Dozens of House lawmakers rally over funding for Afghan visa program as Trump vows major spending cuts

A group of 51 lawmakers urged House negotiators to continue funding the visa program for Afghans fleeing the Taliban’s takeover of their country.

Reps. Jason Crow, D-Colo., and Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, wrote to top donors in the House of Representatives as they continue to negotiate federal funding for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2025.

“We are writing to urge you to retain the critical provisions of the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV)1 program in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget package. Approving new Afghan SIVs is critical to vetting and transporting the large number of eligible Afghan applicants currently in the pipeline of processing,” wrote House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., and others.

It comes as President-elect Trump has pledged to work to cut spending on future federal wars. He wrote on Truth Social last week, “The United States will cut hundreds of billions of dollars in spending next year through Reconciliation!”

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People in Trump’s orbit, including House Republicans, want him to have more control over how funds appropriated by Congress are spent.

Meanwhile, Trump tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy last month to lead a cost-cutting advisory panel called the Department of Government Operations (DOGE).

The two have established themselves as influential players in Congressional spending debates, having led the push for a 1,547-page federal funding bill that was the product of joint negotiations. However, they haven’t said that they want to see Congress pull back on spending.

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Reps. Jason Crow and Zach Nunn, both military veterans, led the bipartisan letter. (Getty Images)

The 51 lawmakers who want to keep the Afghan SIV program say it is “a life-saving measure for the Afghan people who face great danger because of their work alongside American soldiers, diplomats and contractors.”

“Congress must continue this work so that the State Department can issue visas to eligible Afghan nationals who face threats from the Taliban, Islamic State, and other hostile groups as a result of serving the US and our allies,” they wrote.

The Afghan SIV program was first established in 2009, but saw new importance after the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 – which prompted the US withdrawal after decades in the Middle Eastern country.

Congress has authorized additional visas under the program each year beginning in FY 2019, according to the letter.

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Congressional negotiations have so far failed to reach an agreement on spending for FY 2025, forcing lawmakers to pass two extensions of last year’s funding levels to prevent a partial government shutdown.

The latest extension, called a continuing resolution (CR), gives lawmakers until March 14 to strike a deal.