Senator Murray on President Trump Once Again Proposing to Zero Out Funding for Howard Hanson Dam

ICYMI: Senator Murray on President Trump's FY27 Budget Request

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senator Patty Murray, Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on the release of President Trump's fiscal year 2027 budget request, which proposes $0 in funding for the Howard Hanson Dam.

"I'm not surprised one bit that the most corrupt president in American history still wants to punish Washington state by trying to defund the Howard Hanson Dam. This project is our first line of defense against catastrophic flooding-it proved its worth just months ago during historic, devastating floods in our state. I told the president: don't mess with our water and don't mess with our fish. Whether Trump wants to or not, I'm going to make sure Congress funds the Howard Hanson Dam. It's not controversial to fund water supply, flood control, and habitat restoration. My state pays more than its fair share in taxes-we're going to get the resources we need to for this project."

More toplines on President Trump's budget request are available HERE.

Supporting the Howard Hanson Dam has been a longtime priority for Senator Murray, and she has pressed the Army Corps to prioritize funding for the Dam for years. Under the last administration, Senator Murray was able to secure critical funding for the Howard Hanson Dam project, including $220 million in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $50 million to begin construction of the Fish Passage facility in the funding bills for Fiscal Year 2024 that Murray wrote as then-Chair of the Appropriations Committee. Back in 2010, Murray secured $44 million in badly needed emergency funds for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair the Howard Hanson Dam.

In the draft fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill, Senator Murray secured $500 million for the water storage project, an amount that also was included in the House's draft fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill. But instead of working with Democrats to pass full-year fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills, Republicans in Congress put forth a yearlong continuing resolution (CR) early last year that failed to include hundreds of specific directives on how funding must be spent. For months, Senator Murray had warned of the dangers of passing Republicans' slush fund CR, noting, for example, that it would allow the administration to unilaterally zero out funding for Army Corps projects-which Trump and his administration turned around and did. The Trump administration zeroed out funding for the Howard Hanson Dam and stripped Army Corps construction dollars from blue states including Washington, directing these funds to red states instead-an outrageous abuse of power.

After President Trump corruptly zeroed out funding for Howard Hanson in fiscal year 2025, Senator Murray secured passage of bipartisan funding bills she negotiated as the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee that boost Army Corps funding, prevented Trump from corruptly messing with Army Corps projects like he did last year, and deliver crucial funding for Howard Hanson Dam and other important Army Corps projects across Washington state. In the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2026, Senator Murray secured $190 million for a critical water storage and fish passage project at Howard Hanson Dam that will reduce flood risk, address fish passage, and ensure long-term water reliability for over one million people in the region, including in Tacoma and Covington. She also secured language in the bill that will allow the Army Corps of Engineers to incrementally fund the Howard Hanson Dam project by modifying the existing design and construction contract within 60 days of this bill's enactment. While the project originally needed $500 million to move forward with construction, this language allowed the Corps to incrementally fund the project. The existing design and construction contract was modified on March 24, 2026, allowing the Corps to get the project back on track.

###