November 20, 2025
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Trump Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought was forced to reverse course and restore funding for the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), the independent federal watchdog group that works to root out corruption and misuse of federal funds and operates a confidential hotline and website so whistleblowers can come forward with concerns. The reversal follows an October letter from Sen. Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, to Vought, demanding OMB release funding he illegally blocked.
November 19, 2025
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation delivered the following opening statement at today’s Executive Session to consider several presidential nominees including: Stephen Carmel to be Administrator of the Maritime Administration, Laura DiBella to be a Federal Maritime Commissioner, Timothy Petty to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, Michelle Schultz to be a member of the Surface Transportation Board, Ethan Klein to be Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Trent Morse to be a member of the Board of Directors of
November 19, 2025
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, sent a letter to the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Neil Jacobs, demanding answers and accountability after NOAA cancelled approximately $300,000 in grant funding for the Alaska Earthquake Center (AEC). As a result, the AEC will stop providing real-time seismic data to deliver timely and accurate tsunami warnings for the entire west coast by the end of November.
November 18, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, today wrote to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr strongly opposing an effort by the FCC’s Republican majority to roll back rules put in place after last year’s China-sponsored Salt Typhoon hack to better protect U.S. data networks from future attacks.
November 17, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senate and House Democratic leaders, including Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, today filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in Trump v. Slaughter challenging President Trump’s unlawful attempt to remove Rebecca Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC’s mission is to protect the American public from unfair, deceptive and anticompetitive business practices. Lawmakers argued that President Trump’s attempt to remove Commissioner Slaughter without cause jeopardizes the integrity of independent federal agencies and undermines the FTC’s ability to enforce civil antitrust laws and protect the public from fraudsters
November 17, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) requested information from the commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB) Association regarding gambling corruption allegations against two pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, accusing them of rigging pitches to make a profit.
November 14, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, called on the Trump Administration to release as much economic data as possible before the Fed’s meeting in early December and resume normally scheduled data releases as soon as possible.
November 14, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, called on the Trump Administration to release as much economic data as possible before the Fed’s meeting in early December and resume normally scheduled data releases as soon as possible.
November 6, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M), member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, set the record straight on the Republican government shutdown and questioned three nominees to key transportation boards about their statutory obligations to act independently. Sen. Luján led Democrats at today’s hearing on Trump transportation nominees John DeLeeuw to be a Member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and Richard Kloster and Michelle Schultz to be Members of the Surface Transportation Board (STB). Ms. Shultz is a current STB member and is nominated for a second term.
November 6, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Vice Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs, today demanded answers from Commerce Department Secretary Howard Lutnick and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Arielle Roth about why the Trump Administration has frozen the distribution of nearly $1 billion in congressionally-approved broadband grants to Native communities.