Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026

The bill provides funding for the Department of Commerce, including programs that support international trade, export controls, economic development, minority-owned businesses, statistics, broadband and spectrum work, patents and trademarks, industrial technology, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It pays for NOAA’s weather, climate, ocean, and fisheries work and for satellites, ships, and other large equipment. It also funds the Census Bureau, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. For the Department of Justice, the bill funds the Attorney General’s offices, immigration courts, federal prosecutors, the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, federal prisons, and many grant programs for state and local law enforcement, courts, reentry, juvenile justice, and services for crime victims. It includes detailed amounts for Violence Against Women Act programs, victim assistance and compensation, school safety, drug and mental health courts, hate crimes work, and community‑oriented policing. It also sets limits and conditions on how DOJ can move money between accounts, buy technology, transport prisoners, and handle certain issues like abortion services in federal prisons and transfers of Guantanamo detainees. In the science section, the bill funds NASA’s science missions, aeronautics, space technology, human and lunar exploration, space station and other operations, STEM education, and facilities. It funds the National Science Foundation’s research, major research facilities, STEM education, and agency operations. It also funds the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Space Council, and creates or maintains special accounts such as a NASA nonrecurring expenses fund. Across all titles, the bill sets government‑wide rules for this spending, such as how and when agencies must notify Congress before shifting funds, how they handle contracts and grants, and how they report on balances and large project cost increases. It rescinds some unspent balances from past years, places conditions on certain activities (such as cooperation with China in space, import/export of some firearms and ammunition, and live tissue training), and ties use of some CHIPS Act semiconductor funds to specific Commerce and NSF projects.

This bill shapes how a large share of federal money for law enforcement, courts, prisons, crime victims, and local policing is spent in 2026. State and local agencies depend on many of these grants for things like body cameras, anti‑drug efforts, school safety, domestic violence services, youth mentoring, and programs for people returning from prison. Changes in amounts or rules can affect how much help different communities receive and which activities are supported. The bill also directs the nation’s investments in science, space, and technology, including NASA missions, climate and weather work at NOAA, and basic research and STEM education through the National Science Foundation. These choices can influence future technology, understanding of weather and climate, and the training of the next generation of scientists and engineers. In addition, provisions on trade, export controls, CHIPS Act implementation, and restrictions on working with certain foreign actors tie federal spending to broader economic and national security goals. Many policy riders in the bill do not change permanent law but control how money can be used this year, for example on medical marijuana enforcement, abortion‑related services in federal custody, transfers of Guantanamo detainees, and cooperation with China in space. Their practical impact depends on how agencies implement them and on whether they are renewed in future appropriations laws.

• Funds the International Trade Administration with about $605 million, including money set aside for enforcing U.S. trade laws on Chinese imports.
• Provides $211 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security to run export controls and national security reviews on sensitive exports.
• Gives the Economic Development Administration $360 million for economic development grants and $66 million for salaries and oversight of those projects.
• Funds NOAA operations, research, and facilities at roughly $4.48 billion plus transfers and recoveries, and $1.61 billion for procurement, acquisition, and construction, including ships, aircraft, and satellites.
• Provides about $5.0 billion in fee‑funded authority for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, with extra fee collections held in a reserve fund for later use.
• Sets National Institute of Standards and Technology funding over $1.6 billion, including for manufacturing extension and construction of research facilities, with many congressionally directed projects.
• Gives the Executive Office for Immigration Review $804 million, including a required minimum for the Legal Orientation Program for people in immigration proceedings.
• Provides more than $10.6 billion for FBI salaries and expenses, plus funds for FBI construction.
• Allocates at least $409 million within the federal prison budget for First Step Act programs, and requires a portion to go to research and evaluation of those programs.
• Provides $720 million for Violence Against Women Act programs, broken into many specific grant lines (e.g., rural programs, legal assistance, campus grants, culturally specific services).
• Sets roughly $1.88 billion for state and local law enforcement assistance through the Office of Justice Programs, with detailed carve‑outs for DNA backlogs, opioid response, school violence prevention, hate crimes, reentry, and other areas.
• Provides $500 million for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), including $206 million for hiring law enforcement officers and specified amounts for technology and school safety grants.
• Funds NASA at multibillion‑dollar levels across science ($7.3B), exploration ($7.78B), space operations ($4.31B), aeronautics ($950M), space technology ($975M), STEM engagement ($148M), and safety/security/mission services (~$3.1B).
• Funds NSF with about $7.18 billion for research and related activities, $350 million for major research equipment, and $1.0 billion for STEM education.
• Restricts NASA, OSTP, and the National Space Council from bilateral cooperation with China or Chinese‑owned companies unless strict certifications and advance notice to Congress are provided.
• Prohibits DOJ from using funds to interfere with state medical marijuana laws in a long list of named states and territories.
• Bars use of funds to transfer or release specified Guantanamo Bay detainees into the United States and to build new U.S. facilities to house them.
• Caps general transfer authority for most departments and agencies (typically 3–6 percent between accounts) and requires 30‑day advance notice to Congress for significant reprogrammings.
• Requires quarterly reporting on fund balances and on key trust funds and working capital funds, and special reporting for cost overruns on large projects above $75 million.
• Rescinds specific amounts of unobligated prior‑year funds from Commerce and Justice accounts and the DOJ Working Capital Fund, while protecting certain congressionally directed items from rescission.

• Many policy conditions are temporary and apply only to this fiscal year’s funds; if not renewed, they may change in future appropriations, even though agencies and grantees might plan as if they were longer‑term.
• Several lines (for NOAA, NIST, NASA, OJP, and COPS) depend on tables in the committee report that are not part of the statutory text; those tables can strongly shape actual project‑level funding but are not visible in the bill alone.
• Some large accounts, like USPTO and the Antitrust Division, are structured so that most or all funding comes from collected fees rather than the general fund; if fee collections fall short or exceed estimates, actual available resources can differ from the headline amounts.
• Transfer and reprogramming caps vary by title and sometimes exclude particular earmarked paragraphs, which means some funds are more flexible than others; the details matter for how agencies can respond to changing conditions.
• The bill uses rescissions of unobligated balances to offset part of new spending; which exact projects lose prior‑year funds depends on later agency decisions and required reports, not spelled out in the main text.
• CHIPS Act funds are controlled both by this bill and by prior authorizing law; the section tying allocations to report tables can limit executive discretion more than is obvious from the CHIPS Act alone.
• Several provisions carve out narrow exceptions (for example, on ITAR exports to Canada of certain firearms parts, or hemp research enforcement) that apply only if specific conditions are met, which may affect a small but specialized set of stakeholders.
• Conditions on NASA/OSTP/NSC cooperation with China include procedural steps (FBI consultation, 30‑day advance certification to Congress) that can delay even activities that are eventually approved, potentially affecting schedules for international meetings or experiments.