Sponsors
The bill ensures Capitol security staffing and immediate funding during an appropriations lapse and adds reporting requirements for transparency, but it does so by using a one-time taxpayer-funded Reserve Fund that sidesteps the regular appropriations process, introduces time-limited fixes, and leaves room for discretionary spending decisions.
United States Capitol Police officers and related security staff will be paid and have necessary expenses covered during an appropriations lapse through a $50 million Reserve Fund, reducing the risk of immediate security disruptions.
Provides funding certainty by immediately appropriating $50 million to a Reserve Fund to cover essential costs during a lapse, lowering the chance of operational disruptions for affected offices and employees.
Requires post-lapse reporting to appropriations and oversight committees, increasing transparency about how the Reserve Fund was used and giving taxpayers and Congress information about expenditures during the lapse.
Uses taxpayer funds to bypass the regular appropriations process during a lapse, which can reduce Congress’s leverage over spending priorities and weaken normal budgetary checks.
The provision is a one-time transfer with a fixed rescission deadline (transfer by Dec 31, 2026 and rescission by Jan 31, 2027), creating uncertainty about how future lapses will be handled once these funds are rescinded.
Limiting Fund expenditures to salaries and “necessary expenses” without a narrow statutory definition could allow discretionary decisions by leadership about what counts as necessary, risking misuse or inconsistent application across lapses.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a $50M Treasury reserve fund to cover U.S. Capitol Police salaries and necessary expenses during an appropriations lapse, with unspent funds returned and reported to Congress.
Introduced February 4, 2026 by Cory Mills · Last progress February 4, 2026
Creates a one-time $50 million reserve fund in the Treasury to pay United States Capitol Police salaries and necessary expenses during a lapse in regular appropriations. The Chief of the Capitol Police, with approval from the Capitol Police Board, may spend from the fund only during an appropriations lapse; any remaining money must be returned to the Treasury by January 31, 2027, and the Chief must report uses and transactions to specified congressional committees within 30 days after that transfer.