As Trump Requests $1.5 Trillion for Pentagon, Sens. Markey and Merkley Press for Details on “Golden Dome” $1.2 Trillion Price Tag, Mission

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 […]

Merkley Asks CBO to Detail How Investing in Flood Adaptations Can Affect the Federal Budget

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, requested that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) conduct a study of how federal spending for flood adaptations now is likely to affect the federal budget. Merkley specifically asked CBO to estimate the amount of potential future savings that […]

ICYMI: Chairman Graham Holds Confirmation Hearing on OMB Deputy Director Nominee Hal Duncan

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, today held a hearing to consider the nomination of Hal Duncan to be the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). On a third reconciliation package: GRAHAM: “If we can’t pass a supplemental through the appropriations process dealing […]

Merkley Opening Statement at Duncan Nomination Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR) delivered the following opening statement at the nomination hearing for Hal Duncan to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Sen. Merkley’s remarks, as prepared for delivery follow: Thank you, Chairman Graham. And thank you, Mr. Duncan, for joining […]

Chairman Graham Statement on House Passage of the Secure America Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, today made this statement following the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of the Secure America Act. It now heads to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law. “I applaud my House Republican colleagues for their swift passage of the Secure […]

Merkley Responds to Trustees’ Reports That Big, Ugly Betrayal Law Moves Up Insolvency Dates for Social Security, Medicare

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement after the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees released their annual reports showing that Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund’s insolvency date moved up one quarter to late 2032, and Medicare’s Hospital […]