The Constitution gives Congress sole authority to tax and spend money for the federal government. We do this through the annual appropriations process. Here’s how that process is *supposed* to work: 

Since Congress came back to Washington in January, the House has passed five more individual funding bills within two packages of legislation. We need to pass 12 in total for the President to sign. The packages are subject to change as they move through the Senate, but I’m glad they reflect key priorities for San Diego and Americans across the country. I’ll continue to advocate for what matters most to CA50 and hold the Trump Administration accountable by reasserting Congress’s power of the purse and taking steps to end their slash-and-burn approach, ensuring no one is above the law. Highlights of both legislation packages include: 

• $158 million for the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) to continue our work to tackle the cross-border sewage crisis 

• $1 billion for the Small Business Administration, with a $13 million increase for Entrepreneurial Development Programs to support entrepreneurs and local job creators

• $1.8 billion for clean, affordable, and secure energy programs to lower energy bills and $375 million to invest in our electric grid and improve reliability 

• $2.8 billion for our nation’s water infrastructure, including drinking water, wastewater, and storm water management projects in San Diego 

• $9.4 billion for Global Health Programs, including $5.8 billion to the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to support HIV/AIDS programs worldwide 

• Curtails the reckless abuses of the Trump Administration by restricting efforts to dismantle entire agencies without Congressional authorization, blocking wasteful spending on useless vanity projects, and diminishing the Administration's ability to wipeout Congressionally approved spending 

Read my full statements on each critical funding package here and here.  

The House still needs to pass four of the remaining appropriations bills and the President needs to sign six of them in the next two weeks to avoid a partial government shutdown. The bills we have left are traditionally some of the most difficult to negotiate because they deal with polarizing topics like abortion access, gender-affirming care, and now Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) funding. 

• This Washington Post OpEd explains why the bipartisan resolution I introduced to reduce our annual borrowing to 3% of our GDP by 2030 is critical to get our annual deficit and fiscal house back in in order.

• This article talks about recent court victories for the wind and solar projects despite the Trump Administration's attempts to obstruct, pause, or cancel these desperately needed energy projects.