Ruptly
"Senator Patty Murray, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, on Wednesday slammed the Trump administration’s newly proposed federal budget, calling it a "war-bloated disaster" at a congressional hearing. "We're talking $1.5 trillion dollars on war. And that is an increase of half a trillion dollars. And this budget takes a hatchet to programmes that lower our families' energy bills," Murray said at a Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development subcommittee hearing. She also warned that rising energy costs are fueling public frustration. "That's not what our families want… They are worried about energy costs. But worse than failing on high energy costs, this administration is actually driving them higher," she stressed. "The average price of gasoline right now is $4.04. It's higher than where I live. That is the highest it's been in four years. Electricity costs are up 6.9% over the last year, that is more than double the inflation rate," she noted. "Meanwhile, you're asking to spend $7.4 billion on nuclear weapons!" Senator Chris Coons warned of lasting economic consequences from the conflict with Iran, saying Americans will feel the impact across multiple sectors. "Impacts at the pump, impacts in manufacturing, impacts in farming and the cost of food," he noted. "I think we're going to be paying for the costs, and so will the average American, for at least another year." Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Chris Wright defended the administration’s handling of fuel prices, telling lawmakers that recent declines reflect ongoing efforts to ease costs despite global instability. "We do everything we can every day to drive down the price of gasoline," he said. He also argued that, despite current volatility, fuel prices remain lower than under the previous administration. "In the middle of fixing a sticky problem in the centre of energy production in the Middle East, gasoline prices today are still a dollar lower than they were in the middle of the Biden administration," he said. Republican Senator John Neely Kennedy defended the administration's war on Iran. "I happen to believe that the conflict with Iran was necessary," he stated. "We're dealing with Charles Manson. And you can't give them a nuclear weapon. And that's why we had to go Catwoman on Iran." "My advice to you is to stay away with this business of how fast the price of gas is going to come down," he added. "The safest thing to say is soon." The Department of Energy has requested $53.9 billion for fiscal year 2027."
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