The House has announced it will move forward with considering its second minibus of the year (the first minibus was passed in June). The second minibus will contain the House-versions of the FY2019 Interior and Financial Services bills. The House is expected to consider the measures on the floor the week of July 16th.
News and updates
EPA Administrator Resigns
President Donald Trump tweeted today that he has accepted the resignation of EPA chief Scott Pruitt. Pruitt had been the subject of numerous ethics investigations involving his travel, spending, use of staff, and favors by industry lobbyists.
The agency’s Deputy Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, will act as the agency’s leader until a new administrator is nominated by Mr. Trump and confirmed by the Senate.
Senate Defense Spending Bill Details Now Available
Research programs funded by the Defense Department would fare relatively well under the FY2019 Defense spending bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The report that outlines the spending details for the bill is available here.
In the report, the committee calls out the importance of basic research in the defense enterprise. The report reads, in part:
Basic Research.—The Committee understands that basic research is the foundation for Department of Defense innovation and future technologies. As the Under Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering) recently testified before the Committee: ‘‘The Department of Defense has the third largest investment among Federal agencies in basic research at U.S. universities, who have, through years of continued investments, been the source of many of today’s transformational technologies. Traditionally, the Department has viewed the role of universities as producing the research innovation, the Department of Defense labs as the mechanism to nurture these findings and to render them defense-applicable, and the defense industrial base to integrate these new technologies into acquisition programs.’’ Accordingly, the Committee recommends a total basic research investment of $2,798,456,000, an increase of $529,280,000 above the fiscal year 2019 budget request. This includes an additional $125,000,000 in Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Army; $125,000,000 in Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy; $125,000,000 in Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air Force; and $100,000,000 in Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide.
The Basic Research portfolio would be divided up in the following manner:
- Army: $582.6 million
- Navy: $737.9 million
- Air Force: $642.8 million
- Defense-wide: $835.1 million
Funds for the Applied Research portfolio would be allocated in the following manner under this bill:
- Army: $1,166 billion
- Navy: $1,027 billion
- Air Force: $1,430 billion
- Defense-wide: $1,953 billion
As noted above, additional details are available in the report.
Appropriations Process Continues to Move Forward
The FY2019 appropriations process continued to move forward today.
The House agreed to its version of the Defense spending bill by a vote of 359 to 49. The detailed report for the bill is available here.
In the Senate, the full Appropriations Committee adopted its version of the Labor-HHS-Education and Defense spending bills. While most of the details from the two bills are not yet available, the bills’ highlights have been posted by committee here and here.
Senate Bill Calls for Bigger NIH Increase
The Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee reported out this morning its FY2019 bill. While most of the legislation’s details are not yet available, Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO) highlighted during his remarks the $2-billion increase in the bill slated for NIH. He also called out the proposed Pell Grant maximum of $6,195 and the continuation of the year-round Pell. A press release about the highlights of the bill is available here.
The bill is slated to be taken up by the full Appropriations Committee on Thursday, when the panel will also consider the Defense bill.
More details will be posted as they become available.