Congress is required by Article I, Section 6, of the Constitution to determine its own pay. In the past, Congress periodically enacted specific legislation to alter its pay; the last time this occurred affected pay in 1991. More recently, pay has been determined pursuant to laws establishing formulas for automatic adj…

This report compiles congressional votes on legislation, including amendments and resolutions, related to the Israel-Hamas conflict that began on October 7, 2023. CRS compiled the information presented in this report from the Congress.gov, ProQuest Congressional, and CQ (Congressional Quarterly) databases.

Local and Regional Project Assistance (LRPA) is a competitive grant program for transportation projects of significant local and regional impact. The name of the program and grant requirements have changed across Administrations, and it is currently known as the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BU…

This report provides an overview of FY2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations, including relevant congressional actions and a top-line comparison of discretionary funding enacted in FY2026 versus relevant congressional proposals, and prior-year funding for FY202…

The U.S. Constitution provides Congress with plenary legislative authority over the District of Columbia (DC) as the federal capital. With the passage of the 1973 District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act (Home Rule Act; P.L. 93-198), Congress granted DC limited home rule authority and e…

Yemen is a conflict-afflicted nation along the strategic Bab al Mandab Strait, one of the world’s most active shipping lanes. Since 2015, a civil war has pitted the Iran-backed Houthi movement against Yemen’s internationally recognized government, the government’s foreign backers, and other anti-Houthi forces. The Hou…

Virginia-class submarine program. The Navy has been procuring Virginia (SSN-774) class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) since FY1998, and a total of 41 have been procured through FY2025. From FY2011 through FY2024, they were procured at a rate of two per year. A single Virginia-class boat was procured in FY202…

The size of the Coast Guard’s polar icebreaker fleet and Coast Guard programs for building new polar icebreakers have been oversight matters for Congress for many years. A 2023 Coast Guard fleet mix analysis concluded that the service will require a total of eight to nine polar icebreakers, including four to five heav…

The current and future size and composition of the Navy, the annual rate of Navy ship procurement, the prospective affordability of the Navy’s shipbuilding plans, the capacity of the U.S. shipbuilding industry to execute the Navy’s shipbuilding plans, and Navy proposals for retiring existing ships have been oversight…

Constellation (FFG-62) class program. The Navy began procuring Constellation (FFG-62) class frigates in FY2020. Prior to November 2025, Navy plans called for procuring a total of at least 20. Six were procured through FY2025, including one per year in FY2020-FY2023, two in FY2024, and none in FY2025. The Navy’s propos…

The Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) program, which is carried out by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Navy, gives Navy Aegis cruisers and destroyers a capability for conducting BMD operations. BMD-capable Aegis ships operate in European waters to defend Europe from potential ballistic missile attacks fro…

Among the Navy’s programs for acquiring unmanned surface vessels (USVs) of various sizes are programs for acquiring large USVs that would be about the size of a large patrol craft, and which would deploy directly from pier rather than from the deck of a crewed Navy warship. Navy plans call for equipping large USVs wit…

Introduction The Navy’s DDG(X) program has envisaged procuring a class of next-generation guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) to replace the Navy’s Ticonderoga (CG-47) class Aegis cruisers and older Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class Aegis destroyers. Navy plans have called for procuring the first DDG(X) in the early 2030s. Th…

The Coast Guard is procuring a combination of National Security Cutters (NSCs), Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs) and Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) as replacements for 90 earlier-generation Coast Guard high-endurance cutters, medium-endurance cutters, and patrol craft, respectively. National Security Cutters are the Coast…

The Navy’s Medium Landing Ship (LSM) program, previously called the Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) program, envisions procuring a class of 18 to 35 new amphibious ships to support the Marine Corps, particularly in implementing a new Marine Corps operational concept called Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO).…

The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program was enacted in 1975 as a federal-state program (established in Title IV-D of the Social Security Act). The primary purpose of this program was to reduce public expenditures for recipients of cash assistance by obtaining ongoing support from noncustodial parents that could be…

The John Lewis (TAO-205) class oiler shipbuilding program is a program to build a new class of 20 fleet oilers for the Navy. The Navy procured the first TAO-205 in FY2016, and a total of 10 TAO-205s have been procured through FY2025. (The 10th was procured in FY2024, and no TAO-205s were procured in FY2025.) The first…

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on shipboard solid state lasers (SSLs) that the Navy is developing for surface-ship self-defense. The Navy installed its first prototype SSL capable of countering surface craft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on a Navy ship in 2014. The Navy since…

The Navy is procuring two types of larger amphibious ships: LHA-type “big-deck” amphibious assault ships and LPD-17 Flight II class amphibious ships. Both types are built by Huntington Ingalls Industries/Ingalls Shipbuilding (HII/Ingalls) of Pascagoula, MS. Four LPD-17 Flight II ships were procured in FY2018-FY2025. T…

The Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class destroyer program is one of the longest-running shipbuilding programs in Navy history. The Navy began procuring DDG-51s, also known as Aegis destroyers, in FY1985, and a total of 97 have been procured through FY2025, including three in FY2025. From FY1989 through FY2005, DDG-51s were p…

The aircraft carriers CVN-78, CVN-79, CVN-80, CVN-81, CVN-82, and CVN-83 are the first six ships in the Navy’s new Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers (CVNs). The Navy’s proposed FY2026 budget requests $3,431.6 million (i.e., about $3.4 billion) in advance procurement (AP), procurement,…

Multiyear procurement (MYP) and block buy contracting (BBC) are special contracting mechanisms that Congress permits the Department of Defense (DOD) to use for a limited number of defense acquisition programs. Compared to the standard or default approach of annual contracting, MYP and BBC have the potential for reduci…

Introduction The Navy’s Light Replenishment Oiler (TAOL) program, previously called the Next-Generation Logistics Ship (NGLS) program, envisages procuring a new class of 13 at-sea resupply ships for the Navy. The Navy’s FY2026 budget submission suggests that the first TAOL is programmed for procurement in FY2028. The…

The Navy’s Columbia (SSBN-826) class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) aims to design and build a class of 12 new SSBNs to replace the Navy’s current force of 14 aging Ohio-class SSBNs. Since 2013, the Navy has consistently identified the Columbia-class program as the Navy’s top priority program. The Navy procured th…

The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, multi-mission, medium-lift rotorcraft. The V-22 is a type of aircraft known as a tilt-rotor, which is a unique design for a crewed military aircraft. A tilt-rotor takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter but flies forward like an airplane by tilting the rotor blades atop eac…

Department of Defense (DOD) military construction and family housing programs fund infrastructure to support military operations and servicemembers around the world. The Biden Administration’s fiscal year 2025 (FY2025) budget submission to Congress requested $17.545 billion for DOD’s military construction (MILCON) and…

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers numerous programs that provide benefits and services to eligible veterans and their families. These benefits include medical care, disability compensation, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), pensions, education, vocational rehabilitation and employment serv…

This report provides an overview of FY2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations, including relevant congressional actions and a top-line comparison of discretionary funding enacted in FY2023, FY2024, and FY2025 versus relevant FY2025 legislative proposals. Additio…

Introduction The Navy in FY2022 procured the first of a planned class of seven new TAGOS-25 class ocean surveillance ships. The Navy’s proposed FY2026 budget requests $612.2 million for the procurement of the second ship in the class. Meaning of TAGOS Designation In the designation TAGOS (also written as T-AGOS), the…

Introduction The Navy has been procuring Virginia-class nuclear powered attack submarines (SSNs) since FY1998. The Navy’s envisaged successor to the Virginia-class design is the Next-Generation Attack Submarine, or SSN(X). The Navy’s FY2025 budget submission deferred the envisaged procurement of the first SSN(X) from…

Introduction The Coast Guard’s Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) program envisages procuring 30 replacements for the Coast Guard’s 35 aging river buoy tenders (WLRs), inland construction tenders (WLICs), and inland buoy tenders (WLIs). Construction of the first two WCCs began in FY2025, and the Coast Guard’s FY2026 budg…

Under 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(4), persons “adjudicated as a mental defective” are prohibited from legally buying, selling, or possessing a firearm. Veterans that have a fiduciary appointed to them because they are deemed unable to manage their finances are considered by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (…

Introduction Congress enacted FY2025 appropriations for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) through two short-term continuing resolutions (CRs; P.L. 118-83; P.L. 118-158 Division A), one supplemental appropriation for disaster relief (P.L. 118-158 Division B), one full-year CR (Title IV and Title XI of the Full-Year…

The legislative branch appropriations bill provides funding for the Senate; House of Representatives; Joint Items; Capitol Police; Office of Congressional Workplace Rights; Congressional Budget Office (CBO); Architect of the Capitol (AOC); Library of Congress (LOC), including the Congressional Research Service (CRS);…

Overview The federal judiciary’s FY2026 budget request was made public by the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts on April 25, 2025. The request seeks $9.4 billion in discretionary funding (an increase of 9.3% over the FY2025 enacted level), as well as $872.4 million in mandatory appropriations for judicial salaries…

The nation’s aviation, mass transit, passenger and freight rail, maritime, and pipeline transportation systems are geographically dispersed and designed for accessibility and efficiency. These characteristics make them vulnerable to attack. While securing the transportation sector is difficult, measures can be taken t…

The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (Agriculture appropriations) funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), except for the U.S. Forest Service, as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, in the Department of Health and Human Services).…

The House and the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittees are charged with providing annual appropriations for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and certain related agencies. Th…

The Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill includes all annual appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), providing resources to every departmental component. The Tables and Figures included show DHS’s new discretionary budget authority enacted for FY2024 and requested by the Administra…

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is responsible for administering Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which are the nation’s primary income support programs for older adults and individuals with disabilities. (Social Security includes Social Security Disability Insurance [SSDI].) As part of…

Congress enacted FY2025 appropriations for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) through two short-term continuing resolutions (CRs; P.L. 118-83; P.L. 118-158) and one full-year CR (Title IV of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025; H.R. 1969; P.L. 119-4 ). This product summarizes legislative…

On March 15, 2025, the President signed H.R. 1968—the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025—into law as P.L. 119-4. Division A of the act—the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025—provides continuing appropriations for all 12 regular appropriations acts through the end of FY2025 (Septemb…

Each year, Congress makes decisions about appropriations to provide discretionary funding for a broad range of government activities related to defense, transportation, education, the environment, homeland security, and community development. Congress typically provides such funds through the enactment of 12 regular a…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), through its programs and responsibilities, supports and promotes U.S. agriculture, rural development, human nutrition, agricultural research, natural resources conservation, and food safety. Many USDA programs and activities rely on discretionary funding, which Congress provi…

FY2025 marks the 22nd annual appropriations cycle with a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations measure. In six of the first seven years of its existence, the annual appropriations measure for DHS was enacted within a month of the beginning of the fiscal year it covered. Since FY2010, however, no annual…