Appropriations Update: House and Senate Release FY 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science Bills and Reports

The two bills have major differences in their allocations and overall spending. The Senate bill would provide a total of $82.648 billion in FY 2026 funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Economic Development Agency (EDA), and Department of Justice (DOJ), among other programs. This reflects a $7 billion or 8.9 percent increase compared to the FY 2025 enacted level. The House bill would provide a total of $76.824 billion FY 2026 funding for the same agencies, a $1 billion increase compared to the FY 2025 enacted levels. In both bills, many agencies would see funding levels higher than those in the FY 2026 President’s budget requests, which could be seen as a significant rejection of the President’s proposed policy and funding goals. 

The top-line funding levels for agencies relevant to the research community are as follows:

• NSF would be funded at $9.0 billion in the Senate bill and $7.0 billion in the House bill. The Senate level is $60 million or 0.7 percent below the FY 2025 enacted level, while the House level is about $2.1 billion or 22.7 percent below the FY 2025 enacted level. Both bills reject the significant cuts to NSF proposed in President Trump’s budget request, as the Senate bill would be $5.1 billion or 130.6 percent above the request and the House would be $3.1 billion or 79.3 percent above the request. The Senate would provide nearly $7.2 billion for Research & Related Activities (R&RA),flat with the FY 2025 enacted level but $3.9 billion above the President’s budget request and $803 million above the House level. The House would provide $6.7 billion for R&RA, $803.5 million below the FY 2025 enacted level but $3.1 billion above the President’s budget request. The Senate bill would reject the proposed consolidation of the Directorate for STEM Education (EDU) into the Research and Related Activities Account (R&RA) as included in the budget request, while the House bill would approve the consolidation. EDU would receive $1.0 billion in the Senate bill, $172 million or 14.7 percent below the FY 2025 level. 
• NASA would receive $24.9 billion in the Senate, a slight increase from FY 2025 and $6.1 billion more than proposed in the budget request, while the House bill would provide $24.8 billion. NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) would receive $7.3 billion in the Senate bill, a slight decrease from FY 2025, $3.4 billion more than the request and $1.3 billion above the House level. The Committees both express their rejection of the President’s budget request proposal to drastically cut NASA’s space and earth science programs and it’s plan to cancel 55 missions across SMD.
• NOAA would be funded at $6.14 billion in the Senate, a very slight decrease of $41.3 million or 0.7 percent below the FY 2025 enacted level and the House bill would provide $5.79 billion, 6.3 percent below the enacted level.  Both chambers rejected the far steeper 28.6 percent slash proposed by the budget request.
• NIST would be funded at $1.6 billion in the Senate, while the House would provide $1.28 billion. Funding proposed by the Senate is $447.6 million or 38 percent above the FY 2025 enacted level while the House proposed level is $122.8 million or 10.6 percent above FY 2025 funding. For further comparison, the Senate would provide $324.8 million above the House level and $772.6 million over the FY 2026 President’s budget request, while the House would provide $447.9 million above the request. Of note, both the House and Senate bills would reject the budget request proposal to eliminate the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program, providing the program with $175 million. 
• EDA would be funded at $426 million under the Senate bill and $324.5 million under the House bill. Both bills reject the President’s FY 2026 budget request, which called for minimal funding to support the gradual elimination of the agency over several years. The Senate bill would provide $60 million for the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs Program, which would be $19 million more than the enacted level and the House’s proposed funding for the program in FY 2026.
• The Senate bill would provide DOJ with $36.9 billion, a cut of $46.8 million compared to FY 2025 levels, while the House bill would provide $37.3 billion, an increase of $408 million. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), DOJ’s primary external research program, would receive $27 million under the Senate bill, an $8 million or 23 percent cut, while the House bill would provide the budget request level of $22 million, a cut of $13 million or 37 percent compared to FY 2025 levels. Both bills would prioritize research on violence against women.