House Republican leaders are telling lawmakers traveling to the Munich Security Conference on their own dime that they will no longer be able to attend as part of an official House delegation.
The office of House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) and the Marine Corps, which were handling logistics for the delegation to the high-profile gathering, contacted congressional offices to clarify that access to the conference was arranged through an official delegation that was dissolved, according to two people familiar with the guidance.
Speaker Mike Johnson’s office notified the lawmakers this week that all official travel, including their Munich visit, would be canceledduring a likely Homeland Security Department shutdown. That leaves members who plan to travel privately needing to find other accreditation.
The possibility some lawmakers won’t attend the conference represents a major break with the yearslong precedent of bipartisan groupings joining a summit that offers unique perspective into high-level thinking in Washington and among allies. But House members are facing mounting pressure from Johnson’s orbit not to go to the weekend security event with the agency shutdown looming on Saturday.
The episode underscores how Washington’s funding impasse is spilling into transatlantic diplomacy. About two dozen members had been planning to attend the annual conference, which convenes global leaders, defense officials and lawmakers.
A Mast spokesperson declined to comment.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY.), who is set to speak at the event, was still traveling to Munich as scheduled, according to two people familiar with her plans. She was on her way Thursday evening and had not been notified of any issues with her credentials, one of the people said. They, like others interviewed, were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
It’s not clear what, if any punishment, members will face who defied the order not to use their accreditation. The speaker’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) plans to attend as well, regardless of the Homeland Security funding impasse. “Domestic immigration policy is foreign policy, and Trump’s cruel detention practices shape how the world reads our values,” Ansari said in a statement. “When the U.S. dehumanizes people in detention, we undermine our human rights credibility abroad, strengthen authoritarian narratives and fuel further displacement and desperation.”
Johnson barred use of official funds for lawmaker travel during an upcoming recess if the department’s funding lapses, keeping with House protocol. With the Senate failing to strike an agreement, and Senate Democrats voting down a short-term funding patch on Thursday, the Homeland Security shutdown is likely to occur early Saturday.
The White House and Democrats have made little progress in bridging the gap this week on potential reforms to immigration enforcement agencies. The House and Senate were already scheduled to be out next week, but leaders could call lawmakers back to Washington to quickly vote on the funding.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services panels, called it "a shame" that lawmakers might miss the international confab. But he defended Johnson’s stance.
“It’s a very responsible position by the speaker which matches the irresponsibility of the Senate Democrats to shut down the government," Wilson said. "And so the responsible act is to be ever available to end the shutdown."
A military flight for the conference planned to depart Thursday afternoon, but only senators were expected to be on it.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
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