Analysis of the Senate FY 2024 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill

On July 13, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up and reported out its version of the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill. The Senate CJS appropriations bill contains annual funding proposals for the National Science Foundation, Department of Justice, and Census Bureau, among other federal departments and agencies.

The bill is written in-line with the FY 2024 budget caps that were agreed to earlier in the summer. As part of that agreement, total discretionary spending is capped at $1.59 trillion in FY 2024, a cut of about 9 percent below FY 2023. The share allocated to the CJS bill is $71.7 billion, which is 14.4 percent below the total CJS bill in FY 2023.

As a result—and as expected—this cap has resulted in near-flat funding and even cuts to science agencies across the Senate bill: 

While disappointing, especially when compared to the amounts requested by the Biden Administration earlier this year (see the “FY 2024 Budget Request” column above), the Senate CJS marks are likely the “best case scenario” when it comes to science funding in FY 2024. The House Appropriations Committee could release full details of their FY 2024 CJS bill in the coming days containing additional—and sizable—cuts proposed to science agencies. As COSSA has been reporting, FY 2024 promises to be a challenging year for nearly all discretionary accounts.

Congress will head out soon for its month-long August recess. Upon their return after Labor Day, lawmakers will be faced with the challenge of finding common ground between the two very different funding proposals. The slim Republican-Democrat margins in both chambers has set the stage for a tough, likely protracted funding battle. With the new fiscal year beginning on October 1, it is likely that a stop-gap funding measure—known as a continuing resolution (CR)—will be needed to allow additional time for negotiation or else risk a government shutdown.

Read on to review details on the Senate’s CJS appropriations bill for FY 2024 for federal agencies and programs important to the social and behavioral science research community.