Illustration: Tiffany Herring/Axios
The Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to approve its FY26 Commerce-Justice-Science bill after a dispute over the FBI headquarters tanked the legislation's prospects at Thursday's markup.
Why it matters: The bill would have avoided some of the deepest cuts in President Trump's proposed FY 2026 budget, which sought to massively slash key science and tech agencies, but is hung up on one issue.
- House Republicans are expected to follow Trump's lead and take an axe to funding for science, tech and R&D in their approps bill.
- The Senate Approps Committee had initially approved their bill in a 21-6 vote, with Democrats taking issue over the Trump administration's decision to move the FBI building to the Ronald Reagan Building instead of the previously approved location in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Driving the news: CJS panel Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen proposed an amendment to prohibit the use of federal dollars to relocate the HQ to anywhere but Greenbelt.
- That passed on a 15-14 vote, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski joining Democrats to adopt the amendment.
- As a result, several senators on both sides of the aisle changed their vote on the CJS bill.
- Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins then called a "long recess" to hold the bill, with the intent to take up the legislation where it left off during a later markup.
As for the funding details, here's a quick breakdown of the Senate Approps FY26 bill for the National Science Foundation, per lawmakers at Thursday's markup:
- Van Hollen said the text provides $9 billion for NSF.
- That's a "minimal cut" of $60 million, or a 0.67% decrease, per CJS Chair Jerry Moran.
- Trump's budget called for a $4.9 billion cut for NSF, or a whopping 55.8% decrease.
What they're saying: "I would describe this bill, I don't know what normal is around here, but if something's normal, this is as close to being normal as what this committee would do and what this subcommittee has done in the past," Moran said.
- Van Hollen: "We were able to make smart and targeted investments ... to advance U.S. leadership in science and innovation."
What we're watching: We're still waiting on the text for this bill, as well as the House GOP's version.
- It's going to be a messy appropriations season, and government funding runs out Sept. 30.
