Latest news with #DeGette
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hurd and CO lawmakers send letter to Dept. of Ag calling for USFS workers to be reinstated
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) — As Colorado approaches dry season, state lawmakers penned a letter to the Secretary of Agriculture calling for the rehiring of 3,000 forest service staff. Of those 3,000, many are 'incident qualification card holders' or red card holders that indicate they passed and completed the required training to fight wildfires. In response, Congressman Jeff Hurd (CD-3) joined several Colorado Democrats including Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and Reps. Brittany Pettersen, Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse and Jason Crow. Rep. Hurd talked with WesternSlopeNow about the cuts and says 'I support the president's efforts to make government more efficient, to make government more responsive, to make government more effective. Part of that means making savings and cuts. We just need to make sure they are done in the right spot. And I think people that work in these agencies, they will tell you yes, there are places where we can realize efficiencies, we just need to make sure that we do it in the right places. So, cutting those firefighters, the red card holders, the ones that are able to help when we have wildland fires in our forest service, cutting those individuals is probably not the best place to do that.' WesternSlopeNow also obtained statements from Reps. Petterson, DeGette and Crow and Gov. Jared Polis on the cuts. Their statements are below. Rep. Petterson: 'The Trump administration's decision to lay off 3,000 trained employees who prevent and respond to fires right ahead of peak wildfire season is incredibly reckless. This move puts lives, homes, and entire communities at risk. The administration must reverse course immediately and restore these critical positions to protect Coloradans.' Rep. DeGette: 'The United States Forest Service plays a vital role in the management of our public lands and protection against wildfires. Since Colorado is prone to wildfires, we depend on a strong USFS to keep us safe. These individuals shouldn't have been laid off in the first place, as many of them are specially trained and certified to fight wildland fires. Their reinstatement will help us combat these climate-related threats, and I will continue to advocate for protecting the public servants who keep Colorado's treasured public lands safe and accessible.' Rep. Crow: 'The loss of thousands of red-card carrying U.S. Forest Service workers puts Colorado at risk. As climate change and intensifying wildfires threaten our communities, it is important to reinstate those most qualified to fight wildfires and protect our families. That's why the Trump Administration must reverse these cuts to critical Forest Service workers.' Gov. Polis: 'In Colorado, we know the devastating impact of wildfires on our communities and outdoors, and underscore the importance of mitigation efforts in lowering risk and keeping Coloradans safe. These Trump administration cuts are shortsighted and hurt Colorado's ability to meaningfully mitigate wildfires before they happen in addition to the important outcomes this workforce provides more broadly in the care of our public lands. Governor Polis appreciates the members of Colorado's federal delegation who joined this effort to have red card-holding Forest Service members reinstated and echoes the need for urgency before it's too late, and urges other members of the delegation to join this effort.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Colorado's DeGette calls for resignation of two Trump officials involved in Signal chat
Democratic U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette speaks at the Colorado Democratic Party watch party on Nov. 5, 2024. (Andrew Fraieli for Colorado Newsline) U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, called for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisory Michael Waltz to resign after release of the full transcript of a Signal chat that accidentally included a journalist. Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, reported Monday that sensitive details of pending U.S. military action were sent in a group chat on Signal, an encrypted commercial messaging app, of senior Trump administration officials that Waltz accidentally added him to. The Atlantic on Wednesday published the full transcript of the conversation, which included minute-by-minute attack plans ahead of U.S. bombings in Yemen earlier this month. Administration officials had minimized the severity of the breach. DeGette said 'at minimum' Hegseth and Waltz must resign, and she demanded Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe be investigated for perjury after denying on Wednesday that classified information was shared in the chat. DeGette said 'it may well be that all of these officials need to be fired.' 'The level of incompetence shown by the Secretary of Defense and National Security Advisor is staggering. This is a systemic failure by some of the highest-ranking officials in our government, and if the information shared on this unsecured platform fell into the hands of an adversary, it would have put American servicemembers' lives at risk,' DeGette said in a statement. 'There must be accountability, and their failure to take responsibility while gaslighting the public about what exactly happened demands answers.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Colorado health care providers fear ‘devastating' impacts of potential Medicaid cuts
Colorado Hospital Association CEO Jeff Tieman, Denver Health CEO Donna Lynne, U.S. Rep. Dianna DeGette, and Tepeyac Community Health Center CEO Jim Garcia spoke about the threat federal Medicaid cuts would pose to health care access in Colorado on Feb. 19, 2025, at DeGette's Denver office. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline) Colorado health care providers said Wednesday that federal cuts to Medicaid being weighed by Republicans in Congress would drastically impair their ability to provide services to patients and keep their doors open. At a news conference alongside U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, leaders with Denver Health, Tepeyac Community Health Center and the Colorado Hospital Association said Medicaid cuts would lead to reduced services, layoffs and even facility closures around the state. Republican budget proposals in Congress could roll back how much money the federal government provides to match states for Medicaid, a joint health care program for people with low incomes or disabilities that covers 1 in 5 people living in the U.S. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Donna Lynne, CEO of Denver Health, said the public health care provider could lose up to $1 billion of its $1.5 billion budget if Medicaid funding dwindles. 'We can't afford to do that,' Lynne said. 'We'd have to cut services. We'd have to lay off employees, and the impact, not just in Denver but in the entire state, it's catastrophic.' Lynne said Denver Health would also have to scale back biomedical research efforts. Jeff Tieman, CEO of the Colorado Hospital Association, said 70% of the hospitals in Colorado are already operating with very small or negative margins. He said cuts to Medicaid would result in patients losing coverage and access to health care, shuttering of services and even certain hospitals, and a 'diminished' provider community. Medicaid funding losses would disproportionately harm small and rural hospitals, he said. 'Medicaid is a lifeline, and it is crucial to the success, frankly, of our entire state,' Tieman said. DeGette said during Trump's first term in 2017, Medicaid cuts were proposed, and the 'outpouring of opposition from Americans was so great' that those proposals were tabled. She said public support for Medicaid has grown since then, citing a KFF poll that found 77% of Americans support Medicaid ahead of Trump's inauguration. 'The Trump administration has caused chaos and confusion for patients all across the country,' she said at her Denver office Wednesday. 'Frankly, these cuts would impact millions of Americans, thousands of people in my congressional district in order to pay for a huge tax cut for billionaires.' DeGette, the ranking Democrat on the health subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said she and other Democrats will oppose 'draconian' cuts to health care coverage that negatively affect their constituents. With Colorado anticipating a tight state budget in the coming years, DeGette said the state would not be able to make up for Medicaid funding that could be lost at the federal level. 'Colorado's already going to be struggling in the next budget cycle to be able to even pay for what they're paying for now,' she said. Jim Garcia, CEO at Tepeyac Community Health Center, said Tepeyac has the highest percentage of uninsured patients among community health centers, as well as the lowest percentage of Medicaid patients. He said Medicaid represents about 10% of the center's revenue and is essential to ensuring it is able to offer integrated care, meaning patients can access medical, mental health and dental care at the same place. Medicaid cuts would lead to patients delaying or foregoing care, he said, which could lead to higher costing emergency hospital visits. 'This would be a devastating impact on our already lean budget and would require us to contract our services and limit the care we are able to provide to our patients,' Garcia said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
