▶ 0:12:10The sub commmittee on the legislative branch will come to order. Welcome to the subcommittee markup of fiscal year 2026 legislative branch appropriations bill and welcome chairman Cole, ranking member Deloro, and ranking member I'll now recognize myself for my opening statement. I'm pleased to introduce fiscal year 2026 legislative branch appropriations bill for the subcommittee's consideration.
▶ 0:12:34I'd like to begin by thanking our subcommittee members in attendance for their input and support throughout the hearing season and during the formulation of this bill we present for consideration this evening. I'd like to specifically thank ranking member Espayot for his contributions and valuable insights. The pro the bill provides 5 billion a 5.3 uh cent percent decrease from fiscal year 2025 enacted house level.
▶ 0:12:59As the legislative branch, we believe it is our responsibility to lead by example and make responsible funding decreases where appropriate. I want to take a moment to recognize the tragic events that took place in Minnesota since Congress was last in session. Political violence has no place in our country and I continue to pray for the victims and those grieving the loss of their loved ones.
▶ 0:13:22As appropriators on the subcommittee on the legislative branch, we have a unique responsibility to provide for the safety and security for members of Congress and the United States Capital Complex, the heart of democracy in the world. The bill under consideration today includes increased funding for House Sergeant-at-Arms and the Capital U United States Capital Police, including double the annual amount requested for mutual aid dispersements.
▶ 0:13:47It also it also continues to carry the increase in members representative allowance that began in 2017 for the purpose of providing member security when they are away from the capital complex. It is my understanding the House Sergeant-at-Arms is developing a number of proposals regarding additional security measures for member consideration. In the days ahead, we look forward to reviewing and discussing these proposals with our colleagues to determine the most appropriate path forward.
▶ 0:14:14As you're all aware, this mark is the first step in the bill's journey, and we look forward to continuing the discussion on security measures, particularly when we go to the conference with the Senate, uh, where we'll be able to address these concerns in the united fashion. Again, I'd like to thank all members for their thoughtful contributions to legislative branch, subcommittee, bill, and report. I'd also like to wish Mr. Loa from New York a very happy birthday.
▶ 0:14:42Uh we appreciate him for being willing to spend his birthday with us. Those comments for you. You don't believe me, do you? We know there's somewhere else he would rather be. Finally, I want to thank the subcommittee staff on both sides, uh from the majority, Laurel Raleigh and April Lyman, and from the minority, FA Cobb. Thank you for your many hours of work resulting in this product and for your efforts to include as many member priorities as possible.
▶ 0:15:14Now I'll go back to um and I'll now recognize ranking member Espot for his opening remarks. Thank you. Thank you chairman Balado and to all the members on both sides. Thank you for the work that we do together. I would also like to thank the subcommittee staff for their great work on both sides of the aisle.
▶ 0:15:34As you noted, the bill before us today, excluding the Senate items, contains $5 billion, which is uh $272 million or 5% less than the fiscal year 2025 enacted levels and $1.3 billion below the fisc year 2026 request. The bill continues to contain uh unnecessary uh and divisive writers as written.
▶ 0:16:02These provisions continue uh the Republicans's obsession with dismantling the rights of every minority group in America. In addition, the bill reduces the funding for the Government Accountability Office by a whopping 48%. The party who has prioritized waste, fraud, and abuse has cut the GAO, the government's premier auditor and watchdog by almost 50%.
▶ 0:16:27According uh to Republicans, these cuts are necessary to curtail the agencies the AY's self-directed liberal initiatives. I disagree. GAO is responsible for researching and making recommendations on how to improve agency fairness and efficiency. It has been responsible for identifying waste and abuse within agency. Last year alone, it found $162 billion in improper payments.
▶ 0:16:58Uh it works on IT and infrastructure related projects and investments. Stopping this will would result in inefficiency and increased security risk across the board. This reduction is a knee-jerk reaction to the GAO's nearly 40 open investigations into whether the White House is illegally with withholding money. Congress previously appropriated. The majority's decision to cut funding uh is uh illended.
▶ 0:17:28With this cut, 2,200 jobs will be lost in exchange for cutting about $400 million. With this budget cut to the GAO, Congress will forgo tens of billions of dollars in cost savings that result from GAO's work each year. If efficiency is a priority, I don't understand the decision to make this cut. And what did the Library of Congress do to deserve a 10% cut?
▶ 0:17:58They disallow Dodge to infiltrate and dismantle a legislative branch agency. I also want to express my great concern that this bill does not include the US Capitol Police full request for mutual aid reimbursement to our local law enforcement partners. that uh we've called upon on several occasions including January 6.
▶ 0:18:22Uh given a recent threat, I don't understand how we can consider a bill that does not include additional resources to increase our cyber security posture across campus and does not include additional funds in the MI to enhance protections for member security. As you stated, Mr. Chairman, we all are uh saddened by the the tragedy in in Minnesota.
▶ 0:18:48Uh we can achieve this through bipartisan legislation that addresses the needs and concerns of both sides of the aisle. These partisan ideas and tactics are ineffective and only divide us further. I cannot in good conscience support this bill. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Aspot. Now I now recognize the distinguished chairman of the full committee Mr. Cole for his remarks.
▶ 0:19:15Thank you chairman Valadeo and thank you ranking member Espayat and always a pleasure to be with my good friend the ranking member of the full committee Miss Delora and to all the members of the subcommittee for being with us today. I'd like to begin by associating myself with all of Chairman Valado's opening statements especially with regard to the recent tragedy in Minnesota. Violence has no place in our nation, not in our politics, not in our communities, and not in our values.
▶ 0:19:42The targeted attacks in Minnesota were heartbreaking and deeply disturbing. We stand with the victims, their families, and all those affected as they face this difficult time. Moments like this are stark reminder of the responsibility we carry in this subcommittee, and we will not neglect our duty to safety and security. It's why the legislation before us enhances resources for the House Sergeant-at-Arms and the US Capital Police.
▶ 0:20:09It supports the safety of our constituents, staff, and members both in the capital complex and during in district proceedings. The foundation of our work is serving the American people. And this FY26 bill reflects that commitment through targeted and responsible investments. It sustains functions uh that are core to democracy and upholds the oversight and accountability duties of Congress.
▶ 0:20:34Operations of national institutions are also supported while directing the rep prioritization of core missions. This bill ensures we can both fulfill our article one responsibilities and safeguard taxpayer dollars. I thank Chairman Valadeo, Ranking Member Espayat, and the majority and minority staff for their hard work, and I look forward to advancing this bill. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank you, Chairman. I now recognize the distinguished ranking member of the committee, Mr.
▶ 0:21:04Lauro, for her remarks. Thank you very much, uh, Mr. chairman and I want to uh say a thank you chairman Valadeo to ranking member Espayat to the chair of the full committee indeed my dear friend and to the majority and minority staff for your work on this bill and I especially want to shout out uh FA Cobb. Thank you for all your efforts.
▶ 0:21:24Since taking office, the Trump administration has stolen funding appropriated by our committee passed by the House and the Senate and signed into law by the president for programs and services across the federal government. This bill's drastic cuts and constraints on the Government Accountability Office and the Library of Congress will inhibit our ability to hold government accountable and root out waste and fraud.
▶ 0:21:49The GAO's nonpartisan audits, analyses, investigations are an invaluable asset to the American people in ensuring their government is not running a foul of the law it creates and enforces. GAO is one of our most valuable tools to achieve better efficiency and effectiveness across the government. So, it's astonishing that for all the talk about finding and rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, House Republicans would defund the watchdog that is tasked with precisely that role.
▶ 0:22:20The only plausible explanation is that the majority in the administration to which it is exceedingly loyal is upset that GAO has repeatedly found that the White House is stealing funds away from taxpayers. We as appropriators and as members of Congress cannot tolerate this theft. They would defund the institution that alerts us to government malfeasants.
▶ 0:22:42A few of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have enjoyed the privilege of the administration's attention and with limited success have begged them to unfreeze funding for offices and agencies in their districts. But that is not how the appropriation process should work. Funding your local Social Security office should not depend on the benevolence of the president. Funding is determined by the US Congress.
▶ 0:23:05If the appropriations committee will not stand up and stand together to ensure that the resources we appropriate in law are dispersed so people get the help they need when we are living in a cost of living crisis. Then why are we here? What are we doing this for? How can we possibly move forward without shared agreement that what we do here is write laws? Additionally, House Republicans continued to show disrespect for the United States Capital Police.
▶ 0:23:35Democrats and Republicans supported the creation of a plaque honoring the service and sacrifice of the law enforcement personnel who put their lives on the line to protect our democracy during the January 6th attack on the Capitol. This plaque was supposed to be in place by March 2023. It has been created. An image of it hangs outside my office. But House Republicans refuse to follow the law and hang it in the Capitol.
▶ 0:24:02Instead of using this bill to support the brave men and women who keep us safe, this bill is shamefully silent. The majority has also once again included harmful policy writers that hurt our ability to attract and retain diverse and talented staff. And every one of us knows that it is our staff that keep our names on the door. The bill would create license to discriminate against LGBTQ plus people and block diversity programs.
▶ 0:24:29And I am frustrated that this bill continues to bar DACA recipients from legislative branch employment. This bill would make it more difficult for new moms to work in the legislative branch with fewer protections than they would have working in any other job across the federal government.
▶ 0:24:45These policies make it harder for us to build a workforce as diverse and talented as the country we Before I close, there is another issue looming over this bill, and that is the security for members of Congress. Two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses were shot in their homes, and tragically, Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed.
▶ 0:25:12Political violence should have no place in the United States. But time and again, we have seen horrific incidents targeting elected officials and their families. This is not and should not be a partisan dispute and it demands a nonpartisan response.
▶ 0:25:33As a former chair of the committee, I know that Chairman Cole would have given the subcommittee its allocation and chairman Valido would have had to make most decisions about the contents of the bill prior to the tragic attacks in Minnesota. While there are funds included in the bill to reimburse local law enforcement, we must do far more. We cannot sit silently by and wait for the next attack. Members of Congress must be secure.
▶ 0:26:02Our families should feel safe in their homes. Our staff has been in close contact with the Sergeant-at-Arms, Capitol Police, the Committee on House Administration, and leadership about options to improve our security. Each potential path includes costs that the subcommittee must cover.
▶ 0:26:23As though discussions continue and as we get additional information, the majority must pledge to increase the resources in the bill for security improvements. and the minority and majority need to come together on that issue. Thank you and I yield back. Thank you. Do any other members wish to make any opening remarks? Mr. Hoyer, you're recognized.
▶ 0:27:58I think they can hear me. You cannot credibly say you are committed to government efficiency while backing this bill's more than 50% cut to the Government Accountability Office. Let me also say uh while the words uh I share about what happened in Minnesota about political violence, but the rationalization, the pardons uh and the lack of a plaque directed by Congress to be placed speak much more loudly than the words that we shouldn't have violence in
▶ 0:28:28our politics. Going back to GAO, the nonpartisan independent agency's entire purpose is to ensure the executive branch is using federal funds efficiently and effectively as the Congress intended. No president wants that to happen. Trump's not alone in that effort. It is a shame that we're abandoning that effort to the detriment of our constitution, our institution, and the American people.
▶ 0:28:58It monitors federal programs to see whether they're fulfilling their objectives under the laws established by Congress. The GAO is currently conducting nearly 40 investigations into the White House's effort to illegally and unconstitutionally impound funds. The GAO is the only entity capable of taking legal action to compel the administration to spend impounded funds.
▶ 0:29:28But no, we want to put our handcuffs on ourselves. We want to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. This bill is astonishingly wrongly takes the power away from GAO and thus from the Congress and the American people, allowing the president to divert or stop congressionally directed funding without accountability of legal con consequences contrary to article one.
▶ 0:29:54By backing this legislation, my colleagues across the aisle willfully hand Donald Trump more assigned to the legislative branch by the Constitution. How sad. they will ru the action in the years ahead. This bill also makes government less accountable and less transparent by going after the Library of Congress, cutting its funding by 10% below fiscal year 25. I've spoken to the speaker about this.
▶ 0:30:22The president ought not to be involved with the Library of Congress. It is the library of Congress, not of the executive. They could should neither appoint nor remove the librarian. This bill further weakens the House by making it harder for all of us here to do our jobs effectively for our constituent. It cynically denies members of Congress a cost of living adjustment for 16th year in a row. Those of you who are worth millions perhaps like that.
▶ 0:30:52But if the average person in America wants to serve, they got to be able to afford two houses, two places to live. And we are denying that year after year after year. That is wrong. It is political cowardice. That makes it exceedingly difficult for those who do not come from wealthy to make a decision to come here.
▶ 0:31:15This bill also further diminishes our ability to recruit and retain top talent on our staffs. It fails to bind the House's senior staff salary sealing with the salaries of their peers in the executive branch. a policy the Senate has already adopted.
▶ 0:31:34This legislation also ignores proposed benefit programs for House staff proposals initiated in prior year's bill that includes 529 college savings plan, child care assistance, and support for adoption and fragility treatment. Nor does this bill allow staff of House officers that close down to stay on the payroll for an additional 60 days.
▶ 0:31:56a humane thing to do for them, but also ensuring that the district continues to be represented in an effective way while the special elections occur. All of these changes would make the House a more competitive employer so that we can fulfill our constitutional role.
▶ 0:32:16Instead, this bill flat funds the member's representational allowance and reduces funding for the maintenance, care, and operations of the House by 15% below the fiscal year 25 level, which was frozen at the 24 level.
▶ 0:32:34this bill does not call for the installation of the completed plaque honoring the brave law enforcement officers who protected our capital on January 6 from the political violence that has been decrieded correctly today and inexplicably a front to law enforcement generally and Capitol police in particular. So much for Republicans backing the blue.
▶ 0:32:58This legislation would empower an imperial presidency, our founders's greatest fear, by hamstringing this Congress. Supporting this bill is an act of willful subjugation to this president and all future administrations, all future administrations by members of the Congress. Colleague, we ought not to do that.
▶ 0:33:20Not from a Republican standpoint or a Democratic standpoint, but from an institutional standpoint, from an honoring the founders wanting to create co-equal, not a subjected Congress, but a co-equal Congress. I urge my colleagues to vote against it, not as a Democrat, but as someone who believes in the importance and integrity of this institution, and I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you, Mr. Hoyer.
▶ 0:33:49Anyone else like to speak up on the bill? Seeing no one else and seeing no amendments, I now recognize Mr. Moore for the purpose of making a motion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move the bill be favorably reported to the full committee. Question is on the motion. Those in favor say I. I. Those opposed say no. No. The eyes have it. The motion is agreed to. A recorded vote has been requested. All those in favor for a recorded vote, please raise your hand.
▶ 0:34:20A sufficient number in support. A recorded vote is ordered. The clerk will call the role. Mr. Espayat, no. Mr. Espayat, no. Mr. Hoyer, no. Mr. Hoyer, no. Mr. Loa, yes. Mr. Loa, yes. Miss Mallaloy, yes. Miss Mallaloy, yes. Mr. Moore, yes. Mr. Moore, yes. Mr. Quigley, Mr. Quigley, no. Mr. Strong, yes. Mr. Strong, yes. Mr. Valido I Mr.
▶ 0:34:50Valado I Mr. Cole I Mr. Nicole I Miss Deloro. No. Miss Deloro. On this vote. The eyes are six, the nose are four.
▶ 0:35:20The bill is favorably favorably reported to the committee and I ask unanimous consent that the staff be permitted to make technical and conforming changes to the bill and report without objection. So ordered. Copies of the bill and report with technical and conforming changes will be delivered to all full committee members offices no later than three business days before full committee. Thank you all very much for uh for the markup. here as well.
▶ 0:35:50We don't have 302 bill. Is that correct? You are correct. Can you tell me when we will have the By the end of the week for this bill by the end of the week. I think Thursday, but I'm not sure. All right. Copies of the bill with technical conforming changes will be delivered to all full committee members offices no later than three business days before full committee. Thank you very much, everyone. That concludes our mockup and our committee now stands