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

Merkley, Franken Introduce Legislation To Promote Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

Washington, DC – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley and Senator Al Franken (D-MN) today introduced legislation designed to increase student access to courses in STEM education subjects and provide additional resources to recruit, train, and support teachers of these subjects. “Whether we’re inventing new life-saving medications, or creating new technologies for connecting

Merkley, Wyden Join 20 Other Senators in Call for Crude-by-Rail Safety Investments

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today joined with 20 other Senators calling on the Senate Appropriations Committee to support robust investment for a Safe Transportation of Energy Products program to address increasing safety concerns related to the transportation of Bakken crude and other energy products.  The

Merkley: Senate Republican Budget Doesn’t Work for Working Americans

WASHINGTON – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement on the Senate Republican Budget, which was marked up in the Senate Budget Committee today: “The question I brought to this debate was, will this be a budget that works for working Americans? Or will it be a budget for

Merkley Urges CFPB to Issue Tough Payday Rules, Protect Consumers from Predatory Loans

WASHINGTON – Today, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley – the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection – strongly urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to crack down on destructive predatory lending by issuing new, tough rules that would protect consumers from damaging and

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