press releases

New Mexico United States senators introduced federal legislation Friday to expand tree nursery capacity for forest replanting and habitat restoration programs. U.S. Sens.Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich, both Democrats, joined John Cornyn (R-Texas), to sponsor the bill. The legislation, if passed, would allow funding allocated by the 2022...

Heinrich championed investments to support service members & families, improve New Mexico’s military installations, expand access to health care, fight the opioid epidemic, develop the workforce & small businesses, increase prenatal screening & treatment of congenital syphilis, improve literacy rates, & more WASHINGTON — U.S....

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary (USDA) Brooke Rollins and U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Doug Burgum following reports that staff reductions have required the deployment of fire...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) reintroduced bipartisan legislation to promote artificial intelligence (AI) innovation in the financial services industry. The Unleashing AI Innovation in Financial Services Act will establish regulatory guardrails at financial...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, voted no on the nominations of Lanny Erdos to be the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Audrey Robertson to be the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)...

A bipartisan group of Senate and House lawmakers are doubling down on legislation aimed at spurring artificial intelligence experimentation at financial regulatory agencies, reintroducing a bill that they say aligns with the White House’s new AI Action Plan. The Unleashing AI Innovation in Financial Services Act would direct the Securities and...

The Trump Administration’s decision to reinstate nearly $7 billion in federal education aid comes as welcome news to Albuquerque Public Schools, which faced a potential $12 million hole in its budget. President Donald Trump has released nearly $5.6 billion in congressionally approved federal education funding that was withheld pending review. The...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M., Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, joined U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) to introduce the Gas Pipeline Leak Detection and Repair Act of 2025 to modernize decades-old gas pipeline leak detection and repair requirements. The bill...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright demanding answers on the decision to abruptly terminate a conditional loan guarantee for the Grain Belt Express, a transmission project that was slated...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) joined 42 Democratic senators in writing to the Trump Administration to express alarm about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and call for a large-scale expansion of humanitarian aid as well as the return of diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire agreement to end the...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright demanding answers on the decision to abruptly terminate a conditional loan guarantee for the Grain Belt Express, a transmission project that was slated...

New Mexico’s U.S. senators joined the vast majority of their Democratic colleagues Tuesday in pressing the Trump Administration to dramatically expand humanitarian aid to Gaza and resume diplomatic efforts to end the war between Israel and Hamas. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján signed onto a written letter to Secretary of State Marco...

A Trump administration policy that calls for heavier oversight of federal contract approval has led to staffing shortages at a medical facility in Gallup for Native American patients, leading to drastic cuts in surgical services. The Gallup Indian Medical Center, operated by the federal Indian Health Service, has limited general surgeries to...

The U.S. Education Department is beginning to release federal education funding to states, including several grants to New Mexico. In June, the Trump Administration told states that it was withholding previously approved federal grants for “further review” leaving several school districts with no economic support, according to an article by...

N.M. Delegation: “With the delayed release of this funding right as classes begin, schools are left scrambling to prepare. Our kids’ schools never should have been placed in this position.” “We will remain vigilant to ensure the Trump Administration upholds its duty to distribute funding for our children, educators, and schools. Anything less than...

New Mexico’s senators are demanding answers about how a $50 billion federal fund will be distributed to rural hospitals, as up to eight facilities in the state could close within 18 months due to sweeping cuts to healthcare programs. Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich joined 14 other Democrats in a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...

Over $69 million in federal funding for New Mexico infrastructure, housing assistance for 11,000+ families and tribal programs cleared a key Senate committee hurdle last week, bringing the state closer to receiving critical investments in water systems, housing and economic development. U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich secured over $69 million for New...

Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and a Republican colleague are seeking a clearer picture of how wildfires affect homeowners’ access to insurance, as insurers in New Mexico and across the country increasingly cancel or refuse to renew policies. Heinrich of New Mexico and U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Montana) introduced the “Wildfire Insurance...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) joined 21 of his colleagues in pressing the Trump Administration for answers on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). In the senators’ letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, they called on the Administration to immediately cease funding for GHF and restore support for existing United Nations...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) introduced the Wildfire Insurance Coverage Study Act, legislation to better understand the cost of increasingly destructive wildfires on homeowners’ insurance coverage and identify possible measures to alleviate the financial risk of wildfires. “I’m hearing from more and...