Appropriators Race to Finalize FY 2024 Spending Bills

Now that they have topline funding figures in hand, congressional appropriations leaders are in the process of negotiating each of the spending allocations for all 12 spending bills. Once Chairs Kay Granger (R-TX) and Patty Murray (D-WA) reach a deal on these 302(b) subcommittee allocations, appropriators can work out the final details of each bill ahead of floor action. Congress has until January 19 before the first government funding deadline for Agriculture-FDA, Energy-Water Development, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD, with everything else funded through February 2. With time running short, the latest intel from Capitol Hill suggests that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) could put another short-term funding patch on the floor to avoid a shutdown and provide more time. However, this option does come with some perils for the House speaker, as Freedom Caucus conservatives have railed against the current topline deal and remain opposed to another continuing resolution (CR).

• Supplemental Funding Update. Talks over a supplemental appropriations package for foreign aid and border security have hit another snag in the Senate according to Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), one of the leading negotiators on these issues. Sen. Lankford told reporters yesterday that he is pessimistic on the prospects of a deal coming together this week, with parole authority emerging as a fresh issue within the border and immigration talks. Negotiations are expected to continue throughout the week with the goal of producing an agreement sometime before the upcoming government funding deadlines.

• Today in Congress. Both chambers will be in session today, but floor activity will be scant. In the upper chamber, senators will hold a final up-or-down vote on John Kazen’s nomination to be a District Judge for the Southern District of Texas. Meanwhile, the House will gavel in for a procedural “quorum call” to kick off the second session of the 118th Congress before turning to suspension bills out of the Financial Services Committee tomorrow.