By Hugh T. Ferguson, NASFAA Managing Editor
Over the weekend, President Joe Biden signed a continuing resolution that will keep the government funded through November 17, offering Congress additional time to work through spending levels for fiscal year 2024.
Congressional negotiators still need to work through significant differences between their Labor-HHS-Education bills which funds ED, and need to contend with a potential House leadership fight that could further complicate spending talks. Following the House's passage of the continuing resolution GOP hardliners have threatened to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) for relying on votes from Democrats to advance the short-term spending measure.
Back in July the House advanced its Labor-HHS-Education bill out of a subcommittee, but the bill was never taken up by the full committee. That proposal would slash funding for education-related programs with an overall request of $67.4 billion to ED, a reduction of $12.1 billion from the fiscal year 2023 enacted level and $22.6 billion less than the president’s budget request.
The Senate’s proposal, which advanced out of the full appropriations committee by a bipartisan vote of 26-2, contained $79.6 billion in discretionary funding for ED. This total was below the President’s budget request for education spending, but spared a number of higher education programs from steep cuts that were proposed in the package put forth by House Republicans.
Stay tuned to Today’s News for more details and get the latest information on the federal budget process, see NASFAA’s Federal Budget and Appropriations page and NASFAA’s budget FAQs.
Publication Date: 10/2/2023
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