September 22, 2025
Press Release
This morning, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation – which oversees the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – joined MSNBC’s Morning Joe in the wake of ABC’s firing last week of comedian Jimmy Kimmel, to defend freedom of speech, freedom of the press and to demand that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr testify before the Commerce Committee as soon as possible. On Friday, Sen. Cantwell sent a letter to Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) calling for Chairman Carr to appear before the Committee.
September 19, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, led Democratic Committee Members Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Ben Ray Luján, (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) in a letter to Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) requesting the Chairman call Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr to testify before the Committee following his threats to use the regulatory power of the FCC to compel ABC to fire comedian
September 18, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which oversees the Federal Communications Commission, condemned FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s intimidation of the press yesterday, which resulted in the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show.
September 18, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which oversees the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), senior member of the Committee, Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Telecommunications and Media Subcommittee, and all Democratic members of the Committee sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr demanding that he immediately stop threatening media organizations over content the Trump Administration does not like, in violation of the First Amendment.
September 17, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, delivered the following opening statement at today’s full committee hearing on the renomination of Michael Graham to serve as a Member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and the nominations of Dr. Ethan Klein to be Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and Joyce Meyer to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs.
September 17, 2025
Press Release
During the nomination hearing of Michael Graham to serve on the National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB), U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, continued her criticism of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) safety oversight, pointing to the agency’s failure to act on numerous warnings at Washington National Airport (DCA) and its long delays in implementing NTSB safety recommendations, including ADS-B In and Out technology.
September 16, 2025
Press Release
Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, joined her colleagues, led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), in sending a letter to PSA Airlines, Inc. urging them to continue contract negotiations and reach a fair agreement with over 1,700 flight attendants. The flight attendants have been bargaining for a new contract with PSA Airlines for over two years.
September 12, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, celebrated Senate passage of the Enhancing First Response Act, which officially recognizes the lifesaving, critical work of 9-1-1 operators by reclassifying them as part of the first responders system. The State of Washington made this change in 2022, leading to a statewide training and certification process and improved retention.
September 10, 2025
Press Release
Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, released a new analysis of college sports TV revenues showing how skyrocketing media rights payments have exacerbated a massive financial gap between traditional power conferences, especially the new Power 2—the SEC and Big Ten—and everyone else. This ever-widening gap is increasing competitive disparities among schools and threatening Olympic and non-revenue sports in favor of football and basketball.
September 10, 2025
Press Release
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, called for the passage of seven previously approved bipartisan AI bills that align with components of the White House AI Action Plan during a subcommittee hearing today on the Administration’s artificial intelligence strategy. Just prior to the start of the hearing, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the Trump Administration is pursuing a proposal that would allow the federal government to take 50 percent of profits from patents that are the result of university research supported by federal funding.