Author: Reilly Lowery

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Tuesday defended the $1.6 billion in funding cuts that President Trump has proposed for his department, telling a Senate hearing that “this is what a balanced budget looks like.” But Democrats on the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources took issue with the $400 million that the national parks would lose in fiscal 2018, which they said would trigger staff reductions at 90 percent of them. They also questioned the $370 million in cuts the Bureau of Indian Affairs would face, including for education and assistance programs, and $163 million in cuts to the U.S. Geological Survey.

China’s 1.4 billion people will buy about $2.5 billion in beef this year.  Next month for the first time in about 14 years, U.S. cattle producers will have access to that market. China, along with many other countries, halted U.S. beef imports after cattle in this country tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which destroys the brain and central nervous system of infected cattle. Humans who eat nerve tissue of infected cattle can get variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, which is fatal. While other countries lifted their U.S. beef bans, China has remained off limits, until now. In exchange, the United States

Alarmed by the stalemate on healthcare reform, lack of progress on tax reform and appropriations bills that are far behind schedule, Republican lawmakers across Congress are increasingly willing to consider canceling the month-long August recess. Senate Republican negotiators reported that they are not close to a deal on healthcare reform and that scheduling a vote by July 4, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has pushed, is likely unrealistic. That impasse has held up work on a budget resolution, which is necessary to move tax reform and the annual appropriations bills. Once Republicans vote on a budget resolution for 2018, it

Nearly 145 million acres of land are at a high risk of catastrophic wildfireacross the West thanks to the overwhelming insect epidemic, drought, decades of fire suppression and years of lack of management of our forests. This statistic is sure to come up in Tuesday’s Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee hearing on restoring watersheds and large landscapes. The committee plans to discuss collaborative initiatives between state and federal partners to help restore forests back to health in order to protect our forest resources, watersheds and communities. We agree, collaboration is key if restoration is to happen across a forested landscape.

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has a goal of having a federal budget providing adequate safety nets for both producers and those who cannot afford food while admitting spending cuts are necessary to get the federal debt under control. Speaking at Montana Ag Summit in Great Falls, June 1, Perdue discussed the proposed 2018 fiscal year budget, in which President Donald Trump has proposed a $193 billion cut—or 25 percent—in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program over 10 years, a 36 percent cut in crop insurance, elimination of the major U.S. food aid program, a cutback in conservation programs and the

More and more Republican lawmakers are considering canceling their month-long August recess so they can continue pushing their agendas through Congress. “Congress has no business taking a recess when the people’s business remains unfinished,” Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines told The Hill Monday. Daines is one of many Republicans who want to stay and make sure the American people know their elected officials are actually doing work. “I think it’s really important that people understand that Congress is working. We are producing a lot of legislation,” Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole told The Hill. Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan is also on board saying

Every August, Congress takes a break from the Capitol with a monthlong recess. However, representatives may want to wait before they start packing up their Hawaiian shirts and fanny packs for vacation. The Hill reported that the lack of progress on tax reform, health care, and other bills has resulted in some Republican lawmakers calling for a cancellation of the August break. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) supports canceling the recess and told The Hill, “We have a huge agenda. I think we can get a lot of it done, but what we don’t have is time.” Fortunately, he believes the time issue can be solved because if they

Struggling to make progress on campaign promises like tax and health care reform, rank-and-file congressional Republicans are stepping up calls for their leaders to cancel or at least shorten the upcoming August recess. The GOP agenda is about to enter a summer slump amid internal disagreements and efforts by Democrats to sideline legislation. These efforts will enter a new phase Monday evening when Democrats plan to start slowing down Senate work even more by making speeches and refusing to let Republicans take procedural shortcuts.  President Trump took to Twitter Monday morning accusing Democrats of wanting to “stop tax cuts, good