In a dramatic last-minute effort to avert a government shutdown, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution (CR) late Friday evening, funding federal agencies through March 14, 2025.
The bill passed with a 366-34 vote and now awaits Senate approval and Biden’s signature to become law.
More Democrats supported the new bill, with a vote count of 196 to 170.
Below is a breakdown of the funding allocations across various sectors:
Division A: Continuing Appropriations
This section extends government funding until March 14, 2025, ensuring the uninterrupted operation of essential federal programs.
Key Allocations:
District of Columbia Emergency Planning:
$90 million allocated for emergency planning, including $50 million for the 2025 Presidential Inauguration.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):
$625 million to maintain the Geostationary Earth Orbit acquisition schedule.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI):
$16.668 million for cybersecurity and national security system upgrades.
Defense Shipbuilding:
$5.996 billion for Columbia Class Submarine construction.
$2.922 billion for additional Columbia Class Submarine activities.
$5.691 billion for Virginia Class Submarine production and workforce improvements.
Treasury Department – Cybersecurity:
$908,000 for terrorism and financial intelligence measures.
Education Support:
Funds for student loan servicing and aid processing.
Division B: Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations
Focused on addressing the aftermath of natural disasters from 2023-2024, this section allocates billions for recovery and infrastructure support.
Agriculture and Forestry
Disaster Relief for Agriculture:
$30.78 billion for crop, livestock, and infrastructure losses due to natural disasters in 2023 and 2024, including $2 billion earmarked for livestock losses and $10 billion for economic assistance.
$30 million for crop insurance reimbursements.
$3 million for molasses testing.
Emergency Conservation Programs:
$828 million to restore disaster-affected conservation projects.
Emergency Forest Restoration:
$356.535 million to rehabilitate damaged forests.
Emergency Watershed Protection:
$920 million to restore watersheds impacted by severe weather.
Rural Development
Rural Disaster Assistance Fund:
$362.5 million for rural infrastructure recovery projects.
Food Assistance
Commodity Assistance Program:
$25 million for emergency food aid infrastructure in disaster-hit regions.
Economic Recovery
Economic Development Assistance:
$1.51 billion for flood mitigation, disaster recovery, and infrastructure restoration.
NOAA Disaster Recovery:
$244 million for repair and replacement of observing assets, mapping systems, and geodesy services.
$499 million for hurricane hunter aircraft and disaster response tools.
Fisheries Disaster Assistance:
$300 million to support fisheries affected by natural disasters.
Division C: Public Health and Medicare
Key Healthcare Provisions:
Medicare Support:
Extensions for rural hospital funding, telehealth programs, and temporary coverage of oral antiviral drugs.
Public Health Programs:
Continued funding for Community Health Centers, National Health Service Corps, and diabetes programs.
Medicaid Adjustments:
Reversal of disproportionate hospital payment cuts.
Division D: Defense and Infrastructure
Department of Defense:
Army Disaster Recovery:
$451.894 million for repairing damage caused by storms, hurricanes, and other natural disasters.
Navy Recovery Operations:
$1.454 billion to address disaster-related costs.
NASA:
Facilities Repair:
$740.2 million for repairing infrastructure damaged by hurricanes, typhoons, and tornadoes.
Federal Prison System:
$64.795 million for disaster-related building repairs.
U.S. Marshals Service:
$12 million for enhanced security at Supreme Court Justice residences.
Veterans Affairs:
Flexibilities to fund veterans’ health and community care services during emergencies.
The full text of the bill (H.R. 10545) is available here.
Even among these “key points” issues I see a lot of disproportionate waste, like coverage for “antivirals”… That includes HIV drugs and prophylactics? Doesn’t say, but it should not, especially the latter! There is a far cheaper and safer option for that, same as for unwanted pregnancies and STIs: ABSTINENCE! 100% free, and 100% effective; all it requires is personal ACCOUNTABILITY (adulting, as I Understand kids now call it)! Has this nifty side effects too, of feeling good about yourself, for making a wise decision to protect oneself and others, all at the same time!