Inside (the Beltway) Scoop

By: Ellen Kuo
Friday, May 15, 2026
Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 House Appropriations Committee Markups Move Spending Bills to the House Floor

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole has an aggressive schedule of markups that began in April with the Agriculture, Rural Development and the Military Construction spending bills. He also posted interim 302 (b) allocations for six of the appropriations subcommittees with the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies (LHHS) unlisted. Timing for when this bill will be brought up at House Appropriations is toward the end of completion of the rest of the spending bills. According to rumors picked up by advocates, the Senate Appropriations LHHS Subcommittee is likely to take up its version of the bill in June. 

With the passage of the Agriculture and Rural Development (H.R. 8646) and the Military Construction/Veterans Administration (VA) spending bills out of full committee, it is expected the Military Construction bill (H.R. 8469) will be on the House floor the week of May 11 after the House Rules Committee meets on May 12 to determine the rule and the amendments that are going to be made in order. The VA Medical and Prosthetic Research program is funded at $900 million in the bill, which is a $45 million cut from FY 2026. There are two amendments that were submitted to Rules that impact this funding level, depending on whether either is passed on the House floor. Representative Lauren Boebert’s amendment would increase funding for the VA research program with an additional $2 million, to a total of $902 million, still shy of the $1.2 billion FASEB is requesting and lower than the $1.454 billion requested by Representatives Carson and Fitzpatrick, in their House Dear Colleague letter to the Chair and Ranking member of the Military Construction subcommittee. Representative Andre Carson’s amendment, ruled in order and revised, would increase the VA Medical and Prosthetic Research program by $94 million from $900 million to nearly $1 billion. There is bill language that directs the Secretary of Veteran Affairs to ensure sufficient funding for the acquisition of prosthetics designed for women Veterans, and for toxic exposure research in Title II, Department of Veterans Affairs. 

The Military Construction report language contains comments about how the committee appreciates the Department’s plans to focus on critical research areas that include environmental exposures, traumatic brain injury, cancer and precision oncology, and mental health. Under the heading Neuro-Interface Prosthetic Technology, the committee commends the Department for its efforts to advance technological research supporting veterans with limb loss and encourages further research toward the development and implementation of neurologically controlled prosthetic interfaces for veterans and active-duty service members. To advance this priority, the Department may collaborate with industry partners, as appropriate, to advance human—machine interface capabilities in prosthetic limbs.

The Agriculture spending bill provides the same amount of funding as in FY 2026 for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative--$435 million. When it comes to the floor, it is still unknown, but it is typically one of the first bills to be considered.

The full committee markup of the Commerce, Justice, Science spending bill took place on May 13. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funded currently at $7 billion, $1.75 billion below FY 2026, in the subcommittee’s mark. The likelihood of any change at full committee is low, but the discussion during the markup will be worth watching to see which members stand up for NSF.  

The Energy and Water Subcommittee will hold its markup on the morning of May 15. The funding level for the Department of Energy Office of Science will be revealed during this time. Full committee is on May 20. Currently, the administration is asking for $7.13 billion, or a $1.1 billion (13 percent cut) from the FY 2026 enacted.