Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026

Provides temporary funding for federal agencies and operations through January 30, 2026, at fiscal year 2025 levels.

Prohibits federal agencies from carrying out civilian reductions in force through January 30, 2026, nullifies any layoff notices issued since October 1, 2025, and reinstates affected workers with back pay.

Revises the legal definition of hemp to exclude non-natural synthetic cannabinoids and products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container.

Requires tech vendors and Senate staff to notify Senators when law enforcement subpoenas their electronic data, bans gag orders, and authorizes $500,000 in civil damages against the government for violations.

Requires the VA to phase out all medical research involving dogs, cats, and non-human primates by September 20, 2026, and restricts ongoing animal studies.

Prohibits the VA from reporting veterans assigned financial fiduciaries to the national gun background check database without a judicial finding of danger.

Extends 2018 Farm Bill agricultural safety net, conservation, trade, and rural energy programs and funding through September 30, 2026.

Extends broad Medicare telehealth flexibilities through January 30, 2026, permitting patients to receive virtual care from home and delaying in-person visit mandates.

Reauthorizes and reforms the VA Partial Claim Program to provide financial assistance to help veterans facing mortgage default retain their homes and prevent foreclosure.

Prohibits the Department of Defense from starting new production items, increasing production rates, or entering into multi-year contracts using advance procurement funds during the temporary funding period.

Bars federal agencies from initiating or resuming any program or project that did not receive funding in fiscal year 2025.

Ensures mandatory payments and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits continue at the rates needed to maintain current program levels through January 30, 2026.

Permits federal agencies to allocate funds to pay civilian employee salaries to prevent furloughs, provided they first reduce or defer non-personnel administrative spending.

Requires full back pay and allowances to be paid to federal employees affected by any funding lapse.

Ratifies and approves obligations incurred by federal agencies during a funding lapse to maintain essential operations protecting life and property.

Requires the federal government to reimburse states and grantees, with interest, that used their own money to keep federal programs operating or pay furloughed staff during a government shutdown.

Appropriates an additional $30 million to the U.S. Marshals Service through fiscal year 2027 to support judicial and witness protection operations.

Extends the operations and authority of the United States Parole Commission through January 30, 2026.

Allows NASA to use expired funds through fiscal year 2030 to pay remaining valid contract obligations from the Space Shuttle program.

Allocates up to $199.7 million in Air Force research funds to continue rapid prototyping for the E-7 Wedgetail aircraft program.

Transfers $200 million from Air Force aircraft procurement to research and development to keep the E-7 Wedgetail on schedule.

Extends authorities under the Defense Production Act of 1950 through January 30, 2026.

Allows the Navy to spend specified funds to complete construction on prior-year shipbuilding programs, including submarines, destroyers, and fleet oilers.

Authorizes the Department of Defense to reimburse the government of Palau for land acquisition costs related to U.S. defense sites.

Authorizes the District of Columbia to spend its local funds in accordance with its Fiscal Year 2026 Local Budget Act.

Authorizes the Small Business Administration to accelerate loan obligations to satisfy increased demand for 7(a) and 504 business loans and guarantees.

Appropriates $28 million to the Supreme Court for enhanced security and protection of the Justices, including vehicle purchases.

Sets funding for federal Defender Services at an annualized rate of $1.564 billion to maintain payments to court-appointed panel attorneys and defense services.

Extends the Department of Homeland Security's authority to track and intercept unauthorized unmanned aircraft systems (drones) through January 30, 2026.

Authorizes FEMA to draw from the Disaster Relief Fund at the rate necessary to conduct ongoing disaster response and recovery operations.

Permits the Forest Service and Department of the Interior to spend wildland fire management funds at whatever rate is necessary to suppress active wildfires.

Appropriates an additional $80.3 million to the Indian Health Service to staff and operate new, renovated, or expanded healthcare facilities.

Redirects up to $54 million in EPA funding to provide safe drinking water technical assistance and grants to communities under 2022 emergency declarations.

Appropriates $174,000 each in death benefit payments to the heirs or surviving spouses of late Representatives Sylvester Turner, Raúl Grijalva, and Gerald Connolly.

Appropriates $30 million to the U.S. Capitol Police to reimburse outside law enforcement agencies for mutual aid and training assistance.

Authorizes the U.S. to subscribe to 40,000 additional shares of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development capital stock and authorizes $437.5 million for payment.

Allows the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reuse unspent rental assistance balances from prior years to prevent low-income families from losing housing vouchers.

Directs the Department of Transportation to fund the Essential Air Service at the rate needed to maintain commercial flights to rural communities.

Limits the Department of Agriculture from expanding its passenger vehicle fleet beyond 2018 levels without advance written approval from congressional committees.

Protects jobs and systems at the USDA National Finance Center by prohibiting the relocation of its personnel or functions without congressional approval.

Limits indirect administrative overhead rates on USDA cooperative agreements with non-profit institutions to a maximum of 10 percent.

Expands eligibility for rural economic development grants and loans to non-profit utilities and former borrowers that have fully repaid their federal electrification loans.

Prohibits executive branch employees funded under the bill from traveling first class in violation of federal travel rules.

Requires computer networks maintained by agencies funded under the bill to block the viewing and downloading of pornography, exempting law enforcement investigations.

Restricts USDA and HHS from shifting funding between programs or eliminating projects without 30 days advance notice and approval from congressional committees.

Allows USDA to charge a one-time fee of up to 3 percent on guaranteed business and industry loans.

Prohibits federal agencies from distributing prepackaged video news stories without clearly disclosing government production or funding.

Bars the FDA from requiring or allowing prescription drug information for healthcare providers to be distributed exclusively online instead of on paper without a new federal law.

Excludes incarcerated prison populations when determining community eligibility and assistance levels for Rural Housing Service programs.

Suspends enforcement of expanded SNAP grocery retailer food variety requirements until USDA increases the list of eligible staple food items.

Authorizes USDA to charge meat, poultry, and egg processing plants for meat inspection services performed outside normal shifts or on federal holidays.

Requires all iron and steel products used in USDA-funded rural water and waste disposal construction projects to be made in the United States, subject to waiver conditions.

Directs USDA to steer at least 10 percent of its rural development loan and grant funding to persistent poverty counties.

Prohibits the FDA from reviewing or approving clinical research that intentionally creates or genetically modifies human embryos to have heritable changes.

Exempts growers and handlers of wine grapes, hops, pulse crops, and almonds from FDA produce safety agricultural water standards.

Allows schools participating in the School Breakfast Program to substitute vegetables from any subgroup in place of fruit through school year 2026–2027.

Prohibits federal interference with the transportation, processing, sale, or use of legally grown industrial hemp across state lines.

Adds the Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review foreign purchases of U.S. farmland and agribusinesses.

Appropriates $2 million for a pilot program providing technical and legal assistance grants to nonprofits preserving affordable rural rental housing.

Conditions Food for Peace assistance on recipient countries having verifiable monitoring systems to prevent emergency food aid from being diverted.

Prohibits federal school meal programs from purchasing poultry or seafood imported from China.

Exempts school districts with positive food service account balances from federal mandates to increase paid lunch prices for school year 2026–2027.

Authorizes agricultural cooperative banks to lend to rural entities for waste processing, telecommunications, and electric power generation projects.

Prevents the FDA from issuing new Listeria regulations for ready-to-eat foods until it incorporates updated scientific evidence on low-risk products.

Appropriates $700,000 to cover federal inspection and processing fees for tribal-owned bison processed at USDA-inspected or state-inspected facilities.

Exempts federal plant and animal health inspectors responding to disease outbreaks from annual and biweekly overtime pay caps.

Prohibits USDA funding from being used to inspect horses for slaughter, effectively continuing the domestic ban on commercial horse meat processing.

Appropriates $3 million for grants to establish emergency and transitional pet shelters for victims of domestic violence.

Directs USDA and HHS to base alcohol guidelines in the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans strictly on recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Requires animals genetically engineered prior to 2019 to display the words "genetically engineered" on their retail market labels.

Expands non-judicial foreclosure protections and procedures under the Multifamily Mortgage Foreclosure Act to include USDA farm labor and rural rental housing loans.

Rescinds $150 million in unspent prior-year balances across USDA conservation, agricultural research, rural broadband, and working capital funds.

Allocates at least $200 million in FDA tobacco user fees toward enforcing rules against unauthorized e-cigarettes and vapes, prioritizing disposable flavored products.

Extends the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act through fiscal year 2026.

Bars the FDA from advancing long-term dietary sodium reduction targets for food manufacturers until it completes a study on the effect of existing short-term targets.

Appropriates $3 million for an "Energy Circuit Riders" pilot grant program helping rural towns access financing for energy efficiency and emission reduction projects.

Requires any coffee labeled as Hawaiian or from a specific Hawaiian region to contain at least 51 percent coffee beans grown in that area.

Prohibits closing or consolidating USDA rural development or conservation field offices that would leave two or fewer workers without congressional approval.

Delays mandatory compliance with FDA food traceability recordkeeping rules until July 20, 2028, and requires the agency to develop flexible tracking alternatives.

Appropriates $2 million for grants to meat and poultry processing facilities that process invasive wild-caught catfish.

Shields food makers from state-level lawsuits regarding "healthy" food labels while the FDA transitions to updated federal labeling regulations.

Permanently rescinds $350 million from the Department of the Treasury's Forfeiture Fund.

Increases the monthly allowances of fluid milk available to participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Requires unspent official office allowances of Senators at the end of the fiscal year to be returned to the Treasury for national debt and deficit reduction.

Requires unspent House Member Representational Allowances to be returned to the Treasury for national debt and deficit reduction.

Limits monthly payments from a House Member's office budget for vehicle leases to $1,000 per car.

Bars House offices from buying computers, printers, or videoconferencing gear from firms on U.S. Chinese military or forced-labor blacklists.

Permits House Members who are doctors or dentists to treat patients and receive compensation without violating congressional fiduciary gift bans.

Authorizes the House Sergeant at Arms to spend security funds to upgrade physical security systems at Members' private residences.

Bars the Architect of the Capitol from paying performance bonuses to contractors who are behind schedule or over budget unless caused by government changes.

Prohibits legislative branch agencies from buying video or telecommunications equipment from Chinese firms including Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, and Dahua.

Blocks the automatic annual cost-of-living pay increase for Members of Congress for fiscal year 2026.

Appropriates $103.5 million to expand Senate security, including $75 million for personal office security and $18.5 million for state offices and home security.

Prohibits the military from starting construction on any new domestic base without a specific congressional appropriation.

Prohibits the Department of Defense from buying foreign steel for construction projects if American steel manufacturers were excluded from bidding.

Caps annual routine maintenance spending on military general and flag officer housing quarters at $35,000 per home without advance congressional notification.

Appropriates $185.5 million in additional military construction funding for unfunded priority projects across the Army, Army Reserve, and National Guard.

Appropriates $15 million to design military child development centers, $15 million to design barracks, and $45 million for building demolition.

Prohibits using funds to close or realign the United States Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to partner with tribal health organizations and community clinics to expand healthcare for veterans in rural Alaska.

Requires the Veterans Crisis Line to connect callers immediately to trained staff and bars executive hiring freezes on crisis line positions.

Authorizes the VA to pay for in vitro fertilization treatments and adoption expenses for veterans who became infertile due to a service-connected injury.

Requires the VA to stop using Social Security numbers to identify and authenticate individuals across all agency IT databases by September 30, 2026.

Authorizes the VA to expand free drop-in childcare services for veterans attending medical appointments.

Prohibits the VA from entering into settlement agreements that restrict individuals from speaking to Members of Congress or congressional staff.

Caps the staffing ratio in VA vocational rehabilitation programs to no more than 125 disabled veterans per counselor.

Earmarks VA medical funds for key priorities, including $6.36 billion for telehealth, $3.5 billion for family caregivers, and $3.46 billion for homeless veterans.

Allocates $900 million to upgrade, expand, and repair Veterans Health Administration medical facilities.

Prohibits the VA from closing hospitals or cutting rural medical services without first assessing how the cuts will affect travel times and access for rural veterans.

Blocks implementation of a VA rule that would reduce reimbursement rates paid to ambulances and wheelchair vans transporting disabled veterans.

Prohibits the VA from cutting staff, operating hours, or services at the Veterans Crisis Line or other suicide prevention programs.

Prohibits using defense funds to build or modify facilities on U.S. soil to house detainees transferred from Guantanamo Bay.

Directs the VA to maintain strict smoke-free and vape-free policies across all VA medical facilities for staff and patients.

Appropriates $1.6 billion through January 30, 2026, to fund Community Health Centers, the National Health Service Corps, and teaching health center doctor training.

Appropriates $106.3 million through January 30, 2026, to continue special diabetes research and treatment programs for Type 1 diabetes and Native American tribes.

Extends federal public health emergency contracting authorities and biomedical advanced research programs through January 30, 2026.

Extends Medicare payment boost adjustments for rural low-volume hospitals and Medicare-dependent hospitals through January 30, 2026.

Extends Medicare's Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver, allowing patients to receive inpatient-level medical care in their homes, through January 30, 2026.

Extends Medicare temporary add-on payment rates for ground ambulance rides through January 30, 2026.

Extends the Medicare physician fee schedule work geographic index floor through January 30, 2026, protecting doctor pay in rural and low-cost regions.

Continues Medicare Part D prescription coverage for oral antiviral medications against COVID-19 through January 30, 2026.

Extends federal grant funding for teen sexual risk avoidance education and personal responsibility programs through January 30, 2026.

Delays scheduled statutory funding cuts to Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) safety-net payments to January 31, 2026.

Reauthorizes and updates FDA user fee assessments on over-the-counter monograph drug manufacturers through fiscal year 2030 to fund faster review of safe nonprescription drugs.

Instructs the FDA to accept real-world evidence and non-animal testing alternatives when reviewing safety standards for topical drugs and sunscreens.

Requires the FDA to create clear guidelines and expedited meeting procedures to help drugmakers switch prescription medications to over-the-counter status.

Appropriates $14 million and extends funding through January 30, 2026, to enforce the No Surprises Act ban on surprise out-of-network medical bills.

Extends through September 30, 2026, VA authorities for hospital copays, mandatory nursing home care for disabled veterans, and rural suicide prevention grants.

Extends the restoration of GI Bill education benefits for veterans whose colleges abruptly shut down through September 30, 2026.

Extends homeless veterans reintegration grants, specially adapted housing grants, and authorizes $660 million for supportive housing for very low-income veteran families.

Extends through September 30, 2026, VA Inspector General subpoena power, veteran medical transportation programs, and vendee home loan financing.

Exempts the spending and extenders in the Act from statutory PAYGO scorecard enforcement to prevent automatic across-the-board spending cuts.