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
Bipartisan Group of Western Senators Introduce Legislation to Provide Financial Certainty for Rural Counties
Washington, D.C. – A bipartisan group of Western senators today introduced legislation to provide long-term financial security for rural counties. The legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Jim Risch, R-Idaho, Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Cory Gardner, R-Colo., would reauthorize the Payments in
Wyden, Merkley, Walden Press Feds on Large Air Tankers
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Greg Walden today pressed the Forest Service to explain why it has failed to award any ”call when needed” (CWN) contracts to providers of wildfire-fighting large air tankers (LAT). The Oregon lawmakers noted in a letter to
Merkley Secures Additional Funding for National Guard Wildfire Fighting Training
Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee included $8.5 million in the Department of Defense appropriations bill to train National Guard Members to fight wildfires. The funding is a $1.5 million increase over last year and the previous year, when Merkley first secured the additional
Merkley Urges Financial Regulators to Reject Gutting of Volcker Rule
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, who co-authored the Volcker Rule along with former Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), today strongly urged federal financial regulators to reject a proposed rewrite of the landmark financial reform provision that would place gaping loopholes into the rule’s protections. “Your agencies have been charged
Merkley, Wyden Announce Emergency Relief for Wine and Hazelnut Growers Now Available
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced that millions of dollars appropriated in the bipartisan disaster relief package this summer is now available for Oregon wine and hazelnut growers. “When disaster strikes, the communities who’ve been hit need a direct line in DC to
Merkley Reacts to FDA Withdrawal of Flavored E-Cigarettes
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), released the following statement after the FDA announced that it is temporarily pulling all flavored e-cigarette products from the market: “This action is outrageously overdue. It’s been clear
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