Green Budget Day of Action

Join us for the DC Green Budget Day of Action on June 16th!

Organizations and residents from across the District are gathering at 8am on June 16th at the John A Wilson building, calling on the DC Council: Don’t defund our communities and our climate in our local DC budget. After a press conference, green-shirted supporters will descend on the Wilson building, meeting with Councilmembers and staff, sitting in committee hearings, and taking creative action to call attention to the need to sustain DC’s local budget commitments to our neighborhoods, our climate, and our natural places.

Actions will continue throughout the day until 3 pm.

Why: We continue to see that when DC’s local budget is tight, DC’s funds to protect nature, ensure environmental health and justice, make energy bills affordable, support public transit, and reduce carbon emissions are some of the first to be cut. This has to stop. Our communities and our climate cannot wait. We cannot continue to sell out the District’s future, the health of our neighbors, workers, and communities, and the ongoing environmental justice fights in our city. With this day of action we hope to send a clear message to District leaders: don’t touch our green programs!

RSVP

Chesapeake Climate Action Network
District of Columbia
06/16/2025 at 08:00AM

Conflicts over Ocean Resources

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries, will convene a hearing titled “Finding Nemo’s Future: Conflicts over Ocean Resources” on Thursday, June 12, 2025, at 10:00 am EST. This hearing will examine U.S. efforts to counter illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and explore opportunities to strengthen enforcement, coordination, and technological innovation. The hearing will evaluate existing legislative authorities and international agreements and examine policy options to advance maritime domain awareness and promote responsible ocean governance in the face of rising IUU activity.

Witnesses:

  • Gregory Poling, Director and Senior Fellow, Southeast Asia Program and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, Center for Strategic & International Studies
  • Nathan Rickard, Partner, Picard Kentz & Rowe
  • Gabriel Prout, President, Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
   Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries Subcommittee
253 Russell

06/12/2025 at 10:00AM

Examining the President's FY 2026 Budget Request for the Department of the Interior

On Thursday, June 12, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources will hold an oversight hearing titled “Examining the President’s FY 2026 Budget Request for the Department of the Interior.”

Witness:

  • Doug Burgum, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior

Budget request

Department of the Interior (DOI)
Program Name $ Change from 2025 Enacted (in millions) Brief Description of Program and Recommended Reduction or Increase
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
Bureau of Reclamation and the Central Utah Project -609 The Budget provides $1.2 billion for the Bureau of Reclamation and the Central Utah Project.
Operation of the National Park System -900 The Budget would transfer most properties to State-level management. Achieving a $900 million cut to operations would require eliminating funding for roughly 350 park sites, 75 percent of the total.
NPS Historic Preservation Fund -158 The Budget eliminates almost all funding except for projects in partnership with HBCUs.
NPS Construction -73 This reduction complements the Administration’s goals transferring most parks to State and tribal governments.
NPS National Recreation and Preservation -77
Bureau of Indian Affairs Programs that Support Tribal Self-Governance and Tribal Communities -617 The Budget eliminates the Indian Guaranteed Loan program for tribal business development. The Budget also terminates the Indian Land Consolidation Program. In addition, the Budget also reduces funding for programs that directly fund tribal operations such as roads, housing, and social services.
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Public Safety and Justice -107 The Budget cuts the tribal law enforcement program by 20 percent.
Bureau of Indian Education Construction -187 The Budget eliminates funding for construction of tribal schools.
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Surveys, Investigations, and Research programs -564 USGS provides science information on natural hazards, ecosystems, water, energy and mineral resources, and mapping of Earth’s features. The Budget eliminates programs that provide grants to universities and crucial climate science initiatives and instead focuses on support for minerals and fossil fuel extraction.
Bureau of Land Management Conservation Programs -198 The Budget proposes deep reductions. The Budget also reduces the Wildlife and Aquatic Habitat Management program.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) State, Tribal, and NGO Conservation Grant Programs -170 The Budget eliminates USFWS grant programs that fund conservation of species managed by States, Tribes, and other nations.
Renewable Energy Programs -80 The Budget proposes to eliminate support for renewable energy deployment.
USFWS Ecological Services -37 USFWS’ Ecological Services program and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Protected Resources are jointly responsible for administering the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The Budget consolidates these two programs into a single program housed within DOI with significantly reduced funding.
Federal Wildland Fire Service (consolidation of USDA and DOI Wildland Fire Management programs under a unified agency within DOI) -- Federal wildfire risk mitigation and suppression responsibilities currently are split across five agencies in two departments: the U.S. Forest Service in USDA and BIA, Bureau of Land Management, USFWS, and NPS in DOI. The Budget consolidates the Federal wildland fire responsibilities into a single new Federal Wildland Fire Service at DOI, including transferring USDA’s current wildland fire management responsibilities.
House Natural Resources Committee
1324 Longworth

06/12/2025 at 10:00AM

Full Committee Markup of FY26 Defense Bill

Full committee markup.

Markup of the Homeland Security bill was postponed.

Defense:

Homeland Security:

Budget request

Department of Defense (DOD)
Program Name $ Change from 2025 Enacted (in millions) Brief Description of Program and Recommended Reduction or Increase
DOD Topline +113,300 In combination with $113 billion in mandatory funding, the Budget increases Defense spending by 13 percent.
Department of Homeland Security
Increases
Program$ Change from 2025 Enacted (in millions)Description
DHS +43,800 Amounts for DHS in the 2026 Budget complement amounts that the Administration has requested as part of the reconciliation bill currently under consideration in the Congress. Reconciliation would allocate more than $175 billion in additional multiyear budget authority to implement the Administration’s priorities in the homeland security space of which at least an estimated $43.8 billion would be allocated in 2026. Reconciliation funding in 2026 would enable DHS to fully implement the President’s mass removal campaign, finish construction of the border wall on the Southwest border, procure advanced border security technology, modernize the fleet and facilities of the Coast Guard, and enhance Secret Service protective operations. Reconciliation would also provide funding to bolster State and local capacity to enhance security around key events and facilities, and prepare for upcoming special events like the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics.
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
Program$ Change from 2025 Enacted (in millions)Description
Non-Disaster Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Grant Programs -646 The Budget reduces FEMA grant programs. FEMA under the previous administration made equity a top priority for emergency relief, which will end. The National Domestic Preparedness Consortium will be eliminated.
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) -491 The Budget refocuses CISA on Federal network defense and enhancing the security and resilience of critical infrastructure. The Budget eliminates programs focused on misinformation and propaganda as well as external engagement offices such as international affairs.
Shelter and Services Program -650 The Budget proposes eliminating the Shelter and Services Program.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Screening -247 The Budget reduces Transportation Security Officer levels.
House Appropriations Committee
2359 Rayburn

06/12/2025 at 09:00AM

A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the Department of the Treasury

Subcommittee hearing.

Chair Bill Hagerty

Witness:

  • Scott Bessent, Secretary, Department of the Treasury
Program Name $ Change from 2025 Enacted (in millions) Brief Description of Program and Recommended Reduction or Increase
Department of the Treasury
Increases
Rural Financial Award Program +100 The Budget creates a new $100 million award program from a limited CDFI program. This new program would require 60 percent of Community Development Financial Institutions’ (CDFIs’) loans and investments to go to rural areas.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) -2,488 The Budget significantly reduces the IRS budget.
CDFI Fund Discretionary Awards -291 The Budget recommends eliminating CDFI Fund discretionary awards, including climate reisiliency.
Senate Appropriations Committee
    Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee
138 Dirksen

06/11/2025 at 04:00PM

A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development

Subcommittee hearing.

Witness:

  • Scott Turner, Secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Budget request:

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
State Rental Assistance Block Grant (Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, Public Housing, Project-Based Rental Assistance, Housing for the Elderly, and Housing for Persons with Disabilities) -26,718 The Budget transforms the current Federal rental assistance into a State-based formula grant. The Budget would also newly institute a two-year cap on rental assistance for able bodied adults. A State-based formula program would also lead to significant terminations of Federal regulations. The Budget includes $25 million in housing grants for youth aging out of foster care.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) -3,300 The Budget proposes to eliminate the CDBG program, which provides formula grants to over 1,200 State and local governments for a wide range of community and economic development activities.
HOME Investment Partnerships Program -1,250 The Budget eliminates HOME, a formula grant that provides State and local governments with funding to expand the supply of housing.
Native American Programs and Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant -479 The Budget eliminates competitive grant programs for Native American housing and eliminates the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant.
Homeless Assistance Program Consolidations -532 The Budget consolidates the Continuum of Care and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS programs into an Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program that provides short- and medium-term housing assistance, capped at two years, to homeless and at-risk individuals. T
Surplus Lead Hazard Reduction and Healthy Homes Funding -296 This set of programs has unobligated balances that should be depleted.
Self-Sufficiency Programs -196 HUD’s Self-Sufficiency Programs are eliminated.
Pathways to Removing Obstacles (PRO) Housing -100 Consistent with the Executive Order 14151, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” the Budget proposes to eliminate PRO Housing, an affordable housing development program.
Fair Housing Grants -60 The Budget eliminates the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP), which provides competitive grants to public and private fair housing organizations. The Budget also eliminates the National Fair Housing Training Academy, which provides training for Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) and FHIP professionals as well as funding to translate HUD materials to languages other than English. The Budget, however, maintains support for FHAP, which funds State and local enforcement agencies that collectively process about 80 percent of the Nation’s fair housing complaints under the Fair Housing Act.
Small Agency Eliminations
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
  • 400 Years of African American History Commission
  • Corporation for National and Community Service (operating as AmeriCorps)
  • Corporation for Public Broadcasting
  • Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
  • Institute of Museum and Library Sciences
  • Inter-American Foundation
  • Marine Mammal Commission
  • National Endowment for the Arts
  • National Endowment for the Humanities
  • Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
  • U.S. African Development Foundation
  • U.S. Agency for Global Media
  • U.S. Institute of Peace
  • U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
  • Woodrow Wilson Center
  • Presidio Trust
-3,586 The Budget includes the elimination of, or the elimination of Federal funding for, the following small agencies. Agencies in bold are in these appropriations bills.
  • Delta Regional Authority
  • Denali Commission
  • Northern Border Regional Commission
  • Southeast Crescent Regional Commission
  • Southwest Border Regional Commission
  • Great Lakes Authority
The Budget eliminates six small regional commissions. The Budget continues funding for Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) operations at $14 million.
Senate Appropriations Committee
   Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
192 Dirksen

06/11/2025 at 03:30PM

Markup of Wildfire Response, Fog Forecasting, and Other Legislation

Full committee markup.

House Science, Space, and Technology Committee
2318 Rayburn

06/11/2025 at 02:00PM

A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the United States Forest Service

Subcommittee hearing.

Chair Lisa Murkowski

Witness:

  • Tom Schultz, Chief, United States Forest Service

Full committee markup.

Budget request:

Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
National Forest System Management -392 The Budget reduces salaries and expenses by $342 million, and saves an additional $50 million by eliminating funding for the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration program, and reducing funding for recreation, vegetation and watershed management, and land management regulation. The Budget fully supports the Executive Order 14225, “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production,” to improve forest management and increase domestic timber production. The requested funding level supports timber sales, hazardous fuels removal, mineral extraction, grazing, and wildlife habitat management.
Forest Service Operations -391 The Budget reduces funding for expenses including salaries and facility leases to streamline the Agency’s management structure and reduce their real property footprint.
State, Local, Tribal, and NGO Conservation Programs -303 The Budget largely eliminates grant programs that subsidize management of State and privately-owned forests. While the Budget provides reduced support for Federal wildland fire management activities, these partners should be encouraged to fund their own community preparedness and risk mitigation activities. Programs eliminated include Landscape Scale Restoration, Federal Lands Forest Health Management, Cooperative Lands Forest Health Management, State Fire Capacity Grants, Volunteer Fire Capacity Grants, Forest Stewardship (Working Forest Lands), Community Forest and Open Space Conservation, and Urban and Community Forestry.
Forest and Rangeland Research (Except Forest Inventory and Analysis) -300 The President has pledged to manage national forests for their intended purpose of producing timber. The Budget reduces funding for the Forest and Rangeland Research program because it is out of step with timber production, but maintains funding for Forest Inventory and Analysis, a longstanding census of forest resources and conditions.

The 2026 budget consolidates the federal suppression response apparatus into a new Department of the Interior (DOI) bureau, eliminated USFS Wildland Fire Management and the USFS Wildfire Suppression Operations Reserve Fund.

Senate Appropriations Committee
   Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
124 Dirksen

06/11/2025 at 10:30AM

Weakening the Clean Air Act National Ambient Air Quality Standards

Subcommittee hearing entitled “Short-Circuiting Progress: How the Clean Air Act Impacts Building Necessary Infrastructure and Onshoring American Innovation.”

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

  • Dr. James W. Boylan, Chief of the Air Protection Branch at the Georgia Environmental Protection Division
  • Chad S. Whiteman, Vice President, Environment and Regulatory Affairs, Global Energy Institute, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
  • Paul Noe, Vice President, Public Policy, American Forest and Paper Association
  • John Walke, Director, Federal Clean Air & Senior Attorney, Environmental Health, Natural Resources Defense Council

ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION

  • The process and timelines for reviewing and revising National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
  • The timeliness of EPA’s review of State Implementation Plans (SIPS) and the use of Federal Implementation Plans (FIPS).
  • The impact that forest fires and exceptional events can have on attaining NAAQS.
  • How non-attainment designations can impact infrastructure development and economic growth.
  • Air quality trends in recent decades.

The Subcommittee will discuss two legislative discussion drafts to reform the NAAQS program.

A. H.R. ____, CLEAN AIR AND ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT REFORM ACT (CLEAR ACT)

  • This legislation would make several changes to the process for establishing and implementing NAAQS, including extending the current NAAQS review cycle from five years to ten years, allowing consideration of attainability, providing states the opportunity to address concerns in a SIP submission before a FIP is issued, and eliminating certain demonstration requirements in a SIP to promote increased technological innovations in control technologies.
  • The legislation would also amend the CAA to modify how certain events including fires, drought, and heat, are considered as part of the NAAQS process. The legislation would also add a new section 179C that provides, with respect to any non-attainment area classified as severe or extreme for ozone or as serious for particulate matter, that sanctions for implementation plan deficiencies under section 179 or fees for failure to attain the air quality standard under section 185 will not apply in certain situations. Specifically, Section 319(b) of the Clean Air Act would include prescribed fires and other actions to mitigate wildfire risk as eligible events for excluding air monitoring data for regulatory determinations. The inapplicability of sanctions and fees under this section does not affect any obligations under the Act to implement measures to attain national ambient air quality standards.
  • The legislation would also require the CASAC to include at least 3 people representing state air pollution control agencies and includes a new provision that requires those appointed from state air pollution control agencies to be from different regions of the country and to require the EPA Administrator to request, and the CASAC to provide, advice regarding adverse public health, welfare, social, economic, or energy effects that may result from various strategies for attainment and maintenance of NAAQS.

B. H.R. ____, CLEAN AIR AND BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT ACT

  • This legislation would require the EPA Administrator to concurrently publish regulations and guidance for implementing a revised NAAQS and prevent the new or revised standards from applying to preconstruction permit applications until the Administrator has published such final regulations and guidance. It also clarifies that nothing in the subsection eliminates the obligation of a preconstruction permit applicant to install the best available control technology and lowest achievable emission rate technology, and clarifies that nothing in the subsection limits the authority of a state, local, or Tribal permitting authority to impose more stringent emissions requirements pursuant to a state, local, or tribal law than NAAQS. • The legislation also provides that the 2024 PM2.5 standard shall not apply to the review and disposition of a preconstruction permit application if a permit application is completed on or before the date of promulgation of the final designation of an area; or a public notice of a preliminary determination on a draft permit is provided within 60 days after the date of final designation of an area.
  • It also provides that the section shall not be construed to eliminate the obligation of a preconstruction permit applicant to install best available control technology and lowest achievable emission rate technology, as applicable, or limit the authority of a state, local, or tribal permitting authority to impose more stringent emissions requirements than the NAAQS.
House Energy and Commerce Committee
   Environment Subcommittee
2322 Rayburn

06/11/2025 at 10:15AM

Full Committee Markup of FY26 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill

Full committee markup.

Budget request:

Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Increases
Program(millions of $)Description
Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) +15 FSIS inspects meat, poultry, and egg product plants to ensure food safety nationwide. Several States have their own equivalent inspection program, and FSIS shares in the cost of these programs. Increases are needed to support increased production and demand for services.
Rental Assistance Grants +74 The Budget provides funding to renew the rental assistance grant contracts at $1.7 billion. This prevents the default of the $9 billion in USDA underwritten multifamily housing direct loans, that depend on the rental assistance grants for the debt service.
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
Program(millions of $)Description
National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) -602 The Budget eliminates programming in NIFA, such as activities related to climate change, renewable energy, and promoting DEI in education that were prioritized under the Biden Administration. In addition, the Budget reduces funding for formula grants. Instead, the Budget focuses on the merit-based Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. The Budget protects funding to youth and K-12 programs such as 4-H clubs, tribal colleges, and universities. This investment would help prepare future generations of farmers. It also ensures HBCUs are amply funded.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and USDA Research Statistical Agencies -159 The Budget reduces funding for research sites across the Nation and reduces funding for research projects. The Budget also makes small reductions to the Economic Research Service and National Agricultural Statistics Service to stop climate research added by the Biden Administration while ensuring some analysis and data collection continues.
Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS)—Private Lands Conservation Operations -754 The Budget eliminates discretionary funding for conservation technical assistance. While funding has helped producers deploy conservation practices on their lands, many have been forced to participate in the program in order to comply with State environmental regulations such as California’s Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program, which regulates agricultural runoff.
NRCS Watershed Operations -16 The Budget eliminates funding to renovate locally owned dams in the NRCS Watershed Programs. These programs received an influx of funding through IIJA. Currently, there is over $100 million in unobligated balances between the two programs.
Rural Development Programs -721 Infrastructure loans are prioritized for aging rural water and wastewater systems, as well as technical assistance through the “Circuit Rider” program balanced with reductions in the grants. Other specialty water grants and earmarks are not funded except where the tax base cannot support loans, including maintaining funding for Native American Tribes. Community facility grants are eliminated, as the Congress has been earmarking nearly 100 percent of them. No new USDA funding is needed for broadband expansion. The Budget would also eliminate rural business programs, single family housing direct loans, self-help housing grants, telecommunications loans, and rural housing vouchers. Rural Development salaries and expenses are reduced commensurately.
Farm Service Agency (FSA) Salaries and Expenses: Farm Production and Conservation-Business Center (FPACBC) -358 The first Trump Administration placed the FSA, NRCS, and Risk Management Agency under one umbrella: FPAC-BC. The staff-heavy FSA struggles with hiring due in part because of labor market competition. The Budget reduces funding in order to reflect the Agency’s plans for efficiencies, which include improving online services.
National Forest System Management -392 The Budget reduces salaries and expenses by $342 million, and saves an additional $50 million by eliminating funding for the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration program, and reducing funding for recreation, vegetation and watershed management, and land management regulation. The Budget fully supports the Executive Order 14225, “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production,” to improve forest management and increase domestic timber production. The requested funding level supports timber sales, hazardous fuels removal, mineral extraction, grazing, and wildlife habitat management.
Forest Service Operations -391 The Budget reduces funding for expenses including salaries and facility leases to streamline the Agency’s management structure and reduce their real property footprint.
State, Local, Tribal, and NGO Conservation Programs -303 The Budget reduces grant programs that subsidize management of State and privately-owned forests. While the Budget provides reduced support for Federal wildland fire management activities, these partners should be encouraged to fund their own community preparedness and risk mitigation activities.
Forest and Rangeland Research (Except Forest Inventory and Analysis) -300 The President has pledged to manage national forests for their intended purpose of producing timber. The Budget reduces funding for the Forest and Rangeland Research program because it is out of step with timber production, but maintains funding for Forest Inventory and Analysis, a longstanding census of forest resources and conditions.
Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) -425 The Budget ends CSFP and replaces it with MAHA food boxes. The MAHA food boxes provide food directly to seniors. Unlike the current approach using food banks, which provide those in need with shelf-stable foods, MAHA boxes would be filled with commodities sourced from domestic farmers and given directly to American households.
McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program -240 The McGovern-Dole Food for Education program buys agricultural commodities from U.S. farmers and donates them in the form of foreign aid. Only a small portion of the program’s funding goes toward purchasing U.S. commodities, given the high transportation costs and large portion of funding provided for technical assistance. While these donated commodities totaled only $37 million in 2023 (0.01 percent of all U.S. crop sales), they undercut commodity prices in markets abroad. The elimination of this program is consistent with the elimination of other in-kind international food donation programs in the Budget, including Food for Progress and Food for Peace Title II Grants.
House Appropriations Committee
2359 Rayburn

06/11/2025 at 10:00AM