Congressional foreign travel

Last week featured significant developments in the law and policy of congressional foreign travel. On Thursday, Jan. 17, President Trump refused to allow Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to use U.S. military aircraft for a congressional delegation to Belgium, Egypt and Afghanistan, purportedly because the trip would have been an improvident use of resources during the government shutdown and because Pelosi’s absence from Washington would have interfered with the progress of negotiations over the border wall.