Division B — Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026

This title may be cited as the “Department of Labor Appropriations Act, 2026”.

This title may be cited as the “Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations Act, 2026”.

For necessary expenses for the Institute of Education Sciences as authorized by section 208 of the Department of Education Organization Act and carrying out activities authorized by the National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act, section 208 of the Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002, and section 664 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, $789,606,000, to remain available through September 30, 2027, which shall be for the purposes and in the amounts specified in the “Final Bill” column for Institute of Education Sciences in the “Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026” table in the explanatory statement described in section 4 (in the matter preceding division A of this consolidated Act): Provided, That funds available to carry out section 208 of the Educational Technical Assistance Act may be used to link Statewide elementary and secondary data systems with early childhood, postsecondary, and workforce data systems, or to further develop such systems: Provided further, That up to $6,000,000 of the funds available to carry out section 208 of the Educational Technical Assistance Act may be used for awards to public or private organizations or agencies to support activities to improve data coordination, quality, and use at the local, State, and national levels.

This title may be cited as the “Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2026”.

CNCS shall make any significant changes to program requirements, service delivery or policy only through public notice and comment rulemaking. For fiscal year 2026, during any grant selection process, an officer or employee of CNCS shall not knowingly disclose any covered grant selection information regarding such selection, directly or indirectly, to any person other than an officer or employee of CNCS that is authorized by CNCS to receive such information.

AmeriCorps programs receiving grants under the National Service Trust program shall meet an overall minimum share requirement of 24 percent for the first 3 years that they receive AmeriCorps funding, and thereafter shall meet the overall minimum share requirement as provided in section 2521.60 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, without regard to the operating costs match requirement in section 121(e) or the member support Federal share limitations in section 140 of the 1990 Act, and subject to partial waiver consistent with section 2521.70 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations.

Donations made to CNCS under section 196 of the 1990 Act for the purposes of financing programs and operations under titles I and II of the 1973 Act or subtitle B, C, D, or E of title I of the 1990 Act shall be used to supplement and not supplant current programs and operations.

In addition to the requirements in section 146(a) of the 1990 Act, use of an educational award for the purpose described in section 148(a)(4) shall be limited to individuals who are veterans as defined under section 101 of the Act.

For the purpose of carrying out section 189D of the 1990 Act—

Notwithstanding sections 139(b), 146, and 147 of the 1990 Act, an individual who successfully completes a term of service of not less than 1,200 hours during a period of not more than one year may receive a national service education award having a value of 70 percent of the value of a national service education award determined under section 147(a) of the Act.

Section 148(f)(2)(A)(i) of the 1990 Act shall be applied by substituting “an approved national service position” for “a national service program that receives grants under subtitle C”.

In any case where a participant of a position eligible for an educational award described in subtitle D of title I of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601 et seq.) was required to exit the position early at the direction of the Corporation for National and Community Service and due to circumstances outside the control of the individual, such as a lapse in availability of Federal appropriations, or termination of their position, or the applicable program grant or agreement under the national service laws is released from completing the required term of service for such position, the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service may—

None of the funds provided by this Act or previous Acts making appropriations for the National Labor Relations Board may be used to issue any new administrative directive or regulation that would provide employees any means of voting through any electronic means in an election to determine a representative for the purposes of collective bargaining.

The Secretaries of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education are authorized to transfer unexpended balances of prior appropriations to accounts corresponding to current appropriations provided in this Act. Such transferred balances shall be used for the same purpose, and for the same periods of time, for which they were originally appropriated.

No part of any appropriation contained in this Act shall remain available for obligation beyond the current fiscal year unless expressly so provided herein.

The Secretaries of Labor and Education are authorized to make available not to exceed $28,000 and $20,000, respectively, from funds available for salaries and expenses under titles I and III, respectively, for official reception and representation expenses; the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service is authorized to make available for official reception and representation expenses not to exceed $5,000 from the funds available for “Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Salaries and Expenses”; and the Chairman of the National Mediation Board is authorized to make available for official reception and representation expenses not to exceed $5,000 from funds available for “National Mediation Board, Salaries and Expenses”.

When issuing statements, press releases, requests for proposals, bid solicitations and other documents describing projects or programs funded in whole or in part with Federal money, all grantees receiving Federal funds included in this Act, including but not limited to State and local governments and recipients of Federal research grants, shall clearly state—

None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to promulgate or adopt any final standard under section 1173(b) of the Social Security Act providing for, or providing for the assignment of, a unique health identifier for an individual (except in an individual’s capacity as an employer or a health care provider), until legislation is enacted specifically approving the standard.

None of the funds made available in this Act may be obligated or expended to enter into or renew a contract with an entity if—

None of the funds made available in this Act may be transferred to any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government, except pursuant to a transfer made by, or transfer authority provided in, this Act or any other appropriation Act.

None of the funds made available by this Act to carry out the Library Services and Technology Act may be made available to any library covered by paragraph (1) of section 224(f) of such Act, as amended by the Children’s Internet Protection Act, unless such library has made the certifications required by paragraph (4) of such section.

Within 45 days of enactment of this Act, each department and related agency funded through this Act shall submit an operating plan that details at the program, project, and activity level any funding allocations for fiscal year 2026 that are different than those specified in this Act, the explanatory statement described in section 4 (in the matter preceding division A of this consolidated Act) or the fiscal year 2026 budget request.

The Secretaries of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education shall each prepare and submit to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report on the number and amount of contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements exceeding $500,000, individually or in total for a particular project, activity, or programmatic initiative, in value and awarded by the Department on a non-competitive basis during each quarter of fiscal year 2026, but not to include grants awarded on a formula basis or directed by law. Such report shall include the name of the contractor or grantee, the amount of funding, the governmental purpose, including a justification for issuing the award on a non-competitive basis. Such report shall be transmitted to the Committees within 30 days after the end of the quarter for which the report is submitted.

None of the funds appropriated in this Act shall be expended or obligated by the Commissioner of Social Security, for purposes of administering Social Security benefit payments under title II of the Social Security Act, to process any claim for credit for a quarter of coverage based on work performed under a social security account number that is not the claimant’s number and the performance of such work under such number has formed the basis for a conviction of the claimant of a violation of section 208(a)(6) or (7) of the Social Security Act.

None of the funds appropriated by this Act may be used by the Commissioner of Social Security or the Social Security Administration to pay the compensation of employees of the Social Security Administration to administer Social Security benefit payments, under any agreement between the United States and Mexico establishing totalization arrangements between the social security system established by title II of the Social Security Act and the social security system of Mexico, which would not otherwise be payable but for such agreement.

For purposes of carrying out Executive Order 13589, Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M–12–12 dated May 11, 2012, and requirements contained in the annual appropriations bills relating to conference attendance and expenditures:

Federal agencies funded under this Act shall clearly state within the text, audio, or video used for advertising or educational purposes, including emails or Internet postings, that the communication is printed, published, or produced and disseminated at United States taxpayer expense. The funds used by a Federal agency to carry out this requirement shall be derived from amounts made available to the agency for advertising or other communications regarding the programs and activities of the agency.

Not later than 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter, beginning with the first month of fiscal year 2026 the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education and the Social Security Administration shall provide the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and Senate a report on the status of balances of appropriations: Provided, That for balances that are unobligated and uncommitted, committed, and obligated but unexpended, the monthly reports shall separately identify the amounts attributable to each source year of appropriation (beginning with fiscal year 2012, or, to the extent feasible, earlier fiscal years) from which balances were derived.

The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and the Corporation for National and Community Service shall notify the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate not less than 3 full business days prior to announcing or providing notice of—

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no funds appropriated in this Act shall be used to purchase sterile needles or syringes for the hypodermic injection of any illegal drug: Provided, That such limitation does not apply to the use of funds for elements of a program other than making such purchases if the relevant State or local health department, in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, determines that the State or local jurisdiction, as applicable, is experiencing, or is at risk for, a significant increase in hepatitis infections or an HIV outbreak due to injection drug use, and such program is operating in accordance with State and local law.

Each department and related agency funded through this Act shall provide answers to questions submitted for the record by members of the Committee within 45 business days after receipt.

Of amounts deposited in the Child Enrollment Contingency Fund under section 2104(n)(2) of the Social Security Act and the income derived from investment of those funds pursuant to section 2104(n)(2)(C) of that Act, $12,340,000,000 shall not be available for obligation in this fiscal year.

Of the unobligated balances of amounts made available in section 10301(1)(A)(iii) of Public Law 117–169, $11,661,000,000 are hereby rescinded.

Of the unobligated balances of funds made available by sections 2023, 2206, 2301, 2302, 2303, 2401, 2402, 2403, 2404, 2501, 2502, 2601, 2602, 2603, 2605, 2701, 2702, 2703, 2704, 2705, 2706, 2707, 2708, 2709, 2710, 2711, 2712, 2713, 2904, 2912, 3101, and 9911 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117–2), $2,000,000,000 are hereby rescinded: Provided, That not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report specifying the unobligated balances rescinded pursuant to this section by both account and amount from each applicable appropriation in Public Law 117–2.