Congress Punts Government Funding to March
January 19, 2024Congress has successfully managed to avoid another government shutdown after passing another two-tiered continuing resolution (CR) during yesterday’s session. Upon President Joe Biden’s signature later today, the funding deadline for Agriculture-FDA, Military Construction-VA, Energy-Water, and Transportation-HUD will run through March 1, with everything else funded through March 8. The extra runway provides appropriators with additional time to finalize and pass all 12 spending bills for fiscal year (FY) 2024. Depending on the overall level of bipartisan cooperation between the two sides, key policymakers will also be pushing for the inclusion of several pending legislative efforts, including the Tax Relief for American Workers and Families Act, which is currently being marked up by the Ways and Means Committee. Lawmakers are also pushing for a sweeping health care package that would re-up pandemic preparedness and opioid support programs, as well as address bipartisan priorities on Medicare physician pay, price transparency, telehealth, and more.
- Next week in Congress… The Senate will return for legislative business on Monday to hold a procedural vote on the nomination of Christopher Koos to serve on the Amtrak Board of Directors. While the chamber continues to churn through nominations, a bipartisan group of senators will resume their efforts to produce a supplemental funding package that includes foreign aid funds along with border security policy changes. If a deal comes together over the weekend or early next week, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is expected to file votes during next week’s session. Meanwhile, the House will be out next week and is slated to return on Monday, January 29.