Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
The House Appropriations Committee advanced its FY25 Labor-HHS bill on a 31-25 party line vote Wednesday after defeating Democratic efforts to strike contentious riders on Title X funding, an NIH reorganization and ARPA-H.
Why it matters: HHS would be in line for a 7% funding cut under the House GOP blueprint, though there's much wrangling to come as the two chambers hash out rival spending plans.
Zoom in: House Democrats offered several health-related amendments that Republicans voted down.
- Rep. Steny Hoyer offered an amendment that would strike a proposed reorganization of NIH and restore funding for ARPA-H to its original authorization level of $1.5 billion through fiscal 2027.
- Hoyer said he didn't want an NIH reorganization rushed and called for hearings to consider an overhaul of the agency.
- There was bipartisan concern during the lengthy markup over consolidating and reorganizing NIH research centers.
Rep. Barbara Lee also unsuccessfully offered an amendment that would have struck language that eliminated Title X funding for family planning clinics, blocked funds to hospitals that conduct postgraduate medical training in providing abortions and restricted the funding of gender-affirming care.
- "This is all part and parcel, of course, of the extreme Project 2025 agenda that Republicans are seeking to implement under a Republican president," said Lee of the riders.
Rep. Andrew Clyde, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, won adoption of an amendment forbidding funding be used by the CDC or NIH to carry out research on gun injuries or mortality prevention if it would advocate for firearm restrictions.
Catch up quick: The Labor-HHS spending draft funds HHS at $107 billion which is a 7% cut from the FY24 enacted level and $14 billion below President Biden's budget request.
- Besides the anti-abortion riders, Democrats also opposed cuts to HIV, gun violence and tobacco prevention programs.
What we're watching: The Senate Appropriations Committee is revealing its 302(b) spending allocations tomorrow, which will give more insight on how the chamber plans to fund its Labor-HHS bill.
