House Passes Twelve Bills through Appropriations Committee; Senate Releases Subcommittee Allocations

The House and Senate appropriations process is well underway for fiscal year (FY) 2025, with the House having completed and passed all twelve bills through the House Appropriations Committee, and looking to pass all twelve on the floor before August recess begins (see previous COSSA coverage). On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate is pushing forward with their respective bills, having released subcommittee allocations and passing three of its bills through the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 11.

The House is rumored to vote the week of July 29 on the two bills that fund federal science agencies. However, House passage is not assured since the chamber has already struggled to get earlier bills over the finish line. COSSA recently prepared an analysis of the House Commerce, Justice Science (CJS) and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (LHHS) bills (available here).

On July 11, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved their 302(b) subcommittee allocations, which set the top line budgets for each of the 12 appropriations bill. The Senate CJS bill would be allocated 11.6 percent less than the House bill while the Senate LHHS bill would be allocated 6.9 percent more than its House counterpart. However, Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Ranking Member Susan Collins (R-ME) have indicated that they intend to supplement with emergency funding, providing an additional $13.5 billion to nondefense programs and $21 billion to defense programs. Senate Appropriators will mark-up the CJS bill on July 25 (watch live here); however, with August recess on the horizon, it is unlikely that the Senate will have time to schedule floor votes for all twelve bills.

With the discrepancies between the House and Senate allocations, coming to an agreement before FY 2025 begins on October 1 will be challenging. Paired with a contentious election season where the House and one third of the Senate will be embarking on the campaign trail in October, it’s unlikely that the chambers will finish the budget under regular order this year.

Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage on the appropriations process.