Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Following the enactment of the Republican tax law, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) spoke out on the Senate floor last night to underscore the harmful impacts the law will have on millions of people. The new law, passed without any bipartisan support, will soon kick more than 17 million Americans off of health insurance, raise monthly health care costs across the country, and slash nutritional assistance for those in need – all in order to cut taxes for the...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the State of Hawai‘i with $5,512,623 in new federal grant funding for runway improvements at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole, the largest airport on Hawai‘i Island and the state’s second international entry point. “This new federal funding will help modernize and strengthen infrastructure at Kona International Airport, making it more reliable and safer...

WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Foreign Operation Appropriations, introduced the “Saving Lives and Taxpayer Dollars Act,” legislation to prevent the unnecessary destruction and waste of foreign assistance commodities—including food, medicine and medical devices—by ensuring that they are delivered to intended recipients before they spoil or...

WASHINGTON – Following a ruling from a federal court that blocked the Federal Trade Commission’s “click-to-cancel” rule that was set to go into effect on Monday, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and John Kennedy (R-La.) introduced the Unsubscribe Act. The bipartisan bill would require companies to be more transparent about their subscription-based business models and make it easier for consumers to cancel their subscriptions once their free or reduced-price trial period has ended. “Our...

WASHINGTON – Governor Josh Green, M.D., U.S. Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie K. Hirono, and U.S. Representatives Ed Case and Jill Tokuda today released the following statement after Congress passed a Republican tax bill that will cut healthcare coverage through Med-QUEST for more than 40,000 people in Hawai‘i, gut food assistance programs that more than 20,000 Hawai‘i families rely on, and raise the national debt by $3.3 trillion. The bill now goes to the president to be signed into law. “The...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) led a group of 18 senators in urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to continue efforts to bring home Americans who are currently wrongfully detained in Venezuela. In May, the State Department announced that Venezuela is currently unjustly jailing more Americans than any other country in the world. The letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.),...

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today voted against a Republican tax bill that will kick more than 16 million Americans off of health insurance, raise monthly health care costs across the country, and slash nutritional assistance for those in need – all in order to cut taxes for the ultra-wealthy. “If enacted, the Republican tax bill will mean millions of people will lose health care coverage and everyone’s health care costs will go up. It’s worse than you think, but we can still stop it....

WASHINGTON – During a debate on the Republican tax bill, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) condemned the bill’s provisions to gut clean energy which will raise people’s energy bills by more than a hundred dollars starting next year and make blackouts and power outages more common across the country. “This is the worst piece of legislation for the planet in the history of our country, and it's not even close. Republicans are effectively codifying Big Oil's wish list into law, without...

WASHINGTON – Today, during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Trump’s proposed rescission request to Congress, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) warned colleagues against rescinding foreign assistance funding for programs that have long had bipartisan support. Schatz, who is a senior member of the committee and ranking member of the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee which oversees much of the funding being cut in the package, questioned White...

WASHINGTON — During a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing today entitled, “A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the Navy,” U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) pressed top military officials on Middle East operations and partisan budget maneuvers. The witnesses included Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan, Commandant of the Marine Corps General Eric M. Smith, and Acting Chief of Naval Operations Admiral James W. Kilby. Addressing the current...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) spoke on the Senate floor today to warn Senate Republicans against passing a tax plan that would kick more than 16 million Americans off of health insurance, raise monthly health care and energy costs across the country, and slash nutritional assistance for those in need – all in order to cut taxes for billionaires. He highlighted the voices of Americans in red states imploring their representatives to preserve Medicaid which is a lifeline for...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement on U.S. military action in Iran. “This strike ordered by President Trump is a reckless and dangerous escalation that puts American lives at risk and threatens our national security. It was carried out without congressional approval and with no clear plan for what comes next beyond more chaos and bloodshed. “We’ve all seen what happens when the United States...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) reintroduced legislation to create a new progressive tax on financial transactions that would curb high-risk trading practices, reduce economic inequality, and generate $752 billion in new federal revenue over ten years once phased in. The bill comes as congressional Republicans advance a plan to cut taxes for billionaires and corporations by kicking more than 16 million Americans off of health insurance, raising health care and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement after Senate Republicans released new details on their tax legislation that would raise energy costs for Americans and gut health care and food assistance to fund tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. “Democrats took historic action to contain energy costs and fight the climate crisis through the Inflation Reduction Act. Now, Trump’s bill to cut taxes for billionaires will upend our progress – pulling the rug out from...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) spoke on the Senate floor after U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was manhandled by federal agents for asking a question at a public press conference in his home state with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “This is the stuff of dictatorships,” said Senator Schatz. “There is no context that justifies this action.” Senator Schatz continued, “As Trump's Department of Homeland Security raises the stakes and continues with a...

Republican Tax Plan Would Kick 16 Million Americans Off Of Health Insurance; Drive Up Monthly Premiums, Out-Of-Pocket Costs WASHINGTON – As Republicans advance a tax plan that would kick 16 million Americans off of health insurance – including 8 million from Medicaid – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) today reintroduced the State Public Option Act, bicameral legislation to create a Medicaid-based public health insurance option by providing...

WASHINGTON – At a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) challenged Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine on President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to respond to protests in Los Angeles. He also questioned the administration’s acceptance of a luxury aircraft from the government of Qatar to be used as Air Force One. “Is the United States being invaded by a foreign nation?” Schatz...

WASHINGTON — In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) condemned President Donald Trump’s use of authoritarian tactics in response to protests in Los Angeles and exposed Republican efforts to push through an unpopular bill that slashes health care and food assistance in order to fund tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. “If you heard that a leader of a foreign country was sending armed soldiers into his own cities, you would correctly call it authoritarian...

WASHINGTON — In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) warned that the Republican tax bill would raise costs for working families and cut critical programs like Medicaid and food assistance in order to pay for tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. “No one asked for this. No one asked for the biggest wealth transfer in American history — from the poorest people in the country to the richest people to ever exist. No one asked for the biggest ever cuts to Medicaid —...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, released the following statement on President Donald Trump’s request to Congress to rescind nearly $10 billion in previously-enacted funding. “The Trump administration is seeking to codify its evisceration of American foreign assistance. Make no mistake: doing so will make Americans less safe, less secure, and less prosperous. “Gutting global health...