HR 4553 Passed in the House – FY 2026 EWR Spending

Today the House completed their consideration of HR 4553, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026. The House began consideration of the bill yesterday and took up a combined total of 36 amendments. None of the amendments were of specific interest here; the Chinese grid equipment amendment I mentioned earlier was not added to the list of amendments in the House Report on H Res 672, the rule for the consideration of this HR 4553. The bill passed by a final near-party-line vote of 214 to 213. Four Republicans voted against the bill.

The bill now moves to the Senate. If the Senate were to take up HR 4553 as passed in the House, it would almost certainly not get the 60 votes necessary for passage in that body. What normally happens, however, is that the Senate substitutes language from their version of the bill and uses that as the base for their amendment processes. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet passed their version of the EWR spending bill. The Committee has been producing strongly bipartisan spending bills in this session; the same would be expected for this bill.

Review – HR 4553 Introduced – FY 2026 EWR Spending

Back in July Rep Fleischmann introduced HR 4553, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026. The House Appropriations Committee published their Report on the bill. There is a single cybersecurity mention in the bill. The Report contains a number of cybersecurity, chemical and counter unmanned aircraft systems discussion.

This bill is similar to HR 8997 that was introduced by Rep Fleischmann (R,TN) in July of 2024. The House Appropriations Committee published their Report on the bill and consideration of the bill began in the House, but no final vote was ever taken.

Moving Forward

The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow afternoon to formulate the rule for the consideration of HR 4553. The Rules Committee will determine which of the 82 amendments proposed to date will be considered during the consideration of the bill on the floor of the House.

The House is scheduled to consider the bill under that rule on Wednesday or Thursday. Even if this bill is passed in the House this week, it would be unlikely to be considered in the Senate before the end of the month. There is too much on the Senate’s plate and the focus is going to be on crafting a passable continuing resolution.

Commentary

Last year the House leadership could not get HR 8997 to a final vote in the House. The radical right would not support the bill because it did not cut spending enough. It does not look like enough spending changes were made to this bill to change that opposition. The difference this year is that the President is looking for a spending bill win leading up to the negotiations on a CR to keep the government operating past September   30^th. Failure to pass this bill will weaken the Republican’s discussion position with respect to the Democrats.

 

For more details about the cybersecurity, chemical, and cUAS provisions of this bill, as well as a discussion about the Democratic opposition, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-4553-introduced-fy-2026-ewr-spending - subscription required.

Review - Bills Introduced – 7-21-25

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session, there were 50 bills introduced. Three of those bills may receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 4552 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies [THUD] Appropriations Act, 2026 Womack, Steve [Rep.-R-AR-3].

HR 4553 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies [EWR] Appropriations Act, 2026 Fleischmann, Charles J. "Chuck" [Rep.-R-TN-3] 

HR 4579 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide for the mitigation of cybersecurity risks by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and for other purposes. Thompson, Bennie G. [Rep.-D-MS-2]

For more information on these bills, including legislative history for similar bills in the 118th, as well as a mention of two bills in passing (a slap at the Wall Street Journal and a hurricane warning study) see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/bills-introduced-7-21-25 - subscription required.