Hill Heat

The purpose of the hearing is to examine the President’s Budget Request for the United States Forest Service for Fiscal Year 2027.

Witness

• Tom Schultz, Chief, United States Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Proposed budget cuts USFS budget by 75%.

State, Private, & Tribal Forestry, which provides technical and financial assistance to nonfederal landowners, would be cut entirely.

National Forest System, which oversees the management of federal grasslands and forests, would be cut by 24% compared to last year’s funding. Budget seeks to eliminate the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, while quadrupling the Forest Products line item—which funds the federal timber sale program, among other activities—from $39 million to $175 million.

Capital Improvement & Maintenance, which supports USFS infrastructure, would be cut by 28% compared to last year’s funding.

Land Acquisition, which funds the acquisition and improvement of National Forest System lands, would be increased from $2.5 million to $7 million.

Wildland Fire Management Account and Reserve Fund, which funds the personnel, equipment, and immediate post-fire risk mitigation necessary for wildfire suppression on federal lands, would be moved entirely to DOI.

Full commmittee hearing entitled “Perspectives on the Fertilizer Industry: Ensuring a Stable and Affordable Supply for American Producers.”

Witnesses:

• Andy Green, Principal and Senior Advisor, Center Market Strategies, Washington, DC
• Trent Kubik, President, South Dakota Corn Growers, Hamill, SD
• Eddie Melton, President, Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation, Louisville, KY
• Corey Rosenbusch, President and CEO, The Fertilizer Institute, Arlington, VA
• Joshua Westling, CEO, J. Westling & Co., LLC, Omaha, NE

Business meeting was postponed.

Legislation:

• S.___, Budget Reconciliation (Chairman’s Mark)

• $3.5 billion through 2029 for U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees

• $31 billion through 2029 for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

• $2.5 billion in undirected funds to the Department of Homeland Security

• $1.5 billion to the Department of Justice through 2029 for federal law enforcement efforts

• $1 billion for the East Wing ballroom

Join Beyond Plastics on Thursday, May 7 at 4 PM PT/ 7 PM ET for a free educational webinar to explore plastics’ impact on reproductive health. We’ll hear from Louie Psihoyos, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker and director of the new documentary film, The Plastic Detox, with Eric and Julie Isaac, one of the couples that is featured in the film that had tried to conceive for five years, Shanna Swan, Ph.D., one of the world’s leading environmental and reproductive epidemiologists and a professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine, and Judith Enck, former US EPA regional administrator and founder and president of the nonprofit advocacy group, Beyond Plastics.

RSVP

Subcommittee hearing.

Witness:

• Tom Schultz, Chief, United States Forest Service

Proposed budget cuts USFS budget by 75%.

State, Private, & Tribal Forestry, which provides technical and financial assistance to nonfederal landowners, would be cut entirely.

National Forest System, which oversees the management of federal grasslands and forests, would be cut by 24% compared to last year’s funding. Budget seeks to eliminate the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, while quadrupling the Forest Products line item—which funds the federal timber sale program, among other activities—from $39 million to $175 million.

Capital Improvement & Maintenance, which supports USFS infrastructure, would be cut by 28% compared to last year’s funding.

Land Acquisition, which funds the acquisition and improvement of National Forest System lands, would be increased from $2.5 million to $7 million.

Wildland Fire Management Account and Reserve Fund, which funds the personnel, equipment, and immediate post-fire risk mitigation necessary for wildfire suppression on federal lands, would be moved entirely to DOI.

Subcommittee markup of the Fiscal Year 2027 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Bill and the Fiscal Year 2027 Legislative Branch Bill.

On Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:

• H.R. 7287 (Rep. Johnson of SD), “Lewis and Clark Regional Water System Expansion Feasibility Study Act” to increase water usage by the L&C RWS covering Minnesota-South Dakota-Iowa tri-state region
• H.R. 7331 (Rep. Johnson of SD), “Dakota Mainstem Water Supply Project Feasibility Study Act” to tap the Missouri River to feed the same region
• H.R. 7515 (Rep. Strickland), To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the Nisqually Indian Tribe the Clear Creek Hatchery infrastructure
• H.R. 8259 (Rep. Bentz), “Reclamation Project Consultation Improvement Act of 2026” to weaken endangered-species protections in furtherance of water supply projects

Witnesses not yet announced.

The hearing, entitled “AI and the Grid: Meeting Growing Power Demand While Protecting Ratepayers,” will focus on the following bills:

• H.R. ____, [Load Forecasting Enhancement Act] (Rep. Balderson)
• H.R. ____, [Affordable Innovation for the Grid Act] (Rep. Harshbarger)
• H.R. ____, [Advanced Transmission Technology to Reduce Rates Act]
• H.R. ____, [Ratepayer Protection Act]
• H.R. 6336, Fair Allocation of Interstate Rates Act (Rep. Fedorchak)
• H.R. 6633, High-Capacity Grid Act (Rep. Fedorchack)
• H.R. 6529, Protecting Families from AI Data Center Energy Costs Act (Rep. Landsman)

Witnesses:

• Nick Myers, Chairman, Arizona Corporation Commission
• Tom Falcone, President, Large Public Power Council
• Nelson Peeler, Senior VP of Grid Strategy, Planning and Integration, Duke Energy
• Whitney Muse, President, Muse Energy

On Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, will hold an oversight hearing titled “Powering the 21st Century with American Copper.”

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman, S&P Global, Washington, D.C.
• Adam Estelle, President and CEO, Copper Development Association, McLean, VA
• Debra Phillips, President and CEO, National Electrical Manufacturers Association, Arlington, VA
• Dr. Michele Bustamante, Staff Scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, D.C. [Minority Witness]

Full committee markup. Originally scheduled for April 28.