Dear friend,

Welcome to your Weekly Wrap, a recap of the week in Congress and highlights of my work.

Last week, I participated in a CNN Town Hall event featuring four members of Congress, moderated by Jake Tapper and Kaitlan Collins. The town hall featured questions from Democrats, Republicans, and Independents from each of the districts represented, including the Fifth District of Connecticut. On Thursday, the House passed the revised federal budget framework by a vote of 216 –214. I voted no on this legislation. The House also considered the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, dangerous legislation that would severely impede the ability of American citizens to exercise their right to vote in federal elections. My full statement on this vote is included below.

Both the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Education and Workforce convened last week for committee work. On Tuesday, the House Committee on Agriculture convened a full committee hearing entitled, The Power of Work: Expanding Opportunity through SNAP, and the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions convened a hearing entitled, Game Changer: The NLRB, Student-Athletes, and the Future of College Sports. I am also including an update on the full committee markup in the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

For my full recap, please read below.

CNN Town Hall

On Thursday, I participated in a live CNN Town Hall with four battleground members of Congress, including Representatives Mike Lawler (NY-17), Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07), and Derek Tran (CA-45). The event was moderated by Jake Tapper and Kaitlan Collins of CNN and featured questions from a live audience made up of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents from each of the districts represented.

Discussion topics ranged from the economy and the most recent tariffs imposed by the Administration to oversight of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Department of Education, and immigration reform.

I greatly appreciated the opportunity to answer questions from my constituents and concerned Americans across the country.

Update on the Republican Budget Framework

On Thursday, the House passed the revised federal budget framework by a vote of 216 –214. The Republican budget plan undermines the integrity of vital programs for millions of Americans like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), to give billionaires even more tax cuts. I voted no on the legislation. 

The proposed budget is directed to slash $880 billion from the committee that oversees Medicaid, stripping health care coverage from millions of Americans, including seniors, children, people with disabilities, and families. In the Fifth District, over 200,000 people on Medicaid would be at risk of losing coverage, while another 25,000 people would see a 60% increase in average health care premiums. The Republican plan also targets education programs with $330 billion in cuts, threatening student loan programs, like Pell Grants. SNAP faces $230 billion in cuts, jeopardizing access to food for families nationwide, including 88,000 Fifth District residents struggling with rising prices and inflation. Investments in infrastructure, consumer protections, and clean energy initiatives are also at risk.

I will not support legislation that sacrifices the well-being of the Fifth District and the American people for the benefit of the wealthiest individuals and corporations.

The SAVE Act

Last week, the House considered the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. I voted against this dangerous legislation because it would severely impede the ability of American citizens, including veterans, married women, and those without passports, to exercise their right to vote in federal elections.

The impact of this legislation would be far-reaching and destructive. The SAVE Act does not authorize federal funding for the new state responsibility it creates and represents a hostile takeover of state-run elections by Congress, severely restricting the ability of Americans to register and participate in elections and ultimately depriving millions of their fundamental constitutional right to vote.

Our focus should be on enacting legislation like the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which safeguards the right to vote, rather than enacting laws that disenfranchise Americans.

My full statement on the SAVE Act is available here.

The Power of Work: Expanding Opportunity through SNAP

On Tuesday, the House Committee on Agriculture convened a full committee hearing entitled, The Power of Work: Expanding Opportunity through SNAP. The hearing examined current work requirements for participation in SNAP.

SNAP helps more than 42 million Americans each month keep food on the table by providing a modest but meaningful $6 per person per day. The vast majority of SNAP participants are children, seniors, or people with a disability.

 Many of the working-age adults who participate in SNAP do so temporarily, often while between jobs or when their work hours are reduced or their income, even while working, falls below poverty levels. 

During the hearing, the Committee received testimony that SNAP mandatory work requirements can cause harm - serving as a barrier to assistance. Further, many individuals work multiple jobs but still qualify for federal benefit programs like SNAP because of low wages.

Last week, I joined my colleagues in reintroducing the Raise the Wage Act, to raise the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour by 2030. Moving families forward means providing workers with a living wage.

The Future of College Sports

On Tuesday, the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions convened a hearing entitled, Game Changer: The NLRB, Student-Athletes, and the Future of College Sports.

As the landscape of college sports continues to evolve, this hearing examined the potential impact of allowing college student athletes to classify as employees and, by extension, participate in collective bargaining activities. The subcommittee held a similar hearing on this topic last year.

College athletics has become a multi-billion-dollar industry, with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) bringing in nearly $1.4 billion in revenue in 2024. For many young people, an athletic scholarship can be a pathway out of poverty, but a scholarship alone does not help an athlete trying to feed themselves or provide for their family back home. These scholarships are typically contingent upon an athlete being enrolled as a full-time student and meeting specific academic requirements.

Collective bargaining would afford college athletes an opportunity to negotiate for better wages or additional time to focus on academics.

The full hearing is available here.

House Committee on Education and Workforce Markup

The House Committee on Education and Workforce held a markup of four pieces of legislation including the Say No to Indoctrination Act, the PROTECT KIDS Act, the Flexibility for Workers Education Act, and the Empowering Employer Child and Elder Care Solutions Act.

I spoke in opposition to the Say No to Indoctrination Act and the Parental Rights Over the Education and Care of Their (PROTECT) Kids Act, because these bills further marginalize vulnerable populations in schools, and threaten the civil rights of students.  My remarks are available here. 

The Committee also considered a Resolution of Inquiry regarding the reduction of force and other downsizing measures at the Department of Education. Since the President signed the executive order to dismantle the Department on March 20, 2025, he nor the Secretary of Education have provided a plan for how the services currently provided by the Department will continue. The Resolution of Inquiry directs the Trump Administration to provide information about the dismantling of the Department of Education.

If the Trump Administration and my Republican colleagues feel their plan for public education is the best path forward, they should share the plan with the American people. 

The full markup can be viewed here.

And that’s a wrap!

Thank you for taking the time to read this update. Please be assured I will continue to advocate for your priorities.


Jahana Hayes
Member of Congress