🏛️ Legislative Branch |
Congressional Record |
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On March 24, 2025, Congress took several important actions. In the Senate, they passed a resolution to celebrate “National Osceola Turkey Day” and confirmed two nominations: John Phelan as Secretary of the Navy with 62 votes in favor and Christopher Landau as Deputy Secretary of State with 60 votes. The Senate also started discussing the nomination of Michael Faulkender for Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. In the House, they introduced 31 new bills, including H.R.1048, the “DETERRENT Act,” which aims to improve safety and security measures. They also passed several bills related to energy and research, including H.R.359, which requires better reporting on energy costs. These actions are significant because they show Congress is working on important issues like safety, energy efficiency, and government appointments, which can affect many people’s lives. Read full document →
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Random excerpts from the Senate
Mr. President, now on Donald Trump and Social Security, for 60 days, Donald Trump has waged a campaign of destruction against America’s very, very foundations. Each step of the way, Leader Thune and the Republican majority have enabled his every whim. In just the last week alone, among many other things that he did that hurt the country, he has, one, created pandemonium at the Social Security Administration, and, two, he has signed an Executive order closing down the Department of Education. Let me discuss each briefly. When it comes to the Department of Education, of course Donald Trump cannot proceed without an act of Congress. That is the law. Let me be clear. Let me be very clear. If Republicans ever, ever, try to move a bill through the Senate that shuts down the Department of Education, Senate Democrats will halt it in its tracks. It will go nowhere.
— Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
This is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence that I have read about in a very, very long time. What we have here are senior U.S. leaders, including the Vice President and Secretary of Defense, having classified discussions of military action over an unsecure app. It is bad enough that a private citizen was added to this chain, but it is far worse that sensitive military information was exchanged on an unauthorized application, especially when that sensitive military information was so, so important. If these detailed exchanges about coordinating military operations fell into the hands of America’s enemies, it could get people killed; it could severely harm our military; it would put America’s national security in danger. This debacle requires a full investigation into how this happened, the damage it created, and how we can avoid it in the future.
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Random excerpts from the House
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the body with regard to Social Security and the lack of congressional action. It might interest people in the audience to know, Mr. Speaker, that it has been over 50 years since Congress has enhanced Social Security on behalf of its recipients. That is why I have introduced legislation specifically to address this issue. Yet, Mr. Speaker, at the same time, we see that Mr. Musk has been charged by the President of the United States to cut $2 trillion from the budget. Mr. Musk has made no bones about the fact that he plans to privatize Social Security and Medicare, amongst others. Social Security, Medicare, and defense, as a number of people in the audience knows, makes up more than 70 percent of the budget. He has been instructed to find $2 trillion. Coincidentally, that is just about how much Trump’s tax cut for the wealthiest 1 percent is, $2 trillion. Where will it come from, Mr. Speaker? Obviously, he has his designs on Social Security, the only one of those entities--defense, Medicare, and Medicaid--that has a trust fund, a trust fund of $2.7 trillion of hardworking people’s money.
— Rep. John B. Larson (D-CT-1)
Mr. Speaker, water is a human right. We can’t live without it, but far too often our government treats it as just another product to be sold. In Michigan, the Great Lakes Water Authority voted to increase water rates by 5.9 percent and sewage rates by 4.5 percent. They approved these unaffordable increases despite unanimous and passionate public opposition, Mr. Speaker. I want folks to imagine how it feels for many of our residents in Detroit who have been living out of hotels for weeks after a massive water main break flooded their neighborhood, their homes, and even their vehicles. Now they are going to have to be paying more for their water. The Trump administration is already slashing every critical support program that the most vulnerable in our communities, especially our seniors, rely on to pay their bills. This will mean more water shutoffs and more stories of families melting snow and harvesting rainwater to shower and cook with. Our policy has to meet our principles. Water must be a human right in the United States of America.
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