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My Work on the Appropriations Committee

Top House, Senate Interior Appropriators Lead Bipartisan Bill to Prevent Demolition of the Kennedy Center

| Posted in Press Releases

Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, Ranking Members of the House and Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittees, today unveiled legislation to protect presidential monuments like the Kennedy Center from demolition. The bicameral, bipartisan Protecting Presidential Memorials Act would prohibit any Congressionally designated…

Ranking Member Pingree Slams Interior Plan to Carve Up Yosemite for Private Development

| Posted in Press Releases
Yosemite National Park

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, is pushing back against the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) proposed land exchange in Yosemite National Park. The project is listed as DOI’s sixth most important priority—even though Interior has acknowledged that it has not identified the…

Pingree: Trump’s Arch Tests Whether Congress Will Defend Its Own Power

| Posted in Blog Posts

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, is calling on Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) to file a lawsuit on behalf of Congress to block construction of President Trump’s 250-foot arch. Pingree’s letter comes after the Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced…

Ranking Member Pingree Statement on Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch

| Posted in Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the Smithsonian Institution, released the following statement on Secretary Lonnie Bunch’s resignation: Secretary Lonnie Bunch is a trailblazing historian and dedicated public servant who has devoted nearly four decades to the Smithsonian. From bringing the National Museum of…

Pingree Blasts Republicans, Trump for Being “All Talk” on Supporting US Shipbuilding

| Posted in Press Releases

Today during the House Appropriations full committee markup of the FY2027 Defense funding bill, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) spoke out against Republicans’ outrageous $1 trillion bill that, despite it’s enormous price tag, fails to support American shipbuilding. In her opening remarks, Pingree contrasted the Trump Administrations’ claims to support American…

Pingree, Huffman Demand Answers from Forest Service on Glyphosate Spraying in National Forests

| Posted in Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, and Congressman Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) are demanding answers from the U.S. Forest Service about its current and planned use of glyphosate-based herbicides on federal forestlands. Their letter to Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz follows a…

WATCH: Ranking Member Pingree Slams Republican Cuts to EPA, Arts, Parks, and More While Trump Prioritizes Gilded Vanity Projects in DC

| Posted in Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, spoke out against Republicans’ funding bill for the 2027 fiscal year during the Appropriations Committee's markup today. In her opening remarks, Pingree condemned proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Park Service…

Ranking Member Pingree Statement on Court Ordering Removal of Trump’s Name from Kennedy Center

| Posted in Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the Kennedy Center, released the following statement after a federal judge ordered the removal of President Trump’s name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and blocked the administration’s plan to close the venue for two years beginning in…

‘Outrageous and Needlessly Cruel’: Pingree Statement on Kennedy Center Firing Union Members

| Posted in Press Releases
trump Kennedy Center

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the Kennedy Center, released the following statement after the Center reportedly fired staff who are members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) union: The Kennedy Center’s decision to fire 24 people—in clear violation of their union…

Pingree Blasts Republican Agriculture Funding Bill that Fails Farmers, Families, and Rural America

| Posted in Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), a longtime organic farmer and member of the House Agriculture Committee, spoke out against Republicans’ Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies FY2027 funding bill. During the House Appropriations Committee markup of the bill today, Pingree criticized the funding bill for cutting nutrition…