Congressional appropriators on Sunday released half a dozen bills that, if passed this week, would keep six agencies — regarding 40 percent of the government — funded for the rest of the fiscal year following months of turmoil and blockades led by conservative Republicans seeking severe cuts to federal spending.
The package totals $704 billion, a better-late-than-never agreement reached among congressional leaders following months of delays, negotiations and stopgap measures that took the government to the brink of a shutdown multiple times since the fiscal year began on Oct. 1.
The House must pass the measure first and then it will move to the Senate for a vote. Legislative action must be complete before the March 8 funding deadline that was set late last week to avoid a partial government shutdown. The legislation funds several agencies, including the Departments of Transportation, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Agriculture, Interior, and Housing and Urban Development, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration.
Congress is expected to easily pass the funding package this week. But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will have to circumvent a blockade from the far-right who will protest the amount of government spending and lack of policy wins on social issues like restrictions for abortion funds and keeping in check government mandates for LGBTQ rights and diversity policy. Johnson will have to pass the measure in a way that requires two-thirds of the House, requiring a significant number of Democrats for it to pass.
Congress still faces a March 22 deadline to secure funding for the rest of the government. Lawmakers must pass all 12 appropriations bills before April 30 to avoid one percent across-the-board cuts, a plan embraced by some in the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus.
In a statement Sunday, Johnson sought to highlight the conservative portions of the funding bills, arguing that Republicans were able to impose “sharp cuts to agencies and programs critical to the President Biden’s agenda.”
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), meanwhile, touted the package and urged quick action on it in the House, promising to bring it to the Senate floor as soon as it passes the lower chamber to avoid a partial shutdown.
A member of House Republican leadership, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment freely regarding the funding package, said that lawmakers are “still in the midst of significant negotiations in the second package.”
The six bills’ total is $40 billion less than what was allocated for the same departments during the last fiscal year, the GOP member noted. They touted the funding package as a victory by arguing that it is not a sprawling omnibus but rather a “robust” six-bill package that was developed over time with “more member engagement.”
“We were saying, ‘No omnibus,’” the Republican said, using the term used for one massive bill to fund the entire government. “The Senate was not going to get away with not doing anything
