Congress maintains existing FDA funding levels temporarily

Unable to work out a deal to pass appropriations measures by the end of the fiscal year, Congress passes a continuing resolution Sept. 30, maintaining funding for FDA and other federal agencies at fiscal 2010 levels. Resolution expires Dec. 3. If Republicans win a majority in the midterm elections, they may force passage of another continuing resolution that would allow them to set spending levels in 2011 after new members take their seats. In regular appropriations legislation, the Senate Appropriations subcommittee with FDA oversight appropriated $261.5 mil. for the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and $357 mil. for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, both increases over last fiscal year. The House has not yet marked up its version of the agriculture appropriations bill, so funding for individual FDA centers was not known (1"The Rose Sheet" Aug. 2, 2010)