House and Senate Pass CR, Measure Advances to President

September 19, 2014

The Senate last night, in a bipartisan 78-22 vote, passed a 10-week continuing resolution (CR) that funds the government through December 11. The House approved the same measure earlier in the week. In addition to keeping the government up and running at close to current levels for the October 1 start of the 2015 Fiscal Year, the measure also includes provisions to temporarily fund the training and equipping of Syrian rebels and keep the Export-Import Bank open through June 2015.

The House and Senate will recess today to allow Members to return to the campaign trail ahead of the November 4 midterm elections, in which control of the Senate is very much in play. When lawmakers return to town for a lame-duck session of Congress on November 12, they will need to return to FY15 funding once again. Depending on the outcome of the elections, Congress could either enact another government-wide temporary continuing resolution, a year-long CR, a package or packages of updated FY15 funding bills, or a combination of some FY15 funding measures, such as Defense and Veteran’s Affairs, combined with a partial CR to fund remaining federal agencies. If Democrats retain control of the Senate, it seems likely the Congress will enact some combination of measures that resolve funding issues for the year; but should Republicans emerge from election night with a majority in the Senate, another short-term CR pushing FY13 final funding decisions into next year and the next Congress seems more likely.  

On a related note, with Members still in town and government funding at the forefront of the congressional agenda, 300 scientists, clinicians and patient advocates from across the nation traveled early this week to Washington to participate in the Rally for Medical Research. The Rally, which was co-sponsored by the University, the Medical School and United for Medical Research, an advocacy organization co-founded by Harvard, was organized to call on lawmakers to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health. There were 210 meetings scheduled on the Hill, including meetings in all leadership offices and leading appropriators on both sides of the aisle. Sens. Durbin (D-IL) and Klobuchar (D-MN) addressed the Rally, as did Dr. Francis Collins and others. Organizers also read a statement of support from the President at the Rally’s kickoff event on Wednesday evening.

If you have any questions related to this update or Harvard’s work in Washington, please contact Suzanne Day or Jon Groteboer in the Office of Federal Relations: (202) 863-1292.