Bill gives billions to government groups for 2026.
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
Your members of Congress
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What it does
This bill sets how much money government groups get in 2026. Money goes to three areas: Commerce, Justice, and Science; Energy and Water; and Interior and Environment. The FBI, weather forecasting, patent work, and nature protection get money. Congress members can direct some money to projects in their districts.
Who it affects
The bill funds work that affects many people: law enforcement, weather forecasts, patent work, and nature protection. State and local governments and nonprofit groups that work with these agencies also get money.
One thing to notice
The Patent and Trademark Office gets all its money from fees, not from general government funds. It does not need yearly sign-off from Congress.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
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 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 102 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.
Those reports show $33,648,269 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 8 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 99% of bills with any report.
Tom Cole, who sponsored the bill, received $1,644,758 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America — $7,360,000 in 1 report
- Pacific Gas and Electric Company — $3,530,000 in 1 report
- Altria Client Services LLC — $3,200,000 in 1 report
- Duke Energy Corporation — $2,280,000 in 1 report
- Entergy Services LLC — $1,320,000 in 2 reports
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- Patent and Trademark Office — The government group that reviews and approves patents and trademarks.
- districts — Areas that Congress members represent.
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
- sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (50,094 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,206 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 24, 2026 · page rendered 2026-09-17.
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