FY 2026 Appropriations, New AI Action Plan, and Congressional Outlook
Posted August 06, 2025
Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC – August 5, 2025
Seven months into the current Administration, major federal policy developments are reshaping the research, education, and technology landscape with important implications for the human factors community. The Administration recently released its long-anticipated National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan, along with several new executive orders at promoting AI innovation. HFES had previously submitted public comments through an RFI, some of which are included in the Plan. Meanwhile, Congress is entering August recess with the House departing last week and the Senate expected to follow suit on August 4. While in session, lawmakers successfully passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and advanced several FY 2026 appropriations measures that rejected some of the deepest cuts in the President’s Budget Request, thanks in part to the advocacy of HFES Fellows during agency meetings on Capitol Hill Day in June. All these developments have significant implications for human factors programs and HFES will closely monitor new legislation and actions when Congress returns in September.
An Outlook on FY2026 Appropriations
The FY 2026 appropriations process, which sets the federal budget for the next fiscal year, is well underway. HFES’s advocacy efforts over the past year helped Congress push back against the deepest cuts proposed in the President's budget request. Earlier this year, HFES submitted Outside Witness Testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee in support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense (DOD) research programs, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Health (ARPA-H), among others. The Science Policy Fellows, and their colleagues, who visited Washington, D.C. in June promoted human factors research NSF, ARPHA-H, NIH and specifically the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Transportation (DOT), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and a number of other agencies and programs relevant to the human factors community.
The impacts of these efforts are being realized as Congress continues to release their spending bills. Notably, the Senate appropriations Committee would reject the proposed cuts and provide and $1 million increase for NIOSH and would maintain flat funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration at $632 million. Additionally, NSF would see a drastic pushback, with the Senate proposing $9 billion in funding, $60 million or below the FY 2025 enacted level, but $5.1 billion or 130.6 percent above the request. The House also rejected the proposal, providing $7 billion for NSF. The National Institute of Standards and Technology would also be provided with a $445 million increase in the Senate, slightly more than the House, and $772 million above the request. This would include $6 million for U.S. Center for AI Standards and Innovation [CAISI], which was formerly known as the U.S. AI Safety Institute [USAISI], and of which HFES is a member. The FDA would be funded at $7 billion in the Senate, a slight decrease from FY 2025, but 4 percent more than the budget request. This includes a report on the safety and oversight of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in medical devices which HFES had been advocating for.
Last week, the Senate passed its first “minibus” package, which covers military construction, veterans’ affairs, agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Legislative Branch funding. In the House, the Labor-HHS-Education markup has been delayed until September, leaving three appropriations bills still in committee. The House adjourned early for recess last week, and with the fiscal year ending on September 30, lawmakers will have only a short window to finalize appropriations to avoid a government shutdown. A short-term continuing resolution (CR) appears increasingly likely, and House Republicans are even weighing a full-year CR with earmarks.
National AI Action Plan Released
In July 2025, the White House released its long-awaited National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan, Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan, outlining federal AI priorities around three pillars: accelerate innovation; build domestic infrastructure; and lead in international diplomacy and security. Earlier this year, HFES submitted public comment in response to a Request for Information (RFI) on the Action Plan, contributing recommendations from its research base. One key recommendation was that AI used in safety-critical applications should undergo testing in realistic conditions with representative users. Reflecting this, the Plan calls for a government-backed “AI evaluations ecosystem” led by NIST’s new Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI), which will develop common testing templates and legal compliance checklists for agencies. Additionally, the Plan emphasizes increased practical safety validation through hackathons and secure testbeds to expose AI models to real-world stressors before deployment.
While the Action Plan provides high-level guidance, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will release a more detailed AI R&D Strategic Plan this fall to shape federal research priorities and investments, which, together with the Action Plan will guide future congressional legislation Together, these documents could influence human factors in AI interaction by promoting AI systems designed to better support users. HFES intends to collaborate with the Administration to advance these priorities by continuing to provide comments to RFIs, submitting Outside Witness Testimony for hearings, and tracking relevant AI legislation.
Following the Plan’s release, the Administration issued three AI executive orders: preventing ideological bias in federal AI systems, accelerating permitting for data center infrastructure, and promoting the export of American AI technology to allied nations. These orders mark early steps in implementing the Action Plan, with additional actions expected. Additionally, on July 22, the Department of Education released a Dear Colleague Letter noting that AI educational tools, like tutoring systems, and career-readiness platforms are allowable under existing federal education programs.
Notably, the letter specifies that AI should enhance, not replace, educators and outlines key principles: the tools must be educator-led, transparent, and accessible. HFES encourages training on the capabilities and limitations of AI systems, a point emphasized both in its RFI response and in the letter, which directs plans to train educators on AI use and helps students understand its proper application.
Trump Signs into Law One Big Beautiful Bill
On July 4, President Trump signed the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) into law. The bill passed the House on May 22 by a vote of 215-214-1 and, after Senate committees released their version without formal markups, was approved by the Senate on July 1 with a 51-50 vote following last-minute changes to meet Senate rules and address GOP concerns. Provisions of interest to HFES include:
- The bill would invest $150 million in creating an “American science cloud.” This will be a new Department of Energy initiative leveraging cloud computing, private sector collaboration, and academic partnerships to support AI-driven scientific research and discovery.
- Earlier proposed funding to deploy AI in the BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) Program was removed, along with the controversial 10-year moratorium on new AI regulations. Struck down by a 99-1 vote, the bill signals a broad congressional interest in establishing some forms of regulation and which, HFES will continue to monitor legislation to advocate for AI safety.
- $100 million to DARPA for casualty care research with the goal of reducing death and injury from trauma. This can lead to increased opportunities in defense, healthcare ergonomics, and medical device usability.