The federal government is currently operating under not one, but two continuing resolutions (CRs). The CR covering Transportation, Agriculture, HUD, and Veterans Affairs related agencies is set to expire on January 19 and the second covering agencies of particular interest to FABBS members (NIH, ARPA-H, IES) on February 2. As we approach these deadlines, it is looking increasingly likely that Congress will need to pass, yet another CR, despite promises from Speaker Johnson not to do so.
Congress has resolved a key hurdle through a bicameral funding agreement on topline budget totals for fiscal year 2024 (FY24). New caps are set at $772 billion for non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending and $886 billion for defense. This follows a previous agreement in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. While the legislation’s text only includes $704 billion, several side deals were made bringing the total back in line with 2023’s NDD level as shown in the chart below.
| FY23 Levels | Current Agreement | Fiscal Responsibility Act 2023 | |
| Non-Defense Discretionary Programs | 771 billion (NDD base plus terms of agreement) | 772 billion | 704 billion (plus more in side deals) |
| Defense | 860 billion | 886 billion | 886 billion |
With the new top line agreement in place, the House and Senate have returned to work determining amounts for 12 individual spending bills for appropriating committees. Only once these amounts are determined will individual committees get back to work on agency specific budgets. Please see funding levels for FABBS-related agencies in our Federal Science Funding Dashboard.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023 puts significant pressure on Congress to pass the twelve appropriations bills that fund the government by April 30th. FABBS joined 1,103 organizations in signing a letter advocating for Congress to continue the FY24 appropriations process to avoid this measure which would severely limit science funding.
