Sarah Elfreth
DemocraticQ1 Maryland residents are facing sharply rising electricity bills driven by a combination of power plant retirements, surging market prices, and rapidly growing demand (including from the proliferation of data centers across the region). If elected, what specific steps will you take to address the causes of high energy costs for Maryland residents and businesses, including data centers?
“I hear from neighbors every day that the cost of living is just too high – especially when it comes to their energy bills. That’s why, a month into office, I joined my Maryland colleagues in formally requesting the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) rescind the BGE utility rate increases that took effect in 2025 and stop future increases for the duration of the year. I am a proud co-sponsor of H.R. 7977, the Energy Bills Relief Act that reinstates clean energy tax credits, provides financial assistance to families, cracks down on price gouging, and holds data centers accountable for their fair share – all to lower costs, increase reliability, and ensure our electric grid can meet rising demands. This past July, I joined my Maryland colleagues in calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to ensure Marylanders are not forced to bear skyrocketing electricity costs due to increasing energy demand from out-of-state data centers. I’ve also used my committee assignments to further renewable energy generation and storage – fighting for commonsense permitting reform on the House Natural Resources Committee and putting pressure on the Department of Defense to double-down on renewables on installations through my seat on the House Armed Services Committee. As this Administration continues to prioritize corporations over consumers, I am committed to fighting for affordable and sustainable energy for Marylanders.”
Q2 Since early 2025, Maryland has lost nearly 25,000 federal jobs (more than any other state) as funding cuts to federal agencies including the NIH, NASA, and NIST take effect. How would you approach strengthening Maryland’s economy, and what steps would you take to ensure that workers across different roles and education levels benefit from those efforts?
“As the representative for over 45,000 federal employees, the daughter of civil servants, and a member of the Labor Caucus, protecting the federal workforce and our agencies has been a priority from day one. The first bill I introduced in Congress was the first-ever bipartisan anti-DOGE bill, the Protect Our Probationary Employees (POPE) Act. I spent my first year in Congress meeting with federal employee unions and researchers from Maryland’s world-class NIH, NASA, NIST, facilities and more to find ways to support workers and preserve scientific progress amid the sledgehammer of DOGE. Federal workers and their expertise are the backbone of our economy, and we all do better when the civil service is strong and focused on delivering services for our constituents. We must also diversify and grow Maryland’s economy. That’s why I’ve worked to attract light manufacturing and shipbuilding to the District through partnerships with public industry and successfully transferring surplus, underutilized federal property to the Maryland Economic Development Corporation. I have also been a consistent and strong proponent of alternate post-secondary paths for students not pursuing 4-year degrees. Robust investment in Career and Technical Education (CTE) and pre-apprenticeship programs in high schools – specifically those that strengthen the pipeline to registered apprenticeships and union jobs – are core tenets of an opportunity economy in which every American can participate and thrive.”
Q3 Maryland faces public health challenges ranging from stark socioeconomic health disparities, a behavioral health and opioid crisis that disproportionately impacts communities of color, gaps in rural mental health access, and a strained public health infrastructure. What evidence-based policies do you support to improve community health for your constituents?
“The cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, the ACA, and Medicare through the President’s Big Ugly Law have had devastating consequences across our communities, and I fully support the expeditious repeal of these harmful cuts. I believe that health care is a human right. I have co-sponsored legislation like the Restoring Essential Healthcare Act to ensure Americans have protected access to the high-quality, low-cost medical treatments they need in the face of the President’s cuts. As we work towards this end goal, I will work towards lowering costs and never stand for policies that threaten to or restrict access to affordable health care for working families. As one of the youngest women serving in Congress, women’s health care decisions are not abstract – they are personal. I do not support policies that threaten or restrict access to FDA-approved birth control or reproductive health care. I firmly believe reproductive health care choices are a fundamental human right, and I also believe that no government should warrant control over those personal decisions. In the Maryland Senate, I proudly voted to expand access to reproductive healthcare and co-sponsored a constitutional amendment to enshrine reproductive freedom as a fundamental right in Maryland’s Constitution. On Capitol Hill, I have co-sponsored legislation like the Women’s Health Protection Act to codify the protections once afforded by Roe v. Wade and ensure every Marylander has the freedom they deserve.”
Q4 Across the state of Maryland, science and STEM education cultivate interest at a lower rate than intended, too few community-college students successfully transfer and complete bachelor’s degrees, and college affordability remains vulnerable to shifts in federal student aid and support. What evidence-based policies do you support to build a strong science and STEM pipeline from public schools and K-12 programs through colleges and universities for the next generation of Marylanders?
“I am a proud graduate of our country’s public school system and will continue to advocate for robust STEM education and opportunities in our K-12 and post-secondary institutions for all students who are interested in learning. I especially understand the critical need to support pathways for students not traditionally participating in STEM fields. In FY 2026, I delivered over $1 million in community project funding to the Chinese American Parent Association of Howard County (CAPA)’s STEM Forward program. These federal dollars have expanded STEM education efforts in Howard County and connected young students to educational programming around coding, earth sciences, robotics, and engineering. Annually, our Congressional office also hosts the Congressional App Challenge, a nationwide middle and high school STEM competition that recognizes and encourages the STEM talent in our District. I have also advanced STEM education priorities through the annual National Defense Authorization Act, securing a provision directing the Department of Defense to partner with academic institutions to train the next generation of cybersecurity leaders. H.R. 6631, the Establishing Cyber Security Educational Programs at Academic Institutions Act, builds on this work by partnering federal cyber agencies, including the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, with leading universities like the University of Maryland to educate and train future cybersecurity leaders.”
Q5 What policies, if any, do you support or envision for managing land-based resources in your district (i.e. water, open-space preserves, parks)?
“I’ve spent my entire career working to move faster, bolder, and smarter on environmental restoration. Protecting our environment is not only the right thing to do, but it’s also critically important for the thousands of Marylanders who earn their living on the Chesapeake Bay. As Vice Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, I am focused on building a clean energy future, tackling rising tides, and expanding access to public lands for all. My first bill to pass the House was the bipartisan MAWS Act to tackle invasive blue catfish and save our blue crabs, oysters, and rockfish. This year, I introduced the Maryland Whole Watershed Program Federal Partnership Act, a bill that would build on the Whole Watershed Act I passed during my time in the State Senate. In just two years, we’ve seen real progress from the Whole Watershed Program – from marsh restoration to combating invasive species in the Baltimore Harbor to addressing stream erosion in Hagerstown and more. But our state and local partners can’t do this work alone, and this new federal legislation will empower the EPA to collaborate with them to support needed restoration projects across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. In the State Senate, I sponsored the Great Maryland Outdoors Act to address acquisition, accessibility, and equity in our state parks. In Congress, I co-sponsored the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act 250 while fighting partisanship and Park Service cuts to protect our public lands.”
Q6 What advisory mechanisms will you implement to ensure that evidence and scientific findings play a crucial role in your policymaking process?
“No legislator can do this work alone. I rely on partners throughout the legislative process because I can never be the subject-matter expert on every topic my office takes on. Good policymaking must be grounded in facts, evidence, and the expertise of those who understand the issues best. Representing Maryland – home to leading scientists, researchers, universities, and federal institutions – my staff and I regularly meet with leaders from JHU Applied Physics Laboratory, the U.S. Naval Academy, Goddard Space Center, Walter Reed Medical Center, and more to hear about their research and challenges. I host Environmental Roundtables that also give me regular feedback on conservation, land management, fisheries science, renewable energy and more. These visits and conversations often produce our best ideas for legislation and funding. I also regularly rely on nonpartisan resources like the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Government Accountability Office (GAO), and federal agencies to evaluate policies. When DOGE planned to cancel NOAA’s cloud storage service, risking decades of digitally stored data, I introduced the NOAA Data Preservation Act to safeguard research crucial to our decision-making. As scientific institutions and research funding face unprecedented attacks, Congress must protect those producing this critical research. I will continue to preserve scientific integrity, support federal research, and ensure evidence, not political headwinds, guides policymaking.”
Q7 What initiatives will you take to support investment in innovation via federal science funding?
“At every opportunity, I’ve condemned and fought President Trump’s reckless DOGE cuts to our expert civil service and their life’s work – including at the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy National Labs, and other higher education and federally funded institutions right here in Maryland. I am in full support of restoring and increasing the funding for these programs and their vital research. Weeks into President Trump’s second term, I joined the Maryland Delegation in demanding that the Administration reverse their decision to cut medical research in Maryland and nationwide. On the House Armed Services Committee and through government funding bills, I’ve delivered hundreds of millions of federal dollars to scientific innovation through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including $723 million for the Energy Resilience & Conservation Investment Program (ERCIP) and $220 million for Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI), both pivotal to strengthening resilience and infrastructure. Through appropriations requests, I’ve also secured funding for high school STEM education, invasive species research in the Chesapeake Bay, space exploration missions at JHU’s Applied Physics Lab, and more. I am working every day in Washington to champion our institutions and ensure all Americans can continue to access the critical, often life-saving scientific work of our strong, hardworking, merit-based federal workforce.”