Congressional leaders have struck a bipartisan agreement to continue funding the government past the looming Dec. 20 government shutdown deadline.
Laws enacted by leadership On Tuesday, it extended Friday's funding deadline until March 14, giving the incoming Congress and the next president (the first Republican trifecta since 2017) a chance to decide how to fund the government for much of next year. This will buy us time until we have to consider it urgently.
The newly announced package also includes a number of additional benefits, including a one-year extension of farm spending, nearly $100 billion in disaster relief, nearly $30 billion in disaster and economic assistance to farmers, and other authorizations. There is.
The deal wraps up weeks of negotiations over disaster aid and funding overall (most recently a clash over agricultural aid) and is the last funding deal for a divided Congress before Washington welcomes the next class in January.
The deal comes ahead of Tuesday's announcement as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) braces members for a major package that includes disaster relief for areas hit hard by hurricanes Helen and Milton. details were already starting to come into focus.
The bill includes nearly $30 billion in funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as officials have been sounding the alarm on the agency's disaster relief funds in recent months. are.
Lawmakers said the Small Business Administration's disaster loan program, where businesses and homeowners rely on low-interest loans to recover from disasters, ran out of money during hurricane season. Agreed to provide more than $2 billion in funding to the Small Business Administration.
The bill also includes $20 billion in disaster relief funding for farmers and $10 billion in economic assistance to farmers.
Agriculture aid has emerged as a key issue in recent days, after some Republican lawmakers threatened to vote against the stopgap measure if it didn't include economic aid for farmers and ranchers. It was an agreement.
The bill includes a one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, a National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) authorization extension, several health care items including changes to the way pharmacy benefit managers operate, Medicare telemedicine flexibility and It also includes wording extensions. It would reauthorize measures aimed at preventing the pandemic.
Overall, House Republican leaders said the designated emergency disaster funds would be added to the continuing resolution and amount to about $110 billion, not including offsets.
“We're always happy to look at any offsets that we have and can pass,” said House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla. We haven't been able to get what we need to get.” ) told The Hill on Tuesday when asked about past arguments surrounding Offset.
Mr Johnson said the aim was a “very simple and clean” stop-gap funding plan “in preparation for the formation of a unity government next year”. But he added that “natural disasters” such as hurricanes require disaster relief and other additional measures.
Other additions to the legislation include reauthorization of the Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems program.
The bill's additional elements and the slow rollout drew frustration from Republicans across the board who were awaiting the bill's language during Tuesday's session.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) complained that it resembled a year-end omnibus that conservatives hate. And Rep. Eric Burleson (R-Missouri), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, called it a “complete dumpster fire.”
“There is no appetite to risk shutting down the government. This is a strategy they have used for a long time and has been quite successful,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the House Freedom Caucus. C.) spoke after the party was first briefed on the details of the agreement. on tuesday.
“At some point, we're going to have to call them out on this,” Norman said.
The House is expected to move quickly on the bill, as both chambers face severe time constraints to get the policy across the finish line to avoid a pre-holiday shutdown.
Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his aim was to “go through the normal process” to consider the document in the House of Commons. If he chooses that path, the earliest lawmakers could vote on the document would be Friday, under the House's 72-hour rule. That means the Senate needs to act quickly before the midnight Friday funding deadline.
Negotiators have expressed confidence in completing the funding effort within the proposed three-month deadline, but are hoping for a shorter stopgap to pressure Congress to lock in spending sooner than next year. Some people do. Defense hawks have also expressed concern about what a funding freeze would mean for the Pentagon.
Some Republicans also said pushing the bill further into next year would distract from other priorities the party hopes to address in President-elect Trump's first months back in the Oval Office. They have expressed concern that there is a possibility of this happening.
