HR8845-119

What This Bill Does

This bill is the fiscal year 2027 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations act. It gives the Department of Commerce, NOAA, the National Weather Service, the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service, NASA, NSF, the Legal Services Corporation, and related inspectors general operating authorities, transfer rules, reporting duties, and restrictions for the year ending September 30, 2027. It also carries a large set of policy riders: some are routine appropriations controls, while others block or restrict spending on abortion, certain firearm rules, DOJ school-board and religious-institution investigations, diversity/equity/inclusion programs, ESG promotion, census counting of unlawfully present aliens, legal representation for aliens in removal proceedings, marijuana rescheduling, China-linked high-performance computing and information systems, Cuban military exports, NOAA vessel-speed restrictions, and several ATF and DOJ initiatives.

Who Benefits and How

Commerce agencies benefit from flexible operating authorities: Commerce appropriations can be used for advanced payments when certified by the Secretary, NOAA can use federal, state, Tribal, territorial, foreign, and international resources for statutory responsibilities, the National Weather Service can use relocation allowances and must maintain mission staffing, and Commerce/NOAA/NASA/NSF receive quarterly reporting structures that clarify balances and CHIPS-related allocations. DOJ and law-enforcement programs benefit from targeted flexibility: the Attorney General gets reception funds, DOJ can transfer limited grant funds to the Office of Inspector General, NIJ, and BJS for oversight and research, certain reentry and Prison Rape Elimination Act grantees can receive fiscal-hardship waivers, and the Crime Victims Fund continues to support Indian Tribes through a six-percent set-aside for victim services. Domestic manufacturers and U.S.-made promotional-item suppliers benefit because contractors found to have falsely used Made in America labels are barred from contracts funded by the bill, and agencies are directed, where practicable, to buy promotional items made in the United States or its territories.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Departments of Commerce and Justice, NASA, NSF, the Legal Services Corporation, inspectors general, and OMB face heavy reporting, certification, reprogramming, supply-chain review, audit, and public-posting duties. Contractors, grantees, and information-system vendors face compliance burdens: contracts or grants above $5 million require tax-compliance certifications, grant and contract recipients must certify that funds will not flow to financially interested subcontractors, high-impact and moderate-impact information-system acquisitions require supply-chain risk reviews and mitigation strategies, and projects over $75 million must report cost growth of 10 percent or more. Groups seeking federal support for activities targeted by riders bear direct burdens, including abortion providers except in life/rape/incest cases, DOJ reproductive-rights litigation, federal DEI and Critical Race Theory training, ESG promotion, red-flag law implementation, gun buybacks, federal firearms registries, some ATF firearms rules, tobacco export promotion, oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay, legal representation for aliens in removal proceedings, and marijuana rescheduling. DOJ and Commerce programs also lose unobligated balances through rescissions, including $75 million from NOAA Operations, Research, and Facilities; $36 million from Office on Violence Against Women programs; $175 million from Office of Justice Programs; $25 million from COPS; and $150 million from DOJ's Working Capital Fund.

Key Provisions

• Gives Commerce and NOAA operating flexibility for advanced payments, intergovernmental resource sharing, cooperative agreements, National Weather Service relocation allowances, and mission staffing, while limiting NIST awards involving high-performance computing resources in China.
• Applies DOJ appropriations riders on abortion funding, abortion facilitation, high-security prisoner transport, prison cable and recreational media, major IT programs above $100 million, public-private competitions for Bureau of Prisons work, U.S. Attorney residency exceptions, and fund transfers to DOJ oversight and research offices.
• Preserves or restricts specific law-enforcement activities: blocks unmonitored firearm transfers to suspected drug-cartel agents, live-tissue training absent a nondelegable medical-necessity determination, DOJ targeting of peaceful school-board protesters, religious-institution investigations based on beliefs, Foreign Influence Task Force operations labeling protected speech, and certain Bureau of Prisons construction until the Letcher County facility starts operating.
• Imposes governmentwide controls on publicity, consulting services, reprogramming, Made in America false-label contractors, unobligated balance reporting, personnel-action costs, tobacco export promotion, Crime Victims Fund obligations, grant and contract audits, information-system supply-chain risk, torture support, trade agreement text, national security letters, major project cost growth, and tax-compliance certifications for awards above $5 million.
• Permanently rescinds unobligated balances by September 30, 2027 from NOAA Operations, Research, and Facilities; DOJ Violence Against Women, Office of Justice Programs, COPS, and Working Capital Fund accounts, while excluding emergency, disaster, and specified victim-service funds from some rescissions.
• Protects or prioritizes several domestic or policy preferences: at least 10 percent of EDA public works grants must go to persistent-poverty counties, CHIPS Act funds must be allocated within 45 days, Build America/Buy America rules continue for Commerce, NASA, and NSF assistance, and trade-remedy actions remain available for imports from islands built up by China in the South China Sea.
• Blocks funding for a long list of controversial policies, including DEI offices and training, Critical Race Theory instruction, ESG promotion, federal grants to entities that promote anti-Semitism, DOJ reproductive-rights task force and litigation, single-sex sports and facilities lawsuits, COVID-19 mandates, NOAA vessel-speed restrictions, EEOC harassment guidance, and involuntary Census Bureau survey compliance beyond two inquiries.
• Restricts firearms-related actions by barring funds for gun buybacks, red-flag law implementation, federal firearms registries, ATF Demand 2 reporting unless modified, stabilizing-brace classification, certain ATF licensing and pistol-brace rules, Arms Trade Treaty implementation, firearms import denials based on Curio and Relic status or age, user fees for ATF functions, and National Firearms Act enforcement on firearms where the tax has been set to zero.
• Restricts immigration, speech, foreign-policy, and technology activities by barring funds for legal representation of aliens in removal proceedings, including unlawfully present aliens in census apportionment tabulations, Cuban military or intelligence exports, access to certain non-federal search software, marijuana rescheduling, and law-enforcement or intelligence treatment of U.S. person communications as misinformation or disinformation.
• Requires public release of firearms trace data under specified conditions and limits DOJ use of or reimbursement for certain shotguns, automatic firearm conversion devices, grenade launchers, explosives, and drones by state or local law-enforcement agencies.