Congress Passes Additional NIH Funding in Fiscal Year 2008 War Supplemental Bill

Capitol Hill Update - August 2008

August 1, 2008

Congress cleared the long-awaited war supplemental spending bill (H.R. 2642), sending the measure to President Bush';s desk just before Congress began its July Fourth recess. The bill includes a $150 million increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This funding will be applied to FY 2008 spending, so many NIH grants still awaiting funding, for example, could be approved in the next few weeks.

The bill was finally approved by the House after lengthy negotiations between the White House and both Democratic and Republic leaders. House leaders persuaded the Senate to drop the billions of dollars it had included for domestic spending, but only after receiving a public commitment that a second supplemental spending bill would be drafted to ensure funding for items dropped from the war supplemental. The President signed the bill on June 30, 2008.