The Federal Emergency Management Agency faces an uncertain future as the Trump administration signals potential elimination of the disaster response agency, while Congress pursues competing reform efforts and internal reviews reveal the agency is unprepared for the upcoming hurricane season. "President Trump has been very clear since the beginning that he believes that FEMA and its… Read more »

Funding cuts to FEMA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have Houston-area leaders preparing to pick up the slack in the event of a hurricane, Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones said Friday. Ahead of hurricane season's first day Sunday, Briones joined U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Houston) and local emergency leaders to address the federal cuts under… Read more »

Worries mount as U.S. House Republicans advance a major tax bill that includes increasing private universities' endowment tax from 1.4% currently to up to 21%. The measure has been tucked into the text of a 1,116-page bill, dubbed “The One Big Beautiful Bill,” which made it out of committee last weekend in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill holds the majority of President… Read more »

With just 10 days left until the official start of hurricane season, Rep. Lizzie Fletcher is sounding the alarm about growing staffing and resource shortfalls at the very agencies responsible for issuing life-saving storm warnings. On Wednesday, Fletcher hosted a live webinar with top weather and emergency experts to spotlight how federal budget cuts, a hiring freeze and a wave of… Read more »

Hurricane Harvey, the category 4 storm that devastated the Gulf Coast in 2017, made landfall on a Friday night. By Saturday night, torrential rainfall engulfed the Texas coast, and League City, where the National Weather Service’s Houston/Galveston forecast office is located, was right near ground zero. Jeff Evans, the meteorologist-in-charge at the time, recalled the uncertainty of… Read more »

The divide between Republicans and Democrats over the future of Medicaid was well encapsulated this week by two of Houston's congressional members during an all-night rumble that resulted in one Democrat calling U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw “a jerk.” Crenshaw and U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, are both members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee that advanced a plan that will… Read more »

A key House panel on Wednesday advanced legislation that includes a provision aimed at cutting off Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood, a longtime goal of congressional Republicans.  The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which oversees health care as part of its wide-ranging portfolio, voted along party lines to approve its portion of congressional Republicans’ tax cut… Read more »

Texas lawmakers are at the center of the debate on health care cuts as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending plan. This is happening as Texas hospitals and health care experts worry the proposed reductions in Medicaid funding will mean the most vulnerable patients, including children and those with disabilities, will lose coverage. On Capitol Hill, the fight over… Read more »

Massive cuts to Medicaid will set up the nation for a health care disaster, said Democratic lawmakers opposing Republicans’ federal spending plans. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey), Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colorado), and Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas) met online with Leslie Dach, the leader of Protect Our Care, a health care advocacy organization that works at the federal and state… Read more »

Houston Democrats are demanding answers from the Trump administration on how it will address major vacancies at the region's National Weather Service office ahead of hurricane season. Why it matters: The push comes as NWS offices nationwide face funding cuts and staffing shortages amid President Trump's federal hiring freeze. Driving the news: Reps. Lizzie Fletcher, Sylvia Garcia… Read more »