On Wednesday, the House approved a $460 billion bundle of spending legislation that would fund important government agencies for the rest of the fiscal year. According to the AP, the Senate is anticipated to take up the bill and send it to President Biden before to Friday's midnight closure deadline.
In an attempt to completely finance all agencies by a deadline of March 22, lawmakers are discussing a second batch of six laws, including defense. Ultimately, it is anticipated that the overall amount of discretionary expenditure that Congress has set for the year would reach around $1.66 trillion.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson must utilize an accelerated procedure to put the budget bills to a vote since a sizable portion of House Republicans have united against them. In such procedure, a bill must have the support of two thirds of the House in order to succeed. By a vote of 339 to 85, the House approved the legislation.
Compared to last year, the nondefense expenditure in this year's legislation is almost unchanged. Supporters argue that maintaining spending below inflation forces agencies to make more cost-effective decisions and concentrate resources on high-priority tasks. Johnson mentioned cuts to the FBI at 6%, the Environmental Protection Agency at 10%, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives at 7%.
But more conservative members had demanded further cutbacks. The House Freedom Caucus advised Republicans to reject both the negotiated and the original spending bill. "Despite giving Democrats higher spending levels, the omnibus text released so far punts on nearly every single Republican policy priority," noted the organization.
Johnson retorted that Democrats have the Senate and the White House, while Republicans only hold a two-vote majority in the House. "We have to be realistic about what we are able to achieve," Johnson said. Before Friday's deadline, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said that the Senate will adopt the measure "with time to spare," according to the New York Times.
In an attempt to completely finance all agencies by a deadline of March 22, lawmakers are discussing a second batch of six laws, including defense. Ultimately, it is anticipated that the overall amount of discretionary expenditure that Congress has set for the year would reach around $1.66 trillion.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson must utilize an accelerated procedure to put the budget bills to a vote since a sizable portion of House Republicans have united against them. In such procedure, a bill must have the support of two thirds of the House in order to succeed. By a vote of 339 to 85, the House approved the legislation.
Compared to last year, the nondefense expenditure in this year's legislation is almost unchanged. Supporters argue that maintaining spending below inflation forces agencies to make more cost-effective decisions and concentrate resources on high-priority tasks. Johnson mentioned cuts to the FBI at 6%, the Environmental Protection Agency at 10%, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives at 7%.
But more conservative members had demanded further cutbacks. The House Freedom Caucus advised Republicans to reject both the negotiated and the original spending bill. "Despite giving Democrats higher spending levels, the omnibus text released so far punts on nearly every single Republican policy priority," noted the organization.
Johnson retorted that Democrats have the Senate and the White House, while Republicans only hold a two-vote majority in the House. "We have to be realistic about what we are able to achieve," Johnson said. Before Friday's deadline, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said that the Senate will adopt the measure "with time to spare," according to the New York Times.
