Congress Returns September 9 But Action on Agriculture/FDA Appropriations Unlikely

This week’s Analysis and Commentary is entitled: "Q&A: Bumpy September Ride for Government Funding."

Congress Returns September 9 But Action on Agriculture/FDA Appropriations Unlikely. The House and Senate both return to session on September 9. Neither has scheduled further action on their Agriculture/FDA Appropriations bill.  

We expect all appropriations energies will be applied to passing a CR during September. The likely difficulties in passing a CR are described in detail in this week’s Analysis and Commentary. 


Continuing Resolution To Take Center Stage in September. With only thirteen session days for the House and fifteen for the Senate before adjournment until after the election, a Continuing Resolution (CR) will be a necessity and there won’t be much time to address it. 

No date for how long the CR will last has been announced.  However,  members of the House Freedom Caucus would prefer that the CR run until some time in the 119th Congress with their belief that the election will result in a new administration and/or changes in Congressional majorities that will enable them to secure funding bills more in line with their views.   

Under a CR, FDA would be funded at current FY 24 levels for the specified duration.  No new activities proposed in the FY 25 budget could be undertaken under a CR.  While there are often anomalies - i.e. special circumstances - associated with a CR, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has not yet released its request for anomalies and they usually don’t include FDA items.  The American Association for the Advancement of Science previously published a very informative history and implications of CRs.


Update on Post-Market Assessment of Chemicals in Foods. We previously reported on the FDA’s plans to hold a public meeting on food chemical safety on September 25.

The FDA has now released additional information about the public meeting. The details can be found here.