Budget and Appropriations

On Thursday evening, the House voted, 230-197, on a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded through February 16.  There was a deal struck with the Freedom Caucus conservatives shortly before the vote which promised a separate vote on military spending in order for them to support this CR.

The CR agreed to in the House extends funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through fiscal year (FY) 2023.  The Prevention and Public Health Fund (which partially funds the CDC) is not used as an offset in this legislation!

A shutdown is still possible as it is unclear whether there are 60 votes in the Senate in support of the House-passed CR.  Some Senate Republicans, who currently have a 51 vote majority in the Senate, have stated that they will vote against the bill and Democratic support is uncertain without an immigration deal.  The deadline for action is midnight tonight (Friday).  When the Senate reconvenes at 11am today, they will have only 13 hours to agree to a CR before the shutdown would go into effect.

If the Senate changes the House bill, it will have to go back to the House, where no vote timetable has been suggested. But, the House Rules Committee agreed Wednesday night to “same-day” authority through Saturday, January 20, allowing House leaders to quickly call a vote on any bill. Plan B seems to be a very short term (3-5 day) CR to allow more time to get a deal. If they don’t come up with something, a partial government shutdown begins at the stroke of midnight.

Meanwhile, the target date for lawmakers to pass a final FY2018 appropriations package is slipping further into March.  Once the topline spending levels are set, appropriators will need about four weeks to craft the bill.

Impact of a Federal Government Shutdown

The Department of Health and Human Services shut down plans can be found here.

If the federal government does shut down, that means that most of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—including essentially all of the Division of STD Prevention—will not be working and will be unreachable for the duration of the shutdown.  This includes federal staff that is embedded in state and local health departments.  It is NCSD’s understanding that draw downs of funding should still be possible, as those are automated.