Latest news with #Bonamici
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oregon Rep. Suzanne Bonamici addresses dismantling of Dept. of Education, impact of DOGE cuts
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) has represented Oregon's first Congressional District since 2012. It includes most of Portland, west of the Willamette River, most of Washington County and all of Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook counties. A member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, Bonamici has rallied for workers and teachers. Further – like her fellow congresspeople at recent town halls – she has heard the frustrations of constituents about DOGE cuts and more. Rep. Bonamici joined this week's Eye on Northwest Politics to talk about the dismantling of the Department of Education, as well as how that and other DOGE cuts are causing real consequences for thousands of Oregonians. Watch the full interview in the video above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Rep. Bonamici puts future of Medicaid front and center at Beaverton event
PORTLAND, Ore. () — U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) joined representatives from federally qualified health centers across the Portland metro during an event in Beaverton on Tuesday. Democratic lawmakers say a sets the stage for cutting Medicaid, along with Medicare and Social Security. 'Right now, they are terrified,' said Iris Martin, co-interim director of Outside In. Oregon DOJ acknowledges Frank Gable is innocent Leaders say the bill would limit the ability of patients to receive care. 'Every day I hear from Oregonians about the fears and worries and, frankly, outrage, about the cuts that are happening at the federal level and what the administration is doing,' said Bonamici. According to Nehalem Bay Health Center. The CFO Carl Rasmussen, cuts to Medicaid could be devastating to facilities in rural communities. 'If we completely cut Medicaid, we'll last about five months,' Rasmussen said. 'There will be premature deaths. Oh, yeah. Across the board.' 'That makes it extremely hard for people. They have to drive to Portland or up to Seaside. But then if they're — what they're driving in Portland or Seaside and their funding that as well, we're just going to see a massive reduction,' said Bonamici. Cheryl Bickle gives homeless students 'school family' Republicans said they're doing their best not to reduce benefits from the program. Earlier this month and before the funding bill passed, KOIN 6 News spoke with Oregon's only Republican Congressperson, about those cuts. 'The White House has made it very, very clear they do not want to touch Social Security or Medicare, Medicaid. Likewise, we're doing our very, very best not to reduce the benefits under that program,' said Bentz. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Constituents to Bonamici: ‘Get louder' about Trump in DC
HILLSBORO, Ore. (KOIN) — On this Presidents Day night, a day that saw the Trump Administration and over the Department of Government Efficiency requests to access Social Security recipient information, about 700 people filed into the gym at for a town hall with US Rep. Suzanne Bonamici. Broadly, they all wanted to know: What is going on in DC? Many wanted to know why things are happening the way they're happening at the federal level with massive layoffs, confusion over deportation possibilities, the struggle at the Department of Education Thousands pack Wyden town halls over uncertainty in DC One of those who attended, Jim Carroll, asked the basic question on the minds of many: 'How do we how do we respond to what feels like constitutional violations? Our democracy is under threat that way,' Carroll said. 'What is she personally doing to try and change the way Congress is not asserting their rights?' He added that 'what's happening to my trans friends, my immigrant friends is really painful.' Bonamici, 70 and , admitted she's 'really worried about our future.' But she said people need to keep fighting to show their distaste with what the Trump Administration is doing — and to let her know about what they're doing. Then she can bring those concerns to her colleagues in DC. 'The more people speak up, the more the representatives and senators will listen,' she said. Those who spoke with KOIN 6 News said they were fired up after this town hall and want more to be done in Washington by their elected leaders. 'I was really impressed by the level of outrage, anger, frustration and desperation that we all feel,' said Beth of Forest Grove. 'And we're begging our representatives to do more and get louder.' Hillsboro resident Cody echoed that. 'I think that we want to see our legislators being louder, being more coordinated and strategic,' Cody said. 'I'm somewhat hopeful, but I think what made me the most hopeful was seeing the turnout of the people and seeing their passion and their anger, you know, in person.' This past Saturday, for largely the same reasons. Bonamici has 4 more town halls scheduled for this week across her district: Clatskanie Middle & High School, 6 p.m. February 18 Benson High School, 6 p.m. February 21 Neah-Kah-Nie High School – Lower Gym, 10 a.m. February 22 (with Sen. Jeff Merkley) Clatsop Community College – Patriot Hall, 2 p.m. February 22 (with Sen. Jeff Merkley) KOIN 6 News will continue to follow this story. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oregon Rep. Bonamici among electeds inexplicably locked out of U.S. Education Department
Oregon's U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat, and about 20 other Congressional Democrats gathered at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington D.C. on Feb. 7, 2025 to meet with the acting director. Instead, they found the building locked and doors blocked by federal agents. (Photo courtesy of Rep. Bonamici's Office) Armed officers blocked Oregon U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and other Democratic members of Congress from entering the U.S. Department of Education building on Friday morning as they sought a meeting with the agency's acting director about reports that President Donald Trump was preparing to take illegal action to abolish or dismantle the agency. The incident, one of several examples this week of Congressmembers being barred from federal buildings, comes as Bonamici and colleagues who oversee the education department push for information. While most school funding in Oregon comes from property taxes and the state school fund, the federal department provides targeted funding for schools with students in poverty and students with disabilities, administers federal student loans and need-based grants and protects students from discrimination. About 14% of Oregon's annual education budget comes from the federal government, amounting to more than $1 billion each year. Bonamici, a Democrat who represents Oregon's 1st Congressional District, and 95 other Democratic Congressmembers wrote to Denise Carter, acting director of the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday, requested a meeting in light of reports that Trump was preparing an executive order meant to dismantle the agency. Eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, as Trump has advocated, would require an act of Congress. 'Over the years, Democrats and Republicans have had policy differences, but this is way more than a policy difference. This is them dismantling government without the consent of the people,' Bonamici said. 'This is not normal. Nothing feels normal right now.' She and about 20 other Democrats walked to the department on Friday, seeking that meeting. Instead, they found the building locked and doors blocked by a plainclothes administrator named Jim Hairfield, who works in the agency's security and facilities office, according to the education department website. A video filmed and shared on the social media site Bluesky by Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost, also a Democrat, shows Hairfield outside the building and several officers from the federal Department of Homeland Security behind the doors, labeled 'All Access Entrance.' Representatives from the federal education department did not respond to emailed questions from the Capital Chronicle about who directed Hairfield or the DHS agents to block the entry, or whether it was legal to dispatch them to bar elected officials from entering the public building. Hairfield's government-issued work email listed on the department website is no longer operational. Earlier this week, Democratic lawmakers including Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley were barred from entering the U.S. Treasury building and the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, which Trump and his unofficial advisor, billionaire Elon Musk, have attempted to shut down. Bonamici said she was 'still processing' the scene outside the education department several hours later. 'I honestly did not expect to be locked out when I went there this morning,' she said. 'He (Hairfield) said things like: 'You don't have a meeting,' and 'you have no business here,' which was really offensive.' Bonamici has been in Congress for more than a decade and has oversight authority of the education department as a member of the Education and Workforce Committee and the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives. The decades-old mission of the U.S. Department of Education is to 'strengthen the federal commitment to assuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual.' More than 83% of Americans — and 85% of Oregonians — have, on average in the last decade, sent their children to public schools, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oregon Rep. Bonamici among electeds inexplicably locked out of U.S. Education Department Friday
Oregon's U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat, and about 20 other Congressional Democrats gathered at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington D.C. on Feb. 7, 2025 to meet with the acting director. Instead, they found the building locked and doors blocked by federal agents. (Photo courtesy of Rep. Bonamici's Office) Armed officers blocked Oregon U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and other Democratic members of Congress from entering the U.S. Department of Education building on Friday morning as they sought a meeting with the agency's acting director about reports that President Donald Trump was preparing to take illegal action to abolish or dismantle the agency. The incident, one of several examples this week of Congressmembers being barred from federal buildings, comes as Bonamici and colleagues who oversee the education department push for information. While most school funding in Oregon comes from property taxes and the state school fund, the federal department provides targeted funding for schools with students in poverty and students with disabilities, administers federal student loans and need-based grants and protects students from discrimination. About 14% of Oregon's annual education budget comes from the federal government, amounting to more than $1 billion each year. Bonamici, a Democrat who represents Oregon's 1st Congressional District, and 95 other Democratic Congressmembers wrote to Denise Carter, acting director of the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday, requested a meeting in light of reports that Trump was preparing an executive order meant to dismantle the agency. Eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, as Trump has advocated, would require an act of Congress. 'Over the years, Democrats and Republicans have had policy differences, but this is way more than a policy difference. This is them dismantling government without the consent of the people,' Bonamici said. 'This is not normal. Nothing feels normal right now.' She and about 20 other Democrats walked to the department on Friday, seeking that meeting. Instead, they found the building locked and doors blocked by a plainclothes administrator named Jim Hairfield, who works in the agency's security and facilities office, according to the education department website. A video filmed and shared on the social media site Bluesky by Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost, also a Democrat, shows Hairfield outside the building and several officers from the federal Department of Homeland Security behind the doors, labeled 'All Access Entrance.' Representatives from the federal education department did not respond to emailed questions from the Capital Chronicle about who directed Hairfield or the DHS agents to block the entry, or whether it was legal to dispatch them to bar elected officials from entering the public building. Hairfield's government-issued work email listed on the department website is no longer operational. Earlier this week, Democratic lawmakers including Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley were barred from entering the U.S. Treasury building and the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, which Trump and his unofficial advisor, billionaire Elon Musk, have attempted to shut down. Bonamici said she was 'still processing' the scene outside the education department several hours later. 'I honestly did not expect to be locked out when I went there this morning,' she said. 'He (Hairfield) said things like: 'You don't have a meeting,' and 'you have no business here,' which was really offensive.' Bonamici has been in Congress for more than a decade and has oversight authority of the education department as a member of the Education and Workforce Committee and the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives. The decades-old mission of the U.S. Department of Education is to 'strengthen the federal commitment to assuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual.' More than 83% of Americans – and 85% of Oregonians – have, on average in the last decade, sent their children to public schools, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
