POPVOX Foundation Key Priorities Included in FY26 Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill
For reference, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2026 Report can be seen here.
BY DANIELLE STEWART
On June 26, 2025, the House Appropriations Committee passed the FY 2026 House Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, legislation that provides funding for Congress and the agencies it oversees. This is an important step in the annual funding process, as the committee works through passage of its twelve funding bills for consideration on the House floor. The Legislative branch bill includes funding for the Library of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, and the US Capitol Police, as well as funding for Member, Leadership, and committee offices, and staff and intern pay, among many other agencies and support offices.
Numbers at a glance:
The bill appropriates $6.7 billion in funding, which is $51 million below the FY 2025 enacted level and over $1.3 billion less than the FY 2026 request. The next step will be consideration and passage on the House Floor.
POPVOX Foundation shared a number of priorities with key legislators on the committee for inclusion in the bill report, which was also approved by the committee. The requests focus on key training opportunities for staff to address the “pacing problem,” providing better resources and coordination with caseworkers to improve constituent services, and ways to future-proof the institution. Several of those priorities were included in the bill report and are detailed below.
Congressional Liaison Directory
Report text: “Congressional constituent service staff rely on the Congressional Research Service’s online directory of approximately 200 congressional liaison offices to determine appropriate contacts for casework. The Committee is in receipt of the report directed in House Report 118–555 requesting CRS to examine the feasibility of expanding the legislative liaison list to include localized and regional agency contact information, as well as including agency policies regarding Privacy Act release forms in its directory. The Committee looks forward to engaging with CRS to further develop the parameters for expanding the liaison directory.” p. 23
Why it’s important
CRS currently maintains the only extensive list of Congressional liaisons at Executive branch and independent agencies. This is a valuable resource for casework staff in researching the correct point of contact to route constituent requests for assistance with federal agencies.
However, the scope of agency casework liaisons is much wider than currently addressed in the CRS list: caseworkers frequently work not only with central DC-based liaisons, but also with regional contacts, processing center contacts, and more.
The 117th Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress previously recommended in its final report (recommendation #150) that CRS assist district offices by maintaining and providing an up-to-date list, including in digital spreadsheet format, of localized or regional agency contact information for district staff to easily access and use in handling casework, including a list of the local field offices within each agency’s region along with relevant contact names, phone numbers, and email addresses. CRS should also assist district offices by compiling a report on the policies of different federal agencies regarding Privacy Act release forms, including whether specific information may be required by a particular agency and whether the agency accepts digitally signed release forms. The CASES Act (P.L. 116-50) requires federal agencies to accept digital privacy release forms and agencies have been directed to standardize their forms, but variance among agencies still exists.
This expanded liaison list and central directory of Privacy Act release form policies would assist casework teams by supporting experienced and newer offices alike, and allow offices to act more efficiently by going directly to the appropriate agency contact.
Casework Assistance for Member Offices
Report text: “The Committee commends the ongoing efforts by the CAO to assist Member offices with casework through programs including the CAO Coaches, district office conferences, and the development of the Case Compass project to anonymize and aggregate constituent casework data. The Committee looks forward to continuing to receive updates about the progress of the Case Compass working group. The Committee also looks forward to receiving the report requested in House Report 118–555 in which the CAO is directed to further examine what additional assistance could be provided to Member offices to more effectively assist constituents with casework.” p. 8
Why it’s important
Constituent services are an extraordinarily important function performed by Members of Congress and their staff who work with federal agencies to resolve problems for their constituents. However, Congressional effectiveness in constituent service is dependent on Congress’ ability to obtain timely and accurate information from federal agencies, as well as on its own ability to provide high-quality training and support for casework staff.
There are currently no standards codified in law or regulation for how agencies should respond to Congressional casework requests, meaning that agencies have wide latitude to decide how and how quickly they will respond. Different agencies and programs — and even specific personnel within them — have very different standards for responsiveness, including both timeliness and quality of responses. This patchwork of different avenues and expectations for response creates significant barriers for casework teams to effectively respond to constituents, and broad inefficiencies with training new caseworkers and establishing new offices’ casework teams.
Continued development of the Case Compass project, which is aggregating casework data from a number of House offices, will help future caseworkers, Members, and staff better understand agency trends, get ahead of possible issues or concerns within their districts, and better serve their constituents.
Working with offices to identify what additional resources could be used is a great step towards building a support network for caseworkers, both in DC and in-district.
Legislative Branch Data Map
Report text: “The legislative branch is the creator and steward of invaluable information in the form of data that is utilized by Congress, federal agencies, and the public to ensure access to a historical record of legislative action. The Committee looks forward to receiving an inventory of data maps that exist across the House Clerk, Chief Administrative Office (CAO), and SAA as directed in House Report 118–555.” p. 7
Why it’s important
Through bill writing, committee hearings, floor speeches, amendment filings, and countless daily actions, Members and staff across the Legislative branch create important information and data that are used by Congress, federal agencies, and the public to keep track of laws and lawmaking. The House, Senate, and agencies like the Library of Congress, Government Publishing Office, Congressional Budget Office, and Government Accountability Office work together to maintain and publish this data.
Currently, there's no complete "map" showing how the data flows through each branch or agency during its lifecycle. The Legislative branch also has no standard plan for how data should be consistently, securely, and responsibly managed across these entities. This is becoming increasingly essential as government entities began responding to the emergence of advanced AI and other technologies.
As initiated by the House Inspector General in the 118th Congress, the Chief Administrative Officer, House Clerk, and Sergeant at Arms’ coordination to maintain a Legislative branch data map is a great step towards ensuring entities are creating, storing, transferring, and managing their data in uniform, secure ways. This improved data hygiene is also essential for the Legislative branch’s future adoption of artificial intelligence tools that could improve data access and transparency.
Artificial Intelligence
Report text: “The Committee notes the high level of interest among Members in AI, including appropriate privacy protocols and sufficient training for AI users. The Committee continues to look for ways in which the responsible use of AI can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of House operations. The CAO is directed, as part of their AI working group, to provide quarterly updates to the House Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on House Administration on the progress of promoting AI within the House. The Committee reminds Members and staff that the CAO has established AI policies and calls on the CAO to continue to be responsive to Members interested in the implementation and training on AI.” p. 8
Why it’s important
In the last few years, Congress has taken steps to “meet the moment” seen by the growth in AI in nearly every sector worldwide. The House has set policy guidance, but additional investment in the institution’s innovative use of this emerging technology is essential to ensure the First Branch doesn’t fall behind the Executive branch and international peers. With the average age of Congressional staff hovering around 31 years old, the House and Senate are host to many early adopters of this new technology. Internal scans of House network traffic suggest that up to a quarter of the chamber’s staff are already using some form of generative AI regularly. Institutional support for these users to ensure responsible use of the technology is needed. And as seen in the recent spike in users worldwide of the Chinese-owned DeepSeek AI platform, the development of secure AI usage and robust policy within the halls of government is at a critical juncture.
As chiefs of staff, staff directors, and office managers face the necessary task of helping their staff navigate the smart adoption of these new tools, continued trainings and promotion of responsible platform usage will empower Members, staff, and interns with access to up-to-date guidance and knowledge, paving the way for continued innovation in the Legislative branch and more modern representation for the American people.
