Congressional Testimony
Congressional Testimony
Here's a look at documents involving congressional testimony and member statements
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Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Merkley Issues Opening Statement at Hearing on FY 2027 Budget Proposal
WASHINGTON, April 24 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following opening statement from an April 16, 2026, hearing entitled "The President's Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Proposal":* * *
Sen. Merkley's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow:
Thank you, Chairman Graham, for convening this hearing.
And thank you, Director Vought, for being here today to discuss the President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2027.
Your budget opens with a message from you, in which you write, quote: "A historic paradigm shift in the budget process is occurring."
I ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, April 24 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following opening statement from an April 16, 2026, hearing entitled "The President's Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Proposal": * * * Sen. Merkley's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Thank you, Chairman Graham, for convening this hearing. And thank you, Director Vought, for being here today to discuss the President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2027. Your budget opens with a message from you, in which you write, quote: "A historic paradigm shift in the budget process is occurring." Iagree with you - and that paradigm shift is extraordinarily dangerous for our country.
The Constitution is clear: it is Congress' responsibility to debate and decide taxation, spending, and whether to go to war. Then it's the Executive's responsibility to carry out Congress' decisions.
But since you returned as OMB Director, the Trump administration has repeatedly violated the Constitution's separation of powers.
Usurping Congress' power to tax through the President's tariffs, which the Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional. Usurping Congress' power of the purse, which the Supreme Court has ruled twice belongs to Congress, but, despite that, the Government Accountability Office found that you illegally impounded funds on seven separate occasions last year.
You have used so-called "pocket rescissions", to 'run out the clock' on the fiscal year. You have fired thousands of federal workers - who you've then scrambled to rehire because DOGE had no clue what it was doing. You have dismantled federal agencies, including the entirety of the U.S.
Agency for International l Development (USAID), which public health experts calculate has led to the deaths of at least 780,0000 people globally, two-thirds of whom are children.
You've also dismantled most of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which had saved working families over $21 billion since 2011, and many more consumers will save many times that amount because it banned predatory practices.
I understand that you are still the Acting Director of CFPB, so, the buck stops on your desk for those decisions.
Now, the Trump Administration is trying to usurp Congress' power to declare war.
The President's reckless war with Iran has made America less safe by strengthening the regime hardliners while weakening the reformers. Enriching and emboldening Russia by easing oil sanctions costing the U.S. billions of dollars every day and raising prices for American families.
In addition, this war has tragically claimed the lives of 13 American servicemembers.
These are just a few examples of the massive, dangerous changes underway by the Trump Administration.
The Administration's dangerous changes continue in the President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2027.
Immediately upon opening this budget, I was struck by what was missing.
No plan to bring down gas prices.
No plan to bring down grocery prices.
No plan to save Social Security, which will start running out of money in just six years, requiring a 28 percent cut to seniors' benefits according to the most recent estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.
No funding for aid to farmers hurt by Trump's tariffs.
No additional funding to deal with unexpected disasters, like wildfires, floods, or hurricanes.
No meaningful revenue proposals.
And no credible plan to reduce the debt, which is now over 100 percent of GDP.
In addition, as a former Congressional Budget Office analyst, I went looking for the deficit projections, but you didn't bother to put them in, yet again ignoring the law - 31 U.S. Code Sec. 1105 - which requires the President's Budget to include at least 5 years of deficit and debt projections - but yours does not.
So, you are breaking both the spirit and letter of the law.
What your budget does include are projections that the President's tariffs will raise an eyepopping $1.6 trillion in revenue more than CBO estimates.
And CBO's estimates were made before the Supreme Court ruled Trump's tariffs unconstitutional.
So, your revenue projections should have been even lower than CBO's, not higher. Making your estimates here simply fictional.
Your budget also includes a massive 42 percent - or $445 billion - increase in defense spending, bringing the total Pentagon budget to $1.5 trillion.
This is on top of the $150 billion in additional reconciliation funds provided by last year's Big Ugly Betrayal Law.
But it doesn't include the billions of dollars a day we're spending in Iran, none of which has been budgeted for.
Yet it does include a 10 percent cut to domestic programs American for families. And those cuts will continue to compound, so, in just ten years - by 2036 - your budget proposes merely $550 billion in non-defense spending - a 45 percent cut compared to CBO's baseline projection.
This is not serious budgeting.
This is paying for more guns and bombs by slashing investments for families: housing, health care, education, roads and bridges, medical research, and environmental protection.
This is just the latest example of Families Lose, Billionaires Win.
Candidate Trump ran promising to keep us out of foreign wars and invest in families here at home, saying on September 5, 2024, quote: "We're going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people. ...We're going to take care of our country first." But this budget increases funding for foreign wars while slashing investments for families, and on April 1, the president said, quote: "It's not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicare, Medicaid... we have to take care of one thing: military protection."
This budget is a betrayal of every working family.
And it's an extraordinarily dangerous change in the way Congress and the Executive branch budget for our country.
At my town halls across Oregon, I've been telling folks that the countries who will win the 21st Century will be the countries who invest in education and infrastructure. Not the countries who drive themselves deep into debt trying to control the farthest reaches of the world.
Robbing our domestic investments to pay for endless wars is a path to economic ruin that will open the door for China and other countries to dominate the future.
Congress needs to reject this irresponsible budget and reassert our Constitutional powers so we can invest in working families.
I look forward to today's discussion.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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Original text here: https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/041626openingstatementofrankingmembermerkleypresidentsbudgetrequest.pdf
Paralyzed Veterans Asssociate Legislative Director Howell Testifies Before House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee
WASHINGTON, April 24 -- The House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity released the following testimony by Julie Howell, associate legislative director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, from an April 16, 2026, hearing entitled "Bounce Houses, Drones, and Massage Chairs: A Review of VA's Purchase History in the Veteran Readiness and Employment Program":* * *
Chairman Van Orden, Ranking Member Pappas, and members of the subcommittee, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), appreciates the opportunity to share our views on the Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) Program. ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, April 24 -- The House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity released the following testimony by Julie Howell, associate legislative director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, from an April 16, 2026, hearing entitled "Bounce Houses, Drones, and Massage Chairs: A Review of VA's Purchase History in the Veteran Readiness and Employment Program": * * * Chairman Van Orden, Ranking Member Pappas, and members of the subcommittee, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), appreciates the opportunity to share our views on the Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) Program.VR&E assists disabled veterans in finding meaningful and lasting employment despite incurring disabilities and illnesses due to their military service. The services and supports available to veterans with catastrophic disabilities through VR&E are critical to ensuring their successful employment outcomes and independence.
Prior to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, there were no widespread federal protections against disability-based employment discrimination. PVA was a leader in advocating for the passage of this seminal civil rights law that provides opportunities and access for people with disabilities, including disabled veterans. While the ADA guaranteed equal opportunity in public accommodations, employment, and state and local government services, many disabled veterans still encounter challenges when attempting to participate in the labor market.
PVA has been fortunate to share our views on the VR&E program over the years and has testified several times before this subcommittee. We appreciate each of these opportunities but there still seems to be a disconnect between the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), Congress, and the veteran community about the best ways to ensure the sustainability of this important program. So, PVA would like to take this opportunity to discuss the basics of the VR&E program, highlight the importance of the Independent Living (IL) track for disabled veterans, and offer solutions for the program's future.
Also, we will recommend ways to improve the experience for veterans attempting to access the program, as well as those enrolled, and discuss the relationship between PVA and the VR&E program.
VR&E Tracks and Purpose
For more than a century, the VR&E program has provided vocational rehabilitation counseling and other resources that contribute to the long-term well-being of our nation's disabled veterans. The program is comprised of five tracks that offer specialized services and supports, providing veterans with the expertise of Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors (VRCs) who help them determine suitable employment opportunities based on their long-term abilities. The five tracks are reemployment, rapid access to employment, self-employment, employment through long-term services, and independent living.
The reemployment track can assist those who have recently separated from the military and who would like to return to their old employer, when suitable. This track makes the most sense for servicemembers returning to a civilian job from an activation who need workplace accommodations due to injury or illness sustained during service, and for those under the protection of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
The rapid access to employment track helps veterans who wish to use their existing skills in their next job. Veterans enrolled in this track may be eligible for employment counseling, short-term training, job-search and job-placement support from VRCs or other program staff, such as a Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist (VRS).
The employment through long-term services track is designed to support veterans who are struggling to find meaningful employment due to the severity of their service-connected injury or illness. This track allows veterans to pursue education or training to obtain employment beyond their current skill set and experience. Employment through long-term services is often one of the most misunderstood tracks. Too many veterans assume that when they are eligible for VR&E, they are automatically eligible for this track and that the VA will pay for whatever education path they are interested in.
However, that is not the case. VR&E is not the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
The self-employment track is intended for veterans with an employment barrier who have the desire, skills, and drive to run a successful business. While in this track, veterans may receive coordination services and assistance with a business plan, an analysis of the business concept, training in smallbusiness operations, marketing, and finance, as well as guidance on obtaining the resources needed to carry out the business plan. This track is coordinated with the Small Business Administration, which approves business plans on behalf of the VRCs. Historically, the self-employment track has been marred with confusion, barriers to entry, and a lack of transparency.
Lastly, the IL track is designed to help disabled veterans achieve maximum independence in their daily lives. If a veteran has difficulty with activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, entering or exiting their home, or if a veteran is so disabled that they cannot work, they may qualify for IL services.
Through the IL track, a veteran may be eligible for various home adaptation grants intended to improve the accessibility of a veteran's home and enhance a veteran's overall quality of life.
Independent Living and Catastrophically Disabled Veterans
The IL track was established by Congress in 1980 as a pilot program with an initial enrollment cap of 500 veterans per fiscal year. Over time, the cap has increased, most recently to 2,700 in 2010.
The IL track focuses on providing services to veterans with severe disabilities; so, they may improve functioning with their disabling condition, allowing them to consider employment or volunteer work.
Through IL, the VA can guide these veterans in developing goals and provide information, referrals to support resources, and case management, if necessary, to support their success. Several creative alternatives to employment preparation can be recommended, purchased, or approved by a veteran's counselor to enhance a veteran's quality of life.
The IL track must be able to accept any veteran who could benefit, free from concerns about exceeding the arbitrary enrollment cap. In addition, VR&E counselors must be well-versed in the IL track to ensure that eligible individuals who would benefit most from enrollment are given the opportunity to participate. Once a veteran is in the program, VRCs must also closely track referrals to VA services and benefits to ensure they are addressed. Otherwise, the program will fail the veterans it serves, and their independence will be at risk.
Improving Understanding of the VR&E Program
There is a fundamental misunderstanding of what the VR&E Program is supposed to do for veterans.
You need only look up VR&E on any social media platform to see that veterans across the country do not fully understand its purpose. At its core, VR&E is an employment program for disabled veterans.
The differences between tracks may seem frivolous to many people, but within each track are specific guidelines and regulations that authorize or limit what can be approved.
Most veterans believe VR&E exists to help them return to school or address needs related to starting their own business, but they often fail to understand the role of a VRC in the process. There have been many debates about the education level required for a VRC, along with proposals to reduce the education requirement for the position. It is imperative for stakeholders to understand that the expertise that comes with a master's in vocational rehabilitation directly relates to a veteran's viability and long-term employment outcomes.
It makes little sense for a veteran who is service-connected for bad knees and a bad back to be approved by a VR&E counselor for work in a labor-intensive field. The service-connected disabilities the veteran possesses will inevitably be exacerbated by this type of work, and the veteran will likely need to find another career path in the future. But what happens to those veterans when they've exhausted their education benefits and VR&E eligibility, and then find themselves needing assistance at a critical juncture in their lives? A VRC is trained to find that veteran suitable, sustainable, and financially sufficient employment that will sustain them through their lives, not just for a handful of years after leaving the program.
Improve and Enhance VR&E
For years, PVA, and other veterans service organizations (VSOs) have requested that the VR&E program receive additional appropriations from Congress to meet veterans' demand for the program.
Over the past few years, VR&E program enrollment has grown exponentially with little increase in staff or resources. Now, we find ourselves in a crisis. Veterans are experiencing the longest wait times of the program's history, counselors are drowning in administrative burden, and still, we have hearings asking VSOs and the VA, "How can we fix this?" The answer is simple: there needs to be a hiring blitz for VR&E counselors and program support staff.
Another potential barrier within the program is that the decision to hire an additional counselor is determined at the Regional Office (RO) level. With limited available funds, the RO may need additional raters or other staff who they believe are more important than a VRC or other VR&E staff. Ironically, in past hearings, Congress demanded that the program's director fill positions in ROs across the country, but the director lacks that authority. After discovering significant wait times in the San Diego area, VR&E activated a Tiger Team to help get the situation under control. The team successfully got the RO back on track, proving that additional staff can subdue this crisis. The VA should prioritize hiring VRCs, VRSs, and other administrative staff that can help where the need is the greatest, working to reduce the backlog of applications, streamline approvals, and delegate administrative tasks to support staff to increase a VRC's ability to offer direct employment counseling to the most complex cases.
VR&E is intended to provide rehabilitation counseling to disabled veterans with complex disabilities and serious barriers to employment. Providing professional, intensive, and supportive counseling is now something that VRCs get penalized for. Instead, they are being asked to prioritize authorizations, reimbursements, uploads, letters, dashboards, and performance metrics. While these are important functions, they are not counseling. If these functions are now the priority of the VA, then they should hire individuals with business, accounting, or similar backgrounds to accomplish that work. VRCs must be able to focus on what they are trained to do: care for veterans and their employment situations.
The current trajectory of the VR&E program is unsustainable. The program is experiencing a perfect storm of high case volume, understaffing, and an enormous amount of administrative burden. We have heard that morale is impossibly low. The demands of management are crushing counselors.
Meanwhile, the metrics they are expected to perform are created for claims raters, not VRCs and employment outcomes. All VRCs are forced to work mandatory overtime, while also receiving emails about the importance of work-life balance.
Changes are needed to place counseling back at the center of VR&E delivery to ensure severely disabled veterans receive access to the benefits they have earned. Some recommendations to improve the program are to:
* Hire additional VRSs to handle basic case management tasks such as collecting grades, submitting authorizations to schools, reviewing bills, contacting veterans for missing paperwork, conducting outreach on inactive cases, and other work that doesn't require the skills of a VRCs.
* Let master's-level VRCs determine program eligibility; administer vocational assessments and career exploration; manage plan development and redevelopment; research appropriate training programs; conduct labor market analysis; coordinate services with other departments; assess the need for accommodations; assist with job placement; and, overall, have more contact with higher-need veterans.
* Create specialty or tiger teams, composed of master's-level VRCs for more complex service tracks, such as IL and self-employment. These services differ significantly from the other tracks and require substantial manpower.
* Create a national specialty team for retroactive inductions, which typically require 10-20 hours of work per case.
* End mandatory overtime for VRCs and instead, offer it on a volunteer basis.
* Ensure the new case management system, the Readiness and Employment System (RES), is ready for full deployment. Several IT projects totaling millions of dollars have already failed to improve VR&E delivery. Thus, the VA must be more careful about this latest effort. Years of thoughtful development went into the new RES, and we must do everything we can to ensure the national rollout is a success.
The bottom line is VR&E can be improved, but it will take innovative and intentional actions to move the needle on veteran outcomes.
PVA and the VR&E Program
At a subcommittee oversight hearing in 2018, our Chief Policy Officer, Heather Ansley, testified on VR&E and stressed the importance of continued collaboration with public and private partners for the program. PVA's Veteran Career Program (VCP), formerly known as PAVE, is staffed by VRCs who provide one-on-one career counseling to all veterans, transitioning service members, spouses, and caregivers. Our VCP team has long worked alongside the VR&E program; however, in recent months, something has changed within VR&E, and our VCP staff are seeing it firsthand.
For a veteran to begin the VR&E program, they must complete VA Form 20-1902w, which is used to determine eligibility and the specific employment and training needs of veterans. At the top of the form, it states that it is intended to be completed during the comprehensive initial evaluation conducted by a VRC. However, our career program staff have helped several veterans fill out this form, which is now expected to be completed by the veteran before a VRC can even schedule the initial intake call. An effective intake appointment is usually scheduled for an hour; yet, we hear from veterans that some VRCs are only offering a 20-minute phone call for these critical appointments.
That is unacceptable. A veteran's service-connected disabilities might make it difficult or impossible for them to complete this form to even receive an evaluation.
Our career program staff are even helping VRCs do their jobs, especially new counselors who have not received the appropriate training. Because of the experience of many of our VCP staff, newer VRCs know they are a reliable resource to help them navigate unfamiliar systems. This becomes especially true when discussing the complexities of the IL track, which could take several hours of administrative work just for the initial intake and approval.
We are concerned that the VR&E program is at a dangerous tipping point. We fear that counselors will choose to leave the VA, leaving the program in an even worse situation. Our career program staff feel that VA counselors are being placed in an untenable situation, resulting in veterans being denied enrollment in VR&E. Veterans may even choose to give up on a program they are eligible for because of the significant barriers to entry. The current situation cannot continue.
Congress's refusal to fund the VR&E program at an appropriate level and VA's inability to know what the needs of the program are nationally, result in veterans not receiving proper assistance. The VA must make every reasonable effort to help veterans access their benefits. The growing trend of VA relying on veterans to provide additional information to access their earned benefits is becoming alarming, when, historically, this was done in partnership with VA staff. This is especially true in the case of PVA members who are some of the most catastrophically disabled veterans the VA cares for.
VRCs must be able to spend the appropriate amount of time and attention on complex cases.
During the 2018 hearing mentioned earlier, Chief Policy Officer, Heather Ansley, wrote in her testimony: "With the reality of continuing budgetary constraints, it is unclear when, if ever, VR&E may have the counselors and other resources necessary to adequately assist the increasing number of veterans who are seeking VR&E services each year." Here we are again, discussing caseloads being too high and the administrative burden being too great, yet there seems to be no measurable progress in ensuring that veterans are served by a properly resourced system.
It is our hope to continue working with this subcommittee, Congress, the VA, and other stakeholders to ensure the sustainability of the VR&E program. Thank you again for the opportunity to share our views on the VR&E program, and I welcome any questions you may have.
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Information Required by Rule XI 2(g) of the House of Representatives
Pursuant to Rule XI 2(g) of the House of Representatives, the following information is provided regarding federal grants and contracts.
Fiscal Year 2026
Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of National Veterans Sports Programs & Special Events-- Grant to support rehabilitation sports activities -- $368,500.
Fiscal Year 2025
Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of National Veterans Sports Programs & Special Events -- Grant to support rehabilitation sports activities -- $502,000.
Fiscal Year 2023
Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of National Veterans Sports Programs & Special Events -- Grant to support rehabilitation sports activities -- $479,000.
Disclosure of Foreign Payments
Paralyzed Veterans of America is largely supported by donations from the general public. However, in some very rare cases we receive direct donations from foreign nationals. In addition, we receive funding from corporations and foundations which in some cases are U.S. subsidiaries of non-U.S. companies.
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Original text here: https://docs.house.gov/meetings/VR/VR10/20260416/119164/HHRG-119-VR10-Wstate-HowellJ-20260416.pdf
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Thompson Issues Opening Statement at Hearing on CFTC
WASHINGTON, April 24 -- Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pennsylvania, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, released the following opening statement from an April 16, 2026, hearing on the the Commodity Futures Trading Commission:* * *
Good morning and welcome to our first hearing with Mike Selig, the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Congratulations on your confirmation, Chairman Selig. We are looking forward to a robust conversation today about your agenda for the CFTC.
As we discussed at our reauthorization hearing in December, it is a transformative time for the ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, April 24 -- Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pennsylvania, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, released the following opening statement from an April 16, 2026, hearing on the the Commodity Futures Trading Commission: * * * Good morning and welcome to our first hearing with Mike Selig, the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Congratulations on your confirmation, Chairman Selig. We are looking forward to a robust conversation today about your agenda for the CFTC. As we discussed at our reauthorization hearing in December, it is a transformative time for theCommission and for financial markets broadly.
The Commission has many new questions to grapple with, including: the integration of digital assets and blockchains, the increasing participation of retail customers, the growing prevalence of integrated business models, and the harmonization of rules between financial regulators, to name a few.
As it does so, Congress gave the CFTC an explicit statutory purpose to promote "responsible innovation." It is the only financial regulator with such a mandate.
At the same time, the core mandate of the Commission remains unchanging: to protect commodity markets and their participants with a system of effective self-regulation overseen by the Commission. This is what we know today as "principles-based regulation." I look forward to the Chairman providing us with his views on these many policy issues, as well as his plans for agency operations, enforcement priorities, and reauthorization legislation.
While the rise in prediction markets has created an innovative new class of financial derivatives, it has also spawned significant confusion and debate about the role and authority of the Commission.
On the one hand, the Commodity Exchange Act is clear: the Commission's authority is broad and deep. The definitions of commodity and swap are sweeping, and the Commission's authority over transactions on registered exchanges is complete and exclusive.
As we learned from Dr. Sandor at our 50th Anniversary hearing last year, the original framers of the CFTC were intentional in providing the Commission with broad definitions and exclusive jurisdiction.
But understanding the Commission's jurisdiction is not the end of the public policy questions which we must consider.
Many members have raised important questions about the rules for trading event contracts and the appropriateness of certain contracts to be listed for public trading.
Importantly, the Commission has significant tools currently at its disposal to address many of these concerns.
The Chairman has already issued guidance and has committed to issuing a rulemaking using those tools. I look forward to discussing those actions further today.
Where the Commission's authority is found to be insufficient to meet its mandate to support responsible innovation and protect market participants, we will consider legislation as may be appropriate.
But first, the Committee must understand if such gaps exist.
Today's hearing is another step in that process. The Chairman's testimony will help our Members to further understand the law and the Commission's authorities.
Prediction markets are important and newsworthy -- however, they are not the only issue before the Commission.
Chairman Selig's announced agenda for the year is a busy one, touching on a broad cross-section of issues important to the derivatives industry and the American public. I look forward to exploring it in detail today.
I want to thank the Chairman again for coming today. We look forward to your testimony.
With that, I will yield to Ranking Member Craig for her opening statement.
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Original text here: https://agriculture.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=8122
Homeland Security Dept. Office of Homeland Security Situational Awareness Director Tomney Testifies Before Senate Appropriations Subcommittees
WASHINGTON, April 24 -- The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies released the following testimony by Coast Guard Rear Adm. Christopher J. Tomney (ret.), director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Homeland Security Situational Awareness, from an April 15, 2026, joint hearing with the Subcommittee on Homeland Security entitled "A Review of Preparations for the FIFA World Cup 2026":* * *
Good morning, Chairman Moran, Chairwoman Britt, Ranking Member Van Hollen, Ranking Member Murphy, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittees, ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, April 24 -- The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies released the following testimony by Coast Guard Rear Adm. Christopher J. Tomney (ret.), director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Homeland Security Situational Awareness, from an April 15, 2026, joint hearing with the Subcommittee on Homeland Security entitled "A Review of Preparations for the FIFA World Cup 2026": * * * Good morning, Chairman Moran, Chairwoman Britt, Ranking Member Van Hollen, Ranking Member Murphy, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittees,thank you for the opportunity to talk about the critical topic of World Cup 2026. My name is Chris Tomney, and I am the Director of the Office of Homeland Security Situational Awareness at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In addition to this role, which includes managing the National Operations Center, as codified in 6 U.S.C. Sec. 321d, I currently serve as Senior Coordinating Official for DHS in support of the White House Task Force on FIFA World Cup 2026.
Last May, I was appointed to this role by former Secretary Noem to serve as the Department's lead for DHS efforts supporting the White House Task Force on World Cup. In this forum, established through Presidential Executive Order 14234, I work with my ten counterparts from across the interagency and the Task Force office to coordinate federal actions necessary to ensure a safe, secure, and enjoyable tournament. The FBI, for example, is a fellow Task Force agency, and their teamwork has been superb.
As you know, this summer's World Cup tournament will be the most complex and widespread sporting event in the history of the world. Not only will we have 78 matches across 11 cities in the space of 39 days, but we will also have 39 team base camps and dozens of official Fan Fests and watch parties across America. The event will be a whole-of-government event, coming at the same time as America's 250th birthday celebrations and the many other events, such as Sail250 and the Joint Session of Congress.
Organization
Within DHS, I have a small team to assist with central coordination of our Department's activities. However, the primary mechanism by which we integrate DHS's activities is through our World Cup Coordination Council. This Council is comprised of Senior Executives from all DHS Components and Offices, who are charged with coordinating activities inside their organization. This model provides visibility and cooperation throughout the Department, both vertically and horizontally.
Through the Council and White House Task Force structures, we work to ensure consequence management planning, counter-unmanned aerial system operations, threat and intelligence efforts, anti-human trafficking, and visa and visitor processes are robust. We are finalizing enhanced information-sharing processes and common operating pictures to prevent miscommunication and improve situational awareness during the tournament.
DHS Security Efforts
In the match cities, DHS's Federal Coordinators are the lead federal agents for safety and security planning. DHS appoints a Federal Coordinator to work directly with state and local authorities whenever an event rises to a particular level of security concern, called a SEAR level, which stands for Special Event Assessment Rating. To illustrate the scale of this event, the number of SEAR-rated matches for the World Cup will multiply our typical annual workload for these events several times over, all condensed into a few short weeks.
These Federal Coordinators began working with the state, local, and host committee planners over a year ago, to help build a robust security plan for tournament activities. Through security committees, preparedness exercises, and detailed planning, the Federal Coordinators have been integral parts of tournament preparations. The Federal Coordinators are supported by the Special Events Program at DHS, which provides guidance, support, and assistance if federal security resources are needed to fill a gap in host city capabilities. Because we normally have only one SEAR event at a time, like the Super Bowl, DHS is usually able to fulfill these security requests internally. Given the scope and scale of the World Cup, the host cities have significant requirements.
To fill these security requests, DHS is working with host cities to leverage all available resources. This includes coordinating with state and local partners through mutual aid compacts and utilizing the $625 million of FEMA grant funding, spread across 11 cities, to help defray security costs. By taking a whole-of-community approach, we are working to ensure a robust security posture at every venue.
While the Federal Government has significant resources, we must balance the support required for the World Cup with our other critical, enduring missions, such as protecting our nation's aviation system, preventing terrorism, and securing the border. We continue to work with our partners to ensure all security requirements are met while maintaining our global commitments.
The FY 2026 President's Budget includes significant funding across the Department for the World Cup. Once FY 2026 appropriations are enacted, DHS components will properly allocate funding for the tournament. Additionally: 1) the U.S. Secret Service aligned $16 million in the FY 2025 Budget for early planning and procurements; 2) the Office of the Secretary leveraged $100 million from their Working Families Tax Cut Act (WFTC) funding to distribute C-UAS through S&T across the Department; and 3) the U.S. Coast Guard utilized $170 million from their WFTC funding to purchase C-UAS equipment in support of World Cup security.
Conclusion
That said, there is no part of DHS not fully engaged and dedicated to this mission. The dedicated men and women of the Department have never wavered in their focus on this tournament.
Similarly, our interagency partners provide support of every kind, ranging from intelligence reporting, law enforcement support, geospatial and graphic support, visa processing, and transportation and small business programs. DHS is grateful to all of these partners, not just the 10 other Task Force agencies, for helping provide a safe and secure World Cup tournament.
Thank you for the opportunity to be here today and I look forward to answering your questions.
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Original text here: https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/christopher_jtomney.pdf
GPO Director Halpern Testifies Before Senate Appropriations Committee
WASHINGTON, April 24 -- The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch released the following testimony by Government Publishing Office Director Hugh N. Halpern from an April 15, 2026, hearing entitled "A Review of the Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Requests for the Congressional Budget Office, Government Publishing Office, and the Government Accountability Office":* * *
Chairman Fischer, Ranking Member Heinrich, and Members of the Subcommittee, I am honored to appear before the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations to present the Government Publishing Office's (GPO's) ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, April 24 -- The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch released the following testimony by Government Publishing Office Director Hugh N. Halpern from an April 15, 2026, hearing entitled "A Review of the Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Requests for the Congressional Budget Office, Government Publishing Office, and the Government Accountability Office": * * * Chairman Fischer, Ranking Member Heinrich, and Members of the Subcommittee, I am honored to appear before the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations to present the Government Publishing Office's (GPO's)fiscal year 2027 appropriations request.
I thank you and your staff for your past support of GPO, and I look forward to again working closely with you in the coming year. For fiscal year 2027, I am requesting appropriations in the amount of $132,000,000, an amount equal to our FY 2026 appropriation.
If fully funded, this request would mark the fourth consecutive year in which GPO would be funded at $132,000,000, and it would also represent a 10.5 percent reduction from our appropriation of $147.5 million in FY 2010--some 16 years ago. We are proud to be able to submit this flat funding request for fiscal year 2027 despite increased labor and materials costs and to do so while continuing to make critical investments.
As you know, GPO runs as a business enterprise and appropriated funds represent a comparatively small portion of GPO's overall budget. For FY 2025, about 91 percent of GPO's revenue came from billings of its other Federal customers, including the State Department, the courts, the Department of Defense, and many others, while just under nine percent of our overall revenue came from direct appropriations. For FY 2026, we estimate that direct appropriations will again represent only about nine percent of our budget (See figure 1). [View figure in the link at bottom]
Those customers pay for products with pricing based on GPO's statutory requirement to recover its costs, meaning that we adjust pricing based on the costs of materials, labor, and overhead. As most of GPO's appropriations requests are based on funding for Congress' publishing needs and the Agency's operation of the Federal Depository Library Program, we sometimes must increase our appropriations requests when faced with increased costs.
Our model continues to deliver results. For the 29th consecutive year, GPO received an unmodified, or "clean," opinion on its financial statements, showing that we closed our books for fiscal year 2025 with net positive income of $32.8 million. That is our fifth consecutive positive result and will enable us to continue investing in our team, equipment, and campus.
It is also important to note that, given the conditions with our customers and increased materials costs, as well as the lingering impacts of lost business due to the shutdown in October and November, I expect our net income to be lower in FY 2026. How much lower it is difficult to say, but we are working hard to remain in the black for FY 2026 and tightening our belts. I am hopeful we will succeed in our efforts to have a financially successful year but much work needs to be done and we are facing a few headwinds.
GPO is requesting an overall appropriation of $132,000,000 for FY 2027, an amount equivalent to GPO's appropriations for the previous three fiscal years. GPO's request would accommodate increases to our labor and raw materials costs while enabling us to fund ongoing projects of importance to our congressional customers.
Increased productivity through the adoption of new technologies has been key to keeping GPO's needs for appropriations down, providing new and improved services at lower costs, and reducing overall headcounts. Figure 2 shows GPO's recent appropriations amounts and requests. Currently, we have 1,643 GPO teammates, compared to 2,284 in FY 2010, when GPO's appropriation was 10.5 percent greater.
One tool that has helped constrain growth in our appropriations requests is the repurposing of prior-year unexpended balances to support programs and capital investments consistent with the original purpose of those appropriated funds. We appreciate the willingness of this Subcommittee and the Full Committee to permit GPO to reapply such balances in recent years to continue our current robust pace of development and innovation.
Our FY 2027 request includes $80,000,000 for congressional publishing, the same amount as our FY 2026 appropriation. It is based on our estimates of Congress' likely needs, informed by historical trends, and available unexpended balances. It is also informed by increased raw materials and labor costs. In constant-dollar terms it represents a 78 percent reduction for congressional publishing appropriations since FY 1980, and a 42 percent reduction since FY 2010.
Our request for our public information programs (PIP) account, through which we administer the nationwide Federal Depository Library Program, is $42,852,000, which is the same as the amount of our FY 2026 appropriation. This will cover the costs of providing Federal Government publications in digital and tangible formats to 1,089 Federal depository libraries nationwide, cataloging and indexing, and distributing documents to recipients designated by law and international exchanges. Within this account, rising personnel costs and mandatory pay and inflationary increases are expected to be largely offset by savings from reduced printing and distribution expenses. With this proposed increase, the PIP appropriation will be just 4.74 percent higher than the amount appropriated in FY 2010, but still 30 percent lower in constant-dollar terms.
The final component of our overall appropriations request is for a total of $9,148,000 for GPO's revolving fund to support capital investments and information technology upgrades.
This component of our request is critically important to ensure that GPO can make the capital investments in equipment and technology needed to continue providing Congress and our Federal agency customers with the high level of service they expect. It will be used to support two specific long-standing priority capital investment projects that will be familiar to the Subcommittee.
* XPub
First, we are seeking $3,698,000 in direct appropriations support for our continued development of the XPub composition system, which is intended to fully replace our more than 40-year-old proprietary MicroComp composition system.
XPub is a transformational project for GPO. It will enable GPO and our customers to move to an all XML-composition workflow, simplifying authoring and production while also providing data in a format where it can easily be posted on the web, delivered to mobile devices, and repurposed into e-books, mobile web applications, or other forms of content delivery which contribute to openness and transparency in Government.
XPub is being deployed product-by-product. In FY 2025, GPO delivered a release candidate of congressional bills and public laws to congressional customers, and the House and Senate have now completed the first phase of user acceptance testing. At the current time, this release is expected to move into production in late FY 2026 or early FY 2027, though that is largely dependent on our customers.
GPO is also working to complete the production of the more than 60,000-page volume 2024 Main Edition of the United States Code through XPub and on a limited rollout of a product called XPub Horseshoe, which will transition GPO's current paper-based workflow to a fully electronic process.
Prior to FY 2022, much of the initial development of XPub had been funded through the annual reprogramming of unexpended appropriations with the Subcommittee's support, but given GPO's mostly static appropriations requests in recent years, those prior-year funds are being expended on other priorities as well. In recognition of the importance of the XPub project, the Subcommittee generously provided direct appropriations of nearly $25.6 million beginning in fiscal year 2022.
If approved, our $3,698,000 appropriation request will keep XPub development and deployment on track in FY 2027. Once development is complete, we hope to provide XPub to our customers as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) application, ensuring a dedicated stream of income to support continued platform development without the need for separate recurring appropriations.
* GovInfo
The second component of GPO's request for increased capital investment appropriations in FY 2027 relates to the continued development of our peerless GovInfo online portal, the world's only ISO-certified trusted digital repository. In recent years, the Subcommittee directly appropriated funds to refresh GovInfo's infrastructure and further develop its content collections. This year's request of $5,450,000 for GovInfo is the same amount the Subcommittee provided in FY 2026, and it would be divided between infrastructure investments ($1,800,000) and development investments ($3,650,000), including development required to support the digitization of historical content.
Investments in GovInfo support the distribution of much of the legislative data that supports the Library of Congress' Congress.gov site, as well as the bulk data made available for other public uses. In addition, GovInfo helps keep the costs of administering the Federal Depository Library Program down by making hundreds of thousands of critical Government publications available online free of charge, obviating the need to print and distribute thousands of volumes annually.
With the Subcommittee's sustained support, GPO has been able to add hundreds of thousands of additional documents and publications to the GovInfo online repository each year--over 235,963 content packages were added in FY 2025--and the public's usage of GovInfo continues to grow, with nearly 164 million information retrievals a month from GovInfo throughout FY 2025.
OIG REQUEST
Lastly, before I conclude, I want to add that, as required by section 1604(c) of the Legislative Branch Inspectors General Independence Act, we have forwarded our Inspector General's request for $7,226,000 in budget authority for FY 2027 as part of our FY 2027 Budget Submission. Currently, that request is funded as part of GPO's agency overhead-- a component of the prices and rates GPO charges its agency customers and Congress-- and not as a separate appropriation.
CONCLUSION
Chairman Fischer, Ranking Member Heinrich, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to present GPO's FY 2027 appropriations request, and for all the support you and your staff have extended to us during these challenging past two years.
This completes my prepared statement, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have.
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Hugh Nathanial Halpern, GPO Director
Hugh Nathanial Halpern is the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) Director, the Agency's chief executive officer. The Agency is responsible for publishing and printing information for the three branches of the Federal Government. Halpern is the 28th person to lead GPO since the Agency opened its doors for business on March 4, 1861, the same day Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States. President Donald Trump nominated Halpern to be GPO Director on October 17, 2019, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him on December 4, 2019.
Biography
Prior to coming to GPO, Halpern held a succession of leadership positions during his 30 years on Capitol Hill. He served as the Director of Floor Operations for the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. In that role, Halpern was the highest-ranking floor staffer in the House and served as Speaker Paul Ryan's Chief Advisor on all procedural matters.
He managed the daily floor operations of the House, served as the liaison to all leadership offices, and oversaw legislative interactions between The White House, House and Senate.
In 2018, he received the John W. McCormack Award of Excellence, the highest award given to a staff member in the House. The award recognizes a lifetime of bipartisan service to the House.
In addition to his position in the Speaker's Office, Halpern has more than a decade of experience serving on the senior leadership staff. He has a proven track record of successfully leading teams to achieve results.
During his career, he served half a dozen different committees in both policy development and procedural roles. During his 11 years on the House Committee on Rules, Halpern served as Staff Director leading the management and terms of debate on the House floor. In 2001, he was named General Counsel by Chairman Mike Oxley for the newly established House Committee on Financial Services. During his tenure, the committee provided legislation addressing terrorist financing and money laundering, improving investor confidence in the wake of the Enron and WorldCom scandals and granting consumers important new tools to fight identity theft. During the 1990s, Halpern served on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, where he handled a variety of legislative issues, including automobile safety, insurance, FTC consumer protection and tobacco regulation.
Halpern began his career in Congress as an intern for Rep. E.G. "Bud" Shuster in 1987.
Halpern served a number of temporary positions during his time on Capitol Hill. He was the Parliamentarian to the First Select Committee on Homeland Security, which created the Department of Homeland Security, General Counsel to the Select Committee to investigate the voting irregularities of August 2, 2007, and Assistant Parliamentarian to the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Republican National Conventions.
A native of Hollidaysburg, PA, Halpern received bachelor's and master's degrees in Political Science from American University in 1991 and 1992, respectively. He also received a law degree from George Mason University in 1997. Halpern has been included in Roll Call's list of 50 most powerful Congressional staffers 14 times and featured in a National Journal profile as one of "The New Power Players" on Capitol Hill.
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Original text here: https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/halpern_fy27.pdf
Covington & Burling Partner Venkataraman Testifies Before House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee
WASHINGTON, April 24 -- The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific released the following testimony by Arun Venkataraman, partner at Covington and Burling LLP, former assistant secretary of Commerce for global markets and director general of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, from an April 15, 2026, hearing entitled "Helping American Businesses Win Abroad: Strengthening U.S. Commercial Diplomacy":* * *
Chairman Mast, Ranking Member Meeks, Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss how to strengthen U.S. commercial ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, April 24 -- The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific released the following testimony by Arun Venkataraman, partner at Covington and Burling LLP, former assistant secretary of Commerce for global markets and director general of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, from an April 15, 2026, hearing entitled "Helping American Businesses Win Abroad: Strengthening U.S. Commercial Diplomacy": * * * Chairman Mast, Ranking Member Meeks, Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss how to strengthen U.S. commercialdiplomacy.
Never has the success of American business overseas been so central to the long-term economic security of the United States and to the shared prosperity of the United States and its partners around the world. Your decision to hold this hearing and tackle this issue is a testament to your leadership and underscores the unique role Congress can play in ensuring that U.S. commercial diplomacy institutions and efforts going forward are up to this task.
Today, I will touch briefly on the history of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service as context for the reassessment we are undertaking today. I will then turn to where things have been working well in commercial diplomacy before concluding with how we can best position U.S.
commercial diplomacy to meet the needs of the American people in a world of increasing strategic economic competition.
Until 1980 the responsibility for U.S. commercial diplomacy, including advocacy for American commercial interests and maintaining frontline contact with American business operations overseas, lay with the State Department. In passing the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, Congress expressed concern about the ability of State officers to prioritize and advance U.S. commercial interests, including monitoring the new trade agreements that had been reached in the Tokyo Round, and therefore directed the Carter Administration to reorganize the federal trade bureaucracy accordingly. The Carter Administration implemented this direction by transferring the function of commercial diplomacy to the Commerce Department, including the foreign service component of U.S. commercial officers and locally employed staff previously part of the State Department's foreign service corps.
Given some natural growing pains with this transition, the Commerce Department undertook a strategic review of the operations of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service in the early 1990s and developed a more customer-oriented approach to meeting the needs of American exporters.
This strategic review was the foundation of the tremendous success the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service has achieved over the last three decades in expanding export opportunities for American business, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, and supporting entrepreneurship and jobs in communities across America, including many of your Districts.
I see a few factors that have been critical to this success. First and most important, consistent with Congress' original instruction, a key part of the value of the Foreign Commercial Service has been its distinctness from the State Department. This has allowed FCS officers to develop an unparalleled understanding of the business of doing business overseas, with a laser-like focus on commercially meaningful outcomes based on connecting small American businesses with customers and other commercial opportunities overseas. This has also allowed FCS officers to develop independent relationships with officials in foreign governments, many of whom recognize the value to their economy of partnering with American business and are naturally open to engagement that furthers such partnership. Finally, FCS officers have been able to more readily bring the complementary strengths of the Commerce Department to bear in supporting American commercial interests abroad. These strengths include the deep sectoral and supply chain expertise of industry experts in the International Trade Administration, the practical innovation knowledge of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the ability to shape business legal frameworks through the Commercial Law Development Program.
While being distinct from the State Department has been invaluable, this does not mean that the Foreign Commercial Service has operated in isolation from the work of the State Department or the U.S. Government more broadly. To the contrary, the Commerce Department and State Department have a solid partnership that well serves U.S. foreign economic and commercial interests. The work of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service is closely aligned with Administration efforts across the board through the leadership of the Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary, and this coordination is strengthened by the recent establishment, at the direction of Congress, of the Economic Diplomacy Action Group. Particularly in the case of Embassies, the Senior Commercial Officer from FCS sits on the leadership team of most Ambassadors together with State Department Economic Minister-Counselors, and Commerce and State officers coordinate regularly on engagement with the U.S. business community and advocacy on commercial policies.
While we should credit the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service with its record of achievement on behalf of U.S. exporters over the last 30 years, it is also self-evident that today's world is fundamentally different from the world the Commercial Service was re-designed to serve 30 years ago. U.S. commercial partnerships are top of mind not only for foreign companies but increasingly for foreign government partners as well, whose leaders regularly raise questions about how to deepen those partnerships in meetings with the U.S. President and Cabinet officials. These leaders recognize that U.S. goods and services are vital enablers for economic growth and development in those markets. We also recognize on the U.S. side that, by supporting U.S. commercial interests overseas, we not only support jobs here but strengthen supply chains and help build the necessary connective tissue with partners and allies that ultimately positions the United States better to face strategic competitors. Finally, commercial diplomacy is not only about supporting U.S. businesses overseas--it is more important than ever for firms from partners and allied countries to continue to see the United States as a primary investment destination. Foreign-invested firms bring vital know-how and support high paying jobs across the United States, contributing to supply chain resiliency and economic prosperity.
Strengthening U.S. commercial diplomacy requires undertaking another strategic review of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service to ensure that it is fit for purpose in today's world of growing challenges to our economic security. To my mind, this strategic review would adopt improvements in the areas of (1) the Commerce Department's commercial diplomacy mission; (2) personnel; and (3) Congressional engagement.
Mission
Commerce needs to re-orient the mission of the Commercial Service around economic security rather than purely export promotion. Meeting the economic security needs of the moment requires the following:
* Explicitly identify commercial diplomacy in furtherance of economic security as the mission of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service.
* Reiterate the expectations Congress laid out when the Commercial Service was established in terms of the Service playing a role not only expanding exports, but monitoring compliance with trade agreements and resolving trade barriers. Doing so would be consistent with the role of the Global Markets and Enforcement & Compliance units of the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration.
* Allow for prioritization of export promotion activities in areas central to economic security, as guided by each Administration.
* Explicitly incorporate the work of the Advocacy Center and SelectUSA into the FCS mandate. Congress can help FCS officers build on existing work in this space by codifying their responsibility to help companies compete for foreign government procurements and support commercial deals in strategic sectors, as well as promote inbound foreign direct investment. Codifying the Advocacy Center and SelectUSA programs in statute will better ensure the long-term footing of these vital programs and the support given by FCS officers.
* Recognize the centrality of U.S.-based commercial service officers to the economic security objective. It is the end-to-end connectivity from local businesses to U.S. officers to FCS officers overseas to business partners overseas that enables the unique deal-making value that the Commercial Service can provide.
Personnel
Advancing the economic security objective in a rapidly changing commercial and technology landscape requires adaptable, well-trained personnel in the right locations around the world.
* Staffing: To this end, the U.S and Foreign Commercial Service have long been grossly understaffed. While the number of FCS officers has increased from 167 to less than 220 since the time commercial diplomacy transferred from State to Commerce in 1980, the needs for commercial diplomacy have increased exponentially, leaving U.S. commercial diplomacy efforts inadequately resourced at precisely the time that commercial diplomacy is needed more than ever. Other competitors recognized this need long ago and have significantly expanded the presence of foreign commercial officers, including China, which has 10 times as many commercial officers in certain key markets as the United States. These extra officers are able to build more of the commercial and governmental relationships that translate directly into deals for their companies that advance the vital interests of the Chinese economy.
* Placement: It is not only the number of personnel that matter, but their location. As this Committee has long recognized, the footprint of the Foreign Commercial Service does not reflect the areas that demand the most commercial attention from the United States. While re-allocating existing officers can address part of that concern, moving officer positions out of countries, including close allies, where U.S. goods and services continue to face stiff competition from China and others, risks ceding ground in markets with well-established U.S. commercial strength. Ensuring adequate resources to place officers in critical regions of strategic economic competition will be essential to meet U.S. economic security needs.
* Training: Part of the strength of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service is in the officers' visceral understanding of how business operates and what businesss needs to succeed in foreign markets. Allowing for commercial officers to adapt their work to changing priorities while retaining this understanding will require significantly upgraded training vehicles, particularly given the complexity associated with sectors like artificial intelligence and critical minerals.
Congressional Engagement
Congress needs greater visibility into the functioning of U.S. commercial diplomacy efforts and should be able to better assess how increased resources are managed towards this purpose.
Congress can ensure greater oversight through the following:
* Require the Global Markets business unit within the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration, which has responsibility for the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, to submit an annual report on the efficacy of its commercial diplomacy efforts, including what priorities it is pursuing, how it is effectuating those priorities, what successes it has achieved, and how it is incorporating the Advocacy Center and SelectUSA into its priorities.
* Hold an annual hearing for the Assistant Secretary of Global Markets to deliver the report and answer questions from Members about the performance of the U.S. commercial diplomacy function.
I know from my own experience that the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service is composed of some of the finest professionals in the federal government, driven by a clear mission to support U.S. business and delivering results with measurable metrics. That talent now needs to be harnessed towards a mission that better meets the urgent needs of today. This is not a function of the agency in which the Foreign Commercial Service sits; this is a function of the mission that has been assigned to it, the resources that will be allocated to deliver on this challenging mission, and the long-term commitment and stability of those resources to ensure that U.S. economic security can be meaningfully advanced through commercial diplomacy.
This work certainly requires continued and stronger partnership with the entire interagency, including with the State Department, and undoubtedly there are ways in which agencies can better leverage existing mechanisms to strengthen that partnership. But, that partnership does not mean displacement of the existing U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service. The reasons for grounding U.S. commercial diplomacy in the Commerce Department rather than the State Department are even stronger today than they were when the FCS was created over 40 years ago.
What is needed is a redefined mission and resources for the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service to do its job on behalf of the American people.
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Original text here: https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA05/20260415/119124/HHRG-119-FA05-Wstate-VenkataramanA-20260415.pdf
CFTC Chairman Selig Testifies Before House Agriculture Committee
WASHINGTON, April 24 -- The House Agriculture Committee released the following testimony by Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael S. Selig from an April 16, 2026, hearing on financial market modernization:* * *
Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Craig, and Members of the Committee: thank you for the opportunity to testify here today.
Just over a hundred days ago, I was sworn in as the 16th Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
During my November confirmation hearing, I pledged to work tirelessly as Chairman to maintain the agency's status as a world-class financial ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, April 24 -- The House Agriculture Committee released the following testimony by Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael S. Selig from an April 16, 2026, hearing on financial market modernization: * * * Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Craig, and Members of the Committee: thank you for the opportunity to testify here today. Just over a hundred days ago, I was sworn in as the 16th Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. During my November confirmation hearing, I pledged to work tirelessly as Chairman to maintain the agency's status as a world-class financialmarkets regulator. I committed to protect and provide regulatory relief to our farmers, ranchers, and producers, roll back outdated rules and regulations, and modernize the agency to keep pace with the rapid speed of innovation.
I'm pleased to report I've made significant progress on these goals since rejoining the agency last December.
One of my first priorities upon taking charge of the agency was identifying regulations that prevent farmers, ranchers, and producers from accessing our derivatives markets. My staff have been working diligently to rightsize cumbersome rules so that even our smallest producers can properly manage risk.
I've also revived the agency's annual agriculture convention, known as AgCon, to bring together leaders from government, business, and academia to discuss the most pressing issues in our agricultural markets. Most importantly, I'll be visiting farmers, ranchers, and producers across the country in the coming months to hear from them directly. The agriculture community is the backbone of this country, and it'll always have a seat at the table in this administration.
Another key priority is to lower the compliance burdens and energy costs for small businesses. Many of our rules and regulations discourage firms from servicing and trading with the businesses that are most in need of our markets.
The agency is finalizing regulatory relief for firms that transact with energy, agriculture, and critical minerals producers to provide access to more market intermediaries and contribute to lower commodity prices.
The agency has also taken a leading role in delivering on President Trump's mandate to make America the crypto capital of the world. Importantly, the CFTC joined an SEC interpretation to provide guidance that resolved significant ambiguity in the marketplace as to which types of crypto assets are commodities, and which are securities. We've also worked quickly to provide clarity concerning tokenized collateral, the capital treatment for payment stablecoins, and the obligations of software developers building in the United States.
I applaud the important work of this Committee to deliver bipartisan market structure legislation that will cement clear rules of the road for the millions of Americans who use crypto assets every day. I'm optimistic that Congress will soon send this landmark legislation to the President's desk.
The agency is also working to provide explicit guidelines and further strengthen investor protections for prediction markets, which offer trading in event contract derivatives that are regulated under the exclusive jurisdiction of the CFTC. Commission staff recently issued a prediction markets advisory and published a notice soliciting public input before considering new regulations for these markets.
Now, I'm sure I'll be getting questions about our enforcement efforts related to crypto, prediction markets, and the commodity derivatives markets more broadly. So, I want to be crystal clear: to anyone who engages in fraud, manipulation, or insider trading in any of our markets: we will find you, and you will face the full force of the law. Nothing is more important than protecting market integrity and that's why I've been diligently working to reinvigorate our enforcement division and upgrade our surveillance tools to meet the challenges of our growing markets.
None of these accomplishments would have been possible in such a short period of time without the agency's talented and experienced civil servants. I have also brought on new senior leadership who bring a wealth of experience to the agency.
As Chairman, I believe it's vital to break from the restrictive regulatory practices of the past and create derivatives markets that work for everyone. Under my leadership, the CFTC will administer fit-for-purpose regulation appropriately tailored to material risks, no more and no less, to ensure that the future of finance is made here, in America.
If the past is prologue, the next hundred days--and the years beyond--will build on this transformative foundation as the CFTC remains the gold standard for smart, effective oversight of our financial markets. Our work here is just getting started.
Thank you again, and I look forward to answering your questions.
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Biography of The Honorable Michael S. Selig
Chairman, Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Michael S. Selig was sworn in on December 22, 2025 to serve as the 16th Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Chairman Selig was nominated by President Donald J. Trump to the post on October 27, 2025, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 18, 2025.
Chairman Selig brings to the role deep public and private sector experience working with a wide range of stakeholders across agriculture, energy, financial, and digital asset industries, which rely upon and operate in CFTC-regulated markets.
Prior to his leadership at the CFTC, Chairman Selig most recently served as chief counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Crypto Task Force and senior advisor to SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins. In this role, Chairman Selig helped to develop a clear regulatory framework for digital asset securities markets, harmonize the SEC and CFTC regulatory regimes, modernize the agency's rules to reflect new and emerging technologies, and put an end to regulation by enforcement. He also participated in the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets and contributed to its report on "Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology."
Prior to government service, Chairman Selig was a partner at an international law firm, focusing on derivatives and securities regulatory matters. During his years in private practice, he represented a broad range of clients subject to regulation by the CFTC, including commercial end users, futures commission merchants, commodity trading advisors, swap dealers, designated contract markets, derivatives clearing organizations, and digital asset firms. Chairman Selig advised clients on compliance with the Commodity Exchange Act and the CFTC's rules and regulations thereunder, including in connection with registration applications and obligations, enforcement matters, and complex transactions.
Chairman Selig earned his law degree from The George Washington University Law School and was articles editor of The George Washington Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree from Florida State University.
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Original text here: https://agriculture.house.gov/uploadedfiles/testimony_selig_04.16.2026.pdf