Congress Passes Third Fiscal Year 2024 Continuing Resolution

On January 18, the Senate passed a Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Continuing Resolution (CR) that keeps the government funded through early March, with the hope that Congress can finalize FY2024 funding by that date. The House of Representatives passed the legislation later that same day, and President Biden was expected to sign the bill before the expiration of the current CR at midnight on Friday the 19. The Senate vote was 77-18 to pass the bill, and the House voted 314-108.

The CR is necessary because Congress was unable to finalize funding for the government by the start of the fiscal year, which began last October 1. In November, Congress passed a CR which runs through January 19 for four of the 12 appropriations bills (Agriculture-FDA, Energy and Water, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development) and through February 2 for the remaining eight bills, including the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education bill (LHHS), which includes funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The new spending agreement would extend funding through March 1 for the first four set of bills, and through March 8 for the second group.