AI Resignations and Regulations

Last week, while we were out of session, the most recent news and noisy resignations from Silicon Valley had everyone talking all over the country, including in Washinton.  Congress must address the risks and threats rapidly advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models pose.  Lawmakers and industry leaders agree that Congress should prioritize a comprehensive regulatory framework to strengthen AI safety, oversight, and transparency and protect the American people.  Our E&C committee has been working on legislation, and there are lots of proposals to address various aspects, risks, and threats.  But the urgency of the moment and need to respond were a continued topic this week.

EPA Removes Limits on Climate Pollution from Power Plants

On Monday, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that EPA would repeal limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants during a G20 energy summit in Houston.  Administrator Zeldin also announced that EPA will take steps to prevent future administrations from regulating air pollution from power plants.  It is ironic that Administrator Zeldin made this announcement in Houston, where energy industry professionals and scientists are working every day to provide Americans with abundant energy and bring down emissions.  Arbitrarily blocking future regulations is not the answer to securing our energy supply for the future.

Supreme Court Stops Executive Order on Mail-In Voting

On Monday, the Supreme Court blocked a Trump administration plan to change how Americans vote by mail.  With less than two months until the midterm elections, this is an essential win for democracy and for voters.  The president doesn't get to choose whose vote counts—nor does the USPS.  I had joined my colleagues in an amicus brief in the Supreme Court opposing the President’s plan and arguing for the result the Court reached in the case.  More on that below.

Also this week: two impeachment resolutions.  First, Congressman Al Green (TX-09) brought a resolution before the House to impeach President Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors (H.Res.1486) for allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to operate without accountability, to assault innocent civilians, and to cover up the killings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero.  In response, House Republicans moved to table, or delay indefinitely, consideration of the impeachment resolution.  As I have said before, the decision to impeach is the most serious and somber responsibility of a member of Congress.  I have voted to impeach President Trump twice in the past.  I have shared here 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.  In the face of this administration’s lawlessness and the failure of this Congress to conduct oversight, I voted against the Republican motion to table and to support the efforts to refer the motions to the House Judiciary Committee to conduct investigations and reports on these and other potentially impeachable actions of the President and the Trump administration.  The motion to table passed, however, by a vote of 232-147, with 47 members voting present.

Second, Congressman Thomas Massie (KY-04) brought a resolution to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for deploying the U.S. military in the war against Iran without seeking congressional approval under the War Powers Act; ignoring laws to minimize unnecessary civilian casualties; suppressing free speech and intimidating critics of the Trump administration; kidnapping sovereign foreign leaders; and proceeding with unauthorized military operations without congressional approval.  The House did not consider the Hegseth impeachment resolution or a motion to table the resolution this week, but it will come up when the House returns in November.

Also this week, the House considered 15 bills from the Energy & Commerce Committee, and I was responsible for managing debate on all the bills on the House Floor.  All of the bills passed, including the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2025 (H.R. 979) to require AM radio access in new vehicles, and the Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340) to protect Americans from increased utility bills caused by data centers. 

The House also considered:

• The National Fraud Enforcement Division of 2026 (H.R. 9576) to codify the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) National Fraud Enforcement Division, which the Trump administration established this year.  The division investigates fraud in government programs, including the White House's controversial criminal referrals of Democratic politicians.  Since taking office, President Trump has used alleged cases of fraud as a tool to attack his political enemies, and this legislation could provide the Trump administration with more power to continue these attacks.  I voted against this bill, which passed the House by a vote of 352-72.
• The Preventing Rip-offs and Obtaining Oversight of Funds (PROOF) Act (H.R. 10326) to require state governments to share information with the DOJ to support its investigations into alleged federal benefits fraud.  This bill requires states to provide sensitive identification information related to certain federal programs—including Medicaid, unemployment insurance, and SNAP—if requested by the DOJ for a criminal fraud investigation, raising concerns about the privacy of the information of people who receive these benefits.  I voted against this bill, which passed by a vote of 217-207. 
• Two resolutions that would nullify two Clean Air Act waivers that EPA granted to California to allow the state to have stricter standards for emissions from maritime vehicles than federal law requires.  I voted against these resolutions, H.J.Res. 210 and H.J.Res. 213, but they passed 216-211 and 214-208, respectively.
• The National Wildlife Refuge System Invasive Species Strike Team Act (H.R. 4219), to establish a program to create strike teams to identify and respond to invasive species; the Whistleblower Protection Act of 2025 (H.R. 4646), to expand whistleblower protections for employees of federal contractors or grant recipients under the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); and the Tax Relief for Fraud Victims Act (H.R. 9500), to expand the federal tax deduction for personal theft and casualty losses and tax refund deadline for fraud victims.  All of these passed with broad bipartisan support.

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

On Monday, I joined several Democratic colleagues in introducing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution (H.J.Res.215) to repeal the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) final rule that significantly reduces flexibility in the visa process for international students, researchers, and journalists and places unnecessary limits on how long they can remain in the United States.  Our international students, researchers, and journalists in our community and across our country make important contributions to our schools, our communities, and our economy.  This rule ignores how long certain study programs actually take and adds red tape to an immigration system that is already overwhelmed.  Visiting students should have a stable, welcoming environment to further their education and contribute to our communities—not obstacles that undermine their ability to do so.

This week, I also joined my colleagues in cosponsoring several pieces of legislation, including:

•  the No Taxpayer-Funded Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2026, H.R. 8914, to amend section 1304 of title 31, United States Code to restrict payments for compromise settlements or awards;
• the Access to Birth Control Act, H.R. 4084, to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish certain duties for pharmacies to ensure provision of Food and Drug Administration-approved contraception and medication related to contraception;
• the Transgender Health Care Access Act, H.R. 2487, to improve access to lifesaving healthcare for transgender people; and
• the Universal School Meals Program Act of 2026, H.R.8798, to amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to make breakfasts and lunches free for all children.  

And I sent some letters with colleagues again this week, including:

• a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director David Venturella demanding transparency and accountability regarding ICE’s decision to weaken detention standards to help GEO–a private prison operator–defend itself against state-led lawsuits;
• a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum opposing the proposed transfer of a piece of land within Yosemite National Park to ensure access to an 83-acre privately owned ranch;
• a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the U.S. State Department to take immediate action in response to the Iranian regime’s rapid escalation of political executions; and
• a letter to Social Security Administration Acting Inspector General (IG) Michelle L. Anderson requesting that the IG open an investigation into processing delays of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) applications.

As I mentioned at the top, on Monday, the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration from changing how Americans vote by mail.  Before this ruling, I joined my colleagues in filing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of the lawsuit brought by a coalition of State Attorneys General against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in United States Postal Service, et al., v. State of California, et al., which challenged the Final Rule issued by the USPS in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order that imposes unconstitutional restrictions on mail-in voting, including requiring states to provide a “citizenship verification list” and attempting to give USPS control over who can vote by mail.  I am glad that the Court denied the Trump administration’s application to stay a lower court that will effectively prevent the federal government from implementing a new USPS rule respecting mail-in ballots in time for this November’s elections.

I also joined my colleagues in filing several other briefs, including:

• a brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in the matter of U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al. v. League of Women Voters, et al. urging the court to reject Trump’s illegal efforts to centralize and share Americans’ sensitive data to create flawed state-by-state citizenship lists that risk disenfranchising voters;
• a brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging a Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel opinion declaring the Presidential Records Act unconstitutional; and
• a brief to the Supreme Court of the United States supporting the respondents in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, where the court will be considering standards for granting religious exemptions from nondiscrimination laws.

On Tuesday, the Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a legislative hearing on bills related to reforming Medicare physician payments and protecting healthcare data.  I had the opportunity to sit in for the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee for this hearing.  I know how important the issue of Medicare physician payment reform is to the many physicians who live in Texas’ Seventh Congressional District.  In my opening statement, I highlighted the need to address this issue, but also the need for the Subcommittee to address the Republicans’ healthcare cuts, which have decreased access to care and increased costs for Americans across the country.  Later in the hearing, I emphasized the need to advance the Patients First Act (H.R. 9693), legislation that I cosponsored that provides long-term comprehensive reforms to Medicare physician payments.  One of the other bills that we discussed was the Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act (H.R. 1254) to improve obstetric emergency care in rural areas.  The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of all developed countries, and it is important that we work to address this crisis.  I used my time to highlight how the Republicans' cuts to Medicaid are threatening maternity wards across the country, harming patient access to maternal care.  You can watch my full remarks below.

On Wednesday, the full Energy & Commerce Committee held a markup of 16 bills from the Communications and Technology and Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade subcommittees.  We considered several bills to promote technological innovation, global competitiveness, and consumer protection, which passed with bipartisan support.  With AI issues on everyone’s minds, the Committee considered the Open-Source AI Leadership Act (H.R. 10152), a bill to direct the Department of Commerce to support the adoption and use of American open artificial intelligence (AI).  Given the concerning developments around the rapid advancement of AI models and the catastrophic consequences that industry leaders and whistleblowers have warned us about for years, many of us argued that the Committee should be focused on AI safety and ensuring the protection of the American people and that this bill, though well-intentioned, ignores the dangers AI poses and instead promotes the reckless adoption and expansion of AI without fully assessing or understanding its risks.  For these reasons, I voted against this bill, which advanced out of the Committee by a vote of 26-21.  Congress has a duty to use this narrow window to get AI safety right, before exponential technological advancements lead to highly advanced, unstoppable AI models that pose a threat to our country’s infrastructure, national security, energy supply chains, financial systems, and way of life.

I was glad to be back at home in Houston last week, and grateful to be with members of our community to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11. 

For the last several years, on this anniversary, I have gone to the City of Bellaire to visit the Steel I Beam from the World Trade Center as a way to remember and honor those who we lost, all those who loved them, and all those who rushed in to help that day and in the days and years that followed.  This year, I was grateful to join Mayor Pappas and members of the Bellaire Police and Fire Departments, and the Bellaire community for a memorial service, where I shared my thoughts and most lasting memories of that day and the those who rushed in to help: the police officers and firefighters who looked up at those towering infernos, and ran inside to help.  The co-workers and strangers who tried to help each other get to safety, and, later, to find their loved ones.  The passengers on the plane in Pennsylvania who, facing certain death, banded together to protect others in harm’s way.  I was also grateful to visit Lauren’s Garden in Market Square Park, where I participated in the City of Houston 9/11 Remembrance Event, again gathered with members of the Police and Fire Departments and members of the community at the memorial honoring Houstonian Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas, her fellow passengers on Flight 93, and all those we lost that day.  Later that day, our District Team and I joined volunteers from across our community (and across the country) for the UNIITE For Good September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance meal packing event at the University of Houston, where we helped pack meals for the Houston Food Bank. 

It was a day of reflection and service.  The courage and bravery of Americans that day showed us then and reminds us now the very best of humanity.  And, the hours and days and months that followed, as people from here and from across the country went to help—to clear the rubble, to search for survivors, to rebuild—we were united in our grief, united in our resolve, united in our love of country—of its people and promise.  In a world that often seems to be trying to tear us apart, when we remember the heroism and patriotism of that day, we are reminded of who we are, who we can be, and what we can do when we do it together.

Save the date!  On Saturday, October 3, I will host this year’s Military Service Academy Fair at the Bellaire Civic Center for students across the district to learn more about the nomination and application process and visit with representatives from our nation’s service academies.  No RSVP needed–all TX-07 high school students and their families are welcome!

The Congressional App Challenge portal is open!  Middle school and high school students interested in coding are invited to build a team and build an app–and submit it for the TX-07 Congressional App Challenge.  Click here to get started.

The House does not plan to meet again until after the mid-term elections in November. 

Speaking of elections, please take time to make sure you are registered to vote by visiting https://www.votetexas.gov/.  No matter who you plan to vote for, it’s important you make a plan and make your voice heard.  You can also learn about volunteering as an election worker by visiting Harris County and Fort Bend County’s websites.

I’m looking forward to spending time at home in Houston and meeting with neighbors over the next several weeks.  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,