January 20, 2026
With the clock winding down toward January 30 and the expiration of funding for a large part of the federal government under the terms of a continuing funding resolution approved in mid-November, lawmakers are continuing their push to complete action on all 12 annual funding bills by the end of the month. To date, lawmakers have passed six of the 12 appropriations measures covering FY26, and two additional bills have cleared the House.
This morning, bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee released the text of the final four bills to fund key federal departments and agencies – including DOT/FAA and DHS/TSA/CBP – through the remainder of the fiscal year. The final package, which also includes funding for the Departments of Defense, Labor, and Health and Human Services, has been negotiated on a bipartisan and bicameral basis, and lawmakers hope to take up the package in the days ahead with a goal of moving them through the House and Senate and on to the president’s desk by January 30. The DHS bill remains controversial and may yet be split from the package.
Importantly for airports, the FY26 DOT/FAA and DHS/TSA/CBP spending bills include good news on a number of our priorities. The measure includes $4 billion for the traditional AIP account and slightly more than $577.4 million for supplemental AIP funding with $542.4 million of that of that amount reserved for earmarks. On the security front, the bill restores funding for TSA to staff exit lanes, LEO reimbursement grants, and the canine program. It also largely rejects the administration’s proposed reductions to TSA screener staffing levels.
Key Details of FY26 DOT/FAA Spending Bill
Funding for FAA Programs
FAA: The bill includes $22.2 billion for the FAA, which is $1.2 billion above the current level.
Operations: It includes $13.7 billion for FAA operations, an amount that will allow the FAA to “hire 2,500 new air traffic controllers and an additional 54 aviation safety inspectors.” As a side note, the DHS section of the bill includes $140 million "to provide Air Traffic Controllers with a pay raise to help combat chronic staffing shortages, reduce fatigue-related risks, and ensure the continued safety and efficiency of our national airspace."
Facilities and Equipment: The measure includes a total of $4 billion for FAA facilities and equipment, which is $823.7 million above the current level.
Research, Engineering, and Development: The bill includes $290 million for research, engineering, and development -- $10 million above the current level. Of the total amount, $40 million is reserved for aviation workforce development programs.
Airport Improvement Program
Traditional AIP Funding: The bill includes $4 billion for the traditional AIP account in FY26 – the same amount authorized in the FAA bill. Of that amount, $160 million is for administration expenses, $15 million is for the Airport Cooperative Research Program, and $15 million is for the Small Community Air Service Development Program. Another $41.8 million is reserved for Airport Technology Research. Of that amount $6 million is for the airfield technology program with $3 million for concrete pavement research and $3 million for asphalt pavement research.
Supplemental AIP Funding/Earmarks/Rural Airport Grant Program: The bill includes an additional $577.4 million for supplemental AIP grants. Of that amount, $542.4 million is reserved for earmarks, known as “Community Project Funding” or “Congressionally Directed Spending.” Another $35 million is for discretionary grants with $20 million of that amount slated for “a new discretionary rural airport grant program that targets those airports who have typically received a smaller amount of entitlement money based on their annual AIP formula amounts.”
Funding to Help Airports Transition to Fluorine-Free Firefighting Foam: The bill does not appear to include funding to help airports transition to fluorine-free firefighting foam. The FAA bill authorized a total of $350 million over five years to help airports transition to fluorine-free firefighting foam.
Continued EDS Prohibition: The bill continues the prohibition against using AIP funds for “the replacement of baggage conveyor systems, reconfiguration of terminal baggage areas, or other airport improvements that are necessary to install bulk explosive detection systems.”
Contract Tower Program
Contract Towers: The bill includes $279.2 million for the FAA Contract Tower Program – $23.2 million more than the current level. That proposed increase would fund all 266 contract towers currently in the program and allow the FAA to add other airports to the program during FY26. Funding in the bill represents more than a $100 million increase for the program since FY22.
Transition Program: The bill includes $6 million to convert high activity contract towers to FAA staffed towers. The agreement also directs the FAA “to commence this program within 180 days of enactment of this act and to prioritize contract towers as required under section 625(a)(2) of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024.” The FAA bill included language that directs the FAA to establish a pilot program to convert certain contract towers at airports with high numbers of annual enplanements or operations.
Other Small Community Programs
Small Community Air Service Development: As mentioned above, the bill includes $15 million for the Small Community Air Service Development Program -- $10 million above the current level and $15 million more than the administration requested.
Essential Air Service: The bill includes $513.6 million in discretionary funding for the Essential Air Service Program. Coupled with an estimated $173.9 million from overflight fees, the overall funding level for EAS would rise to $687.5 million in FY26.
Miscellaneous
Cost Free Space: The bill includes a AAAE-backed proposal that would continue to prohibit the FAA from requiring airports to provide space free of charge in airport-owned buildings.
Airport Cooperative Research Program: As mentioned above, the Senate bill includes $15 million in AIP funding for the Airport Cooperative Research Program.
Flight 5342: The final bill includes $2 million for an independent study on the airspace in the National Capital Region and the coordination between the FAA and Department of Defense.
UAS Research: The agreement includes $10 million for UAS research and an additional $14 million for the UAS Center of Excellence.
Key Details of FY26 DHS/TSA/CBP Spending Bill
A total of $64.4 billion is provided for the Department of Homeland Security within the larger spending package, including funding for both TSA and CBP.
Transportation Security Administration
The bill provides $11.5 billion in appropriations for TSA. After factoring out user fees, the net appropriation is $8 billion. While the bill does not end the diversion of aviation security fees to pay for deficit reduction, it assumes a slight increase in fee collections overall, which helps to boost the TSA spending level. Notable funding items include:
- $5.533 billion for the frontline screening workforce, an increase of $231 million above the administration’s request, to reduce turnover and reject the administration’s proposal to downsize the screener workforce dramatically.
- $98.5 million for TSA to continue to staff exit lanes at those locations where it does so currently. This figure is included in the overall frontline screening amount.
- $300 million for the installation of 3-D computed tomography systems to screen carry-on baggage at passenger checkpoints to enhance security.
- $45.9 million for the Law Enforcement Officer Reimbursement Program, fully restoring funding for this grant program.
- $34.1 million for canine reimbursement, fully restoring funding for this program.
- $20 million interconnect all Category-X airports to the TSA cloud environment, with a plan requested to fully deploy this to all airports nationwide in the future.
- $15 million for the Credential Authentication Technology, a “biometric technology to make security lines faster, smoother, and more secure than ever before”.
- $13.94 million to reimburse airports for the costs associated with in-line baggage and screening systems procured before 2007. This is the final amount needed to fulfill this commitment.
- $12 million to further develop and certify AI-enhanced screening equipment.
- $4 million for TSA to continue providing cost-effective ways to improve the reliability of explosive detection systems.
The joint explanatory statement includes a few report items of note:
Throughput and Wait Times at TSA Checkpoints: Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act and quarterly thereafter, TSA shall brief the Committees on how staffing levels, including any anticipated or proposed reductions, and investments in screening equipment and technology are projected to affect passenger throughput and wait times. The briefing shall include analysis of current staffing models, deployment timelines for new technologies such as computed tomography (CT) machines, and the anticipated effects of these changes on operational efficiency and passenger wait times at checkpoints.
UAS Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operations: TSA shall ensure that any security requirements are commensurate with the risk of the proposed activity based on promulgation of the final rule for the rulemaking entitled "Normalizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operations" in Fed. Reg. 38212.
Reimbursable Screening Locations: The bill extends the Reimbursable Screening Services Program (RSSP) through FY26. The agreement also emphasizes that TSA may continue screening at RSSP locations in the event of a future lapse of authorization.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
The bill provides $18.78 billion for CBP. Unfortunately, the agreement does not include funding for 450 new CBP officers requested by the administration. As a reminder, the One Big Beautiful Bill, which was signed into law last July, provided funding for 5,000 new officers, and CBP is in the process of filling those new positions.
The joint explanatory statement includes two items of note:
Staffing Retirement Cliff: CBP is directed to brief the Committee within 120 days of the date of enactment of this Act on the projected "retirement cliff," steps the agency is taking to manage the risks associated with this loss in the workforce, and consequences to the agency's operational capabilities, including data on impacts to trade, travel, and economic and security impacts.
Preclearance: CBP is directed to re-engage in negotiations with international airports on expansions to the existing preclearance program by prioritizing airports that were previously identified for possible preclearance locations in 2015 and 2016 and that have the highest number of travelers arriving in the U.S. each year as an opportunity for increased traveler volume, increased revenue, and new flight routes are dependent on the success of the program.
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