Press Releases

Interior Cuts in Trump Administration’s “Skinny” Budget to Leave Lasting Scars on Public Lands, Tribal Nations, and Human Health

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Interior-Environment Subcommittee on the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the below statement following the release of President Trump’s ‘skinny’ budget for Fiscal Year 2026. “This budget is exactly what we expected from this administration: abandoning critical programs, slashing essential government services,

Merkley Announces Central Oregon Town Halls 

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley announced today he will hold three town halls for Oregonians in Jefferson, Crook, and Deschutes counties on Saturday, May 10.  Merkley will be joined by U.S. Representative Janelle Bynum for the Deschutes County town hall in Sisters.  The three rescheduled events in Central

Sens. Wicker, Merkley Introduce Bipartisan Nurse Corps Tax Parity Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Co-Chairs of the Senate Nursing Caucus, introduced the Nurse Corps Tax Parity Act. This legislation would ensure that nurses in the federal Nurse Corps do not need to pay income tax on their student loan repayments and scholarships. “Nurses are essential to

IN REBUKE OF TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ATTACKS ON VETERANS, SENATE DEMOCRATS MAKE DEFENDING VETERANS AND VA CARE A PRIORITY AT JOINT ADDRESS

Senate Democrats’ guests at tonight’s speech to include veterans indiscriminately fired as part of the Trump Administration’s mass terminations of federal government employees and the former VA Inspector General illegally fired by Trump  [WASHINGTON, D.C.] – In light of President Donald Trump’s mass termination of federal veteran employees and egregious

New Hawley, Merkley Legislation to Speed Up Labor Contracts Earns Teamsters Endorsement, Bipartisan Support

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) led a bipartisan group of colleagues in introducing new, Teamsters-endorsed legislation to speed up first contracts for new unions. The legislation would ensure that when workers vote to unionize, a labor agreement ultimately becomes a reality. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio),

Oregon Delegation Demands Reversal of Trump Attacks on Programs Serving Tribal Communities

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden—along with U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), and Janelle Bynum (OR-05)—joined over 100 Members of Congress to demand that the Trump Administration stop and reverse its dangerous efforts to fire employees and defund programs that serve Tribes and Tribal members. The lawmakers directed President

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