The fiscal year (FY) 2019 spending process is underway in Congress. On June 15, the House Labor-Health and Human Services (LHHS) Appropriations subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Cole (R-OK), met and approved a $1.250 billion funding increase above current funding of $37.1 billion for the NIH as part of the FY2019 health research and services spending bill, for a total proposed FY2019 funding level of $38.3 billion.

The Senate LHHS subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Blunt (R-MO), is tentatively scheduled to meet the last week of June. The Senate panel is also expected to approve a funding increase for NIH, though the amount is not yet known.

The outcome of the individual House and Senate health spending bills is uncertain in this election year, but regardless, the funding levels for NIH included in the House and Senate Labor-HHS bills are expected to move forward. Congress will negotiate final NIH funding from the two differing bills, so the House subcommittee’s action is a strong indicator that NIH will receive a funding increase in FY2019.

Regarding final FY2019 government spending, we expect that Congress will pass a series of spending omnibus bills. With the impending election, it is also very possible that the spending bills will be used as leverage, as the President has already mused about shutting the government down. Congress and the President will need to agree on FY2019 spending by September 30, 2018, when the current fiscal year will expire.