In 10 days, we face a government shutdown unless Congress passes a funding bill. From day one of this Congress, Democrats have stood ready to pass a bill that lowers costs and addresses the needs of the American people. But the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans run the same old playbook of prioritizing billionaire donors like Elon Musk over hard-working American people. They have focused the last two months on traumatizing the federal workforce and gutting the services they provide from healthcare, veterans benefits, air travel safety, forecasting the weather, and more.

Last week crystalized Republican priorities as House Republicans passed a budget plan that does nothing to address rising costs, but puts our nation’s children, seniors, veterans, farmers and working families at risk to fund tax cuts for billionaires and large corporations. House Republicans also adopted business as usual plans for how Congress will provide oversight of federal agencies as the Trump Administration tests the boundaries of its constitutional authority to put corporate interests over the American people.

Read on for what else you may have missed last week.

THE REPUBLICAN RIP-OFF: A BILLIONAIRES FIRST, AMERICANS LAST BUDGET PLAN

On Tuesday, House Republicans narrowly passed a budget plan that they claim will cut “waste, fraud and abuse.” But rather than using a scalpel to do so, House Republicans used a chainsaw to slash health care, veterans benefits, food security and more from the American people. The budget plan does nothing to address rising costs, but puts our nation’s children, seniors, veterans, farmers and working families at risk to fund tax cuts for billionaires and large corporations.

To fund their tax cuts, the Republican budget plan adds $4.5 trillion to our national debt and requires House committees to find $2 trillion in “savings.”  The House Energy and Commerce Committee, on which I sit, must find $880 billion in cuts in the federal agencies and programs under our jurisdiction, from Big Tech to energy efficiency to health care. Republican talking points to the contrary, there is not enough waste, fraud and abuse to meet that goal. 

To reach the $880 billion goal means Republicans will have to severely cut Medicaid. The effects will be felt across our Commonwealth and beyond, as over 80 million Americans lose health care, others see the cost of care go up. On top of these cuts, severe restrictions on grants from agencies like the National Institutes of Health or other agencies mean our health care providers and research institutions will struggle to keep people alive and healthy.

So what does the Republican Rip-Off mean for Virginia?

Nearly 1 in 5 Virginians rely on Medicaid for health care, including nearly 1 in 3 children in Virginia and more than half of our state’s elderly who live in nursing homes. These include pregnant and postpartum women, the sickest children, the elderly and disabled, individuals in long term care, and hardworking Americans who can’t get health insurance at work or afford health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Veterans and rural communities in particular rely on Medicaid.

The bottom line: these Republican efforts to gut these services won’t help the American people. In fact, nearly every person will be worse off for it.

Plain and simple: Anyone who voted for this budget, voted to cut Medicaid.

I voted no.

On Saturday, I joined MSNBC’s The Weekend to discuss the impact of House Republican’s budget plan.

You can learn more about how the Republican budget impacts your community here.

FIGHTING BACK ON THE ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE

One of the primary roles of Congress is to provide oversight over federal agencies and programs. To that end, at the start of each Congress each House committee adopts a plan to guide how they will conduct oversight over agencies under their jurisdiction.

On Tuesday, the Energy and Commerce Committee considered its oversight plan in a 13-hour meeting. Committee Republicans ignored the Trump Administration’s unprecedented actions over the past month and merely adopted their plan from the 118th Congress. House Democrats offered amendments to hold the Trump Administration accountable and ensure our government works for everyone. 

Democrats offered amendments to investigate the impact of the Trump Administration’s funding freeze on community health clinics in VA-04 and lifesaving clinical trials at Virginia research institutions; Republicans voted no.

Democrats offered amendments to fight back against Republicans’ budget plan to increase costs for long-term care and cut Medicaid expansion that covers over 600,000 Virginians; Republicans voted no.

Democrats offered an amendment to investigate the impact of state abortion restrictions on patients and providers; Republicans voted no.

I offered an amendment to preserve the First Amendment and ensure this Administration cannot punish dissenting voices — a clear violation of freedom of the press — but my Republican colleagues voted no.

THE FIGHT FOR OUR FEDERAL WORKFORCE CONTINUES

Through it all, our federal workforce still faces weathering attacks from the Trump Administration and Elon Musk, a man who has no respect for the invaluable work they do. I continue to stand up for traumatized federal workers.

Last week, thousands of federal employees who have worked for less than a year in their current job were summarily fired, some with little or no notice, like Beatrice Robinson who showed up for work at the Richmond VA Hospital to find she had been fired when she couldn't log into her computer.  

Elon Musk continued demanding federal employees email DOGE with a list of 5 things they did during the week or be fired, while cabinet secretaries told them to ignore the order.

In response, I joined Rep. Gerry Connolly (VA-11) to send a letter demanding 24 federal agencies provide clear guidance for our civil service facing threatening and misleading emails from Elon Musk and DOGE.

I will continue to fight back against Republicans’ aggressive overreach of executive power and telling the stories of our federal workers. But I need your help to do so.

If you or someone you know is a current or former federal employee impacted by the Trump Administration: your voice matters. Share your story here. You can also ensure you know your rights as a federal employee using this resource page.

MY BRIGHT SPOT

One of my favorite parts of this job is meeting with young people to share my journey from a history nerd growing up in Ettrick, Virginia to a history-making Congresswoman representing my hometown, and how students can engage in our government by, of, and for the people.

In celebration of Black History Month, I got to share that story with students from Virginia State University, where my parents worked and I spent most of my childhood, and young lawyers from the Washington Bar Association. In these unprecedented times, we had a wonderful discussion of how they can engage to protect the progress we’ve made in civil rights and racial justice.

In the face of this Administration’s unrelenting attacks, the engagement of these bright future leaders gives me great hope for the future of our nation and continues to inspire me to stay in the fight on the toughest days. 

Unsubscribe from future messages.