[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 21 (Thursday, January 29, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S389]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 4277. Mr. MURPHY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill H.R. 7148, making further consolidated appropriations
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and for other purposes;
which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
Beginning on page 1198, strike line 23 and all that follows
through page 1201, line 19, and insert the following:
Sec. 503. (a) None of the funds provided by this Act, or by
any prior appropriations Act, to the components in, or
transferred to, the Department of Homeland Security that
remain available for obligation or expenditure during fiscal
year 2026, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury of
the United States derived by the collection of fees available
to the components funded by this Act or from Public Law 119-
21 shall be available for obligation or expenditure through a
reprogramming of funds that--
(1) creates or eliminates a program, project, or activity,
or increases funds for any program, project, or activity for
which funds have been denied or restricted by the Congress;
(2) contracts out any function or activity presently
performed by Federal employees or any new function or
activity proposed to be performed by Federal employees in the
President's budget proposal for fiscal year 2026 for the
Department of Homeland Security;
(3) augments funding for existing programs, projects, or
activities in excess of $1,000,000 or 1 percent, whichever is
less;
(4) reduces funding for any program, project, or activity,
or numbers of personnel, by 5 percent or more; or
(5) results from any general savings from a reduction in
personnel that would result in a change in funding levels for
programs, projects, or activities approved by the Congress.
(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply if the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives are notified
at least 30 days in advance of such reprogramming.
(c) Up to 5 percent of any appropriation made available by
this Act for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Homeland
Security or provided by any prior appropriations Act may be
transferred between such appropriations if the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives are notified
at least 30 days in advance of such transfer. None of these
appropriations, except as otherwise specifically provided,
may be increased by more than 1 percent by such transfer.
(d) Notwithstanding subsections (a), (b), and (c), funds
may not be reprogrammed within or transferred between
appropriations--
(1) based upon an initial notification provided after June
15, 2026, except in extraordinary circumstances that
imminently threaten the safety of human life or the
protection of property by a natural disaster or congressional
authorized drug interdiction carried out by the United States
Coast Guard;
(2) to increase or decrease funding for grant programs; or
(3) to create a program, project, or activity described in
subsection (a)(1), including any new function or requirement
within any program, project, or activity that has not been
approved by Congress.
(e) The notification thresholds and procedures set forth in
subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) shall apply to any use of
deobligated balances of funds provided to the Department of
Homeland Security in a prior appropriations Act or funds
provided under Public Law 119-21 that remain available for
obligation during the 3-year period ending on September 30,
2029.
(f) Funds may not be reprogrammed or transferred to, from,
or within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S.
Customs and Border Protection.
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