Senate passes government funding bill, teeing up House vote

Table Of Content

• September 2023 continuing resolution
• United States federal budget
• Senate passes 2022 federal spending bill, sends to Biden’s desk
• Speaker Johnson navigates 'mission impossible' to avoid shutdown, without clear plan
• Senate Passes $1.7 Trillion Spending Bill, in Bid to Avert Government Shutdown
• House, Senate leaders reach deal on government spending levels
• Support our journalism

In some politically contentious years when these negotiation processes deadlock, the Legislative Branch passes a continuing resolution that essentially extends the current funding levels into the new fiscal year until a budget can be agreed upon by a majority of both houses and signed into law by the President of the United States. Supplemental appropriations bills can provide additional appropriations for emergencies and other matters. President Biden called the framework "one step closer to preventing a needless government shutdown and protecting important national priorities," noting, "It reflects the funding levels that I negotiated with both parties and signed into law last spring." In November, Congress passed a short-term bill extending funding for government services at current spending levels. A shutdown would have forced many federal employees to go without pay until Congress passed another funding bill, and while that disruption has been avoided for now, the threat will arise again in the coming weeks.

September 2023 continuing resolution

Though White House officials initially told Congress that Biden wanted $30 billion more to continue battling COVID-19, a few days later, he formally requested a scaled-back $22.5 billion. In bargaining over a final bill with skeptical Republicans, who said Congress had already spent enough, top Democrats settled for $15.6 billion. To that end, the bill also allocates $13.6 billion in funding toward military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine — those funds are about evenly divided between the Defense and non-Defense accounts. President Biden’s campaign had $85.5 million on hand at the end of March, filings show, and Donald Trump had $45 million, but the president is spending far more freely on the race.

United States federal budget

A spokesperson for Rep. Burgess Owens said he will release a statement after giving the agreement a closer look.

Senate passes 2022 federal spending bill, sends to Biden’s desk

The vote to approve it was , but House Republicans were divided, with 113 in support and 97 against. House Speaker Mike Johnson highlighted some key policy and spending wins for conservatives, even as many of his GOP colleagues consider the changes inadequate. Some House Republicans had hoped the prospect of a shutdown could leverage more concessions from Democrats. One factor that helped generate a final compromise was Democratic leaders’ decision to restore the practice of earmarks. This year’s bill included thousands of those projects at a price tag of several billion dollars.

A government shutdown is looming, again. Why time is running out to avert it, despite agreement on DHS funding - ABC News

A government shutdown is looming, again. Why time is running out to avert it, despite agreement on DHS funding.

Posted: Tue, 19 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

This legislation would restart construction of the border wall, deploy more border patrol agents, strengthen laws against human trafficking, and end the Biden administration’s catch-and-release policy while creating a stricter asylum process. He later clarified that negotiations on the budget bill are ongoing and he’ll consider all aspects of the legislation before making a final decision on how he’ll vote. The final compromise House and Senate appropriators reached this week also cut back a roughly equal amount of spending the the White House wanted to spend on COVID relief.

It will bring funding in line with a deal that was made last year between President Joe Biden and then-House speaker Kevin McCarthy, The New York Times reported. While Biden said he’ll sign the bill package as soon as he receives it, time is running short. The House has a rule that lawmakers get 72 hours to review a bill before voting. “It will also allow us to keep the investments for hardworking American families secured by the legislative achievements of President Biden and Congressional Democrats,” Schumer and Jeffries said. “Finally, we have made clear to Speaker Mike Johnson that Democrats will not support including poison pill policy changes in any of the twelve appropriations bills put before the Congress.

But finally getting a spending bill that aligns with 2022 spending priorities, rather than last year’s, presents challenges of its own, considering how much time has already passed. The $1.5 trillion spending bill, approved almost halfway through the fiscal year, is expected to be swiftly signed into law by the president. Republicans crossed party lines to back what many viewed as must-pass legislation.

Biden and congressional leaders announce a deal on government funding as a partial shutdown looms

Mr. Zelensky’s daring decision to visit Washington intensified the pressure to act on the measure, which includes nearly $50 billion in assistance to Ukraine. Funding previously would have expired at 12.01am on Saturday for roughly 20% of the federal government, and the remaining agencies only had enough money to last them through next Friday. If passed, the short-term funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, would mark the fourth such stopgap measure approved since September.

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But as CNN reported, both sides of the aisle agreed to a side deal worth $69 billion, bringing the nondefense spending total to $773 billion and the top line to $1.659 trillion. Despite the deal, time is short to assemble and pass legislation putting the agreement in force before a Jan. 19 deadline. But Wednesday, rank-and-file House Democrats rebelled against cuts Republicans had negotiated in previously approved pandemic aid for 30 states to help pay for the new spending. Rather than delaying the entire bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., removed all the pandemic funds. As to the Defense budget, DoD leaders had previously estimated that a year-long CR would have left it with $20 billion less in spending power than it had the year before, partly because simply extending 2021 appropriations for another year would have left billions of dollars in accounts that don’t need and can’t spend the money.

AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports the White House and congressional leaders say they’ve reached a spending deal that would avert a potential government shutdown this weekend. The action comes nearly six months into the fiscal year, with Congress still only halfway home in passing spending measures expected to total about $1.65 trillion. Lawmakers passed the first portion of spending bills in early March, representing about 30% of discretionary spending for the year. Now lawmakers are focused on the larger package and, in what has become routine, are brushing up against a shutdown deadline. Meanwhile, the White House showed appreciation for the deal reached on Sunday, which not only is the first step to avoid a government shutdown and protect national security but also falls in line with the spending levels both parties agreed upon last year.

It will also fund the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and others. “This represents the most favorable budget agreement Republicans have achieved in over a decade,” Johnson writes. "This represents the most favorable budget agreement Republicans have achieved in over a decade," wrote Johnson. Democrats staved off most of the policy riders that House Republicans sought to include. For example, they beat back an effort to reverse the FDA’s decision that allows the abortion pill mifepristone to be sold in retail pharmacies, instead of only in hospitals, clinics and medical offices. Democrats also said the bill would fully fund a nutrition program for low-income women, infants and children known as WIC.

Passing the federal spending package now will also ensure that government funding levels are set in stone while Democrats still control both the House and Senate. If either the Senate or House were to fail to advance the bill, there's a good chance it would be punted into the new year, when Republicans will control the House. From October 1, 2023, to March 23, 2024, the federal government operated under continuing resolutions (CR) that extended 2023 budget spending levels as legislators were debating the specific provisions of the 2024 budget. Most of the “no” votes are expected to come from Republicans, who have been critical of the overall spending levels as well as the lack of policy mandates sought by some conservatives, such as restricting abortion access, eliminating diversity and inclusion programs within federal agencies, and banning gender-affirming care. Schumer tweeted out a line from the statement, saying, "By securing the $772.7B for non-defense discretionary funding, we can protect key domestic priorities from the draconian cuts sought by right-wing extremists." Congressional leaders have reached an agreement on a framework to avert a shutdown and keep the federal government funded until the end of the fiscal year.

After meeting with Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday, the House speaker, the Republican Mike Johnson, expressed confidence that members could reach an agreement and avoid a shutdown. WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders on Sunday announced an agreement on overall funding levels as lawmakers face a possible government shutdown. WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional leaders on Sunday came out with a package of six bills setting full-year spending levels for some federal agencies, a step forward in a long overdue funding process beset by sharp political divisions between the two parties as well as infighting among House Republicans.

"The remaining six Appropriations bills – Defense, Financial Services and General Government, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS, Legislative Branch, and State and Foreign Operations - will be finalized, voted on, and enacted prior to March 22." House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell and the House and Senate appropriations leads, released a joint statement on Wednesday committing to a plan to approve the legislation before the end of March. Johnson said he is staying firm on his demand for the passage of HR2, or the Secure the Border Act.

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday approved a roughly $1.7 trillion spending package that would fund the federal government into next fall and send another round of financial assistance to Kyiv, a day after lawmakers welcomed President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to Capitol Hill. Work on the final spending bills hit a late snag around funding for the Department of Homeland Security, but the contours of that bill were resolved late Monday. With less than two weeks before the first deadline—and with the House and Senate still on holiday break—House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced they have agreed to $1.59 trillion in spending for fiscal year 2024.

The House Freedom Caucus has already signaled they won't support the agreement, tweeting, "It's even worse than we thought. Don't believe the spin. Once you break through typical Washington math, the true total programmatic spending level is $1.658 trillion — not $1.59 trillion. This is total failure." Opposition from far-right Republicans means the legislation will likely need to pass with significant support from Democrats in the Republican-controlled House. The rivals each capitalized on splashy fund-raisers in the past month that brought in tens of millions of dollars for their respective campaigns. But Mr. Trump’s haul from an April 6 event in Palm Beach, Fla., will be reflected on a future filing. His campaign reported that it and the Republican National Committee raked in more than $50.5 million from the dinner, which was held at the home of the billionaire John Paulson. But Mr. Trump’s campaign is spending much less than it was at the start of the year, which has helped it inch closer.