2025 Appropriations Tracker

The 2025 Appropriations Process

The annual appropriations process begins each year with the President submitting a budget request to the U.S. Congress, outlining the administration's priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. The U.S. House and Senate Appropriations Committee then each hold a series of budget hearings with the heads of the various federal agencies and the U.S. House and Senate adopt a budget resolution outlining the topline spending limits for the respective fiscal year. For Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, spending limits are determined the statutory discretionary spending caps set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA). 

The U.S. House and Senate Appropriations Committee then adopt topline spending limits for each of the 12 spending bills (known as “subcommittee allocations”) and each of the subcommittees draft their spending bills in line with these limits. The 12 annual spending bills are considered at both the subcommittee and full-committee level before advancing to the full chamber for a vote. After appropriations bills are passed by both chambers of the U.S. Congress, appropriators and party leadership from each chamber enter negotiations through a “conference committee” where differences between the bills are resolved. Both the U.S. House and Senate must then pass the agreed-to spending bills before they are sent to the President’s desk for signature. 

Counties rely on federal funds determined through the annual appropriations process to provide vital services to our residents. As such, we urge Congress and the President to commit to working together to reach an agreement on all spending legislation by Oct. 1 of each year. 

U.S. House of Representatives

On May 23, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee adopted their FY 2025 subcommittee allocations by a party-line vote of 30-22. The $1.605 trillion topline spending level guiding the House Committee is in line with the statutory discretionary spending caps established by the FRA. For FY 2025, defense spending is capped at $895.2 billion and non-defense spending is capped at $710.7 billion. Compared to actual enacted FY 2024 spending, which included additional non-defense spending through an unwritten “side-deal”, these spending levels represent a 1 percent increase to defense spending and a 6 percent cut to non-defense spending. 

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee cleared all 12 bills out of committee by July 10 and the U.S. House began floor consideration of FY 2025 spending bills beginning on June 5. As of July 25, when the U.S. House adjourned for August recess, the chamber has passed 5 of the 12 FY 2025 spending bills. The U.S. House is expected to resume work on FY 2025 spending bills when lawmakers return to D.C. on September 9. 

U.S. Senate

On July 11, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee began work on their versions of the FY 2025 spending bills, approving the committee’s subcommittee allocations by a party-line vote of 15-12. Committee leadership reached a bipartisan agreement on an additional $34.5 billion in emergency spending, of which $21 billion would be for defense and $13.5 billion would be for non-defense, for a total of approximately $1.61 trillion in discretionary spending in FY 2025. Additionally, Senate appropriators are expected to include additional non-defense funds by making certain spending adjustments akin to last years “side deal.” As such, the topline defense and non-defense levels guiding the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee will certainly differ than those guiding their counterparts in the U.S. House.

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee will forego subcommittee markups to expedite the process and consider each bill as a full committee before sending to the full U.S. Senate. As of August 2, when the U.S. Senate adjourned for August recess, the committee has marked up and advanced 11 of the 12 FY 2025 spending bills. The U.S. Senate is expected to resume work on FY 2025 spending bills when Senators return to D.C. on September 9.