News
Letters to Science Agency Leaders Demanding Information on Forthcoming DOGE RIFs
Letter to DOE Secretary Chris Wright Letter to NASA Acting Administrator Janet Petro Letter to NIST Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology Craig Burkhardt Letter to NSF Director Panchanathan Letter to NOAA Acting Administrator Vice Admiral Nancy Hann… Continue Reading
February 10, 2025Letters to Science Agencies Demanding Answers Regarding Elon Musk Conflicts of Interest and Critical Data Accessed by DOGE
Letter to DOE Secretary Chris Wright Letter to NASA Acting Administrator Janet Petro Letter to NIST Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology Craig Burkhardt Letter to NSF Director Panchanathan Letter to NOAA Acting Administrator Vice Admiral Nancy Hann … Continue Reading
February 03, 2025Letters to Science Agency Leaders Regarding President Trump's Reckless Executive Orders
Letter to NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan Letter to NASA Acting Administrator Janet Petro Letter to NIST Acting Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology Craig Burkhardt Letter to DOE Acting Secretary Ingrid Kolb Letter to NOAA Acting Administrator Vice Admiral Nancy Hann… Continue Reading
Ranking Member Lofgren Reacts to EPA Offering Companies Permission to Pollute
Lofgren warns companies thinking of taking advantage of an offer to pollute. Washington, DC - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun a campaign that will allow polluting companies to apply for exemptions of regulations in the Clean Air Act. On the EPA website, where companies can use an EPA-provided template to apply to bypass clean air regulations, it states that exemptions will be decided by the president. … Continue Reading
March 27, 2025Committee Members Demand EPA Administrator Stop Plans to Close Office of Research and Development
Yesterday, Democratic Science Committee Members sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator (EPA) Zeldin demanding that he cease any plans to weaken or shutter EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD). The EPA, along with other federal agencies, was ordered by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit an Agency RIF and Reorganization Plan (ARRP) to OMB in early March. In EPA’s Reduction in Force (RIF) plan, the agency made a proposal to “eliminate the Office o… Continue Reading
March 26, 2025Committee Leaders Demand Reversal of NOAA Space Commerce Office Firings
Last week, Committee leaders sent a letter to Department of Commerce Secretary Lutnick demanding that the firings of probationary employees at NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce be reversed. NOAA’s OSC is essential for the continued growth of America’s burgeoning commercial space sector. The letter was signed by Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics Ranking Member Valerie Foushee (NC-4), and Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee Ranking Member Emilia Sykes (… Continue Reading
Federal investments in science are needed to reduce wildfire
It used to be that October marked the end of wildfire season, and the most destructive fires occurred in or around forested areas. But increasingly, more Americans experience the impacts of wildfires year-round. In 2021, nearly 50,000 wildfires were reported, which burned over seven million acres of land. And as we saw with the Marshall fire in Boulder County, sometimes the most devastating fires can happen in suburban areas in the dead of winter. As members of Congress representin… Continue Reading
February 22, 2022A federal coal ash strategy: putting health and safety first
Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would crack down to protect public health and the environment from coal ash contamination. EPA will ramp up enforcement of its rules to prohibit companies from dumping coal ash into unlined storage pits, and to require those companies to speed up their efforts to close down the existing pits that have been shown to leak. As the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, I want to see our federal age… Continue Reading
January 14, 2022Mapping a Strong Future for Ocean Science and Technology
Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) Statement for the Record on Amendment #30 to H.R. 4394, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024
Thank you, Chairman Cole and Ranking Member McGovern, for considering testimony related to H.R. 4394, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The amendment that I have submitted, along with my colleague from Virgina, Mr. Beyer, is fairly straightforward. It adds additional funds to the Office of Science account to increase support for Fusion Energy Science, and it correspondingly reduces funds for the Office of Nuclear Energy. Fusion energy development is at a… Continue Reading
December 14, 2022Chairwoman Johnson's Statement on the WHOSTP's Report on Sustained Arctic Observation
Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson's (D-TX) statement on the White House Office of Science and Technology report, On the Need to Establish and Maintain a Sustained Arctic Obersving Network.I was pleased to receive the Office of Science and Technology Policy's report, On the Need to Establish and Maintain a Sustained Arctic Observing Network. This report is extremely timely as NOAA released their Arctic Report Card today, which details how shifting seasons and extreme weather in the rapidly wa… Continue Reading
April 25, 2022Chairwoman Johnson's Keynote Remarks at the American Meteorological Society Washington Forum
Keynote Remarks as Prepared Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology American Meteorological Society Washington Forum Good afternoon and thank you for inviting me to speak with you today. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with members of the American Meteorological Society. Founded over 100 years ago, the AMS is the nation’s foremost professional society for atmospheric sciences. The work done by AMS and its members is vital to th… Continue Reading