After long-awaited bipartisan legislation to fund parts of the government for the remainder of the year was announced by House leaders on Sunday, a bicameral race to prevent a shutdown in less than a week was sparked.
Six full-year budget proposals are part of the weekend rollout, supporting the departments of Agriculture, Interior, DOT, HUD, VA, DOJ, Commerce, and Energy until early October. About $450 billion is allocated for fiscal year 2024 in the 1,050-page bipartisan agreement. Congress has until Friday to pass the legislation or risk a partial government shutdown, as per a temporary measure President Biden announced last week to give legislators more time to consider the budget.
Democrats highlight funding increases in the over $100 billion HUD and DOT budget proposal for the Maritime Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, and Homeless Assistance Grants. As both sides contend that higher rents need more assistance, the legislation also allocates around $32 billion for tenant-based Section 8 vouchers, an increase of $2.1 billion from the previous fiscal year. House Republicans said that the proposal would cut funding for 19 DOT and HUD programs by more than $3.2 billion over the previous year.
Regarding VA and military construction, the package provides around $172 billion in mandatory funding and $135 billion in discretionary nondefense funds. The measure increases funding for medical and prosthetics research, VA Medical Care, and Benefits Administration. As of Sunday, the fiscal year 2024, which began five months ago, is past due in Congress.
This year, the Senate, headed by Democrats, and the House, led by Republicans, crafted completely different measures. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and President Biden agreed to budget restrictions in the debt ceiling agreement last year, but House Republicans went beyond that and pushed far more contentious proposals with sharp cutbacks to federal spending.
Senator Charles Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, said that both parties had come to a financial agreement that would keep "the government open without cuts or poison pill riders" when he introduced the measure on Sunday. Already, Republicans are touting the funding bill's reductions to the FBI, ATF, and EPA as successes. Republicans emphasized provisions in the plan that would protect veterans' access to firearms while applying for benefits and lower the number of endangered species listed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
According to Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) office, they have also backed measures to strengthen control over foreign ownership of agricultural property, stop the "sale of oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China," and increase financing for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the battle against fentanyl.
"Despite a divided government and historically small House majority, House Republicans have made significant progress in shifting the federal government's spending and policy priorities from the previous Pelosi-Schumer FY23 appropriations, and the results will benefit American taxpayers," said Johnson.
"The Department of Justice cannot target parents who exercise their right to free speech before school boards thanks to this legislation, and the Biden Administration cannot deny veterans their Second Amendment rights," the speaker said.
Both Democratic and Republican appropriators have warned of harsh budget constraints while preparing this year's appropriations legislation, which they think would mean a 10% drop in the EPA, in accordance with the terms of the previous debt ceiling deal. Legislators claim that the budget levels for agency programs are maintained. House Republicans claim that this is the first overall decrease to non-defense, non-VA expenditure in almost ten years. The budget limits deal last year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, may reduce deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years.
Additionally, Republicans have stressed a 6% cut in the FBI, which conservatives claim is a political tool. The party announced a 6% drop in the FBI operations budget, or $654 million. There was also a 95% reduction in the agency's $621.9 million building budget. Democrats claim that the finance deal includes $37.5 billion for the science and commerce departments, as well as the Department of Justice. Budget increases for NASA, NOAA, and NSF climate research are planned for the fiscal year 2023.
Democrats have also applauded the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which provides food to millions of families with low incomes, for being "fully funded." Democrats requested more funding to close a budget shortfall, and as a result, the program now gets close to $7 billion, up more than $1 billion from fiscal year 2023 levels.
The plan did not seem to contain the improvements that some Republicans wanted to make to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to make sure that users were purchasing "nutritional" meals and restrict access to soda and sweets, the source added.
Several Republican negotiators said prior to the revelation that Democrats gained clout in budget talks as leadership failed to bring members together despite significant differences in spending.
Due to resistance from hard-line conservatives who want less funding and ideological riders, the House GOP leadership will suspend the rules to address financing legislation next week. In exchange for the ability to discuss legislation without a procedural vote, the House would need the backing of two thirds of its members rather than the customary simple majority of Democrats.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), the chairman of the Interior Department budget subcommittee, said, "The reality is that if you have to pass these things by suspension, you have given [Democrats] more strength." "I do not know how many times during negotiations the other side said, 'Hey, we are going to bring 200 votes to pass these by suspension, what are you going to bring?'"
Six full-year budget proposals are part of the weekend rollout, supporting the departments of Agriculture, Interior, DOT, HUD, VA, DOJ, Commerce, and Energy until early October. About $450 billion is allocated for fiscal year 2024 in the 1,050-page bipartisan agreement. Congress has until Friday to pass the legislation or risk a partial government shutdown, as per a temporary measure President Biden announced last week to give legislators more time to consider the budget.
Democrats highlight funding increases in the over $100 billion HUD and DOT budget proposal for the Maritime Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, and Homeless Assistance Grants. As both sides contend that higher rents need more assistance, the legislation also allocates around $32 billion for tenant-based Section 8 vouchers, an increase of $2.1 billion from the previous fiscal year. House Republicans said that the proposal would cut funding for 19 DOT and HUD programs by more than $3.2 billion over the previous year.
Regarding VA and military construction, the package provides around $172 billion in mandatory funding and $135 billion in discretionary nondefense funds. The measure increases funding for medical and prosthetics research, VA Medical Care, and Benefits Administration. As of Sunday, the fiscal year 2024, which began five months ago, is past due in Congress.
This year, the Senate, headed by Democrats, and the House, led by Republicans, crafted completely different measures. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and President Biden agreed to budget restrictions in the debt ceiling agreement last year, but House Republicans went beyond that and pushed far more contentious proposals with sharp cutbacks to federal spending.
Senator Charles Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, said that both parties had come to a financial agreement that would keep "the government open without cuts or poison pill riders" when he introduced the measure on Sunday. Already, Republicans are touting the funding bill's reductions to the FBI, ATF, and EPA as successes. Republicans emphasized provisions in the plan that would protect veterans' access to firearms while applying for benefits and lower the number of endangered species listed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
According to Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) office, they have also backed measures to strengthen control over foreign ownership of agricultural property, stop the "sale of oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China," and increase financing for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the battle against fentanyl.
"Despite a divided government and historically small House majority, House Republicans have made significant progress in shifting the federal government's spending and policy priorities from the previous Pelosi-Schumer FY23 appropriations, and the results will benefit American taxpayers," said Johnson.
"The Department of Justice cannot target parents who exercise their right to free speech before school boards thanks to this legislation, and the Biden Administration cannot deny veterans their Second Amendment rights," the speaker said.
Both Democratic and Republican appropriators have warned of harsh budget constraints while preparing this year's appropriations legislation, which they think would mean a 10% drop in the EPA, in accordance with the terms of the previous debt ceiling deal. Legislators claim that the budget levels for agency programs are maintained. House Republicans claim that this is the first overall decrease to non-defense, non-VA expenditure in almost ten years. The budget limits deal last year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, may reduce deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years.
Additionally, Republicans have stressed a 6% cut in the FBI, which conservatives claim is a political tool. The party announced a 6% drop in the FBI operations budget, or $654 million. There was also a 95% reduction in the agency's $621.9 million building budget. Democrats claim that the finance deal includes $37.5 billion for the science and commerce departments, as well as the Department of Justice. Budget increases for NASA, NOAA, and NSF climate research are planned for the fiscal year 2023.
Democrats have also applauded the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which provides food to millions of families with low incomes, for being "fully funded." Democrats requested more funding to close a budget shortfall, and as a result, the program now gets close to $7 billion, up more than $1 billion from fiscal year 2023 levels.
The plan did not seem to contain the improvements that some Republicans wanted to make to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to make sure that users were purchasing "nutritional" meals and restrict access to soda and sweets, the source added.
Several Republican negotiators said prior to the revelation that Democrats gained clout in budget talks as leadership failed to bring members together despite significant differences in spending.
Due to resistance from hard-line conservatives who want less funding and ideological riders, the House GOP leadership will suspend the rules to address financing legislation next week. In exchange for the ability to discuss legislation without a procedural vote, the House would need the backing of two thirds of its members rather than the customary simple majority of Democrats.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), the chairman of the Interior Department budget subcommittee, said, "The reality is that if you have to pass these things by suspension, you have given [Democrats] more strength." "I do not know how many times during negotiations the other side said, 'Hey, we are going to bring 200 votes to pass these by suspension, what are you going to bring?'"
