Press Releases

Sen. Lee Urges Quick Action to End Family Separations at Border

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) urged the United States Senate to do their job and take quick action on Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) Protect Parents and Kids Act, which would end the separation of children from their parents when families are caught crossing the border illegally. “Securing our nation’s border is among the federal government’s top priorities,” Sen. Lee said, “but we should also never lose sight of the values that make us Americans. The Protect Parents and Kids Act will end the separation of children from their parents while also improving the tools law enforcement agencies need to

Sen. Lee Saddened by Republican Votes for Higher Spending

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement Wednesday after two Republicans voted against President Trump’s $15 billion spending reduction rescissions package. “I thought we all campaigned on cutting wasteful spending,” Sen. Lee said. “I thought our party was about lowering federal deficits by lowering federal spending. It saddens me to see people who campaigned on lower spending break their promise and vote with Democrats against President Trump.”

Floor Speech on Rescissions Package

Over the next ten years, our national debt is set to balloon from $21.16 trillion today to more than $33.9 trillion in 2028. American taxpayers are currently responsible for 77% of that national debt. And the percentage is projected to rise to almost 100% in that same period of time. On top of that, with interest rates set to increase, the payments on the debt will also likely double over the next 10 years as a percentage of total economic output.

Senators Call for Vote on Rescissions Bill

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, June 19th, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) will be joined by the Senate cosponsors of the Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act (S. 2979) for an 11:30am ET press conference, calling on the Senate to vote on the rescissions package this week. The bill would formally rescind almost $15 billion in unneeded spending identified by the White House on May 8, 2018. A press release on the bill can be found here. The press conference will be held in the Senate Radio & TV Gallery, S-325. Sen. Lee and his colleagues will be addressing the

Let the Senate Vote

This week the Unites States Senate took up the National Defense Authorization Act, a bill which broadly sets our nation’s defense priorities. Congress has passed an NDAA every year since 1961. In the past, the Senate would have debated and voted on dozens of amendments before final passage of this bill. But not this year. This year there has been a single roll call vote on an amendment that changed the name of a Department of Defense fellowship program. It passed 97-0. This was hardly a consequential issue.

The Internet’s Death Was Greatly Exaggerated

When Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, called for a re-evaluation of the “Open Internet Order” – more commonly known as Net Neutrality – activists and entertainers launched promised nothing short of Armageddon.

Sens. Lee, Sanders Call on Sec. Mattis to Disclose Full US Involvement in Yemen

WASHINGTON – Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sent a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis today asking for details on the United States’ involvement in the Saudi’s war in Yemen, and to do so before US involvement in those hostilities intensifies. The letter expresses concern that Congress’s attempt to play their proper Constitutional oversight role may be impeded by Pentagon officials withholding information, leading to a violation of the War Powers Act of 1973.

The Due Process Guarantee Act

Mr. President, I would like to speak for a few minutes about a bipartisan amendment I have offered to the NDAA, the Due Process Guarantee Act. Alexander Hamilton, writing in Federalist 84, called arbitrary imprisonment one of the “favorite and most formidable instruments” of tyrants.

Getting the Job Done

Last month, 15 of my colleagues and I sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging the Senate to “immediately begin work” on the appropriations bills needed to keep the federal government open past September 30, 2018. We offered to work nights and weekends to make sure President Trump was not forced to sign another 2,000-page spending bill that had been written completely behind closed doors without any chance for amendment. We even suggested that the Senate’s August recess ought to be cancelled if, after all those nights and weekends of work, we still couldn’t get the spending

Sens. Lee, Grassley, and Murkowski Introduce Inspector General Access Act of 2018

WASHINGTON – Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the Inspector General Access Act of 2018 today, a bill that would expand the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General to include alleged DOJ attorney misconduct.