Senate Passes Bipartisan Bills to Fund VA, Military Construction, Agriculture, FDA, and More
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies funding bill — BILL SUMMARY HERE
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies funding bill — BILL SUMMARY HERE
Legislative Branch funding bill —BILL SUMMARY HERE
Washington, D.C. — Today, in a 87-9 vote, the U.S. Senate passed the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies funding bill and the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies funding bill in bipartisan package. The Legislative branch funding bill was passed separately by a vote of 81-15.
The Senate considered a total of 9 amendments to the MilCon-VA and Ag-FDA package, adopting 2 of those amendments by voice.
Upon passage of the legislative package Senator Murray, Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee said:
“I believe Congress should decide how to spend taxpayer dollars, not Russ Vought or the President. Our power here in Congress, to help families back home, depends on our ability to work together—and to actually pass legislation. If we want to keep that power, we have to defend it by doing the hard work of coming together hammering out deals and sticking to them. I strongly believe that the bills we passed tonight, and the other bipartisan bills we are writing, are the best path forward for us to get the best outcome for our communities.”
Upon passage of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs funding bill, Senator Murray said:
“As the daughter of a World War II veteran—the programs we fund in our Mil-Con-VA bill are very personal to me. Doing right by our vets—getting them the care they need, and the support they were promised is a moral obligation. The bottom line is this bill delivers the funding needed to support safe and updated infrastructure for our troops and their families, and keep our word to our veterans. Crucially—we don’t just have investments in this bill, but also new provisions to hold this, and any, Administration accountable to deliver for our veterans; requiring VA maintains staffing levels to meet their own goals—so we can stop the damage being caused by Trump’s mass firing of VA workers, requiring briefings and information so Congress, all of us, can actually get answers on how Trump’s new discriminatory policies are affecting veterans and withholding some funding until Congress knows these programs are actually working, like for the Electronic Health Record program where some resources will be held until VA certifies new systems are safe and are effective for our veterans.”
Upon passage of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies funding bill, Senator Murray said:
“This is a good bill that rejects reckless proposals to slash and eliminate programs that support rural communities and families and that, instead, keeps our families fed and our farms flourishing. This bill fully funds WIC at projected participation levels—with no benefits cuts—and provides targeted increases for agricultural research, rural housing, and food safety. And it rejects damaging calls to eliminate international food aid programs, voluntary conservation support for farmers and ranchers, and food boxes that feed hundreds of thousands of seniors. It invests in America—from helping farmers grow to helping our economy grow to helping kids and families grow.”
Upon passage of the Legislative Branch funding bill, Senator Murray said:
“This bill rejects Trump’s efforts to gut the Government Accountability Office and invests in the Congressional Budget Office and the Congressional Research Service as well—to keep government accountable to laws and facts. This bill also supports the incredible Architect of the Capitol team that keeps this building in good working order. And, it not only supports the dedicated personnel who keep us, and every visitor to the Capitol, safe—but it includes an essential increase for our Capitol Police, and emergency funding to protect lawmakers in the face of increased threats—something I hope we can continue to build on.”
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Bill: This bill fully funds veterans medical care and benefits, and invests in critical national security infrastructure while implementing new provisions to hold the executive branch more accountable to deliver for our veterans.
The Fiscal Year 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provides the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and related agencies $133.3 billion in non-defense discretionary funding, as well as $300.4 billion in mandatory funding, to fulfill our nation’s obligations to our veterans. The bill also provides advance appropriations for our veterans in fiscal year 2027, including $122.3 billion for veterans’ medical care and $262 billion for veterans' benefits. In addition, the bill includes $19.84 billion in defense spending for military construction and family housing for fiscal year 2026.
The bill was voted out of Committee in a 26-3 vote on July 17.
A summary of the bill is available HERE. Bill text as amended, report, and more will be available later on this page.
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill: This bill fully funds WIC without benefits cuts, and delivers key funding for agricultural research and rural rental assistance—rejecting cuts sought by President Trump.
The Fiscal Year 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provides $27.1 billion in total funding.
The bill was voted out of Committee in a unanimous 27-0 vote on July 10.
A summary of the bill is available HERE. Bill text as amended, report, and more will be available later on this page.
Legislative Branch Bill: This bill delivers funding to support Congress’s work and provide constituent services, provides new resources to keep the Capitol and lawmakers safe, and maintains critical funding for GAO and legislative branch agencies—rejecting steep cuts proposed by House Republicans.
The Fiscal Year 2026 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act provides $7.125 billion for the operations of the United States Senate and House, the United States Capitol Police, the Library of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. Copyright Office, the Congressional Research Service, the Congressional Budget Office, the Architect of the Capitol, the Office of the Attending Physician, and other legislative branch agencies. Note that this total includes $2.2 billion in funding for the House of Representatives and House Office Buildings, which is not allocated within the draft Senate bill.
The bill was voted out of Committee in a 26-1 vote on July 10.
A summary of the bill is available HERE. Bill text as amended, report, and more will be available later on this page.
###
Next Article Previous Article