Majority News Releases
Senate Democrats Urge Passage Of Legislation To End The Trump Shutdown
WASHINGTON (WEDNESDAY, Jan. 9, 2019) - Senate Democrats Wednesday urged passage of two bills to reopen the federal government and end the Trump Shutdown, which is now in its 19th day. The two bills received bipartisan support in the House last week. The first bill is a six bill minibus containing the bills that were either reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee or passed the full Senate with broad bipartisan support last year. Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said, "These bills ar… Continue Reading
01.08.19
REAX Of Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) To President Trump’s Primetime Address
President Trump has spent years as the host of a reality TV show, but unfortunately, reality has never been his strong suit. Even before the Trump Shutdown, the President resorted to misinformation and stoking fear among the American people in order to justify a wasteful monument to himself. His primetime address was simply fact-free fearmongering and data-distorting demagoguery. President Trump tried to make the case that there is crisis at our southern border that only a wall can solve. Bu… Continue Reading
01.08.19
Senate Appropriations Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The Trump Shutdown -- Day Eighteen
Today marks the eighteenth day of the Trump Shutdown. For more than two weeks now, the President has held the paychecks of over 800,000 Americans hostage in order to extort Congress into funding his border wall - a wall for which he promised the American taxpayers, over and over again, that Mexico would pay. For more than two weeks, the President has withheld vital government services to the American people in order to gain leverage to fulfill a divisive campaign promise and rally his ba… Continue Reading
01.04.19
REAX Of Appropriations Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) To President Trump’s Claim That The Military Can Build His Wall
The real national emergency is the President's senseless and costly shutdown. There is no national emergency on the southern border. Between 2000 and 2018, border apprehensions fell sharply from roughly 1.6 million in fiscal year 2000 to approximately 400,000 in fiscal year 2018 -- that's a 75 percent drop. The President stealing resources from the Defense Department for the construction of a wasteful border wall, at taxpayer expense, to defend against the President's imaginary invasion woul… Continue Reading
01.03.19
UPDATED IMPACTS OF THE TRUMP SHUTDOWN
More Than 450,000 Are Working Without Pay, Many Of Whom Are Veterans, Including: More than 41,000 Federal Law Enforcement and Correctional Officers Including: 2,614 ATF agents; 16,742 Bureau of Prisons correctional officers; 13,709 FBI agents; 3,600 deputy U.S. Marshals; and 4,399 DEA agents. Up To 88 Percent Of Department of Homeland Security Employees, Including: 54,000 Customs and Border Protection agents and customs officers; 42,000 Coast Guard employees. 6,503 staff … Continue Reading
01.03.19
Statement of Vice Chairman Leahy on The Second Week Of The Trump Shutdown
We are in the thirteenth day of the Trump Shutdown. Thirteen days that nine of fifteen federal departments and dozens of agencies have shut their doors. Thirteen days in which hundreds of thousands of Americans have been furloughed or are working without pay, and thirteen days that Americans have been denied government services on which they rely on and pay their taxes for. The President is holding federal government funding hostage in an attempt to force Congress to pay for an ineffective a… Continue Reading
01.03.19
Updated Impacts Of The Trump Shutdown
More Than 450,000 Are Working Without Pay, Many Of Whom Are Veterans, Including: More than 41,000 Federal Law Enforcement and Correctional Officers Including: 2,614 ATF agents; 16,742 Bureau of Prisons correctional officers; 13,709 FBI agents; 3,600 deputy U.S. Marshals; and 4,399 DEA agents. 54,000 Customs and Border Protection agents and customs officers; 42,000 Coast Guard employees. 6,503 staff from the State Department are currently working without pay; 35,000 Internal Reven… Continue Reading
12.31.18
Statement Of Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy On House Democrats Introducing Legislation To Reopen the Government
There is one reason and one reason only that much of our federal government is shut down through the holidays and countless Americans are living with uncertainty - and that reason is President Trump. For 10 days he has held the federal government hostage in an attempt to force us to pay for an ineffective and expensive wall on the southern border, a wall he promised that Mexico would pay for. It will not work. He does not have the votes. Today, House Democrats introduced a commonsense path… Continue Reading
12.22.18
Statement of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The Trump Shutdown
Today nine of our 15 federal departments, and several dozen agencies have shuttered their doors, denying vital services to millions of American citizens. Since midnight last night, and just a few days before Christmas, more than 800,000 public servants and their families have been told not to expect their next paycheck for the foreseeable future. There is one reason and one reason only that our federal government has shut down today and countless Americans are living with uncertainty - and … Continue Reading
12.19.18
Statement of Senate Appropriations Vice Chairman Leahy On Passage Of The Third Continuing Resolution
Today we will pass a third Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government operating through February 8th. I support this CR because a government shutdown is never good for our country - in fact it is a terrible idea - but this whole process has been a missed opportunity. For six of the seven appropriations bills covered under today's CR, we have a clear path forward. These bills - Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior, Financial Services, Transportation-Housing and Urban Develop… Continue Reading
12.12.18
PROJECTED IMPACTS OF A TRUMP SHUTDOWN
More Than 420,000 Will Be Working Without Pay Including: More than 41,000 Federal Law Enforcement and Correctional Officers, Including: 2,614 ATF agents; 16,742 Bureau of Prisons correctional officers; 13,709 FBI agents; 3,600 deputy U.S. Marshals; and 4,399 DEA agents. Up To 88 Percent Of Department of Homeland Security Employees, Including: 53,000 TSA Employees; 54,000 Customs and Border Protection agents and customs offers; 42,000 Coast Guard employees As many as … Continue Reading
12.12.18
Statement Of Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The Fearmongering Falsehoods Fueling President Trump's Fixation On the Wall: A Reality Check
If Americans had any doubt that President Trump is fixated on wasting billions of dollars to wall off our 2,000 mile southern border, all they had to do was watch his jaw-dropping press conference yesterday, demanding another $5 billion of their hard earned tax dollars for his political pet project that he promised Mexico would pay for. Using words I never thought I would hear from a President, he boasted he would be, "proud to shut down the government" if Congress doesn't meet his funding dema… Continue Reading
12.10.18
Statement of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The Trump Shutdown Threat
On Friday, December 21, just 11 days from today, the Continuing Resolution, or CR, under which much of the government currently operates will expire. Unless we pass the remaining seven appropriations bills, the government will shutter the doors of nine Federal departments and dozens of agencies, grinding services for the American people to a halt just three days before Christmas. There is absolutely no reason for the government to shut down. The Senate and House Appropriations Committees hav… Continue Reading
09.26.18
Statement of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On House Passage of The Defense/Labor HHS “Minibus” Appropriations Bill
"For the first time in 22 years, Congress is sending the Labor-HHS bill to the president's desk on time by the beginning of the fiscal year. This appropriations package also invests in the men and women of the armed forces and their families, and it ensures the government of the American people will remain open through December 7 for those agencies not yet funded. "This was only possible because of the bipartisan framework reached among Chairman Shelby, Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer and… Continue Reading
09.21.18
Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) REAX To President Trump Signing The Appropriations “Minibus 1” Bill
"This bill is the product of a bipartisan agreement among Chairman Shelby, Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer and myself. It is free of partisan policy riders, has broad bipartisan support, and it complies with the Bipartisan Budget Agreement reached in February. This is a successful framework that we should continue to follow to complete the remaining nine appropriations bills to ensure the Government of the American people stays open for business. I am glad that President Trump signed onto ou… Continue Reading
09.18.18
Leahy Statement On The Defense, Labor, Health And Human Services, And Education Conference Report
For the second time in two weeks, we are considering a Fiscal Year 2019 appropriations conference report. The two bills in the package before us - the Defense bill, and the Labor, HHS, and Education bill - are the products of months of hard work and bipartisan cooperation, and I am pleased that we have been able to work out all of the differences between the House and Senate bills. These bills make important investments not only in our national security but also in the future of our country… Continue Reading
09.18.18
Under Leahy-Led Appropriations Legislation, Taxpayer-Funded Congressional Research Service Reports Are Publicly Available TODAY, For The First Time
WASHINGTON (TUESDAY, Sept. 18, 2018) - Widely hailed as a key victory for transparency and open access to information, Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports will be made freely available to the public for the first time beginning Tuesday. The change in policy was directed by appropriations provisions authored by Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). The Leahy legislation was signed into law in March. A legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, … Continue Reading
09.13.18
Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Releases Summary For Defense/LHHS “Minibus” Appropriations Package
WASHINGTON (THURSDAY, Sept. 13, 2018) - Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) released a summary compiled by the Senate Appropriations Committee Minority staff of the conference agreement for the Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies "minibus" appropriations package. Leahy said: "This agreement invests in the American people and ensures that the government remains open into December. Just as importantly, Congress, Republicans … Continue Reading
09.13.18
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
Washington, D.C. -The fiscal year 2019 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations bill provides a total of $179.973 billion in discretionary budget authority - $977 million more than the fiscal year 2018 level, $10.7 billion more than the President's budget request, and $971 million more than the House bill. The total funding includes $178.076 billion in discretionary funding as well as $1.897 billion in cap adjustment funding to p… Continue Reading
09.13.18
Defense Summary
Washington, D.C. - The Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019, provides $606.3 billion for the base budget of the Department of Defense, and $67.9 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Defense, said: "The priority of this defense bill is supporting our troops and their families in the field and at home. At the same time, our bill is geared towards innovation, with record levels of funding for research and … Continue Reading