Dear Neighbors,
I hope this message finds you well as we begin the new year. As always, if you have questions or concerns, please contact my office by calling (847) 413-1959, emailing me at [email protected], or sending a message through my website at https://krishnamoorthi.house.gov/contact/email. For more frequent updates, I encourage you to follow me on Twitter (X), Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky.
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Congressman Krishnamoorthi and Infant Welfare Society of Evanston Director Stephen Vick during his event in Evanston. (Image credit: Matthew Eadie.)
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Last week in Evanston, I joined leaders from the Infant Welfare Society of Evanston, along with teachers and parents, to highlight the real and immediate harm caused by President Trump’s blanket freeze of federal child care and family support funding. This is not a distant budget dispute - it is already threatening access to child care for working families across Illinois.
On January 6, the Trump administration froze $10 billion in congressionally approved funding for programs that support low-income families, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Child Care and Development Block Grant, and the Social Services Block Grant, without providing evidence of widespread fraud. In Illinois alone, this freeze puts child care assistance at risk for roughly 100,000 families and more than 150,000 children.
When child care disappears, parents can’t work. When parents can’t work, families fall behind and children pay the price. I know how much these programs matter because my own family relied on them when my father lost his income. Cutting off this funding without evidence isn’t oversight; it’s punishing families who are doing everything right.
That’s why I announced the Kids Before Cuts Act, legislation to stop any administration from unilaterally withholding child care and family support funding without Congress’s approval. Children and working families should never be collateral damage in political games, and I will keep fighting to reverse this freeze and protect Illinois families.
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Congressman Krishnamoorthi discusses his NOVA legislation on MS Now. (Click the image above to watch the full interview.)
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Last week, I introduced the No Occupation of Venezuela (NOVA) Act with Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX) to block President Trump from using American taxpayer dollars to “run” Venezuela or subsidize oil company expansion there. The bill draws a clear line against another open-ended foreign entanglement driven by oil interests rather than U.S. security or democratic values.
President Trump has openly suggested that the United States could take control of Venezuela’s oil sector and reimburse oil companies for rebuilding production, an approach that could leave taxpayers on the hook for enormous costs. Even oil executives have warned that Venezuela is unstable and “uninvestable” without major legal and political changes, raising serious doubts about claims that this plan would cost Americans nothing.
I discussed these risks on MS Now, where I warned that tying U.S. foreign policy to oil exploitation invites long-term costs, instability, and the danger of another prolonged conflict. History shows that efforts to control another country’s natural resources rarely end well and often spiral into exactly the kind of wars the American people want to avoid.
At a moment when families here at home are struggling to afford child care, health care, groceries, and rent, Americans do not want their tax dollars spent subsidizing oil companies or drifting toward another occupation overseas. The NOVA Act reasserts Congress’s constitutional authority and makes clear that U.S. foreign policy must be guided by law, accountability, and the needs of American families, not unilateral decisions or oil-driven adventurism. You can watch the full interview here.
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On Monday, I partnered with Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-CA) to call on Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) to immediately schedule a public hearing requiring Kristi Noem to testify under oath about deadly enforcement actions, unlawful detentions, and a documented pattern of systemic abuse at the Department of Homeland Security.
Over the past year, DHS has conducted raids that violated court orders, swept up U.S. citizens, and brought violence into residential neighborhoods. The most tragic example occurred on January 7, 2026, when officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shot and killed Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother, in Minneapolis. In the immediate aftermath, Secretary Noem made claims that eyewitness accounts and video analysis have since debunked. When lethal force is used against a civilian, transparency and truth are not optional.
This killing is part of a broader pattern under Secretary Noem’s leadership, including the use of tear gas against constituents, detaining asylum seekers at their own court appointments, and a sharp rise in immigration detainee deaths. Oversight is not optional when lives are lost. I will continue pressing for sworn testimony, full transparency, and real accountability to ensure DHS operates within the law and does not put innocent people in danger.
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Congressman Krishnamoorthi shares Shadene Butchart’s heartbreaking story on health insurance on the House floor. (Click the image above to watch his full remarks.)
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Last week, I voted to extend the enhanced premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act and spoke on the House floor about the real harm Illinois families are facing now that these credits have expired. Letting them lapse was a choice, and families are already paying the price through higher premiums and lost coverage.
During debate, I shared the story of Shadene Butchart, a Chicago constituent living with ALS. Because the ACA tax credits expired, her health insurance premium would consume her husband’s entire Social Security check if they continued with the same coverage, putting coverage for a devastating illness out of reach. No family should be forced to choose between health care and basic financial security.
More than 550,000 Illinois residents relied on ACA marketplace coverage last year, including over 360,000 in Cook County, where nearly 90 percent of enrollees depend on tax credits to afford care. Without action, average monthly premiums in Cook County are projected to rise by about 95 percent, pricing countless families out of coverage and straining safety-net providers.
That’s why I supported extending these credits and am urging the Senate to act. Affordable health care should not disappear because Congress failed to do its job. I will continue fighting to restore ACA tax credits and make sure Illinois families can get the care they need without being priced out. You can watch my full remarks here.
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The best way to stay up to date on these issues beyond our newsletter is through my social media accounts, which I update multiple times each day. You can follow my Twitter (X) here, my Facebook page here, my Instagram here, my Threads here, and my Bluesky here. Thank you for staying engaged in our community.
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