Division D — Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to compensate in excess of 600 technical staff-years under the federally funded research and development center contract between the Federal Aviation Administration and the Center for Advanced Aviation Systems Development during fiscal year 2026.

None of the funds made available by this Act shall be used to pursue or adopt guidelines or regulations requiring airport sponsors to provide to the Federal Aviation Administration without cost building construction, maintenance, utilities and expenses, including related accommodation services, or space in airport sponsor-owned buildings for services relating to air traffic control, air navigation, or weather reporting: Provided, That the prohibition on the use of funds in this section does not apply to negotiations between the agency and airport sponsors to achieve agreement on “below-market” rates for these items or to grant assurances that require airport sponsors to provide land without cost to the Federal Aviation Administration for air traffic control facilities.

The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration may reimburse amounts made available to satisfy section 41742(a)(1) of title 49, United States Code, from fees credited under section 45303 of title 49, United States Code, and any amount remaining in such account at the close of any fiscal year may be made available to satisfy section 41742(a)(1) of title 49, United States Code, for the subsequent fiscal year.

Amounts collected under section 40113(e) of title 49, United States Code, shall be credited to the appropriation current at the time of collection, to be merged with and available for the same purposes as such appropriation.

None of the funds made available by this Act shall be available for paying premium pay under section 5546(a) of title 5, United States Code, to any Federal Aviation Administration employee unless such employee actually performed work during the time corresponding to such premium pay.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be obligated or expended for an employee of the Federal Aviation Administration to purchase a store gift card or gift certificate through use of a Government-issued credit card.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds made available under this Act or any prior Act may be used to implement or to continue to implement any limitation on the ability of any owner or operator of a private aircraft to obtain, upon a request to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, a blocking of that owner’s or operator’s aircraft registration number, Mode S transponder code, flight identification, call sign, or similar identifying information from any ground based display to the public that would allow the real-time or near real-time flight tracking of that aircraft’s movements, except data made available to a Government agency, for the noncommercial flights of that owner or operator.

None of the funds made available by this Act shall be available for salaries and expenses of more than nine political and Presidential appointees in the Federal Aviation Administration: Provided, That of the nine political and Presidential appointee positions in the Federal Aviation Administration, not less than one position shall be within each of the following offices and no appointee shall be in any other office: the Office of the Administrator, the Office of the Deputy Administrator, the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of Government and Industry Affairs, the Office of Communications, the Office of Airports, and the Office for Policy, International Affairs, and Environment.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to increase fees pursuant to section 44721 of title 49, United States Code, until the Federal Aviation Administration provides to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations a report that justifies all fees related to aeronautical navigation products and explains how such fees are consistent with Executive Order No. 13642.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to close a regional operations center of the Federal Aviation Administration or reduce its services or personnel unless the Administrator notifies the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations not less than 90 full business days in advance.

None of the funds made available by or limited by this Act may be used to change weight restrictions or prior permission rules at Teterboro airport in Teterboro, New Jersey.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to withhold from consideration and approval any new application for participation in the contract tower program, or for reevaluation of cost-share program participants so long as the Federal Aviation Administration has received an application from the airport, and so long as the Administrator determines such tower is eligible using the factors set forth in Federal Aviation Administration published establishment criteria.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to open, close, redesignate as a lesser office, or reorganize a regional office, the aeronautical center, or the technical center unless the Administrator does so in compliance with section 405 of this Act.

Notwithstanding subsection (a)(7) of section 405, activities creating, reorganizing, or restructuring an organizational unit of the Federal Aviation Administration are not subject to the requirements of section 405 unless those activities would change the organization chart provided as an exhibit to section 1 of the President’s Budget justification.

For an additional amount for “Grants-in-aid for Airports”, up to $3,500,000 shall be available through September 30, 2028, for necessary expenses, including an independent verification regime, to provide reimbursement to airport sponsors that do not provide gateway operations and providers of general aviation ground support services, or other aviation tenants, located at those airports closed during a temporary flight restriction (TFR) for any residence of the President that is designated or identified to be secured by the United States Secret Service, and for direct and incremental financial losses incurred while such airports are closed solely due to the actions of the Federal Government: Provided, That such amounts shall be derived from balances remaining from amounts appropriated for such purposes in prior Acts: Provided further, That such amounts shall not be subject to any limitation on obligations for the Grants-in-Aid for Airports program set forth in any Act: Provided further, That no funds shall be obligated or distributed to airport sponsors that do not provide gateway operations and providers of general aviation ground support services until an independent audit is completed: Provided further, That losses incurred as a result of violations of law, or through fault or negligence, of such operators and service providers or of third parties (including airports) are not eligible for reimbursements: Provided further, That obligation and expenditure of funds are conditional upon full release of the United States Government for all claims for financial losses resulting from such actions.

Section 44502(e) of title 49, United States Code, shall be applied by inserting the following after paragraph (4):

None of the funds in this or any other Act shall be used to plan, design, or implement the privatization or separation of the air traffic organization functions of the Federal Aviation Administration.

None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this or any other Act may be used for the construction of a new Air Traffic Control Training Academy except for the Federal Aviation Administration’s existing Training Academy located at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center.

Notwithstanding section 40122(c) of title 49, United States Code, for this year and thereafter, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, in consultation with the Federal Air Surgeon, may increase the annual rate of basic pay for positions in the Office of Aerospace Medicine requiring a medical degree up to the annual compensation paid under section 102 of title 3, United States Code.

The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration is directed to provide a spend plan and a briefing within 30 days of enactment of this Act, and each month thereafter during fiscal year 2026, to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations on all activities and efforts funded by this Act and section 40003 of Public Law 119–21 for the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control modernization efforts: Provided, That the Administrator shall make available for each briefing the Federal Aviation Administration’s Chief Financial Officer and the Assistant Administrator for Policy, International Affairs, and Environment, and the Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic Organization’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer.

None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Transportation by this Act or any other Act may be obligated or expended to implement, administer, or enforce the requirements of section 31137 of title 49, United States Code, or any regulation issued by the Secretary pursuant to such section, with respect to the use of electronic logging devices by operators of commercial motor vehicles, as defined in section 31132(1) of such title, transporting livestock as defined in section 602 of the Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act of 1988 (7 U.S.C. 1471) or insects.

The Secretary shall update the Department’s regulations to ensure that non-compliance with section 391.11(b)(2) of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, triggers an out-of-service order.

The limitations on obligations for the programs of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration set in this Act shall not apply to obligations for which obligation authority was made available in previous public laws but only to the extent that the obligation authority has not lapsed or been used.

None of the funds provided in this Act may be used to encourage illegal drug or alcohol use in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s impaired driving advertising campaigns.

An additional $130,000 shall be made available to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, out of the amount limited for section 402 of title 23, United States Code, to pay for travel and related expenses for State management reviews and to pay for core competency development training and related expenses for highway safety staff.

The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation is hereby authorized to make such expenditures, within the limits of funds and borrowing authority available to the Corporation, and in accord with law, and to make such contracts and commitments without regard to fiscal year limitations, as provided by section 9104 of title 31, United States Code, as may be necessary in carrying out the programs set forth in the Corporation’s budget for the current fiscal year.

This title may be cited as the “Department of Transportation Appropriations Act, 2026”.

For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of Inspector General in carrying out the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, $144,500,000: Provided, That the Inspector General shall have independent authority over all personnel and acquisition issues within this office.

This title may be cited as the “Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2026”.

None of the funds in this Act shall be used for the planning or execution of any program to pay the expenses of, or otherwise compensate, non-Federal parties intervening in regulatory or adjudicatory proceedings funded in this Act.

None of the funds appropriated in this Act shall remain available for obligation beyond the current fiscal year, nor may any be transferred to other appropriations, unless expressly so provided herein.

The expenditure of any appropriation under this Act for any consulting service through a procurement contract pursuant to section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, shall be limited to those contracts where such expenditures are a matter of public record and available for public inspection, except where otherwise provided under existing law, or under existing Executive Order issued pursuant to existing law.

Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, not to exceed 50 percent of unobligated balances remaining available at the end of fiscal year 2026 from appropriations made available for salaries and expenses for fiscal year 2026 in this Act, shall remain available through September 30, 2027, for each such account for the purposes authorized: Provided, That a request shall be submitted to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations for approval prior to the expenditure of such funds: Provided further, That these requests shall be made in compliance with reprogramming guidelines under section 405 of this Act.

No funds in this Act may be used to support any Federal, State, or local projects that seek to use the power of eminent domain, unless eminent domain is employed only for a public use: Provided, That for purposes of this section, public use shall not be construed to include economic development that primarily benefits private entities: Provided further, That any use of funds for mass transit, railroad, airport, seaport or highway projects, as well as utility projects which benefit or serve the general public (including energy-related, communication-related, water-related and wastewater-related infrastructure), other structures designated for use by the general public or which have other common-carrier or public-utility functions that serve the general public and are subject to regulation and oversight by the government, and projects for the removal of an immediate threat to public health and safety or brownfields as defined in the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act (Public Law 107–118) shall be considered a public use for purposes of eminent domain.

None of the funds made available in this Act may be transferred to any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government, except pursuant to a transfer made by, or transfer authority provided in, this Act or any other appropriations Act.

No funds appropriated pursuant to this Act may be expended by an entity unless the entity agrees that in expending the assistance the entity will comply with sections 2 through 4 of the Act of March 3, 1933 (41 U.S.C. 8301–8305, popularly known as the “Buy American Act”).

No funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this Act shall be made available to any person or entity that has been convicted of violating the Buy American Act (41 U.S.C. 8301–8305).

None of the funds made available in this Act may be used for first-class airline accommodations in contravention of sections 301–10.122 and 301–10.123 of title 41, Code of Federal Regulations.

None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to send or otherwise pay for the attendance of more than 50 employees of a single agency or department of the United States Government, who are stationed in the United States, at any single international conference unless the relevant Secretary reports to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations at least 5 days in advance that such attendance is important to the national interest: Provided, That for purposes of this section the term “international conference” shall mean a conference occurring outside of the United States attended by representatives of the United States Government and of foreign governments, international organizations, or nongovernmental organizations.

None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this Act may be used by the Surface Transportation Board to charge or collect any filing fee for rate or practice complaints filed with the Board in an amount in excess of the amount authorized for district court civil suit filing fees under section 1914 of title 28, United States Code.

None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to pay award or incentive fees for contractors whose performance has been judged to be below satisfactory, behind schedule, over budget, or has failed to meet the basic requirements of a contract, unless the Agency determines that any such deviations are due to unforeseeable events, government-driven scope changes, or are not significant within the overall scope of the project and/or program unless such awards or incentive fees are consistent with 16.401(e)(2) of the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

No part of any appropriation contained in this Act shall be available to pay the salary for any person filling a position, other than a temporary position, formerly held by an employee who has left to enter the Armed Forces of the United States and has satisfactorily completed his or her period of active military or naval service, and has within 90 days after his or her release from such service or from hospitalization continuing after discharge for a period of not more than 1 year, made application for restoration to his or her former position and has been certified by the Office of Personnel Management as still qualified to perform the duties of his or her former position and has not been restored thereto.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used in contravention of existing Federal law regarding non-citizen eligibility and ineligibility for occupancy in federally assisted housing or for participation in and assistance under Federal housing programs, including section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a) and title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).

The Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development shall provide the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations:

Each Department and agency funded in this Act shall maintain on its publicly accessible website:

No later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Departments and agencies funded under this Act shall submit a report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations on current staffing levels for all political and Presidential appointees in such Departments and agencies and categorized by which office within such Departments and agencies such employee is funded from, the office in which such employee carries out their daily work, such employee’s title, and such employee’s pay grade or the equivalent level based on the GS-scale.

The assistance made available under paragraph (5)(B) under the heading “Public and Indian Housing—Tenant-Based Rental Assistance” in title II of this Act shall be known and designated as “The Melania Trump Foster Youth to Independence Initiative”.