Track bills, resolutions, and amendments moving through Congress
ACERO Act
The bill aims to strengthen wildfire response and responder coordination through NASA-led research and procurement limits that reduce security risks, but it could restrict access to affordable drones, raise privacy concerns, and divert or duplicate federal resources.
Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026
The bill directs sizable infrastructure, cleanup, energy, and emergency resources and increases congressional transparency and fiscal controls, but it does so at the cost of tighter agency constraints, added procurement and administrative burdens, concentrated interpretive authority, and fiscal and programmatic trade‑offs that may slow implementation and affect state, local, tribal, and private partners.
Commemorating the 65th anniversary of the Marshall Space Flight Center and recognizing its continued leadership in the development of the Space Launch System and human space exploration.
Establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2025 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2026 through 2034.
This concurrent budget resolution offers a 10-year fiscal blueprint and tools to pursue up to $2 trillion in deficit reduction and policy changes—providing predictability for defense, health, research, and tax planning—while concentrating procedural power and risking cuts to benefits, reduced flexibility in crises, higher long‑term debt if offsets fail, and environmental and regulatory tradeoffs.
DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act
The bill pairs DOE and NASA resources to accelerate advanced space, modeling, and energy-related R&D—boosting innovation and mission capability—but increases federal costs and raises nuclear safety, data-security, and mission-creep risks that require strong oversight and safeguards.
Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the inaugural flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis and recognizing Kennedy Space Center for its economic, educational, and cultural contributions to the State of Florida and the United States.
The resolution promotes the Shuttle legacy and potential local STEM and tourism benefits, but it makes no funding commitments—so benefits are largely symbolic unless followed by concrete investment.
Designating June 30, 2025 as "Asteroid Day".
Supporting May 2, 2025, as "National Space Day" in recognition of the significant positive impact the aerospace community has and will continue to have on the United States of America.
The resolution raises the profile of aerospace and STEM—potentially inspiring students and reinforcing public support—while remaining largely symbolic, offering no new funding and risking shifted attention away from other education priorities.
NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2025
The bill injects substantial new funding, program certainty, commercial opportunity, and oversight into NASA activities—accelerating exploration, research, and workforce programs—while concentrating procurement choices, increasing federal costs and administrative requirements, and raising risks that competition, international collaboration, and other civil priorities may be constrained.
Edward J. Dwight, Jr. Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2025
The bill provides symbolic national recognition and modest public access to commemorative medals while relying on Mint sales to offset costs—offering broad cultural and educational visibility but no substantive policy remedies and exposing the Mint and, indirectly, taxpayers to modest financial and administrative risks.
Contaminated Wells Relocation Act
The bill helps Chincoteague replace contaminated wells and plan municipal water—improving local drinking-water safety and easing local costs—but risks delayed local benefits, potential legal/procurement bypasses, and shifts in federal resources to cover reimbursements.
Astronaut Ground Travel Support Act
The bill improves access to post-mission medical transport for government astronauts and spaceflight participants but does so at the expense of increased taxpayer exposure, potential operational complications for international partners, and greater liability and oversight needs for the agency.
Department of Energy Quantum Leadership Act of 2025
The bill substantially accelerates U.S. quantum R&D, workforce development, and commercialization through multi-year funding and infrastructure—but at the cost of higher federal spending, a tilt toward applied/commercial work that may crowd out basic science, greater administrative complexity, and risks of concentrating benefits with larger firms and selected institutions.
Support for Astrophysical Observatories and National High-Energy Astrophysics Hubs Act of 2026
The bill builds national hubs, infrastructure, and workforce capacity to strengthen U.S. leadership in high‑energy X‑ray astrophysics and enable future flagship missions, but does so at increased cost and with a risk of concentrating funding and access among larger, contracted institutions.
ReSCUE Oceans Act
The bill channels significant federal funding and centralized coordination into accelerating marine carbon removal research, standards, and market-readiness while increasing taxpayer commitments and creating environmental, equity, regulatory, and market-concentration risks that could disproportionately affect coastal and Indigenous communities.
NASA Talent Exchange Program Act
The bill expands personnel exchanges to give NASA access to private‑sector expertise and develop federal staff while increasing transparency, but it raises meaningful risks of conflicts of interest, workforce circumvention, potential costs, and barriers to small‑business participation.
National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2026
The bill substantially boosts U.S. quantum education, coordinated R&D, commercialization pathways, and national‑security resilience — improving competitiveness and workforce capacity — but raises taxpayer costs, tightens international collaboration and security constraints, adds administrative and eligibility burdens, and risks shifting resources away from basic research toward applied and defense‑oriented priorities.
Dark and Quiet Skies Act of 2025
The bill promotes voluntary, collaborative industry–federal coordination to reduce satellite and light/radio interference and improve astronomical research while keeping regulatory costs low, but its voluntary approach, modest funding, and potential private-interest influence mean researchers may still face interference and taxpayers bear new program and administrative costs.
Space RACE Act
The bill centralizes and funds U.S. next‑generation microgravity research to expand access, commercialization, education, and national‑security priorities, but it raises conflict‑of‑interest risks, new federal costs, potential bias toward industry priorities, and abrupt disruption to the ISS National Lab partnership and related jobs/contracts.
SPACEPORT Act
The bill greatly increases federal support and coordination for launch infrastructure—reducing local costs and expanding commercial eligibility—while raising federal fiscal exposure and creating risks that funding could be steered toward defense or political priorities amid some budgetary uncertainty.
Continuing Appropriations and Extensions and Other Matters Act, 2026
The bill preserves short-term continuity for many social, health, research, and security programs, but does so through temporary fixes that raise federal outlays, increase planning and administrative uncertainty, and constrain new program starts and defense procurement.
Saving NASA’s Workforce Act
The bill protects NASA employees and program continuity during the FY2026 funding process, reducing immediate layoffs and mission disruption, but it raises short-term costs for taxpayers and constrains agency flexibility to reorganize or cut misaligned positions.
Space Ready Act
The bill supplies NASA with a locally controlled, predictable revenue stream to speed KSC repairs and support commercial space activity, but it raises costs for private users, could reduce direct appropriations scrutiny, and creates a potential funding cliff when assessment authority expires in 2035.
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026
The bill increases congressional oversight, fiscal transparency, and certain program safeguards (and strengthens weather and public‑safety capacity) but does so by imposing caps, certifications, rescissions, and policy restrictions that reduce agency flexibility, add administrative burdens, and shift or cut some program resources.
ORBITS Act of 2025
The bill invests federal leadership, funding, and clearer standards to reduce orbital debris risk and jump‑start a domestic debris‑removal market, but it raises costs for operators and taxpayers, may favor established players, and its near‑term effectiveness depends on international cooperation and careful execution.
Mission to MARS Act
The bill directs $1.0B to modernize and upgrade Johnson Space Center facilities—boosting mission capability, safety, training, and commercial opportunities—while concentrating federal spending in one center and creating short-term disruptions and fiscal trade-offs.
BOOST for Engines Act
The bill upgrades and opens NASA propulsion test facilities to commercial users—accelerating engine development, improving safety, and generating local revenue—while risking budget diversion, unequal access favoring larger firms, and scheduling constraints that may slow or limit benefits for smaller users.
Engine Testing for Exploration Act
The bill preserves NASA's in-house propulsion testing, expertise, and Stennis's role to protect mission safety and local jobs, but increases the risk of higher federal costs, reduced private competition, and geographically concentrated investment.
Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act
The bill moves the Discovery orbiter to Johnson Space Center to boost Houston-area STEM access and give NASA direct control, but it shifts a major national exhibit away from Washington, may increase federal costs, and narrows future placement flexibility.
TAME Extreme Weather and Wildfires Act
The bill funds NOAA AI R&D and provides public datasets and standards to improve forecasts and warnings—boosting jobs and operational reliability—while increasing federal spending and giving NOAA discretion to withhold or limit access to some models/data for security, IP, or partnership reasons.
