Current State of Federal Appropriations
The House and Senate are on an accelerated pace to pass many of their chambers' appropriations bills before November 17, the date the current Continuing Resolution (CR) expires.
After electing a new Speaker last week, the House released an ambitious schedule to pass the remaining House-drafted appropriations bills before the CR needs extending to avoid a government shutdown. The House passed its fifth appropriations bill, Energy and Water, last week, and has three bills on the floor schedule for this week – Legislative Branch; Interior and Environment; and Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD).
The Senate also expedited floor consideration of three appropriations bills last week, agreeing to a list of amendments for the consideration of their first "mini-bus" bill, consisting of the Senate-drafted versions of THUD, Agriculture, and Military Construction/Veterans Affairs appropriations bills. The Senate plans to resume consideration of the mini-bus this week.
Adding to the frenzy, Congress will need to consider two recent supplemental appropriations requests from the White House. One request includes funding for Ukraine, Israel, the southern border and more. The second request, sent to the Hill last week, contains funding for domestic programs, such as disaster relief, child care, and internet connectivity. Both supplemental appropriations requests must be negotiated between the Senate, House, and White House, which won't be easy, particularly with the looming deadline on November 17. Disagreements and debate on the legislative process for these bills will be as important as the policy contained within.
Our Take
Right now, while we are bullish on Congress passing a CR in November to continue funding the government for an extended period of time, we do note this exercise is always fraught in divided government. There will be debate on how long to fund the government (the House majority has floated January 15 or April 15, while the Senate would prefer a date in December) and how much to fund the government (at current funding levels or lower).
At this time, we see a narrow but achievable path for enacting the fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills, most likely in early 2024. We know that informal discussions are occurring between committee staff in the House and Senate to begin deliberating over the differences in their respective drafts. Once Congress can reach an agreement on funding beyond November 17, the House, Senate, and White House leaders can begin discussions to resolve how much will be appropriated, and what the overarching themes will be in the 12 appropriations bills.
Our clients with language, program additions, or earmarks in either the House or Senate appropriations bills should remain patient. Swift action on conferenced bills is unlikely, even though we do see a path forward. Now, however, is the time to engage Congress to ensure your provisions and funding requests remain in the House-Senate conference reports. Ironically, now is also the time to begin drafting your FY25 programs and requests.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
