With about 12 days left until the first half of a partial government shutdown, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced a deal to keep the lights on.
Mr. Johnson (R-Louisiana) announced a deal for a maximum discretionary budget of $1.59 trillion, hovering around the figure set in last year's debt ceiling deal, but mostly meeting Democratic demands. It's in line.
Specifically, Johnson said the top-line spending numbers include $888 billion in defense spending and $704 billion in non-defense discretionary spending.
“Today's agreement delivers important amendments to the June framework, securing over $16 billion in additional spending cuts to offset the level of discretionary spending,” Prime Minister Johnson wrote in a letter to Dear Colleagues. ” he said.
In other words, the deal is expected to feature about $30 billion less than the Democratic-controlled Senate pursued the spending measure. According to Politico.
Notably, the main deal announced by Prime Minister Johnson appears to include an additional $69 billion in other ancillary deals. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Fixed non-defense discretionary power The deal is about $773 billion.
Congress has until Jan. 19 to consider the first part of the spending bill, and the second part until Feb. 2 to avoid a partial government shutdown.
The spending process had been stalled for months as hard-liners tried to push the maximum spending closer to $1.47 trillion.
But last November, the Freedom Caucus leadership it looked like it was broken And he suggested that $1.59 trillion might be enough, given Democrats' unyielding stance on the issue.
House critics insulted former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in late May last year over a deal to avoid default that featured a maximum amount of $1.59 trillion.
At the time, Congress was grappling with the government's borrowing power through the debt ceiling. Congress currently works to fund the government through the appropriations process.
After the debt limit agreement, hardline Republicans spent months pushing for further cuts and the spending process stalled.
Mr. McCarthy provided a temporary spending patch in late September, when the fiscal year was coming to an end and Congress needed to fund the government or risk a shutdown.
As a result, flame-mongering Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and seven other Republicans joined with a powerful bloc of Democrats to remove him from office, paralyzing the House for nearly a month.
Mr Johnson, who was unanimously elected to replace Mr McCarthy last year, acknowledged that the new deal would “not please everyone” and would “not cut spending as much as many of us would like”. .
“This agreement provides us with a path to: 1) move the process forward; 2) prioritize funding within the top line toward conservative goals, rather than the Schumer vs. Pelosi omnibus of last year; 3) Fight for key policy champions,” he stressed, hinting at a future clash with the Democratic Party.
Democratic Party leaders welcomed the agreement.
Schumer and House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a joint statement: “We urge Speaker Mike Johnson to include poison pill policy changes in each of the 12 spending bills that Democrats have introduced in Congress. “We have made it clear that we do not support its inclusion.”
“By setting aside $772.7 billion in non-defense discretionary funding, we will protect critical domestic priorities like veterans benefits, health care, and nutrition assistance from the harsh cuts sought by right-wing extremists.”
Now, the top line appears to be resolved, and Congress needs to pass 12 spending bills to avoid a shutdown. So far, no spending bill has been approved by either chamber.
Lawmakers adjourned for winter recess last month, but the House and Senate are scheduled to reconvene this week.
The White House similarly praised the development.
“[It] This brings us one step closer to preventing an unnecessary government shutdown and protecting our nation's critical priorities,” President Biden said in a statement Sunday.
“Now Congressional Republicans must do their job, stop threatening to shut down government agencies, and fulfill their fundamental responsibility to fund critical domestic and national security priorities. This also includes my supplementary requests.”
The supplementary request mentioned by Biden also appears to have overcome an important hurdle.
Last October, he asked Congress to greenlight a massive $106 billion package that included aid for war-torn Ukraine, Israel and the southern border.
Progress on the deal has been hampered by deep disagreements over border security provisions, including Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (R-Ariz.), James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Chris Murphy. Sen. (D-Conn.) is the subject of negotiations. )
Lankford, who had long been pessimistic about the prospects for a quick deal, expressed optimism that border agreement text could be delivered this week.
“If possible, please send a message this week so we can get it across. Everyone will have time to read it and read through it. No one will be disturbed in this process.” Lankford told “Fox News Sunday.”
“This agreement has to work. Everyone expects this to actually work.”
For the compromise bill to pass in the Senate, it will need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster. It then needs to be approved by the House of Representatives.
Questions remain about how the deal will address key policy issues such as the treatment of asylum seekers and immigration parole policy.
Both the border and top-line funding deals are new key tests for Johnson's early speakership as the Republican majority in the House of Commons continues to shrink.
With Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) resigning later this month to take the president's job at Youngstown State University, Republicans' already slim majority is expected to drop to 219 seats to Democrats' 213. There is.
