The United States is entering the “Find Out” era of fossil-fueled global warming, with freakish flash floods, megafires, and broiling heat across the nation.

Today, mothers from Texas organized by Make Polluters Pay came to the White House to memorialize the dozens of victims of the fossil-fueled flash floods in Texas, including the 27 victims at Camp Mystic in Kerr County. They called for an end to fossil-fueled climate disasters and the restoration of funding for weather, climate, and emergency preparedness.

And on Wednesday, the United Church of Christ is holding an online service of appreciation for federal environmental justice staff and grantees.

Under the thumb of Trump and the fossil-fuel industry, Republicans in Congress have other ideas.

This week, House Republican appropriators are forcing forward several appropriations bills to loosen the reins on fossil-fuel pollution, kill international climate action, cut climate science at NASA, NOAA, and the EPA, and implement cuts to the National Weather Service. On Tuesday, House committees look at weakening the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act on behalf of the fossil-fuel industry.

On Wednesday, House committees are interviewing the feckless temporary FEMA administrator, David Richardson, and marking up the Weather Act Reauthorization Act. Both hearings will provide the opportunity for Democrats to expose the carbon cruelty of the Trump agenda.

Before Congress takes its August break, the House is rushing to get highly partisan fiscal-year 2026 appropriations bills out of committee in preparation for a September budget showdown. The Senate GOP, meanwhile, have been tasked by Trump with confirming more of his extremist nominees.

Appropriations Bonanza

Nominees

Wednesday, July 23

At 10 am, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee interviews two anti-environmental nominees, Katherine Scarlett to be a member of the Council on Environmental Quality and Jeffrey Hall to be a assistant administrator in EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. Both have been implementing the Trump agenda while awaiting official confirmation.

Katherine Scarlett has been serving as the CEQ chief of staff since the start of the current administration; she worked at CEQ and served as chief of staff to the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council during President Trump’s first administration. Additionally, she served as senior Republican professional staff on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee under Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.).

Jeffrey Hall, previously a partner at extreme-right oil-industry law firm Burke Law Group, is the acting assistant administrator in EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. At Burke, Hall represented Dr. Eithan Haim, an anti-trans surgeon who stole minor patient files and shared them with neo-Nazi activist Chris Rufo. The case against Haim was dropped by the DOJ days after Trump became president. Hall also represented the anti-trans organization Do No Harm, and the State of Louisiana in arguments before the Fifth Court of Appeals in Texas v. EPA. The court ruled against Louisiana.

Hall is a member of the 2011 class of Harvard Law School; his classmates include DC Circuit Judge Amir Ali, who blocked Trump’s foreign aid freeze, commentator Briahna Joy Gray, and U.S. electric-grid policy expert Ari Peskoe.

At 10 am, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee interviews Department of Transportation nominees Seval Oz to be the Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Research and Technology, Michael Rutherford to be the Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Multimodal Freight, and Gregory Zerzan to be General Counsel, all of the Department of Transportation. Oz is a high-level self-driving car executive and Mehmet Oz’s sister. Rutherford worked in logistics for CSX and chemical-transport company American PetroLog.

At 3 pm, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee interviews the nominee for Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation, Richard Fordyce. Fordyce, currently with the agribusiness marketing giant Osborn Barr Paramore, previously served in the Trump administration as the administrator of the Farm Service Agency (FSA). His new role will oversee the FSA, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Risk Management Agency.

Other Climate Hearings

Tuesday, July 22

At 10:15 am, the House Natural Resources Committee conducts oversight of National Environmental Policy Act reviews. Witnesses include highway construction lobbyist Tony Boals, fossil-fuel utility executive Tony Campbell, industry lobbyist Alex Hergott, and environmental law professor Andrew Mergen.

At 10:30 am, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Energy Subcommittee examines reauthorization of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s pipeline safety program. The witnesses are Pipeline Safety Trust executive director Bill Caram and several industry lobbyists.

Also at 10:30 am, the House Agriculture Committee holds a hearing on crop production technologies with agrotech executives and lobbyists.

At 1 pm, the House Oversight’s energy policy subcommittee holds a hearing on atomic energy. All three witnesses—Koch-backed climate denier Alex Epstein, Koch-backed Josh Smith of the Abundance Institute, and Third Way’s Stephen G. Burns—work for groups financed by the nuclear industry.

At 2:15 pm, the House Natural Resources Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee holds a hearing on legislation to weaken the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, and other fisheries bills. The key bills are Rep. Tom McClintock’s (R-Calif.) H.R. 180, the “Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act of 2025,” and Rep. Nick Begich’s (R-Alaska) untitled discussion draft, to weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 on behalf of the offshore drilling industry. Wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin is up against a cavalcade of Republican and industry witnesses.

Wednesday, July 23

All the below hearings begin at 10 am.

• The House Transportation emergency management subcommittee holds a hearing to evaluate FEMA with acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson.

• The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a hearing on meeting increased electricity demand with Peter Hunstman, CEO of chemical maker and GOP donor Huntsman Corporation; Jeff Tench, a data center executive, and clean-electricity consultant Rob Gramlich.

• The House Science Committee conducts its markup of the Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2025 (H.R. 3816), bipartisan legislation that supports NOAA’s weather research, supports improvements in weather forecasting and prediction, and backs the privatization of weather data production.

• The House Natural Resources Committee marks up wildfire management, forestry, weather forecasting, and other legislation. Key bills include Rep. McClintock’s Proven Forest Management Act of 2025 (H.R. 179), an Orwellian-named logging bill; Rep. Jodey Arrington’s (R-Texas) H.R. 839, to block protections of the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, and on the good side, Rep. Mike Ezell’s (R-Miss.) H.R. 2294, to reauthorize the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009.

At 3 pm, the Senate Environment and Public Works transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee considers proposals to improve America’s transportation infrastructure, with North Dakota transportation official Chad Orn, Maryland transportation official Samantha Biddle, and Safe Routes Partnership’s Marisa Jones.