#Congress

With President Trump heading to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Hawaiʻi 2nd District Rep. Jill Tokuda is leading a bipartisan congressional effort to make clear that US support for Taiwan is not up for negotiation.

Two Kamehameha Schools Maui students took first and second place in the 2026 Congressional District Art Competition for Hawaiʻi’s 2nd Congressional District, US Rep. Jill Tokuda announced Monday. Linnea Poepoe claimed first place for her charcoal and colored pencil drawing “Beneath the Jacaranda,” a reflection of paniolo culture, while classmate Makaliʻahu Hewahewa earned second place […]

Residents say more a new flood control project and better stormwater management is sorely needed.

US Sen. Mazie Hirono joined a group of Democratic colleagues to introduce a resolution aimed at protecting abortion access for veterans, according to a news release from the senator’s office. Hirono and 14 other senators filed a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn a recent Trump administration rule. The federal rule ends abortion counseling and […]

The US Senate passed a bipartisan funding bill that included a provision authored by US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) that will extend telehealth access for Americans enrolled in Medicare through the end of 2027.

Farmers and ranchers say prices have gone up after a year of Trump’s tariffs, making their operations even more costly on an island where everything has to be shipped or flown in.

US Rep. Jill Tokuda was among the Hawaiʻi lawmakers who criticized the Trump administration’s recent military actions in Venezuela, questioning the financial and human costs of the conflict.

Hawaiʻi US Rep. Ed Case has introduced a bill to codify into law a federal program to expand energy resilience and reliability for some of the nation’s most vulnerable regions – isolated island, Native Hawaiian and Tribal communities. Residents of these regions often face common and unique energy obstacles, including limited energy infrastructure, high costs of imported […]

Local voters are growing frustrated with Democratic leadership in the face of mass federal funding and job cuts.

Hawai‘i US Sen. Brian Schatz says Hawai‘i will receive nearly $9.8 million in new federal funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help rebuild wildfire-ravaged historic Lahaina landmarks, like the Old Lahaina Courthouse, Waiola Church, Hale Aloha Museum and the Master’s Reading Room. 

Hawai‘i US Rep. Ed Case has reintroduced a bill in the US House to end what he called “the discriminatory and exclusionary shipping practices faced by residents and businesses in Hawai‘i, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and other US territories.”

Hawaiʻi US Sen. Mazie Hirono has joined 20 Democratic colleagues in introducing an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. If passed by Congress, the amendment would remove language that would strip away service members’ parental rights to access medically necessary health care for their transgender children.

A Maui coalition of the Hawaiʻi Workers Center has departed to Washington D.C. where they will demand that Congress release disaster recovery funds for Lahaina. 

With the balance of power in Washington shifting into the hands of Republicans and incoming President Donald Trump, Hawai‘i Democratic US Sen. Brian Schatz appealed to Senate colleagues to prioritize passage of a disaster aid funding for long-term relief of Maui wildfire survivors.

US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) called for additional disaster relief funding when Congress returns in November. Speaking on the Senate floor, Schatz stressed the need to provide disaster survivors on Maui and in other disaster-impacted communities with flexible, long-term assistance in the form of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding. The said this will enable them to rebuild their homes and communities as quickly as possible.

Elected officials will hear from federal and local witnesses as it looks into whether the government followed the lessons it learned from other disasters.

The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation recently gave its prestigious 2023 Leadership Award to Case, who continues the fight for ocean-based climate solutions, sustainable climate ready fisheries management and international cooperation and coordination in saving the world’s oceans.

Originally established by Congress at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the waivers are currently scheduled to expire on June 30, 2022, potentially forcing thousands of children and families back into food insecurity.

US Sen. Mazie K. Hirono was part of a group of legislators who reintroduced the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act, legislation that would double the Pell award for college expenses, index the award to inflation, and make other changes to expand the award for working students and families.

Hawaiʻi Attorney General Clare E. Connors joined 13 state attorneys general to urge Congress to allocate funding and codify coverage protections to guarantee equitable and free distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.