Congress Proposes Modest Increase for FDA in Five-Month Spending Bill

Congress reached a deal late Sunday night on a comprehensive, 1,600-page bill to fund the federal government through September 30 — and give the FDA an extra $39 million.

Total FDA funding for fiscal 2017, including money collected from user fees, will top $4.655 billion — $103 million over the previous fiscal year. The bill also allocates the $852 million set aside for funding 21st Century Cures Act programs across the government.

Congress has until Friday to pass the appropriations package, which consolidates 11 separate funding bills, after lawmakers passed a continuing resolution last Friday to fund the government through May 5 to avoid a shutdown.

The deal largely ignores the budget cuts and spending priorities requested by President Trump, who had proposed a steep hike in FDA user fees to cover shrinking federal appropriations and a $15.1 billion cut to the overall HHS budget.