Through appropriations legislation, Congress provides not only budget authority for federal agencies and departments to operate, but also legally binding direction on how that budget authority can (or cannot) be used. These directions may appear in three places in an appropriations act: in the language of individual appropriations; in administrative provisions at the end of a title; and in general provisions at the end of a bill (or division, in the case of a consolidated measure, where multiple bills are combined in one). Some of these directions directly relate to the management of budget authority enacted in the measure, while others relate to policy or operational matters. Sometimes enacted appropriations measures include authorizing (or “legislative”) provisions as well. As with any legislation, these provisions are not unchanging. Due to the passage of time or other legislative developments, a provision may require adjustment or lose its relevance. Provisions enacted in appropriations legislation are a focus of negotiations between the parties and between the chambers during the appropriations process and may evolve until a compromise is reached in the final measure. This report focuses on the substantive changes from the FY2025 baseline, as established by the FY2025 full-year continuing resolution (CR) in P.L. 119-4. The CR carried forward, with some exceptions, the terms and conditions laid out for FY2024 in the DHS Appropriations Act, 2024 (P.L. 118-47, Division C). This report discusses changes from that baseline proposed in the Administration’s FY2026 budget request and those included in the enacted FY2026 DHS appropriations act (P.L. 119-86). Appendices at the end of this report discuss changes in appropriations language from the FY2024 baseline as well as the history of the structure of administrative and general provisions since the first DHS appropriations act in FY2004.
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