A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the Department of Commerce

Subcommittee hearing.

Witness:

  • Howard Lutnick, Secretary, Department of Commerce

Budget request

Program Name $ Change from 2025 Enacted (in millions) Brief Description of Program and Recommended Reduction or Increase
Department of Commerce
Increases
Fair Trade and Trade Enforcement +134 The Budget includes $134 million to strengthen trade enforcement. This includes an additional $122 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security. These new funds would also increase antidumping and countervailing duty investigations.
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
Economic Development Administration (EDA) and Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) -624 EDA programs are cut. MBDA is fully eliminated.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—Operations, Research, and Grants -1,311 The Budget terminates a variety of climate-related research, data, and grant programs.
NOAA—Procurement of Weather Satellites and Infrastructure -209 The Budget rescopes NOAA’s Geostationary and Extended Observ by canceling contracts for instruments designed primarily for climate measurements.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) -325 Climate and environmental grants like NIST’s Circular Economy Program are eliminated.
International Trade Administration (ITA)—Global Markets -145 The Budget refocuses ITA’s footprint to countering China and securing access to fossil-fuel and mineral resources.
Department of Justice (DOJ)
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
Reduce State and Local Grant Programs -1,019 The Budget proposes to eliminate nearly 40 DOJ grant programs. The Budget eliminates programs such as Community Based Approaches to Advancing Justice, as well as programs that focus on hate crimes. Further, the Budget cuts Violence Against Women Act funding.
Cut the FBI -545 The Budget reflects a new focus on counterintelligence and counterterrorism, while reducing non-law enforcement missions, including DEI programs and intelligence activities.
DEA International Capacity -212 The Budget targets DEA’s foreign spending to Mexico, Central America, South America, and China.
Refocus ATF Enforcement and Regulatory Priorities -468 The Budget cuts funding for ATF offices and background checks.
General Legal Activities -193 The Budget focuses funding for General Legal Activities on the Civil Division ($441 million), and the Criminal Division ($220 million). The Budget reduces funding for the Civil Rights Division and the Environment and Natural Resources Division.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Increases
Human Space Exploration +647 The Budget allocates over $7 billion for lunar exploration and introduces $1 billion in new investments for Mars-focused programs.
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
Space Science -2,265 In line with the Administration’s objectives of returning to the Moon before China and putting a man on Mars, the Budget would reduce lower priority research and terminate unaffordable missions such as the Mars Sample Return mission that is grossly overbudget and whose goals would be achieved by human missions to Mars. The mission is not scheduled to return samples until the 2030s.
Mission Support -1,134 The Budget cuts the workforce, IT services, NASA Center operations, facility maintenance, and construction and environmental compliance activities.
Earth Science -1,161 The Budget eliminates funding for climate monitoring satellites and restructures the Landsat Next mission.
Legacy Human Exploration Systems -879 The Budget phases out the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule after three flights. budget. The Budget funds a program to replace SLS and Orion flights to the Moon with commercial systems. The Budget also proposes to terminate the Gateway, a small lunar space station in development with international partners, which would have been used to support future SLS and Orion missions.
Space Technology -531 The Budget reduces Space Technology by approximately half, including eliminating space propulsion projects. The reductions also scale back or eliminate technology projects in favor of private sector research and development.
International Space Station -508 The Budget reflects the transition to a commercial approach to human activities in space. The Budget reduces the space station’s crew size and onboard research, preparing for a decommissioning of the station by 2030 and replacement by commercial space stations. Crew and cargo flights to the station would be significantly reduced.
Aeronautics -346 The Budget eliminates climate-focused green aviation spending.
Office of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Engagement -143 NASA will cut STEM programming and research.
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
General Research and Education -3,479 The Budget cuts funding for: climate; clean energy; social, behavioral, and economic sciences; and other programs. Funding for Artificial Intelligence and quantum information sciences research is maintained at current levels.
Broadening Participation -1,130 All DEI-related programs at NSF are eliminated.
Agency Operations and Awards Management -93 This reduction to operations aligns with the Agency’s reduced size.
Senate Appropriations Committee
   Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
192 Dirksen

06/04/2025 at 10:00AM

Nomination of Michael Boren to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment

Full committee nomination hearing.

Nominee:

  • Michael Boren, of Idaho, to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment, vice Homer L. Wilkes, resigned.

The Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment oversees the U.S. Forest Service.

Boren is a Trump donor who gained local notice for his and his brother David’s litigious treatment in defense of Hell Roaring Ranch, their dude ranch in Idaho. He treats the Sawtooth National Forest as if it were his personal property, building a cabin, private airstrip, and suing to block the construction of public trails.

A co-founder of Clearwater Analytics, Boren has made a career in financial management and software development. On Feb. 24, Michael and Joan Boren, as trustees of the MJB Revocable Trust, bought a new condominium at The Wharf in Washington for $6 million, according to property records with the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue.

Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee
328A Russell

06/03/2025 at 03:00PM

No Deal for Big Oil Billionaires

Trump’s billionaire budget is trying to fund handouts to Big Oil, tax cuts for billionaires, and mass detention facilities with our tax dollars. Money that should be used for life saving services like Medicaid and SNAP that millions of Americans rely on to keep their family healthy and their kids fed. Honestly this is only the tip of the iceberg. Trump’s budget is brimming with proposals that pad the pockets of his wealthy buddies and strip away critical government services we depend on. We’re descending on Washington to say No Deal!

People all over the country are already taking action - We know June will be a critical moment. It’s the climate movement’s moment to throw down and say NO DEAL! Join us in Washington DC on June 3rd.

Here’s the plan:

  • Direct Action in DC: Take part in actions, meet with elected officials, and join our press conference. Together share powerful stories about how this deal between Trump and Billionaires will impact working families across the country. Together we’ll stop the worst parts of this budget.
  • Confront Elected Officials at Home: When elected officials return home the week of June 16th for Congressional Recess we’ll confront them about the budget they passed, what they chose to fund, and what they chose to cut. (More guidance on this coming soon!) Details:

DC No Deal Action Schedule (6/3):

  • 10:30 AM: Meet at Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church (201 4th St SE, Washington, DC 20003).
  • 12:00 PM: Join a press address at the Capitol to deliver our message to Congress
  • Rest of the Day: Actions at the capital targeting Members of Congress who can stop the worst parts of Trump’s deal with big oil billionaires

At Home No Deal Actions (6/16-6/20):

No Deal Endorsers: Climate Hawks Vote, 350Deschutes, Turtle Island Restoration Network, DNC Council on the Environment and Climate Crisis, North American Climate, Conservation and Environment (NACCE), Oil Change International, Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, Earthworks, individual, Public Citizen, North American Climate, Conservation and Environment (NACCE), 350.org, Stand.earth, 350 Triangle, Sunrise Movement, The People’s Justice Council, Sunrise DC, Mission Green Global, Methane Partners Campaign, Stop the Money Pipeline, Zero Hour, New Hampshire Youth Movement, Concerned Health Professionals of Pennsylvania, Alaska Wilderness League, 1000 Grandmothers for Future Generations

Sunrise Movement
District of Columbia
06/03/2025 at 10:30AM

Moral Mondays: Moral Witness United Against an Immoral Budget

On June 2, 2025, we gather not merely for another protest, but for a prophetic stand—a Moral Monday born out of righteous indignation and holy imagination. As the cries of the poor grow louder and the policies of the powerful grow colder, we must rise. Across lines of faith, race, and region, moral witnesses will converge at the very steps where justice has been delayed, where truth has been trampled, and where budgets have become weapons against the vulnerable.

We will meet on the east side of the Capitol, not in silence, but in sacred defiance.

This is not a political stunt; this is a moral reckoning.

Why We Are Gathering:

  • Because the federal budget is a moral document, and this one is failing the test.
  • Because 68 million seniors should not fear losing Medicare and Social Security.
  • Because children should not go hungry while corporations are rewarded.
  • Because faith demands more than prayer—it demands public action.

Join Bishop William J. Barber, II, faith leaders from every tradition, and a remnant of clergy dressed in full vestments. Assemble at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 301 A Street SE, at 9:00 am. Then we march as a unified moral voice at 11:00 am to the Capitol steps in front of the Supreme Court.

We will not be silent anymore. We will not let injustice write the national story unchecked.

Repairers of the Breach
District of Columbia
06/02/2025 at 09:00AM

Vote on nominations of Mine Safety, Labor, and Education Nominees

Business meeting to consider the nominations of

  • Julie Hocker, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary for the Office of Disability Employment Policy, Department of Labor
  • Wayne Palmer, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health, Department of Labor
  • Henry Mack III, of Florida, to be an Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor
  • Marco Rajkovich, Jr., of Virginia, to be a Member of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
  • Kirsten Baesler, of North Dakota, to be Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of Education
  • Kevin O’Farrell, of Florida, to be Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education, Department of Education
  • Nicholas Kent, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary, Department of Education

Rajkovich previously served as the chairman for FMSHRC during Trump’s first term. Before joining the commission he was a lawyer in Kentucky and worked for the U.S. Steel Mining Company, Inc.

Palmer was principal deputy assistant secretary at MSHA from December 2017 to January 2021 and the agency’s acting head until David Zatezalo’s confirmation in November 2017. Palmer was most recently a senior advisor in the Department of Labor Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs.

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
S-216 Capitol

05/22/2025 at 11:45AM

First Street National Risk Report: Climate, the Sixth "C" of Credit

Historically, financial institutions have mandated risk transfer products such as homeowners insurance and, where required, flood insurance, as a protective buffer to avoid credit losses—that buffer has quickly eroded.. Through observed insurance premiums increases and the ever widening coverage gap between FEMA special flood hazard areas and actual disaster locations, lenders are facing a new and urgent financial reality: major weather events and dramatic premium increases are resulting in credit losses and foreclosures.

Join First Street’s climate implications team for a deep dive into the findings of the 13th National Risk Assessment, Climate, the Sixth “C” of Credit, the first national-scale analysis to quantify the connection between flooding, wildfire, and wind—and loan performance. You’ll learn how conventional credit models are missing hidden risk, particularly in areas outside FEMA-designated flood zones, where foreclosure rates are spiking after disasters.

Key finding: in a severe year, weather-driven mortgage foreclosures could lead to $1.2 billion in lender losses, with that number projected to grow to a potential $5.4 billion a year by 2035.

This webinar is essential for financial institutions, investors, insurers, and regulators seeking to understand the evolving credit landscape and apply climate-adjusted risk strategies.

First Street Foundation
05/22/2025 at 11:30AM

A Dire Crisis in Sudan: A Global Call to Action

Subcommittee hearing. Rescheduled from 9 am to 10:30 am.

Witnesses:

  • Ken Isaacs, Vice President, Programs & Government Relations, Samaritan’s Purse
  • Cameron Hudson, Senior Fellow, Africa Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
  • Kholood Khair, Founder and Director, Confluence Advisory
House Foreign Affairs Committee
   Africa Subcommittee
2200 Rayburn

05/22/2025 at 10:30AM

Rally at the Capitol: Stop Clean Energy Bans and Polluter Giveaways!

Over the next few weeks, we’re watching the House closely as Republicans kick off voting on their budget reconciliation bill, which is chock-full of handouts to polluters and billionaires and is on track to be one of the most harmful, costly, and sweeping pieces of legislation in recent history.

On Wednesday, May 21st starting around 4pm we’re rallying at the U.S. Capitol steps to fight back against Republicans’ attempts to pass massive cuts to essential programs to provide handouts to billionaires and polluters. RSVP now.

League of Conservation Voters
Capitol
05/21/2025 at 04:00PM

Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the Department of Energy

Subcommittee hearing.

Chair John Kennedy

Witness:

  • Christopher Wright, Secretary, Department of Energy

Budget request

Department of Energy
Program Name $ Change from 2025 Enacted (in millions) Brief Description of Program and Recommended Reduction or Increase
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
IIJA Cancellation -15,247 The Budget cancels over $15 billion in funds committed to build renewable energy, removing carbon dioxide from the air, and other technologies. The Budget also ends programs for electric vehicle and battery makers and cancels the Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) -2,572 The Budget reorients EERE programs to early-stage research and development programming, eliminating funding for Justice40. This proposal would support technologies that promote fossil-fuel and nuclear power and bioenergy.
Office of Science -1,148 The Budget reduces funding for climate change and renewable energy research. The Budget maintains priority areas such as high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, quantum information science, fusion, and critical minerals.
Environmental Management (EM) -389 The EM program performs activities at 14 active cleanup sites and operates a geologic disposal facility (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico). The EM topline is being reduced by $389 million, which reflects a reduction of about $178 million for the transfer of responsibility from the EM program to the National Nuclear Security Administration for the Savannah River site in South Carolina, where plutonium pit production capabilities would be developed. The Budget maintains the Hanford site in Washington at the 2025 enacted level but reduces funding for various cleanup activities at other sites.
Advanced Research Project Agency‒ Energy (ARPA-E) -260 The Budget reduces funding for ARPA-E, limiting support to research advancing fossil-fuel technologies and other technologies. Pollution-reducing technologies are not supported.
Office of Nuclear Energy -408 The Budget reduces funding for research on nuclear energy. Funding priorities include innovative concepts for nuclear reactors, researching advanced nuclear fuels, and maintaining the capabilities of the Idaho National Laboratory.
Office of Fossil Energy -270 The Budget restores the name and function of the Office of Fossil Energy to its original purpose, which is funding for the research of technologies that could produce an abundance of domestic fossil energy and critical minerals.
Senate Appropriations Committee
   Energy and Water Development Subcommittee
124 Dirksen

05/21/2025 at 02:30PM

Budget for U.S. Department of State

Subcommittee hearing.

Witness:

  • Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State

Budget request

Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Program Name $ Change from 2025 Enacted (in millions) Brief Description of Program and Recommended Reduction or Increase Enacted
Increases
America First Opportunity (A1OF) Fund +2,900 Support India and Jordan; repatriations; counter China and other near-peer rivals; and fund new activities.
Development Finance Corporation +2,820 The Budget increases the U.S. International DFC. This investment includes $3 billion for a new revolving fund to allow DFC to recycle any realized returns from its initial investments without further appropriation.
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
Economic Support Fund, Development Assistance, Democracy Fund, and Assistance for Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia -8,326 The Budget eliminates funding for these programs and replaces them with the single A1OF and the DFC. International Disaster Assistance,
Migration and Refugee Assistance, and Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance (ERMA)—International Humanitarian Assistance (IHA) -3,207 The Budget reduces disaster assistance. The Budget provides $1.5 billion in ERMA for the President to use at his discretion and consolidates accounts into a new $2.5 billion IHA account.
State and USAID Operations -2,462 Consistent with Executive Order 14169, “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” the Budget reorganizes USAID into the Department of State.
International Narcotics Control & Law Enforcement (INCLE) -1,160 The majority of INCLE funds go to reforming criminal justice systems in foreign governments, rather than to narcotics enforcement, which is primarily undertaken by: Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Central Intelligence Agency; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Department of Homeland Security (DHS); and Department of Defense (DOD) elements. The Budget eliminates rule-of-law programs, while providing $125 million to fund programs that support counter-drug, organized crime, and border security missions.
Peacekeeping Missions -1,614 The Budget does not provide funding for United Nations (UN) and other peacekeeping missions.
Assessed and Voluntary Contributions to International Organizations -1,716 The Budget pauses most assessed and all voluntary contributions to UN and other international organizations, including for the UN Regular Budget, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the World Health Organization. This is consistent with Executive Order 14199, “Withdrawing the United States From and Ending Funding to Certain United Nations Organizations and Reviewing United States Support to All International Organizations.” The President can choose to fund these international organizations out of the A1OF if he chooses.
Educational and Cultural Exchanges -691
Transition Initiatives (TI) -75 TI funds short-term assistance that aims to shape political outcomes in countries. The Budget eliminates the TI account.
Complex Crisis Fund -55 The Complex Crisis Fund is a fund for nation-building projects. The Budget eliminates this account and redirects crisis funding to the IHA and ERMA accounts.
National Endowment for Democracy (NED) -315 The Budget eliminates funding for NED.
Global Health Programs/Family Planning -6,233 The United States is the largest global contributor to programs that provide family planning. The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding is preserved for any current beneficiaries.
Food for Peace (Title II) -1,619 The Food for Peace program spends $1.6 billion to ship food overseas.
Contribution to the Global Environmental Facility and Climate Investment Funds -275 The Budget proposes to eliminate contributions to the Global Environment Facility and the Climate Investment Funds.
Contributions to Multilateral Development Banks (African Development Bank, African Development Fund) -555 Consistent with Executive Order 14169, “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” the Budget proposes to eliminate contributions to the African Development Fund. The Budget also includes $3.2 billion over three years for the U.S. Government contribution to the International Development Association.
Other Treasury International Reductions -86 The Budget proposes to eliminate several of the Department of the Treasury’s international assistance programs, including the Debt Restructuring account, and contributions to the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program.
House Appropriations Committee
   National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Subcommittee
2359 Rayburn

05/21/2025 at 02:00PM