IFPTE Urges Congress to Pass a Bipartisan Short-Term Government Funding that Protects U.S. Leadership in Science, Space, R&D, and Engineering
IFPTE followed up on last week’s meetings and letters to Congress to protect NASA missions and capabilities with another letter to House and Senate leadership, insisting that any funding deal must contain legislative language protecting congressionally approved funding levels from impoundments and prevent a unilateral implementation of the President’s budget contrary to Congressional intent.
House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) have introduced a continuing resolution (CR) that includes just such language as well as provisions to protect NASA Science missions and funding for NOAA missions and activities.
IFPTE’s letter calls for a bipartisan deal where lawmakers “work across the aisle to pass a short-term CR that not only prevents a government shutdown but also affirms Congress’s constitutional power of the purse and protects Congressionally mandated spending levels and programs at NASA, NOAA, and other federal agencies.”
As of Friday, the House of Representatives is not scheduled to be in session until October 1, meaning a bipartisan CR cannot be passed in the House. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) holds the power to call Members of the House back to D.C. and schedule a vote on a bipartisan short-term funding bill.
Last Friday, September 19, House Republicans passed a partisan CR, which was not negotiated with Democrats, that funds the government through mid-November, but that bill also does nothing to prevent the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from implementing the President’s Budget Request (PBR) for fiscal year 2026. The PBR, which cuts NASA’s budget by 24% and NASA science funding by 47%, has not been approved by Congress and Congressional appropriators do not agree with these steep cuts to NASA. The House Republican CR does not have the 60-vote bipartisan support needed to pass the Senate.
The path forward is a bipartisan CR that Republicans and Democrats agree to that upholds Congress’s constitutionally defined ”power of the purse.” IFPTE will continue reach out to lawmakers over the weekend to push for that CR to be negotiated and passed by Congress in time to avoid a shutdown.