Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
House Appropriations Republicans released their FY25 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies spending bill Tuesday.
Why it matters: Congress already fell short on funding tech policy priorities this year, with many agencies nowhere near their authorizations or budget requests, sparking concerns over maintaining U.S. competitiveness.
Here's a quick breakdown of the GOP's FY25 bill for science and tech policy:
Commerce: The bill would provide $9.8 billion for the Commerce Department, which is 9% below the FY24 level and $1.6 billion below the president's request.
NIST: The National Institute of Standards and Technology would be appropriated $1.4 billion, 3% below this year's level and $83.5 million below Biden's ask.
- NIST director Laurie Locascio told lawmakers last month that budget cuts would make it hard to protect existing federal staff.
NSF: The National Science Foundation, which has a key role in fulfilling the CHIPS and Science Act, would get $9.3 billion.
- That's 2% above this year but nearly $925 million below the president's ask.
- Even though it would get a small boost, this sets up another major funding shortfall for the agency: CHIPS had authorized a whopping $16.7 billion for the agency in next year's budget, calling for a doubling of the agency's budget over five years to $18.9 billion in FY27.
OSTP: The bill provides $5.5 million for the Office of Science and Technology Policy. That's 30% below the FY24 enacted level and $2.4 million below the budget request.
Justice: The Antitrust Division would get about $193 million under the GOP bill, offset by estimated pre-merger filing fee collections, according to the bill summary.
- The president had asked for $288 million next year, after getting just $233 million of a requested $325 million in FY24.
NTIA: The bill allots $56.5 million for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, $2.5 million below the FY24 level and $10.5 million below Biden's request.
What's next: The CJS subcommittee marks up the bill Wednesday at 8:30am ET.
