Ranking Member Espaillat Statement at the Subcommittee Markup of the 2026 Legislative Branch Bill

Congressman Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13), Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's markup of the 2026 Legislative Branch bill:

Thank you Chairman Valadao, and to all the members on both sides, thank you for the work we do together. I would also like to thank the subcommittee staff for their work on this bill. 

As you noted, the bill before us today, excluding the Senate items, contains $5 billion, which is $272 million, or five percent less than the fiscal year 2025 enacted levels and $1.3 billion below the fiscal year 2026 request.  

The bill continues to contain unnecessary and divisive riders. As written, these provisions continue the Republicans’ obsession with dismantling the rights of every minority group in America.

In addition, this bill reduces the funding for the Government Accountability Office by 48 percent. The party who has prioritized waste, fraud, and abuse has cut the GAO, the government’s premier auditor and watchdog by almost 50 percent

According to the Republicans, these cuts are necessary to “curtail the agency’s self-directed, liberal initiatives.” I disagree. 

GAO is responsible for researching and making recommendations on how to improve agency fairness and efficiency.

It has been responsible for identifying waste and abuse within agencies. Last year, it found $162 billion in improper payments. 

It works on IT and infrastructure-related projects and investments. Stopping this would result in inefficiency and increased security risks. 

This reduction is a knee-jerk reaction to the GAO’s nearly 40 open investigations into whether the White House is illegally withholding money Congress had previously appropriated. The majority’s decision to cut funding is ill-intended 

With this cut, 2,200 jobs will be lost. In exchange for saving about $400 million with this budget cut to GAO, Congress would forgo tens of billions in cost savings that result from GAO’s work each year. If efficiency is a priority, I don’t understand the decision to make this cut.

And what did the Library of Congress do to deserve a 10 percent cut? They disallowed DOGE to infiltrate and dismantle a Legislative Branch agency.

I also want to express my great concern that this bill does not include the U.S. Capitol Police's full request for mutual aid reimbursements to our local law enforcement partners.

Given recent threats, I don’t understand how we can consider a bill that does not include additional resources to increase our cybersecurity posture across campus and does not include additional funds in the MRA to enhance protections for member security. As you stated, Mr. Chairman, we are all saddened by the tragedy in Minnesota.

We can achieve this through bipartisan legislation that addresses the needs and concerns on both sides of the aisle. These partisan ideas and tactics are ineffective and only divide us further.

I cannot, in good conscience, support this bill. I yield back. 

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