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CIVIC HERALD
HR 8029 · 119th Congress · HouseOther

Pay Our Homeland Defenders Act

In plain language: This bill finances the Department of Homeland Security through fiscal year 2026, ending a government funding lapse and providing back pay for personnel including TSA screeners, Border Patrol agents, and the Coast Guard. It provides funding for community emergency response, delivering grants for local fire departments, flood control, transit protection, and security at places of worship, while also providing a conditional 3.8 percent pay raise for air traffic controllers. In addition, the legislation bans new crossing fees for pedestrians and drivers at land borders, allows people to bring up to a 90-day personal supply of prescription drugs from Canada, and restricts the use of physical restraints on pregnant detainees. To increase accountability, it requires top federal officials and lawmakers to go through the same airport security checkpoints as regular travelers and grants members of Congress unannounced access to inspect immigration detention centers.

Provisional: our plain-language summary, pending review.

Provisionalunreviewed: impact, issue tags, provisions, stakeholders, summary
People affected—not determinable from the text provided; the legislation impacts hundreds of thousands of federal personnel (DHS employees, FAA air traffic controllers), federal detainees, grant applicants, and domestic/international travelers, but the text does not enumerate total population numbers.
Fiscal magnitude—not determinable from the text provided; the text contains dozens of discrete appropriations, transfers, and rescissions (including over $3.1 billion for FEMA preparedness, $1.9 billion for flood insurance operations, $140 million for FAA air traffic controllers, and hundreds of millions in rescissions), but does not state a unified topline appropriation for the full Department or the continuing resolution extension.
Reach70provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
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Issues

What this bill touches.

Spending vs. restraint+25Federal lands & resources+12Pharmaceutical pricing+15Security vs. privacy+20Ethics & oversight+50Enforcement & security−25Abortion policy+30Trade & tariffs−20

The sign shows the bill's direction on each issue (+ toward, − away); the number is its magnitude. Color never encodes good or bad, and never party.

Who it affects

Who it helps · who it burdens.

Who it helps

  • Federal air traffic controllers and managersEligible for a 3.8 percent pay increase in calendar year 2026 funded by a $140,000,000 appropriation, contingent upon the FAA Administrator determining that scheduling, staffing, or operational efficiencies are achieved (Sec. 549).provisional
  • Federal personnel impacted by the 2026 funding lapseReceive retroactive pay, allowances, and benefits covering the funding lapse that began on or about February 13, 2026 (Sec. 1001, 1002).provisional
  • Pregnant and postpartum detainees in federal immigration custodyProtected from the use of physical restraints during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and post-delivery recuperation, and guaranteed enforced maternal and infant medical care standards while in custody (Sec. 211, 527).provisional
  • Individuals importing personal prescription medications from CanadaCustoms and Border Protection is prohibited from blocking these individuals from bringing in up to a 90-day personal supply of qualifying non-controlled, non-biological prescription drugs (Sec. 205).provisional
  • Local fire departments and emergency service agenciesAllocated $684,000,000 for Assistance to Firefighter and SAFER grants, and eligible for federal waivers of standard local matching funds and staffing maintenance requirements (Sec. 1–14 (FEMA) par. 6, Sec. 307, 309).provisional
  • U.S.-flagged maritime vessel operatorsProtected from foreign vessel competition by prohibiting Jones Act shipping waivers for transporting crude oil to or from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until steps ensure U.S.-flagged vessels are used (Sec. 206).provisional

Who it burdens

  • Members of Congress and senior executive branch officialsRequired to undergo standard federal airport passenger and baggage security screening without any official exemption (Sec. 220).provisional

Who backs it

  • Commercial nuclear power plant operatorsAssessed aggregate user charges that must cover 100 percent of the operational and administrative costs of the Department of Homeland Security's Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program (Sec. 308).provisional

Who opposes it

  • Immigration detention contractors with substandard performance ratingsBarred from continuing detention service contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they receive less-than-adequate ratings on their two most recent performance evaluations (Sec. 213).provisional
  • Designated Chinese military companies and subsidiariesProhibited from receiving Department of Homeland Security procurement contracts, grants, loans, loan guarantees, or cooperative agreements (Sec. 535).provisional

Dollar-level funding (FEC sector totals) is coming in a later phase.

What it does

The provisions, in plain language.

  1. Provides $20,000,000 to purchase, deploy, and operate body-worn cameras for immigration and border enforcement officers and agents.

    Sec. 109provisional

  2. Prohibits the Department of Homeland Security from establishing, collecting, or studying any new border crossing fee on pedestrians, cyclists, or private vehicles at land ports of entry.

    Sec. 207provisional

  3. Prohibits Immigration and Customs Enforcement from continuing any detention contract with a facility that receives less-than-adequate ratings on its two most recent performance evaluations.

    Sec. 213provisional

  4. Requires Members of Congress, federal agency heads, and senior White House officials to undergo standard federal airport passenger and baggage security screening without exemption.

    Sec. 220provisional

  5. Appropriates over $3,100,000,000 for state and local emergency preparedness, including $494,000,000 for State Homeland Security grants, $584,250,000 for urban areas, $300,000,000 for nonprofit security, and $684,000,000 for local firefighter assistance.

    Sec. 1–14 (FEMA)provisional

  6. Prohibits the use of restraints on pregnant women or women in post-delivery recuperation in Department of Homeland Security custody, strictly banning restraints during labor and delivery.

    Sec. 527provisional

  7. Bars the Department of Homeland Security from denying facility entry to Members of Congress conducting oversight of immigrant detention facilities or making temporary alterations to hide normal facility conditions.

    Sec. 547provisional

  8. Appropriates $140,000,000 to the Federal Aviation Administration to provide a 3.8 percent pay raise in 2026 for air traffic controllers and managers, contingent on achieving operational and staffing efficiencies.

    Sec. 549provisional

  9. Extends continuing government funding retroactively to cover the funding lapse that began on February 13, 2026, and mandates back pay and benefits for affected federal personnel.

    Sec. 1001 & 1002provisional

How your members of Congress line up

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Timeline

How it moved.

  1. Apr 2, 2026Received in the Senate.
  2. Mar 26, 2026Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  3. Mar 26, 2026On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 218 - 206 (Roll no. 104).
  4. Mar 26, 2026Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 218 - 206 (Roll no. 104).
  5. Mar 26, 2026On motion to recommit Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 210 - 215 (Roll no. 103).
  6. Mar 24, 2026Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1131 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 8029, H. Res. 1128, H.R. 5103 and H.R. 7084. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 8029, H. Res. 1128, H.R. 5103, and H.R. 7084 under a closed rule with one hour of general debate on each measure. The resolution provides for one motion to recommit on H.R. 8029, H.R. 5103, and H.R. 7084.
  7. Mar 20, 2026Introduced in House
  8. Mar 20, 2026Introduced in House

The original text

Read it for yourself.

Read the original text →

Sources & provenance

Congress.govrefreshed 9 days ago

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