Note: In this recurring digital news series, GPB follows your federal tax dollars back to the state of Georgia. 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.
Georgia's U.S. senators worked on hosting a town hall in Southwest Atlanta to answer questions from constituents, made requests for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expedite hurricane relief for farmers affected by Hurricane Helene, questioned Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services nominee about the CDC firings in Georgia, and pressed the Environmental Protection Agency about canceling a federal grant to open a new health clinic in Thomasville, Ga.
On May 1, Ossoff and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) introduced bipartisan legislation to lower costs for service members and their families.
According to a press release, the Improving Service Members Civil Relief Act Benefit Utilization Act was introduced to "expand access to financial protections and benefits available to active duty service members and their families."
The SCRA legislation would provide legal and financial protections to active duty service members, including National Guard and Reserve members and their families. However, a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report reveals this benefit is often underutilized.
The legislation would "expand existing financial literacy programs to include information about these protections; require the Department of Defense's annual survey to include information about these programs; include benefits information on all activation orders; and require creditors to apply a 6% cap to all eligible accounts under the jurisdiction once a service member invokes their SCRA rights," per the press release.
"Georgia's service members and their families deserve the very best, yet many are unaware of key benefits to help them save money," Ossoff said in a statement. "I'm introducing this new bipartisan bill to expand access to these key financial protections for our heroic service members and help them save money and build wealth."
On May 2, Ossoff and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced they introduced bipartisan legislation to help get justice for civil rights cold case victims and their families.
According to a press release, the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Reauthorization Act "would strengthen and extend the Civil Rights Cold Cases Review Board's authority through 2031 to help ensure the public release of records related to Civil Rights cold cases dates 1940 through 1979 and help enable states and local authorities to release records in their possession."
The legislation came after 2022, when the senators passed the Civil Rights Cold Cases Investigation Support Act of 2022 into law. This act extended the Review Board's term through 2027, guaranteeing its continued work.
"For too long, families of Civil Rights cold case victims have waited for answers and justice," Ossoff said in a statement. "Our bipartisan bill is an opportunity to pursue justice and truth on behalf of those who were killed. There's no expiration date on justice. That's why this effort must continue."
On May 4, Warnock hosted a town hall in southwest Atlanta, where he answered constituents' questions for over two hours about what he is doing for Georgians amid the Trump administration's budget cuts, tariffs, and foreign policy.
"I am doing everything I can with the tools I have," Warnock said. "But those tools are not the same as they were my first two congresses. But I'm going to use the tools I have. Just because we're out of power doesn't mean we don't have any power."
On May 5, following the resignation of former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, Ossoff urged the USPS Board of Governors to pick a new postmaster general who could solve the continued mail delays throughout Georgia.
"My constituents and I cannot emphasize this strongly enough, are beside themselves at the consistent and recurring failure of USPS leadership to execute their basic mission in Georgia," Ossoff wrote to the Board of Governors.
The inquiry comes after USPS released data last month reporting that Georgia District's Overall First-Class Mail Service is 7.7% below the national average.
"The absence of a Postmaster General leaves USPS without direction and the urgency necessary to ensure timely delivery. Georgians deserve reliable on-time mail delivery, and competent leadership that will deliver results," Ossoff continued. "I once again urge you to swiftly appoint a new Postmaster General who will completely correct the abysmal failure of Postmaster General DeJoy's Delivering for America program."
On May 6, Warnock and Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) introduced legislation to amend the Internal Revenue Code to decrease the financial barrier to entering the aviation career field.
The legislation would lower the barriers by making expenses for aviation education programs eligible for 529 tax savings plans to help save for education costs.
According to a press release, the Aviation Workforce Development Act would allow "students pursuing FAA-certified flight and aviation maintenance programs to now use their 529 plan funds to cover these educational costs."
"The Aviation Workforce Development Act builds on my efforts to create educational pipelines that welcome Georgians from every zip code into this critical industry," Warnock said in a statement. "This is a bipartisan and bicameral bill for a reason — these are commonsense solutions to address needs throughout our aviation industry, and I'm proud to work alongside Senators Scott and Cantwell in this effort."
On May 6, Ossoff called on U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to expedite hurricane relief for Georgia farmers impacted by Hurricane Helene at a U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies hearing.
Per a press release, Ossoff shared stories from constituents, including Arren Moses, owner of Moses Pecan in Uvalda, Ga.
"We lost almost our entire 2024 pecan crop when Hurricane Helene hit our orchards," he told Ossoff's office. "We lost the majority of our mature pecan trees, which will set our farm's production back for years. We were thankful that Congress approved disaster assistance funding at the end of last year, but it's critical that these funds get to those that need help."
"Chris Hopkins, a cotton producer in Toombs County, also told Sen. Ossoff's office that the storm has 'created a void due to loss of yield and quality as well as cost of cleanup that has become untenable to a first-generation operation like mine.'"
Rollins said the USDA will do everything possible to make Helene disaster funding available "by the end of the month" if not by the following week.
On May 6, Warnock joined Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and almost 30 other senators in urging Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Maureen Henneberg to reverse the cancellation of hundreds of public grants throughout the country via letter.
"On April 22, the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) notified hundreds of grant recipients across the country, without warning, that their funding had been terminated, effective immediately," the senators wrote. "Many of these grants are authorized by Congress and support programs that have enhanced public safety in communities rural and urban, affluent and poor, Democratic and Republican.
"While this administration continues to market itself as the administration of law and order and public safety, DOJ has decided to defund programs that prosecutors, police and sheriff's departments, judges, mental health service providers, academics, and more depend on to advance the Department's longstanding 'core mission of keeping Americans safe and vigorously enforcing the law.'"
"Based on public reporting, outreach from grantees, and a DOJ Justice Management Division (JMD) spreadsheet, … it appears that the Department defunded at least 365 public safety grants on April 22, 2025. A review of this information reveals that these grants provide support for victims of crime and resources for communities to ensure public safety," the senators continued.
Per a press release, the senators requested answers to nine questions about cancellations, "including whether the Department has reallocated the money to other programs and how officials determined which grants should be canceled."
"Additionally, we advise that the Department restore immediately the grants terminated on April 22. The cursory termination of these programs imperils the public safety of the victims and communities that rely on these critical resources," the senators concluded.
On May 7, Warnock requested answers from Jim O'Neill, the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services nominee, at a Senate Finance Committee hearing about the firings of CDC public health employees in Georgia.
"Mr. O'Neill, these folks are my constituents; I know them; they are my neighbors; I bump into them at the grocery store. Many of them had just gotten performance evaluations saying they are doing an outstanding job. Only to be fired weeks later for 'Performance issues,'" Warnock said in his questioning. "If confirmed, you'd oversee personnel, yes or no. Do you think it is appropriate to fire HHS or CDC, public health experts, for 'performance issues' that have just gotten positive performance evaluations?"
In addition, on May 8, Warnock and Ossoff led an effort via letter to request a meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to discuss the firing of Georgia CDC employees.
The senators requested that the meeting occur on Wednesday, May 14, when Kennedy will testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
On May 8, Ossoff announced that he launched a push to pass bipartisan legislation, first introduced by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), that would stop political discrimination when providing federal disaster assistance.
According to a press release, the Stopping Political Discrimination in Disaster Assistance Act would "prohibit in Federal law any political discrimination when Federal agencies provide disaster assistance after a natural disaster."
"No American impacted by a natural disaster should ever, ever be denied assistance based on their political beliefs," Ossoff said in a statement. "That's why I helped introduce this bipartisan bill to prohibit in law political discrimination in the provision of Federal disaster assistance."
On May 11, Warnock delivered the commencement speech to the Class of 2025 at Paine College in Augusta, Ga., one of 10 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in Georgia.
According to a press release, Warnock, the only sitting U.S. senator to graduate from an HBCU, "urged the graduates to make their life's project longer and larger than their lifespan and give themselves over to a mission that is larger than themselves."
At the commencement, Paine College also awarded Warnock the honorary doctor of humane letters degree and a plaque of appreciation for delivering the speech.
On May 14, Ossoff questioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin about the cancellation of a federal grant to open a new health clinic and upgrade water infrastructure in Thomasville, Ga., during a U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies hearing.
The city of Thomasville reported that the grant would have been used to open a new health clinic in an area struggling with air pollution.
Per a press release, "Thomasville Mayor Todd Mobley told Sen. Ossoff's office the award represented a 'transformative opportunity to make vital health and safety improvements.'"
"Oftentimes, these rural communities don't get the love and attention of the federal government. They can be forgotten," Ossoff said at the hearing. "In Georgia, big cities tend to get a lot of the federal support. So there was great news for the good people of Thomasville last year when they won an EPA grant to help build a new health clinic, rehabbing the gym and the school to build a new Federally qualified health center near three daycare centers, as well as to upgrade wastewater infrastructure.
"But, Administrator, you canceled the grant, and I'd like to know why."
