Free Republic

As Congress wrangles over a budget for the 2025 federal fiscal year, which begins October 1, the NIH will be paying especially close attention. Last year, the NIH saw its first year-over-year funding decrease since FY 2013, a $569.5 million or 1% dip that resulted in program-level funding of $47.1 billion. The reduction largely reflected a cut in funds authorized for the 21st Century Cures Act NIH Innovation Account, which shrunk 62.5% to $407 million in FY 2024 from nearly $1.1 billion the previous fiscal year. In March, President Biden proposed a FY 2025 spending plan that set aside $50.1...

As President-elect Donald Trump's comments tanking House Speaker Mike Johnson's short-term government funding bill sent House Republicans into a tailspin Wednesday night, Senate Republicans were left to try to make sense of the remaining pieces. Congress must act to fund the government by midnight on Friday or risk a shutdown. With the House back at the drawing board, the clock is ticking. The nature of government funding bills means that the Senate is usually in a wait-and-see posture until the House acts. That's particularly true this time around, where Johnson has to wrangle his slim House majority into passing legislation...

@WesternLensman @RepThomasMassie with the truth bomb: "I have Republican colleagues who'd rather run over their own mom with a car than to vote to cut spending."

A bipartisan spending deal to avert a shutdown was on life support on Wednesday after President-elect Donald J. Trump condemned it, leaving lawmakers without a strategy to fund the government past a Friday night deadline. Mr. Trump issued a scathing statement ordering Republicans not to support the sprawling bill, piling on to a barrage of criticism from Elon Musk, who spent Wednesday trashing the measure on social media and threatening any Republican who supported it with political ruin. It was not yet clear how Speaker Mike Johnson planned to proceed as the package, which was stuffed full of unrelated policy...

President-elect Trump joined Elon Musk in opposing House Speaker Mike Johnson's proposed bill to keep the government funded. Trump released a statement with Vice-president elect J.D. Vance, writing, "Republicans must get smart and tough. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then call their bluff."

Nevada Health CO-OP, a non-profit insurer created by Obamacare and given $66 million in start up loans, will cease operations on January 1 of next year. The cause of the co-op's downfall is attributed to "market realities." Duh.