by (States Newsroom) Washington The Trump administration’s plans to cut funding for health initiatives, medical research grants, education programs, and Ukraine security assistance were generally rejected by the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations on Thursday.
Instead, senators from both parties criticized the White House’s plan to dissolve the Department of Education and agreed to increase spending in the Defense bill and the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education funding bill for fiscal year 2026.
As Congress prepares for a potential showdown and partial government shutdown when the fiscal year ends on September 30, the backlash against President Donald Trump was noteworthy.
Senators also inserted language in the Labor-HHS-Education budget measure to establish timelines for formula grants to be released to states on schedule, in reaction to the Trump administration’s separate cancellation of grants and freezing of congressionally approved cash.
The measure to finance the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education prioritizes funding to make Americans healthier and supports life-saving medical research through targeted spending, according to Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine.
The bill gives HHS $116.6 billion, which is $446 million more than it received in the prior fiscal year. According to a Democratic summary, it includes a $100 million increase for Alzheimer’s disease research and a $150 million increase for cancer research, as well as a prohibition on an administration cap on indirect expenditures at the National Institutes of Health. An ongoing case seeks a permanent injunction to limit the amount of indirect costs that NIH pays to medical schools and research colleges.
Senators voted to provide the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention $9.1 billion instead of the $4.2 billion that Trump’s budget proposal had reduced.
Nearly $12.4 billion for Head Start and $8.8 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant are also included.
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state, the committee’s senior Democrat, stated that although the bill rejects many of the Trump administration’s funding cuts, it is only half the solution.
According to her, the current administration is determined to demolish family-supporting programs and agencies by disobeying Congress, breaching the law, and acting in an opaque manner. That regrettable fact cannot be altered by a miraculous bullet.
Murray also bemoaned the lack of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the measure. Over the next two years, Trump withdrew $1.1 billion in previously approved money for the organization that finances NPR and PBS by sending what is known as a rescissions request to Congress, which was granted by both chambers.
By a bipartisan vote of 26-3, the Labor-HHS-Education funding measure for fiscal year 2026 was approved by the Senate committee.
By a vote of 26-3, senators also approved the fiscal year 2026 defense appropriations measure.
Dismantling of Education Department spurned
According to Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, the top Democrat on the spending panel that deals with Labor-HHS-Education spending, the bill text tightens requirements so that the Education Department’s staffing levels must be sufficient to carry out the agency’s missions and that its work cannot be outsourced to other agencies or departments to fulfill statutory responsibilities.
Earlier this year, the agency saw a reduction in force, or RIF, that affected large areas of the department and killed over 1,300 employees. Earlier in July, the Supreme Court gave the agency permission to temporarily move forward with the huge layoffs.
Additionally, the law allocates $5.78 billion for School Improvement activities, which fund a variety of projects, including STEM education, rural education, before- and after-school activities, and college and career counseling.
The committee approved $79 billion in discretionary funding for the Education Department, despite Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal calling for $12 billion in spending cutbacks.
In June, Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke before the Senate Labor-HHS-Education subcommittee, defending Trump’s expansive ideas.
Murray referred to the president’s plan to defund the Department of Education as “ridiculous” during Thursday’s markup.
Murray stated, “I still hope that we can do more to demand accountability, transparency, and that this administration actually complies with our laws.” As everyone knows, President Trump is unable to abolish the Department of Education or transfer educational initiatives to other organizations. That is prevented by authorizing laws.
Since Trump entered office, the agency has seen an overwhelming number of cuts and changes as he and his team seek to demolish the department and drastically restructure the federal role in education.
The measure keeps the Pell Grant’s maximum annual award at $7,395 from the prior award year. Low-income students can pay for college with the help of the government subsidies.
The maximum award would have been reduced by almost $1,700 as part of Trump’s budget proposal.
Health spending
According to Baldwin, the bill as a whole is a compromise. She cited the agreement between Republicans and Democrats to add $20 million for substance abuse recovery and $2 million for the 988 Suicide hotline.
In order to help states combat the opioid crisis, the spending measure will also allocate $1.6 billion for State Opioid Response Funds, which are based on a formula.
Instead, senators approved a more than $400 million increase in spending for a total of $48.7 billion, rejecting the Trump administration’s proposal to reduce National Institutes of Health research by 40%.
Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia expressed gratitude to the committee for working across party lines to oppose significant Trump cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in his home state.
Ossoff stated, “I made it very clear that I would not accept the destruction of the CDC.” I appreciate that this committee’s Republicans and Democrats are working together to protect this important Georgia-based institution.
Medical research advocates applauded the law.
Special thanks should be given to Chair Collins and Vice Chair Murray for taking the initiative to make this a top priority. Lisa Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said in a statement that it is really gratifying to see that the thousands of ACS CAN volunteers from all across the nation who have been writing to their senators on this subject have had their voices heard.
AmeriCorps, Job Corps funding sustained
Additionally, Trump’s budget proposal called for 4.6 billion in Department of Labor expenditure cuts.
Additionally, the spending bill keeps $1.76 billion in financing for Job Corps, a residential program that prepares young adults for careers.
The goal of Trump’s budget request was to completely discontinue the program.
According to a summary of the budget request, the administration claims the program is financially unsustainable, has an excessive cost per participant, jeopardizes young adults’ safety, and has frequently left participants in worse financial standing.
In order to alleviate staffing shortages, the funding package also contains $15 billion for the Social Security Administration, which is $100 million more than the president’s budget request.
Additionally, the administration suggested dismantling AmeriCorps.
Senators, however, maintained AmeriCorps’ $1.25 billion fiscal year 2026 spending level.
Defense spending also increased
The president’s budget proposal was increased in the defense appropriations spending measure for fiscal year 2026 that senators worked on.
The head of the Defense Appropriations Committee, Sen. Mitch McConnell, stated, “I believe that both the previous administration and this administration have underestimated the level of challenge that we have.”
The plan offers $851.9 billion for fiscal year 2026, according to the Republican from Kentucky.
He claimed that because we cannot effectively address these issues while artificially limiting our resources, such as the war in Ukraine and the problems in the Middle East, the topline is greater than the president’s budget proposal.
Additionally, the bill opposes the Trump administration’s attempt to reduce financing for Ukraine’s conflict with Russia.
“Our military’s efforts to prepare for the modern battlefield would be undermined if we shut off engagement with Ukraine,” McConnell added.
Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, proposed an amendment to the defense funding bill during markup that would mandate the Department of Homeland Security compensate the Department of Defense for expenses related to immigration enforcement.
The U.S. military and immigration enforcement are intertwined as the Trump administration seeks to implement its plans for mass deportations of individuals without permanent legal status. This includes housing immigrants on the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba military base and using the National Guard to put an end to immigration protests in Los Angeles.
According to Durbin, DHS has already cost the Defense Department $900 million in personnel expenses and housing expenditures for foreign nationals on military installations.
According to Durbin, the Department of Defense spent $40 million over three months to house 180 people on Guantanamo Bay.
By a vote of 14 to 15, his amendment was rejected.
