Senator Cramer’s Weekly Update August 4 - 15

President Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting Debanking

President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing bank regulators to investigate financial institutions for politicalized or unlawful debanking activities, which may include violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, antitrust laws, or consumer financial protection laws.

In recent years, prominent American banks have engaged in a discriminatory practice, referred to as debanking. Banks and financial institutions use their economic standing to categorically exclude law-abiding, legal industries by refusing to lend or provide services to them. This includes the firearms, ammunition, and crypto industries, as well as federal prison contractors, and energy producers.

In February, I reintroduced my Fair Access to Banking Act to protect fair access to financial services and ensure banks operate in a safe and sound manner. The bill, which has more than 40 cosponsors, is based on President Trump’s Fair Access Rule, which was proposed during his first administration and would have required financial institutions make individual risk assessments rather than broad decisions regarding entire industries or categories of customers. I helped craft the rule, and my legislation codifies these protections. The Biden administration paused the rule’s implementation in early 2021.

BLM to Hold Coal Lease Sale for Freedom Mine in North Dakota

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced it will hold a competitive sealed-bid coal lease sale for federal coal reserves at the Freedom Mine in Mercer County on September 3. The sale advances Executive Order 14241, “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry,” and is authorized under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920.

The BLM and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement prepared a draft environmental assessment and hosted a public comment period from April 1 through May 2 to assess potential impacts of the lease and related mining plans. They also held a public meeting on April 24.

President Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting D.C. Crime

President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring a crime emergency in Washington, D.C., and invoked his authority under the D.C. Home Rule Act. This put the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and deployed the National Guard across the city to protect residents, workers, and visitors.

Letter to Secretary of Labor Urging Repeal of Biden H-2A rules

I joined 84 of my colleagues in a bicameral letter to Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer requesting the U.S. Department of Labor push back against the Biden administration’s harmful rules impacting farmers and ranchers who utilize the H-2A visa program. The Trump admininstration has a unique opportunity to bring long-overdue clarity and stability to agricultural labor policy.

In March 2023, the Biden administration finalized a rule that altered the Adverse Effective Wage Rate (AEWR) methodology, inflating the cost of farm labor. The rule set hourly wages beyond the six traditional farm work occupations listed in the U.S.

The letter explains, "While consistent access to agricultural labor has always been difficult, the Biden Administration further complicated this issue by applying a series of rules that fundamentally altered the implementation of the H-2A visa program and the methodology used to determine the Adverse Effective Wage Rate (AEWR)."

Big Beautiful Bill Secures $2 Billion for Golden Dome Radars

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last month will permanently extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts, accelerate American energy dominance, support the nation’s farmers and ranchers, reduce federal spending, deliver the largest single border-security investment in U.S. history, and invest in generational defense capabilities such as President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile-defense shield.

Thanks to the nearly $2 billion in President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill for Golden Dome radars, the Perimeter Acquisition Radar Attack Characterization System (PARCS) radar at Cavalier Space Force Station will start its modernization efforts in 2026, making sure it’s ready to fully support homeland defense and space domain awareness by 2029.

"Varney & Co." on Fox Business

I joined Stuart Varney on Fox Business to discuss whether the U.S. should place tariffs on countries which buy Russian oil.

We also spoke about two Chinese nationals who were arrested on a federal criminal complaint alleging they illegally exported sensitive AI microchips to China.

Watch the full interview below:

Founding CEO of Aldevron, Michael Chambers

I enjoyed meeting with the founding CEO of Aldevron, Michael Chambers. Headquartered in Fargo, Aldevron is leading the way in pharmaceutical innovation.

National Science Foundation Awards Over $8 Million to North Dakota Colleges

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded $8,163,797 across two projects to 10 North Dakota colleges and universities. The awards will be distributed to the following projects and initiatives.

NSF awarded a total of $7,963,804 to the colleges and universities to establish a comprehensive, self-sustaining, and long-lasting STEM ecosystem in North Dakota. The project will focus on connecting researchers across North Dakota, improving STEM opportunities in rural areas, and facilitating STEM education for students at tribal colleges.

• $3,258,486 to North Dakota State University
• $931,200 to the University of North Dakota (UND)
• $480,144 to Minot State University
• $480,000 to Turtle Mountain Community College
• $480,000 to Sitting Bull College
• $479,993 to Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College
• $479,608 to Mayville State University
• $478,893 to Valley City State University
• $475,832 to United Tribes Technical College
• $419,648 to Cankdeska Cikana Community College

The NSF announced a second award of $199,993 to UND to create a staleness-resilient, privacy-aware data synthesis framework for Edge AI-based network measurement. It combines quality-controlled synthetic data generation with decentralized collaboration among edge devices.

National Park Service Awards $1 Million to Support Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians Park Development Project

The National Park Service (NPS) announced an award of $1,000,000 to the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The funds will support the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians as they construct five playground and picnic areas with amenities. The project is expected to be completed by December 30, 2029.

Since 1965, the NPS has provided more than 45,000 LWCF grants, primarily funded with federal offshore oil and gas lease revenue, to states and local communities. LWCF awards allow states to further allocate these funds to support local public parks projects and state conservation and expand outdoor recreation access.

In 2019, I helped pass the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. The legislation reauthorized and reformed the LWCF program to ensure states receive at least 40 percent of its funding. Grants distributed through the LWCF program are locally determined and reviewed at the state level through a process designed and managed by state partners of the NPS.