News

Daines, Smith, Moran, Rosen Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Expand Telehealth Access

U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today introduced a bipartisan bill with Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) that would make pandemic-driven expanded access to telehealth services under Medicare permanent.  “For many Montanans, the windshield time it takes to see a doctor can be a significant barrier to getting the health care they need. Thankfully, telehealth is transforming how folks receive care. Particularly in our rural communities, telehealth is no longer just an innovative option for accessing services, it has become a vital lifeline to care,” Daines said. “After the public health emergency ends, we need to ensure Montanans continue to have access to

Daines Votes Against Senate Democrats’ Third Election Power Grab Effort

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines, for the third time this Congress, voted against Senate Democrats’ attempt at a federal election takeover. “Democrats are laser focused on taking over our elections and rewriting the rules in their favor,” Daines said. “The Democrats’ bill this time around is just another power grab that would federalize our elections and undermine commonsense state voting laws. The Democrats should spend a little more time focused on fixing the inflation, energy and border crises they’ve created.” “We’re grateful to partner with Senator Daines on standing tall against the federal assault on Montana elections,” Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen said.

Daines Moves to Strike Down Biden Vaccine Mandate Impacting Montana Businesses, Workers

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines is continuing his work to block President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Montana small businesses. Following this morning’s release of Biden’s vaccine mandate rule and requirements for private businesses, Daines and Senate Republicans are moving to pass a measure that would strike it down.  “President Biden’s vaccine mandate will hurt Montana small businesses and workers. While I will keep urging Montanans to talk to their doctor and get a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, I will continue to fight back against these mandates,” Daines said. “For over a year, we’ve done everything we can to help Montana small businesses

Daines Leads Senate Effort with Republican Colleagues to Block Taxpayer Funded Payments to Illegal Immigrants

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines (Mont.) today introduced an amendment to the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022” to block President Biden’s reported plan to spend upwards of a billion dollars to provide $450,000 per person in taxpayer money for settlements for illegal immigrants.  “Biden’s open border policies have reached a new crazy level. Montana families are struggling with inflation and skyrocketing costs on everything from gas to groceries because of Biden’s wasteful spending policies, and now the President wants to give hundreds of thousands of dollars to illegal immigrants. Because of Biden, our southern border has been taken over by Mexican cartels and this effort will only continue to

Senate Republicans, led by Daines, move to block reported $450k payments to illegal immigrants

Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., on Wednesday moved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, which would bar a reported plan by the Biden administration to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to illegal immigrants who were separated at the border – just as President Biden strongly denied the report. The amendment would prohibit cash settlements resulting from the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy — which in some cases led to children and their parents or guardians being separated. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services

Daines Calls on Senate Democrats to Act on His Bill to Return Grizzly Bear Management Back to Montana

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines is calling on Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Senate Democrats to take action on his bill, the “Grizzly Bear State Management Act of 2021,” to return grizzly bear management in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem back to Montana.  “As members representing the states impacted by the recovery of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) grizzly bear, we write to ask for immediate consideration of S. 973, the Grizzly Bear State Management Act of 2021… The legislation is simple but of utmost importance to the lives and livelihoods of our residents and

Daines to Biden: Vaccine Mandates Could Impact MT Wildland Firefighters, Wildfire Response

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines is calling on Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to reassess the vaccine mandate for Montana firefighters that could inhibit effective forest management and wildfire response in the state. “In their roles, these federal wildland firefighters also coordinate emergency responses with state, local, and tribal partners, and are the tip of the spear to combat ongoing wildfire threats. As President Joe Biden stated earlier this year, ‘we’ve got to be prepared and have every resource available to make sure we’re there for the American people.’ The full availability of these

Daines: Biden’s New Overreaching Methane Reduction Action Plan Hurts Every Sector, It’s Government Control Gone Mad

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines issued the following statement after it was announced that President Biden would be rolling out a “Methane Reduction Action Plan” that will impact nearly every sector in the economy.   “Biden’s new mantra should be economic death by overregulation. Biden’s wide-sweeping methane initiative was created behind closed-doors and is merely a guise for his newest expansion of government control,” Daines said.“With Biden’s new methane rules, every single sector of our economy and jobs can expect to be impacted from energy to agriculture to homebuilding, and Montanans will pay the price. Overregulation is not the answer to success, innovation is.” For more

Daines Doubles Down on Biden Admin to Act on MMIW Crisis Following His Efforts to Get GAO Study

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines is once again urging the Biden administration to act to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis (MMIW). Daines is calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and the Administration to implement his bills, the “Not Invisible Act of 2019” and “Savanna’s Act,” which help address the crisis. This comes after Daines successfully pushed the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a review on efforts to combat the MMIW crisis and GAO released its findings this week.  “The recent GAO report found the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of the Interior (DOI) have failed