In the House, of course, we were very focused on the budget resolution that might come before us (which I discuss in the Votes This Week section below).  But we were also absorbing and reacting to many developments from the Trump Administration, and while I cannot cover all of them here, there were two overarching areas of concern: foreign policy developments and purported “department of government efficiency” efforts and directives following the President’s first Cabinet meeting Wednesday.

Foreign Affairs

On Monday, the United States shocked the world when, on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it voted with Russia and against our European allies in a United Nations (U.N.) resolution calling for an end to the war and condemning Russia’s aggression.  Coming on the heels of President Trump’s suggestion of negotiations with Russia to discuss an end to the war, holding high-level delegation talks between our two countries without input from Europe or Ukraine—and his false accusation that Ukraine started the war and statement calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator, this vote signaled a monumental shift in longstanding U.S. foreign policy.  The Trump administration’s shocking decision to align with Russian President Vladimir Putin has eroded the United States’ relationship with our European allies and our position on the global stage.  While we continue to process what this means for all of us, for our global alliances and for our national security, as well as our withdrawal of global presence through USAID and important programs around the world, what we witnessed from the President and Vice President of the United States in the Oval Office in today’s meeting with President Zelenskyy was a disgrace.  As representatives of the American People, they utterly failed us.  They betrayed our values and our history.  Rather than fighting the bullies, they were the bullies.  This is not who we are.  And we all must make that clear in every way we can.

Government Agency and Military Firings

This week, the talk in Washington continued to focus on the efforts of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the directive from the Office of Management and Budget for massive reductions in executive branch agencies and functions, and the President’s firing of top military officials, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Thousands of federal workers have been fired in recent weeks.  Russell Vought, the head of the White House budget office and architect of Project 2025, and Charles Ezell, the acting head of the Office of Personnel Management, sent a memo calling for agencies to prepare plans for additional “large-scale reductions” in the federal work force in March and April, with initial plans for staffing cuts due by March 13.  The Pentagon said last Friday that it would fire 5,400 civilian probationary workers, in the first of what officials say will be much larger layoffs at the Defense Department.

In late-breaking news last night, we learned that mass layoffs have begun at NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including at the National Weather Service, as well as at FEMA.  We also learned this week the White House has closing the HUD office that helps with disaster recovery.  And so much more.  I’ve outlined below letters members of Congress have sent on many of these efforts and the first legal brief members of Congress have filed in the Supreme Court today in opposition.  This administration is dismantling our agencies and years of collective work to keep us safe.

Government Funding Deadline

All eyes are also on the government funding deadline in two weeks on March 14.  I have not yet seen any proposals from House Republicans for future spending bills.  Our Caucus’ leader and committee leaders have remained at the table to help develop appropriations bills we can support, but because Republicans are in control of the House, they do not need our votes to pass a new government funding resolution.  They will need to come up with a bill to fund the government and pass it by March 14.  I will keep you posted as we learn more about their plans.

I introduced an amendment that would have ensured that the Committee would support data reporting that tracks the consequences that state abortion restrictions have had on patients and providers across the country.  You can see that here.

By the end of the markup, just after 11:00pm, our Republican colleagues voted against all the amendments we offered, and passed their oversight plan without any input from Democrats.

On Wednesday, the Energy & Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations met for a hearing titled, “Examining the Biden Administration’s Energy and Environment Spending Push.”  Among the issue as the hearing, was a weak criticism of the Department of Energy Loan Program Office that has invested heavily in supporting work in our community.  Ironically, my colleagues across the aisle raised potential conflicts of interest in third-party review of grant applications, while ignoring the biggest conflict of interest of all sitting in the White House with the President. 

Did you know that Elon Musk’s businesses have received at least $38 billion in U.S. government funding over the years?  That funding included a $465 million loan from the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office for Tesla at a critical moment for the business.  (Former senior Tesla employees have publicly stated that Tesla would not have survived without this loan.)  Nearly two-thirds of Elon Musk’s federal funding goldmine has come within the last five years, including a shocking $6.3 billion in 2024 alone.  Just this week, the FAA awarded Musk’s company Starlink a major contract to upgrade its information technology networks used to manage U.S. airspace.  I raised this issue and more in our first Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Hearing on Wednesday.  You can see my five minutes below:

My Health Subcommittee also held a hearing on Wednesday on Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs).  I was not alone in pointing out that this hearing covered ground we also covered and reached agreement on in the last Congress, with a comprehensive bill to address many of the issues raised at the hearing that was included in the bipartisan funding deal at the end of last year.  That bill was never brought for a vote because Elon Musk tweeted that he did not like the agreed upon bill.  House Republicans abandoned the package after his tweet, allowing Elon Musk to substitute his own—later admittedly uninformed—opinion for their own. As my new-to-committee colleague from New York pointed out in her questioning later, Musk tweeted a few weeks later “What’s a Pharmacy Benefit Manager”?).  I used the time I had to ask the expert witness about the House Republicans' budget resolution we had just voted on directing our committee to reduce spending by at least $880 billion. There is only one place those kind of cuts can be made from our committee: Medicaid.  That's bad for everyone: those on Medicaid and those who get healthcare in a system that Medicaid payments support. It's going to hurt Texans. I asked an expert witness about it in this week's committee hearing. Hear why this matters so much for everyone in the clip below:

On Wednesday, I introduced the Heirs Empowerment and Inheritance Rights (HEIR) Act, H.R. 1607, with Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05).  The bill is part of a two-bill legislative package seeking to assist heirs’ property owners seeking assistance with disaster relief, clearing title, and estate planning.  Heirs’ property is family land inherited without a will or legal documentation of ownership.

My bill, the HEIR Act, allows heirs’ property owners to use alternate forms of documentation to prove property ownership to receive disaster aid.  If enacted, the HEIR Act would permit the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist heirs’ property owners with obtaining clear legal title to their properties as part of HUD’s homeownership counseling services.  It would also allow alternate forms of ownership documentation to be shown when applying for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery assistance.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency already allows alternate forms of ownership documentation for those applying for disaster relief.  While I am glad to reintroduce this bill, I am sorry to report that it was reported last week that the Trump administration plans to cut staff at HUD’s Community Planning and Development office, which oversees disbursement of this funding, by 84 percent.

The second bill in the package, the Heirs’ Estate Inheritance Resolution and Succession (HEIRS) Act, H.R. 1640, led by Congresswoman Williams, incentivizes states to adopt the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act and provides grant funds for legal assistance for heirs’ property owners to clear title.

We have seen the devastating consequences heirs’ property owners have faced following natural disasters and forced sales of property over many years.  I am glad to work with Congresswoman Williams and Congressman Cleaver to help address the injustices that result from involuntary land loss and unequal access—past and present—that this legislation seeks to address.

Given the developments in our relationships with our friends and allies, I was glad to introduce a bipartisan resolution reaffirming the deep and steadfast United States-Canada partnership and the ties that bind the two countries in support of economic and national security with my Co-Chairs of the American Canadian Economic and Security (ACES) Caucus, Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-02), Congressman Marc Veasey (TX-33), and Congressman Buddy Carter (GA-01).  Canada is the United States’ largest trading partner, sharing nearly $1 trillion in bilateral trade annually.  Texas’ Seventh Congressional District exports nearly $1.6 billion in goods to Canada each year.  As President Trump continues threaten Canada with tariffs, it is important to reaffirm the United States’ longstanding partnership with our close ally and trading partner. 

I co-sponsored several other pieces of legislation on issues important to our community this week, including: 

• the Consistent Legal Expectations and Access to Records (CLEAR) Act,  H.R. 1099, to clarify that temporary organizations created under 5 USC 3161, like DOGE, are subject to the Freedom of Information Act, meaning that anyone can request records from these organizations;
• the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act of 2025, H.R. 879, to prevent that latest 2.8% cut to Medicare physician payments and provide physicians with a 2% payment increase;
• the American Dream and Promise Act of 2025, H.R. 1589, to provide a pathway to citizenship to Dreamers, recipients of Temporary Protected Status, and beneficiaries of Deferred Enforced Departure; and
• the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act, H.R. 40, to establish a national commission to study proposals for reparations for the institution of slavery against African Americans. 

Since I last wrote to you, I led a letter with Congresswoman Julie Johnson of Dallas to to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin, urging the EPA to avoid firing Region 6 probationary employees.  I also signed my name to letters that my colleagues drafted, including:

• a letter to Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright demanding an end to the Trump Administration’s arbitrary terminations of Department of Energy employees [that protect nuclear arsenal] and asking a series of oversight questions regarding the agency’s justification and process for these terminations; and
• a letter to President Trump requesting that he rescind his unlawful, unconstitutional attempt to end access to life-saving care for transgender young people. 
• a letter to the Office of Special Counsel applauding them for recommending a halt to the termination of probationary federal workers. 

I also joined my Democratic colleagues [as a friend of the court] in a brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in defense of American consumers and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) after the Trump administration took steps to dismantle this agency.  After the 2008 financial crisis, Congress created the CFPB to protect Americans against fraud by large banks, loan servicers, debt collectors, and payday lenders.  Since then, the CFPB has limited overdraft fees from banks and helped remove medical debt from Americans’ credit reports.

I started off the week with a telephone town hall from my office in Washington to provide an update and hear from people across the district.  More than 1,200 joined the call the whole time, and many others hopped on and off the call.  Thanks to all who participated.

A lot has happened in Washington since January 20, and I have heard concerns and questions from so many members of our community.  I was glad to be able to convene a large group of constituents to provide information and to answer questions about developments in Washington with Assistant Democratic Leader Congressman Joe Neguse, Chair of the House Democratic Caucus’ new Rapid Response Task Force and Litigation Working Group, and Megan Uzzell, Director of Impact and External Affairs at Democracy Forward.  

In the notice I sent out before the town hall, I asked for questions to help guide the discussion.  Constituents sent in more questions than ever before – more than 550 questions prior to the event.  They were largely consistent with the calls and letters we have been getting with concerns about Elon Musk, DOGE, and related funding cuts to NIH research and institutions, USAID, critical community programs and services like HeadStart, Meals on Wheels, and refugee resettlement programs we rely on here in Houston.  That said, I certainly heard from those who would like to see more fiscal responsibility, are concerned about the debt and debt payments, and long-term fiscal policy and financial security.  I agree that these are things we should be concerned about, and working in a meaningful way to address.  And I have always said that in our district we want government to be efficient, effective, and ethical.  What we have seen coming out of the Trump administration in recent weeks fails on all three counts.  That is why we must use all the tools we have to stay engaged and help move our country forward constructively and collaboratively. 

Many people asked what else you can do.  Certainly, staying engaged and in touch with me about your thoughts and experiences is important.  Engaging with people across our community is also important to helping everyone else understand why what is happening and how it is happening matter.  Talk to neighbors.  Write letters to the editor.  Write an op-ed. 

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has announced a new effort to collect stories from across the country to help us lift up and illustrate what federal funding freezes, layoffs, or other recent Trump administration actions mean for our community.  If you are willing to share your story, you can do so here.

This week, the Reproductive Freedom Caucus held our first full caucus meeting with Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Alexis McGill Johnson.  We discussed the current landscape for reproductive freedom efforts—including our legislative strategy and priorities (including the Right to Contraception bill I introduced in the House), the impact of abortion bans across the country, and litigation related to reproductive rights.  I am glad to serve as one of two Vice Chairs for the Caucus as well as the Whip, and to bring the important stories from Texas to this conversation in Washington.

Although it seemed like I was in the Energy & Commerce Committee hearing rooms all week, I was glad to I was glad to meet with several of our neighbors who were in Washington this week. 

As Black History month comes to a close, I was glad to have the chance to do a few fun and important things at home.  I toured Houston Public Library’s African American History Research Center at the Gregory School in Freedmen’s Town, where I saw exhibits, visited with library staff, and learned about its collections focused on the lives of Black Houstonians in our district and beyond.  I also joined Fort Bend County Commissioner Dexter McCoy in Kendleton to visit a site important to Fort Bend's past and its future.  I was glad to learn about and tour the site of the African American Memorial at Bates M. Allen Park honoring Black history and creating space for community.

Happy Go Texan Day from Team TX-07!  Wishing everyone a happy and fun rodeo season.  

In Washington, Team TX-07 held more than three dozen meetings with constituents and groups advocating on their behalf, including Civil Air Patrol’s Texas Wing, Texas State Teachers Association, American Academy of Neurology, University of Houston’s student government, Harris Health Systems, Greater Harris County 9-1-1 Emergency Network, American Association for Cancer Research, Submarine Industrial Base Council, EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases, and American Glaucoma Society, pictured below.  Back home in the district, our team was out and about across the district, helping constituents and attending community events, including the, Alief Super Neighborhood, and Greater Heights  Super Neighborhood meetings, the International Management District Board Meeting, the AliefVotes Community Safety Meeting, Houston Minority Supplier Development Council meeting, Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce’s Coffee and Convos, the LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce’s 9th Anniversary Celebration, and the Women’s Chamber Awards and Board Induction Ceremony, pictured below.

We’ve got a few things going on around here!  First, our March 8 Passport Fair is such a success that all appointment slots for this event have already been filled. We are working with the Houston Passport Agency to set up additional events and will let you know as soon as we have more dates.

We are now taking applications for summer internships in Houston and Washington.  The deadline to apply is April 4!  Students interested in learning about government service and policy are invited to apply here.

The annual Congressional Art Competition is also underway!  High school artists in TX-07 can submit their art for the competition and a chance to have it displayed in the U.S. Capitol for the next year.  To learn more, click here and please share with any TX-07 young artists who might be interested.

As Ramadan begins this evening, I extend my warmest wishes to all those observing the holy month of Ramadan across #TX07.  May this month be a time of spiritual reflection, inspiration, and healing for you and your families.  Ramadan Mubarak! 

And Women’s History Month begins tomorrow!  Women’s History Month isn’t just about reflecting on history—it’s about learning from it, celebrating it, and making more of it.

The House will be back in session next week, and I will be back in Washington.  On Tuesday evening, President Trump will address a joint session of Congress.  We have committee hearings scheduled, and possibly a markup in Energy & Commerce.  I’ll report back at the end of the week.

Until then, 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.