Senate Appropriations OKs FY25 Funding Increases for Commerce Agencies, DOJ Antitrust

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 26-3 Thursday to advance its Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee FY 2025 funding bill (S-4795) with allocation increases for NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies and the DOJ Antitrust Division. The measure, released Thursday night, would give NTIA more than $61.5 million for FY25. That’s a 4% increase from what NTIA received for FY 2024 but 8% less than President Joe Biden's request in March (see 2403110056). The Patent Office would get more than $4.65 billion, level with what Biden requested and an 11% increase from FY24 (see 2403040083). The National Institute of Standards and Technology would receive $1.53 billion, a 5% increase from FY24 and 2% more than Biden sought. The Bureau of Industry and Security would get $206 million, 8% more than in FY24 and 7% greater than the Biden request. DOJ Antitrust would get $288 million, level with Biden's proposal but 23% more than it received in FY24. The House Appropriations Committee-cleared CJS FY25 bill (HR-9026) proposed decreased funding for DOJ Antitrust and all Commerce agencies except PTO (see 2407090057).