Alec Simantov
Alec is a Director in the McAllister & Quinn Research Universities Practice. Alec leverages his expertise on the federal budget and Congress to provide strategic intelligence and oversight on legislative and policy developments, focusing on R&D, science, and higher education policy.
Both chambers of Congress are now in recess and will return in September with little time remaining before the end of FY26. Both the House and Senate passed their own version of a continuing resolution (CR) to extend government funding through December before leaving town. Beginning the new fiscal year on a CR is routine practice for Congress and the federal government, but with looming midterm elections and a contentious summer in Congress that saw further delays on a number of traditionally bipartisan issues, uncertainty remains elevated.
The House CR (H.R. 9770) passed the House on party lines (220-205) while the Senate version passed in a bipartisan 90-6 vote. The administration has since thrown its support behind the Senate version, which includes a provision blocking the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) proposed rule to overhaul the Uniform Guidance while the CR is in effect through December 11, 2026. The House will need to pass the Senate’s version of the CR when it returns on August 31, in order to send it to the President’s desk.
Despite a number of partisan disagreements that delayed both appropriations work and several important authorization bills, House appropriators were able to advance spending bills for research programs at NIH, NSF, NASA, DOE, DOC, and USDA, which once again largely rejected the Trump administration’s proposed funding and program cuts to these agencies.
Senate Appropriations Delays Push the Funding Timeline
The House proposals are not the end of the story. The Senate Appropriations Committee still needs to release its FY27 funding bills. Senate appropriators traditionally propose higher funding levels for science agencies than their House counterparts. However, committee work was halted through June and July by partisan disagreements on a range of issues, and Sen. Mitch McConnell’s prolonged absence from the committee due to his hospitalization. Despite disagreements and delays, Senator Collins (R-ME), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, remains a top proponent of federally funded science research, particularly at NIH, calling the administration’s proposed cuts “inexplicable.” Senators were also able to come together to support the current CR on an overwhelming bipartisan basis.
Final Decisions on Research Funding Will Happen After the Election
The timeline for the remainder of FY26 is tight and Congress will remain focused on getting the CR through the House by the end of September. Congress will then again be on recess in October to allow for members up for reelection to campaign. The midterm election on November 3, 2026, could result in one or both houses of Congress flipping control, which will alter the dynamic during the lame duck session in November and December and set off internal races for committee leadership and membership changes for the new Congress in January. Election results could also alter the final outcomes of Community Project Funding (earmarks) for FY27, particularly for members of Congress who are defeated in their re-election bids.
The post-election Congressional timeline will also include a number of legislative priorities that must be resolved before the new Congress is seated in January, including the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the National Quantum Initiative reauthorization, the Farm Bill (USDA research and extension programs), and surface transportation reauthorizations (DOT research programs), among others. All of this will take place as Congress continues to negotiate final FY27 funding levels before the CR expiration date in December.
Whether Congress can complete both its appropriations work and balance its other priorities will depend heavily on election outcomes and internal party dynamics into the busy holiday season. However, the signals so far show that once again, Congress is poised to reject the Trump administration’s cuts for federal research funding in FY27.
For research institutions, the question is not whether Congress values and supports federally funded scientific research, but how that support will translate into final FY27 funding levels across agencies.
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