Taxpayer dollars at work: Warning of risks to CDC, capping prescription costs, forestry industry

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Georgia's U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff

Credit: Riley Bunch, CNHI News

Note: In this recurring digital news series, GPB follows your federal tax dollars back to the state of Georgia each week. Neither Sen. Jon Ossoff nor Sen. Raphael Warnock is up for reelection this year — the former will run again in 2026 and the latter in 2028.

For the week ending Feb. 14, the senators focused on warning the public of the risks the CDC faces under the Trump administration, capping prescription medication costs, questioning the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the failure to execute dredging operations at the Brunswick Harbor, and introducing legislation improving Georgia's forestry industry.

Human trafficking victims

On Feb. 3, Ossoff and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced bipartisan legislation to help organizations working with human trafficking victims by making it easier to respond to their needs and create more flexibility for grant programs.

The Supporting Victims of Human Trafficking Act would "enable the U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) to provide more flexibility in funding for programs serving victims of human trafficking," according to a press release.

The legislation would also help increase training and technical assistance for grant receivers "to help organizations improve services and strengthen program administration."

"Human trafficking in Georgia and nationwide is a crisis," Ossoff said in a statement. "That's why Sen. Blackburn and I are introducing this bipartisan bill to strengthen support and protections for victims of trafficking."

National security agencies

On Feb. 4, Warnock and Ossoff joined over 30 Democratic and Independent senators to push, via letter, Secretary of State Marco Rubio to answer questions about the concerns of the U.S. Department of State under the Trump administration regarding the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

"USAID is a critical pillar of U.S. national security strategy, providing lifesaving aid and development support around the world to help ensure stability," according to a press release. 

The concerns come after Elon Musk shared that President Trump has agreed to close USAID and move it under the State Department. 

"We are deeply concerned by reports of not only growing chaos and dysfunction at the Department of State, but the Administration's brazen and illegal attempts to destroy the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Mass personnel furloughs of dubious legality and abrupt, blanket stop-work orders without regard to relevant appropriations laws are causing immediate harm to U.S. national security, placing U.S. citizens at risk, disrupting lifesaving work and breaking the U.S. government's contractual obligations to private sector partners," the senators wrote.

The senators continued, "The Administration's failure to consult with Congress prior to taking these steps violates the law and impedes Congress's constitutional duty to conduct oversight of funding, personnel, and the nation's foreign policy. The Administration's failure to expend funds appropriated on a bipartisan basis by Congress would violate the Impoundment Control Act."

They added, "Every Administration has the right to review and adjust ongoing assistance programming. However, attempting to arbitrarily turn off core functions of a critical U.S. national security agency, without Congressional consideration or any metric-based review and absent legal authority to do so, is unprecedented and deeply disturbing."

Fallen service member spouses

On Feb. 6, Warnock and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) introduced legislation allowing spouses of fallen service members to keep certain survivor benefits if they remarry.

Per a press release, under the current law, "most benefits from the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs are terminated for surviving spouses who remarry before age 55."

The Love Lives On Act of 2025 would allow surviving spouses to keep those benefits despite remarriage regardless of age. 

"The men and women in our military serve our country courageously — and their spouses serve our country, too," Warnock said in a statement. "If one of our heroes loses their life in the line of duty, we should honor our service member's sacrifice by ensuring their spouse can retain survivor benefits if they choose to remarry. As long as I have the honor to represent Georgia military families in the Senate, I will fight for them as hard as they have fought for our freedoms. I'm proud to continue leading this bipartisan effort to fulfill our promise to these patriots."

Higher education

On Feb. 6, Ossoff announced that he is co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation to help more students access higher education job training programs.

The JOBS Act would help students throughout Georgia" that are already enrolled in high-quality short-term skills and job training programs access Pell Grants complete their education and workforce development programs," per a press release.

"I am working to bring Republicans and Democrats in Congress together to pass the bipartisan JOBS Act, which will allow young people and people who are mid-career in Georgia to apply for and receive Federal financial aid to access job training programs and prepare for their careers," Ossoff said in a statement.

Summer meals

On Feb. 7, Ossoff announced that he joined Georgia's congressional delegation to urge Gov. Brian Kemp, via letter, to accept federal funding for school children's summer meals after he refused to last year.

The delegation urged Kemp to apply for the 2025 summer EBT program by the Feb. 15 deadline.

According to a Food and Research Action Center report, the summer EBT program would give over 1.1 million children a $120 benefit to help cover their summer meals.

"We write to follow up on our letter sent to your office on August 8th, 2024, requesting that you commit to participating in the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Summer EBT program in 2025 and provide more information about your decision not to participate in the program last year," the group wrote to Gov. Kemp. "Your office has yet to officially respond to either our request to participate in Summer EBT this year or to provide Georgians with more information on how you came to the decision to not participate, despite the overwhelming need in our state."

Forest management

On Feb. 11, Ossoff and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced bipartisan legislation to help improve Georgia's forestry industry.

Per a press release, the Forest Data Modernization Act would "require the Forest Service to prepare an updated strategic plan to expand data collection and further integrate advanced remote sensing technology. According to the forestry industry, the improvements would unlock new economic opportunities for foresters and better protect the environment."

"Georgia leads the nation in forestry," Ossoff said in a statement. "I've worked closely with Georgia foresters to write this bipartisan bill that will support the efficient management of Georgia's forests. Sen. Cassidy and I are introducing this bipartisan bill to help support this vital industry for our state and Georgia's beautiful woodlands."

Prescription medication costs

On Feb. 11, Warnock introduced legislation to lower the cost of prescription medication for many Americans by reducing out-of-pocket prescription drug expenses to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families with private insurance. 

Per a press release, Warnock's legislation "builds on the success of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes the Senator's provision capping prescription drug cost-sharing for Medicare Part D beneficiaries, extending the savings to the commercial health care market."

"In my decades-long fight to lower medication costs and make health care more accessible, I've heard stories of people having to skip refills, ration prescriptions, and make financial decisions that risk their health just to afford the medications they need to survive," Warnock said in a statement. "In a nation as rich and powerful as the United States, that should never be the case, which is why the Capping Prescription Costs Act is so important. When you are sick, nothing else matters; this is a moral issue that transcends partisan politics, and I will keep fighting until we get it done."

CDC risks

On Feb. 11, Ossoff held a virtual press conference with Georgia public health experts to express the importance of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) following President Trump's executive order directing agencies to remove their websites and data with the CDC.

The senator use the press conference to "sound the alarm" on the threat to public health in Georgia, the country, and around the world "posed by unprecedented partisan political attacks on the CDC."

"You all know the CDC is based right here in Georgia — it employs 15,000 Georgians," he said, "defending the American people from disease, defending public health in the United States. And what we've seen over the last few weeks is unprecedented and unacceptable.

"We have seen an unprecedented suspension of morbidity and mortality data. Data that has been consistently reported since the 1930s. Still now after nearly a month, public reporting of data about avian influenza is suspended as bird flu rips through flocks of chickens across the country and has been documented in transmission to humans."

For the full story, read here.

Army Corps of Engineers dredging Brunswick

On Feb. 12, Ossoff and Warnock wrote a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers demanding answers about the failure to execute planned dredging operations at Brunswick Harbor, which supports Georgia's Port of Brunswick.

In their letter, the senators "expressed alarm over the Corps' failure to dredge the Brunswick Harbor in a timely manner," per a press release.

"The Corps' failure to execute a basic mission with ample funding provided by Congress raises serious concerns about the Corps' ability to effectively execute such projects in future years," the senators wrote.

"The Port of Brunswick is vital to Georgia's economic growth and is poised to become the Nation's busiest automotive port in the near future," the senators also wrote. "The sustained success and future expansion of port operations relies on timely and effective dredging of the harbor."