(The Center Square) – Lawmakers are making slow headway on assembling a fiscal year 2026 package of 12 annual funding bills that provide money for federal agencies to spend on programs.
The House passed the first completed bill, which funds programs for veterans’ affairs and military construction, in late June. Since then, the House Appropriations Committee has advanced the bill which funds the legislative branch.
While Democratic rebellion against President Donald Trump continues to slow progress, the Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved another government funding bill Thursday.
The bill allocates a total of $27.1 billion in discretionary funding for agriculture and rural development programs, the Food and Drug Administration and related agencies, and nutrition assistance programs.
“This important bill supports our farmers and rural communities, the safety of our food supply, critical federal nutrition programs, and medical research and advancements,” Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a statement. “This bill also provides much needed investments in rural housing programs to help address [the] severe affordable housing shortage.”
Among other things, the bill includes:
$3.7 billion to fund rural development programs, including nearly $3 billion to fund housing assistance programs and loans for low-income Americans. $1.3 billion for rural water and waste grants and loans$1.8 billion for rural business growth programs$8 billion for rural electric loans$3.6 billion for research programs on agricultural production and innovation $1.2 billion for animal and plant health inspection services$3.6 billion for the FDA, with user fees boosting revenues to a projected $7 billion in 2026. The bill also includes a new grant program aimed at helping schools transition to offering healthier food options to students$1.2 billion for food safety inspection of meat, poultry and egg products$1.6 billion for Farm Service Agency programs, including farm loans$8.2 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and $425 million for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program for low-income seniors
The bill also allocates $1.5 billion for Food for Peace Title II Grants and $240 million for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education program, both of which Trump suggested lawmakers completely defund.
Other provisions include closing a hemp regulation loophole and improving the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ability to track purchases of American land by other countries. USDA data shows that foreign entities owned 45 million acres of U.S. agricultural land as of Dec. 2023.
Lawmakers face a tight deadline to approve all 12 bills and pass a federal funding package, or else trigger a government shutdown. Congress never passed a fiscal year 2025 budget, instead passing three consecutive Continuing Resolutions (CRs) to keep government funding on cruise control until the end of the current fiscal year, Sept. 30.
