Overview of FY2019 Appropriations for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS)

Summary

This report describes actions taken by the Trump Administration and Congress to provide FY2019 funding for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) accounts. It also provides an overview of enacted FY2018 funding for agencies and bureaus funded as part of annual CJS appropriations acts.

For FY2018, Congress and the President provided a total of $72.119 billion in funding for CJS. This included $70.921 billion in regular funding provided in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141) and $1.198 billion in emergency-designated funding provided in the Further Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-123).

The Administration requests $66.555 billion for CJS for FY2019, which is 7.7% less than total FY2018 funding and 6.2% less than regular FY2018 funding (which excludes emergency-designated funding). The Administration requests $9.797 billion for the Department of Commerce, $28.835 billion for the Department of Justice, $27.372 billion for the science agencies, and $551 million for the related agencies. The Administration’s budget proposes eliminating funding for several CJS agencies and accounts, including the Economic Development Administration and the Legal Services Corporation. The Administration’s budget proposes moving funding for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program from the Office of National Drug Control Policy to the Drug Enforcement Administration, closing the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office and moving its responsibilities to the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), and a new account structure for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The bill reported by the House Committee on Appropriations (H.R. 5952) would provide a total of $73.923 billion for CJS for FY2019, an amount that is 4.2% greater than regular FY2018 funding (which excludes emergency-designated funding) and 11.1% greater than the Administration’s request. The bill would provide $12.106 billion for the Department of Commerce, $31.113 billion for the Department of Justice, $29.728 billion for the science agencies, and $976 million for the related agencies. The committee largely declined to adopt many of the Administration’s proposals to eliminate funding for several CJS agencies and accounts, though the committee-reported bill would move funding for the COPS program to OJP and it includes the Administration’s proposed account structure for NASA.

The bill reported by the Senate Committee on Appropriations (S. 3072) would provide a total of $72.648 billion for CJS for FY2019, an amount that is 2.4% more than regular FY2018 funding (which excludes emergency-designated funding) and 9.2% more than the Administration’s request. The bill would provide $11.572 billion for the Department of Commerce, $30.699 billion for the Department of Justice, $29.400 billion for the science agencies, and $977 million for the related agencies. The Senate Committee on Appropriations largely declined to adopt many of the proposals put forth by the Administration in its FY2019 budget. Unlike the House committee-reported bill, S. 3072 would fund the COPS program through its own account and the committee did not include the Administration’s new account structure for NASA.