House Democrats are raising fresh concerns about how the Trump administration's funding freeze could impact cleanup of abandoned oil and gas wells. Why it matters: The IIJA allocated nearly $5 billion to remediate orphaned wells, a huge chunk of change for thousands of potentially toxic and methane-emitting sites across the country. Driving the news: In a letter to Interior Secretary… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Congressman Marc Veasey (TX-33), and Congressman Lloyd Doggett (TX-37) led their colleagues in the Texas Democratic Delegation in a letter to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Acting Director Dr. Susan Monarez expressing concern over the measles outbreak in Texas and across the country.  The lawmakers requested an urgent,… Read more »

The Brief Texas Democrats are calling for a detailed report from the CDC about how the agency is assisting with a measles outbreak in West Texas. The letter comes as the CDC is facing workforce and funding cuts and Texas deals with its worst measles outbreak in 30 years. The state health department reported 279 as of Friday. … Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) visited the HOPE Clinic for a roundtable discussion with health care providers about the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans’ proposed cuts to the Medicaid program.  "People across our district, our state, and our country rely on Medicaid for essential health care.  Today, I met with health care providers to talk about… Read more »

Many shoppers know about the so-called pink tax – a needless markup on products marketed to women, even if those products are essentially the same, just cheaper, when sold to men. Personal care items such as razors, deodorants and shampoo fall into this category. But shoppers may be less aware of “pink tariffs”, or taxes on imported goods labeled as “women’s items”. Pink tariffs are one… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) and Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) reintroduced the Pink Tariffs Study Act, which would require the U.S. Department of Treasury to conduct a study on potential gender bias and regressivity within the U.S. tariff system and report the findings to Congress.  The reintroduction of this legislation follows reports that… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) voted against House Republicans’ partisan spending bill for Fiscal Year 2025, which reduces funding for critical government programs and projects that people in Texas’ Seventh Congressional District rely on, including at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  “At a time when people across Texas’… Read more »

The future of Army Corps projects along the Texas Gulf Coast, like the overhaul of flood control systems around Houston and the widening of the Houston Ship Channel, are in question after House Republicans on Tuesday passed a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open through September.  Their bill calls for reducing the Army Corps of Engineers' construction budget by $1.4… Read more »

Even tariffs on imported clothing can have a gender bias. A bill from two Democratic representatives would investigate the “pink tariff,” which encompasses the higher tax rates on imported items classified as women’s goods. The bill, reintroduced this session by Reps. Lizzie Fletcher of Texas and Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, would ask the Treasury Department to study these “pink… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) released the following statement upon the news of the death of Congressman Sylvester Turner (TX-18): “I join my fellow Houstonians, my colleagues in Congress, and people across our country in mourning the sudden loss of my friend and colleague, Congressman Sylvester Turner.  I am heartbroken and devastated by the loss of this exceptional… Read more »