Some of the bipartisan efforts to prevent a government shutdown during the holiday season are starting to come into focus, including a March end date and $100 billion in disaster relief.
Republican leaders briefed Republicans Tuesday morning on some of the details of the upcoming bill. The contents of the bill have not yet been announced.
“It’s a bipartisan effort underway, and we’re almost there,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said at his weekly news conference Tuesday.
The Continuing Resolution (CR) maintains federal funding at current levels through March 14, as well as providing approximately 1,000 dollars in disaster relief, including assistance to communities hard-hit by Hurricanes Helen and Milton. It will include $100, lawmakers announced Tuesday morning.
Johnson said the bill also includes $10 billion in aid for farmers. Farm aid has emerged as a key issue in recent days, with the deal coming after some Republican lawmakers threatened to vote against the stopgap measure if it did not include economic aid for farmers. It became.
“It’s meant to be very simple, very clean, and it was here until recently. [continuing resolution]'' Johnson told reporters after the meeting.[a] This is a stopgap funding measure in preparation for next year's unification of the government. ”
But Mr Johnson said “natural disasters” such as hurricanes would require disaster relief and other additional measures.
Negotiators say the new bill is expected to devote a significant amount of its pages to authorization. This includes a one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill and an authorization extension for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
“You're going to see hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages that are not CR,” said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a spending cardinal.
Members said the measure also includes some health care items, such as changes to how pharmacy benefit managers work.
Additional changes to allow year-round sales of E15 ethanol are also being discussed.
“Because there's a seasonal requirement, there's a seasonal limit on when it can be used. So we're obligated to use some of it now,” said Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio). “It just allows stations to sell year-round instead of limiting it to part of the year.”
The House is expected to act first on the CR this week.
But as more details emerge about the potential price tag, there has been pushback from some Republicans in both chambers about pursuing a major funding plan before returning home.
“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. ) said.
