Senators Coons, Welch, colleagues demand answers from Justice Department about Deputy Attorney General’s misleading answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) led Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee in requesting documents from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to determine the veracity of U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his nomination hearing. The senators’ letter comes as recent public reporting has raised questions as to whether Mr. Blanche testified truthfully to senators at the hearing and in written Questions for the Record , regarding his knowledge of plans to dismiss the criminal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. 

“As you are aware, all nominees who come before the Senate Judiciary Committee provide testimony under oath. It is a federal crime to ‘knowingly and willfully’ provide ‘any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation’ while under oath with respect to ‘any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee,” wrote the senators. “Congress has an obligation to investigate whether Mr. Blanche provided untruthful testimony before the Judiciary Committee, including whether a referral to the Department of Justice for a criminal inquiry is warranted.” 

“At the time of his hearing, Mr. Blanche was a private citizen and not an employee of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Two days before his hearing, news broke that the DOJ intended to drop criminal corruption charges against Eric Adams, Mayor of New York City. Senator Welch asked Mr. Blanche if he was aware of the instructions to dismiss the charges, and Blanche responded, “I have the same information you have. It appears it was, yes.” In response to Senator Coons’ question regarding the basis for the dropping of charges, Mr. Blanche stated, “I have no idea.” And in response to Senator Booker’s written Questions for the Record, Mr. Blanche stated in writing that he didn’t know why the charges in Mayor Adams’ case were dismissed,” the senators added. “However, recent reporting suggests that Mr. Blanche may have been aware of the orders to dismiss the case against Mayor Adams almost two weeks before he testified.”

In their letter, the Senators requested the following documentation from the Justice Department: 

1. Copies of all documentation and records that reference or discuss Todd Blanche in the possession of the Department of Justice related to the decision to dismiss the criminal charges in United States v. Adams, 24 CR 556 (S.D.N.Y.). 
2. Copies of all communications between and among then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove III and Todd Blanche relating to the decision to dismiss the criminal charges in United States v. Adams, 24 CR 556 (S.D.N.Y.). 

The letter was signed by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). 

You can read the full text of the letter here.

Senator Coons Statement on Senate Republicans’ budget resolution

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) issued the following statement after voting against Senate Republicans’ budget resolution: 

“Trump’s tariff policies have unleashed a national economic crisis, and tonight we saw Senate Republicans’ solution: slashing Social Security and Medicaid to pay for more tax cuts for billionaires. Time and again tonight, Senate Republicans were given the opportunity to take a stand against these disastrous tariffs and in favor of protecting Social Security. Time and again they refused. 

“Congress has a constitutional role to play in strengthening our economy and protecting our national security from President Trump’s policies. My Democratic colleagues and I continue to work to fulfill that role, and I hope that soon, enough senators on both sides of the aisle will do so.” 

Senators Coons and Blunt Rochester demand Trump rescind illegal executive order threatening federal employee collective bargaining agreements

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons and Lisa Blunt Rochester (both D-Del.) joined the entire Senate Democratic Caucus in urging President Donald Trump to rescind his March 27 executive order to end collective bargaining agreements between public employee unions and dozens of federal agencies and bureaus. In their letter, Senator Coons, Senator Blunt Rochester, and their colleagues blasted the move as a “gross overreach” of presidential authority, asserting that the executive order is a clear attempt to gut the federal merit-based civil service and implement a system of political cronyism. They stressed that the order poses a grave threat to the ability of over 1 million federal workers to carry out their missions and deliver important services for the American people, and thus should be rescinded immediately.

“We write today in outrage over your recent executive order entitled Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs, a gross overreach of the authority granted in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA),” the senators wrote. “This order is an insult to the hardworking public servants who go to work on behalf of the American people. They care for our veterans, deliver disaster assistance, prevent wildfires, help farmers improve crop yields, manage health benefits for 9/11 first responders, research treatments and cures for diseases, keep air travel safe, process tax returns, staff our national parks and much, much more. Nearly one third of these dedicated civil servants are veterans seeking to continue their service to our country out of uniform.”

“The executive order effectively classifies two thirds of the federal workforce as having national security missions, a blatant misuse of a limited authority intended to provide operational flexibility to address legitimate security needs,” the senators added. “There is no evidence that the long-standing collective bargaining agreements at these agencies have jeopardized our nation’s security in any way; to the contrary, the protection collective bargaining has provided for employees allows them to conduct their work on behalf of the American people—including blowing the whistle on fraud or abuse—without political interference.”

“This administration clearly does not have even a basic understanding of the legally binding nature of federal collective bargaining agreements and is actively trying to bend the law to undermine protections for federal civil servants. We urge you to immediately rescind this illegal executive order so that our dedicated public servants can continue to work on behalf of the American public without fear for their job or political retribution,” the senators concluded.

The senators’ letter is endorsed by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

In addition to Senators Coons and Blunt Rochester, the letter was also signed by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

You can read the full text of the letter here.

Senator Coons statement on Joint Resolutions of Disapproval

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) issued the following statement after voting against a Joint Resolution of Disapproval offered by Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) regarding arms sales to Israel:

“I have always been a staunch defender of Israel and its right to defend itself. I will continue to ensure it has the weapons that it needs to do so.

“Israel may not need 2,000-pound bombs to prosecute its war against Hamas, but it will need them in the event of war against Iran. President Trump’s continued provocations in the Middle East, including undermining his very own Abraham Accords and his threats this week to bomb Iran, make a regional war far more likely. His efforts to weaken relationships with our partners and allies across the world mean Israel cannot be certain a global coalition will help fend off strikes from Iran, as one did twice under the Biden administration. I understand the humanitarian concerns about supplying Israel with these weapons, but the unfortunate fact is that they are necessary to confront the more dangerous world that President Trump has created.”

Senator Coons is the Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Senator Coons condemns Trump’s tariffs, urges colleagues to end tariffs on Canada in speech before Senate vote

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) spoke on the U.S. Senate floor tonight, where he lambasted the new global tariffs imposed by President Trump this afternoon and called on his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support a resolution that would end the tariffs President Trump has imposed on Canada. The resolution passed, 51-48. Senator Coons is a cosponsor of the resolution.

“I rise to bring the attention of this body to a broken promise by our president. Our president promised in the campaign, and recently in an address to all of us here in Congress, to make America affordable again,” Senator Coons said. “Today, President Trump has announced he is going to impose tariffs on virtually every trading partner we have, and I rise in support of a piece of legislation we’re about to vote on here in the Senate that gives us a chance to do something.”

Tonight, the Senate voted on a resolution by U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to revoke the “emergency” President Trump earlier this year declared that has allowed him to unilaterally implement tariffs on Canada. Several decades ago, Congress passed a law giving the president the power to declare an emergency, assuming that presidents would only use that authority during a time of war or other national security crisis. President Trump has abused that power to unilaterally impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and other trading partners.

“Canadians have served alongside us in virtually every war we’ve ever fought. They are a NATO ally and partner, and for my small but mighty State of Delaware, our major export destination and the nation from which we import the most,” said Senator Coons. “And yet…President Trump is moving ahead with slapping tariffs on Canada.”

Earlier today, on what President Trump declared ‘Liberation Day,’ President Trump imposed sweeping new tariffs on nearly everything imported into the United States, as well as significantly higher tariffs on nearly every other country, from Taiwan to Israel to the European Union. Financial markets immediately plummeted upon the news. Economists and business organizations have called them “monstrously destructive” and “catastrophic for American families.”

“This is not Liberation Day, but Tax Day – a new national sales tax that will harm the imports we buy from virtually every country, and because of the countervailing tariffs, harm our exports,” Senator Coons said.

Senator Coons is a member of the Senate Small Business Committee. In February, he introduced the STABLE Trade Policy Act with Senator Kaine, which would institute a requirement of congressional approval before a president could impose new tariffs on U.S. allies and free trade agreement partners such as Canada.

A video and transcript of Senator Coons’ remarks are available below.

WATCH HERE.

SENATOR COONS: Mr. President, I rise to bring the attention of this body to a broken promise by our president.

Our president promised in the campaign, and recently in an address to all of us here in Congress, to make America affordable again. To deal with the high prices – groceries, of fruits and vegetables, of housing, of housing supplies, of energy – to deal with high prices. Millions of Americans who voted for President Trump said they did so out of frustration about high prices. Well today, President Trump has announced he is going to impose tariffs on virtually every trading partner we have, and I rise in support of a piece of legislation we’re about to vote on here in the Senate that gives us a chance to do something.

So to my colleagues, if you’ve heard as I have from your constituents, calling with concern and alarm about how much prices have not gone down, but have gone up, I recommend you think about one country: one of our most trusted and loyal allies, some of the nicest people on the planet.

Who doesn’t like Canadians? Canadians have served alongside us in virtually every war we’ve ever fought. They are a NATO ally and partner, and for my small but mighty State of Delaware, our major export destination and the nation from which we import the most. And yet, because of an emergency at our border – which I think is wholly unjustified by the data of how little fentanyl actually comes into our country across the northern border – President Trump is moving ahead with slapping tariffs on Canada.

Tonight you have a chance, I say to my colleagues, to vote to undo the declaration of an “emergency” on our northern border. You can vote to undo the harm to businesses, to small families, to retirement accounts. Don’t look at your 401(k) if you want to know tomorrow the consequences of indiscriminately slapping tariffs on every one of our major trading partners. This is not Liberation Day, but Tax Day – a new national sales tax that will harm the imports we buy from virtually every country, and because of the countervailing tariffs, harm our exports.

A tariff is a tax. Tonight we will take a vote, and I hope some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will join with Senator Kaine and many of us in recognizing it is ludicrous to use the special emergency powers that Congress gave to the president assuming he would only do so in a case of war or active open hostility, not in the case of one of our trusted and loyal partners and allies, the great and kind people of Canada.

In recent meetings with Canadian leaders, they’ve said ‘Don’t make us do it. Don’t make us impose tariffs on you.’ But tonight, the Trump administration has imposed tariffs on dozens and dozens of our trading partners. To my friends and colleagues, let’s vote to undo this phony crisis and vote to undo the tariffs on US-Canada trade. Thank you.

Senator Coons, colleagues introduce bipartisan, bicameral bill to create foundation supporting American leadership in emerging technology

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) introduced a bill to establish a nonprofit foundation that would support the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) by bolstering public-private collaboration on U.S. technological innovation and competitiveness. This bill was initially introduced in the 118th Congress. Representatives Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) and Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) introduced a companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Expanding Partnerships for Innovation and Competitiveness (EPIC) Act would establish a foundation to help NIST achieve its goal of promoting U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness in science and technology. Congress has established similar foundations to support the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Energy, and other federal agencies. In Delaware, NIST supports the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), a public-private partnership on the University of Delaware’s campus focused on advancing biopharmaceutical production and developing Delaware’s workforce for the future.  

“America’s economic strength depends on technological leadership, and NIST has long been an engine of innovation for our country,” said Senator Coons. “The EPIC Act reflects our ongoing commitment to creating a nonprofit foundation that will mobilize resources to support U.S. leadership on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, biotech, and quantum computing. With strong bipartisan support across both chambers, this legislation represents a critical investment in America’s technological future.”

“Maintaining and encouraging research and development in the U.S. is critical to winning the technological race against China and other adversaries,” said Senator Young. “Our bipartisan legislation will support these efforts by establishing an independent foundation to identify and foster innovative public-private partnerships across the country and strengthen the American economy.”

“Whether it’s AI or quantum computing, the United States is pushing the boundaries of technological innovation on all fronts,” said Senator Hickenlooper. “There are no second chances with technologies this powerful; NIST needs every tool at its disposal to ensure responsible R&D from the start.”

“Our nation’s technological innovation is what keeps us globally competitive,” said Senator Fischer. “To stay ahead of our rapidly advancing adversaries, we must invest in emerging technologies and the metrics that underpin them. The EPIC Act is an effective, bipartisan way to help us generate more resources to do so without additional taxpayer costs.”

“Now more than ever, our federal science agencies need every tool to drive U.S. technology leadership,” said Representative Stevens. “The reintroduction of the EPIC Act ensures that NIST—a vital agency in emerging technology, standards, and manufacturing—has the resources to secure American leadership in the mid-21st century. By establishing the Foundation for Standards and Metrology, this bill will accelerate technology commercialization, strengthen international collaborations, and support NIST’s world-class workforce. I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance this bipartisan, bicameral bill and unleash American innovation.”

“It is vital that America maintains its position as the world leader in science and technology,” said Representative Obernolte. “The creation of the Foundation for Standards and Metrology will assist in ensuring industry, non-profits, and academia receive the resources that they need to establish cutting-edge standards that enhances the economic security and prosperity of the U.S., which is why I’m proud to be a Republican co-lead on this critical legislation.”

Specifically, the EPIC Act would establish a nonprofit Foundation for Standards and Metrology, enabling NIST to: 

• Mobilize private and philanthropic funding to support critical scientific and technical initiatives.
• Collaborate more closely with the private sector, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education.
• Train the emerging technology workforce of the future and retain top talent at the institute.

The EPIC Act is endorsed by four former directors of NIST, as well as SEMI Americas, the Semiconductor Industry Association, NIST Coalition, SPIE, SeedAI, Institute for Progress, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Center for AI Policy, Telecommunications Industry Association, Institute for AI Policy and Strategy, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Colorado Boulder, Americans for Responsible Innovation, Chainguard, CJW Quantum Consulting, American Physical Society, ACT | The App Association, CivAI, SandboxAQ, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Google, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, SC Quantum, Software Information Industry Association, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 5 Lakes Institute, and the APA Services, Inc.

The full text of the bill is available here. 

Senator Coons, colleagues press USDA to not take food away from food banks and hungry families

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and 24 of their colleagues demanded more information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture about the cancellation of previously approved emergency food assistance funding for food banks and other emergency food providers. The administration has canceled at least 900,000 meals for the Food Bank of Delaware, harming our hungry neighbors already facing high grocery prices and as well as American farmers who are being squeezed by tariffs and other cuts to domestic markets.

“We write regarding the reported cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in previously approved funding for food banks and other emergency food providers through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP),” the senators wrote. “A cancellation of these funds could result in $500 million in lost food provisions to feed millions of Americans at a time when the need for food shelves is extremely high due to costly groceries and an uncertain economy.” 

“If true, this major shift in a program utilized by emergency food providers in every state in the nation will have a significant and damaging impact upon millions of people who depend upon this program for critical food assistance,” the senators continued. “In addition, this program consists of purchases of U.S. commodities at a time when America’s growers and producers are struggling due to tariffs, proposed tariffs, animal disease and many other challenges.”

In addition to Senators Coons and Klobuchar, the letter was signed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Angus King (I-Maine), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).

The full letter is available here and below. 

Dear Secretary Rollins: 

We write regarding the reported cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in previously approved funding for food banks and other emergency food providers through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). A cancellation of these funds could result in $500 million in lost food provisions to feed millions of Americans at a time when the need for food shelves is extremely high due to costly groceries and an uncertain economy. If true, this major shift in a program utilized by emergency food providers in every state in the nation will have a significant and damaging impact upon millions of people who depend upon this program for critical food assistance. 

In addition, this program consists of purchases of U.S. commodities at a time when America’s growers and producers are struggling due to tariffs, proposed tariffs, animal disease and many other challenges. 

According to recent statistics, nearly one in every seven Americans have faced food insecurity. Many of these households turn to community and emergency relief organizations such as food banks and food pantries to help them obtain sufficient nutrition. In 2023 alone, 50 million Americans turned to emergency food providers, according to a report from Feeding America, America’s largest network of food banks. While food banks rely on a variety of sources (including private) to obtain food for distribution through their networks, federally purchased commodities are a key part of how they provide nutritious meals to Americans.  

Due to this reported change, a number of us have heard that trucks delivering American-grown foods may not arrive. These trucks represent hundreds of thousands of nutritious meals containing poultry, fruits, vegetables, and dairy. If confirmed, the cancellation of this previously announced funding also comes on top of the cancellation of Local Food for School Program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program funding, which also helps farmers deliver nutritious foods to schools and food banks. These cuts will deprive Americans of food assistance, emergency food providers of necessary support to carry out their work, and American farmers of vital domestic markets. 

To help us understand USDA’s actions and their impact on communities around the country, we ask that you answer the following questions. 

1.            Has USDA cancelled previously approved purchases of food provided through TEFAP? If so, what level of funding has been cancelled thus far and when will state agencies be notified of any cancelled TEFAP purchases? 

2.            Does USDA plan to cancel additional purchases of food provided through TEFAP? 

3.            Has USDA paused any TEFAP food orders or purchases? If so, what is the current status of those orders or purchases? Does USDA intend to un-pause these funds?  

4.            Please provide information on what types of funding, by commodity, have been cancelled and the financial impact of those cancellations on producers such as pork, chicken, turkey and dairy farmers. 

5.            Is the funding announced on October 1, 2024, and detailed in the implementation memo that the Food and Nutrition Service sent to state agencies on December 2 rescinded? 

6.            Does USDA intend to use Commodity Credit Corporation funds in Fiscal Year 2025 for future purchases that will be distributed through TEFAP?  

The senators asked for a prompt response to these questions by the end of the week. 

Ranking Member Coons, Democratic Ranking Members call on Inspectors General to investigate mishandling of classified information by Trump administration officials

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, led a letter to the Acting Inspectors General of the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Department of State calling for an investigation into senior Trump administration officials for mishandling attack plans and other sensitive information through an unsecure messaging group chat, thereby putting U.S. servicemembers and intelligence officers at risk. The letter comes in response to a series of articles in The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg detailing conversations by high-ranking Trump administration officials about military strikes conducted in Yemen in a Signal group chat in which Goldberg was included.

The letter details concerns that multiple cabinet officials potentially violated laws and regulations related to the handling of national security information and the retention of federal records, including the precise timing of missile strikes and information about intelligence gathering.

In the letter to the inspectors general, the senators expressed grave concern “over potential violations of the Presidential Records Act and the Federal Records Act, as the article outlines policy debates between the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense, and senior White House officials—discussions that should be preserved as official government records… the use of a messaging application with auto-delete functions raises further questions about whether these records were improperly destroyed.”

The senators also highlighted how a report to the Department of Justice has been yet to be filed regarding this breach, despite the legal requirement to address leaks of classified material.

“We note that classified information is designated as such because its release would significantly damage U.S. national security and put at risk our national security personnel,” the senators wrote. “As such, this information can only be shared in a sensitive compartmented facility and such operational information is classified at least the SECRET level or higher based on the Department of Defense’s own guidance. Disclosing classified information on an unsecured messaging group chat, which contained an uncleared individual, could be a violation of 18 U.S. Code § 798. We are unaware of any report to the Department of Justice associated with this event, which is a standard practice when classified information is leaked to the media.”

“This report, if accurate, indicates multiple violations of law and policy by a host of elected and confirmed officials responsible for national security issues,” the senators added. “Given that this was an accidental disclosure, it also raises the potential that the officials involved in this chat may be conducting other potentially classified and unlawful conversations on this messaging application.”

In addition to Senator Coons, the letter is signed by U.S. Senators Gary Peters, Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee; Jeanne Shaheen, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Brian Schatz, Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations (SFOPS); and Patty Murray, Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair.

You can read the full text of the letter here.

Senators Coons, Blunt Rochester join Senate Democratic Caucus in reintroducing Paycheck Fairness Act to end wage discrimination and close the gender pay gap

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons and Lisa Blunt Rochester (both D-Del.) joined the entire Senate Democratic Caucus in reintroducing Senator Patty Murray’s (D-Wash.) Paycheck Fairness Act on Equal Pay Day this week. This legislation would combat pay discrimination and help close the gender pay gap by strengthening the Equal Pay Act of 1963, ending the practice of pay secrecy, and strengthening available remedies to ensure wronged employees can challenge pay discrimination and hold employers accountable. U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) led the reintroduction of the Paycheck Fairness Act in the House.

More than six decades after the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the gender wage gap still exists. While Delaware is better than most, women in the First State still only earn an average of 87% of what a man makes, according to the Delaware Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy. Over the course of a 40 year career, a typical American woman stands to earn $460,000 less than a man doing the same job, according to the National Women’s Law Center.

“Guaranteeing equal pay for equal work isn’t just about fairness—it would strengthen our economy and improve quality of life for Delaware’s women and families,” said Senator Coons. “Fixing the gender pay gap through the Paycheck Fairness Act is a critical step towards ensuring that hard work is valued equally, regardless of your sex.”

“It has been 50 years since the Equal Pay Act became law, yet the gender pay gap persists. It is simply unacceptable that for every dollar a man makes nationally, a woman is paid 75 cents,” said Senator Blunt Rochester, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. “As Delaware’s former Secretary of Labor and State Personnel Director, I am proud to be standing with all my Democratic colleagues in reintroducing the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation I have long supported. Now is the time for us to deliver on the promise of the Equal Pay Act and make equal pay for equal work a reality.”

“When you do the same work as your colleagues, you should get the same pay, and no one should get to rip you off and pay you less because you are a woman. The principle is simple—but the problem we are talking about is far from trivial; it’s an injustice that compounds over time, robbing women of hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of their career,” said Senator Murray. “For anyone who is serious about fighting for women, for anyone who is serious about ensuring our economy is built on merit and not undermined by discrimination, this is basic stuff. But Trump and Elon—some of the richest men in the world—are right now eliminating a 60-year old executive order that helped ensure federal contractors don’t discriminate against women, illegally firing commissioners at the EEOC, which enforces existing pay discrimination laws, and making it easier to rip workers off. Women don’t want more discrimination. They don’t want more of their pay stolen by bosses like Elon. They just want the pay they earned. They just want to be treated decently—and paid fairly no matter who they are. Republicans can choose to stand with billionaires who cheat their workers—but by reintroducing the Paycheck Fairness Act today, Democrats are showing that we stand with women, we stand with workers, we stand for fairness, and we are going to keep fighting to make sure people get the pay they have rightfully earned, down to the last dime.”

“Equal Pay Day marks how far into the current year a woman must work to catch up to what her male counterpart earned in the previous year,” said Representative DeLauro. “Six decades after passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women working full-time or part-time still earn 75 cents for every dollar earned by men. We are in a cost of living crisis – this must end. Equal pay for equal work is a simple concept – men and women in the same job deserve the same pay. It is time we make it real for the millions of American women who are being unfairly undervalued in the workplace. Let’s enact the Paycheck Fairness Act and empower working women by giving them the tools to ensure their contributions to the workplace are properly respected and reflected in their pay.”

Specifically, the Paycheck Fairness Act would:

• Require employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons. In doing so, it ensures that employers who try to justify paying a man more than a woman for the same job must show the disparity is not sex-based, but job-related and necessary.
• Ban retaliation against workers who discuss their wages.
• Remove obstacles in the Equal Pay Act to facilitate participation in class action lawsuits that challenge systemic pay discrimination by allowing workers to opt-out, rather than requiring them to opt-in.
• Improve the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s and Department of Labor’s tools for enforcing the Equal Pay Act. To help these enforcement agencies better uncover and remedy wage discrimination, the bill will require the collection of compensation data from certain employers, including federal contractors.
• Provide assistance to all businesses to help them with their equal pay practices, recognize excellence in pay practices by businesses, and empower women and girls by creating a negotiation skills training program.
• Prohibit employers from relying on and seeking the salary history of prospective employees.

Throughout his career, Senator Coons has supported efforts to close the gender pay gap and ensure equal pay for equal work, and he has cosponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act since it was first introduced.

Ranking Member Coons calls on Secretary Hegseth to resign

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, issued the following statement calling on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign: 

“The full set of Signal messages released by The Atlantic today make it clear that Secretary Hegseth and our nation’s highest ranking civilian officials exposed information about military operations that put American servicemembers in harm’s way. The nation needs an independent investigation to understand the full scope of these risks, and the intelligence community must assess the full scope of the damage to intelligence-gathering sources and methods resulting from this failure to keep sensitive information secure.

“Any servicemember who acted with such blatant disregard for our national security would be unceremoniously dismissed, at the very least. Our nation’s highest ranking defense official should not be held to a lower standard than the men and women he oversees. Secretary Hegseth has put our servicemembers in danger and our credibility as a security partner at risk. He can no longer credibly claim that he makes our country safer. For the good of our nation, he must resign.”