Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
House Appropriations Republicans released their FY26 Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill on Monday.
Why it matters: The legislation would slash science and tech funding, but wouldn't make some of the most drastic cuts that President Trump called for in his proposed budget.
- The Senate Appropriations Committee held up approval of its version of the CJS bill last week after a dispute over the FBI headquarters tanked that bipartisan bill's prospects to move to the floor.
Here's a quick breakdown of the GOP's FY26 bill for science and tech policy:
Commerce: The bill would provide $10.1 billion to the Commerce Department, a decrease of $264 million from the FY25 enacted level but $2 billion above what Trump requested.
- Notably, one bureau would get a lot more money: The bill would appropriate $303 million for BIS, a $112 million increase over last year that matches what the Trump administration requested.
- BIS plays a key role in implementing and enforcing export controls, and its head Jeffrey Kessler recently told lawmakers that increasing the bureau's budget is a matter of national security in the global AI race.
- The bill would cut NTIA's budget to $47 million, $12 million below its FY25 level. NIST would receive $1.28 million, or $122.8 million above last year.
NSF: The bill would provide $7 billion to the National Science Foundation.
- That's a whopping $2.1 billion cut from last year, but still $3.1 billion above Trump's ask.
- The Senate Appropriations' bill, meanwhile, would provide $9 billion for NSF in FY26.
DOJ: The Justice Department's Antitrust Division would get $310 million under this bill, offset by estimated pre-merger filing fee collections, according to the bill summary.
- That's a $77 million boost above both its FY25 level and the president's proposed budget.
OSTP: The Office of Science and Technology Policy would be funded at just under $8 million, which the budget summary notes is equal to the FY25 enacted level.
What they're saying: This budget "continues Republicans' attacks on America's scientific and economic competitiveness by cutting billions from science, technology development, STEM education, and aeronautics research of NASA and the National Science Foundation," House Appropriations Committee Democrats said in their summary.
The bottom line: It's not just Democrats vs. Republicans — the House and Senate are at odds over spending levels for science, tech and R&D.
- And government funding dries up on Sept. 30.
What's next: The House Appropriations CJS panel takes up the bill on Tuesday at noon.
