WASHINGTON – During an Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing today, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) pressed Trump administration nominees on issues affecting Arizona’s public lands and water, including funding freezes that threaten drought relief, tribal water rights settlements, and protections for the Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.  Watch Senator Gallego’s questioning HERE. Gallego began his questioning by highlighting the urgent need for drought relief in the Colorado River Basin and asked a nominee to commit to releasing all previously appropriated drought funds. “One of the most pressing issues for my state is drought funding. We continue to see challenges with funding freezes at the

WASHINGTON – Today, Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) introduced the bipartisan Housing Affordability Act to increase the supply of affordable housing by increasing the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) outdated multifamily loan limits.   “To tackle the affordable housing crisis, we need to make building homes easier and cheaper. But outdated regulations are holding us back,” said Senator Gallego. “By updating a nearly two-decade old loan limit, the Housing Affordability Act will expand access to affordable loans for building multifamily housing and ultimately bring down housing costs.” “One of the biggest obstacles to widespread affordable housing in Pennsylvania and across the country is a lack of supply,” said Senator McCormick. “By making a long overdue

WASHINGTON – Today, during a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), a Marine combat veteran, raised serious concerns over the Trump Administration’s cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that threaten veterans’ mental health care. He also reiterated his blanket hold on Trump’s VA nominees until the Administration reverses course on its drastic cuts:   “I placed a blanket hold on all President Trump’s nominees to the VA, especially following the fact they are cutting 83,000 jobs because I just don’t see how it is possible for the VA to fire so many employees without it affecting care for veterans, especially health care,” said Senator