There was a lot going on in and around the Capitol this week, and a few issues dominated the week, in addition to the dysfunction discussed in other sections below.

Iran War Memorandum of Understanding.  Last Wednesday, President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the United States and Iran to negotiate an end to the war.  Although a diplomatic peace deal is welcome, the lack of clarity and transparency on the provisions involving sanctions relief, Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear program, payment of reconstruction funds for Iran, and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz are concerning and appear to fail to meet President Trump’s stated goals at the start of this war—a war that appears to have put the United States and the world in a worse position than when it began.  Within hours of signing the MOU, renewed hostilities in Lebanon threatened to jeopardize the deal and led to the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which continued to be an issue throughout the week. 

For more than 15 weeks, the Trump administration has refused to provide Congress information, briefings, or answers to questions while it spent a reported $132 billion and depleted U.S. munitions and stockpiles.  On Tuesday, the Senate passed a resolution (H.Con.Res.86) condemning the President’s entry into this conflict under the War Powers Act, the same resolution I voted for and that passed the House earlier this month.  This is the first time that both chambers of Congress have passed the same war powers resolution to direct President Trump to terminate the use of the U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran.  After months of sidelining the people’s representatives, the vote was a big step in reining in President Trump’s war of choice against Iran.  The President did not like it, and he told Republican Senators so at a lunch with them this week after he cancelled signing a bipartisan housing bill, as discussed below.

Intelligence Purge.  People in Washington are also concerned that, last Friday, immediately upon assuming the role of Acting Director of National Intelligence, Bill Pulte—who has no prior national security or intelligence experience and is not qualified required by the law establishing the position—fired or transferred more than 50 intelligence officials.   It was also reported that he asked if he could take the daily intelligence briefings home with him, displaying his total lack of understanding, seriousness, and fitness for the job.  This is rather obviously not how it works, and people in Washington are rightly worried.

People are also worried about the damage to the White House grounds and to the nation’s ethics and conflicts of interest laws and norms following President Trump’s $60 million UFC fight there, “UFC Freedom 250.”  While an estimated $12 million of taxpayers’ dollars went toward security and logistics, it appears the fighters were paid, at least in part, in cryptocurrency from the Trump family’s company, World Liberty Financial, which President Trump, his three sons, and their close associates, including Middle East emissary Steve Witkoff, founded in 2024.  (World Liberty Financial has since become one of the most lucrative businesses in the President’s portfolio–his most recent financial disclosure shows he’s made more than $57.3 million from World Liberty’s cryptocurrency sales.)  The White House event featured prominent branding for President Trump’s personal business ventures–including logos for World Liberty and Truth Social–and the Trump Organization collaborated on an exclusive lineup of gold and silver medallions commemorating the event, which were offered for sale for about $12,000.  (President Trump also bought stock in the parent company of UFC and WWE in the weeks before the event, making him the event's host, investor, and advertiser.)  Now, it looks like there will be more expense to clean up the site after damage to the White House grounds.  And, of course, everyone was talking about the botched repairs to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which will also have to be repaired.

Also this week, the Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration on two major immigration rulings.  In the case of Mullin v. Doe, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for people from Haiti and Syria, stripping protections for not only hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians but also jeopardizing the legal status for more than 1.3 million TPS holders across the United States.  In the case of Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to prevent asylum seekers from entering the United States physically at the border.  As Justice Sotomayor explained in a dissent Justices Kagan and Jackson joined, the Court’s decision “blesses the Executive Branch’s decision to slam the door shut on all who are fleeing persecution, despite the detailed inspection and asylum system that Congress enacted and commands.”

Inflation.  Also on Thursday, we got the most recent inflation report, and it is not good.  The May personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data show that prices have risen 4.1% since last year at this time—the highest rate of inflation in three years.

America 250.  People across Washington, D.C.—and across the country—are preparing to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States next week.  This anniversary is one for all Americans to celebrate.  Several years ago, Congress established a bipartisan commission to plan the nation’s official celebration, and various events to celebrate are taking place and will continue throughout the year.  President Trump has also planned a separate series of events—which led to some confusion and cancellations of performances over the last few weeks, which you may have seen—including the 16-day “Great American State Fair” on the National Mall, which opened this week with a rally with President Trump.  Many more events are planned, and I am looking forward to participating in celebrations of all kinds to mark our 250th year, and to continue the work to ensure that our American experiment continues for the next 250 years. 

There were not a lot of votes this week.  Why?  Because the President and a group of House Republicans brought House business to a halt.  Here is what happened.

The House returned on Tuesday, and that evening that passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R. 6644), a bipartisan legislative package aimed at addressing the nationwide housing supply shortage.  It includes provisions on mortgage financing, rural housing, veterans’ housing, and community banking.  After months of negotiations, the House and Senate agreed on this comprehensive package to lower costs and boost housing supply.  The Senate had already passed the bill, and the House passed the bill with overwhelming bipartisan support, including mine, after the Senate amended it.  President Trump was expected to sign the bill into law on Wednesday at the Capitol, which is a little unusual—most signings are at the White House.  The stage was set and members were gathered to see the bill signed on Wednesday morning when President Trump canceled the signing ceremony.  As part of his announcement, the President demanded that the Senate pass the SAVE America Act (H.R. 7296), and said he would not sign the much-needed, bipartisan housing bill until Congress passed the not-needed, very partisan SAVE Act.

After the President’s statement, a member of the House Republican Conference announced that she would block all votes on the floor until the House and Senate do what the President demanded.  The House had been planning to debate and vote on two government funding bills, the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2027 (H.R. 8595) and the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2027 (H.R. 9022), as well as the disingenuously named Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (H.R. 9237), and a bill to hide gun purchases from financial institutions, the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act (H.R. 1181).

There was a lot of uncertainty and confusion about whether and when the House would vote at all.  Because these House members announced that they would block the House’s ability to consider bills by blocking the vote to start debate (the “Rule” vote), Speaker Johnson did not bring the bill to the floor to proceed with debate and ended the week on Thursday afternoon after one vote.  In the end, the House voted on only three bills that were considered through a different process, all of which addressed Small Business Administration (SBA) activities to improve loan programs and prevent fraud, the Small Business Lending Fraud Prevention Act (H.R. 7401) and the Small Business Technological Advancement Act (H.R. 915), and the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act of 2025 (H.R. 2478), and I voted for all of them.

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

On Wednesday, the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, I joined Congressman Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-06), Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08), and Congressman Mark Pocan (WI-02) in reintroducing the Reproductive Healthcare Training Act, H.R. 9420, to create a grant program for health professional schools, academic health centers, or other nonprofit health care safety net providers, and to establish medical training programs in states where abortion is legal, so that students, residents, and advanced practice clinicians in states where abortion is limited or banned can receive proper education in reproductive health care.  The bill also prepares and encourages these individuals to serve as abortion providers after completing their training. 

I also joined Congresswoman Kelly Morrison, M.D. (MN-03), Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08), and Congressman Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-06) in introducing the Safeguarding Access to Full-spectrum Education and (SAFE) Training for OBGYNs Act, H.R. 9441, to establish a grant program to provide funding for OB/GYN residency programs that train residents residing in states with abortion bans to ensure full competency in reproductive healthcare during their training.

In addition to these bills, this week I also joined my colleagues in cosponsoring the Dignity and Due Process for Children Act, H.R. 9270, to establish clear, enforceable protections for immigrant children in federal custody.  And the Protecting America's Herds Act, H.R. 9377, to establish a grant program for preparing and responding to New World screwworm outbreaks.

Last week, I wrote a letter demanding answers from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins and requesting a briefing on how the USDA plans to address the resurgence of New World screwworm in Texas and across the United States.  All of the Democrats in our Texas Delegation joined me and added their names to the letter, which was circulated to all members of the Texas Delegation.  We know that people across Texas are deeply concerned about the potential damage of the screwworm outbreak, which could cost Texas livestock producers $732 million per year and annual economic loss of $1.8 billion for Texas alone.  Figuring out the path forward it critical; figuring out how we got here is also important so that we do not repeat these failures.

In addition to this letter, I joined my colleagues in sending several other letters to industry leaders and Trump administration officials:

• a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin opposing DHS’s recent waivers of federal environmental and historic preservation laws inside Big Bend National Park, and urging DHS to rescind these dangerous waivers and meaningfully engage with the National Park Service, local government, and the public; 
• a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr in response to its request for comment about the TV Parental Guidelines, emphasizing that parents should decide what their children watch on television and that government censoring content because it includes transgender characters or topics would raise both legal and constitutional concerns;
• a letter to acting ICE Director David Venturella demanding he (1) reverse the new ICE policy that restricts access to detainees and prevents members of Congress from speaking with them and (2) implement an updated policy that grants detainees the option to speak with members to share their experiences, particularly during unannounced oversight visits; and
• a letter to Delta Air Lines CEO Mr. Bastian urging Delta Air Lines to adopt a neutrality agreement and not interfere with union organizing activities.

Earlier on Thursday, the Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held another hearing on Medicaid fraud in state programs.  By the time it got to me, I expressed my frustration that this subcommittee has devoted three hearings to this topic—a favorite of the President—while failing to hold oversight hearings on many other things in our jurisdiction, including other issues of fraud, corruption, and self-dealing.  You can watch my full remarks below.

On Wednesday, in addition to introducing legislation, I joined leaders in the House Democratic Caucus, the Reproductive Freedom Caucus, and the community to speak out about what has happened in the four years since the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.  You can see my remarks at the link below.  Following my remarks, you can also see the powerful remarks from Shanette Williams, whose daughter Amber Nicole Thurman died when she could not get the reproductive health care she needed at the hospital.  I will keep telling her story and the stories of Texas women and fighting for them until we change the law of the land to protect the health, dignity, and freedom of people in all 50 states.

It’s always good to see Houstonians in Washington!  This week, I was glad to visit with several of them in the office, including our TX-07 Art Competition Winner Selina Yuan and her parents, student winners of the National Society of the Colonial Dames Essay Contest, and Houstonians visiting the Hill to urge more action in response to extreme weather emergencies and legislation to facilitate second-chance hiring.

Our team in Washington held nearly two dozen meetings with constituents and groups advocating on their behalf, including Moms Demand Action and Teaching English Speakers of Other Languages, pictured below, as well as the American Association for Justice, Advocates for Community Health, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Disney, METRO, United Spinal Association, Sempra Infrastructure, Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals, and the Recycling Leadership Council.

Back home in the district, our team was out and about across the community, helping constituents and attending community events, including the AliefVotes Youth Conference, a Fort Bend ISD Small Business Enterprise Program event, the Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce's Community & Connections Breakfast, visits to Breakthrough Houston and American Youthworks, neighborhood meetings in Sharpstown and the Heights, and a meeting with Australian Deputy Consul-General Drew Dainer, pictured below.

Save the Date!  On Saturday, July 18, 2026, our team will host another passport fair for (1) first-time passport or passport card applicants and (2) renewal and replacement passports or passport cards at the City of Bellaire Civic Center.  Representatives from the Houston Passport Agency will be present to answer questions and accept applications.  Please RSVP here or by clicking the image below.

The House is scheduled to be back in session next week, and I expect to be in Washington for votes, markups, and hearings before Congress recesses for the Fourth of July holiday and the United States’ 250th birthday.  I will let you know how the week develops.

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 am proud to represent you, I am here to help you, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,