Senate Votes to Slash Brand USA Funding, Faces Budget Crisis

Skift

01-07-2025

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed a Republican-backed budget bill that would slash Brand USA's matching funds from $100 million a year to just $20 million. The controversial bill now moves to the House of Representatives.
At the same time, Brand USA faces another funding crisis — it hasn't received any matching funds from the federal government since January, according to a source close to the U.S. Travel Association and Brand USA.
That puts a strain on Brand USA's resources. It still plans to launch its America the Beautiful global marketing campaign in August, but it may begin on a smaller scale than was initially envisioned, the source said. The campaign has multiple layers, and Brand USA can roll out different levels depending how much money it has.
Brand USA is planning for the worst, and downsizing is one option in the event matching funds do not come soon. There have been delays in past changes in presidential administrations, but the current payment delay has stretched on for longer.
Brand USA, a public-private partnership, currently is eligible for up to $100 million in annual federal funding sourced from the Electronic System for Travel Authorization fees that international travelers to the U.S. must pay.
Tori Barnes, vice president, public affairs and policy for the U.S. Travel Association, said in a note to members last week that the Senate Commerce Committee's original plan was to recommend that Brand USA receive zero matching funds. She said it was raised to $20 million after objections from other Republican senators and "direct lobbying engagement by U.S. Travel."
The White House's initial budget called for maintaining BrandUSA's budget, and the original House bill that passed in May did not propose cuts.
There were travel industry conversations with White House officials — although the sentiment was not unanimous — that the Trump administration was set to lean into travel promotion. For example, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy cited the work of Brand USA in developing a website to mark the First Annual Great American Road Trip Expo on the country's 250th birthday next July.
The FIFA World Cup will take place in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada next June and July, and is a potential draw for tourists from abroad.
But international visitor arrivals to the the U.S. have been falling for most of the year, and in May were only 86% of May 2019 levels.
Nationwide Campaign to Save Brand USA Funds
Barnes detailed its "comprehensive grassroots and grasstops campaign to protect Brand USA funding and maintain sustained pressure on congressional and administration decision-makers and the administration."
Among the steps: 2,500 letters were sent to 100 Senate offices; nearly 500 people from throughout the travel industry signed a national industrywide letter, and Texas and New York travel industry letters were sent to Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, respectively.
The U.S. Travel Association also orchestrated grassroots outreach to every Republican member of the Senate Commerce and other key Senators, and urged various cabinet officials to take up and protect Brand USA funding during the rest of the legislative process with the Senate Republican leadership.
The bill is not a law yet, it needs to be adopted by both the House and Senate and then signed by President Trump.
Even if the Brand USA matching funds cut becomes law, there would still be an opportunity to restore the funding as part of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills.