This report provides an overview of FY2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations, including relevant congressional actions and a top-line comparison of discretionary funding enacted in FY2023, FY2024, and FY2025 versus relevant FY2025 legislative proposals. Additionally, it includes a discussion of some of the complications in determining FY2025 funding levels under the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (hereinafter, "FY2025 full-year CR"; H.R. 1968; P.L. 119-4) and summarizes the LHHS-specific provisions in the FY2025 full-year CR (often referred to as "anomalies").
Full-year FY2025 appropriations for LHHS were enacted on March 15, 2025, when the FY2025 full-year CR was signed into law by the President. The FY2025 full-year CR increased discretionary appropriations constrained by spending caps for LHHS by 2% (+$3.7 billion) relative to FY2024, but reduced them by 4% (-$9.2 billion) relative to FY2023. Prior to its enactment, the measure passed the House on March 11 (217–213) and the Senate on March 14 (54-46).
Prior to enactment of the FY2025 full-year CR, FY2025 funding was provided temporarily through continuing resolutions (CRs). The original CR was signed into law on September 26, 2024 (Division A of H.R. 9747; P.L. 118-83), providing continuing appropriations for all 12 annual appropriations acts (including LHHS) through December 20, 2024. One extension of this CR was enacted, through March 14, 2025, which also contained some additional provisions (see Division A of P.L. 118-158, enacted on December 21, 2024). In general, the CR funded discretionary programs at the same rate and under the same conditions as in FY2024 and funded annually appropriated entitlements at their current-law levels. The CR included a few provisions that were specific to LHHS accounts or related activities.
The FY2025 LHHS bill did not receive initial floor consideration in either the House or the Senate.
On July 10, 2024, the House Appropriations Committee marked up its FY2025 LHHS bill in full committee, and voted to report the bill (31-25). The bill (H.R. 9029) was reported to the House on July 12, 2024 (H.Rept. 118-585). Previously, the LHHS subcommittee had approved the draft LHHS bill on June 27, 2024 (voice vote).
On August 1, 2024, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to report its FY2025 LHHS bill (25-3); the bill (S. 4942) was subsequently reported to the Senate that same day (S.Rept. 118-207). The measure was not formally marked up in subcommittee prior to full committee consideration.
One proposal has been signed into law providing LHHS emergency-designated appropriations for FY2025. Division B of P.L. 118-158 (H.R. 10545; December 21, 2024), the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2025, provided $500 million in emergency-designated appropriations for the Child Care and Development Block Grant at the Administration for Children and Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Full-year FY2025 funding for the programs and activities traditionally contained in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations act was enacted on March 15, 2025, when the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (hereinafter, "FY2025 full-year CR"; H.R. 1968; P.L. 119-4) was signed into law by the President. Previously, FY2025 funding had been provided temporarily through a continuing resolution (P.L. 118-83, as amended by P.L. 118-158). This report provides an overview of FY2025 LHHS appropriations, including relevant congressional actions and a top-line comparison of discretionary funding enacted in FY2023, FY2024, and FY2025 versus relevant FY2025 legislative proposals. It also provides background on the scope of LHHS annual appropriations and the context for congressional appropriations decisions. For a discussion of some of the complications in determining FY2025 funding levels, see the "FY2025 Funding Levels for LHHS Accounts, Programs, and Activities" section. The Appendix summarizes the LHHS-specific provisions in the FY2025 full-year CR (often referred to as "anomalies").
Congressional clients may consult the LHHS experts list in CRS Report R42638, Appropriations: CRS Experts, for information on which experts to contact at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) with questions on specific agencies and programs funded in the LHHS bill.
The LHHS bill is the largest of the 12 annual appropriations bills, in terms of appropriated funds, when accounting for both mandatory and discretionary funding ($1.4 trillion in FY2024).1 It provides annually appropriated budget authority for the following federal departments and agencies:
In general, mandatory funding represents more than 80% of the total LHHS bill, supporting annually appropriated entitlements such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Discretionary funds, which account for less than 20% of total funds in the bill, tend to be the focus of congressional debate during the appropriations process.2 This is because the appropriations process generally has little control over the amount of mandatory funding provided for appropriated entitlements; rather, the authorizing statute controls the program parameters (e.g., eligibility rules, benefit levels) that entitle certain recipients to payments. Consequently, the focus of this report generally is on the discretionary spending for LHHS programs and activities under various laws and proposals.
Even though discretionary appropriations represent a relatively small share of the entire LHHS bill, the bill is typically the largest single source of nondefense, discretionary funding for the federal government. (The Department of Defense bill is the largest single source of discretionary funding overall.)
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Calculating Total LHHS Budget Authority Budget authority is the amount of money a federal agency is legally authorized to commit or spend. Appropriations bills may include budget authority that becomes available in the current fiscal year, in future fiscal years, or some combination. Amounts that become available in future fiscal years are typically referred to as advance appropriations (e.g., the FY2024 LHHS appropriations act generally contains advance appropriations that become available in FY2025 and FY2026 for certain programs and activities). In addition, while new budget authority is generally subject to a variety of statutory and congressional rules that are intended to control the budget (i.e., budget controls), some budget authority may be effectively exempted from those controls, including budget authority for emergency requirements, health care fraud and abuse control, and continuing disability reviews and redeterminations. The amount of LHHS budget authority can be tabulated in various ways. The total amount of budget authority provided in an appropriations bill (i.e., total in the bill) is calculated regardless of the year in which the funding becomes available.3 In some cases, such as the 302(b) suballocations (discussed later), the total is based on current-year appropriations (i.e., the amount of budget authority available for obligation in a given fiscal year), which is calculated regardless of the year in which it was first appropriated.4 Additionally, budgetary totals may or may not include Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scorekeeping and other adjustments to reflect budget enforcement conventions and special instructions of Congress.5 Finally, calculations of LHHS budget authority might include or exclude budget authority that is exempted from budget controls. |
The FY2025 appropriations process occurred over a period that included a presidential transition and culminated in the enactment of full-year continuing appropriations. The process was initiated by the submission of President Biden's FY2025 budget request on March 11, 2024. Over the next several months, the statutory discretionary spending limits on defense and nondefense spending were the basis of budget enforcement, as there was no House or Senate action on a FY2025 budget resolution prior to the enactment of full-year FY2025 appropriations.6 Annual appropriations for LHHS were ultimately passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump on March 15, 2025. These appropriations were formulaic, in the form of full-year continuing appropriations, which complicates determining the funding levels provided for certain types of accounts, and for programs, projects, and activities below the account level. Most recently, Congress has been considering a rescissions bill to cancel previously enacted funding pursuant to a special message transmitted by President Trump under the Impoundment Control Act (H.R. 4, 119th Congress).7 Background related to these issues is provided below.
The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 (P.L. 67-13, as amended), requires the President to submit an annual consolidated federal budget to Congress at the beginning of each regular congressional session, not later than the first Monday in February. Many of the proposals in the President's annual budget recommend changes to laws that govern mandatory spending levels or policies, which are typically established on a multiyear or permanent basis. Discretionary spending, however, which is roughly one-third of the federal budget,8 is decided and controlled each fiscal year through the annual appropriations process. While Congress is ultimately not required to adopt the President's proposals or recommendations, the submission of the President's budget typically initiates the congressional budget process and informs Congress of the President's recommended spending levels for agencies and programs.9
President Biden's budget request for FY2025 was submitted on March 11, 2024, about five weeks after it was due. At the time the FY2025 budget request was being developed, discretionary funding for FY2024 was being provided by a series of temporary CRs, instead of full-year appropriations acts. Consequently, both the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and agency budget materials for FY2025 used estimates for FY2024 that were derived from annualized estimates of funding provided under FY2024 CRs (P.L. 118-15, P.L. 118-22, P.L. 118-35, and P.L. 118-40). In other words, the FY2024 amounts did not reflect the LHHS levels that were enacted on March 23, 2024, in Division D of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (P.L. 118-47; FY2024 LHHS omnibus).
On May 22, 2024, a package of amendments to the FY2025 budget request was submitted by President Biden to Congress.10 The one LHHS-related amendment—to an ED general provision—was not estimated to have a budgetary effect.
For FY2025, the discretionary spending levels in appropriations measures are enforceable by both statutory and procedural means. Statutory budget enforcement is through the discretionary spending limits for FY2025 in the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (BBEDCA; P.L. 99-177, as amended). These statutory limits are enforced through sequestration: largely across-the-board reductions made to the category of spending that is in excess of the limit (defense or nondefense), to eliminate the excess spending.11 Procedural budget enforcement is primarily associated with the budget resolution, which provides a process for the House and Senate to agree on budgetary targets before considering spending and revenue legislation. These targets are enforced through points of order.
Certain spending is effectively exempt from these limits (commonly referred to as "adjustments" to those limits). In recent years, adjustments that have been applied to LHHS appropriations are for emergency requirements, to accommodate new budget authority for specified "program integrity" initiatives at HHS (health care fraud and abuse control), the SSA (continuing disability reviews and redeterminations), and for DOL (reemployment services and eligibility assessments conducted by the states related to unemployment compensation).12
The current statutory limits on discretionary spending were enacted as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA; P.L. 118-5) on June 3, 2023. The FRA amended the BBEDCA to provide limits on defense discretionary (all discretionary spending under budget function 050) and nondefense discretionary (all other discretionary spending) for FY2024 and FY2025.13 All funding in the LHHS bill is subject to the nondefense limit. The statutory limit on nondefense discretionary spending for FY2025 is $710.688 billion. This is a $7 billion (+1%) increase relative to the FY2024 nondefense discretionary spending limit. (Conformance with this limit is calculated as the net of any Congressional Budget Office [CBO] scorekeeping adjustments, and prior to any adjustments to the limits pursuant to BBEDCA authorities.14) For LHHS programs and activities, the FRA also provides for adjustments to the nondefense spending limit for health care fraud and abuse control, continuing disability reviews and redeterminations, and reemployment services and eligibility assessments, up to a specified amount of funding for FY2025.15 The maximum amount of funding allowed for these FY2025 LHHS adjustments is $2.531 billion, an $83 million (+3%) increase over FY2024.16
The FY2025 nondefense discretionary funding subject to that limit that has been enacted as of the cover date of this report is less than the maximum amount allowed by the FRA spending limit. (The enacted program integrity adjustments to the FY2025 nondefense limit, $2.531 billion, are the maximum amount allowed for FY2025.) CBO has estimated that enacted nondefense discretionary funding is $707.971 billion.17 This is $2.7 billion less than the applicable FY2025 limit. OMB, which is responsible for implementing any necessary sequestration, also has determined that the enacted nondefense discretionary funding does not exceed the limits.18
The budget resolution process dates back to the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and may be used to impose a limit on total discretionary spending available to the appropriations committees (commonly referred to as a 302(a) allocation) and subsequently, limits on spending under the jurisdiction of each appropriations subcommittee (referred to as 302(b) suballocations).19
There was no House or Senate floor action on a FY2025 budget resolution prior to the enactment of the FY2025 full-year CR.20 For the purposes of providing 302(a) allocations and budgetary aggregates for the consideration of FY2025 appropriations, as well as other matters that would have been traditionally associated with the budget resolution, the FRA directed the chair of the Senate Budget Committee to enter those amounts into the Congressional Record not later than May 15, 2024. These were published in the Senate on May 14, 2024.21 The FRA did not include a similar provision for the House.22
Generally, the next step in the appropriations process is for each of the appropriations committees to adopt suballocations from the total amount allocated to them. These 302(b) suballocations provide a limit on current-year (i.e., FY2025) appropriations within each subcommittee's jurisdiction and incorporate any applicable scorekeeping adjustments made by CBO.23 On May 23, 2024 the House Appropriations Committee voted to approve draft ("interim") suballocations for all 12 subcommittees, including LHHS (30-22).24 (These draft suballocations, and subsequent revised suballocations, were not reported to the House prior to the enactment of the FY2025 full-year CR.25) The Senate Appropriations Committee reported to the Senate its full set of suballocations (S.Rept. 118-190) on July 11, 2024 (15-12).26
In general, the FY2025 full-year CR funds LHHS discretionary programs at the same level and under the same conditions as in FY2024, and funds annually appropriated entitlements at their current-law levels. This approach differs from how regular annual appropriations acts specify funding, and presents challenges in determining FY2025 LHHS funding levels. Although statutory FY2025 LHHS funding levels generally match the comparable funding provided in the FY2024 LHHS appropriations act, there are several exceptions (e.g., anomalies in the FY2025 full-year CR, accounts with appropriations in indefinite amounts, offsets such as fees and rescissions). In addition, the FY2025 full-year CR is not accompanied by an Explanatory Statement (ES), which would have provided further detail on recommended funding levels for programs, projects, and activities that were not statutorily specified. As of the cover date of this report, the post-enactment allocations for those programs, projects, and activities that have been made by LHHS agencies are not consistently available through public executive branch sources.
Generally, the LHHS regular annual appropriations act is organized by accounts that correspond to headings and subheadings.27 These acts specify the funding in unnumbered paragraphs that appear beneath those headings and subheadings, identifying the purpose, amount, and period of availability for each appropriation. Typically, a lump sum is specified for an account for generally stated purposes, and then might be further allocated by statutory provisos to specified purposes or programs. Additional funding amounts can be provided as part of that paragraph, or in numbered provisions at the end of each LHHS title (and in the general provisions in Title V of the LHHS appropriations act). The accounts and numbered provisions also usually provide additional authorities and limitations that apply to the use of funds. They may also contain provisions that reduce the total budgetary cost of the LHHS appropriations, such as by authorizing the collection and expenditure of fees to reduce the amount initially appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury for that account, or rescinding (i.e., cancelling) previously enacted funding. For an illustration of these components, see CRS Infographic IG10056, Understanding the Content of an Appropriations Bill.
An LHHS appropriations bill that is reported from the House or the Senate Appropriations Committee is usually accompanied by a written committee report. That report is organized by appropriations account and communicates congressional intent to the agencies that will carry out the measure once it becomes law. For instance, LHHS committee reports commonly provide additional detail on funding distributions for programs, projects, and activities within the accounts, and encourage (or direct) that the agency engage in (or refrain from) specified activities. Although report language itself is not law and therefore not binding in the same manner as language in the statute, Congress expects that agencies will seek to comply with any directives contained therein.28
Prior to enactment, a final ES is published, which serves a function similar to that of a committee report for the final version of the bill. The ES may be used to reconcile any differences between the earlier House and Senate committee reports. For example, earlier report language may make additional funding distributions within an account that do not match the final amount of funding appropriated for the account. In these instances, the ES might clarify how the agency is to proceed. Additionally, the ES often directs that earlier LHHS committee reports also be complied with, unless explicitly contradicted by the ES.29
Because a LHHS regular annual appropriations act funds programs, projects, and activities that are not delineated in the statutory text or report language, and because not all earlier appropriations report language is reconciled by the Joint Explanatory Statement (JES), the LHHS act usually directs that the agencies funded in that law submit an "operating plan" at a specified level of detail. For example, Section 516 of the FY2024 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 118-47) required the following:
Within 45 days of enactment of this Act, each department and related agency funded through this Act shall submit an operating plan that details at the program, project, and activity level any funding allocations for fiscal year 2024 that are different than those specified in this Act, the explanatory statement described in section 4 (in the matter preceding division A of this consolidated Act) or the fiscal year 2024 budget request.
In recent years, these operating plans have routinely been publicly released on agency websites.30
Unlike regular annual appropriations acts, the purpose, amount, and duration for funding in CRs is specified by a formula. This formula usually references the prior fiscal year's appropriations acts. In the case of the FY2025 full-year CR, the formula is provided by the "general provisions" at the beginning of Division A. With regard to LHHS, Section 1101 provides funding at the same levels, and under the same authorities and conditions, as were provided in the FY2024 LHHS appropriations act (Division D of P.L. 118-47). Section 1103 states that funding provided with reference to the FY2024 LHHS omnibus in Section 1101 will have a comparable period of availability as the referenced FY2024 appropriations (e.g., funds that were available for three years in the FY2024 LHHS omnibus will also be available for three years in the FY2025 full-year CR). Sections 1102 and 1105 further provide that authorities and conditions established in the referenced FY2024 LHHS appropriations act—such as limitations and allocations of funding—will continue in effect for the FY2025 LHHS funding unless specified otherwise. With regard to annually appropriated entitlements (e.g., Medicaid), Section 1109(a) provides that such funding will be "in the amounts necessary to maintain program levels under current law."
Additionally, CRs usually contain provisions that provide exceptions to the general formula described in the paragraph above (often referred to as "anomalies"). In the FY2025 full-year CR, Sections 1101(8), 1109(b), and Title IX contain the anomalies that are specific to LHHS. For example, Section 1901 provides for the DOL Bureau of Labor Statistics Salaries and Expenses account an additional $6 million (+1.0%) in funding for FY2025 relative to FY2024 enacted amounts ($630 million). All of these LHHS anomalies are summarized in the Appendix.
In general, funding enacted in a full-year CR is not accompanied by an ES, though earlier versions of LHHS annual appropriations bills for that fiscal year might be accompanied by committee reports. In the case of FY2025, no ES was provided; committee reports for earlier FY2025 LHHS proposals were H.Rept. 118-585 and S.Rept. 118-207. This means that final congressional funding distributions among programs, projects, and activities below the referenced FY2024 statutory funding framework were not explicitly provided for FY2025.
Full-year CRs also routinely require that agencies submit operating plans, and this was the case for the FY2025 full-year CR in Section 1113. For the purposes of LHHS, this requirement applied to ED, HHS, DOL, SSA, CNCS, and CPB. Section 1113(a) required that the level of detail for these operating plans was to be
(1) at the program, project, or activity level (or, for foreign assistance programs funded in the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, at the country, regional, and central program level, and for any international organization); or
(2) as applicable, at any greater level of detail required for funds covered by such a plan in an appropriations Act referred to in section 1101, in the joint explanatory statement accompanying such Act, or in committee report language incorporated by reference in such joint explanatory statement.
These plans were due to be submitted to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees by May 15, 2025. The full-year CR did not explicitly require these plans to be made public, and only some of them have been made public as of the cover date of this report.
As discussed in the section above, the FY2025 full-year CR generally provided that FY2025 funding would be for the same purposes, levels, and period of availability as was enacted in the FY2024 LHHS omnibus. However, there are several exceptions (i.e., anomalies) to this general rule. In addition, for programs, projects, and activities for which funding is not specified in statute, the CR was not accompanied by an ES making these allocations, and sources of information about how executive branch agencies are allocating these funds are limited or incomplete.
Compared to FY2024 LHHS appropriations, several anomalies in the FY2025 full-year CR affect some or all of the purposes, amounts, or periods of availability of the FY2025 funds. For example, Section 1908 eliminates FY2025 funding in several accounts that in the FY2024 LHHS omnibus was for congressionally directed spending (also referred to as community project funding or earmarks). A handful of anomalies also alter provisions related to user fees or "offsets" that may be applicable to an account or the bill as a whole. For example, Section 1911 provides the SSA with the authority to expend $170 million in FY2025 from user fees collected for the agency's administration of state supplementary payments under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, a $20 million increase (+13%) relative to FY2024.
In some cases, the budgetary effects of the CR provisions cannot be easily determined. For example, Section 1109(a) of the CR provided several LHHS accounts that fund appropriated entitlements "the amounts necessary to maintain program levels under current law," rather than a definite amount (i.e., a certain sum). In addition, some of the user fee provisions and other offsets, whether in FY2025 anomalies or the text of the FY2024 LHHS omnibus, do not specify an amount. For example, Section 1904 authorizes the HHS Secretary to collect registration fees from members of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network for each candidate that such members place on the organ transplant waitlist. The section provides that such fees be credited to the Health Resources and Services Administration Health Systems account and remain available until expended to support operation of the network. Because this provision does not specify an amount of fees, it is unclear how the budgetary effect of the fees should be calculated for the account to which they are credited. Similarly, provisions in the FY2024 omnibus that rescind previously enacted funding might also apply to funds in the FY2025 full-year CR, but likely not in all cases.
For LHHS appropriations, the committee reports and ES traditionally make numerous allocations below the statutory level. For example, from the amount provided by the FY2024 LHHS omnibus for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, the explanatory statement identified allocations for 37 activities.31 Because no ES accompanied the FY2025 full-year CR, no such final allocations for FY2025 were made by an ES.
Sources of information about the funding distributions made by LHHS agencies subsequent to the FY2025 full-year CR's enactment are incomplete or inconsistently available. The operating plans required by Section 1113 of the CR were due to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on May 15, 2025. Of these, those for DOL and SSA have been released publicly, but those for HHS, ED, CNCS, and CPB have not been posted on agency websites.32 In addition, the FY2025 column in the FY2026 congressional justifications, which would usually list amounts at the program, project, and activity level, does not provide this level of detail for much of HHS and ED, or in some cases, it aligns the account structure with administration proposals and not enacted funding.33 This means that amounts for numerous FY2025 LHHS programs, projects, and activities remain unknown as of the cover date of this report.
Once funding has been enacted, it can subsequently be cancelled by a provision of law that is commonly referred to as a rescission. As mentioned above, rescissions of previously enacted funds are routinely considered as part of the regular annual appropriations process. In addition, the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA; P.L. 93-344) provides a mechanism for the President to submit a special message to Congress that proposes a rescission. The ICA also provides special procedures for Congress to consider a rescission bill.34
A rescission bill was enacted into law on July 24, 2025 (P.L. 119-28). This bill originated as an ICA presidential proposal to rescind $9.4 billion in previously enacted funds, including $1.1 billion in FY2026 and FY2027 LHHS advance appropriations for the CPB.35 (As advance appropriations for CPB are enacted two years in advance, these had been enacted in the FY2024 LHHS omnibus [P.L. 118-47] and the FY2025 full-year CR. The bill did not propose that any CBP funds available for FY2025 be rescinded.) The proposed rescissions were introduced as H.R. 4, and passed the House on June 12 (214-212). Subsequently, the Senate amended and passed H.R. 4 on July 17 (51-48); the House agreed to the Senate amendment on July 18.36
Full-year FY2025 appropriations for LHHS were enacted on March 15, 2025, when the FY2025 full-year CR was signed into law by the President. H.R. 1968 was introduced by Representative Tom Cole, the House Appropriations Committee chair, on March 10, 2025. The measure was approved by the House on March 11 (217–213), and the Senate on March 14 (54-46).
In general, the FY2025 full-year CR provided funding at the same levels as the referenced FY2024 appropriations acts, with specified exceptions. Table 1 compares the total level of this FY2025 enacted funding to FY2023 enacted, FY2024 enacted, and earlier FY2025 proposals. For a description of the specified exceptions (anomalies) included in the CR, see the Appendix.
Prior to enactment of the FY2025 full-year CR, FY2025 funding was provided temporarily through CRs. The original CR was signed into law on September 26, 2024 (Division A of H.R. 9747; P.L. 118-83). The CR provided continuing appropriations for all 12 of the annual appropriations acts (including LHHS) through December 20, 2024. H.R. 9747 was introduced by Representative Cole, the House Appropriations Committee chair, on September 23, 2024. On September 25, the measure was passed by the House (341-82) and the Senate (78-18), and signed into law the following day.37
One extension of this CR was enacted, through March 14, 2025. It contained some additional provisions (see Division A of P.L. 118-158, enacted on December 21, 2024).
In general, the FY2025 CR funds discretionary programs at the same rate and under the same conditions as in FY2024 annual appropriations acts (§101), with specified exceptions, and funds annually appropriated entitlements at their current-law levels (§111).38 The CR also includes a few provisions that were specific to LHHS accounts or related activities (§§144, 145).39
Emergency designated appropriations are effectively exempt from otherwise applicable budget enforcement requirements, such as committee allocations, as described above. One proposal has been signed into law providing LHHS emergency-designated appropriations for FY2025. P.L. 118-158, (H.R. 10545; December 21, 2024), Division B of the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2025, provided $500 million in emergency-designated appropriations for the Child Care and Development Block Grant at the Administration for Children and Families.
No FY2025 LHHS bill was considered on either the House or the Senate floor prior to the enactment of the full-year CR.
On July 10, the House Appropriations Committee marked up its FY2025 LHHS bill in full committee, and voted to report the bill (31-25). The bill (H.R. 9029) was reported to the House on July 12, 2024 (H.Rept. 118-585). Previously, the LHHS subcommittee had approved the draft LHHS bill on June 27, 2024 (voice vote).
On August 1, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to report its FY2025 LHHS bill (25-3); the bill (S. 4942) was subsequently reported to the Senate that same day (S.Rept. 118-207). The measure was not formally marked up in subcommittee prior to full committee consideration.
Table 1 displays the CBO estimates of enacted LHHS discretionary appropriations for FY2023 FY2024, and FY2025, alongside the FY2025 House Appropriations Committee bill (H.R. 9029, 118th Congress) and the FY2025 Senate Appropriations Committee bill (S. 4942, 118th Congress). The amounts shown for "regular discretionary appropriations" do not include any funding that is subject to program integrity adjustments or emergency designations. The amounts shown represent current-year budget authority subject to the spending limits and take into account any applicable CBO scorekeeping adjustments. Under this method of estimating the bill, FY2025 Enacted provides $3.7 billion (+2%) more than FY2024 Enacted, and $9.2 billion (-4%) less than FY2023 Enacted.40 In comparison, the FY2025 House Appropriations Committee bill would have provided $8.6 billion (-4%) less than FY2024 Enacted, and $21.6 billion (-10%) less than FY2023 Enacted. The FY2025 Senate Appropriations Committee bill would have provided $4.2 billion (+2%) more than FY2024 Enacted, and $8.7 billion (-4%) less than FY2023 Enacted.
As mentioned previously, certain LHHS appropriations, such as those allowed for program integrity funding or designated as for emergency requirements, are effectively exempt from the discretionary spending limits (see discussion in the "FY2025 Statutory Discretionary Limits and Appropriations Committee Allocations" section). The "adjusted appropriations" total in the table includes funding under these adjustments, plus "regular discretionary appropriations." FY2025 enacted provides a total of $2.5 billion for program integrity adjustments, which was the full amount allowed for those adjustments in FY2025. The FY2025 Senate bill also proposed the full amount allowed, whereas the FY2025 House Appropriations Committee bill would have provided a total of $1.9 billion in funding subject to the adjustments, which is $271 million less than the total amount allowed for those adjustments in FY2025 ($2.5 billion). (No FY2025 funding would have been provided by the House that met the criteria for the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments adjustment.) With regard to emergency-designated funding, FY2025 appropriations laws have included $500 million of such funding as of the cover date of this report. The House Appropriations Committee bill did not include any FY2025 funding for emergency requirements, whereas the Senate Committee bill would have provided $7.0 billion in emergency-designated discretionary funding.41
Table 1. LHHS Discretionary Appropriations: Comparison of FY2023 Enacted, FY2024 Enacted, FY2025 House Appropriations Committee Bill (H.R. 9029), FY2025 Senate Appropriations Committee Bill (S. 4942), and FY2025 Enacted
(budget authority in billions of dollars)
|
FY2023 Enacted |
FY2024 Enacted |
FY2025 House Committee Bill |
FY2025 Senate Committee Bill |
FY2025 Enacted (P.L. 119-4, Division A) |
|
|
Regular discretionary appropriations |
207.367 |
194.434 |
185.797 |
198.655 |
198.150 |
|
Adjustments: |
|||||
|
Program Integrity |
2.345 |
2.447 |
2.260 |
2.531 |
2.531 |
|
Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control (non-add) |
0.576 |
0.604 |
0.630 |
0.630 |
0.630 |
|
Continuing Disability Reviews and Redeterminations (non-add) |
1.511 |
1.578 |
1.630 |
1.630 |
1.630 |
|
Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (non-add) |
0.258 |
0.265 |
0.000 |
0.271 |
0.271 |
|
Emergency requirementsa |
9.434 |
0.531 |
— |
7.000 |
0.500 |
|
Adjusted appropriations |
219.146 |
197.412 |
188.057 |
208.186 |
201.181 |
Source: The FY2023 Enacted amounts are from CBO, Report on the Status of Discretionary Appropriations, FY2023, U.S. Senate (as of June 3, 2023), https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2023-07/FY2023-Senate-2023-06-03.pdf. FY2024 Enacted amounts are from CBO, Report on the Status of Discretionary Appropriations, FY2024, U.S. Senate (as of April 23, 2024), https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2024-05/FY2024-Senate-2024-04-23.pdf. The FY2025 House Appropriations Committee Bill amounts are as published on page 4 of H.Rept. 118-585, along with CRS analysis of bill text for the program integrity adjustments. The FY2025 Senate Appropriations Committee Bill amounts are as published on page 7 of S.Rept. 118-207, along with CRS analysis of bill text for the program integrity adjustments and emergency-designated funding amounts. FY2025 Enacted amounts are from CBO, Report on the Status of Discretionary Appropriations, FY2025, U.S. Senate (as of April 28, 2025), https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-04/FY2025-Senate-2025-03-14.pdf. With regard to FY2023 Enacted, FY2024 Enacted, and FY2025 Enacted, for consistency with later years, this table excludes certain prior-year emergency-designated funds pursuant to Section 103 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (P.L. 118-5). In addition, the distribution of amounts for Program Integrity adjustments for FY2023 Enacted, FY2024 Enacted, and FY2025 Enacted are from a CRS analysis of those laws.
Notes: Amounts reflect current-year discretionary budget authority subject to spending limits. "Regular discretionary appropriations" totals exclude funds for which special rules apply under the spending limits (e.g., funds for certain program integrity activities and emergency requirements); those funds are included under the "Adjustments" table heading. The table excludes funds that are exempted from the spending limits (i.e., those provided under authorities in the 21st Century Cures Act [P.L. 114-255], and the prior-year emergency-designated advance appropriations in Division J of P.L. 117-58 and Division B of P.L. 117-159, pursuant to Section 103 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 [P.L. 118-5]).
a. Several emergency-designated appropriations during this period have no definite dollar amount specified (e.g., the budgetary effects of Section 301 of Division B of P.L. 118-50, related to eligibility for certain benefits, see CBO, "CBO Estimate for H.R. 8035, Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024, As posted on the website of the House Committee on Rules on April 17, 2024," April 19, 2024, https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2024-04/hr8035_Ukraine_Security_Supplemental_Appropriations_Act_2024.pdf). For this indefinite emergency-designated funding, CRS relies on the CBO estimates in the Status of Discretionary Appropriations report series, which may be subject to change depending on various programmatic and economic factors.
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies
Sections 1101(a)(8) and 1109(b) and Title IX of the FY2025 full-year CR contain several LHHS-specific provisions that provide exceptions to the general rule that the CR provides funds at the same levels, subject to the same conditions, and for the same period of availability as the FY2024 acts. These exceptions are often referred to as "anomalies." This section briefly summarizes these provisions. (A discussion of how to interpret these provisions in the context of the FY2025 full-year CR is in the "FY2025 Funding Levels for LHHS Accounts, Programs, and Activities." section.)
Section 1101(a)(8)—Exceptions to the Section 1101 Formula for LHHS
HHS Nonrecurring Expenses Fund Rescission42
Section 1101(a)(8) rescinds $1.47 billion in unobligated balances from HHS's Nonrecurring Expenses Fund (NEF), a no-year fund for HHS capital expenditures, facilities, information technology, administrative, and related expenses. The fund was established by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-161) to enable the HHS Secretary to repurpose certain unobligated balances of expired discretionary funds appropriated to HHS from the General Fund.43 In recent years, some LHHS appropriations acts have mandated transfers of these funds within HHS and also enacted rescissions of the funds.44
Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments45
Section 1101(a)(8) contains language to ensure that funding for Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments (ALGIP) will continue in FY2025 at the FY2024 level of $75 million. Established via the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-89), these payments recognize a state's success in helping children who would otherwise remain indefinitely in foster care to find permanent families via adoption or legal guardianship. Each fiscal year, a state's current rate of finalized adoptions/legal guardianships is compared to its past rate, and incentive payments are earned whenever the current rate reflects a higher number of adoptions or legal guardianships than the past rate.46 In September 2024, HHS awarded $61 million in incentive payments to 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico based on adoptions and legal guardianships completed in FY2023.47 These funds are administered by HHS' Administration for Children and Families.
The incentive payments are funded out of the Children and Families Services Program account, and the FY2025 support may be used to make award payments based on adoptions and legal guardianships completed in FY2024 or FY2025. The intent of this provision is to clarify that roughly $15 million in unobligated ALGIP funds, which were appropriated in FY2024, remain available for incentive payments that may be awarded for adoptions or legal guardianships completed in FY2024.48
Innovation and Improvement Account Elimination of Funding Related to Earmarks49
Section 1101(a)(8) reduces by $88 million (-7%) the amount provided to the Department of Education (ED) Innovation and Improvement account for FY2025, which received a total of $1.2 billion in FY2024. This reduction represents the FY2024 amount provided to this account for CPF/CDS (earmarks).50 (Section 1111 of the CR establishes that the act does not provide funding for the purposes of the FY2024 earmarks unless specified otherwise. Neither Section 1111 nor Section 1101(a)(8) affects the availability of funds provided in FY2024 appropriations acts for such earmarks.) A separate provision—in Section 1908, discussed below—further reduces funding for ED by the amount provided for earmarks in the Higher Education account for FY2024.
State Children's Health Insurance Program51
Section 1101(a)(8) updates the amount in Section 528 of P.L. 118-47 for the purposes of the FY2025 funding provided by Section 1101. This provision has the effect of making $13.1 billion of the funding deposited in the State Children's Health Insurance Program Child Enrollment Contingency Fund (and income derived from investment of those funds) at HHS unavailable for obligation in FY2025. Similar provisions have been part of previous CRs and annual LHHS appropriations acts. For FY2024, the amount of the reduction in Section 528 of P.L. 118-47 was $14.2 billion.
American Rescue Plan Act, Public Health Rescissions52
Section 1101(a)(8) rescinds $160 million in unobligated balances from appropriations for certain public health programs in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2).53 Previously, Section 529 of the FY2024 LHHS appropriations act (Division D of P.L. 118-47) had rescinded $4.31 billion from these programs. Under the terms of Section 529, which also apply to this $160 million rescission, HHS is required to submit to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees a report specifying the unobligated balances rescinded pursuant to this requirement.
Section 1109(b)—Exceptions to Formula for Certain LHHS Appropriated Entitlements and Other Mandatory Payments
Section 1109(b) specifies mandatory appropriations for several accounts (see below) that fund benefits or payments with program costs that vary each fiscal year.54 This funding is for certain program costs that occur during the first quarter of FY2026. (Such funds are commonly called advance appropriations.55) The funding is available until expended. All of the accounts affected are traditionally funded by LHHS.
Section 1901—BLS61
Section 1901 provides for the DOL BLS Salaries and Expenses account an additional $6 million (+1.0%) in funding for FY2025 relative to FY2024 enacted amounts ($630 million). While Section 1901 does not direct the additional $6 million to a specific use within the account, an earlier FY2025 CR (Section 144 of P.L. 118-83) provided additional funding to that account for the Current Population Survey (CPS) at a rate of operations of $6 million.62 (That earlier funding was superseded by the enactment of the FY2025 full-year CR.)
The CPS is a monthly survey of approximately 60,000 households and is the source of a wide range of labor market statistics, including monthly unemployment rates and related labor market indicators.63 The CPS is used to collect data on other social and economic topics, such as supplemental surveys on contingent workers and work schedules, and as an input to the development of other statistical programs, such as the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. Recently, BLS had indicated that additional resources for the CPS would be necessary to maintain current sample sizes (and thus reliability of estimates) due to the combination of falling response rates to CPS and rising operating costs for in-person data collection (due to repeated contact to encourage participation).64
Section 1902—Program Integrity Adjustments65
Section 1902 updates the FY2025 amounts appropriated to three "program integrity" adjustments. These adjustments, which are available for certain accounts within the LHHS appropriations act, allow for discretionary spending limits to be adjusted upward to accommodate appropriations for certain program integrity activities, including the following:66
Section 1903—Dislocated Worker National Reserve Rescission67
Section 1903 rescinds $75 million from the FY2025 appropriation to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Dislocated Worker National Reserve in the FY2024 LHHS appropriations act (Division D of P.L. 118-47).68 The FY2024 LHHS appropriations act provided a total of $301 million for the Dislocated Worker National Reserve, $200 million of which was an advance appropriation for FY2025. Section 1903 rescinds $75 million of the $200 million in advance appropriations for the National Reserve.
From total funding appropriated for the Dislocated Worker Employment and Training Activities program in a fiscal year, WIOA Section 132(a)(2)(A) specifies that 20% is to be used for a National Reserve account, which provides for National Dislocated Worker Grants (NDWG) and other services for dislocated workers.69 Specifically, WIOA Section 132(a)(2)(A) provides that the 20% reservation is to be used for four purposes:
The majority of the National Reserve funding is used for NDWG activities.
These NDWGs are awarded primarily to states and local Workforce Development Boards to provide services for eligible individuals, including dislocated workers, civilian employees of the U.S, Department of Defense (DOD) or U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) employed at installations that are being closed within 24 months of eligibility determinations, employees or contractors with DOD at risk of dislocation due to reduced defense expenditures, or certain other members of the Armed Forces.
Services include job search assistance and training for eligible workers. In addition, NDWG funding may be used to provide direct employment ("disaster relief employment") to individuals for a period of up to 12 months for work related to a disaster.
Section 1904—Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Fees70
Section 1904 authorizes the HHS Secretary to collect registration fees from members of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network for each candidate that such members place on the waitlist for an organ transplant.71 The section provides that such fees be credited to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Health Systems account and remain available until expended to support operation of the network. Further, the section provides that the Secretary can distribute fees collected pursuant to this section to the entities awarded grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to operate the network under Title 42, Section 274(b)(1)(A), of the U.S. Code. This fee authority applies only to the period covered by the CR (i.e., through September 30, 2025).
Section 1905—National Institutes of Health (NIH) Innovation Account72
Section 1905 reduces the FY2025 appropriation for the NIH Innovation Account to $127 million, the level authorized for FY2025 in the 21st Century Cures Act (P.L. 114-255). The NIH Innovation Account, which first received funding in FY2017, funds specific NIH innovation projects that were authorized in the P.L. 114-255 and is subject to different budget enforcement rules than are the rest of the NIH appropriations in the LHHS appropriations act.73
Section 1906—Prevention and Public Health Fund Transfers74
Section 1906 provides that the $1.3 billion direct appropriation to the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF, 42 U.S.C. §300u-11) for FY2025 is to be transferred to the same HHS agencies and programs in the same amounts as directed in the FY2024 LHHS appropriations act (Division D of P.L. 118-47). The FY2024 law transferred the $1.3 billion PPHF appropriation (after sequestration) to specific programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ($1.19 billion), Administration for Community Living ($27.7 million), and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration ($12 million).75 These funds supplement discretionary funding for programs at these agencies—in some cases, quite substantially. While the underlying PPHF statute provides the HHS Secretary with authority to transfer amounts from the fund to HHS agencies, since FY2014 provisions in annual appropriations acts and accompanying reports have explicitly directed the distribution of PPHF funds and prohibited the Secretary from making further transfers for those years.76
Section 1907—Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations77
Section 1907 clarifies the continued extension of the breast cancer screening recommendation provision specified by Section 223 of the FY2024 LHHS appropriations act (Division D of P.L. 118-47) from January 1, 2026, to January 1, 2027. The original version of this provision was enacted in the FY2016 LHHS appropriations act and has subsequently been included in LHHS appropriations acts since that time.78 It provides that any law referring to current breast cancer screening, mammography, and prevention recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) shall be taken to reference to the recommendations last issued by USPSTF before 2009 rather than the most recent recommendations. These are the USPSTF recommendations on breast screening that were issued on September 3, 2002, which recommended that women age 40 and older receive screening mammography for breast cancer every one to two years.79
Section 1908—DOL, HHS and ED—Elimination of Funding Related to Earmarks80
Section 1908 reduces amounts provided for FY2025 to several accounts within the LHHS appropriations act. These reductions represent the FY2024 amount provided to these accounts for CPF/CDS (earmarks). (Section 1111 of the CR establishes that the act does not provide funding for the purposes of the FY2024 earmarks unless specified otherwise. Neither Section 1111 nor Section 1908 affects the availability of funds in FY2024 appropriations acts for such earmarks.)
In general, for these accounts, the addition of earmarks starting in FY2022 was budgeted for by increasing the funds in the accounts above the level allocated for regular programmatic purposes. In other words, the funding designated by Congress for these specific projects since FY2022 was in addition to the funding provided to those accounts for regular programmatic purposes. The accounts included in Section 1908 are listed below, along with amounts by which FY2025 appropriations were reduced relative to FY2024:
A separate provision—Section 1101(a)(8), discussed above—further reduces FY2025 funding for ED by the amount that was provided for earmarks in the Innovation and Improvement account for FY2024.
Section 1909—Account Maintenance Fees81
Section 1909 extends mandatory budget authority for the ED Secretary to pay account maintenance fees to guaranty agencies under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program through FY2026. Under the program, state or national nonprofit guaranty agencies administer the federal loan insurance that protects holders of those loans against losses arising from borrower defaults or loan discharges due to a borrower's death or disability and provide a variety of administrative services to lenders. Section 458(a)(4) of the Higher Education Act provides mandatory budget authority to pay account maintenance fees to guaranty agencies as compensation for various tasks related to administering the federal loan guarantees. Account maintenance fees are equal to 0.06% of the original principal balance of outstanding FFEL program loans and are paid quarterly by the Secretary to guaranty agencies. Although authority to originate new FFEL loans terminated on July 1, 2010, many FFEL program loans remain outstanding, and, thus, guaranty agencies continue to perform administrative tasks associated with those loans.
Section 1910—Corporation for National and Community Service82
Section 1910 specifies that the recission of discretionary unobligated balances within the National Service Trust will be $235 million for FY2025, an $8 million decrease relative to the amount of that rescission for FY2024. The National Service Trust, an account in the U.S. Treasury, provides educational awards for participants in AmeriCorps State and National Grants, the National Civilian Community Corps, and Volunteers in Service to America who successfully complete their terms of service.83 The trust receives annual appropriations in the LHHS appropriations act to fund those educational awards, which are available until expended.
The number of educational awards to be disbursed depends upon the number of AmeriCorps alumni in any given year who decide to pursue higher education. Many alumni may never use their earned awards, which are a taxable benefit. In recent years, the National Service Trust has begun to accumulate funds in excess of the maximum possible number of educational awards. Therefore, when the FY2024 LHHS appropriations act provided a new $180 million appropriation of funds to the trust, it also rescinded $243 million of its discretionary unobligated balances. Section 1910 updates the amount of that rescission while keeping the amount of the new FY2025 appropriation the same as in FY2024.
Section 1911—SSA Limitation on Administrative Expenses84
Section 1911 provides SSA with the authority to expend $170 million in FY2025 from user fees collected for the agency's administration of state supplementary payments (SSPs) under the SSI program, a $20 million increase (+13%) relative to FY2024.85 SSI is a federal assistance program that provides monthly cash payments to older adults and individuals with qualifying disabilities who have income and resources (i.e., assets) within prescribed limits.86 Some states supplement federal SSI payments with SSPs, which are financed solely with state funds. States may elect to have SSA administer the SSPs on their behalf provided they pay a user fee on each SSP to the federal government. The annual appropriation to SSA's Limitation on Administrative Expenses account authorizes the agency to expend a specified amount of these fees. Any fees collected in excess of the specified amount are not available for expenditure until that authority is provided by subsequent appropriations acts.
Section 1912—Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Related Programs87
Section 1912 extends funding for the TANF block grant, the TANF contingency fund, Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Grants, and matching grants for TANF and child welfare activities within the U.S. territories.88 Funding for these programs is provided and controlled by provisions in the Social Security Act; it is not annually appropriated as part of the LHHS appropriations act. Previously, TANF funding was extended through the end of FY2024 by Division G, Section 401 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (P.L. 118-42), and then through March 14, 2025, by Division A, Section 145 of P.L. 118-83, as amended. Section 1912 further extends the funding for the duration of the CR (i.e., to September 30, 2025).89
| 1. |
This is calculated based on the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2024 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 118-47) available in the Congressional Record, vol. 170, no. 51, book II, March 22, 2024, pp. H1886-H2070. The discretionary funding provided in the LHHS appropriations act is both provided in and controlled by that act. The mandatory funding provided in the LHHS act is controlled by provisions in authorizing law. For definitions of these and other budget terms, see U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), A Glossary of Terms Used in the Federal Budget Process, GAO-05-734SP, September 1, 2005, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-734SP. (Terms of interest may include budget authority, appropriated entitlement, direct spending, discretionary, entitlement authority, and mandatory.) |
| 2. |
For an illustrative discussion of the distribution of funds among the different titles of the bill, and between discretionary and mandatory spending, see the summary of FY2024 Senate committee-approved LHHS appropriations on pages 7-11 of CRS Report R47936, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2024 Appropriations. |
| 3. |
Such figures include advance appropriations provided in the bill for future fiscal years, but do not include advance appropriations provided in prior years' appropriations bills that become available in the current year. |
| 4. |
Such figures typically exclude advance appropriations for future years, but include advance appropriations from prior years that become available in the given fiscal year. |
| 5. |
For more information on scorekeeping, see CRS Report 98-560, Baselines and Scorekeeping in the Federal Budget Process. See also a discussion of key scorekeeping guidelines included in the joint explanatory statement accompanying the conference report to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (H.Rept. 105-217, pp. 1007-1014). |
| 6. |
FY2025 procedural budget enforcement in the House and the Senate is described in the "Appropriations Committee Allocations Under the Budget Resolution" section. |
| 7. |
Office of Management and Budget, Proposed Rescissions of Budgetary Resources, May 28, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Proposed-Rescissions-of-Budgetary-Resources.pdf (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 8. |
Congressional Budget Office (CBO), The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2025 to 2035, p. 20, https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-01/60870-Outlook-2025.pdf (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 9. |
For more information, see CRS Report R47019, The Executive Budget Process: An Overview. |
| 10. |
The package of amendments is available at https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/FY-2025-Budget-Amendment-Package.pdf (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 11. |
For more information, see CRS Insight IN12168, Discretionary Spending Caps in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA; P.L. 118-5) also contains procedures by which these limits might be temporarily or permanently adjusted in the case of a continuing resolution (CR). For a summary of these adjustments, see CRS Insight IN12183, The FRA's Discretionary Spending Caps Under a CR: FAQs. |
| 12. |
For further information on how these generally function, see Appendix A in CRS Report R47936, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2024 Appropriations. |
| 13. |
Prior to the FRA, statutory limits on discretionary spending had been in effect from FY2012 through FY2021 (having expired at the end of FY2021).These limits were initially established in 2011 by the amendments made by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA; P.L. 112-25) to the BBEDCA, but they were subsequently revised several times over the course of their effective period. For a summary of these changes, see CRS Insight IN11148, The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019: Changes to the BCA and Debt Limit. |
| 14. |
The FRA includes a provision described as incentivizing Members to enact regular full-year appropriations legislation. The FRA states that in the event that a CR is in effect on January 1 of 2024 or 2025 for any budget account, the discretionary spending limits for that fiscal year are automatically revised. The revision would result in an increase in nondefense discretionary budget authority and a decrease for defense discretionary spending levels when compared with the original levels. Under such a scenario, a sequester order would be issued on April 30, 2025. The FRA states that the revised limits would revert to the original FRA limits if full-year appropriations were enacted before April 30. For more information, see CRS Insight IN12183, The FRA's Discretionary Spending Caps Under a CR: FAQs. |
| 15. |
The FRA also provided for a designation for emergency requirements, which would generally be available for funding under the purview of any appropriations act (not just LHHS). |
| 16. |
P.L. 118-158 enacted an additional $500 million subject to the FRA emergency requirements designation. |
| 17. |
CBO, Report on the Status of Discretionary Appropriations, FY2025, U.S. House (as of March 14, 2025), https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-04/FY2025-House-2025-03-14.pdf (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 18. |
Note that OMB tabulates the amounts of enacted nondefense discretionary funding differently than CBO for a handful of accounts. See OMB, "Budget Enforcement Act Report (Seven-Day-After), full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025," March 25, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-resources/legislative/budget-enforcement-act-7-day-after-reports/ (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 19. |
For further information, see CRS Report R47388, Enforceable Spending Allocations in the Congressional Budget Process: 302(a)s and 302(b)s. |
| 20. |
The House Budget Committee voted to report a FY2025 budget resolution on March 7, 2024, but that measure was not reported. Subsequent to the enactment of the FY2025 full-year CR, Congress adopted a budget resolution on April 5, 2025 (H.Con.Res. 14). |
| 21. |
"Budget Enforcement Levels," Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 170, no. 83 (May 14, 2024), pp. S3670-S3679. |
| 22. |
For more information, see CRS Insight IN12353, Discretionary Spending: Setting a Topline Amount for FY2025 Appropriations. |
| 23. |
Such suballocations are commonly revised throughout the appropriations process to reflect changing budgetary priorities. |
| 24. |
The House Appropriations Committee suballocations have not been formally reported, but the initial suballocations were published by the committee at https://appropriations.house.gov/events/markups/full-committee-markup-fiscal-year-2025-military-construction-veterans-affairs-and (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 25. |
The House Appropriations Committee draft suballocations were revised on July 10, 2024, as published at https://appropriations.house.gov/events/markups/full-committee-markup-fiscal-year-2025-labor-health-and-human-services-and-education (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 26. |
Subsequently, the Senate Appropriations Committee revised its subcommittee allocations in S.Rept. 118-197, S.Rept. 118-203, and S.Rept. 119-3. |
| 27. |
Appropriations acts use the term "heading" to refer to both headings and the subheadings beneath them. For example, the Health Resources and Services Administration account organizes its appropriations under several subheadings, including "health workforce." Statutory language under the health workforce subheading refers to it as a "heading." |
| 28. |
For a discussion of the effect of report language provisions, see CRS Report R46899, Regular Appropriations Acts: Selected Statutory Interpretation Issues. |
| 29. |
For example, the explanatory statement accompanying the FY2024 LHHS omnibus (P.L. 118-47) provided, "Unless otherwise noted, the language set forth in Senate Report 118–84 carries the same weight as language included in this explanatory statement and should be complied with unless specifically addressed to the contrary in this explanatory statement. While some language is repeated for emphasis, it is not intended to negate the language referred to above unless expressly provided herein." (Congressional Record, vol. 170, no. 51, book II, March 22, 2024, pp. H1886-H2070.) |
| 30. |
For example, for FY2024 DOL released its operating plan publicly (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/budget/2024/FY-2024-Operating-Plan-APT.pdf), and individual HHS operating divisions also released their operating plans (see, for example, the Health Resources and Services Administration FY2024 operating plan available at https://web.archive.org/web/20250319093217/https://www.hrsa.gov/about/budget/operating-plan [accessed on July 2, 2025]). Although ED does not describe it as an "operating plan," it publicly released a substantively similar document (https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/about/overview/budget/budget24/24action.pdf). |
| 31. |
Congressional Record, vol. 170, no. 51, book II, March 22, 2024, p. H1888. |
| 32. |
See DOL, FY2025 Operating Plan All Purpose Table, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/budget/2025/FY-2025-Operating-Plan-APT.pdf; and SSA, FY2025 Operating Plan, https://www.ssa.gov/budget/assets/materials/2025/2025OP.pdf (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 33. |
For HHS, see, for example, the All Purpose Table in the Administration for Children, Families, and Communities, FY2026 Congressional Justification, pp. 3-9. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/fy-2026-acfc-cj.pdf. See also the tables throughout ED, Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Summary, https://www.ed.gov/media/document/fiscal-year-2026-budget-summary-110043.pdf (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 34. |
For further information, see CRS Report R48432, The Impoundment Control Act of 1974: Background and Congressional Consideration of Rescissions. |
| 35. |
Office of Management and Budget, Proposed Rescissions of Budgetary Resources, May 28, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Proposed-Rescissions-of-Budgetary-Resources.pdf (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 36. |
House approval of the amendment occurred pursuant to H.Res. 590, which was adopted by the House (216-213) on July 18, 2025. |
| 37. |
For a summary of the provisions initially enacted this CR, see CRS Report R48214, Overview of Continuing Appropriations for FY2025 (Division A of P.L. 118-83). |
| 38. |
For an estimate of the discretionary appropriations contained in Division A of H.R. 9747, see CBO, H.R. 9747 Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, September 24, 2024, https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2024-09/CBO_Estimate_for_hr9747.pdf. |
| 39. |
The LHHS-specific provisions in the CR are discussed in CRS Report R48214, Overview of Continuing Appropriations for FY2025 (Division A of P.L. 118-83). |
| 40. |
Although the FY2025 full-year CR generally provided funding in the purposes and amounts that were enacted in the FY2024 LHHS omnibus, the budgetary effects of anomalies and other provisions caused the total funding under those two laws to differ. |
| 41. |
Emergency-designated funding in S. 4942 was proposed for a total of nine accounts under the Health and Human Services (Title II) title of the bill. |
| 42. |
This section was authored by Kavya Sekar, CRS Specialist in Health Policy. |
| 43. |
42 U.S.C. §3514a. |
| 44. |
As an example of a transfer, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260) directed a transfer of $225 million from the NEF to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for facilities and property related expenses. See P.L. 116-260, Division H, §237. Laws prior to FY2024 and FY2025 have also included rescissions to the NEF. See, for example, in FY2023 in P.L. 117-328, Division H, §236. |
| 45. |
This section was authored by Emilie Stoltzfus, CRS Specialist in Social Policy. |
| 46. |
See Section 473A(d) of the SSA. See also HHS, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), "Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments," July 8, 2015, https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/pi1508.pdf (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 47. |
Information on ALGIP awards for FY2023 performance received by CRS from ACF's Office of Legislative Affairs and Budget in October 2024. For past incentive earnings by state, see the earnings history table, which shows incentives earned in each of FY1998-FY2022: https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/algipp-earning-history-by-state.pdf (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 48. |
Amount of unobligated FY2024 incentive payment funding based on information received by CRS from ACF's Office of Legislative Affairs and Budget in October 2024. |
| 49. |
This section was authored by Kyle D. Shohfi, CRS Analyst in Education Policy. |
| 50. |
The addition of earmarks in the Innovation and Improvement account starting in FY2022 was budgeted for by increasing the funds in the account above the level allocated for regular programmatic purposes. In other words, the funding designated by Congress for these specific projects since FY2022 was in addition to the funding provided to the account for regular programmatic purposes. |
| 51. |
This section was authored by Alison Mitchell, CRS Specialist in Health Care Financing. |
| 52. |
This section was authored by Kavya Sekar, CRS Specialist in Health Policy. |
| 53. |
Provisions from which the funds may have been rescinded include those related to COVID-19, such as for vaccines, medical supply chains, and testing, as well as for non-COVID-19 programs such as wellness programs for health care workers and the Medical Reserve Corps program. The exact source of the recissions cannot be determined from the section text alone. |
| 54. |
The summary for Section 1109(b) was authored by Jessica Tollestrup, Specialist in Social Policy. |
| 55. |
For more information on advance appropriations generally and as provided in Division A of P.L. 119-4, see the "Section 1112—Advance Appropriations" section of this report. |
| 56. |
For further information on Special Benefits for Disabled Coal Miners program and its funding, see DOL, FY2025 Congressional Justification, Special Benefits for Disabled Coal Miners, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/budget/2025/CBJ-2025-V2-07.pdf. |
| 57. |
For general information on the Medicaid program and its funding, see CRS In Focus IF10322, Medicaid Primer. |
| 58. |
This account primarily funds the Child Support Enforcement program. For further information about this program, see CRS Report RS22380, Child Support Services: Program Basics. For information about the funding in this account, see HHS, Administration for Children and Families Fiscal Year 2025 Congressional Justification, pp. 217-238, https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/olab/fy-2025-congressional-justification.pdf. |
| 59. |
For general information about child welfare programs, see CRS In Focus IF10590, Child Welfare: Purposes, Federal Programs, and Funding. For information about the funding in this account, see HHS, Administration for Children and Families Fiscal Year 2025 Congressional Justification, pp. 281-308, https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/olab/fy-2025-congressional-justification.pdf (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 60. |
For general information on the SSI program and its funding, see CRS In Focus IF10482, Supplemental Security Income (SSI). |
| 61. |
This section was authored by David Bradley, CRS Section Research Manager. |
| 62. |
For additional information on the CPS, see DOL, BLS, "Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey Overview," March 24, 2020, https://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_over.htm (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 63. |
For some of the labor market measures derived from the CPS, see BLS, "The Employment Situation—August 2024," press release, April 4, 2025, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf (accessed on July 2, 2025). |
| 64. |
BLS, FY2024 Congressional Budget Justification, 2023, pp. BLS-29, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/budget/2024/CBJ-2024-V3-01.pdf. |
| 65. |
This section was authored by Jessica Tollestrup, CRS Specialist in Social Policy. |
| 66. |
For further background on these adjustments and their function within the LHHS Appropriations Act, see Appendix A in CRS Report R47936, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2024 Appropriations; and CRS Report R48387, Exemptions to the Fiscal Responsibility Act's Discretionary Spending Limits. |
| 67. |
This section was authored by David Bradley, CRS Section Research Manager. |
| 68. |
This program is funded by the Training and Employment Services account within the DOL Employment and Training Administration. |
| 69. |
For additional information, see CRS Report R44252, The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the One-Stop Delivery System. |
| 70. |
This section was authored by Jared Sussman, CRS Analyst in Health Policy. |
| 71. |
42 U.S.C. §274. For more information, see CRS Report R48426, Organ Procurement and Transplantation: Administration, Oversight, and Policy Issues. |
| 72. |
This section was authored by Kavya Sekar, CRS Specialist in Health Policy. |
| 73. |
For amounts appropriated to the NIH Innovation Account—up to the limit authorized for each fiscal year—those amounts are subtracted from any cost estimate for enforcing discretionary spending limits (i.e., the budget caps). In effect, appropriations to the NIH Innovation Account as authorized by P.L. 114-255 are not subject to discretionary spending limits. For further information, see CRS Report R48387, Exemptions to the Fiscal Responsibility Act's Discretionary Spending Limits. |
| 74. |
This section was authored by Kavya Sekar, CRS Specialist in Health Policy. |
| 75. |
See Section 222 of Division D of P.L. 118-47 and Congressional Record, vol. 170, no. 51, book II (March 22, 2024), p. H1894. |
| 76. |
For further background, see CRS Report R47895, Prevention and Public Health Fund: In Brief. |
| 77. |
This section was authored by Alexa DeBoth, CRS Analyst in Health Policy. |
| 78. |
See P.L. 114-113, Division H, Title II, §229. See also the accompanying House explanatory materials, Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 134, book III (December 17, 2015), p. H10290. |
| 79. |
USPSTF, "Screening for Breast Cancer: Recommendations and Rationale," Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 137, no. 5, part 1 (September 3, 2002), pp. 344-346. |
| 80. |
This section was authored by Jessica Tollestrup, CRS Specialist in Social Policy. |
| 81. |
This section was authored by Alexandra Hegji, CRS Specialist in Social Policy. |
| 82. |
This section was authored by Adam K. Edgerton, CRS Analyst in Education Policy. |
| 83. |
For more information, see CRS Report RL33931, The Corporation for National and Community Service: Overview of Programs and Funding. |
| 84. |
This section was authored by William Morton, CRS Specialist in Income Security. |
| 85. |
For additional background, see CRS Report R47097, Social Security Administration (SSA): Trends in the Annual Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) Appropriation; and CRS Report R48187, Social Security Administration (SSA): FY2025 Annual Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) Appropriation: In Brief. |
| 86. |
See CRS In Focus IF10482, Supplemental Security Income (SSI). |
| 87. |
This section was authored by Gene Falk, CRS Specialist in Social Policy. |
| 88. |
For an overview of TANF, see CRS Report R48413, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: A Primer. |
| 89. |
For further information about previous extensions of these programs, see CRS Report R44668, The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: A Legislative History. |