. On average, these families save $1,300 dollars a year. And it\u2019s worth noting, Republican areas in our state have some of the highest rates of people relying on these tax credits.\n\n\u201cSo, Republicans are shutting down the government because they don\u2019t want to help their own constituents. Think about that.\n\n\u201cAnd let\u2019s not forget farmers: a quarter of them are covered on the exchanges.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s not forget small business owners, and workers, and people who are self-employed, who account for nearly half of the people on the exchanges.\n\n\u201cBut Republicans have refused, for months, to talk about saving these families from massive health care price hikes. They actually voted down our efforts to fix this problem three times earlier this year.\n\n\u201cInstead, they passed a bill that gutted Medicaid, kicked even more people off their coverage, and shuttered hospitals across the country. It\u2019s so absurd, I almost get why Republicans are desperate not to talk about how much damage they have done.\n\n\u201cBut families facing higher health care bills don\u2019t just get to ignore their new premium. Patients who have a prescription to fill don\u2019t just get to stick their heads in the sand. And hospitals that are now pushed to the brink can\u2019t keep their doors open by ignoring the problems Republicans created.\n\n\u201cWorking families, small business owners, rural hospitals: they all have to face the reality of this Republicans health care crisis.\n\n\u201cSo as long as I have a spotlight, I am going to keep it on the issues Republicans are trying to ignore. As long as I have a platform, I am going to amplify the voices Republicans are trying to drown out.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m very pleased today to have with me today some folks here in Washington state who are on the front lines of the health care crisis. I am going to make sure their voices are heard in Congress, and I am going to keep fighting to get them the help it is so clear our communities need.\n\n\u201cRepublicans may have chosen to shut down hospitals. And when we demanded they fix it, they may have chosen to shut down the government, but we are not going to let up.\n\n\u201cWe are still at the table, and we are going to stay there until Republicans work with us to reopen the government, fix this crisis they\u2019ve created at our hospitals, and stop health care costs from going through the roof.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "truncated": false, "filtered_table_rows_count": 169, "expanded_columns": [], "expandable_columns": [], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "units": {}, "query": {"sql": "select url, title, date, year, month, party, chamber, state, member_name, bioguide_id, domain, scraper, source, date_source, text, has_text, collected_at, updated_at from releases where \"chamber\" = :p0 and \"state\" = :p1 and \"year\" = :p2 order by date desc limit 101", "params": {"p0": "Senate", "p1": "WA", "p2": "2025"}}, "facet_results": {"party": {"name": "party", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=WA&year=2025", "results": [{"value": "Democrat", "label": "Democrat", "count": 169, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=WA&year=2025&party=Democrat", "selected": false}], "truncated": false}, "chamber": {"name": "chamber", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=WA&year=2025", "results": [{"value": "Senate", "label": "Senate", "count": 169, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=WA&year=2025", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "state": {"name": "state", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=WA&year=2025", "results": [{"value": "WA", "label": "WA", "count": 169, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&year=2025", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "year": {"name": "year", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=WA&year=2025", "results": [{"value": "2025", "label": "2025", "count": 169, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=WA", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}}, "suggested_facets": [], "next": "2025-10-02,https~3A~2F~2Fwww~2Emurray~2Esenate~2Egov~2Frepublican-shutdown-day-2-senator-murray-wa-hospital-leaders-lay-out-how-the-republican-health-care-crisis-is-defunding-hospitals-forcing-premiums-to-skyrocket-kicking-people-off-health-care~2F", "next_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=WA&year=2025&_next=2025-10-02%2Chttps~3A~2F~2Fwww~2Emurray~2Esenate~2Egov~2Frepublican-shutdown-day-2-senator-murray-wa-hospital-leaders-lay-out-how-the-republican-health-care-crisis-is-defunding-hospitals-forcing-premiums-to-skyrocket-kicking-people-off-health-care~2F&_sort_desc=date", "private": false, "allow_execute_sql": true, "query_ms": 2019.2604130133986, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}