Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 (HR-5304) · Congress.wiki

Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 (HR-5304) · Congress.wiki

Bill Summary

Summary

Imposes FY2026 appropriations rules and many new programmatic limits across Labor, HHS, Education, and related agencies. It sets pay and transfer caps, changes visa- and apprenticeship-related rules, adds DOL law-enforcement authority, alters NIH/HHS authorities and program conditions (including Title X and research rules), restricts Department of Education enforcement of certain Title IX/regulatory actions and limits funds for transgender participation in women’s sports, renames and reshapes national service programs, and enacts broad policy riders and reporting requirements across agencies. Creates numerous funding transfers, rescissions, certification and reporting requirements, and policy prohibitions (e.g., limits on abortion funding and advocacy, bans on certain DEI and climate-related executive-order implementation). The package affects federal operations, grantees, schools and universities, national service programs, researchers, visa employers and workers, and many public-health and education programs through funding conditions and regulatory limitations.

Key Points

Sets FY2026 appropriations rules and policy riders across Labor, HHS, Education, and related agencies with many funding restrictions, transfers, and rescissions.
Caps individual grantee and recipient salaries at Executive Level II for many programs and limits intra-agency transfers to 1% (no single program increased >3%) with advance committee notice.
Imposes new visa- and workforce-related rules (H‑2B entry flexibility for seafood, new prevailing-wage rules, limits on ACWIA training) and creates a temporary FLSA overtime exemption for disaster-claims adjusters.
Adds statutory authority for Labor to employ armed law-enforcement officers/special agents for protective and investigative duties and allows disposal/partnership for selected Job Corps properties.
Conditions HHS programs (including Title X), restricts certain NIH and public-health authorities, freezes USPSTF breast-screening guidance through 2028, and limits advocacy for gun control and certain drug-policy activities.
Prohibits Department of Education enforcement of specified Title IX rules, bars federal funds for institutions allowing males in women’s athletics, renames Workforce Pell Grants, and restricts several borrower-relief/regulatory actions.
Renames CNCS/AmeriCorps to "America First Corps," changes AmeriCorps matching/award rules, and requires notice-and-comment rulemaking for CNCS program changes.
Includes broad policy riders prohibiting use of funds for abortion (with narrow exceptions), for implementation of several climate/DEI Executive Orders, and for lobbying/propaganda.
Requires extensive reporting, certifications, and transparency measures (quarterly reports on noncompetitive awards, committee notifications, operating plans) and enacts multiple rescissions of unobligated balances.

Pros & Cons

The bill increases fiscal and programmatic transparency and prioritizes targeted research and some student/program protections, but does so while enacting sizable funding rescissions and wide-ranging policy restrictions (on reproductive care, LGBTQ+ protections, worker safeguards, and federal research/education flexibilities) that could reduce services and funding for vulnerable populations.

Potential Benefits

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Taxpayers and state/local governments gain clearer fiscal transparency and tighter congressional control because agencies and grantees must report quarterly on obligated/unobligated balances, disclose federal vs. nonfederal funding shares, and reprogramming is more limited.
Patients, hospitals, and public health systems benefit from improved continuity and flexibility for medical countermeasures and targeted research funding because BARDA may use multi‑year contracts and NIH/OAR can reallocate funds (including a dedicated NIH HIV research account and NRSA set‑asides) to prioritize critical projects.
Students and workforce trainees retain or gain program capacity and resources because Job Corps local programs are protected from closure without certification of no local harm, apprenticeship programs can receive excess property for training, Title III/V endowment income can be used for scholarships, and IES receives funding for research/evaluation support.

Potential Drawbacks

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Children, state programs, and taxpayers lose substantial resources because the bill permanently rescinds large balances (including a $12.835 billion rescission from the Child Enrollment Contingency Fund and other ARPA/unobligated balances), reducing available federal funding for child and health-related contingencies and programs.
Women, people seeking reproductive care, and public-health programs will face reduced access because the bill bars federal funding for abortion services and referrals, freezes more recent breast‑cancer screening guidance, restricts syringe purchases and supervised consumption facilities, and limits other reproductive-health-related funding.
LGBTQ+ individuals, and others protected by nondiscrimination rules, may lose protections and access to services because the bill prohibits funding to implement certain nondiscrimination and gender‑identity placement rules and bans gender‑affirming care in HHS‑funded programs.