Congress Remains Deeply Divided on FY 2014 Spending

AAAS

As part of the broader chasm separating the two parties on federal spending and R&D, the House of Representatives is backing particularly significant spending cuts in environmental and energy programs as the U.S. Congress reconvenes on 9 September.

The House appropriations bills for fiscal year 2014 target spending at the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Energy's low-carbon energy initiatives. Overall, the House's funding for nondefense R&D would fall 11.6 percent below the Senate's proposed budget.

If passed, bills in both chambers would continue a long-term declining trend in R&D spending, according to an updated FY 2014 appropriations report from AAAS's R&D Budget and Policy Program. Between fiscal year 2010 and the 2013 budget sequestration, federal R&D spending has plummeted by 16.3 percent.

It's unlikely, however, that any of the appropriations bills will be passed by the full House and Senate before the current fiscal year funding runs out on 30 September.

READ MORE