Appropriations
119th Congress Committee Profile: House and Senate Appropriations Committee
As previously reported by COSSA, the House and Senate committee assignments have been announced over the last month. On the House Appropriations Committee, Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) will remain in his role, as will Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), while the Senate Appropriations Committee will see a shift from Democratic majority to Republican majority with Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA). The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) is an important committee to the research community in that it is responsible for securing appropriations for federal agencies important to the research community, such as the National…
118th Congress Enacts Funding Patch in Late December; 119th Congress Sworn In
At the end of last year, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees finalized a continuing resolution (CR) to push the deadline for fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding to March 14, kicking responsibility to the new Congress. The CR continues funding at FY 2024 levels and includes supplemental funding for federal disaster programs and a year-long extension to the Farm Bill. While Congress successfully averted a government shutdown, the impact of the new CR will likely be seen in delays to the FY 2026 appropriations process, which traditionally begins in February. On January 3, the 119th Congress was sworn in at the Capitol. As expected,…
A Word from COSSA
Dear Friends: This is the last COSSA Washington Update of 2024, but it certainly is not the end of our work for the year. As I write, our team is busily preparing for what everyone expects will be a challenging year ahead for policymaking. We are headed into uncertain terrain with the return of the Trump Administration come January 20 and a new Congress with margins tighter than we have seen in a long time. Last week, COSSA hosted a webinar for our members previewing some of the expected actions of the next Congress and Administration and outlining many of the unknowns…
House LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee Holds NIH Budget Hearing
On November 19, the House Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee invited Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the Hill for a budget hearing. Normally, these hearings are scheduled prior to the appropriations bills being written—typically in the spring—but the House Appropriations Committee released their LHHS bill in July without holding a single hearing (see COSSA’s analysis here). Despite the unusual sequence of events, Chairman Robert Aderholt (R-AL) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) were interested in the NIH’s budget and investments, and how to restore trust in science. Chairman Aderholt,…
FY 2025 Hangs in the Balance as Congress Begins Preparations for the 119th Session
As the year nears its end, Congress is looking to pass either the fiscal year (FY) 2025 appropriations bills by December 20 or a continuing resolution (CR) that extends the deadline to March. As previously reported by COSSA, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has indicated interest in the latter despite contention from Democrats and some Republicans advocating to complete the FY 2025 appropriations process so the new Congress can focus its attention on the FY 2026 appropriations process. The 119th Congress, which will be sworn in on January 3, will look quite a bit different from the outgoing Congress. The House…
President-Elect Trump and a New Majority Congress: 2025 Policy Outlook
With the results of the 2024 Presidential election cycle nearing completion, Former President Donald Trump pulled out an electoral victory with 312 electoral college votes compared to Vice President Kamala Harris’s 226. In addition, Republicans outperformed expectations in the Congressional races, taking control of the Senate and still in contention to hold on to the majority in the House (although not all races have been called), potentially giving President-elect Trump an ideal landscape in which to enact his policy agenda after the transition. Presidential Transition With the presidential race decided, attention now turns to the presidential transition. The President-elect has…
BLS and Census Bureau Pause Decrease in CPS Sample Size Following Friends of BLS Letter
As previously reported by COSSA, the Friends of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) coalition sent a letter urging the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to modernize the Current Population Survey (CPS) with additional funding in FY 2025. On October 29, BLS and the Census Bureau, who jointly sponsor the survey, announced that they have paused intent to decrease the CPS sample size in January 2025. A $6 million anomaly in the continuing resolution (CR) passed by Congress in late September (see previous COSSA coverage here) was provided to fund the sample size assuming the funding remains in any final bills or future CR’s passed by Congress…
Congress on the Campaign Trail
Congress departed for the campaign trail on October 1 after passing a continuing resolution (CR) to extend the appropriations deadline to December 20 (see previous COSSA coverage). Expected to return on November 12 after the elections, Congress will return ready to draft the final appropriations bills or seek a second CR to allow for the new Congressional session to take the helm. Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage of Congressional news.
NIJ Seeks Input into Public Access Plan
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), is seeking stakeholder input into the development of its Public Access Plan. NIJ is interested in hearing from NIJ grantees, criminal justice practitioners, researchers, publishers, and other interested parties. Development of the plan aligns with the Biden Administration’s 2022 directive that federal agencies make peer-reviewed publications resulting from federal funding freely available to the public immediately following publication. However, it is important to note that given its size, NIJ is not required to comply with the 2022 memorandum, unlike larger federal science agencies (e.g., National Institute of…
Congress Passes CR; Pushes Deadline to December 20
Last week, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) to push the budget deadline of September 30 to December 20, allowing members to depart for the campaign trail in October. The Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act (H.R. 9747) extended current fiscal year (FY) 2024 spending levels for the twelve-week interim. As previously reported by COSSA, the House attempted to attach the CR to a bill seeking to require proof of U.S. citizenship to vote during federal elections that did not receive support. With the deadline pushed to after the elections, it’s unclear whether Congress will return ready to draft the final appropriations…
Friends of BLS Urge Congress to Provide Appropriations for Modernizing CPS
On September 24, the Friends of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), of which COSSA is a member, urged the House and Senate Appropriations Committees through a sign-on letter to modernize the Current Population Survey (CPS) with additional funding in fiscal year (FY) 2025. Jointly sponsored by BLS and the Census Bureau, CPS collects labor force statistics data to help inform the status of the social and economic welfare of the country. Two years of flat funding have required CPS to decrease the sample size of the population survey, creating a detrimental impact on important federal data collection. With 120 signatures, the letter details…
Congress Seeks to Pass CR to Avoid Government Shutdown; Both Chambers Drafting Legislation
With the looming appropriations deadline only two weeks away, Congress is working to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to prevent a government shutdown. As previously reported by COSSA, while the House and Senate both began drafting their appropriations bills (see COSSA’s analysis of the House and Senate bills) with the House managing to pass five of their bills on the House floor while the Senate only advanced their respective bills through the Senate Appropriations Committee, both chambers have since turned to drafting CR legislation. Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) unveiled a six-month CR with House-passed legislation, the SAVE Act (HR 8281), seeking to…
Let’s Get Ready to Work!
Dear Friends – I hope you had a wonderful summer and took some time to relax, especially now that we are heading into what will be a busy fall and historic election season. Last we spoke, Congress had made progress on the FY 2025 appropriations bills but still remains far off from finalizing them before the start of the fiscal year on October 1. Congress returns to Washington next week and is expected to immediately turn to negotiating a stop-gap measure to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month. COSSA will also be busy this fall gearing up for the…
State of Play: FY 2025 Appropriations for Social Science Research
As Congress returns to Capitol Hill following August recess, appropriators are looking to finalize the budget for fiscal year (FY) 2025 prior to the September 30 deadline. As previously reported by COSSA, the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced 11 of its 12 bills, including the Commerce, Justice Science (CJS) and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (LHHS) bills (COSSA’s analysis is available here) but did not manage to pass any of the bills on the Senate floor. On the other side of the Capitol, the House Appropriations Committee considered all 12 bills (COSSA’s analysis is available here) and managed to pass 5 of its…
Senate Advances CJS and LHHS Bills Before August Recess; COSSA Releases Analysis
Over the last few weeks, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees released and began consideration of their fiscal year (FY) 2025 appropriations bills. The Senate Appropriations Committee considered the Commerce, Justice Science (CJS) and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (LHHS) bills; read on for details of the bills as approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee. Currently, the Senate Appropriations Committee has advanced 11 of its 12 bills, however, it is unlikely that the Senate will bring any of its bills to the Senate floor when Congress returns in September. Instead, it’s anticipated that the House and Senate will begin negotiations on…
COSSA Releases Full Analysis of FY 2025 House Appropriations Bills for Federal Science Agencies
Over the last several weeks, appropriators in the House of Representatives have been considering funding legislation for fiscal year (FY) 2025, which beings October 1. This is the first appropriations cycle under the leadership of Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK). As previously reported, the year began with an understanding that the FY 2025 appropriations process was going to be an especially difficult one. Thanks to strict budget caps set last year for FY 2024 and FY 2025, discretionary spending is once again on the chopping block. The caps as currently set have the potential to further decimate agency budgets, especially…
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….
COSSA Releases Preview of FY 2025 House Spending Bills Analysis
In late June, the House Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Subcommittee marked up and reported out their bill that funds the National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Census Bureau, National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), and other agencies. The House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (LHHS) Subcommittee also considered its bill, which is responsible for funding the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other HHS agencies, the Department of Education, and the Department of Labor. COSSA is preparing a full analysis of the bills, which are being considered by the full…
CJS and LHHS Bills Move to House Appropriations Full-Committee Mark-Ups; Senate to Begin Appropriations
As previously reported by COSSA, the House Appropriations Committee has kept to their earlier released appropriations schedule and is expected to finish marking up all twelve of its bills this week. The House Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) bill, which funds the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), and the U.S. Census Bureau, is expected to be marked up on July 9 (watch live here) and the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) bill, which provides appropriations for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other…
House Moves on Appropriations Bills Ahead of Fourth of July Recess; CJS and LHHS Bills Expected this Week
As previously reported by COSSA, the fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget process is underway as Congress looks to complete funding bills before the House and a third of the Senate embark on the campaign trail. The House is moving forward with multiple spending bills this week as expected. The House Appropriations committee has already passed six of twelve bills in full-committee, including Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, Defense, Financial Services and General Government, Homeland Security, Legislative Branch, and State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. On June 26, the House Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Subcommittee is…