House leaders say lawmakers can't attend Munich Security Conference as official delegation
Source: Politico
02/12/2026 06:46 PM EST
MUNICH — 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 canceled during 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.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/12/gop-munich-security-conference-shutdown-00779083
REFERENCES (from last year's 2025 Conference)
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143396512
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143397947
(from 2024's Conference)
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143195116
President Biden gave remarks there in 2021. VP Harris gave remarks in 2022, 2023 & 2024
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