Appropriations subcommittee advances FY2026 Interior-Environment bill with tribal funding boosts

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies on Monday advanced its fiscal year 2026 spending bill that sets broad funding priorities for national parks, tribal programs, wildfire response and energy permitting. Chairman Mike Simpson, chair of the subcommittee, presented a bill that totals $37,971,000,000 in discretionary spending, which he said is 6.2% below the FY2025 enacted level.

The subcommittee action moves the bill to the full committee after a series of amendments and votes during the markup. The measure contains concentrated increases for tribal programs while reducing spending elsewhere to meet the panel’s allocation.

Why it matters: The subcommittee’s priorities decide near-term funding for agencies that manage public lands, fight wildfires, and deliver services to tribal nations. Changes to advanced appropriations and large tribal accounts can affect health care, education, and law enforcement on tribal lands for the coming year.

Most important facts: Chairman Mike Simpson, chair of the subcommittee, said the bill “targets resources to reduce energy costs, protect American jobs, and preserve access to our public lands,” and pointed to line items he described as priorities. The measure provides $6,000,000,000 in advanced appropriations for the Indian Health Service and $1,500,000,000 for the Bureau of Indian Education, and it fully funds contract support costs, payments in lieu of taxes (PILT), and wildfire-fighting pay, Simpson said. The bill also includes $771,800,000 for law enforcement in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and a package of tribal program investments that Simpson said amount to roughly $14.7 billion, or about 39% of the bill’s total.

Several Democrats and other Republican members criticized the bill’s overall reductions to environmental and public-health programs. Ranking Member Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut), the ranking member of the full committee, each called attention to deep cuts at the Environmental Protection Agency and funding reductions to national parks and cultural institutions.

Committee actions: During the markup the panel adopted a Republican en bloc amendment, accepted a manager’s amendment of technical corrections, and ultimately voted to report the bill to the House. The motion to report passed on a roll-call recorded at the end of the session (ayes 33, noes 28).

What’s next: The bill will be considered by the full Appropriations Committee, which may alter spending levels and riders before any House floor action or conference with the Senate.

Ending note: The markup illustrated sharp differences on funding priorities: members on the majority side emphasized tribal funding increases and energy permitting, while members of the minority pressed concerns about cuts to EPA programs, state drinking and wastewater funding, cultural programs, and National Park Service operations.