Committee Releases FY26 Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA Bill

June 4, 2025

Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Appropriations Committee released the Fiscal Year 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill. The bill will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow, June 5th at 10:30 a.m. The markup will be live-streamed and can be found on the Committee’s website.

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chairman Andy Harris said, “The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration Appropriations Bill reflects a clear, conservative commitment to fiscal responsibility while ensuring that America’s farmers, ranchers, and rural communities remain a top priority. This legislation also prioritizes agricultural research, rural broadband expansion, and protects our food and drug supply, all while reducing the wasteful spending of the Biden Administration era. Just as importantly, by supporting fresh, affordable, American-grown food, this bill helps Make America Healthy Again. America’s farmers feed the world, and this bill ensures they have the investment, support, and resources they deserve — while reducing the burgeoning federal deficit.”

Chairman Tom Cole said, “The prosperity of our future golden age depends on the strength and perseverance of our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. This FY26 bill delivers targeted investments to protect U.S. agriculture and family farms, bolster agricultural research, and safeguard access to nutrition and health programs. From livestock and crops to pharmaceuticals and broadband, the legislation strengthens the agriculture economy and infrastructure across the nation. Just as our producers responsibly tend to the land, Chairman Harris has stewarded this legislation to protect core duties while upholding fiscal responsibility.”

The Fiscal Year 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill

The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill provides a total discretionary allocation of $25.523 billion, which is $1.163 billion (4.2%) below the Fiscal Year 2025 enacted level.

The bill prioritizes agencies and programs that protect our nation’s food and drug supply; support America’s farmers, ranchers, and rural communities; and ensure low-income Americans have access to nutrition programs. The bill is fiscally responsible and refocuses programs on their core mission while putting the health, safety, and prosperity of American producers and consumers first.

Key Takeaways

Champions U.S. farmers, agriculture, and rural communities by:

Continuing critical investments in agriculture research, rural broadband, and animal and plant health programs.
Providing funds to ensure the safety of food, drugs, and medical devices.
Ensuring low-income Americans have access to nutrition programs.
Reining in harmful regulations proposed during the Biden Administration that dictate how poultry and livestock producers raise and market their animals.
Increasing resources for the Food Safety and Inspection Service to fund frontline meat and poultry inspectors and bolster support for state inspection programs.
Providing a rider to block any revised energy standards for newly constructed homes financed by USDA that would increase costs for rural, lower-income households that was proposed during the Biden Administration.

Supports the Trump Administration and mandate of the American people by:

Allocating the President’s requested total funding of $6.8 billion for the FDA to keep food, drugs, and devices safe and for initiatives to Make America Healthy Again.
Delivering $1.15 billion for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is a priority in the President’s budget to protect American agriculture from foreign pests and diseases.
Codifying President Trump’s executive orders by prohibiting funding for DEI activities and ending federal censorship of free speech.
Retaining the gene editing provision, which prohibits the “editing” of heritable genes or altering of genes that can be passed on to offspring.
Maintaining “Buy American” provisions that maximize the federal government’s use of services, goods, products, and materials produced and offered in the United States.
Closing the hemp loophole that has resulted in the proliferation of unregulated intoxicating hemp products, including Delta-8 and hemp flower, being sold online and in gas stations across the country.

Bolsters U.S. national security and border protections by:

Addressing foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land by improving the tracking system of foreign-owned land and adding the Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review agricultural transactions, including purchases made by China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
Directing USDA to provide transparency into research funding spent collaborating with foreign governments including China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
Continuing a program to increase inspection of foreign drug manufacturing facilities in China and India.
Providing adequate funding for land-grant universities to conduct agricultural research to ensure American producers can compete with China.

Safeguards American taxpayer dollars and preserves core functions by:

Capturing DOGE savings by reducing salaries and expenses where appropriate to account for staffing reductions and reducing grant programs that housed canceled grants.
Eliminating funding for the Biden-era Rural Partners Network initiative.
Including no funds for climate hubs or climate corps.
Eliminating funds for the Office of Urban Agriculture.

A summary of the bill is available here.
Bill text is available here.

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