There was a lot going on in Washington this week, and I am listing a few of the key issues and topics here.  I heard from many of you with concerns about these developments.  Please know that I am working with colleagues on strategies to respond, as discussed in more detail below.

Trump Administration Shutting Down USAID. 

The Trump administration has taken steps to effectively shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) without the consultation of Congress, placing nearly all of the agency’s 10,000 employees on administrative leave.  Congress established USAID in 1961 and designated it an independent agency in 1998.  Any decisions to move or halt USAID operations requires the approval of Congress.  Last week, a federal court temporarily stopped the Trump Administration from placing thousands of USAID employees on leave.  But we are seeing the repercussions already—affecting everyone from farmers who sell their crops to USAID for distribution around the world to medical professionals here in Houston who work on global health initiatives USAID funds—and undermining our global influence and national security.

Trump Administration Implementing Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum. 

On Monday, President Trump signed proclamations reinstating a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports.  Canada is our largest trading partner when it comes to steel and aluminum imports.  These tariffs infringe on longstanding agreements with our trading partners and will escalate the already damaging trade wars.  President Trump has been utilizing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 to impose these and other tariffs.  This week, I cosponsored the Prevent Tariff Abuse Act, to prevent the President from imposing import tariffs under the guise of a national emergency without Congressional approval.

Trump Administration Gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  This week, Elon Musk and his DOGE team partnered with Russel Vought, OMB Director and Project 2025 architect, to attack the sole federal agency responsible for protecting Americans from predatory financial institutions.  Created in response to the 2008 financial crisis through the bipartisan Dodd Frank Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has returned more than $21 billion to millions of consumers, including returning hundreds of millions of dollars to veterans, seniors, and student borrowers cheated by predatory lenders.  Musk and Vought blocked CFPB from doing their work to protect Americans, accessed sensitive consumer and financial information without proper vetting, closed CFPB headquarters and locked out employees, and began placing employees on administrative leave without cause.  On Monday, I joined a letter to the Directors of the CFPB and Treasury Department demanding that they remove Elon Musk’s DOGE staff from CFPB, restore CFPB’s operations, and allow CFPB to continue protecting American consumers.

Trump Administration Dismantling the Department of Education. 

On Wednesday, President Trump announced his intentions to have the Department of Education closed immediately.  Created in 1979 under former President Jimmy Carter, The Department of Education plays an essential role in ensuring students across the United States have access to a quality education.  The department is responsible for protecting the civil rights of students and providing vital federal funding.  Earlier this month, dozens of employees were placed on leave as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to target federal diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives.  An immediate closure of the Department of Education would disrupt billions of dollars in federal funding to K-12 schools and tuition assistance to college students.  

On Capitol Hill, Senate Cabinet Confirmations.  Across the Capitol in the Senate, the Senate confirmed several of President Trump’s most controversial nominees for his Cabinet, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services and Tulsi Gabbard as the Director of National Intelligence.  Other controversial nominations, like Kash Patel for FBI director, are moving forward with few, if any objections from Senate Republicans. 

On Capitol Hill, House Republican Budget Resolution.  This week, the House Budget Committee passed a 50-page budget resolution, the first step in assigning work to various committees relating to enacting their tax and spending priorities in future legislation.  Late Thursday, the House Budget Committee voted along party lines for a budget that calls for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts and $4.5 trillion for tax cuts, increasing the debt limit by $4 trillion to pay for the tax cuts, and providing $300 billion for increased defense and border security spending.  This resolution directs the Energy and Commerce Committee to find $880 billion in cuts from federal programs in our jurisdiction, most of which are expected to come from Medicaid.  They also expect to cut food stamps and social safety net programs for children, seniors, and veterans in other committees.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries talked about this budget at his press conference today.  You can watch the press conference here, and the summary of his statement is copied below.

“The House Republican budget plan is a Contract Against America. It will hurt working families, hurt the middle class, hurt our children, hurt our seniors and hurt our veterans. The House Republican Contract Against America will end Medicaid as we know it, destroy the Affordable Care Act, and eliminate the mortgage interest deduction, which will raise costs on tens of millions of working-class and middle-class Americans. The House Republican Contract Against America is an extreme plan that will not lower costs for everyday Americans, it will make our country more expensive. House Democrats will oppose this extreme Contract Against America, and we will push back against it on behalf of everyday Americans with every fiber in our body.”

Much of the activity in Congress this week happened off of the floor.  But the House principally considered two bills this week.  The House considered and voted on the Midnight Rules Relief Act, H.R. 77, which, if enacted, would allow Congress to overturn simultaneously multiple rules that agencies issued within the last 60 legislative days of a session of Congress with a single vote.  Under the current law, Congress must actually consider and vote separately on each rule it is considering overturning.  This bill makes it possible for Congress to undo lots of agency rules at the same time and without individual consideration.  As important, the bill would also permanently prevent agencies from issuing substantially similar rules.  For these reasons, I voted against the bill, which passed the House by a vote of 212-208.

The House also considered the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act, H.R. 35, which if enacted, would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to make any noncitizen who admits to evading border patrol or law enforcement while operating a motor vehicle inadmissible and deportable, even if the noncitizen does not know that the person they are “evading” is a law enforcement officer.  There are a couple of important considerations here.  First, conviction of evading border patrol is already a deportable offense, and this bill would broaden that to individuals who have not been convicted.  Second, these deportability grounds would apply to people who came to the U.S. lawfully, including green card holders.  I appreciate that the bill is named after our fellow Texan who lost his life in the course of his work as a Border Patrol agent, but this vague and broad bill does not really improve public safety or prevent accidents.  For these reasons, I voted against this bill, as I did in the last Congress, but it passed the House by a vote of 264-155.

As a reminder, you can always find a list of all of the votes I have taken for the district on my website.

On Tuesday, I introduced the Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who deliver Infants Early (PREEMIE) Reauthorization Act of 2025, H.R. 1197, with Congresswoman Robin Kelly (IL-02), Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01), Congressman Buddy Carter (GA-01), Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11), and Congresswoman Jen Kiggans (VA-02).  This bill is designed to improve pregnancy outcomes and infant health by continuing research and education programs aimed at preventing preterm birth.  Every parent deserves the peace of mind that comes with knowing their child has the greatest possible start in life. And by strengthening research, expanding education programs, and improving access to care, the PREEMIE Act gives infants a better chance at a healthy start. 

I was glad to see lots of Houstonians on the Hill this week, including representatives from Habitat for Humanity, the Texas Medical Association, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 1039 and AFGE Local 1633 representing VA employees and transportation workers, and representatives from Houston Community College.

It was a whirlwind weekend last weekend, but I was glad to join people from across our community for a few special events.  On Saturday, I celebrated the opening of the Rabbi Samuel Karff Bridge and to honor the life and legacy of Rabbi Karff, one of Houston’s most dedicated advocates for social justice.  On Sunday, I participated in a worship service honoring and celebrating Pastor Walter Berry’s more than five decades to McGee Chapel Missionary Baptist Church and to our community and his assumption of the role of Pastor Emeritus. 

Before I returned to Washington on Monday, I joined Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones, Harris County Public Library Executive Director Edward Melton, Tejano Center President & CEO Dr. Adriana Tamez, and Harris County Juvenile Probation Department Executive Director Henry Gonzales, as well as people and leaders from Gulfton and across our community, in celebrating the opening of GRADcafé Gulfton-Sharpstown. 

GRADcafé is an exciting and vibrant place to help students and families in Harris County plan for and make real their dreams and aspirations, and I am thrilled to support its expansion to the new GRADcafé Gulfton-Sharpstown.  I was glad to partner all who gathered and to be able to support this new GRADcafé with $578,000 in congressional appropriations funding last year.

Again this week, I have heard from many of you about your concerns regarding actions of the Trump administration, the role Elon Musk is playing in our government as a “special government employee” and his potential conflicts of interest (including the two huge government contracts awarded to his entities this week), and the unfettered access that DOGE employees have gained to the Treasury Department's highly sensitive payment system for paying Social Security, Medicare, and tax refunds and the issues I outlined above.  I am working with my colleagues to respond to these issues and more using the tools we have in the Congress, in the courts, and in the community.

This week, I joined a task force focused on the legal issues arising from unprecedented and unconstitutional actions from the administration that are concerning to so many of our neighbors and to me.  Across the country, state attorneys general, unions, and nonprofit organizations have filed more than 70 lawsuits in federal courts taking action against many recent executive actions.  The Congress must assert its role and responsibilities as an equal branch of government – in fact, the first branch, established in Article I of our Constitution.  To date, neither the House nor the Senate—which are controlled by Republicans—has formally objected to the Trump Administration’s defiance of laws the Congress has passed and that Americans rely on.  Like so many of you, this failure to enforce the checks and balances essential to our system is deeply troubling, and I am working to address it and more with colleagues from across the country.