url,title,date,year,month,party,chamber,state,member_name,bioguide_id,domain,scraper,source,date_source,text,has_text,collected_at,updated_at
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/as-gas-prices-remain-high-due-to-illegal-war-in-iran-senator-markey-slams-trump-for-rollback-of-fuel-economy-standards-that-save-money-lower-emissions,"As Gas Prices Remain High Due to Illegal War in Iran, Senator Markey Slams Trump for Rollback of Fuel Economy Standards That Save Money, Lower Emissions",2026-09-28,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (September 28, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey, a senior member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, today released the following statement after President Donald Trump announced new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, under which automakers will only have to achieve an average fleetwide fuel economy standard of 34.5 miles per gallon by 2031. This is more than thirty percent lower than the previous standards, which required manufacturers to achieve an average fleetwide fuel economy of 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031—a standard that would have continued to save drivers money, given drivers more fuel-efficient choices at the dealership, and cut our national dependence on globally priced oil.

“Strong fuel economy standards mean that Americans spend less at the gas pump, our country imports less foreign oil, drivers can choose better options at the dealership, and we are better protected from pollution, price spikes, and climate change,” said Senator Markey. “Trump’s economic and foreign policy crises are already leaving families underwater from rising gas prices—and by attacking fuel economy standards, he’s also setting fire to the lifeboat.”

Senator Markey has been a fuel economy champion since standards were enabled by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which included fuel economy language co-authored by then-Rep. Markey. That law included Markey’s language that said the standard must be at least 35 mpg by 2020, and that the “maximum feasible standard” must be set every year.

In June, Senator Markey introduced the Gas Money Saved Act, legislation that would require the Department of Transportation (DOT) to examine whether it can strengthen CAFE standards during periods of skyrocketing gas prices. The legislation would also reinstate the penalties for automakers that fail to produce fuel-efficient vehicles as options for American drivers, which were removed as part of the giveaways to corporations and the super-rich in the Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill in 2025. In February, Senator Markey and Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07) led 78 lawmakers in a letter to the Administration calling on it to withdraw its proposed rollback of fuel economy standards.

###",1,2026-09-29T11:07:12Z,2026-09-29T11:08:49Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sen-markey-and-reps-jayapal-larsen-announce-legislation-to-expand-workforce-opportunities-for-communities-impacted-by-substance-use,"Sen. Markey and Reps. Jayapal, Larsen Announce Legislation to Expand Workforce Opportunities for Communities Impacted by Substance Use",2026-09-25,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (September 25, 2026) - In recognition of National Recovery Month, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today announced the reintroduction of the Workforce Opportunities for Communities in Recovery Act, legislation that would strengthen and expand grants for community partnerships that promote employment opportunities for workers in recovery and support communities affected by widespread substance use. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and Rick Larsen (WA-02) lead the legislation in the House of Representatives.

“For National Recovery Month, we celebrate those working to achieve and maintain recovery from addiction, and everyone who helped them along the way. Especially as families struggle to get ahead, it’s more important than ever that we help people in recovery overcome barriers to employment,” said Senator Markey. “This legislation will strengthen community partnerships that connect people with good jobs, peer support, and mentorship, supporting lasting recovery and helping communities heal.”

“Addiction and substance use are deeply tied to economic instability and the shortage of behavioral health professionals,” said Congresswoman Jayapal. “Our bill takes these issues head on by investing in local organizations that help those affected by substance use gain employment and empower more people to pursue the behavioral health field. By promoting economic stability and increasing the number of healthcare specialists, we can get to the root of the substance abuse crisis and help communities across the country.”

“The opioid epidemic continues to devastate communities in Northwest Washington,” said Rep. Larsen. “This legislation would break down barriers to employment for people in recovery and fund local organizations to address the nationwide behavioral health workforce shortage. I will keep working to get this bill over the finish line and to regain momentum in the fight against the opioid crisis.”

“Substance use disorder has become a far too common barrier to employment,” said Cole Angley, Massachusetts Workforce Association’s Executive Director. “The Workforce Opportunities for Communities in Recovery Act filed by Sen. Markey builds upon a successful model and puts the necessary tools in the hands of workforce development professionals to help address these barriers with impacted job-seekers across Massachusetts and the nation.”

The legislation would reauthorize, strengthen, and expand a pilot grant program first authorized under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and later extended through the 2018 SUPPORT Act. The pilot grants have funded community partnerships that promote employment for individuals affected by substance use and those interested in professions that address the impacts of substance use across the country. The Workforce Opportunities for Communities in Recovery Act would authorize $187.5 million to continue this lifesaving and community-strengthening work.

The legislation was first introduced by Senator Markey and Representatives Jayapal and Larsen in July 2024. Senator Markey has been supportive of increasing access to substance use disorder treatments such as methadone, as well as harm reduction tools. In June 2026, Senator Markey introduced the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act 2.0 to improve access to treatment for opioid use disorder. In May 2026, Senator Markey wrote to Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of SAMHSA Christopher Carroll, urging the agency to reverse new guidance barring grant recipients from purchasing and distributing life-saving tools, such as fentanyl test strips, for people with substance use disorders.

###",1,2026-09-26T09:43:57Z,2026-09-26T09:44:55Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-and-merkley-lead-colleagues-to-demand-trump-administration-abandon-reckless-saudi-nuclear-deal,Senators Markey and Merkley Lead Colleagues to Demand Trump Administration Abandon Reckless Saudi Nuclear Deal,2026-09-25,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Trump deal caves to Saudi demands, fails “Gold Standard” test

Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (September 25, 2026) - Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), co-chairs of the bicameral Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, today sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding that the Trump administration abandon its reckless nuclear deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which fails the Gold Standard nonproliferation test by surrendering two key conditions: the strictest inspection standards under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s Additional Protocol and denying Saudi Arabia the means to produce weapons-grade nuclear materials through uranium enrichment and/or plutonium reprocessing. The letter was signed by Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

As a U.S. Senator, Marco Rubio was among the most consistent voices warning about the dangers of giving Saudi Arabia, whose leaders have repeatedly threatened to pursue nuclear weapons, access to sensitive nuclear technology without proper safeguards.

In the letter, the senators wrote, “With this deal, the Trump Administration is departing from precedent, adopting looser restrictions, and caving to Saudi demands by agreeing to a process that is all but certain to allow Riyadh to acquire the means to enrich uranium and possibly develop nuclear weapons. If the Administration is serious about preventing that outcome, it should require Riyadh to meet the Gold Standard. And likewise, if Saudi Arabia genuinely has no intention of pursuing a nuclear weapon, it should have little objection to accepting the same commitments that the UAE and other states have made: implementing an Additional Protocol and banning enrichment and reprocessing.”

The senators continued, “Although not included in the agreement, media reports have suggested that the Saudi government would not have access to a U.S.-supplied and operated enrichment plant on Saudi soil. While there is no evidence that Saudi officials have agreed to such a ‘black box’ arrangement, if implemented, it would just raise additional concerns. It would be difficult to prevent the Kingdom from spying on a facility built on its soil and thus from gleaning sensitive information. A hypothetical black box arrangement could also commit the United States to far more than a commercial transaction. Sensitive American enrichment technology and the American personnel operating it would sit on Saudi soil, in a region at war and with the possibility of instability within the Kingdom itself. Given that an attack on the black box would be an attack on U.S. equities, we would be obliged to defend the facility. This would constitute a security guarantee by another name; an open-ended commitment to the defense of Saudi Arabia that Congress has not debated.”

The senators concluded, “President Trump launched an unconstitutional war against Iran claiming it was necessary to stop Tehran from enriching uranium. Yet, his Administration is now seeking to give Saudi Arabia access to the very technologies it says Iran must never possess. That hypocrisy undermines any chance of reaching a durable agreement with Iran. If Saudi Arabia can enrich uranium without the strongest inspections, Tehran will demand the same treatment. President Trump is weakening his own negotiating position while increasing the odds of regional nuclear proliferation.”

On September 16, Senators Markey and Merkley led a bipartisan group of Senators to press the Trump administration to declassify and publicly release the two side letters accompanying the proposed U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation agreement, referred to as a “123 agreement.”

As a founder of the national Nuclear Freeze movement, Senator Markey has long been the Congressional leader on ending the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

On August 26, Senator Markey urged Congress to reject the Trump-Saudi nuclear deal after the Trump administration sent to Congress a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia that would open the door to providing the Kingdom with the means to produce nuclear weapons materials but would not require the most stringent safeguards against the development of those weapons.

On July 31, Senators Markey and Merkley, along with Representatives John Garamendi (CA-08) and Don Beyer (VA-08), co-chairs of the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, published an opinion piece slamming Trump’s Saudi nuclear deal, citing then-Senator Marco Rubio’s understanding that handing nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia would be disastrous.

On March 25, Senators Markey and Merkley reintroduced the No Nuclear Weapons for Saudi Arabia Act, legislation that would mandate that any nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia can go into effect only if it receives the affirmative vote of Congress.

On March 18, Senator Markey led his colleagues in writing to Secretary Rubio demanding the Trump administration must meet the “gold standard” of nuclear non-proliferation protections by denying Saudi Arabia the means to produce weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, materials that could be used in a nuclear bomb.

In November 2025, Senator Markey and Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging the Trump administration to include the strongest possible “gold standard” nonproliferation measures in any nuclear cooperation agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to foreclose any pathway to a nuclear weapon.

In November 2024, Senator Markey wrote to the Biden administration seeking answers about any agreement that would normalize relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Israel in exchange for civil nuclear energy cooperation and a U.S. defense commitment to the Kingdom.

As far back as 2017, Senator Markey pressed the first Trump administration on the status of all current and ongoing discussions between the United States and other countries, including Saudi Arabia, on 123 agreements after it was reported that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was peddling a plan to build nuclear reactors throughout the Middle East.

###",1,2026-09-26T09:43:57Z,2026-09-26T09:44:55Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sens-markey-merkley-and-reps-jayapal-tlaib-pressley-reintroduce-legislation-to-halt-government-use-of-facial-recognition-and-other-biometric-technology,"Sens. Markey, Merkley and Reps. Jayapal, Tlaib, Pressley Reintroduce Legislation to Halt Government Use of Facial Recognition and Other Biometric Technology",2026-09-25,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (September 25, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), and Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), announced the reintroduction of the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act, legislation to prohibit the government from using facial recognition and other biometric technologies.

The legislation responds to the federal government’s growing use of biometric recognition technology, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) mobile facial recognition app, which has been used to target immigrants and intimidate communities across the country. Research shows that nearly half of U.S. adults’ faces are already stored in facial recognition databases, and that Black, Brown, and Asian individuals are up to 100 times more likely to be misidentified by a facial recognition algorithm than white men.

“Facial recognition and other biometric technologies in the hands of government agencies have become tools of authoritarianism. Agencies such as ICE and CBP are using this technology to track, target, intimidate and surveil communities across the country,”said Senator Markey. “Black and Brown communities — already subject to the most aggressive policing and immigration enforcement — are disproportionately affected and more likely to be wrongly flagged, detained, or targeted by a faulty facial recognition match. We must stop the Trump administration’s growing web of surveillance technology, and that starts with a moratorium on dangerous, discriminatory biometric recognition.”

“Every American who values their right to privacy, stands against discrimination, and believes people are innocent until proven guilty should be concerned about facial recognition technology fueling a national surveillance state,” said Senator Merkley. “Enacting a federal moratorium on this technology is critical to ensuring we can rein in inappropriate surveillance and protect our communities’ fundamental right to privacy.”

“We have to stop the constant, nonconsensual state of surveillance that we live in, and that starts with placing a moratorium on our government’s use of facial recognition technology,” said Congresswoman Jayapal. “Black and Brown people are more likely to be misidentified and wrongfully put in jail because of this unregulated technology, and our government has used it to unjustly target protestors and immigrants. Putting the brakes on this technology is necessary to protect civil rights and ensure public safety.”

“Facial recognition technology is racist, misidentifying Black, Brown, and Asian residents and pinning them as suspects in crimes they did not commit,” said Representative Tlaib. “When such flawed and biased technology is used to invade our privacy, we are all less safe. I'm proud to reintroduce this bill that will ban facial recognition technology and protect all our civil liberties.”

The Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act would:

Place a prohibition on the use of facial recognition technology by federal entities, which can only be lifted with an act of Congress;

Place a prohibition on the use of other biometric technologies, including voice recognition, gate recognition, and recognition of other immutable physical characteristics, by federal entities, which can only be lifted with an act of Congress;

Condition federal grant funding to state and local entities, including law enforcement, on those entities enacting their own moratoria on the use of facial recognition and biometric technology;

Prohibit the use of federal dollars for biometric surveillance systems;

Prohibit the use of information collected via biometric technology in violation of the Act in any judicial proceedings;

Provide a private right of action for individuals whose biometric data is used in violation of the Act and allow for enforcement by state Attorneys General; and

Allow states and localities to enact their own laws regarding the use of facial recognition and biometric technologies.

“Face surveillance is one of the most intrusive surveillance technologies. It’s past time for the federal government to end its use. Face surveillance in the hands of the government is a fundamentally harmful technology, even under strict regulations or if the technology was 100% accurate. We thank the authors of this bill for their leadership in ending the federal government’s use of this dangerous and invasive technology,” said India McKinney, Director of Federal Affairs at Electronic Frontier Foundation.

“We can no longer afford to ignore the very real harms of AI surveillance technologies, including facial recognition. We have seen how ICE and other federal agencies utilize facial recognition to abuse immigrants, Black and Brown communities, and people participating in protests and other First Amendment protected actions. There is no more excuse for inaction or justification for allowing the continued use of this surveillance technology - the time to pass this legislation is now,” said Caitlin Seeley George (she/her), Campaigns and Managing Director at Fight for the Future.

“Facial recognition poses a significant threat to our privacy and our democracy. The technology has been shown to be biased, inaccurate, and disproportionally harmful to people of color. Even 100% accurate facial recognition poses considerable threats to our privacy and civil liberties. The Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act takes the right approach on this urgent issue, effectively banning its current use and ensuring Congress will give careful consideration to if and how the technology can be used in the future. EPIC is proud to support it,” said Jeramie D. Scott, Director of Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)’s Surveillance Oversight Program.

“The rapid adoption of powerful surveillance tech by our federal government benefits companies that amass billions in profits through contracts with law enforcement agencies, at the expense of our civil rights. This bill by Senator Markey couldn’t be more timely. Not only does this bill disrupt the money flow for surveillance profiteers; it prevents the use of one of the most invasive forms of surveillance and grants users a private right of action, urgently needed as we still lack federal data privacy protections and a prohibition on law enforcement purchases of sensitive data. We’ve seen how dangerous these tools can be and how easily bad actors can weaponize them against any person or community. Without proper guardrails or consideration for how our privacy will be protected, surveillance tech becomes a tool of oppression, not safety. We are proud to endorse this bill and appreciate Senator Markey’s continued leadership in this area,” said Amanda Beckham, Government Relations Director at Free Press.

“Right now, just walking down the street could allow you to be detected by AI-powered cameras and put into a database. Sen. Markey’s Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act is a critically needed safeguard against a surveillance apocalypse where the government and unaccountable corporations can collect and store your face and voice,” said Hajar Hammado, Senior Policy Advisor at Demand Progress. “Facial recognition technology threatens the privacy and security of all Americans. Every member of Congress who cares about invasive surveillance must support this bill.”

“We should all be free to move freely in our communities -- drive to work, walk our neighborhoods, travel to see family -- without constant monitoring. ICE officers and other federal agents are out in our neighborhoods targeting Black and Brown people because of the color of our skin and scanning our faces without consent to fuel a cruel mass deportation machine. They're using the very same facial recognition technologies that regularly misidentify people of color, leading to unjust arrests and detainment. Senator Markey’s Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act would put a stop to this racist invasion of privacy,” said Alejandra Montoya-Boyer, Vice President of The Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology.

The Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act is cosponsored in the Senate by Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and in the House of Representatives by Representatives Greg Casar (TX-35), Judy Chu (CA-28), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At Large), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), and Jan Schakowsky (IL-09).

This legislation is endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Fight for the Future, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Color of Change, Access Now, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Free Press, Demand Progress, and UnidosUS.

###",1,2026-09-26T09:43:57Z,2026-09-26T09:44:55Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/as-ai-agents-carry-out-attacks-senator-markey-introduces-legislation-establishing-independent-body-to-investigate-cyber-hacks-assisted-by-artificial-intelligence,"As AI Agents Carry Out Attacks, Senator Markey Introduces Legislation Establishing Independent Body to Investigate Cyber Hacks Assisted by Artificial Intelligence",2026-09-24,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (September 24, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today introduced the Cybersecurity and AI Board of Investigations Act, legislation that would establish an independent board to investigate major cybersecurity incidents impacting critical infrastructure, including those enabled by artificial intelligence (AI). This bill establishes the Cybersecurity and AI Board of Investigations with subpoena authority, akin to the National Transportation Safety Board, to demand answers from companies and government agencies involved in major cybersecurity incidents and to deliver clear assessments of cyber threats and measures to prevent such threats.

“Despite the unprecedented depth and scale of recent AI-enabled cyber attacks, the public is learning critical details piecemeal,” said Senator Markey. “Building stronger defenses requires a full accounting of what goes wrong, and we cannot depend on companies with little incentive to disclose their failures to give us one. We need the Cybersecurity and AI Board of Investigations to get to the bottom of major incidents and give companies and the government the critical information necessary to build resilience and better secure our economy and our country.”

With the advancement and increasing accessibility of AI, bad actors can increase the volume and sophistication of attacks targeting our economic and national security. AI agents are now carrying out attacks without human initiation or oversight — in one incident this July, OpenAI’s AI agents circumvented a testing environment leading to a cyberattack on Hugging Face. Although OpenAI granted independent researchers access to assess the incident, the limited scope of access, data, and time provided to researchers prevented them from completing a full evaluation—including an assessment of OpenAI’s own safeguards. The Cybersecurity and AI Board of Investigations Act responds to these trends by granting the Board subpoena power, strengthening federal cybersecurity infrastructure to conduct post-incident investigations and advance learning in information security for public and private institutions.

Specifically, the Cybersecurity and AI Board of Investigations Act would:

Establish the Cybersecurity and AI Board of Investigations as a non-regulatory investigative board tasked with developing an authoritative account of major cybersecurity incidents;

Provide the Board subpoena power to ensure access to all relevant information and evidence needed to investigate incidents fully;

Require public reporting on investigations, which would include recommendations for action by relevant institutions, including federal agencies and industry.

Senator Markey has long worked to shore up American cyber defenses and protect consumers from increasingly complex cybersecurity threats. In 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to adopt the Cyber Trust Mark program, a voluntary cybersecurity certification program for consumer devices aligned with Senator Markey’s Cyber Shield Act. In July 2026, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works advanced Senator Markey’s Water Intelligence, Security, and Cyber Threat Protection Act, legislation to provide additional cybersecurity resources to clean water and wastewater utilities, as part of the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act of 2026.

###",1,2026-09-25T10:04:52Z,2026-09-25T10:05:46Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-ocasio-cortez-reintroduce-civilian-climate-corps-for-jobs-and-justice-to-rebuild-america,"Markey, Ocasio-Cortez Reintroduce Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice to Rebuild America",2026-09-24,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF) | One Pager (PDF)

Washington (September 24, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) today reintroduced the Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act, legislation that would establish a Civilian Climate Corps (CCC), administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service within AmeriCorps, which follows in the footsteps of the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps, with important equitable updates. The CCC would provide good-paying service opportunities to a diverse group of 1.5 million Americans over five years to complete clean energy, climate resilience, environmental remediation, conservation, and sustainable infrastructure projects, while providing transformational educational benefits and career pathways in good union jobs.

“As Americans face frequent extreme weather disasters, a job market disrupted by the expansion of artificial intelligence, and other economic challenges, the Civilian Climate Corps presents an opportunity to support meaningful job opportunities and efforts to combat the climate crisis,” said Senator Markey. “I am proud to work with Representative Ocasio-Cortez to continue to fight for this program, which would provide an opportunity for more than a million Americans—especially young people—from every walk of life to earn a good wage while serving their communities and working toward a climate-resilient future.”

“The impacts of the climate crisis are being felt across our country, with extreme weather events taking lives and causing billions in devastating losses. We need a massive public investment to combat the toll of wildfires, floods, and hurricanes. That is why I am proud to reintroduce the Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act alongside Senator Ed Markey, which puts 1.5 million people to work forging climate-resilient communities. The urgency of this moment requires us to respond with robust and reliable solutions,” said Representative Ocasio-Cortez.

The Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act is cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and in the House of Representatives by Representatives Jared Huffman (CA-02), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Greg Casar (TX-35), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At Large), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Becca Balint (VT-At Large), Summer Lee (PA-12), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), and Jasmine Crockett (TX-30).

Senator Markey and Representative Ocasio-Cortez first introduced the Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act in April 2021. This CCC proposal, and others like it, inspired the Biden administration to launch the American Climate Corps in 2023. Trump dismantled the American Climate Corps on his first day back in office.

This legislation is endorsed by: AFSCME; Appalachian Mountain Club; Evergreen Action; Food & Water Watch; the Forum for Youth Investment; Grid Alternatives; Indivisible; Louisiana Green Corps; Partnership for the Civilian Climate Corps; SEIU; Sierra Club; Sunrise Movement; Union of Concerned Scientists; United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE); WE ACT for Environmental Justice.

“America’s workforce has tremendous potential to fight climate change and build a safer future. The Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act will help unlock that potential by creating pathways to good-paying jobs to boost our economy while building pollution-free communities across the country,” said Evergreen Action Executive Director Lena Moffitt. “With the support of this legislation, the next generation of the energy and climate workforce will have the skills they need to withstand climate disasters and to lead the clean energy transition.”

“Young people are desperate for good-paying, meaningful jobs that allow us to build a future worth living in. We’ve spent a summer choking on wildfire smoke and watching our communities flood, while housing and food become increasingly unaffordable. Now, as AI threatens to upend entire industries, young people are spending years in college preparing for jobs that may not even exist. We need jobs that provide stability, purpose, and a livable future. We need a Civilian Climate Corps, now,” said Aru Shiney-Ajay, Executive Director of the Sunrise Movement.

“This is timely legislation as communities across the nation are struggling with worsening climate impacts and rising energy costs and urgently need policymakers to help protect them by boosting resilience and clean energy. Investing in a civilian climate corps is a huge opportunity to create good paying jobs with on-the-job training while advancing the solutions frontline communities need and deserve,” said Rachel Cleetus, Interim Program Director for Climate & Energy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

###",1,2026-09-25T10:04:52Z,2026-09-25T10:05:46Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/as-home-heating-season-approaches-senator-markey-joins-colleagues-to-urge-trump-admin-to-swiftly-release-liheap-funding,"As Home-Heating Season Approaches, Senator Markey Joins Colleagues to Urge Trump Admin to Swiftly Release LIHEAP Funding",2026-09-18,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (September 18, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) this week joined Senators Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) 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.

Appropriators worked on a bipartisan basis to make roughly $4 billion in federal LIHEAP funds available for the coming year.

The senators call on HHS to swiftly distribute LIHEAP aid before winter home-heating bills arrive in order to help states and eligible households manage their energy costs.

LIHEAP provides financial assistance to income-eligible homeowners and renters to help with energy bills and for reconnection of energy service. The program is targeted to assist vulnerable households facing high energy burdens—the share of a household’s income that goes toward their energy bills. Low-income homes generally spend the biggest percentage of their income on utility bills. However, factors such as income, weather, housing stock, fuel type, and energy-efficiency can all impact a household’s energy burden.

“As you know, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act for Fiscal Year 2027 (P.L. 119-103) requires the Department of Health and Human Services to distribute no less than 90 percent of its total LIHEAP allotment by November 1, 2026. Given the extraordinary pressure consumers will face this winter, we ask that you make this distribution well before the deadline,” the 31 U.S. Senators wrote.

In addition to Senators Markey, Reed, Collins, and Murkowski, the letter was signed by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Chris Coons (D-Del), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Angus King (I-Maine), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-N.M.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

The bipartisan group of Senators say the federal government should put preparation ahead of politics and ensure LIHEAP funding is allocated in a timely manner to keep 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. And more households may need heating assistance this winter as temperatures drop and the cost of oil, gas, propane, and other residential fuels rise.

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.

LIHEAP applications are 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 2027 — or until the funding is exhausted. To find your state agency, visit HHS’s LIHEAP State Map of Contacts.

###",1,2026-09-19T09:11:33Z,2026-09-19T09:12:45Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sen-markey-leader-schumer-rep-cohen-reintroduce-legislation-to-give-airline-passengers-right-to-cash-refunds-for-significant-flight-delays-cancellations,"Sen. Markey, Leader Schumer, Rep. Cohen Reintroduce Legislation to Give Airline Passengers Right to Cash Refunds for Significant Flight Delays, Cancellations",2026-09-18,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (September 18, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), this week reintroduced the Cash Refunds for Flight Cancellations Act, legislation that would require major airlines to give passengers a cash refund if the airline cancels or significantly delays their flight, and creates a new right for consumers to receive a cash refund if the passenger cancels their flight up to 48 hours ahead of the flight’s scheduled departure.

Senator Markey fought hard to ensure the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 included several provisions requiring airlines to provide refunds to consumers when delays or cancellations are the fault of the airline. The law also required that vouchers offered in lieu of a refund be valid for at least five years. The Cash Refunds for Flight Cancellations Act reaffirms and builds on these important provisions.

“For too long, passengers have been told to cover the cost of the airlines’ mistakes, while also paying exorbitant fees for carry-on bags or seat selection. No more,” said Senator Markey. “In 2023, the Biden administration took one step forward and adopted my rule to compensate passengers for flight delays and cancellations, but the Trump administration took three steps back and pandered to the airline CEO billionaires. It’s time to make the refunds permanent and stop airlines from soaring away with travelers’ hard-earned cash.”

“When travelers pay for a ticket, they deserve the basic guarantee that if the airline fails to deliver the flight they paid for, they can get their hard-earned cash back,” said Leader Schumer. “The Trump administration has repeatedly put airlines’ profits over the pocket books of American passengers, leaving families holding the bag by rolling back commonsense consumer protections. If an airline cancels your flight or significantly delays your trip, you should get your money back—end of story.”

“The flying public doesn’t want credits when the airlines cancel their flights, especially after already benefiting from a multibillion-dollar bailout from American taxpayers. Passengers deserve cash refunds,” said Congressman Cohen.

“Travel plans can change last minute, often for reasons outside of our control,” said John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud at National Consumers League. “Meanwhile, airlines make more than a billion dollars each year in cancellation fees alone. NCL is proud to support Senator Markey’s continued work to protect consumers from being locked into non-refundable itineraries.”

“For far too many years, airline passengers have been in the dark about their right to refunds when flights are disrupted,”said William J. McGee, Senior Fellow for Aviation & Travel at American Economic Liberties Project. “Sen. Markey was a tireless advocate who led the charge against U.S. airlines refusing to pay refunds during the early and dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic. This legislation will close a few loopholes, such as requiring that passengers be informed of their rights prior to booking and ensuring that any credits or vouchers will not expire. At long last, it's time for air travelers to be fully informed and fully protected when their itineraries are interrupted.”

The legislation is cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)

Senator Markey is a longtime advocate for aviation consumer rights. In December 2025, Senators Markey, Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced the Flight Delay and Cancellation Compensation Act, legislation that would protect passengers by requiring airlines to provide cash compensation and free rebooking for passengers facing significant delays or cancellations caused by the airline. In October 2025, Senators Markey, Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Senator Blumenthal, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) led their colleagues in sending a letterto U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy, urging the agency to reconsider its decision to roll back consumer protections for airline passengers that built on the bipartisan Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act.

###",1,2026-09-19T09:11:33Z,2026-09-19T09:12:45Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sen-markey-rep-cohen-reintroduces-legislation-to-stop-bloated-airline-fees-and-expand-passenger-protections,"Sen. Markey, Rep. Cohen Reintroduces Legislation to Stop Bloated Airline Fees and Expand Passenger Protections",2026-09-18,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (September 18, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, this week reintroduced the Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous (FAIR) Fees Act, legislation that would require the Department of Transportation (DOT) to set a rule preventing airlines from setting bloated fees that far exceed the costs incurred by the airlines. Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) leads the legislation in the House of Representatives.

“It’s outrageous that travelers have to pay a small fortune in fees for a carry-on bag or to sit with their children, when the true cost to the airlines is far less than what they charge in hidden fees,” said Senator Markey. “As airlines take their ridiculous fees to new heights, I’m proud to reintroduce the FAIR Fees Act, an important step to slash excessive airline fees, enact cost-saving protections, and put consumers first instead of airline CEO billionaires.”

“Air travelers frequently tell me about unreasonable fees for schedule changes or baggage fees that appear out of line with the likely true cost to the airlines for providing these services. It’s well past time we have an objective assessment of these fees with the expectation that they will either be justified as reasonable or reduced or eliminated,” said Congressman Cohen.

“The process of buying a plane ticket has become bloated with hidden fees at every turn,” said John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud at National Consumers League. “Many of these charges are inflated beyond any tangible cost associated with providing the service and exist solely to pad carriers’ earnings. The FAIR Fees Act would significantly rein in this practice and protect consumers from incessant nickel and diming.”

“We all know air travelers are subject to severe sticker shock when junk fees are added to base fares,” said William J. McGee, Senior Fellow for Aviation & Travel at American Economic Liberties Project. “But there are also problems with many of the fees themselves, because some services don't incur costs to the airlines. Boarding earlier? Sitting in a window rather than a middle seat? Gaining access to overhead bins? None of this affects an airline's bottom line, but passengers can wind up paying hundreds of dollars more. I testified alongside airline CEOs who were unable to even guess the internal cost of passengers canceling flights, yet that cost for consumers can be $150. This legislation will ensure that--finally--airline fees are both reasonable and in proportion to the costs incurred.”

The legislation is cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ruben Gallego (D-N.M), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

Senator Markey is a longtime advocate for aviation consumer rights. In December 2025, Senators Markey, Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced the Flight Delay and Cancellation Compensation Act, legislation that would protect passengers by requiring airlines to provide cash compensation and free rebooking for passengers facing significant delays or cancellations caused by the airline. In October 2025, Senators Markey, Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), led 14 of their colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy, urging the DOT to reconsider its decision to roll back consumer protections for airline passengers that built on the bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act.

###",1,2026-09-19T09:11:33Z,2026-09-19T09:12:45Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-and-senator-budd-introduce-bipartisan-resolution-condemning-chinas-wrongful-detention-of-american-academics-including-massachusetts-constituent-dr-youlin-chen,"Senator Markey and Senator Budd Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Condemning China’s Wrongful Detention of American Academics, Including Massachusetts Constituent Dr. Youlin Chen",2026-09-17,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Resolution Text (PDF)

Washington (September 17, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Ted Budd (R-N.C.), along with Senator John Curtis (R-Utah) and Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), today introduced a bipartisan resolution that condemns the People’s Republic of China’s repeated pattern of arbitrary or wrongful detention of American academics and urges the United States government to prioritize the safe return of all United States citizens wrongfully detained in China, including Massachusetts resident and academic Dr. Youlin Chen, and American scholar Min Zin. Congressman Stephen Lynch (MA-08) and Congressman John Moolenaar, Chairman of the House Select Committee on China (MI-02), led a companion resolution in the House of Representatives.

The resolution expresses that the Senate:

Condemns the People’s Republic of China’s repeated pattern of arbitrary or wrongful detention of United States citizens.

Urges the United States government to make the safe return of United States citizens detained in China a top priority, including the return of Dr. Chen and Min Zin.

Urges the Secretary of State to use all available tools to press for the release of all United States nationals being unlawfully or wrongfully detained in the People’s Republic of China.

“The wrongful detainment of innocent civilians is never justifiable and should always be condemned in the strongest possible terms. We owe it to the American people to stand up and speak out when our citizens are wrongfully detained in foreign prisons. It is my hope that this bipartisan resolution from the United States Congress will bring increased attention to the unjust detention of Dr. Youlin Chen and Min Zin and force the Chinese government to do the right thing and release them immediately. I am praying for Dr. Chen, Mr. Zin, and their families today,” said Senator Markey.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s pattern of unjustly detaining innocent Americans on baseless allegations cannot carry on unchecked. It is long past time for the CCP to return American academics Dr. Youlin Chen and Mr. Min Zin home to their loved ones and end the targeting of American citizens. I am proud to stand with Senator Markey and my colleagues, as a bipartisan front, against these escalatory actions,” said Senator Budd.

“China’s repeated and cruel pattern of wrongful detentions of American citizens, leaving some without access to legal counsel, is nothing short of an affront to the rule of law and infringes on their rights and freedoms. The U.S. government must redouble its efforts to ensure U.S. citizens unjustly detained abroad, like Min Zin and Dr. Chen, return safely back home to their loved ones,” said Senator Schiff.

Congressman Lynch said:

“I am proud to join my colleagues in introducing a bipartisan and bicameral Resolution denouncing China’s use of arbitrary and unlawful arrests of U.S. citizens. Dr. Youlin Chen, a good man and respected seismologist and geophysicist who has made Boston his home, was arbitrarily arrested on fabricated ‘espionage’ charges nearly two years ago. Similarly, Min Zin, a Myanmar scholar and executive director of the Myanmar Institute for Strategic and Policy Studies, has not been heard from his family since he was detained in June for ‘espionage and endangering national security.’ Ironically, these two men were in China to engage in academic exchanges that benefit both our countries. They were doing honest and noble work and should never have been detained.

“These men are being held under brutal and inhumane conditions, with no access to their families and limited access, if any, to legal counsel. There has yet to be any evidence presented to justify these charges, much less an opportunity to prove their innocence.

“My office has been communicating with the family of Dr. Chen and Min Zin, and we will continue to work with our Republican colleagues in the House and Senate to bring these men home to their families. President Trump must use his upcoming meeting with President Xi to demand that China release every unlawfully detained American. The reprehensible use of our citizens as diplomatic bargaining chips is not new for the Xi government, and Congress must continue to press for the release of every American that China is unlawfully detaining.”

“The Chinese Communist Party has unjustly detained Americans for years, holding them as hostages to bully and coerce our government. The wrongful detentions of Youlin Chen and Min Zin are especially egregious as they were lured to China under the false pretense of academic research. American professors and researchers must realize the CCP is not interested in an open exchange of ideas. They should reconsider any collaborations with China as well as any travel to the country,” said Chairman John Moolenaar of the Select Committee on China.

“No American should ever be used as a political bargaining chip. The Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing pattern of arbitrarily detaining U.S. citizens, including scholars like Min Zin and Dr. Chen, is an egregious abuse of human rights and direct security threat,” said Congresswoman Kim. “As Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee, I’m proud to join this bipartisan, bicameral resolution to send an unmistakable message: Congress stands united against CCP repression, and we will not rest until every wrongfully detained American is brought safely home.”

The PRC has a long history of detaining U.S. citizens under dubious circumstances. Most recently, on November 5, 2024, the Government of the PRC arrested Dr. Youlin Chen, a United States citizen, who has conducted transparent and open-source seismological research in cooperation with academics in the PRC. Despite high level engagement between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, the Government of the PRC has held him on baseless espionage charges for more than 600 days without a trial or access to his family. In addition, Dr. Chen was deprived of access to his lawyer for the first 434 days of his ongoing detention. In July, Senator Markey released a statement on the wrongful detention of Dr. Chen.

On June 3, 2026, authorities of the PRC detained another United States citizen, Min Zin (executive director of a Myanmar-focused policy think tank), at the Kunming Changshui International Airport after he was invited to attend an academic event at a university in Yunnan province in the PRC. Min Zin remains in detention without access to legal counsel.

###",1,2026-09-18T09:27:43Z,2026-09-18T09:29:09Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-introduces-joint-resolution-of-disapproval-on-us-weapons-sales-to-saudi-arabia,Senator Markey Introduces Joint Resolution of Disapproval on U.S. Weapons Sales to Saudi Arabia,2026-09-17,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Resolution Text (PDF)

Washington (September 17, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), co-chairs of the bicameral Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, along with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), this week introduced a joint resolution of disapproval (JRD) for the Trump administration’s proposed sale of conventional weapons to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The weapons include thousands of joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs) and five thousand 2,000-pound bombs.

Separately, the Trump administration recently submitted an agreement on U.S.-Saudi nuclear cooperation to Congress—as is required by law—but has classified two important side letters, which is unprecedented. Because the side letters affect the obligations and operation of the underlying agreement, Congress and the public cannot fully assess what the United States and Saudi Arabia have agreed to without seeing them.

On September 16, Senators Markey and Merkley led a bipartisan group of senators to press the Trump administration to declassify and publicly release the two side letters accompanying the proposed U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation agreement, referred to as a “123 agreement.”

“The United States must not send thousands of conventional weapons to Saudi Arabia or allow it to develop a nuclear program. I am deeply concerned by the Kingdom’s human rights abuses, the security of the region as the war in Iran rages on, and the proxy war that is escalating between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Further escalation in the Saudi-Iran proxy war will worsen an already dire humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen and risks setting off a nuclear arms race between Iran and Saudi Arabia,” said Senator Markey.

As a founder of the national Nuclear Freeze movement, Senator Markey has long been the Congressional leader on ending the proliferation of nuclear weapons. On July 31, Senators Markey and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) along with Representatives John Garamendi (CA-08) and Don Beyer (VA-08), co-chairs of the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, published an opinion piece slamming Trump’s Saudi nuclear deal, citing then-Senator Marco Rubio’s understanding that handing nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia would be disastrous. On March 25, Senators Markey and Merkley reintroduced the No Nuclear Weapons for Saudi Arabia Act, legislation that would mandate that any nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia can go into effect only if it receives the affirmative vote of Congress. On March 18, Senator Markey led his colleagues in writing to Secretary Rubio demanding the Trump administration must meet the “gold standard” of nuclear non-proliferation protections by denying Saudi Arabia the means to produce weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, materials that could be used in a nuclear bomb. In November 2025, Senator Markey and Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging the Trump administration to include the strongest possible “gold standard” nonproliferation measures in any nuclear cooperation agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to foreclose any pathway to a nuclear weapon. As far back as 2017, Senator Markey pressed the first Trump administration on the status of all current and ongoing discussions between the United States and other countries, including Saudi Arabia, on 123 agreements after it was reported that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was peddling a plan to build nuclear reactors throughout the Middle East.

###",1,2026-09-18T09:27:43Z,2026-09-18T09:29:09Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-merkley-bipartisan-group-of-senators-trump-administration-must-release-all-documents-from-us-saudi-nuclear-deal,"Markey, Merkley, Bipartisan Group of Senators: Trump Administration Must Release All Documents from U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal",2026-09-16,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (September 16, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), co-chairs of the bicameral Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, today led a bipartisan group of Senators to press the Trump administration to declassify and publicly release the two side letters accompanying the proposed U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation agreement, referred to as a “123 agreement.”

The Trump administration recently submitted the 123 agreement to Congress—as is required by law—but while the agreement references the side letters, the letters themselves are classified at the lowest possible level, which is unprecedented. Because the side letters affect the obligations and operation of the underlying agreement, Congress and the public cannot fully assess what the United States and Saudi Arabia have agreed to without seeing them.

“Congress has a statutory responsibility under Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act to review the proposed nuclear deal, which seeks to facilitate nuclear cooperation with significant implications for U.S. national security interests. Access to the full text is required for the Senate and the public to have a clear understanding of the commitments being made on the nation’s behalf and those being made by Saudi Arabia to the United States,” wrote the bipartisan group of Senators in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. “The side letters affect the obligations and operations of the underlying agreement and cannot be viewed in isolation from it; the President’s own transmission letter to Congress states that the agreement “…was concluded with two accompanying side letters.” Their public release would also allow civil society, independent experts, and other affected stakeholders to scrutinize the deal.”

They emphasized, “Transparency and open debate are cornerstones of our democracy. Congress and the American public must have a meaningful opportunity to review and debate the key components of the U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal before it potentially enters into force. To that end, we call on you to declassify and release the two side letters without delay.”

Joining Senators Markey and Merkley in signing the letter were Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Rand Paul (R-K.Y.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

As co-chairs of the bicameral Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, Markey and Merkley have raised concerns about the proposed details of the U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal.

###",1,2026-09-17T09:52:05Z,2026-09-17T09:53:00Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sens-markey-and-cruz-applaud-house-passage-of-legislation-to-keep-am-radio-in-new-vehicles,Sens. Markey and Cruz Applaud House Passage of Legislation to Keep AM Radio in New Vehicles,2026-09-16,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (September 16, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Commerce Committee, today celebrated the House of Representatives’ passage of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, bipartisan and bicameral legislation that would require automakers to include AM broadcast radio in their new vehicles at no additional charge. House passage comes after Senators Markey and Cruz secured 60 cosponsors in the Senate earlier this year.

“This vote sends a clear message to car manufacturers that AM Radio is a lifeline that must be protected in new vehicles. From emergency response to sports, entertainment, and news, AM radio is an essential communication tool for tens of millions of Americans. It is now time for the Senate to pass the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act and for this legislation to become law so AM radio remains a trusted and essential resource for commuters and communities across the country.”

In April 2025, Senators Markey and Cruz celebrated securing a filibuster-proof 60 Senate cosponsors for the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. The legislation passed through the Senate Commerce Committee in February 2025.

###",1,2026-09-17T09:52:05Z,2026-09-17T09:53:00Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-statement-on-epas-repeal-of-power-plant-greenhouse-gas-emission-standards-and-proposal-to-abdicate-responsibility-for-addressing-the-danger-of-climate-change-from-the-power-sector,Senator Markey Statement on EPA’s Repeal of Power Plant Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards and Proposal to Abdicate Responsibility for Addressing the Danger of Climate Change from the Power Sector,2026-09-14,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (September 14, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and a co-chair of the Senate Environmental Justice Caucus, today released the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its repeal of the 2024 greenhouse gas emission standards for existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired power plants and announced that it no longer plans to regulate greenhouse gas pollution from power plants, a major driver of climate change.

“By rejecting the EPA’s responsibility to regulate climate change caused by greenhouse gas pollution from power plants, Trump and Zeldin are defying the laws of this country, the laws of physics, and the law of common sense. Their Polluters First Agenda passes the very real costs of a more dangerous environment and a more extreme climate onto working families. This is a slap in the face to anyone who has lost their home to wildfires or was washed out by an extreme storm. It is a slap in the face to parents who want their kids to breathe clean air, not suffer from asthma or heat stroke. And it is a slap in the face to anyone who put trust into the Environmental Protection Agency to uphold its mission to protect human health and the environment, not protect corporate polluter profits. We don’t need dirty power when we have the solutions and can get cheap, clean megawatts on the grid, and we don’t need dirty politicians overruling the scientific necessity of action.”

This move follows the Trump EPA’s elimination of the Endangerment Finding, the determination that affirms the scientific risks of climate change and requires federal action to protect Americans from harm. The Trump EPA has also eliminated greenhouse gas emission standards for cars and trucks and slashed protections against mercury, soot, and other dangerous emissions from the power sector. In addition to specific rollbacks of statutorily-required protections, the EPA has also stopped accounting for the public health benefits of regulatory action—valuing human health at zero, compared to compliance costs for profitable polluting industries.

In April 2024, the Biden administration finalized standards to reduce pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants, which are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector in the United States. If it were a country, the American power sector would be the fifth-largest emitter of climate pollution in the world.

###",1,2026-09-15T09:50:21Z,2026-09-15T09:52:05Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-statement-ahead-of-25th-anniversary-of-9/11-terror-attacks,Senator Markey Statement Ahead of 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Terror Attacks,2026-09-10,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Senator’s FASTER Act would ensure airline security fees bolster aviation safety

Markey is author of mandate in law passed after 9/11 that requires screening of all cargo on passenger plans before being loaded onboard

Washington (September 10, 2026) - Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, released the following statement honoring the victims and calling for passage of his Funding for Aviation Screeners and Threat Elimination Restoration (FASTER) Act to bolster funding for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and its workforce, ensuring that the agency has the necessary funds and resources to secure America’s air travelers and pay its dedicated Transportation Security Officers (TSO), and invest in twenty-first century security technology.

In 2013, Congress began diverting one-third of the revenue collected from an airline passenger security fee—known as the September 11 Security Fee, as it was established after the September 11 terrorist attacks—to pay for unrelated government spending; each year, this diverted funding totals over $1 billion. The FASTER Act would eliminate this diversion, ensure passenger security fees go solely toward aviation security, and prevent Congress from raiding the funds in the future. The legislation would also give TSA access to September 11 Security Fee revenue during a lapse in appropriations.

“Everyone in this country felt unspeakable loss that tragic day 25 years ago, with a direct and profound impact on victims’ families in Massachusetts. The planes took off from Logan Airport in Boston with hundreds of passengers and crewmembers, and our communities were forever changed. We honor the memory of the nearly 3,000 people we lost on 9/11, remember the strength and resilience of the American people after the attacks, and recommit to ensuring that the scale and horror of such a tragedy never occurs again,” said Senator Markey. “The TSA must be able to rely on regular funding just as traveling Americans rely on the TSA to keep them safe. We must pass the FASTER Act to ensure funds from the September 11 Security Fee are delivered to TSA without delay. We have made great progress towards a safer America, but there is more work to be done.”

The FASTER Act is endorsed by American Federation of Government Employees AFL-CIO Council 100, the Air Line Pilots Association, Airports Council International-North America, American Association of Airport Executives, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, U.S. Travel, and the Global Business Travel Association.

Senator Markey is a former senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee and author of a mandate in the law passed after 9/11 that requires screening of all cargo on passenger plans before being loaded onboard.

###",1,2026-09-11T09:25:29Z,2026-09-11T09:27:08Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-statement-on-temporary-protected-status-designation-for-el-salvador,Senator Markey Statement on Temporary Protected Status Designation for El Salvador,2026-09-09,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Massachusetts is home to more than 7,000 Salvadoran TPS holders

Washington (September 9, 2026) — Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement today after the Trump administration temporarily kept in place Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for El Salvador despite planning to end protections today. El Salvador continues to face severe environmental and humanitarian challenges, including an ongoing drought and recurring extreme weather and flooding, as well as other political conditions that make terminating protections cruel and potentially life threatening. The vast majority of Salvadoran TPS holders have children born in the United States.

“The Trump administration may have given El Salvador TPS holders a temporary reprieve but given its repeated attacks on TPS holders from other countries — who have legally lived, worked, and built their lives here for decades — agonizing uncertainty remains for Salvadorans. Congress must pass the SECURE Act to provide a permanent pathway to citizenship for TPS holders. We bear a fierce responsibility to protect children, keep families safely together, and defeat Trump’s relentless assault on our neighbors and loved ones.”

Senator Markey is a co-sponsor of the Safe Environment from Countries Under Repression and Emergency (SECURE) Act, which would provide qualified TPS and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients a path to legal permanent residency.

###",1,2026-09-10T09:25:58Z,2026-09-10T09:27:09Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-joins-padilla-schumer-all-senate-democrats-to-urge-supreme-court-to-block-postal-service-rule-limiting-mail-in-voting,"Markey Joins Padilla, Schumer, All Senate Democrats to Urge Supreme Court to Block Postal Service Rule Limiting Mail-In Voting",2026-09-08,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"261 Members and former Members file bicameral, bipartisan brief as court order barring Postal Service rule limiting mail voting is being challenged by Trump’s DOJ

Washington (September 8, 2026) — Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today joined Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-Mich.), along with Representative Joe Morelle (NY-25), Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration, and Co-Chairs of the House Democrats’ Litigation Task Force Oversight Ranking Member Robert Garcia (CA-42), Assistant Leader Joe Neguse (CO-02), and Judiciary Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (MD-08), in leading a bicameral amicus brief challenging the legality of President Trump’s Executive Order and U.S. Postal Service rule seeking to exert control over mail-in ballots ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The amicus brief was also joined by the entire Senate Democratic Caucus.

The group, made up of a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of 261 lawmakers and former lawmakers, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the matter of State of California, et al. v. United States Postal Service, et al., a lawsuit brought by a coalition of State Attorneys General against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The court case challenges a final rule issued by the USPS pursuant to Trump’s directive that imposes unconstitutional and unworkable restrictions on mail-in voting, including requiring states to provide a “citizenship verification list” and attempting to give USPS control over who can vote by mail.

Nearly one-third of Americans have voted by mail in recent elections — a voting practice Trump himself used as recently as August 2026, when he voted in Florida’s Republican primary.

In the court filing, the amici curiae argue that Trump’s Executive Order 4399 and USPS’s final rule violate the separation of powers and usurp congressional authorities outlined in Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which gives the States and Congress exclusive authority over election administration.

“As current and former legislators, amici took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States — including its guarantee of the separation of powers,” wrote the lawmakers. “Amici have a particular interest in defending the institutional role of the Legislative Branch under Article I of the Constitution and in vindicating the long-settled principle that the Constitution commits ultimate regulatory authority over federal elections to Congress. The Constitution does not contemplate the Executive Branch acting unilaterally to assert power over federal elections. Yet that is what the Order and Final Rule do.”

The amici also pointed to a recent federal court ruling blocking the USPS from implementing its newly finalized mail ballot rule for the midterm elections, saying the agency lacked the authority to implement the rule and that its actions are “substantively unconstitutional and contrary to law.”

“The district court correctly concluded that Appellees are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims that USPS lacked authority to issue the Final Rule, that the Final Rule unconstitutionally imposes mail-ballot requirements on the States, and that the Final Rule unconstitutionally bars non-compliant State and local election officials from using the USPS to mail ballots at all,” wrote the lawmakers.

The lawmakers concluded by asserting States’ power to administer elections and Congress’s power to make or alter rules regulating elections, which the Supreme Court itself has described as an “override” authority. Trump’s illegal incursion on this authority is an attempt to disenfranchise people who depend on mail-in ballots to vote.

“The integrity of our constitutional system depends on each branch keeping to its assigned role,” concluded the lawmakers. “The Framers set up a two-part system that gave the States default authority to regulate federal elections subject to Congress’s authority to override the States. The Framers did not provide the President with any authority to interfere in that system, nor has Congress subsequently imbued the President or the Executive Branch with any such authority by statute.”

The full brief is available here.

###",1,2026-09-09T09:27:09Z,2026-09-09T09:29:04Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-blumenthal-representatives-schakowsky-mullin-press-consumer-product-safety-commission-to-halt-sweeping-and-invasive-data-collection-on-emergency-department-patients,"Senators Markey, Blumenthal, Representatives Schakowsky, Mullin Press Consumer Product Safety Commission to Halt Sweeping and Invasive Data Collection on Emergency Department Patients",2026-09-03,2026,2026-09,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Boston (September 3, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Primary Health and Retirement Security Subcommittee of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, along with Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Representatives Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) and Kevin Mullin (CA-15), today wrote to Peter Feldman, Acting Chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), calling on the Commission to immediately suspend efforts to pressure some of the nation’s largest hospital systems to hand over the detailed, personally identifiable medical records of every patient who visits their emergency departments.

Recent reporting has revealed that the Commission is directing hospitals to transmit sensitive records—including patient names, birthdates, addresses, and diagnoses—to its private contractor as part of changes to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). For decades, hospitals across the country have voluntarily participated in NEISS to report injuries involving consumer products, such as kitchen appliances and toys, to help identify products with a pattern of injuring consumers. But now, the Commission is amassing an unprecedented trove of identifiable health data of emergency department patients, regardless of whether an injury involved a consumer product. This sweeping data collection initiative is particularly alarming considering the Trump administration’s broader pattern of amassing Americans’ sensitive data and repurposing it to advance political priorities. In the letter, the lawmakers raised concerns regarding the necessity and legality of this initiative, the adequacy of its privacy protections, and the purposes to which this trove of sensitive data may ultimately be put.

Cosigners of the letter include Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Representatives Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), and Kelly Morrison (MN-03).

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “The Commission is advancing this effort amid a broader pattern of the Trump administration seeking unprecedented access to Americans’ private data. From the Office of Personnel Management’s demand for federal workers’ health information to the Department of Health and Human Services sharing Medicaid enrollee data with the Department of Homeland Security, this administration has repeatedly sought to collect sensitive data from everyday Americans without a semblance of transparency.”

The lawmakers continued, “Against that backdrop, creating a federal repository of identifiable medical records—with no evidence of any limits on how that data may be used, shared, or repurposed—is deeply alarming. Such data collection could easily discourage people in need from seeking care at an emergency department or from being transparent with their medical providers out of fear of federal surveillance or inappropriate use of their information. Even if the Commission uses these records solely to advance consumer protection, creating a federal database of identifiable medical records gives an administration that has repeatedly sought access Americans’ sensitive data another powerful tool for surveillance and misuse.”

###",1,2026-09-04T09:19:37Z,2026-09-04T09:20:58Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/following-meta-settlement-markey-calls-on-congress-to-pass-his-coppa-20-legislation-and-the-youth-ai-privacy-act-to-hold-big-tech-accountable-for-childrens-privacy,"Following Meta Settlement, Markey Calls on Congress to Pass His COPPA 2.0 Legislation and the Youth AI Privacy Act to Hold Big Tech Accountable for Children’s Privacy",2026-08-27,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Meta settlement comes in part due to violations of Markey’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

Boston (August 27, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today called on Congress to pass his Children and Teens’ Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) legislation which would update data privacy regulations for the 21st century to ensure children and teenagers are protected online, as well as his Youth AI Privacy Act, which would require AI companies to build privacy safeguards for minors into their AI chatbots in the wake of the Meta settlement with State Attorneys General to pay $18 billion, including up to $516 million to Massachusetts. Meta is now required to implement various child-safety measures on its platforms.

“Big Tech’s day of reckoning is here. This settlement sends a message every boardroom in Silicon Valley should hear: our children are not collateral damage to bolster Big Tech’s bottom line. I am proud that my original law, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, helped hold Meta accountable, but we cannot stop here. In this emerging age of artificial intelligence, Big Tech is finding more ways to exploit our children’s data and manipulate their emotions for profit, making them and an entire generation sicker. Congress must pass my Youth AI Privacy Act to protect kids using AI chatbots and pass COPPA 2.0 to update my original law. We cannot rely on courts alone to secure strong protections for our kids’ privacy and safety — Congress must act.”

In August, Senator Markey celebrated the passage of his Youth AI Privacy Act unanimously through the Senate Commerce Committee.

Senator Markey’s COPPA 2.0 passed through the Senate unanimously in March 2026. Senator Markey is the original House author of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), passed in 1998.

Also in March, Senator Markey released a statement after Meta and Google were found liable in a social media addiction lawsuit.

###",1,2026-08-28T17:11:49Z,2026-08-28T17:13:14Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-blunt-rochester-warren-coons-call-on-senate-leaders-to-schedule-vote-extending-haiti-tps-protections,"Markey, Blunt Rochester, Warren, Coons Call on Senate Leaders to Schedule Vote Extending Haiti TPS Protections",2026-08-27,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (August 27, 2026) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Chris Coons (D-Del.) today wrote to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urging them to schedule a vote on H.R. 1689, a bill to designate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allows nationals from designated countries facing life-threatening conditions to temporarily live and work legally in the United States. The Senators and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) have been fighting to preserve TPS protections for more than 300,000 Haitian nationals. The House legislation passed the House of Representatives in April but was blocked by Republicans in the Senate when Senators Markey and Blunt Rochester forced a vote on the bill last month.

In Haiti, political instability, widespread violence, and a serious humanitarian emergency have cut off access to hospitals, schools, and basic services. Violent armed groups now exert control over much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, restricting movement and forcing more than five million people into food insecurity. Concurrently, disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods have devastated communities already struggling to survive. Together, these forces have shattered peace and stability for millions.

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “TPS holders are our friends, our neighbors, and our colleagues. In cities and towns across Massachusetts and Delaware, Haitian TPS holders have lived, worked, and been valuable members of our communities for years. They deserve the stability of preserving their status, the dignity to live without fear, and the security of not being returned to danger. We strongly urge you to lead on this issue by bringing H.R. 1689 to the floor without delay when the Senate reconvenes.”

Senator Markey has worked consistently to protect TPS for Haiti and support the Haitian community in Massachusetts amid the Trump administration’s attacks on TPS and Haitians.

On August 6, Senator Markey released a statement blasting a lower court’s confirmation of the end of Haiti TPS.

On June 25, after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for Haiti and Syria in the consolidated case, Mullin v. Doe, Senator Markey, alongside Representatives Pressley, Katherine Clark (MA-05), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) held a press conference outside the Court denouncing the decision.

In April 2026, Senator Markey, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, and Congresswoman Pressley led 26 Senators and 157 Representatives in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Miot v. Trump, a consolidated case challenging the Trump administration’s unlawful termination of Haiti and Syria TPS.

In September 2025, Senator Markey led an amicus brief in Miot v. Trump, the companion case to Mullin v. Doe, when the case was before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In February 2026, Senator Markey applauded the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s decision to pause the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for Haiti, which was set to expire on February 3.

In March, Senator Markey welcomed the D.C. Circuit’s ruling blocking the Trump administration from immediately terminating TPS for Haiti.

In January, Senator Markey and Rep. Pressley held a field hearing at Jubilee Christian Church in Mattapan to highlight the importance of extending TPS for Haiti. The lawmakers heard from panels of individuals, advocates, and community leaders impacted by the Trump administration’s decision to end Haiti TPS.

###",1,2026-08-28T17:11:49Z,2026-08-28T17:13:14Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-statement-on-new-reporting-that-rfk-jr-lied-to-senator-markey-in-senate-confirmation-hearing,Markey Statement on New Reporting That RFK Jr. Lied to Senator Markey in Senate Confirmation Hearing,2026-08-27,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Senator Markey directly questioned RFK Jr. under oath about ties to measles outbreak in Samoa

Boston (August 27, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, released the following statement after new reporting uncovered documents revealing that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. traveled to Samoa in 2019 to promote disinformation about the measles vaccine. Shortly after his trip, Samoa experienced a deadly outbreak of measles that killed over 80 people and has been attributed to mass vaccine disinformation. Senator Markey questioned the then-nominee at his January 30, 2025, confirmation hearing. RFK Jr. lied to Senator Markey and Congress during his confirmation process, saying his trip to Samoa had “nothing to do with vaccines.”

“New documents confirm what we already knew: RFK Jr. lied to Congress. He told us his Samoa trip had nothing to do with vaccines—now this letter shows that was false, just like it was false when he denied his role in the deadly outbreak that followed. This is a pattern, not a slip. RFK Jr. has lied to the Senate, lied to the American people, and jeopardized the health of children to advance his anti-vaccine agenda. He should never have been confirmed, and he cannot be trusted to run HHS for even one more day,” said Senator Markey.

Senator Markey has been a fierce opponent of the Trump administration’s Make America Sick Agenda.

In March, Senator Markey and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director under President Joe Biden, published an op-ed in Newsweek titled, “America Is Getting Sicker, Not Healthier, Under Trump and RFK Jr.” Senator Markey and Dr. Walensky detail the damage that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has done to Massachusetts’ and the country’s health infrastructure as he has sown seeds of distrust in medicine and science, particularly vaccines, and taken a sledgehammer to life-saving research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other health and research institutions.

In February, Senator Markey released a statement following the release of documents indicating that Kennedy traveled to Samoa in 2019 to promote unscientific claims about vaccine safety. Kennedy’s visit preceded a measles outbreak in Samoa that killed 83 people, mostly young children.

In September 2025, Senator Markey called for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign in response to RFK Jr.’s irresponsible anti-vaccine rhetoric and dangerous public health policies.

Senator Markey also released a tracker featuring a comprehensive list of Kennedy's dangerous actions since he was confirmed as HHS Secretary in February 2025.

Senator Markey opposed Kennedy’s nomination to be HHS Secretary.

###",1,2026-08-28T17:11:49Z,2026-08-28T17:13:14Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-walkinshaw-amo-kelly-lead-134-colleagues-in-demanding-release-of-more-than-3-billion-in-lifesaving-global-health-funding,"Markey, Walkinshaw, Amo, Kelly, Lead 134 Colleagues in Demanding Release of More Than $3 Billion in Lifesaving Global Health Funding",2026-08-27,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (August 27, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), along with Congressman James R. Walkinshaw (VA-11), a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Military and Foreign Affairs, Congressman Gabe Amo (RI-01), and Congresswoman Robin Kelly (IL-02) led 134 of their colleagues in calling on Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to immediately release $7.5 billion in international affairs funding, to include more than $3 billion in congressionally appropriated global health funding before it expires on September 30, 2026.

In a bicameral letter to Rubio and Vought, the lawmakers warned that approximately $7.5 billion in international affairs funding remains unobligated and at risk of expiring, including more than $3 billion intended for lifesaving global health programs.

The Global Health Programs account supports efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health, malnutrition, and emerging health threats. According to the letter, OMB has notified Congress that approximately $1.35 billion is being withheld for costs associated with closing the U.S. Agency for International Development instead of being used for the critical global health programs Congress funded.

The lawmakers warned that allowing the funding to expire could contribute to an estimated 121,000 deaths from tuberculosis, 47,600 deaths from malaria, and the loss of lifesaving nutrition products for 22.9 million children.

“This hardship can be prevented if the Administration spends these funds as Congress directed,” the lawmakers wrote. “We call on you to immediately release the remaining lifesaving, bipartisan GHP funding before it expires on September 30, 2026.”

The letter also raises concerns about proposed changes to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which has saved more than 26 million lives. The lawmakers warned that reducing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s role in the program could disrupt HIV treatment, weaken global disease surveillance, and limit America’s ability to stop outbreaks abroad before they threaten communities at home.

“The Department and OMB’s refusal to spend GHP funding as directed by Congress and the concerning PEPFAR implementation changes defy the law and threaten lives, internationally and in the U.S.,” the lawmakers wrote.

Markey, Walkinshaw, Amo, Kelly, and their colleagues demanded answers by September 9 regarding the Administration’s plans to release the funding, the costs of terminating USAID programs, and the public-health consequences of reducing the CDC’s role in PEPFAR.

The full text of the letter, including the complete list of 138 signers, is available here.

###",1,2026-09-09T09:27:09Z,2026-09-09T09:29:04Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-urges-congress-to-reject-trump-saudi-nuclear-deal,Senator Markey Urges Congress to Reject Trump-Saudi Nuclear Deal,2026-08-26,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Markey: “This dangerous deal is the starting gun for a Middle East nuclear arms race”

Boston (August 26, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), co-chair of the bicameral Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, today released the following statement after the Trump administration sent to Congress a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia that would open the door to providing the Kingdom with the means to produce nuclear weapons materials but would not require the most stringent safeguards against the development of those weapons. Congress holds the power to block this dangerous deal.

“As a U.S. Senator, Marco Rubio once understood that handing Saudi Arabia the technology to produce nuclear weapons was a terrible idea. But now, as Secretary of State, Rubio is doing exactly that, and he and Trump are pursuing the most reckless nuclear deal in U.S. history. This giveaway to Saudi Arabia is the starting gun for a Middle East nuclear arms race. Congress must reject it.

“If the Trump administration wants to stop a Saudi bomb, it should require the nonproliferation Gold Standard, which would ban enrichment and reprocessing and require International Atomic Energy Agency additional protocol safeguards in Saudi Arabia. If Riyadh did not want a bomb, it would accept the Gold Standard. But the opposite is happening.

“Why? Maybe we should ask Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman, who has said repeatedly that he wants a nuclear bomb. Or maybe we should ask Jared Kushner, who accepted a $2 billion investment from a Saudi sovereign wealth fund after leaving the White House at the end of the first Trump administration. This is not diplomacy; this is corruption at the expense of U.S. national security. Congress must stop this dangerous agreement before it triggers a new nuclear arms race in the Middle East.”

As a founder of the national Nuclear Freeze movement, Senator Markey has long been the Congressional leader on ending the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

On July 31, Senators Markey and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) along with Representatives John Garamendi (CA-08) and Don Beyer (VA-08), co-chairs of the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, published an opinion piece in MS NOW slamming Trump’s Saudi nuclear deal, citing then-Senator Marco Rubio’s understanding that handing nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia would be disastrous.

On July 26, Senator Markey decried the Trump-Saudi nuclear deal as “irresponsible and dangerous.”

On March 25, Senators Markey and Merkley reintroduced the No Nuclear Weapons for Saudi Arabia Act, legislation that would mandate that any nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia can go into effect only if it receives the affirmative vote of Congress.

On March 18, Senator Markey led his colleagues in writing to Secretary Rubio demanding the Trump administration must meet the “gold standard” of nuclear non-proliferation protections by denying Saudi Arabia the means to produce weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, materials that could be used in a nuclear bomb.

In January, Senator Markey wrote to President Trump urging the strongest possible non-proliferation measures in any revised nuclear cooperation agreement with South Korea.

In November 2025, Senator Markey and Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging the Trump administration to include the strongest possible “gold standard” nonproliferation measures in any nuclear cooperation agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to foreclose any pathway to a nuclear weapon.

In July 2025, Senator Markey introduced the Senate companion to H.Res.317, urging the United States to lead the world in halting the nuclear arms race.

In November 2024, Senator Markey wrote to the Biden administration seeking answers about any agreement that would normalize relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Israel in exchange for civil nuclear energy cooperation and a U.S. defense commitment to the Kingdom.

As far back as 2017, Senator Markey pressed the first Trump administration on the status of all current and ongoing discussions between the United States and other countries, including Saudi Arabia, on 123 agreements after it was reported that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was peddling a plan to build nuclear reactors throughout the Middle East.

###",1,2026-08-27T16:10:01Z,2026-08-27T16:10:50Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-bennet-schumer-schrier-88-colleagues-demand-rescission-of-trumps-dangerous-childhood-vaccine-executive-order,"Markey, Bennet, Schumer, Schrier, 88 Colleagues Demand Rescission of Trump’s Dangerous Childhood Vaccine Executive Order",2026-08-18,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (August 18, 2026) — Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, along with Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Representative Kim Schrier (D-Wash.), and 88 colleagues demanded President Donald Trump rescind his executive order that directs federal health agencies to overhaul longstanding childhood vaccine recommendations and encourages states to reconsider school immunization requirements.

Trump’s anti-science executive order creates chaos and confusion just as millions of families across the country are preparing for the school year and are relying on science-based vaccine recommendations to protect their children and communities from preventable diseases.

The lawmakers wrote, “At a moment when the United States is experiencing the highest surge in measles cases in thirty-five years and an increasing number of states forced to declare public health emergencies – your administration is placing more children in harm’s way rather than protecting them. This Executive Order overrides decades of scientific evidence and sows fear, chaos, and confusion. The result will not be safer or healthier children; it will be a continued decline in vaccination rates, recurring disease outbreaks, higher healthcare costs, and school disruptions that cause learning loss. Vaccines are rigorously tested and monitored for safety, and save millions of lives each year – especially the lives of children.”

Since being confirmed, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has unleashed a methodical campaign to substitute decades of science with an anti-vaccine ideology.

Specifically, Trump’s latest directive pushes to break up combination vaccines into single-disease doses, ignoring the medical community’s long-standing, evidence-backed agreement that combination vaccines are safe, effective, and specifically timed to protect children when they need it most. The executive order forces families to schedule multiple doctors’ appointments with multiple co-pays, which adds unnecessary chaos, confusion, and financial strain. Compounding this issue is the deep Medicaid cuts under Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Big Act that have drastically cut access to care and increased cost burdens for low-income families.

Notably, single-disease shots for routine childhood vaccines, like measles, mumps, and rubella, simply do not exist in the U.S. market. Demanding parents and pediatricians switch to non-existent vaccines creates mass confusion, stalls routine care right as children head back to school, and forces drug manufacturers into a years-long regulatory pipeline.

Additionally, this executive order directs the Department of Justice to push back on longstanding state school immunization requirements, ignoring 81 percent of parents who agree that public schools should require essential immunizations like measles and polio vaccines.

The lawmakers continued, “The health and safety of America’s children must not be sacrificed for political theater and ideology. American children and their families deserve robust evidence-based immunization recommendations that are rooted in science. The administration’s politicization of vaccines makes American families less safe, threatens to return the U.S. to an era before routine vaccination prevented millions of infections, and is already resulting in unnecessary suffering and preventable deaths, particularly among children.”

The lawmakers concluded, “Every day this Executive Order remains in effect, more children go without the vaccines that would protect them, additional outbreaks become more likely, and lives are put at risk. We urge you to rescind this Executive Order immediately and restore evidence-based decision-making to federal public health policy.”

Additional co-signers include Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jack Reed (D-Del.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), as well as Representatives Gabe Amo (D-R.I), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), Ami Bera (D-Calif.), Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Troy Carter (D-La.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas), Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Bill Keating (D-Mass.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Mike Levin (D-Calif.), Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), John Mannion (D-N.Y.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), Sarah McBride (D-Del.), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), Kelly Morrison (D-Minn.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Brittney Pettersen (D-Colo.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Emily Randall (D-Wash.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), Dina Titus (D- Nev.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Richie Torres (D-N.Y.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Marc Veasey (D-Texas), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), and Nikema Williams (D-Ga.).

###",1,2026-08-19T05:29:02Z,2026-08-19T05:30:24Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-ranking-member-wyden-colleagues-demand-hhs-dhs-stop-sharing-medicaid-data-with-ice,"Senator Markey, Ranking Member Wyden, Colleagues Demand HHS, DHS Stop Sharing Medicaid Data with ICE",2026-08-18,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter to HHS, CMS (PDF) | Letter to DHS (PDF)

Washington (August 18, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, and Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, along with Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), wrote to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Dr. Mehmet Oz, and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, demanding that HHS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immediately stop unlawfully transferring Medicaid data to DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and that DHS immediately stop unlawfully receiving Medicaid data transfers from HHS.

In July 2025, CMS and ICE entered into an agreement to give immigration enforcement officials access to the personal data of millions of Medicaid enrollees, including immigration status and addresses. In December 2025, a federal court set guardrails on the types of information CMS could share with ICE. HHS has now acknowledged that it transferred protected Medicaid information—including data on U.S. citizens—to immigration enforcement authorities three times in violation the court order. These data transfers form part of a larger pattern of information-sharing to advance the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant agenda, at the expense of Americans’ privacy and the statutory protections Congress built into these programs.

In the letters, the lawmakers wrote, “Congress has a responsibility to ensure that the personal health information of the tens of millions of people who rely on Medicaid is protected and that the Trump administration complies with federal court orders. Medicaid enrollees have a right to expect that their private information will be safeguarded and not employed for mass deportation campaigns. Each person whose information was inappropriately disclosed is entitled to know what happened to it, and Congress is entitled to know how a federal agency came to violate the same court order three times in six months.”

In the letter to HHS and CMS, the lawmakers concluded, “HHS must suspend all Medicaid data transfers to ICE and DHS pending a comprehensive review of HHS’s controls and the court’s continuing oversight.”

In the letter to DHS, the lawmakers concluded, “DHS must stop receiving all Medicaid data transfers from HHS and CMS pending a comprehensive review of the agencies’ data controls and the court’s continuing oversight.”

The lawmakers requested answers to questions by Friday, September 4, 2026, including:

How many Medicaid records of U.S. citizens or nationals have HHS or CMS provided to ICE or DHS since January 2025?

Can HHS or CMS identify every transfer of Medicaid data it has made to ICE or DHS since June 2025?

Which HHS or CMS officials are responsible for overseeing the transfer of Medicaid data to other agencies?

Is it the position of DHS and ICE that a refugee lawfully admitted to the United States is “not lawfully residing” here, and that their Medicaid data may therefore be transferred to ICE? Who at DHS or ICE approved that interpretation, and when did they approve it?

###",1,2026-08-19T05:29:02Z,2026-08-19T05:30:24Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/icymi-markey-mcgovern-join-local-leaders-in-worcester-to-celebrate-8-million-in-federal-funding-for-public-roadway-at-greentech-park,"ICYMI: Markey, McGovern Join Local Leaders in Worcester to Celebrate $8 Million in Federal Funding for Public Roadway at GreenTech Park",2026-08-14,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Senator Markey, Rep. McGovern, and local elected leaders gather at GreenTech Park for groundbreaking

Boston (August 14, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) yesterday joined Congressman Jim McGovern (MA-02) and the Worcester Business Development Corporation (WBDC) to break ground on the future public roadway at GreenTech Park in Worcester. Senator Markey, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Congressman McGovern helped secure nearly $8 million in federal funding for the project to improve the infrastructure at GreenTech Park. Senator Markey and Congressman McGovern were joined by Worcester Mayor Joe Petty; Craig Blais, President of WBDC; State Senators Robyn Kennedy and Michael Moore; State Representatives Jim O’Day and John Mahoney; City Manager Eric Batista; and City Councilor Tony Economou.

“One million square feet of new economic development for a new generation,” said Senator Markey. “That’s a million square feet of opportunity. It means jobs, new homes, new businesses, and new horizons for the residents of Greater Worcester. Together, we are going to make sure that America keeps its promise to Worcester and cities like it—the communities that built this nation and that make it great.”

“GreenTech Park is what smart economic development looks like. We’re taking land that sat vacant and underused for years and turning it into something that works for people—good jobs, new businesses, stronger neighborhoods, and new opportunities right here in Worcester,” said Congressman McGovern. “As our city grows, we ought to make sure that growth actually benefits the people who live here. I’m incredibly proud to have fought alongside Senators Markey and Warren to bring home the federal dollars that helped get this moving, and I’m really excited to see what comes next.”

Senator Markey has helped secure federal investments in Worcester and across Massachusetts as part of the CDS process, which enables senators as part of the annual federal budget to secure direct investments in community-based projects that serve our cities and towns. Click HERE to view an interactive map of those investments.

###",1,2026-08-15T05:23:20Z,2026-08-15T05:24:50Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-colleagues-demand-education-department-withdraw-proposed-rule-gutting-equity-assistance-centers,"Senator Markey, Colleagues Demand Education Department Withdraw Proposed Rule Gutting Equity Assistance Centers",2026-08-11,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Boston (August 11, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Primary Health and Retirement Security Subcommittee of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today wrote to Linda McMahon, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, condemning the agency’s efforts to gut the Equity Assistance Centers (EACs), which provide free technical assistance to school districts, states, and communities to prepare, adopt, and implement plans to desegregate public schools in compliance with federal civil rights law.

The Department of Education’s decision to dismantle the EACs with its proposed rule, “Rescinding the Equity Assistance Center Program Regulations,” upends a longstanding congressionally funded program and joins similar actions from the Administration in destroying civil rights enforcement infrastructure. As a result, schools, students, and parents will be left without these resources at a time of persistent segregation and growing inequality.

Cosigners of the letter include Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “As with other efforts to erode federal civil rights oversight and enforcement, ED’s proposed rule is ‘like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.’ While the rule claims to offer ‘flexibility’ in desegregation compliance efforts, the Administration’s actions reveal that its goal is to throw away the umbrella, not find a raincoat instead. We urge the Department to withdraw this proposed rule, ensure that the federal government upholds the civil rights of all students, and work to ensure all students can attend schools that are not segregated.”

Senator Markey has long been a leading champion for public education and supporting students. Most recently:

On July 30, 2026, Senator Markey re-introduced his Green New Deal for Public Schools Act which would infuse $1.6 trillion into public schools to upgrade infrastructure, invest $250 billion in hiring thousands of new teachers and education support staff, fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and quadruple funding for schools serving predominantly low-income students, creating 1.3 million American jobs.

On June 23, 2026, Senator Markey introduced his Providing Understanding of Paraprofessionals in Learning (PUPIL) Act, which would commission a study on paraprofessionals to provide educators, lawmakers, and advocates with the data necessary to understand these critical workers and the ways they support student outcomes.

On June 11, 2026, Senator Markey introduced his Child Safety and Well-Being Act to advocate for and protect children in federal policymaking. The legislation would establish an independent commission to promote the interests of children and marginalized youth and ensure that their interests are protected and advanced in federal policy.

On July 24, 2025, Senator Markey introduced the Pay Paraprofessionals and Education Support Staff Act, legislation that would create $25 billion in annual federal funding for schools that set a minimum wage for school staff of $45,000 per year, or $30 per hour.

On February 27, 2025, Senator Markey introduced the No Cuts to Public Schools Act, which would prevent any cuts to federal education formula funding during the Trump administration.

###",1,2026-08-12T06:18:38Z,2026-08-12T06:20:33Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-statement-on-the-release-of-robert-gilman,Senator Markey Statement on the Release of Robert Gilman,2026-08-11,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (August 11, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement on the release of Massachusetts resident and former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman.

“Over the past two years, my office has been working closely with the family of Robert Gilman – a Massachusetts resident and former Marine who has been wrongfully detained in Russia on questionable charges for 1,666 days. I am pleased to report that Robert has finally been released by the Russian government and is on his way home to the United States.”

“Approximately 50 days ago, Robert was diagnosed with a dissociative stupor – a condition where he is non-responsive and unable to interact or eat. He was essentially catatonic and also suffered a severe case of pneumonia. We don’t yet know the full details of his current condition or the long-term impact on his recovery. I’m grateful that Robert is now on his way back to the United States to receive the life-saving care that he desperately needs.”

“While this news is deeply welcomed, it is long overdue. It is a tragedy that it took Robert’s near-death condition for his case to receive the attention that it required for his release to be negotiated. Throughout his detention, Robert was subjected to physical torture, forced medication, and provocations by Russian authorities. There is no doubt that his treatment by Russian authorities is the reason Robert is in this precarious state today.”

“I offer my deepest appreciation to Robert’s family and the team at Global Reach for their relentless advocacy on his behalf. His release today is a true testament to the enduring love of family.”

“We must also never forget that there are still more than five other Americans detained in Russia. I urge the Trump administration to use Robert’s case as motivation to continue to advocate for the release of others wrongfully detained in Russia and around the world.”

“I pray that Robert is able to recover from this nightmare and wish him and his family peace in the difficult days ahead.”

###",1,2026-08-12T06:18:38Z,2026-08-12T06:20:33Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-urges-ferc-reject-nextera-dominion-energy-merger-over-antitrust-affordability-concerns,"Senator Markey Urges FERC Reject NextEra, Dominion Energy Merger Over Antitrust, Affordability Concerns",2026-08-10,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (August 10, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, today wrote to Laura Swett, Chairman of the Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC), urging the commission to reject NextEra Energy’s proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy. The acquisition would form the world’s largest regulated energy utility, creating serious antitrust concerns and threatening unreasonable rate increases for consumers who are already struggling with skyrocketing bills.

FERC has a statutory duty to put public interest over corporate profits when evaluating mergers and acquisitions under Section 203 of the Federal Power Act. Consolidation can create massive energy companies that become too powerful to effectively regulate and often results in drastic cost-saving and revenue-generating measures like rate increases, delayed maintenance, and reduced reliability. NextEra’s proposed acquisition of Dominion is particularly concerning and demands heightened FERC scrutiny because of its unprecedented scale and NextEra’s history of profiteering, anti-competitive activities, lobbying, and political donations.

In the letter, Senator Markey wrote, “Corporate consolidation is sweeping the energy sector, concentrating unprecedented market power in a shrinking number of companies and threatening to drive already-high electricity costs even higher. NextEra Energy’s proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy may be the most consequential example yet.”

Senator Markey continued, “FERC has a statutory obligation to ensure that consolidation in the energy sector serves the public interest, not corporate profits. It is impossible to see how this consolidation will not put the public interest at risk. As energy costs rise and market power becomes increasingly concentrated, FERC must use its authority to protect consumers from transactions that threaten competition, affordability, and reliability. It should do so here and deny the application.”

Senator Markey requested responses to the following questions by September 2, 2026:

How does FERC evaluate whether increasing consolidation in the energy sector, including the cumulative effects of successive mergers and acquisitions, is consistent with the public interest under Section 203 of the Federal Power Act?

How does FERC assess whether a proposed merger or acquisition could increase an energy company’s market power or ability to raise rates or otherwise increase costs for consumers?

To what extent does FERC consider an acquiring company’s prior conduct — including past rate increases, market manipulation or anti-competitive conduct, and violations of federal or state law — in determining whether a proposed transaction is consistent with the public interest?

What steps does FERC take to assess the cumulative impact on competition and consumers when a company undertakes multiple acquisitions within a relatively short period?

Since January 1, 2020, how many applications subject to FERC review under Section 203 has FERC (a) approved without conditions, (b) approved with conditions, and (c) rejected? For applications approved with conditions, please identify the conditions imposed.

Senator Markey continues to lead the fight to protect American households from corporate profiteering and increasing energy costs. In November 2025, Senator Markey wrote to FERC urging the agency to prevent data centers from dramatically increasing energy costs for American families. Senator Markey then wrote to the National Association of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners (NARUC) in March 2026 to call for state energy regulators to protect ratepayers from data center-related cost hikes. One month later, Senator Markey released his Ratepayer Roadmap, a three-part plan to lower energy bills by directly cutting energy-related expenses for families, building more clean and affordable energy, and ending corporate price-spiking and profiteering.

###",1,2026-08-11T05:54:29Z,2026-08-11T05:56:25Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-urges-stronger-fda-action-to-protect-families-from-toxic-food-chemicals,Senator Markey Urges Stronger FDA Action to Protect Families from Toxic Food Chemicals,2026-08-10,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Boston (August 10, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the Environment and Public Works Committee, today called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to strengthen its proposed rule amending the “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) loophole. The loophole allows food companies to add new chemicals to products without notifying the FDA or submitting the chemical for safety reviews. FDA’s proposed rule, released today, would require companies to notify FDA of their use of new food additives, but fails to require the agency review those chemicals for potential risks to health and safety.

In July 2025, Senator Markey, along with Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), reintroduced the Ensuring Safe and Toxic-Free Foods Act, which requires the FDA to independently review food chemicals before they enter the market and prohibits the approval of substances with demonstrated carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, or developmental toxicity.

“The FDA is correct in its recognition that the GRAS rule is flawed and overdue for correction, but this proposed rule will not protect families from exposure to dangerous food chemicals,” said Senator Markey. “In addition to mandatory notification of use outlined in this rule, the FDA should be using strong, science-based standards to independently review every chemical proposed for use in our food. The agency should also address the thousands of potential toxins already used that the GRAS loophole has rubberstamped since its creation.”

When Congress created the GRAS loophole in 1958, it was meant to apply to ingredients widely recognized as safe, such as salt and yeast. However, since its creation, industry has exploited this loophole to add demonstrated toxins into commercial food products without any form of review by the FDA. As a result, thousands of new substances have been put onto the market with no assessment of the risks they may pose to our health and safety. Since 2000, nearly 99 percent of food chemicals added to commerce came into the market through the loophole.

###",1,2026-08-11T05:54:29Z,2026-08-11T05:56:25Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-votes-against-continuing-resolution-refuses-to-fund-trumps-unwinnable-iran-war-and-authoritarian-agenda,"Senator Markey Votes Against Continuing Resolution, Refuses to Fund Trump’s Unwinnable Iran War and Authoritarian Agenda",2026-08-08,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (August 8, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement after voting against the Continuing Resolution to fund Trump’s administration.

“Voting for this Continuing Resolution would be signing a check for President Trump to continue his illegal, reckless agenda, including ICE raids, an unwinnable war in Iran, threats to interfere in our elections this fall, and the dismantling of the social safety net. I will not give a nickel to an authoritarian who is handing over our government to billionaire and corporate interests that have raised the cost of living so high that human rights become commodities that working families cannot afford. I’m proud to have voted against more of Donald Trump’s nominees and agenda than any other Senator, and I won’t stop fighting him with every tool there is.”

###",1,2026-08-09T05:47:57Z,2026-08-09T05:49:40Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-help-committee-push-justice-department-to-hold-steward-healthcare-ceo-ralph-de-la-torre-accountable-for-corporate-greed,"Markey, HELP Committee Push Justice Department to Hold Steward Healthcare CEO Ralph de la Torre Accountable for Corporate Greed",2026-08-07,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (August 7, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, today released the following statement as the Department of Justice continues to ignore the Senate’s unanimous criminal contempt referral for Steward Health Care CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre. De la Torre failed to respond to a subpoena issued by the Senate HELP committee in September 2024. Senator Markey and the HELP Committee continue to call on the Department of Justice to hold Dr. de la Torre accountable for his mismanagement and dangerous self-interest.

“Dr. Ralph de la Torre looted Steward Health Care for his own personal gain, including selling land out from under hospitals while he bought a yacht and lavish homes. His greed led to patient deaths, unpaid workers and vendors, and communities losing critical health services. The Senate unanimously voted to hold him in contempt of Congress, but de la Torre has yet to face accountability for his actions. The Department of Justice has dragged its feet for too long; it’s time they hold de la Torre responsible for the anguish he’s caused Massachusetts families.

“Steward Health Care was an example - not the exception. The longer de la Torre evades responsibility, the more people will die. I will continue fighting for my Health Over Wealth Act and to get private equity out of health care. Massachusetts and our country deserve better.”

In July 2024, Senator Markey spoke at a press conference after Steward announced the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer and Carney Hospital in Dorchester. Earlier in the month, Senator Markey was joined by fifteen bipartisan colleagues in voting to subpoena Dr. de la Torre to compel him to appear before the HELP Committee and answer for the business practices of Steward Health and the role private equity and real estate investment trusts played in its bankruptcy. This was the first time the HELP Committee had issued a subpoena since 1981. Dr.de la Torre refused to appear. The HELP Committee voted to hold him in contempt on September 19, 2024. On September 25, 2024, the Senate voted to hold Dr. de la Torre in civil and criminal contempt of Congress.

In September 2024, Senator Markey unveiled “The Steward Health Care Report: How Corporate Greed Hurt Patients, Health Workers, and Communities.” The report spotlights patient and worker experiences, hospital quality data, and information on hospital closures in Massachusetts and around the country to document the devastating impacts of Steward’s mismanagement.

In June 2026, Senator Markey wrote to Keith Sonderling, Acting Secretary of the Department of Labor, raising the alarm for a proposed rule that would expose Americans’ retirement savings to greater risk by opening the door to expanded private equity investments in 401(k)s and other retirement plans. This extractive private equity model has led to the collapse of Steward Health Care, hospital closures, and mismanaged nursing homes.

In July 2026, Senator Markey and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) reintroduced the Health Over Wealth Act, legislation spurred by the Steward crisis that would require greater transparency into private equity firms and for-profit companies that own healthcare entities, including hospitals, nursing homes, and mental or behavioral health facilities. The bill would put safeguards in place to protect workers, patients, and health care quality, access, and safety; create stronger accountability measures for corporate greed; and close tax loopholes that benefit real estate investment trusts making money off of health care property.

###",1,2026-08-08T05:41:38Z,2026-08-08T05:43:24Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-reintroduces-legislation-to-expedite-humanitarian-aid-to-the-people-of-north-korea,Senator Markey Reintroduces Legislation to Expedite Humanitarian Aid to the People of North Korea,2026-08-07,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (August 7, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) reintroduced the Enhancing North Korea Humanitarian Assistance Act of 2026, which would expedite the efforts of non-governmental organizations to provide lifesaving medical care, sanitation systems, and other essential humanitarian needs to the people of North Korea. The legislation would modify sanctions implementation at the United States Department of Treasury, Department of State, Department of Commerce, and the United Nations’ North Korea sanctions committee to ensure that assistance can reach those in need. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) cosponsors the legislation.

“Sanctions on North Korea should target the oppressive Kim regime and its dangerous nuclear ambitions—not its vulnerable civilians who lack access to essential services and lifesaving care. Thousands across North Korea are without adequate medical treatment, clean water, and stable food supplies, not because we lack the will to help, but because of bureaucratic roadblocks that delay aid for months on end,” said Senator Markey. “The United States must cut through the red tape preventing the efforts of non-governmental organizations to provide such basic needs of North Koreans.”

As of 2025, roughly 11,800,000 people in North Korea are in urgent need of food assistance and roughly 10,400,000 need improved access to basic services, including health care, water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities. Additionally, more than 45 percent of the population in North Korea is undernourished, and one-third of household drinking water is contaminated. Humanitarian groups address these essential needs—providing a lifeline for the North Korean people—but under the current sanctions regulations, they often get obstructed by bureaucratic roadblocks. For instance, the treatment of tuberculosis requires not just food and medicine, which are exempted from sanctions, but also basic materials to make temporary patient isolation wards. Even the laptops that humanitarian workers need for their projects can too easily trigger sanctions-related delays.

Specifically, the Enhancing North Korea Humanitarian Assistance Act of 2026 would:

Require the Treasury and Commerce Departments to expand narrow humanitarian sanctions exceptions to cover, among others, items that support humanitarian projects, beyond just food and medicine

Require the Treasury Department to report regularly on humanitarian license requests and comfort letters, including explanations for the denials, to encourage timely responses

Require the Treasury Department to issue plainly worded guidance to ensure that not only banks but also shippers, suppliers, and others involved in aid understand how to make use of humanitarian exemptions

Require the administration to use U.S. influence at the UN to push for changes that expedite humanitarian exemptions and ease application burdens for nongovernmental organizations

Require the State Department to brief Congress on actions that could simplify travel authorizations for legitimate humanitarian work in North Korea

“Several decades of humanitarian cooperation in North Korea has shown us at AFSC how critical this work is,” said Austin Headrick, Asia Public Education and Advocacy Coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee. “We are grateful to Senator Markey for his leadership to address the challenges facing humanitarian cooperation with the Enhancing North Korea Humanitarian Assistance Act. This is an important step in ensuring life-saving supplies can reach the people who need them most.”

Senator Markey has consistently advocated for the United States to uphold international law and support human rights and humanitarian protections around the world. Most recently on July 31, Senator Markey, along with Congresswoman Dina Titus (NV-01), reintroduced the Turkey Human Rights Promotion Act of 2026 to promote democracy, defend human rights, and impose accountability on the Government of Turkey for systemic political repression and violations of international law.

###",1,2026-08-08T05:41:38Z,2026-08-08T05:43:24Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-releases-new-comprehensive-report-under-the-radar-documenting-trumps-second-administration-stealth-attack-on-us-immigration-system,Senator Markey Releases New Comprehensive Report “Under the Radar” Documenting Trump’s Second Administration Stealth Attack on U.S. Immigration System,2026-08-07,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Markey report reveals some of the most expansive and damaging measures have unfolded largely outside of public view

Report Text (PDF)

Washington (August 7, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today released a comprehensive new report, titled Under the Radar II: The Second Trump Administration’s Stealth Attack on the U.S. Immigration System, examining the second Trump administration’s quiet, systematic efforts to dismantle the U.S. immigration system. While many of the Trump administration’s immigration actions have made headlines since his inauguration day, some of the most expansive and damaging measures have unfolded largely outside of public view. Senator Markey’s report documents how the Administration has made “under-the-radar” policy and procedural changes to destabilize pathways to lawful presence, expand immigration enforcement, and reshape the immigration courts. The report follows Senator Markey’s “Under the Radar” report from May 2019, which exposed similar covert efforts by the first Trump administration to reshape the immigration system.

“As our nation commemorates its 250th anniversary, we should be celebrating our identity as a nation of immigrants. Instead, the Trump administration is quietly gutting critical protections to systematically demonize and target our immigrant communities,” said Senator Markey. “This report shines a light on Trump’s cruel project to dismantle due process, strip immigrants of their lawful status, and turn our immigration courts into deportation machines. The Trump administration must be held accountable for its attacks on our immigrant neighbors.”

Senator Markey’s report pulls back the curtain on the second Trump administration’s cruel immigration policy reforms. For instance, the Trump administration has moved to expand denaturalization, the process of revoking citizenship. The Administration instructed United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) field offices in 2025 to refer between 100 to 200 denaturalization cases per month for litigation, an unprecedented escalation of a historically rarely used process. Denaturalization carries profound consequences for individuals and their family members, including loss of citizenship, statelessness, potential criminal charges, and exposure to removal. Stripping individuals of citizenship to fill quotas and serve the Administration’s mass deportation agenda is draconian and senseless.

Senator Markey’s report is organized into three sections: “Destabilizing Lawful Pathways,” “Transforming Enforcement,” and “Reshaping Immigration Courts.” Topics covered in the report include:

Section One: U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, Humanitarian Parole, Work Authorization, Protections for Workers Reporting Labor Violations, Deferred Action, Public Charge Inadmissibility, Affirmative Asylum System, Adjustment of Status Adjudications, Citizenship, Naturalization Oath Ceremonies, and Denaturalization.

Section Two: Notice to Appear Issuance, Arrest Authority of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Alien Registration Requirements, Legal Representation, Expedited Removal, Prosecutorial Discretion and Administrative Closure, Detention, Bond Eligibility, and Agency Information Sharing.

Section Three: Executive Office for Immigration Review, Politicization and Removal of Immigration Judges, Board of Immigration Appeals, Continuances and Docket Control, and Backlogs.

Senator Markey has worked consistently to hold the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement regime accountable, and to demand transparency from ICE and DHS.

On July 28, Senator Markey led 11 colleagues in writing to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, DHS Secretary Mullin, and Defense Secretary Hegseth demanding to know whether the Trump administration plans to deploy armed federal law enforcement officers at polling sites during the November 2026 elections, an escalation of the Administration’s assault on free and fair elections that is clearly meant to intimidate voters.

On July 17, Senator Markey conducted an official unscheduled oversight visit at the ICE field office in Scarborough, Maine, where he demanded answers about the recent, nearby shooting and killing of 26-year-old Johan Sebastián Guerrero by an ICE officer.

On July 16, Senator Markey and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to the ICE Boston Field Office in Burlington, Massachusetts, demanding a full, transparent, and independent accounting of this killing, given the office’s direct jurisdiction over enforcement operations in Maine and New England.

In January, Senator Markey wrote to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Boston Acting Field Office Director David Wesling, demanding answers about conditions at the ICE field office in Burlington, Massachusetts, and the conduct of ICE agents in the Commonwealth. This letter followed Senator Markey’s previous December letter to Acting Director Wesling, raising concerns about the cruel conditions at the Burlington field office.

###",1,2026-08-08T05:41:38Z,2026-08-08T05:43:24Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-blasts-trump-administration-for-ending-haitis-temporary-protected-status,Markey Blasts Trump Administration for Ending Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status,2026-08-06,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (August 6, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement after a lower court officially confirmed the end of Haiti Temporary Protected Status (TPS), following the Supreme Court’s June ruling greenlighting the Trump administration’s cruel termination. Senators Markey and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), along with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), have been fighting to pass legislation to extend Haiti TPS protections through 2028. That legislation passed the House of Representatives in April but was blocked by Republicans in the Senate when Senators Markey and Blunt Rochester forced a vote on the bill two weeks ago.

“The official termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti is a moral failure,” said Senator Markey. “Our own government has determined that it is unsafe for U.S. citizens to travel to Haiti, so why would it be safe for Haitians to return? This is the latest cruel and harmful move by the Trump administration.

“TPS was enacted to provide safe harbor to individuals who cannot safely return to their countries due to armed conflict, political unrest, natural disasters, or other conditions. Haiti’s TPS designation should remain in place given the challenges still facing Haiti today. Massachusetts and our entire country have greatly benefited from Haitian TPS holders’ contributions—they are teachers, nurses, construction workers, home health aides, and business owners. The end of Haiti TPS will separate families who wish for nothing more than safety and will hurt local communities across the nation.

“I have partnered with Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester to introduce our bill, S.4814, to extend TPS protections for Haitians. I will continue to fight to pass this critical legislation. And as the Trump administration continues to attack all TPS holders, I will fight to extend these same protections to TPS holders from Syria, Venezuela, El Salvador, Ukraine, Sudan, and every other community that has been forced to seek safety in the United States. Today, and every day, I stand with our immigrant community.”

Senator Markey has worked consistently to protect TPS for Haiti and support the Haitian community in Massachusetts amid the Trump administration’s attacks on TPS and Haitians.

On June 25, after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for Haiti and Syria in the consolidated case, Mullin v. Doe, Senator Markey, alongside Representatives Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) held a press conference outside the Court denouncing the decision.

In April 2026, Senator Markey, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, and Congresswoman Pressley led 26 Senators and 157 Representatives in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Miot v. Trump, a consolidated case challenging the Trump administration’s unlawful termination of Haiti and Syria TPS.

In September 2025, Senator Markey led an amicus brief in Miot v. Trump, the companion case to Mullin v. Doe, when the case was before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In February 2026, Senator Markey applauded the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s decision to pause the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for Haiti, which was set to expire on February 3.

In March, Senator Markey welcomed the D.C. Circuit’s ruling blocking the Trump administration from immediately terminating TPS for Haiti.

In January, Senator Markey and Rep. Pressley held a field hearing at Jubilee Christian Church in Mattapan to highlight the importance of extending TPS for Haiti. The lawmakers heard from panels of individuals, advocates, and community leaders impacted by the Trump administration’s decision to end Haiti TPS.

###",1,2026-08-07T06:11:19Z,2026-08-07T06:12:42Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-continues-pressure-on-boston-ice-field-office-to-answer-for-continued-new-england-deportation-regime,Markey Continues Pressure on Boston ICE Field Office to Answer for Continued New England Deportation Regime,2026-08-06,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter to ICE (PDF) | ICE Response to December 2025 Letter (PDF)

Washington (August 6, 2026) - Today, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) again demanded answers from David Wesling, Acting Field Office Director for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Boston Field Office, after receiving an incomplete response from ICE to his December 17, 2025, letter that was sent following the Senator’s inspection of the Burlington field office.

In the new letter released today, Senator Markey again asked ICE to address his concerns over the inhumane conditions, overcrowding, prolonged detention, lack of adequate access to medical care and legal counsel, and other poor treatment of detainees at the Burlington ICE field office facility. He highlighted how ICE’s response effectively acknowledged severe overcrowding at the Burlington field office and conceded violations of its own prolonged-detention policies. Senator Markey further inquired about ICE’s arrest of minors and enforcement activity at sensitive locations, use of excessive force, officer misconduct, and insufficient vetting of new hires.

In today’s letter, Senator Markey wrote, “ICE claimed that a ‘statistical reporting hold’ blocked it from identifying the number of individuals processed at the field office in 2025 who committed violent crimes. Meanwhile, public reporting indicates that only 2% of individuals arrested during an enforcement surge in Massachusetts in September 2025 had violent convictions. And the data ICE provided for 2026 arrests appears misleading, as ICE noted that it deems illegal entry sufficient grounds for arrest and that an individual need not commit any additional crimes—violent or not—to be subject to removal. Moreover, ICE’s response suggests that out of all the individuals it arrested with criminal convictions, a mere 15 percent were convicted of an offense ICE labeled as “serious.” It is imperative that ICE admit the extent of the Trump administration’s falsehoods by turning over the rest of the requested arrest data.”

Senator Markey continued, “I am also seeking information related to ICE’s harmful, nontransparent operation of the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (“ISAP”)—an alternative to detention program—in the Commonwealth. ICE’s website contains very little information about the program or the nongovernment contractors involved, despite perturbing incidents at these facilities that demand transparency into these contractors’ activities. Massachusetts residents deserve to know who is operating ISAP and what guardrails are in place to prevent nongovernment contractors from violating their rights.”

Senator Markey requested answers by August 19, 2026, to questions including:

What is the nature of the conditions that individuals processed at the ICE field office in Burlington are held under?

What are the field office’s policies and procedures regarding the medical care of detainees?

What are the field office’s policies and procedures related to detainee access to interpretive services, their support systems, and legal counsel?

What is the nature of the arrests of individuals processed at the field office?

Since January 2025, how many minors (i.e., individuals under the age of eighteen) has ICE arrested in the Boston area of responsibility?

On July 28, Senator Markey led 11 colleagues in writing to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, DHS Secretary Mullin, and Defense Secretary Hegseth demanding to know whether the Trump administration plans to deploy armed federal law enforcement officers at polling sites during the November 2026 elections, an escalation of the Administration’s assault on free and fair elections that is clearly meant to intimidate voters.

On July 17, Senator Markey conducted an official unscheduled oversight visit at the ICE field office in Scarborough, Maine, where he demanded answers about the recent, nearby shooting and killing of 26-year-old Johan Sebastián Guerrero by an ICE officer.

On July 16, Senator Markey and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to the ICE Boston Field Office in Burlington, Massachusetts, demanding a full, transparent, and independent accounting of this killing, given the office’s direct jurisdiction over enforcement operations in Maine and New England.

In January, Senator Markey wrote to ICE Boston Acting Field Office Director David Wesling, demanding answers about conditions at the ICE field office in Burlington, Massachusetts, and the conduct of ICE agents in the Commonwealth. This letter followed Senator Markey’s previous December letter to Acting Director Wesling, raising concerns about the cruel conditions at the Burlington field office.

###",1,2026-08-07T06:11:19Z,2026-08-07T06:12:42Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-issues-urgent-call-for-support-for-e-rate-as-trump-fcc-reviews-program,Markey Issues Urgent Call for Support for E-Rate as Trump FCC Reviews Program,2026-08-06,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (August 6, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and author of the E-Rate program, this week urged local leaders, librarians, library associations, teachers, school committee members, administrators, and advocates to submit comments in support of the E-Rate program. The Trump Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted in June to open a review of E-Rate. At a virtual roundtable, Senator Markey warned that weakening the bedrock educational technology program would threaten Internet access for millions of students, teachers, schools, and libraries across the country.

“The Trump administration is putting the success of the E-Rate program at risk, threatening to blow a hole in schools’ budgets and diverting limited local dollars from teachers, classroom programs, books, and other essential services,” said Senator Markey.

“It’s unacceptable. But we can and will fight back. The FCC will be accepting comments for the next few months, and they need to hear what E-Rate means in your school, library, and community. Submit comments. Share the numbers. Tell the stories. And ask everyone you know — students, parents, teachers, library patrons — to share their stories too. I will continue the fight in the Senate to save this vital program.”

“Together, we built E-Rate. And together, we will protect it.”

In June, Senator Markey voiced strong concerns after the FCC voted to open a review of the E-Rate program. In April, the FCC approved a new rule creating additional administrative burdens for schools and libraries to access funds from the E-Rate program. In September 2025, the FCC repealed its rule allowing schools and libraries to use their E-Rate funds to loan Wi-Fi hotspots to students and educators, setting back years of success in ensuring students and educators have access to the internet at home.

The E-Rate program has invested more than $69 billion to connect schools and libraries to the internet across the country. Massachusetts schools and libraries have received more than $950 million from the E-Rate program and another $97 million from the Emergency Connectivity Fund, a $7 billion program that Senator Markey created within the American Rescue Plan to provide devices and connectivity for students and educators at home.

###",1,2026-08-07T06:11:19Z,2026-08-07T06:12:42Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-jayapal-reintroduce-legislation-to-protect-health-facilities-from-climate-disaster,"Markey, Jayapal Reintroduce Legislation to Protect Health Facilities from Climate Disaster",2026-08-06,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (August 6, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and author of the Green New Deal for Health, and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) today reintroduced the Granting Resources for Eliminating Emissions Now in (GREEN) Hospitals Act. The legislation would provide $105 billion to revive a New Deal-era program to modernize and weatherize health facilities in order to reduce emissions, protect public health, and ensure that more Americans have access to healthcare before, during, and after climate disasters and extreme weather events. Already this year, the U.S. has experienced 12 climate disasters, costing more than a billion dollars and putting healthcare facilities, patients, and workers at risk.

“Climate change is a public health emergency. Power outages, floods, fires, and extreme temperatures threaten hospitals’ ability to care for patients in a disaster. Meanwhile, outdated infrastructure contributes to the pollution causing this climate emergency,” said Senator Markey. “Through the GREEN Hospitals Act, we will ensure our country’s hospitals are prepared for the future. This bill will help hospitals become more resilient, lower energy costs, reduce pollution, protect workers, and ensure patients can continue to receive care when they need it the most. We cannot build a healthier future without a health system that recognizes that climate justice is health justice.”

“As wildfires, storms, and severe weather conditions become more common because of climate change, our hospitals need to be ready and resilient,” said Congresswoman Jayapal. “During public health and climate emergencies, Americans depend on reliable healthcare infrastructure that can withstand tough conditions. This legislation gives our hospitals the funding and resources they need to be prepared for extreme climate events, expand their ability to provide essential healthcare, and improve overall sustainability for the future.”

As the climate crisis brings stronger storms, hotter heat waves, and more severe wildfires to communities, the United States’ aging medical infrastructure is increasingly at risk. Specifically, the GREEN Hospitals Act would invest $100 billion to revive the New Deal’s Hill-Burton grant program to fund capital projects that increase capacity to provide essential healthcare and update facilities to become more resilient to climate disasters and public health crises. In exchange for Hill-Burton funding, medical facilities would commit to a community service obligation to provide a specific amount of free or below-cost health care services to qualified individuals unable to pay. The legislation would also provide $5 billion for planning grants to support pre-development planning needs, such as community assessments and engineering evaluations, so sustainability and resiliency projects for medical facilities meet the needs of patients and the surrounding communities.

The legislation is endorsed by Boston Medical Center.

###",1,2026-08-07T06:11:19Z,2026-08-07T06:12:42Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-statement-on-the-worsening-medical-condition-of-robert-gilman,Senator Markey Statement on the Worsening Medical Condition of Robert Gilman,2026-08-06,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (August 6, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today released the following statement on the detention of Massachusetts resident and former Marine Robert Gilman by the Russian government.

“My office has been closely monitoring the detention of Robert Gilman–a Massachusetts resident and former Marine who has been held in Russia on questionable charges for 1,662 days–nearly four and a half years.

“We have been made aware by Robert’s family and advocates working on his behalf that approximately 48 days ago, he was diagnosed with a dissociative stupor–a condition where he is non-responsive and unable to interact or eat. He is essentially catatonic and has also suffered a severe case of pneumonia.

“I am very worried that, if urgent action is not taken to release Robert so he can receive urgent medical care in the United States, his condition could become permanent, or he could die in Russian custody. I implore the United States and Russian governments to find a solution before we find ourselves in a situation that will further complicate an already difficult relationship.”

“I am praying for Robert and his family today.”

###",1,2026-08-07T06:11:19Z,2026-08-07T06:12:42Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-statement-on-commerce-committee-markup-of-kosa,Markey Statement on Commerce Committee Markup of KOSA,2026-08-05,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (August 5, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, issued the following statement after the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) passed through the Commerce Committee by a voice vote.

“Today the Senate Commerce Committee voted to advance the Kids Online Safety Act. As I have said in the past, I have concerns about how this legislation could be weaponized against LGBTQ+ young people. These concerns are especially heightened today when the Trump FTC is unlawfully and viciously targeting trans kids. I stand ready to continue working with the sponsors on this legislation to ensure it doesn't hurt our LGBTQ+ youth.”

###",1,2026-08-06T07:37:31Z,2026-08-06T07:38:34Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-celebrates-unanimous-committee-passage-of-his-youth-ai-privacy-act,Senator Markey Celebrates Unanimous Committee Passage of His Youth AI Privacy Act,2026-08-05,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (August 5, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today celebrated the passage of his Youth AI Privacy Act unanimously through the Senate Commerce Committee. This crucial legislation would require AI companies to build safety and privacy safeguards into their chatbots for minors.

“Today’s unanimous committee passage of my Youth AI Privacy Act is a huge step forward for protecting kids’ privacy and safety in the age of AI,” said Senator Markey. “This vote demonstrates bipartisan support for robust privacy safeguards in AI chatbots and sends a clear message that Big Tech must prioritize kids over their bottom line. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Youth AI Privacy Act into law.”

Emerging evidence clearly suggests that minors are especially vulnerable to the harms of AI chatbots, particularly as companies introduce increasingly manipulative design features and rely on large amounts of children’s personal data. The Youth AI Privacy Act would set new privacy standards for these systems, curb the business incentives that drive harmful design choices, and address the ways Big Tech has engineered chatbots to encourage compulsive use among young people.

In July, Senator Markey announced new support for the legislation, following its initial introduction in March 2026.

###",1,2026-08-06T07:37:31Z,2026-08-06T07:38:34Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-van-hollen-whitehouse-dingell-statement-on-dc-circuits-ruling-to-protect-landmark-greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund-from-unlawful-trump-attacks,"Markey, Van Hollen, Whitehouse, Dingell Statement on D.C. Circuit’s Ruling to Protect Landmark Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund from Unlawful Trump Attacks",2026-08-04,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Ruling allows grant recipients to withdraw funds and get to work on projects to lower energy bills, create healthier environment, fight climate change

Washington (August 4, 2026) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-06) today applauded the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, sitting en banc, to uphold an injunction that blocks the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from clawing back billions of dollars in funds from Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) awardees. In February, the lawmakers were joined by 36 additional members of Congress in filing an amicus brief at the D.C. Circuit, urging it to take this action.

“The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund was designed to unleash new projects and create jobs around the country that would cut down on rising energy bills, dangerous pollution, and harm to our climate,” said the lawmakers. “The Trump administration’s brazen attempt to prevent those projects, seize these funds, and break the law in the process has been rightfully halted by the D.C. Circuit. These dollars were awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency years ago after a rigorous and transparent process, in accordance with the law we passed in 2022. We will continue to fight for the full and fair operation of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund—for a safer climate, for good green jobs, and for cheaper, cleaner energy.”

Senators Markey, Van Hollen and Congresswoman Dingell were the authors of the National Climate Bank Act, legislation that served as the framework for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund provision that became law through the Inflation Reduction Act–and was executed by the EPA under the Biden administration.

###",1,2026-08-05T07:37:37Z,2026-08-05T07:38:44Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senate-passes-markey-amendments-to-crack-down-on-illegal-robocalls,Senate Passes Markey Amendments to Crack Down on Illegal Robocalls,2026-08-04,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (August 4, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, celebrated the Senate’s passage by unanimous consent of the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act. The legislation includes four amendments that Senator Markey secured during committee consideration — three with Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and one with Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) — to strengthen investigations, expose bad actors, and protect consumers against illegal robocalls and texts.

“When robocall scammers try to turn Americans’ phones into tools for theft and deception, we have to make their jobs harder,” said Senator Markey. “My amendments will strengthen efforts to trace illegal calls to their source, crack down on sham phone companies, and shine a light on the networks that enable these scams. I’m proud to continue leading the fight against illegal robocalls and restore trust in our phone networks.”

Senator Markey’s amendments would:

Make it harder for sham providers to game the system. The Luján-Markey provision requires the Federal Communications Commission to establish a bond of up to $100,000 for certain providers registering in the Robocall Mitigation Database. Phone companies have to register in the Robocall Mitigation Database to send calls through the U.S. phone network.

Strengthen private traceback investigations. The Thune-Markey provision incorporates their Robocall Traceback Enhancement Act, which the lawmakers introduced in 2021. The amendment helps bolster privately led efforts to trace back the origins of illegal and bothersome robocalls, helping to identify and stop bad actors.

Increase transparency and accountability. Two Markey-Luján amendments strengthen the bill’s required report by directing the robocall task force to evaluate the potential benefits and risks of periodically releasing traceback results, including whether disclosure could help consumers avoid bad providers, strengthen deterrence, and improve call blocking.

Senator Markey is the co-author of the bipartisan Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act, landmark robocall legislation that was enacted in 2019. The TRACED Act helped to address unwanted and abusive calls by, among other things, requiring telephone companies to authenticate callers, strengthening caller identification, and giving consumers greater power to block calls from unverified numbers.

###",1,2026-08-05T07:37:37Z,2026-08-05T07:38:44Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-merkley-reintroduce-legislation-to-protect-healthcare-for-americans-who-cannot-afford-bail,"Senators Markey, Merkley Reintroduce Legislation to Protect Healthcare for Americans Who Cannot Afford Bail",2026-08-04,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (August 4, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) today reintroduced the Equity in Pretrial Health Coverage Act, legislation that would protect the continuity of federal health benefits under Medicaid, Medicare, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Veterans Affairs for Americans who have been detained while they await trial and, in many cases, remain in custody because they cannot afford bail. These protections would make it easier for people to continue to access essential healthcare, including substance use disorder and mental health treatment, while incarcerated. The legislation would partially reverse the 1965 Federal Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy (MIEP), which generally bans the use of federal funds to provide care for inmates of a public institution under Medicaid.

“Healthcare is a human right. It is unjust and immoral to strip people of their health coverage simply because they can’t afford to pay their bail,” said Senator Markey. “Congress must eliminate the discriminatory policies that make it harder for people to get the healthcare they need, including treatment for substance use disorder or mental health services. I am proud to partner with Senator Merkley in fighting to break down barriers to essential healthcare and create a system that puts care and compassion over incarceration.”

“Americans who have serious health conditions—including those who are awaiting trial—need access to quality health care and can’t afford to be kicked off of those benefits,” said Senator Merkley. “In America, you are innocent until proven guilty, and the?Equity in Pre-Trial Health Coverage Act?will ensure that pre-trial detainees can keep their health coverage and seek the medical treatment they need.”

Currently, individuals who are arrested and can post bail maintain their coverage. But those who remain in custody because they cannot afford bail can lose coverage, despite being charged but not convicted of a crime. As a result, a gap in coverage exists for individuals covered by federal health programs awaiting trial, which restricts their access to essential care in their community and shifts the cost of medical treatment for pretrial detainees to local city, county, and state agencies. This gap is particularly challenging for people with substance use disorders and other mental health conditions, which require consistent and sustained medical treatment.

Cosponsors in the Senate include Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).

In 2022, Senator Markey secured provisions in the end-of-year spending package (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023) that allow states to maintain Medicaid coverage for juveniles who are in custody pending deposition of charges. The Equity in Pretrial Health Coverage Act would go further, extending and requiring coverage to anyone no matter their age.

Senators Markey and Merkley first introduced the legislation in 2021.

The Equity in Pretrial Health Coverage Act is endorsed by National Association of Counties, National Council for Mental Wellbeing, National Commission on Correctional Health Care, Association of Oregon Counties, Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association, Major County Sheriffs of America, and American Jail Association.

###",1,2026-08-05T07:37:37Z,2026-08-05T07:38:44Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-pressley-release-report-showing-success-of-fare-free-transit-in-massachusetts,"Markey, Pressley Release Report Showing Success of Fare-Free Transit in Massachusetts",2026-08-03,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Report calls for passage of their Freedom to Move Act, which invests $25 billion in public transit

Fare Free Transit Reduces Costs for Travelers and Boosts Transit Ridership

Report (PDF)

Washington (August 3, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) today released a new report, Making Transit Free, Frequent, and Reliable: Massachusetts shows the need for federal investment in fare-free transit, detailing the need for increased federal investments in fare-free transit. Senator Markey and Congresswoman Pressley are lead sponsors of the Freedom to Move Act, which would provide $25 billion to communities to pilot fare free service and expand existing transit service.

“From Worcester to Boston to the Merrimack Valley, Massachusetts is showing the nation what is possible when transit goes fare-free,” said Senator Markey. “Our report shows that fare-free transit saves families money, increases ridership, and helps make transit easier and simpler for passengers. More transit riders can mean less congestion, cleaner air, and safer streets. This report provides a roadmap for bringing those benefits to communities across the country. Congress should pass the Freedom to Move Act and help any community go fare free.”

“The data doesn’t lie and this report makes plain what we’ve long known: fare-free transit is essential to building connected communities, improving mobility, and making life more affordable for our families,” said Congresswoman Pressley, Co-Chair of the Future of Transportation Caucus. “Transit equity is an economic, racial, and climate justice issue, and it’s time we invest in public transit as the public good that it is. That’s why Congress must pass our Freedom to Move Act to continue to support fare-free transit across our state and nation.”

Massachusetts has become a national leader in fare-free transit through a range of programs serving urban, suburban, and rural communities. Regional transit authorities in Worcester, the Merrimack Valley, and elsewhere have launched systemwide or targeted fare-free service, while Boston has eliminated fares on several heavily used bus routes. The Commonwealth has also supported statewide pilot programs that have helped transit agencies test and expand fare-free operations.

Drawing on data from these efforts, the report examines how fare-free service is working across different transit systems and communities. The Massachusetts experience shows how eliminating fares strengthens public transit when paired with reliable service and sustained investment. It also demonstrates that communities nationwide could pursue similar programs with stronger federal support.

The Massachusetts evidence points to five core lessons. Fare-free transit:

Lowers costs for riders

Brings riders back to transit

Leads to long-term ridership gains

Makes transit easier to operate

Works best when paired with operating support

Senator Markey and Congresswoman Pressley have long championed fare-free transit in Congress. In July 2025, they re-introduced the Freedom to Move Act which would provide $25 billion in funding for transit agencies to offer fare free service and improve on existing transit service offerings.

###",1,2026-08-04T07:35:49Z,2026-08-04T07:37:27Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sens-markey-warren-reps-lynch-keating-pressley-auchincloss-demand-trump-administration-reverse-denial-of-massachusetts-disaster-request-for-february-blizzard,"Sens. Markey, Warren, Reps. Lynch, Keating, Pressley, Auchincloss Demand Trump Administration Reverse Denial of Massachusetts Disaster Request for February Blizzard",2026-08-03,2026,2026-08,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (August 3, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Representatives Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Bill Keating (MA-09), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) sent a letter to President Donald Trump and Acting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Robert Fenton demanding that the Administration rescind its denial of Massachusetts’ request for a major disaster declaration following the February 2026 blizzard. The storm overwhelmed the Commonwealth with more than three feet of snow, caused an estimated $38 billion in damage and economic losses, cost the Commonwealth more than $45 million in direct expenses, and endangered communities. The lawmakers pressed the Administration to reverse course and approve the Commonwealth’s appeal, which was filed on Friday, to ensure that Massachusetts communities receive much-needed relief as they continue to struggle under the weight of snow-related expenses.

On July 2, 2026, Massachusetts was notified that the Trump administration denied the Commonwealth’s major disaster declaration request to help fund expenses related to the historic blizzard that hit the state last February. FEMA’s stated rationale for the denial appears to disregard federal law. On July 31, Governor Healey filed a formal appeal in response. Recent reporting suggests that Trump personally denied Massachusetts’ request as part of the overall politicization of disaster declaration requests, despite FEMA’s determination that the blizzard met major disaster requirements.

The lawmakers wrote, “If FEMA’s initial denial was based on an attempt to reinterpret or narrow the definition of a major disaster, we urge FEMA to comply with the Stafford Act and reverse course. However, if the denial was influenced by partisan political considerations, we must insist on a full reconsideration of this decision to restore parity in the federal disaster response process. Accordingly, and given the profound impacts Massachusetts experienced and the clear eligibility for assistance under the Stafford Act, we also request that you approve Governor Healey’s appeal of the Commonwealth’s major disaster declaration following the February 2026 blizzard.”

###",1,2026-08-04T07:35:49Z,2026-08-04T07:37:27Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-titus-reintroduce-legislation-to-defend-human-rights-in-turkey,"Markey, Titus Reintroduce Legislation to Defend Human Rights in Turkey",2026-07-31,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (July 31, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) along with Congresswoman Dina Titus (NV-01) reintroduced the Turkey Human Rights Promotion Act of 2026 to promote democracy, defend human rights, and impose accountability on the Government of Turkey for systemic political repression and violations of international law. Following the attempted coup in July 2016, the Government of Turkey has intensified its crackdown on free speech and pursued a sweeping campaign restricting fundamental rights. This legislation ensures that the United States condemns these attacks and directs the Department of State to expand support for civil society and independent media in Turkey.

“President Erdogan’s authoritarian rule must end. While the Turkish government continues to lock up journalists, political participants, and minority communities, the Trump White House is rewarding them by lifting sanctions and flaunting a ‘friendship’ with Erdogan,” said Senator Markey. “This legislation makes clear that the United States is committed to supporting peace and civil liberties in Turkey, and that the U.S. does not maintain friendships with dictators.”

“Turkey is a NATO ally, but that alliance carries obligations such as adherence to democratic norms and respect for human rights that Turkey is not meeting. For nearly a decade, the Erdogan government has moved further away from those responsibilities, not closer,” Congresswoman Titus said. “Thousands of political prisoners and journalists have been jailed simply for doing their jobs; lawyers have been prosecuted for representing their clients; religious and ethnic minorities are routinely targeted through vague anti-terrorism laws; and a transnational repression campaign has reached into our own communities here in the United States. Erdogan should not be granted greater U.S. security assistance unless there is clear, demonstrated improvements in each of these categories. I am proud to lead this bicameral bill with Senator Markey.”

The Government of Turkey has dismissed or suspended more than 60,000 police and military personnel, 125,000 civil servants, one-third of the judiciary, arrested or imprisoned more than 95,000 citizens, and closed more than 1,500 nongovernmental organizations on baseless charges. Today, an estimated 43,000 political prisoners remain incarcerated in Turkish prisons.

Specifically, the Turkey Human Rights Promotion Act of 2026 would:

Condemn human rights abuses and political attacks carried out by the Government of Turkey

Oppose the Government of Turkey’s attack on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association

Direct the Secretary of State to provide assistance to civil society organizations in Turkey that work to secure the release of prisoners of conscience and political prisoners

Demand improvements in press freedom, social media expression, judicial independence, and protection for lawyers and judges

Call for Global Magnitsky Act sanctions and visa restrictions on Turkish officials linked to arbitrary detentions, torture, or serious crackdowns on free speech

Condemn Turkey’s use of transnational repression

Condition US security cooperation and assistance to Turkey based on measurable improvements in human rights, rule of law, and compliance with binding judgments of the European Court of Human Rights

Direct the Department of State to expand support for civil society and independent media in Turkey

Provide protections for US citizens and lawful residents from political retaliation from the Turkish government

Direct the Secretary of State to submit an annual report to Congress on the implementation of this Act

Senator Markey has been consistently outspoken against the Turkish government’s human rights violations following the 2016 coup attempt. He has remained committed to using all Congress’s diplomatic tools to support free expression and civil liberties in Turkey.

On April 30, 2021, Senator Markey joined with Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) in introducing the Turkey Human Rights Promotion Act of 2021, which called for sanctions on Turkish officials who violated basic human rights and provide assistance to civil society organizations in Turkey that work to secure the release of political prisoners.

On December 11, 2019, Senator Markey and Congressman Brad Sherman (CA-24) introduced the Preventing the Spread of Nuclear Weapons Act, requiring that the approval of a new or extended 123 agreement with Turkey be subject to a vote from Congress, citing the Turkish government’s human rights abuses.

On November 12, 2019, Senator Markey and Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) were joined by Boston Celtics player Enes Kanter to introduce the Turkey Human Rights Promotion Act of 2019.

###",1,2026-08-01T07:27:26Z,2026-08-01T07:28:22Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-warren-reps-keating-lynch-urge-fema-to-rescind-decision-to-cancel-coastal-recovery-projects,"Senators Markey, Warren, Reps. Keating, Lynch Urge FEMA to Rescind Decision to Cancel Coastal Recovery Projects",2026-07-31,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (July 31, 2026) - Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with and Representatives Bill Keating (MA-09) and Stephen Lynch (MA-08) urged Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 1 Acting Regional Administrator Jarrett Devine to rescind the decision to cancel coastal recovery projects in Massachusetts. Seven communities—Marshfield, Scituate, Hull, Quincy, Nahant, Gloucester, and Rockport—now face financial uncertainty in their paths to recover from extreme storms.

On July 13, 2026, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) received a letter from FEMA Region 1 detailing its decision to cancel coastal recovery projects associated with four previous storms. The projects now in jeopardy include repairs to stormwalls, revetments, outfalls, and other critical infrastructure damaged by extreme weather. These harmful consequences will financially burden communities and result in the potential termination of these projects, putting residents and our coasts at unnecessary risk.

“The decision to cancel these ongoing disaster recovery projects is arbitrary, reckless, and harmful,” said the lawmakers. “FEMA’s purpose should be to help communities recover after major disasters, and that is not a promise being upheld today. We urge FEMA to restore this funding, so our coasts and communities are adequately protected from extreme weather.”

###",1,2026-08-01T07:27:26Z,2026-08-01T07:28:22Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-and-cantwell-call-out-critical-gaps-in-fatal-accident-data-involving-large-trucks-and-buses,Markey and Cantwell Call Out Critical Gaps in Fatal Accident Data Involving Large Trucks and Buses,2026-07-30,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"ProPublica/WBUR investigation found FMCSA undercounting bus and large truck crashes, injuries and fatalities, jeopardizing its mission to protect the safety of Americans and take action against unsafe companies

FMCSA enforcement actions against carriers down 65% under Trump

Washington (July 30, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, sent a letter to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Administrator Derek Barrs requesting information on the agency’s tracking of large truck and bus crashes following a ProPublica/WBUR investigative report that crash data is not being properly received and recorded. This lack of accurate data makes it difficult for FMCSA to appropriately sanction companies that put the public at risk.

“According to the most recent data available, nearly 5,000 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks and buses in 2024,” wrote the senators. “The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) uses information from these crashes to identify specific truck and bus companies for targeted enforcement, which can range from a warning letter to being placed out-of-service. On June 8, 2026, ProPublica and WBUR reported their investigation found that FMCSA is missing critical crash data for a company that operates school buses, making it impossible for the agency to accurately identify and target high-risk motor carriers like these.”

The ProPublica/WBUR investigation centered on an April 2025 school bus accident in Boston that killed a kindergartner after he was dropped off on the wrong side of the street. The driver was hired and trained by transnational bus company Transdev, and the investigation found that 42 fatal crashes involving Transdev over the past 10 years were missing from FMCSA records. ProPublica and WBUR also found that FMCSA’s own instructions to law enforcement about the attribution of a crash to a particular company was left to the discretion of the individual police officer, directly contributing to highly variable and unreliable records.

“This raises serious concerns that FMCSA may be undercounting crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses, and thus jeopardizing its mission to reduce such incidents and protect the safety of Americans,” continued the senators.

In addition to the impacts of the lack of good data, the senators also highlighted the overall lack of enforcement actions taken under the Trump administration.

“More broadly, FMCSA enforcement actions have declined since President Trump took office,” they wrote. “According to its own data, FMCSA completed approximately 1,400 enforcement cases against motor carriers in 2025, compared to nearly 4,000 in 2024—a 65 percent decrease.”

The text of the letter can be found HERE.

###",1,2026-07-31T07:49:23Z,2026-07-31T07:50:48Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-jayapal-reintroduce-green-new-deal-for-public-schools-to-invest-in-students-schools-and-a-livable-future,"Markey, Jayapal Reintroduce Green New Deal for Public Schools to Invest in Students, Schools, and a Livable Future",2026-07-30,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (July 30, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and the Environment and Public Works Committee, alongside Congresswoman Jayapal (WA-07) today reintroduced the Green New Deal for Public Schools Act, legislation that would infuse $1.6 trillion over the next decade to transform our public school system – investing in students, educators, and infrastructure – and respond to the climate crisis.

“Every student in America deserves to learn in a school that lifts them up, not one that’s falling down. Across the country, kids are trying to learn in buildings with broken heat, leaky roofs, and hazardous ventilation systems,” said Senator Markey. “It’s time that we reinvest in our students, our planet, and our future. The Green New Deal for Public Schools Act is a step toward building up the next generation of leaders by securing educational justice, health justice, and environmental justice all in one.”

“Public schools and a strong education system are the bedrock of our democracy. However, for decades, as school buildings have crumbled, as classes have doubled or tripled in size, and as the Trump administration has chipped away at programs to support kids’ mental health, American schools have fallen behind. In the richest country in the world, we should have the best public school system in the world. The Green New Deal for Public Schools, which I’m proud to lead with Senator Markey, would make investments in safe, healthy, zero-carbon, classrooms to lift up our students, teachers, administrators, and entire public education system,” said Congresswoman Jayapal.

The Green New Deal for Public Schools Act would invest $1.6 trillion in public and Bureau of Indian Education schools over the next ten years to revitalize the K-12 education system and reduce hazardous pollution. It would also reverse harmful disinvestment in the public school system by investing in schools serving low-income students, tripling funding to support students with disabilities, and giving schools the resources to hire hundreds of thousands of educators, paraprofessionals, and staff - including counselors to support student mental health. Investments from the Green New Deal for Public Schools Act would create 1.3 million jobs annually and eliminate 78 million metric tons of carbon emissions, which is equivalent to taking 17 million cars off the road.

Specifically, the Green New Deal for Public Schools Act would:

Establish grants for healthy green retrofits of public schools, including modifications to optimize air quality, ensure clean air and water, and improve energy efficiency with priority given to highest-need schools

Ensure school upgrades support safe, well-paid union jobs with project labor, prevailing wage, and registered apprenticeship protections

Invest $250 billion in hiring thousands of new teachers, paraprofessionals, and mental health counselors to ensure every student receives a quality education and the support they need

Fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and quadruple funding for schools serving predominantly low-income students to fulfill Congress’ promise to every student

“As we face a catastrophic climate crisis caused by unchecked corporate greed, we need to center children and their future. What this comes down to is whether we’re willing and able to provide students with the resources they need to realize their brilliance and have a livable planet. Do we want to continue building a world based on militarization, incarceration, poverty, and destruction of resources? Or will we put our kids and educators first, and treat the climate crisis as the emergency it is? The Green New Deal for Public Schools Act would ensure the production and maintenance of safe and healthy learning and teaching environments for students, teachers, staff, caregivers, and the broader community — and represents the action we need to be on the right side of history,” said Batul Hassan, Labor Director at Climate and Community Institute.

The Green New Deal for Public Schools Act is cosponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). and Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Bennie Thompson (MS-02), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Chuy García (IL-04), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Troy Carter (LA-02), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Paul Tonko (NY-20), and Mark Pocan (WI-02).

The legislation is endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), U.S. Green Building Council, Food & Water Watch, Education Law Center, Citizens for Public Schools, Climate and Community Institute, and Sierra Club.

Senator Markey has long been a leading champion for climate action, as the initial Senate sponsor of the Green New Deal, and has fought for legislation and funding to address the injustices surrounding environmental policy.

On July 28, Senator Markey joined with Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17) to reintroduce the Green New Deal for Health Act, which would equip our country’s healthcare system to respond to the growing impacts of climate change and ensure all Americans have access to reliable care in their communities.

On July 15, Senator Markey applauded the Senate’s unanimous passage of the Older Americans Act (OAA) Reauthorization Act, which included provisions from the Senator’s bills to allow home modification funding to be used for weatherization projects and improving the air quality of older Americans’ homes and residences.

In April 2026, Senator Markey introduced a package of legislation during Earth Week to address maternal and infant mortality, support climate change education and awareness for students, support youth leadership in federal environmental decision-making, provide frontline workers with hazard pay during disasters, and protect seniors by enabling safer and more resilient homes.

In July 2025, Senator Markey introduced a resolution and the Climate Change Health Protection and Promotion Act to recognize climate change as a growing threat to public health and create a coordinated federal strategy to protect communities from worsening climate-fueled harms.

Through his work on the Inflation Reduction Act, Senator Markey helped create the largest and most significant climate and clean energy investments in history, putting the United States on a path to address the climate crisis, repair historic harms to disadvantaged communities, and create good-paying union jobs in the clean energy economy.

###",1,2026-07-31T07:49:23Z,2026-07-31T07:50:48Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-khanna-reintroduce-green-new-deal-for-health-to-invest-in-patients-workers-and-infrastructure-for-todays-climate-health-threats,"Markey, Khanna Reintroduce Green New Deal for Health to Invest in Patients, Workers, and Infrastructure for Today’s Climate-Health Threats",2026-07-28,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF) | One-Pager (PDF)

Washington (July 28, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, and Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17) today reintroduced the Green New Deal for Health, legislation that will equip our country’s healthcare system to respond to the growing impacts of climate change and ensure all Americans have access to care in their communities.

“This summer, Massachusetts has been hit with record-breaking temperatures, smoky air from wildfires, and flash floods. Every year that Washington waits to address the climate crisis, more people pay for it with their health,” said Senator Markey. “The Green New Deal for Health is a blueprint for a healthcare system that can withstand the crisis we're already living through, while putting patients and workers first. Our communities cannot afford for Congress to keep treating climate and health as separate issues. I’m thankful to partner with Congressman Khanna to fortify our health infrastructure with the urgency it requires.”

“Across the world, hundreds of millions of people are already feeling the effects of climate change and the health consequences that often follow. From increased cases of asthma due to air pollution to disruptions at care facilities after extreme weather events, it's clear we need to take steps now to protect public health,” said Representative Khanna. “I’m proud to join Senator Markey in reintroducing the Green New Deal for Health, a sweeping bill that reimagines what our health care system can look like when we prioritize our people and our planet.”

The Green New Deal for Health boldly reimagines a healthcare system that is prepared to protect the health and well-being of our workers, our communities, and our planet. Specifically, the legislation would:

On healthcare access: Invests $130 billion over five years in community health centers through the Community Health Center Fund.

On climate-resilient infrastructure: Revives the landmark New Deal-era Hill-Burton program by authorizing $100 billion in federal grants to public and nonprofit medical facilities to improve climate resilience and disaster mitigation—ensuring uninterrupted access to care during climate disasters and extreme weather, while guaranteeing prevailing wages for workers and requiring facilities to serve neighboring communities.

On protecting communities against hospital closures: Requires hospitals that receive Medicare payments to notify the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) at least 180 days before a full closure or discontinuation of services, so frontline communities are not stranded in health care deserts.

On transparent, green supply chains: Directs HHS to establish a task force to develop policies for mandatory public disclosure of the emissions and climate risk of FDA-approved drugs, devices, and biologics.

On investing in the health workforce: Directs federal dollars toward climate and health education, builds a robust community health workforce, prioritizes grants to facilities that collectively bargain with their workers, and provides hazard pay to workers who respond after a crisis.

On community mental health and resilience: Funds grants for resilient community mental health programs and research on extreme heat risk and response.

On home resiliency for medical needs: Makes solar batteries, heat pumps, and other resiliency measures eligible Medicare expenses so people with disabilities and medical needs can install life-saving home infrastructure.

On research and innovation: Invests $5 billion per year and establishes the National Climate and Health Research and Innovation Initiative to support scientific research into the health impacts of climate change and develop innovative approaches to climate-health resilience.

The Green New Deal for Health is cosponsored by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Representatives Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), and Ilhan Omar (MN-05).

The legislation is endorsed by AFT: Education, Healthcare, Public Services; Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments; Alzheimer's Foundation of America; American College of Nurse Midwives; Boston Medical Center; Center for Biological Diversity; Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR-SEIU); Earthjustice Action; Green & Healthy Homes Initiative; Health Care Without Harm U.S.; International Transformational Resilience Coalition (ITRC); Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers; National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA); National Nurses United; People’s Action Institute; and Transhealth.

Senator Markey has been a champion for climate action, as the initial Senate sponsor of the Green New Deal. He has fought for legislation and funding to address climate-health issues, as the author of the Preventing HEAT Illness and Deaths Act. His Environmental Justice Air Quality Monitoring Act received $3 million in funding for hyper-local air pollution monitors through the Inflation Reduction Act.

On July 15, 2026, Senator Markey applauded the Senate’s unanimous passage of the Older Americans Act (OAA) Reauthorization Act, which included provisions from the Senator’s bills to allow home modification funding to be used for weatherization projects and improving the air quality of older Americans’ homes and residences.

In April 2026, Senator Markey introduced a package of legislation during Earth Week to address maternal and infant mortality, support climate change education and awareness for students, support youth leadership in federal environmental decision-making, provide frontline workers with hazard pay during disasters, and protect seniors by enabling safer and more resilient homes.

In July 2025, Senator Markey introduced a resolution and the Climate Change Health Protection and Promotion Act to recognize climate change as a growing threat to public health and create a coordinated federal strategy to protect communities from worsening climate-fueled harms. He also introduced the Community Mental Wellness and Resilience Act, a bipartisan bill that tackles the nation’s mental health crisis by addressing the extensive community trauma caused by disasters.

###",1,2026-07-29T07:41:48Z,2026-07-29T07:42:57Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-leader-schumer-ranking-member-peters-colleagues-raise-alarm-about-trumps-threats-to-send-armed-federal-agents-to-polling-sites-to-intimidate-voters-during-november-elections,"Markey, Leader Schumer, Ranking Member Peters, Colleagues Raise Alarm About Trump’s Threats to Send Armed Federal Agents to Polling Sites to Intimidate Voters During November Elections",2026-07-28,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (July 28, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today led 11 colleagues in writing to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth demanding to know whether the Trump administration plans to deploy armed federal law enforcement officers at polling sites during the November 2026 elections, an escalation of the Administration’s assault on free and fair elections that is clearly meant to intimidate voters.

The letter was signed by Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), and Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

Beginning in October 2025, the Democratic National Committee submitted eleven Freedom of Information Act requests seeking records concerning the possible deployment of federal law enforcement officers to polling places, ballot-drop locations, and election offices. During ensuing litigation, ICE first represented that it had located no responsive records. But earlier this month, after its searches were challenged, ICE acknowledged finding more than 11,000 potentially responsive pages and U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it had turned up almost 117,000 records. These belated disclosures reinforce the fear that the Administration is planning a potentially unlawful, illegal, and unconstitutional intrusion into the November election.

In the letter, the senators wrote, “In May, when President Trump was asked whether he would send the National Guard or ICE to polling places in November, he refused to rule it out, responding: ‘I’d do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections.’ And earlier this month, President Trump delivered a prime-time address to the nation in which he repeated outlandish falsehoods about the 2020 election, continuing to sow doubts about voting integrity ahead of the mid-terms. President Trump’s statements, coupled with his repeated threats to invoke the Insurrection Act — which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the United States to suppress rebellion or domestic violence — only heighten concerns.”

The senators continued, “Congress has enacted longstanding criminal prohibitions against sending federal personnel to polling places and using federal power to interfere with elections. For example, federal law makes it a crime for a federal official to bring or keep troops or armed personnel at a place where an election is held. Americans should never have to wonder whether the federal government intends to police the ballot box with armed agents. Yet that is precisely what the Trump administration appears to be considering, if not planning. The Administration now has a choice. It can continue to fuel the appearance that it is laying the groundwork for an unprecedented federal intrusion into state-run elections, or it can finally provide Congress and the American people with the transparency they deserve.”

The lawmakers requested the following information by August 11, 2026:

Will any federal law enforcement officers or troops be deployed to or near any polling place or other election sites during the November 2026 election? If so, identify who, where, under what authority, and for what purpose.

Who directed or authorized discussions concerning the possible deployment of federal law enforcement officers or troops to polling places or other election sites? Identify every meeting or communication concerning this subject involving your Department or agency and the White House, the Executive Office of the President, Stephen Miller, other presidential advisers, or any other federal entity.

Produce all records concerning the possible deployment of federal law enforcement personnel or troops to polling places or other election sites, including legal memoranda, operational plans, policy guidance, emails, text messages, meeting notes, directives, and communications with the White House or other federal entities.

###",1,2026-07-29T07:41:48Z,2026-07-29T07:42:57Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-capito-collins-van-hollen-introduce-bill-to-support-alzheimers-research,"Senators Markey, Capito, Collins, Van Hollen Introduce Bill to Support Alzheimer’s Research",2026-07-24,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (July 24, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, along with Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), introduced legislation to reauthorize the United States Postal Service (USPS) Alzheimer’s research stamp for an additional six years, allowing more funds to be raised for Alzheimer’s research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Semipostal stamps are sold by the U.S. Postal Service and are priced above the cost of postage to raise funds for causes of public interest, as directed by Congress. The U.S. Postal Service first issued the Alzheimer’s semipostal stamp in 2017 and has since sold over 11 million stamps in support of Alzheimer’s research.

“My mother fought Alzheimer’s for thirteen years. My family’s story mirrors that of millions of Americans awaiting better treatments and a cure for this terrible disease,” said Senator Markey. “I am proud to lead the reauthorization of the Alzheimer’s semipostal stamp, which has raised almost $2 million for Alzheimer’s research. Every letter sent with an Alzheimer’s stamp offers hope to families, and gets us one step closer to a cure.”

“Reauthorizing the Alzheimer's semipostal stamp will both maintain a source of funding for critically important Alzheimer’s research and will also help honor the memory and courage of those who have faced this heartbreaking disease directly. I have long been dedicated to pursuing a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, and I’m proud to join my colleagues to continue this initiative through the USPS,” said Senator Capito.

“Alzheimer’s is one of the greatest public health challenges of our time, affecting more than seven million Americans, including more than 29,000 people in Maine,” said Senator Collins. “As a founder of the Alzheimer’s Task Force and Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I recently secured a $100 million increase for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias research, bringing total annual funding to nearly $4 billion. By allowing Americans to continue to purchase Alzheimer’s research stamps, this bipartisan legislation would build on that funding and support NIH’s efforts to combat this devastating disease.”

“Countless families in Maryland and across our country are facing the pain and loss that Alzheimer’s leaves in its wake. I’ve fought to increase investments in critical research on this disease, and the Alzheimer’s semipostal stamp is a key step towards building on those efforts. That’s why I worked to create this stamp, and why it’s important we pass this bipartisan bill to keep it in circulation for years to come as we continue our fight to defeat Alzheimer’s once and for all,” said Senator Van Hollen.

The Alzheimer’s semipostal stamp reauthorization is cosponsored by Senators Mark Warner (D-Va.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jim Justice (R-W.V.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).

The legislation is endorsed by Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, and Gerontological Society of America.

“The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America wholeheartedly supports the Alzheimer’s Semipostal Stamp Reauthorization Act and is grateful to Senator Markey, Senator Collins, Senator Van Hollen, and Senator Capito for introducing it,” said Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr., President and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. “Since its inception, the sale of over 11 million Alzheimer’s semipostal stamps raised crucial funds for Alzheimer’s disease research and heightened public awareness about a disease impacting more than 7 million Americans.”

“The Alzheimer’s Semipostal Stamp Reauthorization Act preserves a simple but powerful way for Americans to fund the search for treatments and, ultimately, a cure, while raising awareness of the disease with every letter sent. Every family living with Alzheimer’s knows what this disease takes — not just from the person diagnosed, but from everyone who loves them — and continued research funding is how we give future generations a different outcome than the one families face today,” said Robert Egge, Alzheimer’s Association Chief Public Policy Officer and AIM President. “We’re grateful to Senator Markey, Senator Collins, Senator Van Hollen, and Senator Capito for their bipartisan leadership on this bill and their continued commitment to the Alzheimer's and dementia community.”

Senator Markey, as founder and co-Chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease, is a leader in the fight to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease and to support family caregivers.

On July 15, Senator Markey applauded the Senate’s unanimous passage of the Older Americans Act (OAA) Reauthorization Act, which included provisions from the Senator’s “Caring for Caregivers” agenda including expanding respite care options for family caregivers to older adults who need long-term care. The OAA reauthorization also included provisions from Senator Markey’s Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers Act which requires federal agencies to help family caregivers access government support by improving processes, procedures, forms, and communications.

In April 2026, Senator Markey introduced a package of legislation during Earth Week, including bills to protect seniors by enabling safer and more resilient homes.

In 2025, Senator Markey reintroduced his “Caring for Caregivers” legislative agenda of six bills to support family caregivers’ economic, physical, and emotional health through financial literacy resources, expansion of peer support services and respite care, and access to medically tailored meals.

In 2024, Senator Markey was a lead of the NAPA Reauthorization Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act(AAIA), which were both signed into law. In the House of Representatives, Markey co-authored the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA), which mandated the development of a first-ever comprehensive National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease. The plan represented a historic commitment by the federal government to tackling the disease.

###",1,2026-07-25T07:13:44Z,2026-07-25T07:15:09Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-jayapal-introduce-updated-legislation-to-set-strong-guardrails-for-private-equity-in-healthcare,"Markey, Jayapal Introduce Updated Legislation to Set Strong Guardrails for Private Equity in Healthcare",2026-07-23,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF) | One-Pager (PDF)

Washington (July 23, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) today reintroduced the Health Over Wealth Act, legislation that would require greater transparency into private equity firms and for-profit companies that own healthcare entities, including hospitals, nursing homes, and mental or behavioral health facilities. The legislation would put safeguards in place to protect workers, patients, and healthcare quality, access, and safety; create stronger accountability measures for corporate greed; and close tax loopholes that benefit real estate investment trusts making money off of healthcare property.

The bill includes a new provision subjecting private equity companies that own suppliers of medical equipment, such as wheelchairs and hospital beds, to transparency requirements. Private equity-owned wheelchair companies are causing dangerously long waits for wheelchair repairs for Massachusetts residents.

“Corporate greed is running rampant in every industry, but it is especially dangerous in healthcare,” said Senator Markey. “When private equity firms put profit over patients, our loved ones are harmed, health workers suffer, and communities are left to clean up the mess. The Steward Health Care crisis in Massachusetts was just one symptom of a larger infection in our healthcare system that allows corporate wealth to come before the public’s health. We need guardrails against reckless corporate greed—and that is exactly what the Health Over Wealth Act provides. I am thankful to my partners, including Congresswoman Jayapal and my Senate colleagues, for their leadership in putting people before profit.”

“For decades, private equity firms have been aggressively acquiring health care entities. That’s all-around bad news for patients as consolidation in the healthcare industry leads to worse health outcomes, less transparency, and sky-high bills. We have a responsibility to protect patients from greedy corporations that are prioritizing their bottom line over patient care. I’m proud to be leading the Health Over Wealth Act with Senator Markey to crack down on private equity ownership in healthcare, increase transparency, close loopholes, and ensure that we are putting patients over corporate profits,” said Congresswoman Jayapal.

The Health Over Wealth Act is cosponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Representatives Chris Deluzio (PA-17), and Yvette Clarke (NY-09).

Specifically, the Health Over Wealth Act would:

Require that private equity-owned healthcare entities—including suppliers of durable medical equipment—publicly report on their debt and executive pay, lobbying and political spending, health care costs for patients and insurance plans, and any reductions in services, wages, or benefits

Require that private equity-owned firms set up escrow accounts to cover five years of expenses to ensure continuation of care in the event of a hospital closure or service reduction

Authorize the Department of Health and Human Services to revoke investment licenses from private equity firms that price gouge, understaff, or create barriers to care

Establish a task force to review the role of private equity and consolidation in healthcare, including how market trends create or exacerbate healthcare disparities

Prohibit private equity firms from stripping assets from healthcare entities or undermining quality, safety, or access to healthcare

Close tax loopholes for real estate investors to disincentivize healthcare entities from selling their property and then paying exorbitant rents to these investors

The legislation is endorsed by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFT: Education, Healthcare, Public Services, Americans for Financial Reform, National Nurses United (NNU), Moral Injury of Healthcare, Private Equity Stakeholder Project, Public Citizen, and United Steelworkers (USW).

Senator Markey has advocated for transparency and accountability for private equity in healthcare in the wake of the Steward hospital crisis, when unconstrained corporate greed led to the collapse of the healthcare system.

In June, Senator Markey wrote to Keith Sonderling, Acting Secretary of the Department of Labor, raising the alarm for a proposed rule that would expose Americans’ retirement savings to greater risk by opening the door to expanded private equity investments in 401(k)s and other retirement plans. This extractive private equity model has led to the collapse of Steward Health Care, hospital closures, and mismanaged nursing homes.

In October 2025, Senator Markey introduced the Stop Medical Profiteering and Theft (MPT) Act, legislation that would put regulatory guardrails in place to protect health systems from predatory leaseback deals with real estate investment trusts (REITs). Steward Health Care declared bankruptcy after being tied to unsustainable rents charged by a REIT, Medical Properties Trust. Many REIT leases include automatic, expensive rent increases that can lead to health systems diverting resources away from patient care to rent payments or, in some cases, bankruptcy.

In September 2024, Senator Markey released his report, “The Steward Health Care Report: How Corporate Greed Hurt Patients, Health Workers, and Communities,” which spotlighted patient and worker experiences, hospital quality data, and information on hospital closures in Massachusetts and around the country due to Steward’s mismanagement. That same month, Senator Markey fought to have the Senate vote to refer Steward Health CEO Ralph de la Torre for criminal contempt, which it did unanimously, for failing to respond to a subpoena issued by the Senate HELP Committee. In September 2025, Senator Markey wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi urging enforcement of the Senate’s criminal contempt referral of Dr. de la Torre.

###",1,2026-07-24T07:30:11Z,2026-07-24T07:31:13Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-blumenthal-wyden-demand-ftc-reject-xs-frivolous-petition-to-evade-privacy-obligations,"Markey, Blumenthal, Wyden Demand FTC Reject X’s Frivolous Petition to Evade Privacy Obligations",2026-07-22,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (July 22, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, along with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today wrote to Andrew Ferguson, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), urging the agency to reject X’s petition to terminate the company’s privacy responsibilities under a 2022 FTC order. The FTC unanimously approved the 2022 order in response to Twitter’s repeated privacy violations, which were well publicized before Elon Musk purchased the company and rebranded it as “X.”

In its petition, X makes the extraordinary claim that rebranding Twitter as X somehow frees the company from the privacy obligations it inherited. Beyond this claim, X’s other arguments — that the order’s compliance is too costly, that the company should be trusted to self-regulate, and that ending the obligations under this order would serve the public interest in the American AI race — are similarly frivolous. The senators therefore call for the Commission to reject X’s self-serving attempt to evade its legal responsibilities.

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “Despite X’s arguments otherwise, the company is no stranger to the 2022 order; it is Twitter’s successor. Although Twitter rebranded as X in 2023, X kept Twitter’s assets, its users, and their data. Notably, the FTC order contemplated such a corporate rebranding. The 2022 order defines ‘Respondent’ to include Twitter’s ‘successors and assigns,’ and its carve-out for genuinely distinct businesses applies only to entities that do not ‘collect, maintain, use, disclose, access, or provide access to’ data that previously enabled Twitter’s services — a condition X plainly does not meet. A name change and new leadership do not undo that legal continuity. If they did, any company could escape an FTC order simply by merging with a new entity or changing its name. The Commission should require X to comply with the 2022 order it inherited.”

The lawmakers continued, “X’s claim that compliance with the 2022 order is too costly rings hollow given the company’s scale and the nature of the obligations it knowingly inherited. X puts the cost of compliance at roughly $17 million over the past four years — or around $4.25 million per year. When Musk bought Twitter in 2022, he valued the company at $44 billion, making those routine compliance costs a fraction of the value assigned to the company just a few years ago. Furthermore, Musk, the company’s owner, is the richest person in the world, with sufficient personal wealth to support the company. More importantly, independent privacy and security oversight is not an optional expense to be cut when it becomes inconvenient. A company cannot earn early release from a privacy order simply by saying that compliance costs money.”

###",1,2026-07-23T07:31:02Z,2026-07-23T07:32:26Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-blunt-rochester-lead-senate-democrats-in-seeking-to-pass-house-bill-designating-haiti-for-temporary-protected-status,"Markey, Blunt Rochester Lead Senate Democrats in Seeking to Pass House Bill Designating Haiti for Temporary Protected Status",2026-07-22,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Watch: Senators Markey, colleagues urge Senate to designate Haiti for TPS

Washington (July 22, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) today led Senate Democrats on the Senate Floor in seeking to pass the House bill that would designate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) blocked its passage.

Senators Markey and Blunt Rochester, along with Representative Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), have been championing Representative Laura Gillen’s (NY-04) House bill H.R. 1689, which passed the House in April.

“For generations, Massachusetts has been shaped by our immigrant communities. We have a moral duty to protect Haitian TPS holders and provide them with a permanent pathway to citizenship. I am utterly disappointed that Republicans blocked passage of the bill I introduced with Senator Blunt Rochester to designate Haiti for TPS until after the next presidential election. Haitian TPS holders deserve the stability of preserving their status, the dignity to live without fear, and the security of not being returned to danger. I will not stop in my fight to protect the Haitian TPS community,” said Senator Markey.

“The Trump Administration’s attempt to uproot Haitian TPS holders and send them back to a country in complete chaos is as cruel as it is harmful to our communities. TPS was created to give people fleeing unrest in their home countries a safe place to call home - born out of the American spirit of welcoming immigrants seeking a better life,” said Senator Blunt Rochester. “It’s time for Congress to step in, stand up for the core values that built America, and extend TPS for Haitian immigrants.”

Senator Markey has worked consistently to protect TPS for Haiti and support the Haitian community in Massachusetts amid the Trump administration’s attacks on TPS and Haitians.

On June 25, after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for Haiti and Syria in the consolidated case, Mullin v. Doe, Senator Markey, alongside Representatives Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) held a press conference outside the Court denouncing the decision.

In April 2026, Senator Markey, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, and Congresswoman Pressley led 26 Senators and 157 Representatives in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Miot v. Trump, a consolidated case challenging the Trump administration’s unlawful termination of Haiti and Syria TPS.

In September 2025, Senator Markey led an amicus brief in Miot v. Trump, the companion case to Mullin v. Doe, when the case was before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In February 2026, Senator Markey applauded the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s decision to pause the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for Haiti, which was set to expire on February 3.

In March, Senator Markey welcomed the D.C. Circuit’s ruling blocking the Trump administration from immediately terminating TPS for Haiti.

In January, Senator Markey and Rep. Pressley held a field hearing at Jubilee Christian Church in Mattapan to highlight the importance of extending TPS for Haiti. The lawmakers heard from panels of individuals, advocates, and community leaders impacted by the Trump administration’s decision to end Haiti TPS.

###",1,2026-07-23T07:31:02Z,2026-07-23T07:32:26Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-decries-trump-saudi-nuclear-deal-irresponsible-and-dangerous,Markey Decries Trump-Saudi Nuclear Deal: “Irresponsible and Dangerous”,2026-07-22,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Senator Rubio was against Saudi nuclear deal before Secretary Rubio was for it

Washington (July 22, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), co-chair of the bicameral Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, today released the following statement on Trump’s deal with Saudi Arabia that would open the door to providing the Kingdom with the most sensitive nuclear technologies without requiring the most stringent safeguards against the development of nuclear weapons.

“As a Senator, Secretary Rubio was among the loudest voices warning about the dangers of giving Saudi Arabia, which has openly vowed to develop nuclear weapons, access to nuclear technology. Now, Secretary Rubio and President Trump risk the security of the United States and its allies in the Middle East by potentially enabling nuclear proliferation in Saudi Arabia and igniting an arms race in the region. Let us be clear: allowing Saudi Arabia to develop nuclear weapons would be irresponsible and dangerous.

“Since the start of his second term, President Trump has launched two illegal attacks against Iran, in part to prevent Tehran from enriching uranium. Ironically, the administration is now opening the door for Saudi Arabia to gain access to that same technology. The Trump administration has needlessly abandoned the ‘Gold Standard,’ which would ban enrichment and reprocessing and require International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) additional protocol safeguards.

“Trump’s and Secretary Rubio’s hypocrisy is matched only by their recklessness. They are allowing Saudi Arabia, a belligerent and authoritarian nation, to develop nuclear weapons technologies while starting a war with Iran under the guise of preventing an Iranian nuclear bomb. This deal would make us all less safe. We must stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons.”

As a founder of the national Nuclear Freeze movement, Senator Markey has long been the Congressional leader on ending the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

On March 25, Senators Markey and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) reintroduced the No Nuclear Weapons for Saudi Arabia Act, legislation that would mandate that any nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia can go into effect only if it receives the affirmative vote of Congress.

On March 18, Senator Markey led his colleagues in writing to Secretary Rubio demanding the Trump administration must meet the “gold standard” of nuclear non-proliferation protections by denying Saudi Arabia the means to produce weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, materials that could be used in a nuclear bomb.

In January, Senator Markey wrote to President Trump urging the strongest possible non-proliferation measures in any revised nuclear cooperation agreement with South Korea.

In November 2025, Senator Markey and Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging the Trump administration to include the strongest possible “gold standard” nonproliferation measures in any nuclear cooperation agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to foreclose any pathway to a nuclear weapon.

In July 2025, Senator Markey introduced the Senate companion to H.Res.317, urging the United States to lead the world in halting the nuclear arms race.

In November 2024, Senator Markey wrote to the Biden administration seeking answers about any agreement that would normalize relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Israel in exchange for civil nuclear energy cooperation and a U.S. defense commitment to the Kingdom.

As far back as 2017, Senator Markey pressed the first Trump administration on the status of all current and ongoing discussions between the United States and other countries, including Saudi Arabia, on 123 agreements after it was reported that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was peddling a plan to build nuclear reactors throughout the Middle East.

###",1,2026-07-23T07:31:02Z,2026-07-23T07:32:26Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/momentum-builds-for-senator-markeys-legislation-to-protect-kids-from-ai-chatbots,Momentum Builds for Senator Markey’s Legislation to Protect Kids from AI Chatbots,2026-07-21,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF) | One-Pager (PDF)

Washington (July 21, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today announced new support for his Youth AI Privacy Act, legislation that would require artificial intelligence (AI) companies to implement privacy safeguards in their AI chatbots. Senator Markey introduced the legislation in March 2026.

In 2025, approximately two-thirds of teenagers reported using AI chatbots, and roughly a quarter reported using them daily. In a tragic case, a teenager died by suicide after encouragement or advice from an AI chatbot.

The following organizations are endorsing the Youth AI Privacy Act: Fairplay, Consumer Federation of America (CFA), Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Common Sense Media, Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), Public Knowledge, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Becca Schmill Foundation, Issue One, Jewish Family and Children’s Services, Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology, Mothers Against Media Addiction, (MAMA), The Tech Oversight Project, InnovateEDU, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), Transparency Coalition, The National Decency Coalition, All Girls Allowed, The Alliance for Secure AI.

“The new support for my Youth AI Privacy Act sends a clear message to Big Tech: stop exploiting kids through manipulative AI chatbots,” said Senator Markey. “Parents, kids, and families across the country are rightfully demanding strong protections against AI chatbots. My Youth AI Privacy Act answers that call by prohibiting AI companies from using invasive and manipulative design tricks that exploit young people’s emotions and foster dependency on AI chatbots. I look forward to working with my Senate Commerce Committee colleagues to advance this legislation.”

“The Becca Schmill Foundation is proud to endorse Senator Markey's Youth AI Privacy Act. Children and teens deserve strong protections in the age of AI. At a time when young people continue to face growing risks to their privacy and safety, this legislation provides urgently needed safeguards and accountability. We applaud Senator Markey's leadership and urge Congress to pass the Youth AI Privacy Act to help ensure that young people’s rights and well-being come first,” said Deb Schmill, mother of Becca Schmill, forever 18, Founder of the Becca Schmill Foundation.

“AI technology without appropriate safeguards poses a major threat to our children’s mental and physical well-being. We’ve seen far too many young people manipulated, traumatized, or even driven to self-harm or suicide by AI chatbots,” said Julie Scelfo, Founder and Executive Director of Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA). “The Youth AI Privacy Act, which would require AI chatbot companies to incorporate strong privacy and safety features in their products before allowing kids to use them, is a major step in the right direction to keep our children safe online. MAMA members nationwide applaud Senator Markey's commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of America’s children and families and urge the Senate to quickly pass this critical bill.”

“Big Tech turned social media into a machine for harming kids, and now it's doing the same with AI chatbots: mining children’s conversations for data to monetize, profiling their behavior, and designing features to keep them hooked. Senator Markey's bill draws a line in the sand: if you want to put a chatbot in front of a kid, you need to prove you built it safely first. Big Tech companies had every chance to build safe products on their own, but they chose profits instead. Kids have already died because AI products were rushed out without guardrails. Congress waited too long on social media – with the Youth AI Privacy Act, it has the chance to learn from that mistake. Acting now will save lives,” said Sacha Haworth, Executive Director of The Tech Oversight Project.

“AI chatbots are designed to capture children's attention and profit from their most personal disclosures. Chatbots use manipulative features like push alerts and simulated companionship to keep kids engaged and their data flowing to advertisers and training pipelines. The Youth AI Privacy Act confronts those problems directly: it bars advertising aimed at minors, blocks the use of their data to train chatbot models, and eliminates the addictive design features engineered to maximize compulsive use. This bill takes the most durable path to protecting young people by targeting how these products are built and how children's data is used. It is the model the Senate should advance and build on,” said Brendan Steinhauser, CEO of The Alliance for Secure AI.

“As AI chatbots become a fixture in kids’ everyday lives, we must protect their privacy with strong rules governing how their data is collected and used,” said Amina Fazlullah, head of tech policy at the national non-profit Common Sense Media. “The Youth AI Privacy Act does just that. Our own research has identified troubling AI data manipulation features. For example, we found that AI systems’ memory features can focus on the most concerning parts of a conversation — like disordered eating or self-harm — and raise them repeatedly. This keeps kids trapped in cycles of harmful thinking, while AI-enabled devices marketed to children collect voice recordings, transcripts, and behavioral data with little transparency about how they are used. This new bill is the strongest approach we've seen yet to protect minors’ data from AI tools, by locking down how it can be collected, used, and monetized. It covers everything from banning targeted ads to prohibiting companies from training on kids’ personal data. No single bill will solve every risk AI chatbots pose, but this bill offers a serious and substantive step toward putting real limits on the tech industry’s pursuit of engagement at the cost of our kids’ well-being. We urge Congress to move it forward.”

“Artificial intelligence has incredible potential, but it should never come at the expense of young people’s safety. Too many teens are turning to AI chatbots during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives, often without understanding how these systems are designed or how their personal information may be used. The Youth AI Privacy Act takes a common-sense approach by ensuring that companies put children’s well-being ahead of engagement metrics and profit. As a young person who has struggled with suicidal ideation and as a mental health advocate, I’m proud to support legislation that recognizes innovation and youth protection must go hand in hand. Thank you to Senator Markey for putting this bill forward and prioritizing lives over profit,” said Ayaan Moledina, Federal Policy Director for Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT).

“For too long, technology companies have treated children's data as a product rather than recognizing it for what it is: highly sensitive information that deserves protection,” said Kara Williams, Counsel at EPIC. “The Youth AI Privacy Act sets long-overdue limits on the collection, use, and transfer of minors’ data and rejects business models that depend on profiling and exploiting young people. EPIC is proud to stand with Senator Markey and endorse this bill as an important step toward stronger privacy protections for children.”

“With the Youth AI Privacy Act, Sen. Markey is meeting the moment and giving families legislation they badly need. Parents and caregivers deserve real accountability from chatbot companies, and this bill provides that through robust privacy and safety-by-design requirements. Fairplay thanks Sen. Markey for his leadership in taking on one of the biggest threats to young people's safety and well-being today, and we call on his colleagues in the Senate to advance the Youth AI Privacy Act with the urgency this issue demands,” said Brendan Bouffard, Staff Attorney at Fairplay.

“The Youth AI Privacy Act is the right approach to protecting minor users of AI chatbots. Limiting how chatbots use children’s data and safeguarding against manipulative design features address both what companies do with children's data and how they build products to exploit young users’ attention – without resorting to invasive age verification or content restrictions that put free expression at risk. Public Knowledge welcomes the opportunity to work with Senator Markey on this bill,” said Morgan Wilsmann, Policy Analyst at Public Knowledge.

“Pope Leo XIV recently wrote, ‘Far-sighted public policies are needed to oppose the immediate interests of platforms, concentrated in a few hands, when they conflict with the wellbeing of minors’ (Magnifica humanitas 142). The Youth AI Privacy Act will help keep our children safe by implementing such far-sighted policies that protect the privacy and mental health of our children. We hope that Congress will pass this common-sense bill as part of any child safety legislative package,” said Fr. Chris Kellerman at SJ, Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology.

“Jewish Family and Children’s Services in the San Franisco Bay Area is proud support the Youth AI Privacy Act and we commend Senator Markey for his leadership and commonsense approach to the issue. This bill focuses squarely on the harms to children shown in research and law to have occurred on social media, and prevents us from repeating them on AI platforms. By directly targeting data privacy as well as manipulative and addictive features, with annual research funding, the Youth AI Privacy Act addresses these harms at their root and ensures that we understand how they evolve in the AI age,” said Jeff Weiner, Director of Public Policy at Jewish Family and Children’s Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.

Emerging evidence clearly suggests that minors are especially vulnerable to the harms of AI chatbots, particularly as companies introduce increasingly manipulative design features and rely on large amounts of children’s personal data. The Youth AI Privacy Act would set new privacy standards for these systems, curb the business incentives that drive harmful design choices, and address the ways Big Tech has engineered chatbots to encourage compulsive use among young people.

The Youth AI Privacy Act would establish:

Safe Design Features

Disclosure Requirements: AI chatbots must provide clear, repeated notices to minors that the AI chatbot is not a human.

Memory Restrictions: AI chatbots may only use recently collected data in personalizing responses to a minor. AI chatbots may not use any other data in delivering a response to the minor.

Addictive Features Limitations: AI chatbots cannot include any features that encourage minors’ usage of or time spent on the AI chatbot, such as push alerts.

Privacy Safeguards

Advertising Ban: AI chatbots cannot display advertisements to minors.

Prohibition on Training Models on Minors’ Personal Data: AI chatbot companies cannot use minors’ personal data to train an AI chatbot.

Profiling: AI chatbots cannot use minors’ personal data to profile a user.

Prohibition on Repurposing Minors’ Inputs: Companies cannot use minors’ AI chatbot inputs for any reason except to provide an output to the minor or to address safety issues in the AI chatbot.

Enforcement: The Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general, and private plaintiffs are authorized to enforce the legislation.

Senator Markey continues to demand transparency from AI companies about their deployment of AI chatbots. In January, Senator Markey wrote to seven major tech companies—OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Snap Inc., and xAI—urging details on how the companies will protect their users from manipulation and exploitation if the companies plan to integrate advertising into their AI chatbots.

###",1,2026-07-22T07:34:13Z,2026-07-22T07:35:16Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-calls-for-comprehensive-plan-to-combat-health-environmental-economic-effects-of-wildfires,"Markey Calls for Comprehensive Plan to Combat Health, Environmental, Economic Effects of Wildfires",2026-07-18,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Boston (July 18, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, today sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin and Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Doug Burgum, urging the agencies to respond to any requests for immediate fire assistance and develop a longer-term plan, in coordination with Canada, to manage the increasingly frequent and severe cross-border wildfire smoke events. Senator Markey expressed concerns about the lack of planning amidst the ongoing U.S.-Canada cross-border emergency that has prompted air quality alerts, public health harm, and economic losses across the Midwest and Eastern Seaboard of the United States.

Senator Markey wrote, “Despite this ongoing emergency and a growing pattern of large-scale U.S.-Canada wildfire smoke events in recent years, there has been little public coordinated activity from the administration to combat this crisis and no indication that the federal government is working to improve its ability to address future cross-border wildfire smoke incidents. In fact, the central federal message so far has been President Trump’s announcement that he will add the cost of wildfire pollution to the tariffs that he wishes to assess on Canada.”

Senator Markey continued, “Like the climate crisis, the wildfire crisis is a shared crisis. It does not respect national boundaries, and our response cannot stop at our border. We must have a federal government that responds to crises effectively and quickly, invests in institutions that can match the evolving scale of climate change and its impacts, and work together with our neighbors – not against them – to ensure our mutual health and wellbeing.”

In his letter, Senator Markey asked that the administration respond to any requests for assistance that have been made by the Government of Canada or its Provincial/Territorial Governments through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) to the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC). He also asked the administration to add PM2.5, the major air pollutant caused by wildfires, to the Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement, which has served as an effective cooperative instrument in managing transboundary air pollution.

Wildfires are becoming larger and more severe as a result of climate change. Senator Markey has been a champion for climate mitigation and adaptation, as the initial sponsor of the Green New Deal and the author of the Preventing HEAT Illness and Deaths Act. He has also fought to strengthen federal air quality laws and secure additional funding for air quality monitoring, with his Environmental Justice Air Quality Monitoring Act receiving $3 million in funding for hyper-local air pollution monitors through the Inflation Reduction Act.

###",1,2026-07-19T07:26:21Z,2026-07-19T07:27:48Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-makes-unscheduled-oversight-visit-to-maine-ice-field-office-following-fatal-shooting-leaves-with-more-alarming-questions-than-answers,"Markey Makes Unscheduled Oversight Visit to Maine ICE Field Office Following Fatal Shooting, Leaves with More Alarming Questions Than Answers",2026-07-17,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Boston (July 17, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today released the following statement after conducting an official unscheduled oversight visit at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) field office in Scarborough, Maine, where he demanded answers about the recent, nearby shooting and killing of 26-year-old Johan Sebastián Guerrero by an ICE officer.

“The officer who shot Johan Guerrero works out of this office, and it’s completely unacceptable that ICE has withheld from the public the details surrounding his murder,” said Senator Markey. “I was also informed that the office does not have body cameras for its officers, despite ICE having already received billions of dollars more in funding from Trump and Republicans just this year. There is no excuse for the lack of documentation and accountability around Johan Guerrero’s death despite the extraordinary amount of money that Trump and his Republican allies have given to ICE.”

“ICE is terrorizing people, from children and parents on their way to school drop-off, to workers and small business owners at their places of work. We need to get ICE off our streets and out of our communities. It’s long past time we abolish ICE.”

Yesterday, Senator Markey and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to the ICE Boston Field Office in Burlington, Massachusetts, demanding a full, transparent, and independent accounting of this killing, given the office’s direct jurisdiction over enforcement operations in Maine and New England.

In January 2026, Senator Markey wrote to the ICE Boston Field Office, demanding answers about conditions at the field office in Burlington, Massachusetts, and the conduct of ICE agents in the Commonwealth. This letter followed Senator Markey’s previous December letter, raising concerns about the cruel conditions at the Burlington field office.

Senator Markey and Representative Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) have introduced the Qualified Immunity Abolition Act of 2026, which would grant victims the right to sue federal law enforcement officers—not just state and local officials—for civil rights violations and would abolish the defense of qualified immunity in these suits. The legislation would help deliver accountability for families victimized by law enforcement, including ICE agents.

###",1,2026-07-18T06:58:50Z,2026-07-18T07:00:34Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-warren-demand-answers-from-burlington-ice-field-office-following-fatal-shooting-in-maine,"Senators Markey, Warren Demand Answers from Burlington ICE Field Office Following Fatal Shooting in Maine",2026-07-16,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (July 16, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today wrote to David Wesling, Acting Field Office Director for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Boston Field Office, following an ICE agent’s killing of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old man, in Biddeford, Maine earlier this week. This is the second fatal shooting by ICE in less than a week—the other being the July 7 fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Texas—and it follows a string of other tragic and preventable deaths at the hands of ICE agents in recent months. Given the Burlington Field Office’s direct jurisdiction over enforcement operations in Maine and New England, the senators demand a full, transparent, and independent accounting of this killing.

In the letter, the senators wrote, “The killings of both Mr. Guerrero and Mr. Araujo reflect a disturbing pattern: warrantless, aggressive, and indiscriminate ICE enforcement operations ending in the loss of life. In the last few days, ICE has sharply escalated enforcement activity nationwide. Over a five-day span in late June, ICE agents made more than 10,000 arrests nationwide, roughly 2,000 per day, following the White House’s request for increased arrests. In Massachusetts, this surge has hit hard: ICE has been detaining people at ICE check-ins and biometrics appointments, in the street and at traffic stops, triggering alarm from immigrant advocates who report increased detentions of individuals, including many without criminal history. Meanwhile, in Maine, ICE activity has continued even after the January enforcement surge which ICE dubbed ‘Operation Catch of the Day.’ The incursion of ICE into our cities and the drastic uptick in enforcement have heightened the risk of volatile and harmful encounters, making our communities less safe.”

In both Mr. Araujo and Mr. Guerrero’s cases, DHS confirmed that the victims were not the target of ICE’s operations and that agents were not wearing body cameras. These cases, taken together, illustrate that the Biddeford shooting was not an aberration but part of a broader, escalating pattern of force that demands immediate scrutiny and reform.

The senators requested answers by July 30, 2026, to questions including:

What was the Burlington Field Office’s specific role in planning, overseeing, or authorizing the Biddeford operation?

Why were the ICE officers in the Biddeford operation not equipped with body-worn cameras?

Has the ICE officer who shot Mr. Guerrero been involved in any prior use-of-force incidents?

What are the current use-of-force policies for vehicle stops? Were these policies followed in the Biddeford shooting?

Did the ICE officers involved in the Biddeford shooting receive any training with respect to vehicle stops?

What reforms does the Burlington Field Office plan to implement to prevent fatal shootings by its ICE officers?

What communications occurred between the Boston Field Office and DHS headquarters regarding the pace and intensity of enforcement operations in New England in the weeks before the shooting, given the reported nationwide arrest surge?

Senator Markey is leading efforts to hold ICE and DHS accountable for their violations of Americans’ First Amendment rights, including their weaponization of surveillance technologies against peaceful protestors, immigrants, and American citizens.

On July 1, Senator Markey and Rep. Max Frost (FL-10) wrote to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and David Venturella, Senior Official Performing Duties of the Director for ICE, renewing their calls for a clear answer on whether ICE has created a database to track protesters. In responses to separate letters that Senator Markey and Rep. Frost sent to DHS and ICE in February, the agency evaded the lawmakers’ questions about whether ICE maintains a database of protesters.

In May, Senator Markey and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) led their colleagues in a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin demanding the agency abandon its dangerous proposal, included in DHS’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2027, to develop “smart glasses” for its immigration officers.

In February, Senator Markey, along with Senator Merkley, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), introduced the ICE Out of Our Faces Act, bicameral legislation that would ban ICE and CBP from acquiring and using facial recognition technology (FRT) and other biometric identification systems.

Also in February, Senator Markey wrote to ICE’s Acting Director Todd Lyons demanding that Lyons immediately confirm or deny reports that the agency is maintaining a so-called “domestic terrorists” database to track individuals protesting ICE activities.

In January, Senator Markey wrote to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Boston Acting Field Office Director David Wesling, demanding answers about conditions at the ICE field office in Burlington, Massachusetts, and the conduct of ICE agents in the Commonwealth. This letter followed Senator Markey’s previous December letter to Acting Director Wesling, raising concerns about the cruel conditions at the Burlington field office.

In November 2025, Senator Markey wrote to CBP Commissioner Rodney S. Scott, urging the agency to immediately cease using a system of license plate readers (LPRs) and predictive algorithms to monitor the movements of individual Americans. CBP is reportedly using the system to “identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.”

Also in November, Senator Markey led his colleagues in requesting that ICE cease the use of their biometric phone application known as Mobile Fortify following a previous unanswered request.

In September 2025, Senators Markey and Merkley wrote to ICE’s Acting Director Todd Lyons, demanding that ICE cease use of Mobile Fortify and requesting detailed information about its policies and practices surrounding the use of biometric technology.

In July 2025, Senator Markey, along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Schiff (D-Calif.), sent a letter to then-Secretary of DHS Kristi Noem on the DHS’s usage of Predator drones and aerial surveillance against peaceful protesters in Los Angeles. In the letter, the senators raised concerns about the threat to the protesters’ privacy and their constitutional rights that are guaranteed by the First Amendment.

###",1,2026-07-17T07:15:58Z,2026-07-17T07:17:05Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-celebrates-senate-passage-of-his-caring-for-caregivers-agenda-provisions,Senator Markey Celebrates Senate Passage of His “Caring for Caregivers” Agenda Provisions,2026-07-15,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (July 15, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, applauded the Senate’s unanimous passage of the Older Americans Act (OAA) Reauthorization Act, which included provisions from the Senator’s “Caring for Caregivers” agenda and other bills to weatherize and improve the air quality of older Americans’ homes, improve caregiver assessments used to identify barriers to resources, expand family caregiver supports such as respite care and peer support, and promote medically tailored meals and other Food is Medicine interventions.

“The work of family caregivers is personal to me. When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, my father cared for her in our home in Malden for thirteen years,” said Senator Markey. “My provisions to expand family caregivers’ access to peer and respite care, increase access to medically tailored meals, and weatherize older Americans’ homes are the types of supports I wish my father had. I’m proud to have the full support of the Senate in advancing this legislation, and I’ll continue working to make these programs a reality for the millions of caretakers in this country.”

Senator Markey’s provisions in the OAA Reauthorization Act include:

Allowing home modification funding to be used for weatherization projects, based on his Home Modifications for the Climate Crisis Act.

Improving the air quality of older Americans’ homes and residences, based on his Home Modifications for the Climate Crisis Act.

Amending caregiver assessments under the National Family Caregiver Support Program to improve the accessibility, quality of information, supports, and services, available to caregivers, based on his Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers (ABC) Act.

Including peer support as an eligible supportive service for family caregivers, based on his Family Caregiver Peer Support Act.

Including respite care as an eligible supportive service to promote convenience and accessibility for family caregivers to older adults who need long-term care, including individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, based on his Respite Care and Resources for Everyone (CARE) Act and the Convenient Care for Caregivers Act.

Promoting the use of innovative nutrition interventions, including medically tailored meals, based on his Disease Intervention through Nutrition Education (DINE) Act.

In November 2025, Senator Markey reintroduced the “Caring for Caregivers” legislative agenda, a comprehensive family caregiving package that calls for the economic security, support, and health and wellbeing of family caregivers and their loved ones. In April 2026, Senator Markey introduced a package of legislation during Earth Week, including bills to protect seniors by enabling safer and more resilient homes.

###",1,2026-07-16T07:21:44Z,2026-07-16T07:23:13Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-warren-secure-key-wins-for-massachusetts-in-water-infrastructure-bill,"Senators Markey, Warren Secure Key Wins for Massachusetts in Water Infrastructure Bill",2026-07-15,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Water Resources Development Act passes through Senate Environment and Public Works Committee

Washington (July 15, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today celebrated the favorable committee vote on the Water Resources Development Act of 2026 (S. 4949), which included key priorities from the senators to support water infrastructure projects in Massachusetts, authorize billions of dollars in funding for clean and drinking water infrastructure, and authorize millions in grant funding for water system emergencies.

“Improving our water infrastructure will bring down costs for families, prevent future wastewater emergencies, and better equip Massachusetts for the climate crisis,” said Senator Markey. “This legislation delivers cleaner, safer, more reliable water infrastructure from Haverhill to North Adams, and across the nation.”

The senators secured several crucial victories for Massachusetts. The legislation:

Ensures the Army Corps moves forward with the Hoosic River flood risk feasibility study and uses criteria that better account for the project’s economic, safety, and environmental benefits. This provision is an important step toward securing Army Corps support for future flood risk mitigation work in North Adams.

Increases the authorization for the Army Corps to assist with wastewater infrastructure improvements in Haverhill following the wastewater emergency along the Merrimack River.

Expedites the City of Boston’s coastal storm risk management project by allowing the project to move forward without having to meet overly burdensome planning requirements; authorizes new feasibility studies to evaluate solutions to prevent flood risk in Chelsea, Everett, the Charles River, the Chase Garden Creek, Attleboro, Woburn, Fitchburg, Hadley, and the Boston Harbor.

Authorizes dredging in the Essex and Ipswich Rivers to remove contamination and improve the navigability.

Authorizes the Congressionally Directed Spending projects for the Army Corps to assist towns with improving wastewater treatment facilities, desalination plants, and sewage infrastructure in Holyoke, Greenfield, Somerset, and Swansea.

The senators also fought for and secured several crucial legislative victories, including:

$30 million in authorized funding for the Safe Drinking Water Act emergency grant program, as called for in the Senators’ Water Emergency and Technical Assistance Act (S. 4980), which can help provide immediate funding in the event of water system emergencies.

More than $30 billion in authorized funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.

The reauthorization of the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants Program at current levels of $280 million.

The reauthorization of the Reducing Lead in Drinking Water Grant Program at $100 million a year.

Reauthorizations of the Voluntary School and Child Care Lead Testing and Reduction Program, the Innovative Water Workforce Program, and the Emergency Filter Response Programs.

The legislation also includes Senator Markey’s Water Intelligence, Security, and Cyber Threat Protection Act (S. 1118), legislation that would provide funding for clean water and wastewater utilities to become members of the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC). The WaterISAC is a critical source of information and best practices for water systems to protect against, mitigate, and respond to cyber threats.

Senator Markey has long worked to ensure bipartisan water resource and infrastructure legislation includes investments for Massachusetts. In 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, included Senator Markey’s provisions to increase funding for the federal assistance for the Small and Disadvantaged Communities Program to $510 million over five years, supporting the program’s efforts in guaranteeing clean drinking water in frontline communities, and to expand an existing grant program so that more municipalities could access federal funds to help develop systems to notify residents of sewer overflows. In the 2024 WRDA legislation, Senators Markey and Warren secured authorizations for projects in Haverhill, Oak Bluffs, Easthampton, Lowell, and Sandwich. Similarly, in the 2022 WRDA legislation, the senators secured project authorizations for communities including North Attleboro, Chelsea Creek, North Adams, the North Shore, Wellfleet, Truro, Sandwich and Chatham.

###",1,2026-07-16T07:21:44Z,2026-07-16T07:23:13Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sen-markey-reps-garcia-and-fitzpatrick-reintroduce-legislation-to-strengthen-supports-for-airport-service-workers,"Sen. Markey, Reps. García and Fitzpatrick Reintroduce Legislation to Strengthen Supports for Airport Service Workers",2026-07-14,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (July 14, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and Representatives Chuy García (IL-04) and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) today reintroduced the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act, legislation that would improve wages and working conditions for airport service workers. The legislation would also support working families and help stabilize the air travel industry as airlines pocket record profits while airport service workers remain stuck at minimum wage.

“These workers serve through extreme temperatures, holiday travel surges, and even pandemics — yet too many still struggle with low pay, unaffordable care, and rising costs,” said Senator Markey. “Because airports are the gateway to the world for travelers, they must also be the gateway to stable, middle-class jobs for workers. I am proud to partner with Congressmen Garcia and Fitzpatrick to lead this bipartisan, pro-worker legislation.”

“America’s airports support millions of jobs and move hundreds of millions of travelers each year. While U.S. airlines generated $6 billion in profit last year, airport frontline workers, who are predominantly Latino, Black and immigrant, are barely making ends meet. In fact 7 per cent of them live under the poverty level,” said Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García. “The Good Jobs for Good Airports Act, seeks to ensure airport workers, who make our air travel possible, get the dignity and compensation they deserve for their hard work.”

“Airport workers keep millions of Americans moving every day—and a job that keeps America moving should be a job that lets a family get ahead. The Good Jobs for Good Airports Act will raise wages, strengthen benefits, and ensure these workers finally receive the dignity and respect they’ve earned. It’s past time Congress made sure good jobs take off at every airport in America,” said Senator Schumer.

“Airport service workers are entrusted every day with the safety, order, and reliability of one of the most complex transportation systems in the world. We cannot ask them to carry that responsibility while denying them the economic security that comes with fair wages and meaningful benefits. The Good Jobs for Good Airports Act establishes one clear principle: the value of the work does not change because a job is outsourced or a different contractor signs the paycheck. By investing in the people who keep our airports moving, we strengthen the entire aviation system—and uphold our obligation to the workers, families, and travelers who depend upon it,” said Congressman Fitzpatrick.

The legislation is cosponsored in the Senate by Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

“It’s a no-brainer that we should be paying our airport service workers fairly for all they do to keep our transportation systems safe and running. I’m fighting hard alongside Senator Markey to make sure airport workers finally get the compensation they deserve, which will make our infrastructure even stronger in Massachusetts and across the country,” said Senator Warren.

“Our airports – and the workers that keep them running – are critical to our economy, moving millions of people and goods throughout our country every day. It’s past time these workers see the pay, benefits, and working conditions that they deserve. I am proud to fight for the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act, legislation to provide improved wages, benefits, and labor standards to this vital workforce,” said Senator Van Hollen.

“Georgia’s airports connect tens of millions of travelers to the state’s incredible history, culture, and businesses,” said Senator Warnock. “This is only possible because of the airport service workers who keep our aviation system running. Our legislation is an important step toward ensuring these workers receive the support and compensation they have earned.”

“Providing airport workers with fair compensation and protections is long overdue,” said Senator Blumenthal. “Airlines have consolidated power and raked in profits while airport service workers struggle to make ends meet. The Good Jobs for Good Airports Act will deliver the fair pay and benefits these critical workers who keep our country moving deserve.”

“Every Arizonan deserves to be fairly compensated for their hard work, including the men and women who keep our airports running smoothly,” said Senator Gallego. “The Good Jobs for Good Airports Act invests in airports that invest in their workers, ensuring airports are economic hubs not just for travels, but for the communities they’re located in. I’m proud to help reintroduce this legislation.”

“Every day, thousands of airport workers get passengers to their next destination, but many don’t make enough to cover their basic needs. The Good Jobs for Good Airports Act will make sure federal investments in our nation’s airports also support the workers who keep them running,” said Senator Murphy.

“I've given years of my life to this airport, keeping planes clean and passengers safe — and I still can't afford to take my kids to the doctor,” said Nicole Ray, a wheelchair agent at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. “Something is deeply wrong when the airlines I serve are posting record profits while I'm choosing between groceries and medicine. It’s time for Congress to decide whose side they’re on and pass the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act.”

“Every day, airport service workers keep our country moving. They do the essential work that keeps our airports safe, our aviation system running, and millions of travelers connected. Airport service workers deserve more than our thanks, they deserve good jobs that provide dignity, security, and the opportunity to build a better life,” said April Verrett, President of SEIU. “The Good Jobs for Good Airports Act is about recognizing the value of that work. Congress should stand with the workers who keep our airports running and pass this legislation. When we invest in working people, we build a stronger economy and a stronger nation.”

“Our tax dollars continue to be invested in the expansion and improvement of the nation’s airports. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act committed billions for airports, with the final $2.9 billion invested this year. However, airports are not just buildings with tarmacs and airplanes: a successful airport depends on its workers. Despite this, there are UNITE HERE members working in airport concessions and airline catering who are struggling to make ends meet. Some of them work multiple jobs and with no healthcare. Our investments must support a healthy workforce and offer wages that lift workers out of poverty — the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act would set a fair national standard for wages and benefits for airport workers across the United States,” said Gwen Mills, President of UNITE HERE.

“Airline passenger service agents are on the frontlines of the airline industry in our nation’s airports – ticketing and boarding passengers, loading and unloading baggage and performing other essential services. Despite their indispensable role in keeping air travel efficient and the flying public safe, they are underpaid and overworked. The Good Jobs for Good Airports Act is a long overdue step towards closing wage and benefit disparities that will allow essential airport employees to live and work with dignity,” said Claude Cummings Jr., President of the Communications Workers of America (CWA).

The Good Jobs for Good Airports Act is endorsed by SEIU, UNITE HERE and CWA.

###",1,2026-07-15T07:12:08Z,2026-07-15T07:13:45Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-statement-on-the-wrongful-detention-of-dr-youlin-chen,Senator Markey Statement on the Wrongful Detention of Dr. Youlin Chen,2026-07-14,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (July 14, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement on the detention of Massachusetts resident and academic Dr. Youlin Chen by the Chinese government.

“The wrongful detainment of innocent civilians is never justifiable. It is a morally bankrupt tool that authoritarian governments use to sidestep the rule of law, often in service of political wins and always at the devastating expense of civilian lives.

“My constituent, Dr. Youlin Chen, is one of those civilians. Dr. Chen has been wrongfully detained by the Chinese government since November 2024. He is a prominent seismologist who has worked collaboratively with Chinese seismologists for years, and his work is highly respected. He has never held a security clearance, and his work is transparent, academic in nature, and publicly reported and attributed. As academics and researchers from the United States and China have long collaborated to the mutual benefit of our countries, the treatment of Dr. Chen has undermined that partnership and may deter other academics from engaging with their colleagues in China.

“To be very clear, Dr. Chen has not been convicted of a crime. Dr. Chen has been held in pre-trial detention since his arrest and did not have access to his lawyer for 434 days. He has also not spoken to his family since his arrest. I am deeply concerned about Dr. Chen’s safety and well-being.

“I have been working closely with Dr. Chen’s family since his arrest. I urged Secretary Marco Rubio more than once to designate Dr. Chen as wrongfully detained under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. I am glad this designation has finally been made. I have personally engaged with Ambassador Xie Feng on Dr. Chen’s case and urged him to work with his colleagues in Beijing to secure Dr. Chen’s release. I will continue to do everything within my power to advocate for Dr. Chen’s immediate release.

“Wrongful detainment is a cowardly practice with no winners. Today and every day, the United States must condemn governments and organizations that perpetrate this crime and work hard on behalf of U.S. citizens and families who have fallen victim. I applaud the courage of Dr. Chen’s family for making this difficult decision to go public. It is my hope that increased attention on his unjust detention will force the Chinese government to do the right thing and release Dr. Chen and allow him to return to his family in Massachusetts.

“I am praying for Dr. Youlin Chen and his family today.”

###",1,2026-07-15T07:12:08Z,2026-07-15T07:13:45Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sens-markey-and-warren-rep-trahan-introduce-legislation-to-provide-grants-for-local-water-infrastructure-emergencies,"Sens. Markey and Warren, Rep. Trahan Introduce Legislation to Provide Grants for Local Water Infrastructure Emergencies",2026-07-14,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (July 14, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) today introduced the Water Emergency and Technical Assistance Act, legislation to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize emergency assistance and grants for clean water and drinking water infrastructure. When severe rainstorms this July caused a sewer pipe to break in Haverhill, Massachusetts, millions of gallons of untreated wastewater flowed into the Merrimack River, endangering public safety and resulting in economic losses from beach and fisheries closures. This legislation would provide technical and financial support to water treatment facilities during emergency situations in order to prevent and mitigate threats to public health, such as exposure to contaminants.

“Water system emergencies spell disaster for their communities—they’re expensive, bad for business, and dangerous to public health. Our communities deserve clean water and quick access to support in response to emergency situations that put their health and economies in danger,” said Senators Markey and Warren. “The federal government should be able to provide emergency grants for emergency situations. This legislation would authorize grants for clean water and drinking water, so we can spend more time keeping our communities safe and local businesses open, and less time hiking rates and fighting pollution.”

“Haverhill showed us what happens when a century-old system fails and the federal government is nowhere to be found. Cities were left to fight sewage flowing into the Merrimack with local dollars and borrowed time,” said Congresswoman Trahan. “Our bill fixes that. It puts real federal money on the table the moment an emergency like this hits, so no community has to face it alone.”

On July 2, Senators Markey and Warren wrote to four federal agencies regarding the potential need for federal assistance following the sewer line break that released contaminants into the Merrimack River.

###",1,2026-07-15T07:12:08Z,2026-07-15T07:13:45Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-releases-discussion-draft-of-legislation-to-create-a-national-framework-to-address-data-center-harm,Senator Markey Releases Discussion Draft of Legislation to Create a National Framework to Address Data Center Harm,2026-07-13,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Discussion Draft Text (PDF)

Washington (July 13, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and co-chair of the Senate Environmental Justice Caucus, today released a discussion draft of legislation that would create a national framework to prevent increased energy costs, pollution, and adverse health harms related to the rapid buildout of data centers and associated fossil fuel infrastructure.

“Communities are organizing and demanding action to protect their air, water, energy bills, and quality of life from the tsunami of data centers around the country,” said Senator Markey. “For an issue as fast-moving and important to American families - the surging proliferation of data centers - we need a national framework that can proactively tackle all of these issues together. I will be working with communities, workers, and other stakeholders to learn from state and local level measures, and collaborate on this comprehensive platform that prioritizes protection, builds community capacity and resilience, and takes action against rising pollution and rising energy bills due to data centers.”

The Protecting Communities from Data Center Impacts Act would:

Require data centers to receive a certificate from the federal government prior to permitting and construction that affirms the data center will not harm the public interest and will meet minimum standards for energy, environmental, and economic impacts

Provide grants to build community capacity and support technical assistance to monitor and mitigate air, water, noise, and other environmental and public health impacts from data centers

Require data centers pay for necessary grid infrastructure and enter into agreements to reduce their energy demand during times of grid stress

Require data centers fund renewable energy and storage to meet their capacity needs, rather than use on-site diesel

Require high labor standards for construction

Senator Markey is an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s “race to the bottom” regulatory approach for AI data centers and a leader in advocating for stronger monitoring and mitigation of environmental and health impacts associated with data center buildout.

Last week, Senator Markey released his AI Accountability Agenda: Taking Power Back from Big Tech, a comprehensive agenda for responding to the risks posed by AI that lays out specific policy proposals to protect communities from the immediate harms of AI.

In June, Senator Markey wrote to EPA Administrator Zeldin to demand the withdrawal of a proposed rule that undermines Clean Air Act permitting standards to facilitate the buildout of data centers and associated fossil fuel infrastructure.

Senator Markey previously reintroduced his Artificial Intelligence (AI) Environmental Impacts Act, legislation that would require data center operators to report the full range of their facilities’ environmental impacts.

In November 2025, Senator Markey wrote to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) urging the agency to ensure that increased and projected energy demand from data centers does not result in unjust or unreasonable rate hikes for American households.

In September 2025, Senator Markey wrote to the EPA in opposition to the agency’s initial announcement of plans to roll back the NSR program for data center buildout.

In July 2025, Senator Markey hosted a roundtable discussion titled The Data Center Next Door: Hidden Costs and Harms of Artificial Intelligence and Cryptomining to highlight the adverse environmental, health, climate, and energy cost impacts of data center proliferation in communities across the United States, and to condemn the deregulatory actions set forth in President Trump’s AI Action Plan. On the day of the roundtable, Senator Markey also released a storybook to spotlight the experiences of American families living with data centers in their backyard.

###",1,2026-07-14T07:08:55Z,2026-07-14T07:10:52Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-releases-the-ai-accountability-agenda-taking-power-back-from-big-tech,Senator Markey Releases “The AI Accountability Agenda: Taking Power Back from Big Tech”,2026-07-10,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Includes new legislation requiring data centers fund clean energy and storage to meet their capacity needs

Full Agenda (PDF)

Boston (July 10, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today released his AI Accountability Agenda: Taking Power Back from Big Tech, a new vision for artificial intelligence (AI) policy in Congress. The comprehensive agenda responds to the risks posed by AI and lays out specific policy proposals to protect communities from the immediate harms of AI.

Senator Markey is releasing his agenda as the American people reckon with the real threats posed by AI. While Big Tech is making billions off its pitch that the benefits of AI are nearly limitless, the costs and the risks — to kids, workers, the planet, our health, our rights, and our communities — are nearly limitless as well. Senator Markey’s agenda proposes a comprehensive framework and common-sense legislation to address the harms that the American people are facing every day from AI.

Senator Markey said, “For too long, the conversation about artificial intelligence has been about what’s next — the next breakthrough, the next headline, the next promise of the future. But the American people need more than future promises; they need answers to what’s happening right now. From discriminatory algorithms deciding who gets a home or a loan, data centers invading their neighborhoods, employers using AI to surveil and control workers, or kids turning to chatbots in moments of crisis and getting coached toward harm instead of help, AI is defining daily life right now, and people need protections.”

Senator Markey continued, “The risks are the lived reality of AI for millions of Americans — and they deserve policymakers who are paying attention to their lives, not Big Tech’s bottom line. That is why I have been working for more than a decade to propose commonsense policies to take back unchecked power from Big Tech and put it into the hands of the American people. And it’s why today, I am releasing my AI Accountability Agenda — a set of real, actionable answers for the problems Americans are facing right now.”

Senator Markey’s AI Accountability Agenda highlights six key priorities:

Giving Power Back to Workers

Protecting the Privacy and Safety of Children and Teens

Keeping Civil Rights Safe from AI Bias

Putting Humans First in Healthcare

Safeguarding Against Energy and Environmental Impacts of Data Centers

Sharing the AI Wealth

(1) Giving Power Back to Workers

Workers should not be the test subjects or casualties of unchecked automation, nor should AI give employers a blank check to surveil workers, replace human judgment with unaccountable algorithms, or eliminate jobs while shifting the costs onto workers and communities. To address this, Senator Markey has introduced:

The No Robot Bosses Act, which would put safeguards on the use of automated decision systems - including AI - to make work-related decisions such as hiring or firing.

The Stop Spying Bosses Act, which would curtail the growing use of surveillance technology in the workplace.

The Warehouse Worker Protection Act, which would prohibit dangerous speed quotas and that threaten warehouse worker safety and lead to high injury rates.

(2) Protecting the Privacy and Safety of Children and Teens

Senator Markey has introduced legislation that would ensure that Big Tech companies cannot exploit, manipulate, and target children and teens for their own profits:

The Youth AI Privacy (YAP) Act, which would require artificial intelligence (AI) companies to implement privacy safeguards in their AI chatbots.

The Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), which passed out of the Senate by unanimous consent and would ban targeted advertising to children and teens; provide families with an “eraser button” to delete a kid’s personal data; and establish strict limits on the collection of personal information from minors.

(3) Keeping Civil Rights Safe from AI Bias

AI developers and organizations deploying AI models have an obligation to test and fix biased and discriminatory algorithms used in making critical life decisions, such as those involving employment, banking, healthcare, and criminal justice. That’s why Senator Markey introduced the most comprehensive AI civil rights legislation in Congress:

The AI Civil Rights Act, which would prevent companies from using biased and discriminatory AI-powered algorithms to help make critical decisions in Americans’ lives.

The Eliminating Bias in Algorithmic Systems (BIAS) Act, which would ensure that every federal agency that uses, funds, or oversees AI has an office of civil rights focused on combating AI bias and discrimination.

(4) Putting Humans First in Healthcare

Patients deserve care from qualified human beings, and healthcare workers must be able to exercise their professional judgment without fear of retaliation for disagreeing with an AI system. That is why Senator Markey has introduced legislation to ensure that AI supports healthcare professionals:

The Right to Override Act would require healthcare facilities and health plans to create a human override option for AI decisions and protect healthcare workers who disagree with an AI recommendation while providing care in their best judgment for the patient.

(5) Safeguarding Against Energy and Environmental Impacts of Data Centers

Effective oversight of infrastructure that powers AI requires both transparency into AI’s environmental impacts and strong guardrails for the physical infrastructure powering it, so that data center operators are held accountable to the communities in which they operate. That is why Senator Markey has authored legislation that addresses the public health, energy, and environmental costs of the infrastructure that powers AI:

The AI Environmental Impacts Act, which would require artificial intelligence (AI) data centers to report on their environmental and energy-related impacts, with fines levied for those that fail to comply.

A discussion draft of the new Protecting Communities from Data Center Impacts Act, which would require data centers to receive a certificate from the federal government prior to construction that affirms the data center has met minimum standards for energy, environmental, and economic impacts. The legislation would also require data centers pay for necessary grid infrastructure and fund clean energy and storage to meet their capacity needs, as well as commit to high labor standards.

(6) Sharing the AI Wealth

The AI economy should not become another engine for inequality. The wealthiest beneficiaries of AI should pay their fair share just like working people do. That is why Senator Markey has introduced:

The Equal Tax Act, which would tax investment income at the same rate as ordinary labor income for individuals making more than $1 million.

###",1,2026-07-11T07:10:48Z,2026-07-11T07:14:29Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/joint-statement-from-senators-markey-and-warren-representatives-lynch-and-pressley-mayor-wu-on-nurses-strike,"Joint Statement from Senators Markey and Warren, Representatives Lynch and Pressley, Mayor Wu on Nurses Strike",2026-07-07,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Boston (July 7, 2026) - Today, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Representatives Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Stephen Lynch (MA-08), and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu released the following statement urging the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) and Mass General Brigham (MGB) to return to the bargaining table and resume negotiations:

“Nurses are the backbone of our health care system, and we rely on their skills, compassion, and tireless work ethic to care for our loved ones. The nurses at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Mass General Brigham Homecare deserve a fair contract that reflects the essential contributions they make each and every day.

“We urge all parties to return to the bargaining table and reach a good faith agreement that provides stability for this critical workforce, Mass General Brigham, and the patients in their collective care.”

###",1,2026-07-08T07:27:19Z,2026-07-08T07:28:28Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-applauds-more-than-25-million-for-safer-roads-in-massachusetts,Senator Markey Applauds More Than $25 Million for Safer Roads in Massachusetts,2026-07-06,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Boston (July 6, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today celebrated more than $25 million in Fiscal Year 2026 Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) funds from the Department of Transportation (DOT) for Massachusetts. The funds will be used to improve road safety along high traffic corridors by building roundabouts, widening sidewalks, and adding traffic signals at dangerous intersections. Senator Markey was instrumental in advocating for the BUILD program which was authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“Massachusetts is leading the nation addressing the road safety crisis,” said Senator Markey. “These investments will make our roads safer and our communities more livable. I’m proud to have fought for this funding as a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”

Yarmouth-Barnstable Route 28 Improvements

Town of Yarmouth

$25,000,000

This project will construct a new multilane roundabout and a new traffic signal installation, along with three other traffic signal upgrades along the Route 28 corridor.

City of Malden Broadway Reconstruction Project

City of Malden

$1,584,000

The project will advance the Broadway roadway reconstruction from 25 percent design to final design. The project will include a consistent two-lane roadway with appropriate turn lanes at intersections, upgraded sidewalks, a new signalized intersection at Taylor and Grover Streets, drainage improvements, stormwater control measures, updated signage, and a suite of safety countermeasures.

###",1,2026-07-07T08:20:12Z,2026-07-07T08:22:09Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-statement-on-one-year-since-trump-and-republicans-big-ugly-bill,Senator Markey Statement on One Year Since Trump and Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill,2026-07-02,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Boston (July 2, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement ahead of the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s disastrous “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

“Trump and Republicans traded basic needs for billionaire greed,” said Senator Markey. “This was really One Big Ugly Bill to make life harder for working families while making life easier for billionaire CEOs and corporate special interests. Trump cut deals while making cuts to our energy supply. He’s brought in profits for himself, while looting the pockets of hard-working families. Trump has increased healthcare costs and gasoline prices, yet Americans are still having to foot the bill for Trump’s corruption. This fight is far from over. I won’t stop until we roll back all of the cuts to our social safety net and reverse the billionaire tax cuts.”

Since the Big Ugly Bill was enacted:

Five million people, including almost 40,000 in Massachusetts, have dropped their Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance coverage this year due to skyrocketing costs.

In Massachusetts, people who renewed their ACA health plans saw their annual premiums increase on average by $1,000 compared to 2025.

Since OBBBA went into effect, 175,000 Bay Staters, including almost 62,000 children, have lost their SNAP nutrition assistance.

Since January 2026, due to the OBBBA and other actions from the Trump administration, nearly 144,000 jobs have been lost or stalled in the clean energy sector and more than 34,000 megawatts of clean capacity were canceled or delayed, which could have powered 17 million American homes.

###",1,2026-07-03T08:00:00Z,2026-07-03T08:01:30Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-and-warren-advocate-for-federal-assistance-following-sewer-break-along-merrimack-river,Senators Markey and Warren Advocate for Federal Assistance Following Sewer Break Along Merrimack River,2026-07-02,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter (PDF)

Boston (July 2, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and Ranking Member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, today wrote with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to four federal agencies regarding the potential need for federal assistance following the sewer line break that released contaminants into the Merrimack River.

In their letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Senators raise the environmental, public health, and economic concerns for the Merrimack Valley and North Shore following last week’s sewer pipe break in Haverhill.

“Officials are continuously monitoring the contamination levels in the river and on the North Shore to determine when it is safe for people to fish, work, and recreate in the waters. As part of these efforts, the Commonwealth will determine whether federal assistance is necessary in responding to the environmental or economic impacts stemming from the discharge,” wrote Senators Markey and Warren. “Our offices and the Commonwealth have already been in touch with several of your agencies, and we are grateful for your engagement. Should Massachusetts officials determine that the concerns raised by residents, the shellfishing community, and other businesses along the river and the coast exceed the Commonwealth’s ability to respond and require emergency support from the federal government, we respectfully ask that you quickly review any request from Governor Maura Healey and expedite all appropriate federal relief.”

On June 26, 2026, a significant rainstorm in the Merrimack Valley caused two sewer pipe breaks in Haverhill, sending an estimated 8 million gallons of untreated wastewater a day into the Merrimack River. On July 1, the break was repaired, stopping new flows of wastewater. As a result of this breakage and concerns about the amount of wastewater that has discharged into the river and reached the coast, shellfish growing areas are temporarily closed in several North Shore communities and swimming has been temporarily suspended in some areas. With the ongoing severe heatwave and approaching Fourth of July weekend, Massachusetts officials are monitoring the potential impact the sewer break and associated closures could have on residents’ public health as well as on coastal and riverside communities’ economic vitality. The City of Haverhill is also assessing the short- and long-term costs associated with the emergency response and repairing and replacing the damaged infrastructure.

Senator Markey has also enabled the delivery of key water funding to Massachusetts through his legislative work, including:

$78,089,000 in funding for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund in Fiscal Year 2026

$116,273,000 in funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund in Fiscal Year 2026

$2,927,000 in funding for the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant Program for Fiscal Years 2025-2026

$254,000 in BEACH Act grants for Fiscal Year 2026

$27,366,500 in additional federal funding for key water infrastructure projects throughout Massachusetts in Fiscal Year 2026

###",1,2026-07-03T08:00:00Z,2026-07-03T08:01:30Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-joins-colleagues-in-demanding-omb-rescind-rule-giving-president-sweeping-power-to-politicize-federal-grants,Markey Joins Colleagues in Demanding OMB Rescind Rule Giving President Sweeping Power to Politicize Federal Grants,2026-07-02,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (July 2, 2026) — Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today joined Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Democratic Leader; Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and the entire Senate Democratic caucus in demanding Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought immediately rescind OMB’s proposed regulation on federal financial assistance. The Senators warned the proposal exceeds OMB’s statutory authority, undermines Congress’s constitutional power of the purse, and would allow the President to weaponize federal grants for political purposes.

“Your proposal exceeds OMB’s authority, will make it impossible for grant recipients to faithfully carry out the funding priorities that Congress establishes in statute, and would turn federal grants into a new cudgel for the President to unilaterally advance his partisan agenda and punish political rivals,” the Senators wrote. “Ultimately, these changes will make it harder for grant recipients to apply for and manage federal funds – undermining public safety, public health, economic competitiveness, and the government’s ability to address rising costs.”

The proposed rule would dramatically expand agencies’ authority to terminate or suspend federal grants at any time and without notice. It would also require political appointees to make funding decisions without deferring to expert peer review. The Senators warn this would inject partisan politics into grantmaking, threaten America’s leadership in scientific and medical innovation, and create chaos for communities and organizations that rely on federal funding to deliver critical services.

“Rather than focusing on fulfilling the statutory purposes of a grant program, applicants and recipients will be forced to play an endless guessing game, trying to determine which of their activities may or may not run afoul of OMB’s ambiguous regulations or the president’s whims,” the Senators wrote.

The Senators also argue that OMB’s proposal would force grant recipients to comply with vague, undefined, and political grant conditions that conflict with existing statutes. At the same time, it would weaken transparency and accountability requirements intended to safeguard taxpayer dollars. These changes could discourage qualified organizations from applying for federal grants and increase the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse.

The Senators concluded: “Article I of the Constitution vests the power of the purse in Congress, which Congress has historically exercised by appropriating taxpayer dollars through federal grants to fund critical programs, including to protect public safety, advance scientific research, and support health and nutrition initiatives. OMB’s proposal unlawfully seeks to substitute Congress’s role in directing federal spending with the President’s preferred priorities, and in doing so, makes it harder for every community and organization in the United States to fairly access federal funding. We call on you to rescind this proposal.”

The letter was signed by 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), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), 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).

Text of the letter is available here.

###",1,2026-07-15T07:12:08Z,2026-07-15T07:13:45Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ahead-of-the-nations-250th-anniversary-senator-markey-rep-ramirez-introduce-resolution-to-reaffirm-commitment-to-immigrant-inclusion,"Ahead of the Nation’s 250th Anniversary, Senator Markey, Rep. Ramirez Introduce Resolution to Reaffirm Commitment to Immigrant Inclusion",2026-07-01,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Resolution Text (PDF)

Washington (July 1, 2026) – As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (IL-03) introduced a resolution to reaffirm Congress’s role in upholding the principles of equality, dignity, and justice for all. Past administrations have supported the inclusion of newcomers by expanding access to English-language education, workforce training, and due process protections. In stark contrast, the Trump administration has targeted the immigrant community through mass detentions and deportations. The resolution commits Congress to pursuing policies that safeguard immigrants’ rights, broaden economic opportunity, and build humane, equitable pathways to full inclusion.

“The United States draws its strength from unity and inclusion, not from fear and division,” said Senator Markey. “This resolution rejects hateful policies that terrorize our immigrant neighbors and calls on the Senate to invest in inclusion, celebrate the contributions of immigrants, and honor our nation’s human rights commitments. A just, equitable future requires fostering belonging for all who call our nation home.”

“The 250th anniversary of our country presents us with an opportunity to reflect on our enduring - BUT NOT YET FULFILLED - commitment to the principles of liberty and justice for everyone, regardless of legal status, origin, nationality, religion, or economic condition. It is an opportunity to prove that we recognize the contribution of immigrant communities, and affirm that they are seen, heard, and valued,” said Congresswoman Ramirez. “As Members of Congress, we are called to challenge and transform systems that deny our communities’ dignity and justice. That's why I am proud to join Senator Markey and a coalition of organizations to introduce a resolution calling on Congress to ensure justice and dignity for immigrant communities.”

Specifically, the Resolution calls on the Senate to:

Mark the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary by celebrating the contributions of immigrant communities and reaffirming the universal principles of equality, dignity, and justice;

Expand and strengthen critical programs that help individuals overcome barriers to full civic, social, and economic participation, including language access programs, workforce and employment assistance, legal support, and naturalization services;

Collaborate with community-based groups, non-profit organizations, faith institutions, labor and business partners, and other stakeholders to ensure the existence of culturally responsive, accessible, and effective integration services; and

Urge federal, state, and local governments to increase investments that advance opportunity, strengthen communities, and uphold the nation’s commitments to equity and inclusion.

The resolution is cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

“As we mark 250 years of this Nation’s founding, we renew our commitment to an America rooted in interdependence and belonging. We applaud the leadership of Senator Markey and Representative Delia Ramirez for introducing this resolution, which reaffirms Congress’ commitment to building a future where immigrant communities can participate fully in civic, economic, and social life, one where all Americans thrive,” said Nicole Melaku, Executive Director of the National Partnership for New Americans. “We believe in a future where immigrant communities are not just welcomed, but truly included. Where the American Dream is not out of reach, but a reality we build together. On this momentous occasion for our nation, we renew and strengthen our commitment to building a multiracial, multiethnic, and inclusive democracy that works for all of us – and that is inclusive of immigrant and refugee communities.”

The resolution is endorsed by the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition, Asian Law Alliance, Services Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN), HANA Center, Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants, NAKASEC, Building Skills Partnership (BSP), OneAmerica, the Hispanic and Immigrant Center of Alabama (HICA), Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), Promise Arizona, Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, the Legal Clinic Hawaii, Arizona AANHPI for Equity, Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, Hawai’i Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative, Just Neighbors, the Workers Circle, Immigrants Rising, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project – Maine, African Communities Together, Haitian Bridge Alliance, Welcoming America, Quixote Center, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), Refugee Advocacy Lab, Refugees International, Muslim Advocates, Rainbow Railroad, Latino Policy Forum, Borderlands Resource Initiative, Just Detention International, California Community Foundation, Vision Y Compromiso, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Maine Immigration Rights’ Coalition, Lawyers for Good Government, Voices for Utah Children, Central American Resource Center – CARACEN of Northern California, Elena’s Light, Freedom Network USA, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, and Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef).

###",1,2026-07-02T06:20:02Z,2026-07-02T06:21:32Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-and-representative-frost-sound-alarm-after-trump-admin-evades-questions-on-database-of-protesters,Senator Markey and Representative Frost Sound Alarm After Trump Admin. Evades Questions on Database of Protesters,2026-07-01,2026,2026-07,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF) | Response from DHS

Washington (July 1, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Representative Maxwell Frost (FL-10) today sent a letter to Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Markwayne Mullin and David Venturella, Senior Official Performing Duties of the Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), renewing their calls for a clear answer on whether ICE has created a database to track protesters. In responses to separate letters that Senator Markey and Representative Frost sent to DHS and ICE in February, the agency evaded the lawmakers’ questions about whether ICE maintains a database of protesters.

In response to Senator Markey’s letter, ICE ignored his question and instead stated that it does not “approve adding individuals or entities to the U.S. government’s Terrorist Screening Dataset.” By contrast, in response to Representative Frost’s letter, ICE stated that it “does not maintain any kind of database of U.S. citizens protesting ICE activities.” This denial, however, has a significant exception: the agency also said it has “collected information to identify individuals reasonably believed to be involved in, or directly supporting, potential violations of federal law and to address officer safety and facility security concerns,” suggesting that ICE may have relabeled a protester database as a database of individuals who pose a “risk” to officers.

In their new oversight letter, Senator Markey and Representative Frost demand that DHS and ICE reconcile their different responses and be transparent with the American people on whether their civil liberties are being violated. The letter also requests additional information about whether DHS is investigating an ICE officer who threatened to add the personal information of a woman in Portland, Maine, to “a nice little database.” In ICE’s response to Senator Markey’s letter, which he is releasing today, DHS alluded to — but failed to confirm — that it was investigating the officer involved in that incident.

In the latest letter, Senator Markey and Representative Frost wrote, “Over the past few months, ICE has taken confusing positions on the existence of a domestic terrorist database. After President Donald Trump’s appointed ‘Border Czar’ stated that he was ‘pushing for’ a database of individuals arrested at protests and the ICE officer in Portland, suggested he would add a protester to a database, ICE denied the existence of such a database in testimony before congressional oversight committees earlier this year. Similarly, in response to Representative Frost’s oversight letter, the former Acting Director of ICE, Todd Lyons, stated that ICE ‘does not maintain any kind of database of U.S. citizens protesting ICE activities.’ By contrast, in response to Senator Markey’s oversight letter, ICE answered that it does not ‘approve adding individuals or entities to the U.S. government’s Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS),’ noted that the TSDS is maintained by multiple agencies, and explained that all nominations to TSDS are subject to an established review process — effectively sidestepping the question. ICE’s shifting and carefully worded responses prevent Congress and the public from determining the extent of ICE’s surveillance activities.”

They continued, “Moreover, even ICE’s denial of a ‘domestic terrorists’ database to Representative Frost leaves the agency with significant room to track Americans. Notably, in its response to Representative Frost’s letter, ICE stated that during ICE protests, ‘ICE collected information to identify individuals reasonably believed to be involved in, or directly supporting, potential violations of federal law and to address officer safety and facility security concerns.’ In other words, if an ICE officer ‘reasonably believed’ that a protester created a risk to officer safety or an ICE facility, they could collect information on the individual. Given the Trump administration’s history of referring to nonviolent protesters as criminals and labeling protests as threats to ICE officers, this practice grants significant discretion for DHS and ICE to develop a database of protesters under the guise of tracking threats against federal immigration officers.”

Senator Markey and Representative Frost requested the following information by July 15, 2026:

Has DHS, ICE, or any component agency of DHS created, or are any of those entities maintaining their own database, list, or record of individuals engaged in protest activity, outside of the TSDS or other lists administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation or any other federal entity?

What oversight has been conducted on the database, list, or record of individuals? What mechanisms exist to ensure individuals are appropriately added and removed from the database, list, or record of individuals?

Does DHS, ICE, or any component agency maintain any database, list, or record of individuals identified as threats to officer or facility safety, including those who have not been accused of any crime?

Please provide a copy of the internal January 2026 memo circulated to ICE personnel, as well as any related directives instructing agents to collect personal information about protesters, bystanders, or individuals filming ICE activity.

Please provide a status update on OPR’s investigation, if any, into the Portland, Maine, incident.

Senator Markey is leading efforts to hold ICE and DHS accountable for their violations of Americans’ First Amendment rights, including their weaponization of surveillance technologies against peaceful protestors, immigrants, and American citizens.

In May, Senator Markey and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) led their colleagues in a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin demanding the agency abandon its dangerous proposal, included in DHS’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2027, to develop “smart glasses” for its immigration officers.

In February, Senator Markey, along with Senator Merkley, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), introduced the ICE Out of Our Faces Act, bicameral legislation that would ban ICE and CBP from acquiring and using facial recognition technology (FRT) and other biometric identification systems.

Also in February, Senator Markey wrote to ICE’s Acting Director Todd Lyons demanding that Lyons immediately confirm or deny reports that the agency is maintaining a so-called “domestic terrorists” database to track individuals protesting ICE activities.

In November 2025, Senator Markey wrote to CBP Commissioner Rodney S. Scott, urging the agency to immediately cease using a system of license plate readers (LPRs) and predictive algorithms to monitor the movements of individual Americans. CBP is reportedly using the system to “identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.”

Also in November, Senator Markey led his colleagues in requesting that ICE cease the use of their biometric phone application known as Mobile Fortify following a previous unanswered request.

In September 2025, Senators Markey and Merkley wrote to ICE’s Acting Director Todd Lyons, demanding that ICE cease use of Mobile Fortify and requesting detailed information about its policies and practices surrounding the use of biometric technology.

In July 2025, Senator Markey, along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Schiff (D-Calif.), sent a letter to then-Secretary of DHS Kristi Noem on the DHS’s usage of Predator drones and aerial surveillance against peaceful protesters in Los Angeles. In the letter, the senators raised concerns about the threat to the protesters’ privacy and their constitutional rights that are guaranteed by the First Amendment.

In June 2025, Senators Markey and Wyden wrote two letters to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary Noem about the government’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies to determine whether an individual poses a national security risk.

###",1,2026-07-02T06:20:02Z,2026-07-02T06:21:32Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-applauds-us-supreme-court-decision-on-birthright-citizenship,Markey Applauds U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Birthright Citizenship,2026-06-30,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Boston (June 30, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today released the following statement after the Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. Barbara that children born in the United States to parents who are undocumented or temporarily in the country are U.S. citizens.

“The Supreme Court reaffirmed a constitutional truth that has guided our nation for more than 150 years: if you are born on American soil, you are an American,” said Senator Markey. “We are, and always have been, a nation of immigrants. And this ideal, written into the Fourteenth Amendment, cannot be rewritten with the stroke of a Sharpie. But the fight is far from over. The Trump administration remains intent on destroying immigrant families, and on trampling on due process and the rule of law. We must stay vigilant and continue to defend the American promise of equal citizenship, inclusion, and opportunity.”

###",1,2026-07-01T06:34:07Z,2026-07-01T06:35:35Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sen-markey-rep-mcclellan-lead-colleagues-in-condemning-epas-attempt-to-let-data-centers-fossil-fuel-plants-and-other-major-facilities-evade-core-clean-air-act-protections,"Sen. Markey, Rep. McClellan Lead Colleagues in Condemning EPA’s Attempt to Let Data Centers, Fossil Fuel Plants, and Other Major Facilities Evade Core Clean Air Act Protections",2026-06-30,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Boston (June 30, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), co-chair of the bicameral Environmental Justice Caucus and member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, along with Representative Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), led a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin urging the agency to withdraw a proposed rulemaking that would allow major polluting facilities—including data centers and fossil fuel plants—to begin construction activities without securing air quality permits required under federal law.

The New Source Review (NSR) program, established by Congress as part of the Clean Air Act in 1977, requires that polluting facilities obtain permits before any construction or expansion takes place. This allows EPA to assess and minimize the harm that these facilities could pose to the health and well-being of the environment and surrounding communities. In a major shift from prior interpretation of the law, the EPA released a proposed rule in May that would allow polluting facilities to start construction without a permit, including on piping, wiring, cement pads, and support structures. This proposed rule will expose communities to more direct harm and places substantial pressure on permitting decisions before EPA review is complete.

The lawmakers wrote, “Congress created the NSR program to stop dangerous polluting projects before irreversible commitments are made, not after construction is already underway and permit approval has become politically difficult to deny. EPA’s proposal turns that system on its head. Communities should not be forced to bear additional pollution because EPA chose to prioritize the financial interests of developers and fossil fuel companies over the Clean Air Act’s public-health protections. We urge you to withdraw this proposed rule and preserve the Clean Air Act’s preconstruction permitting safeguards.”

The letter was signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Representatives Donald Beyer (VA-08), Sean Casten (IL-06), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14).

Senator Markey is an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s “race to the bottom” regulatory approach for AI data centers and a leader in advocating for stronger monitoring and mitigation of environmental and health impacts associated with irresponsible data center buildout.

In June, Senator Markey reintroduced his Artificial Intelligence (AI) Environmental Impacts Act, legislation that would require data center operators to report the full range of their facilities’ environmental impacts.

In September 2025, Senator Markey wrote to the EPA in opposition to the agency’s initial announcement of plans to roll back the NSR program for data center buildout.

In July 2025, Senator Markey hosted a roundtable discussion titled The Data Center Next Door: Hidden Costs and Harms of Artificial Intelligence and Cryptomining to highlight the adverse environmental, health, climate, and energy cost impacts of data center proliferation in communities across the United States, and to condemn the deregulatory actions set forth in President Trump’s AI Action Plan.

On the day of his roundtable in July, Senator Markey also released a storybook to spotlight the experiences of American families living with data centers in their backyard.

###",1,2026-07-01T06:34:07Z,2026-07-01T06:35:35Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-applauds-supreme-court-ruling-protecting-voting-by-mail,Markey Applauds Supreme Court Ruling Protecting Voting by Mail,2026-06-29,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Boston (June 29, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Watson v. Republican National Committee to uphold a state law mandating that mail-in-ballots postmarked by Election Day but received within a grace period can be counted.

“Today’s ruling is a victory for democracy,” said Senator Markey. “For now, eligible voters can continue to cast their ballots by mail with confidence that their vote will be counted. Although Trump and MAGA Republicans lost today, this will not be the end of their campaign to undercut Americans’ ability to freely and fairly participate in our electoral system. I will remain vigilant against this threat and continue to work to secure our elections.”

In February, Senator Markey tried to pass a resolution denouncing statements by President Donald Trump that he may “nationalize,” commandeer, or otherwise assume direct control over state-run elections. Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) objected, blocking the resolution from passing.

###",1,2026-06-30T06:29:10Z,2026-06-30T06:30:42Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sen-markey-rep-summer-lee-demand-answers-from-major-corporations-on-use-of-stay-or-pay-contracts-and-worker-debt-schemes,"Sen. Markey, Rep. Summer Lee Demand Answers from Major Corporations on Use of “Stay-or-Pay” Contracts and Worker Debt Schemes",2026-06-26,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Text of Letters (PDF)

Washington (June 26, 2026) — Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Congresswoman Summer Lee (PA-12) sent letters to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Frontier Airlines, Smoothstack, HCA Healthcare, and CRST seeking information about the companies’ use of coercive “stay-or-pay” contracts, including Training Repayment Agreement Provisions (TRAPs), which can burden workers with substantial debt for leaving their jobs. These companies have faced multiple lawsuits challenging restrictive contract terms.

The letters build on Sen. Markey and Rep. Lee’s previous oversight effort examining the federal government's response to the growing use of TRAPs and other forms of employer-driven debt, including actively repealing rules that would have banned TRAPs. After pressing federal agencies for answers about their role in protecting workers from these practices, the lawmakers are now seeking transparency directly from companies reported to have used such agreements.

“Big corporations always find a way to squeeze the little guy,” said Senator Markey. “Workers should have the right to leave a job if it’s unsafe, if they’re being harassed, or if they need time to take care of themselves or their family. That choice should fall with the individual – not the corporation dictating their every move. While these companies have some of the most egregious examples of TRAPs, many more companies take advantage of workers by holding them in debt if they leave. That is wrong. It’s high time we put workers over greedy CEOs raking in profit.”

“Workers deserve the freedom to change jobs, seek higher wages, and leave unsafe or exploitative workplaces without being threatened with crushing debt,” said Rep. Lee. “These stay-or-pay contracts can leave workers feeling trapped, even if employers never attempt to collect. We will continue to seek accountability for coercive practices and this anti-worker administration that puts pocketbooks over people.”

A growing number of employers use TRAPs to lock workers into jobs by requiring them to repay purported training costs or other expenses if they leave before a specified date. A 2024 study found that 1 in 12 workers in the United States are subject to a TRAP, with the share of workers covered by these agreements more than doubling between 2014 and 2020. Worker advocates have warned that these arrangements can function as a powerful restraint on worker mobility, suppress wages, and trap workers in jobs they would otherwise leave.

The letters request detailed information about each company’s use of TRAPs and other stay-or-pay contracts, including how many workers are subject to the agreements, the penalties workers face for leaving, how repayment amounts are calculated, whether companies have sued workers or referred debts to collection agencies, and how much revenue companies have generated from collecting on employer-driven debt.

These letters are supported by Protect Borrowers, an organization that has worked to expose the growing use of TRAPs and other employer-driven debt arrangements across the economy.

“As millions of working families are grappling with an affordability crisis and falling into debt to make ends meet, we are now seeing corporations try to get in on the game by making workers pay fees to leave their jobs. Across the country big corporations are using predatory debt to trap people at work, which is simply modern-day indentured servitude,” said Chris Hicks, Senior Policy Advisor at Protect Borrowers. “We applaud Congresswoman Lee and Senator Markey for ensuring that all workers are treated with dignity and respect. It is time to remind these predatory companies: employers are required to pay employees for their work, not the other way around.”

Copies of the letters are available here.

###",1,2026-06-27T06:16:17Z,2026-06-27T06:17:30Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sen-markey-statement-on-fcc-vote-to-review-e-rate-program-threatening-internet-access-for-millions-of-students-teachers-schools-libraries,"Sen. Markey Statement on FCC Vote to Review E-Rate Program, Threatening Internet Access for Millions of Students, Teachers, Schools, Libraries",2026-06-25,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (June 25, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and House author of the original E-Rate program, released the following statement after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted today to open a review of the E-Rate program, threatening a program which has helped millions of students, teachers, schools, and libraries across the country connect to the internet.

“Today’s FCC vote is a deeply troubling step toward weakening E-Rate, a universal program that has connected millions of students, teachers, schools, and libraries — in urban and rural communities alike — to the internet for 30 years,” said Senator Markey. “This rulemaking goes far beyond reviewing the impact of screen time on students and undermines educational equality, harms our economic competitiveness, and threatens to reverse three decades of settled law. The FCC should be focused on strengthening E-Rate and closing the digital divide, not finding new excuses to disconnect the children who need it the most. I will continue fighting to protect this landmark program and ensure every student can succeed.”

In April, the FCC approved a new rule creating additional administrative burdens for schools and libraries to access funds from the E-Rate program. In September 2025, the FCC repealed its rule allowing schools and libraries to use their E-Rate funds to loan Wi-Fi hotspots to students and educators, setting back years of success in ensuring students and educators have access to the internet at home.

The E-Rate program has invested more than $69 billion to connect schools and libraries to the internet across the country. Massachusetts schools and libraries have received more than $950 million from the E-Rate program and another $97 million from the Emergency Connectivity Fund, a $7 billion program that Senator Markey created within the American Rescue Plan to provide devices and connectivity for students and educators at home.

###",1,2026-06-26T06:29:35Z,2026-06-26T06:31:46Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-condemns-us-supreme-courts-ruling-effectively-ending-temporary-protected-status-tps-for-haiti-and-other-countries,Senator Markey Condemns U.S. Supreme Court’s Ruling Effectively Ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti and Other Countries,2026-06-25,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Watch: Senator Markey press conference today outside Supreme Court

Senator Markey alongside Whip Clark, Reps. Pressley, Wasserman Schultz

Washington (June 25, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration’s termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti and Syria in the consolidated case, Mullin v. Doe. The Court’s decision also impacts TPS holders from about a dozen other countries. Previously, Senator Markey introduced legislation to extend Haiti’s TPS designation, and he supports legislation to give TPS holders a pathway to legal residency. In April, he led 26 Senators and 157 Representatives in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Mullin v. Doe with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25).

Today, Senator Markey, alongside Representatives Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) held a press conference outside the Court denouncing the decision.

“The lives of over a million TPS holders who cannot return home safely are now at grave risk due to the Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump’s unlawful, racist termination of the Temporary Protected Status program,” said Senator Markey. “The far-right extremist majority on the Court has severed a critical lifeline for people seeking safety and has worsened a humanitarian crisis. We have a moral duty to protect TPS holders and to provide this vulnerable group a permanent pathway to citizenship. We must continue the fight to protect our neighbors.”

Senator Markey has worked consistently to protect TPS for Haiti and support the Haitian community in Massachusetts amid the Trump administration’s attacks on TPS and Haitians. In September 2025, Senator Markey led an amicus brief in Miot v. Trump, the companion case to Mullin v. Doe, when the case was before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In February 2026, Senator Markey applauded the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s decision to pause the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for Haiti, which was set to expire on February 3. In March, Senator Markey welcomed the D.C. Circuit’s ruling blocking the Trump administration from immediately terminating TPS for Haiti.

In January 2026, Senator Markey and Rep. Pressley held a field hearing at Jubilee Christian Church in Mattapan to highlight the importance of extending TPS for Haiti. The lawmakers heard from panels of individuals, advocates, and community leaders impacted by the Trump administration’s decision to end Haiti TPS.

###",1,2026-06-26T06:29:35Z,2026-06-26T06:31:46Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-statement-on-supreme-court-ruling-shielding-monsanto-from-liability-for-failure-to-warn-consumers-of-cancer-risks,Senator Markey Statement on Supreme Court Ruling Shielding Monsanto from Liability for Failure to Warn Consumers of Cancer Risks,2026-06-25,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Washington (June 25, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Monsanto Company v. Durnell, which shields Monsanto, which is owned by Bayer, from state-law liability for failing to warn consumers of cancer risks associated with Roundup, a weedkiller sold by the company that contains glyphosate. The Court held that states cannot require pesticide manufacturers to disclose information on pesticide labels beyond what is mandated by federal law.

“In siding with Monsanto and Bayer, the Supreme Court has made clear that it prioritizes corporate immunity over the health of the American people—just like the Trump administration. Companies should be held liable if they fail to warn Americans about carcinogens in their products, and Americans deserve to seek recourse when they are unknowingly exposed to life-threatening risks,” said Senator Markey. “States should also have the right to require more transparency from companies selling products to their residents. The Supreme Court, with the Trump administration’s poisonous thumb on the scale, is again failing the public and sacrificing our health in the process.”

For over a decade, scientific authorities have recognized glyphosate’s potential toxicity to users. In 2015, the World Health Organization classified glyphosate, a primary ingredient in Roundup, as a Group 2A carcinogen. Further studies suggest that prolonged and high-volume exposure, common for agricultural workers and other pesticide applicators, leads to an elevated risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Despite this evidence, the Trump administration has refused to protect the public from this health risk and has even defended the toxic chemical’s significance to economic and national security to boost domestic production of the carcinogen. In March, President Trump’s Department of Justice filed an amicus brief in support of Bayer’s immunity against citizen suits. The Administration’s actions followed multiple meetings involving Bayer’s CEO Bill Anderson and senior advisors to President Trump, including his chief of staff, Susie Wiles.

In April, Senator Markey joined Senators Henrich and Booker to introduce the No Immunity for Glyphosate Act, which would prohibit the use of federal funds to implement or enforce President Trump’s glyphosate executive order, and affirm that glyphosate manufacturers are not immune from civil liability. Senator Markey is also a cosponsor of the Pesticide Injury Accountability Act (S. 2324), which would ensure that pesticide manufacturers can be held responsible for the harm caused by their toxic products. Specifically, this bill would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act of 1972 (FIFRA) to create a federal right of action for anyone who is harmed by a toxic pesticide.

Sen. Markey has long been outspoken in his concerns regarding the dangers of the herbicide glyphosate. In April, Senator Markey questioned Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. about the Administration’s active support for the pesticide company.

In 2015, Sen. Markey submitted a letter to then-Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, calling for the agency to consider the findings published by United Nations World Health Organization, which identified the carcinogenic risks of glyphosate.

###",1,2026-06-26T06:29:35Z,2026-06-26T06:31:46Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sens-markey-paul-reintroduce-legislation-to-modernize-rules-for-treating-opioid-use-disorder,"Sens. Markey, Paul Reintroduce Legislation to Modernize Rules for Treating Opioid Use Disorder",2026-06-25,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (June 25, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, and Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) today announced the reintroduction of the bipartisan Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act 2.0. The legislation would improve patients’ access to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) by empowering board-certified physicians to prescribe, and pharmacies to dispense, methadone for OUD.

Despite recent declines in drug overdose deaths, more than 44,100 people died of an opioid overdose last year, representing more than 120 preventable deaths each day. Almost five million people in the United States have an OUD, though less than 20 percent receive treatment. Medications like methadone and buprenorphine are considered the gold standard in treating OUD. Methadone, which has been prescribed for OUD for more than 50 years, helps people maintain recovery by suppressing withdrawal symptoms and controlling cravings.

While physicians can prescribe, and pharmacies can dispense, methadone for pain, methadone for OUD is only available at opioid treatment programs (OTPs). Patients usually have to travel to an OTP every day, or almost every day, especially early in their treatment. OTPs can be difficult to access, particularly in rural areas and for individuals with limited access to transportation. On average, patients would need to drive 4.5 times farther to get to an OTP compared to a pharmacy. Canada, the UK, and Australia allow for methadone prescribing outside of specialty treatment settings and for pharmacies to dispense methadone.

“For too long, we have kept methadone – an evidence-based, life-saving medication – locked away, far from many of the people who need it,” said Senator Markey. “The Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act 2.0 would take a carefully considered step forward in expanding access to this medication by allowing the most highly trained addiction physicians in the country to prescribe methadone for their patients to pick up at a pharmacy. We must knock down barriers to treatment for people at risk of opioid overdoses – not build them up.”

“As a physician, I know the value of the doctor-patient relationship. This bipartisan legislation will return treatment decisions to health care providers, who know their patients best. Doing so will be another important step toward combating the opioid epidemic that has caused so much harm in Kentucky and our nation,” said Dr. Paul.

Senate cosponsors include Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Senator Markey’s Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act was passed by the HELP committee in December 2023. The Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act 2.0 builds on the legislation by allowing HHS to designate additional providers who can prescribe methadone for OUD without necessitating additional legislation. These providers must be licensed and registered to prescribe controlled substances.

“For too long, methadone treatment for opioid use disorder has been siloed away from the mainstream healthcare system,” said Stephen M. Taylor, MD, MPH, DFAPA, DFASAM, President of American Society of Addiction Medicine. “MOTAA 2.0 is a much-needed step to reduce fragmentation in addiction care and expand patient access to methadone for OUD through expert clinician prescribing and pharmacy dispensing.”

“Our healthcare providers continue to see first-hand how the opioid crisis affects the communities they love and serve. This proposal would give them another powerful tool to connect people with the critical – often lifesaving – treatment they need, when they need it, where they need it. We are grateful for Senator Markey and his co-sponsors’ longstanding advocacy on this issue,” said Leigh Simons, Vice President of Policy & Regulatory Affairs at Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association (MHA).

“Communities across rural America continue to face significant barriers to accessing timely, evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder, particularly in areas where transportation challenges, provider shortages, and long travel distances limit access to care. MOTAA offers a balanced, commonsense approach that expands access to methadone through qualified addiction medicine and addiction psychiatry physicians and community pharmacies while preserving important state oversight and patient safety protections. As leaders representing public safety, the justice system, and community health, we have witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of opioid addiction on individuals, families, and communities. We have also seen the positive outcomes that occur when people can access treatment quickly and consistently. We commend Senators Markey and Paul for their bipartisan leadership and urge Congress to advance this important legislation,” said Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan, Franklin County Register of Probate John F. Merrigan, and Franklin County Sheriff Lori M. Streeter, Co-Chairs of the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region, Massachusetts.

“Methadone is a proven, effective treatment for opioid use disorder and patients need real access to it. We applaud Senator Markey's continued leadership on this issue and his work to make this medication more accessible,” said Libby Jones, Associate Vice President, Global Health Advocacy Incubator, Overdose Prevention Initiative.

“Individuals in recovery rely on a variety of resources, and for many, methadone is an important one. People who undergo methadone maintenance treatment have a very high success rate, which in turn reduces mortality and cuts down on diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis. Expanding methadone access through this legislation will give more people an opportunity to experience the benefits of recovery, and make us a healthier nation,” said Patty McCarthy, CEO of Faces & Voices of Recovery.

“For too long, outdated restrictions have treated life-saving addiction treatment like a legal barrier rather than the essential healthcare it is. By keeping methadone locked behind specialized clinics, we force individuals in recovery to face daily transportation burdens and institutional stigma just to stay alive. The Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act is a common-sense, bipartisan breakthrough that will finally allow trusted local doctors to prescribe and neighborhood pharmacies to dispense this critical medication. Meeting people where they are in their community is how we break the cycle of overdose, and PAARI is proud to support Senator Markey’s vital legislation to make recovery more accessible than the illicit drug supply,” said Zoe Grover, Executive Director of the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PAARI).

More than 50 organizations endorse the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act 2.0, including: A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing), AIDS United, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists, American College of Academic Addiction Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Medical Toxicology, American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine, American Osteopathic Association, American Pharmacists Association, American Psychological Association Services, American Society of Addiction Medicine, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness, Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance Use and Addiction (AMERSA), Big Cities Health Coalition, Boston Medical Center, Broken No More, Center for Addiction Science, Policy, and Research (CASPR), Doctors for Drug Policy Reform, Drug Policy Alliance, Faces & Voices of Recovery, Georgia Council for Recovery, HIV Alliance, Inseparable, International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC), Legal Action Center, Mass General Brigham, Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association (MHA), Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine, Mental Health America, Mobilize Recovery, National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, National Association of Community Health Centers, National Behavioral Health Association of Providers, National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, National Coalition to Liberate Methadone, National Commission on Correctional Health Care, National Community Pharmacists Association, National Rural Health Association, Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region, Overdose Prevention Initiative, Partnership to End Addiction, Penn Medicine's Center for Addiction Medicine & Policy, Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative, R Street Institute, Shatterproof, SMART Recovery, Talbott Legacy Centers, The Kennedy Forum, Veterans Inc., WellSpan Health, Yale Program in Addiction Medicine, and Young People in Recovery.

Senator Markey has been supportive of increasing access to substance use disorder treatments such as methadone, as well as harm reduction tools. In May 2026, Senator Markey wrote to Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of SAMHSA Christopher Carroll, urging the agency to reverse new guidance barring grant recipients from purchasing and distributing life-saving tools, such as fentanyl test strips, for people with substance use disorders. In December 2024, Senators Markey and Braun (R-Ind.) wrote to BayMark Health Services, Behavioral Health Group, Crossroads Treatment Centers, New Season, and Western Pacific Med Corp seeking answers on the role of private equity investment in their opioid treatment program and how that is impacting access to methadone for OUD. In December 2024, he also wrote to Acadia Healthcare, raising concerns regarding the company’s profit motivations and the impact on the quality and safety of, and access to, behavioral health care. In February 2024, SAMHSA announced a final rule to comprehensively update regulations governing OTPs, the first substantial updates to methadone access regulations in more than 20 years, which Senator Markey applauded.

###",1,2026-06-26T06:29:35Z,2026-06-26T06:31:46Z
https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-calls-on-congress-and-antitrust-enforcers-to-take-on-corporate-power-at-open-markets-conference,Warren Calls on Congress and Antitrust Enforcers to Take on Corporate Power at Open Markets Conference,2026-06-24,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Elizabeth Warren,W000817,www.warren.senate.gov,warren,https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases,scraper,"Warren Calls on Congress and Antitrust Enforcers to Take on Corporate Power at Open Markets Conference

Warren calls out both Democrats and Republicans for nominating judges that don’t follow antitrust laws

Warren pushes antitrust tools to tackle new challenges, including AI

Video of Remarks (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. — At the Open Markets Institute’s 2026 conference on “The New American Revolution,” U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) spoke on the growing momentum for antitrust enforcement, ten years after her first speech at OMI.

“10 years ago, I warned that competition in America was dying. Today, meaningful competition barely registers a heartbeat,” said Senator Warren.

But Senator Warren pointed out that in the last few years, Jonathan Kanter at the Department of Justice and Lina Khan at the Federal Trade Commission brought “hope and a counter-attack against monopolies.”

“Those two were making the billionaire class and Wall Street deal makers nervous. It’s no wonder giant corporations donated handily to Trump’s 2024 campaign. And as soon as Trump took office, corporations came knocking at the White House door to get their pro-monopoly deals approved,” said Senator Warren.

She highlighted how companies like Paramount-Skydance donated millions of dollars to Trump’s ballroom and his presidential library in what appear to be pay-to-play schemes in exchange for favorable treatment like merger approvals.

Senator Warren also argued that in addition to rising prices, corporate consolidation adds a dark layer of control to our economy.

“With a handful of CEOs in charge, a handful of people dictate what you watch on TV, which doctor you’re allowed to see, what you eat, what predators get online access to your kids, what apartment you can rent, and, as AI sweeps in, maybe what your future job looks like,” Senator Warren continued.

“It looks like we’re careening towards oligarchy. But I’m smiling because the antitrust cat is out of the bag…Khan and Kantor reminded America about the power of antitrust laws and demonstrated how to use those tools. Today, people in and out of government are picking up those tools—and the giants can’t stop them,” said Senator Warren.

She underscored how Congress, state attorneys general, and state legislators are taking on powerful defense contractors, health care giants, and corporations like Live Nation-Ticketmaster and Nexstar and Tegna.

“The world is changing, and I don’t care how many lobbyists the would-be monopolists hire and how many campaign contributions they make, they cannot stuff this genie back in the bottle,” she continued.

Senator Warren called for Congress to pass laws that sharpen antitrust enforcers’ tools and confirm judges who actually understand antitrust law.

“We need strong people at DOJ, but if judges ignore the law, then Americans aren’t going to see the benefit of the antitrust laws…We should build a diverse federal bench that will uphold the letter of the law and not be wow’d by a small army of $2,000/hour lawyers whose main job is to make sure that nothing upsets the plans of the world’s biggest corporations,” she said.

Senator Warren called out both Republicans and Democrats for appointing judges that have let through bad antitrust deals.

Additionally, Senator Warren called for antitrust enforcers to be ready to use the tool of antitrust enforcement while approaching new challenges, including around artificial intelligence.

“Corporations don’t get a free pass from antitrust just because they’re using an algorithm,” said Senator Warren. “We need to remind Big Tech that vertical integration can be a violation of antitrust law when it is used to lock out competition.”

“When I look around the country, I see more appetite than ever to take on corporate monopolies that rip off consumers,” Senator Warren continued, mentioning candidates like Jon Ossoff, Julianna Stratton, Peggy Flanagan, Chris Pappas, Graham Platner, Mary Peltola, and Roy Cooper, who’ve all come out in favor of stronger antitrust enforcement.

“Yes, it’s tough out there. Dominant corporations are in a merger frenzy, and the Trump administration is corrupt. The giants won’t give up power easily. But the fight is on, and we’re not giving up,” concluded Senator Warren.

Transcript: Senator Warren’s Speech at the 2026 Open Markets InstituteJune 24, 2026

As Prepared for Delivery

Senator Elizabeth Warren: The first time I spoke at the Open Markets Institute was 10 years ago. 10 years ago, I warned that competition in America was dying. Today, meaningful competition barely registers a heartbeat.

Five defense companies dominate military contracting.

Four beef packers control up to 85% of beef sales.

Three chains sell half of all the prescription drugs in the United States.

And two companies control almost half of all U.S. e-commerce.

Across our economy, a handful of giant companies dominate entire industries.

So let’s talk winners and losers.

The winners are enjoying their day in the sun. Corporate profits are at an all-time high. CEOs are richer than ever. In 1965, CEOs were paid 21 times as much as a typical worker. Today, that number has spiked to 281.

And before a Fortune 500 CEO grabs the mic to talk about how super-duper the stock market has been to build wealth, note that it’s the richest 10% of American households that own almost 90% of that stock market wealth.

It’s pretty clear who is dancing on the corpse of American competition—the richest Americans who just keep getting richer.

So what’s happened to the losers—the other 90% of Americans?

As competition dies, you pay more. They pay when a corporate giant hikes the cost of health insurance; when they purchase airline tickets from one of only four major airlines, then pay extra to bring a bag; when they buy groceries from Kroger or Fred Meyer or Ralphs or Food for Less, or Mariano’s or Smith’s or Harris Teeter. Oh, that sounds like a lot of competition, except that every one of them is owned by Kroger.

When choices are limited to a few giant companies, customers are forced to shell out whatever they charge, so the giants keep right on raising prices.

That’s just Econ 101.

But there’s another, darker layer to what happens when giants dominate an industry.

With a handful of CEOs in charge, a handful of people dictate what you watch on TV, which doctor you’re allowed to see, what you eat, what predators get online access to your kids, what apartment you can rent, and, as AI sweeps in, maybe what your future job looks like.

Today, a majority of Americans now think that “when it comes to politics and society, nothing really matters because powerful people will always do whatever they want.” No wonder much of America believes that Jeffrey Epstein and JPMorgan Chase get to play by one set of rules while everyone else faces hard accountability if they break the law.

This shift didn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of decades of both parties’ failure to enforce our country’s antitrust laws, of politicians and presidents of both parties favoring corporations over workers, and of both parties confirming judges who skew legal interpretation to benefit corporate giants.

This shift is also what happens when America’s toothless campaign finance laws allow corporations and billionaires to funnel endless money into elections and lobbying so that giants can buy government favors.

So yeah, the past ten years have been tough. But the past few years have also brought hope and a counter-attack against monopolies. When Biden was elected, we fought for—and got—the most pro-competition DOJ and FTC in decades. I’m talking about antitrust enforcers Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter.

They launched some big cases and, at first, they lost. But they didn’t give up. Instead, they leaned in harder, and began notching real wins. In 2024, DOJ won its first anti-monopolization case in decades, and, for the first time EVER, successfully blocked a merger based on negative effects on workers.

With Khan at the helm, the FTC blocked a merger between Kroger and Albertsons, which would have raised grocery prices for millions of Americans. And if you still don’t see the connection between antitrust and rising costs, just take it from the CEO of Albertsons: she described how the company is now planning to keep prices low to attract more shoppers and compete with rivals. Darn it.

And if Khan and Kanter had kept going, we would have seen even more wins.

Those two were making the billionaire class and Wall Street deal makers nervous.

It’s no wonder giant corporations donated handily to Trump’s 2024 campaign.

And as soon as Trump took office, corporations came knocking at the White House door to get their pro-monopoly deals approved.

Have you wondered why companies keep donating millions of dollars to Trump’s gold-encrusted ballroom, his arch, or his library?

It looks a lot like a pay-to-play scheme.

Take the Paramount-Skydance deal. Skydance desperately wanted to take over Paramount, and it was up to the Trump administration to stop it.

So what did the executives do? Step one: Paramount’s CBS “settled” a really stupid lawsuit with Trump, handing him over $16 million.

Step two: When Stephen Colbert called that a “big fat bribe,” CBS cancelled his show.

Step three: the Trump administration approved the merger.

The result? Trump’s buddy David Ellison, the owner of Skydance, now also owns Paramount, which means he owns Paramount Pictures, CBS, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, and a massive movie and television library with everything from Top Gun to Spongebob Squarepants. And Ellison has more plans. He wants to buy up Warner Brothers too, taking over CNN, HBO, the Food Network, another film studio, Discovery Channel, Cartoon Network, TNT, TBS and more. One guy in charge of it all.

Everyone from TV watchers to production assistants to make-up artists to A-list celebrities called to block this merger.

Donald Trump’s DOJ ignored them all and rubber-stamped it. A few days later, David Ellison showed up to celebrate at Trump’s UFC birthday party.

But make no mistake: this isn’t over. The state AGs have the power to block this merger—and that’s exactly what they should do.

That doesn’t mean we let our guard down, because these guys aren’t giving us a break.

Now, Fox is trying to buy Roku to create another media behemoth, combining the two largest free, ad-supported streaming services into one. And remember: Fox is owned by the Murdochs, another Trump-friendly family.

We’re seeing the consolidation of media by a few oligarchs happen right before our eyes – and that’s just in one industry.

Let’s do one more: The Trump administration rubber-stamped a merger between the two largest residential real estate brokerages in the United States, Anywhere Real Estate and Compass. Even though it means one company now controls 70% of real estate listings in some areas, and it could drive high housing prices even higher.

How did this happen? Well, two clues. One, Compass hired a Trump-friendly lobbyist. And two, Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer and wannabe Attorney General, reportedly ran an end-run around experts at the DOJ.

I’m not the only one who noticed it looks like corruption is greasing the skids for mega-deals: giant companies are spending more money on lobbying than ever before. These companies understand that the antitrust laws as written could stop their consolidation in its tracks, and they seem quite willing to spend millions to persuade enforcers to ignore the law.

OK, that sounds grim. It looks like we’re careening towards oligarchy. But I’m smiling because the antitrust cat is out of the bag. What Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter did – which Wall Street Journal-types said couldn’t be done – has changed things in a way Trump and corporate CEOs can’t undo. Khan and Kantor reminded America about the power of antitrust laws and demonstrated how to use those tools. Today, people in and out of government are picking up those tools—and the giants can’t stop them.

That is why 10 years after my first speech here, even as corporate giants do everything they can to eliminate competition, and even as the Trump administration seems willing to sell get-out-of-jail-free cards to the highest bidders, I have hope.

More people in Congress are starting to see the impact of consolidation. Republican Senator Tim Sheehy and I are advancing right to repair for the military—and we have it in both the House and Senate defense bills right now. Republican Senator Josh Hawley and I teamed up on a bill to break up big medicine to drive down health care prices—not law yet, but we’re getting more interest.

State attorneys general are making change.

They’re pushing to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster. They sued to halt the $6 billion merger between Nexstar and Tegna. And they may be getting ready to challenge Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros.

State legislators are writing new laws to tackle consolidation.

Working people and small businesses are beginning to band together to sue the companies that are hurting competition, and spreading the word about Robinson-Patman.

The world is changing, and I don’t care how many lobbyists the would-be monopolists hire and how many campaign contributions they make, they cannot stuff this genie back in the bottle.

Could we do more? Sure. Should we do more? Absolutely. For example, Congress should sharpen the antitrust enforcers’ tools.

Mandate structural separation to prevent conflicts of interest in vertically integrated companies.

Close merger review loopholes that speed up consolidation of the housing market.

Ban private-equity “roll up” strategies.

Introduce reforms to crack down on antitrust corruption, like public notices of HSR deadlines, beefed-up Tunney Act settlement review, and a streamlined process to unwind giant illegal mergers.

And confirm judges who actually understand antitrust law.

Let me pause on that point about judges. We need strong people at DOJ, but if judges ignore the law, then Americans aren’t going to see the benefit of the antitrust laws.

And I’m not just talking about Republican-appointed judges. A Clinton judge allowed T-Mobile to merge with Sprint, shrinking the cell phone market from four major competitors to three. An Obama judge dismissed a lawsuit alleging Facebook illegally acquired competitors, reducing protections and services for consumers. And a Biden judge cleared the way for Microsoft to take over Activision – which, by the way, led to Microsoft firing almost 2,000 Activision workers. Over and over again, judges have succumbed to the siren song of pro-corporate Chicago school economics and ignored the actual antitrust laws passed by Congress.

We should build a diverse federal bench that will uphold the letter of the law and not be wow’d by a small army of $2,000/hour lawyers whose main job is to make sure that nothing upsets the plans of the world’s biggest corporations. It's time to change the temperature of the water. We need to stack the bench with consumer protection lawyers, tenants rights lawyers, and labor lawyers.

We also need to be ready to use the tool of antitrust enforcement even more decisively to meet new challenges.

Consider artificial intelligence: Corporations don’t get a free pass from antitrust just because they’re using an algorithm. If a company is using AI to illegally inflate rent prices in the middle of a national housing affordability crisis, we need to push back. We need to remind Big Tech that vertical integration can be a violation of antitrust law when it is used to lock out competition.

And yes, Big Tech will try to wave off antitrust enforcement by arguing that beating China in AI is important for our national security. But we know competition is essential for innovation, and antitrust is essential to promote that competition.

When I look around the country, I see more appetite than ever to take on corporate monopolies that rip off consumers.

Jon Ossoff has called for cracking down on giant corporations that are buying up single-family housing.

So have Julianna Stratton in Illinois and Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Chris Pappas in New Hampshire is running on an agenda to “stop corporate greed,” and Graham Platner calls out corporations that have consolidated power, not by competing better, but by cheating.

Mary Peltola in Alaska aggressively supported the FTC in its suit against the Kroger-Albertson merger and took credit when the merger was blocked.

And in North Carolina, Roy Cooper’s highlighting his record of fighting unfair business practices that let shady corporations make millions by ripping you off.

That’s half a dozen candidates for the Senate alone.

Yes, it’s tough out there. Dominant corporations are in a merger frenzy, and the Trump administration is corrupt. The giants won’t give up power easily. But the fight is on, and we’re not giving up. With all of us in this fight, I like our odds. And I’m honored to be in this fight with all you. Thank you.

###",1,2026-06-25T06:30:03Z,2026-06-25T06:31:21Z
https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-hirono-schumer-colleagues-blast-trump-rfk-jr-for-steering-pregnant-women-to-misleading-anti-abortion-website,"Warren, Hirono, Schumer, Colleagues Blast Trump, RFK Jr. For Steering Pregnant Women to Misleading Anti-Abortion Website",2026-06-24,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Elizabeth Warren,W000817,www.warren.senate.gov,warren,https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases,scraper,"Warren, Hirono, Schumer, Colleagues Blast Trump, RFK Jr. For Steering Pregnant Women to Misleading Anti-Abortion Website

The government website directs women to Option Line, a finder tool for unregulated, often nonmedical anti-abortion facilities that has exposed the sensitive data of pregnant women.

“Moms.gov is not about promoting women’s health—it is an attempt to use HHS resources to further strip women of their rights and privacy.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), pressed President Donald Trump and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the Trump Administration’s new website, Moms.gov, which directs pregnant women and their loved ones to unregulated and often nonmedical anti-abortion facilities known as crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs).

“This raises profound concerns about the health, safety, and privacy of people who access this government website at a time when women’s health and reproductive rights face increasing attacks,” wrote the senators.

On Mother’s Day, the Trump Administration launched Moms.gov as “a groundbreaking website for new and expecting mothers,” purporting to “offer[] guidance and information to support the health and well-being of mothers and their families.” Rather than connect people with licensed health care providers and evidence-based resources, a button reading “Find Pregnancy Centers Near You” steers them to an external site called Option Line, a CPC finder tool that collects data on pregnant women.

CPCs receive at least tens of millions of dollars in federal funding and, though advertised as legitimate care providers, do not provide comprehensive reproductive care and are not bound by federal privacy protections, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects “sensitive health information from disclosure without patient's consent.”

CPCs have been known to cause dangerous delays in medically necessary care, putting women’s health and lives at risk. In recent cases, CPCs in Massachusetts and Texas allegedly failed to identify life-threatening ectopic pregnancies, leading to emergency surgeries. These incidents are especially troubling in light of reports that a major CPC support organization advised affiliated centers to avoid providing ultrasounds that could reveal ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages, raising serious concerns about patient safety.

The website also includes a direct link to Option Line, a collection tool operated by Heartbeat International, an anti-abortion organization with a history of data breaches. Option Line collects sensitive personal information and may share it with third parties, posing serious privacy risks. In one breach, Heartbeat International compromised the privacy of thirteen people by reportedly uploading an unencrypted training video to the internet revealing their names and medical histories.

“At a time when reproductive health data is being used to criminalize women, the Administration’s use of federal funds to direct women to a private data-collection system, operated by an anti-abortion organization known to collect and share personal data unrestrained by federal privacy guardrails, is cause for alarm and warrants significant scrutiny,” wrote the senators.

“In this hostile environment, women deserve a government that will work tirelessly to ensure that they have access to health care that improves their lives, receive accurate medical information from legitimate health care providers, and that their private health information will be protected. Instead, the Trump administration continues to advance policies that restrict reproductive freedom and block access to care,” concluded the senators.

The letter, sent on the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, demands that HHS remove the crisis pregnancy center link from Moms.gov, stop using federal resources to direct women to anti-abortion CPCs, and provide answers to a set of questions regarding how it will protect the health and data privacy of the women who enter this site.

This letter was also signed by Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

This letter is endorsed by Reproductive Freedom for All, National Partnership for Women and Families, National Women’s Law Center, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

“Anti-abortion centers—so-called crisis pregnancy centers—push misinformation, rely on deceptive tactics, and endanger pregnant people by delaying access to legitimate care,” said Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju. “These centers cannot be trusted to protect people’s sensitive reproductive health data any more than they can be trusted to protect their health. We thank Senator Warren, Senator Hirono, and Leader Schumer for their leadership in demanding answers about Moms.gov’s alarming promotion of these centers and their history of endangering people’s health and data privacy.”

“Moms.gov is propaganda for anti-abortion extremism, plain and simple,” said Katie O’Connor, senior director of federal abortion policy at the National Women's Law Center Action Fund. “Moms.gov is taking advantage of the fear and confusion caused by the constantly shifting landscape of abortion access to direct pregnant people to dangerous anti-abortion centers, which are known to spread false and misleading information in an effort to dissuade people from getting abortion care. We are grateful to Senator Warren for her leadership in calling out the dangers of this website and demanding more information from the administration about why they are directing people to resources that could put women’s health at risk.”

""The Trump Administration is using Moms.gov to push a coercive, pronatalist agenda by promoting crisis pregnancy centers, or fake clinics, over actual reproductive healthcare providers,” said Rosann Mariappuram, Director of Reproductive Health and Rights at the National Partnership for Women & Families. “Fake clinics seek to deter pregnant people from obtaining abortion care through lies and deceptions. They are known for reckless data practices that endanger the privacy of the women and girls who walk through their doors or visit their websites. Directing people to Moms.gov is one of many tactics anti-abortion extremists are employing to surveil pregnant people. We join Senator Warren in calling on HHS to remove the pregnancy center link from Moms.gov and instead use federal resources to help people get the care they need without fear or judgment.""

Senator Warren has led the fight to protect women’s reproductive rights:

In May 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) led the entire Senate Democratic caucus in reintroducing a resolution affirming that the abortion medication mifepristone is safe and effective and underscoring that law and policy related to the medication must be equitable, transparent, and based on the best available peer-reviewed evidence-based science.

In May 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) led 12 senators in pressing the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on the Commission’s efforts to weaken a rule affirming employment protections for workers undergoing fertility treatments.

In March 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); Ron Wyden, Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee (D-Ore.); and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) led 23 colleagues in publishing a new report revealing the harm Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have caused to Americans in the six months since their dangerous provision to “defund” Planned Parenthood, buried in their Big, Beautiful Bill, went into effect.

In November 2025, ahead of the Senate Finance Committee’s confirmation vote for Thomas M. Bell, Donald Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General (IG), U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) exposed Bell’s flip-flopping and slammed his extreme anti-abortion views.

In July 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Michael Stuart, nominee for General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), on his dangerous anti-vaccine views, staunch anti-abortion advocacy, and more. Ahead of his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee later today — at which Senator Warren will question Stuart — Senator Warren sent Stuart a letter outlining her key concerns with his nomination.

In February 2025, Senators Warren and Duckworth pressed Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Trump’s then-nominee for the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), on his hostile anti-abortion record.

In December 2024, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) reintroduced the Health and Location Data Protection Act, legislation banning data brokers from selling Americans’ sensitive personal information.

In September 2024, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Elizabeth Warren highlighted the dangerous consequences women faced after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

In January 2024, on the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) spoke on the floor of the United States Senate about the fight ahead to restore abortion rights and protect reproductive freedom.

In December 2023, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) led 40 other lawmakers in introducing a resolution in support of equitable, science-based policies governing access to medication abortion.

In May 2023, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) expanded their investigation into the effects of state abortion bans on women, as the country neared the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

In March 2023, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), along with Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), sent a letter to Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer, expressing concern regarding recent reports that the company would not dispense medication abortions in 21 states where Republican Attorneys General have threatened the company.

In January 2023, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Cori Bush (D-Mo.) sent a letter to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) in support of their October proposed rule on employee status, which would help reclassify potentially thousands of misclassified workers.

In November 2022, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and eight Senate Democrats sent a letter to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf encouraging the agency to defend Americans’ reproductive rights and to consider steps to protect and expand access to medication abortion.

In November 2022, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) released a new report: Post-Roe Abortion Bans Threaten Women’s Lives: Health Care Providers Speak Out on the Devastating Harm Posed by Abortion Bans and Restrictions. The 23-page report – based on information provided by leading health care providers – reveals the devastating consequences of state abortion bans and restrictions enacted by right-wing legislatures and the impacts of Senate Republicans’ extreme proposal to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks.

###",1,2026-06-25T06:30:03Z,2026-06-25T06:31:21Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/as-gas-prices-remain-high-from-trumps-war-in-iran-senator-markey-introduces-legislation-to-protect-americans-from-high-costs-at-the-pump,"As Gas Prices Remain High from Trump’s War in Iran, Senator Markey Introduces Legislation to Protect Americans from High Costs at the Pump",2026-06-24,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (June 24, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and Environmental and Public Works Committee, today introduced the Gas Money Saved Act, legislation that would require the Department of Transportation (DOT) to examine whether it can strengthen Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards during periods of skyrocketing gas prices. The legislation would also reinstate the penalties for automakers that fail to produce fuel-efficient vehicles as options for American drivers, which were removed as part of the giveaways to corporations and the super-rich in the Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill in 2025. This legislation comes as average gas prices are still nearly $4 per gallon, after peaking at $4.50 per gallon due to Trump’s illegal war in Iran. In May 2026, gas prices rose at a rate ten times higher than the rate of inflation. Even as Trump and Iran tout a memorandum of understanding to end the war, gas prices are projected to remain high and the Strait of Hormuz—a key point in the global oil supply chain—remains in conflict, harming American families who are already suffering from rising costs throughout the economy.

“Fuel economy standards help American drivers get around without breaking the bank while gas prices are high, but Trump and the Republicans gutted these standards as part of their crusade to put Big Oil above American families,” said Senator Markey. “Auto innovation should give consumers better choices, not cut corners at their expense. The Gas Money Saved Act would make sure American drivers have fuel-efficient vehicle options that are cheaper to fill up and hold automakers to account—a cost-saving measure that is especially critical as the Trump Administration would rather spend billions on an illegal war than keep costs low for Americans.”

“The Gas Money Saved Act provides a bold response to sky-high gasoline prices: no more flouting the nation’s fuel economy laws,” said Daniel Greene, Senior Director of Consumer Protection & Product Safety at the National Consumers League. “This vital legislation eliminates a ‘get out of jail free card’ allowing automakers to evade federal fuel economy standards without repercussions. The bill also directs the federal government to ensure that the maximum feasible fuel economy standards are on the books. Doing so alleviates pain at the pump, protects public health, and strengthens our nation’s energy security.”

“As people continue to face high gas prices, strong fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks remain a proven tool in our toolbox that can reduce people’s costs,” said Anne Clement, Senior Legislative Representative at Earthjustice Action. “By requiring the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to review fuel economy standards during times of high gas prices and restoring penalties for automakers that fail to meet the standards, Senator Markey’s bill can help save consumers money at the pump while also reducing pollution.”

“Last year, Congress offered a blatant giveaway to automakers, removing all penalties for violating fuel efficiency standards that cut gas costs and help keep our air clean,” said Steven Higashide, Director, Clean Transportation Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “The Trump administration further weakened fuel-economy rules, piling new costs on consumers. The Gas Money Saved Act, by reinstating and strengthening penalties, holds automakers accountable and puts teeth back into CAFE standards.”

“The Sierra Club applauds Senator Markey for his leadership and commitment to clean, affordable transportation at a time of volatile gas prices and increasingly expensive gas-guzzlers. Last year, Congress handed automakers a giveaway by eliminating penalties for violating essential fuel-efficiency standards that save drivers money and reduce harmful pollution. The Trump administration only made matters worse by weakening those standards further and driving up costs for consumers during an affordability crisis. The Gas Money Saved Act helps to deliver what American families need: more efficient vehicles to save on fuel costs and breathe cleaner air,” said Katherine García, Director of Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All Campaign.

CAFE standards mandate that automakers meet average fuel efficiency standards across their car and truck fleet. Throughout their history, these standards have saved drivers money at the pump, lowered our dependence on imported oil, and reduced air pollution for nearly 50 years before Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill took away fines for automakers and rendered these consumer protection standards toothless. Specifically, the Gas Money Saved Act would:

Require DOT to reevaluate CAFE standards if gas prices rise at a rate five times faster than inflation over a six-month period, and;

Restore and increase financial penalties on automakers if their car and truck fleet does not meet fuel efficiency standards.

The Gas Money Saved Act is endorsed by National Consumers League (NCL), Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Earthjustice Action, Sierra Club, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

In February, Senator Markey and Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07) led 78 lawmakers in a letter to the Administration calling on it to withdraw its proposed rollback of fuel economy standards. Senator Markey has been a fuel economy champion since the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 included fuel economy language co-authored by then-Rep. Markey to push for more protective standards.

###",1,2026-06-26T06:29:35Z,2026-06-26T06:31:46Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-introduces-pupil-act-to-highlight-needs-and-contributions-of-paraprofessionals-in-education,Senator Markey Introduces PUPIL Act to Highlight Needs and Contributions of Paraprofessionals in Education,2026-06-23,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (June 23, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, today introduced the Providing Understanding of Paraprofessionals in Learning (PUPIL) Act, legislation to commission a study on paraprofessionals to provide educators, lawmakers, and advocates with the data necessary to understand these critical workers. The legislation is cosponsored by Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

“Families rely on paraprofessionals to support students in the classroom, transport them to school, and provide them with healthy meals. They are essential parts of the school community. Yet, paraprofessionals remain an under-studied workforce, with limited opportunities for career growth,” said Senator Markey. “My PUPIL Act will bring long overdue attention to the needs of paraprofessionals and equip paraprofessionals, school leaders, advocates, and legislators to craft policies that support these workers.”

“Paraprofessionals and support staff are the backbone of our public schools, and it is unconscionable that they lack the resources they need to do their jobs,” said Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers. “We are grateful that Sen. Ed Markey has made their lives a priority with the PUPIL Act, which will study the working conditions of school support staff and finally give us the real data we need to improve conditions for millions of workers across the country.”

Senator Markey’s legislation directs the Department of Education to commission a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) study that would:

Examine the demographics, roles, compensation, retention, and existing career pathways for paraprofessionals serving students in prekindergarten through 12th grade

Establish classifications for different paraprofessionals positions and compile data on starting and mean salaries for each classification

Analyze paraprofessionals’ wages against cost of living in their area

Examine the use of contracted or privatized education support staff and the implications of these employment models on student outcomes

Examine paraprofessional credentialing requirements, including compliance with existing federal standards under ESEA and IDEA

The PUPIL Act is endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, SEIU, Council for Exceptional Children, National Rural Education Association, Council of Administrators of Special Education, The Center for Law and Social Policy, The Arc of Massachusetts, and the American Occupational Therapy Association.

On July 17, 2025, Senator Markey reintroduced the Preparing and Retaining All (PARA) Educators Act, legislation that would establish higher wages, career pipelines, and professional development opportunities for school paraeducators. In April 2025, Senator Markey and Representative Jahana Hayes (CT-05) introduced the Paraprofessionals and Education Support Staff Bill of Rights.

###",1,2026-06-24T06:25:30Z,2026-06-24T06:26:49Z
https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-kelly-press-trump-officials-to-explain-damage-to-us-manufacturing-sector,"Warren, Kelly Press Trump Officials to Explain Damage to U.S. Manufacturing Sector",2026-06-23,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Elizabeth Warren,W000817,www.warren.senate.gov,warren,https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases,scraper,"Warren, Kelly Press Trump Officials to Explain Damage to U.S. Manufacturing Sector

Trump admin has repeatedly — and falsely — claimed that manufacturing is “roaring back” and that investments are up

Trump’s tariffs have led to tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs disappearing

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) wrote to Secretary of Commerce (Commerce) Howard Lutnick, Secretary of the Treasury (Treasury) Scott Bessent, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, asking them to explain the disappearance of tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs under the Trump administration, despite President Trump’s promise of a “manufacturing boom.”

“President Trump promised us that his chaotic, across-the-board tariffs—paid for by Americans—would yield a ‘manufacturing boom’...But no ‘boom’ has materialized—in fact, during President Trump’s term, the ‘blue-collar jobs boom’ has been a blue-collar bust,” wrote the senators.

President Trump repeatedly claimed foreign companies would “eat” his tariffs and that corporate importers would simply absorb the costs. Instead, those costs were passed on to consumers, driving up prices for American families and small businesses. In fact, President Trump’s trade policies have cost families an average of $1,700, and estimates indicate that American households will end up paying for 95 percent of the President’s tariffs.

“[T]ariffs are an important economic tool to level the playing field for U.S. workers and reshore key industries, but they must be employed with careful consideration, as part of a broader industrial strategy,” wrote the senators.

Since President Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on nearly all trading partners in April 2025, nearly 100,000 manufacturing jobs have disappeared. Additionally, spending on construction in the manufacturing sector has declined steadily in each month since he took office. President Trump’s war in Iran has led to further construction delays through rising fuel costs and disruptions in global supply chains.

President Trump claimed tariffs would bring jobs back to U.S. soil, but corporations continue to move manufacturing jobs abroad. Even Trump allies like hedge fund billionaire John Paulson, a staunch defender of tariffs, recently announced he will close his brass instrument manufacturing plant in Ohio and move around 150 jobs to China. Whirlpool, another defender of President Trump’s tariffs, has cut nearly 500 U.S. jobs since last year’s tariffs announcements, while expanding their operations in Mexico.

“This set of facts reveals the truth: that President Trump’s disastrous trade and economic policies have hurt American manufacturing, breaking the President’s promises to workers and the public,” concluded the senators.

The lawmakers asked the officials to explain the increasing trade deficit, explain the administration’s repeated lies about a “manufacturing boom,” and provide evidence of increased manufacturing investments by July 6, 2026.

Senator Warren has led the fight to protect American workers from the Trump administration’s disastrous trade agenda:

In June 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) released a new report titled “10 Ways President Trump Has Hurt American Workers,” detailing how President Trump has broken his promises to workers.

In April 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) pressed U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the Trump administration’s using tariffs to help Big Tech evade regulations that keep users safe — all while these tariffs jack up prices for American families and further decimate the manufacturing industry.

In February 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) called on the Trump Administration to use the upcoming joint review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to strengthen the agreement’s protections for American workers and consumers—rather than as an opportunity to secure giveaways for corporations and billionaires. President Trump has said that his across-the-board tariffs would create “millions and millions of new manufacturing jobs” and restore U.S. manufacturing to its former glory. Instead, the United States has lost over 70,000 manufacturing jobs over the last year.

In December 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Luján (D-N.M.), and Smith (D-Minn.) wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer urging him to publish a complete written report outlining the administration’s objectives for U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) renegotiations, and reveal whether giant corporations had influenced those trade priorities.

In June 2025, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) led members of the Senate Democratic Caucus in writing to the Secretary of the Department of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, urging the department to preserve President Biden’s expansion of the overtime threshold.

In February 2025, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) questioned Mr. Jamieson Greer, then-nominee for U.S. Trade Representative, on his vision for Trump’s trade policy. Mr. Greer agreed with Senator Warren that large corporations have outsized influence on trade deals and that U.S. trade policy needs to ensure “American businesses and American workers [are] prioritized,” and that any exemption program “needs to be transparent and have the rules outlined.”

###",1,2026-06-24T06:25:30Z,2026-06-24T06:26:49Z
https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-moreno-pen-nyt-op-ed-our-bipartisan-plan-to-save-social-security,"Warren, Moreno Pen NYT Op-ed: Our Bipartisan Plan to Save Social Security",2026-06-23,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Elizabeth Warren,W000817,www.warren.senate.gov,warren,https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases,scraper,"Warren, Moreno Pen NYT Op-ed: Our Bipartisan Plan to Save Social Security

Warren and Moreno: “[T]he two of us are working together on legislation to remove the cap on Social Security taxes and extend the solvency of our retirement system.”

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) published a joint op-ed in the New York Times calling on Congress to act to save Social Security for generations of Americans to come.

In particular, the senators call for lifting the Social Security payroll tax cap, given that the current tax cap creates a system where most Americans pay Social Security taxes on 100% of their earnings, while the highest earners are paying on only part of theirs. The pair of senators announced that they are currently working on legislation to address this problem, which would also extend the solvency of Social Security.

In April 2025, Senator Warren launched the Social Security War Room to protect Social Security.

Read the full op-ed here and below.

New York Times Opinion

Bernie Moreno and Elizabeth Warren: Our Plan to Save Social Security

June 23rd, 2026

One of us is a Republican from Ohio who built a business that generated hundreds of jobs. The other is a Democrat from Massachusetts who built a career protecting consumers from financial tricks and traps.

We don’t agree on everything, but here’s one thing we do agree on: Congress must act now to save Social Security for generations of Americans to come.

Social Security is a core component of our nation’s promise — a covenant between the federal government and Americans who pay into it throughout their working years so they can retire with dignity.

That promise is at risk of unraveling. For years, older people in Ohio and Massachusetts have told us how concerned they are about the future of Social Security. A new report from the trustees who oversee the Social Security Trust Funds shows they are right to worry: Unless Congress acts, the fund from which most Social Security beneficiaries are paid will be significantly depleted by late 2032. After that, Social Security benefits could be cut by more than 20 percent.

That’s just six years away. Instead of cutting benefits for the retirees who count on Social Security, we need to take bipartisan action to protect those benefits, reward work and restore fairness.

That starts with a common-sense solution: lifting the Social Security payroll tax cap.

For 2026, the payroll tax cap, or taxable maximum, is $184,500. Workers and their employers each pay 6.2 percent on wages up to that amount (self-employed individuals pay 12.4 percent). Today, the most that would be paid into Social Security for one worker is $22,878, or 12.4 percent of $184,500. Not a penny more, even if an individual’s salary far exceeds $184,500. Since the vast majority of Americans make less than that, most people are paying Social Security taxes on 100 percent of their earnings while the highest earners are paying on only part of theirs.

Why should a middle-class nurse pay a larger share of her paycheck — than a wealthy corporate lawyer? This is doubly unfair in an economy in which top earners’ wages, over time, have pulled far ahead of those of the average worker.

According to one estimate, eliminating the payroll tax cap would inject around $3 trillion into the program over the next 10 years. Lifting the cap so that all income is treated the same would generate substantial revenue that would extend the solvency of Social Security for another generation.

Our plan would also help to safeguard Social Security’s earned-benefit structure, in which workers make contributions to the program from their paychecks. This structure has delivered a basic level of retirement certainty for generations. One 2025 poll found that 65 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of Republicans support lifting the cap, “including a significant majority of respondents with annual household income over $200,000.”

This is a no-brainer: The wealthiest Americans, who have benefited the most from America’s opportunities, should contribute the same percentage of their income as a factory worker in Chillicothe, Ohio, or a teacher in Worcester, Mass.

Most Americans work into their 60s or 70s. Throughout their working lives, they pay into Social Security with the understanding that it will help them support themselves in retirement. With rising prices and artificial intelligence causing economic uncertainty for the future, Social Security must remain a stable foundation to help retirees afford life’s basic necessities.

Social Security was created by overwhelming bipartisan congressional majorities. Today, members of Congress from both parties must come together again to save it. That’s why the two of us are working together on legislation to remove the cap on Social Security taxes and extend the solvency of our retirement system. Americans deserve nothing less. Preserving the American dream for our children and grandchildren depends on it.

###",1,2026-06-24T06:25:30Z,2026-06-24T06:26:49Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-sanders-blumenthal-murray-urge-department-of-labor-to-reverse-rule-that-would-weaken-worker-protections-against-big-businesses,"Markey, Sanders, Blumenthal, Murray Urge Department of Labor to Reverse Rule That Would Weaken Worker Protections Against Big Businesses",2026-06-22,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (June 22, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee and on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, along with HELP Ranking Member Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), today wrote to Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling, calling on the Department of Labor (DOL) to withdraw its dangerous proposed rule on Joint Employer Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. The proposed Rule would water down DOL enforcement investigations of big businesses, weakening worker protections and harming small businesses.

Joint employment status is when a worker has two employers (for example, a fast-food worker employed by that franchisee and the corporate franchisor). In today’s economy, companies increasingly contract and subcontract out labor to a complex web of employment structures. These larger companies will often dictate significant aspects of a smaller employer’s operations and employee conditions, yet at the same time, these large companies often seek to shirk responsibility and liability for any violations of workers’ rights by claiming they are not the employers of these workers. The proposed rule would make it harder for DOL to classify larger employers as joint employers and thus reduce DOL’s ability to hold large employers accountable for wage theft, child labor violations, FMLA violations, and other worker protections.

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “Contrary to DOL’s purported motivations for the proposed rule, it would harm small business owners and franchisees, leaving them solely liable even when a larger employer exerts — or retains the right to exert — significant influence over their operation, such as dictating employee behavior, expectations, functions, and price of goods. Indeed, many franchisors and large employers are already significantly involved in the affairs of small businesses, setting mandatory hours of operation, supplier restrictions, and even how employees greet customers.”

The lawmakers continued, “Above all, we fear the workers most vulnerable to wage theft and labor law violations are the ones who will be most negatively impacted by this proposed rule. Janitorial staff, agricultural laborers, construction workers, and nurses are some of the professions that have been increasingly outsourced to a convoluted system of contractors, subcontractors, temporary staffing agencies, and other entities in what amounts to a ‘fissured workplace’ where lines of employer blur and workers are left in progressively more precarious positions. For many workers, one stolen paycheck or other labor law violation can determine their ability to afford rent, groceries, or childcare.”

###",1,2026-06-23T06:27:52Z,2026-06-23T06:29:20Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-warren-rep-mcgovern-celebrate-successful-efforts-to-save-shutesbury-and-medway-post-offices-urge-usps-to-halt-closures-at-other-post-offices,"Senators Markey, Warren, Rep. McGovern Celebrate Successful Efforts to Save Shutesbury and Medway Post Offices, Urge USPS to Halt Closures at Other Post Offices",2026-06-22,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Shutesbury Post Office Letter (PDF) | Allston Post Office Letter (PDF) | Springfield Pine Point Letter (PDF)

Washington (June 22, 2026) - Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Representative Jim McGovern (MA-02) celebrated news that the United States Postal Service (USPS) reversed course on closing the post office in the Town of Shutesbury and committed to opening a new location in the Town of Medway. This follows months-long advocacy from Senators Markey and Warren, Rep. McGovern, the federal delegation, the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), and the Shutesbury community—including a letter from the delegation—as well as a years-long campaign in Medway. The Shutesbury community will benefit from uninterrupted postal service, and the Medway community will soon see adequate postal service restored.

Postal problems persist in other Massachusetts communities. In Allston, USPS has reportedly reversed its intent to reopen a post office closed in 2019, and in Springfield, USPS continues to negotiate with the owner of a Contract Postal Unit in Pine Point after previously announcing it would permanently close the site. These developments led Senator Markey to write to Postmaster General David Steiner, Senior Vice President of Facilities Benjamin Kuo, and Massachusetts-Rhode Island District Manager Carissa Shea, demanding answers and an adequate postal presence in both Allston and Springfield. This effort builds on prior letters Senator Markey has sent advocating for post office locations and adequate service across Massachusetts, including in Watertown, Brookline, and Somerville.

“At a press conference in 2024, I said that Massachusetts was facing a postal crisis: post offices were closing, mail wasn’t arriving, and service was being degraded for residents across the Commonwealth,” said Senator Markey. “This news in Shutesbury and Medway is a reminder that, when we organize together, we can make progress and we can win. But this crisis is far from over. Allston, Springfield, Watertown, and communities across Massachusetts are still contending with closed post offices and mail delays. I will continue to advocate for a just postal service: one that recognizes that postal service is a public service, that all communities deserve a local post office, and that every resident deserves adequate daily mail delivery.”

“I fought hard alongside Senator Markey so that Shutesbury and Medway residents can breathe easy knowing that their post offices will remain open and accessible. These post offices are a reminder of why we stay in the fight for a government that works for working people,” said Senator Warren.

“For folks in towns like Shutesbury and Medway, a local post office is not a luxury, but an essential lifeline they rely on every day,” said Congressman McGovern. “I’m proud we’ve been able to stand strong for the basic principle that every community deserves reliable, uninterrupted postal service. I’m grateful for the partnership of Senators Markey and Warren and the American Postal Workers Union—together we will continue fighting hard against these closures. And I’m thankful for the community leaders who stood together to demand better. Our fight is not over until every city and town in Massachusetts—big and small, urban and rural—has access to dependable service from the United States Postal Service.”

In June, Senator Markey celebrated USPS’s decision to reverse the closure of the Shutesbury Post Office. In April, he led the Massachusetts congressional delegation in writing a letter to the USPS Inspector General Tammy Hull, demanding answers about the Massachusetts mail delivery system delays caused by understaffed and closed postal offices, inequitable mail delivery across communities, and USPS’s refusal to pay postal employees for overtime work. In February 2025, Senator Markey slammed the Trump administration’s plants to dismantle USPS, including proposals to do away with universal service and undermine USPS workers. In 2024, Senator Markey successfully fought the closure of the Mission Hill and Beacon Hill Post Offices and the consolidation of the Brockton Processing and Delivery Center.

###",1,2026-06-23T06:27:52Z,2026-06-23T06:29:20Z
https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/new-warren-report-exposes-how-trump-has-turned-his-back-on-american-workers,New Warren Report Exposes How Trump Has Turned His Back on American Workers,2026-06-22,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Elizabeth Warren,W000817,www.warren.senate.gov,warren,https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases,scraper,"New Warren Report Exposes How Trump Has Turned His Back on American Workers

Text of Report (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a new report titled “10 Ways President Trump Has Hurt American Workers,” detailing how President Trump has broken his promises to workers.

“Donald Trump promised American workers he’d have their backs, then turned on them once he took office,” said Senator Warren. “He’s made it harder for workers to get a job and join a union, and easier for giant corporations to deny benefits and endanger workers. Working people power the American economy — they deserve better.”

Senator Warren’s report lays out how, instead of supporting workers, President Trump has actually made life worse for them, including by:

Making it harder for workers to get a job;

Thanks to Trump’s illegal war, chaotic trade policy, and cruel immigration policies, the labor market is effectively “frozen.”

Being the biggest union-buster in American history;

Trump has stripped collective bargaining rights from over 1 million federal workers in “the largest act of union busting in American history.”

Standing in the way of workers forming new unions;

Under Trump, the National Labor Relations Board has largely backed down from enforcing labor protections, leaving corporations free to illegally crack down on unions. After facing anti-union headwinds under Trump, the number of union elections has fallen by nearly 30%, and the number of union wins fell by almost 27%.

Allowing employers to misclassify workers, leaving them without legal protections and benefits;

Trump’s Labor Department has made it easier for employers to misclassify workers as independent contractors, to avoid giving them protections and benefits like minimum wage, unemployment benefits, Social Security contributions, health insurance, and sick leave.

Cutting overtime pay for millions of workers;

Trump’s Labor Department is making 4.3 million workers ineligible for overtime—taking $1.5 billion out of workers’ pockets annually.

Taking labor agencies off the beat, leaving workers with no recourse for discrimination and unfair labor practices;

Trump illegally fired half of the commissioners of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Chair of the National Labor Relations Board, leaving both agencies unable to perform their full statutory duties to protect workers.

Scrapping protections against workplace harassment;

Trump’s hand-picked Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission threw out rules that prevented discrimination, including sexual harassment and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.

Allowing an independent civil rights protection agency to pursue politically motivated cases;

Trump’s hand-picked Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has forced all litigation decisions to go through her, allowing her to limit which workers she protects and pursue politically motivated cases instead of legitimate discrimination claims.

Making the workplace more dangerous and leading to preventable worker injuries and deaths; and

Trump cut funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is charged with preventing unsafe job sites, worker injuries, and deaths. The agency has cut the number of workplace safety inspections it performs, and loosened regulations that protect workers’ exposure to carcinogens.

Announcing plans to scrap workplace protections for pregnant women.

Trump’s hand-picked Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has indicated she has plans to eliminate protections for workers undergoing fertility treatments, menopause, menstruation, and more.

Senator Warren has led the fight to protect American workers under the Trump administration:

In May 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Minority Leader Schumer (D-N.Y.) led 12 senators in pressing the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on the Commission’s efforts to weaken a rule affirming employment protections for workers undergoing fertility treatments.

In March 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) questioned Dan Adcock of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare about Republicans’ plans to raise the retirement age.

In February 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Baldwin (D-Ill.), Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Padilla (D-Calif.), and Wyden (D-Ore.) released new data revealing the Trump administration’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) performed 20% fewer inspections and issued 42% fewer fines for severe workplace violations in 2025—indicating that the Trump Department of Labor may be discouraging inspectors from enforcing workplace safety laws. The lawmakers also launched an investigation into the Department of Labor’s broader plans to eliminate key safety regulations, putting American workers at serious risk.

In December 2025, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Congresswoman DeLauro (D-Conn.) reintroduced the Schedules That Work Act to address unpredictable scheduling practices that may deprive workers of income and require them to work unreasonable hours, like “clopening” shifts that leave little time to commute and rest between shifts.

In December 2025, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Congresswoman Schakowsky (D-Ill.) reintroduced the Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights Act to strengthen protections for part-time workers and allow them to better balance their work schedules with personal and family needs.

In November 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Duckworth (D-Ill.), along with Representatives Dingell (D-Mich.) and Simon (D-Calif.) led 56 members of Congress in pressing Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer about the Department of Labor’s dismantling of key disability employment protections.

In September 2025, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Sherman (D-Calif.) reintroduced the Nationwide Right to Unionize Act, legislation that would support the right to unionize by invalidating “right-to-work” laws meant to weaken unions’ ability to organize workers.

In September 2025, at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Aging, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) highlighted how “just-in-time” scheduling practices—which leave workers with last-minute shift assignments and inflexible schedules—have a particularly negative effect on older workers in part-time jobs.

In June 2025, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) led members of the Senate Democratic Caucus in writing to the Secretary of the Department of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, urging the department to preserve President Biden’s expansion of the overtime threshold.

In March 2025, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), along with Senator Booker (D-N.J.), then-Representative Connolly and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Raskin (D-Md.), led 38 Members of Congress in a letter to President Donald Trump, raising concerns about his unlawful firings of dozens of independent agency heads and inspectors general (IGs), and calling attention to how many of these firings appear to benefit Elon Musk.

###

Previous Article",1,2026-06-23T06:27:52Z,2026-06-23T06:29:20Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/as-author-of-juneteenth-national-independence-act-senator-markey-celebrates-fifth-anniversary-of-juneteenth-federal-holiday,"As Author of Juneteenth National Independence Act, Senator Markey Celebrates Fifth Anniversary of Juneteenth Federal Holiday",2026-06-19,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Boston (June 19, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Senate author of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act of 2021, released the following statement today to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Juneteenth’s commemoration as a federal holiday and to recommit to fighting for liberty and justice for all.

“Today, we reflect not only on what happened in our nation’s past, but what we must recommit ourselves to in the future. We are a nation forged by our fights for civil rights, for human rights, and for equal rights for all. But these fights have not always come easy, and they have not always come quickly.

“We owe the fights for justice and equality to those who have organized, marched, spoken out, and refused to back down. We honor the hard-won battles and the difficult roads that still lie ahead.

“Our democracy is strongest when we speak the truth honestly and take action on behalf of justice. We win when we stand united, together.

“On Juneteenth, we celebrate Black joy, Black resilience, and Black excellence. And we celebrate the promise of freedom and the power of our shared humanity. That is the future we must build where liberty and justice are a reality for all.”

###",1,2026-06-20T06:35:38Z,2026-06-20T06:37:01Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-statement-on-trumps-iran-mou,Senator Markey Statement on Trump’s Iran MoU,2026-06-19,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Boston (June 19, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement on Trump’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Iran.

“The United States had a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015, and it was working. President Trump abandoned it in 2018 for no good reason. Only then did Iran start to build up its stocks of highly enriched uranium, which Trump used as an excuse to take the nation to war. That war was a disaster, built on lies and costing lives and treasure and leading Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz. Oil and gas prices skyrocketed.

“Now, Trump has replaced the 2018 Iran deal with a Memorandum of Understanding that caves to Iran’s demands. Trump’s MoU is not a deal, it’s a $300 billion bribe. Trump has agreed to a mafia protection racket. ‘Nice oil tanker there, would be a shame if anything happened to it!’

“Trump’s MoU is a payoff for Iran with no new limits on its nuclear program. Trump is not a deal maker—he is a deal breaker. This war was completely Trump’s fault and was completely avoidable.

“More than anything, Trump’s embarrassing MoU shows what a huge blunder the war was. We are worse off than when Trump started the war, the worst foreign policy disaster in decades.

“The best we can do now is end this war as soon as possible by approving Trump’s pitiful MoU. Trump’s reckless, expensive, and unnecessary war leaves us no choice.”

###",1,2026-06-20T06:35:38Z,2026-06-20T06:37:01Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-schatz-introduce-legislation-to-halt-automating-workplace-decisions-worker-surveillance,"Senators Markey, Schatz, Introduce Legislation to Halt Automating Workplace Decisions, Worker Surveillance",2026-06-18,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Senators Markey and Schatz Introduce No Robot Bosses Act (PDF)

Senators Markey, Schatz, and Booker Introduce Stop Spying Bosses Act (PDF)

Washington (June 18, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, along with Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), today introduced the No Robot Bosses Act to put safeguards on the use of automated decision systems, which can include AI, to make work related decisions. Additionally, Senator Markey, along with Senator Schatz and Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), today introduced the Stop Spying Bosses Act to address the growing use of surveillance technology in the workplace. Representative Chris Deluzio (PA-11) is introducing companion legislation to the Stop Spying Bosses Act in the House of Representatives. Representative Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01) introduced companion legislation to the No Robot Bosses Act.

Automated decision systems are increasingly shaping core employment decisions, influencing hiring, firing, scheduling, and discipline. Employers are reportedly using “bossware,” automated decision systems and AI to evaluate workers, set targets, and even terminate employment—often with little transparency or accountability. These systems also collect extensive data on employees’ behaviors, productivity, and movements that can jeopardize workers’ autonomy, privacy, and rights. These bills draw a clear line: no more automating key employment decisions and no more invasive employee data collection.

“When we talk about technical innovation, we must put workers first,” said Senator Markey. “Currently, some employers abuse their authority to collect troves of data, spy on workers’ every move, and hand critical employment decisions to an automated system. AI has only made this tech-fueled power imbalance worse. No worker should be fired or disciplined by a machine. No employer should be able to watch their workers in break rooms or collect data to predict potential union activity. It’s time to put workers first and put guardrails on these harmful technologies.”

“Workers should be managed by people – not robots,” said Senator Schatz. “As companies increasingly rely on AI tools to manage their workplaces, our bill protects prospective and existing workers from discrimination by automated decision systems and encourages transparency around the use of these tools.”

No Robot Bosses Act

“No one should be shut out of their next job because of a machine's decision,” said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. “Automated systems like AI can produce biased hiring outcomes for people from different backgrounds, and Congress must establish safeguards to protect workers from potential discrimination and safeguard applicants’ rights. I’m grateful to partner with Senator Markey and Congressman Deluzio to keep the doors of opportunity open to all who are seeking employment.”

The No Robot Bosses Act would:

Prohibit employers from relying on automated decision systems to make work-related decisions (e.g., hiring/firing, discipline, etc.);

Require employers and developers to conduct pre-deployment evaluations and annual impact assessments of these systems;

Mandate transparency and disclosures to workers before automated decision systems are used in employment decisions;

Give workers the right to opt out of algorithmic management in favor of a human manager; and

Require employers to provide workers a human review option in the hiring process.

Stop Spying Bosses Act

“When my grandfather worked on the line at a UAW plant in the 1960s, the technology simply didn’t exist for an employer to monitor your life once you left the job,” said Senator Booker. “In today’s digital era, that’s no longer true. Powerful surveillance tools can track workers off the clock and collect personal data they never agreed to share. This bill draws a firm line. It stands up for workers’ rights by protecting the separation earlier generations expected between their work and their private lives and ensures no one’s livelihood can be threatened by information gathered without their consent.”

“Workers should be confident their employers aren't abusing their rights through surveillance or backdoor data collection,” said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. “The Stop Spying Bosses Act will improve workplace transparency by limiting what data employers can collect and requiring them to disclose any surveillance practices. Workers deserve dignity, not invasions into their personal data. I’m pleased to partner with Congressman Deluzio and Senator Markey to introduce this important legislation.”

The Stop Spying Bosses Act would:

Limit employer collection and use of employee data to what is strictly necessary for legitimate purposes;

Prohibit employers from using employee data to surveil workers’ union activity, political or religious views, immigration status, or off-duty conduct;

Require employers to disclose to workers what data is being collected, how it is being used, and who has access to it;

Give workers the right to access and correct their own data, and to review the data used in work-related decisions made about them; and

Prohibit employers from selling or transferring employee data to third parties.

“AI should be a tool to help workers, not a weapon used against them,” said Liz Schuler, President of the AFL-CIO. “Nobody should be disciplined or fired by an algorithm or have sensitive personal information collected without their consent. These bills provide the commonsense guardrails that workers across the country and across party lines are demanding, and I commend Senator Markey for his leadership in promoting a pro-worker AI agenda.”

“Right now, companies are tracking workers in ways that are intrusive, violating worker's rights, pushing impossible quotas and inhumane working conditions. While union members are fighting for guardrails at the bargaining table, all workers need protection from automated systems that can throw their careers into chaos without due process. The No Robot Bosses Act is exactly what we need to protect people's job security and dignity, and to stop algorithmic discrimination before it starts,” said Dan Mauer, Director of Government Affairs at the Communication Workers of America (CWA). “We applaud Senator Markey for introducing this legislation. Congress must act swiftly to pass the No Robot Bosses Act and ensure new technology protects good jobs and does not give abusive AI bosses more control.”

“Nurses are witnessing our employers move at breakneck speed to introduce unregulated AI into our hospitals pushing unsafe staffing and jeopardizing patient safety,” said Jamie Brown, President of National Nurses United. “The last thing we need is a ‘robot boss’ surveilling our every move on the job and getting in the way of our work to care for our patients. That’s why we applaud Senator Markey for introducing the Stop Spying Bosses Act and No Robot Bosses Act to protect workers against unnecessary and harmful surveillance and we demand Congress move these bills with urgency.”

“Every worker should be able to do their job without having technology used to watch their every move or make important decisions about their employment without guardrails,” said Jina John, Senior Policy Counsel for AI, Privacy and Technology at the ACLU. “The No Robot Bosses Act and Stop Spying Bosses Act are a huge step in the right direction to make sure that employers are held accountable for their use of technology in the workplace, from reviewing applications to monitoring longtime employees. These bills establish clear parameters on how employers can use such technology and make it clear that workers, and job applicants, have rights, including the right to know when and how these tools are being used and the ability to hold employers accountable in court.”

“The No Robot Bosses Act & Stop Spying Bosses Act protect America’s workers from opaque automated systems that invade their privacy and are used to unfairly judge their competence, scrutinize their every move, and interfere with their ability to collectively organize for better pay and better work,” said Caitriona Fitzgerald, Deputy Director and Policy Director at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). “EPIC thanks Senator Markey for his leadership on protecting workers and is proud to endorse these bills.”

“Bossware systems are becoming common in workplaces but there are no rules or guardrails to protect workers. It’s like the Wild West,” said Irene Tung, Senior Director of Program and Policy at the Action Lab. “These two bills would establish critical worker protections to rein in abusive digital technologies in the workplace. What they propose is grounded both in workers’ first-hand experiences and in lessons learned from recent state policymaking.”

“Corporations are expanding predatory surveillance and AI-powered HR systems across all kinds of workplaces,” said Rebecca Dixon, President and CEO of the National Employment Law Project. “With the Stop Spying Bosses Act and the No Robot Bosses Act, Congress is taking an important step to protect workers' privacy and rights on the job.”

“We welcome the No Robot Bosses Act and Stop Spying Bosses Act as a significant step forward in protecting workers in an increasingly tech- and AI-driven workplace,” said Ridhi Shetty, Senior Policy Counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology’s Privacy & Data Project. “Combined, these bills would help address several harms employees face from the hidden tech and data practices of their employers. Workers need and deserve to know when and how employers are using automated systems to help inform decisions about them. They also should be protected against the boundless collection and use of their data. The No Robot Bosses Act and the Stop Spying Bosses Act would provide that relief, particularly through enhanced transparency and disclosure provisions and affirmative data minimization requirements. We appreciate Senator Markey’s efforts to protect workers from the irresponsible use of data and technology, and look forward to continued engagement on this issue.”

In the Senate, the two bills are co-sponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

The bills are endorsed by ACLU, AFL-CIO, Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), Communication Workers of America (CWA), Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), National Nurses United (NNU), National Employment Law Project (NELP), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Senator Markey previously introduced the Right to Override Act, which would protect patients and healthcare workers by requiring an option for human override of artificial intelligence-based systems that recommend clinical decisions in health care settings.

###",1,2026-06-19T06:50:32Z,2026-06-19T06:53:40Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/as-trump-requests-15-trillion-for-pentagon-sens-markey-and-merkley-press-for-details-on-golden-dome-12-trillion-price-tag-mission,"As Trump Requests $1.5 Trillion for Pentagon, Sens. Markey and Merkley Press for Details on “Golden Dome” $1.2 Trillion Price Tag, Mission",2026-06-17,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (June 17, 2026) - As Congress considers President Trump’s $1.5 trillion request for Pentagon spending and SpaceX wins billions in Golden Dome contracts, Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Representatives John Garamendi (CA-08) and Don Beyer (VA-08), co-chairs of the bicameral Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, today led their colleagues in a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, demanding further information on the Trump administration’s proposed Golden Dome missile interceptor system. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently estimated that Golden Dome could cost American taxpayers $1.2 trillion and deliver much less capability than advertised. Trump’s Department of Defense (DOD) rejected the accuracy of CBO’s estimate but has refused to share key information about Golden Dome with CBO, Congress, or the American people.

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “This is unacceptable. Before you spend one more taxpayer dollar on Golden Dome, DOD must share its plans and goals for the system. There is no reasonable justification for keeping the mission and number of interceptors for Golden Dome secret. It is one thing to withhold design details or performance specifications of certain systems, but it is quite another to withhold the entire system architecture that you expect Congress to approve and fund. Congress and the American public have a right to know what they are paying for.”

The lawmakers continued, “Transparency is particularly important when it appears, as it does here, that the system’s ultimate capability will fall far short of the original promises. On May 20, 2025, President Trump said that, with Golden Dome, ‘we will truly be completing the job that President Reagan started 40 years ago, forever ending the missile threat to the American homeland.’ According to CBO’s calculations, even a system that would cost $3 trillion would not meet that ambitious goal, which would need to be able to engage hundreds of missiles. If the Administration has not scaled back its goals for the system, the current official price tag is woefully unrealistic.”

Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Representatives Jim McGovern (MA-02) and Bill Foster (IL-11) co-signed the letter.

The lawmakers requested answers by June 30, 2026, to questions including:

What is the intended purpose of Golden Dome? How many missiles (and of what types) is it being designed to intercept? What system architecture will be used?

How does the Administration plan to spend the proposed $185 billion on Golden Dome?

What is your 20-year estimated cost of Golden Dome?

Will the Administration propose a third missile defense interceptor site on the East Coast?

How does the Administration expect China and Russia to react to Golden Dome? How does the Administration plan to reconcile its arms control goals with these reactions?

What parts of your plans for Golden Dome do you expect to keep secret and what parts will you release to the public?

As a founder of the national Nuclear Freeze movement, Senator Markey has worked to end the proliferation of nuclear weapons throughout his career and has fought back against the Trump administration’s Golden Dome boondoggle.

Yesterday, Senator Markey held a press conference and introduced legislation calling to cut the Pentagon budget in half by capping defense spending at $750 billion as Trump seeks a $1.5 trillion defense budget for FY 2027.

In November 2025, Senator Markey spoke with ABC’s Martha Raddatz about Trump’s misleading call to resume nuclear weapons testing, and condemned Trump’s flawed and wasteful Golden Dome system.

In July, Senator Markey and colleagues wrote to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth urging the administration to scale back the proposed Golden Dome.

In September, Senator Markey led the fight to take down Trump’s Golden Dome scheme through an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2026. The amendment would have limited funding for Golden Dome’s space-based interceptors until the Pentagon submits to Congress a detailed deployment plan, a realistic cost estimate, assurances that the program will not ignite a new arms race with Russia and China, and commitments to realistic testing and independent technical review.

###",1,2026-06-18T06:41:00Z,2026-06-18T06:43:25Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-and-blunt-rochester-leader-schumer-colleagues-introduce-legislation-to-designate-haiti-for-temporary-protected-status-amid-trump-administration-attacks,"Senators Markey and Blunt Rochester, Leader Schumer, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Designate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status Amid Trump Administration Attacks",2026-06-17,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (June 17, 2026) - Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and 16 other Senate colleagues, today introduced legislation to designate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allows nationals from designated countries facing life-threatening conditions to temporarily live and work legally in the United States. The Senators’ legislation preserves TPS protections for more than 300,000 Haitian nationals, offering a critical lifeline as Haiti continues to confront political instability, widespread violence, and a serious humanitarian emergency. While a federal district court temporarily paused the termination of Haiti TPS, the Trump administration appealed, and a decision is now pending before the Supreme Court.

“The Trump administration’s cruel, callous, and calculated attempts to terminate TPS for Haitian nationals puts thousands of our neighbors in immediate danger,” said Senator Markey. “Haiti is facing life-threatening conditions that have displaced nearly 1.5 million people. This legislation to safeguard Haiti TPS reflects both a moral duty and a recognition of the immense contributions of Haitian TPS holders to our communities. I’m grateful to Senator Blunt Rochester and my partners in Congress for standing together in the fight to protect Haitian TPS holders.”

“The extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for the Haitian community was rooted in an undeniable humanitarian crisis that required acknowledgment and increased protection. The Trump administration’s decision to terminate this TPS designation not only threatens the safety and stability of our Haitian neighbors, but the economic strength of communities across the country,” said Senator Blunt Rochester. “I’m proud to co-lead this legislation with Senator Markey to ensure the Haitian community is treated with the dignity and protections they deserve.”

“The cruel and improper steps taken by the Trump administration to terminate the Temporary Protected Status of over 300,000 Haitians in the United States are a sham at best and inhumane at worst,” said Leader Schumer. “These are our friends and neighbors who have fled Haiti during one of the most dangerous humanitarian crises in a generation, and eliminating their protected status puts them in immediate danger and undermines communities across our great nation. A bipartisan majority in the House already stepped up, and it’s time for the Senate to do the same. We have a moral obligation to get this done as quickly as possible, and I am committed to making that happen.”

“Since my discharge petition to extend TPS for Haitians successfully passed the House, we’ve been pressing hard to continue this fight in the Senate and advance this essential protection,” said Representative Ayanna Pressley (MA-07). “Our victory in the House was possible because of the strength and resolve of our broad, diverse grassroots coalition—and we are prepared to double down on our efforts to move this through the Senate. Protecting the safety, dignity, and humanity of our Haitian neighbors is the right thing to do, and our country is strengthened by their contributions to our communities, the economy, our healthcare workforce, and more. With the partnership of Senators Markey and Blunt Rochester, we are focused on delivering for our community members.”

“I was proud that the House passed my bipartisan bill in April to extend TPS for Haiti with Republican support,” said Representative Laura Gillen (NY-04). “This was a major milestone in the effort to preserve this protection for hardworking, law-abiding Haitians who contribute to our economy. I’m glad that Senators Blunt Rochester and Markey have introduced companion legislation in the Senate and I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance this bipartisan effort to protect TPS for our Haitian friends and neighbors.”

The legislation is cosponsored by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Angus King (I-Maine), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).

“US Senators have the opportunity to voice their belief and support of a just immigration system that was created to support not only a prosperous United States, but demonstrate the humanity of America and Americans by providing a safe haven for those whose lives are in peril in their home countries. Supporting H.R. 1689 and the extension of TPS for Haiti is not only just and logical, it is both a moral and economic obligation,” said Tessa Petit, Executive Director of the Florida Immigration Coalition.

“As Haiti continues to endure extraordinary insecurity, political instability, displacement, and a worsening humanitarian crisis, extending Temporary Protected Status for Haitians is both necessary and urgent. We commend Senators Markey and Blunt-Rochester, and all Members of Congress championing this effort to protect the lives of more than 350,000 Haitians from being forced to return to conditions that remain extremely unsafe and untenable,” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance.

“The prospect of forcing over 300,000 men, women, and children to return to Haiti at this time, while the country faces a sustained humanitarian crisis, is unconscionable. Revoking their legal status and work authorization will harm not only these families but the many American communities in which they live and work, including those relying on Haitian TPS holders for essential services. The Senate has an opportunity to exercise political and moral courage by voting to avoid this outcome, as the House of Representatives has done on a bipartisan basis. We urge all senators, regardless of political party, to act accordingly,” said Bishop Brendan Cahill, Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration.

“Even the US government admits that Haiti is too dangerous for people to return to. The State Department warns ‘do not travel to Haiti for any reason,’ the FAA has closed the Port-au-Prince airport to US flights since 2024 and US Citizenship and Immigration Services recommended extending Haiti TPS last year. Our UN Ambassador warned that the effects of Haiti’s violence ‘threaten not only Haiti but the stability of the wider Caribbean and the Western Hemisphere,’” said Brian Concannon, Executive Director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.

“Protecting TPS for Haiti is both a moral and economic imperative. Haitian TPS holders are our neighbors, workers, parents, caregivers, and contributors to the U.S. economy. We must do everything in our power to ensure they can remain safely and legally in this country while continuing to support their families, communities, and the Commonwealth,” said Dr. Geralde Gabeau, Chief Executive Officer of the Immigrant Family Services Institute (Boston).

“We respectfully call upon the United States Senate to take immediate legislative action to provide stability and certainty for Haitian TPS holders and their families. Congressional leadership is needed now more than ever to ensure that individuals are not forced to return to life-threatening conditions while Haiti remains engulfed in crisis. America has always been strongest when it balances security with compassion and law with humanity. We urge Senators from both parties to recognize the extraordinary circumstances facing Haiti and to support measures that preserve TPS protections and provide long-term solutions for affected families,” said Rev. Dr. Dieufort J. Fleurissaint, Chair of Haitian Americans United, Inc. (Boston).

“Haitian families with TPS are vital members of our churches, communities, and local economies. They must be protected from mass deportation,” said Bishop Dwayne Royster, Executive Director of Faith in Action.

“Deportation to Haiti, in its current conditions, divides families, and puts our community members’ lives at risk. A vote to extend Haiti TPS, strengthens the US economy, and saves lives and keeps Haitian families together,” said Paul Christian Namphy, Lead Organizer at the Family Action Network Movement (Miami).

“Temporary Protected Status (TPS) provides stability, dignity, and opportunity for hundreds of thousands of hardworking individuals and families who have built their lives, careers, and communities in the United States. Extending TPS is not only a humanitarian necessity—it is an investment in the economic strength, family stability, and well-being of communities across our nation,” said Thamara Labrousse, Executive Director of the Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center (Miami).

“Immigrant workers with TPS are a vital part of our care economy. They are also trusted members of our communities – neighbors who contribute to the places they live, who worship, send their children to school, and deserve the freedom to build full and dignified lives in this country, far beyond the hours they spend caring for others. Ending their protections means longer waitlists, deeper shortages, and more families forced to choose between a paycheck and caring for a loved one. We’re proud to support Senator Markey’s bill to extend TPS because you cannot build a stable care system on fear, and the dignity of the people who give care is inseparable from the dignity of those who receive it,” said Jenn Stowe, Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

“The half million Haitians who call the United States home deserve better from our federal government and termination of Temporary Protected Status is inhumane and unconscionable. We commend our legislative leaders, particularly Congresswoman Pressley and Senator Markey, for moving forward legislation to meet this moment and stand with our Haitian friends, neighbors and colleagues,” said Elizabeth Sweet, Executive Director of the MIRA Coalition.

“No matter if you were born in the US or immigrated to this country, we all feel the impact of the White House’s attack on TPS holders. SEIU members stand in solidarity with Haitians with TPS, as well as those with TPS from other countries. People with TPS are our friends, neighbors, extended family members, and coworkers. They are the essential workers that keep our economy going in good and bad times. They deserve dignity, respect, and a path to citizenship, not deportation to danger,” said Rocio Saenz, Secretary-Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

On April 14, 2026, Senator Markey, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) led 26 Senators and 157 Representatives in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Miot v. Trump, a consolidated case challenging the Trump administration’s unlawful termination of Haiti and Syria Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Last year, Senator Markey led an amicus brief in Miot v. Trump, when the case was before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The legislation is endorsed by Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, Venezuelan American Caucus, Village Engage / Mill Village Ministries, Arab American Heritage Council, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team, NACCP, Refugee Advocacy Lab, Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, Passionists International, Archdiocese of Miami, National Domestic Workers Alliance / Care in Action, Borderlands Resource Initiative, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS), Arab American Institute (AAI), Haitian Women’s Collective, G92, Summits Education, Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP), Tahirih Justice Center, Presbyterian Church (USA)-Office of Public Witness, Florida For All, Movement Of Love For Haiti (MLHA), Voces de la Frontera, Good Samaritan, American Jewish World Service, Global Refuge, LIUNA, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, Food Justice DMV, Haitian Americans United Inc, Bethel Evangelical Church, First Timothy Christian Church, Amazing Grace Ministries of PBC Inc, Global Justice Clinic (NYU School of Law), Haitian Americans United for Progress, Ephphatha Medical Care Services LLC, Good Samaritan Relief Inc, Haiti Solidarity Network of the Northeast, Jesus Lounge Ministry, HCLC Inc, IFSI-USA, Youthaiti, Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Faith in Action, Haitian Bridge Alliance, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), National Immigration Law Center (NILC), Fellowship Des Eglises Baptistes Haitiennes De Miami, Immigrants’ List Civic Action, Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Caribbean Georgia Votes, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas - Justice Team, Freedom for Immigrants, Volunteer Association and Fund of Florida, Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union, Hope Border Institute, Haitian-American Foundation for Democracy, Environmental Justice Initiative for Haiti, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), National Nurses United, NAKASEC, Semillas Colombia, Justice in Motion, The United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, Black Liberation Alliance Movement, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, COSMOS, Quixote Center, Miramar Haitian-American Residents Business Owners, Church World Service, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), World Renew, Florida Student Power Network, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) - Maine, USAHello, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Sonnen Lanbi an, Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), Safe Harbor Circles, AEDAP, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), Immigrant Welcome Network Of Johnson County-Iowa, AFT, Li Li Li Read, Alternative Chance, Beraca Community Development Corporation, Community Powerhouse Consulting & Coaching LLC, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), Make the Road New Jersey, Voto Latino, The Workers Circle, We are CASA, Family Action Network Movement (FANM), National Partnership For New Americans, Catholic Legal Services-Archdiocese of Miami, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Haiti H2O: Hope to Opportunity, Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), Haitian American Lawyers Association of New York, Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, South Florida Muslim Federation, National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), Make the Road States, Unidos MN, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition, Haitian American Alliance, American Immigration Lawyers Association, AFL-CIO, Lawyers for Good Government, Muslim Advocates, Union for Reform Judaism, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center, Power Up People, National Haitian American Elected Officials Network (NHAEON), Central American Resource Center-CARECEN of Northern California, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL), National Immigration Project, Bethlehem Haitian Baptist Church, Refugees International, Haitian American Alliance of New York, Hope Community Church (Charleroi, PA), Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church / SBC National Haitian Fellowship, Raising Haiti Foundation, Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church Haiti Committee (Arlington, VA), Konbit Lakay, Edeyouth Inc, and Haitian Lawyers Association.

###",1,2026-06-18T06:41:00Z,2026-06-18T06:43:25Z
https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-schumer-murray-announce-senate-democrats-vision-for-affordable-available-high-quality-child-care,"Warren, Schumer, Murray Announce Senate Democrats’ Vision For Affordable, Available, High-Quality Child Care",2026-06-17,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Elizabeth Warren,W000817,www.warren.senate.gov,warren,https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases,scraper,"Warren, Schumer, Murray Announce Senate Democrats’ Vision For Affordable, Available, High-Quality Child Care

Democrats’ new report exposes how Trump and Republicans have driven up costs and broken promises to American families

“While Donald Trump and Republicans dream up new ways to line their billionaire buddies’ pockets and give giant corporations even bigger tax breaks, Democrats are united in the fight to lower families’ costs and deliver universal child care.”

Warren Remarks (Youtube) | Child Care Affordability Agenda (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in announcing the next pillar of Senate Democrats’ affordability agenda: a new Senate Democratic vision to make child care more affordable, more available, and higher quality for families across the country. Democrats’ policy framework stands in stark contrast to Republicans’ policies, which have led to skyrocketing costs and exacerbated the child care crisis.

“Universal child care is the best investment we can make in bolstering the middle class,” said Senator Warren. While Donald Trump and Republicans dream up new ways to line their billionaire buddies’ pockets and give giant corporations even bigger tax breaks, Democrats are united in the fight to lower families’ costs and deliver universal child care. Together, we’ll get it done.”

“Trump and Republicans have made finding reliable and affordable child care an impossible feat,"" said Leader Schumer. “They have waged an all-out war on the child care sector, hurting those who are the most vulnerable among us: children. Senate Democrats are focused on a Day One solution to the child care crisis that includes affordable child care that meets parents’ needs while investing in the infrastructure, workforce, and early childhood programs. As Republicans continue to fund tax cuts for their billionaire buddies, Democrats are laser-focused on the issues that Americans actually care about — affordability.”

“When I go back home there is not a single parent saying, ‘What I really want—is higher prices and more war mongering.’ That may seem fine to an out-of-touch billionaire like Trump but working families don’t ‘love’ inflation. Instead, the issue that comes up the most is no surprise to any parent: It’s child care. Trump’s latest budget short changes child care, while blowing up war spending,” said Senator Murray. “Trump says we can’t afford child care. The truth is we can’t afford to ignore child care. This year, Senator Warren and I announced our Child Care for America Working Group—a coalition dedicated to lowering costs and delivering affordable and accessible high quality child care for all families across the country. Now, we’re making this a central focus of our caucus’s long-term affordability agenda with Leader Schumer. This is a priority for families—so Democrats will make it a priority in Congress.”

Child care costs are one of the largest financial burdens facing American families today. President Trump and Republicans have abandoned American families, leaving many unable to find affordable, high-quality child care. In the wake of this crisis, the senators released the Democrats’ vision to lower child care costs and expand access to high-quality care for American families across the country, helping parents, children, and child care workers alike.

Earlier this week, the senators released a new “Broken Promises” report exposing how Republicans' policies have wreaked havoc on child care and harmed families across the country. The report detailed how families cannot afford child care, how it’s hard to find affordable high-quality child care, how Trump is attacking our federal child care and early childhood education experts, and how Republicans are actively undermining the child care sector. This new report is part of Senate Democrats’ year-long initiative to address the cost of living crisis Trump and Republicans have created. So far, Democrats have focused on the rising cost of housing, historic food and grocery prices, skyrocketing energy costs, and slashes to health care.

Senator Warren has led the fight to make child care available and affordable for working families:

In May 2026, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined the Center for American Progress’ IDEAS Conference to deliver a speech on the need for universal child care.

In March 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), longtime leaders on child care, along with Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.), established a new working group as the latest major push in Democrats’ fight to lower costs and deliver child care for every American family.

In March 2026, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani published an op-ed in USA Today calling for the Democratic party to commit to making universal child care a central part of its platform.

In February 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), along with Representative Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), led over 40 colleagues in pressing the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children & Families (ACF) on how the Trump Administration’s immigration policies are shrinking the child care workforce and driving up costs for American families.

In February 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, Ranking Member of the Committee Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questioned military leaders on the impact of poor barrack conditions and inadequate child care on service member morale and readiness.

In February 2026, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) teamed up in the fight to deliver universal child care for American families.

In February 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) delivered opening remarks calling for improving the quality of military barracks, better pay for child care workers so military families can have the child care support they need, and tracking the impact of Republicans’ health care cuts for service members and their families.

In January 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) led Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) in announcing a new investigation into how the Trump administration’s cuts to affordable child care programs are affecting rural families.

In September 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) led over forty lawmakers in reintroducing the Child Care for Every Community Act, legislation that would expand access to affordable child care to every American family, offer high-quality early education to every child, and create good jobs for our early educators.

In May 2025, In a response to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) letter to the Department of Defense (DoD) demanding clarity on the department’s plans to address allegations of child abuse in its Child Development Centers (CDCs), the DoD revealed a pattern of incompetence in its oversight of child care services.

###",1,2026-06-18T06:41:00Z,2026-06-18T06:43:25Z
https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-senators-press-major-credit-reporting-companies-on-plans-to-address-credit-errors-for-student-loan-borrowers,"Warren, Senators Press Major Credit Reporting Companies on Plans to Address Credit Errors for Student Loan Borrowers",2026-06-17,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Elizabeth Warren,W000817,www.warren.senate.gov,warren,https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases,scraper,"Warren, Senators Press Major Credit Reporting Companies on Plans to Address Credit Errors for Student Loan Borrowers

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) in questioning Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax on the companies’ plans to prevent student loan credit reporting errors from harming borrowers amid the Trump administration’s illegal attempts to shut down the Department of Education (ED).

“Given that federal student loan servicers have systematically reported inaccurate data to credit reporting companies in the past, and that the dismantling of the Department of Education has vastly reduced federal oversight over servicers, we are concerned that servicers may be failing to report fully accurate data to your companies,” wrote the lawmakers.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires credit reporting companies to take steps to ensure that inaccurate data, like misreported defaults or delinquencies, do not appear on credit reports or affect a borrower’s credit score. However, due in part to credit reporting companies’ patterns of negligence, at least one in five credit reports contain errors. Borrowers with incorrectly low credit scores may be denied access to mortgages, rental opportunities, credit cards, auto loans, or even employment opportunities.

In 2024, a Congressional investigation revealed that credit bureaus had generated incorrect credit scores for hundreds of thousands of borrowers after processing inaccurate data from student loan servicers. Similarly, in 2020, servicers reported incorrect repayment statuses for tens of thousands of borrowers to credit bureaus.

The lawmakers warned that because of the Trump administration’s cuts to ED staff responsible for overseeing student loan servicers, “the risk that servicers may again supply credit reporting companies with inaccurate data appears higher than ever.”

In addition, credit reporting companies appear to be taking advantage of the Trump administration’s decimation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is responsible for protecting consumers from credit reporting errors. Two of the three major credit reporting companies have been resolving drastically fewer complaints about errors than they had in prior years. For example, Experian resolved less than 1% of complaints in consumers’ favor in 2025, compared to about 20% in 2024.

“We urge you to institute rigorous safeguards against credit reporting errors that could financially harm borrowers, including vigorous monitoring, oversight, and auditing of student loan servicers,” concluded the lawmakers.

The senators also asked the three credit reporting companies not to incorporate inaccurate data into borrowers’ credit reports and requested that they respond to questions about how they will protect borrowers from student loan credit reporting errors by June 30, 2026.

Senator Warren has led the fight to make our higher education system more affordable, cancel student loan debt, and hold student loan servicers accountable for incompetence and malfeasance. She launched the Save Our Schools campaign in a coordinated effort to fight back against President Trump’s attempts to abolish the Department of Education:

On June 8, 2026, Senators Warren and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), along with Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and André Carson (D-Ind.), led 62 members of Congress in pressing the Department of Education to immediately address the largest student loan default and delinquency crisis on record, which has been made worse by the Trump administration’s policies.

On May 28, 2026, in response to a request from U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent government watchdog, confirmed the expansion of its investigation into the Department of Education’s (ED) transfer of critical programs to other agencies through interagency agreements (IAAs), including the transfer of student loan default collections to the Department of the Treasury. GAO previously confirmed it had initiated an investigation into ED’s transfer of grant programs for career and technical education and adult education to the Department of Labor.

On May 21, 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to open a new investigation into whether the Trump administration's dismantling of the Department of Education (ED) is harming ED’s ability to root out waste, fraud, and abuse of Title IV financial aid funds.

On May 4, 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) released new responses from the Department of Education (ED) and the Treasury Department (Treasury) demonstrating that the agencies cannot articulate a clear purpose or plan for implementing their illegal interagency agreement (IAA) transferring the administration of federal student loans to Treasury.

On April 28, 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Sanders (I-Vt.) pressed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Student Loan Ombudsman, Geoffrey Gradler, on his plan to protect student loan borrowers, especially given his past censorship of a key student loan report at the CFPB and his background as a lobbyist for lenders.

On April 17, 2026, Senator Warren led 31 senators in a letter to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, urging them to provide “the highest possible amount of funding” to the Office of Federal Student Aid in fiscal year 2027.

On April 2, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Ron Wyden, Patty Murray, and Tammy Baldwin — all top Democrats on influential education committees — pressed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to rescind their plans to move the administration of federal student loans to the Treasury Department.

On March 11, 2026, following a request from Senator Warren (D-Mass.), the Government Accountability Office, an independent government watchdog, opened an investigation into the Department of Education’s transfer of grant programs to the Department of Labor.

On February 23, 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Sanders (I-Vt.), along with Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), released a response from the Department of Education (ED) to their November letter regarding a potential sale of the federal student debt portfolio. In the response, ED confirms for the first time publicly that they are weighing a sale of the federal student loan portfolio.

On February 19, 2026, Senator Warren led members of Congress urging the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office to open an investigation into the Department of Education’s (ED) transfer of grant programs to agencies with no expertise in education policy, such as the Department of Labor.

On February 19, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) pushed Education Secretary Linda McMahon on concerns that the U.S. Department of Education is apparently obstructing Congressional efforts to hold federal student loan servicers accountable for underperformance.

On February 2, 2026, Senator Warren released a new report revealing the findings of their investigation into how private student loan lenders will reap the benefits from cuts to federal student loan access enacted in Republicans’ Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBBA). The report is the first Congressional analysis of the impacts of the OBBBA’s student loan restrictions on the private lending market.

On January 22, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) led their Senate colleagues in demanding answers from Trump Education Secretary Linda McMahon about the Trump Administration’s proposal to eliminate affordable student loan repayment options for millions of Americans.

On December 8, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in writing to the federal student loan servicers to ensure they are providing borrowers with the customer service they deserve in the wake of the Trump administration’s student loan policy whiplash. The senators sent letters to MOHELA, Nelnet, EdFinancial, Maximus, and CRI.

On December 1, 2025, Senator Warren published an op-ed in USA Today calling for Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to resign following the recent news that President Trump and Secretary McMahon plan to further dismantle the Department of Education (ED).

On November 24, 2025, Senator Warren pushed for an expanded investigation into the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle ED and whether its recent decision to transfer many of ED’s responsibilities to four other agencies violates federal law.

On November 17, 2025, Senator Warren led over 40 of her colleagues in a letter urging Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to immediately end any plans to sell or transfer the federal student loan portfolio to the private market.

On November 10, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in a letter urging the Trump administration to use the IRS’s existing legal authorities to stop the looming “tax bomb” facing borrowers who obtain income-driven repayment (IDR) discharges of their student loan debt.

On October 15, 2025, Senator Warren and Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) led 70 members of Congress in a letter calling on the Trump administration to address the ongoing and unprecedented wave of student loan delinquencies and defaults, which threatens the financial stability of millions of people and could have disastrous effects on the American economy.

On September 19, 2025, following a push by Senator Warren and nine other senators, the Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education agreed to open an investigation into DOGE’s infiltration of internal systems, including the scope of its access to sensitive student loan borrower information and its impact on borrowers’ rights and privacy.

On August 26, 2025, Senator Warren led colleagues in sending a follow-up letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon condemning the Department of Education for deliberately hiding the “Submit a Complaint” button on the Office of Federal Student Aid’s website, firing employees responsible for providing customer service to borrowers and families and misleading Congress about the scope of these firings.

On August 7, 2025, Senator Warren publicly released Secretary of Education Linda McMahon’s response to the senator’s 60+ questions and pressed for additional information. Senator Warren announced that she would refer certain matters where the Department has proved uncooperative to the Government Accountability Office and the Education Department’s Inspector General.

On August 4, 2025, Senator Warren led eight Senators in pressing major private student loan lenders on their plans to serve the incoming surge of borrowers who will be pushed to the industry because of Republicans’ recently passed “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

On July 17, 2025, Senator Warren released a new 23-page report, “Education At Risk: Frontline Impacts of Trump’s War on Students,” highlighting warnings from 11 major national education and civil rights organizations on the impact of the Trump Administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education (ED), slashing support to millions of American students, primary and secondary school teachers, administrators, parents, and student loan borrowers.

On July 15, 2025, Senators Warren and Sanders, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, urging her to reverse the interest hike on student loan borrowers in the SAVE forbearance.

On July 14, 2025, Senator Warren joined a letter to the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, and Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, demanding that the Department of Education stop blocking nearly $7 billion in funds for K-12 schools, including for afterschool programs.

On July 3, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in submitting an amicus brief for NAACP v. US, arguing to the United States District Court District of Maryland that President Trump’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education violate separation of powers and lack constitutional authority.

On June 10, 2025, Senator Warren met with Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and delivered over 1,000 letters to McMahon that the senator had received from people in all 50 states who were worried about the Secretary’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education.

On June 9, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in pushing the Acting Inspector General of the Department of Education to open an investigation into new information obtained by her office, revealing that DOGE may have gained access to two FSA internal systems, in addition to sensitive borrower data.

On May 20, 2025, Senator Warren and 27 other senators pushed for full funding for the Office of Federal Student Aid.

On May 14, 2025, Senator Warren led a Senate forum entitled “Stealing the American Dream: How Trump and Republicans Are Raising Education Costs for Families,” highlighting the consequences of Secretary Linda McMahon’s reckless dismantling of the Department of Education and President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” for working- and middle-class students and borrowers.

On May 13, 2025, Senator Warren agreed to meet with Education Secretary Linda McMahon and promised to bring questions and stories from Americans across the country to highlight how the Trump administration’s attacks on education are hurting American families.

On May 6, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren highlighted the consequences of President Trump and Secretary Linda McMahon’s reckless dismantling of the Department of Education for American families in a Senate forum.

On April 24, 2025, Senator Warren launched a new investigation into the harms of President Trump’s attacks on the Department of Education, seeking information on the impact of the Trump administration’s actions from the members of twelve leading organizations representing schools, parents, teachers, students, borrowers, and researchers.

On April 10, 2025, following a request led by Senator Warren, the Department of Education’s Acting Inspector General agreed to open an investigation into the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education.

On April 2, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Mazie Hirono, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon regarding the Department of Government Efficiency’s proposed plan to replace the Department of Education’s federal student aid call centers with generative artificial intelligence chatbots.

###

Next Article Previous Article",1,2026-06-18T06:41:00Z,2026-06-18T06:43:25Z
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-introduces-legislation-to-slash-wasteful-defense-spending,Senator Markey Introduces Legislation to Slash Wasteful Defense Spending,2026-06-16,2026,2026-06,Democrat,Senate,MA,Edward J. Markey,M000133,www.markey.senate.gov,markey,https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases,scraper,"Bill Text (PDF)

Washington (June 16, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today held a press conference to call for major cuts to the Pentagon’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2027, in light of Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran and as Trump pushes to increase an already outrageously bloated defense budget to $1.5 trillion – the highest since World War II. Senator Markey also today introduced the Slash the Pentagon Act, legislation to cut the budget of the Department of Defense and cap it at $750 billion – half of Trump’s bloated budget request. Senator Markey is introducing the legislation as Americans struggle to pay for healthcare, rent, electricity, groceries, and gas, while Trump has spent over $100 billion on his expensive, dangerous, and unnecessary war with Iran.

“Instead of funding Medicaid and education or investing in veterans’ care, Republicans want to pad the pockets of gold-plated defense contractors with billions more dollars for weapons and wars we do not need,” said Senator Markey. “Just before SpaceX’s IPO made Elon Musk a trillionaire, Trump gave SpaceX billions in contracts for his expensive and ineffective ‘Golden Dome’ system. Coincidence? No, corruption. It’s time to put people before the Pentagon and make major cuts to Trump’s bloated and wasteful defense spending. We should invest in our hospitals, schools, affordable housing, and the real security American families need right now – not expensive wars and weapons that make us less safe.”

During the press conference, Senator Markey, joined by advocates, highlighted the better ways to use a $750 billion cut from Trump’s $1.5 trillion military budget:

Trains, not warplanes:

Build high-speed rail across the nation, expand existing passenger rail service, and electrify the most heavily polluting railyards and corridors ($205 billion)

Health care, not warfare:

Cancel out 100 percent of Americans’ medical debt ($220 billion)

Bread, not bombs:

Fully fund SNAP and feed hungry families nationwide over the next two years ($200 billion)

Education, not annihilation:

Provide children with Head Start and Early Head Start for the next decade ($125 billion)

“For decades we’ve been told there is always enough money for weapons and war but never enough for the challenges our communities face day-to-day,” said Shayna Lewis, Deputy Director of Win Without War. “Now, as families grapple with rising costs, President Trump is demanding an unthinkable $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget — all while brushing aside the concerns and struggles of the American people. Thankfully, a growing coalition of lawmakers is listening, and gearing up to bring spending back into line with people’s needs.”

Senator Markey has consistently voted against the ever-growing defense budget and offered amendments to put a check on the Pentagon’s nuclear capacities.

In December, Senator Markey voted against the $1 trillion NDAA for FY 2026.

In September, Senator Markey filed eight amendments to the NDAA, including amendments to limit funding for President Trump’s destabilizing “Golden Dome” missile interceptor scheme, the over-budget Sentinel nuclear missile, and the dangerous transfer of weapons-usable plutonium to private industry.

One of the amendments was Senators Markey and Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act, which would reduce wasteful nuclear weapons programs and generate tens of billions of dollars in cost savings.

###",1,2026-06-17T06:49:24Z,2026-06-17T06:50:53Z