Sponsor
Steve Womack
Representative · R-AR
Representative · R-AR
Official title: Making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 21, 2025 by Steve Womack
The bill increases transparency, fiscal oversight, Buy American compliance, and targeted project-support while imposing rescissions, stricter controls, and administrative limits that reduce agency flexibility and may slow project delivery and emergency responsiveness.
Taxpayers, state and local governments, and federal employees gain greater transparency and oversight because the bill requires public posting of Council meetings and Buy America waiver notices, publication of consulting contract expenditures, and stronger Inspector General access for audits.
Taxpayers and Congress receive stronger fiscal controls because the bill imposes caps, reporting requirements, and reprogramming limits that constrain unapproved spending and help preserve congressional spending priorities.
Small businesses and U.S. manufacturers benefit from reinforced Buy American requirements because recipients must follow Buy American Act rules, supporting domestic procurement.
Federal, state, and local agencies and grant recipients face substantially higher administrative and reporting burdens because the bill adds multiple pre-notification windows, disclosure requirements, and stricter reporting and compliance rules.
Rail, transit, maritime, and research programs will have less funding and may see slowed projects because the bill rescinds unobligated balances (e.g., specified rescissions from FRA, FTA, MARAD, ARPA‑I).
DOT and other agencies will have reduced flexibility and slower responsiveness because strict reprogramming caps, prior-approval requirements, transfer restrictions, and limits on multi‑year obligations constrain rapid interagency action and emergency responses.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Imposes detailed administrative controls on DOT and HUD spending, rescinds half of certain recaptured HUD funds, tightens reprogramming rules, and restricts specific uses of Act funds.
Imposes administrative restrictions and conditions on Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spending, limits certain uses of funds, and sets reprogramming and procurement rules across covered agencies. Redirects a portion of HUD recaptured housing funds, requires competitive awards for many HUD grants, places oversight and transparency requirements on DOT benefit programs, and prohibits specific activities (e.g., certain training categories, COVID mask mandate enforcement, and visits by officials of some designated foreign governments).