Senator Murray Urges Passage of Military Construction-VA, Agriculture-FDA, and Legislative Branch Funding Bills
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies funding bill — BILL SUMMARY HERE
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies funding bill — BILL SUMMARY HERE
Legislative Branch funding bill —BILL SUMMARY HERE
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s remarks on the Senate Floor***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor as the Senate moved to consider its first appropriations package of Fiscal Year 2026, which includes the Military Construction-VA bill and Agriculture-FDA bills, both of which passed out of the Appropriations Committee in recent weeks in overwhelming bipartisan votes. Additionally, the Legislative Branch appropriations bill will be considered separately.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered on the Senate floor today, are below:
“Thank you, M. President. I’m so glad we are moving on our first appropriations package of FY26—it is a package of bipartisan funding bills that invest in our communities and reject damaging cuts from Trump and House Republicans.
“I want to acknowledge the Chair, my partner, the Senator from Maine, who has worked really hard to get these bills to this point and appreciate the tremendous amount of effort she and the subcommittee chairs have put into this, as well as our ranking members.
“M. President, If you think—like I do—that we cannot have another slush fund CR that gives away our power to Trump, if you think—like I do—that we need to reject a Trump budget that was so plainly written by his political appointees who do not care, or know, what our states need and instead make the investments we all know are best for the people we represent, then let me be clear, bills like this are the best chance we have to get the best outcome for folks back home.
“In this package we fully fund the WIC program and reject Trump efforts to eliminate international food aid programs, rural housing support, and food boxes that feed hundreds of thousands of seniors.
“We reject Trump’s call to cut FDA funding by hundreds of millions, and slash ag-research funding for universities across the country.
“And we make investments to support our servicemembers and their families, and to keep our promises to veterans—funding VA health care, fighting veteran homelessness, and more.
“Crucially—we don’t just have investments in this bill, but also new provisions to hold this, and any, Administration accountable to deliver for our veterans; requiring VA maintains staffing levels to meet their own goals—so we can stop the damage being caused by Trump’s mass firing of VA workers, requiring briefings and information so Congress, all of us, can actually get answers on how Trump’s new discriminatory policies are affecting veterans and withholding some funding until Congress knows these programs are actually working, like for the Electronic Health Record program where some resources will be held until VA certifies new systems are safe and are effective for our veterans.
“In addition to this package, we will vote on a Leg branch bill that rejects Trump efforts to gut the Government Accountability Office and invests in the Congressional Budget Office and the Congressional Research Service as well—to keep government accountable to laws and facts, and in security for the Capitol, and for our members—something that I know everyone here is concerned about.
“We have written these bills under challenging circumstances.
“Russ Vought is illegally hiding the apportionments data we all need to do our jobs. And we all recognize he has been illegally blocking funding we passed for our communities, at least until the courts step in or public pressure forces his hand.
“And if you are as mad as I am about an unelected bureaucrat like Russ Vought trying to overrule Congress and our constitutional role, then you should support these bills—this is, this is, how we exercise the power of the purse and make sure the voices of our constituents are heard when it comes to federal spending.
“We know his true motivations—it’s pretty transparent. He wants Congress to be more partisan, he has said so, and less powerful. And they want to gut programs left and right—without giving us any say whatsoever.
“So, I believe we have to reject that path, and assert our authority, and fight for our communities.
“We will do that today by passing this bipartisan funding package and pushing ahead with the other bipartisan bills we have in the pipeline as well. The bills we are moving today show bipartisan work is possible. And the cuts we were able to reject, and investments we were able to secure—show this to all of us this was worthwhile.
“So, I hope all of my colleagues will join with me in voting for these bills, and work with me to keep this progress going.”
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