The US Senate Committee on Appropriations emphatically rebuffed significant proposals from the Trump Budget aimed at reducing federal spending for crucial sectors including education funding, vital medical research, and various health programs. This bipartisan resistance underscores a clear divergence in fiscal priorities between the White House and Capitol Hill, signaling a legislative intent to bolster, rather than diminish, investments in public welfare.

Instead of adopting the proposed cuts, senators from both sides of the aisle converged on an agreement to increase spending for the fiscal year 2026 within the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS-Education) spending bill. This legislative maneuver directly challenged the administration’s contentious efforts to dismantle the Department of Education, asserting congressional oversight over executive budgetary directives concerning education funding.

Furthermore, in a direct response to the administration’s separate actions of cancelling grants and freezing Congressionally approved funds, the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill included specific language. This provision establishes clear deadlines for the timely release of formula grants to states, aiming to prevent future disruptions in funding critical programs across the nation, especially for health programs and educational initiatives.

US Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins highlighted that the Labor-HHS-Education bill prioritizes funding to enhance American health and support life-saving medical research through targeted allocations. The measure allocates $116.6 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, marking a $446 million increase in discretionary funding from the previous fiscal year. Notable increases include $150 million for cancer research and $100 million for Alzheimer’s disease research, alongside a ban on an administration-imposed cap on indirect costs at the National Institutes of Health, vital for medical research.

The committee also decisively rejected the Trump Budget proposal to significantly cut funding for the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While the budget proposal sought to reduce CDC funding to $4.2 billion, senators instead voted to allocate a robust $9.1 billion for the agency, emphasizing its critical role in public health infrastructure and disease prevention, a key aspect of health programs.

The bill text also tightens requirements for the Education Department, ensuring sufficient staffing levels to effectively carry out its missions and preventing the outsourcing of its statutory responsibilities to other agencies. Additionally, the legislation provides $5.78 billion for vital education funding programs, encompassing before- and after-school initiatives, rural education support, STEM education, and comprehensive college and career counseling. The committee allocated $79 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Education, contrasting sharply with the administration’s initial Trump Budget request for substantial cuts.

Further demonstrating a commitment to public welfare, the spending bill includes $1.6 billion for State Opioid Response grants, providing crucial formula-based funding to assist states in addressing the ongoing opioid crisis. Senators also rebuffed the administration’s request for a 40% reduction in National Institutes of Health medical research funding, opting instead for a more than $400 million increase, bringing the total allocation to $48.7 billion. This is a significant move in federal spending.

Beyond health and education, the bill also provides $15 billion for the Social Security Administration, an increase from the president’s budget request, specifically aimed at addressing staffing shortages within the agency. This comprehensive bipartisan effort across various appropriations bills signifies a strong congressional assertion of its federal spending authority and a clear prioritization of domestic programs over proposed austerity measures, challenging the Trump Budget approach.

Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff expressed profound gratitude for the committee’s bipartisan collaboration in safeguarding key institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, located in his home state. His remarks underscored the widespread sentiment among legislators in the US Senate to protect and adequately fund essential federal agencies, rejecting any attempts to undermine their foundational roles in American society and ensuring proper federal spending on crucial health programs.