Thursday, September 03, 2026
The Snapshot
Murray: “More fish—fewer tariffs and fewer wars.”
ICYMI: Murray Introduces Bill to End Trump’s Trade War with Canada & Lower Costs, Slams Trump’s Latest Tariffs as “Economic Arson”
Murray has been a longstanding champion of the maritime industry, consistently securing key federal funding increases under tough fiscal conditions; Murray also recently established the first-ever seafood liaison at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Thanks to Trump’s war with Iran, national average diesel has climbed past $5 a gallon—up nearly $2 from a year ago—and fuel can account for as much as 40 percent of the operating costs of a fishing trip
***PHOTOS AND B-ROLL HERE***
Bellingham, WA — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a maritime roundtable discussion in Bellingham with the Working Waterfront Coalition of Whatcom County, commercial fishermen, shellfish growers, maritime workforce leaders, and the Port of Bellingham to hear directly about how President Trump’s chaotic trade war, his war in Iran, and his deep cuts to federal agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service are raising costs and threatening jobs across Washington state’s working waterfronts.
“Our maritime industry and our ports power the economy in Washington state—our fish and shellfish travel far on their own, but our fishermen and our ports are the reason they’re famous worldwide,” said Senator Murray. “And this administration’s reckless and unpredictable tariffs have been nothing short of a disaster for them—driving up costs and making it impossible for any small business to plan. Let’s just acknowledge how Trump’s decision to pursue an all-out trade war with Canada—Washington state’s biggest trading partner and our country’s closest ally—is beyond stupid and counterproductive, fraying partnerships north of the border that have spanned lifetimes. Trump’s war in Iran has made fuel far more expensive for fleets already running on razor-thin margins. And that’s to say nothing of pushing federal workers out en masse and making severe cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service—clearly, Trump does not understand that our fishermen rely on a top-notch National Weather Service to do their work.”
“The most urgent thing we can do to bring costs down in a big way is put an end to this trade war and to the actual war against Iran—and Congress can do both,” continued Senator Murray. “How about instead of funding bombs in the Middle East we invest in our fisheries and habitat recovery here at home? Let me sum it up: more fish—fewer tariffs and fewer wars.”
Washington state has one of the most trade-dependent economies of any state in the country, with 40 percent of jobs in the state tied to international commerce—and no community feels that more directly than Whatcom County, which sits at the Canadian border. In just one year, Trump’s tariff tax has cost the average family nearly $2,000, with hardworking Americans bearing 96% of the cost of the hundreds of billions of dollars in new tariffs. Still, Trump has been undeterred by the chaos and pain his trade war has wrought and continues to double down on the global stage.
Yesterday, Murray announced the End Trump’s Tariff Tax Act, legislation that would revoke and refund Trump’s latest barrage of tariffs and repeal the archaic authorities he has used to continue his trade war. This legislation would apply to Trump’s newest global tariffs of 12.5% and 50% tariffs on Canada.
At the same time, Trump’s war in Iran and the resulting disruption at the Strait of Hormuz have sent fuel costs soaring for Washington state’s fishing fleets and maritime businesses. National average diesel has climbed past $5 a gallon—up nearly $2 from a year ago—and fuel can account for as much as 40 percent of the operating costs of a fishing trip, pushing captains up and down the coast to cut days at sea or tie up their boats altogether.
Joining Senator Murray at the roundtable discussion were: Dan Tucker, Executive Director of the Working Waterfront Coalition of Whatcom County; Sierra Oliver, Program Director of the NW Maritime Apprenticeship Program with the Working Waterfront Foundation; Steve Seymour, Owner and CEO of Drayton Harbor Oyster Company; Ron Wille, President and COO of All American Marine; Jamie Wurtz, commercial fisherman and owner of Wurtz Fisheries; and Mike Hogan, Public Affairs Administrator at the Port of Bellingham.
“Senator Murray is a tremendous champion for Washington’s working waterfronts,” said Port of Bellingham Public Affairs Administrator Mike Hogan. “Over the past two years, Senator Murray has helped secure over $40 million in federal grants to rebuild Whatcom County’s maritime infrastructure and create new family-wage jobs.”
“Maritime sectors worldwide are underway with the largest shift in technology since the switch from sail to steam,” said Dan Tucker, Executive Director of the Working Waterfront Coalition of Whatcom County. “Whatcom County and Washington state need steady regulation and policy, protection for American shipbuilding and crews through the Jones Act, federal investment in business and workforce development, and careful consideration of our international partners in order to provide career-track, retirement-potential opportunities to the next generation that will build tomorrow’s blue economy.”
“First the price of fish is of greatest concern, if the markets are not buying wild sustainable caught fish at a healthy price our business is unsustainable and crew and captains alike cannot make a living,” said Jamie Wurtz, commercial fisherman and owner of Wurtz Fisheries. “Fuel costs have the second biggest impact on small fishing operations. These can normally be the largest expense of any fishing season with this last year’s price of agricultural- off road diesel fuel increasing 22%. For example, last year in WA state fuel rose from $3.59 a gallon to $5.00 a gallon and in Alaska it was even higher, going from $4.68 a gallon to $6.10. That translates to being the largest expense in our operation after the cost of financing a boat. This increase impacts our ability to be profitable. All fishermen need to see some stability in the markets for the price of seafood as well as the price of fuel.”
“Whatcom County businesses are ready to grow, but need investment in industrial waterfront infrastructure, clearer and more predictable environmental regulations, and faster, more accessible workforce-training incentives. These changes would unlock business expansion, create good-paying jobs, and expand workforce development opportunities. Limited infrastructure restricts our ability to create the volume of work and training opportunities needed to bring more women and other underrepresented workers into the marine trades,” said Patrick Schjelderup, co-owner and CEO of Top to Bottom Marine, Inc.
Senator Murray has consistently gone to bat for Washington state’s fishermen and maritime workforce in the federal funding bills she helps to write as Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, securing important funding increases for programs at NOAA that support aquaculture and fisheries. Murray also secured funding to create and establish the first-ever seafood industry liaison at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. President Trump’s FY27 budget request proposes serious cuts that would hit the people in Whatcom County’s maritime community directly—including completely eliminating funding for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) and NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. Murray has made clear she plans to rip up President Trump’s budget and write a new one.
Senator Murray has been a vocal opponent of Trump’s chaotic trade war from the very start and has been lifting up the voices of people in Washington state harmed by this administration’s approach to trade, while calling on Republicans to end Trump’s trade war and take back Congress’s constitutionally-granted power to impose tariffs. Senator Murray has held events in every corner of Washington state to hear directly from constituents, businesses, and workers about how Trump’s tariffs are harming them—including in Tacoma, Yakima, Vancouver, Seattle, Skagit County, and Blaine, just across the border from Canada. Last fall, she held a roundtable with small business owners in Vancouver and slammed Trump for the cost of his tariffs. Last December, she responded to a Joint Economic Committee report showing Trump’s tariffs on Canada have caused a steep decline in Canadian tourism that is harming border communities in Washington state. She also grilled U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing over how the trade war with Canada is hurting Washington state businesses and consumers. Murray has been outspoken in her opposition to Trump’s pointless and counterproductive hostilities toward Canada at every step.
Senator Murray has also repeatedly voted to end President Trump’s unauthorized war in Iran, including voting for war powers resolutions to terminate hostilities absent a declaration of war or an authorization for the use of military force from Congress, and has demanded answers from the administration on behalf of Washington state constituents who do not want to be dragged into another forever war.
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Wednesday, September 02, 2026
The Snapshot
Speaker Mike Johnson and the GOP have an even smaller House majority now after Democratic Representative Everton Blair of Georgia was sworn in on Capitol Hill Tuesday.
Republicans now have a 218–213 advantage over Democrats, and they’ll be down one more vote once California Democrat Aisha Wahab—who replaced scandal-ridden ex-Representative Eric Swalwell—is sworn in later this week.
Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Robert Garcia,
Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
released the following statement after a whistleblower revealed to the
Oversight Committee that the United States Postal Service allegedly
built a secret tech system to implement the Trump Administration’s
unconstitutional attempt to seize control of vote by mail across the
country.
“The Oversight Committee has received whistleblower
reports that President Trump's attack on vote-by-mail for the 2026
election is more serious than previously understood. This new secret
tracking system at the US Postal Service is faulty, untested, and
threatens to totally disrupt ballot delivery for millions of American
citizens. We are fighting in court to protect the right to vote by mail
for all and will continue to investigate. This unconstitutional and
dangerous power grab must be permanently and immediately blocked,” said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.
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***PHOTOS AND B-ROLL HERE***
Port Townsend, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), toured Jefferson Healthcare and discussed the new challenges health care providers are facing over a year after Republicans passed the largest health care cuts in history in their Big Ugly Bill. Throughout the tour, Senator Murray heard from providers about the impact of the Republicans’ cuts to Medicaid and their failure to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits—causing massive premium hikes for families in Washington state.
The Republican reconciliation bill, which was signed into law in July 2025, cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the ACA over the next 10 years and will make health care more expensive and harder to access. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that Republicans’ health care cuts will terminate health insurance for roughly 15 million Americans nationwide.
“Republicans passed the largest cuts to health care in history and have singlehandedly created a national health care crisis. Meanwhile, providers are left to wonder how they will keep their staff paid and their doors open,” said Senator Murray. “Providers are doing incredible work, but they’re being asked to do a more with a whole lot less. If that weren’t damaging enough, Republicans refused to extend the health care tax credits—which millions of people relied on to afford health coverage. The fallout from that has been devastating. Families saw their premiums double, triple, or even worse. When families in Jefferson County can’t afford coverage, they don’t get less sick—they just end up in emergency rooms where hospitals eat the cost and everyone else foots the bill. Congress needs to repeal Trump’s cuts to health care—getting there won’t be easy, but we must fight hard and make sure all Americans understand the harm these cuts are doing.”
ABOUT TRUMP’S MEDICAID CUTS:
Nationwide, the Republican health care cuts represent a more than $400 billion hit to America’s hospitals—with one estimate finding that over 170 rural hospitals will
likely be forced to close or scale back their services, which will
force more Americans to travel further for maternity care and emergency
room visits, and face longer wait times. Washington state is one of the
states most at-risk, with 22 hospitals at-risk of closing or reducing services. An estimated 477,000 health workers will lose their jobs as a result of the Republican cuts to Medicaid. Senator Murray has consistently advocated for rural health care access across the state, hosting numerous events to emphasize the importance of investment into rural communities.
Hospitals in Washington state could lose at least $662 million in
Medicaid revenue every year under the One Big Beautiful Act
(OBBBA)—forcing hospitals to lay off staff, cut services, or close their
doors entirely. Overall, Washington state is expected to lose between
$31 billion and $51 billion in federal Medicaid dollars over the next
decade. In 2024, Washington had an uninsured rate of 4.8 percent—the
lowest in the country—but the Republican bill is expected to balloon
that number into the double digits.
In Washington state, nearly 2 million people—roughly 1 in 5—are enrolled in Apple Health, the state’s Medicaid program. Washington’s 4th Congressional District has the highest Medicaid enrollment in Washington state, with nearly 300,000 people—38 percent of all residents—reliant on Apple Health, including 70 percent of all children in the state.
ABOUT GOP REFUSAL TO EXTEND ACA TAX CREDITS:
Senator Murray forced the issue of the ACA tax credits at every opportunity before Republicans ultimately refused to take any action, speaking out nonstop about the urgent need to save health care and calling on Republicans to come to the negotiating table to work out a bipartisan deal to extend the ACA tax credits. She took to the Senate floor in November 2025 with her Democratic colleagues to call for a clean one-year extension of the ACA tax credits, and held numerous virtual press conferences with Washingtonians, as well as residents of neighboring states Idaho and Montana, about the exploding health care premiums that Americans would see due to the expiration of the tax credits. As the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray led legislation supported by the Democratic caucus that would have addressed the health care crisis during the government shutdown last fall. Senator Murray has also cosponsored multiple pieces of legislation over the past year—the Health Care Affordability Act and the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act—that would make the ACA tax credits permanent.
As then-chair of the Senate Health Committee, Senator Murray played a critical role in passing the ACA enhanced premium tax credits into law in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.
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