House & Senate Appropriations Committees Approves FY 25 Agriculture/FDA Bills
This week’s Analysis and Commentary is entitled: “The Alliance Expresses Concern/Disappointment with House and Senate Mark-ups.”
House Appropriations Committee Approves FY 25 Agriculture/FDA Bill. By a party-line vote of 29-25, the full House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved the FY 25 Agriculture/FDA Appropriations bill, the last of the twelve appropriation bills.
The House bill provides $3.5 billion for FDA’s Salaries and Expenses account. This is $22 million below the FY 24 appropriation and $182 million below the President’s request. This reduction means that the agency will have to absorb mandatory pay increases. Also, the bill does not provide any funding for Buildings and Facilities. As has been the case in prior years, the House report does not include tables that show BA funding by Center.
In opening statements, Full Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) said: “The bill also provides an appropriate level of funding for the Food and Drug Administration, ensuring that it can fulfill its primary mission of protecting and promoting the safety of America’s food, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices.” Subcommittee Ranking Member Sanford Bishop said: “We should ensure that the USDA, FDA, CFTC, and other agencies have the resources needed to continue to provide America with the highest quality, the safest, the most abundant, and the most affordable food and fiber, medicine and medical devices anywhere in the world.”
No amendments were offered impacting FDA funding levels. Instead, references to FDA centered on provisions in the bill regarding limits on FDA’s regulatory authorities.
Key Documents:
House Committee draft bill - FDA begins on p. 68
House Committee draft report - FDA begins on p. 76. Also, see the funding table beginning on p. 162.
Subcommittee Ranking Member Sanford Bishop (D-GA) Opening Statement
Full Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) Opening Statement
Next step for the House Agriculture/FDA Bill. The House is in recess next week for the Republican National Convention. The House is then scheduled to be in session the weeks of July 22 and July 29. The plan is to complete full House consideration of the seven remaining appropriation bills, including Agriculture/FDA, before the extended recess starts on August 2.
Senate 302(b) Allocations. The Senate Committee approved 302(b) subcommittee allocations by a party-line vote of 15-11, noting that they are subject to change.
Full Committee Chairwoman Murray (D-WA) said: “I have warned that if we don’t work to address the inadequate funding levels, we’re not simply looking at ‘treading water.’ We’re looking at cuts to services people count on each and every day and jeopardizing investments that keep our country strong—everything from WIC and housing assistance to our investments in lifesaving medical research to our efforts to keep our communities safe and stay ahead of our adversaries, and so much more.”
The Agriculture/FDA bill has an allocation of $27.049 billion, an increase of $821 million over the FY 24 enacted amount of $26.228 billion. The bulk of the increase is intended to support rising costs and enrollment in federal feeding programs, such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Senate Appropriations Committee Approves FY 25 Agriculture/FDA Bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved its version of the FY 25 Agriculture/FDA funding bill.
The Senate bill, according to a summary released by the Committee, provides $6.87 billion in total funding for the FDA, which includes $3.544 billion in discretionary funding—a $22 million increase over fiscal year 2024.
The bill provides an increase of $1 million to conduct oversight of cosmetics; an increase of $15 million for food safety; an increase of $3 million for the Neurology Drug Program; $2 million in new funding for the recently announced Tobacco Task Force; and $1 million more for antimicrobial research.
Key Documents:
Senate bill - S. 4690 - FDA begins on p. 72
Senate report 118-193 - FDA begins on p. 123. Also see the funding table beginning on p. 189.
Video of Full Committee Markup Session - Agriculture/FDA begins at 59:30
Next steps for the Senate Agriculture/FDA Bill. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Murray (D-WA) did not announce a floor schedule for consideration of the Agriculture/FDA funding bill. However, she did say that she expects the Committee to hold additional markup sessions on remaining appropriation bills when the Senate returns to session in two weeks.