Skip to content
News and updates

News and updates

First CR to Last Through Dec. 7

Posted on

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) said today that the first continuing resolution (CR) will last through December 7 and that it will be attached to the conference report for the Labor-HHS and Defense spending bills currently being drafted by House and Senate negotiators.  A CR will be needed for programs and agencies not funded by the spending bills signed into law before October 1.  The short-term CR is intended to create more time for Congress to address the remaining appropriations measures.

It remains to be seen just exactly how many appropriations bills will be enacted by the October 1 deadline.

First Spending Bills to be Cleared by Friday?

Posted on

The conference report for the package that contains the first three appropriations bills of FY2019– Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs– was quickly adopted by the Senate yesterday by a vote of 92 to 5.  An agreement between the House and Senate negotiators was reached on it earlier this week.

The House is scheduled to take up the measure later today and is expected to clear it by Friday, clearing it for the President’s signature.  As noted above, these three bills, if signed into law, would represent the first spending bills approved for FY2019, which starts on Oct 1.

On a related note, House and Senate conferees are scheduled to formally meet today on two other sets of spending bills.  The first combines the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education and Defense bills and second pulls together the Interior, Agriculture, Transportation-Housing, and Financial Services bills.

Details of Energy and Water Spending Bill Available

Posted on

Details contained in the conference report for the FY2019 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill are now available.

As noted previously, the bill would support the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science at approximately $6.59 billion.  The office is currently funded at $6.26 billion and the Trump Administration requested $5.39 billion.  If passed and signed into law, the measure would fund a number of programs of interest housed at the Office of Science in the following manner:

  • Advanced Scientific Computing Research– $935.5 million ($810.0 million in FY2018 and $899.0 million requested from Administration)
  • Basic Energy Sciences– $2.17 billion (FY2018: $2.09 billion; request: $1.85 billion)
  • Biological and Environmental Research– $705.0 million (FY2018: $673.0 million; request: $500.0 million)
  • Fusion– $564.0 million, including $432.0 million for research and $132.0 million for ITER (FY2018:  $410.0 million for research and $122.0 for ITER; request:  $265 million for research and $75 million for ITER)
  • High Energy Physics– $980.0 million (FY2018:  $908.0 million; request:  $770.0 million)
  • Nuclear Physics– $690.0 million (FY2018:  $684.0 million; request:  $600.0 million)

The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy account would be funded at $2.38 billion under this bill.  It is currently funded at $2.32 billion and the Administration requested $695 million for FY2019.

The conference report is available here.

 

Agreement Reached on First FY2019 Minibus

Posted on

As October 1, the start of FY2019, approaches, House and Senate negotiators have agreed to a compromise on the first package of spending bills.  The first “minibus” includes the FY2019 Energy and Water Development, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Legislative Branch Appropriations Bills.

The text of the compromise bill is available here.  The text of the conference report, which contains additional details, is provided here.

Included in the $147.5-billion package is $6.59 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, which is an increase of $325 million above the current level.  The agreement would also provide $366 million for the DOE Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, an increase of $13 million, or 3.7 percent.  The DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy account would see an increase of $57 million for a total of approximately $2.4 billion.

While the timing could slip a bit, the Senate could take up the measure as soon as Thursday, with the House following suit on Friday.

Discussions are currently underway on two other minibuses, one of which is a combined package of the defense and health and education bills.

 

New Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Chosen

Posted on

Yesterday, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) was officially approved as the new chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee by the Senate Republicans.  Inhofe had been acting as chairman while Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was battling cancer in Arizona.  With McCain’s passing, Inhofe has now officially assumed the position of chairman.

The person tapped to fill McCain’s seat, at least through the end of this year, Jon Kyl, has been assigned to the Armed Services Committee.  Kyl previously served in the Senate for three terms before retiring.