Latest news with #RosaDeLauro
The Independent
4 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Trump looks to close 105-year-old department that supports women workers despite insinuating it would stay
The Department of Labor said it would 'eliminate' the Women 's Bureau, a century-old department that focuses on advocating for economic equality and safe working environments for women, despite the secretary insinuating it was here to stay. When pressed with questions about the Department of Government Efficiency cutting grants administered by the Women's Bureau at a House Appropriations Committee meeting on May 15, Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer responded by emphasizing its history. 'Statutorily, the Women's Bureau is in statute,' Chavez-DeRemer said in response to Representative Rosa DeLauro's concerns. While Chavez-DeRemer's comment stopped short of a promise, she did not elaborate on the future of Women's Bureau, but insinuated the 105-year-old department was here to stay. Yet the Department of Labor's 2026 fiscal year budget in brief anticipates eliminating the Women's Bureau, calling it a 'relic of the past' and 'an ineffective policy.' 'The Department will work with Congress to craft a repeal package of WB's organic statutes, including the Women in Apprenticeship in Non-Traditional Occupations grant authorization. Apprenticeship work will be handled by the Employment and Training Administration,' the Bureau of Labor wrote. The Independent has asked the Department of Labor and the White House for comment. The elimination of the bureau, by giving it no funding in 2026, is the latest move by the Trump administration to override Congress's authority and get rid of previously appropriated funds for what it believes is unnecessary or does not align with the president's policies. During his presidential campaign, Trump promised to be women's 'protector' and insisted they would be 'happy, healthy, confident and free' under his administration. However, the Trump administration believes the Women's Bureau 'has struggled to find a role' in advancing the interests of women in the workforce, according to the budget brief. 'The Bureau works on a wide range of issues and its work is not always closely coordinated with, or informed by, the agencies that actually have the resources to address the issues at hand,' the Department wrote in its FY 2026 budget in brief. Established by Congress in 1920, the Women's Bureau is the only federal agency mandated to represent the needs of wage-earning women. It conducts research and policy analysis to advocate for policies that improve working conditions and increase profitable opportunities for women in the workforce. That includes getting more women to high-paying jobs, expanding access to paid leave and affordable child care, eliminating pay inequality, as well as harassment in the workplace. Part of its role includes grant-making and managing the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations grant program. The Women's Bureau also has the authority to investigate and report on matters about the welfare of women in industry to the Department of Labor. Nine current or former Department of Labor staffers told Mother Jones they believe shuttering the Women's Bureau aligns with the administration's desire to have women stop working and stay home to raise children. 'It really feels like a specific [effort] to get women out of the workplace,' Gayle Goldin, the former deputy director of the Women's Bureau under the Biden administration, told Mother Jones. 'We really still need the Women's Bureau, because we need to be able to identify what the problems are, see where the barriers are for women in the workplace, and ensure that women have full capacity to enter the workplace in whatever job they want.'
E&E News
5 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
House panel approves deep USDA spending cuts
A House Appropriations panel approved a $25.5 billion spending plan for agriculture Thursday that would slash climate-related programs while boosting efforts against animal and plant diseases. 'Times have changed at the Department of Agriculture,' said Agriculture Subcommittee Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) as the panel took up the bill for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. The vote was 9 to 7, along partisan lines, with the full Appropriations Committee ranking Democrat, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, participating and voting 'no.' Advertisement The measure, which next moves to the full Appropriations Committee, represents an overall 4.2 percent reduction from this year's discretionary spending level for the Department of Agriculture and related agencies, the Republican majority said.
Economic Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
‘You live in a legal fantasy!': Rep. DeLauro fiercely grills OMB chief in explosive hearing
Rep. Rosa DeLauro fiercely criticised OMB Director Russell Vought for 'unlawfully impounding' congressionally approved funds during a House hearing. She accused him of ignoring transparency laws by shutting down a spending tracking website, reversing years of compliance. DeLauro slammed Vought for acting like a 'king unbound by laws' and warned that Congress must retain control over federal spending and ensure accountability to the American people. Show more 12:53 03:07 09:14 09:47 03:02 08:25 10:30 08:39 04:56 03:51 03:43 03:44 02:32 03:16 08:03 04:45 03:30 03:20 03:13 08:41 04:24 08:04 08:16 08:25 08:11 03:14 10:39 08:19 05:17 03:05
Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
‘You live in a legal fantasy!': Rep. DeLauro fiercely grills OMB chief in explosive hearing - The Economic Times Video
Rep. Rosa DeLauro fiercely criticised OMB Director Russell Vought for 'unlawfully impounding' congressionally approved funds during a House hearing. She accused him of ignoring transparency laws by shutting down a spending tracking website, reversing years of compliance. DeLauro slammed Vought for acting like a 'king unbound by laws' and warned that Congress must retain control over federal spending and ensure accountability to the American people.
Washington Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Defying Trump, National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet is still at work
President Donald Trump's latest attempt to assert control over an elite American cultural institution has turned into a high-stakes Washington stand-off. In defiance of Trump's announcement last Friday that he was firing her, Kim Sajet — the director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery — has continued to report for work, conducting meetings and handling other museum business as she did before, according to several people familiar with her activities who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter. Writing on Truth Social, Trump had declared he is firing Sajet because she 'is a highly partisan person' and because she is a 'strong supporter of DEI,' a reference to diversity, equity and inclusion. He said her replacement would be named shortly. Trump has not provided a legal reasoning to support his authority to fire Sajet. Two top congressional Democrats have asserted the president does not have legal authority for the firing. In a joint statement, House Administration Committee ranking Democrat Joe Morelle of New York and House Appropriations Committee ranking Democrat Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said: 'President Trump has no authority to fire employees of the Smithsonian Institution — including the Director of the National Portrait Gallery. The dismissal of Director Sajet is unacceptable and has the same legal weight as the President's prior attempts to undermine the Smithsonian's independence: absolutely none. Should the White House require a copy of the Constitution, we would be more than happy to provide one.' Sajet's refusal to abide by Trump's decision sets up a test of the bounds of presidential authority over the Smithsonian, a sprawling complex of 21 museums, 14 education and research centers and the National Zoo. It is not a traditional government agency nor part of the executive branch, and hiring and firing decisions have historically been handled by the Smithsonian's secretary, rather than its Board of Regents. The Smithsonian's current secretary, Lonnie G. Bunch III, is widely expected to discuss the president's attempt to oust Sajet when regents meet next Monday. In an only-in-Washington twist, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. — who has been presented with major questions at the Supreme Court regarding the limits of presidential authority since Trump took office — is the chancellor of the Smithsonian and a member of its board. A Trump White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Smithsonian spokesperson declined to comment. In February, Trump made another foray into American arts when he took over control of the Kennedy Center, dismissing his predecessor's appointees to its board, who then installed him as chairman and replaced the institution's director with a political ally with scant experience in the arts. The Smithsonian differs from the Kennedy Center because presidents don't appoint members to its board, which is composed of a mix of officials from all three branches of government and members of the public. But Trump is not without allies on the Smithsonian board, including Vice President JD Vance who, like Roberts, is an ex-officio member. Trump's move against Sajet follows an executive order he issued on March 27 titled 'Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,' which aims to 'restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness.' A 35-year-old special assistant and senior associate staff secretary, Lindsey Halligan, was among the order's architects — instigated, in part, by her early-2025 visit to the show 'The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture,' an exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which shares a building with the Portrait Gallery. The order calls for Halligan and Vice President JD Vance to 'remove improper ideology' from the Smithsonian and 'prohibit expenditure on exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race.' 'President Trump's attempt to fire the National Portrait Gallery Director is outrageous and represents yet another disturbing example of his relentless effort to control American art and culture,' said Rep. Chellie Pingree (Maine), ranking Democrat of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the Smithsonian, in a statement. 'Despite what the President may think, America's cultural institutions are not run by dictatorial impulses.' On Tuesday a White House official provided The Post a list of 17 instances in which, the White House argued, Sajet was critical of Trump or outspoken about her support for diversity, equity and inclusion. The list included her donations to Democratic politicians and advocacy groups; a social media post praising Anthony Fauci; the caption for the museum's presidential portrait of Trump mentioning his two impeachments and 'incitement of insurrection' for the events of Jan. 6, 2021; and numerous quotes from interviews in a variety of publications about her efforts to represent a broad swath of Americans within the gallery's walls. One item on the list was a quote in a 2019 USA Today story about Black artists demanding representation in American artistic institutions: 'We owe it to Americans to reflect them because we owe it to accurate history,' Sajet says. 'I'm not interested in only having a museum for some people.' The list additionally took issue with remarks Sajet has made in support of the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, and criticism of Columbus Day and her rejection of one artist's 2016 portrait of Trump as 'too political.' It notes that Sajet has commissioned artworks about Mexican immigration and 'the complications of ancestral and racial history.' It was critical of her 2013 decision to use '50 percent of all money spent on art' to 'support diverse artists and portrait subjects.' Since its founding 179 years ago, the Smithsonian, which receives about 60 percent of its budget from federal appropriations and grants, has generally operated independently, although there have been several controversies in which museums have altered exhibitions in response to outside criticisms, including from politicians. Museum directors, such as Sajet — holders of some of the most prestigious positions in American arts — are not paid with federal funds, instead drawing their salaries from the Smithsonian's trust fund. Hours after Trump's post, Bunch told Smithsonian staff in an email obtained by The Washington Post that the White House also sent new details of proposed cuts to the institution's budget, slashing it by 12 percent and excluding funding for its Anacostia Community Museum and its forthcoming National Museum of the American Latino, Bunch said. On Saturday, at the Portrait Gallery and SAAM's joint family Pride celebration, a trio of visitors strolled the central courtyard in neon vests emblazoned with 'Hands off the arts' on the back — closely watched by a Smithsonian staff member, who hovered nearby. 'I'm outraged' by Sajet's firing, said Karen Nussbaum, 75, of Washington. 'There's a place for a political expression in art, but not political control of art.' 'I think the next step is controlling what artists think and do,' said Cynthia Cain, 60, of Washington, 'and that's not acceptable.' Sophia Nguyen and Janay Kingsberry contributed to this report.
