New Democrat Coalition Housing Task Force Chair Emilia Sykes (OH-13) penned a letter alongside Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Grace Meng (NY-06) to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries urging the preservation of programs that protect affordable housing and the rights of Americans against housing discrimination during the FY 2026 appropriations process.

In a letter co-signed by more than 40 Members, including 30 New Dems, the lawmakers call for an end to efforts to defund or underfund the Federal Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP), Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, all of which would be gutted in the current iteration of the FY 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.

“At a time when many Ohioans are struggling to afford housing, we should be focused on lowering costs, not cutting critical housing funding,” said NDC Housing Task Force Chair Emilia Sykes. “That’s why I’m leading a letter to the House Appropriations Committee, highlighting the impact of underfunding key programs that Ohioans rely on. Communities are made strong by the people who live in them, and I’m committed to ensuring OH-13 residents can afford housing in their communities.”

New Democrat Coalition Environment, Climate, & Clean Energy Working Group Chair Scott Peters (CA-50) issued a statement after House Republicans blocked nine New Dem amendments from being made in order to the Energy & Water Development appropriations bill.

The New Dem amendments would direct the Department of Energy to conduct studies on how Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill would raise consumer utility bills after repealing key energy tax credits that lower the price of producing and delivering energy. The amendments were offered by Working Group Chair Scott Peters, Vice Chair for Policy Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Freshman Leadership Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08), and New Dem Reps. Eric Sorensen (IL-17), Josh Riley (NY-19), Nellie Pou (NJ-09), and Derek Tran (CA-45).

Working Group Chair Scott Peters issued the following statement on the New Dem amendments:

“Every month Americans across the country are seeing their electric bills increase, and House Republicans are doing nothing to lower costs. Instead, they are fueling an energy affordability crisis in America and trying to sweep it under the rug...

ICYMI in The Washington Post: “These House Democrats seek a new middle ground on immigration"

Last week, The Washington Post published a piece on the recently unveiled New Dem Immigration and Border Security Framework, with Immigration and Border Security Working Group chair Gabe Vasquez (NM-02) and Global Competitiveness Task Force Chair Greg Stanton (AZ-04). The Frameworkprovides a roadmap for how Democrats can fix the outdated and broken immigration system to ensure fast, fair, and final enforcement, use commonsense reforms to grow the economy by growing the labor force, and expand legal avenues to citizenship for long-time residents living in legal limbo.

In the piece, Reps. Vasquez and Stanton acknowledge the concerns that many Americans have expressed regarding border security, and how the New Dem plan offers a comprehensive plan for securing the border and modernizing our immigration system. It also features New Dem Members Tom Suozzi (NY-03) and Laura Gillen (NY-04).

You can read the full article here, and below:

In Episode 15, “Co-Pilots” – the first episode back in D.C. after the August district work period – co-hosts Reps. Greg Landsman (OH-01) and Marc Veasey (TX-33) are joined by Rep. Sarah McBride (DE-AL) and Rep. Joe Morelle (NY-25), top Democrat on the House Administration Committee. Together, they discuss the upcoming government funding fight, Member security in an era of increased political violence, creating a House book club, Taylor Swift’s engagement, and more.