Review – S 2256 Introduced – FY 2026 ARD Spending

Last week Sen Hoeven (R,ND) introduced S 2256, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (ARD) Appropriations Act, 2026. The Senate Appropriations Committee published their Report on the bill. There is one cybersecurity spending mention in the bill and a separate agricultural cybersecurity discussion in the Report. There is also a UAS utilization discussion in the Report

This bill is similar to S 4690, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025, that was introduced by Sen Heinrich (D,NM) in July, 2024. No action was taken in the Senate on that bill or its House counterpart. The current House version of this legislation is HR 4121, no action has been taken on that bill to date.

Moving Forward

As with any Senate drafted spending bill, this bill will almost certainly not be considered on the floor of the Senate. Instead, if/when HR 4121 is considered in the Senate, the language of the this bill will be offered as substitute language that would subsequently be amended in floor debate and votes. If the revised version of passes in the Senate, a conference committee would be established to work out the differences between the two bills.

 

For more information about the cybersecurity and UAS provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-2256-introduced-fy-2026-ard-spending - subscription required.