The Senate Appropriations Committee is grappling with a potential stalemate over the 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science funding bill, as disagreements over the FBI’s new headquarters location threaten to derail the entire legislative process. Senators scrambled on Thursday to avoid an impasse that is jeopardizing one of the 12 annual funding bills and casting a shadow over the bipartisan appropriations process. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) placed the panel on an extended recess as negotiations over the dispute stalled, which is rooted in President Trump’s decision to override a congressionally approved plan to move the FBI headquarters to suburban Maryland and instead keep the agency in downtown Washington.
Democrats on the panel expressed frustration over the Republican majority’s resistance to the amendment introduced by Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen, which sought to block the Trump administration from using headquarters funding for anything other than the original plan. The bipartisan amendment was adopted after GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska crossed party lines to support it. However, the prospect that the bill might countermand a Trump administration priority has led several GOP senators to withdraw their support for the underlying bill. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who chairs the subcommittee overseeing the bill, stated it was