January 11 – 3 weeks into the shutdown, still no end in sight. 1 thing is certain: as long as FY19 is unfinished, congressional action on FY20 will be delayed—lawmakers and staff say they won’t begin work on any of the FY20 bills until all 7 of the remaining FY19 bills are finalized.

January 3 – The 116th Congress was sworn-in today, the first Congress ever to begin in the midst of a partial government shutdown. Rep. Nancy Pelosi was voted House Speaker, and Rep. Steny Hoyer will serve as Majority Leader, While Rep. Jim Clyburn will serve as Majority Whip. Rep. Kevin McCarthy is serving as Minority Leader.

December 21 – The Senate passed a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to last through February 8. The CR was approved by voice vote in the Senate, but House GOP leaders instead voted on a similar bill that included the President’s requested wall funding. Senators are not expected to pass that bill in time. A shutdown will likely begin tonight at midnight.

December 7 – The House and Senate approved a two-week extension on the continuing resolution (CR) to last through December 21. The President is expected to sign today.

September 28 – President Trump on Friday signed the Defense/Labor-HHS/CR into law without much fanfare. All programs under the seven outstanding spending bills will have fiscal 2018 funding levels extended through December 7. Those bills include: Agriculture-FDA; Commerce-Justice-Science; Financial Services; Homeland Security; Interior-Environment; State and Foreign Operations; and Transportation-HUD.

September 26 – The FY19 Defense spending package has cleared both chambers of Congress and now heads to the White House for President Trump to sign the bill into law. According to the latest Washington Post indications, the president WILL sign it before the September 30 deadline.

The House voted 361-61 today to approve the Fiscal 2019 spending package and the accompanying continuing resolution (CR).

FISCAL 2019 DEFENSE/LABOR-HHS MINIBUS TEXT

FISCAL 2019 DEFENSE/LABOR-HHS REPORT LANGUAGE

September 18 – The Senate passed the conferenced Defense/Labor-HHS minibus today on a 93-7 vote. House lawmakers will vote on the bill next week when they return from their district work period.

Senators who voted ‘nay’ on the bill:

• Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
• Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
• Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
• Sen. David Perdue (R-GA)
• Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE)
• Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA)
• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

September 14 – The fiscal 2019 Defense spending bill is now available here.
The conference committee suggested $90 mil for the Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Program ($10 million over the FY 2018 level). The Senate will vote next week; then the House during week of 9/24.

September 5 – The House announced its list of conferees last night—the members who will negotiate with Senate members to finalize a Labor-HHS / Defense spending package. They include…

Republicans:
• Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen
• Rep. Kay Granger
• Rep. Tom Cole
• Rep. Ken Calvert
• Rep. Steve Womack
• Rep. Robert Aderholt
• Rep. Hal Rogers
• Rep. Martha Roby

Democrats:
• Rep. Nita Lowey
• Rep. Pete Visclosky
• Rep. Rosa DeLauro
• Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard
• Rep. Betty McCollum

The Senate conferees have not yet been announced, but that list will likely will emerge at some point this week.

August 27 – In light of the recent passing of esteemed U.S. Senator John McCain, the Defense Health Research Consortium (@DHRCinfo) released the following statement: McCain Tribute-DHRC

August 23 – The Senate voted 85-7 today to approve the bills funding the departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

Senators voting no:
– Mike Crapo, R-Idaho
– Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.
– Mike Lee, R-Utah
– Rand Paul, R-Ky.
– Jim Risch, R-Idaho
– Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
– Pat Toomey, R-Pa.

August 8 – The Senate Labor-HHS and Defense bills will hit the Senate floor together on August 15th, using the House-passed Defense bill as a vehicle. The Senate will likely send both bills back the House to be voted on in September.

July 24 – (More detailed info in our Members Only section) House and Senate conferees came to an agreement on the Fiscal Year 2019 NDAA (the National Defense Authorization Act), and the conference report will be considered at any point in the House.

Also, regarding Defense Appropriations, we are now hearing that is may come before the full Senate during the week of August 13, and be combined with Labor-HHS! Stay tuned!

July 9 – The Senate FY 2019 Defense spending package has been given a bill number: S.3159. There is no news yet concerning whether the chamber will pair the Defense bill with another spending bill, such as the Labor-HHS-Education bill, or whether it will be considered alone.

Senate Fiscal 2019 Defense Appropriations Bill

June 28 – After the Senate Appropriations Committee markup of the fiscal 2019 Defense spending bill, the text and report were released.

The bill includes $761.5 million for CDMRP, $330 million for the Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program, and $80 million for the Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Program.

Bill Text

Bill Report

June 27 – Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense approved their version of the FY19 Defense Appropriations Act. While we do not yet have details on the CDMRPs, the item below is from the committee’s press release. Note that the PRMRP is once again funded at $330 million:

Defense Health – $34.5 billion for the Defense Health Program, which provides medical services for military personnel and their families, continues advancements in medical research, and implements the next generation of electronic health records. This amount includes an additional $974 million for defense medical research efforts, including $330 million for the competitively awarded peer-reviewed medical research program and $202 million to advance Department of Defense medical research priorities. The bill also recommends $70 million above the President’s request for the Medical Community of Interest [Med-COI], the IT infrastructure backbone of the new electronic health record, in order to support its further deployment.

Hopefully we’ll get the report by late Thursday afternoon after full committee markup!

Relating to floor consideration of the House bill, here is the link to the amendments that were made in order by the Rules Committee last night.

Senate NDAA

June 6 – The Senate version of the FY19 National Defense Authorization Act, as approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been filed. To view, click here.

HAC-D Markup

June 5 – Thursday, the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee will markup the FY 2019 Defense Appropriations Bill at 12:00 Noon EDT in H-140, The Capitol. This markup is closed and will not be webcast.

NDAA Debate

May 23 – The House kicked off floor debate Tuesday afternoon on the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Senate Armed Services Committee deliberated its version of the bill behind closed doors this morning.

Markup Week!

The week of May 21 will be the “Markup Week” for NDAA in the Senate. Subcommittee schedule link: https://bit.ly/2HLYU9T. Full committee link: https://bit.ly/2wajFqu.

House Armed Services Committee Markup

May 7 – The House Armed Services Committee markup of the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bill is scheduled for this Wednesday, May 9 at 10 AM (EDT) in room 2118 Rayburn. More info here: https://bit.ly/2rrnkdH

FY 2019 Budget Update

April 26 – House leaders of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) have unveiled a fiscal 2019 budget plan that proposes to remove the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) from the Department of Defense (DoD) budget–which comes as no surprise. RSC Chairman Mark Walker acknowledged yesterday that their proposal is unlikely to get a vote on the House floor this year, but said it may help fellow House conservatives at the polls this November.

From the RSC:

“Each year, the defense budget includes over half billion for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP). While medical research is a laudable activity, many of the programs funded within the CDMRP are not for military-specific conditions and are duplicative of the type of research done at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). According to the Taxpayers for Common Sense, these programs are clearly earmarks and therefore take money away from other necessary Defense Department functions.? The RSC Budget would transition the non-defense related medical research out of the defense budget. Inefficiencies and waste in the defense budget are not always byproducts of poor management, at least not from the Department of Defense (DOD). Ideologically driven congressional mandates and administration priorities result in unforced errors and self-inflicted wounds.”

In the upper chamber, the Senate is poised to forgo a fiscal 2019 budget resolution. The Senate budget chairman could opt to simply deem the overall fiscal 2019 spending limits established by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA) to be the topline budget numbers, instead of adopting a more detailed budget resolution–as could the House Budget Committee chairman. In that case, lawmakers would avoid tripping over a budget resolution process that would certainly force politically sensitive votes on scores of amendments during “vote-a-rama.”

Congress Passes Fiscal 2018 Omnibus

The Senate passed the fiscal 2018 omnibus by a vote of 65-32 twelve hours after the House passed the bill with a 256-167 vote. President Trump has threatened to veto the bill over immigration issues. OMB Director Mulvaney says there will be no veto, and that . The White House has scheduled a press conference for 1pm today.

House Passes FY 2018 Omnibus

March 22 – BREAKING NEWS: The House has passed the fiscal 2018 #omnibus with a vote of 256-167. The bill will now head to the Senate where a vote is expected late Friday evening, barring any procedural setbacks. White House says President Trump will sign.

The omnibus bill increases the PRCRP to $80 million and the PRMRP to $300 million!

FY 2018 House Omnibus Has Been Released

March 21 – The House Rules Committee just unveiled the Fiscal Year 2018 Omnibus spending bill. The House aims to hold a vote Thursday afternoon, and the Senate is expected to vote Friday evening, just hours before the deadline.

View the omnibus bill here.

Omnibus to be Released Today

March 19 – House leaders hope to release the FY 2018 omnibus at some point today. If that happens, the House will likely vote Wednesday, and the Senate would likely vote late Thursday or early Friday to beat the deadline.

House Omnibus Still on Hold

March 14 – House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy hopes to hold a vote on the FY 2018 omnibus by the end of the week, though it’s unlikely if the bill is not unveiled today. Rep. John Boozman expects the omnibus could be released Sunday night or Monday.

Only 9 days remain before the next possible shutdown.

House Appropriations Subcommittee Deadlines Set

February 16 – The House Appropriations Committee released deadlines for lawmakers to submit their appropriations requests to subcommittees yesterday. See the list here: http://bit.ly/2C1Z6Pc. Generally, lawmakers ask that requests be submitted to their office 2-3 weeks before the deadlines.

POTUS FY 2019 Budget Released

February 12 – The White House yesterday released the President’s fiscal 2019 budget, but most policy wonks soon noticed that it’s nearly impossible to make sense of it.

The budget uses the entire $647 billion for defense-related accounts, including the additional spending authority that was increased in last week’s Bipartisan Budget Agreement. Resources can be found on the site under the “Congress” tab.

Six Week CR Signed into Law

February 9 – After a brief government shutdown at midnight, the House this morning cleared (and the President signed) a two-year budget deal and continuing resolution that re-opens the government. This does NOT include an FY18 omnibus appropriations package, that must still be compiled and approved in the coming weeks. But now the appropriators finally have budget figures with which to work, and hopefully they will wrap this up soon!

House Passes 5th CR of FY2018

February 6 – The House passed their CR with a vote of 245-182, approving full-year funding for the Department of Defense. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to be altered and sent back to the House.

House Releases CR for Feb- March

February 6 – The House has released a continuing resolution (CR) that extends through March 23, and includes the chamber’s $659 billion full-year defense appropriations bill (HR 695). A vote could happen today.

Summary: http://bit.ly/2BGI2xJ

Full bill text: http://bit.ly/2E5iCaG

New CR to Extend Through Late March

February 1 – House and Senate appropriators are reportedly discussing a proposal to extend the next continuing resolution (CR) through March 23. If Republican leaders can whip enough votes to pass such a bill, that new short-term funding deadline would land just shy of six months from the date when fiscal 2018 was supposed to begin, which was October 1 of last year. (More info in the Members Only tab).

Defense Bill Passes in the House, Again…

On Jan. 30, the House passed its fiscal 2018 defense spending bill for a third time on a mostly party line vote (250-166).

Congress Ends Shutdown with New Feb. 8 Deadline

The shutdown concluded last night with the President signing the bill after it passed the Senate (81-18) and then the House (266-150). The bill gives lawmakers just 12 working days (through Feb. 8) to reach agreements on the same divisive issues that lead to the stalemate and shutdown over last three days.

New CR Unveiled

January 17 – Congress has unveiled the new continuing resolution (CR) text here,and the summary here. The stopgap spending measure extends the deadline through February 16.

No deal yet on the budget caps.

Shutdown Showdown

January 16 – Congress is expected to take up short-term CR this week that would likely extend through Feb. 16- when Congress adjourns for a weeklong President’s Day recess- to allow appropriators more time to complete a Fiscal Year 2018 spending package (if/when leaders get a budget deal to raise the caps).

Spending Caps

January 8 – Congressional leaders are reportedly nearing a deal on spending caps for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, but are being held up by negotiations on DACA, border wall funding, and disaster relief, among other issues. 11 days remain before the next shutdown scare.

Defense Bill with CR

December 14 – The House Appropriations Committee Republicans released a bill (HJ Res 124) that would fund the Pentagon for the full fiscal year 2018 with a continuing resolution (CR) that would extend the remaining nondefense bills at current levels through January 19.

View the bill text here.