The Senate Appropriations Committee has released its fiscal year 2027 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) bill. The Senate CJS subcommittee proposes $24.874 billion for NASA, slightly above the $24.438 billion Congress approved for FY2026. The White House requested only $18.8 billion for the agency in FY2027, so the Senate proposal rejects the administration’s deep cuts.
The CJS measure was one of five FY2027 spending bills the committee released in this batch. The text, explanatory statement and a summary are posted on the committee’s website. Besides NASA, the bill funds the Commerce Department, including NOAA, the Justice Department and the National Science Foundation.
Reorganization not reflected
NASA reorganized earlier this year, merging and rearranging its mission directorates and budget structure. The subcommittee’s report says those changes came too late and lacked enough detail to be built into this bill. The Senate figures therefore do not reflect the agency’s new structure.
Science funding and Mars Sample Return
For NASA’s science programs, the Senate subcommittee recommends $7.43 billion. That is well above the House figure of $6 billion, which was itself $2 billion more than the $3.9 billion the administration requested. The House level is still $1.3 billion below the FY2026 amount, and Democrats opposed it during subcommittee markup.
The Senate report also addresses Mars Sample Return (MSR), the effort to bring home samples that the Perseverance rover is collecting now. The subcommittee said it supports MSR to the extent that it demonstrates technologies, systems and operational capabilities needed for future human missions to Mars, as well as returning samples for scientific study. It directs NASA to fold MSR into the Moon-to-Mars program as a proving ground for human exploration, not as a standalone science mission.
Where the process stands
No committee date has been announced for the full Appropriations Committee to consider the subcommittee recommendations. None of the 12 FY2027 appropriations bills has cleared Congress. The government is operating under a Continuing Resolution that expires on December 11.
The House Appropriations Committee approved its version of the CJS bill on May 13, but the full House has not voted on it. That version recommends $24.4 billion for NASA. The committee vote followed party lines, with Democrats objecting to provisions in the Commerce and Justice sections.
The House and Senate bills would have to be reconciled before a final FY2027 appropriation for NASA can be enacted.
Source: spacepolicyonline.com
