The House Committee on Appropriations approved legislation funding the Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services for fiscal 2027, advancing the measure by a 34 to 28 vote. The bill includes funding reductions for both the Department of Labor and the Employee Benefits Security Administration, as well as several changes to federal student aid programs.
Under the bill, EBSA funding would decrease to $181.1 million from $191.1 million, a 5.2% reduction. The DOL would see a larger proportional reduction, with discretionary funding falling to $9.8 billion from approximately $13.5 billion in fiscal year 2026, a decrease of about 27.4%.
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With the committee’s approval, the legislation advances to be considered by the House—and, potentially, the Senate—before becoming law. The bill fulfills the budget cuts proposed by President Donald Trump’s federal budget request from April. It would also accomplish what the committee proposed last year for the fiscal 2026 budget, which eventually was undone when the final fiscal 2026 budget was approved.
Last month, Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling defended the budget cuts and argued the agency would operate more efficiently by focusing on more high-priority issues.
The legislation would also reduce funding for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation by $10 million, bringing its funding to approximately $484 million.
Administrative funding for the Social Security Administration would remain at $15 billion, but the committee report on the bill “notes that millions of Americans count on consistent and reliable delivery of critical services from SSA and is concerned by any reductions in direct-service operations, including staff at field offices and processing and teleservice centers.”
The report further stated that it “directs SSA to take steps to avoid field office closures, reduced office hours, and increased delays to appointments for beneficiaries seeking in-person support.”
In addition, lawmakers directed the agency to “provide a monthly report of performance metrics that measure SSA’s progress on addressing key service-delivery functions, including staff levels and appointment waiting times, by field office, as well as the average time that 1–800 number callers wait to receive a callback.”
Last week, Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano, also the CEO of the Internal Revenue Service, testified before Congress that the agency was providing enhanced service, touting what he cited as record best speed-to-answer time on calls received by the agency, though Democrats pushed back on his performance and the purported successes.
The bill that included the cuts to EBSA is part of the broader spending package of the FY27 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which would provide $189.3 billion in discretionary funding, $5.6 billion less than fiscal year 2026 levels.
The federal government is currently funded through September 30, which gives Congress until then to approve the FY27 budget or risk another partial or full government shutdown.
