Hill Heat

Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address of his second term.

02/24/2026 at 09:00PM

At the State of the Union (SOTU), Republicans in Congress are once again bending the knee to Trump and hanging their constituents out to dry. Nobody should participate in Trump’s vanity project, and that’s why Democratic leaders, MoveOn members, and everyday Americans most impacted by Trump’s chaos are coming together for the People’s State of the Union.

President Trump has spent the first year of his administration making lives worse for Americans: slashing health care, sending masked ICE agents to murder our neighbors, and passing tax cuts for the Epstein class. We cannot give Trump the attention he wants, or validate his lies to the American people. We cannot treat this SOTU like business as usual.

Join MeidasTouch and MoveOn as we present the People’s State of the Union alongside elected officials, partners, allies and directly impacted Americans.

In person at 3rd St. between Jefferson and Madison on the National Mall or livestream.

Speakers:

• Katie Bethell
• Katie Phang, Joy Reid
• Reverend Paul Brandeis Raushenbush
• Sen. Chris Murphy, Fereshteh Ganjavi
• Rep. Summer Lee
• Sen. Ruben Gallego
• Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Jenna Norton
• Rep. Greg Casar, Jill Kordick
• Rep. Robert Garcia, Kelley Robinson
• Sen. Jeff Merkley, Nafisa Fai
• Sen. Tina Smith, Brenda Lewis
• Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Nedia Morsy
• Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove
• Sen. Ed Markey, Gladys Vega
• Rep. Becca Balint, Mohsen Mahdawi
• Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Lauren Hersh
• Sen. Adam Schiff
• Rep. Delia Ramirez
• Rep. Maxwell Frost, Alice Goldberg
• Rep. Jim Himes, Madalyn Beckett
• Rep. Yassamin Ansari, Sonia Almarez
• Rep. Emily Randall, Sharlene Rochard
• Rep. Chellie Pingree, Jenny Beverly
• Rep. John Larson, Moises Ricardo, Marlon Ricardo Camejo
• Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, Dr. Troy Jacobs
• Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, Carmen Pacheco-Munoz
• Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Alejandra Esquivel
• Keya Chatterjee
• Becky Pringle
• Katie Bethell

Additional Partners:

• American Federation of Teachers
• Americans for Tax Fairness
• Center for Popular Democracy
• Climate Power
• Common Defense
• Economic Security Project Action
• Families Over Billionaires
• FWD.us
• Free DC
• Human Rights Campaign
• Indivisible
• Interfaith Alliance
• National Education Association
• Ohio Progressive Action Leaders
• Our Revolution
• People Power United
• Protect Our Care
• Public Citizen
• Social Security Works
• The Tuesday Group
• Vera Action
• Voto Latino
• Win Without War

02/24/2026 at 08:00PM

The purpose of the subcommittee hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills:

Legislation:

• S. 1034, Southwestern Power Administration Fund Establishment Act
• S. 1242, Watershed Results Act
• S. 2437, Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program Reauthorization Act of 2025
• S. 2753, Urban Canal Modernization Act
• S. 3409, Lower Yellowstone River Native Fish Conservation Act
• S. 3500, Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act
• S. 3518, FLOWS Act
• S. 3635, Fort Peck Water System Reauthorization Act
• S. 3684, Water Power Research and Development Reauthorization Act
• S. 3693, Large-Scale Water Recycling Reauthorization Act
• S. 3723, A bill to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of constructing a project to supply municipal, rural, and industrial water from the Missouri River to the Western Dakota Regional Water System, and for other purposes.
• S. 3725, A bill to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of constructing a project to supply municipal, rural, and industrial water to expand the capacity and reach of the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System, Inc. (doing business as “Lewis & Clark Regional Water System”), in the States of Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota.
• S. 3732, A bill to amend the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act to authorize assistance under the storage program, and for other purposes.
• S. 3736, A bill to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of constructing a project to supply municipal, rural, and industrial water to the Dakota Mainstem Regional Water System service area in the States of South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota, and for other purposes.
• S. 3737, A bill to amend the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 to provide financial and technical assistance to eligible entities for the conduct of innovative approaches to voluntary water partnership agreements among multiple water users and projects conducted by individual agricultural entities, and for other purposes.
• S. 3738, A bill to amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to reauthorize the large-scale water recycling and reuse program, to establish a Water Conveyance Improvement Program, and for other purposes.
• S. 3743, A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to carry out a feasibility study on a selective water withdrawal system at Glen Canyon Dam, and for other purposes.
• S. 3792, A bill to provide for the establishment of a Water Project Navigators Program, and for other purposes.

02/24/2026 at 10:30AM

On Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 10:30 a.m., in room 1334 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:

• H.R. 1501 (Rep. Shreve), “Protecting Domestic Mining Act of 2025”
• H.R. 2969 (Rep. Wittman), “Finding Opportunities for Resource Exploration Act” or the “Finding ORE Act”
• H.R. 4781 (Rep. Barr), “Rare Earth Solutions and Carbon Utilization Enhancement Act of 2025” or the “RESCUE Act of 2025”
• H.R. 5929 (Rep. Barr), “Critical Minerals Supply Chain Resiliency Act”
• H.R. 7126 (Rep. Wittman), “Securing Essential and Critical U.S. Resources and Elements Minerals Act of 2026” or the “SECURE Minerals Act of 2026”
• H.R. 7458 (Rep. Hageman), “Domestic Opportunities for Resource Exploration Act” or the “Domestic ORE Act”

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Mark Compton, Executive Director, American Exploration & Mining Association, Spokane Valley, WA
• Sean Pi, Founding Partner, Heeney Capital, West Palm Beach, FL
• Adam Johnson, CEO, Principal Minerals, Southlake, TX
• Chelsea Hodgkins, Senior Auto Supply Chains Policy Advocate, Public Citizen, Washington, D.C. [Minority Witness]

H.R. 1501, the Protecting Domestic Mining Act of 2025, amends the FAST Act to formally include mining projects within the federal expedited permitting process. It further prohibits the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council from implementing 2023 regulations that would have restricted which mining projects qualify for these accelerated, “fast-track” reviews.

H.R. 2969, the Finding ORE Act, is bipartisan legislation that allows the U.S. government to send geologists and technology to other countries to help them find buried mineral deposits, provided those countries give U.S. companies first dibs on mining them.

H.R. 4781, the RESCUE Act of 2025, grants “fast-track” status to projects that extract or process minerals from toxic waste sources, specifically acid mine drainage, mine tailings, and coal byproducts.

H.R. 5929 empowers the President to fast-track mining projects by legally linking a Presidential Determination under the Defense Production Act to the federal permitting process. After such a designation, the bill compels federal agencies to adopt a synchronized, accelerated schedule for environmental and land-use reviews under the FAST-41 system.

H.R. 7126, the bipartisan SECURE Minerals Act of 2025, would establish a $2.5 billion government-owned corporation, the Strategic Resilience Reserve Corporation, to increase the domestic supply of raw materials for technology through investments in private mining and processing projects, including ownership stakes, loans, and purchase guarantees.

H.R. 7458 accelerates the U.S. mining permit process by imposing strict, short deadlines for environmental reviews and making approval the default if agencies fail to meet them. The bill limits long-term scientific analysis, narrows the scope of environmental impact studies, and drastically reduces the timeframe for public legal challenges to mining projects.

02/24/2026 at 10:30AM

On Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 10:15 a.m. in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold an oversight hearing titled “Bureaucratic Delays and the Costs to Ratepayers and Electric Power Systems.”

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Ralph Armstrong, Senior Assistant Business Manager, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, Vacaville, CA
• Jim Anderson, CEO and General Manager, Midstate Electric Cooperative, La Pine, OR (member company of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association)
• Jason Bowling, CEO, Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative, Inc., Sierra Vista, AZ (member company of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association)
• Mason Baker, CEO and General Manager, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, Salt Lake City, UT (member company of the American Public Power Association)
• Randy S. Howard, General Manager, Northern California Power Agency, Roseville, CA (member company of the American Public Power Association)
• Jesse Murray, Senior Vice President of Energy Delivery, NV Energy, Reno, NV
• Dr. Carolyn Mahan, Professor, Biology and Environmental Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, Altoona, PA; Member, Right-of-Way Stewardship Council [Minority Witness]
• Christina Hayes, Executive Director, Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, Washington, DC [Minority Witness]

Title II of the “Fix Our Forests” Act strengthens existing expedited authorities for electricity rights-of-ways by allowing hazard tree removal within 150 feet of power lines, rather than the current 10-foot limit. The legislation also requires automatic approval, after 120 days, of vegetation management plans submitted by electric utilities, while section 204 establishes a new categorical exclusion for the approval of vegetation management plans and routine activities carried out consistent with such plans. Additionally, FOFA authorizes USFS to approve hazard tree removal for maintenance purposes near power lines without requiring a separate timber sale.

02/24/2026 at 10:15AM

The Subcommittee on Environment will hold a hearing on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 10:15 a.m. (ET) in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled, “From Source to Tap: A Hearing to Examine Challenges and Opportunities for Safe, Reliable, and Affordable Drinking Water.”

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Eric Hill, General Manager, Russellville Water & Sewer Board, Russellville, Ala., on behalf of the National Rural Water Association;
• Nicole Murley, Deputy Inspector General performing the duties of the Inspector General, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;
• Lindsey Rechtin, CPA, President & CEO, Northern Kentucky Water District, on behalf of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies
• Erik Olson, Senior Strategic Director for Health & Food, Natural Resources Defense Council

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), signed into law on December 16, 1974, by President Ford, is the main federal law regulating drinking water and protecting drinking water sources. The law directs the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish national primary drinking water regulations to protect public health and to administer federal funding mechanisms for drinking water infrastructure. This authority includes regulating contaminants that pose health risks in public water systems and establishing the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF).

The SDWA applies to Public Water Systems (PWS), defined as systems that provide water for human consumption to the public through pipes or other constructed conveyances. A system qualifies as a PWS if it has at least 15 service connections or regularly serves at least 25 individuals. Systems below this threshold, including individual private drinking water wells, are not covered by the SDWA and instead are regulated at the state and local level. Today there are approximately 150,000 public water systems nationwide that provide drinking water service to a vast majority of the U.S. According to the EPA’s Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment, public water systems nationwide face substantial challenges in replacing aging pipes, modernizing treatment facilities, improving storage, and enhancing system resilience.

The recent Potomac Interceptor sewage spill has underscored the broader deterioration of aging water and wastewater infrastructure nationwide. The incident resulted in the release of hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the Potomac River, a primary source of drinking water for communities across Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. This sewer break raises concerns about downstream contamination and how untreated sewage can impact sources for drinking water.

02/24/2026 at 10:15AM

Full committee hearing. This hearing has been postponed.

Witness:

• Phillip Swagel, Director, Congressional Budget Office

02/24/2026 at 10:15AM

Subcommittee hearing titled “Powering America’s AI Future: Assessing Policy Options to Increase Data Center Infrastructure.” This hearing will examine the structure, implementation, and oversight of federal permitting frameworks governing the development of energy and data center infrastructure that support artificial intelligence (AI).

Hearing charter

Witnesses:

• Paige Lambermont, Research Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute
• Marsden Hanna, Head of Energy and Sustainability Policy, Global Affairs Team, Google, LLC
• Dr. Eric Masanet, Professor and Mellichamp Chair in Sustainability Science for Emerging Technologies, Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UC Santa Barbara

02/24/2026 at 10:00AM

The Committee on Rules will meet Monday, February 23, 2026 at 4:00 PM ET in H-313, The Capitol on the following measures:

• H.R. 4626 – Home Appliance Protection and Affordability Act (Text, Report)
• H.R. 4758 – Homeowner Energy Freedom Act (Text, Report)

H.R. 4626, formerly the ‘‘Don’t Mess With My Home Appliances Act,’’ will raise electricity costs. The bill amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to add burdensome, duplicative, and contradictory procedures to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) processes for issuing energy efficiency standards. It also gives future administrations the ability to revoke existing standards, potentially violating the statute’s anti-backsliding provisions. The bill would also prohibit the banning of a product based on a type of fuel and ban DOE from factoring in social costs of greenhouse gas emissions in its determination. H.R. 4626 was amended in the Subcommittee Markup to further weaken energy efficiency standards. Language was added to the bill to extend compliance dates for all products, delaying cost savings for consumers. Moreover, additional cumbersome considerations were included for DOE to examine when issuing efficiency standards.

H.R. 4758, the Homeowner Energy Freedom Act, repeals three programs created by the Inflation Reduction Act: the High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program, the State-Based Home Energy Efficiency Contractor Training Grants, and Assistance for Latest and Zero Building Energy Code Adoption. The bill also rescinds all unobligated funds for the High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program and Assistance for Latest and Zero Building Energy Code adoption.

02/23/2026 at 04:00PM

Full committee hearing.

Nominees:

• Dr. Wesley Brooks, of Florida, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
• Jeremy Carl, of Montana, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (International Organizations)
• Billy Long, of Missouri, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Iceland
• Robert Sweeney, of Texas, to be United States Director of the Asian Development Bank, with the Rank of Ambassador

Brooks has been the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory & Scientific Affairs, Office of Water, EPA since May 2025. He was the Director of Federal Affairs for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (2020-2021) and then the Chief Resilience Officer, in charge of programs to respond to sea level rise, (Nov. 2021-May 2025) under Gov. Ron DeSantis. Previously, he was a staffer for a series of Florida Republicans, first for Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (2013-2017, then Rep. Brian Mast (2017), then Sen. Marco Rubio (2017-2020). He first joined Ros-Lehtinen’s staff as a congressional fellow funded by Shell. He received a Ph.D. in 2013 from Rutgers University in ecological science. His academic work has included assessments of ecosystem damage caused by climate change, invasive plants, invasive fish, and citizen-science initiatives.

In his testimony, Brooks advocated for deep-sea mining and protecting the U.S. plastics industry from global regulation.

Jeremy Carl is a white supremacist.

Billy Long is an auctioneer and former Republican congressman who had a brief and ignominious tenure as IRS Commissioner from June 16, 2025 to August 8, 2025.

Robert Sweeney was the CEO of Mission National Bank and is an executive with Texas-based Accelex Resources. He is an advocate of geothermal energy and modular nuclear reactors.

02/12/2026 at 10:30AM