BIS Could See 23% Funding Boost Under FY 2026 Deal
House and Senate negotiators unveiled a compromise FY 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill Jan. 5 that would provide $235 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, up $44 million, or 23%, from the FY 2025 enacted level.
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The increase would “enhance enforcement of export controls to prevent sensitive technologies from falling into the hands of foreign adversaries,” the Senate Appropriations Committee said in a press release.
The bill specifically backs increasing funding to enforce export restrictions on advanced computing chips. “The agreement strongly supports the [Commerce] Department's efforts to keep America at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies, particularly those with significant national security implications like high-end semiconductors for artificial intelligence,” lawmakers wrote in a joint explanatory statement.
Overall, the bill would give BIS less than the House version of the legislation, which fully funded the Trump administration’s request of $303 million, but more than the Senate version, which contained $211 million (see 2507170053). BIS head Jeffrey Kessler said in June that his agency would use most of the requested increase to add hundreds of employees to enhance its compliance and enforcement capabilities (see 2506120073).
The joint explanatory statement directs BIS to review all licenses issued to entities to export to China's Huawei and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) and consider whether any should be rescinded. Some policymakers have accused Huawei and SMIC of violating U.S. export controls (see 2507230053).
To prevent foreign adversaries from obtaining U.S. emerging and foundational technologies, the statement calls on BIS to continue assessing all technologies the National Science and Technology Council identified as critical and emerging technologies in February 2024.
The agreement also provides at least $2 million “to support the hiring of export control officers in the increasingly important jurisdictions of Taiwan and Finland.”
The bill now heads to the full House and Senate for their consideration.