Senator Blumenthal: Week in Review 2/21-2/28
SLAMMING MASS FIRING OF AIR SAFETY STAFF
Blumenthal sent a letter with U.S. Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-VA), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy expressing deep concerns about the recent firings of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) personnel and the troubling involvement of unaccountable entities, including SpaceX, in critical aviation safety decisions. The letter urges Duffy to prioritize the safety of America’s air travel system and to reverse recent cuts to essential FAA safety roles.
“We write to express our deep concerns with the recent firings of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) personnel and the involvement of a cadre, unaccountable to the American people, in critical aviation safety decision making. The past week has seen mass firings of Federal workers, done without regard to personal performance, the impact on mission effectiveness, and the effect on the country’s ability to deliver services at home or compete abroad. We urge you to stand up for the safety of our national air space and reverse these devastating cuts in key safety roles,” “We need experienced, qualified, and impartial professionals to investigate these unfortunate incidents, develop plans to prevent these types of accidents from occurring in the future, and implement those plans with the safety of the public as the sole and guiding objective,” wrote the senators.
The full text of the letter can be found here.
Blumenthal also joined ABC’s GMA3 to discuss his letter calling for DOT to reverse firings of safety-critical FAA personnel. Video of the interview can be found here.
On Twitter/X, Blumenthal highlighted the danger of a heavily congested airspace because of these firings and called out Elon Musk for his reckless cuts to critical government agencies.
“As Musk constricts resources & cuts staff at the FAA, more crashes & near misses become more likely. There’s no safe way for air controllers to do more with less in more heavily congested airspace. You don’t need to be a tech wizard to figure that one out. I’ll continue my inquiry—demanding that the 400 firings & funding reductions be rescinded. Maybe Transportation Secretary Duffy will begin answering the public’s demand for information. He’s in pretty unfriendly skies,” wrote Blumenthal on Twitter.
FIGHTING FOR AMERICAN CONSUMERS
Blumenthal joined a Connecticut consumer at a press conference to sound the alarm on the dangerous impacts of the attempted shutdown of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency that was created to provide a single point of advocacy and accountability for protecting consumers from financial abuse. Employees of the CFPB have been directed by the Trump Administration to “not perform any work tasks” including rulemakings, litigation and enforcement activities, external communications, and monitoring big banks, predatory lenders, and other financial services firms for illegal activity. The agency’s headquarters are also currently closed.
“The CFPB has been vital to protecting consumers. The shutdown of the Consumer Financial Protection agency is great news for the billionaires and the big corporations—like Bank of America and Wells Fargo and JPMorganChase. It’s bad, in fact devastating, for consumers. Consumers now will be left without the disclosures and protection involving illegal fees, disruptive and deceptive advertising, misleading promotion pitches for investments. All of these financial abuses, scams, misleading and deceptive practices will now go forward in America without the protection of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” said Blumenthal.
A video of Blumenthal’s full remarks can be found here.
Blumenthal also attended a forum hosted by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to investigate the Trump-Musk attack on American consumers in their efforts to eliminate the CFPB.
“This agency is more than just another alphabet acronym. It deals with real people, puts real money back in their pockets, and has impacts on their real lives. There is nothing that impacts people so directly as the big financial institutions of this country, which are becoming bigger and bigger, exerting their power to screw over and cheat ordinary, everyday Americans. And that’s why we’re here,” said Blumenthal at the forum.
At the forum, Blumenthal also called out Elon Musk for establishing a peer-to-peer payment system while the CFPB is actively suing banks over failure to deal with fraud on their peer-to-peer payment systems.
“So, Elon, how do you justify shutting down the agency that’s going to be looking at your peer-to-peer payment plan? How do you justify shutting down the agency that is going to be looking at your finance systems for Tesla? How do you justify shutting down the agency that has jurisdiction and oversight over many of the other financial issues that you are going to make money from doing?” questioned Blumenthal.
A video of Blumenthal’s full remarks at the forum can be found here.
Blumenthal joined U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) in a letter demanding that the Trump Administration and unelected billionaire Elon Musk immediately restart operations at the CFPB, specifically sounding the alarm about the dangerous impacts that dismantling the agency would have on veterans and servicemembers.
The lawmakers wrote that CFPB has been the top cop on the beat protecting our nation’s heroes from financial fraud: “When bad actors target our Veterans and servicemembers, the CFPB operates in their defense, recovering over $180 million since its creation from financial predators and returning that money to Veterans, servicemembers and their families. With a critical mission to protect Veterans and servicemembers from an array of financial fraud – including mortgage scams, pay day lending, high-rate auto loan and fraudulent student loans, as well as excessive credit card late fees, bank account overdraft charges and other predatory tactics by big banks – dismantling the CFPB is harmful and insulting to the men and women who answered the call to defend our country.”
The full text of the letter can be found here.
RENEWING THE PUSH FOR ETHAN’S LAW
Blumenthal and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) reintroduced Ethan’s Law in the Senate to set federal standards for safe gun storage. Ethan’s Law is named after Ethan Song, a Guildford teenager who was killed with an unsecured gun in early 2018.
"Safe storage saves lives. Congress has the power to prevent the next gun violence tragedy by passing Ethan’s Law—a basic, commonsense public safety measure. This vital legislation will help prevent unnecessary deaths and protect the thousands of children living in homes with unsecured weapons. I will continue fighting to pass Ethan's Law, because it’s a matter of life and death," said Blumenthal.
Blumenthal joined Murphy and U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Jim Himes (D-CT) and gun violence advocates at a press conference to announce the reintroduction.
Blumenthal also highlighted the need for Ethan’s Law on Twitter/X.
“Safe storage saves lives. Congress has the power to prevent the next gun violence tragedy by passing Ethan’s Law. Even in a highly charged political environment, we ought to be capable of bipartisan action on the most basic, commonsense public safety measure,” wrote Blumenthal on Twitter/X.
ON THE SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
At a joint Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees hearing with the Disabled American Veterans and other leading Veterans Service Organizations, Blumenthal, Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, slammed Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins’ second mass termination of VA employees and the impact it will have on veterans and their families.
“We are here today at a pretty momentous and important time. And I'm just going to be very blunt—our VA is under assault. The veterans of America are under assault,” said Blumenthal. “Just last night, another 1,400 members of the veterans family were fired from their VA jobs. Many of those who were fired are themselves veterans, who have dedicated their life to serving veterans. That brings the number to now 2,400 who have been fired with no credible explanation…If you believe that the VA is a system worth saving—and I think everybody in this room does—we are going to need your help. We are going to need you to be the voice and face of millions, and I mean millions, of veterans across the country whose care and benefits is at stake.”
A video of Blumenthal’s full remarks is available here.
Blumenthal released the following statement after the VA paused its cancellation of 875 contracts that provide critical services to veterans and their families following Blumenthal sharing concerns on the cancellations.
“This apparent reversal— only temporary—shows the VA in turmoil. Collins and Trump issue broad directives that lay waste to services, not eliminate waste that belie their promises and belie their false reassurances. It’s government by whiplash. Cancel and fire first, analyze later. I showed in our VA Committee hearing this morning how the VA’s own spreadsheet demonstrates the reprehensible harm caused by these contract cancellations. These policies are walked back only after veterans, Congress, and the media highlight their harmful impacts. Collins can continue releasing videos applauding his decisions and claiming his actions will not harm veterans and their families. But veterans deserve more than empty promises – they deserve the truth and they deserve leadership that always puts them first,” said Blumenthal.
Blumenthal also called out this cancellation on Twitter/X.
“This apparent reversal—only temporary—shows VA in turmoil. Collins & Trump issue broad directives that lay waste to services, not eliminate waste that belie their promises & belie their false reassurances. It’s government by whiplash,” wrote Blumenthal on Twitter/X.
The following day, at a joint Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees hearing with the American Legion and other leading Veterans Service Organizations, Blumenthal slammed Collins for cancelling hundreds of contracts that provide critical and direct services to veterans across the country.
BLUMENTHAL BULLETIN
Blumenthal introduced the American Victims of Terrorism Compensation Act with U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX).
Blumenthal demanded adequate funding to fully implement the Social Security Fairness Act.
Blumenthal reintroduced the Public Health Funding Restoration Act with U.S. Representative Doris Matsui (D-CA).
Blumenthal hit back at Musk Companies for failing to manage DOGE leader’s glaring conflicts of interest.
Blumenthal called on Trump to reinstate every veteran illegally fired in the federal government’s mass terminations.
Blumenthal demanded the VA swiftly reverse moves to cut VA researchers working to improve veteran health outcomes.
Blumenthal demanded answers from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Proposed Contract with Musk’s Starlink.
Blumenthal called on Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy to undo drastic cuts to critical health care assistance program.
Blumenthal ramped up investigation into MOHELA’s predatory website terms of use.
Blumenthal attended a bipartisan meeting with Ukrainian Presidet Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Blumenthal passed a resolution in the U.S. Senate honoring Rare Disease Day.
Blumenthal joined Brianna Keilar on CNN to discuss reporting of Pete Hegseth’s firing of top generals and the Trump Administration’s cuts to the Veterans’ Administration.
Blumenthal joined Zerlina Maxwell on SiriusXM to discuss the latest surrounding Elon Musk’s DOGE and the Trump Administration and his work to protect veterans from the Administration’s cuts.
Blumenthal honored the 80th Anniversary of Iwo Jima at a flag raising ceremony in New Britain.
Blumenthal spoke at a prayer rally for Ukraine in New Haven.
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