Sponsors (5)
The bill secures substantial, multi‑year, inflation‑adjusted research funding and budget protections that strengthen scientific capacity and economic potential, but does so by increasing mandatory federal spending and reducing some fiscal oversight while tilting resources toward defense R&D.
Scientists, researchers, and students receive sustained, inflation‑adjusted, multi‑year increases in federal funding for basic and applied research across NSF, DOE Office of Science, DOD S&T, NIST, and NASA through 2035.
U.S. workers and businesses gain increased federal investment in technologies and defense R&D that can support new commercial products, spur high‑skill job creation, and boost economic growth.
Federal research agencies and ongoing projects gain greater budget flexibility because appropriations remain available until expended, reducing the need for annual reauthorization and the risk that multi‑year projects are interrupted.
Taxpayers face higher federal spending and larger deficits because the bill creates substantial new mandatory appropriations that are not scored on PAYGO scorecards.
Exempting these appropriations from sequestration and PAYGO reduces budgetary offsets and congressional oversight, limiting lawmakers' ability to control aggregate spending.
Directing large increases to DOD science and technology prioritizes defense R&D and may shift resources away from non‑defense priorities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced April 3, 2025 by Richard Joseph Durbin · Last progress April 3, 2025
Provides fixed annual funding for five federal research entities for fiscal years 2026–2035, makes those appropriations available until expended, and then applies an automatic annual inflation adjustment beginning in fiscal year 2036 based on CPI‑U. It also exempts these appropriations from sequestration and excludes their budgetary effects from Statutory PAYGO and Senate PAYGO scorecards.