White House Submits Funding Proposals as Congress Prepares Stop-gap Measure
Lawmakers are working on a continuing resolution (CR) that would extend current government funding levels through December 16, 2022, as the fiscal year (FY) expires on September 30, 2022.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on a proposal the week of September 12, 2022 before going into recess. However, details on the provisions lawmakers might attach to the funding measure have not been released.
Leadership in the Senate appear to be on board with a stop-gap measure that will keep the government running through December 16 as well. Ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have not objected to the mid-December cutoff.
Senator McConnell said Wednesday that any CR should be “as clean as possible” to avert a government shutdown without controversy. A “clean” CR temporarily extends funding from the previous year without additional provisions. Earlier this week Democrats considered adding legislation on same-sex marriage to the CR but reports now indicate they are moving away from that request.
In the run-up to the fiscal year’s end, Shalanda Young, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), stated in a blog post that the agency is assisting lawmakers in developing a short-term continuing resolution (CR). The CR proposal from the White House urges Congress to consider legislative adjustments to support for Ukraine, respond to COVID-19, address the monkeypox spread, and provide disaster recovery.
“As it did for the current fiscal year, we’re confident that Congress can reach a funding agreement that will deliver for the American people. But with one month until the end of the fiscal year, it’s clear that Congress will first need to pass a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to keep the Federal government running and provide the time needed to reach an agreement on full-year funding bills,” noted Director Young.
In particular, the Biden Administration requests:
$11.7 billion for security and economic assistance in support of Ukraine's defense of its sovereignty;
$2 billion to address the impact of Russian President Vladimir "Putin's war" on the energy sector and ease future energy costs;
$22.4 billion allocated to COVID's short-term needs, including testing, accelerating the development of new vaccines and treatments, preparing for future variants, and supporting the global response.
$4.5 billion earmarked for monkeypox vaccines, testing, and treatments, as well as response efforts to the outbreak that began in May.
$6.5 billion in aid to states, tribes, and territories recovering from natural disasters.
Senate Minority Leader McConnell did not write off the possibility of including funding for Ukraine in a CR. Senator McConnell said Wednesday, “Ukraine is obviously a priority for most of us on both sides of the aisle… We’ll have to see what they’re requesting and how much of it is actually designed to help Ukraine wage the war.” However, Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee Shelby said the White House proposal includes “some things that you probably don’t need.” Senator Shelby was amendable to Ukraine assistance though.
As the fiscal year comes to a close, Congress may also need to address expired program authorizations.
In a recent report, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) identified 1,118 “zombie” programs or funding authorizations that expired before the start of FY 2022, in addition to another 111 programs set to expire on September 30. In their analysis, CBO found that $461 billion in appropriations for 2022 was associated with 422 expired authorizations of appropriations.
In response, Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Budget Jason Smith (R-MO) remarked that CBO’s findings are evidence of “legislative laziness” which deprives the American people of their power in government functions.
“This report confirms Congress has lived down to expectations and continues to fail its most basic responsibility to authorize the very programs it is spending money on. In some cases, it has been decades since Congress put many of these programs through a formal process of review or up to a vote–meaning the American people have had little to no input into how these programs are functioning or whether they are meeting expectations,” Rep. Smith said. “Congress must reclaim the full power of the purse and actually do the job it was elected to perform.”