# Congress Averts Shutdown, Passes Two‐Week Continuing Resolution March 03, 2011 Facing a Friday deadline to keep the Federal government funded and operating, Congress has approved yet another short-term spending bill for Fiscal Year 2011. This resulted from an inability of House Republican leaders and Senate Democrats to, in the short time available, bridge the gap between the steep spending cuts contained in the House’s long-term FY11 spending bill and the Senate's interest in more modest and targeted reductions. Unlike the previous stopgap measures that have funded Federal agencies at the previous year’s levels, this two-week continuing resolution (CR) includes cuts of $4 billion from current spending while authorizing continued spending through March 18. Two weeks provides only a short window and with such wide disagreement between the parties over what and how much more to cut in the seven remaining months of the fiscal year still remaining, another short term extension may be necessary. Although much remains in flux, we wanted to provide a brief update on the current landscape and details of the most recent CR. This week’s enactment of the short-term CR that included a $4 billion cut implies a strengthened bargaining position for House Republicans, who last month fulfilled a campaign pledge to pass legislation returning federal spending to FY08 levels. Emboldened by their passage of HR1 on February 19, which funded programs for the remainder of the fiscal year at $61 billion below FY10 levels and included significant cuts to research accounts, student aid, and humanities (see the attached table and our [February 14](http://hwpi.harvard.edu/ofr/news/president%E2%80%99s%C2%A0%E2%80%9Cwin%C2%A0the%C2%A0future%E2%80%9D%C2%A0fy12%C2%A0budget%C2%A0disarray%C2%A0on%C2%A0fy11%C2%A0continuing%C2%A0resolution) update for detailed impacts), House Republicans offered a two week extension containing a $4 billion cut proportionate to HR 1. To meet this savings target, they included cuts from the President’s proposed FY12 budget and the elimination of over 50 earmarks totaling $2.7 billion. Unfortunately, included in these program terminations is an important state grant program, Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnerships (LEAP), that encourages states to establish need-based grant programs for their undergraduates through matching federal funds; in Massachusetts, LEAP supports the Gilbert Grant program of benefit to some of Harvard’s undergraduates from the state. With easy passage of this package in the House, the pedigree of the cuts and potential shutdown of the government, the table was set for Senate Democrats and the Administration to accept this bargain and enact the House bill. While the debate over the two week CR was short and played out mainly in the press, it is clear that all parties to these discussions—including President Obama—accept that any final deal for FY11 and going forward will include significant cuts below last year’s funding levels. The outlook beyond the March 18 expiration of the current CR is unclear. While both sides hope to come to an agreement on a way to fund the government for the remainder of FY11, House Republicans have so far held firm on their stance that cuts must equate to the $61 billion approved in HR1. Complicating matters further are the many amendments added to HR1 that would block funding for the healthcare and financial reform bills, as well as social programs and environmental regulations, that Senate Democrats and the Administration will not accept but that a large and vocal bloc of GOP House members – including the 87 freshmen – insist must be included. Given Harvard’s participation in federal programs (both research and education), we remain very engaged in these funding issues—especially through our continued robust partnerships and collaboration with peer institutions and advocacy coalitions across the sciences and in education. We will stay in touch as these issues continue to develop. Please feel free to be in touch with Suzanne Day or Jon Groteboer in Harvard’s Washington office (at 202 863‐1292) should you have questions or concerns. See also:- [ Budget and Appropriations ](/issues/budget-appropriations) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)