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

Wyden, Merkley Announce Nearly $1.2 Million for Ecosystem Restoration in Oregon

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation award will benefit residents and projects along the Tillamook River Washington D.C.—U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced a federal investment of $1.18 million for the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership to help fix the Burton-Fraser Road along the Tillamook River that is limiting

Merkley: Global Plastics Crisis Requires Global Action

Senator traveling to Busan, South Korea, to help shape global plastic pollution agreement Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley—a leading voice in Congress on the urgent need to address the plastic pollution crisis—today issued the following statement before traveling to the fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) in Busan,

Merkley Statement on Vote to Block Offensive Arms Sales to the Netanyahu Government

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued the following statement after the Senate held votes on Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) to halt U.S. sales of certain offensive weapons used in Gaza by the Netanyahu government: “While Israel

Ahead of Busy Holiday Travel Season, Merkley Urges Oversight of TSA’s Unchecked Use of Facial Recognition Technology at Airports Nationwide

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today joined forces with a bipartisan group of his colleagues to sound the alarm on the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) facial recognition regime in airports across the United States. Merkley co-led the effort with Senators John Kennedy (R-LA), Edward J. Markey (D-MA),

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