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My Work as Ranking Member on the House Interior Appropriations

Ranking Member Pingree: Reckless, Indiscriminate Purge of Public Servants Will Have Lasting Harmful Effects

| Posted in Press Releases

In letters sent today to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the United States Forest Service, and Department of the Interior (DOI), which encompasses eleven bureaus, including the National Park Service, House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member Chellie Pingree…

Ranking Members Pingree, Merkley Condemn Indian Affairs Hiring Freeze, Firings as Violation of Tribal Sovereignty

| Posted in Press Releases
CP Merkley

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the top Democrats on the subcommittees that oversee funding for the Department of the Interior (DOI), demanded the Trump Administration immediately reinstate terminated Indian Affairs employees, lift the hiring freeze, and officially rescind the deferred resignation and early retirement offers. As Ranking…

Ranking Member Pingree Sounds Alarm Over Indiscriminate Firing of 3,400 Forest Service Employees

| Posted in Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee, says the Trump Administration’s reported firing of 3,400 U.S. Forest Service (FS) employees will severely hinder the agency’s ability to fight wildfires.  In a letter to newly confirmed Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Pingree underscores that…

Ranking Member Pingree: Trump’s Park Service Hiring Freeze a Direct Hit to Acadia and the Economy

| Posted in Press Releases
Acadia entrance sign

Today, House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member Chellie Pingree warned the Trump Administration that its ill-conceived federal hiring freeze will jeopardize National Park Service (NPS) operations at national parks like Acadia. Pingree called on Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to immediately resume all seasonal hiring for the NPS and emphasized that…

Ranking Members Merkley, Pingree: Health Care in Tribal Communities in Danger Under Trump’s Hiring Freeze

| Posted in Press Releases

Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-01), the top Democrats on the subcommittees that oversee funding for the Indian Health Service (IHS), demanded urgent action from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to stop dangerous cuts to the IHS workforce, which is already facing huge challenges and staffing vacancies. As Ranking Members…

Merkley, Murray, Pingree, and DeLauro: EPA Illegal Funding Cuts Harm Public Health, Environment, and Families

| Posted in Press Releases

Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA), House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Chellie Pingree (ME-01), and House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) demanded recently confirmed Environmental…

Ranking Member Pingree: Imminent Purge of EPA Employees Will Undermine Agency’s Obligations to Protect Human Health and the Environment

| Posted in Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, is calling on the newly-confirmed Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Lee Zeldin to reject any effort to purge his agency’s workforce. Pingree’s letter follows reporting from The New York Times that the EPA…

Ranking Member Pingree Condemns Unlawful Funding Freeze, Warns of Devastating Impacts on Tribal Communities and Environment

| Posted in Press Releases

House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Ranking Member Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) is sounding the alarm over the Trump Administration’s illegal and unprecedented directive to pause all federal financial assistance. On Tuesday, Pingree released the following statement calling attention to the wide-ranging and life-threatening impacts this brazen act could have on…

VIDEO: In Interior Appropriations Hearing, Ranking Member Pingree Addresses the Importance of Investigating Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

| Posted in Press Releases

During a House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on missing and murdered indigenous women on Wednesday, Ranking Member Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) highlighted the importance of raising awareness about the growing crisis—and providing the necessary resources to address it. Maulian Bryant, incoming Executive Director of the Wabanaki…

Pingree Urges Biden to Honor US Labor Pioneer, Social Security Architect with National Monument Designation

| Posted in Press Releases
Frances Perkins Center

Today, Maine First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree led 42 Members of Congress in urging President Joe Biden to designate the Frances Perkins Homestead in Newcastle as a national monument. “Frances Perkins, who made her home in Maine, was a trailblazer, the first female presidential cabinet member, the mother of the modern labor movement, and a pioneering advocate…

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