Following the House’s actions on Wednesday, the Senate cleared last night the FY2022 omnibus package by a vote of 68 to 31.
Read more about the behind the scenes dynamics here, here, and here.
Category: 117th Congress
House Passes Omnibus, FY22 Chart Now Available
Yesterday the House passed an omnibus appropriations package for FY22, following negotiations between House and Senate appropriators. The final package includes modest increases for key scientific and higher education accounts. The Senate is expected to vote on the package quickly to send it to the President’s desk. Current government funding is set to expire on Friday, so another short continuing resolution will be necessary to allow the Senate to clear procedural steps.
A chart tracking key accounts relevant to UW is available here. Our office will post detailed updates as information becomes available. We will also discuss appropriations in more detail during our town hall on March 24th at noon PT (register here).
2022 Federal Agenda Now Live
The University of Washington has published our 2022 Federal Agenda reaffirming our commitment to a robust partnership with the federal government. You can view the agenda here.
On March 24th at 12pm PT, Director of Federal Relations Sarah Castro will participate in a Town Hall highlighting the key elements of our federal agenda. Members of the UW community can register here.
Biden Announces SCOTUS Pick
President Biden confirmed his intention to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson, of DC, to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. She will replace retiring Justice Breyer.
The Senate is expected to move quickly on her confirmation process once the nomination is received, adding to an already busy 2022 agenda.
Another CR Pushed Through To Buy More Time
The House passed on a bipartisan basis yesterday another short-term continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government open past the current deadline of midnight, February 19. The Senate is expected to follow suit.
While a number of issues have created problems with respect to the completion of funding bills for FY2022 — which started October 1– one of the biggest hurdles has been the inability of the two parties to come to an agreement on “top line” numbers, the overall funding levels for both defense and non-defense programs. The passage of another short-term CR allows the various negotiators to continue conversations without risking a government shutdown in less than two weeks. The CR that was agreed to by the House last evening would keep the government funded through March 11.
Read more about the situation here.