Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations

Well, the current continuing resolution (CR) that is keeping the government open expires at midnight and what is going to happen today is still somewhat up in the air. Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed a CR that continues funding through September 30, the end of fiscal year 2025. It is now being considered by the Senate, where a vote is scheduled (as of writing) “this afternoon”, with no set time given for that vote. As a reminder, the Senate needs Democratic votes to pass a CR, because it needs 60 votes for passage in the Senate. With one Republican Senator (Senator Rand Paul, KY) a strong “no” on this CR, that means there will need to be 8 Democratic votes for this CR to pass the Senate.

This CR is not a “normal” CR. Typically CRs keep funding at the current rate for federal programs (perhaps with a small across the board funding cut) and a relatively straight forward. This CR, however, is very different, and is perhaps the biggest departure from “normal” appropriating as we have seen in some time.

This CR does not include all the usual details and instructions from Congress on how federal funding should be allocated—it only includes funding in larger buckets directly referenced in the appropriations legislation. While the impact differs depending on what agency the funding is coming from (it all depends on what is written in the appropriations bill), this gives the Administration wide latitude to determine what funding amounts each program receives—or if certain programs should continue at all.

The biggest impact would likely be felt at CDC, where funding is only allocated in the appropriations bill in 14 large buckets, which align with the funding received by the different Centers at CDC. There are no instructions that require the Administration to continue funding all the funding lines and programs as they are funded now. If and how the Administration decides to use this flexibility is yet to be seen, but it is a major departure from “usual” funding bills and could have dramatic impact on HIV, STI, hepatitis and TB prevention programs. And this is why passage of this CR is still up in the air—it is unclear if this bill can get the needed Democratic votes for passage.

This flexibility is of concern to NCSD as well, and we will continue to monitor this and work to protect existing public health funding programs. More to come—watch this space!