By KEVIN FREKING (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislators introduced a $1.2 trillion spending plan on Thursday to avoid a partial government shutdown for several important federal agencies this weekend. This also allows Congress, almost six months into the budget year, to finish funding the government through September.
Democrats largely managed to reject numerous policy mandates and some of the larger budget reductions that House Republicans were trying to impose on nondefense programs. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pointed out some policy victories, including an almost 24% increase in detention beds for migrants awaiting their immigration proceedings or removal from the country.
This year’s spending bills were split into two packages. The first one was approved by Congress two weeks ago, just before the shutdown deadline for the agencies funded through the bills.
Now Congress is concentrating on the second, larger package, which includes about $886 billion for the Defense Department, representing a more than 3% increase from last year’s levels. The 1,012-page bill also funds the departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Labor, and others.
“Congress must now rush to pass this package before government funding runs out this Friday,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Nondefense spending will be relatively stable compared with the previous year, though some, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, will face reductions, and many agencies will not see their budgets keep up with inflation.
When combining the two packages, discretionary spending for the budget year will total approximately $1.66 trillion. This does not include programs like Social Security and Medicare, and funding for the country’s increasing debt.
The House is expected to consider the measure first, on Friday. Then it would move to the Senate, where senators would need to agree to address it promptly to avoid a partial shutdown. Typically, such agreements involve votes on proposed amendments to the bill.
Johnson described the bill as a serious commitment to enhancing national defense by refocusing the Pentagon on its primary mission while increasing support for those serving in the military. The bill allows for a 5.2% pay raise for service members.
In promoting the bill, Republicans pointed out several ways it would assist Israel. Particularly, they emphasized a prohibition on funding through March 2025 for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which is the primary provider of food, water, and shelter to civilians in Gaza.
Republicans are firm on ending funding for the agency after Israel claimed that a dozen employees of the agency were involved in the attack that Hamas carried out in Israel on Oct. 7.
However, the prohibition raises concerns for some lawmakers because many relief agencies say there is no way to replace its ability to deliver the humanitarian assistance that the United States and others are attempting to send to Gaza, where one-quarter of the 2.3 million residents are starving.
Democrats stressed that the overall humanitarian aid will increase.
Sen. Patty Murray, the head of the Senate Appropriations Committee, also pointed out a $1 billion boost for Head Start programs and new child care centers for military families. Democrats also emphasized a $120 million increase in funding for cancer research and a $100 million increase for Alzheimer’s research.
Murray, D-Wash. said, “We defeated extreme cuts that would have been very harmful for American families and our economy.”
She also stated that Democrats successfully opposed numerous policy measures, known as riders, that House Republicans were trying to add.
“From the beginning of this process, I said there would be no extreme, far-right riders to limit women’s reproductive freedoms — and there aren’t,
One of the few policy provisions that House Republicans did achieve was a rule that only allows the American flag and “other official flags” to be flown over U.S. diplomatic facilities. Under the Biden administration, U.S. embassies have been allowed to fly the pride flag or illuminate with rainbow colors in support of the LGBTQ community.
There is also a rule that stops the Consumer Product Safety Commission from prohibiting gas stoves. But the White House has said President Joe Biden would not support a ban, and the commission, an independent agency, says no such ban was in progress.
The spending in the bill closely follows an agreement that former Speaker Kevin McCarthy worked out with the White House in May 2023, which limited spending for two years and suspended the debt ceiling until January 2025 so the federal government could keep paying its bills.
Shalanda Young, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, informed lawmakers on Thursday that last year’s agreement, which became the Fiscal Responsibility Act, will save taxpayers around $1 trillion over the next decade.
McCarthy, R-Calif., was removed from the speaker’s role a few months after securing the debt ceiling deal. Eight Republicans ended up joining with Democrats in removing McCarthy as speaker. And some of those unhappy with that deal also expressed reservations about the latest package.
“I hope there will be some small victories. Unfortunately, I don’t expect that we will get much in the way of significant policy wins based on past history and based on our unwillingness to use any kind of leverage to force policy wins, meaning a willingness to walk away and say no,” said Rep. Bob Good, R-Va.
Work on the spending bills has been more bipartisan in the Senate. Murray issued a joint statement after the bill’s release with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, praising the package of bills and urging colleagues to vote for it.
“There is zero need for a shutdown or chaos — and members of Congress should waste no time in passing these six bills, which will greatly benefit every state in America and reflect important priorities of many Senators,” Murray and Collins said.
Johnson said that after the spending package passes, the House would next turn its attention to a bill that focuses on aiding Ukraine and Israel, though lawmakers are scheduled to be away from Washington for the next two weeks. The Senate has already approved a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, but Johnson has declined to bring that up for a vote.
