U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) says the Trump Administration’s spending plans for the Army Corps of Engineers would steer hundreds of millions of dollars more in construction funding to red states while cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in construction funding for blue states.
Murray is Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.
The Trump Administration, says Murray, plans to take $437 million away from blue states and move $258 million toward red states—overall, 64-33 percent red to blue split in the administration’s Army Corps work plan versus roughly 50-50 split in FY25 House and Senate appropriations bills.
The plans, says Murray, show how the “Corps under Trump intends to zero out and significantly cut funding for essential projects in Washington state and across the country.”
Murray says the Corps’ plans include the complete elimination of construction funding for the Howard Hanson Dam fish passage facility on the Green River in Washington state–which was otherwise poised to receive $500 million this year in funding Murray secured in the fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill she wrote as Chair. It passed through committee in August 2024, as well as in House Republicans’ fiscal year 2025 bill.
Overall, says Murray, the Corps’ plans would “steer hundreds of millions of dollars more in construction funding to red states while cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in construction funding for blue states, relative to the president’s fiscal year 2025 request. This includes the complete elimination of Army Corps construction funding for states like California. The president’s budget request has, historically, been fully funded–and was fully funded in both the Senate and House draft fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills.”
“This is some corrupt B-S from the President,” said the Washington State U.S. Senator. “We are witnessing a historic and serious, politically motivated abuse of our taxpayer dollars by President Trump. I am going to fight to make sure our communities get the resources they need.
“Trump is ripping away taxpayer dollars from blue states like mine for absolutely critical Army Corps projects that maintain and build foundational water infrastructure–whether it’s dredging for our ports, protecting communities from flood waters, or maintaining major dams. President Trump is setting a dangerous precedent—one that Republicans need to think carefully about. This is not how things should ever work in America,” said Murray.
The plans, says Murray, show how Corps of Engineers under Trump “intends to zero out and significantly cut funding for essential projects in Washington state and across the country.”
The funding for Howard Hanson was needed for the Army Corps to execute a construction contract option this year, allowing construction to begin in 2026 as scheduled.
But, says Murray, “instead of working with Democrats to pass full-year funding bills that would have directed that funding, Republicans in Congress passed a yearlong continuing resolution (CR) that enabled the administration to determine how to allocate the funding it did provide—a scenario Murray repeatedly warned about. The Army Corps’ work plans —which lay out how the Army Corps will spend the funding provided by Congress under Republicans’ yearlong continuing resolution for fiscal year 2025—include zero funding for the project.”
Washington’s other Democrat Senator, Maria Cantwell, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, released this statement following news that the Trump administration is withholding $500 million in planned federal funding to construct fish passage at Howard Hanson Dam.
“Constructing fish passage at Howard Hanson Dam was key to reopening at least 60 miles of prime salmon and steelhead habitat, nearly doubling Green River spawning grounds for endangered salmon and steelhead,” said Cantwell. “Withholding funding for this project is a stab in the back to tribal, commercial, and recreational fishing families. It also amounts to an abandonment of our commitment to tribal treaty rights, and ignores federal law intended to protect salmon.”
“Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) has made significant investments in the Howard A. Hanson Dam for decades. This project is one of the most significant steps toward ensuring long-term water reliability for over one million people across our broader region—not just for today, but for generations to come,” said Heather Pennington, TPU Water Superintendent.
“Without this key part of the project, the District may not have enough summertime supply to meet our current and future customer needs starting as early as the mid-2030s. That’s not very far from now folks. For the District, it feels like we purchased a 4 bedroom home, but having the builder tell us we can occupy 2 bedrooms. Not to mention, this action will further delay access for endangered salmon to over 100 miles of pristine spawning habitat above Howard Hansen Dam. It is just unfair on many levels,” said Thomas Keown, General Manager of the Covington Water District. “For instance, the decision is also unfair to the many local stakeholders who have invested time and money, hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars in infrastructure and watershed benefits in and along the Green River in preparation of the project coming online. This is now unfortunately shaping up as a waste of a perfectly good ‘shovel ready’ project that is likely to be mothballed for who knows how long.”
In another budget matter, the (Vancouver,WA) Columbian reports that the “Trump administration has cut tens of millions of dollars from a key Columbia Basin salmon-restoration program run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a move experts say puts the treasured Northwest fish in further jeopardy.”
The Columbia River Fish Mitigation program attempts to balance out significant harm inflicted by the Columbia River hydropower dam system on endangered salmon and steelhead runs.
See the full story, “Columbia River salmon restoration hit hard by $1.5B cut to Army Corps of Engineers” here: https://www.columbian.com/news/2025/may/20/columbia-river-salmon-restoration-hit-hard-by-1-5b-cut-to-army-corps-of-engineers/