House, Senate Appropriations Committees Advance NSF Spending Bill: The Senate Appropriations Committee held a July 17 executive session and voted 19-10 to advance the fiscal year (FY) 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations bill, which provides funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF). According to the bill text (PDF), accompanying report (PDF), and a committee-prepared summary (PDF), the bill would provide $9 billion for the NSF in FY 2026, $60 million below the FY 2025 enacted level.   The House CJS Appropriations Subcommittee on July 15 convened and advanced by a vote of 9-6 its version of the NSF spending bill. According to bill text (PDF) and a subcommittee-prepared summary (PDF), the bill would provide $7 billion for the NSF, $2.06 billion below the FY 2025 enacted level, and $2 billion below the FY 2026 Senate appropriations committee-approved level.  

In addition, the House Appropriations Committee, on July 17 met to consider and voted 35-26 to approve updated FY 2026 subcommittee allocations, which provide funding ceilings that guide how much each House appropriations subcommittee can spend when crafting their FY 2026 spending bills. According to the press release, the top line allocation for nondefense spending is $705.6 billion, and the allocation for the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, which provides funding for health care workforce, public health, and medical research programs, is $184.4 billion, approximately $2.1 billion below the FY 2025 House appropriations committee-approved level.  

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OMB draft memo sets agency and vendor quantum security standards:  The Office of Management and Budget has drafted a memorandum that directs federal agencies to fully migrate to a post-quantum cryptographic standard, according to a person familiar with the matter and a draft of the document seen by Nextgov/FCW. The memo will emphasize the future of post-quantum cryptography migration in the federal government, as well as set standards for which third-party technology vendors must adhere. The document touches on multiple aspects of the government’s PQC migration efforts. It prioritizes strategies such as strengthening cybersecurity maintenance, planning agency governance and oversight in successful PQC implementation and inventorying high-risk digital assets as critical components of PQC migration.  The memo also sets requirements for third-party technology vendors working with the government, asking them to ensure PQC standards are upheld and embedded during technology refresh and lifecycle updates, cloud migration and other software changes.  As it does with federal agencies, the memo requests that vendors disclose their individual phased PQC transition timelines. It notes that leveraging automation is helpful in PQC migration steps, namely regarding asset inventory management and policy compliance. More information is posted on the NextGov website.