The House took a lot of votes and covered a lot of ground this week, so I have broken it out by topic here.

Government Funding Resolution

On Friday, the House considered and passed a partisan government funding resolution, H.R.5371.  While I believe we should keep the government funded and functioning, I voted against this resolution because it fails to address the looming health care crisis or protect the power of Congress to direct federal spending.  Unfortunately, Republicans have refused to talk with Democrats to try to come to an agreement to address the concerns about the impending health care crisis or to put in place any guardrails to ensure that President Trump will follow the funding direction of Congress consistent with the Constitution.  (House and Senate Democrats jointly introduced an alternative resolution, but it was not considered.)  The Republican resolution passed the House this morning by a vote of 217-212, and is now headed to the Senate for consideration.

Tariff Resolution

This week, House Republicans snuck a provision into a procedural vote to prevent the House from considering any motions related to President Trump’s tariffs until at least next April.  This is a reckless decision to surrender Congress’ authority over tariffs to the executive branch during a time when unpredictable and mercurial tariff policies are harming our communities and our economy.

Energy Bills

On Thursday, the House considered and passed three energy bills: the Promoting Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Act, H.R. 3062, which creates a new process to permit energy infrastructure that crosses our borders and removes the State Department’s review of the project from the permitting process, raising serious national security concerns; the National Coal Council Reestablishment Act, H.R. 3015, which requires the Department of Energy to re-establish the National Coal Council (NCC), even though the Department of Energy already re-established on April 9 of this year; and the GRID Power Act, H.R.1047, which allows electric grid operators to prioritize certain power projects (like new natural gas-fired power plants) over other projects (like new wind or solar power plants) when considering what projects to connect to the grid.  I voted against these bills, which passed the House by votes of 224-203, 217-209, 216-206, respectively.

On the GRID Power Act, I voted no, in part, because grid operators (like ERCOT) can already prioritize the projects to connect to the grid to make sure families have access to reliable energy and have, in fact, already used this authority this year.  But this bill removes important requirements that ensure these decisions won’t unnecessarily raise prices for consumers and don’t discriminate based on the source of energy being connected.  Republicans rejected an amendment that would have added these consumer-protection requirements to the bill earlier in the legislative process.

Washington, D.C. Bills

The House considered four more bills relating to the District of Columbia and its right to self-governance this week: the DC Crimes Act of 2025, H.R. 4922, which limits the authority that D.C. has over its criminal sentencing laws; the District of Columbia Juvenile Sentencing Reform Act, H.R. 5140, which lowers the age at which a minor could be tried as an adult for certain offenses in D.C. from 16 to 14 years old; the District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Reform Act, H.R. 5125, which terminates the DC Judicial Nomination Commission, giving the President the sole authority to nominate judges to the District of Columbia courts; and the District of Columbia Policing Protection Act, H.R. 5143, which expands the circumstances under which police officers and federal agents in D.C. can engage in high-speed motor vehicle chases.  These bills undermine the self-determination of nearly 700,000 residents in Washington, D.C. and I voted against all of them.

Resolutions Condemning Political Violence

As discussed above and below, condemning all forms of political violence and ensuring that Americans rights to free speech, assembly, the press, and to challenge the government are protected and safe, I co-sponsored a resolution (H.Res.746) condemning all forms of political violence and rejecting rhetoric that dehumanizes or demonizes political opponents (discussed more below).  On Friday, House Republicans brought a different resolution to the House floor condemning political violence and focusing specifically on the assassination of Charlie Kirk last week.  Because I believe it is important to condemn this assassination and all political violence, I voted in favor of the resolution.

Without lengthy debate, the House also passed the TRAVEL Act of 2025, H.R.3400, to authorize the VA to assign physicians to travel to U.S. territories to provide health care to veterans, and the Honoring Our Heroes Act, H.R. 2721, to authorize the VA to provide headstones, burial markers, and medallions to veterans who died on or after December 7, 1941.

As a reminder, you can always find a list of all of the votes I have taken for the district on my website.

Over the last week, many people have expressed their concerns to me about increasing political violence and what it means for people who want to engage in our democratic system—from running for office to attending town hall meetings or debates.  I share those concerns.  That is why I worked with my friend Congressman Marc Veasey this week on the issue and co-sponsored the resolution he introduced this week expressing the sense of the House of Representatives condemning all forms of political violence and rejecting rhetoric that dehumanizes or demonizes political opponents, H.Res. 746.  The resolution restates the principle that democracy depends upon the peaceful contest of ideas, not intimidation, violence, or assassination and that acts of political violence and threats against elected officials, candidates, and public figures undermine the safety of those who serve, the trust of the governed, and the integrity of democratic institutions.  Among its provisions, the resolution condemns all forms of political violence, including assassination and attempted assassination of public officials, candidates, and public figures, regardless of political party or ideology; affirms that violence and threats have no place in the political arena and that all political disputes must be resolved through lawful, peaceful, democratic means; commends law enforcement and all public officials who work to respond to such violence; and calls on all public officials, community leaders, and media to reject rhetoric that dehumanizes or demonizes opponents and to foster civil discourse.

I co-sponsored other several pieces of legislation on issues important to our community this week, including:

• the Congressional Power of the Purse Act, H.R. 5220, to reaffirm that Congress holds the power of the purse, not the president;
• the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act, H.R. 5350, to prohibit the enforcement of forced arbitration agreements;
• the FAMILY Act, H.R. 5390, to create a permanent, national paid family and medical leave program for all workers nationwide;
• the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, H.R. 5361, to reform policing by establishing a national standard for the operation of police departments, mandating data collection on police encounters, reprogramming existing funds to invest in community-based policing programs, and streamlining federal law to prosecute excessive force;
• the Public Utility Remediation and Enhancement (PURE) for Water Act, H.R. 4961, to provide federal funding to municipal water treatment facilities to help them remove PFAS and other contaminants from drinking water; and
• resolution denouncing Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension and the FCC’s role in it, and urging the FCC and Department of Justice to ensure that their policies and practices safeguard free expression and do not become tools of political retribution.

I also joined my colleagues in sending some letters:

• a letter to Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Attorney General Pam Bondi urging the Department of Education and Department of Justice to reinstate the long-standing 2015 guidance to direct states and school districts to accommodate English Language learners students, fully fund the Office of English Language Acquisition and Office for Civil Rights, and guarantee parents with limited English proficiency have meaningful access to information and decision making;
• a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons  condemning DHS and ICE’s blatant disregard for the legal and humanitarian protections afforded to current DACA beneficiaries;
• a letter to Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin urging the EPA not to rescind rescinded the 2009 finding that greenhouse gas emissions threaten public health, and can be regulated under the Clean Air Act;” and
• a letter to Secretary of Transportation (DOT) Sean Duffy urging the DOT to reverse its decision to rescind a proposed rule to require airlines to compensate and cover expenses for passengers experiencing lengthy flight delays or cancellations.

The Energy & Commerce Committee had a full week.  On Tuesday, the Energy Subcommittee held another legislative hearing on bills regarding federal efficiency standards for buildings and appliances.  Energy efficiency standards are crucial to keeping energy costs low for Americans.  Many of the bills we considered this week would weaken energy efficiency standards.  I asked about how the Trump administration’s cancellation of large investments in the energy technologies of the future that would lower energy bills in the future will affect energy efficiency.  You can watch my questions and remarks below.

On Wednesday, the Energy & Commerce Committee held a full committee markup of six bills: the Improving Care in Rural America Reauthorization Act of 2025, H.R. 2493, to reauthorize grant programs for rural health care services outreach, rural health network development, and small health care provider improvement through F2030; H.R. 3419, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the telehealth network and telehealth resource centers grant programs; H.R. 2846, a bill to amend title II of the Public Health Service Act to include as an additional right of commissioned officers of the Public Health Service (and their beneficiaries) certain leave provided under title 10, United States Code to commissioned officers of the Army (or their beneficiaries); the Give Kids a Chance Act of 2025, H.R. 1262, to provide the FDA with authority to require pediatric cancer trials for new combination drugs; and the Health Start Reauthorization Act of 2025, H.R. 3302, to reauthorize the Healthy Start Initiative through Fiscal Year 2030.  Although I am committed to working on these programs and to see them reauthorized, I am disappointed that, at a time when the Trump administration is targeting health work force programs, the Committee decided not to include several critical health bills in this markup.  The Committee also voted for the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2025, H.R. 979, to direct the Department of Transportation to issue a rule requiring automakers to require AM radio in all passenger cars sold in the United States.  All of these bills passed on bipartisan basis.

While I was pleased to consider these bipartisan bills, I am concerned about the impending health care crisis this Congress has created by slashing Medicaid and failing to extend tax credits, which is expected to raise costs dramatically for tens of millions of Americans.

You can watch my comments during debate about the urgency of addressing these issues here or by clicking the image below.  As I noted to my colleagues, the health care open enrollment period will begin soon and millions of Americans will see their health insurance premiums go up because Republicans have so far refused to extend the enhanced premium tax credits that more than 125,000 people in TX-07 alone rely on to make their health insurance more affordable.  I shared letters from our Texas Medical Center Hospitals, from the Greater Houston Partnership, and stories I have heard from health care providers about the urgency of addressing this coverage crisis now.

On Thursday, the Health Subcommittee held a hearing on access to breakthrough medical technologies.  As I said to my colleagues, the hearing was a bright spot in the hope that Congress can do its work, rather than cede its authority and its responsibilities to the White House, as we have seen time and again this year.  Since taking office, President Trump and his administration have worked systematically to dismantle scientific and medical research across this country, and people in our district who do that work have shared with me how disastrous that is for our community, our country, and medical innovation.  During the hearing, I asked one of the witnesses about the attack on scientific research.  You can see our exchange below:

It was great to see a few Houstonians on the Hill this week, including volunteers and representatives from the South Asian Impact Foundation, J Street, AFGE Local 2284 representing members working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and Harris Health and Community Health Choice. 

In Washington, Team TX-07 held 30 meetings this week with our neighbors and groups advocating for them, including the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Houston, and Teamsters Local 988, pictured below.  Back home in the district, our team was out and about across the district, helping constituents and attending community events, including a hurricane preparedness roundtable and a meeting with the Coalition for the Homeless (pictured below) and updating the Harris County Commissioners Court on funding requests I have made on behalf of the district.

The House will not be in session next week, and I am looking forward to seeing people at home in the district.  Many in our community will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, and I wish all those celebrating a healthy and peaceful new year!

As always, I am proud to represent you and I am here to help you.  Please call my office at (713) 353-8680 or (202) 225-2571 or email here at any time to ask for assistance or share your thoughts.  I look forward to hearing from you.