Debt Ceiling Could Stress FDA Budget

The proposed debt ceiling budget could stress the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s budget, according to Inside Health Policy.

The legislation’s nondefense federal funding cap makes it harder for programs like the FDA’s budget to get funding increases, and it could threaten some agencies’ existing funds, according to Steven Grossman, director of the Alliance for a Stronger FDA. “This is never a good situation for agencies whose mission and responsibilities keep expanding each year, as is the case with FDA,” he wrote.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 caps nondefense federal spending at $704 billion for the next two years. According to Grossman, after taking out funding for Veterans Affairs medical care and appropriations adjustments, the remaining nondefense funds are about $637 billion, which is roughly unchanged from fiscal 2023.

There is still room to determine how much funding can be specifically allocated to the FDA, though, according to Grossman, despite the FDA’s funding being limited by the macro-budgetary levels determined by the debt ceiling.

“FDA’s mission and responsibilities are incredibly consequential and visible,” he wrote. “It needs resources to protect public health and safety and to set standards for products that encompass 20 percent of all consumer spending (about $2.7 trillion).”

The House GOP’s FDA funding bill cleared the Appropriations FDA-agriculture subcommittee last month; it would provide $6.6 billion in total funding with $3.5 billion in flat discretionary funding.