Van Hollen, Chris

Chris Van Hollen is a U.S. Senator from Maryland serving since 2017 and currently the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. As ranking member of the minority party, Van Hollen leads Democratic opposition within this influential subcommittee, which controls funding for critical federal agencies including NASA, the Department of Justice and FBI, the Department of Commerce, NOAA, NIST, and the Census Bureau. This position gives him significant power to shape federal spending priorities and conduct oversight of these agencies.

Van Hollen brings deep expertise in policy and budget matters to this role. He earned degrees from Swarthmore College, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and Georgetown Law School, and worked early in his career as a legislative aide on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and for Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer. He served in the Maryland legislature from 1991 to 2003, then represented Maryland's 8th Congressional District in the House from 2003 to 2017, where he rose to become ranking member of the House Budget Committee and served as a lieutenant to House Democratic leadership.

As ranking member of the Commerce, Justice, Science subcommittee, Van Hollen has actively shaped appropriations bills and conducted oversight. He has fought to protect funding for scientific agencies based in Maryland, including NASA Goddard, NOAA, and NIST, while rejecting what he characterizes as the Trump Administration's attempts to defund critical initiatives. He has also worked to secure safeguards against executive efforts to withhold congressionally appropriated funds and has led efforts to ensure congressional oversight of major federal projects, including the FBI headquarters relocation. Additionally, he has pressed the Department of Justice for answers regarding actions against FBI employees involved in investigating the January 6 Capitol attack.

Throughout his career, Van Hollen has established himself as a policy-oriented progressive focused on economic opportunity, environmental protection, and democratic accountability. He has championed legislation on campaign finance reform, gun safety, and the Chesapeake Bay, and worked across party lines on issues including medical research and support for families with disabilities.