With government funding set to expire on September 30th, the appropriations committees in Congress are working to finalize government spending levels for the coming fiscal year. Traditionally a bipartisan process, the negotiations surrounding Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 appropriations have been colored by the Trump administration’s focus on eliminating what it views as government “waste, fraud and abuse.”
This focus on government inefficiencies has led to the creation of the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ and significant staffing and programmatic reductions across the federal government. However, the administration has faced challenges because annual spending for the entire federal government is constitutionally required to be set by the U.S. Congress and is beyond the control of the White House.
In response, the Trump administration has been working closely with its allies on Capitol Hill to enshrine his cost-cutting agenda through the reconciliation process, crafting large rescission proposals, and proposing sweeping reductions to government programs in the 2026 budget he delivered to Congress earlier this year.
These budget-cutting moves have been successful to date, but the reaction by appropriators to President Trump’s proposed cuts to FY26 funding has been mixed, as evidenced by the appropriations legislation coming out of the U.S. House and Senate.
Below is a summary of the status of several funding bills relevant to civil engineering:
House
Commerce, Justice, Science
In the House, the Appropriations Committee released its Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) funding bill on July 14th. Overall, the bill cuts funding for science by 6% compared to FY25, but some agencies are facing greater cutbacks than others. For example, the bill provides $24.8 billion for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), an amount equal to the level of FY25 enacted, while the National Science Foundation (NSF) would receive $7 billion, $2.06 billion (23%) below the FY25 enacted level.
Within the Department of Commerce, the bill would provide $1.28 billion for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is $122.843 million (11%) above the FY25 level. For the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the legislation provides $5.8 billion, $387 million (6%) below the current level. Finally, the bill provides the Economic Development Administration with $324.5 million, $143.5 million (31%) below the FY25 enacted level.
Energy and Water
On Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee marked up its Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies bill, which provides a total funding level of $57.3 billion. That includes $24.1 billion for non-defense programs, $675 million below the enacted level. The bill does support water resources projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) by providing $2.6 billion for USACE’s construction account- an increase of more than $700 million from FY 25, but only provides $5 million for USACE’s WIFIA program, which supports non-federal dam safety projects, $2 million below the enacted level. It also cuts the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity by $55 million and the Grid Deployment Office by $35 million.
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
The House Appropriations Committee also released text for the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. With an overall funding level of $38 billion, it is $2.9 billion lower than the FY 25 enacted level. The bill provides $2.9 billion for wildfire suppression operations and $900 million for the Land & Water Conservation Fund. However, the bill also cuts funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by 23% ($2.1 billion) from the enacted level, including more than $660 million cut from the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs. This week, ASCE joined several organizations in sending a letter to House and Senate Appropriators supporting funding for water infrastructure programs, including the SRF programs, as well as funding to address emerging contaminants, support resilience measures, and provide technical assistance for small communities.
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
On July 17th, the House Appropriations Committee approved its FY 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) spending bill. The committee approved the legislation by 35-28 vote. The legislation provides about $105 billion in total budgetary resources for the Department of Transportation (DOT), which reflects $22.1 billion in discretionary funding and $83.3 billion in obligation limitation for highway and airport trust fund programs. The bill’s discretionary total of $22.1 billion is $3.1 billion below the FY 2025 enacted level and $4.7 billion below the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) request.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would receive a boost under the legislation, with $23.3 billion in total budgetary resources. Approximately $10.4 billion would be directed toward air traffic control operations and efforts to hire 2,500 air traffic controllers. The bill includes $64.4 billion in total budgetary resources for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which is $1.9 billion above the FY 2025 enacted level. Over $63.3 billion would be directed to Highway Trust Fund programs, while $415 million would go toward other infrastructure needs, including Tribal transportation services and truck parking projects.
At $3.1 billion in total budgetary resources, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) would receive slightly more than the FY 2025 enacted level. Of this amount, $2.3 billion would be directed to Amtrak and $538 million would be appropriated to the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program.
Both the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) would receive budgetary resources at lower levels than they did in FY 2025, with $14.9 billion and $828 million, respectively.
The legislation includes $514 million for the Essential Air Service program. It does not provide additional appropriations for the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) program or the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program (now known as Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development), both of which received advanced appropriations from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
The bill transfers funding from the IIJA to other purposes, including $1 billion from the FHWA’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program that would be redirected to FAA facilities and equipment.
During the markup, committee members approved an amendment from Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) that would prohibit federal funds from going toward New York City’s congestion pricing program or similar efforts under FHWA’s Value Pricing Pilot Program.
Senate
On July 17th, the Senate Committee on Appropriations approved its FY 2026 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act by a vote of 19-10. If signed into law, the measure would provide $79.7 billion in discretionary funding to support law enforcement, scientific research, and other initiatives.
Despite being controlled by members of President Trump’s party, the spending levels approved by Senate appropriators are a clear departure from the proposals suggested in the president’s budget.
While President Trump called for Congress to cut the budget for NIST by 30 percent in FY 2026, the CJS bill would provide $1.6 billion for NIST to help maintain U.S. leadership in fields such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
Similarly, under the Senate’s proposed bill, NOAA would receive $6.1 billion, and experience only $40 million reduction from its top-line FY25 funding levels. This reduction is considerably less than the 27 percent cut, roughly $1.7 billion, proposed by the Trump administration. Included within the overall funding number are $1.6 billion for NOAA’s Procurement, Acquisition and Construction account and $4.5 billion for its Operations, Research, and Facilities account, which would provide full operational funding for the National Weather Service in the coming Fiscal year.
The committee also approved $24.9 billion for NASA and $9 billion for the NSF. These agencies faced funding cuts of 24 percent and 56 percent, respectively, under the president’s budget proposal. Senate appropriators rejected this suggestion and opted to maintain steady funding levels in the coming fiscal year, in order to preserve U.S. leadership in scientific research and innovation.
ASCE’s government relations team will continue to monitor the latest developments on Fiscal Year 2026 funding as they develop.