The Senate Appropriations Committee marked up two of its FY 26 appropriations bills on Thursday, including its $200 billion Labor-HHS bill, which is $1 billion below FY 25 enacted funding levels (according to FY 25 figures from the Congressional Research Service). Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) noted that with the passage of Labor-HHS bill, eight bipartisan bills have moved through her Committee, comprising 87% of the discretionary budget. The Senate Labor-HHS bill moved through the Appropriations Committee by a vote of 26-3. Please find links to the bill text, Majority summary, Minority summary and Committee Report.

The Senate Committee’s bill allocates $79 billion for the Department of Education (ED), whereas President Trump’s budget proposal had requested $66.7 billion for ED. The Senate bill also keeps the maximum Pell grant award at $7,395, despite the White House budget request to lower it to $5,710.

Vice Chair Patty Murray’s (D-WA) remarks highlighted the bipartisan work done by the Committee on the bill, which rejected many of the proposed cuts by the Administration. She also highlighted how the bill rejects the Administration’s proposed cuts to Pell Grants, and increases NIH by $400 million.

The next step in the appropriations process will occur when the House returns to Washington after Labor Day with a markup of the House Labor-HHS bill in Subcommittee on September 4thand in full Committee on September 9th. It is a near certainty that a Continuing Resolution will be needed to keep the government running after September 30th, though the threat of a government shutdown continues to loom if the Administration and Congressional Democrats cannot agree on the terms of a CR.

Coverage from Inside Higher Ed is here.