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Foreign policy11 April 2025

Welcome to the 119th Congress: The Appropriations Committees

11 April 2025

Chairwoman Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., left, and vice chair Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, take their seats before the start of the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing

Explainer by

Alice Nason

Senior Research Associate, Foreign Policy and DefenceUnited States Studies Centre

Tom Corben

Research Fellow, Foreign Policy and DefenceUnited States Studies Centre

Samuel Garrett

Research AssociateUnited States Studies Centre

What are the Appropriations Committees?

The oft-repeated wisdom in Washington is that there are three parties in Congress: Democrats, Republicans, and Appropriators.¹ The majority of all legislation considered before Congress is related to budget authorisations and appropriations.² Accordingly, the Senate and House Appropriations Committees are understood to be among the most powerful in Congress, overseeing all discretionary spending by the US Government. This includes appropriating funding for the annual National Defense Authorization Act, a bill which, contrary to common misperception, only provides legal authority to appropriate defence funding without actually securing any money itself. It is not uncommon for congressional appropriations to fall short of amounts authorised by other committees like the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees in both chambers,³ even if they frequently exceed the President’s Budget Request. For instance, while the Senate Armed Services Committee authorised an additional $25 billion for the Department of Defense over the Biden administration’s FY25 budget request, the Senate Appropriations Committee authorised only $21 billion in additional funding through emergency funding rather than as part of the Pentagon’s base budget.⁴

The Congressional ‘power of the purse’ has already been challenged by the second Trump administration, which has sought more expansive control over government spending. The powers amassed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of Personnel Management, including their efforts to dismantle agencies and refuse to distribute approved funds, increasingly grate against Congress’s traditional jurisdiction over the contours of US government spending.⁵ Though the president has a strong grip on the Republican Party, particularly in the House of Representatives, budgetary tensions have exposed gaps between the administration and certain Republican factions in Congress on defence and foreign policy funding.⁶ A key dynamic to watch in this Congress will be that between these Republican appropriators and the administration in funding international priorities – emerging “fault lines” that are only set to intensify as the FY26 budget-making process ramps up in the coming months.⁷

What are their subcommittees?

The House Appropriations Committee has 10 constituent subcommittees, while the Senate Appropriations Committee has 12. Unlike the Armed Services Committees and Foreign Affairs Committees in both chambers, Appropriations subcommittees exercise oversight across the breadth of US government policy at home and abroad, meaning that defence and foreign policy issues effectively compete with the suite of domestic policy concerns for full committee attention. Accordingly, defence and foreign policy issues are often not the issues of greatest interest or concern to committee chairs and members.

Members to watch in the 119th Congress

Senate Appropriations Committee

Susan Collins

Current position: Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee

Seat: Republican, Maine

Time spent in Congress: 29 years

Time as chair or vice chair: Chair (January 2021 – January 2023; January 2025 - Present); Ranking Member (January 2023 – January 2025),

Other committees: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Who are they?

Susan Collins is the most senior female Republican in the Senate and the first female Republican to chair the Appropriations Committee. She has a well-established interest in national security issues, having previously served as ranking member of the Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations and spearheaded the creation of the office of the Director of National Intelligence in 2004-05.⁸ Collins is a prominent figure in a reportedly dwindling group of moderate Republicans in Congress.⁹ She has been unafraid to vote against Republican colleagues, only voting along party lines approximately 36% of the time in 2024.¹⁰ Her bipartisan efforts are a significant factor behind her consistent political success in her broadly Democratic-leaning home state.¹¹ The Lugar Center at Georgetown University has almost invariably rated Collins as the most bipartisan Senator over the past decade.¹² Collins has long warned that “a harsher partisan environment” in Congress poses growing risks to national security funding.¹³ Collins has said that she will seek re-election in 2026.¹⁴

Collins has made a name for herself as one of a small number of Republicans willing to openly break with President Trump. She struggled to maintain the support of Democratic voters in her home state during the first Trump administration, though, in a close-fought race, overcame a Democratic challenger to maintain her seat in 2020.¹⁵ Collins was one of only seven Republicans to vote to convict the then-former president following his second impeachment trial in 2021 and subsequently refused to endorse Trump during his 2024 campaign. More recently, Collins was one of only three Republican senators to oppose the confirmation of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense,¹⁶ though she voted in favour of other controversial Trump administration nominees. To date, Collins has criticised the Trump administration’s threats not to spend congressionally appropriated money as unlawful and in violation of the Constitution, predicting legal action were it to do so.¹⁷

Senator Susan CollinsSource: Getty

What should Australians know?

Allies and partners

Collins broadly supports efforts to strengthen US allies and partners, though her interests seem to lie more in European and Middle East partnerships than they do in Asia.¹⁸ Collins has sought to open allies’ markets to greater American access.¹⁹ During President Trump’s first term, Collins criticised his disinterest in diplomacy that “alienat[ed] our closest allies, our longtime friends…and our biggest trading partners” and his tendency to embrace strongmen while distrusting some allied heads of state.²⁰ She has continued to caution against the president’s “reckless” attacks on NATO allies, and consistently voted in support of aid to Ukraine.²¹ Further, she supported legislation in 2019 to make it more difficult for a president to unilaterally withdraw from the alliance.²²

China

Though she has described the national security threat from Beijing as “blatant,”²³ Collins’ leadership of China-oriented legislation has mostly been limited to home front issues, including foreign influence, espionage, economics and counter-narcotics issues. She has taken a particular interest in the illegal production of marijuana in her home state by alleged Chinese criminal groups.²⁴ She has also supported efforts to force TikTok to divest of Chinese ownership and to restore “fairness” in the bilateral trade relationship.²⁵ Collins attempted to block the Biden administration’s moves in 2023 to sell oil from America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) to China, based on domestic energy consumption concerns rather than strategic competition,²⁶ and criticised President Trump for asking China to investigate then-candidate Joe Biden in 2019.²⁷ Following the 2023 flight of a Chinese spy balloon in US airspace, Collins joined her Democratic counterpart on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in introducing legislation condemning the action and lobbying Biden to factor in efforts to combat such incursions in his annual budget request.²⁸

Taiwan

Collins has generally voted in support of measures supporting Taiwan and has visited the island multiple times. In Defense Subcommittee hearings, she has spoken of the need to arm Taiwan sufficiently to “credibly deter China from using force to accomplish its objectives.”²⁹ Collins was among 25 Republicans to sign a letter in support of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 2022 Taiwan visit.³⁰ Collins views security challenges across regions as linked and recognises that a failure to thwart any effort by authoritarian actors to change the status quo jeopardises US security -a view inspiring commitment to Taiwan’s defence.³¹

AUKUS

Maine is the home state for maintenance facilities for nuclear-powered submarines. It is unsurprising, then, that Collins’ most vocal comments on AUKUS have pertained to increasing funding for the US industrial base to meet national and allied requirements. In July 2023, Collins, alongside Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS), co-headed a letter from 25 Republican representatives to the White House conditioning future submarine transfers to Australia under AUKUS on greater investments in the US submarine industrial base to meet expanded demands.³² She was then active in delivering the implied intent of that request, supporting the 2024 National Security Supplemental that included $US3.3 billion for the submarine industrial base outside of the regular budget cycle.³³

Foreign policy spending

Collins has described efforts by the Trump administration and DOGE to block approved spending as a “pretty clear” violation of Article One of the Constitution.³⁴ She was the sharpest public Republican critic of DOGE’s dismantling of USAID, faulting the process for neglecting legal requirements to consult Congress and confusing nonprofit workers.³⁵ Immediately after the administration took action against USAID, Collins convened a meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers critical of Elon Musk’s activities and expressed additional concerns about DOGE accessing sensitive personal information. She pledged to determine next steps with fellow Appropriations Committee members rather than to simply “rubber stamp” the administration’s proposed cuts.³⁶

On national security, Collins advocates for increased defence spending, including above-negotiated budget toplines agreed by the broader Republican caucus.³⁷ In that respect, Collins was against the sequestration measures as part of the 2011 Budget Control Act and opposed fiscal hawks within her own party seeking to cut spending from the Pentagon and State Department.³⁸ With regards to FY2025 budget appropriations, Collins thinks growing global security threats “must be met with the resolve to invest in a stronger national defence.”³⁹ Collins has consistently supported funding legislation encouraging the Pentagon to pursue multiyear procurement contracting for defence articles, providing greater certainty of demand to manufacturers.⁴⁰ Such a move is viewed as crucial by Australian defence industry for expanded US-Australian cooperation on guided weapons and explosive ordnance production.⁴¹ Collins has also pushed back against the “divest to invest” approach to defence modernisation⁴² – retiring large numbers of old platforms to fund the development of newer, more advanced capabilities – musing that “quantity has a quality all of its own” and criticising previous administrations for failing to strike a balance between modernising the force and maintaining current capability levels.⁴³

Patty Murray

Current position: Vice Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee

Seat: Democrat, Washington

Time in Congress: 32 years

Time as chair or vice chair: Vice Chair (January 2025 – present); Chair (January 2023 – 2025)

Other committees: Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs; Senate Committee on the Budget; Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Who are they?

Senator Patty Murray is currently in her sixth term as the senior Senate representative from the state of Washington. Murray is now the most senior Senate Democrat, though in recent years she has stepped back from her long-time role in Democratic Party leadership, having served as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Conference secretary, and assistant Democratic leader. She has sat on the Senate Appropriations Committee since first coming to Congress in 1993, including as chair between January 2023 and January 2025. As Senate Budget Committee chair, Murray worked across party lines to deliver annual funding packages. This included working with her Republican House counterpart to broker a bipartisan budget act in 2013, which raised discretionary and non-discretionary spending above the ceiling set by the 2011 Budget Control Act in exchange for an extension of the caps’ longevity, evidencing her willingness to work around even congressionally-mandated limits in the interests of national security funding.⁴⁴ Senator Murray’s priority policy issues are predominantly domestic – including the environment and education – and are embodied in her leadership of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. She has sworn that President Trump will not dismantle the Department of Education on her watch,⁴⁵ arguing that any effort to destroy or remake the Department would require Congressional consultation and certification.⁴⁶

What should Australians know?

Allies and partners

Murray consistently advocates for US aid to Ukraine and praised the February 2024 Senate passage of the US$95 billion National Security Supplemental as essential to maintaining US alliances and partnerships.⁴⁷ The supplemental also included military aid to Taiwan. Murray insisted throughout negotiations that the supplemental’s support for different theatres not be split into separate, smaller appropriations “because the reality is these issues are all connected, and they are all urgent.”⁴⁸ She also argued publicly that passage of the supplemental would prove “that we are still a strong protector of democracy and provider of humanitarian aid” to the world.⁴⁹ Along with other Democratic senators, Murray co-signed a letter to President Trump in February 2018 expressing the importance of filling the South Korean ambassadorial post to advance US interests in East Asia.⁵⁰

China

Murray has spoken regularly about the importance of passing appropriations bills and avoiding government shutdowns so as to “stay ahead” of China’s rising economic and military strength. Doing so, according to Murray, will require an “all-of-government” approach that overcomes partisan fights.⁵¹ Murray has warned that “China is pressing forward with aggressive modernisation and expansion of their military capabilities”, which requires a strong US response.⁵² She has tied her domestic legislative priorities such as economic stimulus and the CHIPS and Science Act to US effectiveness in strategic competition with China. Like many of her Senate colleagues, she has connected competition with China with the need to support for Ukraine, saying in October 2023 that “the Chinese Government is watching how we respond to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.”⁵³ Murray was also part of a bipartisan delegation to Beijing in 2018 pushing for currency reforms, holding talks on Taiwan, Iran and North Korea, and criticising China’s trade practices.⁵⁴

Senator Patty MurraySource: Getty

Taiwan

Murray has supported a range of Asian security initiatives, including the provision of military aid to Taiwan.⁵⁵ Murray clearly endorsed “making the investments that our nation needs to stay ahead of the Chinese government and other competitors” across the full spectrum of American strategy.⁵⁶ Though generally supportive of a higher defence topline budget,⁵⁷ like many Democrats, Murray has also insisted on parity in non-defence spending to reinforce the foundations of American power at home.⁵⁸ Murray describes diplomatic, economic and political tools of statecraft as fundamentally “connected” to the exercise of military power.⁵⁹ She views fully funding regional accounts, including the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, as a “critical” means to “stay ahead of China’s military modernization.”⁶⁰ Murray also played a role in shaping appropriations elements of the CHIPS and Science Act, which authorised roughly $US280 billion to stimulate domestic semi-conductor research and manufacturing, with an emphasis on the non-defence tools of statecraft.⁶¹

AUKUS

Though Murray has not publicly specified precise views on AUKUS and a range of acute Indo-Pacific strategic issues, the senator has nevertheless worked in support of a range of initiatives serving these priorities. Within the Appropriations Committee, she advocated for better resourcing all tools of US statecraft, including those intended to strengthen security partnerships AUKUS. As part of a larger package of funding intended predominantly to support Ukraine and Israel, Murray worked to appropriate additional supplementary funding for the US submarine industrial base in the service of accelerating SSN production.⁶²

Foreign policy spending

Murray has tied foreign policy spending – as well as defence spending - to US success in strategic competition with China.⁶³ She argues that “keeping our country safe and competitive is not just about defence spending… [but] means investing in diplomacy and development to counter political and economic coercion, promote stability, stand up to autocrats, support our allies, and advance our global leadership.”⁶⁴ Like her Republican SAC counterpart Sen. Collins, Murray has criticised Trump administration cuts to USAID and other State Department programs as “lawless”.⁶⁵ She remarked that “freezing foreign assistance is not putting America first—it is guaranteeing America comes in last. Because every funding gap we leave is an opportunity for our adversaries to step in, fill the gap, and play the hero while casting us as the villain.”⁶⁶ Murray emphasises the importance of bipartisanship on foreign policy spending to present a united front to the world. To this end she has argued for consistent military funding and support, and against reliance on continuing resolutions and budget instability because of their impact on defence.⁶⁷

House Appropriations Committee

Tom Cole

Position: Chair, House Appropriations Committee

Seat: Republican, Oklahoma, 4th district

Time spent in Congress: 22 years

Time as chair or ranking member: Chair (April 2024 – present)

Other committees: None

Who are they?

Previously described as an “institutionalist” often at odds with the Republican Party’s right-wing,⁶⁸ Tom Cole is an 11-term congressman and former history professor at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Baptist University. Cole has sat on the House Appropriations Committee since 2009, and his bid to assume its leadership in 2024 was uncontested. He is the longest-serving Native American congressman in the history of the chamber and the only current member who has chaired both the Appropriations and Rules Committees – controlling both spending and access to the congressional floor. Though he carried his district by a more than 30-point margin in the 2024 elections, he only narrowly retained the Republican nomination following one of the fiercest primaries of the 2024 election cycle from a challenger that criticised Cole for voting with Democrats and enabling deficit spending.⁶⁹ In the aftermath, early indications suggest that Cole’s views on appropriations have seemingly drifted closer towards his party’s right wing in recent months, and he has insisted that “a Republican House is not going to chain down a Republican president.”⁷⁰

What should Australians know?

Allies and partners

Though his committee does not have a comprehensively international portfolio, Cole has played an important role in advancing US alliances by shepherding through annual and supplemental defence and foreign operations funding packages within the Appropriations Committee. In 2024, Cole led a bipartisan delegation to the Middle East aimed at strengthening regional partnerships (including the “unbreakable bond” between the United States and Israel) and underwriting regional security.⁷¹ He has also joined similar delegations to the Indo-Pacific in recent years, showing support for regional partners like Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.⁷² He has generally committed to accelerating security assistance packages, noting “if we don’t help our friends in times of need, soon enough, we won’t have any friends at all.”⁷³ However, while Cole has consistently voted in favour of military aid to Ukraine,⁷⁴ he also claimed more recently that annual appropriations funding such assistance measures were “not a law” in the context of the Trump administration’s decision to freeze aid to Kyiv (legitimating the administration’s decision).⁷⁵

China

Cole has touted his credentials in pushing back against China’s economic and political influence in the United States and in attempting to undercut Chinese tools of statecraft abroad, particularly in the Indo-Pacific,⁷⁶ remarking that Beijing seems “more interested in being America’s foe than America’s friend.”⁷⁷ Cole is a vocal critic of Chinese economic coercion and has co-sponsored legislation aimed at supporting allies and partners to endure and counter coercive behaviour.⁷⁸ In addition, Cole was deeply critical of China’s perceived lack of cooperation during the pandemic and accused the PRC of manipulating the WHO, remarking: “if you’re not guilty, then don’t act like you’re guilty.” Supporting ‘China week’ in the previous Congress, a period in which many members of the House brought forward China-related legislation, Cole voted in favour of all legislation combatting the “existential” threat posed by the CCP to the United States.⁷⁹

Rep. Tom Cole speaks to reporters at Capitol HillSource: Getty

Taiwan

While Cole’s specific views on Taiwan are difficult to discern from public evidence, he appears broadly supportive of strengthening the island’s deterrent capability. He has described Taiwan, alongside Ukraine and Israel, as “on the front lines of the struggle to preserve democracy and freedom in the world”, while supporting multi-billion dollar budget measures to help Taiwan counter Beijing’s “intimidation” and “influence.”⁸⁰ He has also visited Taipei as part of a bipartisan delegation.

AUKUS

Cole has proven a low-profile supporter of AUKUS. He co-sponsored the AUKUS Submarine Transfer Authorisation Act in September 2023, later included in the 2024 NDAA, and introduced the beleaguered Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which included additional submarine industrial base funding, that ultimately passed the House. He also called to increase the FY2025 presidential request for appropriations to double submarine procurement from one to two vessels in that calendar year,⁸¹ consistent with widely held views among Congresspeople and expert commentators on the construction rate required to reasonably allow for the transfer of submarines to Australia in the future.

Foreign policy spending

Ongoing administration efforts to unilaterally reshape federal foreign policy spending present a complex challenge for Cole. Cole reportedly encouraged Elon Musk to consult members of Congress before pushing through cuts and has a track record of effective dealmaking with Democrat counterparts. Cole is the rare Republican to be regularly endorsed by the American Federation of Government Employees, a federal union with 820,000 members, and there are concerns in his district about the likelihood of layoffs triggered by budget cuts to federal agencies.⁸² Equally, he has stated his willingness to facilitate Trump’s agenda and has maintained a generally positive relationship with the president throughout his first and second terms to date.⁸³ He did not oppose the administration’s dismantling of USAID, calling DOGE’s efforts a “valuable exercise.”⁸⁴

In the past, Cole has advocated for increases to defence and foreign policy spending even while pushing for cuts across the federal budget broadly. He believes that the United States faces a “much more dangerous world than we thought it was only two or three years ago” and that “the overall budget is out of balance” to meet the challenges of the times.⁸⁵ Under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, he recognised that it was “difficult for us to do some things that I think we need to do,” but was blunt that he thought the previous administration’s requested defence budget was too low.⁸⁶

Cole previously endorsed the idea that US defence spending needed to increase by 3-5% in real terms to meet America’s national defence requirements, but with the caveat that the Pentagon also needed to exercise greater fiscal discipline.⁸⁷ For instance, while supportive of a “divest to invest” approach to force structure taken by the Biden administration, he has bemoaned a lack of funding to help the military services accelerate those programs.⁸⁸ Importantly, Cole supports robust funding for both the Defense and State Departments to ensure that the tools of American international statecraft can work in unison,⁸⁹ remarking that “investing in development and diplomacy is a crucial component of our nation’s national security toolkit and showcases the very best of American values to the world.”⁹⁰ He has supported an array of foreign aid and assistance efforts for developing countries to build partnerships.⁹¹

Rosa DeLauro

Current position: Ranking member, House Appropriations Committee

Seat: Democrat, Connecticut, 3rd District

Time spent in Congress: 34 years

Time as chair or ranking member: Ranking member (January 2023 – present), chair (January 2021 – January 2023).

Other Committees: None

Who are they?

Rosa DeLauro has served in Congress since 1991 and was a founding member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. DeLauro chaired the House Appropriations Committee during the 117th Congress and served as the committee’s ranking Democratic member since 2023. Fellow Democrats praise her leadership in this committee for her effective management of the Democratic caucus and strength as a negotiator.⁹² She has also worked closely for years with current committee chair Tom Cole, who has described her as “very capable.”⁹³ Like her Senate Democratic counterpart Patty Murray, DeLauro’s focus is habitually trained on healthcare and education issues, cemented by her senior role on the Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee. Since President Trump’s inauguration, she has fiercely criticised administration efforts to “rob appropriated funds” by freezing funding.⁹⁴

Rep. Rosa DeLauroSource: Getty

What should Australians know?

Allies and partners

DeLauro’s legislative efforts during her time in Congress have primarily focused on domestic issues rather than foreign policy. However, she has a recent track record of supporting defence spending and foreign aid in the Indo-Pacific through measures including the National Security Supplemental and has spoken publicly about the need for the United States to maintain its competitive economic and military edge over its adversaries through nurturing its alliances. She remarks that “when we retreat from the global stage, China and Russia fill in the gaps, and the world becomes a more dangerous place.”⁹⁵ In Asia, DeLauro has been an ardent supporter of alliances with “Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and the Philippines” and has warned that “[r]etreating from Asia… would be a colossal mistake.”⁹⁶ She encourages the provision of funding to Indo-Pacific allies to counter “China’s aggressive and adversarial posture.”⁹⁷

China

To the extent that DeLauro has articulated her views on China, these have been framed around economic security and industrial policy concerns, including market access and technology security. Indeed, she has a long record of interrogating the practices of state-owned Chinese enterprises in the American market and has pushed for new or reformed regulations to limit the access that these companies have to US government tenders, including Pentagon contracts, and the American market more broadly.⁹⁸ In 2024, DeLauro authored legislation that directed the government to tighten rules on US investments in Chinese technology firms including AI, quantum computing and semiconductor manufacturing in the interests of onshoring more development and production.⁹⁹ She criticised Elon Musk in his capacity as head of the Department of Government Efficiency for attempting to derail the bill in the current congress.¹⁰⁰ Elsewhere, DeLauro voted in support of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act to force TikTok to end its Chinese ownership to continue operating in the United States.¹⁰¹ She expressed concern that an app controlled by “one of the United States’ most prominent adversaries” could be used “to spy on Americans or to manufacture public opinion.”¹⁰² She has also criticised carve-outs for Chinese companies from certain de minimis e-commerce regulations.¹⁰³

Taiwan

DeLauro advanced the 2024 Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriation Act that provided US$3.9 billion for Taiwan and other regional allies, framing support for Taipei as a proxy for America’s overall commitment to regional security.¹⁰⁴ DeLauro also co-sponsored the 2023 United States-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade First Agreement Implementation Act, which aimed to deepen cooperation and promote economic innovation between Taiwan and the United States.¹⁰⁵

AUKUS

DeLauro has made no detailed comments relating to the AUKUS partnership, though she has indirectly demonstrated her support through her backing of regional alliances and defence cooperation, as well as the National Security Supplemental Bill, which included money for the US submarine industrial base.

Foreign policy spending

DeLauro has insisted on equal funding for both “guns and butter,” linking her support for higher defence and foreign policy spending to increased resourcing of domestic programs.¹⁰⁶ For instance, she was highly critical of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and debt ceiling agreement reached between President Biden and congressional Republicans in 2023 for disproportionately restricting domestic programs over defence spending.¹⁰⁷ At the same time, DeLauro has bemoaned budget measures that have wilfully or inadvertently restricted funding for the Pentagon or State Department, including measures like the sequestration triggered under the 2011 Budget Control Act and repeated continuing resolutions.¹⁰⁸ She described these measures as “bad for our military” and at odds with the imperatives created by the “rising influence of China.”¹⁰⁹ To that end, she has publicly thrown her support behind eliminating the federal debt limit entirely, a view shared by President Trump.¹¹⁰ DeLauro views the Trump administration’s aid freeze and disabling of USAID as “unlawful”, as well as “disastrous” and “inhumane.”¹¹¹ She has sought to counteract DOGE’s sweeping changes to federal funding projects by deeming them unconstitutional.¹¹²

Appendix. Appropriations Committee Members

House of Representatives

Republican

Tom Cole (R-OK 04)
Harold Rogers (R-KY 05)
Robert Aderholt (R-AL 04)
Michael Simpson (R-ID 02)
John Carter (R-TX 31)
Ken Calvert (R-CA 41)
Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL 26)
Steve Womack (R-AR 03)
Charles Fleischmann (R-TN 03)
David Joyce (R-OH 14)
Andy Harris (R-MD 01)
Mark Amodei (R-NV 02)
David Valadao (R-CA 22)
Dan Newhouse (R-WA 04)
John Moolenaar (R-MI 02)
John Rutherford (R-FL 05)
Ben Cline (R-VA 06)
Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA 14)
Ashley Hinson (R-IA 02)
Tony Gonzales (R-TX 23)
Julia Letlow (R-LA 05)
Michael Cloud (R-TX 27)
Michael Guest (R-MS 03)
Ryan Zinke (R-MT 01)
Andrew Clyde (R-GA 09)
Stephanie Bice (R-OK 05)
Scott Franklin (R-FL 18)
Jake Ellzey (R-TX 06)
Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ 06)
Chuck Edwards (R-NC 11)
Mark Alford (R-MO 04)
Nick LaLota (R-NY 01)
Dale Strong (R-AL 05)
Celeste Maloy (R-UT 02)
Riley Moore (R-WV 02)

Democrat

Rosa DeLauro (D-CT 03)
Steny Hoyer (D-MD 05)
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH 09)
James Clyburn (D-SC 06)
Sanford Bishop (D-GA 02)
Betty McCollum (D-MN 04)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL 25)
Henry Cuellar (D-TX 28)
Chellie Pingree (D-ME 01)
Mike Quigley (D-IL 05)
Grace Meng (D-NY 06)
Mark Pocan (D-WI 02)
Pete Aguilar (D-CA 33)
Lois Frankel (D-FL 22)
Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ 12)
Norma Torres (D-CA 35)
Ed Case (D-HI 01)
Adriano Espaillat (D-NY 13)
Josh Harder (D-CA 09)
Lauren Underwood (D-IL 14)
Susie Lee (D-NV 03)
Joseph Morelle (D-NY 25)
Mike Levin (D-CA 49)
Madeleine Dean (D-PA 04)
Veronica Escobar (D-TX 16)
Frank Mrvan (D-IN 01)
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA 03)
Glenn Ivey (D-MD 04)

Senate

Republican

Susan Collins (R-ME)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Jerry Moran (R-KA)
John Hoeven (R-ND)
John Boozman (R-AR)
Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
John Kennedy (R-LA)
Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
Katie Britt (R-AL)
Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)
Deb Fischer (R-NE)
Mike Rounds (R-SD)

Democrat

Patty Murray (D-WA)
Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Jack Reed (D-RI)
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Christopher Coons (D-DE)
Brian Schatz (D-HI)
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Chris Murphy (D-CT)
Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
Gary Peters (D-MI)
Kristin Gillibrand (D-NY)
Jon Ossoff (D-GA)

Welcome to the 119th Congress: The Foreign Relations Committees

Explainer byTom Corben, Alice Nason

US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, Senator Marco Rubio speaks with Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Chairman Senator James Risch

Endnotes

See, for example: John McCain, Worth the fighting for, Random House, 2022, p. 519; Mark Pocan in Catie Edmondson, “House G.O.P. defunds L.G.B.T.Q. centers by banning earmarks for nonprofits,” New York Times, 14 May 2024. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/14/us/politics/gop-earmarks-lgbtq-centers.html?searchResultPosition=3.
“The Appropriations Committee: Authority, Process and Impact,” US House of Representatives, (n.d.). Available at: https://appropriations.house.gov/about/appropriations-committee-authority-process-and-impact.
Alice Nason and Tom Corben, “Welcome to the 119th Congress: The Armed Services Committees,” United States Studies Centre, 11 March 2025. Available at: https://www.ussc.edu.au/welcome-to-the-119th-congress-the-armed-services-committees; Tom Corben and Alice Nason, “Welcome to the 119th Congress: The Foreign Affairs Committees,” United States Studies Centre, TBC.
Valerie Insinna and Michael Marrow, “SASC breaks spending cap by $25 billion in FY25 defense policy bill,” Breaking Defense, 14 June 2024. Available at: https://breakingdefense.com/2024/06/sasc-breaks-spending-cap-by-25-billion-in-fy25-defense-policy-bill/; Valerie Insinna, “SAC passes $852B defense bill, adding $21B and teeing up budget fight,” Breaking Defense, 1 August 2024. Available at: https://breakingdefense.com/2024/08/sac-passes-852b-defense-bill-breaking-budget-caps-and-teeing-up-budget-fight/.
While commentators and members alike worry about growing polarisation in formally bipartisan committees – including Appropriations – in the House of Representatives, Senate appropriators have until now maintained a reputation for bipartisan action in their approach to annual spending bills. See: David Reich, “Partisan House Appropriations Bills Underfund Non-Defense Priorities and Are a Sharp Break From the Bipartisan Debt Ceiling Agreement,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2 August 2023. Available at: https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/partisan-house-appropriations-bills-underfund-non-defense-priorities-and; Katherine Tully-McManus, “As Trump and Musk loom, congressional spending leaders’ morale hits rock bottom,” Politico, 19 March 2025. Available at: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/19/congressional-appropriators-spending-relevance-00239788.
See: Tom Corben, “America agrees on “peace through strength,” just not what it costs,” The Interpreter, 21 February 2025. Available at: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/america-agrees-peace-through-strength-just-not-what-it-costs; Lisa Murkowski in Mia McCarthy, “Trump sidelines appropriators,” Politico, 20 March 2025. Available at: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/inside-congress/2025/03/20/trump-sidelines-appropriators-00239961; David Reich, “Trump Administration’s Disregard of Appropriations Legislation Jeopardizes Action on 2025 Funding,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 24 February 2025. Available at: https://www.cbpp.org/blog/trump-administrations-disregard-of-appropriations-legislation-jeopardizes-action-on-2025.
Connor O’Brien, Paul McLeary, Jack Detsch and Sam Skove, “GOP vs. DOD,” Politico Pro, 21 March 2025. Available at: https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter/2025/03/gop-vs-dod-00242155.
Senate OKs intelligence overhaul bill,” CNN, 10 December 2004. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/12/08/intelligence.bill/index.html.
Stef Kight, “The most bipartisan members of the U.S. Senate,” Axios, 14 May 2024. Available at: https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/2024/05/14.
Stef Kight, “These women are the Senate's new center of power,” Axios, 27 October 2024. Available at: https://www.axios.com/2024/10/27/senate-collins-murkowski-harris-trump.
David M. Herszenhorn, “While Some Republicans Feel the Weight of Bush’s Image, a Senator in Maine Soars,” New York Times, 25 October 2008. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/us/politics/26maine.html;Jeanne Cummings, “In Maine, being bipartisan pays off,” Politico, 27 October 2009. Available at: https://www.politico.com/story/2009/10/in-maine-being-bipartisan-pays-off-028766.
Dan Diller in Susan Collins, “For the 9th time in 11 years, Senator Collins ranked most bipartisan U.S. senator,” United States Senate, 14 May 2024. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/for-the-9th-time-in-11-years-senator-collins-ranked-most-bipartisan-us-senator.
Otto Kreisher, “Collins Slams Colleagues As Ineffective, Too Partisan,” Breaking Defense, 11 January 2012. Available at:https://breakingdefense.com/2012/01/collins-slams-fellow-lawmakers-as-ineffective-overly-partisan/.
Randy Billings, “Susan Collins plans to seek reelection in 2026,” Portland Herald, 14 November 2024. Available at: https://www.pressherald.com/2024/11/14/susan-collins-plans-to-seek-reelection-in-2026/.
Michael Shepherd, “Susan Collins plans to run for historic 6th term in 2026,” WGME, 16 November 2024. Available at: https://wgme.com/news/local/susan-collins-plans-to-run-for-historic-6th-term-in-2026-senate-appropriations-committee-democrats-republicans-maine-donald-trump.
Associated Press, “Republican senator Susan Collins says she will not vote for Trump,” The Guardian, 13 July 2024. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/12/susan-collins-donald-trump-election.
Katherine Tully-McManus, “‘You would see lawsuits’: Susan Collins fires new warning shot at Trump on spending,” Politico, 19 February 2025. Available at: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/02/19/congress/susan-collins-elon-musk-warning-00204873.
See, for example, Susan Collins, “Senator Collins, colleagues introduce legislation to redesignate Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization,” United States Senate, 17 January 2025. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/senator-collins-colleagues-introduce-legislation-to-re-designate-houthis-as-a-foreign-terrorist-organization; “Susan Collins, in Israel, voices support for U.S. ally, pledges funds to help war with Hamas,” WMTV, 24 October 2023. Available at: https://www.wmtw.com/article/susan-collins-in-israel-voices-support-for-us-ally-pledges-funds-to-help-war-with-hamas/45607483; Susan Collins, “Senator Collins, colleagues, introduce legislation to strengthen oversight of U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan,” United States Senate, 28 September 2021. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/senator-collins-colleagues-introduce-legislation-strengthen-oversight-us-withdrawal.
Susan Collins, “Collins, King Working to Open Japanese Market to $100 Billion U.S. Potato Industry,” Office of Senator Susan Collins, 12 April 2024. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/collins-king-working-to-open-japanese-market-to-100-billion-us-potato-industry.
Susan Collins in Marc Rod, “Sen. Susan Collins criticizes Trump for ‘alienating’ allies at G7,” CNN Politics, 12 June 2018. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/12/politics/collins-trump-g7-korea-corker-cnntv/index.html.
Susan Collins in Associated Press, “Susan Collins calls Donald Trump’s threat to NATO allies ‘reckless’,” Bangor Daily News, 13 February 2024. Available at: https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/02/13/politics/susan-collins-donald-trump-nato-threat-comments-n6hjn1me0n/.
Joe Gould, “Would Trump drive NATO exit? Congress works on roadblocks,” Defense News, 17 December 2019. Available at:https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/12/16/would-trump-drive-nato-exit-congress-works-on-roadblocks/.
Susan Collins, “Senator Collins Questions Top National Security Officials on the PRC’s Surveillance Balloons and Violations of U.S. Airspace,” United States Senate, 9 February 2023. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/senator-collins-questions-top-national-security-officials-on-the-prcs-surveillance-balloons-and-violations-of-us-airspace.
Susan Collins, “Senator Collins Questions Secretary of State on China’s Involvement in Illegal Marijuana Grow Operations in Maine,” United States Senate, 21 May 2024. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/senator-collins-questions-secretary-of-state-on-chinas-involvement-in-illegal-marijuana-grow-operations-in-maine.
Susan Collins, “Senator Susan Collins introduces legislation to ensure that China engages in fair trade,” Office of Senator Susan Collins, 20 July 2005. Available at: https://www.legistorm.com/stormfeed/view_rss/314093/member/25/title/senator-susan-collins-introduces-legislation-to-ensure-that-china-engages-in-fair-trade.html; Susan Collins, “Senator Collins’ Statement on TikTok,” Office of Senator Susan Collins, 20 January 2025. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/senator-collins-statement-on-tiktok.
Steve Robinson, “Collins Intros Bill to Block Biden Oil Sales to Communist China; Biden Threatens Veto,” Maine Wire, 25 January 2023. Available at: https://www.themainewire.com/2023/01/collins-backs-bill-to-block-biden-oil-sales-to-communist-china-biden-threatens-veto/.
Ursula Perano, “Susan Collins condemns Trump's call for China to investigate Bidens,” Axios, 6 October 2019. Available at: https://www.axios.com/2019/10/06/susan-collins-trump-china-biden.
Susan Collins, “Collins, Tester lead letter to President Biden urging decisive action to prevent future spy balloons,” United States Senate, 1 March 2023. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/collins-tester-lead-letter-to-president-biden-urging-decisive-action-to-prevent-future-spy-balloons; Susan Collins, “Senator Collins’ statement on nomination of Pete Hegseth to serve as Secretary of Defense,” United States Senate, 23 January 2025. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/senator-collins-statement-on-nomination-of-pete-hegseth-to-serve-as-secretary-of-defense.
Susan Collins, “Senator Collins Stresses Need to Arm Taiwan for Self-Defense, Replenish U.S. Military Stockpiles to Deter China,” United States Senate, 17 May 2023. Available at: https://www.legistorm.com/stormfeed/view_rss/3913180/office/1/title/senator-collins-stresses-need-to-arm-taiwan-for-self-defense-replenish-us-military-stockpiles-to-deter-china.html.
Susan Collins, “Collins, Sullivan, Colleagues Support Visit to Taiwan by Speaker Pelosi,” Office of Senator Susan Collins, 2 August 2022. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/collins-sullivan-colleagues-support-visit-to-taiwan-by-speaker-pelosi.
Susan Collins in Jennifer Shutt, “Ukraine and Israel aid must be bound together, two Cabinet secretaries tell U.S. Senate,” Tennessee Lookout, 31 October 2023. Available at: https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/10/31/ukraine-and-israel-aid-must-be-bound-together-two-cabinet-secretaries-tell-u-s-senate/.
Sam Lagrone, “Republicans call for White House shipbuilding boost to support AUKUS Attach sub sale,” USNI News, 27 July 2023. Available at: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5103385-mcconnell-alarming-some-trump-pentagon-hires-survived-vetting-process/.
Susan Collins, “From the Senate floor, Senator Collins delivers remarks in support of national security supplemental,” United States Senate, 9 February 2024. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/from-the-senate-floor-senator-collins-delivers-remarks-in-support-of-national-security-supplemental.
Susan Collins in Katherine Tully McManus, “’You would see lawsuits’: Susan Collins fires a new warning shot at Trump on spending,” Politico, 19 February 2025. Available at: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/02/19/congress/susan-collins-elon-musk-warning-00204873.
Susan Collins in Burgess Everett, “USAID’s breakup sparks little outcry from even pro-foreign aid Republicans,” SEMAFOR, 4 February 2025. Available at: https://www.semafor.com/article/02/03/2025/usaids-breakup-sparks-little-outcry-from-even-pro-foreign-aid-republicans.
Randy Billings, “Sen. Collins meets with other lawmakers critical of Elon’s moves to cut agencies, workforce,” Portland Herald, 5 February 2025. Available at: https://www.pressherald.com/2025/02/05/susan-collins-meets-with-other-lawmakers-critical-of-elon-musks-moves-to-cut-agencies-workforce/; Alexander Bolton, “Collins: Trump has empowered Musk ‘far beyond’ what is appropriate,” The Hill, 5 February 2025. Available at: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5129250-congress-worried-musk-executive-power/.
Connor O’Brien and Joe Gould, “What spending caps? Senators open to boosting the Pentagon’s budget,” Politico, 26 April 2024. Available at: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/26/senators-consider-boosting-pentagon-budget-00154607.
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., “SAC To Budgeteers: Stop Sequestration, Avoid Another Shutdown,” Breaking Defense, 13 November 2013. Available at:https://breakingdefense.com/2013/11/sac-plays-sequester-softball-with-witnesses-hardball-with-budgeteers/.
Susan Collins in Kevin Freking, “Key senators agree on spending levels for FY25,” Defense News, 10 July 2024. Available at: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/budget/2024/07/09/key-senators-agree-on-spending-levels-for-fy25/.
Susan Collins, “Legislation to strengthen national defense to be signed into law with provisions championed by Senator Collins,” United States Senate, 14 December 2023. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/12/14/2023/legislation-to-strengthen-national-defense-to-be-signed-into-law-with-provisions-championed-by-senator-collins; Susan Collins, “Legislation to strengthen national defense to be signed into law with provisions championed by Senator Collins,” United States Senate, 15 December 2022. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/legislation-to-strengthen-national-defense-to-be-signed-into-law-with-provisions-championed-by-senator-collins.
Peter Dean, Alice Nason and Kester Abbott, “Defence industry reactions to the GWEO Plan,” United States Studies Centre, 12 December 2024. Available at: https://www.ussc.edu.au/defence-industry-reactions-to-the-gweo-plan.
Stephen Losey, “As the US Air Force fleet keeps shrinking, can it still win wars?” Defense News, 23 April 2024. Available at: https://www.defensenews.com/air/2024/04/23/as-the-us-air-force-fleet-keeps-shrinking-can-it-still-win-wars/.
Susan Collins, “Senator Collins Presses Top Defense Officials on China’s Military Capabilities,” Office of Senator Susan Collins, 9 May 2022. Available at: https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/senator-collins-presses-top-defense-officials-on-chinas-military-capabilities.
John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman, “Budget agreement reached,” Politico, 10 December 2013. Available at: https://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/budget-deal-update-patty-murray-paul-ryan-100960.
Dahlia Bazzaz, “Patty Murray: Trump won’t gut the Education Department ‘on my watch’,” The Seattle Times, 20 March 2025. Available at: https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/murray-trump-wont-dismantle-the-education-department-on-my-watch/.
Patty Murray, “Senator Murray Statement on Trump Executive Order Seeking to Abolish the Department of Education,” Office of Senator Patty Murray, 20 March 2025. Available at: https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-trump-executive-order-seeking-to-abolish-the-department-of-education/.
Jennifer Shutt, “U.S. Senate sends to the House a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan,” New Jersey Monitor, 13 February 2024. Available at: https://newjerseymonitor.com/2024/02/13/u-s-senate-sends-to-the-house-a-95-billion-aid-package-for-ukraine-israel-taiwan/.
Patty Murray, “Senator Murray Chairs Hearing on National Security Supplemental Request: We Must Address These Urgent Challenges in One Package,” Office of Senator Patty Murray, 31 October 2023. Available at: https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-chairs-hearing-on-national-security-supplemental-request-we-must-address-these-urgent-challenges-in-one-package/.
Shutt, “U.S. Senate sends to the House a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan.”
Ed Markey, “Senators sound alarm over South Korea Ambassador vacancy, warn of significant risk of preemptive strike against North Korea,” Office of Senator Ed Markey, 5 February 2018. Available at: https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-sound-alarm-over-south-korea-ambassador-vacancy-warn-of-significant-risk-of-preemptive-strike-against-north-korea.
Patty Murray, “As Competition with China Intensifies, Senator Murray Makes Clear: America Cannot Stay Ahead Unless Our Investments Keep Pace,” Office of Senator Patty Murray, 16 May 2023. Available at: https://www.murray.senate.gov/as-competition-with-china-intensifies-senator-murray-makes-clear-america-cannot-stay-ahead-unless-our-investments-keep-pace/.
Ibid.
Patty Murray, “Senator Murray Chairs Hearing on National Security Supplemental Request: We Must Address These Urgent Challenges in One Package,” Office of Senator Patty Murray, 31 October 2023. Available at: https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-chairs-hearing-on-national-security-supplemental-request-we-must-address-these-urgent-challenges-in-one-package/.
The Associated Press, “Murray: US senators urge China action on currency,” The Gainsville Sun, 15 January 2010. Available at: https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/2010/01/15/murray-us-senators-urge-china-action-on-currency/31739160007/.
Patty Murray, “Murray Statement on Senate Passage of National Security Supplemental,” Office of Senator Patty Murray, 13 February 2024. Available at: https://www.murray.senate.gov/murray-statement-on-senate-passage-of-national-security-supplemental/.
Patty Murray, “Senator Murray Opening Remarks at Full Committee Hearing on Strengthening America's Security and Competitiveness and the Path Ahead for the US-China Relationship,” Senate Committee on Appropriations, 16 May 2023. Available at: https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/senator-murray-opening-remarks-at-full-committee-hearing-on-strengthening-americas-security-and-competitiveness-and-the-path-ahead-for-the-us-china-relationship.
Svetlana Shkolnikova, “Pentagon’s 2025 budget needs to be bigger, Senate appropriators argue,” Stars and Stripes, 8 May 2024. Available at: https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2024-05-08/senators-defense-budget-austin-pentagon-13794913.html.
Patty Murray, “At Hearing on Defense Budget, Senator Murray Underscores Importance of Passing Timely Funding Bills to Keep Pace with Competitors and Support Military Families,” Senate Committee on Appropriations, 11 May 2023. Available at: https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/at-hearing-on-defense-budget-senator-murray-underscores-importance-of-passing-timely-funding-bills-to-keep-pace-with-competitors-and-support-military-families; Aris Folley, “Democrats signal further increases to defense funding could come at cost for GOP,” The Hill, 1 May 2024. Available at:https://thehill.com/business/budget/4637451-democrats-further-increases-defense-funding/; Patty Murray, “REMARKS: Murray Details How FY25 Spending Caps Mean Painful Shortfalls for Essential Domestic Programs, Calls for More Nondefense Funding,” Senate Committee on Appropriations, 18 June 2024. Available at: https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/remarks-murray-details-how-fy25-spending-caps-mean-painful-shortfalls-for-essential-domestic-programs-calls-for-more-nondefense-funding.
Murray, “Senator Murray Opening Remarks at Full Committee Hearing on Strengthening America's Security and Competitiveness and the Path Ahead for the US-China Relationship.”
Ibid.
Lindsey McPherson, “Senate Democrats announce sweeping effort to outcompete China,” Roll Call, 3 May 2024. Available at:https://rollcall.com/2023/05/03/senate-democrats-announce-sweeping-effort-to-outcompete-china/.
Murray, “Murray Statement on Senate Passage of National Security Supplemental.”
Murray, “Senator Murray Opening Remarks at Full Committee Hearing on Strengthening America's Security and Competitiveness and the Path Ahead for the US-China Relationship.”
Patty Murray, “As Competition with China Intensifies, Senator Murray Makes Clear: America Cannot Stay Ahead Unless Our Investments Keep Pace,” Office of Senator Patty Murray, 16 May 2023. Available at: https://www.murray.senate.gov/as-competition-with-china-intensifies-senator-murray-makes-clear-america-cannot-stay-ahead-unless-our-investments-keep-pace/.
Patty Murray, “Senator Murray Blasts Trump Admin for Lawlessly Cancelling Lifesaving USAID, State Programs Important to America’s National Interests,” Office of Senator Patty Murray, 27 February 2025. Available at: https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-blasts-trump-admin-for-lawlessly-cancelling-lifesaving-usaid-state-programs-important-to-americas-national-interests/.
Patty Murray, “Senator Murray Highlights Trump’s Illegal Spending Freeze on Billions via Day One Executive Orders, Putting Economies and Jobs at Risk,” Office of Senator Patty Murray, 5 February 2025. Available at: https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-highlights-trumps-illegal-spending-freeze-on-billions-via-day-one-executive-orders-putting-economies-and-jobs-at-risk/.
Patty Murray, “As Competition with China Intensifies, Senator Murray Makes Clear: America Cannot Stay Ahead Unless Our Investments Keep Pace,” Office of Senator Patty Murray, 16 May 2023. Available at: https://www.murray.senate.gov/as-competition-with-china-intensifies-senator-murray-makes-clear-america-cannot-stay-ahead-unless-our-investments-keep-pace/.
Ryan Lizza, “‘We Just Finally Saw the Dam Break’: How House Republicans Embraced the Chaos,” Politico, 20 April 2024. Available at: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/20/grow-up-a-veteran-republican-is-tired-of-his-partys-insurgents-00153454.
Catie Edmondson, “House G.O.P.’s spending chief faces a primary from the right,” New York Times, 15 June 2024. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/16/us/politics/house-republican-tom-cole-primary-spending.html?searchResultPosition=2; Sean Murphy, “US Rep Tom Cole wins Oklahoma GOP primary outright against well-funded challenger, 3 others,” Associated Press, 19 June 2024. Available at: https://apnews.com/article/tom-cole-paul-bondar-oklahoma-primary-election-5eee5cb46be23cdd7e13c44b1a662cb3.
Russell Berman, “Even Tom Cole Is Defending DOGE,” The Atlantic, 19 March 2025. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/congress-doge-spending-tom-cole/682089/.
Tom Cole, “Chairman Cole leads bipartisan national security trip to Middle East,” US House of Representatives, 30 October 2024. Available at: https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/chairman-cole-leads-bipartisan-national-security-trip-middle-east.
“U.S. Congressional delegation visits Taiwan,” American Institute in Taiwan, 15 March 2023. Available at: https://www.ait.org.tw/us-congressional-delegation-visits-taiwan-calvert/.
Tom Cole in Bryant Harris, “House to hold separate votes on Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan aid,” Defense News, 18 April 2024. Available at: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2024/04/17/house-to-hold-separate-votes-on-ukraine-israel-taiwan-aid/.
Bryant Harris, “Republicans pick defense hawk to usher spending bills,” Defense News, 11 April 2024. Available at: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2024/04/10/republicans-pick-defense-hawk-to-usher-spending-bills/.
Timothy Cama and Andres Picon, “The fight over spending just got a lot more complicated,” E&E Daily by Politico, 31 January 2025. Available at: https://www.eenews.net/articles/the-fight-over-spending-just-got-a-lot-more-complicated/.
Tom Cole, “Cole votes to stand up against Communist China,” US House of Representatives, 12 September 2024. Available at: https://cole.house.gov/media/press-releases/cole-votes-stand-against-communist-china.
Forbes Breaking News, “More Interested In Being America’s Foe Than America’s Friend’: Tom Cole Condemns Communist China,” Youtube, 16 January 2023. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U4FchZH3sY.
Tom Cole, “Cole’s China coercion bill clears House Foreign Affairs Committee,” US House of Representatives, 14 December 2023. Available at: https://cole.house.gov/media/press-releases/coles-china-coercion-bill-clears-house-foreign-affairs-committee.
Cole, “Cole votes to stand up against Communist China”; Cristina Stassis, “House bill funds new tranche of Philippines, Taiwan military aid,” Defense News, 8 June 2024. Available at: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2024/06/07/house-bill-funds-new-tranche-of-philippines-taiwan-military-aid/.
Tom Cole in Jennifer Shutt, “U.S. House heads toward Saturday vote on $95B in aid for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan,” Oklahoma Voice, 19 April 2024. Available at: https://oklahomavoice.com/2024/04/19/u-s-house-heads-toward-saturday-vote-on-95b-in-aid-for-israel-ukraine-taiwan/.
L.M. Franchetti, “Letter to the Honorable Tom Cole,” US House of Representatives, 17 September 2024, Available at: https://democrats-appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-appropriations.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/CNO%20Signed%20Letter%20to%20the%20Honorable%20Tom%20Cole%20%281%29_0.pdf.
Nick Hazelrigg, “Tom Cole, congressman and former OU instructor, represents one of Oklahoma's most liberal districts in Trump era,” Oklahoma Daily, 19 November 2017. Available at: https://www.oudaily.com/news/tom-cole-congressman-and-former-ou-instructor-represents-one-of-oklahomas-most-liberal-districts-in/article_34f94462-cd88-11e7-a665-9f0b873e8887.html; Scott Carter, “Exclusive: Is Oklahoma safe from future federal cuts, closures? Rep. Cole talks budget, Elon Musk,” The Oklahoman, 19 March 2025. Available at: https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/politics/government/2025/03/19/federal-layoffs-oklahoma-nws-norman-tinker-afb-tom-cole/82514224007/&ved=2ahUKEwj1_c-EqpqMAxXFbPUHHRJfJiMQFnoECC0QAQ&usg=AOvVaw2lwccqFhRRoD2cEA6VImz3.
Berman, “Even Tom Cole is defending DOGE.”
Tom Cole in Melanie Zanona, John Bresnahan and Samantha Handler, “House GOP appropriators do little as DOGE runs wild,” Punchbowl News, 10 February 2025. Available at: https://punchbowl.news/article/house/house-republicans-appear-cool-with-musk-snatching-power/.
Tom Cole, “House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Holding Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2023 Navy and Marine Corps Budget Request,” US Navy, (n.d). Available at: https://www.navy.mil/DesktopModules/ArticleCS/Print.aspx?PortalId=1&ModuleId=682&Article=3036340.
Tom Cole in Connor O’Brien and Joe Gould, “What spending caps? Senators open to boosting the Pentagon’s budget,” Politico, 26 April 2024. Available at: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/26/senators-consider-boosting-pentagon-budget-00154607.
Tom Cole, “A conversation with Congressman Tom Cole”, Center for Strategic and International Studies,” 9 June 2021. Available at: https://www.csis.org/analysis/conversation-congressman-tom-cole.
Department of the Navy, “House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Holds Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2023 Navy and Marine Corps Budget Request,” United States Government, 18 May 2022. Available at: https://www.navy.mil/DesktopModules/ArticleCS/Print.aspx?PortalId=1&ModuleId=682&Article=3036340.
CSIS, “A Conversation with Congressman Tom Cole.”
Tom Cole in Liz Schrayer, “USGLC CEO Statement on Selection of Tom Cole for House Appropriations Committee Chair,” U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, 11 April 2024. Available at: https://www.usglc.org/newsroom/usglc-ceo-statement-on-selection-of-tom-cole-for-house-appropriations-committee-chair/.
Tom Cole, “Defense, National Security & Foreign Affairs,” US House of Representatives, (n.d.). Available at: https://cole.house.gov/issues/defense-and-national-security.
Sarah Ferris and Heather Caygle, “How the House’s eccentric liberal icon won a slew of centrist allies,” Politico, 5 August 2021. Available at: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/05/rosa-delauro-appropriations-502460.
Ibid.
Rosa DeLauro and Amna Nawaz, “Democratic Rep. DeLauro: Trump trying to ‘rob appropriated funds’ with spending freeze,” PBS News, 28 January 2025. Available at: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/democratic-rep-delauro-trump-trying-to-rob-appropriated-funds-with-spending-freeze.
Rosa DeLauro, “DeLauro Press Remarks on Trump & Musk’s Unlawful Dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),” House Appropriations Committee Democrats, 6 February 2025. Available at: https://democrats-appropriations.house.gov/news/statements/delauro-press-remarks-trump-musks-unlawful-dismantling-united-states-agency.
Rosa DeLauro, “Ranking Member DeLauro Floor Remarks on Indo-Pacific Security Funding Bill,” House Appropriations Committee Democrats, 20 April 2024. Available at: https://democrats-appropriations.house.gov/news/statements/ranking-member-delauro-floor-remarks-on-indo-pacific-security-funding-bill.
Rosa DeLauro, “Ranking Member DeLauro Floor Remarks on Indo-Pacific Security Funding Bill.”
Rosa DeLauro, “Remarks of the Hon. Rosa L. DeLauro – Testimony for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission,” U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 30 March 2011. Available at: https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/3.30.11DeLauro.pdf.
Gopal Ratnam, “Treasury seeks tighter rules on US investment in China tech,” Roll Call, 3 July 2024. Available at: https://rollcall.com/2024/07/03/treasury-seeks-tighter-rules-on-us-investment-in-china-tech/; Rosa DeLauro, “Letter to the Honourable Mike Johnson, the Honourable Hakeem Jeffries, the Honourable Charles Schumer and the Honourable Mitch McConnell,” United States Congress, 20 December 2024. Available at: https://delauro.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/delauro.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2024.12.20 Letter from RM DeLauro to Congressional Leadership.pdf.
Rosa DeLauro, “Letter to the Honourable Mike Johnson, the Honourable Hakeem Jeffries, the Honourable Charles Schumer and the Honourable Mitch McConnell.”
Rosa DeLauro, “DeLauro Statement on Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” United States Representative Rosa DeLauro, 13 March 2024. Available at: https://delauro.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/delauro-statement-protecting-americans-foreign-adversary-controlled.
Ibid.
Mara Lee, “House Dem Criticizes de Minimis China Carve-Out and Reversal as Chaotic,” International Trade Today, 12 February 2025. Available at: https://internationaltradetoday.com/article/2025/02/12/house-dem-criticizes-de-minimis-china-carveout-and-reversal-as-chaotic-2502120038?BC=bc_67b0caf4d6a16.
Rosa DeLauro, “Ranking Member DeLauro Supports Three Security Funding Bills: “We cannot retreat from the world.”,” House Appropriations Committee Democrats, 17 April 2024. Available at: https://democrats-appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-member-delauro-supports-three-security-funding-bills-we-cannot-retreat.
Representative Jason Smith, “H.R.4004 - United States-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade First Agreement Implementation Act,” United States Congress, 12 June 2023. Available at: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4004/cosponsors; “Public Law 118-13: United States-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade First Agreement Implementation Act,” United States Congress, 7 August 2023. Available at: https://www.congress.gov/118/plaws/publ13/PLAW-118publ13.pdf.
Ana Radelat, “For the first time, DeLauro shepherds massive spending bill through Congress,” CT Mirror, 18 June 2019. Available at: https://ctmirror.org/2019/06/18/for-the-first-time-delauro-shepherds-massive-spending-bill-through-congress/.
Rosa DeLauro, “DeLauro Statement on Biden-McCarthy Debt Limit Agreement,” House Appropriations Committee Democrats, 31 May 2023. Available at: https://democrats-appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/delauro-statement-on-biden-mccarthy-debt-limit-agreement.
Craig LeMoult, “Blumenthal and DeLauro worry about sequester impact on military spending, social programs,” WSHU, 7 August 2013. Available at: https://www.wshu.org/government/2013-08-07/blumenthal-and-delauro-worry-about-sequester-impact-on-military-spending-social-programs; Rosa DeLauro, “Ranking Member DeLauro Statement to House Rules Committee on Republicans’ Power Grab Continuing Resolution,” House Appropriations Committee Democrats, 10 March 2025. Available at: https://democrats-appropriations.house.gov/news/statements/ranking-member-delauro-statement-house-rules-committee-republicans-power-grab.
DeLauro, “Ranking Member DeLauro Statement to House Rules Committee on Republicans’ Power Grab Continuing Resolution.”
Nicholas Wu, “Democrats dodge a debt ceiling deal,” Politico, 19 December 2024. Available at: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/19/democrats-dodge-debt-limit-deal-00195472.
DeLauro, “DeLauro Press Remarks on Trump & Musk’s Unlawful Dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).”
Rosa DeLauro in Ethan Wolin, “DeLauro defends Congress’ funding power against Trump,” Yale Daily News, 14 February 2025. Available at: https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/02/14/delauro-defends-congress-funding-power-against-trump/.

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Welcome to the 119th Congress: The Appropriations Committees

Explainer by

What are the Appropriations Committees?

What are their subcommittees?

Members to watch in the 119th Congress

Senate Appropriations Committee

Susan Collins

Patty Murray

House Appropriations Committee

Tom Cole

Rosa DeLauro

Appendix. Appropriations Committee Members

House of Representatives

Republican

Democrat

Senate

Republican

Democrat

Welcome to the 119th Congress: The Foreign Relations Committees

Endnotes