Senate Panel Advances USDA Budget, Trims ReConnect in FY26
Senate appropriators cut $56 million from House’s proposed ReConnect budget.
WASHINGTON, July 14, 2025 – The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a $27 billion discretionary spending bill on Thursday, proposing more than $95 million in rural broadband investments for fiscal year 2026.
The committee voted 27-0 to approve the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. Sponsored by Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., the bill sets the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s discretionary budget for the coming year, and also funds the FDA and related rural development programs.
Along with appropriations for food safety, agriculture research and conservation, the bill being sent to the Senate floor would provide $40 million for telemedicine and distance learning services; $35 million for USDA's ReConnect, a broadband grant and loan program for areas with less than 10 percent coverage; and $20 million for the Community Connect Grant Program, which funds broadband services for communities where service does not exist.
The Senate committee made several changes to the version of the bill the House Appropriations Committee proposed in June – adding $10 million to the telemedicine fund, $5 million to the Community Connect Grant Program, but reducing the proposed ReConnect budget by nearly $56 million.
Thursday’s Senate committee vote marks the latest in a turbulent budget season for rural broadband programs.
In May, the Trump administration proposed eliminating the USDA’s Reconnect Program entirely, calling it redundant. The House Appropriations Committee rejected that recommendation and in June proposed $90 million for ReConnect – more than doubling its FY2025 budget. Now, the Senate’s version scales that back to $35 million, setting up a potential funding showdown between the two chambers in the weeks ahead.
“The bill also eliminates funding for the Biden-era Rural Partners Network initiative and maintains ‘Buy American’ provisions that maximize the federal government’s use of domestic products,” the Senate Appropriations Committee said in a press release Thursday. The item has been placed on the Senate legislative calendar for consideration.
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