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News and updates

News and updates

House Appropriations Process Under Way — Funding Allocations Expected Soon

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Now that the debt ceiling package was passed, Congress is working on the appropriation bills. Today, the House Appropriations Committee is expected to approve 302(b) funding allocations for all 12 spending measures which sets the top line limit for all discretionary spending under each bill. The committee also released the Energy-Water bill (full text available here; summary available here) and the Defense bill (full text available here; summary available here). Yesterday, the committee approved the FY24 Military Construction-VA spending bill on a party-line vote.

Although the debt ceiling negotiations ended in a “deal”, there is still deep divides over discretionary spending between Democrats and Republicans. House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger (R-TX) internally released 302(b) funding allocations on Monday and CQ reports that the allocations “total $1.471 trillion, or $119 billion less than the spending caps outlined in the debt ceiling package negotiated by McCarthy and President Joe Biden and $131 billion less than the current fiscal year.” House Democrats will continue to fight against these spending cuts. Our office will continue to monitor progress as the appropriations process continues.

Congress Finally Passes Debt Ceiling Bill, Narrowly Avoiding Default

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Last week, the debt ceiling bill was passed by both the House and the Senate and signed by President Biden on Saturday lifting the debt ceiling until January 2025, narrowly missing the deadline for default on the country’s debt. The agreement caps non-defense spending at FY23 levels and allows for only a 1% increase in FY2025. Now that the caps have been set, appropriators will determine the specific levels of funding for agencies and programs. As always, we will track progress on our appropriations tracker found here.  

What Will They Come Up With Next?

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After turning back approximately a dozen amendments during the floor debate last night, the Senate adopted by a 63 to 36 vote the debt limit bill, clearing it for the President’s signature later today.  The Treasury Department had been warning that the nation would lose its ability to pay all of its bills next Monday.  The House cleared the bill earlier this week.  

While the fight over the debt limit has become much more partisan and political recently, this year’s fight represents the closest the nation has come to actually defaulting on its debts.

Almost There…

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After much back-and-forth and a final round of negotiations last weekend, the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) came to an agreement on a debt ceiling package earlier this week.   Yesterday evening, the House passed the legislation in a bipartisan manner, by a vote of 314 – 117.  The Senate must now take it up.

While its details are still being digested, the package contains the following provisions, among others:

  • a suspension of the debt limit until January 1, 2025 
  • essentially a freeze in discretionary spending for both FY2024 and FY2025 relative to FY2023, the current fiscal year
    • as part of the spending limits for the next two years, the legislation sets separate spending caps on “security” and “non-security” programs for the next two fiscal years
  • a mandatory cut of one percent in discretionary spending if all 12 annual appropriations are not signed into law by January 1 each fiscal year for the next two years
  • prohibition on further extensions of the student loan repayment deferrals– repayments would restart by early September

The legislation also includes a package of recissions, the details of which are still being assessed.  We will share additional information about them as they come to light.

Not surprisingly, there was drama in the House before the floor vote, as some members of the hard-right wing of the House Republicans blasted the deal.  There were questions about whether, procedurally, McCarthy had enough support to even bring the bill to the floor.  

As noted above, the bill now goes to the Senate, where both Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urged support for it among their colleagues.

Read more about the developments here, here, and here. 

OSTP Virtual Public Listening Sessions on Open Science

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This week and next week, the White House Office of Science & Technology (OSTP) is hosting a series of live sessions aimed at listening to the perspectives of early career researchers on open science. OSTP is seeking input from undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows as well as those involved in training and capacity building, including librarians, educators, and administrators. Participants will have the opportunity to speak during the session and should indicate their interest in doing so in the registration form.

Please visit the links below to register for any of the four upcoming virtual listening sessions. The listening sessions are as follows:

For more information on the sessions, click here.