WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) voted against the heavily partisan FY25 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act; the FY25 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act; and the FY25 Department of Defense Appropriations Act.  

“As an Air Force veteran and member of the House Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, protecting our country and national security is my top priority,” said Houlahan. “These appropriations bills, unfortunately, are not serious and do more harm than good for the American people and for our collective defense.”  

The FY25 Defense Appropriations Act fails to provide any support for Ukraine, limits access to reproductive health care by preventing DOD service personnel from traveling to seek that care, and includes provisions that harm LGBTQ+ servicemembers. The State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act eliminates funding for humanitarian programs, the UN, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Houlahan is an ardent supporter of UNFPA, which supports women’s health globally. It also fails to provide funding for programs that are pivotal in the U.S.’ transition to clean energy and a safer, healthier planet. Lastly, the Homeland Security Appropriations Act slashes funding for programs that support non-governmental organizations providing humanitarian resources along the border and fails to provide funding for application processing backlog reductions and refugee operations. Additionally, it limits the Customs and Border Patrol’s (CBP) ability to secure the U.S.’ borders and manage humanitarian processes. It even eliminates pay completely for the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Houlahan continued: “I cannot, in good faith, support hyperpartisan bills that fail to provide aid to Ukraine, take away personal freedoms from our women in uniform, defund critical climate change programs, or underfund our cybersecurity infrastructure, given increasing evidence of malign influence from Russia and China. I look forward to the Senate putting forward their own appropriations bills so we can send a more thoughtful and bipartisan slate of bills to the President’s desk.” 

Houlahan is an Air Force veteran, an engineer, a serial entrepreneur, an educator, and a nonprofit leader. She represents Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District, which encompasses Chester County and southern Berks County. She serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. She is the recipient of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Abraham Lincoln Leadership for America Award which “recognizes members who demonstrate the bipartisan leadership and constructive governing necessary to move our country forward” and the Congressional Management Foundation’s 2022 Democracy Award for best Constituent Services in Congress. 

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