The Week in Review
The Senate jump-started its sluggish appropriations process last week, clearing (84-9) its first four-bill minibus containing fiscal year (2020) spending bills for Agriculture, Interior-Environment, Commerce-Science-Justice, and Transportation-HUD. While the $214 billion measure passed with broad bipartisan support, action on a second spending package quickly came to a halt. As expected, Senators did not approve a motion to proceed to consideration of the spending package containing the upper chamber's spending bills for Defense and Labor-HHS-Education over disagreements on border security and family planning policies (51-41).