The new year of 2024 arrived with much work still remaining to produce necessary spending legislation for President Biden to sign into law. In past years, almost all major focus was on bills involving domestic spending. The present situation is different, however, owing to the war between Ukraine and Russia. The U.S. already has provided billions of dollars for Ukraine, but more support is required. Although there is bipartisan agreement on the necessity of continuing to help the Ukrainians in their struggle, many Republicans in both legislative chambers want to link such funding with increased efforts to secure the southern border of the U.S.
The clock is ticking while previously established deadlines soon must be met in some constructive fashion. Otherwise, the unwanted threat of a federal government shutdown looms ever larger with each passing day. Lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill on the week beginning January 8. The first deadline arrives on the 19th of that month. If it is not met, a partial shutdown takes effect. Unless significant progress is made, a total cessation of government activity will occur on February 2 when a continuing resolution (CR) expires. A chief aim is to develop a broad spending package beforehand, but attaining that objective depends on reaching an agreement on overall funding levels. Regrettably, that stage has not been reached yet.
As an example of the many hurdles that must be overcome to produce 12 spending bills, a chief component is the measure for Labor-HHS (H.R. 5894, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies), which has a significant impact on both the health care and higher education domains. Not only does the bill allow for 146 amendments to be considered, the legislation is in the context of highly controversial topics, such as abortion and gun control. Typically, the amount of funding sought for this bill differs widely between the two chambers.
In the event Congress is unable to reach agreement on funding for the fiscal year that began last October 1, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has proposed extending the current stopgap spending bill through the end of this fiscal year on September 30. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), who heads the Appropriations Committee, responded to that proposal on December 18 by releasing a committee fact sheet detailing the devastating harm that would be caused by a recommendation to pass a date-change, full-year CR if Congress is unable to pass funding bills by the fast-approaching deadlines. Her fact sheet outlines what the proposal would mean for the nation and provides detailed implications for defense and non-defense programs across all 12 appropriations bills.
Speaking on the Senate floor, she indicated that a full-year continuing resolution (CR) as proposed would be unprecedented and reckless because it would lock in outdated spending plans and detrimental across-the-board cuts while locking out any kind of thoughtful decision-making process for the nation’s future.
She stated that a full-year CR would be unprecedented and harmful for families in every zip code, for U.S. national security, and for this country’s future.