Appropriations Watch: FY 2027
The appropriations process for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 has begun, with action expected in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The appropriations process for FY 2026 was completed in April 2026, after lawmakers agreed to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill that ended a shutdown that lasted from February 14 through April 30. The agency shut down due to disagreements around funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Security Operations (BSO). The final DHS bill excluded ICE and BSO funding, which Congress is now attempting to fund through the reconciliation process.
The DHS shutdown was preceded by two earlier shutdowns in FY 2026. The first lasted from October 1 through November 12, as lawmakers debated the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits. A second, shorter partial shutdown occurred between January 31 and February 3.
As we did last year, we will be tracking appropriations bills as they move from the Appropriations Committees to the House and Senate floor and onto the President's desk.
The table below shows the status of each appropriations bill. To learn more about the appropriations process, read our Appropriations 101 paper.
Appropriations will be one of several deadlines Congress will face over the coming months. See a list of the upcoming fiscal deadlines here.
Sources: House Appropriations Committee, Senate Appropriations Committee, Congress.gov. All dates are in 2026 unless noted otherwise.
As we explain in Appropriations 101, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees approve 302(b) spending levels for each subcommittee after the topline 302(a) levels are determined by the Budget Committees. Below is an excerpt (click here to read the full report).
How does Congress determine the total level of appropriations?
After the President submits the Administration’s budget request to Congress, the House and Senate Budget Committees are each directed to report a budget resolution that, if passed by their respective chambers, would then be reconciled in a budget conference (to learn more, see Q&A: Everything You Need to Know About a Budget Conference).
The resulting budget resolution, which is a concurrent resolution and therefore not signed by the President, includes what is known as a 302(a) allocation that sets a total amount of money for the Appropriations Committees to spend. For example, the conferenced Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 budget between the House and Senate set the 302(a) limit for that year at $1.017 trillion.
In the absence of a budget resolution, each chamber may enact a deeming resolution that sets the 302(a) allocation for that chamber. Leaders of the House and Senate Budget Committees may propose deeming resolutions at whatever level they find necessary to fund discretionary priorities and to officially set 302(a) allocations for the fiscal year. Since the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) only set top-line discretionary numbers through FY 2025, there are no enforceable caps for FY 2027. However, the FRA does suggest that Congress continue to limit discretionary spending growth to 1% each year through FY 2029.
The appropriations process for the current fiscal year, FY 2026, was completed in April 2026 with the Homeland Security and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026, which ended a Department of Homeland Security shutdown that began on February 14.
The table below compares the FY 2026 enacted funding levels, the President’s FY 2027 budget request, and the FY 2027 House and Senate 302(b) allocations.
| Regular Appropriations (Budget Authority) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subcommittee | FY 2026 Enacted | FY 2027 President's Budget Request | FY 2027 House Committee | FY 2027 Senate Committee |
| Agriculture | $26.7 billion | N/A | $26.3 billion | TBD |
| Commerce-Justice-Science | $78.0 billion | N/A | $77.3 billion | TBD |
| Defense | $838.7 billion | $1.154 trillion* | TBD | TBD |
| Energy-Water | $58.0 billion | N/A | $58.5 billion | TBD |
| Financial Services and General Government | $26.3 billion | N/A | $25.3 billion | TBD |
| Homeland Security | $47.7 billion^ | N/A | TBD | TBD |
| Interior-Environment | $38.6 billion | N/A | TBD | TBD |
| Labor-HHS-Education | $194.9 billion | N/A | TBD | TBD |
| Legislative Branch | $7.3 billion | N/A | $7.3 billion | TBD |
| Military Construction-VA | $153.3 billion | N/A | $157.0 billion | TBD |
| National Security-State | $50.0 billion | N/A | $47.3 billion | TBD |
| Transportation-HUD | $102.9 billion | N/A | TBD | TBD |
| TOTAL Base Funding | $1.622 trillion^ | $1.814 trillion* | TBD | TBD |
Sources: Senate Appropriations Ag/FDA Bill Summary, H.R. 6938 House Appropriations Committee Summary, H.R. 7148 House Appropriations Committee Summary, H.R. 7148 CBO Cost Estimate, H.R. 7006 CBO Cost Estimate, CRFB: An Overview of the President's FY 2027 Budget, House Appropriations Subcommittee Allocations, Committee description of FY 2026 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, Senate amendment to FY 2026 Homeland Security appropriations bills (H.R. 7147)
*Does not include the additional $350 billion that the administration is requesting through the reconciliation process for defense spending.
^Figure is a CRFB calculation based on the amount of ICE and BSO funding that was stripped out of the FY 2026 Homeland Security funding bill (H.R. 7147) before it was enacted. An official score for the version of H.R. 7147 that ultimately became law has not been published.
As Congress considers appropriations bills, it is important that lawmakers avoid budget gimmicks and contemplate the longer-term trajectory of discretionary spending.
If you have any questions about terminology or the appropriations process, please see our Appropriations 101 report, and stay tuned to our blog for continuing coverage.
