Mark Alford funding claim is misleading and self serving
Mark Alford is claiming credit for nearly $23 million in district funding. The process is real, but the “I secured it” story is inflated.https://thedemocracyadvocate.com/2026/02/mark-alford-funding-claim/
HR 7148 funding bill is a short-term fix with real consequences
The HR 7148 funding bill keeps most of the government funded through Sept. 30, 2026, but it only extends DHS funding through Feb. 13, 2026.https://thedemocracyadvocate.com/2026/02/hr-7148-funding-bill-short-term/
Funding rescissions, re-staffing initiatives and other major takeaways from the final FY26 funding package
A government shutdown at the end of January is looking unlikely, even as Congress has just more than…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #2026budget #appropriations #CBP #dhs #federalbudget #hiring #ICE #irs #rescission #shutdown #spendingbills #Trump #UnitedStates #Us #USA
https://www.newsbeep.com/368534/
US lawmakers release $839B compromise defense spending bill
The House and Senate’s conferenced version of a fiscal 2026 defense budget would restore fu…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #AirForce #appropriations #circulated-air-force-times #circulated-army-times #circulated-defense-news #circulated-marine-corps-times #circulated-military-times #circulated-navy-times #Congress #defense-news #dn-dnr #e-7-wedgetail #F-35 #F-47 #f/a-xx #spendingbill #UnitedStates #Us #USA
https://www.newsbeep.com/366938/
"The proposed #Appropriations bill🚨for the #DHS released today puts No MEANINGFUL CONSTRAINTS ON THE GROWING #LAWLESSNESS OF #ICE, & increases funding for #detention over the last Approps bill passed in 2024. I understand Dems in these negotiations had a hard job -no new budget for DHS is going to cure all the rampant illegality happening within the dept.
But this bill doesn’t🚨put CBP agents back at the border where they belong & doesn’t put checks on ICE’s out of control..."
-Sen Murphy
#USPol
“These are bills that reject the devastating #cuts #Trump demanded in his deeply unserious #budget he sent to #Congress about a year ago,” said Sen #PattyMurray of Washington, the top #Democrat on the #Appropriations Cmte. “When just about every secretary came before our Appropriations Committee to advocate for those Trump #funding cuts, I made clear to them I planned to rip up his budget & write a new one — & that is exactly what we are doing.”
A federal workforce census, targeted cuts and more key takeaways from the latest FY26 spending package
Congress has unveiled yet another package of bills to fund some agencies through fiscal 2026, marking a third…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #2026budget #appropriations #fundingbill #irs #minibus #spendingbills #statedepartment #treasurydepartment #UnitedStates #Us #USA
https://www.newsbeep.com/359038/
GAO, Library of Congress avoid cuts in Legislative Branch bill – Roll Call
An Architect of the Capitol worker picks up trash on the Capitol steps on May 22. (Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call)GAO, Library of Congress avoid cuts in Legislative Branch bill
Both agencies faced steep cuts in an earlier House version
By Justin Papp, Posted November 10, 2025 at 6:11am
Senate appropriators Sunday unveiled a roughly $7.3 billion draft fiscal 2026 Legislative Branch appropriations bill, part of a three-bill package that could be paired with a stopgap spending measure in a bid to reopen the government.
The bill would maintain funding for both the Government Accountability Office and the Library of Congress, two legislative branch agencies that faced steep cuts in an earlier House version of the proposal.
It would also boost Capitol Police funding to $852.4 million for fiscal 2026, an increase of roughly $46 million over the current fiscal year, as concerns over member security remain elevated. The proposal would be a more than 7 percent increase in total legislative branch funding over the current fiscal year
Not included is language barring the GAO from suing for the release of “impounded” funds without congressional approval, a sticking point in negotiations to advance the package of bills that includes the Military Construction-VA and Agriculture spending proposals.
The language restricting GAO’s authorities appeared in the version that advanced out of the House Appropriations Committee in June, as Republicans were ramping up attacks against the nonpartisan watchdog, which had found that the Trump White House illegally barred the release of appropriated funds.
The proposed restriction on the GAO language was paired with a nearly 50 percent proposed cut to the GAO’s budget that Democrats viewed as an attack on the legislative branch agency.
“It is astonishing that for all the talk about finding and rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, that House Republicans would defund the watchdog that is tasked with precisely that role,” said House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., at the time.
A Senate version of the bill that advanced out of committee in July and passed on the floor in August would reinstate the GAO’s funding, keeping it flat at $811.9 million for fiscal 2026. But the language over the GAO’s ability to sue the executive branch over “impoundment” — the withholding of appropriated funds from being obligated for purposes intended by Congress — continued to be debated late into this week.
Presidents can cancel funds with congressional approval, as the Trump administration did earlier this year with a $9 billion package to rescind funds for foreign aid and public broadcasting, but the 1974 Congressional Budget Act prohibits the executive branch from doing so unilaterally.
But the Trump administration has also found ways to circumvent the rules in other instances, including with temporary “holds” on targeted accounts. Democrats and some GOP appropriators have pushed back on such maneuvers, arguing it undermines Congress’ “power of the purse” as laid out in the Constitution.
The comptroller general, who leads the GAO, can sue in federal court under the 1974 law for the release of appropriations that have been illegally impounded.
Security boost, Library of Congress remains flat
In addition to the overall increase to the Capitol Police budget, Republican and Democratic appropriators touted $203.5 million in funding dedicated to enhancing security.
Threats against members and staff have been elevated since the first Trump administration, according to Capitol Police figures. But the assassination of Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman in June and of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk in September have raised concerns across Capitol Hill.
Continue/Read Original Article Here: GAO, Library of Congress avoid cuts in Legislative Branch bill – Roll Call
#Appropriations #CapitolPoliceBudget #EnhancingSecurity #FederalGovernmentShutdown #GAO #GovernmentAccountingOffice #LegislativeBranch #LibraryOfCongress #ReopenGovernment #RollCall #ThreeBillPackage
Patrick G. Eddington
The Democracy Advocate
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