Congress Works to Finalize FY 2024 Budget, Looking Forward to FY 2025
The first six of the twelve annual appropriations bills for fiscal year (FY) 2024 were passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden last week. As previously reported, this included funding for the National Science Foundation, Census Bureau, National Institute of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and other federal agencies and departments. The bills resulted in funding cuts across all agencies, including the National Science Foundation which received an 8.2 percent cut from FY 2023. COSSA’s in-depth analysis for these bills can be found here.
The remaining six bills have a deadline of Friday, March 22, leaving only a few days for Congress to finalize the FY 2024 process or risk a government shutdown. These bills include funding for the National Institutes of Health, Department of Education, Department of Labor, and other agencies and departments. Should Congress pass its bills by the deadline, it will conclude the protracted FY 2024 appropriations process, nearly six months into the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2023. Like the first six bills, we expect the second package to also include budget cuts for the FY 2024. Watch for COSSA’s final reporting on the FY 2024 appropriations bills.
The Biden Administration’s budget request for FY 2025, the fiscal year that will begin this fall, was recently released. The budget identifies several cross-government priorities for the President, including lowering prices and improving access of healthcare; lowering childcare, housing, and education costs; investing in workers, specifically targeting STEM professionals, and creating jobs; promoting climate change solutions; ending gender-based violence; and more. COSSA will release an in-depth analysis on key agencies of importance to the social and behavioral science community. See below for a preview of the Administration’s budget request:
As always, when considering an Administration’s budget proposal, it is important to remember that it remains a largely symbolic policy document that outlines the Administration’s priorities for the year ahead. While it is possible that some of the President’s requests will be enacted, Congress has the final say over the appropriation of funds. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees will soon set their own spending parameters for each of the 12 annual appropriations bills, which may or may not be able to accommodate all the President’s prioritized investments. Congress will also begin to hold hearings with the individual agencies to discuss their budget requests.
Stay tuned to COSSA’s reporting to get all the details about FY 2024 and FY 2025 science funding.