Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Lee (R-UT) released the following statement regarding the Trump Administration’s budget: “President Trump’s budget is a solid step towards addressing the gross over-spending that is driving our national debt,” Lee said. "Many of the programs eliminated by Trump’s budget can and should be financed by state and local entities, and Trump should be commended for making some of the tough calls necessary to move our country in a direction of solvency, with the principle of federalism in mind."

WASHINGTON  - Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and a group of Senators called on Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson today to immediately investigate how US funds are being used by the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to support left-of-center political groups and impress left-leaning policies on sovereign nations, regardless of their desire for self-determination. One such group is USAID multi-grant recipient, the George Soros-backed Open Society Foundations. Sen. Lee and his colleagues believe this behavior is unacceptable and must be halted immediately. Sens. Inhofe (R-OK), Tillis (R-NC), Cruz (R-TX), Perdue (R-GA), and Cassidy (R-LA) join in signing the letter. “Over the past few months, elected officials and political leaders of foreign nations have been coming to me with disappointing news and reports of US activity in their respective countries. This includes reports of diplomats playing political favorites, USAID funds supporting extreme and sometimes violent political activists, and the US Government working to marginalize the moderates and conservatives in leadership roles,” Sen. Lee said. “This sort of political favoritism from our missions around the world is unacceptable and endangers our bilateral relationships.” The letter calls on Secretary Tillerson to, “…investigate all funds associated with promoting democracy and governance and review the programs, accounts, and multiplicity of US entities involved in such activities. We must … review how all our tax dollars are being utilized in order to halt activities that are fomenting political unrest, disrespecting national sovereignty and civil society, and ultimately undermine our attempts to build beneficial international relationships.” The most damaging consequence of the United States weighing in so heavily on one side of the political spectrum abroad is that we ostracize many foreign citizens who have traditionally supported strong relations with the United States. Such division allows aggressive opportunists like Russia space to operate and cause further damage. Sen. Lee is hopeful Secretary Tillerson acts quickly on this issue and looks forward to continuing to work with him in the future.

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) finalized his new Joint Economic Committee staff Wednesday, hiring Scott Winship as a project director. Winship was most recently a visiting fellow at The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity and formerly served as a fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Manhattan Institute, as well as a research manager at Pew Charitable Trusts.

I am grateful to Dr. Wilson for her willingness to take on this job and I was pleased with our discussion this morning on matters important to the Air Force. She is highly qualified and her wealth of experience in the Air Force, Congress, and private sector will serve her well at the helm of a large organization.