A three-bill minibus appropriations bill that includes fiscal 2026 funds for Energy and Water development, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Department of Energy passed the House floor 397-28 Thursday.
The bill was released by top appropriators in the Senate and House Monday on both sides of the aisle. Congress has until Jan. 30 to either get all twelve spending plans passed or pass another stopgap spending bill, lest the government shut down again due to a lapse in funding.
“Today, the House of Representatives passed a measure that chooses progress over retreat,” Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) said in a Thursday statement. “The Energy and Water legislation that now goes to the Senate provides a critical $2.4 Billion increase over last year to address rising energy and water bills for American families, climate-caused shortages in the West, and increased flooding coast to coast. I thank my colleagues for their overwhelming bipartisan support for this bill, and I urge the Senate to move with haste to get this legislation to the President’s desk to be signed into law.”
In the minibus package, the Office of Nuclear Energy’s $1.785 billion, which is $100 million above fiscal 2025 enacted level, focuses heavily on its Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability program and “repurposes previously appropriated funds to accelerate advanced reactor and small modular reactor demonstration projects,” according to an Energy and Water bill summary.
Proposed funding for the Office of Nuclear is down slightly from previous iterations of appropriations legislation. In July 2025, the House Appropriations Committee passed a spending plan where the agency’s proposed funding was $1.795 billion.
Under the general provisions for DOE, $3.1 billion is allocated to support its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program and small modular reactors.
Two members of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) issued statements praising the nuclear power provisions of the legislation. Fleischmann also predicted President Donald Trump would sign the bill once it clears the Senate.
The bill proposes $952.4 million for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in its fiscal 2026 budget. According to the bill, NRC is estimated to collect $804.5 million through revenues from licensing fees, inspection services and other services in fiscal 2026. While its net budget authority is to be $148.1 million.
“That the sum herein appropriated shall be reduced by the amount of revenues received during fiscal year 2026 so as to result in a final fiscal year 2026 appropriation estimated at not more than $148,190,023,” according to the bill.
Fleischmann, chairman of the House Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee, told Exchange Monitor Thursday that he expects the Senate will pick the bill up “very quickly,” but “obviously they’re going to need 60 votes.”