Van Hollen, Schiff, Durbin Call on Trump Administration to Abandon Debilitating Budget Cuts to State Department That Would Imperil U.S. National Security, Global Leadership

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and ten Senate Colleagues in urging the Trump administration to abandon its current State Department budget proposal amid reports that the budget request it plans to transmit to Congress will demand 48% in cuts to diplomatic and foreign assistance programs for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Senators wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to express their opposition to the cuts and emphasize the severe harm the cuts would have on U.S. national security and global leadership around the world, including the United States’ ability to maintain alliances and to confront and deter threats. 

“These cuts handcuff our ability to spread democracy and freedom, to oppose authoritarianism, expand economic opportunities, and to buy goodwill across the globe in a much less expensive way than military power,” the Senators wrote. 

“The primary beneficiary to these cuts will be China, which will exploit the vacuum to gain influence and expand its commercial and economic reach,” the Senators added. 

The Senators point out that last month, the Senate voted in an overwhelming bipartisan majority to reject cuts to many of the same programs. 

In addition to Senators Van Hollen, Schiff, and Durbin, the letter was signed by Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Peter Welch (D.-Vt.). 

The full text of their letter can be found here and below: 

Dear Secretary Rubio,

We write in strong opposition to the massive cuts proposed for the Fiscal Year 2026 budget for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). These cuts, far in excess of those included in your April 22 reorganization, would dramatically harm U.S. national security, increase the likelihood of conflict, reverse eight decades of U.S. global leadership, and would contribute to the deaths of thousands, if not millions, of people around the world from preventable disease, famine, and violence. 
 

We urge you to forcefully and continuously oppose this proposed budget request and work within the Administration to draft a budget that upholds our national security and maintains long-time core U.S. interests and values. 

As you know well from your many years of service in the Senate, the threats to U.S. national security are the most daunting, varied, and inter-connected than at any time since the end of World War II. To confront and deter the growing partnership between China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, the United States should be strengthening our alliances, expanding our partnerships, and building influence with other nations around the world. Planned cuts to the United Nations, NATO, and foreign assistance programs do the opposite – they undermine the credibility of U.S. assurances and weaken our allies’ and partners’ ability to provide for their own defense. The primary beneficiary to these cuts will be China, which will exploit the vacuum to gain influence and expand its commercial and economic reach. 

The budget would slash our ability to project U.S. influence around the world, including through cuts to State Department embassies and consulates; the foreign and civil service; participation in NATO and the United Nations; foreign assistance projects; broadcasting through the U.S. Agency for Global Media; and outreach programs like the Fulbright program, Peace Corps, and fellowships. These cuts handcuff our ability to spread democracy and freedom, to oppose authoritarianism, expand economic opportunities, and to buy goodwill across the globe in a much less expensive way than military power. 

Senate Democrats, joined by half of our Republican colleagues, voted against slashing many of these programs when Congress passed the full-year continuing resolution last month. We similarly oppose rescissions to important State Department and foreign assistance programs now reportedly under consideration. 

We agree that State Department and USAID funding can be spent more effectively and efficiently, and that the budget should be aligned with core U.S. interests and values. The budget under consideration does not do this. It robs the United States of decades of experience, influence, and goodwill that can be harnessed to prevent war, resolve crises, spread democracy, open markets, and preserve and enrich life. 

We urge you to engage in the budget process in order to produce a budget that preserves and enhances U.S. national security interests.