Congress is kicking off the long process of hashing out fiscal 2027 spending bills for EPA, the Interior Department and the Department of Energy — even amid uncertainty about a looming budget request, the ongoing Homeland Security shutdown and a potential war funding package.
The House Appropriations Committee this week will hear from lawmakers during “member day” hearings to being collecting input for the upcoming spending bills. In the Senate, some Appropriations subcommittee staff have begun meeting to discuss funding priorities for the next fiscal year.
But appropriators so far are working with limited information and are not yet ready to kick the process into full gear. The White House’s budget request, which is typically expected in February, may not be finalized and released until next week or even early April, according to senior appropriators.
And the potential for a supplemental funding package totaling hundreds of billions of dollars could change the calculus for appropriators as they look to settle on top-line funding levels and subcommittee allocations.
