On the Hill in May and June 2026: A Breakdown of Climate, Energy, and Environmental Hearings

Since the beginning of May, Congress has held a total of 42 climate, energy, and environment-related hearings. The House of Representatives hosted 26 of these hearings across nine of its 20 standing committees, and the Senate held 16 hearings across eight of its 16 standing committees. The Natural Resources Committee led in the House for the most hearings held (8), with the Energy and Commerce Committee (5) and Agriculture Committee (4) following behind. In the Senate, the Appropriations Committee and the Environment and Public Works Committee tied for the most hearings, with four hearings each. The hearings covered a broad range of issues, including federal agency budget reviews, transportation and water infrastructure, wildfire management, and permitting reform. 

Appropriations and budget reviews of federal agencies and programs were a pressing topic in Congress over the past two months. House and Senate committees held a combined 13 hearings on the subject. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee held hearings to examine budget requests for the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Interior, and other agencies for the 2027 fiscal year. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held three separate hearings on annual budgets for the Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Highway Administration, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees held five hearings combined on presidential budget requests for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation, the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security’s budget—including for the Federal Emergency Management Agency—was also reviewed by the House Homeland Security Committee in a separate hearing. Energy development and reliability were the topics of two separate hearings held by the House Rules Committee and Science, Space, and Technology Committee, which both advocated for more funds to be allocated towards energy security and domestic energy production. The House Rules Committee held a separate hearing on agriculture and rural development to debate funding for agricultural research programs in the coming year.

The House and Senate held five agriculture-related hearings in the leadup to the Farm Bill reauthorization deadline. The House Agriculture Committee met to examine agricultural perspectives on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s future, review the implementation of farm safety net and disaster programs, and review the committee’s work in the current 119th Congress. The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee convened to receive testimony from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and to examine the stability of the fertilizer industry. 

Forests and wildfires were the focus of four House and Senate hearings. Both the House Natural Resources Committee and the House Agriculture Committee convened to review forest and wildfire management, covering topics like mitigating wildfire risk on federal lands and the importance of Forest Service partnerships with state and tribal governments in preventing wildfires and improving public safety. The Forest Service’s role in wildfire preparedness, disaster recovery, and reforestation was also examined in an oversight hearing by the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. The House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on the state of federal forests and the outlook for the 2026 wildfire season. 

Innovation and investment in water and transportation infrastructure were popular topics again on the Hill, particularly in light of the recently introduced reauthorization of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) (H.R.9497) and the upcoming reauthorization deadline of the surface transportation bill (H.R.8870). Three different House committees held hearings on the status of the nation’s drinking and wastewater infrastructure. Each addressed key challenges regarding water system maintenance costs, emergency responses to system threats and failures, overly long project timelines, and improving the strength and resilience of current and new systems. Meanwhile, a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing emphasized the importance of technological advancements in transportation innovation. 

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Author: Megan Davies