Healthcare

Congresswoman Julia Brownley and 47 Members of Congress sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. demanding transparency on its alleged policy of detaining girls, including pregnant girls, at the Urban Strategies San Benito (USSB) ORR facility in Texas. In the letter, the members condemned the Trump administration for violating established legal precedent requiring unaccompanied minors have access to all reproductive healthcare options and requested information regarding their care.

Introduced by Representative Gus Bilirakis, a Republican from Florida, and Representative Julia Brownley, a Democrat from California, the bill would close a loophole that’s harming some of America’s most vulnerable children, the legislators say.

Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-CA) and Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) introduced the Ensuring Medicaid Continuity for Children in Foster Care Act of 2026—commonsense, bipartisan legislation to ensure vulnerable children do not lose access to essential mental health care because of a bureaucratic technicality. 

In the House, Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., who is the ranking member for the Health subcommittee on the House Veterans’ Affairs panel, is leading the resolution with Rep. Mark Takano of California, the top Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. But the resolution is unlikely to get a vote there, given that House lawmakers face a higher bar than senators to successfully force a floor vote.

Congresswoman Julia Brownley (CA-26), Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health, released the following statement denouncing Senate Republicans’ votes to block a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which would have overturned the Trump administration’s near-total ban on abortion care and counseling for veterans who receive healthcare from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-CA-26) joined U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), along with over 55 congressional colleagues in pressing Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the impact of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency escalating violence in American communities on children. From detaining children to arresting parents, ICE’s actions are leaving children with potentially lasting physical and psychological trauma.  

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the VA Marriage and Family Therapists Equity Act, legislation authored by Congresswoman Julia Brownley, Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health.

The move is drawing condemnation from some Democrats in Congress – and praise from some Republicans. Rep. Julia Brownley, a California Democrat and member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has introduced a bill that would add abortion and abortion counseling as services provided under law.

Today, Congresswoman Julia Brownley, Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health, introduced a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), to formally overturn the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) recently finalized abortion rule.  

This week marks 53 years since the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, a decision that reshaped our nation by affirming women’s autonomy over their bodies and their futures. In 2022, that progress was reversed when the Supreme Court overturned Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson — stripping away a fundamental freedom that generations of women relied upon.

Today marks the 53rd anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, which for nearly half a century provided constitutional protection for abortion and affirmed the right to make personal health care decisions free from government interference. That protection was dismantled by the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, a devastating setback for reproductive freedom in the United States. Against this backdrop, Congresswoman Julia Brownley released the following statement on her strong opposition to two extreme, misleading bills brought to the House floor by anti-choice Republicans.

Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., said that the VA is becoming a payer, rather than a provider, of health services. “VA is not shutting down facilities, but it does not require important oversight for veterans to receive care in the community,” Brownley said. “It seems competition is the oversight piece in the contract.”

Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., has introduced legislation to overturn the new restrictions. The Reproductive Freedom for Veterans Act would guarantee veterans and their eligible family members “a protected legal right” to receive abortion services from the VA. The bill has collected 118 co-sponsors and was referred to the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health.

“The Trump administration’s dangerous decision to roll back VA’s already limited abortion access is clearly driven by politics, not patient care,” said Congresswoman Julia Brownley (CA-26), Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health. 

Congresswoman Julia Brownley announced the reintroduction of the Supporting Military Families Exposed to Toxic Substances Act, legislation to extend U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care benefits to eligible military and veteran family members exposed to toxic substances. Specifically, the bill would provide VA health care to family members and other individuals who lived or worked at certain military facilities and have been diagnosed with a presumptive service-connected disability resulting from toxic exposure.

Congresswoman Julia Brownley issued the following statement after House passage of the Senate Amendment to H.R. 5371, the Republican spending bill.

Congresswoman Julia Brownley, who represents sections of Ventura County, addressed the impacts the federal government shutdown is having on local residents during a press conference held Nov. 3 at Santa Paula City Hall. Brownley’s shutdown concerns centered around the halt of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and ongoing health care coverage. 

More than 35,000 people in a congressional district encompassing much of Ventura County would see their health insurance premiums skyrocket and thousands would drop coverage without the tax credits that are part of the standoff over the government shutdown, U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley said in a Camarillo news conference.