Highlights From the Department of Commerce FY 2026 Budget

The Department of Commerce’s proposed $8.4B budget request includes a $1.8B reduction for FY 2026 reflecting changes previously outlined in the preliminary budget blueprint, or “skinny budget.”  

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA), Commerce prioritizes strengthening the nation’s trade enforcement initiatives, implementing China antidumping and countervailing and bolstering global competitiveness in manufacturing and innovative technologies. Achieving these missions and planned cost efficiencies includes reorganizing and eliminating offices, defunding multiple programs, cancelling and replacing major contracts. Specifically, the OBBA budget:

• Eliminates the Office of Economic Development Administration, the Minority Business Development Agency and the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)
• Rescinds funding for National Ocean Services marine-related programs excluding those funded through user fees
• Transfers the National Weather Service (NWS) Space Weather Prediction Center to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from the Department of Labor (DOL) to the Census Bureau and the National Marine Fisheries Services Office of Protected Resources to the Department of Interior (DOI) Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS)
• Transfers 30% of gross receipts from customs duties on imported fishery products from the Department of Agriculture to Commerce’s Fisheries Research and Management activities
• Realigns the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) under Census
• Rescopes the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Services (NESDIS), canceling major Geostationary and Extended Observations (GeoXO) program instrument and spacecraft contracts with plans for future replacements
• Transfers satellite acquisition from NASA to NOAA.

Within the proposed FY 2026 appropriations, only the Bureau of Industry and Statistics (BIS) and the Census Bureau see increases. BIS receives the largest at $112M (+59% above FY 2025 levels) focusing on U.S. trade and export controls, protecting American innovation and sensitive technologies and countering Chinese AI development. Census secures a modest $279M (+20%) increase. Conversely, NOAA faces a substantial $1.7B reduction significantly impacting the bureau’s programs, especially within the ocean research and financing programs. Funding for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Departmental Management office remained at the FY 2025 levels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Major programs for FY 2026 include:

• NOAA Procurement, Acquisition and Construction including $1.4B for the National Weather Service program and $499M for weather-related disasters in calendar years 2022-2024 of which $399M funds the acquisition of hurricane hunter aircraft.
• Periodic Censuses and Programs ($1.4B) supporting the five-year Economic Census and Census of Government, the American Community Survey and the 2030 Decennial Census ($986M)
• Reorganization of BLS under Census funded at $579M with $68M available from the Employment Security Administration for salaries and expenses
• NIST Scientific and Technical Research and Services programs funded at $707M focusing on artificial intelligence, quantum information science, biotechnology and other emerging technologies

• Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) funding estimated at $7.1M for related loans and grants including embedded funding within the NIST and NTIA offices.

The Commerce Nonrecurring Expense within the Departmental Management supports information and business technology system modernization and facilities infrastructure improvements including these activities although the budgeted amount are not available:

• Cybersecurity risk mitigation
• Grants Enterprise Management System Solution
• National Telecommunications and Information Administration
• (NTIA) Federal Advanced Communications Test Site
• NTIA's Spectrum IT Modernization
• Herbert C. Hoover Building Network Modernization
• Bureau of Industry and Security Information Technology Modernization,
• Business Application Solution, (the planned successor to Commerce Business Systems)

For more information, check out Deltek’s initial budget overview, FY 2026 President’s Budget Request – GovWin FMA’s First Take and monitor the Federal Market Analysis team for additional FY 2026 federal budget information.