Appropriations panel advances FY2026 legislative-branch bill after heated debate over GAO, Library cuts and security funding

The House Appropriations Committee’s markup of the fiscal 2026 legislative-branch appropriations bill ended with the panel voting to report the measure to the House after extensive debate over cuts to the Government Accountability Office, reductions to the Library of Congress, and member security funding.

Chairman Valadao opened the session by saying the committee planned to complete the legislative-branch work that day: “It’s my intention to complete all work on the legislative branch appropriations bill today,” he said. The bill as presented to the committee set a discretionary House allocation of $5,000,000,000, a roughly 5% reduction from the enacted FY2025 House level, and the chair noted the measure reflects “tough choices.”

The markup quickly turned contentious as Democrats pressed the panel to restore funding to the Government Accountability Office and the Library of Congress and demanded clearer provisions to protect members and staff after recent political violence. Ranking member Espaillat called for more resources for member security and criticized riders in the bill that he said “annihilate diversity programs” and undermine LGBTQ rights. Several Democratic members described the GAO cuts as a direct threat to Congress’s oversight role and cited GAO’s high return on investment in audits and recoveries.

The bill includes stepped-up security provisions for the Capitol complex and continued an increase to the members’ representative allowance that was put in place after 2017 for member security away from the Capitol. Chairman Valadao…