H.R. 4249 — Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2026

This section limits appropriations under this Act for House of Representatives Members’ Representational Allowances—funds available to each Member (i.e., Representative, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner) for official office expenses such as staff salaries and travel—to availability only in FY2026. It further requires deposit of any remaining amounts after FY2026 payments into the Treasury for deficit reduction (or Federal debt reduction if no deficit exists) and authorizes the Committee on House Administration to prescribe implementing regulations.

This section prohibits the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives from using funds provided in this Act to make payments from any Members' Representational Allowance for leasing a vehicle—excluding mobile district offices—that exceed $1,000 per vehicle in any month.

This section requires the head of any federal entity providing cybersecurity assistance to the House of Representatives to ensure constitutional separation of powers at all stages of such assistance, including by applying minimization procedures to limit the spread or sharing of privileged House and Member information.

This section excludes the House of Representatives from the definition of federal fleets required to acquire alternative fueled vehicles under the Energy Policy Act of 1992, effective for FY2026 and succeeding fiscal years. (As background, the Act requires certain federal, state, and fuel provider fleets to include specified percentages of alternative fueled vehicles—such as electric, natural gas, or propane vehicles—to promote energy security and reduce petroleum dependence; previously, the House was included only for acquisitions described in former paragraph (2)(C).)

This section expands allowable uses of funds from the House Services Revolving Fund for the House Employees' Child Care Center (i.e., a facility providing child care services to children of House employees) for FY2026 and succeeding fiscal years by (1) authorizing payments for telecommunications expenses—including voicemail boxes, land lines, and cell phones—for Center employees in connection with child care services and critical or emergent communications, and (2) including salaries for assistant directors (in addition to the director).

This section prohibits the obligation, award, or expenditure of FY2026 funds by a Member, committee, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives to procure or purchase covered information technology equipment—defined as a computer, printer, or interoperable videoconferencing equipment for direct office use (excluding related services such as cloud services)—if the manufacturer, bidder, offeror, or any subsidiary or parent entity is listed on any of the following: (1) the Department of Defense Chinese Military Company List; (2) the Department of the Treasury Non-SDN Chinese Military Industrial Complex Companies List; (3) the Department of Commerce Denied Persons List, Entity List, or Military End User List, if the entity is an agency or instrumentality of the People's Republic of China (PRC), headquartered in the PRC, or owned or controlled by such an entity; or (4) the Department of Homeland Security Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. The prohibition applies to both direct procurements and contracts with third parties for such equipment.

This section requires prior approval from the Capitol Police Board for any Capitol Police employee to receive federal law enforcement training outside the United States under 5 U.S.C. §4120, effective for FY2026 and succeeding fiscal years. It defines “United States” as the several states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories and possessions.

This section modifies appointment, reporting, and removal authorities for senior U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) positions. Specifically, it (1) changes the reference from "the Assistant Chief of Police" to "an Assistant Chief of Police"; (2) requires the Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel to report to the USCP Chief and serve at the pleasure of the USCP Chief and Capitol Police Board, with their appointments requiring Capitol Police Board approval (previously after consultation with the Board); (3) adds requirements that Deputy Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs be designated only with Capitol Police Board approval and serve at the pleasure of the USCP Chief and Capitol Police Board. The changes apply to individuals serving in these positions on or after enactment.

This section prohibits the use of appropriated funds by the Architect of the Capitol to make incentive or award payments to contractors for work on contracts or programs that are behind schedule or over budget, unless the Architect or an agency-employed designee determines that such deviations result from unforeseeable events, government-driven scope changes, or are not significant relative to the overall project or program.

This section authorizes the Architect of the Capitol to (1) enter into cooperative agreements, subject to approval by the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, with entities under terms the Architect determines advisable to support the Capitol Grounds and Arboretum in carrying out its duties, authorities, and mission; and (2) engage in plant material exchanges with federal, state, or local government agencies, botanic gardens, arboretums, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, municipal parks, and gardens. The section applies beginning in FY2026.

This section limits the Library of Congress's obligational authority for reimbursable and revolving fund activities funded from non-appropriation sources to $332,285,000 for FY2026.

This section prohibits the use of funds appropriated by this Act for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in civil actions under section 1016 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 687)—which authorizes GAO's Comptroller General to sue for release of budget authority improperly deferred or rescinded by the President—unless Congress adopts a concurrent resolution authorizing such action. (Thus, GAO requires explicit congressional approval via concurrent resolution before using these funds to challenge executive impoundments in court.)

This section prohibits the use of funds appropriated in this Act for the maintenance or care of private vehicles, except for emergency assistance and cleaning as provided under regulations relating to House parking facilities issued by the Committee on House Administration and Senate parking facilities issued by the Committee on Rules and Administration.

This section establishes the compensation rates, position designations, official expenses of Members, officers, and committees, and clerk hire allowances provided in this Act as permanent law with respect to congressional offices and positions, superseding the Legislative Pay Act of 1929 where they differ or are newly appropriated for.

This section limits the expenditure of appropriations under this Act for consulting services procured by contract under 5 U.S.C. § 3109 to those contracts where such expenditures are a matter of public record and available for public inspection, except as otherwise provided by existing law or executive order.

This section authorizes legislative branch entities participating in the Legislative Branch Financial Managers Council (LBFMC)—established by charter on March 26, 1996—to use administrative expense funds to finance an allocated share of LBFMC costs as determined by the council and entities, not to exceed $2,000 total.

This section prohibits the transfer of funds appropriated by this Act to any other department, agency, or instrumentality of the U.S. government, except as expressly provided in this Act or any other appropriations Act.

This section prohibits the Architect of the Capitol from using appropriated funds to eliminate or restrict guided tours of the U.S. Capitol led by employees and interns of Members' offices and other House and Senate offices, except as authorized by regulations under section 402(b)(8) of the Capitol Visitor Center Act of 2008. The section allows temporary suspension or restriction of such tours for security or related reasons, at the direction of the Capitol Police Board or the Architect with Board approval, to the same extent as tours led by the Architect.

This section prohibits using funds made available by the Act to maintain or establish a computer network unless the network blocks the viewing, downloading, and exchanging of pornography. The prohibition does not apply to funds necessary for federal, state, tribal, or local law enforcement agencies or other entities carrying out criminal investigations, prosecutions, adjudications, or other official government activities.

This section prohibits agency heads from using appropriated funds to procure, extend contracts for, or enter contracts involving equipment, systems, or services that use covered telecommunications equipment or services (i.e., produced by or services from Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, Dahua, affiliates, or entities owned/controlled by or connected to the government of a foreign adversary country, as defined in 10 U.S.C. §4872(d)) as a substantial or essential component or critical technology, effective FY2026 for direct procurement and FY2027 for contracts with entities using such equipment. A parallel prohibition applies to loan and grant funds beginning FY2027, with priority for funding and technical support to aid transitions to replacement equipment while sustaining service; exceptions apply to third-party interconnection services (e.g., backhaul, roaming) and equipment unable to route/redirect or access user data. Agency heads may issue a one-time waiver for up to two years upon receiving a compelling justification and a detailed phase-out plan, which must be submitted to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees within 30 days.

This section provides that, for purposes of 5 U.S.C. §13144 (which limits compensation Members of Congress may receive from the practice of medicine or dentistry), the relationship between a Member providing direct medical or dental care and the patient is not a fiduciary relationship. The amendment applies to compensation received in FY2026 or any succeeding fiscal year.

This section prohibits the use of funds appropriated by this Act for any office, program, or activity conducting diversity, equity, and inclusion training or implementation that promotes or perpetuates divisive concepts related to race or sex, such as that one race or sex is inherently superior to another or that an individual's moral character or worth is determined by the individual's race or sex.

This section prohibits the use of funds appropriated by this Act or prior appropriations Acts to take discriminatory action against any person wholly or partially on the basis that the person speaks or acts in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as a union of one man and one woman. Discriminatory action includes (1) altering federal tax treatment, assessing taxes or penalties, or denying, delaying, or revoking tax-exempt status under IRC §501(a); (2) disallowing deductions for charitable contributions; (3) withholding, reducing, excluding, terminating, or denying federal grants, contracts, loans, scholarships, licenses, employment, or similar positions; (4) withholding, reducing, excluding, terminating, or denying federal entitlements or benefits, including equal treatment in educational programs; or (5) withholding, reducing, excluding, terminating, or denying access to federal property, facilities, educational institutions, speech fora, or charitable fundraising campaigns. This section further requires the federal government to deem accredited, licensed, or certified for federal law purposes any person who would be so absent a determination wholly or partially based on such beliefs.

This section prohibits a cost-of-living adjustment for Members of Congress' salaries during FY2026.

This section prohibits the use of funds provided by this Act to lease, procure, or acquire vehicles if the manufacturer, bidder, or offeror is (1) owned by, controlled by, or organized under the laws of the People's Republic of China, including BYD Auto Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd., or any subsidiary or affiliate thereof; or (2) included on the list maintained by the Secretary of Defense under section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (10 U.S.C. 113 note)—i.e., certain Chinese military-civil fusion or Communist Chinese military companies—including Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL), or any subsidiary or affiliate thereof.

This section permits entities to use amounts appropriated or otherwise made available under this Act to pay compensation to officers or employees without regard to their immigration status, provided the individual holds an employment authorization document under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as set forth in the Department of Homeland Security's August 24, 2022, final rule.