House Passes Omnibus Bill with Defense, Domestic Spending Increases
The House of Representatives passed a fiscal 2022 appropriations package (H.R. 2471) that will boost spending at domestic agencies by 6.7 percent. With 12 annual bills, the 2,741-page omnibus includes $1.5 billion in discretionary spending and $13.6 billion in emergency spending to deal with the Ukraine crisis, as well as a host of unrelated bills that lawmakers are eager to advance.
The chamber also approved a fourth continuing resolution (CR), extending current funding levels through March 15, to ensure appropriations don’t lapse while the Senate moves to pass the larger measure. As previously reported by FEDagent, Congress left agencies operating under a CR since October 1, 2021, at 2020 spending levels. As the shutdown deadline approaches on Friday, the Senate has under 48 hours to approve the omnibus bill or pass the four-day stopgap measure.
A summary of the omnibus is available by subcommittee:
The passage of the omnibus—five months after the fiscal year began and less than six months until the next begins—did not come without last minute complications. Hours before the omnibus was released, negotiators sent the appropriations bill back to the Rules Committee to exclude the $15.6 billion for COVID-19 funding package to move it forward as a stand-alone measure in a delayed vote next week.
Both parties reached a compromise on appropriations preferences, providing $782 billion for defense-related accounts and $730 billion for non-defense accounts. Democrats secured a $46 billion increase in nondefense spending this year, a substantial increase, but less than half the amount they originally proposed, while Republicans negotiated a $42 billion defense increase, larger than most Democrats wished, but less than they originally proposed.
Nondefense-related funding included reauthorizations of the Violence Against Women Act, the National Flood Insurance Program, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Among the other measures added to the spending package are legislation intended to improve reporting of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure; a provision regulating synthetic nicotine producers; language to make the Federal Trade Commission more effective in combating fraud targeting seniors; and other health provisions including an extension of higher Medicaid reimbursements for U.S. territories.
The omnibus further extends the current schedule 1 classification for fentanyl-related substances until December 31, extending the current scheduling status which is set to expire on March 11. There has been a split among lawmakers over whether Congress should enact legislation to extend the schedule or make the classification permanent. The continuing resolution extends the classification to March 15 to prevent issues for law enforcement in the event the appropriations bill does not pass the Senate.
“This bill makes bold investments in critical areas that went underfunded or even neglected in the previous administration,” stated Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), “It is unquestionably in the interest of the American people that the House and the Senate act quickly to pass this bill and send it to the president.”
Federal Workforce Provisions
If passed in the Senate as written, the omnibus will direct agencies to brief lawmakers on a variety of federal workforce issues in the coming months. A report describing the challenges agencies face in hiring qualified federal workers in a reasonable amount of time should be submitted to the appropriations committees no later than 90 days after the bill passes.
No later than 180 days after enactment, the omnibus bill requires the General Services Administration (GSA) to provide the committees with an update on the "future of federal office space." Congress is particularly interested in how GSA can reduce federal agencies' need for office space based on lessons learned during the pandemic as well as the prospect of building a new FBI headquarters in the suburbs of Maryland or Virginia. In addition, the bill provides $209 million to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to continue construction of a consolidated campus at Saint Elizabeths' West Campus in the District.
After offsetting collections and excluding major disaster funding, the Homeland Security funding bill provides $57.5 billion, $5 billion above the budget request and $5.6 billion above FY2021 enacted levels. More than $23 billion will be split among Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Protection (CBP) in order to improve migrant processing, reduce refugee and asylum backlogs, and improve border security.
The Transportation Department would receive $26.9 billion in discretionary budget authority and $102.9 billion in overall budgetary resources—that's an increase of $16.2 billion. Furthermore, the bill provides $775 million in infrastructure investments, unlocking a historic amount of funding from the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
With the spending deal, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) gets its largest budget increase since 2001, as well as its long-sought direct hiring authority, which will help it quickly bring on employees to address its backlog of tax returns and correspondence. The bill gives the IRS $12.6 billion in funding and provides the agency with special transfer authority to address a backlog of tax returns and correspondence by transferring funds from its enforcement and operations support divisions. The funding would allow the agency to begin the process of rebuilding after severe budget and staff cuts for the past two decades. The spending package, however, doesn’t grant the IRS multi-year funding for IT modernization as the agency and stakeholders have repeatedly asked Congress.
“While we are incredibly grateful, we must also be realistic,” stated Chad Hooper, Executive Director of the Professional Managers Association (PMA), which represents the interests of IRS managers and non-union employees, “The IRS cannot enact a long-term plan to modernize its systems when it does not know what funding it will have in six months. The IRS cannot conduct robust hiring and onboarding when it is in a continuing resolution state. Put simply, the IRS cannot do its job effectively when Congress consistently fails to do its job. And taxpayers ultimately pay the price.”
Along with other agencies, the EPA, Energy, and Interior departments would see significant increases, but a limited Democratic majority in Congress had an impact on the final numbers. In light of President Biden's climate and social spending stalling in the Senate, the omnibus could be the best way for Democrats to enact any energy and environmental priorities before the midterm elections.
The Labor Department will see funding for training and apprenticeship programs, state unemployment insurance, and veterans’ employment. Likewise, the Department of Veterans Affairs is set to receive $112.2 billion in discretionary funding, a $7.8 billion increase. The support is aimed at veterans’ medical treatment and health care, namely mental health, the department's electronic health record modernization initiative, and benefits administration.