Sponsor
Juan Ciscomani
Representative · R-AZ
Representative · R-AZ
Official title: Making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 20, 2026 by Juan Ciscomani · Last progress April 2, 2026
The bill increases oversight, transparency, and targeted funding for DHS operations and state/local grants—improving accountability and some operational support—while imposing substantial new reporting requirements, funding/ procurement limits, and financial penalties that raise costs, reduce flexibility, and could delay urgent responses.
Taxpayers and Congress receive substantially greater transparency and oversight of DHS budgeting, forfeiture transfers, and immigration workload assumptions through monthly reports, IG audits, independent validation, and inclusion of estimates in DHS budget materials.
State and local governments (including first responders) get clearer, faster grant timelines, a public reimbursement dashboard, and FEMA flexibility (waivers for SAFER/AFG) that should speed award decisions and reimbursements.
Federal employees who worked during a lapse receive retroactive pay, allowances, and benefits and obligations to maintain essential activities are ratified, preventing disruption of critical services.
Federal employees and DHS components face substantial new reporting, monthly estimates, dashboards, briefings, and documentation requirements that will increase administrative burden and recurring costs, diverting staff time from frontline operations.
Limits on reprogramming, prohibitions on using forfeiture transfers, and procurement restrictions reduce DHS flexibility to shift funds or acquire capabilities, potentially delaying urgent operational responses at the border and other missions.
New monetary penalties, rescissions, fee increases, and directed spending (e.g., $100k/day penalties for missed deadlines, $1M rescission, Radiological Emergency Preparedness fee hikes, and $20M body-camera direction) will reduce grant monies available to applicants or raise costs for regulated entities and taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Provides FY2026 DHS appropriations from Treasury balances, ratifies lapse-period obligations, and imposes new DHS/FEMA reporting, grant timing/penalties, and monthly detention/removal estimate requirements tied to budget authorities.
Provides fiscal year 2026 appropriations authority for Department of Homeland Security activities, treats an explanatory statement as a committee conference statement for allocation purposes, and ratifies obligations and payments that occurred during a recent lapse in appropriations. It imposes new and detailed DHS and FEMA reporting, notification, and timing requirements (with financial penalties for missed deadlines), tightens acquisition and transfer notifications, and requires DHS to produce validated monthly estimates of detainees and removals to inform budgeting and to condition transfer/reprogramming authority on delivery of those estimates. Implements deadlines for FEMA grant application windows, applicant deadlines, agency action windows, and advance briefings to Appropriations Committees; extends several FEMA reporting requirements into FY2026–FY2027; and directs the DHS Inspector General and DHS financial offices to deliver regular reports and briefings to appropriations committees. It also designates funding sources (Treasury unobligated balances) for FY2026 and confirms continued payments related to the lapse period for essential operations and personnel pay.