Sessions Investigates Disability Benefits Being Awarded On Basis Of Inability To Speak English
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, sent a letter today to the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration regarding high rates of approval for Social Security Disability claims, including the fact that the inability to communicate in English is being treated as a determinative factor in getting approved […]
Murray Continues Push to Avoid an Unnecessary Highway Trust Fund Crisis
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) delivered remarks on the Senate floor, continuing her effort to warn colleagues of the looming potential crisis before the Highway Trust Fund reaches critically low levels this summer. Murray highlighted that various states across the country have started preparing to stop new construction projects, and explained that […]
The Economy Since 2009
The recession officially ended in June 2009, but by nearly every measure, the period since has seen the slowest economic recovery since the end of World War II. Job creation is historically low for this point in a recovery, investment is poor despite record low interest rates, and labor supply is sluggish. Every day that […]
CBO Analysis: The President’s FY 2015 Budget
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the President’s budget would increase the 2015 deficit to $509 billion, up 3.5 percent from the $492 billion deficit CBO estimates for 2014. Over 10 years, CBO projects that the President’s policies would result in deficits of $6.6 trillion and total federal debt of $26.1 trillion. The President’s […]
Senator Patty Murray: Department of Transportation Update on the Highway Trust Fund Should Be a ‘Wake-Up Call to Congress’
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement calling on Congress to address the looming crisis in the Highway Trust Fund, which could reach critically low levels in July, according to a status report issued today by the Department of Transportation. “Today’s update from the Department of Transportation should be a wake-up call […]
Statement from Chairman Murray on Tax Day: Congress Should Take Steps Now to Make the Tax Code Fairer for Workers and Families
WASHINGTON, D.C.—On Tax Day, April 15th, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement calling on Republicans to join Democrats in making changes to our tax code, like the 21st Century Worker Tax Cut Act she recently introduced, which would help workers and families keep more of what they earn: “Leading up […]
Statement from Chairman Murray on CBO Projections that the Affordable Care Act Will Cost Less, Cover More Americans, and Reduce the Deficit Further
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Chairman Patty Murray (D-WA) issued the following statement on new information from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which projected that the Affordable Care Act will decrease the federal deficit over the next ten years by $104 billion more than was projected only two months ago. “Today’s CBO update shows once again […]
Ranking Member Sessions On Nomination of President’s Budget Director To Head HHS, Implement Health Law
“Director Burwell’s nomination must and will be considered fairly, and with an open mind… [She] has a comparatively thin resume for the demands now placed on this position—she has never run anything on the scale of HHS—and, during her short stint as budget director, she did more to obscure the nation’s poor financial state than […]
Chairman Patty Murray’s Statement on the Nomination of Sylvia Burwell for HHS Secretary
“Sylvia Burwell is an outstanding choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services as it continues working to ensure that families and seniors have access to high quality affordable health care. She has done a great job as Director of the Office and Management and Budget in a challenging year, and she would […]
Murray Warns of Looming Highway Trust Fund Crisis, Calls for Multi-Year Fix to Provide Certainty
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) spoke on the Senate floor to warn her colleagues of a looming potential crisis when the Highway trust fund reaches critically low levels this summer and to call on them to work together to avoid it. Murray explained that if a solution is not reached, construction […]