Wednesday, February 18, 2026. Chump falsely insists he's been "exonerated" in the Epstein scandal, the House Oversight Committee goes to Ohio today for a deposition, Pete Hegseth continues his drama queen moves, ICE suffers more reveals, and much more.
President
Donald Trump claimed to have been "exonerated" of any wrongdoing as it
relates to his past relationship with Jeffrey Epstein no less than five
times Monday when speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, a remark
that comes amid mounting evidence to the contrary.
A
reporter asked Trump about recent remarks from his longstanding
political rival, Hillary Clinton, who accused the president of having “something to hide” regarding Epstein, the convicted child sex offender who once claimed to have been Trump’s “closest friend for 10 years.”
[. . .]
Despite
Trump’s claims, the Justice Department’s release of millions of files
on Epstein has unearthed a number of allegations against him, among them
claims that he abused at least two underage girls, which political
reporter Roger Sollenberger reported Sunday were deemed credible by federal investigators.
Other revelations unearthed from the DOJ’s release of files on Epstein include emails that suggest Trump may have “spent hours” with one of Epstein’s victims at his home, and that Trump may have spent Thanksgiving with Epstein during his first term in office, among countless others.
Despite
Trump’s insistence, newly surfaced material in the Epstein files shows
that the FBI interviewed a victim who accused Trump of sexual assault,
undercutting Attorney General Pam Bondi’s recent claim that the Justice
Department had no such evidence.
According to independent journalist Roger Sollenberger,
agents deemed the woman a “credible accuser,” though the outcome of the
inquiry remains unclear. A woman with matching identifying details
later sued Epstein’s estate and secured a settlement in 2021.
The
allegations appear in an internal Justice Department slideshow
cataloguing Epstein-related investigations, where Trump is listed
alongside two accusations. One describes a violent sexual assault when
the accuser was between 13 and 15 years old; another recounts Trump
agreeing with Epstein’s remark that a 14-year-old girl was “a good one,”
testimony the department later relied on to convict Ghislaine Maxwell.
Although
Trump is referenced tens of thousands of times across the files, the
White House has continued to deny wrongdoing, even as Rep. Ted Lieu
accused Bondi of lying under oath over claims that no underage girls
were present at events Trump attended.
Online,
Trump’s contradictions sparked outrage, with critics saying his claims
didn’t add up when weighed against the facts that have been released.
One
widely shared response cut straight to the point: “Only he hasn’t been
totally exonerated. Not in the slightest. His name appears in the files
over 1 million times, according to Raskin. He’s being protected by evil,
otherwise known as Pam Bondi.”
Today, in Ohio, the US House Oversight Committee takes a deposition from billionaire Les Wexner regarding his ties to pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. US House Rep Jasmine Crockett discussed the upcoming deposition with Jen Psaki last night on MS NOW.
The U.S. House Oversight Committee will question retail
mogul Leslie Wexner on February 18 about his relationship with sex
offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The deposition, which
was recently moved from Washington D.C. to Wexner’s home state of Ohio,
comes days after members of Congress, representatives Thomas Massie of
Kentucky and Ro Khanna of California, compelled the Justice Department
to reveal Wexner’s then-redacted identity in an internal FBI document
that had been among the millions released in January. The FBI Document
labeled Wexner a co-conspirator to Epstein along with Lesley Groff,
Ghislaine Maxwell, Jean-Luc Brunel, Karyna Shuliak and four others whose
names remained redacted. The document appears to be tied to the child
sex trafficking charges against Epstein and possibly the investigation
into his death. In 2019, the Assistant U.S. Attorney told Wexner’s legal
counsel that he was “neither a co-conspirator nor a target in any
respect,” according to a spokesperson for Wexner, after Wexner provided
background information on Epstein (Wexner’s spokesperson says Wexner was
never contacted again).
[. . .]
Despite Wexner’s efforts to distance himself from Epstein, his
relatively low profile in recent years, and claims that the relationship
was “more professional than social,” per the memo, the most recent
batch of files has once again resurfaced the extent of their shared
history. Wexner’s name now appears more than 1,300 times in the DOJ’s
Epstein Library, frequently within emails, interviews and lawsuits
dating far after 2008. As first reported by TheNew York Times,
the newest files show an undated draft of a letter to “Les” from
Epstein: “I have never once, not once, done anything , but protect your
interests. I owe a great debt to you, as frankly you owe to me…You and I
had ‘gang stuff’ for over 15 years.” A spokesperson for Wexner says
that the undated draft note was never received by Wexner.
Wexner has been known
as a primary source for Epstein’s money and power. In a released
transcript from 2020, Epstein’s former IT contractor told FBI agents
that “Les Wexner was always #1 speed dial on all of Epstein’s phones.” A
spokesperson for Mr. Wexner declined to comment on this claim.
Anthony Marcum, an assistant professor at Capital University Law
School and a lawyer who has also worked for former Sen. Ben Sasse, said a
congressional deposition is different from testifying as a witness at
trial, even though both involve sworn testimony.
“It’s sworn testimony for both depositions and being a witness at trial, but they’re serving different purposes,” Marcum said.
The
session in New Albany is not expected to be public. “This is not gonna
be aired publicly, this will not be on TV, this is gonna be closed-door
with committee staff, members of the committee, the person being
interviewed, and two of their lawyers,” Marcum said.
Wexner will be able to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against
self-incrimination. Marcum also said the questioning could stretch on
for a long time, with time divided between the parties.
Pam
Bondi, Donald Trump’s hand-picked and ultra-loyal Attorney General,
says the Epstein files are over because everything has now been fully
released.
It certainly seems to be the case
that the White House wants this story to be done and for the world to
move on. But Bondi – and her boss – will almost certainly find that
moving the world’s attention on is easier said than done.
[. . .]
At
the same time, lawyers have claimed there are documents missing from
the supposedly complete files – something I can corroborate. As a
reporter, I contacted Epstein and several of his associates early in
2015, when Mountbatten-Windsor was first named in an Epstein-related
lawsuit. Some of those emails have appeared in the Epstein files – but
not all of them.
Even
if the document’s story was over, and not a single new email or text
was released, this is far from done. Congress is only just getting
started on its own investigations, and it has the power to use subpoenas
to compel witnesses to give evidence to its committees.
Channel 4 News claimed
that only 2% of all the files might have been released, as per their
research. Citing what they call gross negligence, critics are coming up
with new nicknames that highlight Trump’s handling of the case.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. used the term “Epstein administration,” while addressing the Trump administration.
He
strongly criticized Trump and said, “Donald Trump told us that even
though he had dinner with these kinds of people in New York City and
West Palm Beach that he would be transparent. But he’s not. He’s still
in with the Epstein class. This is the Epstein administration.”
Sometimes there’s no smoking gun, but there’s the smell of gunpowder.
That seems to be the case with Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. The
Trump gang’s handling of the scandal looks as if it is purposefully
designed to raise suspicions. Fighting the release of the Epstein files,
declaring this whole subject ought to be dropped, and, of course,
Trump’s contradictory statements about his relationship with Epstein—it
all comes across as fishy and suggests guilt of…something. Last week,
the news emerged that in 2006, when sex crime charges against Epstein in
Palm Beach became public, Trump called the
city’s police chief and said, “Thank goodness you’re stopping him,
everyone has known he’s been doing this.” Yet after Epstein was arrested
on federal charges in 2019, Trump said he had known nothing of
Epstein’s abuse of teenage girls: “I had no idea.”
Was he lying about what he knew back in the day? This—shall we
say?—contradiction is hard to square. But it’s a good indication that
nothing Trump claims about Epstein should be believed. Remember the
birthday card? In July, the Wall Street Journalreported that a birthday album Ghislaine Maxwell prepared for Epstein in 2003 contained a greeting from Trump: A drawing of
a naked female body with an imagined dialogue between “Jeffrey” and
“Donald” that ended, “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday—and may
every day be another wonderful secret.” Trump’s signature mimicked
pubic hair in the crotch of the figure.
Let's move over to Pete Looselips Hegseth. The Secretary of Defense is in the news for multiple mental moments. Matthew Rozsa reports:
President
Donald Trump’s Pentagon chief forced out a senior military adviser
because of that officer’s link to a general who previously criticized
Trump — even though the soldier in question is widely described as
nonpartisan.
“He’s about the most nonpartisan guy I know,” one retired colonel told The Washington Post
about the decision to fire Col. David Butler. This colonel had
previously served with Butler but spoke anonymously about those
experiences to avoid retaliation from Trump and his defense secretary,
Pete Hegseth. “That’s really too bad.”
Although
Butler never publicly criticized Trump, he worked from 2019 until 2023
as a senior spokesman for the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley. Trump and Hegseth have targeted Milley in a
number of ways because he maintained a nonpartisan military during
Trump’s first term and after retiring called Trump “fascist to the
core," warning that he is "the most dangerous person to the country." In
response, Hegseth directed a suspension of Milley’s security clearance,
a revocation of his security detail and a Pentagon inspector general
review of his alleged past leaks to journalists. Perhaps most
symbolically, Trump ordered Milley’s official portrait taken down at the
Pentagon.
In addition to targeting
Milley directly, Trump has also fired other military officers who
worked with Milley on the Joint Chief, even though the men in question
were not believed to have criticized Trump or been partisan. Described
by the Post as “evenhanded leaders caught in the middle of a political
knife fight,” the fired or promotion-delayed officers include Gen. James
Mingus, Adm. Milton Sands, Rear Adm. Michael Donnelly, Maj. Gen. James
Patrick Work and Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims.
"Once
lost, the legitimacy of a military that reflects and represents all
Americans will be difficult to recover," Gen. Stanley McChrystal (Ret.)
told The New York Times about Hegseth's actions. Similarly Rep. Jason
Crow, (D-Colo.), who is a former Army Ranger, told the Times that "the
message being sent to those younger soldiers and sailors and airmen and
Marines is that politics can and should be part of your military
service."
Several
current and former defense officials expressed astonishment at Butler’s
ouster, describing him as a steady hand and thoughtful strategist who
has earned the trust of numerous generals, civilian political appointees
and journalists.
One Army officer questioned
why Hegseth would make an effort to fire a colonel on another Trump
official’s staff. “It’s terrible for the Army,” the official said of
losing its senior public affairs adviser.
“He’s
about the most nonpartisan guy I know,” said a retired colonel who
previously served with Butler, speaking on the condition of anonymity
for fear of retaliation by Hegseth’s team. “That’s really too bad.”
Before
becoming Milley’s spokesman, Butler held a high-profile assignment as
the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan under Army Gen. Austin
“Scott” Miller. Butler was selected for the post after previously
working for Miller at the elite Joint Special Operations Command.
Hegseth also sought to strip Sen. Mark Kelly of his rank and pension
after Kelly and five other Democratic members of Congress released a
video citing the Military Code of Justice and reminding service members
that they had a duty to disobey illegal orders.
A federal judge appointed by President George W. Bush issued a blistering opinion
blocking Hegseth’s effort to censure and demote Kelly, a combat veteran
and former astronaut who retired in 2011 with the rank of captain.
Carl Gibson notes that even THE WALL STREET JOURNAL editorial board has issues with Prissy Pete's attack on Senator Mark Kelly:
The Journal observed Monday
that the Trump administration's failed attempt to prosecute Sen. Mark
Kelly (D-Ariz.) was merely the latest example of the DOJ bringing a
flimsy case before a grand jury only to be sent home empty-handed. The
Rupert Murdoch-owned paper pointed out that after Trump accused Kelly of
"seditious behavior, punishable by death" for urging military service
members to remember their duty to disobey illegal orders, Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth jumped to action, with the Journal commenting
that Hegseth "takes tango lessons whenever Mr. Trump says dance."
Trump's
Pentagon chief sent Kelly a "letter of censure" and attempted to dock
his retirement pay over his remarks, prompting Kelly to sue the
administration. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon — an appointee of
former President George W. Bush — admonished the Pentagon from the bench,
and reminded the administration that Kelly was guilty of nothing more
than expressing his constitutionally guaranteed First Amendment rights.
Insult
was added to injury after a grand jury refused to indict Kelly and the
five other Democratic lawmakers in the video (all of whom are veterans
of the military and intelligence agencies). In addition to returning a
"no true bill" verdict, not one grand juror voted in favor of the DOJ's
indictment, which is a virtually unprecedented event.
As
women began serving in combat roles — all restrictions on which were
lifted in 2015, after the ACLU Women's Rights Project and ACLU of
Northern California filed a lawsuit challenging them — DACOWITS has made
recommendations to facilitate women's integration, such as securing
properly fitting body armor, boots and uniforms, proposing strategies
for addressing gender bias, and, yes, assuring that women can meet
applicable physical fitness standards.
Over the
course of its history, spanning Republican as well as Democratic
administrations, DACOWITS has made more than 1,000 recommendations to
the Department of Defense. Ninety-eight percent of these efforts have
been implemented in full or in part.
Given that
women in combat jobs already must satisfy stringent gender-neutral
physical requirements, Hegseth's muddled new directive about fitness
standards likely won't dramatically reduce women's numbers in those
roles. Eliminating DACOWITS, however, does deliberate, incalculable harm
to all service women's ability to thrive in their careers, and does
risk driving women out of the military, as well as deterring others from
enlisting altogether.
For a secretary of
defense fixated on promoting the "lethality" of U.S. forces, scrapping a
venerable advisory body relied upon by the Pentagon for decades to
maximize our troops' readiness does nothing to promote our national
security — and everything to advance Hegseth's personal extreme views
about women's right to serve their country.
Federal immigration officers have shot 13 people since September, according to a new report.
As
the Department of Homeland Security has launched a widespread
immigration campaign across the country, reports of aggressive tactics
have become far more common. Last month alone, two U.S. citizens were
shot dead by federal agents - Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37 from
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In many of the most violent incidents, videos contradict the Trump administration's account,
posing serious questions about the power bestowed upon the federal
agents who undergo less training than other law enforcement officers.
NBC News put together a report of the shootings
that have occurred since September, showing the varied circumstances
and places where ICE and CBP officers have opened fire on people while
conducting immigration operations.
The
brutality was never checked. Windows were smashed, People were dragged
out of cars in front of elementary schools. Women were pushed to the
floor in court buildings. ICE got away with everything. It was never held accountable and was informed that it would not be held accountable which made it so ripe and ready for abuse. Howard Husock (THE HILL) notes:
The dam of Republican acquiescence to the Trump administration’s over-the-top immigrant deportation policy has begun to break.
The
deaths of two Minneapolis protesters have galvanized lawmakers and
broken their trance of fear of the president. Criticism of Immigration
and Customs Enforcement tactics has extended beyond long-time Trump
skeptic Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and lame-duck Sen. Thomas Tillis
(R-N.C.) to include other moderates such as Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.)
and deeply conservative Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). That Lawler is facing
re-election this fall is no coincidence.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem quickly offered a variation of her standard falsehood.
She
had said the same after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, an unarmed
mother of three, a week earlier on Jan. 7. And she would repeat it
regarding the killing of VA ICU nurse Alex Pretti on Jan. 24.
“Fearing for his life, he fired a defensive shot,” Noem said of her agent.
She told the press that the delivery driver incident constituted “an attempted murder of federal law enforcement.”
“Our
officer was ambushed and attacked by three individuals who beat him
with snow shovels and the handles of brooms,” she added.
That
falsehood was more elaborate than the others, but received less
attention because the person shot in this case, Venezuelan Julio Cesar
Sosa-Celis, 24, suffered only a wound to his right thigh and survived.
Sosa-Celis
was arrested along with his friend and fellow DoorDasher, Alfredo
Alejandro Aljorna, who allegedly joined in assaulting the agent after a
car chase ended in a struggle.
But a bullet hole in
the front door of Sosa-Celis’ home corroborates contradictory accounts
by two eyewitnesses. They say the agent fired through the door, and
Sosa-Celis was struck after he entered the house, so he could not have
constituted a threat. The bullet was later found to have torn through
the door and into the apartment.
As
ICE ramped up operations across the country, especially in Minneapolis,
President Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem sent legal
requests to Google, Reddit, Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram) and
Discord to acquire names, email addresses, phone numbers, and
identifying data of social media accounts that track and criticize ICE,
according to a New York Times investigation.
The
Times says Google, Meta, and Reddit complied with “some of the
subpoenas,” which numbered in the hundreds and were “administrative
subpoenas,” which are not subject to judicial oversight.
While
the Trump administration claims the subpoenas are to protect DHS agents
facing threats during immigration crackdowns in U.S. cities, Trump
critics including ex-GOP consultant Reed Galen, a former DHS official
during the George W. Bush administration, called the requests a First
Amendment violation.
Galen, a co-founder of The
Lincoln Project, responded on social media: “All you free speech
absolutists, this is what the 1st Amendment expressly prohibits.”
Rep.
Ro Khanna (D-CA), a lawyer from the Silicon Valley tech industry,
agreed with Galen, and wrote: “Tech must not bend the knee to a
surveillance state. Google, Meta & other companies should refuse to
comply with administrative subpoenas that target anonymous speech
critical or ICE as a blatant violation of the First Amendment.”
Last night, Jen Psaki reported on 18-month-old Amalia.
This morning, MEIDASTOUCH NEWS reports Chump held a late night emergency meeting as he grasped how dire the mid-terms might end up bein for him.
The midterms are coming, and older women voters are spooked about the economy.
That’s
the message from a new AARP survey of American voters, with a focus on
women ages 50 and over. It comes in the run-up to a pivotal round of
midterm elections in November.
Half of women
voters 50 and older expect the economy to get worse in the next year,
the survey found. Only 31% expect it to get better.
Half
of older women feel less financially secure now than a year ago, the
survey found, compared with only one-third of men the same age.
President
Donald Trump’s approval rating has sunk to new second‑term lows, with
fresh polling showing a deepening weakness among independent voters.
[. . .]
Now,
according to Quinnipiac polling, that figure has widened to 27 points
underwater—a significant deterioration with the voters most likely to
swing between parties.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
In the face of drastic cuts to funding and access pushed by
President Trump, Murray led efforts to safeguard critical federal
funding that underpins Washington state housing and homelessness safety
nets
Murray not only protected key national housing and homelessness
programs that are essential for Washington state, but also secured
millions in Congressionally Directed Spending to build affordable
housing and tackle homelessness across the state
ICYMI:
Senator Murray Secures Hundreds of Millions for Transportation &
Housing Projects Across WA in Final Appropriations Bills; Boosts Funding
for Medical Research, Housing, Child Care & More
***AUDIO OF ROUNDTABLE HERE, PHOTOS AND B-ROLL HERE***
Seattle, WA — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a
roundtable discussion with local housing providers and partners on the
importance of lowering the cost of housing and the urgent need to
address the homelessness crisis. Senator Murray highlighted how she
secured an historic $7.2 billion increase
for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), protected
rental assistance and programs that tackle homelessness from drastic
cuts by Trump, and secured millions of dollars for affordable housing
projects across Seattle and King County.
Senator Murray was joined by Sharon Lee, Founder & Executive
Director, Low Income Housing Institute; Iris Friday, Board Chair,
Seattle Indian Services Commission; Colleen Echohawk-Hayashi, CEO,
Community Roots Housing; Susan Boyd, CEO, Bellwether Housing; Derrick
Belgarde, Executive Director, Chief Seattle Club; Paul Lwali, President
& CEO, Friends of Youth; and Dan Strauss, Seattle City Council
Member, District 6.
“If President Trump had his way in our funding bills, he
would have zeroed out programs that help build affordable housing and
spur community development. President Trump’s budget wanted to rip the
Department of Housing and Urban Development in half, but I made sure we
ripped his budget in half instead,” said Senator Murray. “I
secured a $7.2 billion increase for HUD—protecting programs Trump tried
to eliminate, and investing $4.1 billion more in rental assistance to
help families. I also fought hard to secure funding for critical housing
projects here in King County. The funds are going to support work on 38
affordable housing units for families in the foster system in Renton,
150 units of affordable housing through the Low-Income Housing
Institute, 181 units through Bellwether Housing, 162 affordable housing
units through the Seattle Indian Services Commission, another 500
through the City of Seattle’s Fort Lawton redevelopment project, as well
as safety upgrades to retain 38 units of affordable housing for
Community Roots Housing. All together, that’s over 1,000 units just in
King County. There is much more work ahead to tackle the housing
affordability and homelessness crisis. This is always top of mind for
me, and I will continue doing everything I can in Congress to help folks
keep a roof over their head.”
In the government funding bill Trump signed into law on February 3, 2026, Senator Murray secured a $4.1 billion—or 6 percent—increase in rental assistance programs and a $366 million increase in homeless assistance programs,
while rejecting President Trump’s proposals to block-grant, and impose
harmful work requirements and time limits on these critical programs
that support over 10 million Americans. This includes:
$38.4 billion for tenant-based rental assistance—a $2.4 billion boost—to continue to serve more than 2.3 million very low- and extremely low-income households nationwide.
$18.5 billion for project-based rental assistance, an
increase of $1.6 billion above last year’s funding level, to continue
to house more than 1.3 million very low- and low-income households
nationwide.
$4.4 billion for the Homeless Assistance Grants Program, a
$366 million increase over fiscal year 2025. The bill includes $107
million in new funding to address youth homelessness and $52 million in
new funding to support survivors of domestic violence.
New guardrails to protect Continuum of Care (CoC) grants from Trump administration sabotage. The
legislation requires HUD to automatically renew Continuum of Care
grants that are expiring in 2026 if HUD does not make awards for fiscal
year 2025 funds by the beginning of each quarter in 2026. Washington
state, alongside other states and nonprofits, has sued HUD over their
delay in getting fiscal year 2025 grants out the door and the radical
and illegal policy changes the Trump administration has tried to make to
how these funds are distributed—moves that have jeopardized housing for
hundreds of thousands of Americans and jobs at organizations who assist
people experiencing homelessness. Senator Murray held a roundtable in Everett last year to discuss Trump’s threats to CoC grants and her efforts to fight back.
Funding and new flexibilities to continue supporting over 50,000 Emergency Housing Vouchers for
people experiencing homelessness and fleeing domestic violence and
human trafficking. This program faced a funding cliff that, if left
unaddressed, would have cut 110,000 individuals off from housing
assistance.
Maintained $1.25 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, the
largest federal block grant to states and local governments to expand
the supply of affordable housing. President Trump and House Republicans
tried to eliminate this program entirely.
Protected funding for the Community Development Block Grant Program and Native American Programs—important funding sources for state, local, and Tribal governments to carry out housing and economic development activities.
$156 million—a $16 million boost—for the Family Self-Sufficiency Program, to
renew service coordinators that help Section 8 and public housing
residents achieve self-sufficiency and economic independence. This
program has been used by a number of housing authorities in Washington
state to help families access services including job training,
employment counseling, financial literacy, and homeownership counseling.
Senator Murray also secured $25.712 million in
Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) for local affordable housing
projects in communities across Washington state, and $15.9 million in
Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) for local projects providing
critical resources like childcare, affordable food, diapers and hygiene
supplies, and housing services, including:
$3,000,000 for the Low Income Housing Institute for the construction of affordable, transit-oriented housing units.
$1,500,000 for the Seattle Indian Services Commission for the construction of affordable housing, an early learning center, and a child care facility.
$512,000 for Community Roots Housing for preservation and safety upgrades to affordable housing units.
$2,500,000 for Friends of Youth for the construction of new affordable housing units on their Griffin Campus in Renton to support foster families.
$1,800,000 for Bellwether Housing for construction of affordable housing units in Seattle.
$3,150,000 for the City of Seattle Office of Housing
for the Fort Lawton Redevelopment project, including design of
infrastructure and permitting work to support construction of affordable
housing units and public parkland.
Senator Murray has consistently worked to address Washington state’s
housing affordability and homelessness crisis and has secured major
federal investments to help families keep a roof over their heads.
Throughout the pandemic, Senator Murray—then Assistant Majority
Leader—played a major role in writing federal COVID-19 relief
legislation that secured essential support for people facing housing
insecurity, championing sizable investments in rental assistance and
other programs that collectively resulted in the largest eviction
prevention effort in American history.
Last year, Senator Murray joined Democrats in warning
how the Trump administration’s major staffing cuts at HUD will decimate
the ability to deliver basic services and would further exacerbate the
housing crisis and would likely prevent HUD from being able to meet
critical functions like supporting disaster recovery efforts. In May,
she held a roundtable in Everett to
hear from local housing and homelessness prevention organizations
affected by the Trump administration’s senseless decision to jeopardize
Continuum of Care grant funding by placing new, potentially unlawful
conditions on the grant funding. At a hearing in June,
Senator Murray grilled HUD Secretary Scott Turner on Trump’s fiscal
year 2026 budget request for HUD and its sweeping staff losses and
funding freezes that are already hurting communities across the country.
In September, Senator Murray called for an investigation
into the HUD’s handling of the grant award process for the Continuum of
Care (CoC) Builds program, after HUD notified the communities across
the country that it was once again scrapping the grant application
process it had just run—for the second time—and that it was now forcing
organizations to apply for funding for a third time. And in November, Senator Murray led Democrats in a letter
to Secretary Turner calling on him to immediately halt reported plans
to make drastic changes to the Continuum of Care program, which could
result in nearly 200,000 Americans being forced out of their housing and
back into homelessness.
