CFSO Budget Update

The FY26 budget proposal has slowly been trickling out. The Department of Justice published their budget proposal last week and one of the most significant changes in the budget was the dramatic decrease of Coverdell funding by 70%. Historically, the Department of Justice has proposed a $35m budget for Coverdell grants. In this recent FY26 proposal, however, the budget is $10m. This will of course have to be addressed by Congress and that is expected to occur in July. The Consortium of Forensic Science Organizations (CFSO) has been working with Congress and outside stakeholder groups to bring Coverdell back up to $35m or more. Here is the link for the most recent analysis of the FY26 federal budget proposal for forensics: https://thecfso.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/June-Newsletter-UPDATE.pdf.