Federal shutdown ends, but budget war goes on

The six-day shutdown of much of the federal government is over. But the war between the Democratic-run Administration and Republican-run Congress over government spending rages on. Most federal agencies that fund or perform research are working under a just-passed continuing resolution, H.J. Res. 122, that expires Dec. 15. Only six of the 13 appropriations bills for fiscal 1996 have been signed into law. This second continuing resolution is more generous for most agencies than was the first one—which expired Nov. 13, leading to the federal shutdown (C&EN, Nov. 20, page 8). H.J. Res. 122 states that until an agency's fiscal 1996 appropriation is signed into law, the agency will be funded at its budget rate for fiscal 1995 or at the rate provided by the House or Senate for fiscal 1996, whichever of the three is lowest. The previous resolution lopped 5% off the lowest level. The National Institutes of Health, for example, comes out ...