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(Washington, DC) – U.S. Representative  Ed Case (HI-01), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, yesterday voted in full Committee against the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Legislative Branch Appropriations measure.  

The bill, which funds Congress, provides $5 billion, a decrease of $272 million or 5 percent below the FY 2025 enacted level. This total excludes the Senate items, which are added later in the legislative process.

The bill supports the U.S. House of Representatives, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Library of Congress, the Architect of the Capitol and the Capitol Police. 

“I voted against this bill because it weakens Congress when Congress must most remain a fully functioning separate, independent and co-equal branch of government, including vital oversight and information-gathering agencies like the Library of Congress and the Government Accountability Office,” said Case, who served for four years on the Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee.

In full Committee, Case especially criticized the Republican majority’s proposal to cut the GAO’s budget by almost 50%. He specifically referred to the GAO’s identified “high risk” areas that Congress should focus on in order to control wasteful spending and asked his majority colleagues how they proposed to address these areas if they denied Congress the oversight resources required. (See Case’s speech here.) 

The measure’s key provisions weakening Congress’s oversight powers include: 

·        $415 million for the GAO, a decrease of $396.5 million or 48.8 percent below fiscal year 2025 and $518.6 million less than the fiscal year 2026 request. 

·        Prohibiting the GAO from bringing civil actions against any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States for failing to comply with the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 without Congressional approval. The GAO, acting per its statutory direction from Congress, currently has nearly forty open investigations into whether the executive branch is illegally withholding (impounding) money Case’s Appropriations Committee previously appropriated.

·        $767.6 million for the Library of Congress, a decrease of $84.6 million or 10 percent below fiscal year 2025 and $133.7 million less than the FY 2026 request.

This will directly harm the Library’s Congressional Research Service (CRS), which serves as shared nonpartisan staff to Congressional committees and Members of Congress. CRS experts assist at every stage of the legislative process — from the early considerations that precede bill drafting, through committee hearings and floor debate, to the oversight of enacted laws and various agency activities. 

Case was able to secure a number of key programs and provisions he requested, including: 

·        $20.6 million in funding to help pay for interns in House Member Offices. 

·        Supported an amendment that allows the recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program, also known as Dreamers, to work in the United States Congress. The amendment passed by a vote of 32 to 29. 

·        $1.9 million for the Office of Congressional Accessibility Services which helps coordinate services for individuals with disabilities including Members of Congress, staff and visitors to the Capitol.  

This measure is one of the twelve bills developed by the House Appropriations Committee that will collectively fund the federal government for FY 2026 (commencing October 1, 2025). The bill now moves on to the full House of Representatives for its consideration.  

A summary of the bill is available here.  

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