Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026
Summary
What This Bill Does
This is the fiscal year 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill. It funds and controls the Department of Commerce, Department of Justice, NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Legal Services Corporation, and related agencies. The Commerce title gives Commerce limited transfer authority, sets notification rules for capital assets, adopts NOAA satellite lifecycle cost caps for JPSS, Polar Follow On, GOES-R, and Space Weather Follow On, and authorizes NOAA to work with federal, state, Tribal, territorial, foreign, and international partners.
The Justice and general provisions include many policy riders. DOJ funds may not be used to discriminate against or denigrate religious or moral beliefs of students, parents, or guardians in DOJ-funded programs. DOJ funds may not prevent states and territories from implementing medical marijuana laws. Other provisions restrict ATF user fees, ATF stabilizing-brace rule implementation, ATF Demand 2 reporting thresholds, marijuana rescheduling, alien legal representation in removal proceedings, torture support, categorical administrative closure policies, Foreign Influence Task Force operations, and certain settlements that include terms not based on existing law.
Government-wide CJS riders also prohibit DEI initiatives, training, offices, and policies; bar hiring or retention based on race, national origin, sex, or religion; restrict use of funds for child-pornography offenders and sex offenders in hiring contexts; prevent the Census Bureau from including unlawfully present aliens in apportionment determinations; and block several NOAA environmental rules or vessel-speed restrictions involving Rice's whale, North Atlantic right whale, and critical habitat. The bill also preserves state medical marijuana regimes from DOJ interference and sets controls on first-class travel, publicity, propaganda, transfers, and inspector general reviews.
Who Benefits and How
Commerce program managers benefit from transfer authority and facility-service flexibility. NOAA satellite contractors and weather-data users benefit from explicit lifecycle cost structures and continued satellite program authority. Religious students and parents in DOJ-funded programs benefit from a funding bar on denigration of their beliefs. Medical marijuana patients and state-legal providers benefit because DOJ cannot use funds to interfere with state medical marijuana laws. Firearm owners, firearms dealers, and stabilizing-brace users benefit from ATF rider restrictions. Fishing, shipping, and coastal commerce operators benefit from riders blocking several NOAA vessel-speed and critical-habitat restrictions. State marijuana regulators benefit from federal noninterference language.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Commerce, DOJ, NASA, NSF, and Legal Services Corporation budget staff must apply transfer, travel, publicity, reporting, and procurement controls. DOJ civil-rights and enforcement attorneys must operate within limits on religious-student, medical-marijuana, immigration, settlement, and administrative-closure activities. ATF regulatory staff must halt or limit user fee, firearm brace, Demand 2, and related firearms regulatory work. NOAA enforcement and protected-resources staff must stop specified whale, vessel-speed, and critical-habitat actions. Census Bureau apportionment staff must implement the rider excluding unlawfully present aliens from apportionment counts. DEI program staff across funded agencies lose authority to run covered initiatives.
Key Provisions
- Provides fiscal year 2026 appropriations controls for Commerce, Justice, NASA, NSF, Legal Services Corporation, and related agencies.
- Sets NOAA satellite lifecycle cost caps for JPSS, Polar Follow On, GOES-R, and Space Weather Follow On.
- Protects religious students, parents, and guardians in DOJ-funded programs from denigration of religious or moral beliefs.
- Bars DOJ from interfering with state and territorial medical marijuana laws.
- Restricts ATF user fees, stabilizing-brace rule implementation, Demand 2 thresholds, and marijuana rescheduling work.
- Blocks DEI initiatives and certain race, national-origin, sex, or religion-based hiring and retention actions.
- Restricts Census apportionment use of unlawfully present aliens and several NOAA whale or critical-habitat enforcement actions.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Provides fiscal year 2026 appropriations and policy controls for Commerce, Justice, NASA, NSF, Legal Services Corporation, and related agencies, including NOAA satellite lifecycle caps, Commerce transfer rules, DOJ and ATF restrictions, medical-marijuana enforcement protections, DEI and firearms riders, Census apportionment limits, and multiple NOAA environmental enforcement prohibitions.
Key Policy Areas
Appropriations, Criminal Justice, Commerce, Science & Space, Environment
Primary Purpose
Provides fiscal year 2026 appropriations and policy controls for Commerce, Justice, NASA, NSF, Legal Services Corporation, and related agencies, including NOAA satellite lifecycle caps, Commerce transfer rules, DOJ and ATF restrictions, medical-marijuana enforcement protections, DEI and firearms riders, Census apportionment limits, and multiple NOAA environmental enforcement prohibitions.
Policy Domains
House resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Commerce program managers
- NOAA satellite contractors
- Weather-data users
- Religious students in DOJ-funded programs
- Medical marijuana patients
- State-legal medical marijuana providers
- Firearm owners
- Firearms dealers
- Fishing operators
- Shipping operators
- State marijuana regulators
Identified Costs
- Commerce budget staff
- DOJ enforcement attorneys
- NASA budget staff
- NSF budget staff
- ATF regulatory staff
- NOAA protected-resources staff
- Census Bureau apportionment staff
- DEI program staff
- Legal Services Corporation administrators
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedMr. Rogers of Kentucky, from the Committee on Appropriations, reported …
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 228.
The House Committee on Appropriations reported an original measure, H. …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
ATF, ATF enforcement operations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Department of Commerce, Department of Justice, Federal contractors face effects in multiple directions
Positive-direction: ATF, Bureau of Census and Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Bureau of Prisons employees, Commerce, Justice, Science agencies, DOJ Office of Inspector General, Department of Commerce building operations, Department of Commerce operations, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal agency travel programs, Federal budget, Federal employees, Federal research agencies, Indian tribes serving crime victims, Intelligence agencies, NOAA regulatory operations, National Institute of Justice, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service employees, State marijuana regulators
Negative-direction: ATF enforcement operations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Bureau of Prisons, Census Bureau, Commerce, Justice, NASA, NSF, Commerce, NASA, and NSF employees, DEI programs and offices, DOJ Reproductive Rights Task Force, DOJ drug enforcement staff, DOJ grant administrators, DOJ training programs, Department of Defense detention operations, Department of Justice IT operations, FBI, Federal Bureau of Prisons and U.S. Marshals, Federal agencies engaged in content moderation, Federal agencies facing budget reductions, Federal agencies funded by this Act, Federal agencies operating computer networks, Federal agencies with grant programs, Federal agencies with international operations, Federal employees subject to subpoenas, Federal law enforcement agencies, Federal law enforcement and intelligence, Federal law enforcement conducting sting operations, Federal medical facilities, Grant and contract recipients, Immigration courts, Inspectors General, Large federal contractors and grantees, NASA and space agencies, NIST and NSF, NOAA satellite programs, National Technical Information Service, Office of Justice Programs grantees, U.S. Attorneys
Firearm parts manufacturers and dealers, Firearms industry, Firearms parts exporters to Canada
Positive-direction: Firearm parts manufacturers and dealers, Firearms industry, Firearms parts exporters to Canada, Polluting industries, Semiconductor industry, Shotgun importers, Stabilizing brace manufacturers, U.S. manufacturers of promotional items
Negative-direction: Foreign manufacturers falsely claiming US origin
Front Royal, Virginia community, Gun buyback programs, Persistent poverty counties
Positive-direction: Front Royal, Virginia community, Persistent poverty counties, State and local criminal justice agencies, States implementing border security measures, States with abortion restrictions, States with single-sex and transgender medical laws
Negative-direction: Gun buyback programs, Red flag law programs, State and local law enforcement receiving SCAAP funds, States with restrictive concealed carry reciprocity
Curios and relics firearms importers, Federal firearms licensees, Firearms dealers
Census survey respondents, Environmental justice communities, Firearm owners with NFA items
Positive-direction: Census survey respondents, Firearm owners with NFA items, Social media users, Subjects of national security letters, US persons subject to speech monitoring, Unvaccinated individuals
Negative-direction: Environmental justice communities, Protesters near judges' homes, Transgender individuals
DOJ healthcare funding recipients, Gender-affirming healthcare providers, Healthcare providers receiving DOJ funds
Positive-direction: Healthcare providers receiving DOJ funds, Medical marijuana patients, State-legal medical marijuana providers
Negative-direction: DOJ healthcare funding recipients, Gender-affirming healthcare providers, Reproductive healthcare providers
Concealed carry permit holders, Firearms owners with stabilizing braces, Gun owners
Academic and research institutions, School administrators and board members, Schools and organizations using biological sex definitions
Positive-direction: Academic and research institutions, School administrators and board members, Schools and organizations using biological sex definitions
Negative-direction: US universities with China STEM partnerships
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "atf"
- → Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
- "doj"
- → Department of Justice
- "noaa"
- → National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology