Dear Neighbor, 

Here is an update on what’s happening in Congress. Last week, the House Republicans jammed through two bills – each of which would harm Americans.  

First, H.R. 22, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The SAVE Act represents a shameful, divisive attempt to prevent millions of eligible U.S. citizens — disproportionately Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and other voters of color — from registering to vote. If the SAVE Act became law, the vast majority of Americans would have to present a passport or original copy of their birth certificate in order to register to vote. It is unacceptable that millions of eligible citizens across the country, including in our own state, do not possess the forms of documentation that would be acceptable under the legislation. Data shows that about half of American citizens (146 million people) do not have a valid passport and 69 million women who have married and taken their spouse’s name do not have a birth certificate they could use to prove their identity. Additionally, more than 21 million U.S. citizens of voting age do not have proof of citizenship readily available at all. When Kansas enacted a law similar to the SAVE Act, 31,000 eligible American citizens were blocked from registering to vote. We cannot let that happen on a national scale. That’s why I voted no on H.R. 22. 

Second, but far more grave, Republicans jammed the middle class with the most fiscally irresponsible bill in American History.  

The GOP’s budget reconciliation only serves to appease Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies and Congressional Republicans will slash funding to our social safety programs, blow a massive hole in the debt ceiling, and cost you, hard-working Americans, $37 trillion over the next 30 years. Do you know who benefits? Billionaires like Elon Musk.  

In other news, House Republicans on the DOGE Oversight Subcommittee held a hearing last week on the federal government’s real estate portfolio. Why, you ask? It is all part of the Great American Grift. This is the private equity model: privatize, buy low, sell high, and then make lots of money for billionaires. This is what Elon Musk and his DOGE bros are all about. Everything the Trump administration does takes from the American people to line the pockets of Trump and his buddies. 

Finally, I want to give you an update on FY26 appropriations -- appropriations is the process by which Congress designates a certain amount of money for specific purposes. As you might be aware, Congressional Republicans refused to fund the FY25 Community Project Funding requests. Since shamefully turning their backs on communities across the country, Republicans have been silent about the FY26 process. This past week, the Appropriations Committee finally released the FY26 guidance indicating that they will once return to funding Community Projects. Because of the extraordinary time and effort our community spent putting together FY25 requests, our office will prioritize our FY25 projects for the FY26 cycle and will not be opening up submissions for additional FY26 Community Project Funding requests. However, I still want to hear what federal programs are important to you and your community. You can submit programmatic and language requests here. 

I want you to know that I’m in this fight with you.  

My team and I are continuing our Town Hall tour across NM-01 because your voices are important. I want to know your thoughts, concerns, hopes, and dreams for our district and the country. If you haven’t already come to one of my town halls, please do. 

I take everything you say back to D.C. with me so I can turn that into action. We’ll be holding five town halls next week. More information is below:  

Albuquerque: 
April 14, 5:30 - 7:00 pm 
Albuquerque High School 
800 Odelia Rd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87102 

Lincoln County: 
April 16, 5:30 - 7:00 pm 
Inn of the Mountain Gods Event Center 
287 Carrizo Canyon Rd, Mescalero, NM 88340 

Roswell: 
April 17, 10:00 - 11:30 am 
Stellar Coffee 
315 N Main St, Roswell, NM 88201 

Fort Sumner: 
April 17, 1:30 - 2:30 pm 
Ft. Sumner Community House 
137 East Baker Hill, Ft. Sumner, NM 88119 

Moriarty:
April 17, 5:00 - 6:30 pm 
Moriarty City Hall 
201 Broadway, 
Moriarty, NM 87035 

To RSVP to any of these town halls, please click here.