Status of FY2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations: In Brief

Status of FY2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations: In Brief

Status of FY2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations: In Brief

Updated December 30, 2025 (R48616)
Jump to Main Text of Report

Contents

Scope of the LHHS Bill

Context for FY2026

Enactment of FY2025 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations

President's Budget Submission for FY2026

Impoundment Control Act Rescissions

FY2026 Discretionary Spending Levels and Appropriations Committee Allocations

FY2026 LHHS Legislative Action

FY2026 Continuing Appropriations

Congressional Action on Full-Year FY2026 Appropriations

LHHS Funding Levels

Tables

Table 1. LHHS Discretionary Appropriations: Comparison of FY2024 Enacted, FY2025 Enacted, the FY2026 House Appropriations Committee bill, and the FY2026 Senate Committee Bill

Summary

This report provides an overview of FY2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations, including relevant congressional actions and a top-line comparison of discretionary funding enacted in FY2024 and FY2025 versus relevant FY2026 congressional proposals, as of the cover date of this report. It also provides background on the scope of the bill and context for congressional budgetary decisionmaking.

Congress and the President have not reached agreement on full-year regular FY2026 appropriations for LHHS. 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 funds LHHS programs and activities through January 30, 2026. Discretionary programs generally are funded at the same rate, and under the same conditions, as in FY2025, whereas appropriated entitlements are funded at their current law levels. The CR also includes one provision that is specific to LHHS accounts or related activities (§155).

With regard to action on full-year regular LHHS appropriations, 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). On July 31, 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). No further action on either the House or Senate committee proposals has occurred as of the cover date of this report.

This report provides a brief summary of the status of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) appropriations during the FY2026 appropriations cycle. It includes relevant congressional actions and a top-line comparison of discretionary funding enacted in FY2024 and FY2025 versus relevant FY2026 congressional proposals. It also provides background on the scope of the bill and context for congressional budgetary decisionmaking.

Congress and the President have not reached agreement on full-year regular FY2026 appropriations for LHHS. 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 funds LHHS programs and activities through January 30, 2026. Discretionary programs generally are funded at the same rate, and under the same conditions, as in FY2025, whereas appropriated entitlements are funded at their current law levels. The CR also includes one provision that is specific to LHHS accounts or related activities (§155).

With regard to action on full-year regular LHHS appropriations, 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). On July 31, 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). No further action on either the House or Senate committee proposals has occurred as of the cover date of this report.

Congressional clients may consult the LHHS experts list in CRS Report R42638, Appropriations: CRS Experts, for information on which experts to contact at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) with questions on specific agencies and programs funded in the LHHS bill.

Scope of the LHHS Bill

The LHHS bill is the largest of the 12 annual appropriations bills, in terms of appropriated funds, when accounting for both mandatory and discretionary funding ($1.4 trillion in FY2024).¹ It provides annually appropriated budget authority for the following federal departments and agencies:

the Department of Labor (DOL);

most agencies at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), except for the Food and Drug Administration (funded through the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropriations bill), the Indian Health Service (funded through the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (funded through the Interior-Environment appropriations bill);

the Department of Education (ED); and

more than a dozen related agencies (RA), including the Social Security Administration (SSA), Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Labor Relations Board, and Railroad Retirement Board.

In general, mandatory funding represents more than 80% of the total LHHS bill, supporting annually appropriated entitlements such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Discretionary funds, which account for less than 20% of total funds in the bill, tend to be the focus of congressional debate during the appropriations process.² This is because the appropriations process generally has little control over the amount of mandatory funding provided for appropriated entitlements; rather, the authorizing statute controls the program parameters (e.g., eligibility rules, benefit levels) that entitle certain recipients to payments. Consequently, the focus of this report generally is on the discretionary spending for LHHS programs and activities under various laws and proposals.

Even though discretionary appropriations represent a relatively small share of the entire LHHS bill, the bill is typically the largest single source of nondefense, discretionary funding for the federal government. (The Department of Defense bill is the largest single source of discretionary funding overall.)

Calculating Total LHHS Budget Authority

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 (e.g., the FY2024 LHHS appropriations act generally contains advance appropriations that become available in FY2025 and FY2026 for certain programs and activities). In addition, while new budget authority is generally subject to a variety of statutory and congressional rules that are intended to control the budget (i.e., budget controls), some budget authority may be effectively exempted from those controls, including budget authority for emergency requirements, health care fraud and abuse control, and continuing disability reviews and redeterminations.

The amount of LHHS budget authority can be tabulated in various ways. The total amount of budget authority provided in an appropriations bill (i.e., total in the bill) is calculated regardless of the year in which the funding becomes available.³ In some cases, such as the 302(b) suballocations (discussed later), the total is based on current-year appropriations (i.e., the amount of budget authority available for obligation in a given fiscal year), which is calculated regardless of the year in which it was first appropriated.⁴ Additionally, budgetary totals may or may not include Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scorekeeping and other adjustments to reflect budget enforcement conventions and special instructions of Congress.⁵ Finally, calculations of LHHS budget authority might include or exclude budget authority that is exempted from budget controls.

Context for FY2026

Under the congressional budget process, consideration of annual appropriations traditionally is preceded by the submission of the President's budget request and the adoption of the congressional budget resolution. However, the FY2026 cycle has been affected by a number of timing and budgetary issues related to the enactment of FY2025 LHHS appropriations in the form of a full-year continuing resolution (CR), the timing and form of the FY2026 President's budget submission, the consideration of a rescissions bill, and a lack of agreed upon top-line spending levels for FY2026 (either in the form of statutory discretionary spending limits or via a budget resolution). Background related to these issues is provided below.

Enactment of FY2025 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations

Full-year FY2025 appropriations for LHHS were enacted on March 15, 2025, when the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (hereinafter, "FY2025 full-year CR"; H.R. 1968; P.L. 119-4) 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).

In general, the FY2025 full-year CR funds LHHS discretionary programs at the same level and under the same conditions as in FY2024, and funds annually appropriated entitlements at their current-law levels. This approach differs from how regular annual appropriations acts specify funding, and presents challenges in determining FY2025 LHHS funding levels. Although statutory FY2025 LHHS funding levels generally match the comparable funding provided in the FY2024 LHHS appropriations act, there are several exceptions (e.g., "anomalies"⁶ in the FY2025 full-year CR, accounts with appropriations in indefinite amounts, offsets such as fees and rescissions).

In addition, the FY2025 full-year CR is not accompanied by an Explanatory Statement, which would have provided further detail on recommended funding levels for programs, projects, and activities that are not statutorily specified. As of the cover date of this report, the post-enactment allocations for those programs, projects, and activities that have been made by LHHS agencies, which are typically included in agency operating plans, are not consistently available publicly through executive branch sources.⁷

Lack of comprehensive information on FY2025 funding levels may complicate congressional efforts to determine whether funding should be increased or decreased for FY2026 relative to FY2025. For a more detailed discussion of how the FY2025 full-year CR differs from regular annual appropriations, and related issues, see the report 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.

President's Budget Submission for FY2026

The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 (P.L. 67-13), as amended, requires the President to submit an annual consolidated federal budget to Congress at the beginning of each regular congressional session, not later than the first Monday in February. 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. Discretionary spending, however, which is roughly one-third of the federal budget,⁸ 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, the submission of the President's budget typically initiates the congressional budget process and informs Congress of the President's recommended spending levels for agencies and programs.⁹

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. 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.¹⁰ This delay allows time to prepare a proposal that reflects the priorities of the new administration.

On May 2, President Trump submitted to Congress an outline of his discretionary funding priorities for FY2026.¹¹ This preliminary document provides 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 submission) and congressional justifications for individual departments and agencies.¹²

Much of the information that would typically be submitted with a President's budget was not included in these documents (e.g., mandatory spending budget proposals). In addition, the FY2025 column in the LHHS agency 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; moreover, in some cases, these congressional justifications aligned their account structure with administration proposals to reorganize those departments, and not with the account structure used when FY2025 funding was enacted.¹³

Impoundment Control Act Rescissions

Once funding has been enacted, it can subsequently be cancelled by a provision of law that is commonly referred to as a rescission. As mentioned above, rescissions of previously enacted funds are routinely considered and enacted in regular annual appropriations acts, and may offset the cost of new funding. In addition, the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA; P.L. 93-344) provides a mechanism 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.¹⁴

A rescission bill was enacted into law on July 24, 2025 (P.L. 119-28). This bill originated as an ICA presidential proposal to rescind $9.4 billion in previously enacted funds, including $1.1 billion in FY2026 and FY2027 LHHS advance appropriations for the CPB.¹⁵ (As advance appropriations for CPB are enacted two years in advance, these had been enacted in the FY2024 LHHS omnibus [P.L. 118-47] and the FY2025 full-year CR. The bill did not propose that any CBP funds available for FY2025 be rescinded.) 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 18.¹⁶

Rescissions that are enacted in standalone laws prior to the consideration of annual appropriations acts generally would no longer be available to offset the cost of the new funding in those appropriations acts. It is unclear the extent to which Congress might continue to enact rescissions in this manner, including for LHHS accounts and programs, or opt instead to consider those rescissions as part of the annual appropriations process.

FY2026 Discretionary Spending Levels and Appropriations Committee Allocations

Congress has historically used various methods to come to an agreement on total discretionary funding levels for a fiscal year, as well as the discretionary funding that will be allocated for LHHS. These methods have included statutory limits on the applicable spending, procedural limits on such spending, and more informal agreements between the House and Senate.

Prior to FY2026, statutory limits on defense and nondefense discretionary spending were in effect through FY2025 under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (BBEDCA; P.L. 99-177, as amended).¹⁷ LHHS appropriations are classified as nondefense spending, and the bill has the largest share of such spending compared to the other annual appropriations bills. The statutory spending limits were enforceable through sequestration: largely across-the-board reductions made to the category of spending in excess of the limit (defense or nondefense), to eliminate that excess spending.¹⁸

The procedural elements of budget enforcement are primarily associated with the budget resolution and are enforced through points of order rather than sequestration. The budget resolution process dates back to the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Budget resolutions are to be used each year to impose a limit on total discretionary spending available to the appropriations committees (commonly referred to as a 302(a) allocation). Subsequently, this amount is divided among each appropriations subcommittee (referred to as 302(b) suballocations).¹⁹

Certain spending may be effectively exempt from these limits (commonly referred to as adjustments to those limits). In recent years, adjustments that have been applied to LHHS appropriations are for (1) emergency requirements and (2) to accommodate new budget authority for specified program integrity initiatives at HHS (health care fraud and abuse control), SSA (continuing disability reviews and redeterminations), and DOL (reemployment services and eligibility assessments conducted by the states related to unemployment compensation).²⁰ The maximum amount of funding allowed for the program integrity LHHS adjustments was $2.531 billion in FY2025.

Under current law, the statutory limits on discretionary spending expired at the end of FY2025. As the FY2026 appropriations cycle progresses, Congress may consider whether to re-impose statutory caps, and if so, at what levels and for how long. In addition, as of the cover date of this report there has been no House or Senate action on a FY2026 budget resolution, nor has either chamber taken steps to provide alternative means of budget enforcement for appropriations, such as through a so-called deeming resolution or by unanimous consent.²¹ As a result of this combination of circumstances, it is unclear how budget enforcement might occur for FY2026. It is also unclear whether adjustments to potential spending limits will continue to be available for the same or similar purposes as in the past.

Generally, the next step in the appropriations process is for each of the appropriations committees to adopt suballocations from the total amount allocated to them. These 302(b) suballocations provide a limit on current-year (i.e., FY2026) appropriations within each subcommittee's jurisdiction and incorporate any applicable scorekeeping adjustments made by CBO. In the absence of a budget resolution, the House or Senate Appropriations Committees may operate under informal suballocations to guide the consideration of appropriations until there is broader agreement on funding levels. The House Appropriations Committee voted to report its draft interim suballocations for all 12 subcommittees, including LHHS (35-26), on July 17, 2025 (see Table 1). (These draft suballocations have not yet been reported to the House.) The Senate Appropriations Committee has not voted on suballocations.

FY2026 LHHS Legislative Action

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.²²

The funding lapse concluded with the enactment of an FY2026 CR, which was signed into law on November 12, 2025 (Division A of H.R. 5371; P.L. 119-37). The CR provides continuing appropriations for LHHS through January 30, 2026. H.R. 5371 was introduced by Representative Cole, the House Appropriations Committee Chair, on September 16, 2025. It initially passed the House on September 19, 2025 (217-212). The Senate voted not to invoke cloture on various motions related to proceeding to the measure on several occasions over the next several weeks,²³ 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 funds discretionary programs at the same rate, and under the same conditions, as in FY2025. Appropriated entitlements are funded at their current law levels.²⁴ The CR also includes one provision that is specific to LHHS accounts or related activities (§155 on the Head Start program).²⁵

Congressional Action on Full-Year FY2026 Appropriations

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).

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).

No further action on either the House or Senate committee proposals has occurred as of the cover date of this report.

LHHS Funding Levels

Table 1 displays the CBO estimate of enacted LHHS discretionary appropriations for FY2024 and FY2025, alongside the FY2026 House and Senate committee bills. The amounts shown for "regular discretionary appropriations" represent current-year budget authority subject to the spending limits. (They do not include any funding that is subject to program integrity adjustments or emergency designations.) These amounts also incorporate the budgetary effects of any applicable CBO scorekeeping adjustments that offset the cost of the funding in the bill (e.g., rescissions of previously enacted funding, changes to mandatory program spending included in the bill). The FY2026 House committee bill would provide $184.5 billion in funding, which is $13.7 billion (-7%) less than FY2025 enacted, and $9.9 billion (-5%) less than FY2024 enacted.²⁶ The Senate committee bill would provide $196.974 billion, which is $1.200 billion (-0.6%) less than FY2025 enacted, and $2.500 billion (+1.3%) more than FY2024 enacted.

As mentioned previously, certain LHHS appropriations, such as those allowed for program integrity funding or designated for emergency requirements, may be effectively exempt from the discretionary spending limits (see discussion in the "Impoundment Control Act Rescissions" section). The "adjusted appropriations" total in the table includes funding that is assumed to be under these adjustments (if they are subsequently provided for), plus "regular discretionary appropriations." The FY2026 House committee bill would provide a total of $2.8 billion in funding subject to the program integrity adjustments, which is $223 million (+9%) more than the total amount allowed for those adjustments in FY2025 ($2.5 billion), and $307 million (+12.5%) more than FY2024. The Senate committee bill would provide $3.1 billion in program integrity adjustments, which is $573 million (+22.6%) more than FY2025, and $657 million (+26.9%) more than FY2024. Neither the FY2026 House committee bill nor the FY2026 Senate committee bill includes FY2026 funding for emergency requirements adjustments.

Table 1. LHHS Discretionary Appropriations: Comparison of FY2024 Enacted, FY2025 Enacted, the FY2026 House Appropriations Committee bill, and the FY2026 Senate Committee Bill

(budget authority in billions of dollars)

FY2024 Enacted

FY2025 Enacted

FY2026 House Committee (H.R. 5304)

FY2026 Senate Committee
(S. 2587)

Regular discretionary appropriations

194.434

198.150

184.491

196.974

Adjustments:

Program Integrity

2.447

2.531

2.754

3.104

Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control (non-add)

0.604

0.630

0.630

0.630

Continuing Disability Reviews and Redeterminations (non-add)

1.578

1.630

2.124

2.124

Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (non-add)

0.265

0.271

—

0.350

Emergency requirementsa

0.531

0.500

—

—

Adjusted appropriations

197.412

201.181

187.245

200.078

Sources: FY2024 Enacted amounts are from CBO, Report on the Status of Discretionary Appropriations, Fiscal Year 2024, U.S. Senate (as of April 23, 2024), https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2024-05/FY2024-Senate-2024-04-23.pdf (except that, for consistency with later years, this table excludes certain prior-year emergency-designated funds pursuant to Section 103 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 [P.L. 118-5]). FY2025 Enacted amounts are from CBO, Report on the Status of Discretionary Appropriations, Fiscal Year 2025, U.S. Senate (as of March 14, 2025), https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-04/FY2025-Senate-2025-03-14.pdf. The FY2026 House Committee amounts are from H.Rept. 119-271. The FY2026 Senate Committee amounts are from S.Rept. 119-55. The distribution of the amounts for program integrity adjustments are from CRS analysis of the FY2024 omnibus, FY2025 full-year CR, H.R. 5304, and S. 2587.

Notes: Amounts reflect current-year discretionary budget authority subject to spending limits. "Regular discretionary appropriations" totals exclude funds for which special rules apply under the spending limits (e.g., funds for certain program integrity activities and emergency requirements); those funds are included under the "Adjustments" table heading. The table excludes funds that are exempted from the spending limits (i.e., those provided under authorities in the 21st Century Cures Act [P.L. 114-255], and the prior-year emergency-designated advance appropriations in Division J of P.L. 117-58 and Division B of P.L. 117-159, pursuant to Section 103 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 [P.L. 118-5]). The FY2026 House committee amounts do not appear to include the previously enacted FY2026 advance appropriation of $535 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which was rescinded by the Rescissions Act of 2025 (P.L. 119-28). The detail table in the FY2026 Senate committee report does not list any enumerated budget authority for the CPB for either FY2026 or future fiscal years.

a. Section 301, Division B of P.L. 118-50, related to eligibility for certain benefits, does not have a definite dollar amount for those benefits specified. (See CBO, "CBO Estimate for H.R. 8035, Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024, As Posted on the website of the House Committee on Rules on April 17, 2024," April 19, 2024, https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2024-04/hr8035_Ukraine_Security_Supplemental_Appropriations_Act_2024.pdf). For this funding, CRS relies on the CBO estimates in the Status of Discretionary Appropriations report series, which may be subject to change depending on various programmatic and economic factors.

Footnotes

1.

This is calculated based on the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2024 omnibus (P.L. 118-47) available in the Congressional Record, vol. 170, no. 51, book II, March 22, 2024, pp. H1886-H2070. The discretionary funding provided in the LHHS appropriations act is both provided in and controlled by that act. The mandatory funding provided in the LHHS act is controlled by provisions in authorizing law. 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, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-734SP. (Terms of interest may include "budget authority," "appropriated entitlement," "direct spending," "discretionary," "entitlement authority," and "mandatory.")

2.

For an illustrative discussion of the distribution of funds among the different titles of the bill, and between discretionary and mandatory spending, see the summary of FY2024 enacted appropriations on pages 8-12 of CRS Report R47936, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2024 Appropriations.

3.

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.

4.

Such figures typically exclude advance appropriations for future years, but include advance appropriations from prior years that become available in the given fiscal year.

5.

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).

6.

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.

7.

Full-year CRs also routinely require that agencies submit operating plans, and this was the case for the FY2025 full-year CR in Section 1113. For the purposes of LHHS, this requirement applied to ED, HHS, DOL, SSA, CNCS, and CPB, and the operating plans were due to the House and the Senate Appropriations Committees on May 15, 2025. Those for DOL and SSA have been released publicly, but those for HHS, ED, CNCS, and CPB have not been posted on agency websites. (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 on July 22, 2025]).

8.

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.

9.

For more information, see CRS Report R47019, The Executive Budget Process: An Overview.

10.

For more information, see CRS Insight IN11655, Budget Submission After a Presidential Transition: Contextualizing the Biden Administration's FY2022 Request.

11.

Office of Management and Budget (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.

12.

See additional materials at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-resources/budget/. Congressional budget justifications generally are posted on individual agency websites.

13.

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-2026-budget-summary-110043.pdf (accessed July 2, 2025).

14.

For further information, see CRS Report R48432, The Impoundment Control Act of 1974: Background and Congressional Consideration of Rescissions.

15.

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).

16.

House approval of the amendment occurred pursuant to H.Res. 590, which was adopted by the House (216-213) on July 18, 2025.

17.

Most recently, FY2024 and FY2025 limits were enacted as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA; P.L. 118-5).

18.

For more information, see CRS Insight IN12168, Discretionary Spending Caps in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA; P.L. 118-5) also contains procedures by which these limits might be temporarily or permanently adjusted in the case of a CR. For a summary of these adjustments, see CRS Insight IN12183, The FRA's Discretionary Spending Caps Under a CR: FAQs.

19.

For further information, see CRS Report R47388, Enforceable Spending Allocations in the Congressional Budget Process: 302(a) Allocations and 302(b) Suballocations.

20.

For further information, see CRS Report R45778, Exceptions to the Budget Control Act's Discretionary Spending Limits.

21.

For further information, see CRS Report R44296, Deeming Resolutions: Budget Enforcement in the Absence of a Budget Resolution.

22.

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-508-112431.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).

23.

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; November 4.

24.

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.

25.

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).

26.

Although the FY2025 full-year CR generally provided funds at the same levels, subject to the same conditions, and for the same period of availability as the FY2024 acts, there were several exceptions to that general rule (e.g., anomalies, rescissions and other offsets). The net effect of these exceptions resulted in differing LHHS funding levels for FY2024 and FY2025.