US House passes stopgap funding bill, delaying new grant control rules until December

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a stopgap funding measure that will extend government operations through early December, averting an immediate shutdown. This measure, which now requires President Trump's signature, is expected to be signed to prevent a shutdown just before the midterm elections.

The bill's passage is significant because it incorporates a provision from a Senate-approved budget bill that blocks the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from enacting new rules. These proposed rules would have granted political appointees greater control over the allocation of federal science funding and the ability to cancel grants at any time. The scientific community and related organizations had widely criticized these potential changes as detrimental to scientific research.

The language preventing the OMB's rule implementation until the stopgap measure expires on December 11 was reportedly inserted by Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). While this is a temporary reprieve, the overwhelming bipartisan support for the measure—passing the Senate 90-6 and the House 370-48—suggests a legislative reluctance to grant such extensive control over federal spending to political appointees.