Dozens of U.S. lawmakers arrived at the Munich Security Conference this weekend trying to reassure allies about America’s reliability, even as they carried sharply contested political fights from Washington into the conference halls. For many, the trip came as much with domestic legal and immigration concerns as with discussions about Europe and other shared security priorities.
House Speaker Mike Johnson canceled an official delegation of roughly two dozen House members who had planned to attend, according to the Associated Press. Other lawmakers still reached Munich, including two bipartisan Senate delegations, but their travel and talks unfolded against an increasingly tense backdrop at home.
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, who was among those investigated by the Department of Justice, told Politico in Munich that it was “a little bit, you know, depressing to be here with what we have to deal with at home.” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said he expected “challenging conversations” with allies about their concern over what federal law enforcement under the Trump administration has been doing, along with the attempted indictment of six Democratic lawmakers after they produced a video urging U.S. military members not to obey “illegal orders.”
The conference has for more than six decades gathered world leaders seeking cooperation on shared security, with the United States often taking a leading role. But several lawmakers described a changed political climate, with Trump “upend[ing]” the posture of the United States toward the rest of the world, including Europe, the Associated Press said, leaving lawmakers trying to balance reassurance with concerns rooted in Washington.
Coons said the situation reflected “the hallmarks of authoritarian societies” rather than democracies, and he pointed to allies’ “concern and alarm” about federal law enforcement actions. The AP report also described disputes tied to President Donald Trump’s sweeping crackdowns on illegal immigration, which it said included fatal shootings of two people protesting raids.
The Associated Press reported that “Senate’s bipartisan traditions are slipping,” citing GOP senators who declined to participate this year despite past involvement in the Ukraine-supporting coalition. The lawmakers who did attend included significantly more Democrats, the report said, with Republicans still sending delegations led by some members who have been long-time regulars at Munich.
As lawmakers exited Washington on Thursday, Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri attacked Democrats for traveling to Munich while the Department of Homeland Security faced a shutdown during a congressional funding impasse. Schmitt told reporters that Democrats were deciding “their travel to Munich to cozy up with the Euros is way more important than funding DHS,” while pressing DHS was being shut down.
Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz responded on social media, saying he and Schmitt had both gone to Munich the year prior and that it “continues to be an important bipartisan trip.” Schatz also said this year was different because the Department of Justice was attempting to indict two senators, and he cited a floor speech in which he said: “Spare me the high-minded panel discussions and bilats and press availabilities about the United States as the indispensable nation, when we are dispensing with our most sacred constitutional obligations.”
For other Republicans, the Associated Press reported, Munich was not only a venue for reassurance but also an opportunity to present the Trump administration’s approach to how U.S. influence should work in the new security landscape. It said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby were among top officials taking part in the conference.
Among the lawmakers, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who is close to Trump, led one of the senator delegations. He argued that European security would be better served by Trump’s willingness to break with traditional roles among Western allies, and he discussed maintaining pressure on Iran with the goal of toppling what he called the regime, while also urging efforts to build pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin toward a peace deal.
Graham’s pitch centered on credibility with Iran and the risks of failing to follow through, which he framed in a warning that “We’re here at a crucial moment, folks. If we don’t follow through with what we promised the people of Iran, it will destroy America’s credibility for years to come, it will make this world less safe,” the AP report said.
Alongside the continuing presence of familiar Republican voices, the Associated Press said there was also “a new voice from the American side” in the form of Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The New York progressive made her first trip to the conference to discuss the rise of populism and what she said was a shifting role for American power in the world, framing her attendance as support for international liberal values.
At a roundtable, Ocasio-Cortez said: “We are ready for the next chapter, not to have the world turned to isolation, but to deepen our partnership on greater and increased commitment to integrity to our values.” She also said she identified with voters who had defected from traditional left-of-center parties in Europe and the United States to populist hard-right parties, and she cited her frustrations with a Democratic Party that she said championed “special interests, the elite.”
She told the Associated Press report that she wanted the United States to keep faith with a rules-based order, and she said: “Domestically and globally, there have been many leaders who’ve said ‘We will go back’. And I think we have to recognize that we are in a new day and in a time,” adding, “That does not mean that the majority of Americans are ready to walk away from a rules-based order and that we’re ready to walk away from our commitment to democracy.”