Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
House Rules Committee approves rule for HR 7006 after rejecting amendments to withhold FBI headquarters funds
Loading...
Summary
The House Rules Committee approved a rule enabling floor consideration of HR 7006, a two-bill FY2026 appropriations minibus, rejecting proposed amendments including one that would have withheld funds for a proposed FBI headquarters move until GSA and the FBI submitted an architectural and engineering plan.
The House Committee on Rules voted to report a rule for HR 7006 on Jan. 14, clearing the way for floor consideration of a two-bill fiscal 2026 appropriations package covering Financial Services & General Government and National Security/Department of State programs. The committee approved the motion to report by a recorded roll call, 8 yeas to 2 nays.
The meeting featured a sustained exchange over a set of amendments Democrats sought to make in order. Representative Jim McGovern moved to make amendment number 29, offered by Representative Steny Hoyer, in order; that amendment would have restricted obligating any remaining unobligated balances for the proposed new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters until the General Services Administration, in consultation with the FBI, submitted a contracted architectural and engineering plan for committee review. After a voice vote and a requested recorded vote, the Hoyer amendment failed, 3 yeas to 8 nays.
Hoyer, in remarks to the committee, said the Reagan Building site selected by GSA ‘‘does not satisfy’’ security requirements, arguing the building’s configuration and public access create vulnerabilities and that Congress has already appropriated roughly $850 million for a selected site. ‘‘We must do everything we can to ensure the FBI gets the facility it needs,’’ Hoyer said in urging oversight. The motion to make his amendment in order was offered by Representative McGovern.
Chairman Tom Cole, the Appropriations Committee chair who testified in support of HR 7006, said he presumed anyone under investigation is entitled to the presumption of innocence and acknowledged sensitivity around any probe that could affect the independence of institutions such as the Federal Reserve. ‘‘I have policy disagreements with Mr. Powell, but I have no reason to believe he’s anything other than a person of integrity,’’ Cole said when asked about recent reporting.
Committee Democrats framed other proposed rule amendments as protections for constitutional rights or institutional oversight. Representative Mary Scanlon and others offered measures to prohibit use of funds to target individuals or organizations based on protected speech, and to bar FCC or Department of Justice actions they described as political targeting; those amendments likewise failed on recorded votes (tallies announced in committee: 3 yeas, 8 nays). Representative Fletcher Fernandez offered amendments addressing Postal Service postmarks for mail ballots and to bar funds for planning a White House ballroom or ‘‘Triumphal Arc’’; those measures were also not agreed to.
Members from both parties praised the underlying minibus in broad terms. Chairman Cole and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro said the bills represent bipartisan, bicameral negotiations that preserve programs like the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund and increase funding for federal defender services. DeLauro highlighted restored funding for programs the White House had sought to eliminate; Cole emphasized regular-order progress toward completing all 12 appropriations bills for FY26.
The committee’s actions leave HR 7006 positioned for floor consideration under the rule approved by the committee. The next procedural step is the House floor debate and votes on amendments permitted under the adopted rule; the committee’s vote to report the rule was 8–2 and the panel adjourned.
