It’s been a busy last couple of weeks, spending time in Kentucky, highlighting the historic wins included in the Working Families Tax Cuts as well as in our nation’s capital, working to hold fraudsters accountable, making life more affordable for Americans, and more.

Take a look at the latest edition of Brett’s Bulletin to see what I’ve been up to.

Hearing About the Impacts of the Working Families Tax Cuts

Last summer, President Trump signed the Working Families Tax Cuts into law, securing historic tax relief for Americans. Without this tax relief, the average Kentuckian would have seen a 25 percent tax increase; that was a non-starter for Republicans. Our bill extended the 2017 Trump tax cuts, increased the Child Tax Credit, eliminated taxes on tips, overtime, Social Security, and so much more.

Ahead of Tax Day on April 15th, I hosted roundtables to hear directly from Kentuckians about how they have benefited from the Working Families Tax Cuts. During one of these roundtables, I had the chance to visit with two Elizabethtown police officers who talked about how they and their colleagues have seen lower tax bills and higher returns this tax season, as a result of the deduction on overtime pay.

I also had the chance to speak with Eduardo, a college student at the University of Louisville, who works as a server. He told me that because of the elimination of taxes on tips, he and his friends, who also work as servers, have seen higher returns and lower tax bills.

Combatting the Opioid Epidemic 
Earlier this month, I joined Congressman Hal Rogers (KY-05) and several of our House colleagues for a discussion at the 2026 Rx and Illicit Drugs Summit to highlight the work Congress has done to continue to combat the opioid epidemic and address emerging illicit drug threats. 

Over the past 15 years, this summit has done incredible work to bring health providers, law enforcement, and leaders across our communities together to save lives from deadly drugs. Thanks for having me!

HealthTrackRx

Championing Rural Health Care
Over the past 15 months, one of the most important issues Congress has been working to address is ensuring Americans, especially those in rural communities, have access to high-quality and affordable health care.

Recently, the House of Representatives passed several House Committee on Energy and Commerce bills, including H.R. 2493, the Improving Care in Rural America Reauthorization Act, which extends key rural health grant programs established during President Trump’s first term that increase access to high-quality health care for Americans living in rural and underserved areas. Additionally, we unanimously passed H.R. 3419, which will extend telehealth network and resource centers grant programs through 2030 to increase access to health care through telehealth for rural Americans.

Hearing from Secretary Kennedy

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce welcomed Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to testify before our Committee about the department’s budget request as well as the work that the Department has been doing to improve health care for all Americans. Throughout the hearing, one prominent theme emerged – the Trump Administration is committed to combatting fraud and strengthening the integrity of our health care system.

During this hearing, I asked Secretary Kennedy about the most shocking examples of fraud he has seen uncovered since he took office. He highlighted the ways that, while in office, the Biden-Harris Administration enabled fraud to snowball in our government health programs, including the establishment of a program that knowingly paid out fraudulent claims, the significant reduction in the staff of the program integrity office, the way in which the Biden-Harris Administration prevented the government from validating eligibility for a benefit more than once a year, and more.
 
I am grateful for the work the Trump Administration has already undertaken to combat the rampant fraud in federal health programs, and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with the Administration to end this concerning trend to guarantee that benefits are available to those who need them most.

Keeping Americans Safe and Connected

The House voted on a series of telecommunications bills to increase the reliability of emergency communications to keep Americans safe. Take a look below at some of what we passed!

• H.R. 7386 - First Responder Network Authority Reauthorization Act – This bill reauthorizes FirstNet, a dedicated communications network for first responders, for ten years, ensuring that they can communicate during emergencies.
• H.R. 5200 – Emergency Reporting Act – This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue reports to Congress about emergency network outages.
• H.R. 5201 – Kari's Law Reporting Act – This legislation would require the FCC to issue a report about the implementation of Kari’s Law, which makes it easier for people to dial 9-1-1 on multi-line phone networks.
• H.R. 7022 - Mystic Alerts Act – This bill would require the FCC to issue a rule to mandate the integration of satellite technology into the emergency alert system to provide backup coverage when traditional networks fail.

These bills are just a few of the ways that our committee is leading the way in keeping Americans safe and connected!

Unleashing American Energy

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce recently held a hearing with Department of Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, to discuss how we can continue working to ensure Americans have access to reliable and affordable energy.

In order to lower costs for Kentucky families, we must continue to unleash our nation’s abundant energy resources. In the past several weeks, my Committee has continued our work to enact reforms to the permitting process to reduce the unnecessary burdens placed on energy providers and communities that stand in the way of getting reliable and affordable energy to American families.

As artificial intelligence (AI) sparks a new technological revolution, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce remains focused on the United States winning the global race for AI dominance. Right now, our main constraint to winning the race for AI is the need for on-demand, dispatchable power that can secure our grid and protect consumers, while also providing the energy supply AI technologies need.

I authored an op-ed in the Washington Times to discuss my committee’s work to lower energy costs and support American manufacturing. Take a look!