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Congress and the President have agreed to fund federal government agencies for six weeks past the October 1 start of the Fiscal Year 1996, avoiding a shutdown of the government for lack of a budget. This action averts what some have described as a “scheduled train wreck” between Congress and the Administration over spending for FY '96. The threat of a government‐wide shutdown had been seen as the impetus for a compromise between President Clinton and Congress, but the bottleneck of pending legislation forced a continuing resolution to extend funding. The President and Congress agreed to authorize money at reduced levels for Fiscal Year 1996, until all the appropriation bills reach the President' desk.

From July 24–August 4, the U.S. House of Representatives finalized its version of the Fiscal Year 1996 (FY96) federal appropriation, for the period October 1, 1995 through November 30, 1996. As reported in the August 1 issue of Eos, science programs were not exempted from the overall budget cutting. In brief, the House proposed to reduce NOAA's appropriation by 10% from 1995; NASA's by 5%; the EPA's by 33%; and NSF's by 6%. The USGS emerged with only a 3% reduction. The USGS appropriation actually increased, but the National Biological Survey was folded into it. For the most part, basic research was preserved in each agency's appropriation, and spending cuts were taken in administration and downsizing of missions.