WASHINGTON, D.C. – As Senate Republicans prepare to pass a funding bill that would give Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) nearly $70 billion in new funding, data from the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) SF-133 reports shows that, as of the end of April, the two agencies are […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, called on two independent, nonpartisan agencies—the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)—to investigate President Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Fleet” initiative, including the new Trump-class battleship and frigate that together could cost more than $200 […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following opening statement at a Senate Budget Committee markup hearing on the Republican bill that would gift Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) nearly $70 billion and throw $1 billion at Trump’s […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee, Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Senate Parliamentarian advised that the provision in the Judiciary Committee title of the Republicans’ bill that provides $1 billion for Trump’s gilded ballroom would be subject to a 60-vote threshold if it remains in the bill. “The American people shouldn’t spend a single dime on Trump’s gold-plated ballroom boondoggle. That’s […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Senate Parliamentarian advised that provisions in the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) title of the Republicans’ bill that would gift Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) nearly $70 billion in new spending would be subject to a 60-vote threshold if they remain in […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, at the request of U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released independent analysis showing that President Trump’s plan to deploy a next-generation missile defense shield—dubbed “Golden Dome”—will cost U.S. taxpayers more than of $1.2 trillion. This is an alarming […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the below statement after Senate Republicans released bill text that will gift the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) nearly $70 billion in new spending. “Now that Republicans […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the below statement after Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives agreed to the Senate Republican budget resolution that could gift Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) up to $140 billion in new […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the below statement after Senate Republicans voted to pass their Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Resolution that will enable a reconciliation bill to provide up to $140 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As Senate Republicans prepare to vote on a budget resolution that dictates giving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) up to $140 billion in new funding, data from the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) SF-133 reports shows that as of the end of March, the two […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the below statement following the Senate Republicans’ release of a fiscal year 2026 budget resolution to tee up the passage of a second reconciliation bill that would throw up to $140 billion at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) […]
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following opening statement at a Committee oversight hearing on the President’s FY2027 Budget request. Sen. Merkley’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Thank you, Chairman Graham, for convening this hearing. And thank you, Director Vought, for being […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released fact sheets on the President’s Fiscal Year 2027 Budget request to Congress that detail how the request would gut domestic programs families rely on to fund more war in the Middle East. The Senate Budget Committee will hold […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the below statement following the release of President Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2027. “This budget request fails to meet the needs of working Americans. This budget request doesn’t address how to tackle the high price of […]
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following opening statement at a Senate Budget Committee hearing on social security solvency. Sen. Merkley’s remarks, as prepared for delivery follow: Mr. Chairman: Thank you for holding today’s hearing. In 1935, President Roosevelt told the nation in […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – To address the growing concern over the role private equity is playing in the child care industry, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, launched an investigation into the two largest private equity controlled child care companies serving collectively over 365,000 children, KinderCare Learning Companies and Learning […]
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following opening statement at a Senate Budget Committee hearing on sanctuary cities. Ranking Member Merkley invited David J. Bier, Director of Immigration Studies and The Selz Foundation Chair in Immigration Policy at the Cato Institute, and Brendan Duke, […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the below statement following new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projecting that because the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s chaotic and reckless tariff policy, the debt is going to grow to even higher levels […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released a staff report titled, One Big Fossil Fuel Handout: Republicans Further Subsidize the Dirty Fossil Fuel Industry, exposing the increased federal subsidies for the fossil fuel industry that Republicans included in the Big, Ugly Betrayal bill that was […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the below statement following the release of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) Long Term Budget Outlook Data: 2026 to 2056. The statistics in this report were calculated prior to the Supreme Court striking down President Trump’s chaotic […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, led 20 of his Senate colleagues in calling on the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to probe the cost of President Donald Trump’s violent escalation of federal immigration enforcement. The senators are requesting a comprehensive assessment and accounting of […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, after Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, led Senate Budget Committee Democrats in demanding answers from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth about his decision to classify the Department of Defense’s reconciliation spending plan, the Pentagon has finally released an unclassified spending plan. Hegseth’s obfuscation prevented Congress […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Trump exceeded his authority to impose the broad, misguided reciprocal tariffs that he put in place in April. Following the ruling, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the below statement. “Today is a win for farmers, small […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the below statement following the annual release of the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) Budget and Economic Outlook: 2026 to 2036. “Today’s economic outlook report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office could not be more clear: Trump and Republicans […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, led Senate Budget Committee Democrats in calling on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to explain the Department of Defense’s (DOD) decision to classify its budget reconciliation spending plan—a decision that undermines congressional oversight and accountability. Following passage of the Republican […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the Senate considers bipartisan legislation to set funding for a portion of the federal government, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, offered an amendment to codify a permanent ban on pocket rescissions by prohibiting the President from sending Congress a “special message” under the Impoundment […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) told U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, that President Donald Trump’s brazen decision to deploy National Guard personnel to U.S. cities, including Portland, has cost taxpayers upwards of $589 million to date. If these deployments continue at current levels, […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee led a group of 23 Senators in filing an amicus brief to the Ninth […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Seante Budget Committee, led Budget Committee Democrats in calling on Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought to provide answers to Congress and the American people on what he has used or is planning to use the $100 million slush […]