Budget Process Primer

Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations (Oct. 1, 2024-Sept. 30, 2025)

• The 118th Congress failed to pass an FY25 State/Foreign Operations Appropriation bill prior to the start of the fiscal year.

  • The Biden Administration requested $64 billion for SFOPS in FY25. $45.6 billion of that amount was for foreign operations.

  • The House approved $53.1 billion for SFOPS on June 28, 2024 (H.R. 8771), of which $38 billion was for foreign operations. The Senate never took up this bill.

  • The Senate Appropriations Committee on July 25, 2024, reported out a bill (S. 4797) that provided $62.4 billion for SFOPS, of which $44.8 billion was for foreign operations. The full Senate never voted on this bill.

• On Sept. 26, 2024, P.L. 118-83, a continuing resolution (CR) to fund federal government agencies in FY2025, largely at FY2024 levels ($56.2 billion for SFOPS, excluding emergency funding), was enacted, extending funding through December 20, 2024. 

• On December 21, the President signed P.L. 118-158; the law included a CR that funded federal government agencies in FY2025 through March 14, 2025

• The Senate on March 14 passed a continuing resolution that funds the government through Sept. 30, 2025. The House passed the CR on March 11. The president has signed it into law. 

Fiscal Year 2025 budget resolution (Oct. 1, 2024-Sept. 30, 2025)

• The budget resolution is a congressional framework for revenue, total spending, and spending by budget function. It does not go to the president and is not a law. It is the first step in the budget reconciliation process, which bypasses the Senate filibuster.

  
  

• The amount for each budget function is the CEILING for spending.

  
  

• According to the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the FY25 budget resolution was supposed to have been passed by April 15, 2024. It is being considered midway through FY25 in order to use the budget reconciliation process for FY25.

• The Senate on Feb. 21, 2025, passed its FY25 budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 7), 52-48.

  • All Democrats plus Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted no. 

  • The Senate budget provides $61.7 billion in new budget authority for the International Affairs (150) budget category. (This is the State/Foreign Ops appropriation PLUS Food for Peace money in the Agriculture appropriation and MINUS funding for international commissions in the Natural Resources and Environment (300) budget function.)

  • Senate FY26 budget has $4.25 billion LESS for Function 150 than the FY25 CR.

    
    

• The House on Feb. 25, 2025, passed its FY25 budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 14), 217-215.

  • All Democrats plus Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) voted no.

  • The House budget provides $64.3 billion in new budget authority for the International Affairs (150) budget category. 

  • House FY26 budget has $1.7 billion LESS for Function 150 than the FY25 CR.

• House and Senate leaders are discussing whether to have the Senate amend the House budget and send it back to the House or go to a conference committee, where negotiators would hash out a compromise resolution for each chamber to pass.

• Reports indicate leadership in both chambers wants to finish the FY25 budget resolution by April 11, 2025, just before the two-week Easter recess.

FY25 budget reconciliation

• A congressional budget resolution is needed for the reconciliation process, which would enable the Republicans to bypass a Senate filibuster to enact their tax and spending priorities with simple majorities in both chambers. A reconciliation bill would enact spending cuts to the CR levels, in order to bring the toplines under the budget resolution ceilings. Therefore, it is likely that international affairs spending (Function 150) will be cut by $1.7 billion-$4.25 billion from the CR levels.

• House Republicans want to enact all their priorities in “one big, beautiful bill” through the budget reconciliation process. Senate Republicans want to do both an FY25 and an FY26 budget reconciliation bill.

• This March 25 Politico story provides a good update on the state of play: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/25/senate-republicans-house-budget-reconciliation-00249629 

• It is unlikely that any Democrats would vote for the budget resolution, so it is not a point of leverage in the foreign assistance fight.

• Politico reported that Speaker Johnson and Majority Leader Thune both want to include a debt ceiling increase in the reconciliation bill. Otherwise, the debt ceiling will be reached sometime in May 2025, and the United States would default on its debt. If instead there is a freestanding debt ceiling bill, it could be a point of leverage for Democrats, since some Republicans oppose raising the debt ceiling.