Congressional appropriators will have to negotiate bipartisan funding levels for the Department of Energy, the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies using House and Senate spending bills that lack Democratic support.
The Senate Appropriations Committee last week released its fiscal 2026 Energy-Water bill, unveiling legislation written by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), the chair of that subcommittee, without the final approval of Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the panel’s ranking member.
The partisan proposal — which would bolster water infrastructure projects and fossil energy while slashing funding for renewables — came after a weekslong impasse over the overall top line and more than two months after House Republicans passed their own version of the Energy-Water bill along party lines.
It is one of the only Senate appropriations bills this cycle that would reduce spending relative to current levels and one of the only fiscal 2026 Senate bills released without Democratic sign-off.
