S2587-119

What This Bill Does

The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 funds the Labor Department, HHS, Education Department, AmeriCorps, Social Security Administration, and related agencies, then attaches program-specific conditions. Labor provisions cap Job Corps salaries, permit limited discretionary transfers, bar procurement of goods made with forced or indentured child labor, restrict certain H-1B technical-skills grant uses, cap Employment and Training Administration salaries, allow technical-assistance transfers, reserve evaluation funds, temporarily exclude specified workers from certain overtime rules, give seafood employers staggered H-2B entry authority, set H-2B prevailing-wage rules, block enforcement of corresponding-employment and three-fourths guarantee definitions, allow excess personal-property transfers, authorize Labor attorneys, preserve Civilian Conservation Center arrangements, rescind $200 million in immigration fee balances, and rescind certain training funds. HHS provisions set reception and salary caps, control Public Health Service Act taps and transfers, adjust National Health Service Corps termination timing, set Title X family-participation and child-abuse reporting conditions, bar discrimination against qualifying Medicare Advantage plans, block gun-control advocacy, assign Public Health Service employees abroad, support international health activities, allow NIH AIDS and facility transfers, authorize BARDA multiyear countermeasure contracts, require employee and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation transparency, transfer ACA prevention funds, preserve negotiated indirect costs, move NIH opioid and pain research funds, require exchange enrollment reports, transfer up to $455 million to CMS program management, accept donations for unaccompanied children, restrict refugee-assistance grantees, require notices and public reports on influx facilities, rescind $1.613 billion from the HHS Nonrecurring Expenses Fund, require NIH institutions to report foreign support, preserve HHS staffing levels, and protect critical access hospitals. Education provisions protect voluntary prayer, permit transfers and evaluation timing, allow endowment income scholarships, support Perkins loan servicing, fund borrower outreach, reserve HEA evaluation money, fund Institute of Education Sciences procurement, rescind Education Nonrecurring Expenses Fund balances, require formula grants to states, and bar transfer of key ESEA and IDEA responsibilities away from Education. AmeriCorps provisions require notice-and-comment for significant changes, set match requirements, limit education awards for certain uses to veterans, handle background checks, service-hour rules, award calculations, and barred NLRB directives. General provisions control prior-year transfers, propaganda, reception spending, attribution statements, abortion funding, embryo research, schedule I drug legalization advocacy, unique health identifiers, contractor tax compliance, library filters, advisory committee political tests, operating plans, expired grants, Social Security work authorization, network pornography, conferences, advertising disclaimers, performance partnership pilots, quarterly reports, facility notices, needle purchase limits, questions for the record, CHIP contingency-fund rescissions, evaluation offices, grant announcement timing, and lease or building-action notices.

Who Benefits and How

Labor Department workforce programs benefit from annual appropriations, technical-assistance transfer authority, evaluation reserves, Job Corps property flexibility, Labor attorney authority, and preserved Civilian Conservation Center arrangements. H-2B seafood employers benefit from staggered entry authority and narrower enforcement of corresponding-employment or three-fourths guarantee rules. HHS benefits from appropriations, transfer authority, international health flexibility, CMS program-management transfers, BARDA contract authority, NIH transfer flexibility, and staffing protections. NIH researchers benefit from opioid, addiction, pain, AIDS, facility, and National Research Service Award transfer authorities, but institutions must report foreign support. BARDA benefits from multiyear security countermeasure contract authority that can stabilize procurement of research services or countermeasures. Unaccompanied children shelters benefit from private donation authority and clearer reporting and oversight rules for influx facilities. Student loan borrowers benefit from funded outreach about income-driven repayment and student-loan servicing. State education agencies benefit because formula-grant allocations under ESEA, IDEA, Perkins, McKinney-Vento, and adult education statutes must be awarded. AmeriCorps programs benefit from match rules, service-hour flexibility, background-check treatment, and education-award administration.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Labor Department budget offices must enforce salary caps, transfer limits, procurement restrictions, H-2B rules, rescissions, Job Corps property actions, and reporting duties. Job Corps centers face salary caps and property-disposition or center-arrangement restrictions. H-2B workers may face reduced wage or job-protection enforcement where corresponding-employment and three-fourths guarantee rules are blocked. HHS must administer Title X certification and reporting conditions, Medicare Advantage nondiscrimination limits, CMS transfer reporting, refugee-assistance restrictions, unaccompanied-child facility notices, NIH foreign-support reports, and large rescissions. Title X providers must certify family-participation encouragement and comply with state child-abuse reporting laws. Education Department staff must manage transfers, formula grants, Perkins servicing payments, borrower outreach, IES procurement, endowment-scholarship rules, and restrictions on moving ESEA or IDEA responsibilities. AmeriCorps must use notice-and-comment for significant changes and enforce match, education-award, background-check, and service-hour conditions. Federal grantees and contractors must comply with attribution, tax, grant-announcement, indirect-cost, abortion, embryo-research, schedule I advocacy, library-filter, and lease-notice provisions. Federal taxpayers fund the appropriations while receiving specified rescissions, spending caps, operating plans, quarterly reports, and oversight requirements.

Key Provisions

• Appropriates fiscal year 2026 funding for Labor, HHS, Education, AmeriCorps, Social Security Administration, and related agencies.
• Limits Job Corps salaries, Employment and Training Administration salary charges, forced-labor procurement, H-1B technical-skills grants, H-2B wage enforcement, and selected Labor rescissions.
• Provides HHS transfer authority, NIH research transfers, BARDA multiyear countermeasure contracts, CMS program-management transfers, unaccompanied-child donation authority, and critical-access-hospital protections.
• Requires Title X certifications, child-abuse reporting compliance, Medicare Advantage plan nondiscrimination, exchange enrollment reports, CMS innovation transparency, NIH foreign-support reporting, and HHS staffing reports.
• Provides Education formula-grant awards, Perkins servicing payments, borrower outreach, IES procurement support, HEA evaluation reserves, and endowment-income scholarship authority.
• Requires AmeriCorps notice-and-comment rulemaking, match rules, education-award limits, background-check handling, service-hour flexibility, and NLRB directive restrictions.
• Restricts abortion funding, embryo research, schedule I drug legalization advocacy, unique health identifiers, contractor tax delinquency, library filters, advisory committee political disclosures, Social Security work authorization, and needle purchases.
• Requires operating plans, expired-grant reports, public advertising disclaimers, performance partnership pilot rules, quarterly reports, facility notices, grant announcement timing, answers to questions for the record, and lease or building-action notices.