Paul Dabbar, of New York, to be Deputy Secretary of Commerce for global trade and technology
Dabbar is Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Bohr Quantum Technology, a company developing quantum networking systems. He is also a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. During the first presidency of Donald Trump, he was a United States Department of Energy Under Secretary, serving as Under Secretary of Energy for Science. As a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan, leading various energy business areas, he had over $400 billion in investment experience across all energy sectors including solar, wind, geothermal, distributed-generation, utility, LNG, pipeline, oil & gas, trading, and energy technologies, and has also led the majority of all nuclear transactions. In addition, he had a senior leadership role for the company’s commodity trading business, including power, oil and gas.
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
The Palm Collective and Debt for Climate DC present “Exposing the Unspoken: Behind the Power 4 Southern People NOT Southern Company Movement”. A Documentary by Arm in Arm & The People’s Justice Council.
Time and time again, the dirty energy economy — the extraction and burning of fossil fuels and nuclear energy — sacrifices those most vulnerable. Profit-obsessed corporations and the politicians who do their bidding use, abuse, and discard our communities. Southern Company is at the root of a system that values shareholders and company CEOs’ bottom lines instead of the communities they serve in the Southeast across Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. By weaponizing their influence and resources, they have been able to manipulate legislators to actively deny the climate crisis and dismantle our democracy and reproductive rights. They discard their toxic waste in our backyards and charge us prices we can’t afford. Company money is embedded across each state’s legislature, and they are not held accountable. As discussions are taking place about how we transition the U.S. energy future to a system that is just and accessible for all, Southern Company’s practices and the politicians that shield them should be held up as predatory and detrimental to our communities and future.
Solidarity City
5 Columbus Monument Drive Northeast, Washington, DC
The Subcommittee on Energy will hold a hearing on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at
10:15 a.m. (ET) in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled, “Assuring Abundant, Reliable American Energy to Power Innovation.”
S. 29, Sunshine Protection Act of 2025 (Scott-FL), to permanently shift U.S. time zones to Daylight Saving Time
S. 191, Licensing Individual Commercial Exam-takers Now Safely and Efficiently (LICENSE) Act of 2025 (Lummis), to relax certain requirements related to commercial driver’s license` (CDL) testing
S. 196, Mitigating Automated Internet Networks (MAIN) for Event Ticketing Act (Blackburn), to limit automated ticket scalping
S. 259, Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act (Fischer), to require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to annually publish a list of entities that hold a license or other authorization granted by the FCC and have ties to China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, or Venezuela
S. 320, National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2025 (Padilla)
S. 580, Combating CCP Labor Abuses Act of 2025 (Peters), to require the Secretary of Commerce to provide training and guidance relating to human rights abuses, including such abuses perpetrated against the Uyghur population by China
S. 606, Contaminated Wells Relocation Act (Kaine), to authorize the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to reimburse the Town of Chincoteague, Virginia, for costs directly associated with the removal and replacement of drinking water wells contaminated with PFAS
S. 688, Federally Integrated Species Health (FISH) Act of 2025 (Sullivan), to consolidate the management and regulation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), with respect to anadromous species, within the Fish and Wildlife Service
S. 725, Enhancing First Response Act (Klobuchar), to ensure Americans can reach help when they dial 9-1-1 during natural disasters
S. 769, United States Research Protection Act of 2025 (Cornyn), to remove ambiguity in what qualifies as a malign foreign talent program under the CHIPS and Science Act
S. 1003, Lulu’s Law (Britt), to require the Federal Communications Commission to include a shark attack as an event for which a wireless emergency alert may be transmitted
S. 1081, Comprehensive NASA Reporting Act of 2025 (Cruz), to require copies of all NASA reports to Congress be sent to the Science committees
S. 1278, Fog Observations and Geographic Forecasting Act (Cruz), to require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to conduct a project to improve forecasts of coastal marine fog
S. 1378, Transformational Artificial intelligence to Modernize the Economy (TAME) against Extreme Weather and Wildfires Act (Schatz), to partner with the private and academic sectors on AI weather and wildfire forecasting
S. 1433, Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2025 (Murray), to promote the protection of the resources of the Northwest Straits
S. 1437, Accessing Satellite Capabilities to Enable New Discoveries (ASCEND) Act (Hickenlooper, Cornyn), to privatize space-based and airborne Earth remote sensing data, services, distribution, and applications wherever possible
S. 1492, Deploying American Blockchains Act of 2025 (Moreno, Blunt Rochester), to promote the adoption of blockchain technology
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold an oversight hearing titled “Advancing Federal Water and Hydropower Development: A Stakeholder Perspective.”
Witnesses:
Michelle Bushman, Deputy Director and General Counsel (Democratic Witness), Western States Water Council, Murray, UT
Jim Webb, President and CEO, Lower Valley Energy, Afton, WY
Jonathan Haswell, Chief Business Officer, OceanWell LLC, Woodside, CA
Patrick Sigl, Director of Water and Natural Resources Law, Salt River Project, Phoenix, AZ
Full committee hearing, immediately following the business meeting. The purpose of the hearing is to consider the nominations of:
Nominees:
Leslie Shockley Beyer to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Lands and Minerals Management
Dr. Andrea Travnicek to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Water and Science
Theodore Garrish to be Assistant Secretary of Energy, Nuclear Energy
Tristan Abbey to be Administrator of the Energy Information Administration
Beyer is a Republican oil lobbyist. former CEO of the Energy Workforce & Technology Council (previously called the Petroleum Equipment & Services Association). She is on the board of Forum Energy Technologies and Natural Gas Services Group. Prior to joining PESA, Ms. Beyer served as Director, Member and Board Relations for the National Association of Manufacturers from 2012 to 2014. Previously, Ms. Beyer served in leadership roles at Burson-Marsteller Public Affairs and at a boutique public relations firm for more than six years. Prior to her time in public affairs, Ms. Beyer served in media relations capacities in The White House, Executive Office of the President and on the Bush 2000 Presidential Campaign.
Travnicek is the state director of water resources for North Dakota, served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science during the first Trump administration, and was the senior policy advisor of natural resources for the North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven.
Garrish was Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs during the first Trump administration.
Tristan Abbey is a Republican oil policy advocate. He served as a Republican staffer on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during the second Obama term. After serving on the Trump transition team for the Department of Energy, Abbey served as Director, Strategic Planning and Director, Energy and Environment for the National Security Council before returning to the Senate. Abbey led the effort to lift the oil export ban.
Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Reconciliation Committee Print providing for reconciliation pursuant to H. Con. Res. 14
H.Res. 264: Of inquiry requesting the President transmit certain documents in his possession to the House of Representatives relating to the security clearances held by Elon Musk, members of the United States Department of Government Efficiency Service, and any other individual considered to be a member of the DOGE team.
H.Res. 286: Of inquiry requesting the President to transmit certain documents relating to the dangerous, unaccountable use of AI by the United States DOGE Service to jeopardize the private information and essential services of the American people.
H.Res. 316: “Of inquiry requesting the President to transmit certain documents relating to the use of insecure electronic communication platforms, including Signal, for official communications and to the compliance of the Administration with all Federal records laws.
And Postal Office namings.
Markup of House Oversight Committee legislative proposals (“Committee Print”)
to comply with the reconciliation directive included in section 2001 of the Concurrent
Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, H. Con. Res. 14. The Committee Print
would achieve $30.716 billion in revenue increases by raising the FERS retirement
contribution rate for certain existing federal civilian employees and postal employees up
to the new rate of 4.4% of their salary. The Committee Print would save $10.113 billion
by eliminating the additional retirement annuity payment for new federal retirees that are
eligible to retire before age 62 which they currently receive until they reach the age of
Social Security retirement eligibility (exempted from this reform are those in federal
occupations subject to mandatory early separation). The Committee Print would save
$4.750 billion by reducing federal pension benefit spending by basing a retiree’s annuity
payment on their average highest five earning years (instead of highest three). The
Committee Print would achieve $4.541 billion in net savings by giving new Federal
employee hires the option to elect to serve “at will” in exchange for higher take-home
pay. The Committee Print would raise $2 million in revenue by charging a modest fee for
Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) filings that would be refunded to employees
who win their appeals. The Committee Print would achieve $1.5 billion in net savings by
requiring a comprehensive audit of employee dependents currently enrolled in the
Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program plans—such as verifying marriage
certificates and birth certificates—and require any ineligible individual found to be
receiving FEHB coverage be disenrolled.
