Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2027

Full Title:
Making appropriations for the Legislative Branch for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2027, and for other purposes.

Summary#

This bill is the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2027. It sets funding levels and rules for the House of Representatives, the Senate-related joint offices, the Architect of the Capitol, the Capitol Police, the Library of Congress and its units, the Government Publishing Office, the Government Accountability Office, the Congressional Budget Office, and several smaller legislative branch programs. The main goal is to fund the operations, security, buildings, and services that support Congress and related institutions for the year ending September 30, 2027.

  • Major funding totals: the bill specifies multi-hundred-million and billion-dollar appropriations across agencies (see Expenses for a rounded total).
  • House operations: provides money for Member offices, leadership offices, committee staff, interns, administrative offices, and a House modernization account.
  • Security and buildings: funds the Capitol Police, Capitol maintenance and power plant, visitor center, office buildings, and Capitol grounds work.
  • Library and support offices: funds the Library of Congress (including Copyright Office, Congressional Research Service, and the National Library Service) and the Government Publishing Office.
  • Policy rules included: limits on leasing vehicles from Member allowances, bans on buying certain foreign-linked tech for specified uses, prohibition of using funds to access pornography on networks, requirement that some misconduct training be done in person for Members under certain public ethics reviews, and changes to how the Librarian of Congress and GPO Director are appointed.
  • What is unclear: the bill specifies many dollar amounts and some new rules but does not always explain how new rules will be implemented or how much additional administrative work they will create.

What it means for you#

  • Members of Congress and their staff

    • Funding is provided for member office operations, clerk hire, official expenses, and intern pay. Some amounts are set to remain available beyond the fiscal year.
    • Members’ representational allowances must be used by December 31, 2028, and any leftover money after final payments is to be deposited to reduce the federal deficit or debt.
    • Members cannot use their representational allowance to lease a vehicle (except mobile district offices) costing more than $1,000 per month in aggregate.
    • Members under a publicly disclosed House Ethics Committee review must complete required workplace misconduct training in person.

  • Congressional committees and staff

    • Appropriations for committee staff, standing and select committees, and for the Appropriations Committee are specified, including multi-year availability for some committee room upgrades and staffing.
    • A House Modernization Initiatives Account receives funding for technology or other modernization projects approved by the House committee named in the bill.

  • Capitol Police and security

    • Funding to hire, pay, and equip Capitol Police is provided, with overtime caps unless Appropriations Committees are notified.
    • The bill bars purchasing drones made in the People’s Republic of China (or by affiliated businesses) for most uses, except for national security purposes.

  • Architect of the Capitol and building users

    • Money is provided for maintenance and operations of the Capitol, office buildings, grounds, power plant, visitor center, and related facilities. Some funds remain available until expended for longer-term projects.
    • The bill bans incentive or award payments to contractors who are behind schedule or over budget on Architect of the Capitol projects, with limited exceptions.

  • Library of Congress, Copyright Office, CRS, and users

    • Annual funding is set for library operations, copyright operations (with some fees from collections permitted), Congressional Research Service work, and services for the blind and print disabled.
    • The Copyright Office is directed to dedicate at least a specific amount to modernization initiatives.

  • Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

    • Funding is provided to support GAO and CBO work, including specific requirements to improve transparency and modeling tools at CBO.

  • Members of the public and visitors

    • The Architect of the Capitol cannot eliminate or broadly restrict guided tours led by congressional office employees and interns except under certain security directions; tours may be suspended temporarily for security reasons.

Expenses#

Estimated public cost: about $5.5 billion in discretionary appropriations for fiscal year 2027 (rounded sum of the main agency line items in the bill).

  • Major line items include:
    • House of Representatives (salaries and expenses and related items): about $2.1 billion.
    • Capitol Police (salaries and general expenses): about $908 million combined.
    • Architect of the Capitol and related building operations: about $689 million across multiple building and grounds accounts.
    • Library of Congress and related units (Library, Copyright Office, CRS, National Library Service): about $923 million combined.
    • Government Accountability Office: about $612 million.
    • Government Publishing Office and public information programs: about $132 million.
    • Congressional Budget Office and several joint committees and smaller funds: roughly $80 million plus several small program payments.
  • Some amounts are marked “available until expended” or available over multiple years, meaning obligations can extend beyond fiscal 2027.
  • The bill does not present a separate broader fiscal offset plan beyond directing leftover member allowance funds toward deficit reduction after final payment dates.

If a precise, certified total cost or Congressional Budget Office fiscal estimate is available elsewhere, that would be the official number; the above total is a rounded sum of the appropriations listed in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

The bill appears intended to do the following:

  • Provide stable funding so Congress and its supporting institutions can operate in 2027 (staff pay, buildings, security, research, and publishing).
  • Maintain and improve security for Members, staff, and the Capitol complex by funding Capitol Police operations and capital security work.
  • Modernize congressional operations by funding a House modernization account and directing funds to technological upgrades in offices like the Copyright Office and CBO systems.
  • Limit procurement from foreign-linked firms identified on specific government lists to reduce supply-chain security risks for certain equipment.
  • Strengthen oversight and accountability of Architect of the Capitol contracts by preventing incentive awards when contractors are behind schedule or over budget.
  • Require in-person misconduct training for Members who are publicly under House Ethics review, which supporters may view as enhancing accountability or seriousness of training.

Opponents' View#

One concern is that the bill increases or continues multi-billion dollar spending without an explicit offset in this text beyond depositing unspent member allowance money after a later date.

  • The restrictions on buying “covered information technology equipment” and bans on certain vendors may complicate procurement and narrow vendor choices, possibly raising costs or slowing replacements; it is not always detailed how exceptions will be handled.
  • The new appointment process for the Librarian of Congress and the GPO Director (appointment and removal by a congressional commission) may raise questions about independence, practical details, and implementation that the bill does not fully explain.
  • Requiring in-person training for Members under public ethics review could create scheduling or logistical issues and the bill does not specify enforcement or exceptions.
  • Several provisions direct that leftover member allowance funds be used for deficit reduction only after payments end in 2028; it is unclear how large those carryovers might be or how they interact with regular budget processes.
  • Some language (for example, cybersecurity assistance “minimization procedures”) sets a standard but leaves details of how compliance will be monitored or enforced unspecified.

If you want, I can pull out or compare specific dollar lines, show where particular rules appear in the bill text, or explain any single provision in more detail.