Congress has adjourned for the annual August recess. The House left DC early, on July 24, after passing several partisan measures, including a Continuing Appropriations Resolution (CR) to keep the government open and operating past the October 1 start of the Fiscal Year till December 4. The Senate stayed in town until August 7, and focused on confirming nominees, which included a new Director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By all accounts, the new CDC leader, Dr. Schwartz, is a traditional choice, and a career public servant with a strong background in public health and prevention. Dr. Schwartz’s confirmation will ensure that ongoing leadership vacancies at CDC are filled and that the NIH Director (who was previously overseeing both agencies) can refocus on addressing issues at NIH and committing appropriated funding for grants.

The Senate also opted to not consider any last-minute legislation passed by the House and continued to strike a bipartisan path on timely issues. Most notably, in a 91 to 6 vote the Senate passed its own CR until December 11 which includes provisions to block implementation of a (broadly despised) proposed OMB rule to overhaul and politicize the federal process for grants and cooperative agreements. The Senate has also indicated bipartisan progress on FY 2027 appropriations measures but has yet to mark up or release any bills.

The lack of tangible Senate FY 2027 spending measures and dueling CRs means that Members of Congress will have their work cut out for them when they return for a brief September legislative session scheduled to conclude with the October 1 start of the new fiscal year. The mood on Capitol Hill is that there is no appetite for a government shutdown and lawmakers are eager to use the month of October to campaign locally, but tough votes are ahead.

Even as pushback on the OMB overhaul of grant funding grows, various agencies continue to look for ways to reform their processes. Most recently, NIH released an RFI on capping the number of grants for investigators and a subsequent notice on research training and career development awards. These matters are far from settled though as Congress continues to consider itself the primary arbiter of how federal funding is spent and will most likely make its preferences clear through the FY 2027 appropriations bills.

Written by: Dane Christiansen and Kira Flaherty, Washington Representatives (the Health and Medicine Counsel)