Congress Turns Attention to Second Funding Deadline, as First Bill Advances
Legislation to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the day on Friday, March 8, passed the House, and now heads to the Senate, where it is also expected to pass before the Friday deadline.
The House voted 339 to 85 to pass the “minibus” funding package consisting of six appropriations bills, which collectively authorize about $460 billion in federal spending.
The Agriculture-FDA; Commerce-Justice-Science; Energy and Water; Interior-Environment; Military Construction-VA; and Transportation-HUD appropriations legislation will fund agencies covered under those bills until the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
Congress is now turning its attention to the second six-bill funding package, which is nearly three times as large as the first package and must be passed to avoid another partial government shutdown on March 22.
These bills are considered more difficult to negotiate, and include Defense, Financial Services and General Government, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS-Education, Legislative Branch, and State and Foreign Operations.
“Passing these (first set of) bills will give us much-needed momentum to finish the next package of spending bills by the March 22 deadline,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “But as I’ve said repeatedly, it will take bipartisan cooperation to finish the job.”
The next set of bills will likely also move forward in a minibus package.
“The word I’ve gotten from leadership is those six will be packaged together,” said Senator Jon Tester (D-MT).
Meanwhile, more conservative House Republicans are not expecting to score major wins in the next round of negotiations, as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has made it clear that he will not risk a shutdown to push for spending cuts or other policy changes.
“When you have Republicans in the Senate who don’t want to cut spending, there is only so much you can do,” Representative Bob Good (R-VA), Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus told Bloomberg.
Law Enforcement Impact
Meanwhile, there are more details about what’s in the first round of appropriations bills for the federal law enforcement community.
Funding overall is getting cut for the Department of Justice (DOJ). DOJ will receive a discretionary spending total of $37.5 billion, nearly $1 billion below 2023 funding.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is cut by six percent, while the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) will be cut by seven percent. There is a minimal reduction for U.S. Attorneys Offices.
The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will also be cut, with its facilities budget falling by $180 million, although salaries will stay the same.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will see a slight funding bump.
The bill also provides $713 million, the highest funding level ever, for grants provided by the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women.
Federal wildland firefighters will maintain their higher pay rate under the minibus. Staffing will also be maintained.
Firefighters first received a pay boost in 2022 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.