HR 8029 Passed in House – FY 2026 DHS Spending

This afternoon the House considered HR 8029, the Pay Our Homeland Defenders Act, under a closed rule. After an hour and 20 minutes of debate, the House passed the bill by a near party line vote of 218 to 206. Four Democrats and one Independent vote Aye. The bill now goes to the Senate where it will suffer the same problems as HR 7147, the nearly identical bill that was passed in the House on January 22^nd, 2026, but has not been able to gain the 60 votes needed for passage in the Senate.

HR 8029 Introduced – FY 2026 DHS Spending

Last week Rep Ciscomani (R,AZ) introduced HR 8029, the Pay Our Homeland Defenders Act. This bill would provide for spending for the Department of Homeland Security through September 30^th, 2026. For the most part this bill is the same as HR 7147, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026, that is still being ‘considered’ in the Senate.

One provision from HR 7147 is not found in this new bill, §554, Repeal of Senate Notification Requirements Relating to Legal Process on Disclosures of Senate Data. The same provision was included in HR 7148 {§105, Division H}, the last FY 2026 minibus spending bill that was passed in February.

HR 8029 includes the actual text of the spending bill as Division A of the bill. Division B, Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026, addresses the period of no funding since February 13^th, 2026. It provides the legal language authorizing back pay for DHS employees, and other obligations made by the Department during that period.

The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow to formulate the rule for the consideration of this bill.

Review – Bills Introduced – 3-20-26

Yesterday, with the Senate in Washington and the House meeting in pro forma session, there were 12 bills introduced. One of those bills will receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 8029 Pay Our Homeland Defenders Act Ciscomani, Juan [Rep.-R-AZ-6]

 

For more information on these bills, including legislative history for similar bills in the 118^th Congress, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/bills-introduced-3-20-26  - subscription required.