Scott Statement on FY26 Consolidated Appropriations Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after voting in favor of H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, which funds the Departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development.

"I voted in favor of this Consolidated Appropriations Act because it rejects the President's extreme cuts proposed in his FY26 budget. I commend Ranking Member DeLauro for advancing core Democratic priorities in the bill, including investments in public health, affordable housing and childcare, and safe transit infrastructure, and many others. Democrats were also successful in eliminating dozens of extreme, partisan poison pill policy provisions pushed by Congressional Republicans and President Trump. These provisions would have prohibited access to reproductive healthcare services, eliminated gun violence prevention research, allowed junk health insurance plans, harmed Americans struggling to repay their student loans, cut funding for infrastructure projects in states that did not support President Trump in 2024, and repealed critical worker protections against wage theft.

"The Department of Defense Division of the bill fully funds the 3.8 percent pay raise for our servicemembers. And for shipbuilders in Hampton Roads, the bill provides a total of $27 billion for shipbuilding, including funding for the advance procurement of CVN-82, the Virginia and Columbia-class submarine programs, and the midlife refueling and overhaul of the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). This funding will ensure that our region's shipbuilding and ship repair industrial base remains busy in support of our Navy.

"The bill also increases funding for the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program, or REPI. REPI has been a critical program towards protecting environmentally sensitive areas around Hampton Roads' military installations and increasing our region's resilience to sea level rise. As a co-chair of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force, I worked with my colleagues to make sure it received adequate funding, and I am proud that this bill includes $220 million for REPI.

"I am also proud that the bill includes $8.7 million in funding for community projects across Hampton Roads that will expand broadband, enhance community-oriented resources, assist the unhoused, improve local infrastructure, and support local workforce development."

Community Project Funding requested by Congressman Scottincluded in the FY26 Consolidated Appropriations Act:

• City of Newport News, Peninsula Digital Infrastructure Expansion Initiative, $2,000,000;
• City of Newport News, Safe Haven Empowerment Center Facility Improvements, $2,000,000;
• City of Hampton, Hampton Therapeutic Recreation Center Accessibility and Expansion Project, $850,000;
• City of Norfolk, Homeless Housing Center Improvements, $850,000;
• City of Chesapeake, Schooner Trail Park, $500,000;
• Hampton Roads Transit, Paratransit Fleet Expansion, $850,000;
• Virginia Peninsula Community College, Wellness & Workforce Center, $500,000;
• City of Chesapeake, Myer's Road Sidewalk Expansion, $1,150,000.

Additionally, in H.R. 7147, the FY26 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, Congressman Scott secured $1,145,144 for the City of Portsmouth's Gust Lane Flood Mitigation project.

In addition to this funding and what he secured in the earlier Minibus Appropriations Act, Congressman Scott delivered a total of $13.887 million in Community Project Funding for Virginia's Third Congressional District in Fiscal Year 2026.

As Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and Workforce, Congressman Scott issued the following statement on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Division of H.R. 7148:

"I applaud Ranking Member DeLauro and Vice Chair Murray for their work to secure funding for many of our shared priorities in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-H) funding bill. Moreover, this bill is a strong rebuke of the Trump Administration's proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budgetwhich would have slashed funding for several agencies, including the Department of Education (ED), the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB).

"In particular, I support the provisions to rein in the Trump Administration's attempts to dismantle ED by curbing illegal interagency agreements. However, these provisions are only effective if Congress asserts its Article I authority and holds this Administration accountable for breaking the law.

"Notably, this bill includes much of the work undertaken by the Education and Workforce Committee to curb opaque Pharmacy Benefit Managers' (PBM) practices. Specifically, this language will require transparency in PBM services that have driven up health care costs for workers and their families.

"While I would want to see more funding for critical programs, including an increase in the maximum Pell Grant and increased enforcement capacity to protect workers and their health coverage, I am relieved this did not codify Trump's requested elimination of programs that Congress created to help students, workers, and families. While far from perfect, the bill is dramatically better than the original funding request proposed by the Trump Administration."

For more information and to access factsheets on the FY26 Consolidated Appropriations Act, please click the links below:

• Extreme Republican Policy Riders Eliminated
• Topline Factsheet on the Consolidated Appropriations Act
• Factsheet on the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Division
• Factsheet on the Defense Division
• Factsheet on the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Division
• Factsheet on the Health Care Division
• Section-by-Section of the Health Care Division

# # #