History indicates that it is highly challenging to enact 12 spending bills by the start of a new fiscal year each October 1. Fiscal Year 2024 is not proving to be an exception. Not only has there been the usual assortment of obstacles to overcome in reaching an agreement between legislators of both political parties in the two chambers, this year included a motion to vacate the chair, which led to the demise of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). That unprecedented event was followed by three weeks of chaos in choosing a successor. Obvious possible choices of leading candidates in the Republican party failed to achieve a sufficient number of votes. Instead, a relatively little known back bencher from Louisiana, Michael Johnson, was selected as the next Speaker. Oddly enough, he will function in the same manner that affected former Speaker McCarthy adversely. A single vote to vacate the chair also would end Speaker Johnson’s occupancy of that position.
He faces some daunting challenges in efforts to move forward in achieving significant outcomes. Congress was able to reach a last minute agreement at the end of September to produce a continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown. That mechanism expires on November 17. What comes next has yet to be determined. One possibility is to have another CR that would last until either mid-January 2024 or mid-April of that year. The latter option is not an attractive choice because Congress faces an effective April 30 deadline to pass spending legislation. The most recent debt ceiling agreement included a provision to subject all discretionary spending to a 1% reduction should a CR still be in place past that date.
During the period that Republicans endeavored to select a new Speaker, it became evident that additional emergency funding would be needed for the purpose of aiding Israel, Ukraine, and securing the southern U.S. border. Speaker Johnson and his colleagues prefer dealing with each issue separately while President Biden and leading congressional Democrats want spending to be in a single package. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has passed seven of the 12 annual appropriations while the Senate passed the chamber’s first minibus package containing appropriations for three spending bills. The two chambers are $100 billion apart in their spending aims. Many House Republicans, such as members of the Freedom Caucus are adamant regarding the need to reduce a federal deficit that exceeds $33 trillion and to balance this fiscal year’s budget by reducing expenditures.
Apart from having another CR and reaching an agreement on the amount of emergency aid to provide, there will need to be a reconciliation of perennial squabbles that involve contentious topics, such as gun violence, abortion, and issues pertaining to gender identity or sexual orientation. Another consideration of major importance is the impending national election in 2024. Whatever votes are taken by individual legislators may influence their success in holding on to the seats they currently occupy. Each political party seeks to be the majority in the House and the Senate, and in controlling the White House.