Press Releases
Committee Cliff Notes: Weekly Recap – Week of February 3, 2025
Washington,
February 7, 2025
Here’s a recap of key moments from House Republican committees during the week:
Education & Workforce On Wednesday, February 5, the Committee on Education and Workforce held a full committee hearing called “The State of American Education.” This hearing gave Members the opportunity to examine the main challenges facing K-12 education, postsecondary education, and workforce development. From preschool to law school, the state of this nation’s education system is deeply troubling. During the hearing Republicans pushed for transparency and innovative solutions. Democrats, however, continue to want taxpayers to cough up more and more money to throw blindly at bureaucracies.    Energy and Commerce On Wednesday, February 5, the Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing called "Powering America’s Future: Unleashing American Energy." During the hearing, members discussed the importance of unleashing America’s energy potential to meet ever growing demand. It was emphasized how increasing energy production not only lowers prices, but also increases national security and ensures grid stability. On Thursday, February 6, the Subcommittee on Health held a hearing called "Combatting Existing and Emerging Illicit Drug Threats." This hearing focused on both the impacts of illicit drugs on America’s communities but also legislative solutions to put an end to the flow of illicit drugs. One bill, the HALT Fentanyl Act, was passed by the House this week to permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances as Schedule 1 to give law enforcement the tools they need.    Financial Services On Wednesday, February 5, the Financial Services Committee held a full committee hearing called “Make Community Banking Great Again.”
 Homeland Security On Wednesday, February 5, the Committee on Homeland Security held a full committee hearing entitled “Preparing the Pipeline: Examining the State of America’s Cyber Workforce.” Ahead of the hearing, Chairman Green reintroduced the “Cyber PIVOTT Act” to address this shortage amid increased threats to our government networks and critical infrastructure. Witnesses shared insight on how the cyber workforce gap impacts their organizations and how to create a more robust cyber workforce moving forward.    Judiciary On Thursday, February 6, the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust held a hearing called "California Fires and the Consequences of Overregulation," to examine the real impacts of regulatory policy on the prevention of natural disasters, particularly in the case of California's wildfires. This hearing also addressed how excessive regulation on insurance and permitting serves as a roadblock to those recovering from disaster.    Natural Resources On Wednesday, February 5, the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs held a legislative hearing on the following bills:
On Thursday, February 6, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held an oversight hearing titled “Now Ore Never: The Importance of Domestic Mining for U.S. National Security.” Mineral security is national security, and the United States imports many critical minerals from China and other adversarial nations. This import reliance is a vulnerability that places America’s domestic supply chains at risk. Encouraging a streamlined mining process from discovery to development for domestic mining projects and decoupling our reliance on foreign adversaries for any segment of the mineral supply chain will create economic certainty and security.    Oversight & Government Reform On Wednesday, February 5, the Committee on Oversight & Government Reform held a full committee hearing called “Rightsizing Government.” At the hearing, members highlighted how President Donald Trump created and empowered the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to conduct a government-wide audit to root out waste, fraud, and abuse and protect taxpayer dollars. To date, the Trump Administration is delivering on its promise to eliminate Washington waste and reform the bloated federal bureaucracy. Members heard from Governor Kim Reynolds about how Iowa streamlined its state government through legislation she initiated. Evaluating federal government reorganization efforts and streamlining government services will remain a top priority for the House Oversight Committee in the 119th Congress. Oversight Committee members resolved to continue working with the Trump Administration, including DOGE, to advance solutions that improve government operations and protect taxpayer funds.   On Thursday, February 6, the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation held a hearing on “Transgender Lab Rats and Poisoned Puppies: Oversight of Taxpayer Funded Animal Cruelty.” Members examined wasteful government spending on animal cruelty.  Rules On Tuesday, February 4, the Committee on Rules met on the following measure:
   Science, Space, and Technology On Wednesday, February 5, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a Committee Organizational Meeting for the 119th Congress. The Committee successfully adopted the Committee rules and approved the authorization and oversight plan. On Wednesday, February 5, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a full committee hearing called “The State of U.S. Science and Technology: Ensuring U.S. Global Leadership.” Experts from the scientific community joined to discuss the current state of the U.S. science and technology sector and its crucial role in the global innovation race.    Small Business On Wednesday, February 5, the Committee on Small Business held a full committee hearing called “Hope on the Horizon: Prioritizing Small Business Growth in the 119th Congress.” During the hearing, Members examined how President Trump’s re-election has created a surge in optimism from small businesses and examined the ways the Committee and Trump Administration can reduce the challenges of overbearing government, excessive regulations, and high inflation created by the previous Administration.    Transportation and Infrastructure Last week, the aviation community experienced two tragic aviation accidents that claimed 74 souls in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. Since the first accident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, T&I Committee Chairman Sam Graves, Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Troy E. Nehls, and other Committee leaders have been in regular contact with National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy and Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. On February 6, there was a closed briefing for Committee Members by the NTSB on their ongoing investigation of the January 29th collision at Reagan National Airport. Chairmen Sam Graves and Troy E. Nehls will continue working to ensure members have the most up-to-date information. On Wednesday, February 5, the T&I Committee continued its “America Builds” hearing series with a Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation hearing entitled, “America Builds: Maritime Infrastructure.” The hearing focused on the state and development of the nation’s maritime infrastructure.   On Thursday, February 6, the Subcommittee on Aviation held a hearing on counter-unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones. Subcommittee members had the chance to ask industry experts about the current landscape of counter-UAS technologies in this country. In his opening statement, Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Nehls said, “With the increasing rate of drones expected to integrate into our airspace and the potential for their misuse by bad actors, now is the time to establish a properly scaled, well-balanced, and legally sound framework for counter-drone authorities and the corresponding technologies.”  Veterans Affairs On Thursday, February 6, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held an oversight hearing titled “VA First, Veteran Second: The Biden-Harris Legacy." Representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) including the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection, Human Resources, and the Veterans Health administration (VHA) Deputy to the Deputy of the Undersecretary of Health joined the Committee to discuss VA’s lack of accountability measures in the previous Administration and opportunities for improvement in the Trump Administration. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington (CREW) were also witnesses on the panel. Committee members highlighted examples of failure in patient care and leadership accountability. The hearing highlighted the need for strengthened accountability measures at VA to put America First and improve veteran patient safety and employee morale. Republicans on the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee pledged their commitment to work with the current Administration to ensure that veterans get the world class care they deserve and make VA a great place for employees to work.   Ways and Means On Thursday, February 6, the Subcommittee on Work and Welfare held a hearing called "Time’s Running Out: Prosecuting Fraudsters for Stealing Billions in Unemployment Benefits from American Workers." Witnesses urged Congress to extend the statute of limitations beyond the initial five year period for prosecuting those who commit unemployment insurance (UI) fraud. The current statute of limitation is scheduled to expire next month. Today, there are 157,000 open UI fraud complaints and over 1,000 open UI fraud investigations. An estimated $100 to $135 billion of UI benefits from the COVID-19 pandemic were lost in the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history. Of that, only $5 billion has been recovered. Work and Welfare Chairman Darin LaHood (IL-16) shared details of a dramatic recent conviction in Pennsylvania of a man who stole $59 million in public benefits, including unemployment, and funneled the funds to his co-conspirators in China. Expiration of the statute of limitations would prevent more criminals like that individual from being brought to justice and public funds from being rightfully returned back to taxpayers.   |