In a somewhat surprising move, the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved an appropriations bill for the federal government’s fiscal year 2026 that includes $105,976,000 for OFCCP’s “salaries and expenses.”
This is notable because the budget proposed by the White House earlier this year “zeroed-out” spending for the OFCCP and the administration has been busy dismantling the agency.
The federal budget process begins with a budget proposal from the White House, then Congress works to pass a budget resolution that sets the overall spending levels for the federal government. That resolution recently passed the House and is known colloquially as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
Specific appropriations are generally hashed out by the Senate Appropriations Committee, which then sends a draft bill to the Senate floor for a vote by the full Senate. This is where things stand today with regard to spending for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (and related agencies) and specifically the OFCCP budget.
Assuming the Appropriation Committee’s bill passes the Senate, it will likely then go to a Conference Committee, comprised of House and Senate members convened to reconcile differences with the One Big Beautiful Bill. The Conference Committee works to produce a compromise bill that can be passed by both chambers of Congress. Once a final version is passed, it is sent to the President for signature.
The Senate appears to be rejecting President Trump’s proposed elimination of the OFCCP, though a lot can happen in reconciliation, so it remains to be seen whether OFCCP has a future beyond fiscal 2025, which ends August 31. We will continue to monitor the situation and bring you further developments.