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 »

In October 2023, Otis went from a tropical storm with sustained 70 mph winds to a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 165 mph in six hours before it slammed into Acapulco, Mexico, killing dozens of people. That storm’s rapid intensification was fueled by increasing water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, which have made hurricanes harder to predict. The National Oceanic… Read more »

With hurricane season fast approaching, three Houston-area Democratic members of Congress are demanding answers from federal officials about critical staffing shortages at the National Weather Service (NWS) office that serves Southeast Texas. U.S. Reps. Lizze Fletcher, Sylvia Garcia and Al Green sent a letter this week to the Department of Commerce requesting information about when the… Read more »

Three Houston-area members of Congress are asking why the National Weather Service's office in the region has nearly a dozen vacancies ahead of hurricane season. On Monday, three House Democrats — Reps. Lizzie Fletcher, Sylvia Garcia and Al Green — sent a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) asking why the National Weather Service’s Houston/Galveston… Read more »

With less than a month until hurricane season, three House Democrats have expressed concerns over staffing shortages, including vacancies in all management positions, at the National Weather Service’s Houston-Galveston forecast office in a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s acting head. The letter follows CNN’s reporting that revealed there are no managers… Read more »

Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) announced on Monday that Saj Baldwin is the winner of the 2025 Congressional Art Competition for Texas’ Seventh Congressional District for his piece, Brothers.  Saj is a sophomore at Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.  His painting will hang in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. for the next year, along with artwork… Read more »

Democratic senators and representatives have introduced companion resolutions  calling on the Trump administration to reverse course on a decision to no longer require public input on changes to public programs and policies overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and… Read more »

U.S. House Republicans moved on Wednesday to cut a $3.3 billion federal program meant to reconnect inner-city neighborhoods that were spliced decades ago by the construction of interstate highways, including Gulfton and Kashmere Gardens in Houston. The move threatens the future of the Houston project, one of more than 75 across the country, which would create tree-covered sidewalks in… Read more »

Houston-area seniors and elected officials are increasingly alarmed at longer wait times on the phone and in-person at Social Security offices, fearing that the Trump administration is pushing more staffing cuts and potential slashes to benefits. Calls to Social Security offices spiked 65% in March, year over year, department data shows, and many are waiting more than two hours on the… Read more »

President Donald Trump is using tariffs to disrupt nearly everything about the global trade order. Except for a tariff policy that favors men over women. For decades, the US tariff system has taxed women’s clothing more heavily than men’s. Tariffs on women’s clothing are currently about three percent higher than men’s, a policy that’s known as “pink tariffs” — similar to the “pink tax”… Read more »