Nearly two months into fiscal year (FY) 2020, the appropriations process to fund the federal government continues. On Tuesday, 19 November, the House passed another continuing resolution (CR), keeping the government funded at FY2019 levels, ahead of the 21 November deadline granted by a recent CR signed into law in September. The Senate is expected to approve the legislation on Thursday, 21 November.  

The new CR will keep the government funded for another four weeks and give the House and Senate a new deadline of 20 December to negotiate and pass all twelve FY2020 spending bills. While this means that science agencies can maintain current operations, for the time being, new funding needed to award new grants, plan new programs, or budget appropriately remains frozen. Of the twelve spending bills needed to fully fund the government for FY2020, the Senate has passed four bills and the House has passed ten. For more details about what’s in the FY2020 appropriations bills, check out our previous posts on the House and Senate. 

With only four weeks for Congress to negotiate, pass, and sign into law all twelve FY2020 spending bills, the expansion and progress of science, especially funding for new stages of scientific research, continues to be in jeopardy.  

Contact your legislators today and urge them to protect science and its benefits to society by finishing the FY2020 appropriations process this year.