BUDGET CAPS

Over the past several months, President Biden and Republican leadership have been hotly debating over the US debt ceiling, culminating in a deal that simultaneously avoided the US from defaulting on its debt yet imposed strict limits on discretionary spending among other requirements. Just a few days before the default deadline, Congress passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act (H.R. 3746), a bill that suspended the United States debt limit until January 2025. President Biden signed the bill into law in early June.

The deal itself includes caps on the non-defense discretionary (NDD) budget, the portion of the US budget that includes many agencies that support research and higher education, including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Department of Education. Prior to the final deal, APSA had signed onto a letter asking Congress to reject caps or cuts to NDD spending. These caps are an indication that these agencies may experience lack of growth or even cuts over the next few years depending on how Congress negotiates spending.

APPROPRIATIONS

With the budget deal finalized, Congress is once again turning its attention towards fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations. Republicans in the House have released an appropriations proposal that would allocate funding to each of the appropriations subcommittees, a proposal known as a 302(b). The proposed allocations would cut NDD spending back to 2022 levels, slashing spending by $119 billion more than required by the recent budget caps and increasing spending for defense. Democrats in the Senate are expected to reject these cuts, leading many questions to how FY 2024 spending will be negotiated.

ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED STATES

On May 10, Dr. Colleen J. Shogan was confirmed by the Senate a vote of 52-45 as the next Archivist of the United States and head of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Dr. Shogan is an accomplished political scientist and former member of the APSA Council. ◼