Minority News Releases
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
08.17.26
Murray, Senate Democrats Demand Accountability from Hegseth After Reports of Crisis Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln
***LETTER HERE*** Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA),Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined all thirteen members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) minority and the Democratic leader of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense in sending a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth demanding answers about deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, following reports that the aircraft carrier’s crew has endured food and water… Continue Reading
08.13.26
NEW: DHS Deploys Freshly Acquired Jets to Shuttle Trump Officials—including Kash Patel & Tom Homan—Around in Luxury
Murray and Murphy Blast Wasteful Spending, Demand Answers Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA),Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Chris Murphy (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin blasting DHS’ acquisition of 12 new planes—including 5 new luxury jets—and its plans to use those aircraft to ferry Trump administration officials around. They also … Continue Reading
08.08.26
Senator Murray on 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 Senate passage of the negotiated continuing resolution (CR) that keeps the government funded through December 11. “This is an important step forward to prevent a shutdown no one wants and provide the runway we need to negotiate funding bills in the months ahead, as we fight to rein in Trump’s corruption and make life more affordable for families … Continue Reading
08.04.26
Senator Murray Remarks on Averting Shutdown & Democrats’ Fight to Deliver for Families in Spending Bills
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s full remarks*** Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at the Senate Democratic leadership press conference on the Senate advancing the bipartisan continuing resolution (CR), which extends government funding through December 11. Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below: “Well, as last night’s vote made clear: no one wants a shutdown. It is… Continue Reading
08.03.26
Senator Murray Floor Remarks on Bipartisan CR
ICYMI: Senator Murray on Release of CR Text ***WATCH: Senator Murray’s full speech*** Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor ahead of the first procedural vote on the bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) released on Sunday, which extends government funding through December 11. Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below: “M. President, we have our work cut out for us … Continue Reading
08.02.26
Senator Murray on Release of CR Text
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on release of text of a bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) that keeps the government funded through December 11. “It’s good that we were able to produce a much-improved CR to keep the government funded and avert a shutdown that no one wants. “This bill includes important extensions and language that House Republicans’ CR did not, and it re… Continue Reading