In the news

The US Department of Justice confirmed in a legal opinion that the VA has the legal authority to provide abortion services in cases of rape, incest, and the life or health of the patient. Additionally, DOJ concluded that VA doctors and health care providers who perform abortion services are protected from prosecution, including in states that have...

Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough is making it clear who has the final say in deciding whether veterans in states with abortion bans can still access abortion care. He does, not Republican state attorneys general. During a Wednesday hearing before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) praised McDonough...

Doctors and nurses who perform abortions for the Department of Veterans Affairs in states where the practice is banned should be immune from criminal prosecution and other civil penalties, such as license revocation, according to a legal opinion VA Secretary Denis McDonough said he received from the U.S Justice Department. McDonough testified...

Hawaii County has two community outpatient clinics for veterans and two vet centers, meaning veterans on the island often have to travel, schedule a telehealth visit, or seek a community care provider to access treatment in a timely manner. Additional complications come from the impact of COVID-19, issues with Veterans Affairs infrastructure, the...

The battle to save Hawaii’s native forests against rapid ohia death is expected to be a long and arduous one, in need of ongoing federal support. To boost those efforts, U.S. Sen. Mazie K. Hirono today introduced the Continued Rapid Ohia Death Response Act of 2022, which would authorize $55 million in federal funding through 2023 to combat...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week announced more than $31 million in funding for Hawaii for water infrastructure improvements. The funding in the form of capitalization grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have been awarded through the State Revolving Funds program, according to an EPA news release. The Hawaii funding is...

The Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) will receive $500,000 to support Hawaii’s small businesses as they work to expand into overseas markets. The funding, announced by U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), is from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) State Trade Expansion Program (STEP)....

On the US Senate floor today, Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke against the “radical” nationwide abortion ban recently introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Despite previous Republican statements that abortion laws should be decided by the states, Sen. Graham’s bill would...

As her congressional colleagues questioned former Twitter security head Peiter “Mudge” Zatko about cybersecurity vulnerabilities and other issues at the social media giant, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, focused her questioning on what happens to user data once the user quits the platform. In an expansive whistleblower report made public...

Hawaii is home to more than a quarter of a million immigrants who contribute to the state’s workforce and economy, especially in the health care industry. They make up almost half of health aides, nearly a quarter of all nurses and about 20% of physicians in Hawaii. On Tuesday, Sen. Mazie Hirono emphasized the need for immigration reform to...

U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz, both D-Hawaii, joined four Senate colleagues Friday in urging the Department of Defense to allow people with human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus to enlist and serve in the military as long as their conditions are well managed. “We are pleased to learn that (the U.S. Department of...

The state government is receiving $500,000 to support issuing grants and helping Hawai?i small businesses in expanding their markets overseas. The money is coming from the federal Small Business Administration, after a tour by its agency administrator Isabella Guzman who visited with O?ahu small businesses. US Senator Mazie Hirono, who hosted...

US Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono of Hawai’i are urging the US Department of Defense to name a commander that will be in charge of defueling the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. Schatz said the Secretary of Defense “must act quickly and name its commander, a role that will serve as the DoD’s on-the-ground leader...

For the first time in its history, the Department of Veterans Affairs will offer abortion services to veterans and their beneficiaries in cases of rape, incest and when the life of the pregnant person is endangered — even in states where the procedure is banned. The department said in a policy document rolled out on...

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Friday that, for the first time, it will begin providing access to abortion services and counseling to the nation’s hundreds of thousands of female veterans and VA beneficiaries. The VA’s decision is monumental, but it comes with restrictions: The agency will only provide abortions...

Mazie Hirono said her piece, turned away from the camera and I swear, icicles formed and broke in that D.C. hallway because she was so cold. A good kind of cold. A strong cold. An unflinching, target-nailing cold. You could almost hear the frost crunching under her shoes as she walked away.Hirono was responding to Donald Trump’s Twitter attack...

Democratic senators are coming to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's defense Tuesday after President Donald Trump called her a "lightweight" on Twitter and blasted the New York Democrat as a "flunky" and "used."Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a fierce critic of the President, tweeted a reply to Trump, asking if he's trying to "slut-shame" Gillibrand."Are you really...

The Makana North Shore Urgent Care clinic in Princeville will receive a loan of about $1.1 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to complete construction and help with operating costs.“Makana Urgent Care Clinic will bring critical medical care to the North Shore community of Kauai and provide many added benefits including laboratory and...

U.S. Sen. Mazie K. Hirono joined the superintendent of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Cindy Orlando, to dedicate a new exhibit recounting the internment of Japanese Americans at the Kilauea Military Camp (KMC) during World War II. More than 100 Japanese Americans were imprisoned at KMC – the largest incarceration site in Hawaii outside of...