A partial shutdown of the federal government began at midnight on October 1, following the failure of the House and Senate to reach agreement on a continuing resolution (CR) (H. J. Res. 59) that would have kept the government operational into FY2014 (see The Source, 9/27/13). To date, Congress has yet to clear any of the FY2014 spending bills.
During the week, the House introduced several resolutions to provide “stopgap” funding for various departments, agencies, programs, and the District of Columbia. The Senate has indicated that it will not consider the resolutions; discussions in both chambers about how to proceed are scheduled to continue through the weekend.
Funding for WIC
On October 4, the House approved, 244-164, a resolution (H. J. Res. 75) to provide continuing appropriations for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The resolution would extend funding for WIC through December 15, or until a full-year appropriations bill is enacted. On June 13, the House Appropriations Committee approved the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies spending bill (H.R. 2410), which funds the WIC program (see The Source, 6/14/13); the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the bill on June 20 (see The Source, 6/21/13).
The resolution would provide $6.522 billion in annualized funding for the WIC program. This amount is based upon the FY2013 CR (P.L. 113-6) and takes into account the spending cuts enacted by the Budget Control Act (P.L. 112-25), also known as sequestration.
Funding for NIH
On October 2, the House approved, 254-71, a resolution (H. J. Res. 73) to provide funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through December 15 or until a full-year appropriations bill is enacted. On July 11, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the FY2014 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-H) spending bill (S. 1284), which provides funding for NIH (see The Source, 7/12/11). To date, the House Appropriations Committee has not considered an FY2014 Labor-H spending bill.
The measure would provide $29.2 billion in annualized funding for NIH. As is the case with funding for the WIC program, the amount is based upon the FY2013 CR and is subject to sequestration.
