Overview of FY2017 Appropriations for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS)

Summary

This report tracks and describes actions taken by the Administration and Congress to provide FY2017 appropriations for the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) accounts. It also provides an overview of FY2016 appropriations for agencies and bureaus funded as part of annual CJS appropriations.

Division B of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113), provided $66.000 billion for CJS, which included $9.246 billion for the Department of Commerce, $29.090 billion for the Department of Justice (DOJ), $26.754 billion for the science agencies, and $910 million for the related agencies.

For FY2017, the Administration requests a total of $67.650 billion for CJS, which includes $9.723 billion for the Department of Commerce, $29.910 billion for DOJ, $26.995 billion for the science agencies, and $1.022 billion for the related agencies. The Administration proposes supplementing discretionary appropriations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) with $763 million and $400 million, respectively, in new one-time mandatory funding.

Over the past 10 fiscal years, nominal appropriations for CJS increased starting with FY2007, peaked in FY2010, and generally declined between FY2010 and FY2013. Nominal appropriations for CJS were relatively flat in FY2014 and FY2015. CJS appropriations increased by approximately $4 billion in FY2016, largely due to the fact that Congress increased the discretionary budget cap when it passed, and the President signed, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-74).

The data show that the increases in CJS appropriations in FY2009 and FY2010 were largely the result of Congress appropriating more funding for Commerce in support of the 2010 decennial census. Although decreased appropriations for Commerce mostly explain the overall decrease in CJS appropriations between FY2010 and FY2013, cuts in funding for DOJ and NASA and sequestration in FY2013 also contributed to the decrease. The exception to this trend has been funding for the NSF, which has generally increased each fiscal year since FY2007. Appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice and for NASA have generally increased each fiscal year since FY2013.