Murray Slams Rubio’s Defiance of Congress & Federal Law, Says Trump Admin Has Undermined American Leadership and Caused Preventable Suffering
Murray: “Secretary Rubio… you have overseen a systematic campaign to dismantle USAID, impound billions of dollars that this Committee actually provided, and unilaterally remake the Department of State—without the slightest bit of concern that you lack the authority to do that without Congress. It has created chaos, it’s caused preventable deaths across the globe, and it has undermined American leadership… what you have done is outright illegal.”
Murray calls for bipartisan pushback: “Are we going to roll over as Trump tramples our laws, and undermines our U.S. leadership, burns down what we’ve spent decades building, and lets millions of people across the globe suffer and die? Or are we going to stand up, push back, assert our constitutional power of the purse? And to my colleagues on both sides: this is the moment to decide whether this Committee continues to be a powerful bipartisan force. A force that I think we’ve all been proud of for a very long time.”
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s remarks and questioning***
Washington, D.C. — Today, at a Senate Appropriations State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee hearing on the fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Department of State, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, called Secretary Marco Rubio out for flagrantly defying federal laws, ignoring Congress, undermining American leadership and our national security, and causing untold preventable suffering and death in his four months as secretary thus far.
In opening comments, Vice Chair Murray said:
“Secretary Rubio, I am deeply concerned that you have overseen a systematic campaign to dismantle USAID, impound billions of dollars that this Committee actually provided, and unilaterally remake the Department of State—without the slightest bit of concern that you lack the authority to do that without Congress. It has created chaos, it’s caused preventable deaths across the globe, and it has undermined American leadership.
“As Ranking Member Schatz noted, what you have done is outright illegal. A complete violation of bipartisan appropriations laws, the Impoundment Control Act, and the Anti-Deficiency Act.
“Within hours of taking office, President Trump halted all foreign aid—in flagrant defiance of the law. Now, under your watch, Secretary Rubio, that freeze was implemented with chaos and cruelty.
“And then, you illegally shuttered USAID—placing everyone on leave, halting lifesaving work, literally locking people out of the building and out of their devices—even in dangerous corners of our world.
“You paid people not to work, abandoned our partners across the globe, and chaotically recalled global staff—putting more than 1,600 Americans who served our country abroad in limbo.
“And when you shut down the USAID payment system, you even refused to pay for services provided before the illegal freeze. You fought all the way to the Supreme Court against paying for services U.S. businesses already rendered, with funding that Congress already provided. And I know you know, Mr. Secretary, but you lost.
“And I assume you need the reminder, because to this day, you have not made all the payments that are required by our nation’s highest court, and as a result American companies continue to layoff American workers. And, by the way, you do continue to lose in court—including just yesterday over your move to illegally replace U.S. Institute of Peace leadership, and in recent cases, over international broadcasting.
“Now, eventually, Mr. Secretary, you sent Congress notice of your intent to collapse USAID into State. Only: you didn’t consult with this Committee—that’s required by law. It came without justification—also required by law. And it came long after USAID was reduced to rubble.
“So, sadly disregard for our laws and values, to me, has sort of become a pattern of your tenure: revoking visas when someone writes an op-ed you don’t like, or reaching a secret deal to use taxpayer dollars to jail U.S. residents in a notorious foreign prison—no due process. Or pointlessly leaving food assistance to rot in storage. Actually, in Dubai, we now have 500 tons of high energy biscuits that expire in July—they’re bought, they’re shipped, they’re stored all at taxpayer expense. But you’ve condemned them to waste. And that’s one example of many.
“Now, another pattern that I am deeply worried about is transparency. We have pressed you for information. Our staffs have sent you countless emails and briefing requests so we can do our job here. There are hundreds of unanswered requests, and no effort to address them. And Mr. Secretary, that’s got to change.
“Even your plan to reorganize the State Department came with no information on the 270 offices you are moving or eliminating, the proposed layoffs, or how USAID would be merged into State.
“I won’t ask you whether impounding billions of dollars is legal. It is not.
“I won’t ask whether it’s efficient to pay people not to work or fire them without even determining staffing needs.
“And I won’t ask if cutting 91% of our counternarcotic and law enforcement programs makes us safer, abruptly abandoning agreements with allies makes us stronger, or ceding our global leadership to China makes us more prosperous.
“Of course not—we know that.
“We have worked together for years in a bipartisan way to advance U.S. interests and fund those programs. So, with respect to my colleagues, how long are we going to sit here and watch this silently?
“Are we going to roll over as Trump tramples our laws, and undermines our U.S. leadership, burns down what we’ve spent decades building, and lets millions of people across the globe suffer and die? Or are we going to stand up, push back, assert our constitutional power of the purse?
“And to my colleagues on both sides: this is the moment to decide whether this Committee continues to be a powerful bipartisan force. A force that I think we’ve all been proud of for a very long time. A force that is focused on safety, economic strength, and national security—focused on leading the world in research and development, and countering China and others with our soft power and our military power.
“Every single member of this committee knows what we are risking by letting this administration tear down so much.
“On USAID and other programs, we can always talk about how we can make things work better and other reforms. I don't think any of us are opposed to any of those considerations—we have been doing that in a bipartisan way for a long time. But that is not actually what Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposes.”
Senator Murray began her questioning by pressing Secretary Rubio on the secretive deal the United States inked with El Salvador to jail U.S. residents in the country’s notorious mega-prison, stating: “Will you share the text and details with my staff of your agreement with El Salvador and any other similar arrangements, including the funding details that we need to have?”
Secretary Rubio ignored the question, defending his Department’s actions and falsely claiming he’s provided transparency to Congress, stating in part: “We've done nothing that's illegal… We've answered questions repeatedly. We get hundreds of questions a day. We respond [to] them as quickly as possible.”
“Mr. Secretary, I will tell you we are here because we need the information so that we can write our budget and in a bipartisan way move forward,” Senator Murray responded.
“Well, you'll have the information you need to write a budget,” Secretary Rubio interrupted.
“Okay, so will we get the details on the El Salvador arrangement?” Senator Murray pressed.
“Which El Salvador arrangement?” Secretary Rudio dodged.
“Your agreement that you've made with them [to detain people the U.S. sends there],” Senator Murray pressed.
“What agreement?” replied Secretary Rubio, in part, ducking the question.
“The funding details, we have not gotten. We need to see what the costs are,” Senator Murray responded.
Secretary Rubio again dodged the question, refusing to acknowledge an agreement or to confirm he’d share its details while confirming the U.S. has indeed paid El Salvador. He stated in part: “We’ve provided them law enforcement assistance. …. They have the right to spend that money any way they wish, but they did us a big favor…” He then falsely claimed the U.S. has not sent U.S. residents to El Salvador.
Senator Murray pressed again: “I’m asking you whether we can see the details of the arrangements, including the funding details.”
“I’m giving you the details. The arrangements are, we provide law enforcement funding to El Salvador, among other countries. How they choose to spend that money entirely is up to them,” Secretary Rubio deflected.
Senator Murray moved on, “I’ll take that as a no. Can you give me the details on the 200 plus offices you're proposing to eliminate? We need that. Can I get your commitment to giving us those?”
“Sure, of course. That's part of our reorg,” replied Secretary Rubio, who thus far has failed to provide the details to the Committee or Congress.
“How about the details and justifications of your proposed rescissions from programs you claim are out of alignment with administration priorities. Are we going to get the details of that funding priorities?” asked Senator Murray.
“On rescissions and empowerment, things of this nature? That's obviously an OMB function, and I would talk to them about that, what's going to go on with that money. I can tell you the contracts we canceled. And I can list to you the contracts we canceled and the rationale why, because I went through them myself,” replied Secretary Rubio.
Senator Murray followed up, “Will you get those to us—like today?”
Secretary Rubio did not provide a straight answer. Murray then pressed again on the need for transparency and more details, and Secretary Rubio ultimately committed: “Sure, you're going to have all that information.”
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