Congress Passes Funding Bill for the Department of Interior that Rejects Extreme Anti-Wildlife Proposals in the House’s Big Extinction Bill
Harmful poison pill riders would have blocked protections for gray wolves, grizzly bears, and other endangered species are excluded from the bipartisan funding agreement
WASHINGTON, D.C. — January 16, 2026 — Congress has approved a bipartisan bill (H.R. 6938) to fund federal agencies responsible for endangered species protection and recovery, including the Department of the Interior and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This legislation provides funding through the end of September 2026 and averts a government shutdown when current funding expires on January 30, 2026.
The bipartisan agreement excludes dozens of poison pill riders – controversial provisions unrelated to funding – from the House’s Big Extinction Bill (H.R. 4754), which would have blocked science-based protections and recovery efforts for a wide range of endangered species, including wetland birds, carnivores, bats, and freshwater mussels.
“We’re encouraged to see Congress reject poison pill riders and move forward with regular-order appropriations that focus on funding the government rather than undermining science-based wildlife protections,” said Jewel Tomasula, National Policy Director at Endangered Species Coalition. “We thank Senators Murkowski and Merkley and Representatives Simpson and Pingree for their leadership in keeping harmful provisions out of this agreement — provisions that would have stripped protections for iconic species like gray wolves and grizzly bears. We urge Congress to continue working in a bipartisan way and to reject anti-wildlife riders in future funding bills so endangered species recovery can move forward.”
The Endangered Species Coalition, comprised of 450 member organizations around the country, mobilized thousands of grassroots advocates to speak out against the harms of anti-wildlife riders in the House’s Big Extinction Bill (H.R. 4754) and the federal appropriations process.
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