[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 39 (Thursday, February 27, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1442-S1443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to make a 
simple point: The law cannot be in the eye of the beholder. The law is 
the law. But yet again, we are seeing the Trump administration break 
the law.
  Many of us have been closely following the Trump administration's 
illegal freeze of congressionally appropriated funding, including of 
foreign aid not just from the State Department but also from USAID, the 
African Development Foundation, the Inter-American Foundation, and 
other independent Agencies. Each of those Agencies' existence as an 
independent entity has long been enshrined in statute and reaffirmed by 
bipartisan majorities in both Chambers year after year in annual 
appropriations.
  Our appropriations law also explicitly requires the administration to 
notify and consult with Congress before undertaking any efforts to 
reorganize, realign, or downsize foreign affairs Agencies, as the 
sweeping reductions in force issued last week and many other brazen 
actions we have seen clearly seek to do.
  The administration's actions, including firing the USAID inspector 
general and the State IG, will make waste and fraud more likely, will 
prevent even foreign assistance programs allegedly supported by the 
administration from being effectively implemented, and will also 
effectively block hundreds of millions of dollars for other programs 
enacted into law by bipartisan majorities. Needless to say, the Trump 
administration has not consulted or notified Congress about these 
changes. That is in violation of the law.
  This week, they took a further step. The Trump administration has 
chosen to spit in the face of the law and Congress, expressing total 
disdain for a court order mandating they release the foreign aid 
funding they had illegally withheld. When finally told they must 
comply, Secretary Rubio personally approved the termination of 90 
percent of the USAID programs and 60 percent of State Department 
programs virtually overnight. They terminated more than $58 billion in 
multiyear programs and have told us they have no intention of utilizing 
those funds.
  The termination of those awards is absolutely not what Congress 
intended. Congress appropriated the funding on a bipartisan basis with 
the express intent to see those dollars spent. This is not trivial 
stuff. We are talking about resources that often mean the difference 
between life and death, resources that are imperative not just because 
they are lifesaving but because they are an investment in our own 
national security and in U.S. businesses.
  Let's take Ebola, for example. USAID helps other countries around the 
world respond to and contain Ebola outbreaks. That is pretty darn 
important because there is no known cure for Ebola.
  Thanks to the good work of USAID, along with our international 
partners--often supported by USAID awards--we have never had an Ebola 
outbreak here at home.
  Yesterday, at President Trump's Cabinet meeting, Elon Musk even 
admitted that, yes, we want to fight Ebola. Of course, then he said 
they ``accidentally'' cut USAID's Ebola prevention efforts but that it 
had been ``restored'' with no ``interruption.''
  Yet we know for a fact that is a lie. U.S.-based companies 
implementing these programs received termination notices yesterday. Any 
basic accounting of USAID's capacity to stop outbreaks abroad shows 
quite plainly any disease prevention efforts supported by the United 
States at this point are merely symbolic. You cannot break the 
foundation of public health systems overseas and expect that it won't 
have a damaging impact here at home.
  This makes America less safe. If Ebola, Marburg, or any other 
infectious disease makes it to our shores, it will be thanks to Elon 
and Trump--two billionaires without a clue who are positively smug 
about their own ignorance.
  But it is not just our infectious disease response that has now been 
gutted--everything from resources to help prevent kids from getting 
malaria to aid for refugees in war-torn places like Syria, where it is 
directly in our national security interests to foster stability.
  It is not just resources from faraway places. This will hit home in 
blue and red States. U.S. universities in my home State, in Indiana, in 
Florida, in Texas, and other States have had their partnerships 
terminated.
  American students from across our country who are now participating 
in exchange programs overseas are impacted by this. To put it into 
perspective for my colleagues, 5,800 of 6,300 USAID grants and 
contracts are being terminated. That is 9 out of 10. That is not to 
mention 4,100 of 6,800 State Department grants and contracts.
  The only detail we have is from the NGO's faith-based organizations 
and U.S. contractors sending these termination notices to our 
committee. We do not have one shred of detail from the State 
Department, not one shred.
  The scale is staggering, and it shows you that this administration's 
scheme

[[Page S1443]]

is to bulldoze right through restraining orders and court orders so 
that by the time the law does catch up with them, the damage will have 
been done. Compliance is easy at that point. What is left to fix once 
you have burned everything to the ground?
  This administration knows full well they are breaking the law. They 
are showing us all in plain view their goal is to do irreparable 
damage, as much as possible, as fast as possible.
  Well, I am here today to sound the alarm because this illegal power 
grab is in direct violation of congressional intent and appropriations 
laws.
  The Supreme Court should act with haste to bring this administration 
to account and ensure that money Congress appropriated gets to where it 
was intended. Whether it is President Trump or Elon Musk or the 
Secretary of State calling the shots, Congress has no visibility into 
DOGE's actions, frustrating our ability to write funding bills when 
government funding runs out in weeks.
  By ignoring the law and congressional intent, the administration has 
created chaos; they have eroded trust in the United States; and they 
made way for Russia and China to take advantage of this leadership 
vacuum.
  No one should fall for this thin veneer about efficiency while this 
administration racks up legal fees, overdue payments to contractors, 
pays people not to work, and forces a global recall of staff.
  We have a process to avoid this kind of chaos: The President submits 
his or her budget request to Congress. Congress holds hearings 
publicly, writes and passes bills that become law. We have explicit 
notification and consultation requirements for foreign assistance 
funding for a reason.
  Do I need to march down to the National Archives? Do I need to make 
sure we still have a Constitution? Do I need to check whether the laws 
we passed are even still there or did they start running them through a 
shedder? Because as blatant and persistent as it has been, no one--no 
one--should expect this kind of lawlessness to fade away.
  I cast my votes, and I speak on this floor as a voice for the people 
of the State I represent, Washington State. I was not elected to let 
the President of any party or some unaccounted billionaire decide how 
their tax dollars get spent.
  Every Senator here should speak loudly with one unified voice: 
Congress holds the power of the purse. No President can unilaterally 
abolish an entire Agency or ignore our appropriations laws.
  I yield the floor.

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