Track bills, resolutions, and amendments moving through Congress
ASCEND Act
The bill expands public-sector access to commercial high-resolution Earth imagery and favors U.S. suppliers to support the domestic space industry, but increases privacy/national-security risks, may harm vendor business models or raise costs, and adds administrative reporting burdens.
Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026
The bill increases near‑term transparency, targeted funding, and program guidance to accelerate infrastructure, safety, and tribal priorities, but does so by imposing tighter congressional controls, administrative procedures, and policy restrictions that reduce agency flexibility, create legal and budgetary uncertainty, and may delay environmental, scientific, or programmatic actions.
National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2025
The bill strengthens federal earthquake resilience by expanding scope, clarifying roles, improving early warning, and providing multi‑year support, but many new expectations hinge on future appropriations and will raise costs and administrative burdens for governments and property owners.
ASCEND Act
The bill expands NASA's ability to acquire and share commercial Earth‑observation data—boosting research, government operations, and U.S. space vendors—while creating potential taxpayer costs and limits on data access or downstream commercial reuse due to domestic sourcing preferences and vendor licensing.
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.
The resolution creates a detailed, multi-year fiscal and procedural roadmap aimed at achieving large deficit reductions and stronger defense funding, at the cost of concentrating procedural power in budget chairs and significant risk of cuts to mandatory social programs, constrained flexibility, and weaker regulatory safeguards.
DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act
The bill strengthens interagency scientific collaboration and NASA's technical capabilities through shared infrastructure and joint funding, while creating trade-offs around nuclear safety, taxpayer costs, data security, and fairness in research priority-setting.
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 preserves and showcases the Atlantis Visitor Complex to generate local economic activity, STEM education benefits, and retained spaceflight expertise, while imposing ongoing taxpayer costs and directing some revenue/control through a private operator rather than keeping it fully under public control.
Designating October 8, 2025, as "National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day".
The resolution highlights potential benefits of hydrogen and fuel cells for grid resilience, innovation, and water savings but is nonbinding and also legitimizes hydrogen from fossil feedstocks, creating a trade-off between signaling support for deployment and failing to commit policy or funding to ensure low-carbon outcomes.
Recognizing and celebrating 100 years of quantum mechanics.
The resolution promotes growth in quantum research, workforce opportunities, and national-security capabilities, but risks higher taxpayer costs, shifting funding away from other basic sciences, and increased classification that could reduce open academic collaboration.
Designating June 30, 2025 as "Asteroid Day".
The resolution raises public awareness, education, and international coordination on asteroid risks via an annual Asteroid Day, but it is nonbinding and may divert focus from concrete funding or preparedness actions and could increase public anxiety without accompanying resources.
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 promotes U.S. STEM engagement, scientific and commercial space visibility, and defense-space continuity—potentially inspiring students and bolstering industry—while remaining largely symbolic and risking diverted attention or resources from underfunded civilian STEM and space priorities.
Recognizing the heritage, culture, and contributions of Latinas in the United States.
The resolution increases public recognition of Latinas' contributions and disparities—potentially motivating future policy action and inspiring youth—but it is symbolic and does not itself create funding or enforceable measures, so real change depends on subsequent concrete policies.
NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2025
The bill substantially strengthens U.S. space funding, research, commercial partnerships, workforce development, and oversight to advance scientific and national goals, but does so at greater taxpayer cost and with trade‑offs in competition, flexibility, and added administrative and compliance burdens.
Contaminated Wells Relocation Act
The bill secures federal reimbursement to remove and replace contaminated wells in Chincoteague—protecting local drinking water and easing the town's fiscal burden—while creating potential NASA budget impacts, implementation uncertainty, and additional administrative requirements.
Astronaut Ground Travel Support Act
The bill lets NASA provide and operate post-mission transport (and collect reimbursements from non-U.S. or private participants) to ease crew care and shift some costs away from taxpayers, but it may increase NASA operating costs, reduce central financial oversight, and concentrate approval authority in a way that could delay care.
Department of Energy Quantum Leadership Act of 2025
The bill substantially expands and steadies federal investment, centers, workforce training, and commercialization pathways to accelerate U.S. quantum capabilities, at the trade-off of materially higher taxpayer cost, increased concentration of resources and potential shifts away from basic science and open academic collaboration.
Support for Astrophysical Observatories and National High-Energy Astrophysics Hubs Act of 2026
The bill elevates high‑energy astrophysics by encouraging national hubs and coordination that may spur innovation and strengthen mission capabilities, but it is nonbinding and risks concentrating benefits and excluding capable partners without committing new funding.
ReSCUE Oceans Act
The bill channels sustained federal resources, standards, and interagency coordination to accelerate marine carbon removal research and market credibility while trading off open‑ended taxpayer costs, ecological risks from field trials and deployment, and potential jurisdictional and data‑sharing tensions with tribes, states, and the research community.
NASA Talent Exchange Program Act
The bill expands NASA's ability to tap private‑sector expertise quickly and with oversight, but it imposes post‑assignment obligations on federal staff, creates potential compensation and participation disincentives for private partners, and risks gaps or rushed safeguards that could affect missions and employees.
National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2026
The bill boosts U.S. quantum leadership by scaling funding, coordination, workforce development, standards, and security planning—while increasing federal costs, adding compliance and partnership restrictions that could limit collaboration and concentrate benefits among larger institutions.
Space RACE Act
The bill creates a centralized Institute and broadens eligibility to preserve and commercialize U.S. microgravity research after the ISS, expanding opportunities for students, researchers, and private firms — but it requires new taxpayer funding and raises governance, accountability, and near-term disruption risks (including possible loss of the ISS National Lab and constrained crew time).
SPACEPORT Act
The bill increases federal support and oversight to expand U.S. spaceport infrastructure and inform policy, but it leaves funding certainty and waiver authority unresolved, shifting some financial risk to localities and concentrating discretionary power at the Department level.
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.
National Biotechnology Safety Act
The bill directs substantial federal research funding and coordinated studies to improve biotech safety, regulatory clarity, and transparency—supporting safer innovation and benefits to researchers and industry—while imposing meaningful taxpayer costs, raising conflict-of-interest and biosafety concerns, and creating pressures toward commercialization and potential new compliance burdens.
Saving NASA’s Workforce Act
The bill preserves NASA jobs and continuity of missions during an appropriations gap but shifts near‑term payroll costs to taxpayers and reduces management flexibility to realign staff, with potential fairness concerns for personnel actions.
Space Ready Act
The bill lets NASA accelerate repairs and modernization at Kennedy Space Center by using user assessments and private investment, improving infrastructure and attracting capital, but it shifts costs onto facility users, raises fairness and oversight concerns, and creates time‑limited funding uncertainty for long‑term projects.
Space Exploration Research Act
The bill opens NASA land to long-term partnerships that could expand space research, technology transfer, and workforce training, but it trades off greater private use and flexibility against reduced future public control, potential fiscal liabilities, and diminished statutory protections.
Defense Technology Hubs Act of 2025
The bill accelerates defense-focused technology development and regional economic growth through DoD-led hubs and improved coordination, but it centralizes control, imposes security and funding constraints, and creates administrative costs that may limit civilian research, international collaboration, and equitable participation.
ORBITS Act of 2025
The bill strengthens U.S. efforts to reduce orbital debris and accelerate debris-removal technology—improving long-term safety for space services—but does so at added cost, relies on appropriations and voluntary adoption, and could favor larger firms over smaller competitors.
