On Friday, March 14, the U.S. Senate passed House Republicans’ Continuing Resolution-type package to continue federal funding through the end of Fiscal Year 2025 on September 30, avoiding a shutdown of the federal government. Earlier, the House passed the bill by a vote of 217-213. An Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) analysis found that while most funding will be maintained at FY24 levels, the bill includes a number of anomalies of impact to public research universities. The bill also continues the Section 224 prohibition on changing facilities and administration (F&A) rates without negotiations that was first enacted in 2017, and maintains the 8% funding cut to the National Science Foundation enacted in FY24. 

The bill did not contain earmarks, also known as Community Initiated Projects or Congressionally Directed Spending. This includes requested earmarks for higher education, such as $2.97 million for the University of Oregon Ballmer Institute and $3 million for the Center for Advanced Materials Characterization in Oregon (CAMCOR) that had been included in FY25 Senate appropriations bills.

The Oregon delegation split along party lines, with all Democrats voting against the bill and all Republicans voting in support. The President signed the bill into law on March 15.