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 March 7, the senators worked on efforts including providing service members with healthy food on military bases, pushing the Trump administration to apply the law to improve federal prison security, highlighting the importance of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and urging the Trump administration to release economic assistance for Georgia farmers.
On Feb. 25, Ossoff announced that he is helping introduce bipartisan legislation to protect Georgia's poultry industry amid the bird flu outbreak: the Healthy Poultry Assistance and Indemnification Act (HPAI ACT) of 2025
"During avian influenza outbreaks, all farmers within the control area of an outbreak — even those without an outbreak themselves — are barred from placing flocks," said a press release. "However, only farmers whose poultry flocks test positive for avian influenza are currently eligible to receive financial support through the USDA."
The legislation would improve the USDA's compensation program by making farmers in a controlled area eligible for financial support.
"Georgia farmers work tirelessly to feed the nation and the world," Ossoff said in a statement. "They need strong protections against avian flu outbreaks. That's why I'm working to bring together Republicans and Democrats to support Georgia poultry producers."
On Feb. 26, Warnock and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) introduced legislation requiring Medicaid to pay at least the same rate as Medicare for primary care services.
The Kids' Access to Primary Care Act would encourage more providers to participate in Medicaid and improve children's and families' access to care.
“I’ve been in the Medicaid fight long before I got to the Senate, so I know the importance that affordable health care provides for so many Americans, including millions of children," Warnock said in a statement. “In Georgia, kids make up over 70% of all Medicaid enrollees. Right now, nearly half of our country’s children get health care through Medicaid, which is why it’s so troubling that Washington Republicans are fighting to make cuts to health care access. That is why the Kids’ Access to Primary Care Act is so important. This commonsense solution shouldn’t be a partisan issue, kids and parents deserve the peace of mind that comes with knowing you have health care access.”
On Feb. 26, Warnock, as a member of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection, which oversees the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), highlighted the benefits of the CFPB and the consequences of the Trump administration trying to dismantle the agency.
Per a press release, the hearing "aimed to highlight the repercussions of dismantling the CFPB, which was ordered by the Elon Musk-led DOGE earlier this month."
"If you want to see what government efficiency looks like, it's a government agency that gets this kind of response [quick], often from bad actors who don't want to respond, and has returned some $21 billion not to the Treasury, but to the American consumer," Warnock said during the special hearing.
Warnock questioned key witnesses at the hearing, including a former CFPB employee who was among those who benefited from the agency's work, to provide more context for the agency's importance.
On Feb. 28, Warnock explained the consequences of the Trump administration's decision to close five Social Security offices in Georgia, the most closures of any state under the Department of Government Efficiency.
The five offices closing are in Brunswick, Columbus, Gainesville, Thomasville, and Visalia.
Warnock wrote in his statement:
"For millions of Georgians, Social Security provides a baseline of support and stability. It ensures our seniors, who've spent decades paying into the program, can afford rent, groceries, and medication. Permanently closing five Georgia Social Security offices will make it harder for Georgia seniors, especially in rural areas, to enroll in the program, solve payment issues, report fraud, and more.
"As I have said before, I am all for cutting government waste and abuse, but never at the expense of hardworking Georgians, especially our retired seniors. On the Senate Aging Committee, I've worked to protect Georgians from bad actors looking to take advantage of seniors, and this is no different. The closure of these offices will make it significantly harder for Georgians to get access to their benefits or talk through an often confusing bureaucratic system.
"Make no mistake: the money taken away from Georgia seniors will go towards tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. I will use every avenue available to fight back against this reckless action and remain focused on getting our seniors the benefits they paid for and rely on to live safe, healthy lives."
On Feb. 28, Warnock and Ossoff urged the Trump administration to release the federal economic assistance Congress secured for Georgia farmers.
According to a press release, the senators "successfully fought to pass a bipartisan disaster relief package that included $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers who have struggled in recent years with difficult market conditions, cheap imports, and rising costs."
The senators are urging, via letter, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to distribute the assistance to Georgia farmers by March 21.
"We look forward to working with you to ensure that Georgia farmers remain Georgia's economic engine as they feed and clothe our Nation and the world." Ossoff and Warnock wrote. "Accordingly, we urge you to prioritize disbursing the economic assistance payments for commodity farmers facing financial difficulties that Congress appropriated last year."
On Feb. 28, Ossoff and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced bipartisan legislation to help veterans in rural areas get transportation to VA health facilities to access health care.
According to a press release, the Rural Veterans Transportation to Care Act "would expand to the VA's Highly Rural Transportation Grant Program (HRTG), which provides grant funding for Veteran Service Organizations and State Veterans Service Agencies to provide veterans transportation in eligible counties."
Currently, the HRTG program is only available to counties with fewer than 7 people per square mile. The new legislation would expand the VA's definition to ensure that more counties are eligible.
The legislation would also increase grant recipients' maximum funding from $50,000 to $60,000 and up to $80,000 for grantees to buy ADA-compliant vehicles.
"As I've sat down with veterans in rural areas across Georgia, one of their key concerns is lack of transportation," Ossoff said in a statement. "That's why I'm introducing this bipartisan bill with Senator Collins to ensure veterans have more access to transportation services that can bring them to VA clinics and medical centers to get the care they need."
On March 4, Warnock and Ossoff announced that they joined a group of Congress members to launched a bipartisan, bicameral inquiry into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about the issues surrounding providing service members with healthy food on military bases.
The effort follows a recent report from Military.com Network, which highlighted issues with the food quality of military bases.
Per a press release, "poor-quality meals and food shortages force servicemembers to perform grueling physical and mental training exercises without the proper energy, which negatively impacts military readiness and serves as a poor testament to the federal government's obligation to protect and serve those who put their lives on the line for our nation's freedoms."
The senators and other lawmakers suggested that "the funding should be used to cover the costs and investments needed to serve those meals" since Congress provides service members with food allowances to help afford meals.
"Our service members are the best among us and expect fair compensation from their government," they wrote. "If a service member is losing money from their paycheck because they are being given a meal, it is reasonable for them to expect that funding will be used only to cover the costs of providing it and to ensure it is of the highest possible quality. We trust you will move expeditiously to answer our inquiries. Thank you for your earnest attention to this matter."
On March 4, Warnock, as a member of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness, released a statement on the 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
“When I hear from ordinary Georgians, they tell me the cost of everything from housing to prescription drugs to groceries are too expensive," Warnock wrote in a statement. "Georgians feel like their dollar isn’t going far enough, and these tariffs only make the problem worse.
“These sweeping tariffs and this impending trade war will hurt our farmers, who are now seeing a hike in fertilizer prices going into planting season. With retaliatory tariffs already being implemented, I fear that my years of bipartisan efforts to open up international markets for our farmers will be erased. This will make produce in the grocery stores more expensive and producers losing their farms more likely.
“I’m not opposed to all tariffs. They can be a useful tool to protect American jobs and coerce bad actors like China to play by the rules. But these chaotic and impulsive tariffs do nothing but punish Georgians who are just trying to balance their checkbook and save for the future. I will continue to speak out against policies that hurt Georgia families and farmers.”
On March 5, Ossoff and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced that they led a group of 32 senators in demanding that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum continue to provide legal services for unaccompanied children in the immigration system.
The demand came after the Trump administration issued a stop-work order to organizations that provide legal services to unaccompanied children. The order was rescinded last week, per a press release.
“Pausing or terminating the provision of legal services to unaccompanied children under this contract runs directly counter to the requirements of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and places 26,000 unaccompanied children at increased risk of trafficking, exploitation, and other harm,” the group wrote.“The TVPRA, passed by Congress in 2008 on a bipartisan basis, requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that all unaccompanied children have counsel to represent them in legal proceedings and protect them from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking.”
On March 5, Ossoff urged the Trump administration to implement his bipartisan law to improve federal prison security, which was passed into law in 2022.
Ossoff is urging Attorney General Pam Bondi and Acting Director of the Bureau of Prisons, William Lothrop to enforce the Prison Camera Reform Act.
Per a press release, the Bureau of Prisons' first annual report last year "revealed the Agency had made little progress in updating camera systems as required by the law. For example, the report found only 12 out of 121 BOP institutions have digital camera systems, and fewer than half have installed updated single-mode fiber optics."
"I write to urge accelerated implementation of the Prison Camera Reform Act to protect civil rights and to improve safety, accountability, and transparency within our federal prison system," Ossoff wrote. "The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) first annual report under the Prison Camera Reform Act revealed too-slow progress towards the Act's goals to address blind spots and deficiencies in prison camera systems.
"Faster progress is necessary to meet the Act's goals and ensure the safety of staff and incarcerated persons alike."
