Billions in federal spending allocated across Commerce, Justice, and Interior agencies for 2026.

What it does

This is a consolidated appropriations bill for fiscal year 2026 that allocates federal funding across three major divisions: Commerce, Justice, and Science agencies; Energy and Water Development agencies; and Interior and Environment agencies. The bill distributes billions of dollars to departments including Commerce, Justice, NOAA, the Patent and Trademark Office, the FBI, and environmental agencies, with specific line-item allocations for programs ranging from trade promotion to fisheries management to patent processing.

Why we flagged it

This is a routine omnibus appropriations bill allocating Treasury funds to three major agency divisions for fiscal year 2026 operations, capital projects, and congressionally directed spending. It is a standard annual appropriations vehicle, not a policy bill.

What the text implies

• Congressionally directed spending (community project funding) is embedded in agency budgets under NIST, NOAA, and other divisions, allowing individual members to direct funds to specific projects in their districts without separate legislative justification.
• The bill grants broad transfer authority to agency heads (e.g., Attorney General, Secretary of Commerce) to move funds between accounts subject to reprogramming procedures, concentrating discretionary power in executive hands.
• Patent and Trademark Office is funded entirely from fee collections with zero general-fund appropriation, making USPTO self-financing and insulating it from annual congressional budget review.
• Fisheries programs receive funding from multiple sources (direct appropriations, transfers from prior-year balances, fee collections), obscuring total resource allocation and making oversight difficult.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill funds essential federal services (law enforcement, weather forecasting, environmental protection, patent processing) that benefit the public, but the text provided is truncated mid-document, preventing full assessment of all provisions, riders, and directed spending. The visible portions show routine appropriations with some congressionally directed spending (community project funding) embedded in agency budgets, which may represent both legitimate public investment and narrow district

Who stands to gain

• Federal agencies (Commerce, Justice, Interior, EPA, Energy, Corps of Engineers)
• Contractors and vendors providing services to federal agencies
• State and local governments receiving grants for fisheries, coastal zone management, and economic de
• Nonprofit organizations receiving grants for cooperative agreements with NOAA and other agencies

Named in the bill

Department of Commerce, Department of Justice, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Attorneys, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Interior, Department of Energy, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Executive Office for Immigration Review — and 1 more

Where it stands

• Jan 6, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jan 6, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Budget and House Committee on Appropriations · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to…”
• Jan 8, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 397 - 28 (Roll no. 7). (text: CR H151-199)”
• Jan 15, 2026 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 82 - 15. Record Vote Number: 11”
• Jan 22, 2026 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
• Jan 23, 2026 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-74”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

90 lobbying clients named this bill on 102 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $33,648,269 in lobbying spend. A filing names 8 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 99% of bills with at least one filing.

Tom Cole, the sponsor, reported $1,675,258 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $19,000 of that came from 5 PACs tied to these lobbying clients.

• Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America — $7,360,000 on 1 filing
• Pacific Gas and Electric Company — $3,530,000 on 1 filing
• Altria Client Services LLC — $3,200,000 on 1 filing
• Duke Energy Corporation — $2,280,000 on 1 filing
• Entergy Services LLC — $1,320,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 24, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.