According to The National Law Review‘s latest Beltway Buzz analysis, the gap between budget proposals and enacted funding reveals which labor enforcement priorities have survived political headwinds.
The Department of Labor will receive $13.7 billion in fiscal 2026 funding, a $65 million increase over 2025 levels, according to the recently passed funding package. Individual enforcement agencies saw relatively minor changes to their budgets.
DOL subagency funding
The Wage and Hour Division maintained its $260 million budget from 2025. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration received $629 million, a $3 million decrease from $632 million, while The Employee Benefit Security Administration held steady at $191 million.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is funded at $101 million for FY 2025, down from $111 million. Both the White House budget and the House Republicans’ underlying bill proposed eliminating OFCCP entirely.
Other Department of Labor subagencies that were also targeted for elimination but will receive funding include the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) at $116 million and the Women’s Bureau at $23 million.
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National Labor Relations Board funding
The National Labor Relations Board received approximately $294 million, about $5 million less than 2025 levels. The board lost more than 10% of its workforce in 2025 through retirement and deferred resignations, creating a backlog that reached 500 cases by October 2025.
Four administrative law judges left the agency in 2025, reducing capacity for processing unfair labor practice charges and representation cases. The board recently regained decision-making capacity with two newly confirmed members after operating without a quorum for much of 2025.
The funding package includes longstanding language prohibiting the NLRB from providing “any means of voting through any electronic means in an election to determine a representative for the purposes of collective bargaining,” as noted in The National Law Review release.
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What this means for HR
The budget levels suggest enforcement capacity at most agencies remains largely unchanged.
Wage and Hour Division and OSHA funding for FY 2026 remains roughly in line with 2025 levels, which legal analysts at Ogletree Deakins say will sustain ongoing enforcement, compliance assistance and training operations rather than forcing major pullbacks.
By contrast, the NLRB’s enforcement capacity is constrained less by its modest budget reduction than by the workforce attrition. According to Bloomberg Law, this hole is contributing to a backlog of roughly 500 cases. HR leaders should be aware that new intake protocols are already being delayed as investigations get assigned.
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