Bill brief/HR7744/119th Congress
DHS gets full-year funding for border work, disaster aid, and cybersecurity
Official title
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026
H.R. 7744 sets the budget and rules for the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2026 and also cleans up issues from an earlier short-term funding lapse. It funds border and immigration enforcement, the Coast Guard, TSA, FEMA disaster aid, cybersecurity, and more, and adds many reporting and oversight requirements. The bill has passed the House and was received and referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
Bill
HR7744
Introduced
Mar 2, 2026
Sponsor
Sponsor not listed
Chamber
House
What the bill does
What this bill does
The bill provides one-year funding for almost every part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It sets dollar amounts for operations, construction, research, and grants for agencies such as Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), TSA, the Coast Guard, Secret Service, FEMA, CISA, USCIS, the Science and Technology Directorate, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. Some funds stay available for several years for long-term projects like facilities, aircraft, ships, and flood mapping. It also gives detailed instructions on how DHS may use the money.
It requires many plans and reports to Congress on budgets, large acquisitions, pilots and demonstrations, detention contracts and bed use, border and detention population estimates, and disaster relief payments. It limits DHS’s ability to move money between accounts without advance notice and sets penalties, such as automatic cuts, if certain FEMA and DHS reports or dashboards are late. The bill sets policy conditions tied to funding. It adds $20 million for body-worn cameras for immigration enforcement agents and officers and restricts some ICE detention contracts if performance ratings are too low.
It blocks use of funds for certain CBP border fencing locations under prior law, bans new land-border crossing fees, and keeps in place CBP policies on treatment of pregnant and nursing individuals in custody. It requires that no funds be used to plan or create a national ID card and bars use of funds to implement the Arms Trade Treaty without Senate ratification. In addition, the bill funds FEMA disaster relief and flood insurance operations, including the Disaster Relief Fund and flood mitigation programs, and sets multi-year availability for major disaster spending.
It supports homeland security grants to states, cities, ports, transit systems, nonprofits, and fire departments. It funds federal cybersecurity work through CISA, including infrastructure protection and cyber tools for other governments. The bill also rescinds some unspent prior DHS funds and transfers some balances (for example, from a CISA cyber response fund) into current-year operations. Division B of the bill addresses the earlier 2026 continuing resolution.
It treats the lapse in funding as covered time, confirms that back pay and related payments may be made, and ratifies obligations that agencies made during the lapse if they were consistent with law.
Key provisions
- The bill funds the main parts of the Department of Homeland Security. These include border and immigration agencies, airport security, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, disaster response, cybersecurity, citizenship services, research, and federal law enforcement training. Some money for large projects would last beyond one year.
- The Homeland Security Secretary's office could lose access to $5 million. Officials must first answer all written follow-up questions from congressional hearings on the department's 2027 budget.
- The department's chief financial officer must report spending and staffing every month. The first staffing count would become the starting point for measuring later changes.
- Congress would get quarterly updates on the department's largest purchase programs, known as Level 1 and Level 2 programs. It must also receive each formal purchase decision within five business days after approval.
- The department could not spend money on a large new test program without a written plan. The plan must state the goals, review methods, and steps for putting the program into use. Congress must also receive a lessons report after the test ends.
- The Office of Intelligence and Analysis could not pay for a group of activities named in the 2025 Intelligence Authorization Act. It would keep its powers to oversee work and share information.
- The bill provides $20 million for body cameras used by immigration officers and agents. The department must give Congress a spending plan within 30 days after the bill becomes law.
- Some local immigration-enforcement agreements and detention contracts would depend on Inspector General findings and performance scores. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could also move detention money to focus on people marked for removal.
- The department could not charge new land-border crossing fees to pedestrians, cyclists, or people in private vehicles. It could not study such a fee either.
- Customs and Border Protection must submit a plan for major purchases, construction, and improvements within 90 days. It could not commit any of that money before sending the plan.
Impact
Why it matters—and who it affects
Why it matters
This bill controls how DHS can protect the nation’s borders, transportation systems, and critical infrastructure in 2026. The funding levels and rules affect how many agents and officers can be deployed, how many people can be detained or removed, what kinds of technology can be used at the border and in the air and at sea, and how quickly DHS can respond to new threats. Conditions on contracts, pilots, and large acquisitions are meant to shape how DHS invests in long-term capabilities like ships, aircraft, unmanned systems, and cyber defenses. The bill has major effects on disaster and emergency management. It provides tens of billions of dollars for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund and pre-disaster mitigation, which support communities after hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and other major events. It also funds flood insurance mapping and management, which influence which properties must carry flood insurance and where mitigation projects may be focused. For state and local governments, transit agencies, ports, nonprofits, and fire departments, the bill continues or adjusts many homeland security and emergency preparedness grant programs. Reporting and timing requirements aim to speed up grant awards and disaster reimbursements and make FEMA decisions more transparent. At the same time, oversight provisions—such as limits on certain surveillance systems, detention contracts, and traveler screening exemptions—are intended to set boundaries on how DHS uses its authorities and manages its workforce, which can affect civil liberties, privacy, and working conditions for federal employees.
Who it affects
This bill mainly affects people who deal directly with border agencies, immigration officers, airports, or federal disaster programs. It also affects Homeland Security workers and local groups that receive federal safety grants. The funding and rules could change staffing, detention work, disaster payments, security tools, and the timing of grants.
The debate
The case for it—and the concerns
These are the main arguments surrounding the bill, not Modern Action’s position.
Arguments in support
- Provides full-year, detailed funding for DHS, reducing uncertainty for agencies responsible for border security, counterterrorism, cybersecurity, and disaster response.
- Increases transparency and accountability through frequent reporting on budgets, major acquisitions, pilots, detention capacity, and border and detention forecasts, which may help Congress oversee spending and planning.
- Strengthens protections and standards around detention and custody, including body-worn cameras, limits on poor-performing detention contracts, policies for pregnant and nursing individuals, and bans on certain restraints.
- Maintains and funds a wide range of FEMA grants and the Disaster Relief Fund, which support state and local readiness and recovery from disasters, while adding timelines and dashboards to speed and clarify reimbursements.
- Invests in cyber and technology capabilities (through CISA, Coast Guard unmanned aircraft, TSA technology planning, and DHS science and technology) that are seen as important for modern threats.
- Places guardrails on fees and programs affecting the public, such as banning new land-border crossing fees and national ID card planning, and keeping high-level officials subject to TSA screening.
- Uses rescissions and transfers from unobligated balances and specialized funds to partially offset new spending and redirect unspent resources to current priorities.
- Ensures that federal employees affected by the earlier 2026 funding lapse receive authorized payments and that obligations made during that period are legally ratified, promoting workforce stability.
Concerns and tradeoffs
- The overall DHS spending levels and specific allocations, especially for border security, immigration enforcement, and detention, may be viewed by some as too high and by others as too low for the challenges at the border and within the country.
- Multiple detailed reporting and planning requirements, with automatic financial penalties for delays, could be seen as adding administrative burden and diverting staff time from operations.
- Restrictions on certain ICE detention contracts and §287(g) agreements, along with reporting and oversight conditions, may be criticized as limiting flexibility in immigration enforcement or complicating local-federal partnerships.
- Provisions that bar new land-border crossing fees and continue bans on certain border fencing or on non-autonomous surveillance systems may be seen as constraining possible tools for border management or revenue generation.
- Limitations on DHS use of the Technology Modernization Fund and requirements for extensive notices and analyses before seeking Defense Department support at the border may be viewed as slowing modernization and emergency responses.
- Some may object to the continuation of prohibitions on transferring Guantanamo detainees to the United States or on implementing the Arms Trade Treaty, arguing these policy riders do not directly relate to DHS appropriations.
- The bill rescinds certain unobligated balances that some stakeholders might prefer to retain for ongoing or future projects, potentially affecting long-term planning.
- Oversight access provisions that guarantee Members of Congress and certain staff entry into DHS detention facilities without prior notice may raise operational or security concerns for facility managers.
Check the details
Key facts
- Provides detailed appropriations across DHS components, including CBP, ICE, TSA, Coast Guard, Secret Service, FEMA, CISA, USCIS, Science and Technology, and federal law enforcement training, with many accounts available beyond one year for large projects.
- Withholds $5 million from the DHS Secretary’s office until all questions for the record on the FY 2027 DHS budget hearings are answered for appropriations committees.
- Requires DHS’s Chief Financial Officer to submit monthly budget and staffing reports at appropriation and program levels; initial staffing figures become the baseline for later changes.
- Requires quarterly briefings and extensive data on all major (Level 1 and 2) DHS acquisition programs, plus submission of each Acquisition Decision Memorandum within five business days of approval.
- Bars spending on new DHS pilots or demonstrations over certain size thresholds unless objectives, evaluation methods, and an implementation plan are documented and reported to appropriators, and requires a post-completion lessons-learned report.
- Prohibits DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis from using funds for a specified category of “covered activities” referenced in the FY 2025 Intelligence Authorization Act, while preserving oversight and information-sharing authorities.
- Provides $20 million for DHS-wide body-worn cameras for immigration enforcement personnel and requires a spending plan within 30 days of enactment.
- Conditions continuation of certain ICE agreements under INA §287(g) and detention service contracts on Inspector General findings and performance ratings, and allows ICE detention funds to be reprogrammed to prioritize individuals targeted for removal.
Legislative record
How far the bill has moved
Appropriations
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations. · Mar 9, 2026
- Introduced
- House Committee
- House Floor Vote
- Passed House
- 5Senate Review
- 6Passed Both Chambers
- 7Signed into Law
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