“No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law”
– U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 9
One of Congress’s most fundamental constitutional duties is to appropriate government funds, allocating money annually for everything from the national defense to interstate roads and bridges to food assistance for low-income seniors. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I intend to fight for the priorities that are most important for our state, and I want to hear directly from you about what those should be.
My office accepts two types of appropriations requests: programmatic requests and Congressionally Directed Spending requests. Programmatic requests are requests for Congress to fund an authorized federal program at a specific level or to include language directing a federal agency to implement a program in a specific way. Congressionally Directed Spending requests are requests to fund a specific project or organization. For example, increasing funding for Amtrak would be a programmatic request, while providing funding for a specific rail project in your town would be a Congressionally Directed Spending request.
Due to the spending constraints of the federal budget, Congress will not be able to fund all of the programmatic or Congressionally Directed Spending requests that I think are worthy, but your feedback will be crucial in helping me decide what to fight for. I’m here to be your voice in Washington and I want to hear from you about how Congress should allocate federal dollars.
Congressionally Directed Spending Requests
Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) applications for FY27 are now open. You can access the application here.
An updated guide to Congressionally Directed Spending can be found here. The deadline to apply for CDS is Monday, April 6, 2026 by 11:59 PM. If you have questions about CDS, please contact appropriations_requests@murphy.senate.gov.
NOTE: This year, Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) will be enforcing strict caps on all accounts so Senators will be limited in the number of applications they can submit for consideration. While we do not bar applicants from submitting more than one project, it is critical that you note how you’d like us to prioritize each request.
We highly encourage applicants to get their applications in as soon as possible. The internal deadlines for staff are extremely tight and we will have less time to answer questions and provide meaningful feedback and review for applications that are submitted at the last minute. If you have questions, reach out early – our teams are working to respond to inquiries as quickly as possible.
Programmatic Funding Requests (NOTE: Only fill out these forms if you are requesting money for a federal program. Do NOT use these forms if you are requesting funding specifically for an organization or town.)
To submit an FY27 non-defense appropriations request, please complete our FY27 Appropriations Request Application. (NOTE: non-defense requests are due by 11:59 PM on April 6, 2026).
To submit an FY27 defense appropriations requests, please complete our FY27 Defense Appropriations Request Application.(NOTE: defense requests are due by 11:59 PM on April 6, 2026). While you may submit a defense request before the FY27 President’s Budget Request is released, we ask that you resubmit with updated information after the Budget is released – and email bowen_peard@murphy.senate.gov to confirm these updates.
To find an example request form for all agencies EXCEPT the Department of Defense, click here. To find an example programmatic appropriations request for the Department of Defense, click here.
As part of the Congressionally Directed Spending process, my office is required to disclose all the requests I submit to the Appropriations Committee. My requests are available below: