Minority News Releases
Republicans Block Democrats’ Bill to Stop Trump from Robbing the American People with “Pocket Rescissions”
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s remarks*** Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, in seeking unanimous consent to pass a commonsense bill to stop President Trump from robbing the American people through illegal “pocket rescissions.” But Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) blocked the bill, which would (1) nullify the illegal “pocket rescission” that … Continue Reading
09.30.26
NEW: Trump Sets Over $230 Million for Rural Housing on Fire
As fiscal year ends at midnight, Trump admin is on track to let $230M+ in federal funding to help low-income Americans in rural areas afford to buy a home POLITICO: $230 million in federal rural housing funds set to expire this week ***STATE-BY-STATE DATA HERE*** Washington, D.C. — As the fiscal year ends at midnight tonight, the Trump administration is on track to not spend nearly half of the $1 billion Congress has allocated for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Sin… Continue Reading
09.30.26
Murray, Kaptur Slam Trump Administration’s Oil Reserve Release as Months Too Late for Families Paying High Energy Costs
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, released the following statement in response to the Department of Energy’s announcement of another release of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. “Families in Washington Sta… Continue Reading
09.29.26
Murray on GAO Concluding Trump’s Pocket Rescission is Illegal
ICYMI: Murray Slams Trump for Illegal Impoundment Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) concluding today that President Trump’s latest attempt to impound funding approved by Congress is illegal. “President Trump is breaking the law and stealing from the American taxpayer. He knows it, and the top nonpartisan government watchdog just confir… Continue Reading
09.29.26
Murray Calls Out Republicans’ Failure to Defend Funding for Families & Congress’ Power of the Purse
ICYMI: Murray Slams Trump for Illegal Impoundment ***WATCH: Senator Murray’s full remarks*** Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at the Senate Democratic leadership press conference, calling out Republican inaction to prevent President Trump’s illegal attempt to cut funding for lifesaving health research, education programs, and more through a “pocket rescission.” Senator Murr… Continue Reading
09.29.26
Murray, Murphy Demand Answers on DHS Spending Tax Dollars to Air Trump Campaign Ads
Washington, D.C. — Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin seeking immediate answers about the exact details of DHS’ spending to create and air taxpayer-funded political ads celebrating the president—and demanding the illegal ads come off the air. “It has come to our attent… Continue Reading
09.25.26
Murray Slams Trump for Illegal Impoundment
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on President Trump’s illegal attempt to do an end run around Congress with a “pocket rescission.” While the president has called out over $800 million in federal funding that he intends to impound, Senate Appropriations Committee Democrats have identified additional funding that the Trump administration is on track to either illegally impound or spend in defi… Continue Reading
09.25.26
Murray, Baldwin Lead Colleagues in Demanding Vought Abandon Any and All Plans to Exert Political Control Over NIH Funding
Lawmakers emphasize need for Republicans to join Democrats and support new guardrails in law to protect the integrity of NIH’s grantmaking process following long line of politically motivated attacks on NIH ICYMI: Senator Murray on Trump’s Latest Plan to Politicize Lifesaving NIH Research ICYMI: Murray on Trump Admin Scrapping Plans for Executive Order to Empower Russ Vought to Kill NIH Research Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Sen… Continue Reading
09.24.26
Top Appropriators Demand White House Immediately Take Taxpayer-Funded Ad Celebrating Trump Off the Air
Murray, DeLauro, Reed, Hoyer demand information about taxpayer dollars spent on the ad and remind Trump admin of multiple federal laws outlawing government propaganda Washington, D.C. — Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member; Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government; and R… Continue Reading
09.23.26
Murray on Trump Admin Scrapping Plans for Executive Order to Empower Russ Vought to Kill NIH Research
ICYMI: Senator Murray on Trump’s Latest Plan to Politicize Lifesaving NIH Research Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on news breaking today that plans to issue an executive order to establish an external review committee empowered to veto National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards are being scrapped. “It shouldn’t take public outcry to prevent President Trump and Russ Vought … Continue Reading
09.22.26
Trump Admin Set to Impound or Redirect Billions of Dollars in Foreign Policy Investments Congress Made
Murray, Schatz respond as President Trump and Secretary Rubio refuse to follow the law and deploy resources Congress provided to combat international fentanyl and narcotics trafficking, counter Russia, protect against global health threats, and more Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ranking Member of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee, issued the… Continue Reading
09.21.26
Senator Murray on Trump’s Latest Plan to Politicize Lifesaving NIH Research
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on President Trump’s latest reported plans to issue an executive order to establish an external review committee empowered to veto any awards selected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to receive funding. “Whether lifesaving medical research gets funded or not should be determined by experts at the NIH—not a panel of lackeys chosen by Do… Continue Reading
09.21.26
Murray, Kaptur Demand Answers on Trump Admin’s Rapid & Sweeping Changes to Nuclear Safety Measures, Putting Workers and the Public at Risk
Washington, D.C. —Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, sent a letter to Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Ho K. Nieh about the broad changes being made at the NRC to regulations, security, organizational structure, and more, which could thr… Continue Reading
09.16.26
Murray, Kaptur Demand Energy Department Restore Eliminated Safety Rules, Justify Rewrite of Dozens of Critical Safety and Accountability Measures
Washington, D.C. — Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, sent a letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright calling out the dozens of changes being made to operating directives at the Department of Energy (DOE), which is jeopardizing the safety of w… Continue Reading
09.16.26
Murray, Baldwin Sound Alarm on Trump Admin’s Plans to Siphon Away & Likely Impound Healthcare Research Funds
Lawmakers demand immediate information about plans to award tens of millions in AHRQ funding set to expire September 30, after HHS informed them it plans to transfer some funding to other agencies Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, demanded Secretary of the Department of Health… Continue Reading
09.15.26
Murray on New Report Finding Trump Wasted Billions in Taxpayer Dollars to Force Out Essential Federal Workers
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released today finding the Trump administration spent $9.5 billion paying federal workers not to work as part of its sweeping campaign to reduce the federal workforce. In many cases, after pushing out federal workers and paying them not to work, the Trump administration proceeded to rehire for their… Continue Reading
09.08.26
“It’s not 1950”: Senator Murray on Trump’s Outrageous and Backwards Move to Siphon Child Care Funding Away from Single Parents and Working Families
Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), released the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s reported plans to tap funding provided by Congress to help working families afford child care through the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and establish the first federal subsidy to incentivize pa… Continue Reading
09.03.26
Senator Murray on Pentagon Efforts to Rob NIH Funding for Its Own Use
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on the Department of Defense (DOD) inking an inter-agency agreement (IAA) with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which enables DOD to siphon billions of dollars away from NIH to support DOD initiatives instead of funding lifesaving medical research that Congress specifically set aside resources for. “As if cancelling lifesaving medical res… Continue Reading
09.01.26
Senator Murray on House Passage of CR
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on House passage of the Senate-passed continuing resolution (CR) that keeps the government funded through December 11. “It’s a good thing that Congress has averted a shutdown that no one wants. Now, the president just needs to sign the bill. “We have a lot of work ahead in the coming months to negotiate spending bills that invest in families ins… Continue Reading
08.24.26
As USS Lincoln Heads Home—Murray, Coons Call for Immediate Independent Investigation of Extended Deployments & Unacceptable Quality of Life Issues on Aircraft Carriers
Lawmakers seek answers on glaring quality of life and operational issues aboard not only the USS Lincoln—but the USS Ford and USS Benfold, which recently suffered a days-long power outage Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Chris Coons (D-DE), Ranking Member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao calling for the Department… Continue Reading