Congressional leaders announced on Tuesday that House and Senate negotiators have reached a tentative agreement to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal 2024, which is nearly half over.
If it holds, the deal would cover the remaining spending bills that were not included in a $460 billion “minibus” that passed earlier this month. Lawmakers have until the end of this week to avert a partial shutdown for the unfunded agencies, which include the Departments of Defense, State, Health and Human Services, and others.
“Senate and House leaders and the White House have reached an agreement to finish the final set of full year appropriations bills,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on X. “The Senate and House Appropriations Committees are in the process of finalizing text and reports for Congress to closely review and consider ASAP.”
Senate and House leaders and the White House have reached an agreement to finish the final set of full year appropriations bills.
The Senate and House Appropriations Committees are in the process of finalizing text and reports for Congress to closely review and consider ASAP.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 19, 2024
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) indicated that appropriations for the Homeland Security Department (DHS) was the final sticking point that negotiators had to work out before a resolution was reached.
“An agreement has been reached for DHS appropriations, which will allow completion of the FY24 appropriations process,” Johnson said on X. “House and Senate committees have begun drafting bill text to be prepared for release and consideration by the full House and Senate as soon as possible.”
An agreement has been reached for DHS appropriations, which will allow completion of the FY24 appropriations process.
House and Senate committees have begun drafting bill text to be prepared for release and consideration by the full House and Senate as soon as possible.
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) March 19, 2024
Not everyone is on board with the spending deal, even though lawmakers have yet to unveil the final text of the legislation. A few dozen Republican members, led by the conservative House Freedom Caucus, released a letter on Thursday urging the House GOP to use the “power of the purse” to rein in the Biden administration’s “‘open borders’ policies.”
HFC Chairman @RepBobGood and @RepChipRoy led 41 fellow Republicans in urging the @HouseGOP to use the power of the purse in this week’s government funding bill to dismantle Biden’s disastrous “open borders” policies, otherwise Republicans will be actively funding this crisis. pic.twitter.com/BBR7GW0Pw0
— House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) March 18, 2024
The letter’s 43 signatures indicate that a second “minibus,” if it were to pass the House this week, might do so with more Democrat votes than Republican votes in the narrowly divided lower chamber.
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If there is a hangup on one or more parts of the spending package, Congress may opt to pass yet another stop-gap measure.
President Joe Biden released a statement on Tuesday saying that he had reached an agreement “on a path forward” with congressional leaders and would sign the resulting package “immediately” once it reached his desk.
The White House is already looking ahead to what comes next, with Biden proposing earlier this month a roughly $7.3 trillion budget for fiscal 2025. The new fiscal year begins on October 1.