Hill Heat

On Wednesday, November 19, at 10:00 a.m., U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, will hold a hearing examining PFAS cleanup and disposal policy.

Witnesses;

• Eric Gerstenberg, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Clean Harbors
• Leah Pilconis, General Counsel, Associated General Contractors of America
• Kate R. Bowers, Supervisory Attorney, Congressional Research Service

Nomination hearing for:

• Charlton Allen to be General Counsel, Federal Labor Relations Authority
• John Walk to be Inspector General, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Thomas Bell to be Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Allen is the former chairman and chief executive officer of the North Carolina Industrial Commission. He is the founder of the Madison Center for Law & Liberty, Inc., editor of The American Salient, and the host of the Modern Federalist podcast.

Walk serves as Judicial Officer at the United States Department of Agriculture. He served as Associate Counsel to President Donald J. Trump at the White House Counsel’s Office from January 2017 until December 2020. At the White House, Walk advised the President and senior White House officials on the exercise of the President’s constitutional authority, regulatory matters, executive actions, and implementation of public policy. Prior to the White House, Walk served as an attorney at the Department of Homeland Security, providing advice on DHS operations and defending against federal litigation as agency counsel as an ally of Stephen Miller. Before entering the legal profession, Walk was a senior government relations advisor at an international law firm and served as a congressional staffer in the House of Representatives. Walk is the son-in-law of Jeff Sessions, married to Sessions’ daughter Ruth.

As Inspector General for Health and Human Services, Thomas March Bell will oversee fraud, waste and abuse audits of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which spend more than $1 trillion annually. Bell currently serves as general counsel for House Republicans and has worked for GOP politicians and congressional offices for decades. The president’s nomination of this anti-abortion extremist is a “brazenly political” one. Bell was ousted from Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality in 1997 after a state audit showed he improperly authorized a nearly $8,000 payment to the agency’s former spokesman. He was staff director for House Republicans’ 2016 investigation into Planned Parenthood. During the first Trump administration, Bell helped create the Conscience and Religious Freedom division within the HHS Office for Civil Rights. Bell held leadership positions in Gary Bauer and Pat Robinson’s presidential campaigns.

The House Select Committee on China will hold a hearing titled Predatory Pricing: How the Chinese Communist Party Manipulates Global Mineral Prices to Maintain Its Dominance. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, November 19 at 10:00 A.M. in 390 Cannon House Office Building.

The event will be live-streamed.

When: Wednesday, November 19 at 10:00 A.M.

Where: 390 Cannon House Office Building.

Witnesses:

• Jonathan Evans, Chief Executive Office, Lithium Americas
• Matthew Sloustcher, Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs, MP Materials
• Jonathan Rowntree, Chief Executive Officer, Niron Magnetics
• Additional witnesses to be determined.

On Wednesday, November 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.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. 338 (Rep. Costa), “Every Drop Counts Act”, expands the Bureau of Reclamation’s Small Storage Program, which is a grant program for small surface water or groundwater storage projects in certain western states
• H.R. 1514 (Rep. Ezell), “Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission Act”, to manage the inland fishery resources of the Mississippi River Basin
• H.R. 3756 (Rep. Crenshaw), “Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvests Act of 2025” or the “FISH Act of 2025”, to increase efforts against global illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing
• H.R. 5699 (Rep. Rutherford), “Fisheries Data Modernization and Accuracy Act of 2025”, to rely more on state-level data collection programs for recreational fishing data

The purpose of the hearing is to examine how the BLM land use planning process under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) affects permitting for energy, mining, grazing, and infrastructure projects on public lands.

In 2023, the Biden administration introduced a land-use policy that raises the importance of conservation and ecosystem health. The Trump administration formally announced its plan to scrap the policy this September.

On Tuesday, November 18, 2025, at 10:15 AM in 210 Cannon House Office Building, the House Committee on the Budget will hold a hearing entitled, “Oversight of the Congressional Budget Office.”

Witness:

• Philip Swagel, Director of the Congressional Budget Office

The Committee on Rules will meet Monday, November 17, 2025 at 3:00 PM ET in H-313, The Capitol on the following measures:

• S.J. Res. 80 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to ‘‘National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision’’. Text. On July 24, 2025, the Government Accountability Office declared the plan was not properly submitted to Congress under the rules of the Congressional Review Act. The resolution passed the Senate on October 30, with John Fetterman (D-Pa.) joining Republicans.
• H.J. Res. 130 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to ‘‘Buffalo Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment’’. Text. On July 8, 2025, the Trump administration announced its plan to further amend the resource management plan.
• H.J. Res. 131 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to ‘‘Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision’’. Text.
• H.R. 1949 – Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2025, to repeal restrictions on the export and import of natural gas. Text. Committee Report.
• H.R. 3109 – REFINER Act. Text. Committee report.
• H. Con. Res. 58 – Denouncing the horrors of socialism. Text.
• H.R. 5214 – District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025. Text. Committee report.
• H.R. 5107 – Common-Sense Law Enforcement and Accountability Now in DC Act of 2025. Text. Report.

Please join Climate Cabinet on November 13 at 12:00PM EST for a discussion alongside the release of a new Climate Cabinet report – Utilizing Economic Power to Manage the Energy and Climate Transitions.

Two historic transitions are underway in the U.S.: the transition to an economy powered by clean energy and the transition to an ever more unstable climate with more extreme and dangerous weather. Come join a webinar in which Climate Cabinet and partners discuss its new report, Utilizing Economic Power to Manage the Energy and Climate Transitions, which offers a roadmap for state policymakers seeking to manage these transitions toward a more prosperous and equitable future. The report will be released on November 12 and will be available on Climate Cabinet’s website.

The hour-long webinar, to be held on November 13 at noon EST, will feature a keynote presentation by Sarah Bloom Raskin, Distinguished Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law and former Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury and Federal Reserve Board Governor, on why the two transitions deserve priority attention from state policymakers. She will be joined by Climate Cabinet’s Caroline Spears and Jordan Haedtler (report co-author), Center for Public Enterprise’s Advait Arun, John Kostyack of Kostyack Strategies (report co-author), and Dan Sufranski of The Sunrise Project.

Please register for the webinar. Registration will ensure that you are sent a recording of the webinar in the event you are unable to attend.

State governments play a critical role in the United States’ system of government. That role is more critical today than ever as the federal government abandons its leadership role in capturing the economic opportunities from the clean energy transition and confronting the economic threats from the transition to a hotter climate. We hope you will join us as we chart a new path forward to help U.S. communities become more economically just and sustainable.

Join Lead Locally for a conversation with activists and newly elected climate champions to celebrate, discuss the results of our most recent state & municipal elections, and consider what victories around the country can tell us about the state of climate politics and elections in 2026.

In the months leading up to the election, Lead Locally evaluated hundreds of campaigns from Albuquerque to Atlanta and made mission driven investments in the races where climate action was on the line. We knocked thousands of doors, made tens of thousands of calls, and fundraised hundreds of thousands for some of the most important down ballot races in the country.

RSVP

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will convene a hearing for nominees of the National Transportation Safety Board and Surface Transportation Board at 10:00 AM EST on Thursday, November 6, 2025.

In May, Trump illegally fired Alvin Brown, the vice chair of the NTSB. In August, Trump illegally fired STB board member Robert Primus. Both Brown and Primus are Black.

Nominees:

• John Deleeuw, of Texas, to be a Member of the National Transportation Safety Board, vice Alvin Brown, illegally fired
• Richard Kloster, of West Virginia, to be a Member of the Surface Transportation Board, vice Martin J. Oberman, term expired
• Michelle Schultz, of Pennsylvania, to continue as a Member of the Surface Transportation Board (renomination)

John DeLeeuw is currently the Managing Director Safety and Efficiency for American Airlines (AA). He also serves, and has served, as the Party Coordinator for American Airlines in National Transportation Safety Board investigations. Prior to flying at American Airlines, John was a C-130 Hercules Evaluator and Instructor Pilot in the United States Air Force. He participated in Desert Storm and numerous classified Special Operations throughout the world. John worked directly with US Army Special Forces and Navy SEALS flying HALO airdrops, and flying insertions/extractions in combat and covert operations.

Kloster, a Republican, is president and founder of Integrity Rail Partners, Inc., a consultant on railroads and rail equipment based in Charles Town, W. Va. With more than three decades’ experience with railroads, rail supply chain and rail suppliers, Kloster started out as a car inspector and moved “inside” working for Chicago Northwestern, Chicago Central and Pacific, and the Indiana Railroad. He was senior vice president and chief commercial officer at rail consultant Alltranstek, and senior consultant at FTR, another rail industry specialist. He also worked as director of business and market intelligence for railcar lessor GE Rail Services for more than 15 years. Kloster is on the executive board of the National Industrial Transportation League shipper trade group, as well as the board of the Railway Supply Institute. He holds degrees from Northern Illinois University and the University of Alabama.

Schultz, a Republican and attorney, was first nominated to the rail competition regulator by Trump, and is currently in her second term as vice chairman of the board. Before joining the STB, Schultz worked at SEPTA as the agency’s director of legislative affairs and later as deputy general counsel. Earlier in her career, she was an associate at White and Williams LLP. Schultz is married to attorney Jim Schultz, who served as Associate White House Counsel in 2017.