Appropriations Waterfall
How nuclear-relevant funding moved through the annual appropriations process -- President's Request → House committee mark → Senate committee mark → Enacted -- for each fiscal year. This is the congressional appropriations-account view; figures won't always match the White House budget request page, which uses DOE's own program-budget framing rather than the appropriations account structure. Both are individually sourced and accurate for what they measure -- see each row's source.
The top two tables are context, not nuclear-specific: the Energy-Water subcommittee's overall ceiling (roughly its 302(b) allocation -- the pot all four titles compete within) and DOE's whole title within that bill (Nuclear Energy is one account inside it, alongside EERE, Science, Fossil Energy, and NNSA). A Nuclear Energy number moving is a different story depending on whether the whole pie moved with it or not.
Energy-Water Subcommittee Total (302(b) ceiling)
| FY | Request | House | Senate | Enacted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | $67,597M | — | — | — |
| 2026 | $54,956M | $60,756M | $61,496M | $61,731M |
| 2025 | $61,333M | $62,364M | $65,285M | $61,277M |
| 2024 | $62,012M | $60,985M | $61,547M | $61,375M |
| 2023 | $57,548M | $59,664M | $60,685M | $59,204M |
| 2022 | $55,473M | $56,208M | $56,416M | $55,576M |
| 2021 | $43,180M | $49,601M | — | $49,525M |
FY2027: FY2027 cycle in progress -- not yet marked up.
FY2026: Senate figure is from the bill as introduced (S. 3293), not a full committee mark.
FY2021: No separate Senate committee bill this cycle.
Department of Energy (whole title)
| FY | Request | House | Senate | Enacted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | $59,330M | — | — | — |
| 2026 | $46,772M | $48,510M | $49,574M | $49,124M |
| 2025 | $51,978M | $49,935M | $52,371M | $50,176M |
| 2024 | $52,571M | $49,029M | $50,269M | $50,247M |
| 2023 | $49,004M | $48,340M | $49,495M | $48,445M |
| 2022 | $46,982M | $45,458M | $45,324M | $44,856M |
| 2021 | $35,729M | $40,864M | — | $39,627M |
FY2027: FY2027 cycle in progress -- not yet marked up.
FY2026: Senate figure is from the bill as introduced (S. 3293), not a full committee mark.
FY2021: No separate Senate committee bill this cycle.
DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (appropriations account)
| FY | Request | House | Senate | Enacted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | $1,533.7M | — | — | — |
| 2026 | $1,370M | $1,795M | $1,592.7M | $1,685M |
| 2025 | $1,590.7M | $1,793M | $1,675M | $1,685M |
| 2024 | $1,562.6M | $1,783M | $1,550.9M | $1,685M |
| 2023 | $1,675.1M | $1,779.8M | $1,765.6M | $1,473M |
| 2022 | $1,850.5M | $1,675M | $1,590.8M | $1,654.8M |
| 2021 | $1,179.9M | $1,435.8M | — | $1,507.6M |
FY2027: FY2027 cycle in progress as of this report (May 12, 2026) -- House and Senate had not yet marked up their versions.
FY2026: Senate figure is from the bill as introduced (S. 3293, Dec 1, 2025), not a full Senate Appropriations Committee mark -- no committee-reported Senate version existed as of this report's Dec 30, 2025 update. Enacted matches FY2025 exactly: Congress rejected the administration's proposed $315M cut.
FY2023: Both chambers marked up increases above the request; the enacted figure came in well below all three prior stages, likely due to across-the-board offsets in the final omnibus rather than a specific cut to this account.
FY2021: No separate Senate committee mark this cycle -- FY2021 E&W funding was folded directly into a House-originated consolidated bill (H.R. 7617) without a standalone Senate Appropriations Committee bill/report.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
| FY | Request | House | Senate | Enacted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | $892.3M | — | — | — |
| 2026 | $971.5M | $971.5M | $971.5M | $971.5M |
| 2025 | $974.9M | — | — | $944.1M |
| 2024 | $1,006.4M | $1,006.4M | $1,019.5M | $1,006.1M |
| 2023 | — | — | — | $927.2M |
| 2022 | $887.7M | $887.7M | $887.7M | $887.7M |
| 2021 | $863.4M | $863.4M | — | $844.4M |
| 2020 | $921.1M | — | — | $855.6M |
FY2027: FY2027 cycle in progress -- House and Senate had not yet marked up their versions as of this report (May 12, 2026).
FY2026: Request, House, and Senate (introduced bill, not a full committee mark) all identical.
FY2025: Only the request and enacted figures pulled so far; this fiscal year's own House/Senate marks weren't separately verified.
FY2023: Only the enacted figure pulled so far; this fiscal year's own request/House/Senate marks weren't separately verified.
FY2022: Request, House, and Senate all identical -- no committee disagreement this cycle.
FY2021: No separate Senate committee mark this cycle (same situation as DOE Nuclear Energy that year).
Figures read directly from CRS's annual "Energy and Water Development Appropriations" report tables (not automated summaries -- those were found to occasionally misread multi-column tables). NRC rows are partial by design: only individually-verified figures are shown, rather than estimated ones. Program-line detail (e.g. the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, HALEU) isn't tracked yet.