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APPROPRIATIONS
Congress has less than 30 days before the next government funding deadline on January 30. You’ll remember that funding the government in full requires twelve bills. Back in November, we passed three of them, ending the longest shutdown in American history and fully funding the Departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026.
The rest of the government is currently funded through a continuing resolution (CR), which simply extends outdated funding levels. CRs have long been a crutch for Congress when we can’t get our work done on time—which unfortunately is quite often. While passing CRs can prevent shutdowns in the short term, they are no substitute for full-year appropriations.
Take the bill I am responsible for as chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD), and Related Agencies Subcommittee. The bill provides funding for the Department of Transportation, as well as the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
If the Department of Transportation were funded by a continuing resolution for another year, it would not receive the boost in resources my FY26 bill provides for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). My FY26 bill also includes $200 million to address our nation’s shortage of truck parking—an issue not addressed by the current CR.
Even more important to the Third District are the community projects funded by the remaining appropriations bills.
The package that reopened the government included funding for two projects in the Third District. It provided $2.75 million for the city of Pea Ridge to build a new fire station and $1.37 million to establish a new MRI unit at Mercy Hospital Berryville—the first MRI unit in Carroll County.
But there are still thirteen additional Third District projects included in my THUD bill and the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. You can read the full list of community projects in last week’s newsletter HERE.
Codifying these funds is my top priority heading into January.
But like most things in this Congress, it won’t be easy. We are up against the clock and working with a slim majority in the House. In the Senate, appropriations bills require a 60-vote threshold. As we saw during the shutdown, bipartisan support will be necessary.
THE REST OF THE TO DO LIST
Every two years, Congress is tasked with passing the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which authorizes U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works projects to improve our nation’s water infrastructure. For example, the 2024 WRDA authorized a study on the reallocation of the Beaver Lake water supply to ensure that the Beaver Water District has adequate storage rights to meet the future water demand of its customers.
By the end of the fiscal year, Congress will also need to reauthorize our nation’s surface transportation programs, including the Highway Trust Fund (HTF).
And like every year, Congress will need to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorizes programs and resources for the Department of Defense (DOD), nuclear weapons programs under the Department of Energy (DOE), and other programs related to our national security.
But before we vote on any of the above bills, the House will consider a clean extension of the Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies, which expired at the end of the year. Before we left Washington for the Christmas holiday, several Republicans signed a discharge petition led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, giving it enough signatures to trigger a vote on preserving the enhanced subsidies. |