Senator Rick Scott

September 7, 2026

A strong U.S. dollar secures three advantages for Americans: lower prices, cheaper government debt and global power. If it loses strength, so does the American consumer. Keeping the dollar as the world’s reserve currency maximizes American buying power globally, meaning Americans buy more from other countries for less. That includes wood to build houses, steel to build cars and food to eat.

Some will argue that maintaining our status as the global reserve currency makes American goods more expensive abroad, discouraging other countries from buying from us; but the data tells a different story. Thanks in part to President Trump’s trade policies, exports have increased 23%, adjusted for inflation, since he first took office in 2017—all while the dollar maintained reserve-currency status.

And while Congress’s multi-trillion-dollar deficit spending needs to end, the U.S. has avoided economic catastrophe only because we made a priority of preserving the dollar’s reserve status. Everyone—individuals, corporations and governments—trusts the dollar and trusts that the Treasury will always honor its debt, which allows the U.S. to finance our $40 trillion debt

Without reserve-currency status, America would be weaker, families would have less opportunity, and China would get a golden opportunity to rewrite and isolate American businesses on the world stage. Beijing has already made it clear it’s watching our debt situation closely.

Currently, travel agents are required by law to refund customers within seven days of a qualified flight cancellation or delay while airlines have no such deadline. The financial burden is placed on agents, forcing them to lose thousands of dollars while they work for months to recoup the money from the airlines who hold the funds. Senator Scott’s letter requests a change in this policy that holds airlines equally accountable to provide timely refunds to their customers.

Senator Rick Scott wrote, “Travel agencies and advisors operate on slim margins, and many simply cannot afford to front refunds to their customers, particularly for group bookings worth tens of thousands of dollars, before the airline has returned the money. These small businesses are being held financially accountable for a timeline they do not control, while the airlines that actually hold the funds face no enforceable deadline. Many of these small businesses may go out of business if nothing is done. Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy and travel advisors and agencies play a critical role in our tourism industry.”

Read the full letter HERE or below:

Dear Secretary Duffy,

I write to request that the Department of Transportation correct a flaw in its 2024 consumer refund regulations that is placing an unsustainable financial burden on travel agencies and travel advisors, the overwhelming majority of which are small businesses.

Under the Department’s April 2024 final rule, the “merchant of record” in an airline ticket transaction must refund the consumer within seven days of a cancelled or significantly changed flight. When a travel agency or advisor books a ticket on behalf of a client, the agency is often the merchant of record, even though the cost of the ticket is immediately transferred to the airline at the time of purchase. The Department’s August 2024 final rule requires airlines to “promptly” return those funds to the ticket agent, but it does not define “promptly” or set any deadline. In practice, airlines frequently fail to return funds within the seven-day window, forcing agencies to refund customers out of their own pockets while they wait on the airline refund.

Travel agencies and advisors operate on slim margins, and many simply cannot afford to front refunds to their customers, particularly for group bookings worth tens of thousands of dollars, before the airline has returned the money. These small businesses are being held financially accountable for a timeline they do not control, while the airlines that actually hold the funds face no enforceable deadline. Many of these small businesses may go out of business if nothing is done. Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy and travel advisors and agencies play a critical role in our tourism industry.

I respectfully request that the Department fix this imbalance through rulemaking or other appropriate administrative action, whether by establishing a firm deadline for airlines to return funds to ticket agents, aligning the agency’s refund obligation with its receipt of funds from the airline, or another workable solution. Consumers deserve timely refunds, but that obligation should rest with the party holding the money, not with small businesses left waiting on the airlines.

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.

Sincerely,

# # #

The urgent need to pass this legislation is highlighted by two events happening today:

• A Florida woman is in court in St. Augustine fighting for custody of her twins that the intended father from Communist China – who has never set foot on American soil – never picked up.
• Meanwhile, the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses will hold a hearing focused on highlighting suspected birth tourism abuse in the Miami area.

Senator Rick Scott said, “The case in St. Augustine is tragic, disturbing, and completely preventable. These poor children, through no fault of their own, are stuck in limbo over where their home will be — all because America’s surrogate system is ripe for abuse and exploitation. My bill, the SAFE KIDS Act, prevents our enemies from abusing our hospitality and medicine to give them a foothold in our country. It would prevent the exact tragedy playing out in Florida right now.”

“This problem will not go away if we do nothing. The fact that there are entire businesses in Florida that appear to be based around exploiting our immigration system more than speaks to that. We need to protect the most vulnerable among us from being trafficked and treated like commodities. I am grateful that Chairman Gill and the task force are taking this seriously. America’s enemies should not be able to scam their way to American citizenship. I encourage all my colleagues in the Senate to pass my bill immediately.”

###

In the op-ed, Senator Scott also warns about the costs and national security risks Americans would face if the dollar were to lose its premier reserve currency status.

Senator Rick Scott wrote, “A strong U.S. dollar secures three advantages for Americans: lower prices, cheaper government debt and global power. If it loses strength, so does the American consumer. Keeping the dollar as the world’s reserve currency maximizes American buying power globally, meaning Americans buy more from other countries for less. That includes wood to build houses, steel to build cars and food to eat.”

…

“Some will argue that maintaining our status as the global reserve currency makes American goods more expensive abroad, discouraging other countries from buying from us; but the data tells a different story. Thanks in part to President Trump’s trade policies, exports have increased 23%, adjusted for inflation, since he first took office in 2017—all while the dollar maintained reserve-currency status.”

…

“And while Congress’s multitrillion-dollar deficit spending needs to end, the U.S. has avoided economic catastrophe only because we made a priority of preserving the dollar’s reserve status. Everyone—individuals, corporations and governments—trusts the dollar and trusts that the Treasury will always honor its debt, which allows the U.S. to finance our $40 trillion debt.”

…

“Without reserve-currency status, America would be weaker, families would have less opportunity, and China would get a golden opportunity to rewrite and isolate American businesses on the world stage. Beijing has already made it clear it’s watching our debt situation closely.”

Read Senator Scott’s full op-ed HERE.

# # #

Sen. Rick Scott

August 30, 2026

For almost a century, the U.S. dollar has symbolized prosperity, strength and stability around the world. One reason is America’s global economic dominance. Another is the dollar’s status as the primary global reserve currency, held by central banks around the world. Both are critical to keeping America wealthy—and both are endangered by an ill-conceived push to end the U.S. dollar’s global dominance in the supposed interest of raising exports.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently told an interviewer that the dollar might not remain the global reserve currency if our nation loses its military and economic strength relative to competing global powers. If that happens, he said, “the world will be fragmented, and it’ll be very dangerous for us.”

He’s right. The dollar’s status as the dominant global reserve currency must be maintained. The use of the dollar in international settlements reduces exchange-rate risks and transaction costs, keeps demand for dollars high, and maintains its buying power for families working to achieve their American Dream. A strong U.S. dollar secures three advantages for Americans: lower prices, cheaper government debt and global power. If it loses strength, so does the American consumer.

Keeping the dollar as the world’s reserve currency maximizes American buying power globally, meaning Americans buy more from other countries for less. That includes wood to build houses, steel to build cars and food to eat. Those savings get passed on to the consumer, for whom paying less means saving money for retirement, a house or college education.

A recent study from the Paris-based Centre for Economic Policy Research estimates that losing reserve-currency status would shrink the dollar’s value by roughly 9% against foreign currencies. That means everything we buy from other countries would get more expensive. We saw what runaway inflation looked like under Joe Biden, and we don’t want a needless price jump.

Some will argue that maintaining our status as the global reserve currency makes American goods more expensive abroad, discouraging other countries from buying from us; but the data tells a different story. Thanks in part to President Trump’s trade policies, exports have increased 23%, adjusted for inflation, since he first took office in 2017—all while the dollar maintained reserve-currency status.

America exports more goods each year on average, with inflation-adjusted export growth amounting to 1,518% since 1970. Greater U.S. exports come from better trade policy, not diminished buying power.

And while Congress’s multitrillion-dollar deficit spending needs to end, the U.S. has avoided economic catastrophe only because we made a priority of preserving the dollar’s reserve status. Everyone—individuals, corporations and governments—trusts the dollar and trusts that the Treasury will always honor its debt, which allows the U.S. to finance our $40 trillion debt. Without the dollar’s reputation as a safe investment, we wouldn’t be able to sell enough bonds to keep the lights on, leading to the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression.

A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that, without our status as the world’s lead supplier of safe assets, the sustainable level of American debt would be about 30% lower, leaving the U.S. with a bill it couldn’t afford.

Reserve-currency status also reduces the cost of borrowing. The Centre for Economic Policy Research study found a 90-basis-point rise in borrowing costs with the loss of reserve currency status. That means interest rates get more expensive for the government and for every American seeking a loan.

Most important, the dollar gives the U.S. global influence in foreign policy, pushing countries to align with us rather than with adversaries such as China. The dollar makes up almost 57% of foreign-exchange reserves, dominating international stores of wealth and transactions. Though it’s largely unseen, that’s American power overseas that helps American families at home.

Dollar dominance makes it easier to freeze the assets of terrorists and cartel members and gives more influence to U.S. sanctions, allowing America to impose penalties on our enemies more effectively. That keeps us safe by hurting terrorists’ ability to hurt us.

Our growing national debt threatens all of this. The most important step to keeping the dollar in power is to get our domestic spending under control and start paying off our national debt. Doing so would signal to those abroad who have purchased our debt that we won’t spend more than we can pay back. We will need time. It has taken decades to get this deep in debt—and it may take years to pay it off. But if we don’t, the hole gets bigger. Digging our way out starts with Congress’s curbing its spending addiction and returning to fiscal discipline for the sake of our economy and national security.

Without reserve-currency status, America would be weaker, families would have less opportunity, and China would get a golden opportunity to rewrite and isolate American businesses on the world stage. Beijing has already made it clear it’s watching our debt situation closely.

America faces a choice. We can maintain the dollar’s reserve currency status and with it put America first with economic, military and diplomatic strength. Or we can allow our adversaries to get a leg up on us, harm Americans and destroy 250 years of American exceptionalism. We shouldn’t let that happen.

The Safeguard Kids Act will educate American K-12 students on risks posed by AI and make changes to the Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) federal block grant program to allow funding for AI literacy and specialized counseling programs at local schools.

Senator Rick Scott wrote, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the world around us. From the corporate world to the average household, things are already very different than they were even a couple years ago. AI has the potential to be the greatest information innovation since the printing press. Still, technology is only as good as our ability to use it well and for the right reasons − especially when it comes to our kids and grandkids.

… 

Replacing human interaction with AI is a clear threat to every child’s interpersonal development. AI is a tool. It’s not supposed to be a catch-all, stand-in for therapists, doctors, lawyers, scientists, poets, or philosophers. It can never replace human connection. It does not possess the humanity we need to support one another or to override a parent’s guidance.”

…

If we want America to lead the world in innovation for the next generation, our children need to learn how to use the tools of the future. It’s up to us to make sure they can do it safely. The Safeguard Kids Act does just that; Congress should pass it without delay.”

Read Senator Scott’s full op-ed HERE.

# # #

Senator Rick Scott

August 28, 2026

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the world around us. From the corporate world to the average household, things are already very different than they were even a couple years ago. AI has the potential to be the greatest information innovation since the printing press. Still, technology is only as good as our ability to use it well and for the right reasons − especially when it comes to our kids and grandkids.

As a grandfather, I want to make sure my grandkids are safe and protected from any dangers or threats. I was a child of the 50s and 60s. We played outside all day and came home when the streetlights turned on. Smart phones didn’t come along until both my daughters were fully grown. Parents like them see a largely uncharted world of rapidly changing technology for their kids, with very little guidance. It’s terrifying for them.

As students begin the back-to-school season, it’s vital that everyone understand the pros and cons of AI on children. It’s our jobs as parents, educators and lawmakers to teach kids how to use AI properly – and safely – so that they can grow to be the kind of principled innovators, leaders, and job creators America’s workforce needs. Last month, I introduced the Safeguard Kids Act, a bill that helps educate American K-12 students on risks posed by AI and allows Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) federal block grants to fund AI literacy and specialized counseling programs. My legislation does not increase government spending or increase the federal deficit to accomplish this.

The bill would allow schools to take existing grant funds they already receive and spend that money on AI-related education and counseling programs. We know that our kids can use technology that parents could only dream of as kids — and we know it doesn’t always suit their best interests. At times, it can even cause harm to young children.

Specifically, my bill would help students stop relying on chatbots and AI for therapy or mental health counselling. An October 2025 study from Brown University identified 15 distinct ethical risks in AI chatbot behavior in mental health contexts, including false empathy, providing responses to reinforce users’ negative beliefs about themselves and others, and lack of crisis management. This is very dangerous and concerning – we can’t afford to outsource the welfare of our children to large language models. The facts should alarm every parent in this country. Since 2022, there have been over 200 complaints lodged with the Federal Trade Commission against ChatGPT specifically, with many of those cases involving AI-induced psychosis, suicides, and at least one murder. In one notable case, a young woman asked ChatGPT to write her suicide note. In my State of Florida, the alleged FSU shooter not only used an AI to plan the massacre; he had been messaging with it for a year prior on a range of deeply disturbing topics.

These stories are nightmare scenarios for anyone with a child or grandchild.

Replacing human interaction with AI is a clear threat to every child’s interpersonal development. AI is a tool. It’s not supposed to be a catch-all, stand-in for therapists, doctors, lawyers, scientists, poets, or philosophers. It can never replace human connection. It does not possess the humanity we need to support one another or to override a parent’s guidance.

We don’t have to stand idly by, and we shouldn’t. We need a solution that understands the urgency of the situation and allows parents and teachers to make program and curriculum decisions at the local level. They know their children and students better than anyone. That’s what my bill does. By opening up these grant resources, the Safeguard Kids Act will equip parents and educators to protect students in the ways they know best.

If we want America to lead the world in innovation for the next generation, our children need to learn how to use the tools of the future. It’s up to us to make sure they can do it safely. The Safeguard Kids Act does just that; Congress should pass it without delay.

This comes as the FBI recently reported that the healthcare industry faced more cyberattacks in a single year period than any other critical infrastructure sector in the country.

Senator Rick Scott wrote, “Every day, Americans walk into hospitals trusting that the machines keeping watch over their hearts are working for them. Most have no idea that some of those machines may be working for Communist China.”

…

“I have spent years fighting to hold Communist China accountable because I know that as our strategic adversary, they want to harm Americans. They want to win, and they are willing to use your hospital room to do it.”

…

“American patients deserve better. They deserve to have confidence that the medical machines watching over them in vulnerable moments belong to American doctors and hospitals, not Beijing.”

Read Senator Scott’s full op-ed HERE.

###

Sen. Rick Scott

August 25, 2026

Every day, Americans walk into hospitals trusting that the machines keeping watch over their hearts are working for them. Most have no idea that some of those machines may be working for Communist China.

Last year, FDA and federal cybersecurity officials issued a warning about a patient monitor called the Contec CMS8000, a medical device used routinely in American hospitals to track heart rate, blood pressure, and electrocardiograms. Investigators found a back door built into the software. Not a simple glitch, but a highly technological avenue to siphon patient data out of our health care facilities and into outside remote servers. The company that manufactures the Contec monitor is based in China. 

A machine designed to help doctors and hospitals make life or death decisions conveniently was capable of sending sensitive patient data straight home to Beijing.

This is the China playbook. I have seen it used against our transit systems, which is why I fought to pass the bipartisan STOP China Act to block U.S. tax dollars from purchasing buses and rail cars built by Chinese government-backed manufacturers. I have seen it in our homes, phones, even the power grid. I introduced the PROTECT the Grid Act because once a device tied to the CCP connects to your network, Beijing is capable of exploiting it. The same is true, and may be even more dangerous, when that technological device is sitting in a hospital’s intensive care unit. 

Under Chinese law, no company in China can refuse a government data request. There are no exceptions, workarounds, or opt-outs. Every device made by a Chinese manufacturer is a potential instrument of Beijing, no matter how simple or innocuous. Medical devices are critical because health data and records like diagnoses, medications, and biometric readings are among Americans’ most highly protected and sensitive information.

The FBI reported that in a single year period, the health care industry faced more cyberattacks than any other critical infrastructure sector in the country. A cyberattack on one of the largest hospital systems in America with 140 facilities left nurses locked out of electronic health records and nearly caused a deadly medication error involving a newborn. An Alabama mother sued her hospital after her baby died, alleging that the facility never told her it was in the middle of a ransomware attack when she went into labor. This year, a ransomware attack knocked out systems across 14 medical centers run by Kettering Health in Ohio.

These are real consequences that many have been too slow to take seriously.

The Department of Commerce has opened a national security investigation into medical devices under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. That is an excellent start.

Now it is time for Congress to step up. We must cut off federal health care dollars – Medicaid, Medicare, all of it – from any hospital or clinic that purchases medical devices from Chinese companies. We must phase Chinese-made medical equipment out of every facility accepting federal funding. We must pass laws making foreign medical data espionage a criminal offense. And we must use every trade enforcement tool available to make clear that Chinese medical equipment will never again be treated as just another product on a procurement list, because it is not.

I have spent years fighting to hold Communist China accountable because I know that as our strategic adversary they want to harm Americans. They want to win, and they are willing to use your hospital room to do it.

American patients deserve better. They deserve to have confidence that the medical machines watching over them in vulnerable moments belong to American doctors and hospitals, not Beijing.

I am ready to lead the fight in the Senate to protect American health care data, and I invite my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me. Communist China is playing the long game. It is past time we started playing ours – and playing to win.

Senator Rick Scott said, “Today’s Democrat Party is unrecognizable. My father was a teamster; Democrats used to believe in what makes America the greatest country in the world. Now, they want to open government-run grocery stores and bankroll illegal aliens. The American Dream works when the government gets out of the way and lets Americans innovate and succeed. Congress should immediately pass these bills to remove bureaucratic hurdles that discourage Floridians from opening small businesses. We should be encouraging the American Dream, not sabotaging it.”

These bills include:

• Destroying Unnecessary, Misaligned, and Prohibitive (DUMP) Red Tape Act 
• Requires the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Advocacy to continue running the Red Tape Hotline, a website where small businesses can report complaints and issues with regulations, policy statements, or other activities to the SBA Office of Advocacy.

• Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act
• Requires agencies to assess the economic impact of proposed regulations on small businesses and requires detailed descriptions of alternatives to a proposed rule with significant economic impact that would minimize any adverse economic impact or maximize any beneficial economic impact.

• Permitting Transparency and Accountability Act
• Requires all U.S. agencies issuing permits to create a page on their website for permit applicants to track the status of their permit application, along with the steps completed and those that are remaining, the timeframe expected, and contact information readily available for users.

• Regulatory Decimation Act
• Requires federal agencies to repeal ten existing regulations prior to issuing a new one and ensures the cost of any new regulation does not exceed the ones repealed.

• Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act
• Requires congressional approval of any major rule proposed by a federal agency.

• Expediting Reform and Stopping Excess Regulations (ERASER) Act
• Prohibits an agency from issuing a major rule unless the agency has repealed three or more rules AND the cost of the new major rule is less than or equal to the cost of the rules repealed, as certified by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

• Protecting Access to Credit for Small Businesses Act
• Protects community lending by prohibiting a Biden-era rule that forced America’s community banks and credit unions to compete with the federal government to issue loans.

###

The members wrote, “If Governor Newsom would like to assume foreign affairs authorities constitutionally vested in the federal government, that option, however quixotic, ill-conceived, and downright laughable, is theoretically available to him. As it stands, however, he is likely violating the Constitution, serving as China’s useful pawn while destroying the pocketbooks of millions of hardworking Americans.”

The Compact Clause of the Constitution gives the federal government authority over foreign affairs, and the Supreme Court has upheld that even state action with a mere "direct impact upon foreign relations"[1]may be unconstitutional.

Dating back to former California Governor Jerry Brown, the state has an extensive history of circumventing Congressional approval and entering into agreements with CCP conduits, including:

• California China Climate Institute
• Founded in 2019 by Governor Jerry Brown and the CCP’s longtime global climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, the goal was to shape U.S. and subnational climate policy and advance the goals of the Paris Agreement. The California China Climate Institute was codified into law by Governor Newsom.

• China-U.S. ZEV Policy Lab
• Agreed upon by the University of California-Davis and the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, the China-U.S. ZEV Policy Lab committed both sides to speed the commercialization of electric cars.

Read the full letter HERE or below:

Dear Attorney General Blanche and Secretary Rubio:

We write to urge the Department of Justice, in consultation with the Department of State, to open a formal investigation into whether signed agreements and other institutionalized engagements between the State of California, including its regulatory agencies and the University of California (UC) system, and organs and entities of the People’s Republic of China (PRC or China) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), China’s dominant political institution, constitute agreements or compacts with a foreign power prohibited by, or requiring congressional consent under, Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution, and whether they unlawfully intrude on the President's conduct of foreign policy.[2] The National Association of Scholars' latest report, Behind the Climate Curtain, documents an alleged years-long pattern in which Governors Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom tied California's climate regulators to Beijing's Party-State, embedded PRC-linked institutions inside the state's regulatory apparatus, and deliberately structured these arrangements to circumvent President Trump's decisions in climate diplomacy.[3] These individuals appear to have engaged in unlawful, unconstitutional activity, and their efforts to support Communist China’s strategic aims – at the expense of America’s – must be confronted.

Article I, Section 10 prohibits any state from entering any "Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation" and bars any "Agreement or Compact" with a foreign power absent congressional consent. Chief Justice Taney, writing for a plurality, explained that the Framers chose the broadest possible words in order "to cut off all connection or communication between a state and a foreign power[.]"[4] The Supreme Court has interpreted the Compact Clause to require Congressional consent for arrangements tending to increase state power in ways that "encroach upon or interfere with the just supremacy of the United States[.]"[5] Critically, the U.S. State Department applies this test in the context of state arrangements with foreign powers.[6]   The Court has also stated that "[p]ower over external affairs is not shared by the States[,]"[7] and that even state action with a mere "direct impact upon foreign relations"[8] may be unconstitutional.  

Similarly, in Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council,[9] the Court unanimously struck down a state law that compromised the President's capacity for effective diplomacy called for in a federal statute, and in American Insurance Association v. Garamendi[10], the Court reaffirmed that "at some point an exercise of state power that touches on foreign relations must yield to the National Government's policy,” which may even include foreign policy embodied in executive agreements rather than statute.[11] In these and many other cases, the Court has regularly emphasized the importance of federal supremacy in foreign affairs. Instead of recognizing its own limitations under the United States Constitution, however, California’s pro-CCP state leadership decided to dig in and engage more closely with our foremost national enemy.

California has routinely employed the instrumentalities of its state government, including its university system, in service of inappropriate bilateral relations with Communist China. In 2013, then Governor Jerry Brown signed a memorandum of understanding with Xie Zhenhua, then head of China's central planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the first agreement of its kind between the PRC and a U.S. state; this agreement committed California to joint work with Beijing on carbon reduction, emissions trading, and electric vehicles. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) signed its own memorandum with the NDRC that year, building on ties to the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau dating to 2005. CARB Chairwoman Mary Nichols personally attended the launch of China's cap-and-trade pilot in Shenzhen, and CARB soon began co-leading a zero-emission vehicle "Policy Lab" with a PRC government automotive research center through UC Davis.[12] In 2015, the UC system signed a memorandum with Tsinghua University, a PRC government academic institution, aimed at shaping bilateral climate commitments. Tsinghua University, often described as "China’s MIT" and from which Xi Jinping graduated, is “strongly and institutionally committed to military-civil fusion and to supporting the advancement of military applications of AI.”[13] It hosts advanced defense laboratories engaged in missile technology, rocket systems, and projects linked to China’s nuclear weapons program.[14] According to the NAS report, Tsinghua has also been tied to cyberattacks (including against Alaska’s state government), and the building of surveillance tools used in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).[15]

In 2017, President Trump lawfully announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. Governor Brown's response was to fly to Beijing. Then Governor Brown met behind closed doors with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and signed an agreement with China's Minister of Science and Technology (MOST) to bypass the President's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. That same week, Brown signed multiple agreements with PRC officials, including MOST and Jiangsu and Sichuan provinces, focusing on the establishment of a California-China Clean Technology Partnership Fund (as well as agreements to promote  general green energy technology and energy cooperation).[16][17] Meanwhile, then-CARB Chairwoman Nichols, the regulator responsible for enforcing California's vehicle emissions standards, pitched those same mandates to BYD, Geely, Great Wall, and other PRC EV manufacturers, positioning these firms to profit from the new California requirements.[18] What California’s political leadership has been able to do over the years is nothing short of an obscene abuse of power; they appear to have fused state regulatory power, and all associated national-level consequences, with a foreign adversary’s industrial strategy.

Consider that California, by nature of its economic size, can easily drive U.S. national standards and policies, as well as corporate behaviors, purely by nature of what it sets for state requirements.[19] This sort of outsized influence gives the PRC all the incentive needed to promote subnational agreements – especially if the end result will result in amending U.S. policy on terms that support Communist China’s strategic aims. As part of their Made in China (MIC) 2025 initiative, the PRC has sought to achieve technological breakthroughs in key sectors deemed necessary to secure global economic and technological leadership, including electric vehicles.[20] The manner in which the PRC has gained global market share of these sectors includes massive government subsidies, structural excess capacity, forced technology transfer and IP theft, market access restrictions, tax preferences, forced joint ventures and partnerships, and several other tactics that have reinforced their disproportionate market share in multiple industries. Any U.S. state, including California, would be well served by vigilance against China’s efforts to leverage its growing market influence to influence U.S. domestic and foreign policy.

In 2021, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 39, codifying the California-China Climate Institute (CCCI) into state law and directing it, in partnership with Tsinghua University, to shape U.S. and subnational climate policy.[21] The CCCI, housed at UC Berkeley, was initially launched in 2019 under the co-chairmanship of former Governor Brown and Xie Zhenhua, former head of China’s central planning agency, the NDRC[22], and the CCP's longtime chief global climate envoy; Brown continues to lead the Institute today, with Nichols as Vice Chair. By its own account, the CCCI has helped integrate PRC experts into California's regulatory agencies.[23] Between 2021 and 2022, the CCCI and Tsinghua convened private, off-the-record discussions on the design of California's carbon market in which the head of the state's cap-and-trade program participated. Those sessions were financed by the Berggruen Institute and the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy, an organization founded by a career CCP propaganda official whose leadership has included a former head of a Ministry of State Security bureau. Jamestown Foundation research has separately identified Tsinghua and China's Ministry of Ecology, California's counterparty on 2018 and 2022 memoranda, as organizations operating under the CCP’s United Front Work Department and related PRC efforts to target U.S. climate policy.[24] Entities proximate to PRC intelligence financed closed-door sessions at which California regulators discussed California regulatory design with PRC counterparts.

Governor Newsom, whose love affair with Beijing dates to a 2005 memorandum he signed as mayor with then-Shanghai mayor Han Zheng, has made the CCCI project his own. In October 2023, he met with Xi Jinping, Wang Yi, and Han Zheng, and signed a memorandum[25] with the NDRC charging CARB, the California EPA, the Natural Resources Agency, and the Energy Commission to develop a joint action plan with China's central planners. The trip yielded the first-ever Declaration of Enhanced Subnational Climate Action[26] between China and a subnational government, with the CCCI brokering the meetings. The Hewlett Foundation paid $300,000[27] for the delegation's travel while granting millions to the CCCI (and even more to Energy Foundation China, a China-based climate nonprofit).[28]

The years-long ties between California and China in climate policy have produced cascading effects, none of them good. San Francisco and Los Angeles bought Chinese BYD buses under state mandates, BYD America received $120 million in cap and trade funds[29], and Governor Newsom signed a $1 billion no-bid pandemic mask contract with BYD (later extended by another $316 million) while BYD gave $40,000 to his campaign funds.[30] On June 8, 2026, the Department of War added BYD to its Section 1260H list of Chinese military companies operating in the United States.[31] This is the predictable result of the left's mandate-driven climate program: with Beijing controlling roughly 90 percent of rare-earth refining and roughly 70 percent of global electric vehicle production, California's gas car bans and net zero mandates risk forcing American dependency on Chinese supply chains while raising costs on millions of Californians.[32] So much for affordability.

If Governor Newsom would like to assume foreign affairs authorities constitutionally vested in the federal government, that option, however quixotic, ill-conceived, and downright laughable, is theoretically available to him. As it stands, however, he is likely violating the Constitution, serving as China’s useful pawn while destroying the pocketbooks of millions of hardworking Americans. We believe these arrangements between California and Communist China exhibit many features the Supreme Court has deemed constitutionally significant: reciprocal commitments,[33] standing institutional machinery, designated state agencies executing joint plans with foreign ministries, and an avowed purpose of sustaining an agreement the President has twice repudiated, all in dual-use domains central to China's military-civil fusion strategy.[34] We therefore respectfully request that the Department of Justice, in coordination with the Department of State, as appropriate, consider the following requests:

1. Open a formal investigation, in conjunction with the Department of State, into whether California's climate, energy, and technology engagements with Communist China-linked entities, including the 2013 Brown-NDRC and CARB-NDRC memoranda, the 2015 UC-Tsinghua memorandum, the 2017 Ministry of Science and Technology, Jiangsu, and Sichuan agreements, the 2018 and 2022 Ministry of Ecology memoranda, the 2023 NDRC, provincial, and municipal agreements and the Declaration of Enhanced Subnational Climate Action, and the CCCI under Assembly Bill 39, violate Article I, Section 10 or otherwise impermissibly infringe on federal foreign affairs authorities.
2. Evaluate, if necessary, the need for civil litigation against the State of California and the UC Regents.
3. Issue requests for information to the Governor's Office, CARB, the California EPA, the Energy Commission, the Natural Resources Agency, the UC Regents, the CCCI, and the UC Davis ZEV Policy Lab for all agreements, action plans, correspondence, funding and travel records, minutes of the 2021 and 2022 off the record dialogues, and records identifying Communist China-linked personnel given access to California regulatory proceedings or non-public regulatory information.
4. Conduct a Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) review of whether current or former officials, CCCI personnel, or intermediary organizations, including the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy, the Berggruen Institute's China programs, and Energy Foundation China, acted as unregistered agents of the PRC, and refer any documented access of Ministry of State Security-linked and United Front-linked entities to California regulators to the FBI for counterintelligence assessment. As part of this review, we further request that the Department identify (a) any PRC-directed or PRC-linked activity documented in the course of the review that, while raising influence or counterintelligence concerns, falls outside the scope of FARA's registration requirements or its existing exemptions; and (b) any resulting statutory gaps, including in FARA, that Congress should consider addressing through legislation.
5. Coordinate with the Department of Commerce and others on export control and deemed export review of technology exchanges under these agreements in batteries, grid management software, offshore wind, hydrogen, and connected vehicles. This review can also assess where current safeguards fall short in addressing Science and Technology collaboration with the PRC more broadly, including in Department of Energy research security policies, the sharing of U.S. intellectual property and know-how, and joint policy and standards development that existing restrictions don’t reach.

For two decades, Governors Brown and Newsom have treated Beijing as a partner and the elected government of the United States as an obstacle. The Constitution entrusts the conduct of foreign affairs to the federal government. Where state officials enter sustained institutional arrangements with foreign governments that may implicate Article I, Section 10 or interfere with the Nation's foreign policy, those arrangements warrant careful federal review. We cannot allow a rogue state government to place its regulators and flagship university in the service of a hostile power’s industrial strategy.

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El Senador Rick Scott escribió: "Colombia ha enfrentado adversidades antes y siempre ha salido más fuerte, unida por la resiliencia de su pueblo. Estados Unidos está ahora con Colombia, como amigo y socio, en este momento de nuevos comienzos y pérdida profunda."

Puede leer la carta completa AQUÍ o a continuación:

Estimado Presidente De la Espriella:

En nombre de cada floridano, le expreso mis más cálidas felicitaciones por su toma de posesión como Presidente de la República de Colombia. Su elección marca un nuevo capítulo importante en la estrecha y duradera amistad entre nuestras dos naciones. Espero trabajar con su administración para fortalecer los lazos que unen a Estados Unidos y Colombia, incluyendo el comercio, la inversión y la cooperación en seguridad regional.

Usted y su administración cuentan con mi total apoyo mientras inician este nuevo capítulo y la gran promesa del liderazgo colombiano. Le deseo a usted y al pueblo colombiano un gran éxito en los próximos años.

También escribo con gran pesar sobre el devastador terremoto que sacudió el oeste de Colombia a principios de este mes.  Mis pensamientos y oraciones están con las familias que han perdido a sus seres queridos y con todos aquellos que aún buscan a los desaparecidos.

La administración Trump está comprometida a apoyar al pueblo colombiano y a su gobierno en este momento de necesidad. El Departamento de Estado de EE. UU. ha proporcionado 15,5 millones de dólares en fondos de ayuda de emergencia del Departamento de Estado para alojamiento, alimentos, protección y evaluaciones estructurales post-terremotos, así como un Equipo de Respuesta de Asistencia ante Desastres (DART) para coordinarse con nuestra Embajada en Bogotá y apoyar la respuesta de su gobierno sobre el terreno.[1] También me complace señalar que el gobierno israelí, con el que ha renovado relaciones y ha mostrado gran apoyo a este aliado común, está prestando asistencia sobre el terreno. Los incansables esfuerzos de los rescatistas, voluntarios y primeros intervinientes colombianos son un ejemplo para todos nosotros de lo que es posible cuando las personas se unen y se ayudan mutuamente en condiciones extraordinariamente difíciles.

Colombia ya ha enfrentado adversidades antes y siempre ha salido más fuerte, unida por la resiliencia de su pueblo. Estados Unidos apoya ahora a Colombia, como amigo y socio, en este momento de nuevos comienzos y profunda pérdida.

Enhorabuena de nuevo por su investidura, y por favor acepte mis más profundas condolencias por las vidas perdidas en esta tragedia.

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Senator Rick Scott wrote, “Colombia has faced adversity before and has always emerged stronger, united by the resilience of its people. The United States stands with Colombia now, as a friend and partner, in this moment of both new beginnings and profound loss.”

Click HERE or read the full letter below.

Dear President De La Espriella:

On behalf of every Floridian, I extend my warmest congratulations on your inauguration as President of the Republic of Colombia. Your election marks an important new chapter in the close and enduring friendship between our two nations. I look forward to working with your administration to strengthen the ties that bind the United States and Colombia, including trade, investment, and regional security cooperation.

You and your administration have my full support as you embark on this new chapter and the great promise of Colombian leadership. I wish you and the Colombian people great success in the years ahead.

It is also with a heavy heart that I write regarding the devastating earthquake that struck western Colombia earlier this month.  My thoughts and prayers are with the families who have lost loved ones and with all those still searching for those who are missing.

The Trump administration is committed to supporting the people of Colombia and your government during this time of need. The U.S. Department of State has provided $15.5 million in emergency relief funding from the State Department for shelter, food, protection, and post-earthquake structural assessments, and a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to coordinate with our Embassy in Bogotá and support your government’s response on the ground. I am also pleased to note that the Israeli government, with which you have renewed relations and shown great support for this common ally, is providing assistance on the ground. The tireless efforts of Colombian rescue workers, volunteers, and first responders are an example to us all of what is possible when people come together and help one another amid extraordinarily difficult conditions.

Colombia has faced adversity before and has always emerged stronger, united by the resilience of its people. The United States stands with Colombia now, as a friend and partner, in this moment of both new beginnings and profound loss.

Congratulations again on your inauguration, and please accept my deepest condolences for the lives lost in this tragedy.

Sincerely,

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Senator Rick Scott

August 9, 2026

Right now, America’s foreign adversaries see a loophole in our immigration system to exploit birthright citizenship. It’s called birth tourism.

As it stands, a citizen of a foreign adversary, like China, Russia, or Iran, can pay a surrogate mother to have their child in America, have birthright citizenship, and then take them back to a country and raise an American citizen to hate America.

This practice results in horrific abuse of infants and children; it also puts our national security at risk from adversarial nations that want to harm us.

In June, the Supreme Court ruled against President Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship, guaranteeing citizenship to the children of illegal aliens and birth tourists.

Last week, President Trump signed two executive orders to fight back against this terrible ruling. One order clarifies and narrows who can claim automatic citizenship.

The other cracks down on birth tourism by denying visas to foreigners who come here for the sole purpose of giving birth.

I applaud President Trump for acting. He did his part; now Congress needs to do ours. We need to codify laws outlawing birth tourism.

The ruling also allows the birth tourism business to continue to operate and works as a loophole for foreign adversaries to gain a foothold in America through surrogacy contracts.

Last year I introduced the Stopping Adversarial Foreign Exploitation of Kids in Domestic Surrogacy (SAFE KIDS) Act to prevent adversarial nations, including Communist China, from using American surrogates to obtain U.S. citizenship for their children and traffic infants abroad.

The bill is the first of its kind to curb this practice and hold third parties accountable for facilitating commercial surrogacy contracts with foreign adversaries. Birth tourism has hurt families in Florida. There was a recent report in St. Augustine, Florida, where a surrogate mother birthed triplets for a man in China. The woman gave birth to the children in November 2024, and nearly two years later, they still haven’t been picked up.

The mother is fighting back for custody. The Chinese father won’t show, but he’s fighting them in court. This is the reality of birth tourism; the kids are caught in the middle.

What’s most insane about this case is that prospective parents don’t even need to set foot on American soil to exploit birthright citizenship. That’s unacceptable.

Last year, 21 children were rescued from a home that was perpetrating a massive surrogacy scam in Arcadia, California – in which several surrogate mothers were scammed into birthing children for a couple from China.

The children in this case were neglected, abused, left without parents, and taken into state custody. That’s what happens when people treat children like commodities: the kids suffer most.

Last week, I went to the Senate floor to try to pass my SAFE KIDS Act and close the surrogacy loophole that foreign adversaries are using against us. Democrats blocked the measure.

Despite opposition, the SAFE KIDS Act is gaining major traction, with 13 Senate co-sponsors supporting the effort.

Protecting children from exploitation and preventing foreign adversaries from abusing our laws should not be a partisan issue. Every senator should support it.

We cannot allow countries like Communist China or Iran to use surrogacy to have an American child, raise them on anti-American ideas in their country, and then send them back here with the full privileges of citizenship – including voting.

This loophole should not exist. American citizenship is worth defending. It should mean something.

U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer and Tim Sheehy cosponsored this legislation.

Senator Rick Scott said, “Previous generations of Americans gave us an economic superpower; it’s our job to preserve what they built and to leave America better than we found it for our children and grandchildren. That means we can’t let other countries rip us off. In recent years, our trading partners have taken advantage of access to American markets while unfairly crowding American products out of their own countries. Decline is a choice, and President Trump is taking action to restore American prosperity. I'm proud to introduce this legislation to give President Trump the tools he needs to level the playing field, protect American workers, and put America First.”

Senator Kevin Cramer said, “Trade should be fair, not one-sided, and it’s refreshing to have a president who isn’t afraid to hold our trading partners accountable. This bill gives President Trump and Ambassador Greer tools to address trade deficits, keep critical supply chains intact, and achieve better trade agreements for American farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and workers.”

Senator Tim Sheehy said, “For too long, America has tolerated massive trade deficits that hollow out our manufacturing base and put American workers at a disadvantage. This bill puts American producers first, strengthens our industrial base, and ensures our trade relationships work for the hardworking men and women of this country - not against them.” 

BACKGROUND:

The Trade Deficit Elimination Act creates a congressional framework authorizing tariffs to address bilateral trade imbalances in goods. Each year, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) must identify which trading partners run a trade deficit with the U.S. and publish this list of "trade deficit economies.”

Within 15 days, the USTR may adjust tariffs on these countries' imports as needed to close the gap, in addition to any tariffs already in place.

The legislation allows exemptions for products critical to national security, essential supply chains, and goods that cannot reasonably be produced in the United States.

The bill also authorizes the USTR to negotiate trade agreements with these countries to shrink the imbalance through commitments to reform trade practices, buy more American goods, or limit exports.

Full text of the bill can be found HERE.

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Sen. Rick Scott

August 6, 2026 

Sen. John Curtis, my colleague from Utah, proves reasonable in defending Senate norms and procedure in his op-ed “I Won’t Change the Filibuster” (July 31).

However, Americans should understand how abuse of the filibuster has killed real debate, negotiation and results. Keeping the status quo can’t solve this crisis.

Abuse of the filibuster has stifled open debate in the chamber. It prevents, by design, the results that voters expect us to deliver.

When cloture was created, the implicit understanding was that senators would debate to the point of satisfaction or exhaustion, then vote.

That understanding is long gone. Modern majority leaders file cloture before debate begins. The agenda changes at the threat of debate. The iconic final scene from the film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” rarely occurs.

Before the “nuclear option” lowered cloture thresholds, senators confirmed Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court 52-48. Opponents could have used the filibuster to block him, but senators respected traditional norms and moved forward after debate.

In 1964 opponents of the Civil Rights Act attempted to stop the legislation with a filibuster. The bill’s supporters were initially far short of the 67 votes needed to break the filibuster. But by forcing open debate, the Senate finally forced an answer on Jim Crow.

Today, that kind of debate never happens. We don’t force compromise. We don’t lock ourselves in a room to negotiate until we have a deal.

The filibuster is a muscle we never exercise. It has atrophied. Senators have lost the implicit understanding that a debate needs to happen before it can end.

This legislative body needs to deliver results, not fail while adhering to a prohibitive process. We should end the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act—or require debate until exhaustion or satisfaction.

Senator Rick Scott wrote, “Abuse of the filibuster has stifled open debate in the chamber. It prevents, by design, the results that voters expect us to deliver.”

…

“Modern majority leaders file cloture before debate begins. The agenda changes at the threat of debate. The iconic final scene from the film ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’ rarely occurs.”

…

“In 1964 opponents of the Civil Rights Act attempted to stop the legislation with a filibuster. The bill’s supporters were initially far short of the 67 votes needed to break the filibuster. But by forcing open debate, the Senate finally forced an answer on Jim Crow.”

…

“The filibuster is a muscle we never exercise. It has atrophied. Senators have lost the implicit understanding that a debate needs to happen before it can end. This legislative body needs to deliver results, not fail while adhering to a prohibitive process. We should end the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act—or require debate until exhaustion or satisfaction.”

Senator Scott wrote in response to an op-ed published by his colleague U.S. Senator John Curtis (R-Utah) last week arguing to preserve the filibuster.

Read the full letter HERE. 

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Senator Rick Scott also discussed yesterday’s Senate Budget Committee hearing about closing Medicaid abuse loopholes and tackling fraud.

Watch the full interview HERE and read the highlights below.

HIGHLIGHTS

RECONCILIATION 3.0/SAVE AMERICA ACT:

“We have to get [SAVE America Act] done before we leave town. We’ve got to get the budget done; make sure we don’t shut down government… We don’t work that hard. We only work two-and-half days a week. When I was in business, I was working seven days a week, and most people are at least working five days a week.”

FAUCI FALLOUT:

“There was no logic to what Fauci did. He just lied. The gain of function – just a complete lie, the origin of Covid – complete lie. His diary showed that he believed different than what he was telling us… He’s going to be held in contempt, it needs to be referred, and he’s going to serve time for what he did.” 

MEDICAID FRAUD:

“The amount of fraud in the Medicaid program is unbelievable. First off, the way it’s structured to where these states can use all sorts of gimmicks to get all this free federal money. And we, as the federal government, we give more money to states to take care of able-bodied adults than we do disabled Americans. This is the most foolishly set up program ever.”

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States develop and submit annual State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), detailing which non-game species require state intervention so they do not become threatened or endangered. Currently, there is no deadline for the federal government to approve SWAPs, forcing states to wait a year or longer to receive funding for critical conservation needs.

In December 2025, Congressman Byron Donalds’ companion legislation passed the House of Representatives.

Senator Rick Scott said, “Florida’s natural beauty, including its wildlife, is worth protecting. It is unacceptable that federal bureaucracy stalls critical wildlife funding year after year, leaving Florida’s wildlife and our environment vulnerable. The American people deserve prompt and efficient use of their tax dollars. I’m glad to join Congressman Donalds to fast-track this funding and protect Florida’s wildlife.”

Congressman Byron Donalds said, “When states do the work to protect wildlife, Washington should do its part by reviewing their plans on time. Giving agencies 180 days to act will help cut through red tape and ensure states can keep protecting the wildlife and natural resources their communities depend on. I am grateful to Senator Scott for joining this effort to get the bill across the finish line.”

# # #

During the hearing, Senator Scott questioned witnesses Dr. Brian Blase, President of Paragon Health Institute, and Jonathan Ingram, VP of Policy and Research at the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), about how fraudsters are able to abuse the public trust to enrich themselves through Medicaid loopholes – and how some states are even fleecing the federal government in the process.

To watch Sen. Scott’s full line of questions, click HERE.

HIGHLIGHTS

FRAUD AND STATE RESPONSIBILITY:

SEN. SCOTT: “When you think about it, the federal government’s goal was to take care of, especially the pregnant women, kids, the disabled. The states have lost focus because there’s so much money and the providers have lost— because there’s so much money here for the able-bodied adults.”

DR. BLASE: “The federal government is encouraging states to discriminate against the most vulnerable. The most problematic [provider taxes] are where you get a local health facility that transfers money to the state. The state then uses that as its payment back to the facility and then leverages the federal dollars. So, it’s a way for states to use the Medicaid financing system to benefit the governmental providers at the expense of the taxpayer… In California… they’ll pay the government ambulance providers more than three times what they pay the private ambulance providers through the Medicaid program.”

THE MEDICAID FRAUD CONTROL UNIT PROGRAM:

MR. INGRAM: “[Fraud is] not a new problem; it’s been going on for years. It definitely worsened under President Biden. States are getting more funding from taxpayers than ever for these [investigative] units and getting worse results. Investigations are down, indictments are down, convictions are down, recoveries are down… This is a longstanding problem, and nobody really seemed to care about it until President Trump.”

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