House Clears FY2018 Approps Bundle Including NASA, NOAA, FAA Space Office

The House passed H.R. 3354 today, a bundle of eight of the 12 regular FY2018 appropriations bills.  It includes the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) bill that funds NASA and NOAA, and the Transportation-HUD (T-HUD) bill that funds the FAA’s space office.  The House passed another bundle in July with the other four regular appropriations bills, including defense.  That means that for the first time in a long time, the House has passed all of the 12 regular appropriations bills before the beginning of the fiscal year.  It’s still a long way from completion, but a milestone nonetheless.

No changes were made to the sections of H.R. 3354 that fund NASA, NOAA’s satellite activities, or the FAA’s space office.   In summary, the House approved the following:

• NASA:  $19.872 billion, which is $217 million more than FY2017 and $780 million more than the President’s request of $19.092 billion.  Download our fact sheet on NASA’s FY2018 Budget Request, which we update routinely, from our Fact Sheets page.
• NOAA’s Satellite Programs (Procurement, Acquisition and Construction):  $1.467 billion, which is $512 million less than FY2017 and $112 million less than the President’s request of $1.579 billion. Download our fact sheet on NOAA’s FY2018 Budget Request for Satellites, which we update routinely, from our Fact Sheets page.
• FAA Space Office (Office of Commercial Space Transportation): $21.587 million, which is $1.8 million more than FY2017 and $3.8 million more than the President’s request of $17.8 million.

The Senate is still marking up some of its FY2018 appropriations bills, though it has completed action on CJS and T-HUD.   NASA did not fare as well in the Senate committee as it did in the House, but NOAA’s satellite programs did a bit better.   The Senate committee approved the same amount for the FAA’s space office as the House.

Congress passed a Continuing Resolution to keep the government operating through December 8, 2017, so the Senate has that much time to pass its bills and then to reach a compromise with the House on the final numbers.   Congress still has not agreed to a budget resolution setting a top-line number for how much they may spend in FY2018, however.   By law, the figure is capped by the 2011 Budget Control Act and if Congress exceeds the cap, automatic across-the-board cuts called sequestration go into effect.

No one likes sequestration, but apparently there are not enough votes to repeal it.  Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) tried to do that today by offering an amendment to the FY2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is currently being debated on the Senate floor.  Opposition was sufficiently strong that he had to withdraw it in order for debate to continue on the rest of the bill.  Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee and wanted the amendment to succeed, tweeted his disappointment.

While I’m disappointed the Senate could not take up a vote to repeal sequestration, I’m proud we’re moving toward final passage #FY18NDAA

— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) September 14, 2017

Without an agreement on the total amount the government may spend, many changes could take place between now and when the deal is finally done.  As the adage goes, one should not count one’s chickens before they hatch.  For the moment, however, President Trump appears to have backed away from his threat to let the government shut down if Congress does not fund his border wall, so at least that’s an indication that there’s room for compromise.