Slashing Funding for State and Foreign Operations by an Unprecedented 22 Percent, Republicans Abdicate U.S. Leadership and Put Americans at Risk

Republican 2026 State, Foreign Operations Funding Bill Harms Women, Promotes Extremism, and Includes a $1.7 Billion Slush Fund for President Trump  

WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee Republicans today released the draft fiscal year 2026 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs funding bill, which will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow. The legislation—the biggest pullback from international engagement ever—weakens our national security and puts the American people and public health preparedness at risk.

House Republicans are proposing a 22 percent cut below 2025 to the bill’s overall funding level. The bill includes $46.2 billion in United States global leadership and cooperation and is $13 billion below 2025. 

This legislation:

• Threatens national security by abdicating United States world leadership at the United Nations (UN) and other multilateral and international financial institutions by not including any funding for the UN Regular budget, the UN Development Program, UN Women, and UNICEF.
• Threatens women’s health globally by prohibiting the United States from contributing to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), substantially underfunding bilateral family planning, and reinstating the expanded Global Gag Rule on non-governmental organizations that receive U.S. assistance.
• Hampers the United States’ response to the climate crisis by eliminating support for communities’ ability to adapt to weather changes, sustainably manage their land and natural resources, and expand access to clean energy.
• Reinforces President Trump’s gutting of development and humanitarian programs by underfunding the operations and staffing of the State Department and completing the demise of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as other tools of America’s soft power and global leadership. 

“The Republicans’ proposed FY26 National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs appropriations bill takes us down a dangerous path of recklessness and isolation,” State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Ranking Member Lois Frankel (D-FL-22) said. “Gutting our nation’s development and diplomacy efforts, and slashing humanitarian aid is a grave mistake. Foreign assistance is not a handout—it’s a strategic investment. It prevents deadly diseases from reaching our shores, opens markets for American businesses, disrupts terrorism before it takes root, and keeps our troops out of costly and violent conflicts. In a time of widespread global conflict, we cannot keep the peace with bombs, drones, and missiles alone—it also takes sustained and deliberate peaceful engagement. I look forward to working toward a budget that meets the moment and truly makes us more secure and more prosperous and maintains the United States’ leadership in the world.”

“With a 22 percent cut, House Republicans’ 2026 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs funding bill is an embarrassment and the worst I have ever seen,” Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “It dismantles American diplomacy and soft power, abdicates American leadership, yields to China and Russia, threatens women’s health, and abandons people around the world. It would diminish support for our allies and harm our ability to deter our adversaries, exceed our competitors, and continue leading the free world. For the sake of our national security, women’s health globally, and our response to the climate crisis, Republicans must abandon this reckless and partisan bill and join Democrats at the table to govern and protect the programs and services that we have all long supported.”

A summary of House Republicans’ 2026 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs bill is here. A fact sheet is here. The text of the bill is here. The subcommittee markup will be webcast live and linked on the House Committee on Appropriations website.

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