Update: Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) on February 29, 2024, that extends FY 2023 federal funding levels until March 22 for several government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

This is the fourth CR Congress has passed extending FY 2023 federal funding levels instead of passing a FY 2024 federal funding bill.

Congress previously passed a CR on January 18, 2024, that extended FY 2023 federal funding levels until March 8, 2024.

"This continuing resolution allows agencies like NIH and NCI to continue their critical work without interruption; however, by the time the CR expires, NIH will have been operating at flat funding for half of the fiscal year, leaving it unable to plan for future investments or keep pace with medical inflation," said Everett E. Vokes, MD, FASCO, Chair of the Board, Association for Clinical Oncology, in a statement. "Flat funding also stymies progress at the NIH and NCI, the world’s leading centers for medical and cancer research, and weakens the country’s role as the epicenter of medical innovation."

“We appreciate the bipartisan investment in recent years and urge Congress to continue prioritizing investment in federal research and important progress in life-saving treatments for cancer,” Dr. Vokes concluded.

Join ASCO and urge your lawmakers to support cancer research. To send a letter directly to your members of Congress, visit the ACT Network.

Stay up to date on the Association’s advocacy activities and priorities by bookmarking ASCO in Action.