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Prediction track record
How often we called Jack Reed's passage votes correctly, from their stated positions on each bill's tagged topics. Excludes “unclear” calls and abstentions.
100%
Accuracy
1
Correct
0
Incorrect
74
Pending
Right119-sjres-184
A joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress.
A joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress.
Based on 2 data points across public statements and recorded votes · AI analysis of public records
119-sjres-184·Consistent
A joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress.
95/100
What they said
Apr 21, 2026
Senator Reed opposes President Trump's military operations in Iran as unauthorized and calls for Congress to invoke the War Powers Act to end the conflict, arguing that diplomatic strategy should replace military action.
Voted Yea on A joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress.
Senator Reed's statement explicitly opposes President Trump's unauthorized military operations in Iran and calls for Congress to invoke the War Powers Act to end the conflict. His vote in favor of S.J.Res. 184, which directs removal of U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities in Iran absent congressional authorization, directly aligns with his stated position. Both the statement and the vote reflect the same substantive opposition to the war and support for ending it through congressional action.
A joint resolution directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in Syria that have not been authorized by Congress.
25/100
What they said
Apr 21, 2026
Senator Reed opposes President Trump's military operations in Iran as unauthorized and calls for Congress to invoke the War Powers Act to end the conflict, arguing that diplomatic strategy should replace military action.
Voted Nay on A joint resolution directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in Syria that have not been authorized by Congress.
Senator Reed's statement explicitly opposes unauthorized military operations and calls for invoking the War Powers Act to end military conflict, demanding congressional oversight and withdrawal. However, he voted against S.J.Res. 51, which would have directed withdrawal from Syria within 30 days unless Congress authorized the operations. This vote directly contradicts his stated position on the need to end unauthorized military operations and assert congressional authority through the War Powers Resolution.
Pairs with ambiguous language and high uncertainty are withheld until more data is available. Procedural, cloture, and amendment votes are excluded — they don't cleanly signal substantive support or opposition.
Pro analysis
AI rep analysis — Pro
Get an AI-narrated read on Jack Reed's full voting record against your stated values — aligned themes, conflicts, notable votes, and what to watch for.
We haven't extracted campaign positions for Jack Reed yet. Once their campaign website or position pages are processed, this card will track what they said vs how they voted.
Crossing the aisle
No party-break passage votes recorded for Jack Reed. Either they've voted with Democrats on every substantive passage vote in the corpus, or their tenure overlaps few high-threshold party-line votes so far.
Reed Sounds Alarm on Hegseth’s Campaign to Politicize the U.S. Military | U.S. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island
Position: Senator Reed opposes Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's introduction of partisan political activities and rhetoric into military leadership, arguing that the military's apolitical foundation is essential to its strength and public trust.
WASHINGTON, DC – This week, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, delivered a speech on the Senate floor warning that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is systematically undermining the U.S. military’s apolitical foundation and eroding the American people’s trust.
Senator Reed condemned Hegseth’s recent hyper-partisan remarks at the D-Day anniversary at Normandy, his commencement address at West Point, his political campaign activities in Kentucky, his interference in the military’s chain of command, and his introduction of explicit partisan political agendas into Pentagon leadership.
The Senator concluded: “The military’s apolitical mission is not incidental to its strength; it is foundational to it. When the Secretary of Defense uses his office to promote a sectarian vision of his culture war, he does not inspire the force. He divides it. Taken together, the secretary’s actions are an assault on the norms, traditions, and structures that have kept the American military the most trusted institution in this country for 250 years.”
Senator Reed called on his colleagues to reject the politicization of the American military and to defend the institutional norms that protect the trust of the American people in their armed forces.
A video of Senator Reed’s remarks may be viewed here.
A transcript of Senator Reed’s floor speech follows.
Addressing Secretary Hegseth’s Politicization of the U.S. Military
Ranking Member, Senate Armed Services Committee
REED: Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the United States military and its role as an apolitical institution. For 250 years, our military’s most important source of strength has been the trust of the American people. Their trust is hard won, and relies upon the belief that our military remains above politics. I fear that trust is being eroded by the current Secretary of Defense.
I want to begin with Dwight Eisenhower. This month marks the 82nd anniversary of D-Day and the American invasion at Normandy. General Eisenhower spent the night before those landings walking among the men he was sending into battle — asking where they were from, what they did back home. He wrote two messages for June 6th: the rallying call for the soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and a second message he hoped no one would ever read, in case the landings failed. It read: “If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.” He never had to send it. But he wrote it, because he understood that the privilege of command carries the full weight of its consequences.
In 1947, Eisenhower addressed the graduating class at West Point. He had just finished commanding the largest military campaign in human history and witnessed the deaths of hundreds of thousands of young Americans. He knew what war was. And this is what he told the cadets: “War is mankind’s most tragic and stupid folly.” Fifteen years later, General MacArthur, no stranger to war himself, stood at West Point and said: “The soldier above all other people prays for peace.” Those commanders understood that “lethality” is a terrible tool, and humility is paramount in warfare.
Last weekend, Pete Hegseth traveled to Normandy to observe the D-Day anniversary. He stood at the American cemetery above the beaches where more than 2,500 Americans died in a single morning. Standing on that sacred, historic site, Secretary Hegseth did not use his platform to express humility or unity, but to preach an anti-immigrant message. He said: “Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies… Beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria — boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion?”
Historians and veterans called his speech grotesque. I would call it a desecration — and an ignorant one.
I doubt the Secretary knows that during World War Two, more than 300,000 foreign-born individuals served in the U.S. Army alone. More than 109,000 of them were not even American citizens. They were men and women who crossed an ocean to fight and die for a country that had not yet fully claimed them, and who earned their citizenship through their service.
Hundreds of thousands more were first-generation Americans – the children of immigrants. For example, U.S. Navy Coxswain Amin Isbir, the son of Syrian immigrants who settled in Pittsburgh, was among the first men off his landing craft when it reached Omaha Beach under heavy fire on the morning of June 6th. After securing his landing craft on the beach, he was killed by a German shell while helping load a fellow wounded soldier onto a stretcher. Coxswain Isbir and countless heroes like him are buried at Normandy.
Yet Secretary Hegseth stood above their graves and used the moment to deride the kind of people they were.
Last month, Secretary Hegseth got his own chance to address West Point cadets at their commencement. Where Eisenhower and MacArthur spoke of wisdom, humility, and caution, Pete Hegseth boasted about lethality, claimed that West Point had turned into “woke Princeton,” and made such bluster as “you can’t throw your pronouns at the enemy.” He told the Class of 2026 — the most diverse in the Academy’s history — that strength in diversity is “the single dumbest phrase in military history.” He mocked the service of women officers and criticized those with non-conservative political beliefs. He told a captive audience of newly commissioned officers that the presence of their classmates with different beliefs and demographics represented a lowering of standards. It was shameful, divisive, and self-centered.
Mr. President, I attended West Point as a cadet. I taught there as a professor. I served on active duty as an Army officer. I know what West Point stands for, and what its graduates embrace: principled leadership to serve their soldiers and the nation. Where past leaders asked West Point cadets to understand the economic, political, and spiritual aspirations of other peoples — to devote their lives as seriously to leading toward peace as preparing for war — Hegseth gave them a culture war speech. Indeed, as James Bennet observed in The Economist: “where past military leaders treated violence as a tragic necessity, Hegseth celebrated it as righteous and thrilling.”
His hyper-partisan remarks were both morally and factually wrong.
But Mr. President, this was not an isolated incident. It is part of a pattern of partisan, political behavior antithetical to the role of the Secretary of Defense.
Last month, Secretary Hegseth traveled to Kentucky to campaign for a Republican House candidate the day before a primary election. He stood on a stage, attacked a sitting Republican member of Congress, and told the crowd to send a different man to Washington. He announced a disclaimer, apparently “for the lawyers,” that he was there in his personal capacity.
That disclaimer is void. The Secretary of Defense does not have a personal capacity. He represents, at every moment, this nation and its military forces.
Indeed, it seems he violated the Defense Department’s own political activity rules, which expressly prohibit Senate-confirmed officials from taking an active part in political campaigns. The Department’s rules are explicit: even “making speeches” or “knocking doors” constitutes a prohibited political act for someone in Hegseth’s position.
Pete Hegseth arrived in Kentucky as the civilian leader of the most powerful military on Earth, in the middle of an active war. The Secretary title travels with him. The authority of the office travels with him. And every servicemember watching the news understood exactly what they were seeing: the man who controls their careers, their promotions, and their deployments inserting himself into a partisan election on behalf of the President’s favored candidate.
This was an abuse of office and created an image that every Secretary of Defense in memory has worked to avoid. The Kentucky Republican Party’s own former spokesman questioned whether Secretary Hegseth violated the Hatch Act, and numerous independent groups have filed complaints with the Pentagon’s Inspector General.
Mr. President, this isn’t about my opposition to the Secretary or President Trump. I’m driven by the corrosive impacts of his rhetoric, his actions, and what they mean for strength of our volunteer military. We need to think about what this means for the men and women in uniform who serve under this secretary. They took an oath to the Constitution — not to a political party, not to a candidate, not to a president. The Uniform Code of Military Justice restricts their partisan activity precisely because we have always understood that a politicized military is a dangerous military. And now our servicemembers are watching their Secretary of Defense do what they are forbidden to do. What message does that send? What chilling effect does it have on good order and discipline throughout the ranks?
Secretary Hegseth has personally intervened in the careers of nearly 50 senior officers we know of — firing them or blocking their promotions without explanation. Just last month, we learned he has personally blocked and delayed the promotions of dozens of top-performing Navy and Air Force officers, the majority of whom are women and minority officers. These are leaders selected by their peers based on merit and performance, in a promotion system that has functioned on those principles for generations.
The chilling effect is real. Senior officers across the force are asking themselves whether their professional military advice — the kind that keeps soldiers alive — will cost them their careers. And it is not hypothetical: we have already seen it happen. General Kruse, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, was fired last year after his analysts produced an intelligence report that contradicted the Secretary’s public claims about Iran. The message was received by those advising him, and here we are today – more than 100 days into a war with Iran.
I would also note that, under U.S. law, only the President may remove an officer from a promotion list. Secretary Hegseth has refused to explain why or how he believes he has the authority to terminate or delay these officers’ careers.
And, of course, there is the Kid Rock incident. In March, two Army Apache helicopters flew to the Nashville home of Kid Rock — a well-known Trump supporter — and hovered over his pool while he filmed them for social media. This was an obvious violation of military protocol and aviation safety laws, and the Army immediately launched an investigation and suspended the crews. But within hours, Secretary Hegseth intervened. He posted on social media: “No punishment. No investigation. Carry on, patriots.” The Army’s chain of command was overruled by a tweet because the man being entertained was a friend of the President. Secretary Hegseth later doubled down by taking Kid Rock for a ride in an Army Apache helicopter as part of a promotional video.
Mr. President, the Army’s aviation safety regulations exist for a reason. The chain of command exists for a reason. It ensures commanders hold each other and their troops accountable, that those who break regulations face consequences, and that military assets are used for legitimate operational needs — not political theater. When the Secretary of Defense short-circuits good order and discipline to benefit a political ally, he does not just bend the rules. He signals to every officer that accountability is conditional on politics.
These actions are emblematic of the Secretary’s broader focus on his own personal agenda. In the past three months alone, while our servicemembers have been fighting and dying overseas, he has taken it upon himself to cancel flu vaccine requirements, repeal firearm restrictions on military posts, bar servicemembers from attending certain universities, and upend the chaplain corps.
My point is this: Secretary Hegseth is behaving as though his time as Defense Secretary is an opportunity to impose his personal political views on our military men and women. He is wrong. The office of Secretary of Defense is about leading millions of American servicemembers of every faith, race, and gender with the character and composure they deserve. The military’s apolitical mission is not incidental to its strength; it is foundational to it. When the Secretary of Defense uses his office to promote a sectarian vision of his culture war, he does not inspire the force. He divides it.
Taken together, the secretary’s actions are an assault on the norms, traditions, and structures that have kept the American military the most trusted institution in this country for 250 years.
I served in the Army. ‘Good order and discipline’ is not a slogan. It means that the rules apply to everyone — including the leaders at the top. It means that accountability flows both ways and that promotions are based on merit, not loyalty to a party. And it means that servicemembers of every faith and background are welcomed and respected.
Secretary Hegseth is undermining every one of those tenets. Our servicemembers deserve better. And we have an obligation, as a body, to say so plainly, and to counter this abuse of power.
Reed Backs Bipartisan Bill to Lower Housing Costs & Increase Supply of Affordable Homes | U.S. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island
Position: Senator Reed supports the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, bipartisan legislation designed to increase the supply of affordable homes, streamline housing regulations, ban large-scale investor home purchases, and lower housing costs.
WASHINGTON, DC – As Americans struggle with runaway costs for housing, construction, and household essentials, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a leading champion for affordable housing in Congress, today helped his colleagues in the Senate tee up the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act for final passage in an effort to lower housing costs and increase the supply of affordable homes for Americans.
By a vote of 84-8, the Senate agreed to end debate on revisions to the bipartisan bill, which have been negotiated with the House, setting up a vote on final passage in the Senate early next week.
The bipartisan bill, backed by Senator Reed, seeks to expand and preserve the supply of affordable homes and apartments, streamline costly and time-consuming regulations, increase homeownership, and lower housing costs. For the first time, the legislation would ban large investors from buying up hundreds or thousands of homes. Additional measures in the bill will enable homeowners to more easily and affordably revamp aging houses, make housing production programs more impactful, and help localities cut through red tape to bring down housing costs.
Senator Reed says that the updated text of the legislation incorporates priorities from both chambers of Congress as well as the executive branch, and reflects principled, bipartisan compromise to address the nation’s housing affordability crisis.
“The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is the result of years of bicameral and bipartisan work to address housing costs. This legislation is the most significant housing bill Congress has considered in nearly two decades. There is more we can do on affordable housing like my proposal to repurpose ICE’s slush fund to build more housing, but as our nation grapples with an estimated shortage of approximately 5 million homes, it is imperative that we get it done,” said Reed, the creator of the Housing Trust Fund who has delivered significant federal investments for Rhode Island to increase homeownership and build more homes. “This bill compliments the hundreds of millions of dollars in federal investments I have delivered for Rhode Island to increase the supply of affordable homes by smartly cutting through red tape and streamlining zoning and permitting requirements. I look forward to getting this bill across the finish line to help more Rhode Islanders afford a healthy and welcoming place to call home.”
Senator Reed’s bipartisan provisions featured in the bill include the Property Improvement and Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization Act (S.964) with Sen. Cynthia Lummis and the Helping More Families Save Act (S.970) with Sen. Katie Britt, as well as other key initiatives he championed as a member of the Senate Banking Committee.
The current median sale price of a house in Rhode Island is $500,000, according to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
Senator Reed praised the bipartisan leadership of Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and noted that the bill includes a range of different housing tools and solutions to address housing affordability.
The bipartisan measure has strong backing from a diverse coalition of stakeholder organizations across the country, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors; the National Association of Realtors; the National Low Income Housing Coalition; the National Alliance to End Homelessness; the National NeighborWorks Association; and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).
Once approved by the Senate, the House of Representatives must pass the bill and send it to the president’s desk to be signed into law.
The text of the bill can be found here and a section-by-section summary of the legislation is here.
Trump Admin Drops Plan to Upend Ocean Research After Senate Unanimously Approves Reed, Whitehouse Backed Bill to Safeguard Critical Ocean Monitoring Network | U.S. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island
Position: Senator Reed supports preserving the National Science Foundation's Ocean Observatories Initiative, a network of ocean monitoring instruments that provides data for fisheries, coastal communities, and climate research. He opposed the Trump Administration's plan to dismantle the program.
WASHINGTON, DC – After the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan bill last night to pause the Trump Administration’s shortsighted dismantling of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), the Administration announced today that it is backing off its plan to end the complex ocean observation network that provides real-time, publicly available data for fishermen, coastal communities, and researchers.
U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) cosponsored the Saving the OOI Act (S.4822) introduced by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).
The NSF’s OOI is made up of about 900 instruments and sensors that provide real-time ocean monitoring by collecting and sharing data that is beneficial to local fishermen, coastal communities, and ocean researchers. Data made available by OOI has helped researchers to better understand hurricanes, climate change, heat wave impacts on fisheries, and other ocean phenomena.
“This is good news for our fishermen, our climate, and our researchers,” said Senator Reed. “In the midst of hurricane season, while a strong El Niño is expected to drive up temperatures to historic highs again this summer, it was a reckless move by the Trump Administration to try to get rid of the OOI’s critical network of ocean monitoring equipment that has helped researchers advance discoveries on exactly these kinds of ocean phenomena. I am glad that climate advocates, scientists, and fishermen made their voices heard and that bipartisan Senators came together to sink the Trump Administration’s plan.”
“I’ve been working behind the scenes with Senator Murkowski and our Oceans Caucus to get President Trump’s oily fingers off the nation’s ocean monitoring network,” said Whitehouse, Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and co-founder of the Senate Oceans Caucus. “Trump’s fossil fuel donors would love the federal government to stop measuring the enormous damage their pollution is doing to the oceans. With an extreme El Niño starting, and climate change warming our oceans by the zettajoule, this President must not leave fishermen and weather forecasters flying blind.”
In addition to Senators Reed and Whitehouse, the Merkley-Murkowski bill was cosponsored by U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).
The Trump Administration has repeatedly tried to halt OOI monitoring by proposing to slash the program’s budget, only to be defeated by bipartisan lawmakers, including Reed and Whitehouse, who successfully fought to restore the funding.
Off the coast of New England, OOI operates the Coastal Pioneer Array of sensors and instruments. This station is one of five arrays located in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. According to a previous statement, the NSF planned to dismantle and remove the Pioneer Array beginning in June 2027. The Administration had already begun decommissioning the Endurance Array off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, but today reversed course and announced that they “are developing plans to redeploy the equipment after servicing.”
In 2024, the University of Rhode Island won a $3.2 million NSF award to support OOI over five years. The funding is being used to expand access to OOI data and to educate and engage scientists and the public about key discoveries made possible by the complex network of ocean monitoring instruments and sensors.
Reed Statement on Trump-Iran Ceasefire Agreement | U.S. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island
Position: Senator Reed opposes the Trump-Iran ceasefire agreement, arguing it is weaker than the JCPOA, fails to achieve stated military objectives, lifts sanctions prematurely without verified Iranian compliance, and provides economic relief that will enable Iranian military rebuilding.
WASHINGTON, DC—Today, President Trump sent Congress a copy of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) he has signed with the Islamic Republic of Iran. After reviewing the MOU, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement:
“Every American should be relieved this war is ending, but President Trump deserves neither credit nor celebration for this outcome.
“The hard truth is that after more than 100 days of war, the President has secured little more than an agreement to begin talking about Iran’s nuclear program. Trump chose war instead of diplomacy, forced the American people to pay for it, and is now accepting, as a triumph, an agreement objectively far weaker than the JCPOA he walked away from eight years ago.
“We should be clear-eyed about Trump’s battlefield results. When he launched this war, the President promised he would destroy Iran’s nuclear program, eliminate its missile and drone arsenal, dismantle its defense industrial base, wipe out its proxy networks, and bring about the fall of the Iranian regime itself. Not a single one of those goals has been met.
“Indeed, the specific terms of this memorandum make the outcome even harder to defend. Iran’s central commitment — a pledge not to develop a nuclear weapon — is the same it has made for decades. Trump’s new agreement fails to explicitly bar Iran from enriching uranium or developing nuclear components, and instead freezes the status quo with a promise for ‘future negotiations.’
“Meanwhile, the President has agreed to immediately lift sanctions on Iranian oil before Tehran has made a single verifiable nuclear concession. That is gross negligence. Economic relief should be conditioned on demonstrated compliance, yet the Trump Administration is offering it as an opening bid.
“Finally, the President has agreed to establish a $300 billion investment fund to rebuild Iran. This concession, along with the release of $24 billion in Iranian funds currently frozen in bank accounts, gives Tehran a crucial economic lifeline that will allow it to begin rebuilding its military without having made any concrete concessions on its nuclear program. The hypocrisy would be laughable were it not so dangerous.
“The coming weeks will determine whether this ceasefire holds and whether genuine negotiations follow. I hope they do. But Trump’s war was a catastrophic mistake, and this outcome does not justify it. The Administration must immediately appear before Congress to publicly explain its actions and this memorandum. I intend to ensure there are answers and accountability.”
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was a 2015 agreement between the United States, Iran, and other world powers that limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The deal imposed strict limits on uranium enrichment, reduced Iran’s nuclear stockpile, and established international inspections intended to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. President Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018.
Key Committee Advances Reed’s Bill to Renew & Improve National Bone Marrow & Cord Blood Programs | U.S. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island
Position: Senator Reed supports reauthorization and continued federal funding of the National Marrow Donor Program and National Cord Blood Inventory through 2031, with $280 million authorized over five years to expand access to bone marrow and cord blood transplant treatments.
WASHINGTON, DC -- In a big step toward enhancing patient access to life-saving bone marrow and cord blood transplants, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) today unanimously voted to advance U.S Senator Jack Reed’s (D-RI) bipartisan bill, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2026 (S.4109). This legislation will advance medical research, improve patient outcomes, and ensure that America's bone marrow transplantation program and the National Cord Blood Inventory can continue to save lives and provide treatments and therapies derived from adult stem cell lines.
Specifically, Reed’s bill would reauthorize the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) and the National Cord Blood Inventory (NCBI), which contracts with the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The bill would renew, through 2031, federal programs for using bone marrow and umbilical cord blood to treat diseases and conduct research. It would make up to $280 million available, over a five-year period, pending appropriations, to help individuals diagnosed with diseases such as leukemia and lymphomas, sickle cell anemia, and rare genetic blood disorders and help them find suitable bone marrow or umbilical cord blood donors. Without Congressional action, these programs would expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Approximately $115 million would be authorized for the National Cord Blood Inventory program which has cumulatively banked more than 122,500 cord blood units to be tapped for life-saving treatments.
The National Marrow Donor Program, which recently celebrated facilitating its 150,000 transplant, would be authorized at $165 million over five years. Donating stem cells through the NMDP can save the life of someone battling blood cancer or another serious disorder. The program provides the infrastructure necessary to find an unrelated donor match for patients who need a bone marrow or umbilical cord transplant to treat or cure blood cancers, like leukemia or diseases, like sickle cell disease.
“Thanks to sustained federal investment, advancements in innovative research have been amazing and we want to accelerate that progress by passing this bill and funding these life-saving programs. This bill will help patients and families in their time of need as they face unimaginable circumstances. It provides direct support to these critical institutions that do incredible research, match donors and patients, help save live lives, and improve health outcomes," said Senator Jack Reed. "Our bipartisan bill builds upon the highly successful National Marrow Donor Program that has been a lifeline for thousands of transplant patients over the last two decades. Bone marrow and cord blood transplants continue to offer effective treatments for a number of diseases and disorders. This bipartisan bill would help expand access to lifesaving therapies to patients with conditions that can be treated and even cured with bone marrow or cord blood.”
Reed’s bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Tim Scott (R-SC), Tina Smith (D-MN) and James Lankford (R-OK). Companion legislation (H.R.5160) has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Christopher Smith (R-NJ).
There are three ways to donate blood stem cells: through transplants of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC), bone marrow, and umbilical cord blood that is donated after a baby's birth.
According to the Cleveland Clinic: “a stem cell transplant can treat -- and sometimes cure -- certain blood disorders, cancers and autoimmune diseases. The procedure replaces unhealthy stem cells with healthy ones” by either using “healthy stem cells from your own bone marrow” or from “donated stem cells from another person.”
More information about the transplant process and need for stem cell and marrow donors is available at: www.bloodstemcell.hrsa.gov
Now that the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act has been approved by the HELP Committee, it must be passed by the full U.S. Senate and the House before it can be sent to the president’s desk to be signed into law.
Reed Seeks to Rebuild American Manufacturing, Lower Costs, and Help Create Good-Paying Jobs | U.S. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island
Position: Senator Reed supports legislation to expand the Export-Import Bank's mission to rebuild domestic manufacturing capacity, strengthen supply chains, reduce dependence on foreign sources (particularly China), and create good-paying jobs in strategic industries including semiconductors, AI, critical minerals, and energy technology.
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is teaming up with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and fellow Democrats on new legislation to modernize and expand the U.S. Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank’s mission and strengthen domestic manufacturing and national security while addressing affordability.
Authorizing and expanding the Make More in America Act would rebuild American manufacturing capacity in industries critical to our economy and national security, reducing the country's dangerous dependence on foreign supply chains, especially in China, and help create good-paying jobs across the country.
Specifically, the bill would direct more Ex-Im Bank loans to small and medium-sized manufacturers and help mitigate global supply chain shocks that have fueled inflation. It would also boost Ex-Im’s investment capacity, including in startups. The legislation would help Ex-Im partner with the private sector to grow strategic American industries, including semiconductors, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, quantum technology, biotechnology, energy technology like batteries and fusion, robotics, and shipbuilding.
Year after year, Americans have paid the price due to overdependence on fragile global supply chains. There is an urgent need to build back American manufacturing to ensure the country is less vulnerable to higher costs and shortages from broken or undermined supply chains, like we are experiencing with Trump’s reckless war in Iran leading to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz or when China threatened to cut off the flow of rare earths and magnets last year.
"Americans cannot keep paying the price every time a supply chain crisis hits — whether it's a pandemic, a war, or the whims of the Chinese Communist Party trying to undermine the American economy,” said Leader Schumer. "We have to break the cycle of supple chain shocks that are raising prices, invest in American industry, and protect our national security. As families are facing an affordability crisis and our economic and national security is jeopardized by decades of offshoring manufacturing, including to China, we must work overtime to bring manufacturing and good-paying jobs back to America. There is no reason that the products and technologies that Americans rely on cannot be made here at home. The Make More in America is exactly the kind of bold investment we need to outcompete the CCP and drive American prosperity and security."
“The United States has faced a manufacturing decline under the Trump Administration and we need to reverse that trend. We must bolster domestic supply chains, revive America’s manufacturing competitiveness, and get our manufacturing workforce growing again to ensure America is capable of responding to global threats and builds critical technologies here at home. This bill is an innovative investment that would strengthen America’s manufacturing capacity in strategic sectors that are critical to national security and our economy,” said Senator Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a member of the Senate Banking Committee, which is slated to hold an upcoming markup on the Ex-Im Bank.
In addition to Schumer and Reed the bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD).
The legislation will allow Ex-Im investment to build or expand a manufacturing facility in the U.S. so more manufacturing of critical technologies happens in America. The bill also ensures that the expanded capacity of the Ex-Im Bank will directly benefit American workers and communities.
Under the bill, projects supported under the program must demonstrate support for American jobs, pay prevailing wages for construction, protect existing collective bargaining agreements and remain neutral in union organizing, and include commitments to workforce training and education. More favorable terms are available for projects in economically distressed communities and those creating higher-wage jobs.
To protect against misuse of taxpayer money, funds cannot be used for stock buybacks or to repay pre-existing debts, and are subject to clawback if projects are not completed on time or fail to meet labor requirements. To ensure these investments serve the national interest, senior executive branch officials, including the President and Vice President, Members of Congress, and their immediate families are barred from receiving Ex-Im support under the bill.
The AFL-CIO, American Alliance for Biomanufacturing, AUVSI, Employ America, Federation of American Scientists, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), SCSP Action Program, LLC, and United Steelworkers have all endorsed this legislation.
The Ex-Im Bank must be reauthorized by the end of this year.
Reed Opposes Trump’s Arch That Would Diminish American Heroes and Block Views of Arlington National Cemetery | U.S. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island
Position: Senator Reed opposes President Trump's proposed 250-foot Triumphal Arch near Arlington National Cemetery, arguing it would obstruct views, disrespect the cemetery, violate federal law by lacking congressional approval under the Commemorative Works Act, and waste taxpayer money.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a West Point graduate who served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, joined veterans and taxpayers from around the country in opposing President Trump’s proposed 250-foot “Triumphal Arch” that would obstruct and overshadow the views between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial and disrespect those buried in the hallowed grounds of our nation's preeminent military cemetery.
To offer perspective of scale, the arch would be the equivalent of a 25-story skyscraper in height and more than double the height of the nearby Lincoln Memorial. It’s proposed golden statues would tower over everything nearby and could degrade and pervert the personal experience of visitors to Arlington National Cemetery and the nearby monuments.
With the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) now accepting public input on the arch project to review “potential adverse effects on historic properties, including archeological resources, within the project area,” according to the NPS website, Senator Reed sent a letter of formal opposition to the proposed construction, stating: “Construction of the proposed Arch without congressional approval would be a violation of federal law, a waste of taxpayer money, and an insult to memory of the men and women of the U.S. military whose final resting place is Arlington National Cemetery.”
Senator Reed is encouraging members of the public to submit their own comments about the Arch to the National Park Service before the brief window for comments closes on June 15.
“This project is driven not by popular demand or congressional action, but by President Trump’s apparent fetish for replicating European landmarks during his term,” Reed’s letter continued. “Indeed, the Arch has not received congressional approval as required under law. Passed in 1986, the Commemorative Works Act (CWA) requires congressional authorization for the construction of new “commemorative works” in areas administered by the National Park Service “in the District of Columbia and its environs.” Under the CWA, a “commemorative work” is “any statue, monument, sculpture, memorial, plaque, inscription, or other structure or landscape feature, including a garden or memorial grove, designed to perpetuate in a permanent manner the memory of an individual, group, event or other significant element of American history…” To date, Congress has not approved construction of the proposed arch.”
Instead of honoring America's fallen service members and the families of the more than 400,000 Americans who are buried in Arlington National Cemetery, President Trump is trying to force the rushed construction of a massive but thinly disguised monument to himself. In fact, when President Trump first unveiled the model of the arch last fall, he was asked directly by CBS News' Ed O'Keefe who the arch is for, and Mr. Trump pointed at himself and replied: "Me."
In another clear sign that the Arch is all about Trump, newly released planning documents from NPS reveal that the Trump Administration wants construction taking place 20 hours per day in order to complete the arch before the end of President Trump’s term. The construction phase “would require several tower cranes, forklifts, skid steers, drill rigs, and concrete pumping systems,” according to NPS documents filed to the federal register. “Work would occur year-round, with work occurring in two 10-hour shifts per day (20 hours per day, year-round) for the duration of the construction period.”
“This vanity arch is an affront to taxpayers, veterans, and good government. It’s clear President Trump is doing everything he can to circumvent Congress, the law, and the will of the American people to try to build a massive monument to his own immeasurable ego. It would be offensive to the memories of those who fought and died for our country to block out the views of their simple, modest white gravestones with a gaudy 250-foot plus monument to someone who actively avoided military service as a young man and then as president sent others off to war with no clear strategy and no authorization from Congress,” said Senator Reed.
When it comes to financing the Arch, the total cost has yet to be revealed.
Senator Reed’s letter notes: “Congress has not provided any funds for this project. Instead, the Trump Administration has indicated that it plans to divert $15 million from the National Endowment from the Humanities (NEH) to build the Arch. That will deprive millions of dollars for initiatives that would support museums, historic sites, colleges, K-12 classrooms, and more. This usurped $15 million will not cover the needs of the entire project, and the Administration will likely continue to siphon funding from important programs for this project.”
Full text of the letter follows:
Ms. Jessica Bowron, Comptroller
Exercising the Delegated Authority of the Director
I write to express my strong opposition to the proposed construction of the 250-foot “Triumphal Arch” in Memorial Circle, within the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Washington, D.C. Construction of the proposed Arch without congressional approval would be a violation of federal law, a waste of taxpayer money, and an insult to memory of the men and women of the U.S. military whose final resting place is Arlington National Cemetery.
This project is driven not by popular demand or congressional action, but by President Trump’s apparent fetish for replicating European landmarks during his term. Indeed, the Arch has not received congressional approval as required under law. Passed in 1986, the Commemorative Works Act (CWA) requires congressional authorization for the construction of new “commemorative works” in areas administered by the National Park Service “in the District of Columbia and its environs.” Under the CWA, a “commemorative work” is “any statue, monument, sculpture, memorial, plaque, inscription, or other structure or landscape feature, including a garden or memorial grove, designed to perpetuate in a permanent manner the memory of an individual, group, event or other significant element of American history…” To date, Congress has not approved construction of the proposed arch.
At a time when our brave troops are at war, the idea of tampering with the area immediately abutting Arlington National Cemetery is an afront to those interred there, their families, and every service member. At over twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial, the Arch will disrupt the historic view of the hallowed ground at Arlington National Cemetery, obscuring headstones of American veterans and war dead. As the National Trust for Historic Preservation has noted, the proposed location of the Arch “is inconsistent with the solemn historic character of Arlington National Cemetery,” the resting place for over 400,000 veterans and their families. It is their service and sacrifice that should remain the focal point of this memorial landscape.
The Arch also would block the symbolic vista between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. Indeed, the National Park Service’s June 2026 assessment of the Arch found: “The proposed undertaking may result in a direct adverse effect to the Lincoln Memorial as it would change the interrelationships of the existing monumental landscape, which forms an intentional balance between natural and built features, axial and picturesque landscape elements.”
Lastly, Congress has not provided any funds for this project. Instead, the Trump Administration has indicated that it plans to divert $15 million from the National Endowment from the Humanities (NEH) to build the Arch. That will deprive millions of dollars for initiatives that would support museums, historic sites, colleges, K-12 classrooms, and more. This usurped $15 million will not cover the needs of the entire project, and the Administration will likely continue to siphon funding from important programs for this project.
For the above reasons and those outlined by notable historians, architects, preservationists, aviation experts, and veterans, I urge you to reject the proposed “Triumphal Arch” and abandon the construction of this vanity project.
Reed: Americans Can’t Afford Trumpflation | U.S. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island
Position: Senator Reed opposes President Trump's tariff policies and the Iran war, arguing they are driving inflation and harming working Americans' purchasing power. He calls for ending both the war and the tariff scheme, and establishing a refund system for consumers affected by tariff-driven price increases.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, after new economic data showed prices rose 4.2 percent annually in May, the third consecutive monthly increase since the start of Trump’s Iran war and a three-year high, U.S. Senator Jack Reed issued the following statement:
“Inflation continues to accelerate as President Trump’s disastrous war with Iran drags on and he fails to articulate a strategic way forward.
“President Trump’s illegal tariffs and weak handling of the economy is forcing hardworking Americans to continue paying artificially high prices for everything from gas to groceries to electricity and health care. Trump-caused inflation has risen so rapidly these last few months that it’s erasing all wage gains and eroding people’s paychecks and savings. The president must change course. But instead, he callously dismisses the struggles everyday Americans are facing and actually says things like “I love the inflation.” What Americans would love to hear is an actual plan from this president for ending the war and lowering these elevated prices. The American people simply can't afford President Trump’s recklessness and carelessness.
“Two things the President could do immediately to bring down prices and offer working people some financial relief is to end his reckless war with Iran and end his illegal tariff scheme and swiftly set up a fair and equitable refund system so working Americans who have been paying higher costs due to his misguided policies get a big chunk of their money back.”
Reed, Colleagues Sound Alarm That Trump is Diverting National Park Fees from Where They are Most Needed to DC Vanity Projects | U.S. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island
Position: Senator Reed opposes the Trump Administration's redirection of national park entrance fees from park maintenance to Washington, DC projects, arguing this diverts critical funding needed for trail maintenance, visitor services, and addressing a $24.2 billion deferred maintenance backlog.
WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. National Parks around the country hosted over 323 million visitors last year. While many of the sites managed by the National Park Service (NPS) are free to visit, some require visitors to purchase entrance passes, with those fees helping to pay for the park’s upkeep and infrastructure.
But now, after the Trump Administration forced out thousands of park rangers and other critical NPS staff, it is redirecting national park maintenance funds generated by fees from visitors to national parks and federal recreational lands and waters to President Trump’s preferred vanity projects in Washington, DC.
U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a member of the Appropriations Committee, is concerned that President Trump’s diversion of needed funds combined with his massive layoff of NPS staff could degrade some of America’s national treasures and lead to decreased operations. Reed is warning that national park visitors could start experiencing declining park services, increased trash, and deferred park maintenance at some of America’s most iconic parks in the near future as the fees that should be paying for things like trail maintenance and visitor center upkeep instead goes to painting equestrian statues with gold leaf in Washington, DC.
Today, Senator Reed joined U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) and several colleagues in demanding answers from the Trump Administration on how much federal funding is being diverted from parks around the country to President Trump’s “vanity projects” in Washington, DC. The senators are also pressing for more transparency and oversight of the federal dollars and the contractors.
The senators say that the Trump Administration has already spent $60 million in fees paid by park visitors to repair nine fountains in Washington, DC which comes on top of another $7 million used for the recently completed renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which saw an increase of “more than $13 million in a no bid contact,” the eleven U.S. Senators wrote.
The letter to Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior Doug Burgum stated: “Visitors to our national parks contribute millions of dollars to the National Park Service’s (NPS) budget by purchasing recreation passes and digital versions of the America the Beautiful Pass. The American people deserve transparency and a complete explanation of where their money is being directed.”.
“This loss in revenue for our parks could have devastating effects on the future viability of these public natural treasures. As of the end of Fiscal Year 2025, NPS had a backlog of deferred maintenance projects totaling over $24.2 billion. Deteriorating roads, water systems, and other park facilities pose safety concerns for visitors and over time degrade the overall park experience. The redistribution of revenues to D.C. projects could mean multiple millions of dollars lost for individual national parks around the country,” the Senators wrote.
Under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA), at least 80% of the recreation fees paid must be used at the national park where the fees were collected to upkeep or maintain the parks and 20% is to be available to the agency that collected it on an agency-wide basis. The allocation of this amount of park fee revenue funding to support projects for the President’s personal enjoyment is unprecedented. In addition, according to the New York Times, staffing shortages have “meant that there are fewer people available to collect fees at the parks that charge for admission — allowing visitors to enter without paying.” This means there is less money coming in already for parks due to the Administration’s staffing shortages.
Additionally, the Senators emphasize that the redirecting of this money comes amidst the administration’s drastic budget cuts to the agency and workforce reduction.
“The lack of transparency around awards for these beautification projects, as well as the loss in revenue meant for the maintenance and betterment of our national parks threatens the public’s trust and the long-term integrity of our nation’s most beloved public lands. Accordingly, as we investigate the potential waste, fraud, and abuse by the administration, we request a detailed explanation for where the revenue from digital passes is being directed and what percentage of this revenue is supporting the D.C. projects rather than supporting the maintenance of our public parks,” the Senators concluded.
In addition to Schiff and Reed, the letter is also signed by U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Angus King (I-ME), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Edward Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The National Park Service manages 433 individual units covering more than 85 million acres in all 50 states, including Rhode Island, where it oversees the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park, which Senator Reed led efforts to establish to preserve this national historic park and tell the story of the American Industrial Revolution. NPS also oversees the Roger Williams National Memorial.
The full text of the letter follows:
We write to inquire about the Trump administration’s allocation of fee revenues paid by Americans for national park recreation passes and America the Beautiful digital passes to support beautification projects in Washington D.C. Visitors to our national parks contribute millions of dollars to the National Park Service’s (NPS) budget by purchasing recreation passes and digital versions of the America the Beautiful Pass. The American people deserve transparency and a complete explanation of where their money is being directed.
The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) grants public land management agencies the ability to collect and charge fees for accessing federal recreational lands. FLREA requires that, under normal circumstances, at least 80 percent of the recreation fees paid onsite by taxpayers must be retained and used at the national park where the fees are collected. The remaining 20 percent is to be available to the agency that collected it on an agency-wide basis. This enables the National Park Service to redistribute revenues from popular parks that charge entrance fees to those parks that do not charge fees. This formula helps ensure that fees benefit visitors by creating a funding stream for the upkeep and maintenance of our national parks.
Rather than distribute these fee revenues back to our national parks and public lands, it appears that the Department of the Interior has redirected fee revenues to pay for President Trump’s vanity projects around Washington, D.C. Reporting reveals that NPS is spending $60 million in fees paid by national park visitors to repair nine ornamental fountains in Washington, D.C. This is in addition to another $7 million in fees that the administration is using to fund the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which DOI recently increased to more than $13 million in a no bid contract. President Trump previously promised the Reflecting Pool project would only cost $1.8 million, and the huge spending increases suggests either incompetence or corruption in the project management. The Washington Post has reported that park fee revenues would no longer be available for some park superintendents to use on park upkeep.
A separate analysis of government spending data conducted by NOTUS revealed that the Interior Department is spending a total of $95 million in taxpayer dollars on D.C. beautification projects close to the White House. The President’s D.C. projects include a $5 million sole-source award to cover horse statues in nearly pure gold leaf and another $5 million sole-source award to repave the base of a marble statue. According to USASpending.gov, these particular awards are being drawn from DOI’s Working Capital Fund.
Further, revenue from the sale of digital America the Beautiful Passes appears to be funding some of these projects, but without any guardrails or transparency. Most Americans would assume that the fees paid for the digital passes would be similarly distributed to parks throughout the country. However, unlike fees collected onsite, FLREA does not mandate a particular formula or means of distribution of revenues collected from digital sales to particular national parks or federal land units. Revenue from online sales is distributed according to agreements between the federal land agencies and with little statutory guardrails or congressional oversight.
Credible sources with direct knowledge of these matters have now reported to Congress that much, if not all, fee revenue from online America the Beautiful Passes is being used to fund the President’s “beautification” projects in Washington. This means that this revenue is not being directed to national parks across the country. This loss in revenue for our parks could have devastating effects on the future viability of these public natural treasures. As of the end of Fiscal Year 2025, NPS had a backlog of deferred maintenance projects totaling over $24.2 billion. Deteriorating roads, water systems, and other park facilities pose safety concerns for visitors and over time degrade the overall park experience. The redistribution of revenues to D.C. projects could mean multiple millions of dollars lost for individual national parks around the country.
Despite taxpayers’ clear contributions to these projects, the administration has shielded these projects and the contracts from public view. For instance, President Trump awarded a $17.4 million no-bid contract for the repair of two Lafayette Park fountains in Washington, D.C., to the company currently building the White House ballroom. It is troubling that the administration has used sole-source contracts to bypass the fair and impartial open competition process that is typically required under federal law.
Consequently, we ask that you provide responses to the following requests by June 23, 2026:
1. Is any revenue from online sales of America the Beautiful passes being used to fund D.C. beautification projects? If so, what percentage of revenues from online sales are being used for these projects?
2. What percentage of NPS’s centralized FLREA fund for land management revenue funds is being supplied by online sales of electronic passes? What percentage of funding for the central pool is being supplied by for online sales of America the Beautiful passes versus on-site physical sales of these passes?
3. For sales of the interagency national park and federal recreation land passes (America the Beautiful pass), FLREA allows for the revenues to be distributed according to interagency agreement. Please provide any interagency agreements, memoranda of understanding, or other documentation outlining exactly how revenues from online sales of passes are being distributed.
a. When were these interagency agreements last updated? And if after January 20, 2025, please provide the previous agreements.
4. To what extent are digital sales of passes displacing sales at specific park sites and displacing the revenue generated and retained at park sites for on-site sales? Please provide relevant data.
5. How much of NPS’s recreation fee account has been used for D.C.-based projects since December 2025?
a. How much since January 2025?
6. Why did NPS repeatedly offer sole-source contracts without a competition process that is typically required under federal law?
a. If it is the case that the administration wanted this work done before July 4, why did the administration not offer the contract opportunity sooner?
7. Why did NPS reportedly direct contract recipients not to speak to the media? Has NPS issued a similar directive to recipients regarding communication with Congress?
8. Has NPS calculated how much funding national park units outside of D.C. will lose or which backlogged projects will not be completed as a result of this redistribution of funds? Please provide this information.
9. Please provide all contracts awarded by DOI for projects in Washington, D.C., since December 1, 2025.
The lack of transparency around awards for these beautification projects, as well as the loss in revenue meant for the maintenance and betterment of our national parks threatens the public’s trust and the long-term integrity of our nation’s most beloved public lands. Accordingly, as we investigate the potential waste, fraud, and abuse by the administration, we request a detailed explanation for where the revenue from digital passes is being directed and what percentage of this revenue is supporting the D.C. projects rather than supporting the maintenance of our public parks. Thank you for your response.
Reed, Whitehouse Join Fellow Ranking Members Urging Trump & Thune to Stop Gutting Independent Agencies, Blocking Democratic Nominees, and Handing Bipartisan Watchdog Posts to Blatant Trump Loyalists | U.S. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island
Position: Senate Democrats urge the Trump administration and Republican Senate leadership to fill Democratic positions on bipartisan commissions and boards as required by statute, and to reinstate fired officials whose removal undermines agency independence.
WASHINGTON, DC – As the Democratic leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) respectively, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) teamed up with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and fellow Senate Ranking Members Ron Wyden (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Alex Padilla (D-CA) in urging the White House and their Senate Republican counterparts to fill Democratic positions on key bipartisan commissions and boards and reinstate fired officials.
In a letter to President Trump and Senate Republican Majority John Thune (R-SD), the Democratic Ranking Members outline how the unjust firings and unfilled posts undermine the autonomy of independent agencies, citing the removal of Democratic leaders and the administration's refusal to nominate Democratic replacements to bipartisan leadership positions as required by statute.
The Senators express concerns over Trump’s refusal to nominate or confirm Democratic commissioners and board members for openings that are required to have bipartisan membership, which threatens Americans’ safety and undermines our democracy.
“As Ranking Members of Committees in the Senate responsible for overseeing independent agencies, we are concerned about the White House’s lack of serious engagement with Senate Democrats to identify strong candidates to fill open positions. Rather than open meaningful discussions, the White House has shown no indication that it intends to nominate Democrats to critical roles across government,” the Senators wrote.
The Senators emphasize that Trump has gone to great lengths to purge independent agencies of officials who oppose him. They also note that he has left vacancies unfilled at numerous agencies that Congress designed to be led by bipartisan commissions, undermining their independence and concentrating power in the hands of Trump loyalists.
“Congress designed these boards and commissions to be bipartisan and gave them the authority to regulate some of the most vital and significant parts of American life. But the Trump Administration appears intent on ensuring that it retains complete control over these agencies, with little interest in working in good faith with Congress. In a sharp break from precedent across Republican and Democratic administrations, you have refused in almost every instance to engage with Senate Democratic leadership in the normal process of identifying Democratic nominees to fill vacancies on independent agencies,” the Senators wrote.
The Senators call for the administration to immediately reverse its stance, restore officials that were improperly removed, and ensure that Democratic vacancies on bipartisan commissions are filled with duly nominated Democratic appointees.
The Senators’ effort follows Donald Trump and Senate Republicans’ continued attempts to install Trump loyalists in offices that are structured to remain independent, eroding bipartisan safeguards designed to protect agencies from political influence. These concerns have been heightened by the recent nomination of Todd Blanche, a longtime Trump defense attorney, to serve as Attorney General, and Bill Pulte, a Trump ally with no background in intelligence, to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence.
The full text of the letter follows:
Dear President Trump and Majority Leader Thune:
We write with serious concern about your refusal to nominate and confirm Democratic commissioners and board members to vacancies at a wide range of agencies specifically designed to have bipartisan membership. Your refusal follows President Trump’s summarily firing numerous commissioners and board members last year without cause, raising concerns about the seriousness with which you are taking the Senate’s constitutional role in providing advice and consent. As Ranking Members of Committees in the Senate responsible for overseeing independent agencies, we are concerned about the White House’s lack of serious engagement with Senate Democrats to identify strong candidates to fill open positions. Rather than open meaningful discussions, the White House has shown no indication that it intends to nominate Democrats to critical roles across government.
President Trump has spent more than a year purging independent agencies of anyone who might dissent from his directives. Within months of taking office, in an unprecedented sweep, he purported to fire more than a dozen Democratic commissioners and board members across numerous federal agencies, including the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the Surface Transportation Board (STB), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Far from reconsidering these decisions, the Trump Administration has continued to litigate against commissioners or board members who have challenged their removal.
President Trump has also failed to fill positions at numerous other agencies that are statutorily structured to be led by bipartisan commissions. This includes, for example, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service. Many of these agencies no longer have even a single Democratic Member.
Congress designed these boards and commissions to be bipartisan and gave them the authority to regulate some of the most vital and significant parts of American life. But the Trump Administration appears intent on ensuring that it retains complete control over these agencies, with little interest in working in good faith with Congress. In a sharp break from precedent across Republican and Democratic administrations, you have refused in almost every instance to engage with Senate Democratic leadership in the normal process of identifying Democratic nominees to fill vacancies on independent agencies. Instead, the White House appears set on leaving the vast majority of these critical positions open indefinitely. We ask that you immediately reverse this stance, reinstate improperly terminated commissioners and board members, and publicly commit to working with the Minority Leader to fill other Democratic vacancies with qualified Democratic nominees.
Source: GDELT 2.0 GKG, filtered to a curated list of national outlets. Inclusion is not endorsement; opinion pieces and reported news are mixed.
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Source: open-data mirrors of the Senate eFD and House Clerk financial-disclosure systems. Disclosure within 30 days of trade is required by law (45 for spouse/dependent trades).
Top PAC donors · 2026 cycle
Political action committees that gave the most to this rep's principal campaign committee this cycle. PAC giving is direct organizational support — industry, ideological, or leadership.
1.HOOPS PAC3 contributions$15,000
2.MACHINISTS NON PARTISAN POLITICAL LEAGUE OF THE INT'L ASSOC. OF MACHINISTS & AEROSPACE WORKERS3 contributions$15,000
3.SERCO INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (SERCO PAC)2 contributions$10,000
4.COMMON SENSE COLORADO2 contributions$10,000
5.BUILD POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL ASSOC. OF HOME BUILDERS (BUILDPAC)2 contributions$10,000
6.AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION PACLabor2 contributionsTrade-union PAC for commercial airline pilots — backs candidates supporting pilot workplace protections, collective bargaining rights, and aviation safety standards.AI$10,000
7.COMMON GROUND PAC2 contributions$10,000
8.MOTOR CITY PAC2 contributions$10,000
9.PRAIRIE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEEBusiness2 contributionsRegional or business-affiliated PAC — specific positions not inferable from the name.AI · low$10,000
10.WATERPAC - NATIONAL RURAL WATER ASSOC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE2 contributions$10,000
Source: OpenFEC (api.open.fec.gov) Schedule A receipts where contributor type is “committee.” Aggregated by contributing committee. Self-transfers from joint-fundraising / victory committees are excluded.
Top individual contributors · 2026 cycle
Itemized individual contributions over $200 to this rep's campaign committee, aggregated by donor employer. PAC giving is shown above; this section is people, not organizations.
1.EO SOLUTIONS$28,000
2.CLIFFORD LAW OFFICES$17,500
3.BROWNSTEIN HYATT FARBER SCHRECK$14,750
4.COONEY AND CONWAY$10,500
5.PICERNE REAL ESTATE GROUP$10,000
6.CVS HEALTH$10,000
7.ROSEN PARTNERS$10,000
8.THE BAUPOST GROUP$9,000
9.BLUEWATER WIRELESS$8,000
10.SEACORP LLC$7,800
Source: OpenFEC Schedule A receipts where contributor type is “individual,” aggregated by the donor's self-reported employer. This is a geographic / industry correlation, not a corporate endorsement.
