A bipartisan, three-bill “minibus” appropriations package advanced by the House on Thursday preserves funding for ENERGY STAR, ensuring continued support through the end of the federal fiscal year for the voluntary public-private partnership focused on energy efficiency in buildings and appliances. (PoliticoPro, Jan. 8)

State of Play

• The House passed the minibus on a bipartisan 397–28 vote. The package now heads to the Senate, which is expected to take up the measure as early as next week. (The Hill, Jan. 8)

• The bill funds the Departments of Energy, Commerce, Interior, and Justice, along with water programs, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and certain federal science initiatives through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.

• The package reflects weeks of bicameral negotiations following last month’s deal on overall spending levels.

• House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R- OK) defended the bills as the product of “bipartisan, bicameral consensus” and a member-driven process. (Politico, Jan. 9)

• The final agreement largely rejected dramatic reductions sought by the White House last spring, opting instead for more targeted spending adjustments to energy and environmental programs. (PoliticoPro, Jan. 8)

Why It Matters

• ENERGY STAR is a long-standing, market-based program that helps lower energy costs and supports “retrofit” investments for all commercial real estate asset classes.

• The outcome builds on bipartisan actions last summer, when both House and Senate appropriators separately advanced bills supporting FY’26 ENERGY STAR funding. (Roundtable Weekly, July 25)

• RER has long urged the “business case” to support the ENERGY STAR program. It is working with a coalition of multi-industry partners in the real estate, manufacturing, consumer tech, and retail sectors to explain to Congress and the administration why ENERGY STAR is critical to the national “energy dominance” agenda. (Roundtable Weekly, June 6; May 23).  

What’s Next

• The minibus is expected to clear Congress before the current stopgap continuing resolution expires on Jan. 31.

• Appropriators are preparing additional spending packages later this month, though several major funding bills—including Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, and Homeland Security have yet to be finalized.

These developments, alongside issues related to AI-driven power demand, grid reliability, and permitting reform, will be featured at RER’s upcoming Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) meeting on Jan. 21 in Washington, D.C.