Continuing Resolution Scramble
This week’s Analysis and Commentary is entitled: “Steven’s Final Thoughts and Where to Find Him in the Future.”
Continuing Resolution Scramble. As the week began, House and Senate leadership reached an agreement to fund the federal government through March 14, 2025, with another Continuing Resolution (CR). Votes were to occur before the Friday night deadline. For FDA that meant operations would have continued at the funding levels and conditions specified for FY 2024, with no new activities to be undertaken. No anomalies impacting FDA were included in this initial CR.
The text of that agreement can be found here. See Division E, Title VIII, for FDA provisions regarding “Give Kids a Chance” and the Establishment of the Abraham Accords Office within FDA.
However, President-elect Trump, Vice President-elect Vance, several Republican House and Senate members, and Elon Musk objected to the proposal, primarily focusing on what they say are “giveaways to the Democrats.” In addition, Trump demanded the bill either raise the debt ceiling or eliminate the requirement–a topic wholly new to the current CR negotiations.
As of Friday morning, Speaker Johnson is working to find an agreement that can pass the House, although it is not clear how he will accomplish that. He needs Democratic votes for passage (a 2/3 vote required for expedited House procedures) but can’t get those without concessions that Trump previously opposed.
If no agreement is reached–including extending the CR for a few days–then the government will shut down at midnight on December 20. The details of that possibility are covered in the next two stories.
Past logjams of this type have been resolved–often at the very last minute–by continued negotiations. It is also possible Senate Republicans could broker a deal that the Senate could then send to the House. However, they will face the same problem–how to include Democratic priorities sufficient to get Democratic votes without drawing rebuke from Trump.
If a shutdown occurs, it is hard to forecast which party will face the most pressure to cut a deal. President-elect Trump has said he is fine because the sitting President always takes the blame in a shutdown. A different interpretation would be the President takes the blame IF the President could have avoided the shutdown.
Tracking a Possible Shutdown. Unless a new CR is passed on Friday, December 20, a government shutdown will take effect at midnight. Most federal workers who have weekend assignments (lab workers, clinicians, security, etc) are either exempted or excepted from the shutdown so impact over the weekend would be muted.
As a practical matter, the next “deadline” for Congress would be about 4 a.m. on Monday, December 23, when the Office of Personnel Management must tell federal employees whether to come to work. If a shutdown is still in force, then a substantial number of furloughed employees will still come to work Monday to initiate shutdown activities. If Congress misses the next deadline, about 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning, the shutdown would be in full force.
The President does have some leeway to bring furloughed federal workers back to work if a deal is near. While the level of proof is unknown, it would not be credible unless there was a clear path forward and delays were just procedural (which is certainly not the case at this time).
Contrary to what might be said: a shutdown does not save the government money (the opposite is true) and it is an immediate drag on economic growth.
HHS Posts FY 2025 Contingency Staffing Plan, Including FDA Materials. Given the uncertainty of the CR and the possibility of a shutdown, the Department of Health and Human Services has now posted contingency staffing plans for the department and its agencies.
The key excerpt from the FDA portion is “In the event of a lapse of appropriation, 15,223 (77%) of FDA staff will be retained including 12,878 (65%) who are exempt (their activities or position are already funded or otherwise exempted) and 2,345 (12%) who are excepted (their activities are deemed necessary by implication, or for the safety of human life or protection of property).”
The FDA plan can be found here.
FDA’s Principal Deputy Commissioner Dr. Namandjé N. Bumpus to Depart at the End of the Year. Commissioner Robert Califf this week advised FDA staff Principal Deputy Commissioner Dr. Namandjé N. Bumpus will leave the agency at the end of this year. The Alliance agrees with Commissioner Califf that Dr. Bumpus has been a force for positive change, helping to strengthen FDA’s culture, processes and scientific capabilities, with a key focus on science. We thank her for her work and for being available to the Alliance. We wish her well in her future endeavors.
It had been assumed Dr. Bumpus would become the Acting Commissioner until Senate confirmation of Dr. Marty Makary as the new Commissioner. Who will take on this role has not yet been announced.
Friday Update: Last Planned Issue of the Year. This Friday Update is our last planned edition for this year. Given the chaotic and uncertain situation on Capitol Hill, we will send a supplement to our readers when the situation is resolved. Please send any questions to Steven.
Upcoming Alliance Leadership Transition. As many Friday Update readers know, Steven Grossman, an Alliance co-founder and our long-time Executive Director, will be leaving at the end of the year to develop other initiatives that benefit FDA and the stakeholder community. (described here, here, and in today’s Analysis and Commentary).
The Alliance Board and membership thank Steven for his many years of services and wish him success in his new FDA-related endeavors. The Board is in the final stages of choosing Steven’s successor, and they expect to make an announcement in early January.