On Thursday, Congressional leaders announced a $1.2tn budget package to fund a large part of the federal Government. There are less than two weeks left to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Leaders from both parties celebrated their policy victories in negotiations on the bill that will fund departments such as Homeland Security, Defense, State, and others until September.
In a statement praising the legislation, Republican Mike Johnson noted that it would redirect more resources to border security and eliminate “another six billion dollars in unused Covid era slush fund”. In the immigration provisions, funding is provided for 22,000 border agents, which is the highest number ever. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (Ice) capacity will also increase by over 8,000 beds.
This bill also cuts off funding to the UN agency that provides aid to Palestinians living in Gaza. Many Republicans have endorsed this proposal, given the famine and disease in the area.
Johnson stated that “overall, the House Republicans achieved significant conservative policies wins during the FY24 appropriations processes, rejected extreme Democrat proposal, and imposed considerable cuts to wasteful programs and agencies while strengthening border and national security.”
Democrats also praised the bill for its investments in educational and childcare programs. They said that they prevented Republicans from cutting funding to many essential government services.
“We defeated outrageous cuts that would have dealt a devastating blow to American families and the economy,” said Senator Patty Murray of the Democratic party, chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “We fought off scores extreme policies which would have restricted Americans’ fundamental freedoms and hurt consumers, while giving giant corporations an unjust advantage. We also turned the clock back on historic climate change.”
The House is expected approve the package this Friday, giving the Senate just a few hours to pass it before midnight. If the Senate fails to pass the bill before midnight, approximately 70% of federal government shuts down on Saturday at 12.01am.
In the beginning of this month, Congress approved a separate package of spending that would fund the federal government until the 30th of September. The second spending package will end any threat of a shutdown in the government until the new fiscal period begins in October.
Joe Biden already said that he would sign the spending package as soon as it reached his desk. However, there are still some remaining legislative hurdles.
Johnson will have to get the two-thirds support from House members in order for the bill to be passed. House Republican leaders usually prefer to allow members 72 hours to review bills before voting, but in this case they seem willing to ignore that guideline due to the deadline.
Johnson is expected to pass the bill on Friday. However, he has already been criticized by some members of the hard-right in his conference who feel that the legislation does not go far enough when it comes to restricting immigration.
On Monday, 43 House Republicans endorsed a letter that urged members to protest Biden’s immigration policy by opposing any spending package.
The Republicans said that voting to fund the government without reforming its policies was a vote in favor of these policies. We ask that you join us and reject the appropriations bill (or any other similar package) scheduled to be brought before the House, which will directly fund the policies. Instead, choose to use the power granted to us by the founders to fight this attack on the American people.
If the bill passes the House, then it will move to the Senate where the members will have to agree unanimously on an expedited schedule to pass the legislation before Saturday. Some Republicans, such as Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky, are not happy about the fast-tracked passage of the bill. Leaders will need to agree on an amended schedule in order to pass the legislation in time.
In a speech delivered on the Senate floor Thursday, Democrat Chuck Schumer expressed optimism about avoiding a shutdown.
Schumer stated that “this funding agreement between White House and congressional leadership is good news, which comes just in time.” The Senate needs bipartisan support to pass the bill before the Friday deadline. This will avoid a government shutdown.