By JOEY CAPPELLETTI

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled House on Tuesday advanced legislation aimed at fulfilling President Donald Trump’s long-running desire to “make showers great again” by voting to loosen federal efficiency standards for showerheads.

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The bill — dubbed the Saving Homeowners from Overregulation With Exceptional Rinsing, or Shower ACT — passed 226-197, with 11 Democrats crossing the aisle in support.

Republicans have argued the measure would wash away unnecessary regulations and allow more water to flow through showerheads. Democrats warn the relaxed standards could soak consumers with higher utility bills and worsen environmental impacts.

“If they want a nozzle that dribbles on their head, well then go get one of those. If you want something that slices an orange, well then go get one of those. That should be your choice as a consumer,” said GOP Rep. Russell Fry, sponsor of the bill.

The legislation is light on details, and its prospects in the Senate are uncertain as members of that chamber focus attention on government funding and foreign policy. Still, it’s part of a broader effort by House Speaker Mike Johnson to codify Trump’s executive actions in federal law.

In April, Trump signed an executive order calling for an immediate end to water conservation standards that limit the gallons per minute flowing through showerheads and other household appliances, including dishwashers, washing machines, and toilets. The House bill builds on that directive, seeking to reduce what Republicans view as overregulation by permitting stronger water flow in homes than current standards allow.

Environmental groups have criticized the proposal, warning it would increase water consumption and energy use. Democrats echoed those concerns and questioned why Republicans were spending time on the issue.

“Why on God’s green earth, on the first full day that this Congress is back in 2026, are the Republicans using the floor time — in the midst of armed conflict and daily corruption by this administration — to run a bill on rich people showers?” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., during debate last week.

For over three decades, federal energy law has outlined appliance standards that determine new showerheads shouldn’t pour out more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute (9.5 liters). The Obama administration refined the restrictions and applied those limits to the water that comes out of the entire showerhead, even ones with several nozzles.

During his first term, Trump relaxed that rule to allow each nozzle of a showerhead spray as much as 2.5 gallons. The Biden administration reversed Trump’s action in 2021.

Republicans defended the bill as a necessary corrective. GOP Rep. Michael Rulli of Ohio said Republicans are “worried about the working man.”

“You go on vacation, you go to a motel and you get a shower, it’s the worst shower you ever had. It’s cold. It’s dripping out there. The working man cannot even enjoy his daily life,” Rulli said.

Snowboarder Chloe Kim says she’s “good to go” for the Milan Cortina Olympics despite tearing the labrum in her shoulder during a training run last week in Switzerland.

Now comes a race against the clock to see if she can get ready for a contest that starts in less than a month.

The winner of the last two Olympic gold medals in the halfpipe posted an update to Instagram on Tuesday, saying she wasn’t surprised to learn she had torn her labrum — the lining of the socket that holds the shoulder together. She did not say which shoulder she injured when she fell while getting ready for this weekend’s Laax Open.

“There are two ways to do it, and the way I did it is less severe than the other, so I’m really happy about that,” she said. “Obviously, I’m really disappointed that I can’t snowboard until right before the Olympics, which is going to be hard. I haven’t gotten nearly the amount of reps that I would have liked, but that’s OK.”

The women’s Olympic halfpipe contest starts Feb. 11.

The 25-year-old Kim, who already has qualified for the U.S. team, would be the heavy favorite to win in Italy if she’s completely healthy. She said she won’t compete this weekend in Laax. She didn’t mention the Winter X Games in Aspen later this month, which are the last big contest before the Olympics.

Kim has only been in one competition this season — last month in Copper Mountain — and while warming up for the final there, she suffered a shoulder injury, as well.

Last week, she posted video of her fall in Switzerland, which showed her skittering across the halfpipe after losing her bearings on the landing of a jump. At that time, she said she dislocated the shoulder and wasn’t in that much pain. An MRI from last Friday revealed the labrum tear.

In her video, Kim said she’ll have to wear a “super-sexy shoulder brace” that is uncomfortable.

“I went through a bunch of different waves of emotions, but honestly, I’m really excited for this week,” she said.

The end of the video flashed to her picking up her boyfriend, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, at a train station.

“I’m so grateful to be able to do this even though the lows can get pretty damn low,” Kim wrote on the post that went along with her video. “Excited for a week of exploration!”

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The Minnesota Transportation Museum will celebrate the rebuild of the Justus Ramsey Stone House on museum grounds Wednesday.

The one-room house, which was erected around 1857, was owned by Justus Ramsey, the brother of Alexander Ramsey, first territorial governor of Minnesota and the state’s second official governor. Justus Ramsey never actually lived in the home, according to Frank White, a board member with Historic St. Paul, a preservation organization, though it housed various families associated with the railroad industry from 1890 to 1933.

The badly damaged house was saved from demolition and taken apart in 2023 and placed in storage around 30 minutes north of the Twin Cities. The Minnesota Transportation Museum eventually agreed to adopt the house and make it part of a permanent outdoor Pullman porter exhibit, the Pioneer Press reported in 2024.

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, according to the museum website.

The museum’s kickoff event will take place at 1 p.m. on Wednesday at 193 Pennsylvania Avenue East in St. Paul. More information on the museum and house can be found at trainride.org.

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Minnesota’s Department of Human Services is appealing a decision by the administration of President Donald Trump to withhold more than $2 billion in Medicaid funding from the state in 14 programs deemed to be at high risk for fraud.

The move comes after Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services head Dr. Mehmet Oz announced that the federal government would seek to cut off funding to Minnesota due to fraud in state programs. As of Tuesday there is no set date for that to happen, state officials said.

Oz said CMS would cut off around $515 million in quarterly Minnesota Medicaid funding for 14 “high-risk” programs after his agency demanded the state take corrective action on fraud last month. Oz demanded that the Department of Human Services place a six-month freeze on enrollments in high-risk providers and confirm existing providers’ legitimacy.

In their appeal, state officials are seeking to have the funding freeze reviewed at an administrative hearing at the federal level.

Federal official: ‘Deep rot’ in Minnesota’s social service system

While the state has made changes, including cutting off new licenses and provider enrollments in more than a dozen programs at high risk for fraud, federal officials ultimately found the changes unsatisfactory.

“We were disappointed to find that our draft corrective plan was summarily rejected in an unprecedented way, with little substantive analysis of the facts and no time for the state and federal agencies to discuss and agree upon a corrective action plan that would be implemented,” said Minnesota Medicaid Director John Connolly during a Tuesday media briefing.

In announcing CMS’s decision in a video on social media last week, Oz accused the state of not being forthcoming with federal officials.

“We’re increasingly worried about the deep rot within Minnesota’s Medicaid and Social Services system, which are supposed to protect the most vulnerable Americans,” Oz said. “The more we uncover, the more it becomes clear it’s much worse than we were led to believe by state government officials.”

State’s objections

Minnesota Human Services is disputing the legality and legitimacy of Oz’s announcement. In a Jan. 9 letter responding to the threat of federal funding cuts, Connolly detailed the state’s objections to Oz’s decision.

“There are no facts to support the withholding of all federal dollars for fourteen separate benefits. Even if plan noncompliance is proven at hearing, CMS’s withholding should be limited to the scope of noncompliance,” he wrote. “There is no basis to eliminate funding to the benefits entirely. Also, even if CMS’s intent is to eliminate all funding for these benefits, CMS has miscalculated, and overstated, the federal quarterly share.”

Minnesota Medicaid provides benefits for 1.2 million people overall, including about 592,000 children, according to Human Services.

The funding freeze also could place significant strain on the state budget, said Shireen Gandhi, the agency’s temporary commissioner.

“Unfortunately, CMS’ recent decision to withhold Medicaid funds is putting the people whom both agencies are sworn to serve at risk,” Gandhi said.

Changes to 14 high-risk programs

Human Services started making changes in 14 programs deemed to be at high risk for fraud soon after Oz demanded changes in December.

State officials first said they would stop accepting license applications for adult day care providers from Feb. 1 to Jan. 31, 2028. The move came amid allegations of fraudulent activity and allegations of kickback schemes in the program. Licensing is the process of getting authorization to operate.

Adult day services is one of 14 programs undergoing a third-party audit after being deemed high risk by state officials in the fall of 2025.

State Human Services officials stopped issuing licenses for new home and community-based services providers on Jan. 1, a pause that also will likely extend for two years.

The expanded freeze announced Thursday will apply to the rest of the operating Medicaid-funded state programs deemed high-risk.

They include: Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention Services for Autism; Integrated Community Supports; Nonemergency Medical Transportation; Peer Recovery Services; Adult Rehabilitative Mental Health Services; Adult Day Services; Personal Care Assistance/Community First Services and Supports; Recuperative Care; Individualized Home Supports; Adult Companion Services; Night Supervision; Assertive Community Treatment; Intensive Residential Treatment Services; and Housing Stabilization Services.

One of the 14 programs, Housing Stabilization Services, is no longer operating. Human Services ended the program in October after learning of a federal investigation into allegations of significant fraud.

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The U.S. Attorney’s Office has said there is significant fraud in federally funded programs in Minnesota, though the exact amount remains up for debate.

Former Assistant Minnesota U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson in December said fraud in the 14 high-risk Medicaid programs could top $9 billion since 2018, though Gov. Tim Walz has pushed back against that figure, calling it “defamation” of the state as it has not been backed by hard evidence.