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FY2022 Appropriations: Stopgap Spending Legislation

10/01/2021
WIH

On September 30, President Joe Biden signed a short-term spending bill into law that would fund the U.S. federal government until December 3. The additional nine weeks will give lawmakers time to pass fiscal year 2022 appropriations legislation. Earlier in the day, the House passed the short-term spending bill by a vote of 254-175. This is “not a permanent solution,” House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), said during debate. “I look forward to soon beginning negotiations with my counterparts across the aisle and across the Capitol to complete full-year government funding bills that reverse decades of disinvestment.”

The Senate also passed the short-term continuing resolution by a vote of 65-35.

The short-term spending bill does not include provisions to raise the debt limit. Earlier in the week, the House of Representatives passed legislation to suspend the debt ceiling. The Senate did not pass similar legislation. According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Congress has until October 18 to raise the debt limit or the U.S. will default on its debt.

FY2022 Reconciliation: Build Back Better Act

After weeks of tense negotiations among House and Senate Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) decided against bringing the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package to the House floor for a vote on Thursday, September 30. According to news reports, Speaker Pelosi continues to make calls to members of the House Progressive Caucus concerning the reconciliation package. Speaker Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said that there will be a vote on Friday, October 1 on a $2.1 trillion reconciliation framework. At this point, it is uncertain if Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and other members of the House Progressive Caucus will support the framework.

 

During a press gaggle yesterday, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) stated that he would be willing to support a $1.5 trillion reconciliation package. This announcement comes weeks after behind-closed-door conversations with President Joe Biden and Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY).

 

As mentioned in previous Washington Insights & Highlights newsletters, the budget reconciliation package includes funding for programs important to colleges, universities, and fundamental scientific research.

Immigration: The Latest on DACA

On September 28, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a new proposed rule that would codify into regulation the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This proposed rule is in direct response to a July 2021 ruling by U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hansen, who ordered the Biden Administration to stop accepting new applications for DACA. In his ruling, Judge Hansen found the DACA program to be unlawful because the program was promulgated without the formal rulemaking process. The Department of Homeland Security has appealed the U.S. District Court’s ruling and has now published this notice of proposed rulemaking.

 

While the proposed rule does not make significant changes to the DACA program, it does decouple work authorization from protection against deportation. Under this proposed rule, DACA applicants would have the option to seek protection from deportation without also applying for work authorization. All written comments in response to this proposed rule are due by November 29, 2021.

 

For more information about this proposed rule, please read the DHS press release.

CGS Supports Afghan Students and Scholars

Recently, CGS President Suzanne Ortega and leaders from the higher education and professional science communities attended a meeting with Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Eric Lander. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the resettlement of Afghan students and scholars who have been displaced due to the current crisis in Afghanistan. Here is a readout of the meeting and a recent letter that CGS and other higher education associations sent to the House and Senate Leadership.

NIH Virtual Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be hosting a virtual seminar on program funding and grants administration. If you are a university administrator, researcher, early-stage investigator, or graduate student, NIH encourages you to attend this seminar. The virtual seminar will take place from Monday, November 1–Thursday, November 4, 2021. Please visit the NIH website to register to attend the seminar.