The House Appropriations Committee passed legislation to cut the Food and Drug Administration’s FY 2024 by $38 million. In addition to program cuts, the House Appropriations Committee included several policy measures that would prevent FDA from effectively regulating tobacco products.
Specifically, the House Appropriations Committee included legislative language preventing FDA from moving forward with a final rule to ban menthol cigarettes and flavor cigars. Further, the committee included language to block FDA from issuing a proposed rules to limit the nicotine content in tobacco products.
The House committee did include report language urging FDA to step up its efforts to complete product reviews of new e-cigarette products and do more to address the sales of illicit tobacco products, unauthorized tobacco products and unapproved synthetic nicotine tobacco products.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has completed its work on the funding bills for fiscal year 2024. The White House has indicated that it would veto appropriations bills that reflect the House funding levels or policy riders.
In contrast with the House, the Senate bills do not include major funding cuts to health, research or environmental programs and are free of controversial legislative riders. The widely different funding approaches and policy approaches between the House and Senate likely sets the stage government shutdown brinkmanship later in the fiscal year.