Democratic News

Press Releases 09/10/2025
Ranking Member Cantwell Opening Statement at Today’s Hearing on the White House AI Action Plan
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, delivered the following opening statement during today’s Subcommittee on Science, Manufacturing, and Competitiveness hearing on the White House AI Action Plan.
Press Releases 09/3/2025
Ranking Member Cantwell Opening Statement at Today’s Hearing on Why NASA Must Win the Race Against China to Return to the Moon
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, delivered the following opening statement during today’s hearing on the importance of winning the space race against China.
Press Releases 09/3/2025
Cantwell, Experts Warn U.S. Cannot Afford to Lose Race Against China to Get Back to the Moon
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, warned of the serious consequences to the United States’ global leadership and future economic and national security if we allow China to beat the United States in the race back to the moon. Her warnings came during a hearing featuring witnesses with extensive experience related to human space exploration: Jim Bridenstine, Managing Partner of the Artemis Group and Former NASA Administrator; Lieutenant General John Shaw, Former Deputy Commander of the U.S. Space Command; Allen Cutler, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration; and Michael Gold, President of Civil and International Space for Redwire.
Press Releases 09/2/2025
Cantwell, Congressional Colleagues File Amicus Brief Defending Bipartisan, Independent CPSC
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, joined Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) to lead 23 additional members of Congress in filing an amicus brief defending the independence of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and supporting Congress’s authority to allow removal of CPSC Commissioners only for cause.
Press Releases 09/2/2025
Cantwell Statement on Trump Illegal Firing of Dem STB Member as Scrutiny of Massive Rail Merger Proposal Set to Begin
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, released the below statement regarding President Trump’s August 27 illegal firing of Robert Primus, one of two Democratic members of the Surface Transportation Board (STB). Primus had been confirmed unanimously by the Senate and his sudden firing comes as the STB is set to consider the controversial proposed merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroads, that, if approved, would be the largest rail merger in the Nation’s history. If not reversed, the Board would be left with two Republicans and one Democrat with two vacancies.
Press Releases 08/25/2025
Cantwell Warns University Presidents, Regents That SCORE Act Will Widen Inequities in College Sports, Roll Back Athletes’ Rights, Fuel a Football Spending Arms Race & Shortchange Women’s & Olympic Sports
As college football season begins, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, wrote to the presidents and chancellors of more than 350 Division I universities and their governing bodies, warning that legislation currently before the House of Representatives would further cement current inequities in college athletics and consolidate power with the SEC and Big Ten. She asked for their input on how to address these inequities and maximize the value of college sports across the board.
Press Releases 08/8/2025
DOT Launches Safety Audit of FAA Oversight of DCA Airspace
The Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General (DOT OIG) today announced it will spearhead a safety audit of FAA’s oversight of DCA airspace. In June, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, led a letter along with Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to DOT’s Acting Inspector General and the Inspector General of the Army (Army OIG) requesting concurrent safety audits in response to the January 29th mid-air collision and ongoing coordination issues between the Army and DCA air traffic control. To date, the Army has refused to conduct its own audit.
Press Releases 08/1/2025
Cantwell Reintroduces Bill to Modernize Nation’s Weather Radio
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Chair of the Committee, and Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jerry Moran (R–Kansas), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) introduced the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio Modernization Act.
Press Releases 08/1/2025
Cantwell to FAA as NTSB Hearing Concludes: You Must Listen. You must Lead.
This morning, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, joined MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigative hearing into the January 29, 2025 mid-air collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines flight 5342 near DCA that took the lives of 67 people. The 3-day hearing – which concludes today – has revealed massive failures by FAA leaders to listen to and act on safety warnings from its own front-line employees.
Press Releases 08/1/2025
Cantwell Says FAA Must “Do Its Job” During Interview with CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Day Two of NTSB Hearing
During an interview with CNN’s Jim Sciutto last night, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, had a straightforward message for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA): Do its job. Her comments came near the end of the second day of the three-day National Transportation Safety Board NTSB investigative hearing into the January 29, 2025 mid-air collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines flight 5342 near DCA that took the lives of 67 people. The hearing has revealed massive failures by FAA leaders to listen to and act on safety warnings that, unaddressed, could lead to a deadly collision.
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