March 2025

With a government shutdown looming, President Donald Trump signed a continuing resolution (CR) on March 14 that carries FY 2024 funding through the end of the 2025 fiscal year. While this action kept the government open, the full-year FY 2025 CR does not include language typically included in an explanatory statement that accompanies the bill text. House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) released a fact sheet that included details on how the full-year CR limits congressional direction of how funding should be spent across the federal government.  

Without an explanatory statement, the topline amounts provided in the bills are in place, but allocations among specific programs are not. These include allocations across the primary federal agencies that support education research and statistics. The March 2024 Highlights story on the final FY2024 appropriations law includes information on the top line and allocations within programs that were included in the accompanying FY 2024 explanatory statements. 

For the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the FY 2024 bill text included a top line of $793.11 million, with the FY 2024 explanatory statement providing details in a funding table for how that funding would be allocated. The Department of Education has also not yet provided an updated budget table for FY 2025 to reflect the full-year CR. Without specific information in an explanatory statement for FY 2025, combined with ongoing administration actions over the past two months, it is unclear how funding may be distributed across IES. 

Within the National Science Foundation (NSF), the FY 2024 bill text included funding for Research and Related Activities (R&RA), which covers most of the NSF research directorates, and the STEM Education (EDU) Directorate. However, the FY 2024 explanatory statement noted that “NSF is directed to continue support for STEM Education programs at no less than the fiscal year 2021 enacted amounts.” Without that language for FY 2025, it is unclear whether funding across EDU programs would be maintained at those levels. 

While overall base funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) remains consistent with the FY 2024 bill text, the CR did not address a reduction in 21st Century Cures Act funding of $280 million included in that law for FY 2025. The FY 2024 bill text included funding by NIH institute, meaning that the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development would remain at a top line of $1.759 billion. However, the FY 2024 explanatory statement included directives to the Office of the Director that includes $12.5 million for NIH to fund research on firearm injury and mortality prevention. It is unclear whether that research would continue in absence of language in an explanatory statement for FY 2025. 

AERA is continuing to track developments in the implementation of FY 2025 funding as well as taking action on FY 2026 appropriations.