Congress hides $100B+ spending in external document, not the law itself
H.R. 6938 — Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026 · Filed by Tom Cole (R-OK) · Introduced Jan 6, 2026 · Signed
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What it does
This is a massive omnibus appropriations bill funding three federal departments for fiscal year 2026: Commerce (including trade, patents, weather, fisheries), Justice (courts, FBI, prosecutors, immigration), and Interior/Environment (EPA, national parks, water projects). It distributes roughly $100+ billion across thousands of programs, agencies, and congressionally directed spending projects, with detailed line-item allocations specified in an accompanying explanatory statement.
Why we flagged it
This is a routine but massive annual appropriations bill funding three cabinet departments. Its primary function is to allocate federal funds; the secondary but significant function is to distribute congressionally directed spending (earmarks) to specific projects, many identified only by reference to an external explanatory statement rather than in the bill text itself.
What the text implies
- The bill delegates actual allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars to an 'explanatory statement' printed in the Congressional Record, which is not part of the bill text itself and is not subject to the same legislative process. This shifts transparency and accountability from the statutory text to a document that citizens cannot easily access or challenge.
- Congressionally directed spending (earmarks) are specified only by reference to tables in the explanatory statement ('Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending'). The bill text does not name the projects, amounts, or recipients—only that they exist and are 'specified in the table.' This obscures the actual beneficiaries from the public record.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
Federal agencies (Commerce, Justice, Interior, EPA); State and local governments (grants, cooperative agreements); Tribal governments (fisheries, conservation grants)