As usual, there were a lot of things happening in Washington this week.  These three topics were the focus of the conversation.

U.S. Strikes in Iran.  Last weekend, President Trump directed military action in Iran without authorization from Congress.  The strikes, their impact, the initial assessments, and the exclusion of Congress were all topics of discussion in D.C.  The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, not the President.  It does so for a reason: to prevent any president from acting unilaterally, impulsively, or thoughtlessly when it comes to war or actions that can lead to it.  Last weekend, I expressed my concern that the decision to direct offensive action violates the Constitution and continues a deeply troubling pattern of actions that undermine our system of government and our efforts to protect Americans at home and around the world as well as my concerns that these direct attacks escalate hostilities and endanger our forces in the region as well as Americans around the world.

The Trump administration delayed briefing the Congress, as it is required to do, cancelling a scheduled briefing early in the week and finally providing a classified briefing to Congress Friday morning, which I attended.  As has been publicly reported, it appears at this time that the strike and response is concluded for the immediate term without further escalation and efforts to engage in a diplomatic negotiation relating to Iran’s nuclear program are ongoing.  Several questions remain, and Congress will continue to seek answers and to assert the importance of authorization of use of military force.

Republican Budget Bill.  The Senate continued consideration of its version of the big Republican budget bill the House took up a few weeks ago, H.R. 1, the bill they are calling the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”  While some of the Senate bill’s provisions are different from the bill the House passed, the overall goals and effects are the same: cutting spending on health care, food assistance, and programs Americans rely on to extend tax cuts that principally benefit the wealthiest Americans while increasing deficit spending and the overall national debt. 

As you may have read, this week the Senate Parliamentarian has been reviewing the bill to determine whether the provisions in the bill are the kind that can be considered in this type of bill: that is, provisions that have a direct budgetary impact.  Generally, provisions that are policy rather than budgetary in nature cannot be included.  And that’s because this bill only needs 50 votes to pass in the Senate instead of the usual 60 votes.  While some have complained about the rulings this week, the Senate Parliamentarian is nonpartisan, and her rulings are based on the rules and precedents of the Senate.  The same Senate Parliamentarian ruled against several provisions in the bills Democrats passed in the last administration. 

I know many people in our community have been concerned about several provisions in the bill, so I am including a list of some of the provisions the Parliamentarian has ruled cannot be included in this bill:

• Eliminating the federal requirement to register gun silencers and the federal tax on gun silencers;
• Restricting the health care provider tax that helps states fund their share of Medicaid;
• Blocking federal payments for Health Insurance Marketplace (Affordable Care Act exchange) insurance plans that cover abortion care;
• Mandating public land sales;
• Automatically approving LNG exports for a fee of $1 million;
• Authorizing states to conduct border security and immigration enforcement;
• Limiting grant funding for sanctuary cities when state and local immigration enforcement does not comply with federal law; and
• Limiting enforcement of court orders hold government officials in contempt.

The Senate is continuing to work on the bill, and is expected to do so throughout the weekend.  It is unclear when the Senate will complete its work, but once it does, it will come back to the House for another vote.  That may be as early as next week.  I’ll keep you posted.

Supreme Court Rulings.  This week was the final week of the Supreme Court’s term, and it issued opinions in several cases.  Among them, on Monday, the Court lifted a lower court’s order preventing the Trump administration from deporting migrants to countries that are not their places of origin without a chance to challenge the deportations.  On Thursday, the Court ruled that States can block Planned Parenthood from receiving reimbursement from Medicaid for health services provided, including contraception and cancer screenings (abortion has long been excluded).  On Friday, the Court ruled against the power of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions.  While the court did not rule on the substance of the subject of the injunction—the President’s order attacking birthright citizenship—the ruling makes it harder to delay enforcement of orders challenged as unconstitutional, which many of President Trump’s orders have been found to be already this year. 

This week, the House began consideration of the first of the twelve annual appropriations bills.  The first brought to the full house is the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2026 (H.R.3944).  I am sorry to report that, rather than simply fund military construction projects and provide essential funding to our servicemembers, veterans, and their families, this bill politicizes our military and fails to prioritize care for veterans and quality of life for our servicemembers.  House Republicans are doubling down to include divisive and partisan provisions that harm our military readiness, accelerate VA privatization, and further limit women’s access to reproductive health care.  If enacted, H.R.3944 would:

• Worsen the quality of life for service members and their families by funding military construction $904 million below what is needed;
• Enact the Project 2025 goal to privatize VA medical care by transferring billions to private hospitals and clinics, which can result in longer wait times, diminished quality of care, and higher costs for taxpayers;
• Prohibit the VA from implementing its Interim Final Rule, harming women veterans’ health and limiting access to reproductive health care;
• Fail to include dedicated funding to strengthen military installations against natural disasters and climate change;
• Undercut the United States’ commitment to our allies by providing $188 million less than what is needed for NATO infrastructure; and
• Repeat the same extreme tactics attempted last year by House Republicans to include partisan changes to existing laws, known as “riders,” to disenfranchise veterans, hurt Americans, and create chaos.

This bill fails to deliver for our servicemembers and veterans who have fought bravely and made sacrifices for our freedom.  For these reasons, I voted against the bill, which passed the House by a vote of 218-206.

The House also considered the Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act of 2025 (H.R.875), a bill to expand current law to render lawful permanent residents and green card holders deportable for a misdemeanor DUI, without due process.  The bill also makes inadmissible to the United States any noncitizen who has been convicted of or admitted to impaired driving.  Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, DUIs already hold severe immigration consequences for immigrants, often resulting in denial of bond, obstacles to naturalization, and even deportation under serious circumstances.  Driving while impaired is a far too common public health issue, with about 1 million arrests made in the United States each year for driving under the influence—regardless of citizenship status.  But rather than providing evidence-based solutions to an important public health concern, House Republicans are instead weaponizing this issue to target immigrants.  For these reasons, I voted against the bill, which passed the House by a vote of 246-160.

The House also took up the Special Interest Alien Reporting Act of 2025 (H.R.275), a bill to require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to issue a monthly report on the number of “special interest aliens,” defined as noncitizens who pose a national security risk to the United States based on an analysis of their travel patterns.  This report would include the number of individuals encountered, the nationalities and countries of most recent residence, and the location of their encounters.  Although this bill would provide more transparency to the DHS, this information could help bad actors identify DHS’s screening strategies and adapt accordingly.  DHS deems these details sensitive and keeps this information private to protect sources and methods from criminal organizations.  For these reasons, I voted against the bill, which passed the House by a vote of 231-182.

This week, the House also voted on a partisan resolution to condemn the protests in Los Angeles (H.Res.516), characterizing them as violent riots.  The right to peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy protected by the First Amendment to our Constitution.  Unfortunately, this resolution, which could have brought all members together to condemn rioting and thank law enforcement for keeping our communities safe, was partisan and filled with inaccurate information.  Members of Congress from California proposed an alternative resolution recognizing the right to peacefully protest and condemning violence and authoritarian responses to expressions of dissent, which I supported, but which the House did not take up.  For these reasons, I voted against the bill, which passed the House by a vote of 215-195.

The House also voted on a resolution condemning the attacks on Minnesota lawmakers in Minnesota, and calling for unity and the rejection of political violence (H.Res. 519). The murder of Minnesota Representative Melissa Hortman, a former state House speaker, and her husband Mark, and the shooting of Minnesota Senator John Hoffman and his wife two weeks ago was both heartbreaking and terrifying—for individuals and for our society as a whole.  Political violence is never acceptable.  It has no place in a democratic society, where engagement and debate are essential to its functioning.  At this moment, however, some are sowing division, increasing inflammatory rhetoric, and normalizing threats of violence.  We cannot allow political disagreement to turn into physical danger—for elected officials or for citizens anywhere.  All Americans need to know that their participation in our democratic society is important and is safe.  No American should fear attending civic events, making their voices heard, voting in elections, or running for office.  All of us—especially elected officials—have a responsibility to tone down the rhetoric that vilifies and divides our fellow Americans.  I voted yes on this resolution, which passed the House unanimously.

Finally, this week, Congressman Al Green brought a resolution before the House impeaching President Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors arising out of his order to conduct military strikes in Iran without authorization from Congress (H.Res. 537).  On Wednesday, the House considered a motion to table the resolution from consideration on the House floor at that time. 

I have voted to impeach President Trump twice.  Determining whether to impeach the President of the United States is one of the most serious and somber responsibilities of a member of Congress.  In 2019, I voted to begin an impeachment inquiry and, following the inquiry, to impeach President Trump because the President abused the power of his office—and our trust—in conditioning actions in our national security interest on receiving a personal political benefit, threatening our national security and undermining the very principles we have long demonstrated—and symbolized—to the rest of the world and because the President obstructed the Congressional inquiry into these actions.  In January 2021, having survived the insurrection in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, I co-sponsored and voted for articles of impeachment against President Trump for incitement of insurrection. 

While I have explained here and elsewhere my deep concerns about the actions President Trump and his administration are taking that undermine the rule of law, our democratic system of government, and our national security, I voted with the majority of House Democrats and our House Democratic leaders to table this particular motion, which passed by a vote of 344-79, at this time.

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

This week, on the third anniversary of the Dobbs decision, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared before our Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee.  I took the opportunity to raise an issue important to emergency room physicians and others treating pregnant patients in emergencies in Texas and states like ours that have banned abortion.  When questioned, Secretary Kennedy admitted that federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), requires hospitals to provide stabilizing medical treatment for pregnant patients, including abortion care.  According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Medical Association, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, in certain circumstances, necessary stabilizing care for the purposes of fulfilling a hospital’s obligation under EMTALA could be an abortion.  Secretary Kennedy agreed with me that this is the law in all 50 states.  These are important admissions for pregnant people and for the ER doctors treating them.

On Wednesday, the full Energy and Commerce Committee held a markup to consider 13 energy bills.  Our subcommittee considered these bills a few weeks ago, and the full committee debated the bills all day Wednesday.  I took the opportunity to raise an important issue about President Trump’s consolidation of power and attacks on independent agencies in the government, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), by offering an amendment to prevent one of the bills we considered from going into effect until President Trump rescinds his executive order requiring independent agencies to report to him and giving him final say on independent agency decisions.  You can watch my remarks here or below. 

To mark the three-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, I met with volunteers and leaders in the effort to restore reproductive freedom for all Americans.  I was glad to join Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju for a discussion about the importance of democratic engagement and organizing at RFFA’s 2025 Activist Summit.

I also sat down this week to meet with Amanda Zurawski and Kaitlyn Kash to talk about a new effort to fill the gaps in tracking harms from the abortion laws in Texas and support Texas women.  Texas women have led the fight for reproductive freedom for years.  From Sarah Weddington, who brought Roe v. Wade to the Supreme Court more than 50 years ago, to Amanda and Kaitlyn, who have shared their own stories about the devastating impacts of Texas' new abortion laws and are working to change policy and support others, I am glad to work with them and to keep doing all we can to protect the health, dignity and freedom of women and families at home and across the country. 

In Washington, Team TX-07 held more than two dozen meetings with constituents and groups advocating on their behalf, including the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Aditi Aryamane, a member of TX-RX, a FIRST Robotics Team from Sugar Land, the United Spinal Association, and the Coalition for the Homeless, pictured below.  Back home in the district, our team was out and about across the district, as usual, helping constituents and attending community meetings, including a Super Neighborhood 14 meeting and the TIRZ 12 Capital Improvement Projects public meeting (pictured below).

The House has adjourned for the week, and we are scheduled to spend time at home next week.  There is a real possibility, though, that the House will be called back into session to vote on the Senate Republicans’ big budget bill.  I’ll keep you posted.

Next Friday, we will celebrate the principles and the promise in our Declaration of Independence, issued on that day, the fourth of July, in 1776:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

I wish you all a safe and happy holiday. 

As always, I am proud to represent you and I am here to help you.  Please call my office at (713) 353-8680 or (202) 225-2571 or email here at any time to ask for assistance or share your thoughts.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,