In the News
Democrats to meet on energy, environment priorities
by Amelia Davidson
Hundreds of energy and environment leaders — including 27 Democratic lawmakers — will convene Tuesday in Washington for a summit focused on crafting policies with broad support. The conference, organized by the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute, is meant to produce “bold ideas of climate and energy action” that can be implemented under the Trump administration, according to promotional material. Headlining the daylong event is House Minority Leader Hakeem … Continue Reading
June 22, 2026
California lawmakers request emergency USDA funding to fight invasive pest threatening grape industry
Congressman John Garamendi joined U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, along with Representatives Jimmy Panetta, Mike Thompson, and nine other California lawmakers in requesting emergency funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to address the threat posed by the glassy-winged sharpshooter in California, according to a June 22 announcement. In a letter addressed to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, the group asked for an immediate release of $32.2 million from the Commodity Credit … Continue Reading
June 22, 2026
House Dems look to unwind ‘God Squad’ ruling
by Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp
House Democrats are spearheading legislation to restore Endangered Species Act protections in the Gulf of Mexico, in the latest bid to walk back exemptions for oil and gas drilling projects handed out by the "God Squad" earlier this year. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) introduced the “Protect Gulf Life Act” on Thursday, which would nullify a decision from the Endangered Species Committee, which is nicknamed the “God Squad” for its ability to effectively condemn a species to extinction. The Trump … Continue Reading
June 18, 2026
Dems urge EPA to keep chemical recycling air regs
by Ellie Borst
More than 50 lawmakers sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin urging he reverse course on loosening clean air regulations for nascent plastics recycling development. Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and California Rep. Jared Huffman led the coalition of Democrats opposing a March proposal to remove pyrolysis and gasification from the Clean Air Act's definition of municipal waste combustion units. The Trump administration's proposal aligns with a yearslong campaign from the plastics industry … Continue Reading
June 16, 2026
Trump’s White House Ballroom Price Tag Jumps to $600 Million, Court Fight Intensifies
by Stacy M. Brown
The estimated cost of President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom has surged to $600 million, with internal records showing taxpayers could be responsible for roughly half the price, according to a new published report. The latest figure represents a dramatic increase from the $400 million estimate Trump repeatedly cited when defending the project and comes as a fresh legal challenge seeks to block another of his high-profile Washington redevelopment efforts, the National Garden of … Continue Reading
June 16, 2026
Trump administration ups ante in quest to thwart removal of PG&E’s Eel River dams
by Austin Murphy
A member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet on Monday intensified her ongoing campaign to thwart PG&E’s plans to eventually tear down a pair of century-old Eel River dams. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced in a social media post that she and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum had met earlier in the day with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. CEO Patti Poppe, along with representatives from the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District “to begin constructive negotiations on the future … Continue Reading
June 15, 2026
Lawmakers fight to stop the Trump administration’s dismantling of a $386M ocean observatory project
by Annika Hammerschlag
A group of Democratic senators and one Republican, as well as two Democratic House committees, sent letters Monday to the National Science Foundation asking it to reverse course on its plan to dismantle a sprawling ocean monitoring network, with House lawmakers going further and accusing the agency of acting illegally. The Ocean Observatories Initiative is a network of more than 900 ocean sensors built at a cost of $386 million. Over the last decade it has tracked ocean circulation, marine … Continue Reading
June 15, 2026
Freedom 250’s fair on National Mall highlights conservative groups
by Gregory Svirnovskiy
The nation’s conservative advocacy groups will be well represented at the Great American State Fair, a two-week-long exposition celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary on the National Mall that is blessed by President Donald Trump and his allies. The fair is organized by Freedom 250, a nonprofit set up by the president and his allies to promote the country’s semiquincentennial. Freedom 250 has clashed with — and overshadowed — America250, a bipartisan organization chartered by Congress a … Continue Reading
June 15, 2026
Lawmakers Warn Trump Officials Not to Pursue Arch Project Without Congress
by Luke Broadwater
The letter adds that the administration would also be violating the Commemorative Works Act, which governs monuments on federal land in Washington; a 1912 law that says buildings or structures “shall not be erected” on federal land in the capital “without express authority of Congress”; and the Height of Buildings Act, which generally does not allow buildings that are more than 160 feet tall in Washington. “This project is stone-cold illegal,” Mr. King said in an interview. “It is one of the … Continue Reading
June 15, 2026
Trump opens protected Pacific waters to commercial fishing
by Jennifer Yachnin
The Trump administration struck down prohibitions on commercial fishing Thursday across more than 500,000 square miles of marine national monuments in the Pacific Ocean, as environmental groups vowed to challenge the action in federal court. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to open the Mariana Trench, Papahanaumokuakea and Rose Atoll marine national monuments to commercial fisherman, removing restrictions put in place under the George W. Bush and Obama … Continue Reading
June 12, 2026
House Democrats meet on energy affordability
by Josh Siegel
House Democrats are still debating the best avenue to address energy affordability and how deeply to wade into specific policy solutions ahead of the midterms. A new House Democratic working group focused on solutions to high gasoline and utility prices convened its first listening session Thursday. The half dozen lawmakers who participated had a high-level discussion about voters' concerns about energy costs, which have become a major vulnerability to President Donald Trump, members and … Continue Reading
June 11, 2026
Inside America’s Ugly Birthday Battle
by Michael Scherer
Years before Poison’s Bret Michaels, Young MC, and the Commodores dropped out of this summer’s concert series on the National Mall celebrating America’s 250th birthday, planners envisioned a Smithsonian-led blockbuster festival stretching from the Washington Monument to the U.S. Capitol that would be open to all and free of partisanship. They wanted a party bigger than the Folklife Festival, an annual two-week summer exhibition, and much longer-lasting. This new “Festival of Festivals” would … Continue Reading
June 11, 2026
This Bay Area highway was known as 'Blood Alley'. Rebuilding it could cost $11 billion
by Rachel Swan
Two hours is far too long to spend driving from Santa Rosa to Vallejo, partly on a single-lane highway with your tires at water level. Halfway home, Robert Donohoe had suffered enough. He really needed to pee. Parking his truck at a turnoff called Vista Point, he got out and shaded his eyes. It was a scorching June afternoon, wind whipping the thistles and cordgrass on a spit of land that dipped into San Pablo Bay. Traffic had slowed to a glacial crawl on Highway 37, the artery that carries … Continue Reading
June 11, 2026
Solar power hits new milestones in the US even as Trump boosts coal over clean energy
by Jennifer Mcdermott
Even as President Donald Trump boosts coal over clean energy, solar power is hitting new milestones in the U.S. and remains the leading source of new power. Data released Wednesday by global energy think tank Ember, along with a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie, show the continued growth of solar and decline of coal in the United States despite federal policy. In May, for the first time, solar supplied more of the nation’s electricity than … Continue Reading
June 10, 2026
Lawmakers press Forest Service on weed killer use
by Marc Heller
A pair of Democratic lawmakers is pressing the Forest Service to respond to complaints that it’s overusing a weed killer that has sparked contentious debate about ties to cancer. Reps. Chellie Pingree of Maine and Jared Huffman of California asked Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz in a letter June 4 to detail the agency’s use of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide that’s sparked legal disputes, competing health claims and policy-related conflicts within the Trump administration. “Given the … Continue Reading
June 10, 2026
Westerman, Huffman pitch Outdoors Act revamp
by Amelia Davidson
Leaders of the House Natural Resources Committee have come to a bipartisan compromise to revamp expired portions of the landmark 2020 Great American Outdoors Act. Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) plan to introduce the “Great American Outdoors Act 250” as soon as Wednesday. The duo were collecting co-sponsors at Tuesday afternoon House votes. Westerman cheered the bipartisan product in an interview, but stopped short of announcing an imminent timeline … Continue Reading
June 08, 2026
Lawmakers move on Outdoors Act reauthorization
by Amelia Davidson
The House Natural Resources Committee will meet Friday to discuss legislation to reauthorize expired portions of the landmark 2020 Great American Outdoors Act. Ahead of the Friday hearing — which will take place in Arkansas' Hot Springs National Park in Chair Bruce Westerman's district — the committee unveiled a discussion reauthorization bill, titled the "Great American Outdoors Act 250." The bill would revamp the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF), a major maintenance fund for the National … Continue Reading
June 07, 2026
Democrats eyeing investigations, and perhaps prosecutions, of Trump officials
by Mike Lillis
House Democrats want 2029 to be the year of reckoning for Trump administration officials. Democrats have long accused top members of President Trump’s team of violating laws across a wide range of activities, from deadly immigration raids and strikes on alleged drug boats, to financial self-dealing and targeting Trump’s political enemies for prosecutions. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has not pursued those cases, the Democrats contend, only because the president’s loyalists control the … Continue Reading
June 05, 2026
Dems rekindle questions around Trump forest official
by Marc Heller
Democrats pressed Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz on Thursday for answers about another high-ranking Agriculture Department official’s personal ties to matters he oversees in national forests, as well as concerns about other political appointees. At a hearing on Forest Service programs, Democrats on the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands raised concerns about Agriculture Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment Michael Boren, who’s tussled with the forest … Continue Reading
June 05, 2026
Arctic Refuge Oil Draws Few Bids, Despite Trump’s Push for ‘Liquid Gold’
by Lisa Friedman
An auction of oil leases in Alaska’s remote Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ended on Friday with just nine bids covering only about 10 percent of the available land, undercutting President Trump’s claims that drilling in the pristine wilderness area would set off an economic boom. The sale brought in about $3.7 million, nearly half of which came from the state of Alaska’s publicly owned economic development corporation. Most of the 58 tracts available drew no bids at all. No major … Continue Reading