HR7148-119

What This Bill Does

This enacted consolidated appropriations law funds multiple fiscal year 2026 spending divisions and carries a separate health-extenders package. It makes explanatory-statement tables operative for allocations, pays $174,000 to Jill Marie LaMalfa as widow of Representative Douglas L. LaMalfa, and includes extensive administrative provisions for Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies; Transportation-HUD; Financial Services-General Government; State-Foreign Operations; continuing appropriations; and health programs. The Defense division controls fiscal year 2026 DoD transfers, working-capital funds, special access programs, multiyear procurement, humanitarian and civic assistance, Buy American-style defense procurement restrictions, classified-program allocations, strategic delivery vehicles, environmental mitigation on Indian lands, the Civil Air Patrol, and a $500 million solid rocket motor industrial-base appropriation with at least $150 million reserved for second-source provider qualification and testing. The domestic spending divisions set oversight and program rules for Job Corps, HHS, CMS, Medicare and Medicaid, public schools, Corporation for National and Community Service grants, NLRB election procedures, DOT and HUD grants, Treasury and IRS transfers, court security pilots, CPSC and SBA restrictions and earmarks, District of Columbia funds, and rescissions of prior COVID-era balances.

Who Benefits and How

Congressional appropriations committees benefit across divisions because the law requires advance approvals, reports, notifications, briefings, baseline tables, and obligation plans before agencies reprogram funds, transfer balances, award major grants, alter projects, or use special authorities. Defense acquisition programs, domestic defense manufacturers, the solid rocket motor industrial base, Civil Air Patrol, tribal communities affected by defense environmental damage, and DoD humanitarian assistance recipients receive targeted funding or protected uses of Defense appropriations. Labor-HHS-Education beneficiaries include Job Corps oversight officials, HHS and CMS program administrators, critical access hospitals protected from certain distance-rule enforcement during the specified period, public schools preserving voluntary prayer and meditation programs, formula-grant recipients under ESEA, McKinney-Vento, IDEA, Perkins, and adult education laws, CNCS grant applicants, and states or grantees affected by American Rescue Plan rescissions. Transportation and housing beneficiaries include DOT grant oversight offices, university transportation centers, state housing finance agencies, local housing agencies, public housing and voucher programs, homeless assistance projects renewed noncompetitively for 12 months, and recipients of specified community-project funding corrections. Health-extender beneficiaries include state Medicaid and CHIP programs enrolling eligible out-of-state providers for children with medically complex conditions, disproportionate-share hospitals, low-volume Medicare hospitals, Medicare-dependent hospitals, community health centers, the National Health Service Corps, teaching health centers, the No Surprises Act implementation program, World Trade Center Health Program responders and survivors, maternal mortality review committees, health care providers covered by Dr. Lorna Breen mental-health protections, FDA pediatric cancer drug-review programs, orphan-drug competitors affected by indication-specific exclusivity, and group health plans subject to pharmacy benefit manager transparency rules.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Federal agencies bear heavy compliance burdens: DoD, HHS, CMS, Education, DOT, HUD, Treasury, IRS, the Executive Office of the President, the Judiciary, SBA, CPSC, State Department, USAID, FDA, and HHS health agencies must follow transfer caps, notification rules, award restrictions, rescission instructions, reporting deadlines, and program-specific implementation mandates. Defense contractors and procurement offices face restrictions on anchor and mooring chain sourcing, multiyear procurement, special access programs, lobbying, below-threshold relocations, covered classified programs, and solid rocket motor industrial-base transfers. Health insurers, group health plans, pharmacy benefit managers, Medicare providers, Medicaid state agencies, drug and biologic applicants, generic-drug applicants, orphan-drug sponsors, and No Surprises Act implementing offices receive new or extended transparency, eligibility, payment, or review obligations. Foreign-assistance recipients and international organizations are constrained by State-Foreign Operations limits, including a direct prohibition on contributions, grants, or payments to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency from covered appropriations. Agencies using continuing appropriations must reconcile the February 2026 funding date, workforce payments, ratified obligations, repealed provisions, PAYGO scorekeeping exclusions, and multiple permanent rescissions of unobligated balances.

Key Provisions

• Funds and controls Defense Department operations through sections 8001-8153, including a $6 billion transfer cap, special access program notice, multiyear procurement limits and authorizations, Defense working-capital fund controls, strategic delivery vehicle restrictions, Civil Air Patrol funding, Indian-land environmental mitigation, and $500 million for the solid rocket motor industrial base.
• Requires Labor-HHS-Education rules for Job Corps executive compensation, HHS and CMS administration, critical access hospitals, public-school voluntary prayer, formula grants, CNCS grant-selection confidentiality, NLRB electronic voting restrictions, prior-appropriation transfers, and $2 billion in American Rescue Plan rescissions.
• Directs Transportation-HUD and Financial Services-General Government programs, including DOT reprogramming controls, university transportation centers, state and local housing recaptures, homeless assistance renewals, IRS transfer limits, Treasury Forfeiture Fund reports, White House transfer authority, courthouse security pilots, CPSC off-highway vehicle restrictions, SBA project funding, District of Columbia funds, and drug-free workplace conditions.
• Restricts State-Foreign Operations appropriations and rescissions, including a $900 million rescission from Consular and Border Security Programs, a $25 million rescission from Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs, and a separate ban on covered UNRWA contributions, grants, or payments.
• Extends or revises agriculture and budget-scorekeeping provisions, then adds health extenders for Medicaid and CHIP out-of-state provider enrollment, Medicaid DSH limits, Medicare low-volume and Medicare-dependent hospitals, TANF through December 31, 2026, community health centers, the National Health Service Corps, teaching health centers, No Surprises Act implementation funding, World Trade Center Health Program funding, maternal mortality prevention, Dr. Lorna Breen provider protection, FDA pediatric cancer drug authorities, orphan-drug exclusivity, PBM oversight, and generic-drug application transparency.