Democratic News

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, sent a letter to Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) calling on him to invite the unlawfully fired Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioners, Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, to testify at the FTC oversight hearing scheduled for April 15, 2026.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, issued the below statement following the successful launch of the Artemis II mission around the moon. Artemis II is the first crewed mission of the Artemis program and is designed to test the life support system and other critical components of the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion vehicle on a 10-day lunar flyby mission. […]

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, issued the below statement regarding the ruling by a federal judge that blocks President Trump’s 2025 Executive Order to cease federal funding for PBS and NPR. […]

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Commerce Committee, have introduced the bipartisan Sportfish Restoration, Recreational Boating Safety and Wildlife Restoration Act of 2026. The legislation is cosponsored by Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). […]

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford demanding they immediately address the interagency coordination failures that led to two major incidents last month involving counter-drone high energy laser systems near El Paso and Fort Hancock Texas, and Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), member of the Committee, released a bipartisan discussion draft of the College Sports Competitive Act that would amend the Sports Broadcasting Act to allow colleges to pool their media rights in broadcast negotiations, which some have estimated would generate more than $9 billion in new revenue for college sports. The Senators expect to work with colleagues and stakeholders to finalize legislation that will grow broadcast revenue and help stabilize schools in the era of NIL.

President Trump’s nominee to serve as Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Dr. Arvind Raman, faced a bipartisan grilling from members of the Commerce Committee, including Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), over actions by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to undermine the CHIPS and Science Act and Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program that helps small and medium-sized manufacturers across the country adopt advanced technologies. The United States lost 108,000 manufacturing jobs in the first year of President Trump’s second term.