House Subcommittee Would Provide FCC Less Money Than Requested for 2027
The full House Appropriations Committee is set to consider the bill this week.
WASHINGTON, April 20, 2026 – A House spending panel wants to see a little belt tightening at the Federal Communications Commission.
The House Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee advanced Friday a 2027 funding bill that would provide the FCC with less money than the agency asked for.
The full House Appropriations Committee is set to take up the bill Tuesday or Wednesday if lawmakers need more time after marking up another funding bil. The legislation was cleared by the subcommittee along party lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.
The FSGG bill would provide funding for other agencies like the Treasury Department and Federal Trade Commission, plus the federal judiciary and Washington, D.C.
House lawmakers would give the FCC $390,192,000 for fiscal year 2027, about 2 percent less than the $398,342,000 the agency sought and down more than 6 percent from its $416 million 2026 allocation.
The legislators would keep the FCC’s inspector general funding at its 2026 level, $13,500,000, where the agency had requested a decrease to $10,918,000. That would put the FCC’s remaining funding under the bill at $376,692,000, about 2.7 percent less than the FCC’s requested $387,424,000.
The agency estimated its request would have required 110 job cuts across the FCC, bringing its total headcount down to 1,294, its lowest ever. Should the subcommittee’s budget advance, the agency would have even less money to work with.
Led by Chairman Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, the subcommittee’s legislation would prevent any FCC funds from going toward the enforcement of digital discrimination rules enacted during the Biden administration. The telecom industry has sued to get those struck down, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has yet to make a ruling since hearing arguments in September 2024.
The FCC is funded by regulatory fees on some of the industries it oversees, meaning the money likely won’t be appropriated from the Treasury.
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