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On July 28, the U.S. Congress adjourned for its traditional August district work period without completing action on the 12 Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills, including the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) and Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) appropriations bills, which fund most of the Federal agencies that directly and indirectly support the population sciences, including the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Census Bureau. The U.S. Senate is expected to return on September 5, while the U.S. House of Representatives is not back until September 12. When Congress returns, it will only have 11 legislative days to pass all FY 2024 appropriations bills and send them to President Biden for his approval before FY 2023 ends on September 30.

Early in July, members of the House Freedom Caucus informed Speaker of the House McCarthy that they will oppose FY 2024 appropriations bills that do not significantly cut Federal spending. The turmoil in the House decreases the likelihood that FY 2024 appropriations bills will pass before the end of September. As a result, Congress and President Biden will likely need to enact a continuing resolution to avoid a government-wide shutdown and keep agencies operating once the new fiscal year begins on October 1.

Below is a summary of the funding levels that the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have recommended thus far for the Federal agencies that PAA prioritizes. Overall, funding levels proposed by the House Appropriations Committee are much lower than those approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, and, in some cases, below an agency’s FY 2023 funding level. Several of the House measures also include controversial policy riders that would, among other things, preclude the inclusion of undocumented immigrants from the apportionment base in subsequent decennial censuses, eliminate funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and restrict access to federally funded reproductive health services. The House LHHS bill also eliminates altogether funding for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and gun violence prevention research initiatives at NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It is important to note that the report accompanying the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill includes language praising NIH population research programs supported by the National Institute on Aging and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Over August, PAA is joining other social and behavioral scientists in urging members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate to support the highest possible funding levels for all agencies important to the field in the final FY 2024 appropriations bills.

*NCHS budget number is available once report accompanying the House LHHS bill is released.