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Whistleblower

Issue: Coast Guard

Evaluating Progress After Historic Investments in the U.S. Coast Guard

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries, will convene a hearing titled “The Fleet We Funded: Assessing Coast Guard Force Laydown on the Heels of Historic Investment” on Thursday, January 29, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. EST. This hearing will examine how the record $25 billion investment from the Working Families Tax Cut Act and the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025 is supporting emerging operational demands, including global deployments and increased availability of vessels and aircraft to counter narcotraffickers.

Commerce Committee Advances 15 Bills, Nominations for FCC and NASA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved 15 bills and two nominations, Olivia Trusty to be a Member of the Federal Communications Commission and Jared Isaacman to be the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Committee also voted to promote a Coast Guardsman. The approved legislation covers a wide sweep of the Committee’s jurisdiction, including weather forecasting, scientific research, space exploration, telecommunications, and consumer protection.

Commerce Committee Leaders Reintroduce Bill to Ensure Coast Guard Personnel Are Paid In Event of Gov’t Shutdown

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) recently reintroduced the Pay Our Coast Guard Act, bipartisan legislation that would ensure Coast Guard personnel receive pay and allowances in the event of a government shutdown. The legislation would ensure that the Coast Guard gets the same treatment as the other branches of the armed services if there is a lapse in appropriations. Because the Coast Guard is housed within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), it was left off a previous funding stopgap that only covered the Department of Defense (DoD).

DOT Deputy Secretary Nominee Steven Bradbury Advances Out of Commerce Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), cleared President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation, Steven Bradbury, for consideration by the full Senate. Bradbury’s nomination passed the committee by a vote of 15 yeas and 13 nays.

Sen. Cruz: You Cannot Stop Deadly Drugs With an Open Border

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In his opening statement at today’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing titled “Interdicting Illicit Drug Trafficking: A View from the Front Lines,” Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) discussed how the Biden administration’s radical, open-border policies weakened the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) ability to stop deadly drugs from crossing U.S. maritime borders and allow Middle East drug runners to help fund Iranian terrorism. Sen. Cruz highlighted how the bicameral and bipartisan Coast Guard Authorization Act, cosponsored by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), aims to end the ‘catch and release’ approach to Middle East drug enforcement and close a loophole so cartels could be prosecuted for drug smuggling via remotely operated sea drones.

Sen. Cruz: Discussing U.S. Acquisition of Greenland Is About Diplomacy and Shared Interests

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In his opening statement at today’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing titled “Nuuk and Cranny: Looking at the Arctic and Greenland’s Geostrategic Importance to U.S. Interests,” Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) argued that acquiring Greenland would serve America’s national security and economic interests well due to the island’s location in the Arctic, access to sea routes, and wealth of natural resources.

Commerce Committee Leaders Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Coast Guard Reauthorization Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) introduced the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025. The bipartisan legislation, which was agreed to between leaders of both the Commerce Committee and House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, authorizes funding to bolster the Coast Guard’s critical missions of border security, facilitating maritime commerce, and enforcing the rule of law in domestic and international waters.