US congressmen reached a deal Wednesday to fund the government on a half-dozen annual spending bills as well as an interim measure that pushes back two March shutdown deadlines, POLITICO reports.
Top lawmakers wrapped up negotiations on bills on agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, energy, water, military construction, transportation, interior, environment and trade, justice and science, setting a March 8 deadline for all of them. Leaders hope to release the text by this weekend and approve spending bills next week, funding those agencies through September.
The remaining measures for fiscal year 2024, including more controversial funding bills for the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security and the Departments of Labor, Health, Human Services and Education, will get a new deadline of March 22.
Negotiating the second tranche of spending bills before that deadline will be the real test of whether Speaker Mike Johnson and other congressional leaders can work together to fully fund the government five months into the fiscal year.
The deal, which prevents a government shutdown just as President Joe Biden is about to deliver his State of the Union address, is the end result of weeks of bipartisan and bicameral negotiations and intense wrangling over policy provisions. It follows a funding framework developed by Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer last month.
Before the partial government shutdown begins Saturday, both chambers have just a couple of days to pass a temporary fix. There are obstacles in the way of that, however: Johnson will almost certainly need Democratic help to pass the measure in the House, and all 100 senators will have to agree to speed up debate to get the stopgap through the upper chamber before the March 1 deadline.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-Va.) expressed disappointment with the deal, stressing that it is “more of the same.” He believes lawmakers should pass a temporary spending bill before the end of the fiscal year that would cut spending on non-defence programmes by $73 billion. He’s also pushing to include other conservatives’ priorities in the bill, such as the GOP’s border bill.
While the agreement is sure to draw more backlash from Johnson’s right flank, senior assistant chancellor Tom Cole (R-Okla.) expects the Louisiana Republican will not face a serious threat to his gavel over his move to keep the government running. Cole said:
“I don’t think anybody’s going to take him down. I really don’t. I don’t think they’ll try and I don’t think they’ll succeed if they do.”
If Congress can meet the funding deadline this time, appropriations will have to move immediately to the next package of spending bills for the new fiscal year, which begins on 1 October. President Joe Biden is due to submit his budget request for fiscal year 2025 on 11 March.
Senior appropriators, deeply frustrated by a long-running partisan feud over funding the government, said Wednesday that they are ready to end the chaotic cycle. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who oversees the defence spending bill, said:
“Look, there’s no reason this shit couldn’t have been done by the end of September. We’re five and a half months into [the fiscal year]. … Nearly six months in and we’re still talking about whether I’m confident or not about whether it’s going to be done? We need to get this done.”
One of the upper chamber’s most prominent contrarians, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), has already signalled he is “open” to an expedited vote that would avert a partial government shutdown on Saturday.
The House will vote on a short-term spending bill Thursday, according to two Republicans familiar with the plans. If successful, House leadership is preparing to cancel other votes, though no official announcement has been made.
