Congressional leaders over the weekend announced they had reached a sort of agreement in principle to fund the federal government for the nine months that remain in fiscal year 2024.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker of the House Rep. Michael Johnson (R-La.) agreed to limit federal spending in the fiscal year that runs through Sept. 30 to roughly $1.65 trillion. That is about what former Speaker of the House Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and President Joe Biden (D) agreed to last spring.
The House and Senate will now have to reconcile differing versions of the 12 annual appropriations bills or pass an omnibus bill to fund all federal agencies. Under the current stopgap budget, or continuing resolution, appropriations for agencies including the Department of Energy will run out after Jan. 19. Appropriations for the Department of Defense and some other agencies run through Feb. 2.
Under the stopgap budget, in effect for about another two weeks, DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy would receive the annualized equivalent of $1.47 billion under the stopgap, less than either House or Senate appropriators approved. Last year, Senate appropriators produced a bill with a 6% raise for the civilian nuclear energy and nuclear-waste office, in line with the White House’s request.
House Appropriators, meanwhile, departed from the White House’s proposal by approving a 20% raise for the office, made up in large part by unrequested increases to advanced reactor programs.
