OAN’s James Myers
9:14am – Thursday, March 21, 2024
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill announced details of the latest $1.2 trillion government funding bill negotiated by the Biden administration and leaders of both political parties.
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The new spending agreement announced Tuesday includes funding for the Departments of Homeland Security, State, Labor, Defense and Health and Human Services.
But federal agencies on the list are scheduled to close on Saturday if funding measures are not passed by Friday night, making it unclear whether Congress will have enough time to pass one by the deadline. is.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) praised the package in a statement Thursday, saying “House Republicans have scored important conservative policy victories” in this year’s spending process.
“This FY24 appropriations bill is a serious effort to strengthen our national defense by focusing the Department of Defense on its core mission while expanding support for the brave men and women who serve in uniform. ‘ said Prime Minister Johnson. “Importantly, funding will be stopped for the United Nations agencies that employed the terrorists who took part in the October 7 attack on Israel.”
Additionally, the new agreement includes a ban on all direct U.S. funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees. Prime Minister Johnson also said the funding will increase capacity at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from 34,000 to 42,000 beds and provide more funding for approximately 22,000 Border Patrol agents. said.
“Additionally, a bipartisan agreement to fund the Department of Homeland Security will advance the Department’s work to enforce border and immigration laws,” Johnson’s statement said. . “Significantly reduce funding to NGOs that encourage illegal immigration, and increase capacity and the number of Border Patrol agents in line with the House-passed spending bill and Border Security Act.”
“Overall, during the FY24 spending process, House Republicans achieved important victories on conservative policy, rejecting extreme Democratic proposals and making significant cuts to wasteful agencies and programs while strengthening border security and national defense.” imposed,” Johnson added.
Once the House passes the bill, the Senate will need unanimous consent to vote quickly.
“Once the House sends us a funding package, we will move it to the Senate floor without delay,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said on the floor. “We haven’t had a government shutdown since 2019. There is no good reason to shut down this week.”
“Congress has cleared a pathway to fund the Department of Homeland Security, allowing us to complete the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process in the coming days,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). I guess so.”
On the other hand, even if the bill fails to pass and funding is restored by the end of the week, it will likely only affect a limited number of government operations.
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