# Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/crs%3AR48970 ## Record - **Collection:** Congressional research report - **Document type:** Reports - **Published:** May 28, 2026 - **Citation:** R48970 ## Text Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations May 28, 2026 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R48970 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations This report offers an overview of the FY2026 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations bill. This bill includes all accounts funded through the annual appropriations process at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and U.S. Department of Education (ED). It also provides annual appropriations for most agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with certain exceptions (e.g., the Food and Drug Administration), and for more than a dozen related agencies (including the Social Security Administration). R48970 May 28, 2026 Karen E. Lynch, Coordinator Specialist in Social Policy Jessica Tollestrup, Coordinator Specialist in Social Policy This report primarily focuses on regular FY2026 LHHS discretionary funding enacted during the annual appropriations process. Totals generally do not include emergency-designated funds, except as noted. In general, no emergency-designated funds were proposed or enacted for LHHS programs and activities in FY2026; a limited amount of emergency-designated appropriations were provided to LHHS in FY2024 and FY2025. FY2026 Appropriations FY2026 LHHS Omnibus: On February 3, 2026, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (FY2026 LHHS omnibus; H.R. 7148; P.L. 119-75) was signed into law by the President, providing full-year annual appropriations for LHHS (Division B). Annual discretionary LHHS appropriations totaled $226.1 billion (0.4% less than FY2024 enacted, 0.3% more than FY2025, and 29.9% more than the FY2026 President’s request). It also provided $1.513 trillion in mandatory funding, for a combined LHHS total of $1.739 trillion. The distribution of discretionary funding was as follows: • • • • DOL: $13.7 billion, 0.2% less than FY2024 and 0.5% more than FY2025. HHS: $116.4 billion, 0.9% less than FY2024 and 0.2% more than FY2025. ED: $79.0 billion, 0.1% less than FY2024 and 0.3% more than FY2025. Related Agencies: $17.1 billion, 1.4% more than FY2024 and 1.0% more than FY2025. FY2026 Continuing Resolutions: At the start of the fiscal year (October 1, 2025), a funding lapse commenced, resulting in a government shutdown that affected many LHHS programs and activities; that lapse ended on November 12, 2025, with the enactment of temporary LHHS funding in a continuing resolution (CR) (Division A of H.R. 5371; P.L. 119-37). The CR funded LHHS programs and activities (and the activities under the purview of several other appropriations acts) through January 30, 2026. Discretionary programs generally were funded at the same rate, and under the same conditions, as in FY2025; whereas appropriated entitlements were funded at their current law levels. The CR also included one provision that was specific to LHHS (§155). When annual appropriations for LHHS were not yet enacted at the time the CR expired, a second funding lapse commenced, ending with the enactment of full-year appropriations on February 3. FY2026 LHHS House Action: On September 9, 2025, the House Appropriations Committee voted to report its version of the FY2026 LHHS bill (35-28). The measure was subsequently reported on September 11, as H.R. 5304 (H.Rept. 119-271). As reported, the House committee bill would have provided $202.2 billion in discretionary LHHS funds (10.9% less than FY2024 enacted, 10.3% less than FY2025, and $16.1 billion more than the FY2026 President’s request). In addition, it would have provided an estimated $1.513 trillion in mandatory funding, for a combined LHHS total of $1.715 trillion. The distribution of proposed discretionary funding was as follows: Congressional Research Service Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations • • • • DOL: $9.6 billion, 30.0% less than FY2024 and 29.6% less than FY2025. HHS: $109.5 billion, 6.8% less than FY2024 and 5.7% less than FY2025. ED: $66.9 billion, 15.4% less than FY2024 and 15.1% less than FY2025. Related Agencies: $16.3 billion, 3.3% less than FY2024 and 3.8% less than FY2025. FY2026 LHHS Senate Action: On July 31, 2025, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to report its version of the FY2026 LHHS bill (26-3). The measure was subsequently reported that same day as S. 2587 (S.Rept. 119-55). As reported, the bill would have provided $226.4 billion in discretionary LHHS funds (0.2% less than comparable FY2024 enacted levels, 0.5% more than FY2025, and 30.1% more than the FY2026 President’s request). In addition, it would have provided an estimated $1.513 trillion in mandatory funding, for a combined LHHS total of $1.740 trillion. The distribution of proposed discretionary funding was as follows: • • • • DOL: $13.7 billion, 0.2% less than FY2024 and 0.5% more than FY2025. HHS: $116.6 billion, 0.7% less than FY2024 and 0.4% more than FY2025. ED: $79.0 billion, 0.1% less than FY2024 and 0.3% more than FY2025. Related Agencies: $17.1 billion, 1.8% more than FY2024 and 1.3% more than FY2025. FY2026 President’s Budget Request: On May 2, President Trump submitted to Congress an outline of his discretionary funding priorities for FY2026. Additional documents related to the budget request were submitted in the weeks that followed, including congressional justifications for individual departments and agencies. The President requested $174.1 billion in discretionary funding for accounts funded by the LHHS bill (23.3% less than FY2024 enacted and 22.8% less than FY2025). In addition, the President requested $1.513 trillion in annually appropriated mandatory funding, for an LHHS total of $1.687 trillion. The distribution of requested discretionary funding was as follows: • • • • DOL: $9.0 billion, 33.9% less than FY2024 and 33.5% less than FY2025. HHS: $84.0 billion, 28.4% less than FY2024 and 27.6% less than FY2025. ED: $66.7 billion, 15.6% less than FY2024 and 15.3% less than FY2025. Related Agencies: $14.3 billion, 15.0% less than FY2024 and 15.4% less than FY2025. Congressional Research Service Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Report Roadmap and Useful Terminology ...................................................................................... 1 Scope of the Report ................................................................................................................... 2 Important Budget Concepts ............................................................................................................. 3 Mandatory vs. Discretionary Budget Authority ........................................................................ 3 Total Budget Authority Provided in the Bill vs. Total Budget Authority Available in the Fiscal Year ........................................................................................................................ 4 Recent Action Related to LHHS Appropriations ............................................................................. 4 FY2026 Annual LHHS Appropriations ..................................................................................... 5 FY2026 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act ................................................................... 5 FY2026 Continuing Appropriations .......................................................................................... 6 Prior Congressional Action on an FY2026 LHHS Bill ............................................................. 7 FY2026 LHHS Action in the House (H.R. 5304) ............................................................... 7 FY2026 LHHS Action in the Senate (S. 2624) ................................................................... 7 FY2026 President’s Budget Request ......................................................................................... 8 Conclusion of FY2025 Appropriations Process ........................................................................ 8 Overarching LHHS Considerations for the FY2026 Appropriations Cycle .................................... 8 Determining FY2025 Funding Levels for Certain Accounts and Programs ............................. 9 FY2026 President’s Budget Submission Level of Detail and Structure ................................. 10 Impoundment Control Act Enacted FY2026 and FY2027 Rescissions to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) ......................................................................... 11 Selected Appropriations and Related Issues Addressed by the FY2026 LHHS Omnibus ............................................................................................................................... 12 Calculation and Display of Funding, and Treatment of Congressional Report Language ............ 14 Dollars and Percentages in this Report ................................................................................... 14 Report Language and Incorporation by Reference.................................................................. 15 LHHS Funding by Bill Title (FY2024-FY2026) ........................................................................... 17 FY2026 LHHS Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) and Community Project Funding (CPF) ............................................................................................................................ 20 Department of Labor (DOL) ......................................................................................................... 21 About DOL ............................................................................................................................. 22 FY2026 Caveats ...................................................................................................................... 22 FY2026 DOL Appropriations Overview ................................................................................. 22 Selected DOL Highlights ........................................................................................................ 23 Employment and Training Administration (ETA)............................................................. 24 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) ...................................................................................... 25 Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) .................................................................. 26 Labor-Related General Provisions .................................................................................... 26 Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)....................................................................... 30 About HHS .............................................................................................................................. 30 Proposed FY2026 HHS Reorganization ........................................................................... 31 FY2026 Caveats ...................................................................................................................... 32 FY2026 HHS Appropriations Overview ................................................................................. 33 Special Public Health Funding Mechanisms ........................................................................... 35 Congressional Research Service Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations Public Health Service Evaluation Tap............................................................................... 35 Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF) ..................................................................... 37 21st Century Cures Act, NIH Innovation Account ............................................................ 37 Selected HHS Highlights by Agency ...................................................................................... 38 Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) .................................................. 38 National Institutes of Health (NIH) .................................................................................. 40 Administration for Children and Families (ACF) ............................................................. 42 Restrictions Related to Certain Controversial Issues ........................................................ 43 Department of Education (ED) ...................................................................................................... 52 About ED ................................................................................................................................ 53 FY2026 Caveats ...................................................................................................................... 53 FY2026 ED Appropriations Overview.................................................................................... 54 Selected ED Highlights ........................................................................................................... 55 Education for the Disadvantaged ...................................................................................... 55 School Improvement ......................................................................................................... 56 Innovation and Improvement ............................................................................................ 56 Institute of Education Sciences ......................................................................................... 57 Departmental Management ............................................................................................... 57 Additional ED Issues for FY2026..................................................................................... 58 Related Agencies ........................................................................................................................... 62 FY2026 Caveats ...................................................................................................................... 62 FY2026 Related Agencies Appropriations Overview ............................................................. 62 Selected Related Agencies Highlights..................................................................................... 64 SSA Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) ........................................................ 64 Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) ............................................. 64 Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) ........................................................... 65 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ......................................................................... 65 Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) ..................................................................... 66 Figures Figure 1. FY2026 Enacted LHHS Appropriations .......................................................................... 6 Figure 2. FY2026 Enacted LHHS Appropriations by Title ........................................................... 20 Figure 3. FY2026 Enacted HHS Appropriations by Agency......................................................... 34 Tables Table 1. Status of Full-Year LHHS Appropriations Legislation, FY2026 ....................................... 5 Table 2. LHHS Appropriations Overview by Bill Title, FY2024-FY2026 ................................... 17 Table 3. DOL Appropriations Overview ....................................................................................... 23 Table 4. Detailed DOL Appropriations .......................................................................................... 27 Table 5. HHS Appropriations Overview........................................................................................ 33 Table 6. HHS Appropriations Totals and Directed Transfers by Agency ...................................... 45 Table 7. HHS Discretionary Appropriations and Directed Transfers for Selected Programs or Activities, by Agency............................................................................................. 48 Table 8. ED Appropriations Overview .......................................................................................... 54 Congressional Research Service Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations Table 9. Detailed ED Appropriations ............................................................................................ 60 Table 10. Related Agencies Appropriations Overview .................................................................. 63 Table 11. Detailed Related Agencies Appropriations .................................................................... 66 Table A-1. LHHS Discretionary Appropriations: Comparison of FY2024 Enacted, FY2025 Enacted, the FY2026 House Committee Bill, the FY2026 Senate Committee Bill, and FY2026 Enacted .......................................................................................................... 73 Table A-2. LHHS Appropriations Overview, by Bill Title: FY2024-FY2026............................... 74 Appendixes Appendix. LHHS and Budget Enforcement .................................................................................. 69 Contacts Author Information........................................................................................................................ 76 Congressional Research Service Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations Introduction This report provides an overview of FY2026 enacted and proposed appropriations for accounts traditionally funded in the appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS). This bill provides discretionary and mandatory appropriations to three federal departments: the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the U.S. Department of Education (ED). In addition, the bill provides annual appropriations for more than a dozen related agencies, including the Social Security Administration (SSA). For FY2026, LHHS appropriations were enacted in Division B of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (FY2026 LHHS omnibus; H.R. 7148, P.L. 119-75). Discretionary funds represent roughly one-eighth of the total funds appropriated in the annual LHHS bill. Nevertheless, the LHHS bill is typically the largest single source of discretionary funds for domestic nondefense federal programs among the various appropriations bills. (The Defense appropriations bill is the largest source of discretionary funds among all federal programs.) Because the appropriations process both provides and controls discretionary funding (concepts discussed further in the “Mandatory vs. Discretionary Budget Authority” section), the bulk of this report is focused on these funds. The LHHS bill often includes contentious issues, likely because of the size of its funding and the scope of its programs, as well as various related social policy issues addressed in the bill, such as restrictions on the use of federal funds for abortion and for research on human embryos, stem cells, and gun violence. Congressional clients may consult the LHHS experts list in CRS Report R42638, Appropriations: CRS Experts for information on which analysts to contact at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) with questions on specific agencies and programs funded in the LHHS bill. Scope of the Report: Emergency-Designated Discretionary Funding This report primarily focuses on regular FY2026 LHHS discretionary funding proposed during the annual appropriations process. The LHHS emergency discretionary funding that was enacted for FY2024 and FY2025 is generally not included in the budgetary amounts discussed or table totals presented in the main body of the report. Such spending is presented below the table totals and is in addition to regular appropriations. The exceptions to this general rule, all within the “Department of Health and Human Services” section of this report, are noted. Report Roadmap and Useful Terminology This report is divided into multiple sections. The opening sections explain the scope of the LHHS bill (and hence, the scope of this report), the important terminology and concepts that carry throughout the report, major recent congressional actions on LHHS appropriations, overarching issues that affected the FY2026 cycle, and an explanation of how CRS calculates the numbers in this report and treats report language. This is followed by a high-level summary and analysis of enacted appropriations for FY2026 compared to FY2024 and FY2025 funding levels, and those initially proposed for FY2026. The report then provides overview sections for each of the major titles of the bill: DOL, HHS, ED, and Related Agencies (RA). These sections discuss selected highlights from FY2026 enacted funding levels compared to FY2024 and FY2025, as well as those initially proposed for FY2026. (Note that the distribution of funds is sometimes illustrated Congressional Research Service 1 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations by figures, the depicted amounts for which in all cases are based on the FY2026 enacted LHHS appropriations.1) The Appendix provides a summary of budget enforcement activities for FY2026 that are relevant to LHHS. This includes information on mandatory funding sequestration pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (P.L. 119-177; BBEDCA), as amended, discretionary funding budget enforcement in the absence of statutory discretionary spending limits or a budget resolution, and current-year funding levels. Scope of the Report This report focuses on appropriations to agencies and accounts that are subject to the jurisdiction of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies subcommittees of the House and Senate appropriations committees (i.e., accounts traditionally funded via the LHHS bill). Department “totals” provided in this report do not include funding for accounts or agencies that are traditionally funded by appropriations bills under the jurisdiction of other subcommittees. The LHHS bill provides appropriations for the following federal departments and agencies: • • • • the U.S. Department of Labor; most agencies at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, except for the Food and Drug Administration (funded through the Agriculture appropriations bill), the Indian Health Service (funded through the InteriorEnvironment appropriations bill), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (also funded through the Interior-Environment appropriations bill); the U.S. Department of Education; and more than a dozen related agencies, including the Social Security Administration, the Corporation for National and Community Service (sometimes referred to as AmeriCorps), the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Railroad Retirement Board. Funding totals displayed in this report do not reflect amounts provided outside of the annual appropriations process. Certain direct spending programs, such as Social Security and parts of Medicare, receive funding directly from their authorizing statutes; such funds are not reflected in the totals provided in this report because they are not provided through the annual appropriations process (see related discussion in the “Mandatory vs. Discretionary Budget Authority” section). 1 The figures reflect the distribution of FY2026 enacted appropriations. However, the FY2026 enacted distribution of funds (as measured by the relative share of funds going toward a particular department or agency) is also generally illustrative of the distribution of funds in FY2024 and 2025 appropriations, and those proposed by the FY2026 President’s budget, the Senate committee bill, and the House committee bill. Congressional Research Service 2 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations Important Budget Concepts Mandatory vs. Discretionary Budget Authority2 The LHHS bill includes both discretionary and mandatory budget authority. While all discretionary spending is provided through the annual appropriations process, only a portion of mandatory budget authority is provided in appropriations measures. Mandatory programs funded through the annual appropriations process are commonly referred to as appropriated entitlements. In general, appropriators have little discretion over the amounts provided for appropriated entitlements; rather, the authorizing statute controls the program parameters (e.g., eligibility rules, benefit levels) that entitle certain recipients to payments. If Congress does not appropriate the money necessary to meet these commitments, entitled recipients (e.g., individuals, states, or other entities) may have legal recourse.3 Examples of appropriated entitlements include Medicaid and the Supplemental Security Income program. Most mandatory spending is not provided through the annual appropriations process, but rather through budget authority provided by the program’s authorizing statute (e.g., Social Security benefits payments). The funding amounts in this report do not include budget authority provided outside of the appropriations process. Instead, the amounts reflect only those funds, discretionary and mandatory, that are provided through appropriations acts. As displayed in this report, mandatory amounts displayed for the FY2026 President’s budget submission reflect current-law (or current services) estimates; they generally do not include the President’s proposed changes to a mandatory spending program’s authorizing statute that might affect total spending. (In general, such proposals are usually excluded from this report, as they typically would be enacted in authorizing legislation. Moreover, the FY2026 President’s budget generally did not include any such proposals.) The report focuses most closely on discretionary funding because discretionary funding receives the bulk of congressional attention during the appropriations process. (While the LHHS bill includes more mandatory funding than discretionary funding, the appropriators generally have less discretion in adjusting mandatory funding levels than discretionary funding levels.) Mandatory spending is subject to budget enforcement processes that include sequestration. In general, sequestration involves largely across-the-board reductions that are made to certain categories of mandatory funding after it has been enacted, including some of the spending in the LHHS bill. This is discussed further in the Appendix. 2 For definitions of these and other budget terms, see U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), A Glossary of Terms Used in the Federal Budget Process, GAO-05-734SP, September 1, 2005, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao05-734sp. (Terms of interest may include appropriated entitlement, direct spending, discretionary, entitlement authority, and mandatory.) 3 Sometimes appropriations measures include amendments to laws authorizing mandatory spending programs and thereby change the amount of mandatory appropriations needed. Because such amendments are legislative in nature, they may violate parliamentary rules separating authorizations and appropriations. For more information, see CRS Report R42388, The Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction. Congressional Research Service 3 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations Total Budget Authority Provided in the Bill vs. Total Budget Authority Available in the Fiscal Year Budget authority is the amount of money a federal agency is legally authorized to commit or spend. Appropriations bills may include budget authority that becomes available in the current fiscal year, in future fiscal years, or some combination. Amounts that become available in future fiscal years are typically referred to as advance appropriations. An additional related concept, forward funding, applies to appropriations that become available during the last quarter of the current fiscal year and continue into at least one future fiscal year. These delayed periods of availability are intended to prevent funding shortfalls late in the fiscal year or to mitigate effects of a funding gap the following year. More specifically, for the largest ED formula grant programs to states and the DOL vocational training programs, a forward funding schedule is intended to enable significant obligations to occur during the summer for activities in the upcoming school year. Unless otherwise specified, appropriations levels displayed in this report refer to the total amount of budget authority provided in an appropriations bill (i.e., “total in the bill”), regardless of the year in which the funding becomes available.4 In some cases, the report breaks out current-year appropriations (i.e., the amount of budget authority available for obligation in a given fiscal year, regardless of the year in which it was first appropriated).5 As the annual appropriations process unfolds, the amount of current-year budget authority is to be measured against 302(b) allocation ceilings (budget enforcement caps for appropriations subcommittees that traditionally emerge following the budget resolution process, see Appendix). The process of measuring appropriations against these spending ceilings takes into account budget authority for the current fiscal year, regardless of when it was enacted, and is subject to scorekeeping adjustments, which are made by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to reflect conventions and special instructions of Congress.6 Unless otherwise specified, appropriations levels displayed in this report do not reflect additional scorekeeping adjustments. (Those scorekeeping adjustments are displayed at the bottom of Table 2) Recent Action Related to LHHS Appropriations This section provides a brief legislative history and topline funding totals for enacted FY2026 LHHS appropriations, prior congressional and President’s budget proposals for FY2026, and LHHS appropriations enacted for FY2025. 4 Such figures include advance appropriations provided in the bill for future fiscal years, but do not include advance appropriations provided in prior years’ appropriations bills that become available in the current year. For this report, the notable exception to this general rule is two rescissions proposed by the House Committee bill of FY2026 appropriations at ED that were enacted in FY2025. An additional related exception is the rescission proposed by the FY2026 President’s budget to the FY2026 and FY2027 advance appropriations to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (These advance appropriations were enacted in FY2024 and FY2025 LHHS appropriations.) See the discussion of these in the “Department of Education (ED)” and “Related Agencies” sections of this report. 5 Such figures exclude advance appropriations for future years, but include advance appropriations from prior years that become available in the given fiscal year. 6 For more information on scorekeeping, see CRS Report 98-560, Baselines and Scorekeeping in the Federal Budget Process. See also a discussion of key scorekeeping guidelines included in the joint explanatory statement accompanying the conference report to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (H.Rept. 105-217, pp. 1007-1014); CBO, CBO Explains Budgetary Scorekeeping Guidelines, January 2021, https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2021-01/56507Scorekeeping.pdf; and CRS Report R47705, Congressional Rules Pertaining to Changes in Mandatory Program Spending in Appropriations Bills (CHIMPs). Congressional Research Service 4 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations FY2026 Annual LHHS Appropriations Table 1 provides a timeline of major legislative actions for full-year LHHS proposals, which are discussed in greater detail below. Table 1. Status of Full-Year LHHS Appropriations Legislation, FY2026 Subcommittee Approval House Senate 9/2/2025 — 11-7 Full Committee Approval House Senate H.R. 5304 (H.Rept. 119-271) 9/11/2025 35-28 S. 2587 (S.Rept. 119-55) 7/31/2025 26-3 Initial Floor Consideration House — Resolution of House and Senate Differences Senate Conf. Report — — House Final Passage Senate Final Passage H.R. 7148, Division B 2/3/2026 217-214 H.R. 7148, Division B 1/30/2026 71-29 Public Law P.L. 119-75 2/3/2026 Source: CRS Appropriations Status Table. FY2026 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act Full-year FY2026 appropriations for LHHS were enacted on February 3, 2026, when the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R. 7148; P.L. 119-75) was signed into law by the President. The FY2026 LHHS omnibus provided full-year appropriations for five of the annual appropriations acts in Divisions A-F (no Division C was included in the act), with LHHS appropriations being provided in Division B. Prior to its enactment, the final version of the measure was approved by the Senate on January 30 (71-29), and the House on February 3 (217214). See Figure 1 for a breakdown of FY2026 discretionary and mandatory LHHS appropriations enacted in the FY2026 LHHS omnibus.7 Annual discretionary LHHS appropriations totaled about $226 billion. This amount is 0.4% less than FY2024 enacted, 0.3% more than FY2025, and 29.9% more than the FY2026 President’s budget request. The omnibus also provided $1.513 trillion in mandatory funding, for a combined LHHS total of $1.739 trillion. 7 While the percentages in this figure were calculated based on amounts in the FY2026 LHHS omnibus, they are generally also illustrative, within a few percentage points, of the share of mandatory and discretionary funds in FY2024 enacted, the FY2025 estimate, the FY2026 President’s budget, the FY2026 House committee bill, and the FY2026 Senate committee bill. Congressional Research Service 5 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations Figure 1. FY2026 Enacted LHHS Appropriations Source: Amounts in this figure are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2026 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 119-75) available in the Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 15, book II, January 22, 2026, pp. H1590-H1660. Enacted totals for FY2026 do not include contingent or indefinite discretionary appropriations. For consistency with source materials, amounts in this figure generally do not reflect mandatory spending sequestration, where applicable, nor do they reflect any transfers or reprogramming of funds pursuant to executive authorities. CRS calculations do, however, include LHHS funding provided to HHS pursuant to the 21st Century Cures Act (P.L. 114-255), as amended. Notes: Details may not add to totals due to rounding. Amounts in this figure (1) reflect all budget authority appropriated in the bill, regardless of the year in which funds become available (i.e., totals do not include advances from prior-year appropriations, but do include advances for subsequent years provided in this bill); (2) have generally not been adjusted to reflect scorekeeping; (3) comprise only those funds provided for agencies and accounts subject to the jurisdiction of the LHHS subcommittees of the House and Senate appropriations committees; and (4) do not include appropriations that occur outside of appropriations bills or that are emergency-designated. FY2026 Continuing Appropriations Congress and the President did not reach agreement on full-year or temporary FY2026 appropriations for LHHS prior to the start of the fiscal year. On October 1, 2025, a funding lapse commenced, resulting in a government shutdown affecting many LHHS programs and activities.8 The funding lapse concluded with the enactment of an FY2026 continuing resolution (CR), which was signed into law on November 12, 2025 (Division A of H.R. 5371; P.L. 119-37). The CR provided continuing appropriations for LHHS through January 30, 2026. H.R. 5371 was introduced by Representative Cole, the House Appropriations Committee Chairman, on September 16, 2025. It initially passed the House on September 19, 2025 (217-212). The Senate 8 Ahead of October 1, 2025, many LHHS entities published FY2026 contingency plans for a possible lapse in appropriations, the purpose of which was to generally identify activities that would cease or continue during a lapse. For example, see the landing page for the FY2026 HHS contingency plans dated September 25, 2025 (https://www.hhs.gov/about/budget/fy-2026-hhs-contingency-staffing-plan/index.html, archived on January 7, 2026, at https://perma.cc/Y9W3-UBCF), and the FY2026 ED contingency plan dated September 28, 2025 (https://www.ed.gov/ media/document/us-department-of-education-contingency-plan-lapse-fiscal-year-fy-2026-appropriations-508112431.pdf, archived on January 7, 2026, at https://perma.cc/4PS9-ZQDA). Some of these plans appear to have been revised and reissued during the course of the shutdown. For example, see the FY2026 DOL plan dated October 31, 2025 (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/plans/dol-contingency-plan.pdf, archived on January 7, 2026, at https://perma.cc/XG78-FB72). Congressional Research Service 6 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations voted not to invoke cloture on various motions related to proceeding to the measure on several occasions over the next several weeks,9 until it voted to invoke cloture on November 9 (60-40). The Senate subsequently passed the measure with an amendment on November 10 (60-40). The House agreed to the Senate amendment on November 12 (222-209), and the measure was signed into law by the President later that same day. In general, the FY2026 CR funded discretionary programs at the same rate, and under the same conditions, as in FY2025. Appropriated entitlements were funded at their current law levels.10 The CR also included one provision that was specific to LHHS accounts or related activities (§155 on the Head Start program).11 When annual appropriations for LHHS were not yet enacted at the time the CR expired, a second funding lapse commenced, ending with the enactment of full-year appropriations on February 3. Prior Congressional Action on an FY2026 LHHS Bill FY2026 LHHS Action in the House (H.R. 5304) On September 9, 2025, the House Appropriations Committee voted to report its version of the FY2026 LHHS bill (35-28). The measure was subsequently reported on September 11, 2025, as H.R. 5304 (H.Rept. 119-271). The House committee bill would have provided $202.2 billion in discretionary LHHS funds, a 10.9% decrease from FY2024 enacted levels and a 10.3% decrease from FY2025. This amount was 16.1% more than the FY2024 President’s request. In addition, the House floor bill would have provided an estimated $1.513 trillion in mandatory funding, for a combined total of $1.715 trillion for LHHS as a whole. FY2026 LHHS Action in the Senate (S. 2624) On July 31, 2025, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to report its version of the FY2026 LHHS bill (26-3). The measure was subsequently reported that same day as S. 2587 (S.Rept. 11955). The Senate committee bill would have provided $226.4 billion in discretionary LHHS funds, a 0.2% decrease from FY2024 enacted levels and 0.5% more than FY2025. This amount was 30.1% more than the FY2026 President’s request. In addition, the Senate committee bill would have provided an estimated $1.513 trillion in mandatory funding, for a combined total of $1.740 trillion for LHHS as a whole. 9 See the Senate actions on H.R. 5371 in Congress.gov on September 19 and 30; October 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 20, 22, and 28; and November 4. 10 For an estimate of the discretionary appropriations contained in Division A of H.R. 9747, see CBO, “Senate Amendment 3937 to H.R. 5371, the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026,” November 10, 2025, https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-11/ SA3937-HR5371-DivA-G.pdf. 11 The LHHS-specific provision in the CR is discussed in CRS Report R48765, Overview of Continuing Appropriations for FY2026 (Division A of P.L. 119-37). Congressional Research Service 7 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations FY2026 President’s Budget Request On May 2, President Trump submitted to Congress an outline of his discretionary funding priorities for FY2026. Additional documents related to the budget request were submitted in the weeks that followed, including congressional justifications for individual departments and agencies. The FY2026 budget submission occurred during a presidential transition year—from the presidency of Joseph R. Biden to Donald J. Trump on January 20, 2025. Although the statutory deadline for the budget submission to Congress is not later than the first Monday in February (P.L. 67-13, as amended), recent Presidents have not submitted detailed budget proposals until April or May of their first year in office (although they usually advise Congress regarding the general contours of their economic and budgetary policies in special messages submitted to Congress prior to that submission). This delay allows time to prepare a proposal that reflects the priorities of the new Administration.12 The President requested $174.1 billion in discretionary funding for accounts funded by the LHHS bill (23.3% less than FY2024 enacted and 22.8% less than FY2025). In addition, the President requested $1.513 trillion in annually appropriated mandatory funding, for a combined total of $1.687 trillion for LHHS as a whole. Conclusion of FY2025 Appropriations Process Full-year FY2025 appropriations for LHHS were enacted on March 15, 2025, when the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (H.R. 1968; P.L. 119-4; hereinafter, “FY2025 full-year CR”) was signed into law by the President. H.R. 1968 was introduced by Representative Tom Cole, the House Appropriations Committee Chairman, on March 10, 2025. The measure was approved by the House on March 11 (217–213), and the Senate on March 14 (54-46). Annual discretionary LHHS appropriations in the FY2025 full-year CR were estimated in later congressional source documents for this report to total $225.4 billion. This amount was 0.7% less than FY2024 enacted and 29.5% more than the FY2026 President’s budget request. The omnibus also provided $1.225 trillion in mandatory funding, for a combined LHHS total of $1.481 trillion. (Note that these totals are based only on amounts of non-emergency appropriations and do not include emergency-designated or supplemental funds, which were provided in addition to the annual appropriations.) Overarching LHHS Considerations for the FY2026 Appropriations Cycle A number of circumstances affected the FY2026 cycle, such as lack of publicly available data on final FY2025 funding levels for certain accounts and programs, the level of detail in and structure of the FY2026 President’s budget submission, and the cancellations of previously enacted LHHS funding in a rescissions bill. This section provides background related to these issues. It concludes by summarizing how the FY2026 omnibus addressed some of them and highlights some new provisions that were included related to staffing, grants management, and oversight 12 For more information, see CRS Insight IN11655, Budget Submission After a Presidential Transition: Contextualizing the Biden Administration’s FY2022 Request. Congressional Research Service 8 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations practices by LHHS agencies. (A discussion of FY2026 budget enforcement issues relevant to LHHS is in the Appendix). Determining FY2025 Funding Levels for Certain Accounts and Programs As summarized above, FY2025 appropriations for LHHS were enacted in the form of full-year continuing appropriations. Full-year CRs generally fund discretionary programs at the same level and under the same conditions as the prior fiscal year, and fund annually appropriated entitlements at their current-law levels. This general funding structure may be subject to certain enumerated exceptions that apply to specified purposes (“anomalies”).13 In addition, accounts with appropriations in indefinite amounts, or that have offsets such as fees and rescissions, may also have different calculated funding levels than the prior year. Consequently, FY2025 funding for certain accounts did not uniformly match comparable funding provided in the FY2024 LHHS appropriations act. In addition, funding enacted in a full-year CR is usually not accompanied by an explanatory statement, even when earlier versions of LHHS annual appropriations bills for that fiscal year were accompanied by committee reports. In the case of FY2025, there was earlier report language accompanying the FY2025 congressional LHHS proposals, but no final explanatory statement was provided.14 This meant that Congress’s most specific requirements for the allocation of FY2025 funding appeared in the full CR itself, with no funding allocations or directives at greater levels of specificity than the statute (e.g., the program, project, or activity level when not specified in statute).15 For much of the FY2026 appropriations cycle, public sources of information about the funding distributions made by LHHS agencies subsequent to the FY2025 full-year CR’s enactment were incomplete or inconsistently available. The operating plans required by Section 1113 of the CR, which were to report the amount of funding by program, project, or activity (or greater level of detail if applicable) for ED, HHS, DOL, SSA, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), were due to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on May 15, 2025. Of these, DOL and SSA publicly released their operating plans, but those for HHS, ED, CNCS, and CPB generally were not posted on Office of Management and Budget (OMB) or agency websites until many months after the start of FY2026.16 In addition, the FY2025 column in the FY2026 congressional justifications, which 13 Anomalies are provisions that provide an exception to the general purposes, amounts, and timing of funds in the CR. The LHHS anomalies are summarized in the Appendix to CRS Report R48598, Overview of FY2025 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations. 14 Committee reports for earlier FY2025 LHHS proposals were H.Rept. 118-585 and S.Rept. 118-207. 15 For a more detailed discussion of how the FY2025 full-year CR differed from regular annual appropriations, and related issues, see the section, “FY2025 Funding Levels for LHHS Accounts, Programs, and Activities,” in CRS Report R48598, Overview of FY2025 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations. 16 See DOL, FY2025 Operating Plan All Purpose Table, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/budget/2025/ FY-2025-Operating-Plan-APT.pdf; and SSA, FY2025 Operating Plan, https://www.ssa.gov/budget/assets/materials/ 2025/2025OP.pdf (accessed July 2, 2025). Subsequent to the enactment of the FY2026 LHHS omnibus, individual FY2026 operating plans for many HHS operating divisions were posted on the HHS website, which included columns for final FY2025 funding (see, for example, the Health Resources and Services Administration Operating Plan for FY2026, https://www.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/hrsa/about/budget/fy2026-hrsa-operating-plan.pdf). ED also posted its funding tables for the FY2027 President’s budget request, which included a “FY2025 Final Operating Plan” column (https://www.ed.gov/media/document/fy-2027-presidents-budget-113611.pdf). In addition, some operating plans have (continued...) Congressional Research Service 9 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations usually would list amounts at the program, project, and activity level, did not provide this level of detail for much of HHS and ED; or in some cases, it aligned the account structure with administration proposals and not enacted funding.17 This made it difficult to compare amounts across fiscal or budget years using publicly available sources. During the FY2026 appropriations cycle, the only comprehensive congressional source of FY2025 LHHS funding for lines within appropriations accounts was the “Comparative Statement of New Budget Authority” table in the House Appropriations Committee report accompanying its version of the FY2026 LHHS bill (H.Rept. 119-271). According to page 315 of that report, the sources of information for the “FY2025 Estimate” column were “FY2025 Operating Plans and other available information.” Though the table generally listed amounts for each LHHS account, funding amounts for numerous programs and lines at the sub-account level were not listed. For this reason, because this CRS report uses the House Appropriations Committee table as its source for FY2026, the FY2025 table headings in the report indicate that they are “estimates.” FY2026 President’s Budget Submission Level of Detail and Structure The submission of the President’s budget request formally initiates the congressional budget process and informs Congress of the President’s recommended spending levels for agencies and programs relative to prior-year funding.18 Typically, many of the proposals in the President’s annual budget recommend changes to laws that govern mandatory spending levels or policies, which are usually established on a multiyear or permanent basis. However, discretionary spending, which is roughly one-third of the federal budget,19 is decided and controlled each fiscal year through the annual appropriations process. While Congress is not required to adopt the President’s proposals or recommendations for either discretionary or mandatory spending, the budget submission is an important source of information for the annual appropriations process on the funding allocations that are envisioned by the Administration for accounts, programs, projects, and activities. On May 2, 2025, President Trump submitted to Congress an outline of his discretionary funding priorities for FY2026.20 This preliminary document provided early highlights of proposed increases and decreases to numerous programs and entities, including several funded in the LHHS bill. Additional documents related to the budget request were submitted in the weeks that followed, including selected “supplemental materials” (e.g., the Appendix volume of the budget been posted by OMB on the following webpage under the link to “spend plans,” https://apportionmentpublic.max.gov/. 17 For HHS, see, for example, the All Purpose Table in the Administration for Children, Families, and Communities, FY2026 Congressional Justification, pp. 3-9, https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/fy-2026-acfc-cj.pdf. See also the tables throughout ED, Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Summary, https://www.ed.gov/media/document/fiscal-year-2026budget-summary-110043.pdf (accessed on July 2, 2025). Subsequent to the enactment of the FY2026 LHHS omnibus, the congressional justifications accompanying the FY2027 President’s budget request were released. These typically provided a more detailed account of FY2025 “final” funding distributions relative to the FY2026 congressional justifications. 18 For more information, see CRS Report R47019, The Executive Budget Process: An Overview. 19 Congressional Budget Office (CBO), The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2025 to 2035, p. 20, https://www.cbo.gov/ system/files/2025-01/60870-Outlook-2025.pdf. 20 OMB, Fiscal Year 2026 Discretionary Budget Request, May 2, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/ uploads/2025/05/Fiscal-Year-2026-Discretionary-Budget-Request.pdf. Congressional Research Service 10 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations submission) and congressional justifications for individual departments and agencies.21 These documents, however, lacked much of the detail and information typically included in the President’s budget. As noted in the section above, the FY2025 column in the congressional justifications, which would usually list amounts at the program, project, and activity levels, did not provide this level of detail for much of HHS and ED. The budget submission also often did not include mandatory spending budget proposals. An additional challenge for understanding the President’s budget request was that some of the accompanying congressional justifications for LHHS agencies aligned their account structure with administration proposals to reorganize relevant departments, and not with the account structure used when FY2025 funding was enacted.22 For example, the Administration proposed the creation of a new entity, the Administration for a Health America (AHA) within HHS, which was to combine the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), and other HHS programs. In addition, instead of individual congressional justifications for HRSA and SAMHSA, the administration submitted a congressional justification for the proposed AHA. Not all HRSA and SAMHSA programs (either as currently constituted or under the proposed restructure) were included in the AHA budget justification. Moreover, these programs were organized within a proposed agency structure that did not align with the existing HRSA or SAMHSA accounts and offices. This complicated comparing the programs in the reorganization proposal to either prior-year funding levels or the existing HRSA and SAMHSA structure. (For a more detailed discussion of this issue and the proposed HHS reorganization, see the “Proposed FY2026 HHS Reorganization” section of this report.) For entities that the FY2026 President’s budget proposed be restructured, limited information was publicly available during the FY2026 appropriations cycle about how this proposal compared to both the current structure and prior-year funding. The House Appropriations Committee’s “Comparative Statement of New Budget Authority” table in its report accompanying its version of the FY2026 LHHS bill (H.Rept. 119-271) generally presented accounts and programs within their FY2025 enacted structure. Thus, page 315 of that committee report cautioned, “Some funding amounts displayed under the ‘FY 2026 Request’ column are displayed in accordance with the programs and accounts under current law and may not be directly comparable to the display in the FY 2026 budget request submitted by the Office and Management and Budget.” Because this CRS report uses the House Appropriations Committee table as its source for the FY2026 President’s request numbers, they generally reflect these accounts and programs within their current structure. Impoundment Control Act Enacted FY2026 and FY2027 Rescissions to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) Enacted funding can be cancelled by a subsequent provision of law that is commonly referred to as a rescission. Rescissions of previously enacted funds are routinely considered and enacted in regular annual appropriations acts, and may offset the cost of new funding provided in that same act. In addition, the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA; P.L. 93-344) provides a mechanism 21 See additional materials at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-resources/budget/. Congressional budget justifications generally are posted on individual agency websites. 22 For HHS, see, for example, the All Purpose Table in the Administration for Children, Families, and Communities, FY2026 Congressional Justification, pp. 3-9, https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/fy-2026-acfc-cj.pdf. See also the tables throughout ED, Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Summary, https://www.ed.gov/media/document/fiscal-year-2026budget-summary-110043.pdf (accessed July 2, 2025). Congressional Research Service 11 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations for the President to submit a special message to Congress that proposes a rescission. The ICA also provides special procedures for Congress to consider a rescission bill. For further information, see CRS Report R48432, The Impoundment Control Act of 1974: Background and Congressional Consideration of Rescissions. A rescission bill was enacted into law on July 24, 2025 (P.L. 119-28). This bill originated as an ICA special message to rescind $9.4 billion in previously enacted funds, including $1.1 billion in FY2026 and FY2027 LHHS advance appropriations for CPB.23 As advance appropriations for CPB have historically been enacted two years in advance, these funds had been enacted in the FY2024 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 118-47) (for funds available in FY2026) and the FY2025 full-year CR (for funds available in FY2027). The bill did not propose that any CBP funds available for FY2025 be rescinded, which were provided in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328). The proposed rescissions were introduced as H.R. 4, and passed the House on June 12 (214-212). The Senate amended and passed H.R. 4 on July 17 (51-48); the House agreed to the Senate amendment on July 18.24 (Further background on CPB appropriations-related issues is in the “Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)” section of this report. See also Table 11 for how these funds were treated in the various proposals and FY2026 LHHS omnibus). As of the cover date of this report, Congress has not considered any further rescission bills that would affect LHHS appropriations. Selected Appropriations and Related Issues Addressed by the FY2026 LHHS Omnibus Ultimately, the FY2026 LHHS omnibus preserved the status quo relative to previous years in terms of the entities and accounts that the law funds. In other words, the law appropriated funding to LHHS entities under their existing structure and generally not within the structure that was proposed in the President’s budget. In addition, the statutory appropriations text for several LHHS accounts in the HHS, ED, and Related Agencies titles of the law includes new provisions that incorporate by reference funding distributions for entities and programs that appear in the act’s accompanying explanatory statement. In general, such distributions previously had been made in the explanatory statement alone. (See the explanation of this issue in the “Report Language and Incorporation by Reference” section of this CRS report. Examples of this are noted throughout the remainder of the report.) Over the course of FY2025, a number of reports circulated about delays in the availability of funding or changes to staffing, grants management, or oversight practices at LHHS agencies. The FY2026 LHHS omnibus included a number of provisions related to these topics. For instance, see the following: • In FY2025, ED departed from its long-standing practice of making forward funding for certain federal education formula grant funds available to state grantees for obligation and expenditure on July 1, 2025 (their first day of 23 Office of Management and Budget, Proposed Rescissions of Budgetary Resources, May 28, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Proposed-Rescissions-of-Budgetary-Resources.pdf (accessed July 2, 2025). 24 House approval of the amendment occurred pursuant to H.Res. 590, which was adopted by the House (216-213) on July 18, 2025. Congressional Research Service 12 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations • • • availability).25 The FY2026 LHHS omnibus included a new general provision (§312) requiring the Secretary of Education to award formula grant funding for specified programs “on the date such funds become available for obligation.” (For further discussion, see the “Forward Funding for Formula Grant Programs” section of this report.) In FY2025, NIH shifted to funding more awards under a multiyear approach that fully funded those grants up front for all years of the project period. Compared to FY2024, NIH awarded fewer individual research grants in FY2025 (despite a similar overall funding level to FY2024).26 The FY2026 LHHS omnibus included a new provision (§240) limiting the total amount of FY2026 NIH funds that can be obligated for multiyear awards to not more than the same amount of funds as in FY2025. (For further discussion, see the “Grants Policy Changes” section of this report.) In FY2025, reports suggested there had been delays in awarding funds, as well as terminations for some existing grants at some LHHS agencies.27 The FY2026 LHHS omnibus included new language in a long-standing general provision (§524) about grant notifications to Congress. The revised language requires notifications for “any new or non-competing continuation grant” as well as notifications of the “termination or non-continuation of any grant, including a short description of the reason for the termination or non-continuation.” In FY2025, reports indicated that several LHHS agencies had initiated substantial staffing reductions. For instance, in March 2025 ED announced the department had “initiated a reduction in force (RIF) impacting nearly 50% of the Department’s workforce.”28 That same month, HHS announced there would be a “dramatic restructuring” at HHS, including a reduction in the workforce of about 10,000 full-time employees.29 Reportedly, developments related to these reductions, including some reported reinstatements, have been ongoing since that time.30 The FY2026 LHHS omnibus included several new provisions related to federal staffing levels. For instance, the omnibus included provisions requiring agencies to use appropriations to support the staffing levels necessary to fulfill “statutory responsibilities including carrying out programs, projects, and 25 For example, see Linda Jacobson, “Education Dept. Lifts Freeze on Remaining Federal Funds,” The 74, July 25, 2025, https://www.the74million.org/article/education-dept-lifts-freeze-on-remaining-federal-funds/; Juan Perez Jr., “Trump administration moves to release billions in federal cash,” Politico, July 25, 2025, https://www.politico.com/ news/2025/07/25/trump-administration-moves-to-release-billions-in-federal-education-cash-00477213; and Office of the Attorney General, Connecticut, “State Of Connecticut Secures Major Win as U.S. Education Department Restores Previously Withheld Funding,” press release, August 5, 2025, https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2025-pressreleases/connecticut-secures-major-win-as-us-education-department-restores-previously-withheld-funding. 26 For more information, see CRS In Focus IF13131, NIH Grants Policy Under the Second Trump Administration. 27 For a broad discussion of the issue, including pending litigation over certain terminations, see CRS Legal Sidebar LSB11407, Litigation Over the Trump Administration’s Grant Terminations. 28 ED, “U.S. Department of Education Initiates Reduction in Force,” press release, March 11, 2025, https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-initiates-reduction-force. 29 HHS, “HHS Announces Transformation to Make America Healthy Again,” press release, March 27, 2025, https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-restructuring-doge.html. 30 See, for example, “Education Department Hiring More Civil Rights Attorneys After Walking Back Hundreds of Layoffs,” April 28, 2026, https://federalnewsnetwork.com/hiring-retention/2026/04/education-department-hiring-morecivil-rights-attorneys-after-walking-back-hundreds-of-layoffs/; and Federal News Network, “HHS Sends RIF Notices to Dozens of Staff it Missed During Office-Wide Layoffs Last Year,” May 18, 2026, https://federalnewsnetwork.com/ workforce/2026/05/hhs-sends-rif-notices-to-dozens-of-staff-it-missed-during-office-wide-layoffs-last-year/. Congressional Research Service 13 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations activities” funded in the bill (e.g., Departmental Management or Operating Expenses accounts at DOL, ED, and CNCS, and Section 239 of the HHS general provisions). In addition, the omnibus included a new provision requiring HHS to report to the Appropriations Committees on certain staffing levels (e.g., §228). This section details the methodology that CRS used to calculate the dollars and percentages used in this report that are detailed in the section, provides background on the status of report language and the enactment of that language by reference via language in the bill, and summarizes total LHHS appropriations by bill title (e.g., DOL, HHS). Calculation and Display of Funding, and Treatment of Congressional Report Language This section provides an overview of how CRS calculates the dollars and percentages displayed in this report. It also provides an explanation of appropriations report language and how it may be incorporated by reference as a statutory requirement. Dollars and Percentages in this Report Amounts displayed in this report are typically rounded (e.g., to the nearest million, to the nearest billion), as labeled. Dollar and percentage changes discussed in the text are based on unrounded amounts. Unless otherwise specified, appropriations levels displayed in this report refer to the total amount of non-emergency budget authority provided in an appropriations bill (i.e., “total in the bill”), regardless of the year in which the funding becomes available. These totals include, where applicable, full-year non-emergency appropriations provided in continuing resolutions. Unless otherwise noted, the funding amounts in this report are as follows: • • • • FY2024 enacted is generally drawn from or calculated based on the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2024 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 118-47) available in the Congressional Record, vol. 170, no. 51, book II, March 22, 2024, pp. H1886H2070. Some limited exceptions to how funds are displayed (e.g., the FY2024 rescissions to the CNCS National Service Trust) are noted where applicable. FY2025 estimate, FY2026 request, and FY2026 House committee are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the House Appropriations Committee report accompanying H.R. 5304 (H.Rept. 119-271). (See the explanation of the FY2025 estimate and FY2026 request columns for additional caveats in the “Overarching LHHS Considerations for the FY2026 Appropriations Cycle” section of this CRS report). FY2026 Senate committee is generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the Senate Appropriations Committee report accompanying S. 2587 (S.Rept. 119-55). FY2026 enacted is generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2026 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 11975) available in the Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 15, book II, January 22, 2026, pp. H1590-H1660. Emergency-designated LHHS appropriations are generally not included in funding amounts in this report (“Total BA in the Bill”). Such LHHS funds were enacted for FY2024 and FY2025, but were not included in FY2026 enacted or any of the FY2026 proposals. For informational Congressional Research Service 14 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations purposes, FY2024 and FY2025 emergency-designated amounts are displayed separately at the bottom of tables throughout the report and not summed in that separate display. Those amounts are based on CRS analysis of the texts of the laws. There are two notable exceptions to this general rule: • • Funding in the “Selected HHS Highlights by Agency” section includes, as noted, certain FY2024 emergency-designated funds that effectively could be used to support regular program operations (i.e., the appropriations law did not limit use of funds to activities associated with a particular disaster or event, such as needs arising from a hurricane). Likewise, Table 6 and Table 7 also break out this emergency funding for regular program operations for relevant HHS operating divisions, accounts, and budget lines. All FY2024 and FY2025 emergencydesignated funding (for both regular program operations and specified emergencies) also is included at the bottom of these HHS tables. Funding in the Appendix includes all FY2024 and FY2025 emergencydesignated funds in the “Adjusted Appropriations” totals, as scored by CBO. Post-enactment adjustments, such as mandatory spending sequestration (where applicable) or transfers and reprogramming of funds pursuant to executive authorities, are generally not included in this report except as noted.31 CRS calculations do, however, include LHHS funding provided to HHS pursuant to the 21st Century Cures Act (P.L. 114-255), as amended. Report Language and Incorporation by Reference In general, the detail tables in this CRS report for the DOL, HHS, ED, and RA titles generally do not distinguish between funding that is provided through bill or statutory text versus funding allocations and directives that are included in accompanying congressional “report language” (and not incorporated by reference). That distinction is made in the discussion of selected issues for each LHHS title that surrounds those tables. Report language is used by Congress to further specify funding or to communicate a range of directives to the agency. It typically does not have the legal weight of statutory text unless incorporated by reference (discussed in the next paragraph). Each regular appropriations bill reported from committee is usually accompanied by a written committee report, and the final explanatory text may be used to reconcile any differences between those reports.32 For example, earlier report language may address certain issues in ways that are difficult to reconcile harmoniously with the final enacted text. In these instances, the explanatory text normally seeks 31 The general practice for CRS reports on the LHHS bill has been to reflect conventions used in source materials. These conventions have varied over the years. For instance, CRS reports on LHHS appropriations for FY2012-FY2015 generally relied on source materials that adjusted appropriations amounts in the prior-year column to reflect sequestration, re-estimates of mandatory spending, transfers, reprogramming, and other adjustments for comparability. However, the FY2016 version of this report broke from that practice due to differing display conventions in source documents, and did not reflect any such adjustments (except sequestration for the Prevention and Public Health Fund [PPHF]). The FY2017 version of this report differed from both of these prior practices, in that it reflected a smaller subset of transfers (generally concentrated at the National Institutes of Health) and other adjustments for comparability (e.g., program moves from one account to another), but not reprogramming of funds or mandatory sequestration (except sequestration of the PPHF). Since FY2018, each version of this report has relied on source materials that generally did not reflect any transfers or other budgetary adjustments pursuant to administrative authorities except PPHF sequestration. Due to the lack of an explanatory statement in FY2025, it is more difficult to assess the extent to which transfers or reprogrammings are represented in the estimates included in the CRS report for that year. 32 Final congressional explanatory text may be a formal joint explanatory statement accompanying a conference report. When disagreement between the chambers is resolved informally, the explanatory text that explains the agreement is usually entered into the Congressional Record or published as a committee print. Congressional Research Service 15 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations to clarify how the affected agency is to proceed. On the other hand, if the original committee language is ultimately acceptable to congressional negotiators, the explanatory statement might be silent due to an expectation that the agency will follow the original directive.33 In addition, language in the explanatory statement usually directs compliance with the directives in earlier committee reports unless they are explicitly contravened.34 Report language may be incorporated by reference into the statutory text through provisions in that text (referred to in this report as “incorporation by reference”). In other words, the statutory text refers to report language that further allocates funds and the statute’s reference to the report language makes clear Congress’s intent to make the report allocations effective as statutory requirements.35 For LHHS in recent decades, provisions incorporating report language funding allocations by reference has been typical for Congressional Directed Spending (CDS)/Community Project Funding (CPF) projects (see the “FY2026 LHHS Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) and Community Project Funding” section) and for the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF) at HHS (see the “Prevention and Public Health Fund” section), but rare for other types of programs, projects, and activities. However, the FY2026 LHHS omnibus included such language for multiple accounts and headings in the HHS, ED, and RA titles of the bill. (See an example of such language, for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the text box below, as well as other examples noted throughout the remainder of the report [e.g., the “Selected HHS Highlights by Agency” section]). When this CRS report discusses selected issues for each of the LHHS titles, it treats language that was incorporated by reference as a statutory requirement. Example of LHHS Report Language Incorporated by Reference The FY2026 LHHS omnibus appropriated funds under the following heading for the CDC: Section 236 of the FY2026 LHHS omnibus incorporated funding provided in explanatory statement tables under most CDC headings by reference. Specifically, for the heading above, that provision directed that funding provided under the ‘‘Birth Defects, Developmental Disabilities, Disabilities and Health’’ heading in the statutory text of the FY2026 LHHS omnibus “shall be for the budget activities, and in the amounts specified in the table under each such heading in the explanatory statement described in section 4 (in the matter preceding division A of this consolidated Act).” The intent of language such as that contained in Section 236 is to incorporate by reference into the statutory text those purpose and amount allocations, which appear in report language. Those allocations in the explanatory statement were as follows: 33 For further information, see CRS Report R44124, Appropriations Report Language: Overview of Development and Components. 34 For example, the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2026 LHHS omnibus stated “The explanatory statement accompanying this division is approved and indicates Congressional intent. Unless otherwise noted, the language set forth in House Report 119– 271 and Senate Report 119–55 carry the same weight as language included in this explanatory statement and should be complied with unless specifically addressed to the contrary in this explanatory statement. While some language is repeated for emphasis, it is not intended to negate the language referred to above unless expressly provided herein (Congressional Record, vol. 170, no. 51, book II, March 22, 2024, pp. H1590).” 35 For a detailed discussion of this issue, see CRS Report R46899, Regular Appropriations Acts: Selected Statutory Interpretation Issues. Congressional Research Service 16 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations Source: P.L. 119-75 and Congressional Record, vol. 170, no. 51, book II, March 22, 2024, pp. H1592. LHHS Funding by Bill Title (FY2024-FY2026) Table 2 displays discretionary and mandatory funding by LHHS bill title for FY2024 enacted, FY2025 estimated, various FY2026 proposals, and FY2026 enacted. The amounts shown in the table reflect total budget authority provided in the annual LHHS bill (i.e., all funds appropriated in the bill regardless of the fiscal year in which the funds become available), not total budget authority available for the current fiscal year. (For a comparable table showing current-year budget authority, see Table A-2.) Note that the totals in this table do not include emergencydesignated appropriations; those amounts are displayed separately at the bottom of the table and are in addition to regular appropriations. Table 2. LHHS Appropriations Overview by Bill Title, FY2024-FY2026 (total budget authority provided in the bill, in billions of dollars) Bill Title FY2024 Enact. Title I: Labor FY2025 Est. FY2026 Req. FY2026 House Cmte. (H.R. 5304) FY2026 Senate Cmte. (S. 2587) FY2026 Enact. 15.0 14.9 11.0 11.5 15.6 15.6 Discretionary 13.7 13.6 9.0 9.6 13.7 13.7 Mandatory 1.3 1.3 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 Title II: HHS 1,266.5 1,301.7 1,522.5 1,547.9 1,555.1 1,554.9 117.4 116.1 84.0 109.5 116.6 116.4 1,149.1 1,185.6 1,438.5 1,438.5 1,438.5 1,438.5 Title III: Education 83.3 83.2 71.2 71.4 83.5 83.5 Discretionary 79.1 78.8 66.7 66.9 79.0 79.0 Mandatory 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 Title IV: RA 79.3 80.7 82.6 84.6 85.5 85.4 Discretionarya Mandatory Congressional Research Service 17 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations Bill Title FY2024 Enact. FY2025 Est. FY2026 Req. FY2026 House Cmte. (H.R. 5304) FY2026 Senate Cmte. (S. 2587) FY2026 Enact. Discretionaryb 16.8 16.9 14.3 16.3 17.1 17.1 Mandatory 62.5 63.8 68.3 68.3 68.3 68.3 Total BA in the Bill 1,444.1 1,480.5 1,687.3 1,715.4 1,739.7 1,739.4 Discretionary 227.0 225.4 174.1 202.2 226.4 226.1 Mandatory 1,217.1 1,255.1 1,513.2 1,513.2 1,513.2 1,513.2 P.L. 118-50 0.5 — — — — — P.L. 118-158 — 0.5 — — — — Advances for Future Years (provided in current bill)d 297.0 313.3 370.0 370.0 370.0 370.0 Advances from Prior Years (for use in current year)d 242.8 297.0 313.3 312.7 312.7 312.7 Additional Scorekeeping Adjustmentse -29.7 -24.6 -10.0 -14.7 -26.3 -27.9 Emergency Funding (not in above totals or memoranda below)c Memoranda: Source: Amounts in this table for the “FY2024 Enact.” column are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2024 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 118-47) available in the Congressional Record, vol. 170, no. 51, book II, March 22, 2024, pp. H1886-H2070. Amounts in this table for the “FY2025 Est.,” “FY2026 Req.,” and “FY2026 House Cmte.” columns are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the House Appropriations Committee report accompanying H.R. 5304 (H.Rept. 119271). Amounts in this table for the “FY2026 Senate Cmte.” column are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the Senate Appropriations Committee report accompanying S. 2587 (S.Rept. 119-55). Amounts in this table for the “FY2026 Enact.” column are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2026 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 119-75 ) available in the Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 15, book II, January 22, 2026, pp. H1590-H1660. Totals (“Total BA in the Bill”) do not include emergency-designated, contingent, or indefinite discretionary appropriations. CRS calculations do, however, include LHHS funding provided to HHS pursuant to the 21st Century Cures Act (P.L. 114-255), as amended. For consistency with source materials, amounts in this table generally do not reflect mandatory spending sequestration, where applicable, nor do they reflect any transfers or reprogramming of funds pursuant to executive authorities. Note that amounts shown for additional scorekeeping adjustments are calculated using the source documents specified. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is responsible for the official scoring of the bill. Notes: BA = Budget Authority. Details may not add to totals due to rounding. Amounts in this table (1) reflect all BA appropriated in the bill, regardless of the year in which funds become available (i.e., totals do not include advances from prior-year appropriations, but do include advances for subsequent years provided in this bill); (2) have generally not been adjusted to reflect scorekeeping; (3) comprise only those funds provided (or requested) for agencies and accounts subject to the jurisdiction of the LHHS subcommittees of the House and Senate appropriations committees; and (4) do not include appropriations that occur outside of appropriations bills. No amounts are shown for Title V because this title consists solely of general provisions. Congressional Research Service 18 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations a. b. c. d. e. For the sake of comparability, all columns in this table treat the general provision relating to the transfer of funds for Medicare program operations costs (e.g., §227 in the FY2026 LHHS omnibus) as a scorekeeping adjustment. CRS Report R47936, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2024 Appropriations, attributed that provision to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Program Management account. All columns in this table include applicable rescissions to the CNCS National Service Trust in the discretionary and total amounts. In contrast, the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2024 LHHS omnibus and CRS Report R47936, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2024 Appropriations, do not include such rescissions in the aforementioned amounts but instead attributed them to scorekeeping adjustments. The FY2024 LHHS omnibus, FY2025 full-year CR, FY2026 House committee bill, FY2026 Senate committee bill, and FY2026 LHHS omnibus included a contingent appropriation for the HHS Refugee and Entrant Assistance account. (Such funds were not requested by the FY2026 President’s budget.) The contingent funds become available only if certain conditions are met. Consistent with source materials, the estimated amount of the contingent appropriations is treated as a scorekeeping adjustment and is thus not included in this total. Totals in this table are based on budget authority provided in the bill (i.e., they exclude advance appropriations from prior bills and include advance appropriations from this bill made available in future years). The calculation for total budget authority available in a given fiscal year is as follows: Total BA in the Bill, minus Advances for Future Years, plus Advances from Prior Years. Totals in this table have generally not been adjusted for scorekeeping. (To adjust for scorekeeping, add this line to the total budget authority.) Figure 2 displays discretionary and mandatory LHHS funding levels enacted in the FY2026 LHHS omnibus, by bill title. (While the percentages discussed in this section were calculated based on FY2026 enacted, they are generally also illustrative—within several percentage points—of the share of funds directed to each bill title in FY2024 and FY2025, and under the FY2026 proposals.) As this figure demonstrates, HHS accounts for the largest share of total FY2026 LHHS appropriations: $1.555 trillion, or 89.4%. This is due to the large amount of mandatory funding included in the HHS appropriation, the majority of which is for Medicaid grants to states and payments to health care trust funds. After HHS, RA and ED represent the next-largest shares of total LHHS funding, accounting for 4.9% and 4.8%, respectively. (The majority of the ED appropriations each year are discretionary, while the bulk of funding for RA goes toward mandatory payments and administrative costs of the Supplemental Security Income program at the Social Security Administration.) DOL accounts for the smallest share of total LHHS funds, 0.9%. The overall composition of LHHS funding is noticeably different when comparing only discretionary appropriations. HHS accounts for a comparatively smaller share of total discretionary appropriations (51.5%), while ED accounts for a relatively larger share (34.9%). Together, these two departments represent the majority (86.4%) of discretionary LHHS appropriations. RA and DOL account for the remaining discretionary funds, at 7.6% and 6.0%, respectively. Congressional Research Service 19 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations Figure 2. FY2026 Enacted LHHS Appropriations by Title (non-emergency budget authority in billions of dollars unless otherwise indicated) Source: Amounts in this figure are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2026 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 119-75 ) available in the Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 15, book II, January 22, 2026, pp. H1590-H1660. Enacted totals for FY2026 do not include contingent or indefinite discretionary appropriations. For consistency with source materials, amounts in this figure generally do not reflect mandatory spending sequestration, where applicable, nor do they reflect any transfers or reprogramming of funds pursuant to executive authorities. CRS calculations do, however, include LHHS funding provided to HHS pursuant to the 21st Century Cures Act (P.L. 114-255), as amended. Notes: Details may not add to totals due to rounding. Amounts in this figure (1) reflect all BA appropriated in the bill, regardless of the year in which funds become available (i.e., totals do not include advances from prioryear appropriations, but do include advances for subsequent years provided in this bill); (2) have generally not been adjusted to reflect scorekeeping; (3) comprise only those funds provided for agencies and accounts subject to the jurisdiction of the LHHS subcommittees of the House and Senate appropriations committees; and (4) do not include appropriations that occur outside of appropriations bills. FY2026 LHHS Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) and Community Project Funding (CPF) The terms “Congressionally Directed Spending” in the Senate and “Community Project Funding” in the House have been used recently to describe various types of congressional funding allocations that are often referred to as earmarks. For the FY2026 appropriations cycle, the Senate Appropriations Committee announced that it would accept CDS requests for a selection of budget accounts.36 The House Appropriations Committee also made a similar announcement.37 CDS and CPF requests are subject to a number of chamber-specific rules, protocols, and restrictions. Earmark definitions vary by chamber, but typically refer to funding that directly benefits a specific entity, locality, congressional district, or state without going through a formula 36 Senate Appropriations Committee, FY2026 Congressionally Directed Spending, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy2026_appropriations_requests_general_guidancepdf.pdf. 37 House Appropriations Committee, FY26 Guidance Overview, https://appropriations.house.gov/fy26-guidanceoverview. Congressional Research Service 20 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations or competitive award process. For the FY2026 cycle, the Senate Appropriations Committee guidance identified several accounts in the LHHS bill as eligible for CDS requests:38 • • • • • • • DOL, Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Training and Employment Services HHS, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Program Management HHS, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Health Surveillance and Program Support HHS, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Children and Families Services Programs HHS, Administration for Community Living (ACL), Aging and Disability Services Programs ED, Innovation and Improvement, Fund for the Improvement of Education ED, Higher Education, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education However, the FY2026 House Appropriations Committee guidance did not identify any LHHS accounts for CPF requests.39 Ultimately, the FY2026 LHHS omnibus provided funding for more than a thousand items designated as CDS requests across the seven LHHS accounts to which earmark requests were accepted by the Senate Appropriations Committee. In a handful of cases, these items also carried a CPF designation and identified a requesting Member of the House. In such cases, the initial CPF request had been made for the same entity in a bill other than LHHS. A full list of the LHHS CDS and CPF items can be found on pages H1599-H1625 of the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2026 LHHS omnibus.40 Department of Labor (DOL) All amounts in this section are based on regular LHHS appropriations only. The amounts do not include mandatory funds provided outside of the annual appropriations process (e.g., direct appropriations for Unemployment Insurance benefits payments). All amounts are rounded (e.g., to the nearest million), as labeled. The dollar changes and percentage changes discussed in the text are based on unrounded amounts. For consistency with source materials, amounts do not reflect sequestration or re-estimates of mandatory spending programs, where applicable. 38 Senate Appropriations Committee, FY2026 Congressionally Directed Spending, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy2026_appropriations_requests_general_guidancepdf.pdf. 39 House Appropriations Committee, FY26 Guidance Overview, https://appropriations.house.gov/fy26-guidanceoverview. 40 The explanatory statement accompanying the FY2026 LHHS omnibus is in the Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 15, book II, January 22, 2026, pp. H1590-H1660. Congressional Research Service 21 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations About DOL DOL is a federal department comprising multiple entities that provide services related to employment and training, income security, worker protection, contract enforcement, and labor force information. Annual LHHS appropriations laws direct funding to all DOL entities (see the text box).42 DOL entities fall primarily into three main DOL Entities Funded via the functional areas: workforce development LHHS Appropriations Process (training, employment services, and income Employment and Training Administration (ETA) security), worker protection, and labor market Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) data and analysis. The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) administers Wage and Hour Division (WHD) several workforce employment and training Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) programs—such as the Workforce Innovation Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and Opportunity Act (WIOA) state formula grant programs, Job Corps, and the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) Employment Service—that provide direct Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) funding for employment activities or Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) administration of income security programs Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (e.g., for the Unemployment Insurance Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) benefits program). Another DOL entity, the Departmental Management (DM)41 Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS), provides employment services specifically for the veteran population. Several DOL agencies enforce federal worker protections and provide various worker protection services. For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), and the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) provide different types of regulation and oversight of working conditions. DOL entities focused on worker protection enforce federal labor laws and provide services to ensure worker safety, adherence to wage and overtime laws, and contract compliance, among other duties. In addition, DOL’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects data and provides analysis on the labor market and related labor issues; BLS is the principal federal statistical agency responsible for measuring labor market outcomes and trends. FY2026 Caveats In general, the DOL section of this report displays funds where they were appropriated and does not include subsequent transfers, except when noted. This applies to any funds transferred between accounts, agencies, or departments to, for example, effectuate program moves. (See the discussion of this issue for DOL in the context of ED in the “Interagency Agreements” section.) FY2026 DOL Appropriations Overview Table 3 displays FY2026 enacted and proposed funding levels for DOL, along with FY2024 and FY2025 enacted levels. Following the conventions in this report, the totals in this table do not 41 Departmental Management includes the DOL salaries and expenses for multiple DOL activities, IT Modernization, and the Office of the Inspector General. 42 The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is funded primarily through insurance premiums and related fees from companies covered by the PBGC. For further information, see CRS In Focus IF10492, An Overview of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Congressional Research Service 22 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations include emergency-designated appropriations; however, note that DOL received no emergencydesignated appropriations in FY2024, FY2025, or FY2026. Discretionary funds represent the majority of DOL appropriations, accounting for 88% of FY2026 enacted levels. The FY2026 LHHS omnibus increased discretionary appropriations for DOL by $65 million (+0.5%) compared to FY2025. Relative to the FY2025 full-year CR, discretionary DOL appropriations would have decreased by $4.0 billion (-29.6%) under the House committee bill, increased by $71 million (+0.5%) under the Senate committee bill, and decreased by $4.6 billion (-33.5%) under the FY2026 President’s budget request. Table 3. DOL Appropriations Overview (in billions of dollars) FY2024 Enact. FY2025 Est. FY2026 Req. FY2026 House Cmte. (H.R. 5304) Discretionary 13.7 13.6 9.0 9.6 13.7 13.7 Mandatory 1.3 1.3 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 15.0 14.9 11.0 11.5 15.6 15.6 — — — — — — Funding Total, DOL BA in the Bill Emergency Funding (not in above totals) FY2026 Senate Cmte. (S. 2587) FY2026 Enact. Source: Amounts in this table for the “FY2024 Enact.” column are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2024 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 118-47) available in the Congressional Record, vol. 170, no. 51, book II, March 22, 2024, pp. H1886-H2070. Amounts in this table for the “FY2025 Est.,” “FY2026 Req.,” and “FY2026 House Cmte.” columns are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the House Appropriations Committee report accompanying H.R. 5304 (H.Rept. 119271). Amounts in this table for the “FY2026 Senate Cmte.” column are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the Senate Appropriations Committee report accompanying S. 2587 (S.Rept. 119-55). Amounts in this table for the “FY2026 Enact.” column are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2026 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 119-75 ) available in the Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 15, book II, January 22, 2026, pp. H1590-H1660. Totals (“Total BA in the Bill”) do not include emergency-designated, contingent, or indefinite discretionary appropriations. Notes: BA = Budget Authority. Details may not add to totals due to rounding. Amounts in this table (1) reflect all BA appropriated in the bill, regardless of the year in which funds become available (i.e., totals do not include advances from prior-year appropriations, but do include advances for subsequent years provided in this bill); (2) have generally not been adjusted to reflect scorekeeping; (3) comprise only those funds provided (or requested) for agencies and accounts subject to the jurisdiction of the LHHS subcommittees of the House and Senate appropriations committees; and (4) do not include appropriations that occur outside of appropriations bills. Selected DOL Highlights The following sections present highlights from the FY2026 enacted and proposed appropriations compared to the FY2025 full-year CR for selected DOL accounts and programs.43 Table 4 displays funding for DOL programs and activities discussed in this section. 43 DOL budget materials can be found at https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol#budget. Congressional Research Service 23 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations Employment and Training Administration (ETA) ETA administers federal workforce development programs, including those authorized under Title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA; P.L. 113-128, as amended), and provides oversight to state workforce agencies in the implementation and administration of state unemployment insurance programs, federal unemployment compensation programs, and other wage-loss, worker dislocation, and adjustment assistance compensation programs. These services are primarily provided through state workforce agencies and local workforce development systems. The FY2026 LHHS omnibus provided $10.4 billion in discretionary budget authority for the ETA. This is $121 million more (+1.2%) than FY2025 ($10.2 billion). Under the FY2026 LHHS omnibus, the largest discretionary increases at ETA were directed to CDS/CPF activities (+$96 million) which had not been funded under the FY2025 full-year CR, as well as certain program integrity activities (+$79 million) associated with the DOL Unemployment Compensation program. Most discretionary ETA programs and activities received flat funding relative to the FY2025 full-year CR, though a few experienced decreases. Specifically, programs experiencing decreases in funding in the FY2026 LHHS omnibus compared to FY2025 levels include • • • • • • WIOA Adult Activities State Grants ($876 million), $10 million (-1.1%) less than FY2025; the Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO) program ($110 million), $5 million (-4.3%) less than FY2025; the Community Service Employment for Older Americans (CSEOA) program ($395 million), $10 million (-2.5%) less than FY2025; the Employment Service ($693 million), $8 million (-1.1%) less than FY2025; One-Stop Centers ($53 million), $10 million (-15.6%) less than FY2025; and ETA Program Administration ($158 million), $14 million (-8.4%) less than FY2025. While the FY2026 Senate committee bill would have increased ETA funding by $123 million (+1.2%) relative to FY2025—including level funding for most WIOA programs—the FY2026 House committee bill would have reduced discretionary ETA funding by $2.9 billion (-28.4%). The reduction would have primarily come from the proposed elimination of funding for several workforce programs, including WIOA Youth Activities ($948 million in FY2025), the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers program ($97 million in FY2025), the Reentry Employment Opportunities program ($115 million in FY2025),44 and Community Service Employment for Older Americans ($405 million in FY2025). In addition, the House committee bill would have reduced funding for Job Corps to $880 million, an $880 million (-50.0%) reduction relative to FY2025. Within the $301 million appropriation in the FY2026 LHHS omnibus for the WIOA Dislocated Workers Assistance National Reserve (DWA National Reserve), the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2026 LHHS omnibus directs ETA to fund four initiatives totaling $137 million, which would leave $164 million for other DWA National Reserve activities.45 The DWA 44 In the FY2026 House committee bill, this is called the Reintegration of Ex-Offenders program. 45 Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 15, book II, January 22, 2026, p. H1590. These initiatives include the Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities Grants ($55 million), the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants ($65 million), Cybersecurity Grants ($15 million), and the Employee Ownership Initiative ($2 million). Congressional Research Service 24 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations National Reserve provides employment services and other assistance to workers laid off due to emergencies or major disasters. The FY2026 President’s budget proposed to consolidate 11 workforce development programs into a single $2.9 billion grant program—Make America Skilled Again (MASA). According to the DOL FY2026 Budget in Brief, This simplified structure will allow program administrators to spend less time and money complying with Federal requirements and instead focus on driving toward more effective approaches and improved outcomes for workers. To help realize President Trump’s commitment to reach one million active apprentices, the Budget requires that MASA grantees spend at least 10 percent of their funds on Registered Apprenticeship activities, guaranteeing funding for this highly effective training model. 46 Funding for this consolidated program was not included in the FY2026 House committee bill, the FY2026 Senate committee bill, nor the FY2026 LHHS omnibus. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) BLS is the principal federal statistical agency responsible for measuring labor market trends, working conditions, price changes, and productivity, through data products such as the Current Population Survey and the Consumer Price Index. The FY2026 LHHS omnibus provided $709 million for BLS, which is an increase of $5 million (+0.6%) compared to FY2025. The FY2026 Senate committee bill would have provided $704 million (the same amount as FY2025) and the FY2026 House committee bill would have provided $714 million, an increase of $10 million (+1.4%) compared to FY2025. The FY2026 President’s budget proposed transferring most BLS funding and activities from DOL to the Department of Commerce. Under the budget proposal, a total of $68 million (the same as FY2025) would have remained at DOL for carrying out certain BLS Labor Market Information activities. All other funds for existing BLS activities (a total of $580 million under the President’s proposal) would have been directed to the Department of Commerce. According to the BLS FY2026 Congressional Justification, to achieve cost savings beyond those in the reorganization proposal, BLS would “prioritize the most mission critical activities necessary for the production of the core data series ... required by statute, or in use in current law.”47 Neither the FY2026 LHHS omnibus, FY2026 Senate committee bill, nor FY2026 House committee bill reflected this reorganization proposal. The congressional explanatory materials accompanying the FY2026 LHHS omnibus, the FY2026 House committee report, and the FY2026 Senate committee report addressed the work of BLS in various ways. For example, • • the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2026 LHHS omnibus “encourag[ed] BLS to evaluate the impact of artificial intelligence on the economy, including job loss, creation, and displacement;”48 the FY2026 House Appropriations committee report highlighted issues related to declining labor survey response rates, regional inflation data, measurement of 46 FY 2026 Department of Labor Budget in Brief, pp. 1-2, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/budget/2026/ FY2026BIB.pdf. 47 The BLS budget justification clarifies that “the FY2026 request is included in the Department’s budget materials, but the Budget proposes to reorganize the BLS, Census Bureau, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the Department of Commerce, under the policy direction of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs.” FY 2026 Congressional Budget Justification Bureau of Labor Statistics, pp. BLS-9, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/budget/2026/CBJ2026-V3-01.pdf. 48 Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 15, book II, January 22, 2026, pp. H1590. Congressional Research Service 25 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations • labor market outcomes for military spouses, the Standard Occupational Classification of pharmacists, and cost estimates for a survey on employerprovided training;49 and the FY2026 Senate Appropriations Committee report also highlighted declining labor survey response rates, and directed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on the impact of the elimination of certain advisory committees on data quality and reliability, and directed BLS to maintain funding for the current National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) cohorts and to continue development of the new NLSY27 cohort.50 Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) ILAB provides research, advocacy, technical assistance, and grants to promote workers’ rights in different parts of the world. The FY2026 LHHS omnibus provided $116 million for ILAB, which is the same as the FY2025 LHHS full-year CR level. The FY2026 Senate committee bill would have provided $111 million for ILAB, a decrease of $5 million (-4.3%), while the FY2026 House committee bill would have eliminated funding for ILAB and the FY2026 President’s budget would have decreased ILAB funding by $46 million (-39.5%). The DOL Budget in Brief explained these proposed reductions as follows: “Consistent with putting American Workers First, the Budget streamlines the ILAB, reorienting it to focus on its core work of enforcing the labor provisions of trade agreements, ensuring that American workers and businesses benefit from international trade.”51 Labor-Related General Provisions Annual LHHS appropriations acts regularly contain general provisions related to certain labor issues. This section highlights selected DOL general provisions in the FY2026 LHHS omnibus. The FY2026 LHHS omnibus continued several provisions that have been included in previous LHHS appropriations acts, including those that • • • exempted certain insurance claims adjusters from overtime protection for two years following a “major disaster” (included since FY2016);52 directed the Secretary of Labor to accept private wage surveys as part of the process of determining prevailing wages in the H-2B program, even in instances in which relevant wage data are available from BLS (included since FY2016);53 authorized the Secretary of Labor to provide up to $450,000 in “excess personal property” to apprenticeship programs to assist training apprentices (included since FY2018);54 49 H. Rept. 119-271 pp. 27-28. 50 S. Rept. 119-55, pp. 33-34. 51 FY 2026 Department of Labor Budget in Brief, p. 3, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/budget/2026/ FY2026BIB.pdf. 52 See Division B, Title I, §108 of P.L. 119-75. 53 See Division B, Title I, §110 of P.L. 119-75. The H-2B program allows for the temporary employment of foreign workers in nonagricultural sectors and requires these workers to be paid the “prevailing wage” (i.e., the average wage paid to similar workers in the local area). Under DOL regulations, private employer surveys may be considered only if the employer meets certain conditions. 54 See Division B, Title I, §112 of P.L. 119-75. Congressional Research Service 26 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations • • • authorized the Secretary of Labor to employ law enforcement officers or special agents to provide protection to the Secretary of Labor and certain other employees and family members at public events and in situations in which there is a “unique and articulable” threat of physical harm (included since FY2018);55 authorized the Secretary of Labor to dispose of or divest “by any means the Secretary determines appropriate” all or part of the real property on which the Treasure Island Job Corps Center and the Gary Job Corps Center are located (included since FY2018);56 and prohibited annual appropriations from being used to alter the Interagency Agreement between DOL and the U.S. Department of Agriculture or to close any Civilian Conservation Centers unless certain conditions are met (included since FY2020).57 Table 4. Detailed DOL Appropriations (in millions of dollars) FY2024 Enact. FY2025 Est. FY2026 Req. FY2026 House Cmte. (H.R. 5304) 31 34 50 50 50 50 10,351 10,249 6,699 7,334 10,372 10,370 Training and Employment Services: 4,006 3,899 2,966 2,594 3,977 3,982 State Formula Grants: 2,929 2,929 0 1,808 2,919 2,919 Adult Activities Grants to States 886 886 0 712 876 876 Youth Activities Grants to States 948 948 0 0 948 948 Dislocated Worker Activities (DWA) Grants to States 1,096 1,096 0 1,096 1,096 1,096 1,077 969 2,966 787 1,058 1,062 DWA National Reserve 301 301 0 326 301 301 Native Americans 60 60 0 65 60 63 Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers 97 97 0 0 97 97 YouthBuild 105 105 0 105 105 105 Reentry Employment Opportunities 115 115 0 0 110 110 Agency or Selected Program ETA—Mandatorya ETA—Discretionary FY2026 Senate Cmte. (S. 2587) FY2026 Enact. Discretionary ETA Programs: National Activities: 55 See Division B, Title I, §113 of P.L. 119-75. 56 See Division B, Title I, §114 of P.L. 119-75. 57 See Division B, Title I, §115 of P.L. 119-75. Congressional Research Service 27 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations FY2024 Enact. FY2025 Est. FY2026 Req. FY2026 House Cmte. (H.R. 5304) Workforce Data Quality Initiative 6 6 0 6 6 6 Apprenticeship Grants 285 285 0 285 285 285 CPF/CDS 108 0 0 0 94 96 0 0 2,966 0 0 0 1,760 1,760 176 880 1,760 1,760 Community Service Employment for Older Americans 405 405 0 0 395 395 State Unemployment Insurance and Employment Service Operations (SUI/ESO): 4,006 4,012 3,422 3,725 4,081 4,075 Unemployment Compensation 3,160 3,166 3,270 2,894 3,245 3,245 Employment Service 700 700 18 693 695 693 Foreign Labor Certification 84 84 82 86 84 85 One-Stop Career Centers 63 63 53 53 58 53 ETA Program Administration 173 173 135 135 158 158 Veterans Employment and Training 335 335 342 342 335 335 Employee Benefits Security Administration 191 191 181 181 191 191 Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp, (PBGC) program level (non-add)b (513) (513) (494) (494) (494) (494) Wage and Hour Division 260 260 235 235 260 260 Office of Labor-Management Standards 49 49 49 49 49 49 Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs 111 111 0 0 106 101 Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs— Mandatoryc 1,249 1,310 1,874 1,874 1,874 1,874 Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs— Discretionary 123 123 110 110 123 123 Occupational Safety & Health Administration 632 632 582 582 632 629 Mine Safety & Health Administration 388 388 348 348 388 388 Bureau of Labor Statistics 698 704 68 714 704 709 Office of Disability Employment Policy 43 43 34 37 43 43 Agency or Selected Program Make America Skilled Again Job Corps Congressional Research Service FY2026 Senate Cmte. (S. 2587) FY2026 Enact. 28 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations FY2024 Enact. FY2025 Est. FY2026 Req. FY2026 House Cmte. (H.R. 5304) Departmental Management 514 514 399 359 468 467 Salaries and Expenses 388 388 301 231 364 363 (116) (116) (70) (0) (111) (116) IT Modernization 29 29 7 29 7 7 Office of the Inspector General 97 97 91 99 97 97 Total, DOL BA in the Bill 14,975 14,943 10,972 11,504 15,595 15,589 Subtotal, Mandatory 1,280 1,344 1,925 1,925 1,925 1,925 Subtotal, Discretionary 13,695 13,599 9,047 9,580 13,670 13,664 — — — — — — Total, BA Available in Fiscal Year (current year from any bill) 14,978 14,944 10,972 11,504 15,595 15,589 Total, BA Advances for Future Years (provided in current bill) 1,779 1,778 1,778 1,778 1,778 1,778 Total, BA Advances from Prior Years (for use in current year) 1,782 1,779 1,778 1,778 1,778 1,778 Agency or Selected Program Bureau of International Labor Affairs (non-add)d Emergency Funding (not in above totals or memoranda below) FY2026 Senate Cmte. (S. 2587) FY2026 Enact. Memoranda Source: Amounts in this table for the “FY2024 Enact.” column are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2024 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 118-47) available in the Congressional Record, vol. 170, no. 51, book II, March 22, 2024, pp. H1886-H2070. Amounts in this table for the “FY2025 Est.,” “FY2026 Req.,” and “FY2026 House Cmte.” columns are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the House Appropriations Committee report accompanying H.R. 5304 (H.Rept. 119271). Amounts in this table for the “FY2026 Senate Cmte.” column are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the Senate Appropriations Committee report accompanying S. 2587 (S.Rept. 119-55). Amounts in this table for the “FY2026 Enact.” column are generally drawn from or calculated based on data contained in the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2026 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 119-75 ) available in the Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 15, book II, January 22, 2026, pp. H1590-H1660. Totals (“Total BA in the Bill”) do not include emergency-designated, contingent, or indefinite discretionary appropriations. Notes: BA = Budget Authority. CPF/CDS = Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending. Details may not add to totals due to rounding. Amounts in this table (1) reflect all BA appropriated in the bill, regardless of the year in which funds become available (i.e., totals do not include advances from prior-year appropriations, but do include advances for subsequent years provided in this bill); (2) have generally not been adjusted to reflect scorekeeping; (3) comprise only those funds provided (or requested) for agencies and accounts subject to the jurisdiction of the LHHS subcommittees of the House and Senate appropriations committees; and (4) do not include appropriations that occur outside of appropriations bills. a. Mandatory funding within ETA goes to Federal Unemployment Benefits and Allowances (FUBA) and Advances to the Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF), if any. FUBA funds Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers (TAA). Termination provisions for the TAA program took effect on July 1, 2022. DOL continues to provide some funding for FUBA to provide benefits and services to workers who had been certified as TAA-eligible prior to July 1, 2022. For details, see FY2026 Congressional Budget Justification, Federal Unemployment Benefits and Allowances, p. FUBA-10, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/budget/ 2024/CBJ-2026-V1-06.pdf. b. PBGC funding is provided outside the LHHS appropriations act. Congressional Research Service 29 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations c. d. Mandatory programs in the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs include Special Benefits (comprising the Federal Employees’ Compensation Benefits and the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Benefits), Special Benefits for Disabled Coal Miners, Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (Administrative Expenses), and the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. The funding for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs is included in the Salaries and Expenses total. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) All amounts in this section are based on regular LHHS appropriations only; they do not include funds for HHS agencies provided through other appropriations bills (e.g., funding for the Food and Drug Administration) or outside of the annual appropriations process (e.g., direct appropriations for Medicare or mandatory funds provided by authorizing laws). All amounts in this section are rounded (e.g., to the nearest million), as labeled. The dollar changes and percentage changes discussed in the text are based on unrounded amounts. For consistency with source materials, amounts do not reflect sequestration or re-estimates of mandatory spending programs, where applicable. About HHS HHS is a large federal department composed of multiple agencies working to enhance the health and well-being of Americans. Annual LHHS appropriations laws direct funding to most (but not all) HHS agencies (see text box for HHS agencies supported by the LHHS bill).58 HHS Agencies Funded via the LHHS Appropriations Process Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Institutes of Health (NIH), which houses the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPAH) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Administration for Community Living (ACL) Administration for Strategic Preparedness & Response (ASPR) Office of the Secretary (OS) The LHHS bill directs funding to multiple Public Health Service (PHS) agencies, including the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health59 (ARPA-H), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR). These public health agencies support diverse missions, ranging from the provision of health care services and supports (e.g., HRSA, SAMHSA), to the advancement of health care quality and medical research (e.g., AHRQ, 58 Three HHS public health agencies receive annual funding from appropriations bills other than the LHHS bill: the Food and Drug Administration (funded through the Agriculture appropriations bill), the Indian Health Service (funded through the Interior-Environment appropriations bill), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (funded through the Interior-Environment appropriations bill). In addition, while the National Institutes of Health (NIH) receive the majority of their appropriations from the LHHS bill, one NIH institute (the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) receives appropriations from two bills: LHHS and the Interior-Environment bill. 59 ARPA-H is housed within NIH, but its director reports to the HHS Secretary. As a result, ARPA-H is sometimes treated as its own agency. However, consistent with the source materials used for this report, ARPA-H funding is shown within NIH. Congressional Research Service 30 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations NIH, ARPA-H), to protection and promotion of public health (e.g., CDC) and public health emergency preparedness and response (ASPR). In addition to funding the above PHS agencies, the LHHS bill provides funding for annually appropriated components of the CMS,60 which is the HHS agency responsible for the administration of Medicare, Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and consumer protections and private health insurance provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA; P.L. 111-148, [Text truncated at 120,000 characters. The full text is on the page linked above.] --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/crs%3AR48970. Public record. Not legal advice.