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The goal of this email is to provide a regular source of useful information to staff and faculty of the Â鶹Éç regarding the federal government and higher education. We have put together a list of news articles that will keep you informed of the actions taken by the executive, legislative, and judicial branch of government. These articles are meant to be informative and are not a reflection of the views or stance of the system regarding these issues.
If you would like more information regarding any of the stories we share, or if you have any suggestions, please feel free to contact Dusty Schnieders schniedersd@umsystem.edu and/or Emily Lucas el59bz@umsystem.edu.
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Appropriations News
House Appropriations – June 5, 2026
The House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee approved its FY27 Homeland Security funding bill, with Chairman Mark Amodei and Chairman Tom Cole framing the measure as focused on DHS’s core missions rather than duplicating the nearly $191 billion provided in the first reconciliation package. The bill funds 22,000 Border Patrol agents, maintains 41,500 ICE detention beds, and provides $40 million for body worn cameras for DHS law enforcement, double last year’s level. It also increases Coast Guard funding, including $135 million to expand its Indo Pacific footprint to counter China, $48 million for facility maintenance, and $45 million for maintenance shortfalls, while also supporting cyber defense, maritime domain awareness, unmanned systems, and technology modernization.
House Appropriations – June 5, 2026
The House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee approved its FY27 funding bill, with Chairman Robert Aderholt and Chairman Tom Cole framing the measure as a balance between fiscal restraint and targeted investments in biomedical research, education, rural health care, public health preparedness, and biodefense. Aderholt said the bill takes a line by line approach to federal programs, reducing or eliminating lower priority efforts while increasing support for biodefense infrastructure, rural hospitals, basic science, and Pell Grants. Cole emphasized that the bill focuses federal resources on programs with measurable results, including medical research, workforce training, public health preparedness, and educational opportunity, while eliminating duplication and restoring agencies to their core missions.
A summary of the bill is available .
Bill text is available .
CPF tables available here.
The House passed H.R. 8646, the FY27 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, by a narrow 213 to 210 vote. The bill provides $26.27 billion in discretionary funding, which is $380 million, or 1.4 percent, below FY26 enacted levels, while prioritizing agriculture research, rural development, food and drug safety, nutrition programs, and support for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. Republican appropriators highlighted provisions to strengthen national security by improving tracking of foreign owned agricultural land, adding USDA to CFIUS reviews of agricultural transactions, increasing USDA homeland security funding, increasing inspection of foreign drug manufacturing facilities, supporting land grant agricultural research, maintaining Buy American provisions, and eliminating funding for certain Biden era climate and rural initiatives.
Bill text, before adoption of amendments, is available .
Bill report, before adoption of amendments, is available .
A table of included Community Project Funding requests is available .
Capitol Hill News
This week, the House Armed Services Committee advanced its FY27 NDAA on a strong bipartisan vote, authorizing $1.15 trillion for the Pentagon, while the House also narrowly passed the FY27 Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.
In the Senate, Republican leaders faced a difficult week managing internal divisions but ultimately passed a $69.5 billion budget reconciliation package early Friday morning to fund ICE and Border Patrol operations through 2029. The bill passed 52 to 47, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski as the lone Republican voting no, after an 18-hour vote-a-rama focused largely on concerns over the Trump administration’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti- weaponization” fund. The package now moves to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson plans to bring it up next week. Senate Republicans also suffered a setback on FISA Section 702, failing to clear a key procedural vote and raising concerns that the surveillance program could lapse before its deadline.
Yahoo News – June 5, 2026
The House Ways and Means Committee, Chaired by Congressman Jason Smith, is circulating seven draft bills aimed at overhauling how digital assets are taxed, with a focus on three areas: stablecoins, staking and mining, and crypto lending. The proposals would provide tax relief or clarity for routine crypto payment transactions, allow miners and validators to defer income recognition until rewards are sold, extend securities lending rules to digital assets, apply wash sale rules to crypto, and simplify some charitable donation rules for liquid tokens. The package comes ahead of a June 9 committee hearing on digital asset taxation and reflects a broader push to create clearer tax rules for crypto while also addressing potential loopholes and revenue concerns.
Front Office Sports News – June 4, 2026
The Protect College Sports Act is a 111-page bipartisan bill that touches nearly every broken thing in college athletics right now, from the transfer portal to NIL pay-for-play to a provision that would allow schools to pool their media rights and sell them together. Sen. Eric Schmitt (R., Mo.) is a cosponsor and one of the architects of the bill, and he explains why he believes these issues are all connected and why Congress is the only entity that can actually fix them. The Senate Commerce Committee just held a hearing on the bill, and before it even happened, the SEC and the Big Ten came out saying they could not support it as written. The next step is a markup and committee vote that could happen as early as next week, with June being the most critical window before the August recess and fall campaign season closes off the timeline.
Townhall – June 3, 2026
The next reconciliation bill will have a focus on mismanagement of taxpayer dollars, Speaker Mike Johnson proclaimed. Johnson also previously said the House could potentially add on the SAVE America Act, which already passed the House but struggles to make it out of the Senate due to the 60-vote threshold. However, the provisions included in the bill must meet certain parameters in order to be included. Congressman Burlison has called for rising healthcare costs to be addressed specifically HSA accounts.
Committee on Education & Workforce – June 3, 2026
Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development held a hearing to examine how artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting higher education. This was the in a series examining artificial intelligence. Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO) asked witnesses how to prevent students from outsourcing critical thinking skills to AI.
Eric Schmitt U.S. Senator for Missouri – June 2, 2026
U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) announced a $30 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration that will be used by St. Louis Lambert International Airport to help pay for the construction of a new electricity facility to consolidate its two terminals into one. The grant Senator Schmitt helped secure will modernize the oldest continuously running commercial terminal in the country.
Federal News
Fox Business – June 4, 2026
President Donald Trump is expected to announce a nearly $700 million initiative aimed at supporting the U.S. coal industry, including funding for power plant upgrades, new projects and export infrastructure. According to a White House official, Trump plans to invoke the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era law that grants presidents broad authority over industries considered vital to national security, to direct federal support to coal projects across the country.
The announcement could come during a White House event focused on what the administration has called "beautiful clean coal."
Congressional Calendar
House Appropriations Committee Releases FY27 Markup Schedule
The House Committee on Appropriations Chair Tom Cole released the markup schedule for FY2027 appropriations bills.
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Bill
- at 11am on Tuesday, June 9
Defense
- Subcommittee Markup at 9am on Thursday, June 11 (Classified)
- at 11am on Wednesday, June 24