All posts tagged "Patty Murray"

Another lawmaker could barely stand the way Trump's transportation secretary refused to answer straightforward questions during Capitol Hill testimony on Tuesday.

"You are encouraging Americans to spend the summer road tripping," Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy during testimony on Tuesday. "Let me just ask you, how much did you rack up on gas during your Great American Road Trip?"

She was referring to Duffy's controversial vacation that was reportedly bankrolled by industry giants he's supposed to regulate, including Boeing, Toyota, and Shell. Murray was pressing Duffy on how much he spent on gas because of his position that more people should road trip like him, but she was upset he would make that suggestion while gas prices rose amid the war in Iran....

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) called out Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche during a heated hearing on Tuesday — forcing him to address Jeffrey Epstein survivors whose identities were revealed.

Blanche was testifying before the Senate Appropriations committee on Capitol Hill when Murray pushed him to apologize to survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and the Department of Justice's release of unredacted victim names in the Epstein files. The two got in a fiery back-and-forth over her questions.

"That is so not the question I'm asking," Murray said, telling Blanche he needed to answer her questions. ...

A longtime Democratic leader on Tuesday had a serious message for FBI Director Kash Patel as Patel scrambled to respond.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) expressed concerns about Patel's leadership of the FBI during the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. Patel, who was testifying before lawmakers, pushed back against claims of excessive alcohol use and other allegations of misconduct.

"I am deeply concerned about the reports that your leadership has not been serious," Murray said. "We need somebody at this agency who is focused on solving criminal cases, not passing out branded bourbon or jetting around the globe. Your job is to be reachable... If you want to pass out liquor or pop bottles in a locker room, stick to podcasting. Leave law and order to people who really do care about justices and appearances, that is really critical. It's what I am really deeply concerned about and so are many people."...

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon had to face heated questions about her cuts and changes to programs in her department.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) grilled McMahon for plans to shift programs for special education and disabled students to other agencies, like the Department of Labor and Health and Human Services. Murray told McMahon that the move has left parents "spitting mad, because they want to ensure their child with a disability has an education," according to a report by WJCT News.

"Moving [special education] out of the department is not only undermining that," Murray said, "but it's a direct message to them that their health is more important than their education."...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) demanded the White House fire budget director Russ Vought over a crack he made at a breakfast Thursday morning, according to Politico.

Vought is the controversial author of Project 2025, which Democrats have called a "right-wing plot to undermine democracy."

Vought told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast that the government funding process should be "less bipartisan," according to the report....

In an effort to make birth control more accessible, lawmakers in Oregon and California are working on legislation that would allow women to get prescriptions for the pill from pharmacists instead of their gynecologists. The idea behind the proposal is that women wouldn't have to go through any hassles or pay the extra costs necessary to visit their doctor for a simple prescription.