Member PortalYesterday, the House of Representatives passed a bill to fund federal government operations for the remainder of the current fiscal year (ending September 30, 2025). Current federal funding is due to expire on Friday, March 14. The Senate is expected to consider the bill this week, but passage is uncertain at this time.
The bill, which passed by a narrow margin of 217-213, does the following:
- Maintains current funding for major formula grant programs, such as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). However, the legislation allows federal departments a great deal of discretion in how the funds will be spent during the year.
- Eliminates $107 million for the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Demonstration and Pilot authority funding (through which several discretionary grants are funded)
- Cuts $75 million from DOL’s dislocated worker national reserve funding (where many existing national programs are funded). How this would or would not impact specific programs currently funded from these accounts remains to be seen and would be determined by DOL if this legislation were to be enacted.
- Increases defense funding by $6 billion
- Cuts non-defense discretionary funding by $13 billion
- Rescinds $20 billion from the Internal Revenue Service
All but one House Republican voted for the bill, and all but one Democrat opposed the bill. Their opposition stemmed from the amount of discretion given to the Trump Administration to pursue future policy changes beyond what is outlined in this bill.
U.S. Senate passage will require 60 votes, meaning it will take all 53 Republicans plus seven Democrats for the bill to pass. It is unclear at this time how many senators will support the bill.
Here are a few resources to learn more:
Previous year’s funding bill (FY24) to cross-reference the text