Progress on 2009 budget stalled

摘要

Congress adjourned for its August recess having made little progress on appropriations for fiscal year (FY) 2009, which begins October 1. None of the 12 appropriations bills had been passed by both the House and Senate, although the House passed one of them. With the November elections looming and Congress in conflict with the White House over spending levels, most spending decisions are unlikely until at least November. In action so far, congressional appro-priators have endorsed large increases for the three physical sciences agencies (the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST), and the Depart-rnment of Energy (DOE) Office of Science) in the president's American Competitiveness Initiative, human spacecraft development, biomedical research in the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as other parts of the federal R&D portfolio. R&D was given a boost in June when Congress passed and the president signed a supplemental spending bill. The bill contained $338 million in FY 2008 spending for science programs-$150 million for NIH and $62.5 million each for NSF, the DOE Office of Science, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).