Dear Friend, 

Trump’s first year back has been an absolute disaster for New Mexico and the country. In 365 days, Trump has proven that he and his billionaire buddies are all he cares about — personally making over $1.4 billion dollars, an outrageous sum for any President or elected official. Meanwhile, New Mexicans are now paying $1,355 more on average for housing, energy, transportation, and other necessities thanks to his tariffs and policies.

Trump betrayed the voters who wanted him to lower the high costs of living. Instead, his tariffs and attacks on health care, education, and nutrition programs have cost Americans thousands of dollars, and more Americans are out of work, hungry, and without health insurance now than they were a year ago. Despite having the highest unemployment in 4 years, Trump cares more about golden ballrooms and pardoning drug dealers and fraudsters who pay millions into his campaign coffers.

We’ve fought back against every part of his hateful agenda that hurts New Mexico and have proven that when the people rise up, even tyrants have to back down — like they did when they wanted to sell off your public lands. After Trump proposed a budget that zeroed out funding for the Institute for American Indian Arts, the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, and so many other essential federal programs, we got these and funding far above what President Trump requested for Tribal programs. On a bipartisan basis, we secured millions for the Navajo-Gallup water project and passed the Epstein Transparency Act. New Mexicans exposed to radiation following the explosion of the atomic bomb at the Trinity site are now eligible for $100,000 in compensation.

Finally, as a member of the powerful Rules Committee, I have used this platform to call out ICE’s abuses of power, which include attacks on immigrant communities, Latinos, Native Americans, and other people of color who are citizens and legal residents, as well as the wrongful detention — and now death — of U.S. citizens. I have also co-sponsored articles of impeachment against Secretary Noem for her department’s violent, authoritarian, and chaotic attack on our communities.

Holding Trump Accountable

• In late 2025, I pressed Republican leadership during a  key House Rules Committee hearing to build momentum for a clean, three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits. My advocacy contributed to bipartisan support for a discharge petition that forced a full House vote to pass the extension in early 2026. The Republican-controlled Senate has yet to pass the bill to protect millions of families from steep premium increases.
• As Chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, I met with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes, brought attention to their pleas for justice, and helped pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act to force the DOJ to release the Epstein files.
• When the Trump administration attempted to fire hundreds of thousands of federal workers, I invited Arielle Pines, a VA employee and military spouse who was fired, to be my guest for Trump's first address to Congress. Together, we highlighted the unfair and irrational firing of thousands of public servants like Arielle. Arielle was reinstated to her position with the VA, where she worked on efficiency efforts.
• When the Trump administration froze almost $18 million for New Mexican farmers through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Robert Lopez, a Tucumcari farmer, was left to fend for himself. I stepped in to help. I held a press conference with local farmers and conservation leaders to denounce Trump's funding freeze on USDA programs, including EQIP and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Equity in Conservation Outreach Cooperative Agreements. After mounting pressure from Congress and the public, the USDA unfroze much of the funding, including the EQIP funding owed to Mr. Lopez.
• When Republicans in the Senate proposed selling over 3 million acres across the West to pay for tax cuts to billionaires, public pressure and the New Mexico Congressional Delegation’s work forced them to take the plan out of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 
• During the only hearing for the same bill in the House Rules Committee, I uncovered a secret provision to repeal an Excise Tax on Indoor Tanning Services while simultaneously cutting funding for hospital beds. After public scrutiny because of my questions, Republicans then removed the tanning bed section. 
• I held town halls in my district as well as in Republican districts because stopping harmful policies takes persistence, creativity, and a willingness to fight on every front—across the aisle and in ways that deliver for the people.
• I remain committed to using every tool available to defend New Mexico families and communities.

Delivering for New Mexicans in Trump's First Year

In 2025, I delivered results for New Mexicans while pushing back against extreme federal policies and actions by the Trump administration that threaten working families, Tribal communities, and rural areas across the state.

Throughout the year, my office helped return more than $11.1 million to constituents through casework assistance, like helping veterans with benefits, seniors with Medicare, and businesses with SBA loans. 

“My home was full of mud after the Oct. 19, 2024, flood in Chaves County,” said one constituent named Patricia from Chaves County. “FEMA kept either not responding or telling me my case hadn't been resolved yet”.

“I called Teresa Leger Fernández's office. That was on a Thursday. The following Thursday, FEMA deposited money into my bank account. I've praised Congresswoman Leger Fernández's office loud and long, and please feel free to use my story. If it weren't for her staff, I'd still be homeless and without the funds to repair my flood-damaged house,” she concluded.

Legislative Wins

• I helped secure long-overdue justice for New Mexicans harmed by nuclear testing and uranium mining through the passage of amendments to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). This legislation opened the door for  New Mexican downwinders and post 1971 miners and their families who had been left out of the initial legislation to receive compensation of up to $100,000. 
• I secured a $175 million ceiling authorization increase and capped the amount of funding paid by the City of Gallup in the Fiscal Year 2026 Energy and Water appropriations bill to keep the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project on schedule, safeguarding access to clean water for Tribal and rural communities.
• At a time when Trump’s attacks on clean energy are raising utility costs, I secured appropriations language to help modernize the electric grid, make it more reliable, and give utilities the tools to prevent power outages during extreme weather events. These provisions are based on my bills H.R. 5964, the Integrated Resource Planning Modernization Act, and H.R. 4338, the Weather-Safe Energy Act. 
• In Congress, I passed an amendment to support access to specialized medical care for military families stationed at rural installations, including Cannon Air Force Base. I also secured more than $7 million in Community Project Funding for eight projects supporting fire protection, education, water access, and community infrastructure across Sandoval, San Juan, and Taos counties and on the Navajo Nation. Learn more about my community project funding requests HERE.
• My bill, H.R. 4284, the Small Cemetery Conveyance Act, was marked up by the House Natural Resources Committee, advancing legislation that would allow rural, Tribal, and land grant communities to recover their ancestral cemeteries located on National Forest lands.
• My work also delivered results outside the legislative process, including pushing forward PFAS cleanup efforts at military bases. Through hearings, town halls, workshops, and legislative action, I continued advocating for clean water, affordable health care, veterans, Tribal Nations, rural families, and working New Mexicans.