Washington Update

Inside (the Beltway) Scoop

By: Ellen Kuo
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Congress Returns to Finish FY 2026 Spending Bills

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins reached a topline agreement for the remaining nine fiscal year (FY) spending bills as well as the subcommittee allocations as members of Congress departed for the holiday break. Democrats have provided a “tentative” agreement to abide by the framework.

“We wasted a lot of time because the Senate’s not negotiating yet,” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole said in an interview, “When they’re ready to negotiate, we can move fast.”  

The nine outstanding spending bills for FY 2026 include the Labor, Health and Humans Services (LHHS), Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS), and Energy and Water spending bills for which FASEB has funding recommendations. Before they left, the Senate wanted to pass five spending bills - Defense, LHHS, Transportation-HUD, Interior, and CJS, but failed. However, the Senate Appropriations Committee did release the text of the Homeland Security Act, 2026 on December 19.

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, right before the holidays, predicted that in January, he would move nine spending bills parceled out into three bill minibuses week by week. His proposed order is as follows:     House Appropriations Committee Ranking member Rosa DeLauro then issued a new factsheet which highlights how Republican proposals fail to address Americans’ concerns, citing the President’s desire to cut National Science Funding by 57 percent, the Department of Energy Office of Science by 13 percent, and the National Institutes of Health by 40 percent in FY 2026. While trying to complete FY 2026 spending bills, the President’s budget for FY 2027 is supposed to be released no later than the first Monday in February but is typically late. Expectations are that there will be continued recommendations to cut federal science agencies.